WARHAMMER 40,000: KILL TEAM STARTER SET / PUBLISHER: GAMES WORKSHOP / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Starter sets are the bread and butter of Games Workshop’s product range. They lure you with really cool models, grimdark sci-fi stories and striking (if violent) artwork. Before you know it, you’ve picked up a starter set for one of their base games. The rest is inevitable as your home fills up with tiny plastic toy soldiers, each its own back-story and special abilities, all waiting to be painted and used in some game or other.
You may think that knowing this would be enough to avoid this beautifully sculpted trap. However the lure of the Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team Starter Set is that you don’t need a lot of models, but the ones it comes with are very nice. We get five Primaris Space Marines Reivers; these are the big lads in the powered armour who do strike-team style missions for the Imperium. They’re quite dynamic pieces, shooting off grapnels and looking ready for action. We also get ten Tau Fire Warriors, accompanied by two floating drones wielding missile. These aren’t new with this release but they are pretty.
The game itself is specifically designed for short scale skirmish combat. Kill Team is a smooth game where every character counts. This feels more so with the Space Marines (because you don’t have as many), but you’ll still end up ascribing back story to the Tau, even the drones. Those familiar with larger Warhammer games may expect things to take a long time, but this is a game designed to be done in an hour. It’s carefully balanced but there’s a depth here. Simple enough to play will minimal preparation and quick enough to play in an evening it’s great for the busier player. Those who enjoy figuring out the best (and most competitive) configuration for your Kill Team will have a blast here and its part of the game.
You also get a load of scenery, in this case all industrial themed and it can be multi-storey. It’s got that Gothic vibe familiar to 40K fans and it’s also designed with lots of places to hide or get line of sight from. It’s modular, the board is double-sided and it looks great, if a little grim. It also fits in with most of other 40K scenery, so you should be able to make your own scenarios without clashing.
There’s plenty here for both new and old players to get their teeth into. It’s strong skirmish game and it’s pretty flexible. The low model count is perfect for not only the gamer on a budget, but also the model fan who mostly paints but likes getting the odd game in. It’s highly accessible.
Broadly, this latest set for Kill Team is a perfect way to get in to the game. Fantastic fun, created by the masters of the art.
