An image of the Warhammer 40K Death Korps of Krieg box.

Ranking Units From The New Warhammer 40K Death Korps Army Box

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Published: January 13, 2025 10:48 AM

Games Workshop sent us along a brand new box of their Warhammer 40K Death Korps of Krieg Army Box, and I set to work reading through the rules (the box contains data cards and a nice glossy version of the Astra Militarum Codex) and checking out the models. Now that I've got a good handle on everything, let's run through a quick ranking of the models in the Army Box.

#4 - Death Riders

An image of the Warhammer 40K Death Korps Death Riders
The Death Riders gallop in at the top of our list! Image: Games Workshop

Okay, okay... here's the big secret with this list: all of the models included in this Army Box are pretty damn good. But I set out to challenge myself to rank them from "worst" to "best." So I'm shocking even myself by saying that the Death Riders - while looking extremely cool on their enhanced Krieg Steeds - don't quite live up to the excitement of the rest of the models in the box.

With a 10" move (doesn't that feel a little slow for cavalry? The Attilan Rough Riders have a 12" move) and bearing a lascarbine and a frag lance, they're fine at a distance, but nothing extraordinary. They also have a power sabre and their steeds' claws for when you're done charging. They also have a special ability "Screening Line," allowing them to make a Normal 6" move whenever an enemy gets within 9" of them.

None of this is bad, in fact they can be quite a handful on the table... but there's just not much too them!

#3 - Lord Marshal Dreir

Warhammer 40K Death Korps image featuring Lord Marshal Dreir
The Lord Marshal leads from horseback, hard to get him into a tank! Image: Games Workshop

Hmm... maybe I'm just a horse hater? Coming in at number three is Lord Marshal Dreir, an epic hero and officer for Krieg who can be attached to the aforementioned Death Riders. He's also got a 10" move, and has 6 wounds. Those 6 wounds aren't as bad as they sound, as he has "Feel No Pain 6+" and the "Tough To Kill" special ability which basically allows you to re-set him up if he's destroyed by rolling a 2 or better once per game.

Not too shabby! Add to that his "Leading the Charge" special ability, which gives his unit's melee weapons the "Devastating Wounds" ability (crits can't be invuln saved against). Speaking of weapons, he is an infantry chopper with his Sabre of Sacrifice, which has Anti-Infantry 4+ (pairing nicely with the Devastating Wounds from a charge).

But that's... pretty much it for him. Yes, he has the ability to give up to 3 Orders to his units, but other than that he's just armed with a laspistol. For a character larger than life like Dreir, it would have been nice to see him kitted out a bit more.

#2 - Kreig Combat Engineers

Warhammer 40K Death Korps image depicting the Combat Engineers
Now THIS is what I think of when I think about Death Korps! Image: Games Workshop

Now we're talkin'! Of all the new Warhammer 40K Death Korps units included in this box, the Krieg Combat Engineers bring a lot of flexibility and some serious firepower. Each model comes with a standard Auto pistol and trench club, but you can upgrade individual models with flamers, combat shotguns, and more to suit your needs.

Also, these little dudes are meant to get moving on the battlefield with their "Scout 6"" ability, and their "Remote Mine" ability (which sports an incredible miniature to serve as a marker) can really do some damage. It reads: "Once per battle, at the start of your Shooting phase, you can select one enemy unit within 12" of the bearer and roll one D6: on a 3+, that enemy unit suffers D6 mortal wounds, or D3+3 mortal wounds instead if it is a Vehicle or Fortifications unit." OUCH!

I also love the look of them... maybe that's one of the reasons I'm instantly drawn to them. Krieg just look kinda off on horses. They should be crawling on their bellies through razorwire, not galloping on mutated horses!

#1 - Artillery Team

Warhammer 40K Death Korps image featuring the Artillery Team model, a giant cannon.
When you truly need to bring the BOOM! Image: Games Workshop

Finally, let's get to the most gorgeous model in the set - and in my opinion the one that packs the most punch! While not tied specifically to Death Korps, the Artillery Team model is a slow-rolling source of death for all unlucky enough to fall within its sights. While it only has a 3" move, as you'd expect from an Artillery Team, the unit has a 7 toughness, a 3+ save, and 10 wounds!

But what really makes this so nasty is the choice of builds here. You can build the Artillery Team with a Heavy Mortar (pictured), a siege cannon, a heavy quad launcher, or a multiple rocket launcher. Siege and heavy quad are fun options, but for me it's all about either the heavy mortar (48" range, D6+3 attacks, 5+ BS, 8 strength, -1 AP, 2 Damage per hit) or the multiple rocket launcher (48" range, D6+3 attacks, 5+ BS, 2 strength, -1 AP, 1 Damage per hit).

If you're looking to punch through heavy armor, take the high-strength heavy mortar. But if you want to whittle down infantry, the multiple rocket launcher has Anti-Infantry 3+ (meaning you wound infantry on a wound roll of 3 or better!) and is a really strong option. 

No matter the build, you add to that the "Remorseless Barage" ability which reads: "In your Shooting phase, after this model has shot, if one or more of those attacks made with an Indirect Fire weapon [Giaco's note: all the options have Indirect Fire] scored a hit against an enemy unit, that unit must take a Battle-shock test (if an Infantry unit is hit by one or more attacks made by a multiple rocket launcher, they must subtract 1 from their Battle-shock test when doing so)."

So those are my rankings! How wrong am I? Please sound off in the comments and show me the error of my ways!


The copy of the Warhammer 40K Death Korps of Krieg Army Box used in the creation of this review was provided by Games Workshop.

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Giaco Furino joined the TechRaptor team as a Staff Writer in 2019 after searching for a dedicated place to write and talk about Tabletop Games. In 2020, he… More about Giaco

More Info About This Game
Learn More About Warhammer 40,000
Game Page Warhammer 40,000
Publisher
Games Workshop
Release Date
September 1, 1987 (Calendar)
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