Last weekend more than 40 Australian Kill Team players gathered for The Purge, a six-round tournament played across Open and Into the Dark Terrain (with a notable absence of the new Bheta Decima boards). It was a high-powered event, with World Champion Aleksa Pavokic and fellow World Championships Attendeed Liam Bladwell in attendance (Liam would also score the upset win), and featured a fairly diverse meta, with 21 factions across its 44 attendees.
All of this gives us a fairly interesting top 8 to consider. Let’s look at the breakdown:
Kommandos were not as dominant at the Purge as they have been elsewhere in the world, with only one of the five Nobs making the top 8. That said, the top 8 at The Purge does seem to validate player fears following the Q42023 balance changes, specifically
Notably the Fellgor menace has not seemed to hit Australian shores with mostly shooting teams making it into the top 8.
Banz is one of the largest tournament organizers in the Australian scene, and a former guest on the Just Another Killteam Podcast (link). While he may not be as active a player as some other TOs he’s been working tireless to expand his tournaments reach, even going so far as to secure two golden tickets for The Purge. We’ve added a small question to fourth place as Sam is taking the Golden ticket over Shannon due to scheduling.
Mh Banz – Tournament Organizer
Is this the largest Australian Kill Team tournament to date? How’s that feel to get a 6-rounder done and in the books?
- It feels great and such an honor to be able to deliver it for the community. It was a lot of prep work and single day tourneys, GT’s and leagues to get to this point but thanks to support from the community, perseverance and a very understanding Wife and Daughter we were able to get this away as a first for the Australian Kill Team scene – it was such a blast and thanks to all who attended and supported The Purge!
Is there something you think you do better than other tournament organizers locally? Or are your tournaments done more in collaboration with your other local TOs?
- Look a MASSIVE shout out to the other Australian TO’s across the country, they do a fantastic job and my hats off to all of them. This being the 3rd GT in Australia ever and with the other 2 also run by GTR, there’s a bit of experience and learning here so we were able to pull it off on our own. With 50 tickets sold over 2 days and people coming in from 3 states to a total of 4 we had a truly National tournament so we made sure to listen to the community and deliver what they want beyond the standard experience they would expect. We had top 6 tables with 2 for Octarius and 2 x Vertigus using Aleksa’s “Upside Down” map packs and 2 x A-Symmetrical ITD maps from Dakotah’s LVO map packs. The remaining 19 tables were Moroch, Chalnath, Nachmund, Vertigus and Octarius using TPT’s V1 map pack and then GW Close Quarters for the remaining 3 ITD.
What went into your decision to not run Bheta Decima at all in this weekend’s tournament?
- I personally LOVE Bheta-Decima but feedback from the community was that it was a bit “too new” to be familiar with and as some of the other players from states hadn’t experienced it yet, and while we are all playing on it during the week to get the feel for it, we thought it was best to wait a little longer.
Any last words to Goonhammer’s readers elsewhere in the world?
- Get out there, play more Kill Team, grow more pockets of Kill Team community and most importantly share in more Good Times Rolled!
We’re taking the time to check in with fourth places Sam, since he’s scooped up Shannon’s golden ticket. Fourth place in a tournament with 2 former WCW competitors is no easy feat and his record shows some hard fought victories.
Sam C – 4th Place, Veteran Guardsman
First of congratulations on making it into this year’s World Championships of Warhammer! How’s it feel to know you’ll be taking part in this year’s festivities?
- I’m thrilled! I certainly didn’t have a conventional path to make it. I came 4th at our GT with two qualifying spots available. Aleksa already had a golden ticket from his win at the World Champs last year, and Shannon in 3rd place wasn’t available to attend so I got the second one! That being said, to get to 4th I won four games, drew with Aleksa and narrowly lost a very tight game to our overall winner Liam who was also a strong participant at last year’s world championship, so I didn’t have an easy route! I’m really excited to roll dice with players from all around the world, and represent the Australian Kill Team community.
Are you expecting that you’ll bring Veteran Guard or is there a faction you’re looking forward to practicing for the finals?
- We are quite a way off, but I tend towards shooty hordes with Vet Guard and Pathfinders being my regular rotation at the moment. I’ve been playing Vet Guard competitively for about six months now, and I’ve always been surprised to see them slightly lower on tier lists etc. That appears to have changed now though. I love the board control and pressure they can apply and the ability to force your opponent into choosing between bad choices. My litmus test for how competitive a team is, is how successfully I can pilot them against Aleksa – to date I by far have performed best with Vet Guard.
Coming in third we have the sole Ork Kommando player to make the top 8, out of the five in attendance. Shannon seems to have only lost one round to Imperial Navy Breachers, and krumped everyone else. One wonders if he’s got any changes to that game now that he’s had some time to think about the match up.
Shannon H – 3rd Place, Ork Kommandos
Nurglings with Attitude
Congrats on third place, and coming out as the top Kommando in the crew! Were there any big things you felt you did differently compared to your fellow Nobs?
- Thank you. Being someone who naturally loves Orks but doesn’t like to “chase meta” teams, I thought for once I will bring them since they were nerfed in a big way.
One thing I feel I naturally do well and try to teach my other Nurglings (our casual club group) is to play Mission Team, not Kill Team. Kommandos are sneaky gits and have so many nice tools to be able to steal objectives right out from under other players’ noses. Loot is a personal favorite when playing Kommandos on open as you can potentially go 4-1 turning point one. making it hard for the other team to come back from an early lead and throwing them off guard. Forward deploying either the Nob with a smoke bomb if they don’t have ignore obscuring or a normal boy or slasher just to steal an objective on the first move, then second move having your Kommando Grot zip across the board and stealing another one. I may lose a boy or potentially slasher but it causes a massive swing in the first turning point.
Are you of the opinion that Kommandos are in a balanced spot right now, or do they still feel a little strong in your mind? If there was a change what would you change?
- I feel Kommandos are not as overpowered as they once were, they can still do an alpha strike with a melee model but most of the time you wouldn’t want to do this unless you can kill a key model that ruins an opposing team’s game plan. I feel a small tweak or 2 can be done to them to bring them down a level.
- Making Just a Scratch either CP 1+ or make just a scratch not work on crits, I do feel that with just a scratch not working on crits though might still leave them strong,
With boards today starting to be more open in the middle that has made it harder for the orks as well, being able to charge from conceal safely only works if you can hide behind something after you krump someone but if the middle of the board has a lot of light and less heavy we find that there is more calculated risk involved now. Lately I’ve been testing Aleksa’s Maps (which some were used at the GT) and finding that I’ve had to look at more calculated risks. It then becomes more Risk VS Reward.
I feel if more tournaments started opening up the middle of the boards we’d find that Kommando players will have a harder time sneaking up the board.
Your sole loss was to the Navy Breachers, having had some time to think about the match are there things you think you could have done differently? What sorts of plays do you wish you’d made in retrospect?
- Are yes, the match against Breachers was a tough one, I haven’t faced them alot but I have faced Emma a few times and she is an AMAZING player. I had a number of mistakes including not watching where she set up, we were playing ITD on capture using Map 3 of Squad Games, I haven’t played on many of these maps yet and didn’t commit many units to go down the right side of the board, only 1 unit to capture an object as there is a big empty room that you can’t do much with except pass through 2 doors and attempt to capture an object that would take too many activations to capture. I played too aggressively TP1 and over committed to plays that didn’t kill anything aftering being diced.
- She then played Escort Operative in TP2 with an Armsman going down the side flank. I only had one operative on that side, so I chose to start moving up that Flank and try to Krump her. She had up Brace for Counter-Attack and can I say that is POWERFUL against Kommandos as it means we need 3 hits to kill someone or 2 crits. How I fought a standard Armsman and the fight ended with me being on 3 wounds and the armsman having 4 wounds is beyond me? Honestly there are a few things I could have done better in this game but I was outplayed by Emma 100% she is a fantastic player.
You’ve elected to pass your Golden ticket down to Sam C, what went into that decision? Are you planning on traveling for other kill team events on the horizon?
- Honestly as soon as I found out I came 3rd I was super excited and as Banz (The TO) saw I was emotional as this was the first time I podium in a 12+ event as we have alot of fantastic players in Australia. Then I saw that Aleksa came 2nd which he already had a default Golden Ticket being the reigning champ, then it hit me that I would be off to the States for the WCW? I was conflicted whether I wanted to even go?
- I’m the Goofy dad that shows up at tournaments dressed up in a random costume to try to win a best dressed award. I think I’ve started a trend of others doing it too (shout out to Emma and Liam for joining in on dressing up this GT) I’ve also decided to not go to LVO (sorry Dakotah) so I can enjoy a holiday with my family. I want to keep my hobby casual and less elite. Also Sam C is the nicest person you will ever play at a high competitive level. He is both a fantastic player and bring a true aussie spirit to the game, I’m so glad that the ticket went to someone as nice as Sam, I couldn’t think of anyone else more that deserves it
Anything else you want to shout out to our fellow readers?
- Thank you Banz for Building this amazing community you have around Australia and for being one of my best mates. Thank you to my Fellow “Nurglings With Attitude” members who show up week to week to roll dice and thank you to all the community members in Australia who help build this game to be big here. Also Thank you Father Nurgle for cursing the dice of my enemies and blessing my dice though our little Stuffed Nurgling mascot “Nugget”
Second place sees World Champ Aleksa land in second without a penultimate 7th round between him and first place Liam. His one tie against Veteran Guard in round four, locks him out of contention without the last round. Kasrkin is perhaps one of the bigger boogeymen, who didn’t make a splash at LVO and one wonders if Aleksa has some tricks to share with the rest of us.
Aleksa P – 2nd Place, Kasrkin
Skill Issue
Nice to see you still performing well in your home country Aleksa! How are Kasrkin feeling post changes?
- Kasrkin feel fine post changes, they are fundamentally still the same team with the same strensgths and weaknesses. They play a honest and good game of KILL team. The change definitely came up a few times but I don’t think it significantly impacted the outcome of any of my games. I’d much rather see Kasrkin get smoke grenades and have long range scopes buffed and the elite points change be reversed so their AP2 guns are less silly.
- They are the ultimate skill check for your opponent. If Kasrkin get out positioned or aggressed on properly they will struggle to get back into the game. If they can get all their guns shooting they will speedrun the game and get you to lunch faster than almost any other team in the game.
- They are an excellent team for playing a pure fundamentals game but I don’t think they should be winning tournaments unless the person playing them is significantly better than everyone else there or for some reason no one plays a team with 10+ operaties.
Is this move to Kasrkin a long term thing, or more of a change of pace? Are there other teams you have your eye on in the coming future?
- I always like taking new teams to tournaments. Outside of cults and Wyrmbalde every other team I’ve played in a tournament has been my first time with them. In 12 competitive events I’ve run 8 unique teams. As for teams I’m looking to play more of, Corsairs are an all time favorite and with their changes I definitely want to get more games in on them. I’m also enjoying scouts a lot. They are very challenging but also very rewarding and I think they are a lot better than most people give them credit for.
- Given I already had a ticket locked in I wanted to play something that’s a little bit outside the upper echelon. I do think Kasrkin are edging in for top10 teams but the top5 still outclass them quite heavily at least in my opinion. I’m looking forward to Mandrakes, I’m an elf player at heart.
Kasrkin are a team that excel in many specific areas, while having some fun strategic level decisions. Were there any specific plays you ended up using over the weekend, and can you explain those for us?
- Kasrkin are an extremely honest team. They have long threat ranges with 3 APL and reposition with excellent guns. The main thing that was carrying me through most of my games was my medic rezzing 2+ people per game and healing many more. His work achieved me a staggering 2.8 K/D ratio across the tournament. Adrenaline shots on a gunner, medic and then either a second gunner or on my leader give you a way to “gain APL ” which is this teams greatest weakness.
- Beyond that using reposition and 3APL operatives to outrange your opponent is key. The reality is most other teams can push up and take the midboard against you. Teams like Novitiates have blinding aura and many of the other threats in the meta out activate you so if you move forward you will take damage without being able to dish any out. Instead let your opponent score that 4-2 TP 1 and then make their team evaporate TP2. Stand 11-14 inches away or out in the open in range of your medic and then use reposition to push forward if you win initiative. Get to the edge of being in range, delete the person who’s closest and then repeat. This will allow you to flip the activation advantage in your favor and by the end of TP 2 your opponent will be counting your activations going “How do you have so many operative left to go?”.
- Generally you will want 3-4 people on 3 APL turn two and your comms will probably be on the phone till at least turn 3. The recon dash is also very valuable for projecting threat TP1 while being able to scoot to safety. Moving up a krak nade to an aggresive spot where it can potentially 3 APL move out, shoot and then dash to a hidden spot make it harder for your opponent to abuse your lack of Line of Sight manipulation. Vantage sniper with barricade is also another good use of it depending on map,mission and match up.
- I also love Elimination pattern, turning all your support guys and troopers into killing machines TP2 lets you really turn up the pressure. Save CP rerolls for your AP2 guns. Remember 1 4+ equals 10 damage minimum unless your opponent has an Invul. If you can Neutralize target that’s also great, slow roll your relentless so you can keep any 3s for cheaper elite point manipulation once you get that first 4 (or whatever else you need). You also don’t need to make crits most of the time so just making 3 4s will drop most things.
- The melta mine never felt useful. Maybe on ITD and maybe vs melee teams I’d bring him. The 2 troopers were nice for the Elite point economy when you roll badly. With 2 troopers I had just enough elite points in every game even vs tough teams with some sub par rolls. Those 2-4 extra points make all the difference when your plasma rolls 2 1s and you don’t want him to melt.
Last time you were interviewed with Goonhammer (link), we asked you about balance and many of those changes seem to have happened in some way. Are there any outstanding issues you still want to see changed, or are you largely looking forward to how Bheta Decima changes things?
- Kommandos still need nerfs, I don’t need to say the obvious do I? As for what I would do, well I would hit Jas with +1 cp per use. Also cut the rokkit boy down to ceaseless, this team should not be the tankiest team in the game, have reliable melee and also have one of the best guns in the game. I think this will actually hit what makes the team strong. Trip Git and 3 APL bomb were cheesy, Just a Scratch and Rokkit Boy Relentless is power. Beyond that I could write a huge list hitting every team with minor adjustments up and down. Felgor seems to be crushing it again and I do think they’re strong but I need more games to actually have a good idea for a nerf and to measure how hard they need to be hit. VG, spotter and demo need changes still they are just absurdly oppressive. Cults is still very strong, as I’ve said I don’t think the previous change hits them particularly hard and arguably the mandos nerf was bigger in the match up of Mandos Vs Cults so now they have have one less bad match up, my previous nerf suggestion of +1 CP on unleash the demon still stands (I think we are seeing a trend here). Gellerpox might need a nerf. I’ve got the team now so I’m gonna be playing a few games to get a feel for them. Maybe it’s just Orion living in my head rent free…..
- For buffs I mostly want some small QOL stuff for a few teams that I think are just a lil bit off. I think Hierotek would be great if they had one guaranteed success on a reanimation per turn (This team might be sleeper top tier I have some theories but for now a small buff probably wouldn’t hurt). Hand of the Archon being able to assign a pain token in the strat ploy phase (maybe as long as the leader is alive, maybe with taking a mortal wound on a friendly operative or something) would be cool too. I reckon Kroot should get lethal 5+ on all their melee and they should get a 5+ Invul in cover to make rouge an actual genuine tool for survivability in a world of Plasma guns one shotting people.
- Broader changes are needed for squishier teams and Elites are just screwed, they need a lot of help or core rules changes. There need to be more overwatch type actions or reactions for when you are outactivated. The ability to, instead of doing an overwatch, do an action to “hunker down” which gains you an additional defense dice till the end of the turning point for example. Corsairs also suffer from the activation issue with players needing to adopt a 4-2 deficit and recover with activation efficiency in later turns. While I dont think activation advantage is everything with how the game currently works it makes playing lower activation teams a very boring or punishing experience, you basically have to play every team like you are cults on TP1 (on open) if you are facing a skilled player on a high activation team.
- One other interesting idea is the ability to change from engaged to concealed for 1 APL at the start of your activation on TP1. This would allow elites to deploy engaged and at least have some amount of threat/board control and then flip back to conceal and move up. Maybe this changes the game way too much though, it’s definitely a radical change.
Considering that you and Liam have traveled out of Australia already last year, is the Skill Issue team planning on doing more worldwide competition?
- Well we will be going to the WTC event in belgium (hope to see you there America) and there will be at least 3 of us coming to WCW as well. Beyond that travel is hard and expensive so probably not too many international tournaments. The real question is when will internationals come to the thunderdome that is Australia to challenge us 😛
Any last shout outs?
- Liam dodged me again, the lucky bastard. Shout out to my team’s medic. He is straight up a king and doesn’t get paid enough.
In first place we have Australia’s other WCW attendee Liam, taking the cake with a clean 6-0 record, on Novitiates. The team has seen an uptick in usage amongst tournament players, with some of their most dangerous enemies lightly nerfed. Their combination of fragile operatives, incredible consistency, and mixed threat ranges means they remain a dangerous team in an expert pilot’s hands. Liam’s sure to have some more detailed thoughts on the team, so let’s ask him.
Liam B – 1st Place, Novitiates
Skill Issue
Congratulations on coming in first at The Purge! Are there any plans for you and Aleksa to play a sort of informal fight for the true first place of the 10-operative teams in the near future?
- As long as Aleksa brings Kasrkin I think I have a chance. I played James Cosgrove’s Kasrkin round 4 and must have spent at least half of my faith points on blinding aura. Aleksa took the Imperial Guard’s finest to a new level though with a wild win path including a draw on Loot, ITD, vs Vetguard. I’m sure we’ll play a game in the near future, we play each other frequently and he usually gets the better of me. Finding an opponent who challenges you is a huge part of improving at a competitive game like Kill Team so I certainly can’t complain.
How are you feeling about the meta? At the WCW you were on Legionary, and now you’re on Novitiates. Was the switch due to the meta, or just a personal shake up?
- Other than Hunter Clade which got me through the first 6 months of learning the game I’ve never been one to stick with a team for too long, I had played around with Novitiates for a few different events last year and loved how they performed, but they’re not a particularly forgiving team and I didn’t quite feel I had them to a standard to compete with last year at the WCW.
The Purge notably had no Bheta Decima terrain for the tournament. Have you given it a try? How have you found the new setting for competitive play?
- I’ve yet to dip my toes into Beta Decima. Some of my mates here have gotten a few games in though and it seems to really shake things up. Aleksa and I have been talking about its competitive viability and I think with some additional scatter it should play quite well. We’ll just have to wait and see if it gets traction in the tournament scene down under.
Novitaties have some pretty powerful tricks in their toolkit that remain powerful. Considering they’re a low play team, can you share with us some of the best tricks?
- Novitiates are a team of glass cannons, ten 7 wound operatives don’t last long if you play fair. Against a savvy opponent I’d concede primaries turning point 1 to stage for a huge counter push tp2. Between your Superior’s group activation and a well set up Purgatus or Penitent – with her ridiculous 17″ Krak range (Move with +2”, Dash, Shoot) – you can quickly establish a material lead. Once you’re out of heavy hitters Sanctified Shots can allow your support operatives to go on the offensive and clean up, 3/4 pistols with faith points hit harder than most realize. Finally Blinding aura is an insane ability if used well, not only rendering you immune to vantage points but spotters and flips, just make sure to only give your opponent one target and stay away from any indirect if you intend to utilize it.
What sort of things are you looking forward to in Kill Team in the near future? Especially since you’ve secured a Golden Ticket with this first place!
- The two newly announced teams look very interesting, I’m especially excited for Night Lords. On the competitive side of things I’ll be trying to broaden my experience within the KT sphere, knowing your enemy is half the battle and there are still a few teams I definitely need to field before I really understand how to beat them.
Last time we talked at the WCW you mentioned you were interested in helping to grow your local Killteam scene, is that work still happening? Any events or shops you want to shout out to Australian Goonhammer readers?
- Decked Out Brookvale is my local haunt and the staff there have been super supportive of our little slice of Warhammer, they recently supplied us with multiple Beta Decima sets which I’m super grateful for, shout out to Jay Song who’s spent the last week building them! I’ve also heard Christine Holtom and Emma Hallinan at Castlehill RSL have some more community focused tournaments upcoming and with how successful their Monday game nights have become I don’t doubt they’ll be fantastic for anyone looking to get into the KT tournament scene!
We’d like to once again thank the players and tournament organizer for speaking with us and congratulate them on their success. As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to drop us a note in the Comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. And if you want regular updates in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter.
