Warhammer 40K: Kill Team – Pariah Nexus Seems Off Balance
The contents of the new Kill Team Box Pariah Nexus sure look like they favor the Space Marines – Are we missing something?
Games Workshop announced the new Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team Box Pariah Nexus. On first glance the contents look great for Kill Team and for adding a ton of scatter terrain to your tabletop gaming collection. 48 pieces of Necron Specific terrain is actually really cool! And we’re also looking forward to the new models coming in the box as well.
That’s a TON of stuff – but that’s not the concern here. The issue is the two starting forces:
Space Marines
Space Marine Primaris Captain
5x Space Marine Heavy Intercessors
Necrons
Necron Chronomancer
5x Necron Flayed Ones
So just to take a step back here, is Games Workshop suggesting that 5 Flayed ones is going to be balanced against 5 Heavy Intercessors? Or perhaps they are suggesting that the Chronomancer is going to be able to really carry that load – but if we’re including characters, a Space Marine Primaris Captain isn’t exactly a push-over either.
These two fighting forces seem extremely unbalanced at first glance. So what gives?
There are a couple of factors to consider and the first BIG one is that this is for KILL TEAM and not a standard 40k game. Kill Team games are played on a smaller surface, engagements are closer and deadlier and more often than not favor close combat options. Is that enough to sway the game in the Necron’s favor? Flayed Ones are close combat specialists, right? Maybe. And that’s kind of the point.
We also don’t know what the Objective Cards are and those could have a big impact on things, too. We also don’t know what other upgrade options or other Kill Team boosts these units will get – that could be a significant factor as well. Basically, don’t count the Necrons out of the fight just yet. It might look like a lopsided fight if this was a standard 40k game, but this is Kill Team.
This is ONE other key thing that folks might have skipped over as well. GW mentioned this in their article about the preview but it might have flown under the radar for some folks:
“The kit also includes all of the rules to use the models from the Indomitus boxed set in your games of Kill Team, including Assault Intercessors and Necron Warriors armed with gauss reapers.”
Ah-ha! That’s why the model count is relatively light. The book has rules for all the Indomitus boxed set models, too. That REALLY opens things up and re-balances things.
Wait, does that include Outriders? What about the Canoptek Reanimator? Hmm…
At least having the option to fill-out the Necron roster with some Warriors, scarabs, and possibly Skorpekh Destroyers will be nice. However, this is also assuming you have access to those models. Again, I’m not writing off the Necron side of this Kill Team box, I’m just thinking those Heavy Intercessors might have a leg-up… provided they figure out a way to take advantage of their range. But I think that’s going to depend on the terrain and missions.
What do you think? Will the new Pariah Nexus box be internally balanced or will you need to reach outside the box for a “fair” experience?
