Kill Team Initial Impressions

 The other day I played my first game of Kill Team (KT), 2^nd Ed.  I have played the 1^st Ed which is very similar to 40k. The only similarity between 40k and 2^nd Ed is the names of forces and the models, otherwise it is very different.  My first impressions is that it plays fast and has more tactical depth than 40k.  Another difference would be in the nature of the collection you will acquire.   The basic mechanic in shooting and fighting is comparing dice pools, which is essentially how Risk works. But, due to the number of special rules still provides a lot of player agency.  An area where it is a bit sluggish is terrain, instead of over simplifying terrain (like many table top games) they have given terrain a lot more rules.  This will likely not be an issue after a couple of games, once your group has decided how big and effective each structure is.  One essential piece of kit, not provided in the box, is a laser!

Lists/List building.  We used lists from the compendium, there is not much variety in each factions KT. KTs are currently one or two fire teams and while each fire team has choices there is usually an obvious best pick, always take the plasma gun! The major decision for your operatives is whether they will be good at shooting or fighting. After that it is what extra equipment to give your KT. In this skirmish the Tyranids KT consisted of 3 Warriors each with a shooting and melee weapon as well as 5 Genestealers.  The ability to give each warrior both weapons combined with their 18 hit points makes them a very strong choice, the Genestealers also have a free dash special rule. The Chaos KT was a Fire team of Chaos marines with a plasma gunner and icon bearer as well as an aspiring champion and 8 cultists. The cultist were mostly equipped for fighting with two equipped for shooting and two gunners with flamers.

I think the real variety in KT will come from collecting KTs from different factions. This will also diversify your collection which I think is a bonus.  I think the “Art of List Building” if you will, is making a list that maximizes both the strategic and tactical ploys of the faction.  Once you have master this for one faction, it will probably be time to move to another.  I think as the Meta gets developed for this game then an important rating will be Action Point Limit (APL) per KT.  In our game the Tyranids had 16 APLs/Team and The Traitors had 25 APLs/Team.  Spoiler alert the Traitors lost, but that was due to bad decisions not unbalanced lists.

The Actual Fight. Since it was our first game we just played the standard one from the open play rules.  There were four objective on the table and you could score one point per turn per objective (four blue circles), with the highest score wining.  The Tyranids had the initiative (deployed in green ellipses), and even though I had to set up my complete Kill Team (I was Traitors, and deployed in the red ellipses) first, I did not feel I was at a disadvantage in the first turning point. The game took about two and a half hours but we tried our best to get the rules right so were looking up things in the rules constantly.  By the 3 Turning Point felt comfortable and the game trucked along very quickly.

Turning Point 1.  In the first Turning Point both sides spread out to secure and cover different objectives.  Interestingly both sides lost sight of this aim once the lives of their operatives became at risk.  Otherwise the first turn had minimal combat, essentially it was just the fighting on the catwalk between the Chaos Gunner and a Tyranid Warrior with both operatives getting wounded but not enough to injure either.

Turning Point 2.  In this turn there was a lot of hand to hand fighting, with both KTs advancing aggressively on the objectives.  I would say that any special rules that is activated after a critical role is rolled going to get solid use in any game.  During the fighting there were lots of cultists getting incapacitated, with minimal damage to the Tyranids.  Essentially Tyranids roll more dice and do more damage so the poor cultists didn’t stand a chance.  A point on fighting, it is very hard to avoid damage completely while fighting.  This leaves the winner of the battle quite vulnerable to counter attacks.  This is where activation order and tactical depth become very important, charge with your cannon fodder first.   

Turning Point 3.  This Turning Point had a lot of combat, essentially with the Tyranids finishing off most of the Chaos KT and securing most of the objectives.  Both sides did do some shooting with the star being the Chaos gunner incapacitating two Tyranid operatives. Of course this was only after three Chaos operatives had been incapacitated in the melee on the catwalk.  While shooting is deadly, in KT it can be mitigated effectively by conceal orders and cover.  This meant that the shooting was at its most effective when it was used to counter attack by fire, after an enemy operative and left their concealment to engage with an enemy in the open, at which point they were shot to pieces. 

Turning Point 4.  At this point of the skirmish with two cultists on the top floor of the factory, hopelessly out of position and the Chaos Gunner injured and not close to any objectives the battle was firmly in the Tyranid’s clutches.  The Tyranid activations saw the KT taking cover and claiming objectives while the cultists tried to climb down a ladder and the traitor gunner let off some steam by blasting away at the Tyranids but not effecting the score.  The final total was 7 to 1, interestingly the total potential for the game was 16.

Conclusions.  It was a fun game and I will not play the same next time. For the force deployment I will mix melee troops with shooting troops and I will not charge my leader into a fight with an enemy that has 50% more hit points, 18 damage is not enough to kill a monster with 19 hit points….  I will also not send cultists armed with pistols onto a roof 6 inches above the battlefield…..

Neither of us did a good job with our Command Points. During a game you will normally accumulate 6 Command Points we spent 2 or 3 each… I really think that at each turning point you need to be choosing one or two strategic or tactical ploys and then spamming its effect as much as you can. For instance Chaos can fight twice or shoot twice in one turn, If you save your command point from the first turning point you could do each of these for the rest of the game, too bad they don’t effect cultists.

Forces in depth (counter charge).  Since fighting is so bloody, the victor is often left vulnerable to counter attacks.  A great deal of planning should be put into who will charge and when, even charging and not fighting seems more useful than you might think as it may provide opportunities in the next turning point and is a great way to avoid enemy fire.

Anyway, fascinating game.  Can’t wait to play again.  Maybe even with painted scenery.  Thanks for reading.

The Emperor’s Finger – Warhammer 40K Battle Report

This battle report is of a very casual game of 40k, many of us hadn’t played in a while and we really just wanted to put some models on the table and roll some dice. The objective of the battle was to hold the center of the table.  The imperium forces were trying to recover an escape pod that contained a relic of the emperor.  For the sake of a story it was called “the Emperor’s Finger” a hive fleet had intercepted the signal and thinking that I was genetic material from the emperor himself, sent a swarm to intercept.

“Sir the Heavy Cruiser Divinity has suffered a catastrophic malfunction, cause unknown, the ship is destroyed. 

And the cargo?

 The Emperors Finger was jettisoned and has landed on a remote planet.  Awaiting authority to dispatch recovery team.

Deploy the recovery team.  Do we know what destroyed the Divinity?

Unknown.  There are reports of xenos on the planet, it looks like tyranids.

May the Emperor’s strength be with them”

Sisters of Battle, Dark Angles, Ultramarines and Blood Angels have been dispatched to recover a secret Imperial Weapon known only as the Emperors Finger.  The Tyranid Hive Fleet has also sent a swarm lead by a Tyrant and Broodlord.

Set up for the battle used 6 inch deployment zones along the long edges with both armies keeping some forces flying high above the battlefield (Gargoyles and Tyrant as well as Assault Marines and a Chaplin on the loyal side). No points values were used and side were just best guessed. Loyalist army won the role for initiative. 

Turn 1.  The loyalist conducted a general advance, and directed some very effective fire from the plasma guns in the center on the Carnifix, destroying it instantly.  Bolter fire killed lots of little Termagaunts that couldn’t find the shelter of the bushes.  On the Tryranid turn 1 the Hive Tyrant and Gargoyles landed and the rest of the army moved forward using as mush cover as possible.  A lone Hormagaunt ran for the objective hoping to draw the fire of the marines, and the other Carnifix destroyed a Battle Sister Mortifier.

Turn 2. The Loyalists tried to shoot the lone Hormagaunt but luck would not let them land a shot.  This forced some marines to charge the lone Tyranid and finish it in melee.  Their heavy weapons focused on the Hive Tyrant who had luck on its side and made far more saves then it should have.  The big action for the Tyranid turn was to charge with the Broodlord in the center, after summoning his bodyguard of 15 Genestealers, who all stormed the objective.  The hive Tyrant also started to roll up the fire base in the loyalist deployment zone.

Turn 3. Assault marines and the Chaplin land on the battlefield and charged the Genestealers on the objective with support from the Sanguine Guards (The Chaplin didn’t make it in), but they did not cause sufficient damage. The Psyker in terminator armour also charged the Hive Tyrant and somehow got eaten.  Hive Tyrant destroyed the remaining marines and charged the Canoness (and not the Battle Sisters with heavy weapons). Dark Angles do an awesome job holding up the Tyranid Warriors and Termagaunts from reinforcing the Genestealers on the objective, who do finish off the Sanguine Guards and most of the Assault Marines.

Turn 4. The tide of battle finally shifts to the loyalists who manage to finish off the Tyrant and Broodlord, sadly the Dark Angles finally falls.

Turn 5, 6, 7. The survivors in the center face off, and the Marines clean-up of last Carnifix and Tyranid warriors while the Battle Sister secures the objective for the win.

Observations. Some short observations from someone who doesn’t often play 40k.

Initiative seems so important in a game where one army moves and fights in its entirety before the other.  While certainly the Tyranids could have won it did seem like they were always playing catch up.  If the Tyranids made one major mistake it was not having the Hive Tyrant attack the Battle Sisters with heavy weapons instead of the Canoness.  While the heroic single combat was fun and thematic, the long range heavy weapons covering the objective wee a more important target. Anyways bit of a crummy report but I just wanted an excuse to post photos.  Thanks for reading.

Adeptus Titanicus – God Engines Awake - Bat Rep1 Part 2

 After a bit of a delay we got back to finishing our game.  During the interlude we did find some cotton balls. The cotton did work as a damage marker but I think they need to be a bit more deliberate so they can be attached to specific locations.  Also a bit of paint wouldn’t have hurt.

 

Anyway, Turn 4 started with a rundown of all the damage each titan had sustained in the first three turns.  This was a good recap and perhaps should be done during a normal game as well, but more on that later.  Most of this turn was the titans firing away at each other with lots of structural and critical damage being taken but no titans were completely destroyed.  Of note this turn was the charge by the small banner Knights against the right most Warhound.  The Knights managed to attack from a blind spot and thanks to the extra attack from the charge managed to land some critical hits on the Warhound. The larger Banner of Questoris Knights were not so lucky and were annihilated by two other Warhounds.

Turn 5 saw my Reaver and the Red Hounds disengage from each other.  I suppose both titans thought they were in danger of being charged by the other and finished off. While on my right flank the Warhounds tried to deal with the pesky Knights but thanks to the activation order the Knights were able to stride out of arc of one and into melee with the rear Warhound.  One Knight would later be obliterated by the Warhounds flame thrower but the other would cause some damage. Otherwise the shooting between Titans caused lots of critical damage but no killing blows.

Turn 6 sensing an immanent reactor meltdown all the hound got as close to the enemy as they could, planning on selling their lives dearly.  The Warlord had to push its reactor to turn and engage the Warhounds on its right but managed to knock out its legs with a direct hit from its volcano cannon causing the Warhound to topple to the ground dead. By this point the Warlords reactor was almost orange, good thing it didn’t need a second shot.  Otherwise there was more firing and two titans, one Reaver and one Red Hound detonated in the end phase. 

 

Final thoughts.  Wow Titans are hard to kill, although this might have been us.  By the end of the game only one Titan had died from shooting and another two had melted down as a result of un-repaired critical damage overloading their reactors.  A couple thoughts come to mind. Firstly, targeted shots.  I don’t remember any Titan taking targeted shots all game, partly because we were new and partly because our big guns were template weapons.  Secondly know the status of your enemy. Finally don’t ignore the Knights.

I think in Adeptus Titanicus there are three (maybe four) types of weapons. The first is the shield stripper this has a minimum strength of four and as many dice as possible or the shield bane trait. In this battle both sides had ample of these types of weapons. And, except for some fantastic rolls by my enemy, shields dropped quite fast. The next are the weapons designed to break amour and cause structural damage, like volcano cannons.  For these it doesn’t matter where you hit, and in fact templates are great because it can give you two hits in the same location.  Then once a location has taken damage it loses amour and this is where the killing blows come in.  I think it is fair to expect a +2 – 3 on the damage roll from the damage the titan has caused or perhaps a flank shot, when you are ready to finish an enemy Titan.  This means that a well-aimed strength 7 weapons can potentially finish your enemy, this is what we didn’t have or perhaps think to do.  The fourth are the melee weapons.  The knights showed how dangerous even the smallest melee weapons can be, unfortunately you do have to lose a range weapon to take one…  I am not sure it is worth it on a bigger titan, although the Warhounds can close the gap very quickly.

Also, knowing the status of your enemy titans and concentrating your fire on the closest to death seems very important, especially if you can eliminate them before an activation.  During our game the titan data cards were kept behind us and it was difficult for us to see each other’s.  I think next time a dedicated shared space should be used so we have a better idea of what is going on with each war machine.  The smoke was useful in reminding us to ask our opponent but didn’t provide enough detail to plan around.

Knights.  The advantage of these guys is their 360 degree arc and an extra activation.  This makes them so nimble and versatile.  The knights on both side were a pain for their enemy and did require a turn or two to deal with, which bought their friendly Titans a turn or two of respite. Also once they were destroyed it made that battle group more predictable by eliminating an activation.  It seems like a mistake not to take a banner with each battle group, but perhaps I need to play a few more games.

Adeptus Titanicus - God Engines Awake – Bat Rep 1

This was my first real game of Adeptus Titanicus, my friend Chris and I each made 1500 point Battle Groups.  We simplified force building, no legions or maniples although mine are painted as the War Griffons, and it would have fit into a core maniple.  This meant no special rules were used for legions or maniples. Chris got a random stratagem card since he was a few less points (40), and both precepts got a roll on the special ability table. We also played with the Optional Rules from the core book as I really wanted to destroy buildings.

Essentially we just picked the titans and weapons we had (Chris had way more choices than I J).  My Battle Group was led by a Precept Warlord, 2 Reavers, and 2 banners or Questoris Knights. For the first game I wanted as much “what you see is what you get” (WUSWUG) as possible so the warlord was kitted out with two bellicose volcano cannons and the rocket pods. Luckily I had more choice for the Reavers. The War Griffon was set up for medium to close range with a Gatling blaster and melta-gun on the arms and a twin laser on the top.  The other Reaver was kitted out for long and medium range with a volcano canon and triple laser on the arms and a rocket pod on the top.  The six knights were broken into two banners.  A group of four (maximize ion shield) to act as a screen for the warlord and a group of two to provide some freedom of activation for the titans. Their weapons were as you see except the Avenger Cannons were used as Battle Cannons because avenger Gatling cannons are garbage since they don’t strip voids

Chris’s maniple was a lighter force consisting of a Warbringer Nemesis precept, 4 Warhounds and one Acastus knight.  While this could have been six activations he made a squadron from two of the hounds to maximize his flanking stratagem.  Essentially his build was similar to mine in that the bulk of his titans would advance under the cover of his precept providing fire support.

Setup.  I rolled the initiative and set up the first unit. Immediately the advantage of two banners became apparent. By placing them first and second (about the 1/3^rd – 1/3^rd portion of my deployment zone) I was able to place my first titan after his while keeping the initiative.  This combined with the fact that two of his hounds were off flanking, meant that I actually got to place my Warlord last and in the best place possible to maximize it long range weapons. Chris deployed his Nemesis and Acastus in a corner (that I avoided) and his other two hounds (red) on the other side (that I concentrated on). 

1^st turn saw orders being received by all the titans, the fog of war had not settled in yet.  I will only mention the first fire order for the Warlord.  This order seems, to me, to be the choice for any titan equipped for long range and set up in a good spot.  In effect the ability to fire one weapon during movement increase the damage output for the titan by 33%.... that is crazy if you think about it.  Otherwise my Reavers lumbered forward and my knights moved to the right flank to screen/guard against the out flanking war hounds that had been spotted on the long range sensors and would arrive on the second turn.  Shooting was largely ineffective for me, his hounds were cowering behind the buildings.  But Chris managed to smash some voids off my left most Reaver, dam that Acastus Knight.  Luckily his precept in the Nemesis got tucked in too close to the buildings and could not find any targets except with the Quake Cannon in his left arm.

On Turn 2 the gap was closed considerably by the Red Dogs, and the Green Dogs came in on the flank.  Luckily the Green Dogs were put off by the 6 knights waiting for them and did not push into my warlords blind spot, they could have.  Shooting this turn was balanced with voids absorbing most of the impact but some shots did get through and caused structural damage to Reavers and the Red Dogs.  I was lucky that his Nemesis was still having a heck of a time finding targets, partially due to my Reaver hiding behind a spire of a church and partially due to the restrictive arc of the Bellicose Cannon J Again the first fire order for the warlord was handy as it allowed a volcano cannon to annihilate a building opening up shots on the lead Red Dog in the shooting phase.

Turn 3 saw the Red Dogs and Reavers mixing it up with some near misses and some critical hits. If it wasn’t for some voids getting activated in the repair phase there would likely have been some smoldering Reavers on this turn.  That said both Red Dogs had critical damage all over their bodies and were hurting little puppies.  The brave knight banners had intercepted the Green Dogs and while they did take damage from the Warhounds they provided enough of a distraction to keep the Reavers safe.  The Warlord had had enough of the Acustus knight and dropped two volcano cannons onto it, instantly turning it into slag.

We played for about two and a half hours, including setup, and put the battle on hold here.  That said I do think that the game was going very quickly for turns two and three, once we got the hang of it.

End of Turn 3, photo was taken as insurance against Chris medaling while I was gone J

 Thoughts….. Adeptus Titanicus is a very fun game that I believe will go quickly once you get the hang of the rules.  If I had to pick an issue with the rules it would be to hit modifiers with cover. Why does a warlord obscured from just above the waist to the ground have a -2 to hit and a knight in the open have no modifiers to hit, the knight is about a third the size of the exposed part of the warlord.  Perhaps the whole banner should be considered a target so if you can only see one knight the banner benefits from cover (this could get abused easily), or maybe the game needs a standard size target (like infinity) and if you can see all of standard target you are good to shoot without modifiers…

The Warlord weapon mix, although being the default, is fine even with two draining weapons.  Since it was the last model placed it started in an ideal location and pushing the reactor was not an issue.   In addition the precept skill was the one to make it agile and get a free turn before shooting (with -1 to hit). Also first fire orders to give a 50 point weapon a second shot will make your opponent cry.

Activation order.  This is a factor from setup to end game.  My side had 5 activations while Chris began with 5 (technically) but only had 5 activation on turn 2, by turn 3 the Acustus Knight had been vaporized and the flanking hounds were not in play on turn 1.  Having activation superiority is very valuable as it lets you charge last, or walk away since you don’t get locked into melee.  It also allows you to get one titan lined up perfect each turn.

Smoke!!  Adeptus Titanicus must be played with something to show the damage on titans (cotton balls or something). The game itself is more of a team boxing match than a shootout.  Titans can take a lot of punishment and it becomes a little tricky to remember who has been damaged, it will also look so thematic.  We are totally doing that next time……

As always let me know if I made a mistake, thanks for reading.