The world of Volkus is under attack from the alien forces of the Vespid, striking at the titanic defense gun that protects the capital. With this gun in enemy hands it would allow for a planatary invasion, and so the forces of the Tempestus Aquilions launch a counter attack to drive back the Vespid menace in Kill Team Hivestorm.

In Kill Team Hivestorm, up for pre order today we get not only these two forces, but also the full rules for the brand new edition of Kill Team, bringing with it lots of changes and tweaks to bring Kill Team up to date and make it easier than ever to play. In this full review we’ll be taking a look at everything that comes in the Hivestorm box, painting up all the contents before diving into what is new in the new edition and what is contained in the Hivestorm Dossier supplement.

Massive thanks to Games Workshop for sending us over an early review copy to check out on the site. If you would like to support the site then why not order your copy of Kill Team Hivestorm through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

We’ve also filmed a full unboxing and deep dive into the Kill Team Hivestorm box which you can check out just below or over on YouTube

So let’s take a look at the brand new edition of Kill Team and the Hivestorm Box in our full review!

Kill Team Hivestorm Unboxing and Review

I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people were very excited for a new edition of Kill Team, and many hold Octarius in high regards as a great box that contained a load of great content, from an entire board’s worth of scenery, 2 ace kill teams and everything that you needed to play the game. The big question is how Hivestorm stacks up against it.

The RRP of Kill Team Hivestorm sits a little higher at £145, however this really is the best box they have done yet, and it contains even more content than what was in the Octarius box.

First up, once again with Hivestorm we have an entire boards worth of scenery, with most of this being brand new pieces for the game in the form of two large strongholds – these are made up of some really nice chunky pieces and so don’t need all the time consuming building we have seen in older scenery sets.

This is joined with a couple of smaller ruins, a selection of even smaller L shaped ruin pieces and a whole host of scatter terrain.

It didnt take very long for me to build this all up, and painted up really quickly by using a combination of rattle cans, drybrushing and weathering.

As you can see above they look great painted up, and would suit just as much for 40k games as they would Kill Team – I have to say I’m so glad to see ruins with 4 walls, rather than the many L shaped ruins we normally get, and while there are a few smaller ones included here, the main pieces all look great having 4 sides and an obvious footprint for models to sit in.

As ever, we also get a board to fight over, and this one has 2 designs, with a more ruined and rubble vibe. While previous seasons have taken us across a wasteland, water planet and even the cold decks of a space hulk, we’re very much back in city fight territory, and that’s a great thing – especially as so much of the 40k scenery rotates out of the range. With Hivestorm (And the terrain also being available outside it) it’s never been easier to get your hands on a decent terrain collection!

The big surprise with this edition of Kill Team is how equipment works – we’ll dig into that more later on, but essentially you get to pick 4 pieces of equipment before each battle. You can use tokens for these (And those tokens are included in the box and with the hardback rulebook too) but you also have the option of using actual models to represent those pieces of equipment. Personally, I love this idea – I’m a sucker to little playing pieces to add to immersion, and these pieces are really fun and characterful!

As you can see above, I’ve managed to get these painted up. Again, this was really quick and involved doing most of the work with them still attached to the sprue, but I think they turned out alright for use in games!

You also get some measuring gauges ( and again, card ones are included too) which is handy, but you will notice that shapes are no longer a thing – instead we are using inches, bringing it inline with most other GW games. Again, more on this later, but I’m sure you will agree that’s a positive change!

The real stars of the show however are the brand new Kill Teams included in the box. For a while we’ve tended to get one “bespoke” Kill Team set and one based on an existing kit with an upgrade frame added to give them Kill Team options. I suspect that due to the way that the range is being handled (More on this later) that we will see mostly “bespoke” teams now, with the upgrade frames perhaps going towards adversaries for co-op and solo play…

Let’s start with the Vespid – the old metal models have looked a little dated for a while now, and this kit brings them right up to the current day with a new re-imagining. There’s now lots of different loadouts (As best suits Kill Team) and the models go together like a dream. I decided to paint mine up in a scheme that will be nostalgic to lots with the classic blue and Tau sept colouring! These take to contrast really well and went together pretty quickly

Next up we have the Tempestus Aquilions – These guys are elite drop troopers who have been tasked with taking out the Vespid who are attacking the planet, and while I know people are disappointed that these werent new Elysian Drop Troopers, they are still very cool models. Like with the Vespid these paint up really quickly (Though not quite as quick due to the trim) and I think there’s scope here for having them in a variety of different schemes

Two token sheets are included here, a generic one that has all the core tokens that you need (Though frustratingly there are not quite enough for 2 players – there are only 15 of each status, which isnt enough if all operatives are in the same status). This sheet also has tokens for all the equipment too, so if you dont want to use the plastic markers you can instead use these – what’s more, these have all been given standardised sizes to make them as fair as possible for tournament play.

One thing I really like about the tokens is that they are shaped to fit flush to a base, with the ability to stack multiples next to each other – this leaves a really clean looking battlefield with no confusion as to who has what token

The second token sheet in the box contains the Kill Team specific tokens for each of the teams in the box – these are getting packed into every Kill Team going forward, which is a great idea – all the gameplay tokens have standard sizes, so you can just use generic tokens from the main sheet if you already own some kill teams. My only mark against this box is that you don’t get the card deck for each Kill Team in the box – it seems that those will be coming at a later date.

One thing that you DO get in the box however is the Approved Ops card pack – essentially this is the deck of cards that you need for matched play games and events. This is a really nice set, and if you’re not looking to pick up the Kill Team Hivestorm box then I highly recommend putting this card pack on your shopping list too, as it has everything you need for matched play games in handy card form – this doesnt just include the tac ops and crit ops (victory conditions for your games) but it also includes terrain maps for all 3 of the current Kill Team killzones Volkus (the one in the box), Bheta-Decima (Last seasons) and Gallowdark (Spaceship interior) along with cards detailing what each piece of terrain does too! Scoring has changed a little in kill team, with points being scored for killing in addition to objectives (Putting the kill back in Kill Team!), and a card that displays how many models you need to kill to get points based on the starting number of enemy models (this scales meaning that this varies based on how many models you have)

As with the last few card sets for 40k, this is in a nice Tarot Card format.

Finally in the box we get two books, the core rules and the Hivestorm Dossier – let’s jump into those now starting with the Core Rules.

Kill Team 3rd Edition Core Book Review

We were big fans of the last edition of Kill team when it launched, but I think its safe to say there were some things that caused confusion and made us scratch our heads a little. Why were ranges in shapes? And why didnt those shapes have a number of sides that matched to a number of inches? Why was cover and visibility so confusing to follow in the core book? Why was there so much flicking back and forth needed to play a game?

Thankfully, my biggest takeaway for the new edition of the game is how clear everything now is to follow. We have a series of Key Principles that manage to spell out exactly how that concept works with clear diagrams and less walls of text that we got in the previous edition. Things are not “dumbed down” as such, instead by breaking things down into those principles it boils these rules down into bite sized chunks rather than trying to explain multiple concepts and how they all interact in the same section. This makes it much easier to play the game and things go quickly when things are in action.

From a rules point of view this isnt a massive seismic shift, this is still the same Kill Team you know, just with some tweaks and clarifications, and the rough edges sanding off. Where things have changed it is in the name of gameplay and making things clear and exciting. Oh, and inches are back!

One misconception about Kill Team is that it is “Warhammer 40k light” or an entry way into the 40k hobby, but Kill Team is now very much it’s own thing with its own ruleset, it’s not trying to be a way of getting into 40k, and that’s a good thing. With Kill Team now sitting apart from 40k that also gives us lots of potential for new and unique kill teams that don’t necessarily fit within 40k, in the same way that Warcry now gets some more weird and wacky stuff that probably wouldnt sit in a battletome without Warcry

One thing that is a massive change however is how the range is going to be managed going forwards – Firstly, all the rules to every single Kill Team are going to be free and accessible either on Warhammer Community or through the Kill Team app – this app isnt linked to Warhammer Plus and will be free, forever for everyone – which is a brilliant decision. This will include 33 Kill Teams from day 1, with just older compendium teams absent. Games Workshop are also introducing the concept of a slowly rotating roster with just the newest ones being “Classified”. So what does this all mean? Well basically, each team will be available as part of the product range for 4 years, and once that time has passed they will then get removed from the range in order to make space for new teams. with the rapid release schedule of Games Workshop it was never going to be possible to keep an ever expanding range in stock forever, and we’ve seen quite a lot of stock issues in the past too – by doing this, there’s a very clear (and long) window of 4 years in which you can buy a kit before it goes – and 40k adjacent kits will also move to that range too.

For the life of the edition each and every kill team will get updates, even after kits are discontinued. So don’t worry, if you buy any kill team today you’ll be able to use it for the entire edition.

Now, if you are a tournament player who attends events such as the US Open or World Championships, then in order to keep a tighter list of kill teams who are all available there is the concept of “Classified” – a team is classified if it is in the current available range and just those ones will be “legal” for those events – This is simply to make sure that only teams you can currently buy are legal for use – I suspect people would be unhappy if a team that was good against the current “meta” was only available for silly money on eBay, and this simply removes that element out of the equation.

Its worth pointing out that most people dont play in the US Open or World championships, and each and every Kill team gets balance updates even after it leaves the range – so there’s no need to use this Classified restriction in your own games, or even own tournaments!

Joint Ops

For me, the most exciting thing about the new edition are Joint Ops – this is a new PVE game mode that allows you to play either solo or cooperatively with a friend against procedually generated non player operatives known as NPOs – This follows all the normal rules of Kill Team, if you are playing Solo you simply pick your Kill Team, and if you are playing with a friend you can either split a single Kill Team or take half of two different Kill Teams each.

NPOs use whatever models you have available, and the scenario will tell you how many wounds worth of models you are facing. So if you want to fight against Tyranids or Necrons for example then you can do that! Equally though if you wanted to fight against some Hrud and convert up some scifi ratmen from Skaven models you can do that too! This is the thing I’m most excited about, as there’s a chance that Games Workshop also look to release Joint Ops packs that have additional missions and brand new generic xenos models to fight against

NPOs are split into two main types – Brawlers (who speciailise in close combat) and Marksmen (who specalise in shooting), these are then each split into three different levels of each, a basic version, a more powerful one and then a really strong one. Each of these 6 NPO types have their own datacard and stats, with each having a list of behaviours that they favour – so a Brawler will always fight if they can, if they cant fight they will charge, if they cant charge they will move as close as they can etc – this gives you types of actions that they will try and perform, but this isnt a complex AI flow chart (something that can actually slow down gameplay as you work out what they will do) instead Joint Ops has a really simple concept that works great during games

The enemy will do whatever is worst for you

With that single line it encourages you to play in the spirit of the game and try and make a tough game for yourself, and this also teaches you how to play Kill Team better, you’ll naturally start to watch out for bad positioning and situations that can get you into trouble.

Joint Ops is also the very best way to teach someone how to play Kill Team too – you can take someone under your wing and help guide them through the game without the situation you normally get when teaching someone to play when you just batter them at the game as they dont understand it yet – this way you can show them the various options for both your operatives and the NPOs so they understand how everything interacts and what is bad for you both!

There are 3 Joint Ops missions, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see more in the future…

Hivestorm Dossier

The other book in the box is the Hivestorm Dossier, and this contains the lore for the location this edition along with lore regarding the two kill teams, followed by the rules for them and a branching campaign

If you have picked up any of the previous Kill Team supplements you’ll know what to expect here – this is essentially a “codex” for the two forces in the box with a campaign featuring them both. It’s worth pointing out that the rules for the teams themselves will be free online too – so even if you opt to pass on Kill Team Hivestorm you’re still going to be able to get the rules for the new teams, which is a great change

Kill team construction has changed somewhat – you can now bring all possible loadouts with you to a game without having to write a “list” as such – then simply select the operatives you want to use at the start of the game. You are meant to be playing elite teams that are being sent to deal with a specific target, so it makes little sense that you might rock up with a less efficient weapon! This also means you’ll be able to tailor your picks each game based on who you are facing over a tournament weekend

Both Kill Teams operate quite differently – first up we have the Tempestus Aquilions who are all about rapid insertion and decent shooting. Their main gimmick is that you can set up 2/3rds of your Kill Team above the battlefield in your drop ship, with them choosing to plummet down during the game – to represent this, for each third that you deploy in the air you get to place a Drop marker, this marker can move at the start of each turning point, and there’s faction equipment to help move it again – essentially as the battle continues these markers will drift to an ideal target, making it a game of chicken with you holding your nerve to drop your troopers in as the game continues. there are some conditions – so for example at least half of your Kill team must be on the battlefield by the end of the first turning point, but that still leaves 5 models who can hang on for a late drop and score.

They have a really fun assortment of operatives, from the gunfighter who has a brilliant rule that allows him to take a shot back at anyone who shoots him – in a great western movie vibe he gets a free shot for each shot the enemy misses when shooting at him! The Grenadier caused absolute carnage in our practice games with his ability to count as holding any of the equipment grenades without actually needing the charges, and a brutal one shot melta bomb that will take a chunk out of anything he throws it at.

We also see an example of some of the new sniper rules that exist across all kill teams – they all tend to have a new Concealed position rule which allows them a single really powerful shot that can be fired from conceal – for the rest of the game they no longer have the silent rule, which means they can no longer fire from conceal – conceptually this is great, it allows snipers to get a single really powerful shot off before the almighty crack of the gun draws everyone’s attention to them!

The Servo Sentry from the animated trailer is also here, with a choice of 3 different weapon options – also, make sure you don’t glue the weapon in place, as they can then be swapped between games! It can also do two shoot actions which is pretty cool

The other team in the book are the Vespid Stingwing, and these again feel very different on the tabletop. Firstly, their weapons are momentum based, so as long as they move or fly their weapons gain piercing (1) which reduces the dice your opponent rolls in defense. They gain the Fly rule which allows them to be removed from the killzone and redeployed within movement range – essentially allowing them to pass through walls and ignore vertical distance. This makes them very powerful, but there is a downside to them – the Vespid are little more than a mindless swarm if not given direct orders from the Tau – they can only shoot the closest target within 8″ or charge the closest target, and they cannot normally pickup markers – in order to get around any of these restrictions you have to spend communion tokens – you get a small pool each turn, and this represents the will the Tau can exert over the Vespid – this is a really cool concept and makes them feel very different, with you having to think ahead on how you want to spend your communion points.

They have less different operatives, with half of your Kill Team just being generic Warriors, but the specialists are pretty fun, the Longsting for example fires neuron fragments that impale themselves into the target causing persistent damage every turning point, while the Skyblast is similar but instead has a blast weapon that leaves fallout markers that deal damage when someone goes near them. My favourite of the special weapons is the Swarmguard which is a flamer he fires at everyone he passes over – he has to get close for best effect, but it’s very nasty when it does manage to care a path through a bunched up enemy team.

Another fun one is the Shadestrain, which is a Vespid wearing a stealth generator! While its got conceal it cannot be targetted at all by any models more than 6″ away from it, and if you do get close enough then you ignore pericing and cant have any defense dice removed from any special rules, as your shimmery camouflaged outline makes you very hard to hit – I kinda wish I’d painted mine vanishing!

What’s really nice is that both Kill Teams have a full Designers Commentry that explains how the teams operate along with some pointers for using them in games.

We mentioned earlier that equipment is now selected at the start of the game with teams getting to pick 4 items from a universal list along with some faction specific ones – all the rules for these are listed in the book along with pictures of the models they relate to, making it super easy to identify what they are and look up what they do during games.

Finally, the book has a branching campaign that plays through the events of the narrative – taking a leaf from Warcry’s branching missions we see some cool stuff here – so for example in the first mission the Aquilions are hot dropping to bomb the anti air defenses in order to better get to their true target – if they win the first mission then they get to push the imitative and make their strike against the enemy stronghold in the second mission – but if they lose the first mission then instead of the bomb taking out the defenses, the vespid shoot their drop ship out of the air and take the fight to the surviving members who have crashed into the dirt. I really like this approach as it feels like you are fighting through the story, with your games having both a narrative and gaming impact to events.

Summary

So what do I think of the new 3rd edition of Kill Team, and is the Kill Team Hivestorm box worth picking up? I’ve been a big fan of Kill Team, and with Hivestorm we get the best Kill Team box yet, combining both the new core rules and an awesome new supplement along with some excellent terrain and two great Kill Teams. If you play from a competitive standpoint you get the Approved Ops cards in the box along with a new Kill Zone, allowing you to get gaming straight away, If you are a little more narrative then you can play through a new branching campaign and still have the full Kill Team experience, and if you want to try something new or play solo then you can dive into Joint Ops. While the formal distinction between narrative and matched play may not exist any more, there are more ways than ever of enjoying the game, and I feel you get a lot for your £145 here.

The miniatures in the Hivestorm box are also great and hopefully two bespoke kits per box is going to be something that continues going forward, and if the terrain range gets expanded too then there’s a lot to get excited about with this edition of Kill Team

Kill Team Hivestorm is up for pre order today and is released Saturday 5th October

Games Workshop provided Sprues & Brews with a free copy for review purposes.

Published by Matt Crowther

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