Dark Angels Kill Team Pass In Review

(Image:  Dark Angels Symbol)

Opening Scene:

On a desolate spot on a desolate planet (is there anything else in WH40K's grimdark?)...

...an Imperial Valkyrie, flying nap-of-the-earth, slows, hovers...

...then lands.

As soon as the aircraft touches-down, a squad of scout marines from the Dark Angels Chapter egress, then fan out across the arid landscape.

The Valkyrie takes off, leaving the scouts...

...to accomplish their clandestine mission.

Collection Details:


What ever the Dark Angels Scouts are up to, I won't know for a while. And it won't be me telling their tale of derring do.

Sorry.

I intend to pass these on to my son-in-law.  But while I still have them, I figured I'd do a write-up.

I wasn't planning on acquiring any Space Marines in my Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K) collection, but among my on-line purchases of used figures, this guy was among them:

I'm not sure what Space Marine Chapter he belongs to, or if he's completely painted.

I changed my mind--sort of--when I stumbled across a handful of Dark Angels Scouts for sale on-line by Arthur Woo.  I've bought most of my used & pre-painted WH40K through Arthur, who lives in Canada and currently operates on the various Facebook Marketplaces.  He'll have a Facebook page soon, that I'll link to in upcoming WH40K posts.

When they arrived, I contacted Dan, the guy who's been painting my Astra Militarum figures, to see if he'd repaint them.

I decided on a squad/kill team of Raven Guard Scouts.  Of all the Space Marine Scouts, I liked the uniforms and mission of the Raven Guards the best.  I find the other Space Marine Scouts to be too brightly attired and kitted-out with too many close-combat weapons which appears at odds with their reconnaissance role.

Unfortunately, when Dan tried re-painting them, the figures' details were lost once the primer coat was applied to two test subjects.

He said the figures would have to be stripped first, which would take more time--and more money.

I told him not to do anything else with the figures and leave the rest as is.

It just so happens that my son-in-law is in the initial phases of collecting a Dark Angels force.

So my purchase isn't a loss at all.

When I got the figures back I touched-up and flocked the bases.

This particular scout team consists of 5-6 members, all armed with sniper rifles.

The first figure is the squad leader:

The next figure can either be the squad leader with his vision enhancement goggles down over his eyes, or the assistant squad leader:

The next two figures are riflemen on sandy bases:

The final figures for this squad are two more riflemen on grassy bases:

But these, along with the double-primed black figures aren't the only ones I received.

My purchase included this odd pair of riflemen:

I contacted the seller and asked him who these two are suppose to be.  He said he purchased them from a third party who kit bashed two Dark Angel Scout bodies with Aeldari heads.

Why?

The seller didn't know.

Well, at least they're not Drukhari.  They creep me out.

So I decided to keep the Aeldari Dark Angel Scouts, along with the blue-coated orphan scout.

I'm not sure what their backstory will be, so I'll ask around and see if anyone has ideas on how they can fit into the "...grim darkness of the far future..."

WH40K & Kill Team Pass in Review: Kroot

(Image:  Kill Team Logo)

It's been nearly two months since my last post and all of it is due to Life Getting In The Way issues.

Specifically, my daughter and son-in-law had a baby boy so my wife and I made, not one, but two cross-country trips to visit them.

Prior to the family visits, I bought several WH40K Kill Team products, along with numerous figures and vehicles from individuals via on-line sales.

My main force, the Astra Militarum, is based around a reinforced armored cavalry squadron.

But sometime last year I stumbled across an individual selling his small collection of Kroot.  (I can't remember his name).

Most Kroot figures look nice, clean--and beautifully painted--like these:

(Image by:  Steve Greeves)

But these were painted as if covered in the blood of their recently eaten victims.

For some disturbing reason I liked them and was the only one who offered to buy them, nearly 20 in all.

Age and the rigors of shipping were rough several of the figures.  Most suffered from broken arms, right above the wrist which required super-glue surgery.  One figure's support weapon was broken.  I also touched-up the bases and figures, along with flocking the bases and adding painted pennies underneath each figure to add some weight.

Other than these dings, I was happy with my purchase.

I've read several reviews of the Kroot.  While individually fierce, Kroot units are under-armed and have very little staying power.

Which in an odd way, would make these creatures perfect for me to learn Kill Team, or WH40K, whenever I get around to actually playing either game.

Games Workshop has developed a reputation for not fully supporting sub-factions within the WH40K 'verse.  However, the company appears to be making some amends.  The January 2019 Issue of White Dwarf Magazine featured the article Mercenaries for Hire. This 4-page article (pages 62-65) contained the stats for players to run Kroot kill teams.

Here's what mine would look like:

To identify them better, I used the Kroot Name Generator Table and labelled every figure.

First the kill team's specialists, (names listed under the picture):

Kra to Tohorrok--Leader

Dohra cha Yotoh--Scout

Khar grok Tohorrok--Sniper

Dihra cha Gorrkha--Close Combat Specialist

Ohrak yo Ga'ah--Zealot

Ahkra to Choh--Veteran

According to the rules, a battle-forged kill team can only have three additional specialists along with the leader, which is mandatory (page 66).

So I'll have to select which figures to use in any given game, or "demote" them to regular warriors, like these:

Ohrak cha Dohr

Cho grok Krrah

Tehk yo Kyrek

Byahk yo Gota

Gohk ohk Ga'ah

Byohk ka Yotoh

Khir ah Dohr

Grohm ek Rhekk

Grohm grok Rhekk

Ohrak ek Krrah

Khor grok Choh

Since this Kroot's weapon was broken, I can't identify it (flamer?).  So I'm not sure what role he'd fill.

Gehk ok Krrah

So there you have it:  My practice force of "disposable heroes."