Kill team 7th edition additional content ?

[Mr Farson]

Hallo

 

As part of my great big archival and conversion project of 3rd to 7th ed 40k rules / expansions to 30k I've finally reached the 7th ed version of kill team.

 

Now I have the core book that came with the tac squad and tau but I'm struggling to remember ( or Google) if this edition had any supplementary material in the form of WD articles or missions in campaign books.

 

Any one able to shed any light?

[Domhnall]

16 hours ago, Mr Farson said:

Hallo

 

As part of my great big archival and conversion project of 3rd to 7th ed 40k rules / expansions to 30k I've finally reached the 7th ed version of kill team.

 

Now I have the core book that came with the tac squad and tau but I'm struggling to remember ( or Google) if this edition had any supplementary material in the form of WD articles or missions in campaign books.

 

Any one able to shed any light?

Having had a quick look as well, it's a yes, but also no... This goonhammer articles seems pretty concise, basically it was a standalone, maybe to evaluate the feasibility of it, and defintely a way to sell off old models/kits. A second set was made, but it's tentative at best that it's a Kill Team box set. 

https://www.goonhammer.com/a-history-of-miniature-violence-what-edition-of-kill-team-is-it-anyway/

 

Extract from this (Bold is my edit):

Kill Team (2016)

Sixth edition Warhammer 40,000 was the shortest-lived edition in the game’s history, replaced by seventh edition only two years later, in May 2014. Seventh edition updated a number of the game’s rules, added new psychic disciplines, and introduced formations to the game, but allowed players to keep the same Codexes. Seventh edition also saw the advancement of the larger 40k narrative in several areas – Campaign books like Shield of Baal, War Zone Fenris, and War Zone Damocles all pushed the game’s larger story forward, and the latter of these would see a number of new releases. One of those tie-in releases was an updated print version of Kill Team, packaged in a boxed set with a small version of the 7th edition core rules, a unit of tactical marines, and a unit of T’au Fire Warriors.

These rules were, in most respects, a prettier, updated version of the sixth edition rules. Leaders retained their six possible traits, but the list of skills opened way up for team specialists, with each having a choice between a set of Universal Special Rules and some custom rules – for example, the Combat Specialist could choose one of Counter-Attack, Hammer of Wrath, Rage, Furious Charge, or Hatred, or could opt for a rule like Warrior Adept, improving their WS by 1. Kill Teams were still built from 200 points of units, chosen from a Force Org chart with 0-2 Troops, 0-1 Elites, and 0-1 Fast Attack, and still had the same restrictions around wounds, armour values, saves, and non-vehicle models.

You may have noticed that a unit of Fire Warriors is no match for a full marine Tactical Squad, and these two units had different costs – 190 points for the tac marines vs. 134 for the Fire Warriors. Not a ton of thought was put into balancing this box, and that’s because the goal here is to sell you $90 of older models for $65. It’s a fine deal, and was OK for introducing someone to the game, but it’s not intended to be a balanced game and never received any updates.
 

Shadow War: Armageddon

In early 2017, Games Workshop released Shadow War: Armageddon, a boxed set featuring two teams – Space Marine Scouts and Ork Boyz – along with a massive amount of brand new Sector Mechanicus terrain and rules for playing skirmish games using small, dedicated kill teams. These rules were largely updated versions of the classic second edition Necromunda rules, using similar rules for range, melee combat, and injuries. Teams would consist of anywhere from five to twenty models and could purchase custom wargear like scopes, camo cloaks, and laser sights.

Shadow War operatives had custom stat lines built to look like older Necromunda – movement values returned after being gone for third through seventh edition – and allowed for some limited progression, with teams having a mix of Leaders, Troopers, New Recruits, and Specialists. Teams also had access to Special Operatives for some missions, such as Terminators or Jump troops, to help accomplish certain missions.

Although ostensibly marketed as a standalone game, Shadow War: Armageddon was really a vehicle for Games Workshop to sell its newest terrain kit. But it was a really good kit and that combined with a heavy dose of nostalgia would lead people to clamor for more rules and coverage for every faction in the game. Games Workshop would release a standalone print version of the book and a compendium of other teams, then go on to release digital downloads with those teams, plus FAQs, errata, and custom scenarios for “one man army” units, in which an entire team takes on a single, lone operative, armed to the teeth.

Shadow War: Armageddon was a mess in all the ways Necromunda was, and absolutely unbalanced when it came to the Compendium teams – Harlequins in particular were insane – but it was an absolute blast to play. The campaign worked well, and while the Necromunda fiction of bringing in new recruits and upgrading them to full squad members didn’t work so much for the 40k narrative, the actual process felt pretty good.

Why This Isn’t Fourth Edition
Well, for starters, it’s not officially called Kill Team, even if it uses Kill Teams. Another reason is that this release was bookended between two other editions of the game – the expansion box released in seventh edition Warhammer 40,000 and the more standalone game released a year later in 2018. That said, the popularity of Heralds of Ruin’s version of Kill Team, Necromunda in 2017, and Shadow War Armageddon clearly convinced someone at Games Workshop that Kill Team was worth having its own standalone release, and that’s what we got one year later.

[Brother Tyler]

Just to be sure, are you talking about this edition of the game (2016)?

 

 

Or this edition of the game (2013)?

 

 

(links take you to the Board Game Geek entries)

 

Or some other edition?

Edited November 11 by Brother Tyler

[ggergnayr]

Shadow War sounds awesome. 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

On 11/11/2025 at 11:33 AM, Brother Tyler said:

Just to be sure, are you talking about this edition of the game (2016)?

 

 

This is definitely the one he is talking about - I remember buying it for a friend at the time.  And no, I don't remember any additional material for it - the first edition of Kill Team with additional rules support was the one after Shadow War.

 

I wasn't a fan of ShadowWar, though it was a great deal in terms of terrain.  In terms of play, I suspect a large part of my disenchantment was the match-up - all "kill teams" were capped at 10 models, except for orks, who could have 20.  The short campaign I played was my imperial guard against my friend's orks - it was pretty ballanced when we were 10 vs 10, but let me tell you 10 guardsmen, no matter how kitted up, are no match for 20 orks.

 

The edition of killteam after that was definitely my favourite - though again, that may have been because my guard were quite good in it, though I don't think that's entirely it as I also liked how it played very differently from 40K with very similar rules.  I haven't been able to play any of the newer versions, as my head doesn't have enough room for an entirely different ruleset given how little I play.

Edited November 14 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Mandragola]

On 11/14/2025 at 6:07 AM, Dr_Ruminahui said:

 

I haven't been able to play any of the newer versions, as my head doesn't have enough room for an entirely different ruleset given how little I play.

I’d strongly advocate for giving this edition a go. I definitely sympathise with the issue of there being too many games to play, but I think kill team is the best one GW makes, as a playing experience. 
 

That said, the most important thing is always whatever your friends and community are doing, not the game itself. 

Edited November 16 by Mandragola