40K: Kill Team – Adeptus Mechanicus Faction Focus ‘For The Omnissiah’
The Adeptus Mechanicus are under the microscope first with the new Kill Team Faction Focus. Come take a look at what’s in store for the Omnissiah’s Faithful.
Kill Team is making quite the splash with the announcement yesterday. While Skirmish Wargames are not new for 40k, this version of Kill Team appears to be more than just a one shot release. Today, Games Workshop is talking about one of the factions in the new Starter Set – the Adeptus Mechanicus. If you pay close attention you can also see some hints of the core rules of Kill Team.
“We’re kicking of Kill Team Focus with a look at the relentless Skitarii clades of the Adeptus Mechanicus, as well as some of the unique tactics they wield on the battlefield…”
First up, we have two new Adeptus Mechanicus Tactics previewed from the faction. Based on the rules that were showcased previously we know that each force will generate 1 Command Point at the start of the round. We have a sneaking suspicion that you’ll be able to stock-pile these Command Points much like in Age of Sigmar 2.0. You can then spend them in later rounds to trigger the new Tactics – which are like Stratagems, only they are called ‘Tactics’ …and that’s really the main difference.
Protector Doctrina Imperative allows you to get a boost to a single model’s hit rolls. But if you’re within 6″ of a friendly model with an enhanced data-tether, you can add 2 instead. That could be pretty solid if you REALLY need a shot to hit. But for 2 Command Points, that also seems pretty steep. I’m wondering if we’ll see a way to purchase additional Command Points or start the game with more a la Age of Sigmar as well. It would make a lot of sense.
Scryer-Skull is another Tactic available to the Adeptus Mechanicus. What’s interesting about this Tactic is that it’s a ‘counter’ option to the Plant Traps strategy. We don’t know what that is exactly, but we can assume it has something with booby-trapping terrain. These types of interactions definately make it seem like there will be some more ‘counter-play’ style options in Kill Team.
“Tactics in Kill Team are special powers usable by your Kill Team. There are tactics usable by everyone, tactics unique to certain specialists, tactics for specific Killzones and tactics unique to each warband, adding an extra layer of strategic depth on top of the game.”
There was one other interesting piece of information that was hidden in the full article on Warhammer Community. The Canticles of the Omnissiah are still going to be used as well:
“Every turn, you’ll get to choose (or roll for) one of six powerful blessings of the Machine God for your kill team – if you play Warhammer 40,000, you’ll be familiar with these already. They’ll allow you to switch up your tactics on the fly, shifting from hiding with Shroudpsalm to charging in with Chant of the Remorseless Fist when the enemy closes range.”
In case you’re unfamiliar with the Canticles of the Omnissiah, these are a chart of 6 abilities that the Ad Mech can use in 40k:
When I saw that this chart was going to be included as part of the Adeptus Mechanicus rules, it makes me wonder if Kill Team and 40k are going to actually be that different after all. Games Workshop has said:
“Kill Team has been designed from the ground up as a brand new gaming experience. If you play Warhammer 40,000, you may be familiar with some of the core principles, but there are several key differences to represent the dynamic, lightning-fast nature of squad combat.”
We knew that these games would share some DNA – but if we’re going to see Kill Team using some (or all) of the army special rules then it’s got me thinking “how different will these two games actually be?” Previous versions of Kill Team just turned each model into their own “unit” and you kind of go from there. Other versions and variations changed the stat-blocks of the models as well (see Shadow War: Armageddon.)
So what’s the real difference between the two systems? Is this just Skirmish Scale 40k with an XP system included for campaign play? How does Alternating Activations work in this “new” system? These are the type of questions I want answers to – unfortunately we won’t know more until Games Workshop shows off the ruleset…that’s something we’re all chomping at the bit to get!
Color me curious – What do you think Games Workshop is do to make Kill Team different from “standard” 40k?
