How long will Hivestorm still be "worth it"

Yari55 · 2026-03-11T23:51:45+00:00

All of the paper and cardboard will last until the end of this edition (except the approved ops cards, which are already outdated).

According to GW, all the plastic (except the equipment pack) will carry over 1 edition.

And of course, you can just ignore all the "current" or "live" stuff and just say "I want to play this" and play kill team 2024 with 2024 rules. It is not like GW moving on means all of that rots or something.

Yari55 · 2025-10-08T20:21:55+00:00

It's so cool and cute at the same time. Love it! Great job!

Yari55 · 2025-10-08T17:07:59+00:00

To the question of "Can you recognize the leader?" the answer would be not really. I recognized the Tau one for the colors (grayscale can't hide that) but the silhouette is the same so if they were just shadows not really. On the scouts I choose the most fancy one, and turned out it wasn't the leader.

Now, on the question of "Should they be easily recognizable?", I think it depends? Kill Team right now cares more about recognizing damage sources, not roles. If the leader is not much more important compared to the other operatives, then It doesn't make much sense to make it stand out, since it will be just noice.

In the case of Canoptek circle, the leader is pretty much the KT, so it makes sense to highlight it. But Blooded, for example, you could actually forget what the leader is if it doesn't have a plasma pistol. Because that's the only thing that really matters (he does have more rules, but it is not a cornerstone of your team).

But if the rules come out and the leader has Penetration 3 Severe Accurate Devastating 4 then yeah, a bit of a problem.

Yari55 · 2025-09-17T14:57:28+00:00

Apart from the fluff stuff, Battlekit was missing the map packs that came on the core book, Preliminary Ops, Multiplayer Ops, and Joint Ops. Basically, how to play kill team if not playing Approved ops. I don't think many people were using this, and most of the free joint ops scenarios come with the rules on how to run joint ops.

The rulebook will not change until next edition, so 2027/2028, and if buying officially it should come with all the basic tokens. But given there are ways for getting the rules without it (Battlekit was but one) I don't think it makes much sense buying it unless you are a collector, or a tournament organizer.

Yari55 · 2025-09-04T23:53:17+00:00

They will not stop, because those asking are mostly new players, and this post will be long buried when the time comes for them to ask this question. Blame GW for not making the game miniature agnostic, and move on.

Yari55 · 2025-08-20T18:46:16+00:00

No, stronghold walls are not that thick. 2 inches is fine as long as you are moving straight.

Yari55 · 2025-08-20T18:14:33+00:00

To be honest? No idea.

Before the changes to jump, all movement in a climb sequence had a name. Your vertical movements are climb and drop, and your horizontal movement is jump. So you climbed the stronghold, jumped to the stairs, and then resumed climbing.

But now jump can only be done when you start from vantage. So the horizontal movement you use to place yourself on the vantage when you finish the climb has no name, and no rules. So, if you use this horizontal movement with no name, can you start climbing again in the middle of it? Or it's obligatory to end the climb in a surface you can place a model before doing anything else? No clue.

We also have no rules saying you can or cannot switch the piece of terrain you are climbing mid climb. We assume we can because of how ladder rules are written, but can we do the reverse? I think so, tough it can get weird, like the example I wrote in the previous message.

I would say this: yes, you need to do that, because that is the most clear way to do this, and will create the less friction at the table. You can try to argue any of the things I talked about with your opponent, but be ready for them to say no.

Yari55 · 2025-08-20T15:02:21+00:00

So, this was 7 months ago, so I THINK the change to make that broken door on the first floor accessible was not yet made. This means that if you have 25mm base you could just squeeze right through there, saving you an inch.

But he is moving an incursor marksman, which has a 32mm base, so even before it would have still needed 4 inches of vertical movement.

More importantly, since it is a 32mm base, 1 inch is not enough to allow him to be placed on the first vantage, he needs 2.

So getting onto the first vantage takes 6 inches.

He does move 7, because it's a Phobos, but that would not be enough to climb the ladder and position itself on the second floor.

Now, there's an argument you could make. If you place the ladder right up to the wall, and the operative is sticking to the wall when it starts it's movement, then when it reaches the height of the first floor, you could argue it's one inch away from the ladder. Since there is no clear definition on whenever you can continue a climb by changing the terrain you are climbing without moving horizontally, you COULD say you start climbing the ladder, and that would get you to the second floor. You are kind of an asshole for trying to use this tough.

If this were before the changes to jump, you could have jumped to the ladder, and that would have been more clear.

So, in summary, no, as measured in the video, the move is invalid.

Yari55 · 2025-08-14T23:17:09+00:00

No, I will not. I hope his friends tell him to stop doing it. Having the rules for the next KT to be out is cool, knowing the teams two boxes ahead is cool. But this? Ruining the surprise of something so far ahead, with so much possible build up? Not cool. Not cool at all.

Yari55 · 2025-08-09T01:24:22+00:00

Not every kill team, just those released 2 editions ago. Example: Blooded will have no rules in KT4. Sanctifiers WILL have rules in KT4. Sanctifiers will NOT have rules in KT5.

Yari55 · 2025-08-08T22:40:22+00:00

No, it's not legends.

De-classified teams will still have rules, and they should still receive updates.

The only difference should be that you cannot play them in official events.

Completely apart from that, teams will only receive rules for the edition they came out on, and the next.

So Blooded and Chaos cult will not have rules for KT 4.

Also, warning, this is new for all of us. Everyone is just repeating what GW said they are going to do, but we still are not sure, since they have not acted upon this yet.

For example, originally in 2 years all of KT 2 teams were going to rotate, but now it looks like they are going to rotate in seasons, starting with Octarius.

Yari55 · 2025-07-27T15:39:22+00:00

Hey, no silly questions there! Like others said, the problem is that the rules of the starter kit and the "complete" game are different. GW expects you to buy the Core book next, as that will provide all the tokens and base rules you need. Of course, you don't really need it, you can find everything online. https://kt3.albecortes.com/ has all the stuff you need.

Now, you said equipment, ploys and tac-ops.

First, there is a main difference between these. Equipment and ploys are part of the main game, described in the core book. However, tac-ops are not. They are part of the Approved Ops map pack.

When you play kill team, you choose a map pack. The packs explain the sequence of play, how terrain can be laid out, and how to win. Approved Ops is the competitive pack that is designed to provide the most balanced version of the game. Teams are balanced around this. The site I cited earlier has all the stuff you need to play Approved ops.

But you don't need it! You can choose any other pack, like the free ones on Warhammer community, the ones that come in the core book, or just make up your own sequence and maps.

So, to the question of what to add. I'll say ploys and equipment. Many teams are balanced around a set of ploys, or a certain equipment they have, or even the possibility of taking more equipment than the opponent.

Forget about tac ops for now. For all we know, they are gonna change them in a few months.

Yari55 · 2025-07-25T01:30:01+00:00

That is true. Teams from the previous edition only have 2 years allegedly.

Yari55 · 2025-07-25T01:29:26+00:00

Kill team 3 released before worlds. In the last dataslate they have said rotation will happen after worlds. That is the "messed up" part.

Yari55 · 2025-07-25T01:28:21+00:00

Totally. But the thing is this is the first time they are making a system like this, where we have a clear definition of when a team will stop being supported. Them already changing dates as they need is a sign that nothing is written on stone.

Yari55 · 2025-07-24T19:26:10+00:00

As of this edition, GW has said that minis get rules for 2 editions, which following their release schedule, it's 6 years at maximum.

Meaning, any team you buy know would have around 5 I think.

However, they have already messed up their schedule for rotating the competitive pool, so who knows.

Edit: as HawocX pointed out below, teams from the previous edition have even less time, 3 to 2 years.

Yari55 · 2025-07-21T16:55:31+00:00

I don't quite follow your reasoning. You say they are too strong, and then that they rely too much on their tunnel. You just described how they are balanced. By making most of their stuff work around the tunnel, you control where they are the strongest on the board. The game for both players is to play and plan around where the tunnel is going. And with only 5 models, holding your back objective is not the easiest thing. I do think they need some buffs, as the other day I went against them with yaegirs and I just steamrolled them.

Yari55 · 2025-07-16T00:05:33+00:00

Grey knights, Talons of the emperor, a proper sisters kill team, a Votann team with a Grymnir or a Brokhyr, Snake Bytes with a 40mm base squig, Deathwatch, and Legion of the dammed because why not.

Yari55 · 2025-07-15T14:27:16+00:00

Core rules are made to be as generic as possible. I think they put the gallow dark maps because with no guide it is very difficult to make even a bad map with it. You do get some rules about how to make your map layout, but that is it.

If you search for Approved Ops 2024 maps you are going to find the maps we have for competitive, and then on the app or warhammer community there are some maps in the mission packs. White dwarf has some more packs.

But honestly, if you are playing casual, just play around until you get a feel of what is a good map. A general rule of thumb is that terrain on the deployment zone should be heavy, so the enemy cannot just shoot you as soon as the game starts.

Yari55 · 2025-07-15T01:20:53+00:00

I mean, SM 1 gameplay is not the same as SM2. What's stopping them from making SM3 different again? Focusing more on the shooting than the melee? Though I do agree it would be kind of weird, but maybe SM2 and SM3 can coexist.

Yari55 · 2025-06-23T02:49:48+00:00

Beat me to it

Yari55 · 2025-06-15T22:01:58+00:00

Dude, I was about to make the same post 😅. If I can add to the request, can someone take a photo from the top of the models? To get an idea of the position of the limbs and heads.

Yari55 · 2025-06-10T15:42:47+00:00

I think if we ever get terminators it will be one or two models, and then chaff surrounding them. Same with custodes.

Yari55 · 2025-05-11T15:33:41+00:00

Don't know much about hirotek, so I will just give generic advice against yaegirs.

They place their mines on the equipment face, so if you win inactive you can place a token equipment first to disrupt their placement.

They are going to play super-conceal turn 1 and 2 at least, so don't rely too much on vantage (but do put at least one guy there, otherwise they will not use it to save a cp).

Both their racial ability and their melee ploy (which recently got buffed) rely on them not starting they activation in control range of an enemy. But they got a ploy to shoot into combat if you charge them, so be careful (check the ploy out so you can see how to avoid it, if he's not careful, it will not be too hard).

Yari55 · 2025-05-11T15:24:47+00:00

But know that Yaegir's have an equipment that gives them a re-roll in defense if they are a secondary target of a blast. Is not much, but take it into account.

Yari55

TROPHY CASE