40k: Rogue Trader Kill Team Focus

Die beiden Kill Teams aus der Erweiterung Rogue Trader für Warhammer 40.000: Kill Team stehen auf der Warhammer-Community jeweils im Fokus.

Kill Team Focus: The Elucidian Starstriders

With the imminent arrival of the Rogue Trader expansion for Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team, we took it upon ourselves to investigate the Elucidian Starstriders – one of the two factions that are included in the box. Here’s what you need to know:

Tasked with pushing the boundaries of Imperial space by none other than Roboute Guilliman himself, Elucia Vhane set forth across the cosmos aboard her starship, the New Dawn. It was when the Rogue Trader drew near to her destination that things started to go wrong. Horribly wrong…

Not to worry – her loss is your gain, as Kill Team: Rogue Trader features a new kill team comprising the embattled survivors of the disaster aboard the New Dawn. The Elucidian Starstriders are an eclectic band of heavily-armed and well-equipped naval soldiers and aides-de-camp, led by the Rogue Trader from whom they take their name, Elucia Vhane.

The design of the miniatures was driven by concept art produced by none other than legendary artist John Blanche. The Imperial Gothic styling of Elucia Vhane’s uniform clearly bears the hallmark of John’s grim, dark vision of Warhammer 40,000. Rogue Trader dynasties are so powerful that they function more as large corporations, with many different institutional branches and departments. This is represented by the many different icons displayed on the uniforms of the Elucidian Starstriders, which depict their role within the wider infrastructure.

Knosso Prond, Larsen van der Grauss and Sanistasia Minst are always Combat, Comms and Medic specialists respectively. However, they don’t count towards your normal limit of specialists! It you want a kill team that that is brimming with specialists, look no further than the Elucidian Starstriders!

Between them, the Elucidian Starstriders are equipped with an array of exotic and deadly firearms, from Grell’s rotor cannon and Nitsch’s artificer shotgun to van der Grauss’ voltaic pistol and the heirloom pistol of Elucia Vhane herself.

With extensive background stories and individual personalities, the Elucidian Starstriders are like an all-star cast in an action movie – and they’re yours to command!

Rogue Traders spare no expense when it comes to personal protection, and Voidsmen-at-arms are amongst the best money can buy. Voidmaster Nitsch is like a hero unto himself, with a profile worthy of a senior officer of the Astra Militarum. His squad all come with BS 3+, providing accurate fire support, not to mention the killing power of Stromian Grell’s rotor cannon (which fires 4 shots at Damage 2!). Oh, and don’t forget their swift and loyal canid, Aximillion!

Elucia Vhane is accompanied by an inner circle of highly skilled retainers:the Death Cult Executioner Knosso Prond, the eccentric Lectro-Maester Larsen van der Grauss, and her Rejuvenat Adept, Sanistasia Minst. Their unique wargear and abilities offer the Elucidian Starstriders three distinct advantages with their deadly combat prowess, the protection of a Voltagheist Array and Healing Serum respectively.

The beating heart of the Elucidian Starstriders is of course the Rogue Trader herself. Elucia Vhane hails from a different class to her subordinates in that she is a Commander, complete with a vastly superior profile and access to a previously unseen specialism – Strategist. Not only that, but she can be upgraded to levels 2, 3 or 4 right from the start, and can be further augmented by traits such as Trader Militant, which grants her +1 Attack.

Elucia Vhane is a skilled combatant, equally at home sharpshooting with her heirloom duelling pistol as she is cutting down those that dare stand in her way with her trusty monomolecular cane-rapier, Blur. One of her greatest assets is the ability to use her Multi-spectral Auspicator Tactic, which enables you to re-roll hit rolls of 1 for any Elucidian Starstrider models within 6” of her for the duration of the battle round.

As one might expect from an elite band of survivors, the Elucidian Starstriders have a number of useful Tactics up their (immaculately cut) sleeves.

Turn Knosso Prond into a living engine of destruction by increasing the Damage of her power blade to D3. That should cut any problem you have down to size…

If need is dire, use this tactic to enable Sanistasia Minst to apply her Healing Serum twice, potentially patching up two flesh wounds! This is a great tactic to use for some additional staying power if you’re up against it (or to try and avoid a potentially disastrous roll on the Casualty table).

Dug-in enemy shooters causing you problems? Use this tactic for a +3 bonus on Voidmaster Nitch’s hit roll which, if it hits, inflicts a mortal wound on the target! It costs 2 Command Points, but can really help to get you out of a tight spot.

The Elucidian Starstriders are available in the Kill Team: Rogue Trader box, which is up for pre-order from this weekend.

Kill Team Focus: The Gellerpox Infected

Disease stalks the stars. The secrets of the Geller field – once thought an impenetrable aegis against the forces of Chaos – have been cracked by the minions of Nurgle. It’s bad news for the Imperium, but great news for Kill Team players!

Kill Team: Rogue Trader features a brand new Nurgle kill team – the Gellerpox Infected, a shambling, repulsive band of mutants who will stop at nothing to corrupt their former crewmates…

The Gellerpox Infected don’t bother with Imperial nonsense like “shooting” – instead, they’re a dedicated close-combat kill team specialising in dealing brutal damage up close.

A Gellerpox Infected kill team can consist of a mere handful of hulking monsters, meaning they can be one of the most elite kill teams in the game…

…but, if you prefer, you can stack up on gribblies and instead overwhelm your foes with an infectious swarm of mutants and vermin!

With Toughness 5, 4 Wounds and Disgustingly Resilient, Nightmare Hulks are among Kill Team’s most durable choices and work as brutally effective biological battering rams. If you’re looking for an elite kill team, three of these guys plus a Glitchling to make up the numbers is pretty deadly!

These shambling stalkers are much like Poxwalkers, with the added benefit of their Gellercaust Masks. As well as being able to weather a considerable number of attacks thanks to Disgustingly Resilient, they can also cause mortal wounds to their attackers in the Fight phase on an unmodified saving throw of 6 – if you’re struggling with a particularly nasty Combat specialist, throw a few of these guys their way!

Gellerpox Infected kill teams have access to a range of horrible creepy-crawlies. Costing a mere handful of points each, they might not be particularly powerful, but they’re a great way to bulk up a more elite force and surprisingly tricky to get rid of.

Kill Team: Rogue Trader features a new kind of fighter called a Commander. These are the best of the best – elite leaders, fighters and strategists with the power to tackle entire kill teams single-handedly.

Commanders are incredibly customisable – rather than levelling up like normal specialists, you’ll choose which level they are when you add them to your roster. Additionally, you’ll be able to spend points on a variety of Traits – one Vulgrar Thrice-Cursed could be a hulking close-combat brute, while another could be a pack-leader who enhances the power of nearby mites and grubs.

Vulgrar himself is a brutal leader, possessed of horrific durability and damage. If you’re playing through the Commanders missions from the set with a mate, he’ll be able to outmatch any of the Elucidian Starstriders in close combat, transforming each battle into a monster movie where YOU are the monster…

The Gellerpox Infected are no mindless brutes – they’re pretty cunning, too, offering some sinister Tactics for your games:

We’ve all been there – there’s a Sniper specialist picking off your team and you can’t seem to reach them in time! With Gellershift, you’ll be able to teleport right on top of your foes and pick off anyone refusing to face your warband in close combat…

Need some extra reinforcements? With this Tactic, you’ll be able to summon more Cursemites, Eyestinger Swarms and Sludge-Grubs to the field – perfect if you’re in danger of being outnumbered or just need a little extra bite against a particularly dangerous enemy.

If you’re fielding an elite squad of Nightmare Hulks, a single flesh wound can be costly – with this Tactic, you’ll be able to keep your most valuable fighters in the game for longer.

You can find the Gellerpox Infected in Kill Team: Rogue Trader, available to pre-order this weekend – in the meantime, stay tuned for more previews of just what’s in the box over the next few days…

Quelle: Warhammer Community