FWIW Kill Team 2018 was also more or less restricted to what you could get in boxes and *also* tightly coupled to the 8th edition datasheets (which got weird when 8th merrily changed a bunch of those datasheets, updated faction mechanics etc). So if a box had a sergeant figure with weapon options, two special weapons guys and a bunch of troops, the corresponding KT2018 datasheet would let you take up to one sergeant and up to two gunners with the weapon options on their sprues, and then as many troops as you like. The sarge would get the same stat upgrades as their 8th edition counterpart.me_in_japan wrote: ↑Tue Aug 17, 2021 12:34 amFrom what I gather, based on reviews I've read, the options are pretty limited, and are largely based on what plastic box sets are available for 40k, rather than any actual game-related tactical value or lore-based reasons. I suspect that the ability to use minis from existing 40k armies is a bit of a temporary fudge, and that as new supplements are released (which I believe will be once per quarter**) the datasheets/units included in each supplement will supersede whatever was printed in the Compendium.
The difference was that you had a points system and most factions had multiple datasheets to pick models from. So you could only have one sergeant per datasheet but if you had three datasheets you could take three sergeants no problem. Likewise you couldn't take more gunners from a datasheet than their box could build, but you could just take the gunners from multiple datasheets (eg Skitarri can be built as Vanguard and Rangers, so you take the full allotment of Vanguard gunners and the full allotment of Ranger gunners and suddenly we're running a *lot* of plasma). You could run zero basic troops, and since certain weapons were wildly more effective than others for various reasons (injury system first among them), the difference between a team specially built for Kill Team and what you could build with your first box or two of figures was a real problem.
So Kill Team was never really the sort of game apt for expressing your own unique collection of personalities like an RPG, the customisation mostly served min-maxing. Now to be fair the Specialisms layer and the narrative system do make up for this - it's just KT2018's campaign system was a lot lamer than GW's more recent efforts (hence recent angst over why you'd ever play it instead of Combat Patrol 40K with Crusade). KT2021 seems a LOT better on this front and its equipment system gives you customisation for non-weapon doodads that I think will help too.
(apologies if you were across all of that already)
Which comes to the role of the Compendium. I don't think it actually gets obsoleted by new model releases, given the apparent relationship between the Octarius factions and the Ork and Imperial Guard Compendium factions. When they release a Sisters KT team, I think I'll have the choice between playing *that* team exactly with more specialised models and bespoke narrative stuff, OR the Compendium team with a broader selection of models from multiple Fire Teams but only stock Narrative options, Tac Ops etc. I don't *think* the Sisters release will have rules I can use for Repentia unless it's a Repentia team, in which case it won't have anything else. I could be wrong about this - I'm just going on reviews and tea leaves - but AFAICT the fact that Kommandos and DKOK have a bunch of cool gubbins means exactly squat to the (separate) general Ork and Guard teams.
I do think the Compendium could easily be superseded by another Compendium but short of GW actually getting their act together digitally I think that's probably a good thing.
Yeah I've been surprised for years that reviews are usually full spoilers with people paging through books in high def on YouTube. GW seems fine with it as long as it's after preorders open (and the FOMO orders are locked in) and I guess not text indexable by Google? I've noticed Goonhammer reviews have become a bit vaguer in describing things in *text*.*There really are a lot of datasheets here. John (the guy who does CYRaC) is well known in the Warhammer:Underworlds community, and has produced a series of very informative articles over the years. He does a youtube thing now, too. The thing is, he's accustomed to showing the Underworlds cards in his reviews, as you kinda need to show what you're talking about, and you literally can't play without the actual card. Kill Team, however, is a different beast, and I hope GW are cool with him showing off so much of the book. I dunno - for all I know it may be fine. He may even have their blessing to show em off *shrug*
