Killteam UTC Weekend Recap and Preview: Apr 16- Apr 22, 2024

Hey everyone! The UTC has been reasonably quiet up til this weekend where we had a slew of Killteam events. Which means we’re back with our first stats wrap up since the balance data slate. We’ve seen the decline of the Kommandos, and the rise of the Heirotek circle in the meantime. Melee hordes have taken this week by storm specifically, especially in Paris, which we’ll be dropping tomorrow!

Kt Stats Apr16-22

It does seem that if you’re looking to pick up a team with some surprise power the Blooded may be right up your alley. The combination of a wide team, with some heroes and late game ramping damage, means Blooded can stabilize an early advantage. Especially with the release of so many lower operative count teams. We’ll see how the Nightmare releases feel next week, though it is notable that the 3 players on “Commorites” were all Mandrake players who clearly had a good weekend outing.

Elites took a shellacking this weekend, getting decimated across most of their factions. With the low player count Justian and Compendium Marines seeing some success. Those wins did come from seemingly smaller communities where Elites do tend to shine.

Dataslate nerfs have not seemed to really scratch the paint of Heirotek shells, or Fellgor hides, with the teams sporting a very strong performance this week. Along with strong performances weekly while also sporting deep runs into their top brackets. The meta has not seemingly digested the frenzying goats, or they may still be a touch strong. While the nerfing of the temporal nanomine has not truly affected necrontyr performances.

Kill Team Jawn @ Berks Spring Assault 2024, PA (BCP link)

Pennsylvania had BWG’s Killteam Jawn throw a 12-person 3-rounder that saw some of the region's most dedicated players knocking down their fellow rivals. Here’s what TO Steve had to say about the event:

”This was Kill Team Jawn's first year supporting long standing Berks Spring Assault 1-day mini open. We took things out (even further) to the country for 3 rounds of Kill Team action. Plenty of familiar faces, but a handful of newer/kitchen table players came out to spend the day with us.

The Spring Assault prize pool is raffle based and all proceeds from the event support the Knarr Family Love All charity and their ACES scholarship fund.”

Leander G, Plasma Spam- Heirotek Circle
Marc G, Plasma Spam- Phobos Strike Team
Sean L, Kill Team Jawn- Hearthkyn Salvagers

Kill Team competitors in their natural habitat Credit: Steve

Unsurprisingly the Garrett family made a great showing at the event with Sean’s third place score on the short kings themselves! The Hearthkyn Salvagers have been steadily marching up the dataslates and can really put the hurt on players with some good tactics. Starstriders were also in striking distance but took the L against Leander's Heirotek in the finals. I suspect that needing two laser beams to take out a Cryptek really puts a cramp in the traditional Starstriders strong point.

High Noon Shootout - Presented by EPR (BCP link, Twitch link)

Everything happens to be only slightly bigger in Texas this weekend with TO Chase’s, 3-round, 16-person tournament hosted at Blackwater Draw Brewery (link).

Anjo B, Canyon Lake Strike Squad- Veteran Guard
Raymond Z, Space City Kill Team- Fellgor Ravagers
James G, GMG, Kommandos

Here’s what Chase had to say about the tournament:

“Being primarily a college town, a lot of our players originate from many different cities. Over the last several years, we've seen players join our community, then return to their hometowns and start their communities of their own. This wonderful situation has meant that our tournaments act as a big reunion for a bunch of wonderful folks. Such is the case with our High Noon Shootout at Blackwater Draw Brewery. We saw Anjo Boehm, formerly one of our local players, bringing his own Canyon Lake Strike Squad and take the top trophy, followed by Space City Kill Team member Raymond Zuniga, and then our sister-city Kill Team organizer, James Grubbs of Goldmine Games, take third after suffering a first round loss to our second place winner! In what has become a tradition in the travelling circus that is the Texas Kill Team community, the visiting team ends up taking 1st place from the host's team. Therefore, our local EPR team is excited to dust off our boots, hit the road, and win some trophies in our neighbor's lovely towns.”

High Noon's Best Action Shot Credit: Phoenix D

Being only a 3-rounder, I’d probably have put money on Raymond taking it in the theoretical 4th round. Veteran Guard really do not enjoy having frenzied goats that can take out your squishy 7-wound guardsmen on a good day. If you are curious about the festivities here, you can catch all the action over at Engage Party Repeat’s Twitch channel (link) where Chase streams the VIP matches!

Fantasy Books and Games Kill Team Competitive Tournament (BCP link)

At the UTC’s Midwest conference, we’ve got a 4-round, 8-person tournament, a surprisingly competitive format for the number of attendees.

Corbin H- Nurgle Legionary
Adam H- Farstalker Kinband
Brandon O, Heirotek Circle

Players deep in thought Credit: Adam H, TO

Adam the TO had this to say about the scene:

“We are slowly growing a Kill Team presence on the Illinois side. Lots of players around the area of St Louis but it can be difficult to get people together. Our event randomly gave away the Commemorative Unbroken model and a box of Phobos. We also ran Bheta Decima with the updated rules which was a lot of players' first time on that kill zone.”

While we don’t know the marks of the Legionary player, Corbin tallied up 4 consecutive wins against his peers. Really proving to us that he was the best player of the day. Adam’s surprise 3-1 finish on the Kinband perhaps continues to give us signs that the team still has some legs on them.

New York Hard Core Comics April Monthly (BCP link)

Comfy comic confines credit: Mike C

North of New York City, Dobbs Ferry’s own Mike C continues his cities monthly tradition of getting some games in. With a 3-round, 10-person tournament out of Hard Core Comics (link).

Mike C- Heirotek Circle
Arpit P, Mortal Wound- Warp Coven
Brian D, Mortal Wound- Pathfinders

Mike had this to say:

“Our local scene has been steadily growing with new players showing up every event. Interest continues to grow in the Westchester region!”

The top 3 at the monthly includes many of northern NYs best. With Mike C grabbing the 3rd round win against Matt O’s Custodes. In a week where Elites really did some suffering that game would have been an interesting one to see go the other way. However the rest of the top 3 are definitely teams that have been given a new lease on life with the data slates. Here’s hoping the players can travel to some of the upcoming East Coast regionals to show off the Mortal Wound’s skills!

Upcoming Events

April 27

Titan CU Warhammer 40k Kill Team ITC/UTC Tournament (Illinois, BCP)

May 04

B.Strat May Monthly KT 2024: Teams (Brooklyn, BCP)

Notably, we are still looking to get more Kill Team events up on the UTC calendar. If you’d like to be featured, reach out and we’ll get you set up asap!

Tags: Kill Team | killteam | UTC recap