Blooded Squad
A Blooded Squad is an elite group of Traitor Guard Kill Team Units first introduced in Kill Team: Moroch.
Overview[edit]
They are specialists trained for spec-ops duties and are far better trained and less mentally handicapped than your typical Chaos Cultists. They are led by Chieftains and can be composed of Brimstone Grenadiers, Butchers, Commsmen, Corpsemen, Enforcers, Flensers, Gunners, Ogryn Brute, Sharpshooters, Thugs, Trench Sweepers and Traitor Troopers. Should the need arise for it, a Traitor General may assign one of their Traitor Lieutenants to directly command a Blooded Kill Team in battle.
Types of Blooded[edit]
Traitor Chieftain[edit]
Traitor Chieftains are leaders of a Traitor Guard Blooded Squad who rules over Blooded Kill Teams, through force of will, threats of violence and sheer charisma.
As leaders, their position gives them the pick of the battlefield riches, ensuring that Chieftains charge into the fray wielding the most potent of weapons and wargear. These can include Bayoneted Autopistols (Don't bother us about the practicalities of attaching a bayonet to a pistol), Bolt Pistols, Imperial Boltguns, Laspistols, Plasma Pistols, alongside with CWC weapons such as Chainswords, improvised blades such as makeshift Combat Knives, Swords or Flails, and Power Weapons like a Power Sword or Power Axe.
In terms of protection, they wear Carapace Armour depending on how good their fortune is, but typically, Flak Armour is also a given.
On the Kill Team tabletop, the Traitor Chieftain comes with the most diverse number of loadouts, but their value remains the same. They are not your strongest, but they have the ability to collect Blooded Tokens if your troops die near this guy before they could spend their tokens and can count as if he's under the Eye of the Gods if he has a Token and is over 6"/pentagon from your DZ.
In terms of weapon selection, the autopistol and laspistol are both puny, but at least the laspistol has a ploy to make it a bit more potent. In addition, it gives you the option between either chainsword or power weapon, your deadliest melee weapons by far. In addition, you can take a bolt pistol for a better pistol, but you're locked to the chainsword if you do.
Likewise, the bolter gives you your only source of long-range shooting, but it traps you with the rather ineffective and quite frankly, useless bayonet. Meanwhile, the plasma pistol is by far your strongest gun, with an even stronger form if you risk overheating, but you're also set back by a flimsy melee weapon.
They are listed under Combat, Staunch and Marksman categories.
Traitor Brimstone Grenadier[edit]
The equivalent of the more loyalist Breacher Squad and Navis Grenadiers. Traitor Brimstone Grenadiers are Traitor Guardsmen, who have an unhealthy penchant for explosive slaughter, using unstable explosives as their primary choice of weapon.
They think nothing of their lives except furiously masturbating over explosives like Michael Bay; showering the Grenadiers' victims with unclean alchemical acids and poisons. Some even swallow their foes up in roiling clouds of infernal Warp sorcery. In battle, Grenadiers are typically armed with Bayoneted Lasguns, and 15 kilos worth of Frag Grenades and Krak Grenades. When all is lost, a Grenadier is nutty enough to turn himself into 40k's answer to an al-Qaeda member and blow himself up.
Now again, just like their loyalist counterparts, why the Brimstone Grenadier does not carry a grenade launcher whilst their Gunner counterparts could, we have no idea. You would expect the dude with a hard-on for explosives would also carry a grenade launcher by himself right?
On the Kill Team tabletop, they are your explosives expert which comes strapped with a free Frag and Krak grenade on top of their own special bomb that's not so much focused on damage as it is on covering everyone between Blast and Splash. While they still have a lasgun to fight normally, you'll likely be seeing his kamikaze ability in any case, allowing him to potentially self-destruct and deal d3 mortal wounds to enemies within circle/2" of him.
They are listed under Staunch and Scout categories.
Traitor Butcher[edit]
The melee specialists in a Kill Team already filled with a metric shit-ton of melee specialists. Which is saying a lot.
Traitor Butchers are Traitor Guardsmen, who have turned into a bunch of Hannibal Lector enthusiasts and shrugged off their humanity to take monstrous pleasure in hacking their enemies apart at close quarters. Seriously, look at that grin. These guys are literally just one skull-fucking away from becoming a Khornate Jakhal. You sure they are not World Eaters rejects?
As they do so, the Butchers devour chunks of hot, bloody flesh - sometimes while their victims are still screaming their last. In battle, they wear your standard Flak Armour and are typically armed with one power weapon like a Power Sword or Power Axe and Cleaver. Again, how are they not sucking the World Eaters dick yet?
Tl;dr, if they weren't so traitorous, the Flesh Eaters would have recruited these guys. God damn budget RIP AND TEAR in an affordable model.
On the Kill Team tabletop, they are your typical melee monsters made to overpower with his weapons. Not only do they have Lethal 5+ for extra damage, they also give you a token if he scores a crit. With their weapons, they can murder weaker operatives with ease, letting them recover lost wounds for each kill. While he has an extra wound over the base trooper, you're still a guardsman wearing cardboard, so you still need cover.
They are listed under Combat and Staunch categories.
Traitor Commsman[edit]
Traitor Commsmen are Traitor Guard Vox-casters, who act as the mouthpieces for their tyrannical masters. They are obviously in-charge of communications and are one of the more important members of the team.
As part of the Blooded, they spit relayed orders through the corrupted Vox networks of the Traitor Guard Kill Teams. Traitor Commsmen also broadcast amplified exhortations for their comrades to fight harder in the name of the blessed Chaos Gods. In battle, they are typically armed with a Bayoneted Lasgun and wear Flak Armour for protection. They are not really your typical fighters, so it is best that they should stay in the back lines.
On the Kill Team tabletop, they are your standard comms operative who works a lot with supporting his fellows and will likely hide in the middle of the lines. Not only can he spend an action in order to feed an operative within 6"/pentagon, he can also spend an action so transfer a Blooded Token from one operative to another, guaranteeing that nothing goes to waste making him a decent support unit.
They are listed under Staunch and Scout categories.
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"Roger Jack. I am seeing this shit. Over."
Traitor Corpseman[edit]
Traitor Corpsemen are twisted Traitor Guard Chiurgeons, who have cast aside their ethics and oaths and now specialize in creating potent Combat Stimms to 'juice up' and let loose. As such, they are more drug dealer than drug pharmacists now.
They usually dole out their concoctions to their comrades, which drive the Traitor Guard into a savage battle-frenzy. This also, however, allows the Corpsemen to control their comrades through increasing dependency on their wares. In battle, Corpsemen wear the standard-issue Flak Armour and are typically armed with a Bayoneted Lasgun and Stimm needles of which he can hold over a dozen in his trusty med-pack. And yes, they also still heal their comrades from time to time.
On the Kill Team tabletop, while qualifying as your medic, your uses for him are radically different than most. For one, you can only heal each operative once, and with a lack of revival tools, your losses will cost you in manpower despite gaining tokens.
Instead, you're relying on stimms, which (alongside the aforementioned heal of 2d3 wounds) provide either a 6+++ FNP or adds Relentless to melee weapons. While all of these are permanent, they're also limited to only once per operative, so you're best off focusing on bouncing between operatives to give your candy to the heretics. Even better, you can inject one on an operative before the game even begins to cut out some early work.
They are listed under Staunch and Scout categories.
Traitor Flenser[edit]
The other melee specialists for the Blooded Kill Team.
Traitor Flensers are Traitor Guard who mutter and cackle, as they clash their skinning blades together in anticipation of the torments they will inflict in the Chaos Gods' names. Even other Traitor Guardsmen look askance at the Flensers, who have killed many with their wicked blades, but few swiftly. One thing that anyone should look out for, is that a Flenser is also highly trained in the art of stealth. They may not have the special cameleoline that Sharpshooters wear, but they are sneaky enough to assassinate their targets without them noticing. Yes, that also applies to Space Marines as well.
Flensers are the knife nuts of the family, carrying a pair of skinning knives for their use and being proficient at it whilst wearing standard-issue Flak Armour to last long enough to land a few hits. Ergo, they are roughly equivalent to an Ork Slasha Boy or a Kroot Cut-Skin and, when compared to the Butcher, the Flenser trades power with balls-out speed, stealth and multi-attacks.
Oh yeah, and a bit of trivia, the word flesner may come from the word flensing which is the act of skinning. So you can take a garner on what these guys are very good at in the off days.
On the Kill Team tabletop, they are the sneaky assassin to the Butcher's blunt instrument. This guy's so sneaky that he can charge while under the Conceal order and gains Lethal 5+ when within 2"/circle of any terrain - something you can cheese out with Relentless. In addition, they have their own last-stand move, letting them attack one more time before dying in combat.
They are listed under Combat and Scout categories.
Traitor Gunner[edit]
The direct opposite of the Flenser and the Blooded equivalent to most Kill Team's heavy gunner guy.
Traitor Gunners are Traitor Guard, who claim special issued weapons from Imperial Guardsmen they have slain, as trophies. In effect, they are the more traitorous cousins of the loyalist's Special Weapons Squad or Navis Gunner.
Bearing them as symbols of power and status, the Gunners use such potent weapons to assist them in offering more gory sacrifices to the Chaos Gods. In battle, Traitor Gunners can be armed with bayoneted Flamers, Grenade Launchers, Meltaguns or Plasma Guns whilst protected with the standard-issue Flak Armour.
On the Kill Team tabletop, like the fluff states, they are your special weapons guy, you can only take one of each gun in a kill team, but each has vital uses. The flamer is held back by its range and poor damage, but Torrent means that it can hit multiple targets and hit multiple times.
The grenade launcher essentially gives you infinite grenades, but these fire directly rather than indirectly in a short range - the frag grenade compensates its damage with Blast while the krak grenade deals AP1 with plenty of damage.
The meltagun is short-ranged but provides lots of damage with AP2 and crits deal lots of mortal wounds.
The plasma gun deals plenty of damage with AP1, with an option for overcharging to get AP2 - just remember that while overheating won't kill you outright, it will hurt you pretty bad.
They are listed under Marksman and Scout categories.
Traitor Sharpshooter[edit]
Nearly every Kill Team must have a sniper and sure enough, the Blooded Squad also have their own personal sniper in their team.
The Yin to the Butcher, Flenser and Thug's Yang. Traitor Sharpshooters are Traitor Guard snipers, who armed with a bayoneted Long-Las and wear Flak Armour with some chameleoline attached. As expected, they are the traitor versions of the loyalist Sharpshooter.
Despite their skills in marksmanship, however, Traitor Sharpshooters are often scorned by their comrades in Blooded Kill Teams. This is because they are unwilling to seek glory at close quarters against their foes. Which, one must wonder if Blooded Squads are all closeted Khornate cultists. Seriously, just paint them red and get it over with. Nevertheless, the Traitor Sharpshooters know their own worth, though, and offer up the souls of their victims to the Chaos Gods.
On the Kill Team tabletop, your long-las isn't much more dangerous than a basic lasgun, dealing a consistent 3 damage and only scoring MW1 on a crit. Fortunately, it has Silent so you can shoot while hidden and the camo cloak helps protect them from any stray shots. Given that they are snipers, they obviously work best when positioned very far away from the heat of the battle.
They are listed under Marksman and Scout categories.
Traitor Thug[edit]
The other, OTHER close combat specialists of the Blooded Kill Team.
Traitor Thugs are Traitor Guard, who are known for their strength, brutality and the violence they can commit. Although they may not look like it, they are the traitor's equivalent of the loyalist's Navis Axejack, at least in terms on how they fight on the tabletop.
These count for more than discipline and loyalty in the Traitor Guard and many Thugs make up its ragged ranks. Thanks to their inner savagery and the taint of Heresy, they have also become virtually Ogryn-like and typically wield heavy Clubs and Mauls in battle, whilst their Flak Armour may provide enough protection to rush-in and bonk someone to death with it.
On the Kill Team tabletop, they are an evil Bruiser Veteran, toting only a wicked club with Brutal to shatter things. Fortunately, they reduce all incoming damage from regular hits by one point, letting them tank lasguns and bolters more reliably. So compared to even that of a Butcher, the Thug is an even more blunter CQC specialist of the team, as well as the tankiest. Seriously that Flak Armour might as well be considered as Carapace with how much punishment this bastard can take.
They are listed under the Staunch categories.
Traitor Trench Sweeper[edit]
The traitor versions of the loyalist Navis Endurant. Being the equivelent of the Endurant, the Trench Sweeper is the tankiest and toughest traitorous prick in the Blooded Kill Team, easily tanking shots that would fell most of his comrades.
Traitor Trench Sweepers are rare Traitor Guard, who are loyal to their comrades and focus on using their shields to protect their direct superiors as they advance in battle. In close quarters, however, Trench Sweepers will surge ahead and clear a path with their Sawn-Off Shotguns. Given their name, they are excellent in clearing out trenches, corridors and any tight or enclosed hallways. This also means that when it comes to breaching ships, they are just as capable as their loyalist counterparts.
On the Kill Team tabletop, they are the guardsman with a riot shield and shotgun combo. While the shotgun is short-ranged, the shield not only provides a 4+ save but it also lets any parries block two hits in melee. In addition, you can set up the shield to slow him down by circle/2" but letting you re-roll all saves so you can walk through the field without worrying. By far one of the most important units in this team, given how squishy traitor guardsmen are when compared to the likes of walking rape trains such as the Deathwatch or Eldar Corsairs.
They are listed under the Staunch categories.