How to include Chaos Spawn in a Kill Team narrative Mission?

[firestorm40k]

Greetings Frater, my fellow Kill Team fans, just wanted to get some feedback on a plan I’m putting together for a narrative-heavy KT campaign I’m planning. I want to include a mission where one side (Heretic Astartes) has a couple of Chaos Spawn (that’ll be chosen within the points limit for the game – as it’ll include a commander on each side, I’m looking at 200 points a side).

 

I would just use the same profile & rules for Spawn as in the CSM ‘dex – Hideous Mutations, Fearsome, Mutated Beyond Reason; but what I think at the points they are in the Codex, given their leadership value and with the Flesh Wounds rules, they need a little tweak.

 

Here are the options I’m considering:

 

1) Up the points to 40 Each, otherwise unchanged

2) Up the points to 30, but have a rule that means they take their Nerve tests on the Ld of the Kill Team Commander (in narrative terms, they’re his ‘pets’ and are psychically kind of ‘commanded’ at his will – if he is injured and can’t sustain his link to them, then they’re so lacking in any kind of intelligence that they’ll stop fighting)

3) A combination of both

4) Something else (I’m open to suggestions!)

 

Any thoughts on this? Thanks for any input!

[DamnedProphet]

Kill Team seems like a great platform to test out narrative ideas like this. I was brainstorming for a narrative mission involving Knights, myself. But I digress...

 

I like option 2 that you've put out, where the Leader has to take control of the Spawn with a Nerve Test. Maybe you could add another mechanic to it, where if the Leader is unable to impose his will upon it, the player rolls a D3 with the following results:

1 - the Spawn sits there, and does nothing

2 - the Spawn starts attacking its masters!

3 - the Spawn starts attacking other Kill Teams

 

To spice it up even further, the Spawn must make a full move and then a charge, and must re-roll failed charge rolls. This will represent the Spawn going absolutely BESERK towards its intended target. It can also break away from combat if going from one team to another and charge again!

 

Basically, this should represent just how unstable AND dangerous a Spawn really is, especially in such close quarters fighting between two kill teams.

[Tyriks]

Option 2 is very easy to neutralize. Kill one guy and the whole team falls apart. I wouldn't go for that option.

[firestorm40k]

I like option 2 that you've put out, where the Leader has to take control of the Spawn with a Nerve Test. Maybe you could add another mechanic to it, where if the Leader is unable to impose his will upon it, the player rolls a D3 with the following results:

1 - the Spawn sits there, and does nothing

2 - the Spawn starts attacking its masters!

3 - the Spawn starts attacking other Kill Teams

 

To spice it up even further, the Spawn must make a full move and then a charge, and must re-roll failed charge rolls. This will represent the Spawn going absolutely BESERK towards its intended target. It can also break away from combat if going from one team to another and charge again!

 

Basically, this should represent just how unstable AND dangerous a Spawn really is, especially in such close quarters fighting between two kill teams.

Thanks for the suggestion, DamnedProphet - I think that's a great suggestion to balance out that they're not really meant for Kill Team. As with Chaos, they could be just as much of a liability as a boon to their masters!

 

I might do it so that every turn the Commander in 'control' of the Spawn has to pass a Nerve Test, if failed you have to roll on a table like the one you've suggested.

Option 2 is very easy to neutralize. Kill one guy and the whole team falls apart. I wouldn't go for that option.

Well, for the mission I have in mind the Commander will be a Level 2 or 3 Chaos Space Marine Sorceror - between his wounds (4) and the flesh wounds, as well as his psychic powers, he'll take some putting down. He'll be a target for the opposing team anyway, regardless! But having him in control of two mindless, dangerous Spawn will add some urgency to the opposing player wanting to eliminate him ;) :D

[Exilyth]

Afaik, Necromunda has rules for chaos cults - one of the effects of their in-between-games-rituals is that a ganger can get turned into a spawn, which then becomes part of the team. You may be able to adapt their rules for kill team.

 

Rules for chaos cult gangs (necromunda) can be freely downloaded under https://www.warhammer-community.com/downloads/

[firestorm40k]

Thanks Exilyth - I've taken a look, and I'm not quite sure those rules are a fit for what I'd be wanting to do for this game of Kill Team.  They look perfect for running a Chaos Cult gang in Necromunda, and for an ongoing campaign with that system.  But the random generation for the stats, and the need to keep control of the Spawn, would add a level of complication to a one-off game that wouldn't be helpful, I think.

 

From a narrative point of view, in the mission I have in mind to create, it's a Chaos Sorceror who will be 'in control' of the Spawn - you'd have to expect him to have a stronger will to control said beasts than your average under-hive Cult leader ;)  Another facet to this is that this Sorceror, in terms of the background I've given him, somewhat 'specializes' in 'creating' spawn through cursing individuals using the dark powers from the Warp.  He'd create them to be attack beasts, so using them with the standard Spawn stats in the Codex fits that.