Kill Team is one of the best ways to get into Warhammer 40,000. The fun, sleekly designed game provides a classic, easy-to-play sci-fi fantasy game filled with plenty of flavours but without any of that pesky lore. (If you want story and depth of narrative, check out Necromunda). We’ve raved about it a few times, but its primary advantages are that it doesn’t require a big collection of models, and you don’t need to read a dozen books to play it well. It’s straight-up fun.
Kill Team – Hivestorm is the latest big box for Kill Team and introduces the latest edition/revision of the game. It has all the rules, cards, tokens, miniatures and scenery you’ll need to play. Twenty-two models in total, plus 14 bits of terrain from a ruined house to a pile of rubble. Kill Team is a game in which two teams of warriors beat each other up (hence the name), and this box contains two full teams. On the side of the Imperium of Man are Tempestus Aquilons, elite troopers in chunky armour wearing extremely wild-looking jet packs. They also come with a robot sentry gun buddy, which looks incredibly gothic.
These are good sculpts that come with a very wide range of options when you’re putting them together. It’s not too fiddly if you’re going for more basic options, but if you want to cover them in equipment, it may take you a while.
The opposing team are Vespid Stingwings, flying insect aliens from the Tau Empire. It’s nice to see the Vespid get new models, as previous iterations have always been a bit chunky. These are a lot more insect and ‘natural’ looking, armed with some cool-looking alien technology, mostly very large blocky guns that contrast nicely against their wasp-like bodies. They also come with a little robot buddy to help them shoot straight. It’s smooth and sleek-looking because that’s the Tau’s general vibe. It’s always nice to see alien allies for the Tau that aren’t the Kroot; for an Empire of aliens, there’s not a lot of diversity. The Vespid models also have some neat options and are fun to assemble and paint.
We also get actual terrain, mostly ruined buildings, for the flying insect aliens and the jet pack-wearing soldiers to crash into whilst they shoot each other. It assembles nicely, packs away easily and is general enough to fit any wargaming collection.
The models and scenery are lovely (this is a Games Workshop product), finely detailed but not overly detailed, and well thought out in terms of assembly and painting. They are also fun to paint. Over at the Secret Starburst Thunderdome, we had a lot of fun trying to make the Vespid wings look as beetle-like as possible. All the kits suit most skill levels, and those seeking a challenge certainly have options.
Component quality is brilliant as always, though you also get the standard white dice in a little envelope; we’ve seen nicer dice in other recent Games Workshop releases and given how lush this game is, it’s a bit of a surprise to see Christmas cracker quality dice in here. Still, it’s nice that they’ve included them at all, given that you absolutely have dice. The rest of the stuff, such as counters, cards, etc., are solid and will last for quite a long time. The game board itself is solid and designed to protect both the table and your models. It looks good with the terrain added and comes in a lovely presentation envelope; it’s very nice.
Finally, we got three books (this box is full). One is a guide to assembling models; the other tells you how to play the game and the backstory. The rules have been firmly revised for ease of use, and movement rules are much improved. There’s an escalation mechanic, fresh equipment rules and extra modes of play. We do get some neat new rules for the Vespid, and of course, jump packs/flying feature in this game, something we didn’t get in the more claustrophobic versions of the game like Into The Dark. It feels like Games Workshop saw Shatterpoint and paid attention.
They are better entry-level boxes; Games Workshop does a literal starter set, and we rather liked the dumbed-down version of Kill Team that you get in the Darktidegame. But in terms of comprehensive rules, scenery and some of the nicest models Games Workshop has ever sent us for review, Kill Team Hivestorm is pretty hard to beat.
It’s a near-perfect way to get into this simple yet deep and tactical game designed to draw old gamers back into the fold and introduce newbies to the 41st Millennium. Overall, this is the big Warhammer box you want to open on Christmas day or before that if you can.
