Kill Team Pariah Nexus Preview

Kill Team Pariah Nexus is the latest expansion for the Warhammer 40,000 skirmish game, Kill Team. It has a few elements to it, and in this article, we'll look at what the product contains, who it's for, and a brief breakdown of the 2 forces inside.

Pariah Nexus is an expansion for Kill Team, not a starter set. In order to use Pariah Nexus, players need to have access to the Kill Team Core Rulebook, along with dice, tokens, and a measuring tool. You can read more about Kill Team and the different products in our Kill Team Guide.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus contains:

• Kill Team Pariah Nexus Rulebook (which contains new missions in the Pariah Nexus, and new datasheets for the Adeptus Astartes and the Necrons)
• Game Board and Scenery for 2 Kill Zones
• Adeptus Astartes Kill Team (with a Captain and 5 Heavy Intercessors)
• Necron Kill Team (with a Chronomancer and 5 Flayed Ones)
• 2 decks of 17 objective cards

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Rulebook

The Pariah Nexus rulebook includes some background details on War Zone: Pariah, the central battlefield of the current focus of lore in Warhammer 40,000, which is also the setting for the Pariah Nexus expansion, though on a smaller scale to match the skirmish scale of Kill Team. Rather than the crusade as a whole, Kill Team Pariah Nexus focuses on the smaller, more clandestine battles of covert operations and specialist teams waging war.

The book also includes updated Ultra-Close Confines rules, which were originally published in Kill Team Arena and Kill Team Rogue Trader. There are several changes including the removal of door interaction, which is now through one of the new Ultra-Close Confines tactics. The double-sided game board and scenery are also part of two new Kill Zones, which come with six new Matched Play missions, and two Narrative Missions which use the two forces included in Pariah Nexus. The Pariah Nexus Kill Zones also have some interesting effects on the environment tables. The Crypt of the Cynosure has a circular path running through the middle, one of the environmental effects can teleport units around it, and another can cause mortal wounds to randomly nearby units.

The rest of the Pariah Nexus rulebook includes updated datasheets for the Adeptus Astartes and Necrons, including some of the new units that were released with the Warhammer 40K Indomitus box. This includes the Judicar, Assault Intercessors, and Bladeguard for the Space Marines, and the Plasmancer and Royal Warden for the Necrons. It also includes the rules for the included forces in the box. It's considered the complete, and updated rules for both forces, so if you play either of them, Pariah Nexus is going to be an essential purchase for you as the Pariah Nexus rulebook isn't currently available separately.

The Pariah Nexus rulebook also includes the rule for Commanders, as the two forces both include a Commander, and all the Commander datasheets are included in the Kill Teams sections.

Pariah Nexus Adeptus Astartes

The Space Marines in Pariah Nexus come with a new Captain with a master-crafted heavy bolt rifle. The Captain has a higher toughness and wounds over the standard Primaris Captain, and the master-crafted heavy bolt rifle has an additional damage over the standard heavy bolt rifle. The Captain also has 5 attacks and a master-crafted power sword, making him deadly at range or in close.

The Heavy Intercessors are brand new with Pariah Nexus and are going to be able separately in May 2021. The Heavy Intercessors come armed with heavy bolt rifles and can change them to either hellstorm bolt rifles with a shorter range, but higher assault rate or fire, or executor bolt rifles, with a longer range, and real punch. We armed our 3 Heavy Intercessors with one of each, giving us a full range of options in our Kill Team. The remaining two Heavy Intercessors can be built as a Seargent and Heavy Intercessor Gunner. The Heavy Intercessor Gunner comes with the same 3 options for their heavy weapon, either a heavy bolter, hellstorm heavy bolter, or executor heavy bolter.

Pariah Nexus Necrons

The Necrons in Pariah Nexus come with a new commander, the Chronomancer. The Chronomancer has the same stats as the other 3 'mancer commanders and can come armed with either an aeonstave, which can negate invulnerable saves, or an entropic lance, which has a higher damage and armor penetration.

The Flayed Ones included in Pariah Nexus are available for the first time in plastic and are shambling melee constructs. They're no match for the Space Marines, but they do have Reanimation Protocol, which means that when an injury roll is made, rather than being taken out, on a 6 they're restored, removing any previous flesh wound they may have suffered.

Who is Pariah Nexus For?

If you're a Space Marine or Necron player, then Pariah Nexus is an essential purchase. Aside from getting hold of the new miniatures, it includes the updated and complete rules for all the Necron and Space Marine forces.

If you want some new Kill Zones to play on, with the Indomitus Campaign feel, then the new ultra-close confines Kill Zones have some great rules and narrative effects.

If you're brand new to Kill Team, this isn't a starter set, and you're better off getting the Core Rulebook, and playing a few games with a Kill Team you like before picking up Pariah Nexus. The two forces Pariah Nexus contains aren't balanced against each other, and while there are 2 interesting Narrative Play missions, in Matched Play, the Space Marines are far superior to the Necrons here.

If you love Kill Team Arena, then this is a good upgrade/replacement as the ultra-close confines rules are updated here, along with the new missions and tactics.

The copy of Kill Team Pariah Nexus used to produce this preview was provided by Warhammer Community.