There's no two ways about it – the Octarius Sector is in a bad way right now, with Ork Waaagh!s running rampant and Tyranid Hive Fleets consuming entire worlds on a daily basis. This war-torn region of space is where we find ourselves for the next major story event in the 41st Millennium, as well as the setting for the brand new edition of Kill Team.
Before we get into Octarius’ particular predicament, however, we should look at the one perhaps most responsible for the current state of all-encompassing war in the sector – Inquisitor Fidus Kryptman.* As possibly the Ordo Xenos’ foremost expert on the Tyranid menace, Kryptman was involved in conflicts against the xenos as far back as the first Tyrannic War, where he warned Marneus Calgar of the coming threat and allowed the Space Marines ample time to prepare.
He earned his exile and notoriety in the events following Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines’ defence of Tarsis Ultra in the Third Tyrannic War, when Kryptman took drastic action to slow the advance of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Noting that the Tyranids were getting stronger with every world they consumed, he pronounced Exterminatus on every planet in their path, condemning billions to death. With a body count like that, it’s a real wonder he didn’t end up on our list of morally dubious Inquisitors.
Although his actions succeeded in slowing the Hive Fleet (albeit at a cost even the Inquisition couldn’t overlook), it did not halt the Tyranids, and a further solution was required. After observing a brutal war between Leviathan and an Ork planet in which both sides all-but destroyed each other, Kryptman hatched a plan to divert the Hive Fleet to the nearby Octarius Sector, home to one of the largest Ork empires in the galaxy.
Suffice it to say, with a bit of razzle-dazzle involving captured Genestealers smuggled aboard a Space Hulk, the Tyranids were soon plunging into the heart of Octarius and beginning the all-out war we see today. Unfortunately for… well, practically everybody, the fighting escalated to such apocalyptic proportions that it now threatens a vast area of space, and forces otherwise content to leave the Imperium to their folly find themselves drawn in to avert calamity should the Octarian War spill out into the rest of Ultima Segmentum.
While armies numbering in the millions mobilise to contain the war, elite kill teams are dispatched into the lethal sector to disrupt and sabotage crucial enemy targets – or take advantage of the chaos to advance their own ends. Almost every faction has something to gain or lose from the Octarian War, and by sending small kill teams in place of larger forces, many hope to keep their stake small to avoid the war consuming them.
You can find out more about War Zone Octarius in the recent Warhammer Preview Online, and keep your eyes peeled for when the new Kill Team arrives for pre-order later this month. In the meantime, we’ll be looking closer at the factions found in the Kill Team: Octarius boxed set, so join us again soon for more skirmish combat goodness.
* Former Inquisitor, technically, but the Inquisition would have to catch him first.