KILL TEAM FOR BEGINNERS

Kill Team may play a little differently to other systems you are familiar with. the following is an introduction to fundamental concepts as a supplement to the Lite or full KT rules; consult these for full detail of the below.

KT is a D6-based skirmish ruleset simulating combat between groups of individual operatives via alternating activations. All operatives have multiple wounds, inflict multiple points of damage, and have a range of actions they may perform each activation.

OPERATIVE STATS

• Operative name: name that determines the operative
• APL: action points per turn
• Move: movement in inches
• Hit: attack roll difficulty (lower is better)
• Save: defence roll difficulty (lower is better)
• Wounds: how much damage can the operative withstand
• Abilities: passive abilities the operative has during Scenario
• Unique actions: actions specific to this operative.
• Keywords: words that refer to operative's faction and may be used by other rules.

WEAPON STATS

• Name: name that determines the weapon
• Atk: quantity of the attack dice
• Hit: modifier to hit; dash (-) means use raw operative Hit stat, positive modifiers (+X) mean add modifier to attack dice result, negative modifiers (-X) mean subtract modifier from dice result, specific dice roll (X+) means replace operative's hit stat with following for the attack
• Dmg: quantity of damage inflicted when you resolve normal/critical hit respectively
• WR: weapon rules; additional rules used when you attack with this weapon; mostly described in Kill Team Lite Rules, those marked with * described under the table that contains that weapon
• WP: wargear points; specify relative cost of the weapon

ACTIONS

Each operative may perform a given number of actions (Move, Shoot, etc.) per turn, and can only perform each action once per turn, if there is no rule that states otherwise. Some operatives have access to unique actions.

All operatives start the Scenario with Conceal order. Operatives are given either Engage or Conceal orders at the start of each their activation. Operatives with Engage order may perform all actions; operatives with Conceal order are more limited but cannot be targeted by most ranged attacks while in cover.

COMBAT

Combat is resolved through comparison of dice pools. Critical hits and saves (normally rolls of a 6) are more powerful. A roll of 6 is always a critical hit. A roll of 1 is always fail.

In a ranged attack, the attacker rolls a given number of attack dice, retaining hits, and the defender attempts to avoid damage by rolling a given number of defence dice, retaining saves. Good save values can be overwhelmed by quantity of attacks or armour penetration, while poor save values can be reinforced by use of cover.

Melee is reciprocal, with each combatant taking turns to inflict damage or remove a die from their opponent's pool via parrying. with mutual damage and no armour saves, melee is quick and bloody.

COVER

Effective use and circumvention of terrain is key to success in KT. Where terrain intersects a potential ranged attack, targets may benefit. Operatives within 1” behind intervening cover can normally automatically retain one save without rolling.

Operatives in cover with a conceal order normally cannot be targeted, and operatives more than 1" behind intervening heavy/large terrain are normally considered to be obscured and are hard to hit.

Kill Team may be deadly but there is more to it than just killing, and securing your Master's objectives can often be better served by avoiding combat.

RULE CHANGES

ADDITION TO LITE RULES

If using Kill Team Lite Rules, include the following additional rules:

UNIVERSAL ACTIONS

The ACOLYTE RETINUE operatives, if not stated specificly, can perform following universal actions:

FALLING

When damage is inflicted on an operative that is on top of and within 1" of the edge of a terrain feature, after fully resolving that combat, shooting attack or effect, that operative must make a Falling test by rolling one D6. On a 1, that operative Falls directly downwards from the nearest edge of that terrain feature. Operative may also select to Fall any distance (instead of Dropping) as part of a Move, Dash or Fall Back action at no movement cost.

Whenever an operative makes an action in which it is Falling, if the vertical distance in inches it moves is greater than its APL stat, it suffers 1 damage per each additional 1" of vertical distance, rounding up. If any falling damage is inflicted during a movement action, that action immediately ends.

FLYING

Some operative datacards have the FLY keyword. Whenever such operative performs an action in which it moves, it can FLY. If it does so, it does do not climb/drop/fall/jump as normal. Instead, when this operative makes movement, measure its distance diagonally, directly to the point it should reach. However, if the operative selects to Fly, when it performs the Charge action, it can only move a distance up to its Move stat. Note that if you use VESPID STINGWING operatives in your scenario, this rule overrides the faction rule.

COUNTERACT AND GUARD

In Acolyte scenarios, operatives that have Engage order may Counteract as normal if all ACOLYTE RETINUE operatives are Expended, and it is their turn to activate. In addition, ACOLYTE RETINUE with an Engage order can perform the Guard action in any Killzone, like if it were Killzone: Gallowdark

SCENARIO GAME SEQUENCE

SCENARIO DECKS

A range of events within scenarios are shaped by random draw from decks of ordinary playing cards (French-suited cards). Each scenario will specify the decks required and when cards should be drawn, generally using ♥Hearts for pre-scenario investigation, ♠Spades for events, ♦Diamonds for objectives and ♣Clubs for loot.

Follow the instructions immediately when drawing each card. If a card would have no effect on the target operative (e.g. APL modification on a Servitor), select the next eligible operative. If a deck is exhausted, shuffle the cards and start the deck over.

ENEMY BEHAVIOUR

Since Kill Team Core Rules (3rd edition) provide pre-built NPO Behaviour table, you may use it for enemy operatives, with several additions:

• Brawler operatives are those operatives, whose melee weapons' Dmg stat is more than their ranged weapons Dmg stat, or who doesn't have ranged weapons.
• Marksman operatives are those operatives, whose ranged weapons' Dmg stat is more than their melee weapons Dmg stat, or who doesn't have melee weapons.
• If a Marksman operative has expended its weapons with Limited weapon rule (e.g. grenades), it then acts as a Brawler operative.
• If a Bruiser operative APL stat of 3 and more, and no opportunity to Fight multiple times that activation, it attempts to Shoot if able.
• If an enemy operative has unique actions on their datacard, it uses them at first opportunity, following that action's conditions.
• If no ACOLYTE RETINUE operatives are valid targets for enemy operatives, they perform patrol - roll a Scatter dice and make the Move action in that direction. LEADER operatives instead make the Move action to have Cover; if they already are in Cover, they remain stationary. In scenario logic, though, if enemy operatives are aware of ACOLYTE threat or alerted in some way, ignore this rule.
• On the Killzone: Gallowdark, enemy operatives perform the Operate Hatch action both to provide Line of Sight to another enemy operatives or to protect them from possible attacks with Blast weapons from ACOLYTE RETINUE operatives.

Instead of threat Principle, as described in Core Book, follow the Narrative Principle: this is intended to be a game of narrative fun rather than competitive precision. If it is unclear which operative should be activated or targeted, or precisely how they should act, roll a dice, or pick whichever option makes for the best story.

If playing with a Master, the best experience is to let Master freely control enemy operatives, following the Narrative Principle provided above.

Alternatively, you can use the adapted behaviour table below, though it's rather random:

ACOLYTE RETINUE

Your starting ACOLYTE RETINUE consists of the following:

• 1 ACOLYTE per player
• 3 Followers per player, chosen from the following options:
  • Canid
  • Hiver
  • Off-Worlder*
  • Ogryn*
  • Serviceman*
  • Servitor
  • Servo-skull
  *Counts as 2 selections.

Acolytes begin with a Follower Capacity of 3 which increases as they level up, allowing the recruitment of additional Followers.

Each Acolyte must select one Background from the Acolyte Backgrounds list, gaining the corresponding starting Ability and Primary Battle Honour Specialism. Hiver followers similarly select a background from the Hiver list. Serviceman followers select a background from the Serviceman list. Off-Worlders select Battle Honour Specialisms and a starting Battle Honour.

All followers gain one Stat increase of choice on recruitment: Move, Hit or Wounds.

WARGEAR AND EQUIPMENT

the Inquisition may have limitless resources, but they are granted only to those who prove themselves worthy. As Acolytes progress, they will earn the trust of their Master and with it greater access to the resources necessary to complete their tasks.

Each persistent operative has a given Wargear Capacity, noted on their datacard, and increasing as the operative gains in experience. Unless otherwise specified, on recruitment and ahead of each adventure, you may always equip your operatives with items from the Basic Wargear List at the WP cost specified, up to each operative's Wargear Capacity.

Unless otherwise specified, ahead of each scenario you may always equip your operatives with items from the Basic Equipment List at the EP cost specified, up to the EP limit specified. Some scenarios will also feature scenario-specific equipment choices.

Persistent operatives with free wargear capacity may carry additional equipment beyond this limit, at a cost of 1 WP per 1 EP of additional equipment.

You may at times gain access to advanced or rare weapons or equipment. Sometimes these may be added to your Stash and freely chosen at the WP/EP cost specified ahead of each scenario. At other times they may be assigned permanently to specific operatives, in which case they have no cost but are lost if that operative is killed or otherwise released from service.

DEPLOYMENT VALUE

Deployment Value (DV) is the sum of your Acolyte Retinue and Auxiliaries and reflects the resources your Master is willing to assign to a given objective. Each operative has a DV specified either on their datacard or in the scenario instructions. Scenarios are either balanced for a given DV, or scale in difficulty relative to the ACOLYTE RETINUE's total DV, as specified in the scenario instructions.

INJURY AND DEATH

OPERATIVE BACKGROUNDS

On recruitment, Acolytes, Hiver and Serviceman followers must select a background from the tables below.

EXPERIENCE AND LEVELS

Acolytes and Followers gain experience and levels – if they live long enough.

Acolytes gain experience as specified in each scenario, and may increase in level after a scenario if they reach one of the below thresholds:

Followers gain experience more slowly. they gain 2XP if they survive a scenario or 1XP if they are incapacitated in a scenario but not slain, and may be awarded bonus XP as specified in each scenario. Followers may increase in level after a scenario if they reach one of the below thresholds:

STRATEGIC AND FIREFIGHT PLOYS

Strategic and Firefight Ploys are learnt as an Acolyte gains in experience. Until ploys are learnt, only the universal Command Re-Roll ploy is available. When indicated in the progression table above, you may select one ploy from the Acolyte Strategic Ploy or Firefight Ploy lists to become available in scenarios.

When playing with multiple Acolytes, nominate one Acolyte as Leader ahead of each scenario. this operative gains the Leader keyword and provides the Strategic Ploys for that scenario. All Acolyte players may use any learnt Firefight Ploys, but only on operatives under their control.

BATTLE HONOURS

Battle Honour specialisms are similar to the 2nd edition Narrative Spec-Ops and can be found in Reference. Only Latent Psyker operatives may gain abilities from the additional Psyker specialism, detailed in the following section. Some Followers may choose from multiple Battle Honour specialisms; the first time they gain a Battle Honour, choose their Primary Specialism.

Each time an ACOLYTE RETINUE operative gains a Battle Honour, instead of determining one from the specialism indicated by the progression table, you can determine one from the Acolyte table below. Each time an OFF-WORLDER operative gains a Battle Honour, you can determine one from the Off-Worlder Specialisms (see Reference).

An operative cannot have the same Battle Honour more than once.

Designer's Note: Random progression may not be for everyone. If you prefer, roll two dice and pick the result that suits best, re-roll inappropriate results, or simply choose your Battle Honours.

LATENT PSYKERS

Latent psychic power manifests unpredictably among all levels of human society. this power is by its nature unpredictable - it is unclear what capacity a psyker will have until it begins to manifest, and untrained psychic exertions are inherently dangerous. Most latent psykers suffer a grim fate - either succumbing to the horrors of the Empyrean or vanishing into the Blackships of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Some however learn to harness, control and conceal their gifts, and are of particular interest to Inquisitors, whether as assets or as threats.

On character creation, Latent Psykers gain the PSYKER keyword. When determining a Battle Honour in the Psychic discipline, the Operative gains access to one of the following ACOLYTE psychic powers:

When a Latent Psyker gains their first Psychic Power, they gain the following Unique Action:

When a Latent Psyker fails a Manifest Psychic Power roll, roll again on the following table:

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

INVESTIGATION DECK

Prepare and shuffle a deck of ordinary playing cards, A-K♥. Unless otherwise specified, you may choose to draw one Investigation card ahead of each scenario. Only one card may be drawn regardless of how many players form the Acolyte Retinue, except as specified by the Spy Network strategic asset.

EVENT DECK

Prepare and shuffle a deck of ordinary playing cards, A-J♠. At the end of each Turning Point draw and apply one Event card.

LOOT DECK

BASE SIZES

It is strongly recommended to use the following guide for operative base sizes:

• OGRYN operative: 40mm round base.
• SERVITOR operative: 32mm round base.
• Other operatives with Save stat of 4+: 28.5mm round base.
• Any other operatives: 25mm round base.

However, you may use your operatives with bases they were packaged with.

ACOLYTE

FOLLOWERS

AUXILIARY DATACARDS

TACTICAL ASSETS

Once during the scenario, when you would activate a Ready friendly operative, you can perform the Shoot action using the ranged weapon below instead.

For the purposes of Line of Sight, draw Visibility and Cover lines from a friendly ACOLYTE RETINUE operative. For the purposes of this weapon's special rules, treat that friendly operative as performing the action.

*Barrage: The target of the attack made with this weapon cannot retain Cover saves, unless any part of its base is underneath Vantage terrain.

SPECIALISM BATTLE HONOURS

GENERIC SPECIALISMS

FACTION SPECIALISMS

Here are represented the adapted specialisms from 2nd edition of Kill Team. For certain reasons, number of available faction Battle Honours is reduced - both to reduce paperwork and to stimulate players building character with diverse talents.

BASIC WARGEAR & EQUIPMENT

BASIC WARGEAR

OGRYN WARGEAR

BASIC EQUIPMENT

AMMUNITION

GRENADES

WEAPON ACCESSORIES

RARE WARGEAR & EQUIPMENT

Each time an Acolyte earns an item of Rare Equipment, you can choose from which table the item is determined – the Ranged or Melee equipment tables from the Spec Ops Narrative Play rules, or the Acolyte-specific Rare Equipment or Rare Wargear tables below. Your Stash cannot include more than one of each item, except results 1-7 on the Acolyte Rare Wargear list. At any time you may permanently assign an item of Rare Equipment (but not Rare Wargear) to a Follower. It may thereafter be equipped at no EP cost but is lost if that Follower is killed or dismissed.

The number before equipment item name is D12 roll result.

RARE EQUIPMENT

RARE WARGEAR

WEAPON RULES

BASE OF OPERATIONS

REQUISITIONS

Asset Acquired: Gain access to one Strategic Asset from the list below. Each Asset may only be purchased once per Acolyte.

Bionic Augmentations: Remove one Permanent Injury from an Operative. This Operative gains the BIONIC keyword

Rare Equipment: Randomly determine one item from the Rare Equipment table of your choice and add it to your Stash. Each item may only be obtained once per Acolyte; re-roll as necessary.

STRATEGIC ASSETS

PLOYS

STRATEGIC PLOYS

FIREFIGHT PLOYS