With Kill Team: Nachmund up for pre-order in mere days, you’re probably getting fired up to try out the Legionary and Voidscarred kill teams. Whichever one you choose, you’ll want to keep the Balefire Acolyte in mind – while stone-cold killers like the Legionary Butcher are perfect for chopping up even the scariest Voidscarred operatives, sometimes you just want to watch the enemy burn.
Hey, if your lips were that chapped, you’d probably be cranky too – and since moisturising products are so hard to come by in the grim darkness of the far future, the Balefire Acolyte is forced to take his frustration out on rival kill teams. As the name suggests – and the model makes abundantly clear – this Legionary’s weapon of choice is literal hellfire.
Balefire Acolytes are budding sorcerers, offering flexible psychic support with a choice of three different powers. Malign Influence is a boon to friendly* Legionary operatives, making their weapons far more deadly, while Life Siphon allows you to heal your allies by sucking the souls from your foes. These are both solid choices in the right circumstances – but you know what’s always a welcome addition to the battlefield? A big ol’ Fireblast.
The stats are solid for a shooting attack – about the same as a boltgun – but cast your eyes downward at those special rules. No Cover means you can incinerate enemies who are trying to hunker down – even sneaky Aeldari who think they’ve dashed safely into cover. Blast will help you take out clustered foes, as every operative within 2” of your victim also suffers this attack. Splash 1 is the flaming cherry on top – for each critical hit you retain, both the target and every operative within 2” takes an extra mortal wound.**
See where this is going? Toss a Fireblast at a group of operatives who are huddled up behind a wall, and your burning pinball could wipe out every single one as it bounces between hapless hostiles. Throw in the Mark of Tzeentch – always a fine choice for those sorcerous types – and you’ll be able to score a critical hit on a 5 or 6!
No doubt you’ll want to cast Fireblast as often as possible, but Malign Influence and Life Siphon don’t need to feel left out – there are a couple of pieces of equipment that’ll let you activate an extra psychic power in a turn. Sure, you might eat a handful of mortal wounds from an overdose of dark power, but it’s worth the risk to smoke some juicy targets while you empower or heal your Legionary comrades in their quest for adequate skincare.
Getting excited for Kill Team: Nachmund? Check back later this week for more tasty tidbits, then pre-order it on Saturday – and sign up to our newsletter to avoid missing the latest Kill Team news.
* ‘Friendly’ here refers to their allegiance in game terms, not their disposition. Heretic Astartes can seldom be described as friendly, even to their own kill team.
** To be clear, that’s every operative. Don’t go tossing fireballs when your buddies are in the blast zone! Or do – see our previous comment about being ‘friendly’.