Terrain in Kill Team: how many items is the 'right' amount?

[firestorm40k]

Hello :) One of the things that makes Kill Team appeal to me, along with the size of the games and chance for narrative etc., is that it gives opportunity for some fun terrain building projects.

 

Having played a few games of the new edition of Kill Team, it's clear that terrain is massively important, especially given how LOS and engage/conceal orders work.

 

As stated, I love building terrain, but something I tend to do is make for theme and variety - as such, if I were to take a great selection of terrain I'd built and use it on a game, I think there'd likely be too much of it and would cause some imbalances to the gameplay; e.g. more terrain = more benefit to concealed operatives, and more opportunities for CC orientated operatives/Teams to close with less risk of getting shot. Too little terrain, and shooting operatives/teams have too much benefit.

 

So, how much is the correct quantity of terrain for this edition of Kill Team? I got to considering this, and I thought about the terrain that comes on the Octarius box. I can't help but think that the quantities, as well as the design of each piece, were fairly deliberate on the GW design team's part. I think that what's in the box is what the game's designers think should be the 'standard' quantity of terrain for Kill Team.

 

 

Breaking it down, there are:

- 4 building sections (with the Heavy trait, also giving Vantage Points)

- 1 fuel pump (Heavy & Vantage Points)

- 3 barricades (Light)

- 3 Scrap Piles (Light)

- 2 walkways & platforms

 

As some of the scenarios in the rule book don't include the walkways & platforms, we can consider them optional, but based on the rest of the terrain it seems the 'standard' should be:

 

- 5 Heavy pieces (with additional Vantage Point)

- 6 Light pieces

 

Looking at the forthcoming Chalnath set, this does seem a repeated pattern - if the two larger ruins are built as two separate pieces each (which is possible with that kit):

 

 

What does this mean for how I approach the game going forward? Well, as stated I've a variety of terrain pieces - ruined buildings, desert rock outcrops, hills, munitorum containers, rubble piles, crates and barrels, etc etc. It can be tempting to take everything related to a specific theme, and lay out something that might look 'realistic' or make sense from a narrative perspective - but not ideal for the way the game works and is meant to be played.

 

I think from now on I'll use the 5 Heavy (with Vantage) and 6 Light pieces as my basis - it makes sense, if the board is treated as 4 quarters, that's almost 3 items of terrain on each.

 

What are everyone else's thoughts on the amount of terrain to use in Kill Team? Thanks for reading! :)

[LameBeard]

One thing I’ve noticed in the Octarius mission maps is that the terrain seems to be the wrong scale: the actual models are larger and so you can’t set up the board quite as they suggest, it can even look a little cramped.

 

One thing I learned from the previous edition of Kill Team is shooty forces need that extra level - I think this is a good balancing effect in the new Kill Team: heavy terrain favours the close combat but vantage points the shooty - so having them in one piece means you can get away with a bit more or less than you suggest. The placement of the barricades is also a leveller. I’d love to see some photos of your tables.

 

I’m wondering whether some sort of “Zone Mortalis” table will work for Kill Team. Haven’t tried it yet.