Kill Team `24: Spec Ops
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This is a lightly updated version of the Spec Ops rules from the Kill Team '21 Core Manual. Almost all of the rules are the same, but I've made a few changes to make them more compatible with the Kill Team '24 rules.
The main changes:
- Experience points are now divvied up after the battle and are based on VP.
- References to Equipment have been updated to match the KT24 rules.
Dataslates
When you start a Kill Team Spec Ops campaign, you must create a dataslate. A dataslate is used as a reference and record of all information concerning your kill team in a Spec Ops campaign. It also includes narrative datacards for each operative in your kill team.
The first step in creating a dataslate is to select your kill team’s faction. This specifies what operatives you can select for your kill team, and all the operatives in your kill team must have that faction keyword in common.
Once you have chosen your faction, you must select one of that faction’s kill teams, adhering to the selection requirements it specifies, and complete a narrative datacard for each of its operatives (note that you only complete a narrative datacard for the operatives selected to fulfill that kill team’s selection requirements, not for every operative listed as an option). Operatives that have the same selectable keyword (e.g. <CHAPTER>) must have the same keyword chosen (e.g. DARK ANGELS) These are the operatives you will start your Spec Ops campaign with.
During the campaign, the number of operatives on your dataslate can change as recruits join and operatives are slain. You can only add more operatives to your dataslate when a rule specifies, such as the Operative Assigned Requisition. Each time you do, complete a narrative datacard for that operative accordingly. You can remove an operative from your dataslate before or after a game, but if you do, it cannot be added back to your dataslate as it was removed - all experience points, injuries, Battle Honours etc. the operative gained are lost. You can never have more than twenty operatives on your dataslate.
Once you have chosen your starting kill team, it is good practice to establish your kill team’s background. Not only does it give your kill team an identity - particularly as your operatives start to gain Battle Traits and Battle Scars that must be tracked - but it also adds a sense of individuality and storytelling to your kill team as you become invested in its journey and celebrate its achievements. To establish your kill team’s background, complete each of the sections on your dataslate that are listed below. When doing so, you can choose each element yourself, or you can use the background generator found in your faction’s publication.
- Name of your kill team
- Name of each of your operatives
- The base of operations from which your kill team will operate.
- The history of your kill team
- Any quirks they have
On your dataslate you will notice sections to keep track of various pieces of information, such as the XP, specialisms, Battle Honours and Battle Scars of your operatives. Similarly, you will find sections such as Requisition Points, Spec Ops log, Stash and Strategic Assets. This information will be explained below.
Experience
When you start a Spec Ops campaign, your operatives are adepts who have been formed into a new special forces unit. As you play games with them, they will earn experience points (XP) and progress through ranks, earning new skills and a fearsome reputation for doing so.
When an operative is first added to your dataslate, it always begins with 0 experience points, the Adept rank and no Battle Honours.
After a battle, the Victory points achieved by your kill team are converted into experience points that you assign to operatives that participated in the battle.
An operative can only earn a max of 8XP per battle. If an operative was incapacitated during the battle, they can only earn a max of 3XP.
If an operative has gained (or lost) enough XP, its rank will change. The XP threshold for each rank is shown in the table below:
| Rank | XP |
|---|---|
| Adept | 0 |
| Veteran | 6 |
| Ace | 16 |
| Grizzled | 31 |
| Revered | 51 |
Battle Honours
Each time an operative earns enough XP to increase its rank, it gains a Battle Honour. Similarly, if an operative loses XP so that its rank decreases, it will lose a Battle Honour of your choosing. In either case, update its Battle Honours on your dataslate.
The first time an operative gains a Battle Honour, you must select one specialism for it to progress in. A specialism is a focused skill-set to which the operatives talents are suited.
Once you have selected an operative’s specialism, you then determine one Battle Honour for it to gain from that specialism. Each time an operative gains a rank thereafter, you can determine another Battle Honour for it to gain from that specialism.
To determine what Battle Honour your operative gains, you roll 1d6 and consult the appropriate table to randomly determine a Battle Honour. You may do this twice and choose one of the two results. If you roll the same result twice, reroll until you get a different result.
Combat
| D6 | Battle Honour |
|---|---|
| 1 | Inexorable: Each time this operative fights in combat, the enemy operative in that combat cannot be supported. |
| 2 | Bladework: Each time this operative fights in combat, its weapon gains the Balanced trait. |
| 3 | Dirty Fighter: Each time this operative fights in combat, if any friendly operatives are supporting them, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of their melee weapons for that combat. |
| 4 | Vicious: Add 1 to the Critical Damage characteristic of this operative’s melee weapons. |
| 5 | Duellist: Each time this operative fights in combat, subtract 1 from the Weapon Skill characteristic of the enemy operative for that combat. |
| 6 | Savage: Each time this operative fights in combat, its weapons gain the Devastating 1 trait. |
Staunch
| D6 | Battle Honour |
|---|---|
| 1 | Resilient: Add 2 to the Wounds characteristic of this operative. |
| 2 | Shrug Off: Each time this operative is the target of a shooting attack, in the Roll Attack Dice step of that shooting attack, you can change one of your opponent’s retained critical hits to a normal hit. |
| 3 | Focused: When determining control of an objective marker, treat this operative’s APL characteristic as being 1 higher. Note that this is not a modifier. |
| 4 | Stalwart: This operative is never injured. |
| 5 | Invulnerable: Each time this operative is the target of a shooting attack, in the roll defence dice step of that shooting attack, ignore the Piercing 1 special rule. |
| 6 | Indomitable: On a single attack die, each time this operative would lose a wound as a result of Devastating or critical damage, roll one D6: on a 5+, that wound is not lost. |
Marksman
| D6 | Battle Honour |
|---|---|
| 1 | Gun Ace: Each time this operative makes a shooting attack, its weapon gains the Balanced trait. |
| 2 | Crack Shot: Each time this operative makes a shooting attack, its weapon gains the Devastating 1 trait. |
| 3 | Calculated: Each time this operative performs a Shoot action during a Counteract, if it did not perform a Shoot action this turn, increase its Ballistic Skill by 1. |
| 4 | Careful Aim: Each time this operative makes a shooting attack, when determining if the intended target is in Cover, Cover lines ignore the bases of all other operatives. |
| 5 | Sharpshooter: Each time this operative performs a Shoot action, when you would retain attack dice for that action’s shooting attack, if it has not performed a Normal Move, Fall Back or Charge action during that activation, you can select one of your results of 5+ to be retained as a critical hit. |
| 6 | Death From Above: Once per Turning Point, after this operative makes a shooting attack while on a Vantage Point, if the target did not lose any wounds as a result of that shooting attack, repeat that shooting attack. |
Scout
| D6 | Battle Honour |
|---|---|
| 1 | Runner: Each time this operative is activated, so long as it does not perform a Shoot or Fight action during that activation, it can perform one free Dash action. |
| 2 | Swift: This operative can perform a Dash action more than once during its Activation. In addition, it does not need to spend 2" to traverse. |
| 3 | Covert: When this operative is activated during the first Turning Point, you can change its order after all operatives have been activated. |
| 4 | Picket: During the Set Up Operatives step of the mission sequence, this operative can be set up within 3" of your drop zone. |
| 5 | Evasive: Each time this operative is the target of a shooting attack, in the Roll Defence Dice step of that shooting attack, if it has a Conceal order, you can re-roll one of your defence dice. |
| 6 | Dodge: Each time this operative performs a Normal Move or Dash action, it can move within Engagement Range of enemy operatives, but cannot finish that move within Engagement Range of them. Each time this operative performs a Charge action, so long as it finishes that move within Engagement Range of an enemy operative, it can move within Engagement Range of any enemy operatives during that move. |
Casualties
As you play through a Spec Ops campaign, the impact of war will begin to take its toll on your operatives. Damage suffered can turn to Battle Scars, and at worst, death. Managing the Battle Scars of your operatives is an essential part of a Spec Ops campaign, such as knowing when to rest them so they can recuperate, and having a dataslate with enough operatives to cover their absence.
Casualty Test
At the end of each battle, a Casualty test must be taken for each friendly operative that was incapacitated in that battle. To do so, roll one D6: on a 2+, the test is passed, but that operative can gain no more than 3XP from that battle. On a 1, the test is failed, and that operative gains a Battle Scar.
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Overkill: If the damage an operative suffered in battle is a multiple of its Wounds characteristic, subtract 1 from the result of the Casualty test. Ex: An operative with 7 wounds takes 14 damage, subtract 1. If they took 21 damage, subtract 2. Note: when fighting, discarded attacks are not counted.
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For each friendly MEDIC operative that was selected for deployment, so long as it was not incapacitated during that battle, you can re-roll one Casualty test after the battle.
To determine what Battle Scar an operative gains, roll one D6, subtract 1 from the result for each other Battle Scar that operative has, then consult the Battle Scars table below. Each time the result corresponds to a Battle Scar that operative already has, re-roll the D6 until a Battle Scar is determined that the operative does not have.
| D6 | Battle Scar |
|---|---|
| 1 or less | Slain: This operative can no longer be used. Remove it from your dataslate. |
| 2 | Critical Impairment: This operative cannot perform Dash actions and its APL characteristic cannot be increased. |
| 3 | Severe Concussion: This operative always suffers the penalty to the Ballistic Skill characteristic of its ranged weapons as if it were injured. |
| 4 | Sapped Strength: This operative always suffers the penalty to the Weapon Skill characteristic of its melee weapons as if it were injured. |
| 5 | Lingering Ailment: This operative always suffers the penalty to its Movement characteristic as if it were injured. |
| 6 | Cerebral Affliction: This operative does not gain a Battle Scar but does not gain any experience from this battle. |
Recovery Test
At the end of each battle, operatives will attempt to recover from their injuries and prepare themselves for the next fight. All operatives recuperate wounds lost during the battle (excluding those that are Slain), and are no longer considered injured.
A Recovery test must be taken for each operative on your dataslate that has a Battle Scar. To do so, roll one D6, adding 1 to the result for each consecutive battle in which that operative was not selected for deployment (known as ‘Rested’). On a 5+, the test is passed: remove one Battle Scar that operative gained from a previous battle (you cannot remove a Battle Scar that the operative gained from the same battle).
Base of Operations
In a Spec Ops campaign, kill teams will be operating independently for extended periods of time, so they must establish a base of operations. At the start of a Spec Ops campaign, your base of operations will be named, but will provide no other function other than a place for your operatives to rest and recover. However, certain Requisitions will allow you to add to your base of operations.
Equipment
Your army list will detail various equipment you can equip your operatives with for a battle. In a Spec Ops campaign, your access to this equipment is managed via your stash. When you begin a Spec Ops campaign, there is no equipment in your stash. Instead, you must add equipment to your stash, such as by using the Equipment Drop Requisition. Each time you add an item of equipment to your stash, make a note of it in the ‘Stash’ section of your dataslate.
Before a battle, you can select equipment to equip your operatives with (as specified by the mission sequence), but you can only select from the equipment you have in your stash. This includes Universal Equipment.
Rare Equipment
As you play through a Spec Ops campaign, your kill team will come across rare equipment. This could be specialised wargear that high command has assigned to you, unique artefacts your kill team discover, or personalised gear the members of your kill team utilise.
Rare equipment cannot be added to your stash like normal equipment, rather it will specifically state when you are able to, such as by completing certain Spec Ops. Once you have added rare equipment to your stash, however, you can access it just like any other item of equipment, meaning you can equip operatives from your kill team with it before a battle. There is a selection of rare equipment presented opposite, and more can be found in other Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team publications.
Each time your kill team gains an item of rare equipment, you must determine what item to add to your stash. To do so, you can either roll one D6 and consult the relevant table to randomly determine the rare equipment (re-rolling if it isn’t suitable), or you can select an appropriate one. Your stash cannot include more than one of each item of rare equipment (if a duplicate result is rolled, roll again until a different result is rolled).
Ranged Weapons
For each of the items of rare equipment, it may be used once per Turning Point when a friendly operative is shooting.
| D6 | Rare Ranged Equipment |
|---|---|
| 1 | Auto-loader : The weapon gains the Ceaseless trait. |
| 2 | Flux Capacitor : The weapon gains the Piercing Crits 1 trait. |
| 3 | Rending Rounds : The weapon gains the Rending trait. |
| 4 | Propulsion Amplifier : Add 1 to both Damage Characteristics of the weapon. |
| 5 | Thermal Sight : The weapon gains the Saturate trait. |
| 6 | Seeker Spirit : For each critical hit you retain, you can re-roll one of your attack dice. |
Melee Weapons
For each of the items of rare equipment, it may be used once per Turning Point when a friendly operative is fighting or retaliating.
| D6 | Rare Melee Equipment |
|---|---|
| 1 | Power Enhancer: Add 1 to both Damage characteristics of this weapon. |
| 2 | Inertia Displacer: This weapon gains the Brutal tait. |
| 3 | Perfectly Weighted: This weapon gains the Balanced trait. |
| 4 | Rending Blade : This weapon gains the Rending trait. |
| 5 | Monomolecular Edge: This weapons gains the Lethal 5+ trait. |
| 6 | Arc Unit: This weapon gains the Stun trait. |
Strategic Assets
Your base of operations can also have strategic assets that supplement aspects of your Spec Ops campaign. Just like equipment, when you begin a Spec Ops campaign, your base of operations will not have any strategic assets. Instead, you must add them, such as by using the Asset Acquired Requisition. Each strategic asset will specify its effects on your Spec Ops campaign, and you can never have more than one of each. Each time you add a strategic asset to your base of operations, make a note of it in the ‘Strategic Assets’ section of your dataslate.
Your base of operations has a strategic assets capacity, which is the maximum number of strategic assets you can have in your base of operations. You start a spec ops campaign with an asset capacity of two, but this can be increased by completing Spec Ops. Your asset capacity can never exceed five. If a rule would increase your asset capacity but it is already at the maximum, you can instead use the Asset Acquired Requisition without spending any Requisition points. You can remove a strategic asset at any time before or after a game to make room for new strategic assets you would like to add.
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Engineering Bay At the end of the Set Up Equipment step of the mission sequence, you can select one terrain feature within 6" of your drop zone. Until the end of the battle, all parts of that feature with the Light trait have the Heavy trait instead.
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Intelligence Network In each game, if you select the Ploy option in the Scouting step, you can use 2 Strategic Ploys for 0CP.
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Surveillance System In each game, if you select the Reposition option in the Scouting step, you can use that option one additional time when resolving your selection.
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Expanded Armoury In the Select Equipment step of a mission sequence, you can use an additional piece of equipment.
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Med Bay In each Update Dataslates step of the mission sequence, you can re-roll one Casualty test. This is in addition to any other Casualty test re-rolls.
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War Shrine In the Update Experience step of a mission sequence, you can select one operative of Adept rank that was selected for deployment to gain 1XP. You can only add this asset to your base of operations if your dataslate includes at least one operative of Ace rank or higher.
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Comms Network Once per battle, when rolling off to determine who has the initiative, you can re-roll your dice.
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Tactical Uplink Once per Turning Point, you can use a Firefight Ploy without spending any CPs.
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Stimm Stash In the Update Dataslates step of the mission sequence, each time you take a Recovery test, you can re-roll unmodified results of 1.
Requisitions
When a kill team embarks upon a Spec Ops campaign, a reliable support network must be maintained to keep them at fighting strength. This is done using Requisitions. Requisitions cost Requisition points, which are a limited resource you earn during a Spec Ops campaign. When you first create a dataslate, you gain four Requisition points. You will then earn one Requisition point each time you complete a game with your kill team, but your Requisition points can never exceed five. Keep an up-to-date note of Requisition points on your dataslate.
If you wish to use a Requisition, you must spend Requisition points equivalent to its cost. If you do not have enough Requisition points to spend on that Requisition, you cannot use it. Each time you spend a Requisition point, reduce your total by one. Each Requisition will tell you when it can be purchased. Unless stated otherwise, there is no limit on the number of Requisitions you can purchase, the number of times you can purchase each Requisition, nor the combination of Requisitions you can purchase, so long as you have enough Requisition points.
Some Requisitions upgrade an operative so that it interacts with rules in a different manner (e.g. Weaponsmith). When you use such Requisitions on an operative, make a note of its upgrade on its datacard.
Each Requisition costs 1RP
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OPERATIVE ASSIGNED Purchase this Requisition before or after a game. Add one operative to your dataslate. This must be an operative from your faction.
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EQUIPMENT DROP Purchase this Requisition before or after a game. Select up to 2 pieces of equipment and add it to your stash.
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ASSET ACQUIRED Purchase this Requisition before or after a game. Add one strategic asset to your base of operations.
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MEDIVAC Purchase this Requisition in the Update Dataslates step of a mission sequence, after rolling to determine a Battle Scar for a friendly operative. That operative suffers Cerebral Affliction instead, and cannot be selected for deployment in the next battle.
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RECUPERATE Purchase this Requisition in the Update Dataslates step of a mission sequence, after rolling a Recovery test for a friendly operative that did not take part in the battle. Add 1 to the result of that Recovery test.
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PROFICIENT OPERATIVE Purchase this Requisition in the Update Dataslates step of a mission sequence, when a friendly operative gains the Grizzled or Revered rank. You can select one additional specialism for that operative from the specialisms specified on its datacard, and can determine the Battle Honours it gains from any of its specialisms. Each operative can only be upgraded with this Requisition once.
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WEAPONSMITH Purchase this Requisition before or after a game. Select a friendly operative with the Ace, Grizzled or Revered rank. Weapons that operative is equipped with can be upgraded with the rare equipment twice, rather than once. Each operative can only be upgraded with this Requisition once.
