This Saturday, the capstone to this season of Kill Team arrives for pre-order in the form of Kill Team Annual 2023: Season of the Gallowdark. This mighty tome packs in the rules from five boxed expansions – count ‘em!
Alongside all the missions (45 in all) and terrain rules inside, you’ll also find complete Kill Team rules for 10 different factions to enlist for your operations. Four of them – Inquisitorial Agents, Hand of the Archon, Fellgor Ravagers, and Hearthkyn Salvagers – have their miniatures up for pre-order at the same time, so today we’re taking a look at what these elite operatives offer the enterprising Warhammer 40,000 commander.
Inquisitorial Agents
The Inquisition’s catspaws are known for their flexibility in Kill Team, and that extends directly to their rules in Warhammer 40,000. Found in the Agents of the Imperium Index, the Inquisitorial Henchmen unit starts life as a cut-price band of four basic Acolytes, but it can grow with the addition of Gun Servitors, Mystics, a Jokaero Weaponsmith, and even a Daemonhost.
The generalised profiles of the Acolyte firearms and melee weapons mean you don’t need to worry whether your choice of build options makes your Kill Team miniatures invalid. On a full-size battlefield, they work best as a retinue for their Inquisitor, and their abilities only come into play once a member of the Ordos is with them.
Their invulnerable save and Wound roll reductions makes them durable Bodyguards, and they can even hit back with respectable power, due to the Jokaero tinkering with their firearms.
Fellgor Ravagers
Those who’ve browsed through the Chaos Space Marines Index will have spotted a squad of Fellgor Beastmen lurking within the traitor hordes.
They’re incredibly cheap – you’ll get 10 for less than the cost of five Legionaries – but with a Toughness of 4 and the Bestial Raiders ability, which adds 2” to their Charge rolls against a unit holding an Objective, they’re handy for smashing small squads off the backfield. What’s more, they make great bullet sponges for your Heretic Astartes.
Hearthkyn Salvagers
The specialists of the Hearthkyn Salvagers generally act as an especially lethal looking squad of Hearthkyn Warriors, but their long experience fighting and scavenging in the cold void between the stars does bring them one extra heavy gun – the HYLas rotary cannon.
This
weapon brings a punishing six attacks at Strength 6, and scores an extra hit for each Hit roll of 6. With a 24” range, it’s the perfect tactical complement to a squad toting Autoch-pattern bolters. The other specialists found in the kill team – like the Lugger or Jump Pack Warrior – can’t use their special gear, but they sure do look stylish…
Hand of the Archon
Unlike the Inquisitorial Agents, the Hand of the Archon don’t have a separate datasheet – but they’re a particularly fancy stand-in for Kabalite Warriors, and make for a very characterful retinue of semi-trusted Trueborn for your Archon.
The Drukhari are known for their duplicity, and they’d find no small joy in passing off their knives as a splinter rifle on inspection day, so feel free to use the more esoteric specialists as regular Kabalites.
Come back later this week as we put these operatives in their natural habitats and see how they play in proper games of Kill Team. And don’t forget – you can pre-order your own this Saturday, alongside a copy of the Kill Team Annual 2023.
* With a dash of Ashes of Faith too.