Kill Team is Games Workshop’s skirmish game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Instead of whole armies, each player commands a small team of individual operatives fighting over dense, terrain-heavy boards. The rules have changed across editions, so treat the specifics below as the durable core rather than the exact current wording — but the dice heart of the game has stayed remarkably consistent.
What dice Kill Team uses
Kill Team is played almost entirely with six-sided dice. Nearly every test is a target number you must meet or beat on a d6, written like “3+” meaning “roll 3 or higher to succeed”. A weapon tells you how many dice to throw — its Attacks value — and the operative’s Ballistic Skill (shooting) or Weapon Skill (melee) sets the number you need. Because teams are small, a single lucky or unlucky handful of dice can swing a whole game, which makes reading the odds before you commit unusually important.
The one rule to internalise first: a natural 6 is a critical hit. Criticals typically count for more than an ordinary success and often unlock a weapon’s special rule, so those sixes are where a lot of Kill Team’s drama lives.
The shooting and fight sequence
An attack resolves through a short, readable chain. You roll to hit, then the defender resists, then wounds are worked out:
| Step | What you roll |
|---|---|
| 1. Hit roll | Roll a d6 for each of the weapon’s Attacks against the operative’s skill (say, hits on a 3+). Each success is a normal hit; each natural 6 is a critical hit. |
| 2. Saves / defence | The defender rolls defence dice, usually needing to beat their Save characteristic. Successful saves cancel incoming hits; being in cover can grant an automatic save or extra protection. |
| 3. Resolve damage | Each hit that isn’t cancelled inflicts the weapon’s damage — normal hits and critical hits often deal different amounts — reducing the target’s Wounds until it is taken out of action. |
Close combat works on the same footing but is a duel: both fighters roll their attacks, then take turns spending successes to strike the enemy or parry incoming blows. That back-and-forth means initiative, weapon rules and who has more dice all feed into who walks away.
Cover, criticals and modifiers
Cover is the defining defensive lever. An operative behind terrain is much harder to remove, so positioning is effectively a dice modifier you set up on your turn. Many weapons also carry rules that trigger only on critical hits — extra damage, armour-piercing, lethal effects — so a weapon’s real threat depends on how often it rolls sixes, not just its raw hit chance. Re-rolls, from equipment or ploys, are the other big multiplier: re-rolling misses meaningfully raises the number of hits that carry through to damage.
How a turn plays out
Kill Team uses alternating activation: players take turns activating one operative at a time rather than moving a whole side at once. This is the strategic core of the game. Because your opponent reacts to each activation, the order in which you move, shoot and charge is often more important than any single dice roll. Games run over a handful of turning points, with victory decided by objectives and mission tasks — holding markers, completing secret goals — not simply by wiping out the enemy.
Winning and effective strategy
- Play the mission, not the kills. Like its parent game, Kill Team is scored on objectives. A team that holds ground while losing operatives often beats one that trades blows but ignores the map.
- Use cover relentlessly. Every move should end somewhere defensible. Operatives caught in the open are trading their survival for nothing.
- Master the activation order. Activate to force bad choices on your opponent — bait a reaction, then punish it with your next operative. Holding an activation in reserve is a real weapon.
- Concentrate on removing whole operatives. A wounded enemy still shoots at full effect; a dead one does not. Focus enough attacks to actually take a target out.
- Respect the critical. Weapons that lean on 6s to trigger their best effects are swingy — wonderful when they land, disappointing when they don’t. Plan for the average, not the dream roll.
Beginner tips and common mistakes
- “3+” means 3 or higher. Lower target numbers are better — a 2+ succeeds on five faces out of six.
- Don’t over-commit an operative. Pushing a model into the open for one attack often loses it next activation. Patience wins.
- Read the whole weapon rule. Many effects only apply on critical hits, or against targets in the open — know the condition before you rely on it.
- Count your dice before you throw. A quick mental estimate — attacks × chance to hit × chance the save fails — tells you whether an attack can realistically finish the job.
- Editions differ. Kill Team has been revised more than once; always check the current core rules for exact target numbers and terminology before a tournament.
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