Starter sets are tricky to get right; you want a decent balance between being someone’s introduction to a game without overwhelming them. But you don’t want the set to be too light, either. And it can’t cost too much. Games Workshop have been doing this for decades at this point, so surely they’ve got this down to a fine art by now?
When the latest Starter Set for the top-of-the-line sci-fi skirmish game Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team arrived at Starburst Tower courtesy of Games Workshop, we were intrigued. Kill Team is a small-scale skirmish game that has a load of options and rules; getting started can be tricky. Every model has its own unique abilities and stats, and your team works together to achieve mission objectives and beat up the enemy. Previous editions of the game have featured fairly well-balanced starter sets, though they’ve also leaned towards being a little bit too involved.
The latest set, however, seems to get everything just right. We get two teams: a Space Marine team called the Angels of Death and a Death Guard (aka Plague Marine) team. The former are essentially humanity’s elite fighting force, monastic super soldiers with incredible training and equipment. The latter are fallen Space Marines, who have sold their souls for power but have become diseased, undead-like monsters in the process.
Both teams assemble very easily, and they’re incredibly detailed. All of these models were originally available as part of the Warhammer Heroes range, so were quite tricky to get. You will need clippers (or a knife) to get them off their sprue, but they clip together easily. The Space Marines are posed as if they’re in an action movie, and the Plague Marines are almost comedic in their villainy. They’re also posed with little monsters called Nurglings, which makes their vibe even more over the top. You will have to paint them to make them look their best, but they look neat unpainted also.
We get a fairly solid, well packaged, double-sided game board, and the terrain is slot-together printed MDF rather than the usually complicated collection of plastic bits you tend to get with these boxes. This is actually a welcome change because it makes the set pretty portable and easy to set up. We also get good counters and those generic white plastic dice that seem to be everywhere these days.
The rulebook does a great job at helping you get to grips with your first game, and certainly, if this was the only Kill Team box you ever owned, you’d still have a very solid, balanced game. The Space Marines seem to be mostly about the tactical advance; they hit the enemy hard and precisely at range, then move into close quarters. The Plague Marines, on the other hand, have wild area effect weapons, some big guns and some pretty nasty melee weapons. Both sides are pretty easy to use and encourage players to use every tool at their disposal; it’s a very well thought out game.
This is a neat, extremely fun, expandable and addictive table-top wargame, which doesn’t require a lot of space in your house to enjoy. If you’ve not played Kill Team before and are wondering what the fuss is about, now is the time to pick this game up.
