ADVANCED KILL-TEAM MODIFICATIONS: RETURN TO SPACE HULK

Please note: These modifications aren't required to have fun playing Kill-team, and they aren't "official" in any way. We playtested these rules a few times, but you'll probably run into some issues that you'll have to resolve on the fly with your opponent. The moral of the story: these mods are here so you can have even more fun with the cool Kill-team rules, have another way to play with these awesome new plastic models, and have a silly-yet-nostalgic chance to get a taste of the Space Hulk of old.

Note that even though we're trying to get close to Space Hulk, the basics of Kill-team still prevail. These modifications don't change the fact that you're still going to be playing 40K - you'll still have the Movement, Shooting, and Assault phases... except for a few things.

Ignore Leadership, Morale, and Assault aftermath. Leadership tests, Morale checks, consolidation, Sweeping Advances, falling back, and the like do not apply under these advanced modifications. A Kill-team game within the confines of a hulk map would be too complicated with these psychological rules in effect to keep the game moving like the Space Hulk of old. For an added challenge, however, feel free to re-introduce these rules after you've played a few games without them.

A swarm of Genestealers attack Terminators from the Deathwing - Click to enlarge.

Terminator Moving & Shooting. A Terminator Kill-team that has been assigned space hulk duty is a fearsome combat force indeed. The team has trained for decades on the intricacies of fighting in this dangerous environment, especially the value of sustained fire. These highly trained Terminators benefit from a BS of 5. Furthermore, Terminators can fire their storm bolters both during the Movement phase and during the Shooting phase at the cost of -1 BS in both phases.

Heavy Flamer. The Terminators' heavy flamer uses the 40K Flame Template as normal and can only shoot once per turn (unlike the storm bolters above). However, since a space hulk is wrought with fuel canisters, power conduits, and other incendiaries, a heavy flamer can cause a fire that remains in play throughout the subsequent turn. The Space Marine player may designate a line across the width of the template (the shorter of the two dimensions of the template) that becomes impassable terrain for the next turn. You can represent this line with a pencil or string or some other narrow line.

Genestealer Cover Save. On a space hulk, Genestealers can crawl through air ducts, climb on ceilings and walls, and scuttle under deck plates. Because of this three-dimensional agility, Genestealers are assumed to always benefit from a 5+ Cover Save.

Genestealers spring an ambush - click to enlarge.

Blips. Blips represent readings on the Space Marines' scanners. However, the structure of a space hulk distorts the scanners, so a blip can indicate zero to six Genestealers - only the Tyranid player knows how many models it represents. Until a Space Marine model has line-of-sight on a blip, it remains an unknown blip marker. Once a Space Marine has line-of-sight, the Tyranid player is forced to flip it over and reveal the number of Brute squads it represents: zero, one, or two. The Tyranid player may voluntarily flip over a blip marker that is beyond the view of the Terminators at the beginning of the Tyranid turn. Blips move just like Genestealers (they get Fleet of Claw). At least one Genestealer from the Brute squad must be placed where the blip counter was before conversion. Note that you can't use blip conversion to get extra Tyranid movement - reduce the available movement distance for just-converted Genestealers by the distance they moved as a blip (e.g., a blip moves 3" before being forced to convert by a Terminator; the resulting two Genestealers may move another 3" each this Movement phase). Make blip markers from 25-mm round bases or some other equivalent you have on hand. Blips don't regenerate, unless the mission says otherwise. Once all the blips in the mission pile have been deployed, the Tyranids must move towards the enemy for the rest of the game.

Genestealer Entry Areas. In a normal game of Kill-team, the brute squad player sets up his sentries near the mission objective area. In this game however, the Tyranid player places blips on the board edge where the Genestealer entry areas are marked on the mission maps. The mission will dictate how many blips you can place on the board and when - just know that you place the blips on these areas at the beginning of the Tyranid player's turn. However, if a Terminator model is within 6" of a Genestealer entry area where the Tyranid player wants to deploy, his blip must "lurk" off board beside this entry area for a full turn before it can be deployed.

Brute Squad Activation. Your standard Kill-team mission features a group of stealthy special ops troops trying to sneak in and take out an objective. A Kill-team on a space hulk is a different beast altogether - their goal is to exterminate, not to sneak. Thus, a Terminator Kill-team sacrifices stealth for armor and fire power. Unfortunately, this lack of stealth means that the Genestealer Brute squads are aware of the Terminators the second their armoured boots hit the first deck plate. Consider all Brute squads active and aware from the start of each mission.

SIMPLE KILL-TEAM Intro Simple Mods	SPACE HULK TERRAIN Intro Room 1 Room 2 Corridor 1 Corridor 2 Gallery
ADVANCED SPACE HULK KILL-TEAM Advanced Mods Map Reading Tiles Mission 1 Mission 2 Mission Generator

Next: More Advanced Modifications.
Previous: Terrain Gallery.