Kill Team Brutal and Cunning Review

The latest Kill Team season has started with pace, first with the Hivestorm launch box, then the Kill Team Starter Set, and now with its first expansion, Kill Team Brutal and Cunning. Brutal and Cunning keeps how expansions worked in the last Kill Team season, with 2 brand new kill teams to play, and a Killzone Upgrade to add into games. In this article, we'll look at what Kill Team Brutal and Cunning contains, what you need to use it, and look in detail at the new kill teams.

Kill Team is a skirmish wargame, set in Games Workshop's larger Warhammer 40,000 setting. As a skirmish game, Kill Team features a small number of elite troops, fighting special operations battles, rather than huge battles fought with entire armies. We've covered Kill Team in depth since the first edition, and you can read our review of the current Starter Set here.

What Does Kill Team Brutal and Cunning Contain?

Kill Team Brutal and Cunning contains:

• Kill Team Brutal and Cunning Dossier
• 8x Ork Wrecka Krew miniatures (and transfer sheet)
• 11x Astra Millitarum Ratling miniatures
• Datacards for both kill teams
• Tokens for both kill teams
• Killzone Upgrade: Compound Siege (14 scenery pieces)

What Do I Need To Use The Kill Team Brutal and Cunning Box?

Kill Team Brutal and Cunning is an expansion pack for Kill Team and while it does contain a lot of content, it's not playable out of the box. If this is your first Kill Team purchase, you will need to pick up another couple of items too. The essential items for playing Kill Team are:

• Kill Team Core Rulebook
• 6-sided dice and a measuring tool
• Scenery 

The Kill Team Starter Set and Kill Team Hivestorm are the best places to start, and you can add Brutal and Cunning straight onto those boxes to play with.

What Kill Teams Do You Get In Kill Team Brutal and Cunning?

Kill Team Brutal and Cunning, as standard with Kill Team expansions, includes 2 brand new kill teams, the Ork Wrecka Crew kill team and the Astra Millitarum Ratling kill team. 

Ork Wrecka Crew

Orks love a good scrap, but some find appreciation for more than just fighting, like smashing things up as well, and these like-minded Orks band together, albeit somewhat competitively, under a Boss Nob who knows how to focus them. Wrecka Crews are made up of 2 types of Orks (plus the explosive Bomb Squigs), Tankbustas and Breaka Boyz. The Tankbustas come armed with a choice of Rokkit Launchas or 'Eavy Rokkit Launchas (the only difference is the 'Eavy is slightly more accurate, but has the Heavy keyword). Breaka Boys bring along their Smash Hammers which, along with hitting your enemies with, can also make holes in scenery.

The Wrecka Boys like to build up Wrecka Points, which they get by rolling 6's (and some individual operatives have their own ways to gain points). They can then spend 3 points to retain a fail as a success in later rolls. The Boyz also gain bonus APL if they shoot or fight during their turn, giving them some extra mobility to reposition or complete mission objectives after getting in a scrap.

Astra Millitarum Ratling

The Ratlings are tiny ab-humans (Hobbits of the Warhammer 40K universe), which makes them pretty squishy compared to most of the monstrosities you can face in Kill Team, but it allows them to be super sneaky, and great snipers as a result (and they can take the huge Ogryns in their kill team too, but you'll need to pick them up separately from the Brutal and Cunning set). The basic Ratling operative is a Sniper, who if they remain stationary, has 4 attacks with 2+ to hit, doing an extra 3 damage on each 6 they roll. They also have support operatives like the Spotter, Stashmaster, and Battle Mutt to allow the Snipers to keep shooting. My favorite Ratling is the Big Shot, not only is the miniature incredible, but the Tankstopper rifle punches through armor and flesh alike.

Because you really don't want to get your Ratlings into close combat with an enemy, they have the Scarper special rule, which, after your opponent finishes an activation with an operative, allows you to take a free dash action with a Ratling to get them out of harm's way. Each Ratling can only do this once per turn, and you can't do it after subsequent opposing turns (you need a turn in between each use), but it really helps to keep your operatives safe, or reposition so that you can get a shot in your activation.

What Is The Killzone Upgrade In Kill Team Brutal and Cunning?

A Killzone: Upgrade is an add-on to an existing Killzone. In Brutal and Cunning's case, it's Killzone Upgrade: Compound Siege, an upgrade to Killzone Volkus found in Kill Team Hivestorm (and also now available separately). This new scenery and mission pack adds a fortified base to your games and includes the rules for Player vs Player games, and also solo and cooperatively play vs an AI-controlled opponent, both game types involve players attacking or defending the compound.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Kill Team Brutal and Cunning?

I absolutely love both Brutal and Cunning kill teams. The Wrecka Crew are a lot of fun and surprisingly tactical (you have to be aggressive, but not too aggressive) and while the Ratling miniatures are awesome, they can be a challenge to pilot, as positioning and your activation order is incredibly important. They are not very forgiving (nor will your opponent be) if you get it wrong. It's a great first expansion for this edition of Kill Team, with 2 wildly different styles of play and some incredible miniatures.

Should I Buy Kill Team Brutal and Cunning?

If you want either of the kill teams in Brutal and Cunning, this will be the only place to get them before their separate release later on. If you don't want either, the Killzone Upgrade is still decent, and playing Ratlings in the compound against a horde of attacking enemies is a lot of fun. 

The copy of Kill Team Brutal and Cunning used to produce this review was provided by Games Workshop.