Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review

Last Updated on April 23, 2021 by FauxHammer

The new Kill Team: Pariah Nexus expansion hurl us face-first into the grim and claustrophobic skirmish warfare of the Forty-First Millennium. But how does the new Ninth Edition-friendly box shape up?

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Summary

Whilst most of the figures are pretty and the new rules are pretty fun, the new Pariah Nexus expansion for Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team has sacrificed substance for silly little bits of scenery with even sillier names. It’s also eye-wateringly expensive for what you get.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Introduction

Any avid reader of this site will know that over the last year, I have been subject to something of an experiment a crash course in getting into every aspect of this hobby, overseen by the mad hobby scientist FauxHammer himself.

Having being hurled headfirst into the finer points of Age of Sigmar and more recently waterboarded in a barrel of 40K, I’m now first in the firing line for the new Kill Team box set, Pariah Nexus.

As you may expect, I am completely new to Kill Team. This is my first experience of skirmish combat in the far future. This review is, in a way, a litmus test for seeing just how accessible a game like Kill Team is for those like me who are still pretty green around the edges.

At this point, I’d like to shout out to our in-house master of all things tabletop, Oberael, whose expertise waging miniaturised war with plastic soldiers helped hone some of the finer points of this review. His crash-course in waging skirmishes in the far future was invaluable to writing this review.

Kill Team: Pariah Nexus is billed as a “return to the vicious close-quarters battlefields of Kill Team” in the new Ninth Edition setting of the Pariah Nexus. In keeping with the theme of Ninth Edition, the set pits a squad of Space Marines against an opposing mob of Necrons. The expansion has a few nice new additions to both factions, “as well as all-new rules and tactics” to keep the game fresh.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Unboxing

The box comes with:

  • A Space Marines kill team
    • 1 x Captain with master-crafted heavy bolt rifle
    • 5 x Heavy Intercessors
  • A Necrons kill team
    • 1 x Chronomancer
    • 5 x Flayed Ones
  • A double-sided 22″ x 30″ board designed to look like a Necron tomb
  • 48 pieces of Necrons-themed terrain, named as, and I quote here:
    • 8 x doors
    • 4 x induction diodes
    • 8 x single quantum nodes
    • 12 x double quantum nodes
    • 16 x thermionic annuluses.
  • 112-page Kill Team: Pariah Nexus softback book, outlining the fictional setting of the campaign, as well as“rules for playing games of Kill Team in the ultra-close confines of indoor environments, and updated rules for using Space Marines and Necrons in Kill Team, including datasheets, tactics, and more”.
  • Two decks of 17 objective cards
  • Space Marines transfer sheet
Kill Team pariah Nexus Contents

A key thing to note, however, is that this set does not include a copy of the Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team Core Manual, which is needed in order to make use of the contents of this boxed set. This is an expansion set, not a starter set, like the original box which set some intergalactic space furries against the Blue Man Group Space Wolves against T’au.

That this £25 book isn’t already included in a box set worth almost £100 will likely leave a lot of potential purchasers wincing. All in all, in order to play with the expansion set, you’ll be looking at a purchase of around £120 for twelve figures, not all that much paper, and a bucket-load of some of the most boring bits of scenery you’ve ever had to allocate storage space to.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Scenery
I mean, come on

The other swindle with this kit are the new-look Necron Flayed Ones. These figures were teased a while back, but currently the only way to get your hands on these chaps is by purchasing this set. Hopefully that’ll change in the near future.

By comparison, the original Starter Set – which is priced exactly the same – comes with the following:

  • 208-page Core Manual
  • The following accumulation of plastic, totalling seventeen miniatures and a heap of scenery
    • 5 x Primaris Space Marines Reivers
    • 10 x T’au Empire Fire Warriors
    • 2 x DS8 T’au Empire Tactical Support Turrets
    • 6 frames of scenery
  • 2 8-page booklets containing all the information you need for each Kill Team
  • The following cards:
    • 36 Universal Tactics cards which can be used by any kill team
    • 12 Adeptus Astartes Tactics cards, usable exclusively by that Faction
    • 10 T’au Empire Tactics cards, usable exclusively by that Faction
    • 5 Adeptus Astartes and 12 T’au Empire datacards for reference during your games, with a number of blank datacards supplied for building your own custom kill teams
  • Another double-sided gaming board measuring 22” x 30”
  • 6 x D6, 2 x D10
  • A clear plastic 12” range ruler
  • A selection of gaming tokens
Kill Team Core Box Contents

So, that’s five minis, a lot of paperwork, and all the dice, rulers and counters that have been replaced by 48 bits of nondescript Necron-themed scenery with daft names.

Here are the two side-by-side so you can appreciate the comparative paucity of the Pariah Nexus expansion.

Kill Team Core Box ContentsKill Team pariah Nexus Contents
On the left, a Starter Set. On the right, a lot of white space.

I’m not convinced.

Anywhere, here’s the box.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Unboxing 1

And once the lid is lifted…

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Unboxing 2

Anyone familiar with these boxes will be unsurprised to find all your new plastic waiting for you.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Unboxing 3

There are seven spures in the set: one for the Flayed Ones, one for the Heavy Intercessors, one for the Captain, two for the Chronomancer, and two for the scenery.

The majority of the weight in the box is taken up with the two identical scenery sprues.

Then, benetah the plastic and a divider emblazoned with the Kill Team logo awaits your paper:

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Unboxing 4

That’s a one-hundred-and-something page book, your assembly guide, two decks of identical cards, and your transfer sheet.

The final disappointment comes in the form of the, and I quote, “Space Marines transfer sheet”.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Ultramarines Transfer Sheet

Ultramarines or nothing, folks. Be prepared to have to re-enter your wallet yet again in order to get a transfer sheet for your chapter of choice.

Would it really have been so difficult to include the transfer sheet from Indomitus or the Command Edition set?

Mind, given Games Workshop’s announcing of the Indomitus Honoured of the Chapter sprue and its staggering price tag, the inclusion of the Indomitus transfer sheet may well have added another £50 to the retail value of the Pariah Nexus box.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Space Marines

Diving straight into the plastic, the Space Marine part of the box sets a very tough act to follow.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Heavy Intercessors

The Heavy Intercessors retain that tried-and-tested Space Marine look, whilst simultaneously being just different enough to set them apart from your run-of-the-mill Primaris and other Intercessors. They also come with a few optional extras: holsters, pouches, knives, and so-on – just ways to get your Space Marines stand out.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Space Marines Sprue

There’ll also be enough bits left over to decorate the bases of any other models you may have on the go – ammo, purity seals, relics and futuristic electronic doodads, Mould lines abound, though, so be ready for some scraping.

The Captain, though. Oh boy.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Captain

The detail on this figure is staggering; the pose is incredible; the look is sublime. This is, to date, up there with some of the all-time best-looking figures. And, he’s really straightforward to build.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Captain Sprue

There is something to watch out for when building him, though: his right foreleg, the surface of which is curved, is joined to the sprue by a surprisingly large gate. Cutting it neatly is difficult, and it’ll require quite a bit of clean up after.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Necrons

Much like his enemy across the board, the Necron Chronomancer is an awesome figure. Towering over the others in the set, this is the one that will catch eyes in your LGS – and the one you’ll want to show off on the tabletop.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Chronomancer

He’s a little more fiddly to put together than his Space Marine nemesis: getting the staff to sit within the coils of his tentacles is a bit of a headache, but once you get it you’ll wonder why you ever struggled.

Compared to everything else in the set – and, to be honest, a lot of the New Edition Space Marine and Necron models currently available, the Flayed Ones are a bit boring.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Flayed Ones

There’s nothing all that special about them. They lack the detail of the other models in the set, and whilst their premise is chilling – crookbacked robots draped in the skin of their victims – they just lack the pow of the other figures in this set.

And they are a friggin’ nightmare to put together.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Flayed Ones Sprue

You thought the new Necron Warriors were bad? Oh sweet summer child.

These things are way, way worse.

Everything is thin and spindly. Legs don’t line up, feet are wonky, flimsy bladed fingers need to be slotted onto tiny hands that are crossed in front of narrow chests. It’s as if these things have been designed to be as difficult as possible to put together.

Still, with everything now assembled, we’re one step closer to seeing what these chaps can do to each other on the battlefield.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Scenery

Let’s just rip the plaster off.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Scenery Unboxed

I mean, all of this rubbish looks as if it could’ve ben made in an ice cube tray. It’s boring. It’s uninspiring. There’s way too much of it. No one wants to paint all this junk.

Ugh.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Wargear

Well, this is awkward.

The Pariah Nexus expansion lacks just about all the tabletop tools and goodies of the Starter Set. If you were hoping for themed dice, range rules, tokens, and whatever else, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.

It does have its board, though, which was too big to get a good, full laid-out photo of in my lightbox. But count yourself lucky, this thing is headache inducing.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Folded Board

There’s another photo of this later on, all set out for battle, so if you’re interested, be sure to keep scrolling!

Whilst the colour scheme is themed towards the Necron setting, there’s a lot going on on both sides of the board, which can make figuring out what’s what quite difficult.

But the board is good, slid and well-made – just like the one in the Command Edition set, so that’s a winner.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Cards

The Pariah Nexus set comes with two decks of 17 objective cards. That’s 34 cards in total, but two of each.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Cards

They aren’t particularly interesting to look at and all sport that same black and orange look.

Nothing special.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Books

There are two books in this box : the 112-page Kill Team: Pariah Nexus softback book, and the assembly guide for the figures.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Books

The guide is pretty good and sets out all the new things you need to know in a straightforward enough manner. It’s well set out too, with clear headings and a decent contents page, so you’ll have no trouble navigating it.

The assembly guide, however, isn’t so good. I didn’t find the build instructions for either the Space Marines nor the Necrons to be all that clear. Whilst this is forgivable with the Space Marines, where it’s pretty obvious what goes where, with the fiddly and extremely fragile Flayed Ones, this doesn’t make the process of putting them together any easier.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Playing the Game

The whole direction of the Pariah Nexus box is to take Kill Team and ram it into the claustrophobic confines of a Forty-First Millennium slaughterhouse. The new rules are designed around fighting with terrain features such as walls, doors and other narrative points always looming over your team.

So, there are a handful of updated rules to Kill Team Arena and a few additional rules included in the Pariah Nexus set. Alongside a few changes to the new Tactics, there are a couple of biggies:

  • First off, you can no longer prevent doors from being opened or closed. You’re going to have to try a bit harder to stop your foe from catching you than by just slamming a door in their face.
  • Secondly, as teased in a Warhammer Community post from last month (February 2021), even the terrain is out to get you. the narrative effects represented by both the gaming board and the terrain pieces – “everything from strange glyphs on the ground to the very walls themselves” – are trying to cut your Kill Team down a few figures. As you may expect, though, the self-same bits of terrain and scenery may also provide buffs to your squad, granting bonus attacks and so on.
  • Thirdly comes an addition to the general rules. First, the new Close Quarters rule removes long-range shooting penalties, so you’ll need to be clever about charging your enemy down an empty hallway. Meanwhile, the Concentrated Radius rule will have you rolling an extra die for weapons with a random number of shots and discarding your lowest roll.

Space Marine fanatics can rejoice, as Pariah Nexus brings all the info you need to take the kick-ass figures from your Indomitus set and have them start putting the boot to their foes in Kill Team. That means your Bladeguard Veterans are in!

More importantly, though, is the change that states all firstborn Space Marines now have 2 Wounds to keep them up.

But the proof is in the pudding, so in keeping with the theme set in my Command Edition review, it was time for Roburte Guillethwaite’s Space Marines to once again face off against the Necrons of the Lizzekh Dynasty.

A huge thanks to the one and only Patron Saint of Tabletop Boardgames Oberael for his assistance putting this section together.

Choosing a Mission

The Pariah Nexus book contains the details you need to play six matched play missions, each designed to offer a balanced battle for two Kill Teams. The book even comes with a handy D6 table to help you choose which mission to do: Objective Ultima, Purge, Secure the Facility, Flush them Out, Storm the Redoubt and Supply Hoard.

A spin of a D6 nabbed us a Secure the Facility Mission. There are three objectives on the map, so wehttps://geni.us/PariahNexus marked each of these with a piece of surplus scenery.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 3

Next up was the chance to choose some Narrative Effects for the mission: an Environment Effect, Walls Effects, Pitfalls Effects, Objective Effects and Terrain Effects. Rolls on each table gnetted us the following effects:

  • Environment Effect: Power Surges, which affects the lighting each turn
  • Walls Effects: Intramural Energies, which adds a 1 to the strength of an attacking model following a successful No Escape rule.
  • Pitfall Effect: Enervating Shroud, which makes any model within 1″ of a pitfall suffer a -1 penalty to strength.
  • Objective Effect: Temporal Accelerator, which makes any model within 2″ of an objective shoots in the Ready, Fire! phase and fights in the Hammer of Wrath phase.
  • Terrain Effect: Biophasic Leak, which means any model in 2″ of an induction diode cannot use invulnerable saves.

Next up, we each had to pick three Pariah Nexus Objectives each to help individualise the way the teams play.

The Space Marines went with:

  • Cut off the Head – score 5 Victory Points for knobbling the enemy leader
  • Engage on All Fronts – 1 Victory Point at the end of each battle round for a figure in each quarter of the map
  • Death from Afar – at the end of the shooting phase, score a Victory Point if one or more models from your Kill Team made an attack that took an enemy out of action that phase

The Necrons went with:

  • Cut Apart – when the Fight phase ends, the Necrons score 1 Victory Point if one or more model from the Kill Team made an attack that took an enemy out of action that phase.
  • Bounty Hunters – when an enemy model is taken out of action, if score one Victory Point if a model from your Kill Team ends its move where the enemy died.
  • Area Secured – at the end of the battle, score 1 Victory Point for each objective marker you control.

Kill Team plays pretty similarly to 40K, but instead of units, you have individual soldiers. In its simplest form, you work through the following list each “round”…

  • Begin each round with the Initiative Phase, where the players roll off to see who gets to go first.
  • You then move on to the Movement phase (haha). In this turn, your figures can advance across the field and charge each other.
  • Up next is the Psychic Phase. Your magic-users of the far future blow each other (or themselves) up – or not, depending on range, psychic ability, and so on.
  • Then there’s the all familiar Shooting Phase. Whoever’s turn it is blasts away at their enemy – as long as there isn’t a wall or cover between them.
  • Then there’s the penultimate Fight Phase, where you each take it in turn to knock lumps out of each other with melee weapons and claws.
  • And finally, the Morale Phase. Here, the psychological will of your units is put to the test to see if they’re broken or shaken.

Of course, each faction plays differently and has various abilities and tactics that can be slotted in at different points in the battle-round cycle. With the Pariah Nexus expansion as well are additional rules which need to be slotted in as and when appropriate – like the Power Surges Narrative Effect, which is decided at the beginning of each round before the Initiative Phase.

Unlike in 40K, death is also not necessarily the end for your team. If your figure is reduced 0 Wounds, rather than removing the model, the controlling player makes an injury roll. On a 3 or less, you’ve suffered a Flesh Wound and take stat penalties, go back to 1 Wound, and keep fighting. On a 4+, though, your character is out of action.

This is a nice feature designed to help support the ongoing narrative within a Kill Team which, for a lot of players, isn’t always just about fielding a handful of figures and playing a match. It supports the construction of lore and character within your squad – which is nice!

Your objective will be defined on a mission-by-mission basis, but most revolve around accumulating Victory Points, which you win each turn by fulfilling certain criteria specified at the outset of the game. For our game, we could score victory points in each round by:

  • Holding one of three objectives
  • Holding the majority of the objectives
  • Taking enemies in the opposing team out of action.

These are, of course, coupled with the additional Pariah Nexus Objectives we each picked above. This means that, even though the majority of a Kill Team could be defeated, as long as those left alive are completing objectives and scoring points – in our case, up to a maximum of 9, as outlined in the mission.

Turn 1 – First Engagement

As per the rules, we began by rolling for the initiative. Necrons rolled higher, so they went first.

Necron Turn 1

Battle began with a Necron advance.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 2
Deployment.

The Necrons began the battle moving, splitting into three groups of two.

However, due to the layout of the terrain, there was nothing they could do at the end of their turn as the Space Marines were out of range and could not be seen.

Space Marine Turn 1

The Space Marines moved up carefully, breaking into similar groups and looking to secure the new choke points on their way to their objective.

Closing on the objective at the bottom of the map, the Heavy Intercessor Gunner and his comrade moved to intercept two Flayed Ones.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 5
First steps.

The Heavy Intercessor Gunner opened fire on the to flayed ones at the end of the corridor, killing one.

Score at the end of the first turn: Space Marines – 2 Necrons – 0

Turn 2 – Darkness

This time, the Necrons rolled lower, so they the Space Marines started the turn. This time, as per the Power Surges rule, the lights went out!

Space Marine Turn 2

The Space Marines moved up again, the Heavy Intercessor Gunner and his comrade firing at the Necron Flayer remaining, though their shots failed to connect due to the low light.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 8
Big guns vs. robots in leather.

The Heavy Intercessor on the other side of the map suffered the same fate trying to knock some Wounds off the Chronomancer – no light, no chance.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 9
Squaring off against each other.

Towards the middle of the map, the Space Marines and the Captain opened the doors they had been hiding behind and readied up, waiting for what seemed to be an inevitable Necron charge…

Necron Turn 2

The Necrons began their turn aggressively, particularly in the centre of the battlefield, where one Flayed One attempted to charge a lone Intercessor and was gunned down. His companion failed his charge, and ended the turn stranded in the middle of the room.

The Heavy Intercessor Gunner suddenly found himself beset by a surviving Flayed One, but his assailant missed his attack.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 11
“…Oh ****”

The Chronomancer, now in control of one of the objectives, tried to hit the plucky Heavy Intercessor squaring up against him and missed – it seems Space Marines aren’t the only ones who can’t see in low light.

At the end of the second round, the score is Space Marines – 4, Necrons – 1.

Turn 3 – Close Quarters

With the lights back on and the initiative phase making the Necrons attack first, things looked as if they may be getting away from the Space Maines…

Necron Turn 3

Now locked in combat with the Space Marines, the Chronomancer began by firing attacks with his Aeonstave – and even though three shots were fired and one connected, it was not enough to perturb the Space Marine opposing him.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 13
“Hey, he’s got a big lollipop!”

In the centre of the chamber, the Flayer succeeded on its charge and attack the Intercessor with its three attacks – but, much like the Chronomancer, whilst one hit connected, no wounds were dealt.

The Heavy Intercessor Gunner, however, was not so lucky and suffered a single wound from his opponent.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 12
Ultra-close.

And it was over to the Space Marines.

Space Marine Turn 3

The Captain moved up to grab the bottom objective, whilst on the other side of the map the Intercessors moving on the two objectives opened fire on the Chronomancer, inflicting him with a single wound.

Moving into the fight phase, in the centre of the board, following some ridiculously high rolls, the Intercessor crushed the Flayer that had charged him. Just beyond the wall, the Heavy Intercessor Gunner and the Flayer exchanged blows, though neither was wounded.

At the end of the turn, the score was shaping up very much in favour of the Space Marines. Space Marines – 6, Necrons – 2.

Turn 4 – Now or Never

With the lights still on and the Necrons going first, the futuristic murderbots were faced with what may be their last chance to get ahead…

Necron Turn 4

A successful charge phase moved the Flayer supporting the Chronomancer into melee range of the Intercessor that had held them off thus far. This time, the Chronomancer’s attack with his Aeonstave connected, knocking the Intercessor down to one wound. His backup wasn’t so successful, failing to damage the Intercessor.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 17
Face-off.

At the other end of the board, the Flayer fighting the Heavy Gunner failed to land his attacks as well. Things were not looking good for the Necrons.

Space Marine Turn 4

At the top of the board, the Intercessor on the Chronomancer’s flank knocked another of his five Wounds off him, whilst his compatriot from the middle of the board moved up on the flank again and successfully charged the Chronomancer, knocking another Wound off him – down to two.

At the other end of the Board, the ongoing melee between the Heavy Gunner and the remaining Flayer continued – but this time, the Flayer was successful, and killed the Heavy Gunner.

The Necrons netted a whopping 3 Victory Points in this turn, bringing the score to Space Marines – 8, Necrons – 5. The Space Marines needed only one more Victory Point to win, but all it would take was one good Necron turn and things could change…!

Turn 5 – All to Play For

With the Space Marines securing the initiative, victory was in their grasp – though a few bad rolls and the Necrons could still seize the day.

Space Marine Turn 5

With very little movement possible due to all the close-quarters fighting, the Heavy Intercessor at the bottom of the board avenged his fallen comrade and gunned down the Flayed One, taking advantage of the new Choke Points rules.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 20
Superhuman super soldier with an incredibly powerful weapon vs. prickly boi

A similar fate awaited the final Flayed One at the top of the Board. The Intercessor broke the deadlock, crushing his foe with his fists. Across the chamber, both the Intercessor and Chronomancer inflicted a wound to each other – reducing each to one a piece.

It looked to be all over for the Necrons.

Necron Turn 5

Lashing out at his foe, the wounded Chronomancer decimated the Intercessor assailing him. Even with a whacking great leadership statistic of 10, though, with his entire team defeated, the Chronomancer failed his morale test.

Kill Team Pariah Nexus Playtest Image 19
Doom.

At the end of round 5, with the Space Marines almost at full strength and the Necrons down to their final figure and final wound, it was all over for the Necrons. Victory Points were tallied up, and the game ended.

Final score, Space Marines – 11, Necrons 6.

Postgame Roundup

There is a lot going on here.

Time and again we found ourselves missing rules, forgetting to account for extra tactics employed by the expansion – though, it has to be said, those new rules introduced in Pariah Nexus are quite nice and help add a few more interesting and random elements to the game.

Others, though, didn’t seem to come into play at all, and we were left wondering if and when they should be applied. Eventually, to keep the game moving, we just focused on trying to shoot/shank each other – which was great fun!

But of the two-hour session, more time was spent leafing through the various books and trying to figure out what bits of rule went where than was spent rolling dice and pushing figures around on the Board. Kill Team’s pleasure is found in its fast-paced and brutal skirmish combat, not going “Um, is that an induction diode, a quantum nodes or a thermionic annulus?”

Sure, its the same story for every beginner when they have their first go at their first incarnation of whatever tabletop game it is they play. My advice, though, is that beginners need to stick with the Starter Set.

Leave Pariah Nexus for the people who know Kill Team like they do the back of their hands – because for the tried and tested gamer, the new rules will be all the spice they need to switch their play up and keep things interesting.

As far as the rules went, however, whilst they were great fun (once we eventually got our heads around them), even as novices we agreed that the expansion felt heavily weighted in favour of the Space Marines. With plenty of tactics to support shooting and cover, and a lot of the map filled with corridors and open spaces, the Flayed Ones were damned from the get-go, and once they were out of the way the Chronomancer never really stood a chance.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Price and Availability

If you’ve somehow made it to this point in the review without seeing the price listed above, make sure you’re sitting down before reading on.

Here goes.

The Pariah Nexus expansion is £95/£125/$160USD.

mmmmmmmm?

Nothing in this hobby is cheap, there we can all agree. But that much? For a box that requires at the very least another purchase that includes the Core Manual to be able to use? A box the bulk of which is made up of some spindly knife-handed robots and a pile of boring (god, so boring) cuboid scenery?

No thanks.

As outlined above, when compared to the Kill Team Starter Set, the price of the Pariah Nexus expansion is, frankly, ludicrous. To add another comparison, Blood Bowl Second Season Edition had absolutely everything you could possibly need to play the game (rules, dice, rulers, tokens, you name it), twice the figures (all of which were awesome), and cost less.

Whilst the majority of the figures are nice, but if you’re thinking of buying the box for the plastic, don’t bother. Be a little more patient and wait for the sets to come out individually.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Review – Final Thoughts

ProsCons
Space Marine figures are nice
Necron Chronomancer is gorgeous
Rules for your Indomitus figures
New rules are quirky and fun
Flayed Ones just suck
No core rulebook
No dice, rulers, token etc.
Dumb scenery
Insane price
Headache-inducing board

If an expansion charges as much as the Starter Set, you’d rightly expect content on-par with that included in the original box. But this just doesn’t happen with the Pariah Nexus expansion.

First off, the plastic. Half the figures are cool. The other half are a bit meh. All the scenery is garbage. All of it.

As for the game itself: sure, the new rules are kinda of cool, even if they are just an exercise in turning the phrase “you can now shoot indoors” into as many words as possible. The new setting helps align everything with the overall lore of Ninth Edition as well, which is also sort of neat.

But ultimately it’s the sheer lack of any real meat in this set can’t be covered up by the deluge of dull bits of scenery. Even if they do sometimes go boom or whatever.

For a beginner, this new box is not the one. Whilst the new rules will add an additional level of complexity practiced players will enjoy, but the hefty price tag will put them off. For noobs like me, though, there’s just far to much to remember.

In fact, for tried and tested players, this box still probably isn’t worth the money – £95 for a handful of new rules and some figures that might not even fit your Kill Team.

But that’s all by-the-by. At the end of the day, this set lacks its most important component: the Core Manual. Without the Core Manual, you can’t even play the game with this set – which, at £95, is an insult to the consumer. Compared to the Starter Set, this box is an absolute swizz.

A tough one to recommend. If you’re a die-hard Kill Teamer, you’ll be getting this regardless of the price and content, although you’ll probably feel a bit swindled. But if you’re new to Kill Team, this is not the place to be. Get the Starter Set and leave this well alone.

Summary
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Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Expansion Set
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Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Pariah Nexus Expansion Set

VoltorRWH

Rob has spent most of the last 20 years playing World of Warcraft and writing stories set in made-up worlds. At some point, he also managed to get a Master's degree by writing about Medieval zombies.

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