Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Kill Team(8E) Guide and FAQ

Tactics General Game Mechanics Imperium Factions Chaos Factions Xenos Factions Guide and FAQ Official Errata

A page for answers to questions asked too many times in /ktg/ for anyone to bother typing out an answer again. With special thanks to the Anon who wrote the original version.

General

Which books do I need?

The Must Haves

• The Core Manual: It is needed for every version of the game, and no other book replaces it, only adds to it. 100% essential.

• Elites: An expansion but more than that. Unlike other expansions there is no "Elites" Game Mode, instead Elites is treated as part of Core by GW and the content inside is used in every game mode. This let them use it as a vehicle to vastly improve the balance of the game. Contains required content for almost every faction in the game and introduces Custodes. Elites and the Core Manual are the 2 most important books to get. If you're cost averse, try out the game with the Core Manual first, but when you decide to get invested, get this book second. Don't listen to anyone that tells you Elites is power creep or unbalanced - it was actually a major balance fix and several factions went from garbage to decent because of it.

The Rest

• Annual 2019: Has all the rules for Sisters (new in the annual), Servants of the Abyss (reprint/update from the Beta and WD with new units), and Chaos Daemons (reprint from WD) and includes extra wargear for primaris marines, a couple of badly needed updates for CSM, and has the non-beta version of the datasheets for the characters from Blackstone Fortress. Also collates almost all of the tactics from the various team boxsets that have since gone out of print and adds even more including ones for the core factions that never got a team box. (note, it doesn't have the zone specific tactics - see the /ktg/ tactics selector) Not vital unless you want to play those added factions (or CSM!), but nice to have if your faction didn't get a team box. Check out your faction page and see what it adds for you.

• Arena: The competitive game mode. Comes with boards, ruleset and missions for a competitive focused experience. Almost all tournaments use this as the basis for their packets. Even the tournaments with their own custom packets are pretty similar to Arena. If you're looking to play competitively you will need this. If you're not, it does add a lot of variety in mission options and an easy way to play without carrying a ton of terrain (the four killzones can be used for regular missions) but its not a necessity.

• Commanders: Another alternate game mode. Fundamentally unbalanced. So fundamentally that GW threw up their hands and said that they're never going to try to make it balanced, and in fact released errata that made it worse. But still fun, still adds variety and the balance issues can be mitigated by the right mission selection. You only need this if you’re including the commander missions in your rotation.

• Rogue Trader: A campaign book. You only need that if you want to play the campaign or if you want to play Elucidian Starstriders or Gellerpox Infected.

The missions are getting boring, what to do?

Stop just playing matched play book missions. There are loads more missions beyond those in the books, find the mission selector from the current /ktg/ thread and use it. It tells you where to find the missions. If it says "card" then go look in the /ktg/ MEGA mission folder.

Also, try branching out into narrative missions. They’re just matched play missions that are not symmetrical. No they aren’t always fair but you don’t have to have an exactly 50% chance of winning to have fun. Almost winning a mission that’s an uphill struggle for you can be more fun.

When will we get tanks and shit in KT?

Hopefully never. Use them as terrain, even make a special scenario with them if you want but they do not work as regular units. 8th has made vehicles incredibly resilient to anything except proper anti-tank weapons and those are far too rare in KT. 10x short range, no cover BS3+ Krak missiles only has a 53% chance of reducing a Rhino to 0 wounds. Now think about the factions that have hardly any access to weapons like that (e.g. Orks). If you still want a power trip, play Knights in regular 40k, it's about the same effect.

But GW promised that ALL factions would be in KT. When do I get my Knight Armigers?

Get help. Clearly you need it.

Is Kill Team dead?

No. But yes. But no.

9th edition launched in 2021. This FAQ is for 8th Edition.

Roster/Team Building

What the fuck is a roster? Isn't that just a list?

In KT you don’t prepare lists in advance, you prepare rosters. A roster is 20 models (for regular play, different limits in campaigns) which share a faction keyword but all of the other limits (points, number of specialists, individual model limits) do not apply. You tell your opponent what your faction keyword is (and he tells you), choose a mission and prepare the board. In competitive play, players show each other their rosters before choosing teams. This practice is also fairly common in casual games.

Then you select the best individuals from your roster to accomplish that particular mission on that particular board against that particular opponent.

In practice you'll build a few set lists that you take out in predictable situations and try to merge them together into your roster. E.g. an Anti-MEQ list, and Anti-GEQ list, and a Anti-Melee list. Building the roster is a holistic process though. You have to balance all those needs together. Your Anti-MEQ list might be the greatest list ever built for that purpose, but if its 18 models and now you can't fit a response to Melee teams in your roster, thats not going to work.

Aren't rosters just for campaigns?

No, they're for all game modes.

Aren't rosters just for tournaments?

No, they're for all game modes.

Isn't this list tailoring?

Yes, that's the point. With so few models (a bunch of factions can't take more than 5 in regular size missions) a good all-purpose list simply isn't possible. Tailoring prevents faction and mission match-ups from screwing you and stops skew lists dominating. It's also a balancing factor for the factions with high model counts (factions that can only field 5-6 models at 100pts are at a disadvantage). Factions that field fewer models can pack their roster with loads of good options, factions that field lots of models have less room for alternate choices. It also counters horde lists because your opponent can see that your roster isn't able to do anything other than grot/gaunt swarm and can optimize for it.

Do I have to use a roster?

Yes and no. You'll always be using a roster but you can just put 100pts of models on it (assuming that your mission rotation only contains 100pt missions). Be aware that you're putting yourself at a huge disadvantage.

We just create a list every time without using a roster. 20 models is too restrictive.

Don't be this guy. The whole point of rosters is to force you to make choices. It's an important part of the game and an important balance factor.

How many points is KT played at?

KT is played at 100pts unless the mission says otherwise. The bulk of missions are still 100 pts.

• There are a few 150pt missions (all in Rogue Trader, all commander mandatory or commander optional).
• Commanders introduced 200pt missions. All 200pts missions are mandatory commanders for at least one player except for two that allow optional commanders.
• Elites introduced 125pt missions. There still aren't many of those. Playing these is not a requirement for using units from Elites, nor is using units from Elites a requirement to play these.

Which missions can I use the models/rules from Kill Team: Elites in?

Literally all of them. They're always in play unless you specifically house rule them out.

There is no "Elites" game mode like Commander or Ultra-Close Confines (i.e. Arena), but rather the book is an an expansion on the core rules. Thus the models it adds are available in any and every type of mission, including those other game modes, as are most of the new rules*.

The book has missions in it, but these are just extra missions and you are not required to play those missions to use the new rules and models, nor to use the new rules and models if you play those missions.

*The one exception is that you cannot use the Reserve rules in Ultra-Close Confines (i.e. Arena) missions as specified in the Reserve rules. Everything else is fair game, including subfactions.

Is [some list] a good list?

See rosters above or tell us what mission and opponent that list is intended to be used for. If you don't tell us that then expect most of the responses to be "what's the rest of your roster?"

Can I soup [faction] and [other faction] together?

No, every model on your roster must share a FACTION keyword.

Daemons and CSM both have the Chaos keyword

That’s not a faction keyword. Faction keywords and regular keywords are both keywords, you can use them for abilities, tactics, etc. but only faction keywords are used for determining which models you can put on your roster and which tactics you get access to.

What if I’m not battle-forged? The book says that’s optional.

It’s not really. Matched play requires battleforged teams and rosters with only one faction keyword. Narrative missions require battleforged teams. Technically, you can mix factions on your roster for non-campaign narrative play (that restriction slipped through the cracks) but you can’t mix them in a team anyway.

You can do what you like in open play but bear in mind that it’s only being battle-forged that requires you to obey the points, unit and specialist limits. So, for example, 100 terminator gunners with assault cannons who are all heavy specialists is perfectly fine. You also don't get command points, making some narrative missions unwinnable. Pretty much everyone uses battleforged kill teams. If you had a play group with other restrictions you wouldn’t be asking us.

Can I make a list out of just [some unit]?

Yes, unless there’s a model limit on it. Should you? Unless that’s the only good datasheet available to you (see harlequins, custodes, grey knights) then no, it will almost always be worse than using all of the good options available to you.

Can I make a list out of just terminators?

Yes, you can have three terminators if you select wargear to squeeze under the limit. Should you? Fuck no, it’s terrible and boring for both players. Board control is key in KT and you can’t do it. You don’t have interesting choices to make and neither does your opponent. Teams that only field 5 models are at a distinct disadvantage, 3 models is terrible in almost all circumstances.

I don’t care how good it is

Then go for it. It's still boring to play with and against though. Fluffy if the other guys got genestealers though (remember that all of the fluff for space hulk has the terminators taking terrible loses and be ready to recreate that)

I don’t know what models I should pick for my roster. Please help me!

This advice applies to all factions. Look through all of the datasheets available to your faction (and the tactics and subfaction abilities) and the weapon lists. You’re trying to pick out useful stuff. Specifically:

• Any weapons that do more than 1 Damage. A D2 weapon is 1.5x more likely to kill a model than a D1 weapon with otherwise identical stats. So chances are these will be your primary model elimination tools, especially if they fire multiple shots and otherwise have good stats. You want as many of these as you can get. Don’t take half of the gunners available to you and complain that you can’t win.

• Any 1 Damage weapons that fire lots of shots or melee models that do lots of hits. Often they don't have the stats to beat the multidamage weapons above, but they’re reliably okay, especially against weak models.

• Melee models that can fight more than once or can charge an enemy that has fallen back assuming that they have the stats and/or wargear to leverage those advantages.

• Things that are situationally useful: stuff that stops people charging you, stuff that gives you extra mobility for zones with lots of vertical terrain, etc.

• Cheap, fast, survivable models to take and hold objectives and to control doors in arena. Access to quality chaff is a defining feature of the strongest teams, even more so in tournament settings that run custom missions or Arena.

Basic guys with basic guns are not good unless they are cheap, fast and survivable (see above) or you’ve bought all of the good models available to you and you still have points to burn. Seriously, do the math on the chances of 10 guardsmen getting at least one wound on a marine…

8-10 models is generally optimal (but it will depend on mission and opposing faction, of course). More than that and you're generally sacrificing killing power for chaff. Less than that and you're sacrificing board control (but some factions don't have any choice). The competitive missions (arena and tournaments) skew this and make board control even more important.

I keep losing, help me! BTW, I only take half of the good models available to me because of my fluff/aesthetics.

Pic related is one such Kasrkin. Looks badass, obviously elite and actually fits with the imperial guard aesthetic. Perfect for replacing those overly baroque scions

Take the units you need and make them aesthetically pleasing and fitting to your fluff.

Don’t like scions? Make some veterans, use kasrkin or grenadiers (both are better soldiers with better guns and carapace armour), make some drop troopers (scions are drop troopers so people should figure that out). Use some imagination.

If thats still not acceptable, then its time to make a decision. Is keeping /yourdudes/ exactly as-is more important to you than winning? Either answer is fine, play the game however you enjoy. But if you chose fluff, just know that the neither the game designers nor your opponents have a responsibility to let you win. Don't bitch and moan about losing when its your decision that led to it. And definitely don't try to impose your self-made restrictions on other players in an attempt to "fix" the problem either. Down that path lies CaaCfaggery and a particularly virulent form of That-Guyhood

The inverse is also true. If you choose to focus on the competitive side, feel free to advise them on the downsides of their lists, but don't reee at fluffy players. As long as they're not trying to limit your enjoyment and they're fine with losing, that's their prerogative.

I have a 100pt list with a commander, why are people giving me shit?

You can only use commanders in missions that say you can use a commander (and nearly all of those say you MUST use a commander). It’s something you’ll only use in missions that say you use it. See rosters above. If you have commander missions in your rotation then you need to have at least one commander on your roster (and make sure one of them is 100pts or less if you include narrative missions in your rotation).

I can only afford one box, can I make a team?

Yes, there’s even a couple of okay teams you can make. Deathwatch, harlequins, grey knights. There are lots of other, shittier, teams you could make as well. Most good teams need 2-3 boxes.

Often you only need half of a particular box so see if you can split with someone - 2-3 boxes split with a buddy is a great value way to get started.

Gameplay

Are multidamage weapons always better?

No. Just usually.

But D1 weapons are capped at 50% kill rate?
And many multidamage weapons don't do better than 50% either.

So why are multidamage weapons usually better?
A D1 weapon has a 50% chance to kill on the injury roll. A D2 weapons has a 75% chance. a D6 weapon has 98% chance. That's that limiting factor that was mentioned - you only get 1 chance at the injury roll regardless of how many successful attacks you have, so the theoretical maximum a D1 can have is a 50% chance to kill.

But this also means its effectively a multiplier. A D2 weapon is 1.5x as likely to pass the injury roll as an otherwise identical D1 weapon. Given against most targets the Damage doesn't matter otherwise (FNPs and Multiwound models are the main exceptions), this means the entire D2 weapon effectively has a 1.5x multiplier to its kill chance compared to the D1 weapon.

The upshot of all this is that stats on the D1 weapon have to be pretty good compared to those of the D2 weapon to overcome that multiplier, but it can happen. A Condemnor Boltgun might have multidamage against Psykers, but a flamer is still more likely to kill that Grey Knight.

How much terrain do I need?

Look at the GW kill zones, in particular mechanicus and fronteris. They come with about 50% of the terrain needed. If you look at the GW tournament packet, they have every player bringing a painted kill zone (or equivalent amount of terrain) and you combine it with your opponent’s collection to fill the board.

How much of my terrain should be LoS blocking?

You don’t need a huge amount to make the game function, especially because being partially covered actually does something in KT, but it’s balanced around a fair amount. If you setup one of the five or six objective games and there are lots of places where you can see more than two objectives then that’s not enough. If you can see four or five objectives from multiple locations then that’s definitely not enough. If the Tau player is complaining that’s probably about the right amount of LoS blocking.

DON'T PUT ALL OF YOUR LARGEST PIECES of LoS BLOCKING TERRAIN IN THE CORNERS! Why the fuck do so many people do this? If you have an opponent that insists on doing this then get some random person to arrange the terrain or stop playing games against the resident asshole. If you do it then stop being the resident asshole.

Wouldn’t it be fun if we played KT at like 2000 points?

No, that would be unspeakably horrible. Fortunately, if you like how KT plays but want to play larger games there is a solution. Apocalypse is now a completely separate ruleset to 40K and it plays like a cross between Epic Armageddon and KT (with a squad being treated like a single model is in KT). It’s really good. All you need is the rulebook, all of the datasheets are free to download.

Being in LoS and being obscured

Model A counts as being in Line of Sight of model B as long as a straight line can be drawn from any part of model A to any part of model B. As such model A is also in LoS of model B. Yes this means that you can draw LoS from the barrel of a gun, which sticking out of a window, to an antenna sticking out behind a solid wall.

Model B counts as obscured for model A, if anything, terrain or other models, blocks LoS to a part of the body, head, arms, or legs, even partially. The base or antenna/flags/guns/etc. not being fully visible does not give obscured to the model. This means that it is possible for model B to be obscured for model A, while model A is not obscured for model B.

It is very easy for a model to gain the benefit of being obscured, while being out of LoS is more of a challenge.

I don't like this and want to apply obscured conditions to determining LoS

You can, if you talk about it with your opponent first, but accept them saying no. Having to draw LoS from the body and limbs, or even worse, just the head, has a significient aspect on positioning and greatly reduces the possibilities for a model to get clear LoS on an enemy model. For example, a model standing behind a window with its gun poking out would normally get clear shots on models standing on the open street below. With the above changes to determining LoS, those models will nearly always gain obscured, if they are even visible to the model in the first place. Instead of poking the gun out, placing the model with its back towards the window may create better LoS condition now.

While a flagpole shooting at a spike might not feel right, consider that the game and its rules are an abstraction of the battle taking place. The models are static in the shooting phase, but they would be poking around corners, or took their shot when the enemy rushed from cover to cover during the movement phase. The antenna sticking out behind the wall does give your models position away, even if it was cowering unmoving behind it. Maybe the weaponry employed is strong enough to blast through the wall, or the enemy found a gap in it. This is what the -1 to hit and to the injury roll represents.

Can I shoot a pistol into a combat the model is not part of?

No. You can only use a pistol to target an enemy model that is within 1" of a friendly model, if the shooting model is also within 1" of that enemy model. A model can never shoot into a combat it is not part of.

What about Fleshhooks?

Yes, Fleshhooks can. They are not pistols, and their ability to fire at targets within 1" of a friendly is not dependent on also being within 1" of that target like it is with pistols.

How does Pile in/Combat work?

Pile In/Choosing models to fight

A model can make a Pile in move of up to 3" towards the nearest enemy model when it is chosen to fight. Pile in moves happen before the model resolves any attacks. For a model to be eligible to be chosen to fight, during the fight phase, at least one of these conditions has to be fullfilled:

• The model charged successfully.
• The model was charged successfully.
• The model is within 1" of an enemy model.
• The model is given the ability to fight through the use of an ability or a tactic.

This means that it is possible for a model to be chosen to fight later in the fight phase, due to an enemy model piling in/consolidating into it. This also means that a model can be chosen to fight and make a pile in move, even if there are no enemy models within 1" of them, as long as one of the first two conditions was fullfilled. This can happen when an enemy model, that was within 1" of your model, was killed before you choose this model to fight.

Who can I attack?

My model successfully charged

You can only direct your attacks against enemy models that your charge move brought you within 1" of. This means that even though you chose both models A and B as targets of your charge, your charge move got you within 1" of model A, and your pile in within 1" of model B, you can only direct attacks against model A.

Does that mean if I charge two models into a single enemy model, and the first kills it, my second model can pile in against a different enemy model, but not attack it? Yes. This ruling also makes fight twice abilities a lot less useful.

My model was charged successfully

You can attack any enemy model that is within 1" of your model after your Pile in move.

My model ended up within 1" of an enemy model

You can attack any enemy model that is within 1" of your model after your Pile in move.

Can I get two injury rolls against a single target if I split my attacks over two melee weapons?

No. Unlike shooting, you declare all your combat attacks before resolving them, so any attacks made with a different weapon against a model that was reduced to 0 wounds are still lost.

There is usually no point in taking two melee weapons unless one of them is free and does not replace anything you want. Or if they give you an an extra attack like a Chainsword or a Misercordia.

When can I make a Consolidation move?

A Consolidation move is a move of up to 3" towards the nearest enemy model. A model can only Consolidate if it fought in the fight phase. This means that a model who piled in, but had no legal targets to attack, can not make the Consolidation move. This is because the Fight sequence ends if there are no valid targets.

Why is Commander unbalanced?

Because the game devs didn't bother to do so. The specialisms vary wildly in power level, and the point costs on the commanders (especially now that they're locked to level 1 except for narrative games) jackknife between to cheap to build a good roster around or so expensive that you lose on board control, even if you 198 point commander can mulch Custodes.

How do we fix it?

Coming Soon

How do Specialist Retainers work?

• Specialist Retainer is an ability found on datasheets for unique characters available to some factions. The characters are often called Specialist Retainers.
• They always count as as a specialist of their type. You can't take UR-025 as a non-specialist for example.
• They don't count towards your maximum limit of specialists. A Guard player could take a leader, a veteran, a medic, a demo, the Zealot Vorne, the Combat Gotfret, the Sniper Rein all in the same team.
• They DO prevent you from taking the same specialism twice. They ignore the limit on maximum number of specialism. They do not ignore the restriction on duplicates. No Rein AND a plasma Sniper for you, guardsman.
• Their specialist abilities are not listed on their datasheet unless it specifically says they are. So despite Gotfret having a A4 listed on his statline, like normal models this is before specialisms modify it. So because he is always a Combat Specialism, he actually always has A5. Datasheets that are already modified by their specialism explicitly say so (e.g. the premade Commanders like Ghyrson Starn and Feodor Lasko)
• While no single player can take multiple (so far they're all Max 1), there is no restriction on both you and another player taking the same character. So a Guard player and a Sisters player could have their Gotfrets face off in a mission.

Cheap Starting Kill Teams

Imperium

Space Marines

Imperial Guard

Cheaper Option - $55USD

Buy Cadians ($10USD) and a Militarum Tempestus Scions box ($35USD) and a set of Space Marine Plasma Guns ($10USD)

From the Scion Box, assemble:

• 1x Scion Plasma Gunner
• 1x Scion Hotshot Volley Gunner
• 1x Scion with Voxcaster.

Conversions:

• Take the flamer from the Scion kit, use it to build a flamer gunner guardsman
• Take 3 of the Space Marine Plasma Guns, use it to build 3 plasma gunner guardsmen
• Take 2 of the Space Marine Plasma Guns, use it to build 2 more plasma gunner scions

9 models, 98pts:

• [ 8pts] Special Weapons Gunner [Leader]: Plasma Gun Guardsman.
• [ 8pts] Special Weapons Gunner [None]: Plasma Gun Guardsman.
• [ 8pts] Special Weapons Gunner [None]: Plasma Gun Guardsman.
• [ 8pts] Guardsman Gunner [None]: Flamer Gun Guardsman.
• [13pts] Scion Gunner [Sniper]: Plasma Gun Scion.
• [13pts] Scion Gunner [None]: Plasma Gun Scion.
• [13pts] Scion Gunner [None]: Plasma Gun Scion.
• [13pts] Scion Gunner [None]: HSVG Scion.
• [14pts] Scion [Comms]: Voxcaster Scion

More Viable Option - $80USD Buy a Cadian Command Squad ($35USD) and a Militarum Tempestus Scions box ($35USD) and a set of Space Marine Plasma Guns ($10USD) TEMP PLACEHOLDER

Grey Knights

Your real only option is the Grey Knights Strike Squad ($60USD). This gives you 10 models, while a team is usually about 5 meaning you have some options to put on your roster. Like other marine teams, magnetizing has a lot of merit with GK and you culd build a full roster

From the box, build:

• 1x Justicar with Pair of Nemesis Falchions (A justicar has legs with a tabard/skirt/cloth thing, fancy pauldrons, and a shield on the pauldron)
• 1x Justicar with Warding Stave
• 2x Grey Knight with Pair of Nemesis Falchions
• 1x Grey Knight with Nemesis Daemon Hammer
• 1x Grey Knight with Psilencer
• 1x Grey Knight with Incinerator
• 2x Grey Knight with Psycannon
• 1x Grey Knight with Force Halberd

Example team: 5 models, 100pts

• [20pts] Justicar [Leader]: Pair of Nemesis Falchions
• [20pts] Grey Knight [Combat]: Nemesis Daemon Hammer
• [19pts] Grey Knight [Zealot]: Pair of Nemesis Falchions
• [22pts] Grey Knight Gunner [Demolitions]: Psilencer
• [19pts] Grey Knight [None]: Pair of Nemesis Falchions

Adeptus Custodes

Deathwatch

Cheaper Option - $35USD

Buy a Deathwatch Kill Team ($35USD) This will be the core of all of you Deathwatch Team, it's enough to start, but you will want to expand with some Easy To Build: Primaris Space Marine Intercessors, you can make a playable team only with the Kill Team box but you can make a cheap and extremely effective ranged kill squad with 3 veterans and 2 intercessors (Auspex+bolt rifle is great in DeathWatch, and the 2 wounds offer protection from psybolts)

5 models, 99 points:

• [21pts] Watch Sergeant [Leader]: Storm Shield, Power Maul.
• [21pts] Deathwatch Veteran Gunner: Deathwatch Frag Cannon.
• [18pts] Deathwatch Veteran Gunner [Heavy]: Infernus Heavy Bolter.
• [21pts] Black Shield [Zealot]: Storm Shield, Power Maul.
• [18pts] Deathwatch Veteran [Sniper]: Combi-Plasma.

To make the full shooty Intercessor version, swap out the Watch Sergeant and The Black Shield with 2 basic bolt rifle Intercessors, make 1 with auspex communication expert, and put Demolitions on your Infernus, some people complain that 4 Frag Cannon Deathwatch is OP but don't fall for the bait, 2 are great but more than those are overkill, it's better to have a varied team. As a last note if you are a diehard Primaris fan you can even run 5 basic Bolt Rifle intercessors and while still being mediocre they would perform twice as better compared to a Space Marines full Intercessor team as you get to use special issue ammo on all of them

Adeptus Mechanicus

Sisters of Battle

Sisters of Silence

Elucidian Starstriders

Unfortunately the only way to get these is to buy the Kill Team: Rogue Trader box set for $130USD. It does come with the Gellarpox team, all the rules for both, terrain and some boards but if all you're interested in is this team, its a steep price. It also cannot be played at 125pts without a commander and/or house rules. There is only one way to assemble each model so just follow the instructions for all the red models.

The best/only way to build this team; 9 Units. 100 pts.

• Voidsmaster Nitsch [Leader]: Model with Shotgun and Pistol. 6pts.
• Knosso Prond [Combat (Specialist Retainer)]: Model holding a sword and severed head. 25pts
• Larsen van der Grauss[Comms (Specialist Retainer)]: Model with Electrode backpack, radar tablet and pistol. 22pts
• Sanistasia Minst [Medic (Specialist Retainer)]: Model with Knife/Syringe Hand and magnifying helmet. 17pts
• Aximillion [Veteran]: Dog model. 6pts.
• Voidsman Gunner [Heavy]: Model with Rotor Cannon (belt fed minigun). 6pts.
• Voidsman [Demolitions]: Any of the 3 models with helmets and rifles. 6pts.
• Voidsman [None]: Any of the 3 models with helmets and rifles. 6pts.
• Voidsman [None]: Any of the 3 models with helmets and rifles. 6pts.

Gunner is the Heavy to allow for maximum specialists and its synergy with the Rotor Cannon. Aximillion is the Veteran to allow him to close the gap and get into melee range sooner with the use of Adaptive Tactics and to help him pass Nerve Tests.

Chaos

Chaos Space Marines

Death Guard

Thousand Sons

Just buy the Start Collecting! Thousand Sons set for $95USD. Note that this is NOT the annoyingly similarly named "Start Collecting! Thousand Sons Collection" which includes the Codex for 40K. You don't need that book for Kill Team.

While you could get by with just Rubric Marines, you will eventually need Tzaangors to really compete for objectives. The Start Collecting set is the same price as a set of Rubrics and Tzaangors you'd eventually buy anyway but also includes Ahriman (usually $40USD and who you can't use directly, but could easily proxy as a commander or be sold to recoup some of the cost of the box) and 2 upgrade sprues for your Gors (usually $12.50 EACH).

Cheap Team $55USD

Only for when you must minimize your initial outlay. Buy 1 box of Rubric Marines ($55USD). At 16pts minimum a model, you can pretty much have every single version of a Marine only team on your roster with just the models in the box. Unfortunately this doesn't actually offer much in the way of flexibility.

From the box, construct:

• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer with Force Stave and Warpflame Pistol
• 1x Rubric Marine Gunner with Soulreaper Cannon
• 3x Rubric Marine with Warpflamer
• 1x Rubric Marine with Warpflamer and Icon of Flame
• 2x Rubric Marine with Inferno Bolt Gun

The remaining 2 will likely only ever get used in 125+ point games. These can be assembled however you wish with whats left, or even magnetized.

List wise, the Sorcerer must be your Leader. Veteran should be given to a Warpflamer to get them in range faster and Demolitions to another Warpflamer. It is not vital the Gunner be a Heavy, as they already have the Heavy 1 Ability through All is Dust, and the Level 1 Tactic is waste of CP. Demolitions is a bit better, but much for effective on your Warpflamer. Instead you could give Combat to a Rubric because you have almost 0 close combat ability and a spare specialist slot. Neither option is likely to ever make a difference. You don't have much flexibility, so if you need bodies for objective games your only option is to take fewer warpflamers and more bolters.

Recommended Team $95USD

Buy the Start Collecting! Thousand Sons set for $95USD. Has the benefit of being basically everything you will ever need to play TS in Kill Team. It doesn't just buy you a team, but essentially an entire roster. You might pick up Scarab Terminators at a later date and maybe a commander if you can't/don't want to proxy with Ahriman and you actually play Commander ever but both are far from a necessity.

Build the same Marine options as above. From the Tzaangors box, build:

• 1x Twistbray (fancy horns) with Tzaangor Blade
• 1x Tzangor with Tzaangor Blade and Brayhorn
• 5x Tzangor with Tzaangor Blade
• 3x Tzangor with Autopistol and Chainsword

Some or all of the Tzaangor Blade Tzaangors can be build with autopistol and chainsword and vice versa. Generally their place is as melee chaff and the shooting is better left to your Rubrics. The AP of the Tzaangor blade is better for that and the autopistol is likely the worst shooting weapon in the game anyway. Ideally limit yourself to a smattering of pistols so they're not ALL completely useless while squatting on objectives away from combat and keep the rest with the Blade.

Your default list will look something like:

• [ 8pts] Twistbray [Leader]: Fancy horned Tzaangor model with Tzaangor Blade
• [18pts] Aspiring Sorcerer [Combat]: Marine model with Force Stave and Warpflame Pistol
• [20pts] Rubric Marine [Demo]: Marine model with Warpflamer
• [ 8pts] Tzangor [Zealot]: Regular Tzaangor with Tzaangor Blade

Fill the remaining points out with Warpflamers and Tzaangors as the mission demands. If it focuses on Killing models, take more warpflamers and/or the soulreaper cannon, on Objectives, take more Tzaangors. Usually you won't go all one way or the other as board control and tarpitting is still important in Killing missions and posing a credible threat to enemies is important in Objective missions.

Gellerpox Infected

Chaos Daemons

Servants of the Abyss

Xenos

Eldar

Dark Eldar

Harlequins

There's pretty much only one option. Buy a Harlequin Troupe ($40USD). That said its a good option, giving everything you need for a harlequin team. The only way to really improve on it is to buy duplicates of the box so you can fill out your roster and build more specialized lists.

Cheap Team $40USD

What each weapon looks like

From the box build:

• 2x Players with Fusion Pistol and Harlequin's Embrace
• 2x Players with Neuro Disruptor and Harlequin's Caress
• 2x Players with Shuriken Pistol and Harlequin's Kiss

6 models, 100pts

• [17pts] Player [Leader]: Neuro Disruptor and Harlequin's Caress
• [17pts] Player [None]: Neuro Disruptor and Harlequin's Caress
• [17pts] Player [None]: Fusion Pistol and Harlequin's Embrace
• [17pts] Player [Veteran]: Fusion Pistol and Harlequin's Embrace
• [16pts] Player [Combat]: Shuriken Pistol and Harlequin's Kiss
• [16pts] Player [Zealot]: Shuriken Pistol and Harlequin's Kiss

Orks

Kroot

Kroot are a pretty terrible value proposition. They're barely function with every single option they have, let alone when you limit it further to minimize purchases. The only "cheap team" would be a Kroot Carnivore Squad ($36.25USD) and that would not be fun for you or your opponent and would only be functional in the sense that it didn't break the rules to play it.

If you have your heart set on playing Kroot, you have to invest more. You will need the Kroot Carnivore Squad($36.25USD), a Krootox Rider ($24.75USD) and Kroot Hounds ($24.75USD) for a total of $85.755USD. Keep in mind, even then it is still the least viable team in the game.

13 models, 99 points

• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [Leader]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Carnivore [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Hound [Scout]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Hound [Combat]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Hound [None]
• [ 6pts] Kroot Hound [None]
• [27pts] Krootox Rider [Heavy]

Tau

Necrons

Tyranids

Genestealer Cults