Kill Team: Shadowhunt drops two new teams on us, each with new models that are sure to make an impact in both Kill Team and Warhammer 40k. We sat down to review these kits, talking about our experiences assembling and painting them.

Before we dive in, we’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of this box for review purposes.

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

Murderwing

Rob: The new Raptors are great. There are a ton of extra bits here, because this is another dual kit designed to build either five Raptors or five Warp Talons. Compared to the older Warp Talons, these are clearly a bit bulker - particularly when it comes to their legs - and have a bit less extraneous trim, but are otherwise about the same size. They have a similar penchant for jumping off small rocks and pieces of debris and as I assembled them there was only one model - the guy leaning far forward - whose pose I didn’t care for.

These models all have flat arm joins and socket necks, making it very easy to mix and match bits for them from other kits. In particular I made mine Night Lords and used bits from the Nemesis Claw kit, chopping off the wings to put on the mutated head for my mutant operative. The flat joins also make it easy to mix and match upgrades, and so I kitted these guys out for 40k, where they can take two heavy melee weapons on top of the champion’s power fist by putting a heavy melee weapon in the hands of the leaning operative.

One interesting note: the back joins are different now - you won't be able to easily put older jump packs on these newer models. They're all a bit bulkier than the older kits, especially in the legs and midsection, where the thigh plates really add some girth to the models.

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

These were easy models to assemble and they painted up about as easily; the only challenge in painting them was the meltagun being pushed over the chest of a model but otherwise I made quick work of them using the same scheme I’ve been using for my Raptors so far. I’ll be mixing and matching these models with the older Raptors and I’m pretty happy with how similar they are - the new models look much, much better and I’d prefer to use those whenever I have a choice but they aren’t so far off visually or size-wise from the old models that I’d be upset about having to use both. I just painted ten Warp Talons for WCW last year and I’m not about to paint another ten.

Comparing the New (left) and Old (right) Raptor models.

The Jump Pack Chaos Lord is just a Jump Pack Chaos Lord; nothing particularly special about that guy. If you want to know how I paint my Night Lords, you can find the run down in How to Paint Everything: Night Lords.

Sky Serpent: What an absolutely incredible new kit and such bang for your buck with options to create so many different units, these will be perfect for kitbashers who want to add something special to the army and will work really well with other Chaos kits and armies out there to make them more god specific too.

I chose to make a duel diorama from the Shadowhunt kit and it was the Huntmaster and their incredible pose which led me to this decision. The model was incredibly easy to put together and I did very little additional modelling, just a small head swap from the suggested piece.

Iron Warriors are a legion which I’ve always liked and have ‘fond’ memories of being blasted off the board by them way back in 3.5 in my local shop. I’d never painted one before and I wanted to have a go at weathering them and painting chevrons too.

I began with a black undercoat and worked my way through Vallejo Dark Steel, Steel and Silver with a drybrush while next up I finally got experienced the CSM joy of trim. For this I began with Scale 75 Decayed Metal and then up through Citadel Brass Scorpion, Castellax Bronze and Canoptek Alloy.

The final main part to finish were the chevrons. I basecoated these with Vallejo White and painted some thin coats of Pro Acryl Golden Yellow before weathering them down with Reikland Fleshshade and Doombull Brown. Finally I painted the black in with Abaddon Black and Corvus Black before adding a few silver chips.

Celestian Insidiants

Sky Serpent: I have a massive soft spot for Sisters of Battle, there were an army I collected during my teens and I always said I’d return to them if they ever received a plastic range… Commorragh and the Void has continued to keep me away but maybe one day…

The Celestian Insidiants are incredible with so much detail and options and are bound to be popular with players whether they play 40k or Kill Team.

Having built the Huntmaster I knew the Abjuror would be perfect with her shield and with a little clipping I used a power sword from a different model in the set so that it was raised to strike back at the Iron Warrior while I also chose a bare head.

Order of the Thorn. Credit: Games Workshop

My original Sisters of Battle were bone coloured and I chose to replicate this and after some research I discovered the Order of the Thorn.

The bone coloured armour was based in Zandri Dust, washed in Seraphim Sepia (St Katherine would be proud!) and highlighted with Ushabti Bone and Vallejo Pale Sand.

The robes were painted with Barak Nar Burgundy and highlighted up to Khorne Red while the metals were painted in the same way and same time as the Huntmaster but while I added rust (Doombull Brown and Fire Dragon Bright) to the Iron Warrior I added verdigris (Sotek Green and white) which added the very little colour to the piece.

Credit: Sky Serpent

Dan "Swiftblade" Richardson: I have two confessions to start. First, I'm a Chaos guy at heart, with little love for the Imperium. If I had my pick to assemble and paint, it would be Murderwing without a second thought. But unfortunately for my dumb butt, Rob is also a Chaos guy, so there was a snowballs chance in hell that I was getting those Raptors. Sisters of Battle it is.

Despite my disdain of most loyalist factions (Blood Angels are pretty cool, I'll give them that), I really enjoy this kit, which should be high praise since I was fairly prepared to be indifferent about it.

It's still a sisters kit, so the actual assembly part is going to have classic Sisters problems, AKA lots of fiddly bits that are prone to snapping if you aren't careful. But the team has a pretty diverse set of options for customization, especially in the head department: the box has enough heads to do either bare heads, helmeted heads, or a cowl option for each operative. I don't love the cowl options personally, I think they make each Insidiant's head look a little funny, but the wide selection is pretty nice.

Credit: Dan "Swiftblade" Richardson

I decided to paint my team up with a Order of the Bloody Rose scheme, as like moth to flame I will be drawn to the punchy subfaction every time. Painting each Insidiant isn't too bad, its a whole lot of power armor and cape, so once those are done your 70% there. Before you get too excited, you've still got some classic painting sister hoops to jump through. There's lots of little details and not all of it is easy to reach, like various belts wrapped around each operative's waist that is a pain to get to on any model without an open stance. If you have the patience for subassemblies, you'll want to use subassemblies on models like the Abjuror, Censor, and Mortisanctus.

You've also got to paint very small bare heads, unless you take the path of the coward and use all helmets. And even those, the lenses are tiny.

Credit: Dan "Swiftblade" Richardson

Overall, I'm really pleased with how the operatives I painted turned out, which is where I have my second confession: I only had time to fully paint the Superior and Abjuror. Some of this not my fault, work has been hectic and the kiddo started daycare earlier this month, so I've been some level of "under the weather" the better part of a month now. All that Diablo IV I've been playing though? That's on me.

As of this writing, I'm working on the Mortisanctus, and I'd like to shout out this short-hair head option that's very "Joan of Arc". I love how it looks, especially on the lady with the big two-handed sword. Just nails the vibe.

Mortisanctus WIP. Credit: Dan "Swiftblade" Richardson

Overall, Celestians are a pleasant surprise for me, and I'm having enough fun that I think I'm going to end up painting this whole team. If you love Sororitas in Kill Team or big 40k, this release is a real treat.

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