This week’s QnA article has us visit our very own Goonhammer Open UK! In the first week with recorded Kill Team: Termination data, the Brood Brothers came out in force. Clocking in at 5% of the overall meta, with a whopping 67% win rate the day of ascension seems nigh. The Hernkyn Yaegirs were less played with a 48% win rate and seem much more balanced. Who really wants to play a balanced team though?
Not the players at the GHO UK! With much of the online discussion dominated by Mandrakes and Brood Brothers discourse, the UK crowd put things into practice. With 9/32 players playing the meta boogey men! In fact the crowd seemed to mostly play competitively focused teams. I guess people were hungry for that Golden Ticket to the World Championships later this year!
Meanwhile as far as the top 8 is concerned the Brood Brothers crowded out the Mandrakes. 3/4 players converted into the top 8 over 6-rounds which really does speak to a level of strength for the Brood Brothers. Whether that is a true fact, or speaks to players needing to adjust to the new tricks of the track is not clear. Its also interesting to see 2022’s meta boogey teams of Chalnath rearing their heads again. Overall its a diverse looking spread, missing some of 2024’s Heirotek, Blooded, and Gellerpox teams.
Goonhammer Open UK, was headed up by content creator CYRAC! His organizational efforts were critical in Goonhammer’s UK efforts. He’s often been an outspoken critic of the meta, and balance as a player. I wonder how the meta looks from the TO perspective.
John Rees, Can You Roll a Crit, Tournament Organizer
Goonhammer: How was the experience working with Goonhammer on the Open? What were you most excited for?
John: Working with Goonhammer was amazing. They’ve been so supportive ever since we started working together and were very quick to happily help me host a Kill Team event at the June UK Goonhammer Open. Not only did they invest in the terrain but they helped ensure I had everything needed to run the event, as well as providing amazing prize support too.
I was most excited for being able to stream the event as I wanted to show the best way Kill Team can be streamed for the world, as well as also helping boost the awareness of the Goonhammer open.
GH: Bandua Wargaming worked alongside Goonhammer to produce the new WTC terrain. Did players have any broad strokes feedback on the terrain?
John: I’m a big fan of the Bandua terrain and pretty much everyone was too. The windows alone add so much to the game via allowing more interesting and punishing plays. Coupled with my map pack, which pushed the strengths of the terrain, feedback was extremely positive. The terrain set is basically a more competitive and balanced version of Octarius.
GH: As a TO were players happy with the state of balance that you tend to talk about on your youtube channel? Are Brood Brothers a net negative or positive?
John: Kinda; everyone was hoping for the imminent Balance Dataslate to drop early. Alas, it did not. As the event was the week after Kill Team Termination was released, we had 4 Brood Brother players. Brood Brothers finished 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 10th. The only losses the Brood Brothers had were to 1 Fellgor and 1 Novitiate. All other losses were via mirror matches with themselves.
After seeing Brood Brothers in action and playing with them, they are a net negative to the game. So many questionable balance decisions that were allowed still baffle me to this day and Ruthless Coordination is probably the most broken ploy in the game right now, can’t believe how that got through testing. Brood Brother players effortlessly showed how broken and abusable that ploy is. Factoring in that the Brood Brother bad matchups are likely to be nerfed, I’m not too happy in where Kill Team 21 is going to close out before the new edition.
With my Brood Brother rant over, Mandrakes were also a problem with 5 of them at the event, although most of them seemed to lose to either Fellgor or Brood Brother. Nemesis Claw were oddly low in representation and no Yaegirs whatsoever.
Outside of all of those teams, balance was good. My maps rewarded more aggressive play while punishing rushing up, with melee teams not really dominating as people thought they would.
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Coming in third: Novitiates pilot Tom R, who only lost one game in the 2nd round against Pathfinders. In a strange twist Tom ended up with opponents who did the worst in the 3-way tie of the 5-1 players. Those darned opponent win percentage tie breakers can be bruuuutal!
Tom R, Third, Novitiates, Northern Kings
Goonhammer: Congrats to you for the third place finish! How’s it feel coming into a 3-way tie as far as win loss records go?
Tom: I was really happy with the result to be honest. It felt a bit like a shark tank and I played a bunch of exceptional players who have played a hell of a lot more than me. I was hoping that I could go 4-2 so to finish within eye shot of winning the event was really cool.
I wasn’t expecting a win when it came around to result announcements as both Bart and Augustin had a better SoS or points total in any case so I was pretty sure I had third in the bag and frankly they both deserved it more. Augustin for leading the way for so long and Bart for pulling off the big submarine.
GH: Novitiates had an incredible weekend this year, in no small part to your performance. Are you surprised that the Sororitas in training remain so potent?
Tom: I definitely am to an extent. I never saw them as being that strong if I’m honest. They’re a strange mix of situationally long range, strong close range and a glass hammer in a fist fight. 10 models with 4+ and 7w is a little flimsy but obviously that’s where Acts of Faith are so pivotal in keeping them reliable and running.
I think it’s one of the great aspects of Kill team that older teams can still compete. Things like Purgatus’ burning advance, Defenders of the Faith and Blinding Aura etc, they’re unique, strong and can still catch out veteran players. The fact that I played the Novitiate mirror match in the final round is testament to that as either of us could have taken third place.
GH: How did the terrain play into the results of the tournament? Were you happy with how your girls performed on the terrain, or was your selection of Novitiates made due to the terrain in some way?
Tom: The terrain was really good and I think better suited how adaptable Novitiates could be. Novitiates have 2 sources of extra APL and the Pronatus/Purgatus are conditional 3APL. Means you have the ways to exploit the heavy terrain.
The doors, windows, heavy wall/cross section etc. They let me move up in relative safety and pounce on the short range damage offered by the Purgatus etc. The only thing I would say is under the rules for obscuring it’s jarring that a model can draw LoS to an entire enemy model over a heavy wall but because lines are drawn from the base to the enemy base you couldn’t take the shot.
In total it meant I was a lot more in favour of 2 Purgatus in my line up with the Duelist, Reliquarius and Militants being sidelined largely.
GH: Are there any big changes to the meta that you’re excited for? Things you’re looking forward to trying out in the near future?
Tom: I would love to see Vet guard get a buff to their less used models now that they’ve taken a hit, the Bruiser and Zealot in particular. I would also love to see Novitiates get an act of faith to make them slightly more resilient in combat but that’s a serious delusion on my part haha.
I’m relatively happy with how things are but to see the whole delayed activation thing in Nemesis be rolled out to other elites would be cool to keep them in the competitive mix. Likewise new releases in Mandrakes, Brood Brothers etc seem a little over the top, it seems there’s an element in power creep and there are a lot of teams to keep track of.
Just picked up a box of Reivers so I’m looking forward to running a full Phobos roster if I can be bothered to paint Space marines!
GH: Any shout outs to the readers of Goonhammer?
Tom: No, I guess I’ve only started Kill Team over the last year but I guess a big thanks to you, Jon and Charles for the weekend and to Nick Collins for being welcoming and inviting me along with the rest of his group for drinks after day 1.
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Augustin B, makes his return to the QnA articles, with another second place finish! Last time we saw him on Blooded, and this time he’s joined the cults. With a Patriarch in tow, some players have called the Brood Brothers Blooded on steroids. Lets see if Augustin is inclined to agree.
Augustin B, Second, Brood Brothers, Je peux pas j’ai raclette
Goonhammer: Congratulations Augustin on the second place finish! Are the Brood Brothers everything you wished Blooded could be?
Augustin: Blooded is still dear to my heart and I wish I had access to the Thug or the Flenser in some matchups but the Sapper, Banner and Agitator more than compensate for it.
GH: With your only loss to Bart in the final round of the tournament, was the Brood Brother mirror a fun one, or a boring one? Any things you’d do differently to break the mirror next time around? We are expecting the brothers to be quite popular!
Augustin: It was fun as in super competitive but very heavy to play out mentally.
GH: We know you’ve played Blooded in the near past. The Ogyrn and the Patriarch do seem to play similar roles on the battlefield. Were there any other similarities between the team that let you adapt well to the new team?
Augustin: The Sapper and the Blooded Brimstone Grenadier are the most similar part of the team as they are hyper important models that need to be set up for devastating effects.
GH: GHO happened to use a new set of terrain. We were wondering how it felt to play on in comparison to Octarius, or other official GW sets?
Augustin: Terrain was great to play on but BB is simply the best team on that terrain at the moment.
GH: Are you planning on playing Brood Brothers at other major tournaments this year?
Augustin: I am planning to go to the London GT but I have no idea of what to play and tend to change my mind at the last moment. My round 1 game at the tournament for example against Guy Barton was my first game on the team.
GH: What else would you like to say to Goonhammer’s readers?
Augustin: The Magus can be really good in combination with good medic placement, the Primus is always good but I still cannot find a spot where I would love to have the Patriarch over the others.
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First place continues the Brood Brothers invasion, with Bart L snagging the win in the final round. It seems that his low scoring games were the product of strong opponents. With his last round victory against Augustine in the mirror giving him the tie breaker! Definitely not the standard way to win a tournament!
Bart L, First, Brood Brothers, The Old Ones
Goonhammer: Congratulations on the win, and the Golden Ticket! How are you feeling about the GHO UK in general, and the knowledge that you can head to Atlanta to compete with the best?
Bart: The event was exceptionally well organised. Between my wonderful opponents, the bar, snacks, prizes, stream, responsive and ever present judge, good terrain and plenty of time to play each round, it was great. Seriously, one of the best Kill Team events I have played till date. Of course, winning is what every competitive player dreams of. I am quite chuffed and looking forward to Atlanta.
GH: You had a lone loss to Novitiates at the start of your tournament run. How did you lock yourself in and focus to snag the win in the finals? It was quite the tournament journey!
Bart: Yes, I got a bit greedy for tac ops round one and made a mistake when I thought my opponent had no come-back to win that game. It’s not the first time I was not focused enough round one and definitely something I need to work on. When I played the last round, it was my third mirror match of the event so I felt like I knew what I wanted to do. I also didn’t know it was “the final” and thought my opponent had the win in his pocket, even taking a loss against me.
GH: Kill Team tends to have a dreaded mirror match problem. During your run you played the mirror match 3 times! Was there a common trick that ended up letting you break the mirror to grab the W, or just nice dice?
Bart: I think this is one of the more interesting mirror matches as Brood Brothers get to choose from three equally capable leaders, each demanding a different playstyle. In a mirror match, I prefer to go for the Primus, but account for the possibility of my opponent going for Patriarch or (less likely) Magus. When it comes to my plan, I like to simply play the mission. In many aspects, this game is still more about holding/clicking points rather than killing. My last game was a perfect example of that, where even though I made a rookie mistake (I blame the exhaustion :p), forgot about his sapper and got blasted with dynamite, my opponent was still in a tough spot due to him getting 5-1’d on the primaries turning point 2.
GH: Do you feel like Brood Brothers are the tippity top of the meta? Or just new dogs that people have to learn new tricks for? What weaknesses did you spot during your run?
Bart: Unfortunately, I don’t think this team is balanced for competitive play. Yes, they will struggle a bit more versus specific teams (I think kommandos may be such a team), they have too many tools at their disposal, including some of the most powerful tactical ploys in the game. Their win/loss rate in non-mirror matches at GHO only confirms this theory, granted we only played a handful of games with them combined.
GH: Can you recall the hardest decision point during the tournament run? What was the problem, and what was your line to make it out?
Bart: I think it was in round four versus Serkan when both of us had to make the decision if and when we want to trade our leaders. It was a balancing act to determine who will come out on top after that trade. I forced the trade, incapacitated his primus and commander, making my primus the target he had to eliminate, while I was ahead in operative count.
GH: Terrain often plays a huge part in any tournament experience. I’m sure Bandua’s terrain is no different. Would you recommend it to readers and players?
Bart: 100% yes. It’s a great terrain that looks to be of a better quality than I expected. The only reservation I have is that you probably need bluetac to keep some elements together. I hope it will be playable in the third edition.
GH: What else would you like to say to Goonhammer’s readers?
Bart: Well, I’d like to say thanks to my teammates for our preparation for the event and them carrying my Strength of Schedule, without which I would not have won this event.
Lastly, I am happy to be the third member of the Old Ones securing the ticket for this year’s championship in Atlanta. Watch out as the grumpy old frogs are coming 😉
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