Incoming - New Kill Teams

Warning, Imperial citizens! The world of Volkus is under xenos attack, but fear not – the valiant Militarum Tempestus have sent their best to keep the skies clear. Elite operatives are landing across the city, and all able-bodied commanders are required to take up the Emperor’s sword in the latest explosive boxed set for Kill Team – Hivestorm.

Kill Team: Hivestorm isn’t just a new expansion – it’s the launch of a whole new edition of Kill Team, the fast-paced game of spec ops skirmishes. Updated rules make it even easier to pit your squad of elite specialists against the best the galaxy has to offer.

For now, have a look at the first of the awesome kill teams included in Hivestorm – the Tempestus Aquilons.

Tempestus Aquilons

All Tempestus Scions are trained in the art of aerial drop deployment, but Aquilons are those units that exclusively thunder into battle on roaring grav-chutes. They are selected for their self-sufficiency, intuition, and raw aggression, which makes them ideal candidates for dangerous special operations against the enemy’s own elites.

Like their fellow Scions, Aquilons are equipped with finely wrought carapace armour and armed primarily with hot-shot las weapons – most commonly hot-shot lascarbines – that hit much harder than the standard Imperial lasgun. Their preferred strategy of dropping right into the middle of enemy lines requires intense close-quarters training, leading many units to deploy specialists armed with melta carbines, plasma carbines, and other short ranged weapons.

They’ll be putting every one of their skills to the test on Volkus, as the T’au Empire has sent waves of their own drop troopers into the fray, drawn from the ranks of their alien auxiliaries.
Vespid Stingwings

Though less widespread than the Kroot, who make up a large percentage of the T’au Empire’s auxiliaries, the Vespid are afforded no less respect by the Fire Caste due to their resilience and combat utility. They were initially introduced as small teams of support troops armed with vicious neutron blasters – short-ranged weapons that used the Vespid homeworld’s unique crystals to project deadly radiation. Their deployments have since grown to encompass a wider range of battlefield roles, and all are armed with wondrous Earth Caste inventions.

Fire Caste commanders soon discovered that Vespid made for excellent kill team operatives, matching predatory instincts with keen alien cunning, and the ability to operate for an unparalleled amount of time without resupply or assistance. Dedicated Shas’ui handlers connected to the Strain Leader’s communion helm by an MV44 Oversight Drone allow for complex strategies to be immediately relayed to the unit, leaving the job of executing their sabotage and assassination missions to the winged warriors in the field.

This prestige affords Stingwing kill teams the chance to test experimental technology, such as extremely lethal neutron grenade launchers and ghost rigs that render Shadestrains invisible, This new versatility makes the Vespid a force to be reckoned with, and a perfect opposition for the Tempestus Aquilons.

The Terrain

Volkus is a highly developed Imperial world dedicated to churning out armaments and is littered with massive hive cities nestled in between orbital defences like the skyline-dominating Massif Ballistus – the so-called Great Gun that points starward. These environments provide operatives with plenty of cover to fight over, and Kill Team: Hivestorm comes with 14 pieces of terrain that make up Killzone: Volkus, split between sprawling strongholds, bombed-out ruins, and patches of heavy and light rubble.

Many of the ruins are multi-leveled structures, giving the airborne Aquilons and Stingwings plenty of places to exercise their skills in the skies. Missions lay out these buildings in order to create myriad tactical challenges, with objectives scattered between exposed killing fields and crumbling walls.