Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Starter Set: New vs. Old

I already posted about unboxing the new game, but how does it compare to the last edition? It just so happens I still have that set in its box right here, so let's take a look!

This box is not sealed, so this may not count as a true unboxing, but the contents got put away for future projects and were still there. The box cover is about the same height, but half the width and half the depth, resulting in only about a quarter of the total volume.

For the 7th edition of Warhammer 40,000, Kill Team was a modification to the main game rules using a smaller point value, some unit restrictions, and some new special rules. As such, one of the cool things about this set was the inclusion of a small-format rulebook containing all the core rules for the full game.

Similarly to the new game, then, this looks like it has everything you need to play right out of the box. There are two squads of soldiers, a rule book, a booklet with Kill Team special rules/scenarios, and two booklets with assembly instructions and rules for the included miniatures. Awesome, right?

This set includes the contents of a Tau Fire Warriors box ($40 MSRP) and a Space Marines Tactical Squad box ($50 MSRP). Getting $90 in minis plus the core rule book and a special rules booklet for just $65 still sounds like a good deal, so where is the problem?

See those point values for the included squads? The Space Marine squad is 190 points, while the Tau squad is a mere 134. Sure, the Space Marine player could drop a couple soldiers in an attempt to balance it out, but there is a 40% difference in the point values for the squads included in the box. In the game, Space Marines are super soldiers. Each soldier is tough to kill and can dish out a lot of damage. This is reflected in the points costs for the squad, and the Tau are simply not a good match for a fun game. Thus, the Tau player needs to buy more models to equal the Space Marines if the other side wants to use his full team. And this is where the real problem with the old Kill Team edition arises. You need a $50 army codex if you want to add anything other than basic infantry to your squad.

That is why the main rulebook in my set got used, and everything else was left in its box for later. Fortunately, the new edition includes rules for everything in the main book, so these guys are likely to see use at last.

This is not to say the old edition was wholly without merit. To offset the downside of needing an official army book, there were a lot more options for designing your squad. Vehicles were legal in the previous edition, provided they were within certain armor value restrictions and in the "fast attack" role. Restricting the new game to infantry combat makes sense, and the tradeoff of getting a truly complete game in the new box is nice, but I miss the idea of Eldar jet bikes, Ork trukks, and the like having official support in a skirmish game.

Again, I apologize for typos or formatting errors that result from first composing this on my phone. Please comment below with any thoughts you have on this comparison of old vs. new!