Greetings, commander, and welcome back to the Ops Room. It’s nearly six months to the day since our last Kill Team Metawatch, and in that timespan the game has been put through its paces like never before. Nick from the Warhammer TV team sat down with Kill Team designer Elliot to ruminate on the current state of the game, and digest the latest developments in the Kill Team competitive scene.
Thanks to changes in the last Kill Team Balance Dataslate, the game is in quite a good state. Faction representation is varied at all levels of competition, and very few kill teams have failed to make a mark at major international tournaments – in fact, at recent events in Madrid and Warhammer World, nearly all of the top 10 competitors used different kill teams.*
This level of variety presents its own challenges, as simple win rate data isn’t enough to determine faction balance with such a broad pool. As players can easily swap between teams with just a single box of miniatures and a weekend of painting time, the data has to take relatively small groups of players shifting their faction into account.
The dataslate has ironed out the melee dominance of certain powerful factions, and a wide range of play styles remain viable in Kill Team games. Ork Kommandos, in particular, made a big splash at the NOVA Open 2023 thanks to their performance against popular melee teams.
Nevertheless, the team is always keeping an eye on things. Three kill teams – the Wyrmblade, Fellgor Ravagers, and Exaction Squad – may need a little leg up, and are currently under observation. You can expect the next Balance Dataslate this winter.
Meanwhile, the Kill Team matched play experience is receiving the Kill Team: Approved Ops card deck. Containing 57 cards, this set comprises the Critical Ops – Tac Ops and Mission Card pack, and the Critical Operations 2022 Close Quarters update.
It is the definitive way to play competitive or casual games of Kill Team, providing missions, objectives, maps, and all the other factors.
All in all, Kill Team is in a great place right now, and this is the perfect opportunity to shake up the status quo with a brand new box. We can’t say much about it right now – but you’ll find out sooner than you might think, and with new kill teams, a new season, and an entirely new setting on the way, it’s going to be a biggie.
* In Madrid, there were nine different factions in the top 10, while in Nottingham it was eight.