With Kill Team: Into the Dark coming very soon, we’ve been thinking a lot about boarding actions. So today we’re taking a look at some of the weapons of the 41st Millennium that work especially well in the cramped confines of ship combat – and the folks who wield them.
There are a few vital factors you should consider when you’re arming up for the claustrophobic confines of an enemy vessel.
First, your weapons should be effective at short range – there’s little time to aim down the sights when you’re ambushed in one of those twisty corridors.
Second, you want heavy armour – especially to the front, since they’ll know you’re coming. Ducking and dodging only does so much in a tight space!
Third, while explosives can be devastating against clustered defenders, you don’t want something so powerful that it’ll punch a hole through the actual hull – looking at you, railguns.
Finally, you may have to open up bulkheads – or literal heads – so bring something with enough punch or cutting power to make yourself a new door when needed.
Looking for some more specific pointers when grabbing your gear for a boarding action? Just about every faction has specialised close-quarters units – and helpfully, they’re often referred to as breachers. Let’s see what tools they use to go breaching, and follow their example...
High Volume, Short Range
Whoever said the T’au aren’t great at close range has probably never faced one down the corridor of a space hulk. Breacher Teams are Fire Warriors armed for urban (or voidborne) combat with short-range pulse blasters that dial up the power the closer you get. Would they rather be behind a gunline? Probably, but it doesn’t always shake out that way.
The T’au aren’t alone in understanding the power of the spray-and-pray. Skitarii Vanguard use radium carbines to saturate whole corridors with sickening energy, while Guardian Defenders fire a flurry of razor death from shuriken catapults.
A Polite Knock at the Door
Nobody has ever accused Orks of being subtle – sneaky, however, is another thing entirely. The Breacha Boy found in the Kommandos Kill Team is a fine example of Orky lateral thinking. No door? Find a wall, bash it in, and keep going. Why creep through a back entrance when you can make your own? His gargantuan breacha ram makes light work of even the heaviest sealed bulkheads.
Melta weapons – using technology many enterprising Imperial engineers employ for cutting wrecks apart – are also an all-time classic for close-range carnage, and have a tendency to make their unfortunate victims look like the results of a botched welding job.
Shock and Awe
While Necrons may seem robotic, their lingering encoded identities can degrade to the point of terrible sickness. Flayed Ones desire nothing more than to leap from the shadows, butcher the living with flayer claws, and drape the flensed skin across their steely frames. It’s not fooling anyone, but it scares the daylights out of any defenders. Imagine meeting this guy in the dimly-lit corridors of an unfamiliar spacecraft!
Space Marine Reivers have clearly learned from these guys – hence pairing shock grenades with a scary skull mask for storming cabins.
Riding Shotgun
With access to a wide range of high-tech ordnance, like, uh… shotguns, the elite warriors of the Deathwatch are ideal for boarding actions. No wonder, given how many species of alien make their homes on drifting hulks, nomadic spacecraft, or asteroids with rockets strapped to them.
The Neophyte Hybrids of the Genestealer Cults also have Cult shotguns aplenty for double-barrelled carnage – perfect for spreading clouds of buckshot down the claustrophobic mining tunnels they infest on loyal Imperial worlds.
Space hulks like the Gallowdark are so loaded with atmosphere (not to mention lethal hazards) that it’s easy to imagine a cinematic firefight playing out in its cramped and ancient quarters. Soon, you won’t have to imagine – you’ll be able to see them unfold on your own tabletop.
If you're thinking of taking your existing operatives into the dark, you might want to leave the dark lances and sniper rifles back at base, and load up on shotguns and close-combat specialists. Sign up for our email newsletter to get the latest Navy boarding alerts sent straight to your inbox.