Stealth and storms: Kill Team experts talk about key rules in Dead Silence

The latest Kill Team expansion, Dead Silence, goes on pre-order on Saturday, and it adds two new kill teams to the game – Wolf Scouts and XV26 Stealth Battlesuits. We asked Saya, Giacomo, and Dakotah, Kill Team enthusiasts from Squad Games, for their top tips on making the most of these new teams.

Squad Games: Dead Silence doesn’t just pit two dramatically different teams against one another – it opens the door to a whole new kind of narrative experience. One team, made up of veteran Space Wolves packing plasma power and empowered by an almost supernatural storm face a xenos race who take tactical teamwork to the next level. Who needs the power of a magical snowstorm when you’re nearly invisible? It’s instinct versus precision, raw fury against calculated stealth.

Wolf Scouts

The storm is coming. Clad in advanced power armour, wielding incredibly powerful weapons, and with the strength, speed, and resilience of mythic heroes, the Wolf Scouts kill team is bringing the heat, and by heat, we mean plasma. Wolf Scouts have more plasma weapon options than any other kill team available. But before we get into what makes them sizzle, let's look at their composition. It's a six operative team with eight different operatives to choose from, including a fierce Fenrisian Wolf ready to tear into the fray. 

Faction Rules Highlight: Hunting Astartes

Hunting Astartes gives your Wolf Scouts the option to use two Shoot actions or two Fight actions. This team has access to four operatives with ranged plasma weapons. Yes, Wolf Scouts can shoot their plasma weapons twice, and the second plasma shot will cost your operative 1 additional AP. Hunting Astartes also allows the Wolf Scouts to counteract no matter their order, and if it is done within the Elemental Storm you can change their order first!

Elemental Storm

Now just what is this Elemental Storm? Well, it’s exactly that, a storm like those of Fenris that follows the Wolf Scouts on their hunt and allows them to mask their movement.* The Wolf Scouts player can use a Strategic Gambit to remove an existing Storm marker, placing it back into the killzone, with all operatives within 6” of it considered inside the storm. Friendly Wolf Scouts can charge with a Conceal order, as long as they start or end within the storm. 

Standout Ploy: Storm’s Bite

This Strategy Ploy forces enemy operatives to subtract 1 from the Atk stat of their melee weapons (to a minimum of 3) if they are within the storm. Picture a supernatural tempest so powerful that even the most disciplined operatives’ honed martial precision and focus is torn apart by the elemental savagery around them.

Key Operative: Wolf Scout Fangbearer

The Wolf Scout Fangbearer has the ability to heal one of his brethren D3+3 wounds for 1AP – ideal for keeping your Wolf Scouts around for one more plasma shot. But let’s not overlook his damage output as well. His absolver bolt pistol functions much like a 9 inch plasma pistol, dealing 4/5 damage with Piercing Crits 1. As this is not a plasma weapon, this hefty pistol can fire twice without the extra APL cost that is needed for a plasma pistol. This, alongside his special rule Spiritual Chirurgy, makes him a must take. 

Spiritual Chirurgy gives the entire team the ability to ignore any changes to their stats that come from damage, plus the ability to ignore Shock and Stun weapon rules, as well as any changes that would affect their APL stat. This means that the entire team will be at peak performance. 

Honourable Mention: Wolf Scout Fenrisian Wolf

Who would we be if we didn’t mention the bestest boy (or girl) of the wolf themed team? This wolf is a must take in every list, and for good reason. It has five attacks hitting on 3+, it is just as deadly as its masters and can charge from concealment. But what really sets it apart is its Pounce ability. Once per battle, using a Strategic Gambit, it is able to perform a free Charge, Fall Back, or Reposition action, making it a key operative in controlling the killzone. 

Key Equipment: Frost Weapons

While there are a lot of good equipment options for the Wolf Scouts, Frost Weapons is by far our favourite. These merciless frost-bitten blades give every Wolf Scout operative with combat blades Lethal 5+, and your leader's power weapon Lethal 4+. 

XV26 Stealth Battlesuits

Since the inception of the XV15 battlesuit, the T’au have been performing spec op missions against the enemies of the empire. The XV26 Stealth Battlesuit, operated by veteran shas’ui, is at the bleeding edge of technology, allowing entire squads to be practically invisible until they unleash their firepower. The kill team consists of five operatives from a choice of six, plus a pair of drones.

Faction Rule Highlight: Kauyon

Kauyon, the martial philosophy favored by Stealth Battlesuit teams, is all about luring the enemy into a trap and ambushing them when they least expect it. This translates on the tabletop by giving XV26 Stealth Battlesuit operatives Accurate X, where X is determined by how close an enemy operative is to the Stealth Battlesuits’ territory and drop zone. Your entire team can get up to Accurate 3 if enemy operatives are within 3” of the Stealth Battlesuits’ drop zone.

Gaining Accurate makes it easy for the XV26 Stealth Battlesuits’ powerful weapons to hit consistently and cause massive damage to enemy operatives. On top of that, their Stealth Fields make these operatives nimble when Falling Back and nearly impossible to see while they have a Conceal order – they are only visible to enemy operatives within 3”.

Standout Ploy: Prepare Ambush

This ploy will help you deal with those stubborn operatives trying to hide in heavy terrain, like on Volkus maps or the maze that is the tomb world, by giving friendly XV26 Stealth Battlesuit operatives the Seek weapon rule when enemy operatives are near an Ambush marker. It can also be a deterrent that your opponent will have to work around, especially when your Ambush marker is placed near a critical location in the killzone.

Key Operative: XV26 Neutraliser

The XV26 Stealth Battlesuits come with all sorts of high-tech equipment that allows the team to sneak about and land surprises. In particular, the XV26 Neutraliser’s Multispectrum Sensor Package grants other Stealth Battlesuits the ability to evade an enemy operative’s control range by allowing them to Dash away or change their order so that they are less likely to be charged or shot at.

Honourable Mention: XV26 Lodestar

There are so many cool pieces of tech that the Stealth Battlesuits employ that it would be impossible to sing all their praises here. However, we do want to mention the XV26 Lodestar’s Electrochaff Launcher. This ability grants a nearby friendly XV26 Stealth Battlesuit operative the equivalent of a smoke grenade, and can be used when an enemy shoots. This can make the difference between a friendly operative being incapacitated and surviving to strike back. Pair this up with their other abilities and you can catch your opponent off guard with ease.

What makes this kill team stand out is how truly unique their playstyle is. They operate at peak efficiency when they stay close together, especially as they move across the board. Typically, kill teams hit the ground and fan out. It’s practically a cardinal rule in Kill Team: don’t cluster up. But this squad breaks that rule entirely. When they group together, they can tap into their full potential, turning nearly invisible thanks to their special rules. 

Thanks to the team at Squad Games for these insights – we hope they serve you well when you next enter the killzone. Squad Games also painted their own Wolf Scouts and XV26 Stealth Battlesuits kill teams – check them out.

You can pre-order your own copy of Kill Team: Dead Silence on Saturday.

* How are these storms created? Nobody knows, but it’s the 41st Millennium, so a space wizard probably did it.