GW: Warhammer Fest 2023 – Killteam und Horus Heresy

Noch ein drittes Mal gibt es von Games Workshop einen Ausblick auf kommende Neuheiten, die im Rahmen des Warhammer Fest 2023 gezeigt wurden, mit Warhammer 40.000 Killteam und Warhammer The Horus Heresy.

Join the Inquisition To Hunt a Mutating Chaos Cult in a New Kill Team Campaign Expansion

While the Gallowdark is falling to earth on one side of the galaxy, the powers of Chaos are corrupting yet another Imperial world on the other – and with cult influence running deep, only the Emperor’s most holy Inquisition can root them out once and for all.

Welcome to Kill Team: Ashes of Faith – a brand new expansion box packed with 40 miniatures and a deep narrative campaign system full of territories to capture and schemes to concoct.

This box is a bit of an oddity; It’s not part of the current Kill Team season. Rather this is a narrative campaign in a box and a brand new way to play Kill Team.

The stars of the show are the new Inquisitorial Agents. These shadowy specialists are an Inquisitor’s most valuable assets, whose unique skills and abilities are vital for fighting a war in the darkness.

Four of these acolytes can be each be built as two completely different operatives – the pistol-packing Interrogator can also become a knife-juggling Enlightener, for example – while there’s also an Autosavant, a faithful Tome-skull, and a Gun Servitor who can be armed (literally) with a heavy bolter, multi-melta, or plasma cannon.

Many of these inquisitorial operatives have nods to miniatures from the classic large-scale Inquisitor game, including a very faithful reimagining of an Imperial Guard Veteran with a polearm.

Seven intrepid mortals – no matter how skilled – aren’t quite enough to take down a planet-spanning Chaos Cult. Fortunately, an Inquisitor can call upon faithful servants from across the Imperium to fight the sickness.

Six different groups can lend their aid, in the form of Ancillary Support operatives – Tempestus Scions and Sisters of Silence are included in the box, but you may also deputise Kasrkin, Imperial Navy Breachers, Arbites Exaction Squads, or Veteran Guardsmen. Each can dispatch a squad of their best to join your acolytes, making this the most flexible kill team ever devised. So if you’ve been collecting Kill Teams, odds are that you have some easy ways to add even more flexibility to this unusual crew.

Whatever their origins, these soldiers of the faith stand against the Hidden Canker – a sprawling Chaos Cult that offers a completely unique experience in Kill Team. Chaos Cult operatives mutate in the midst of battle into new and grotesque forms, sprouting weapons and sealing wounds as their flesh shifts and morphs.

Even the lowliest Cult Devotee can grow into a hulking Mutant – and from there, ascend into a mighty Torment rippling with claws and fangs. The Dark Commune spur their followers into battle through profane exhortations even as the powers of the warp overcome them, twisting the cult further and further as time ticks by.

The battle for the city of Deepwell – and with it, the very planet of Exhalus – is a push-and-pull struggle for control of vital locations, using decks of cards, reusable stickers, and chunky terrain tiles to create objectives, enlist conspirators, and hoodwink your opponent. The cards included are themed around the Inquisition and Cult forces included in the box, but they can be used by any Kill Team to run the campaign as you see fit.

Ashes of Faith provides a complete start-to-finish campaign system that only needs a killzone to play, and will offer wildly different experiences every time as plans go awry and momentum shifts back and forth ahead of the nail-biting finale. The Kill Teams in this box are also usable in more traditional Kill Team campaigns and matched play missions, and they both offer a distinct playstyle.

Create the Coolest Space Marine Kill Team Ever With New Warhammer Heroes

Space Marines are the most iconic faction in the 41st Millennium, and the Adeptus Astartes know a thing or two about infiltrating killzones with highly-trained stealth operatives or storming them with armoured shock troops. Teams that mingle tactical roles, however, were less common – until now.

There’s a brand new set of Warhammer Heroes coming later this year, with all the character-packed models you’ll need to mix-and-match a full kill team of Space Marines, each with their own inimitable style.

Coming to stores later this year, these seven miniatures come together to form Strike Force Justian.

Unlike their battle-brothers who operate in single-armour formations, this strike force combines a Heavy Intercessor in Gravis armour, a Phobos-clad Eliminator, and Tacticus-armoured Intercessors of the ranged and assault variety – alongside the first ever Captain to grace this edition of Kill Team.

Each blind box will contain one randomly selected operative from Strike Force Justian, with a datacard covering their stats, weapons, keywords, unique actions, and abilities.

This kill team may have a locked-down loadout, but they each come with a choice of two heads – and their great base stats and straightforward rules make them a brilliant starting team for new players. The back of each card also provides one of the Ploys available to the team, and includes a QR code for quick access to the Kill Team Lite Rules.

Strike Force Justian is a standalone kill team, separate from the Phobos Strike Team, Intercession Squad, or Space Marine Compendium kill teams. They’re designed as a straightforward and self-contained entry point, and so lack the team-wide abilities and equipment options of their peers – on the other hand, they do have a Captain.

“Kill Team focuses on small-scale covert operations”, explains Elliot from the Kill Team team, “so it’s rare for high-ranking commanders to find themselves involved in the lethal shootouts depicted in our games. That being said, we’ll occasionally find a place for character-level models in Kill Team.* Narratively, these heroes are a fun focus or objective, but they’re not invincible – plasma and meltaguns can make short work of even the mightiest officers.”

Does this mean a return of the Commanders rules from past editions of Kill Team?

“The short answer is no,” Elliot says. “We design our teams so that each one has its own playstyle and feel. This keeps our design space open, as we look at each team as a unique addition to the range.”

These characterful new Space Marines will be available first from select specialist retailers this summer, followed by a wider release at a later date. Keep an eye out for more information on when and where you can get yours.

Where Next for Kill Team? Let’s Look at the Path Ahead

The end is nigh. After many thousands of years cascading through space and time on the capricious eddies of the warp, the great and terrible space hulk called the Gallowdark is falling, at last, to its final end. A crew of doughty Hearthkyn Salvagers are preparing to board in a desperate race to rescue Ironkin cerebral units before impact – little do they know that a pack of snarling Fellgor Ravagers are lurking in the shadows to thwart them, Beastmen infused by the powers of Chaos.

The season of the Gallowdark ends there – but not the story. Even as it tumbles out of orbit, this ancient and malign craft still has secrets to disgorge…

Which aspect of this video intrigued you most? We’re definitely on a planet, and there’s probably combat – which will almost certainly be between squads drawn from two major factions in the 41st Millennium. So far, so Kill Team.

More specific clues abound, however. An Aeldari presence seems likely. Also, a glimpse of structures which appear to be built amid choppy waves. Further scouting is clearly required.

The Plastic Cerastus Knight Lancer Enters the Age of Darkness

The Imperium witnessed some of the most bloody battles in its long and violent history during the Horus Heresy. The Age of Darkness seeks to represent these mighty Legion-on-Legion clashes on the tabletop with some of the incredible war machines that did battle during the era.

Up until now, that has mostly meant huge tanks, but loping over the horizon comes a towering dealer of death. The Cerastus Knight Lancer – in plastic!

Cerastus-class Knights are noble and warlike steeds, built for speed and aggression. Ridden by the most impetuous of a Knight House’s Noble scions, they’re armed with deadly close-range weaponry suited for their role of routing the flanks of enemy armies.

A version of this impressive Lancer has been available as a Forge World resin kit for nearly 10 years – but it will soon be available as an all-new plastic miniature.

The Knight Lancer turns incoming attacks aside with its ion gauntlet shield generator, while waiting for an opportune moment to strike. When the time comes, the motor of the shock lance whirs into action, unleashing bolts of electrostatic power and perforating armour with its coruscating spearhead.

This lofty war machine is an excellent match for pilots who thirst for the thrill of close combat, and for those who live for the perfect parry and punishing riposte.

Rules for the Knights of the Horus Heresy are available in the Liber Mechanicum – Forces of the Omnissiah Army Book, and Knights Questoris and Armigers are also available in plastic, so it will soon be easier than ever to construct a great Knight household of your own.

The Commanders of the Siege of Cthonia Work Out Their Bitter Rivalry in Warhammer: The Horus Heresy

Back in March, we revealed the Siege of Cthonia – the first campaign book for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy. It tells the tale of the apocalyptic battle for the Warmaster’s homeworld at the height of his rebellion. Featuring the Imperial Fists and the Sons of Horus, this epic tome contains a vast campaign system to play out the story yourself.

Now, the headline characters from the Loyalist and Traitor commands have been revealed.

Vheren Ashurhaddon

Cadre-captain Vheren Ashurhaddon is master of the True Sons, and overall commander of the Sons of Horus invasion fleet. It was he who beseeched Warmaster Horus to recapture their homeworld, and he has assembled a mighty force of Space Marines, Titans, and Dark Mechanicum Taghmata.

Known as the First Reaver, Vheren is as vicious a fighter as was ever produced by Cthonia’s brutal underworld. He has cultivated the True Sons into exemplars of martial discipline and men of honour – even as the Traitor hordes slipped into wanton violence and butchery – and sought to earn the respect of those under his command.

His miniature exemplifies the brutal, direct nature of the Sons of Horus. His armour, the Panoply of the Void, is crafted from rare materials extracted from Cthonia’s mines, while the Axe Serpentis he carries was forged from the melted-down remains of vanquished Cthonian gang leaders’ weapons. It’s easy to see why many say a truer son of Cthonia has never stalked the battlefield.

Lord-castellan Evander Garrius

Evander Garrius is experienced even by Space Marine standards – a veteran of the Unification Wars, and an uncompromising butcher of his Legion’s foes. His casual brutality kept the venerable Captain far from his Primarch’s favour, and though he harboured a burning desire to sit within Rogal Dorn’s inner circle, Garrius remained sequestered on garrison duties for much of the Great Crusade.

When the order came to conquer Cthonia for the Loyalist cause, Garrius swore he would take the world and be moved by no less than the hand of Dorn himself. His aggression is rare for an Imperial Fist, and coupled with his Legion’s famous skill at fortification, he presents a dire foe for the would-be liberators to overcome.

Clad in ornate Cataphractii armour and wielding a power gauntlet torn from the hand of a Terran dictator, the so-called Tyrant of Cthonia is a force to be reckoned with, and holds no pity nor remorse for the Traitors who come to crash against his fortress.

The Siege of Cthonia is a weighty volume packed with background lore and rules which will be of interest for players of every faction – not just the Imperial Fists and Sons of Horus. You’ll find new campaign rules, core and narrative missions, a full Zone Mortalis game mode, and extra units and upgrades for each and every one of the Legiones Astartes. It’s only the start of a grand series of expansions coming to Warhammer: The Horus Heresy.

Plastic Space Marine Assault Squad Prepares for Launch in the Horus Heresy

The forces of the Age of Darkness have been blessed with an embarrassment of armoured riches since the new edition launched last year. From the humble Rhino to the hulking Spartan, tank after plastic tank has rolled out of the manufactoria, joined by whole companies of new Legiones Astartes toting bolters and an armoury of specialist weapons.

But one thing is missing – the mechanical whirr of a chainsword. That all changes later this year, when the plastic Space Marine Assault Squad soars in. They’re still a ways off, but Warhammer Community’s resident Vanus Infocytemanaged to infiltrate the Design Studio’s mainframe and escape with these stunning renders.