Warhammer 40,0000 Kill Team Gallowfall Review

Kill Team Gallowfall is the final expansion for the Kill Team Into the Dark roadmap. It follows the same format as the previous Kill Team expansions introducing 2 brand new kill teams, the Leagues of Votann Hearthkyn Salvagers and the Chaos Beastmen Fellgor Ravagers. There is also a new kill zone that builds upon the close confines of the space hulk Gallowdark, Killzone: Gallowfall.

We've covered Kill Team in depth since the last edition, and you can read our guide to all the current Kill Team products, or check back to where the Gallowdark started in our Kill Team Into the Dark preview. In this article, we'll have a look at what's in the Gallowfall box, and talk about the 2 new kill teams and kill zone.

Kill Team is a skirmish wargame, set in Games Workshop's larger Warhammer 40,000 setting. As a skirmish game, Kill Team features a small number of elite troops, fighting special operations battles, rather than huge battles fought with entire armies. If you want to check out the Kill Team rules before you buy, Games Workshop has made the core rules available to download for free.

What Does Kill Team Gallowfall Contain?

Kill Team Gallowfall contains:

• Kill Team Gallowfall campaign book
• 10x Hearthkyn Scalvegers Leagues of Votann kill team
• 10x Fellgor Ravagers Chaos Beastmen kill team
• Gallowdark space hulk scenery set, Gallowfall scenery set, and double-sided game board

Kill Team Gallowfall is an expansion pack for Kill Team, so the Core Rulebook and accessories are required to use this set. It includes the core Gallowdark rules, along with the same Galowdark scenery that Into the Dark, Shadowvaults, and Soulshackle had. This means the Galowfall can be used without first picking up Into the Dark, but it does expand on the Into the Dark Kill Team season.

What Does the Kill Team Gallowfall Campaign Book Add To Games?

The Gallowfall campaign book is split into several chapters, the first, Gallowfall, details the lore and narrative of space hulks, specifically the Gallowdark, which the 2 factions of this expansion are hunting each other through. The next chapter contains the background for Leagues of Votann Hearthkyn Salvagers and the Chaos Beastmen Fellgor Ravagers kill teams, along with narrative ideas and hooks to flesh them out.

The core of the book is the datacards, abilities, special rules, ploys, and spec ops details for the 2 new kill teams included in the set, and we look at both new kill teams in detail below.

The book closes with Killzone: Gallowfall, Killzone: Gallowdark, and close-quarters special rules for all the Gallowdark scenery in the box, Gallowdark rules like the condensed environment which make weapons with the blast, torrent, and splash traits deadly in the cramped corridors, and rules for the new Gallowfall scenery, with its escape pods and medical equipment that are used as objectives in the Killzone. It also has a Critical Operations: Gallowdark Mission Pack (repeated from Into the Dark), a series of 9 matched play missions, and Shadow Operations: Gallowfall, a series of 9 narrative missions that makes use of the Killzone: Gallowfall, which aren't as fairly balanced for matched play.

It doesn't include the Gallowdark Expedition rules for running a campaign, so if you haven't picked up Into the Dark and want those rules, you will need to pick up Into the Dark starter set or the Into the Dark mission book separately.

What are the Leagues of Votann Hearthkyn Salvagers Kill Team Troop Choices?

The Kin of the Leagues of Votann are a race of cloned, squat humanoids. Their recent relaunch into Warhammer 40K saw them quickly nerfed and fans have waited for their Kill Team release. The Hearthkyn Salvagers are specialist groups, experts in entering and clearing space hulks of valuable and useful equipment.

The Hearthkyn Salvagers have 11 different troop types and can field 10 operatives in games. If you want to build all of the troop options, you will have to purchase a second set of them, and working out of 1 set, you will need to make some choices about which operatives you want to field and which armaments the gunners have.

The Hearthkyn Salvagers, like all the Kin, hold deep grudges, and when an enemy incapacitates a member of the Kin they gain Grudge tokens which allow you to boost standard hits to critical hits when attacking that enemy.

The Hearthkyn Salvagers troop choices are:

• Hearthkyn Theyn - The Salvagers leader comes with 6 ranged weapon choices, and 3 melee weapon choices for a huge variation in armaments. The Autoch-pattern bolter with its 4, 3+ attacks and ceaseless and the EtaCarn plasma pistol with its AP1 are both solids choices for ranged, and the plasma sword with 4, lethal 5+ attacks doing 6 crit damage for melee. The Theyn can also give a grudge token to a visible enemy at the start of their activation, to really pile up the crits against their adversaries.
• Hearthkyn Dozr - The Dozr is a close combat expert, armed with Concussion knux that have 4, 3+ attacks with ceaseless and lethal 5+, that stun on a crit. They can also spend a melee dice after they are incapacitated and come with a unique Knux smash action that moves an enemy in range and deals D3+1 mortal wounds.
• Hearthkyn Field Medic - The medic comes with the standard abilities to revive a nearby incapacitated Salvager, or heal them. They only have a short-range pistol and melee weapon, so need to get up close to the enemy or stay in cover.
• Hearthkyn Grenadier - The grenadier comes with a couple of powerful grenade options. The C8 HX charge has AP1 and can deal up to 6 damage on a crit. Their unique action Vayr-3-Ulility grenade reduces movement, and the range of weapons and makes it harder to complete mission actions within its range. They also have a gravitic concussion grenade that has indirect, but the range is the same as their pistol which does more damage and has ceaseless. They all have an additional 4+ save against blast, splash, and torrent weapons.
• Hearthkyn Gunner - The gunner comes with 5 different weapon choices and you can take 3 of them. They can take the powerful EtaCarn plasma beamer, with AP2 and the ability to deal mortal wounds to every operative along its beam on a crit. The HYLas autorifle with relentless and rending on a crit. The HYLas rotary cannon with 6 attacks, ceaseless, fuselage, heavy, and scan which ignores operatives that are obscured. The L7 missile launcher with blast and focused (AP1) options, and the Magna rail rifle with AP2, unwieldy and deals 3 mortal wounds on a crit.
• Hearthkyn Jump Pack Warrior - All of the Salvagers have 2 circle movement, but the jump pack warrior has 3 circle. They come armed with a short-range pistol and plasma axe, that gains brutal when they charge. They can also use a unique 2AP action to move 2 pentagon in a straight line, and they can also place a climbing rig that can assist all other Salvagers with vertical movement near a terrain feature.
• Hearthkyn Kinlynk - The comms expert can give an action point to a friendly operative at the cost of one of its own, but they come armed with 2 ranged weapons, the ceaseless Autoch-pattern bolter and P1 on a crit Ion Blaster, so are capable on their own. They also have a System Jam action that can stop an enemy operative from activating until all other enemy operatives have been activated, to mess with your opponent's activation sequencing.
• Hearthkyn Kognitaar - The Kognitaar is an Ironkin, an AI that supports the Kin. They come armed with the same Autoch-patterns bolter and Ion blaster as the Kinlynk. During the Strategy Phase, they can place an attack or defend token which allows nearby friendly operatives to reroll one attack or defense dice. They also have a unique Accelerated Appraisal action that allows them to move the token during the turn, so you can activate one group near the token at the start, and then move it to another location to assist another group.
• Hearthkyn Lokatr - The Lokatr has an Early Detection ability which means that enemy operatives cannot be set up outside of their deployment zones, or gain the benefit of the Recon scouting option. They can also place a Scan token in the Killzone, which gives nearby friendly operatives' weapons the No Cover special rule for hunting down elusive enemies.
• Hearthkyn Lugger - The Lugger boosts your equipment points by an additional 5 for the battle, they use the pick up mission action for one less AP and they also have a unique action where they can change the Gunners and Theyn's weapons to any other option their datasheet has. This is incredibly useful if standing behind a firing line of 3 gunners, as you will always be able to select the right weapon for the job.
• Hearthkyn Warrior - The warrior is the baseline troop for the Salvagers. Armed with an Autoch-patterns bolter and Ion blaster, you will rarely take these over the other options, as all the specialists are armed the same, with additional options and you can take up to 3 Gunners.

What are the Chaos Beastmen Fellgor Ravagers Kill Team Troop Choices?

The Chaos Beastmen are twisted mutants, created through a variety of different means. Some are born, and some are the result of mutation or the warp, but they all share the intellect of humankind and the strength and savagery of beasts. The Fellgor Ravagers are those that have shown skills above the rest of the herd and are selected for the most important hunts and missions.

The Gallowfall sprue allows you to build all of the specialist types for the kill team, but you will have to make some armament choices for the Ironhorn. If you want a full team of 20 operatives, with another 9 warriors, and both weapons choices for the Ironhorn, then you will need another sprue or more warriors from the rest of the Chaos range.

The Fellgor Ravagers get a second chance at life with their Frenzy rule. When they would be incapacitated, they are instead given a frenzy token and can function again, but count as injured and can't be concealed, and are incapacitated when their activation ends, they're struck again or the battle ends, giving you a chance to create more carnage with them.

The Fellgor Ravagers troop choices are:

• Fellgor Ironhorn - The leader of the Ravagers has 2 armament options. The Corrupted pistol and chainsword, or a Plasma pistol and bludgeon. The choice will depend on if you need AP or not against your opponent. The Ironhorn can also push forward the rest of the herd during each strategy phase, by allowing a visible friendly operative and all others within 1 circle to make a free dash action.
• Fellgor Deathknell - The Deathhnell is a great support operative. They already have a slightly better save than the rest of the herd, but by using the Gong Knell unique action, they gain a 3+ invulnerable save. They also count as having 1AP higher for objective control and they lower all critical hits to nearby Fellgor's to normal hits.
• Fellgor Fluxbray - This 3-limbed warrior comes armed with triple cleavers which have 2 profiles, offensive with relentless, and defensive which allows you to parry before your opponent. They also have a 2AP Cleaver Flurry unique action that allows them to move 4 circle, through engagement ranges, dealing D3+1 mortal wounds that it moves within engagement range of.
• Fellgor Gnarlscar - This bionic-armed beastman has the same wounds as the Ironhorn and comes with a unique action that lets them shoot and fight in melee for 1AP and then at the end of their activation, you can change their order for free to put them back into conceal to protect them.
• Fellgor Gorehorn - The Fellgor champion can fight twice each turn with its Skullcleaver, and when it incapacitates an enemy, it regains D3 wounds and boosts the crit damage of its weapon by the same amount (to a maximum of 8).
• Fellgor Herd-Goad - This whip-armed beastman can reduce the number of attacks, make it harder to fall back for enemy operatives, and can also give a nearby friendly operative 1AP at the cost of its own. Their whip can also be used as a ranged or melee weapon, with Lethal 4+ and stun on a crit.
• Fellgor Mangler - The Mangler is a beast in combat. It can fight twice in a row with its Savage Assault unique action, and if you fight against an enemy operative that has activated that turn, it can use another dice immediately after a critical dice, which is already dealing 6 wounds on a crit.
• Fellgor Shaman - The Shaman has access to 3 psychic powers. Mantle of Darkness treats nearby Fellgors as having the conceal order, Apoplectic Rejuvenation heals 2D3 wounds on a Fellgor (6 if that fighter has taken out an enemy this battle), and Curse Weapon which gives a visible enemy operatives weapons the Hot special rule, which deals damage to them on rolls of a 1.
• Fellgor Toxhorn - The Toxhorn gain an additional 6+ save when they lose wounds and can ignore all modifiers to the action points. They also have a Pox Bomb unique action which has a blast radius of 1 circle and on a 3+ removes 1 from an operatives APL and on a 5+ also deals 3 mortal wounds.
• Fellgor Vandal - The Vandal carries a huge 2-handed Mancrusher weapon, which gains ceaseless and relentless if you charge, along with Brutal and Reap 2 on a crit. They can also use their Sweeping Blow unique action to deal D3+1 mortal wounds to all operatives within 1 circle of them.
• Fellgor Warrior - The basic warrior, armed with an autopistol and cleaver or bludgeon, will rarely be taken over the other operatives. Unless you value the shorter range of their pistols over the purely melee warrior specialists.

What Gallowdark Space Hulk Scenery Does Kill Team Gallowfall Contain?

Gallowfall includes the same great Gallowdark space hulk scenery that Into the Dark, Shadowvaults, and Soulshackle had, along with a new Gallowfall scenery set, which allows you to build the medical equipment, stasis pods and escape pods for use in the Killzone: Gallowfall rules. All of the scenery is completely interchangeable with the Into the Dark, Shadowvaults, and Soulshackle sets, allowing you to build up a larger claustrophobic space hulk over the course of this Kill Team season.

This means that if you don't have Into the Dark, you still have enough scenery to fill a standard Kill Team Gallowdark board, without having to pick up Into the Dark, Shadowvaults, or Soulshackle, but if you already have either of those, it does duplicate the Gallowdark scenery, which will allow to fill 2 or more linked boards for some large scale space hulk exploration.

This also ties in with the Arks of Omen boarding actions rules for Warhammer 40K, which will require 2 sets of Gallowdark scenery to play. With 2 of the 4 Kill Team sets you'll also be able to play the boarding actions just by picking up Arks of Omen.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Kill Team Gallowfall?

The 2 new kill teams are both great and good to see them making an appearance in Kill Team. The Fellgor's are going to be incredible for converting and using options from both 40K and Age of Sigmar. The new scenery rules are tied into the missions themselves, but there's nothing stopping you from using those rules when playing your own games. I've had a blast with the Into the Dark season and will be sad to see the end of it. The close confines of the Hulks are perfect for the special operative nature of Kill Team, but I'm looking forward to seeing what's next.

Should I Buy Kill Team Gallowfall?

Picking up Gallowfall will entirely depend on how much you want the individual content. If you want either of the kill teams and don't want to wait for their individual release, then this will be the only way to get them until they are released separately. Most of the scenery is duplicate Gallowdark walls, so if you already have Into the Dark, Shadowvaults, or Soulshackle, you're going to have another set of scenery (unless you want them for the requirement for 40K Boarding Actions which needs 2 sets). But if you are looking to set up huge multiplayer Kill Team games in Gallowdark, then you might want that much scenery. Both new kill teams are great, the Fellgors are especially fun and brutal in the close confines of a space hulk.

If you haven't picked up Into the Dark or another Kill Team starter set, you will need to core rulebook and other accessories to play as this is an expansion, not a starter set. All that aside, if the cost is right for you to access the 2 new kill teams, then this is still a solid Kill Team experience, with 2 great new forces, 9 new missions, and some new scenery.

The copy of Kill Team Gallowfall used to produce this preview was provided by Games Workshop.