The 2024 Edition of Kill Team has overhauled the game, changing rules, datasheets, and bringing with it an updated set of rules for every team in the game. In this series we’re taking a look at each team, how they’ve changed, and what it means for how they play in the new edition.
Attention troopers! Officer on deck! Get ready! Today, we’re going to explore all the latest updates of our favorite enforcers of peace, the Exaction Squad.
We are coming from dark times in KT21, but having received an almost complete rework, we’re going to see that these guys now have many more possibilities on the battlefield, while their playstyle of containing and advancing remains the same.
Before we dive in, we’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing a preview copy of these rules for review purposes.
The Video Version of the Review
We have a video version of this review courtesy of Can You Roll a Crit?
Team Overview
The Exaction Squad is an 11 operative team with strong “stoppers” like the Subductors, who have solid saves and can withstand charges from almost any operative. Additionally, they finally have good gunners and solid close-range operatives thanks to their shotguns dealing 4/4 damage. They are a faction specialized in holding the line, tying down their opponents, and advancing.
Special Rules:
Marked For Justice: This is a completely new rule. As a gambit, mark an enemy operative and gain Punishing against them. When that enemy operative dies, this this ability will “jump” to another enemy operative (like quarry). All this as a passive! A marvelous ability that we’ll need to plan carefully around, especially when we lose initiative.
Repress: What was previously a Subductors ability is now faction-wide. It allows operatives with this ability to block two hits with just one successful combat dice roll, ensuring your operatives always act as the attackers when defending. This is the bread and butter of this squad’s containment abilities.
Ruthless Efficiency: This ability allows an operative to shoot at enemies even if they’re engaged with allied operatives. Watch out! It now has no range limit, and everyone can benefit from it (hello marksman!).
Team Composition
The Arbites are a Kill Team classified as Mid-Range (neither horde nor elite) that deploys 11 miniatures. Right from the start, we must make complex decisions that will impact how we develop the match.
Our core will be a leader (likely equipped with a pistol, maul, and shield), the Vox-Signifier, Malocator, Castigator, Marksman, and the Gunner with the improved webber (an incredible weapon). From there, we will need to start making decisions. If we want to focus on containing enemies, we should include 3-4 Subductors. Then we’ll need to decide whether to include the Cyber-Mastiff and Leashmaster pair or the Chirurgant (our trusty medic) and the Revelatum (to reveal sneaky enemies).
As you can see, this is a team with many tools and a huge capacity for adaptability, which any Kill Team player will thoroughly enjoy.
Playing This Team
The Exaction Squad is an adaptable team. You can field more Subductors to focus on containing any team in combat. The castigator is capable of taking out two miniatures at a time and is one of the prime candidates to receive support from our Vox. The leader, now with only three objectives, can easily lock down one of them, making it extremely difficult for the opponent to secure it.
Moreover, with the improvement to the gunners, this team now brings true firepower that will cause more than one headache for enemy ranks. They also still have very effective ploys to enhance the efficiency of our operatives (Ceaseless on Subductors—yummy!).
As for the archetypes, having Security and Seek and Destroy makes this a team designed to play Security, capturing areas of the killzone and fortifying themselves, creating an impenetrable wall against the darkness and horrors of the galaxy.
What’s Changed?
Right from the start, with Marked for Justice providing Punishing and “jumping” to another target, we can see that the team’s damage output has increased. On the other hand, the lack of restrictions in Ruthless Efficiency makes the gunners much more deadly. Our close combat operatives now gain Ceaseless instead of Balanced, which makes them much stronger, and the gunners get Balanced without any range limitations.
Regarding firefight ploys, we have two changes: Long Arm of the Emperor’s Law increases the range of our weapons by 3″, and Execution Order allows us to mark an enemy miniature that has performed a mission action or is on a point so that in the next turn, we can activate one of our models before them.
As for the operatives, there are many quality-of-life improvements. Our leader remains a tank, and with the Nuncio-Aquila, he’s an absolute titan, denying points. Meanwhile, the Castigator’s Maul has gained 1 more damage, and his Feel No Pain (FNP) has been reworked to match the generic FNP everyone else has.
Keep an eye on the gunners, especially the Webber, which, while shooting on a 3+, is now a 4/5 weapon with Severe and Stun. Our loyal Doggo can now Apprehend suspects, weakening their combat abilities, and the Malocator gives us Severe against designated targets.
Finally, our Marksman now hits as he should, with 4/4 damage and Mortals on a critical, hitting on 2+ as a proper marksman should, and still maintaining anti-obscuring tech and lethal 5+ when aiming. The Marksman’s best friend is now the Revelatum, who can grant us Seek Light and anti-obscuring capabilities. A fantastic addition for Into the Dark.
The other major change for the team is in the equipment. Manacles allow us to prevent enemies from disengaging (very efficiently if they have fewer wounds than us), Lumens have been nerfed and now only block results of 1. On the other hand, we also have Special Issue Shells to give us a little extra punch in shooting once per turn. And if the enemy brings a lot of “Shock” weapons into combat, we can equip ourselves with a solid Reinforced Visor to ignore them.
Three Cool Things About This Team
- Buffed: The Exaction Squad has received a good number of improvements that not only make it more thematic but also a more well-rounded Kill Team.
- The old toolbox: Despite the changes the team feels just like it did in KT21. Built to hold the line, wear down your opponent, and once in combat, shoot them down until they’re eliminated.
- Feel the power of justice: After the changes, you feel much more power in your decisions and far fewer restrictions than in the previous version. Your operatives hold the line better, hit harder, and reward well-executed plays.
The gunners by beltran92 Final Thoughts
I believe Exaction Squad players are in for a treat, as they’ve received multiple improvements: more stability in rolls, better tricks, and Tac Ops that can pull out a surprise when needed…
I think it’s all good news. They’ve lost P1 for the entire faction (although they still have it once per turn), but thanks to their improved efficiency and abilities, it shouldn’t be too noticeable. They’ve gained advantages on all fronts and now have a tool for every scenario. It’s up to the player to find the best tool for each moment and enjoy the new and improved version of the Exaction Squad.
I’ll see you in the comments!
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
