Full rules transcribed from the scanned Nemesis Operatives dossier, kept here for quick reference at the table. This book is a toolkit for building and fighting monstrous single-model “boss” kill teams — the Nemesis Custom Builder, four mission packs, and dedicated rules for two example Nemesis operatives: the Ambull and the Archivist.
Among the many enemies encountered during their clandestine missions, kill teams may face monstrous foes of great size, rampaging alien beasts or armoured combat walkers. Such opponents must be hunted like big game, overcome through innovative tactics and manoeuvres, or evaded through stealth, lest they tear the kill team apart.
Kill teams must be prepared for any eventuality. Armed with their operatives' expert skills, the specialist equipment they carry and the tactics they employ, they face all manner of unexpected threats with no chance of support. To combat those foes that Imperial kill teams classify as nemesis operatives, they must draw on every asset available.
A kill team's mission most often sees them facing groups of similarly elite and hard-bitten enemies. Yet among the hostile territories they operate in — from the shadowy underbellies of war zones to the claustrophobic press of jungles and urban sprawls — there are worse threats. Often referred to as nemesis operatives, these solitary foes are much larger, more horrifically powerful and far harder to eliminate than a kill team's average adversary. Operatives of many factions have their own terms for such enemies: while to some Orks they are known as big'uns, to veteran soldiers of a few Imperial Guard regiments they are referred to as mission-enders.
Among the biological monstrosities classified as nemesis operatives are huge organisms. These include Mutalith Vortex Beasts bloated with transmogrifying power, hulking xenos creatures like Carnifexes, and Orkoid macroforms such as squigosaurs and tramplasquigs — not to mention Warbosses grown huge after surviving brutal violence for long years. Nemesis operatives also include looming mechanical threats, whose crews or logic engines will steer them towards unsupported kill teams. Some are manoeuvrable gun platforms, such as Sentinel combat walkers, nihilistic Lokhust Heavy Destroyers and advanced battlesuits like the XV95 Ghostkeel. Others combine heavy firepower with murderous close combat potential, including eldritch Wraithlords, towering Redemptor Dreadnoughts and vicious War Dog Stalkers. All are capable of tearing an unwary kill team apart in moments, and are but a fraction of the dread nemesis operatives a group might face in the execution of their mission.
Nemesis operatives may be driven by a sentient will or cruder instincts. They may wield an array of devastating cannons, or carry weapons that scythe, tear or crush at close range. Some possess stranger traits that defy understanding. While such foes are seen more often in huge battles, there are many instances where an elite kill team of specialists will encounter one.
As the focus of a kill team's mission of assassination or sabotage, nemesis operatives make for an extreme target. The elimination of an enemy agent is one thing, but when the quarry is a monstrosity with inches-thick scales, a single sniper's shot is not enough. Similarly, the incapacitation of a static missile silo or power conduit cannot compare to the disabling of an armed, mobile combat walker that strikes back. As part of raging war zones, nemesis operatives can represent a major threat to the wider battle plans of a kill team's commanders, or act as a totemic inspiration for an enemy force. Their eradication therefore becomes paramount to crippling the foe's advance, or opening the way to an allied strike.
When kill teams are unexpectedly confronted by nemesis operatives during a mission, rather than a woeful coincidence, these deadly adversaries are often in place precisely to guard the area against elite enemy specialists. Stalking nemesis operatives routinely operate as lethal deterrents in no-man's-land areas to which kill teams are often dispatched on reconnaissance or disruption operations. Meanwhile, hulking guardians are deployed to protect the likely targets of demolitions experts or trophy hunters, ready to tear apart operatives who stray too close to a key infrastructure or a potent artefact.
From a kill team's perspective, perhaps the most chilling encounters are those in which they realise a nemesis operative is actively hunting them. The pursued operatives may have been targeted in a calculated vendetta by their enemies, who have set a monstrous tracker on their trail. In other instances, they may have strayed into the feeding grounds of a colossal fiend, or triggered a series of insane elimination protocols in the twisted mind of a machine. Often, such hunts are instigated by a kill team's incredible successes, with the relentless predator seeking to ensure that whatever vital assets they have seized never escape.
Nemesis operatives are mighty war machines and formidable monsters. Whether you're playing with them, against them or both, they add a new element to your games of Kill Team, and players must be mindful of how they confront such dangerous foes.
A kill team with a nemesis operative will have fewer operatives than normal to accompany it. This is determined by the nemesis operative's size: small, medium or large.
Team Support Essential: Whilst a nemesis operative is very tough and good at engaging, it cannot perform important mission actions. Other operatives will have to support it, ensuring key tasks are achieved to score valuable victory points.
Formidable Foes: With an abundance of wounds and four defence dice, nemesis operatives are very durable. Opposing teams will have to ensure they maximise their best weapons and consider carefully which brave operatives will sacrifice themselves for the team. Nemesis operatives can activate more than once per turning point, so be mindful as they can threaten their enemy beyond a single activation in the Firefight phase.
On the Ork-held moon of Zognaz, clandestine reconnaissance by Drûkh's Yieldwrights reveals the Orks' spreading workshops and crude refineries, disgorging growing numbers of ramshackle wagons and clawed walking engines. The Hernkyn Yaegirs identify the largest Ork workshop as both a threat and a weakness. It consumes the most ore and churns out the deadliest war machines, yet it also controls a wellspring of unstable chemicals piped to other production sites. The wellhead's sabotage would deal a blow to the Orks' production, but the kill team need a diversion to reach it.
They stage time-delayed detonations, simulating an attack by a rival tribe. The ruse works; the largest workshop's Big Mek leads his Boyz and gangs of Gretchin out to confront the perceived assault, while Drûkh's Yieldwrights slip into the workshop. They work their way past half-built contraptions and towering mounds of detritus, and have almost reached the chemical wellhead when one of the mounds heaves and bursts. In a shower of mechanical innards, a misshapen mass of riveted metal stomps forth on piston-driven limbs, its static-laced bellow blaring from a fang-shaped grille. The Deff Dread catches one Yaegir in a klaw, mangling her with a single crushing spasm. It belches flames and spits bullets, cutting down another Kin whose cries are silenced when it treads on his skull. The thing appears only semi-repaired — gouges in its shell spew sparks and one leg drags — but its lumbering gait is still swift as it pursues the Yaegirs through the workshop's maze.
The Deff Dread smashes into scrap piles that slide and cut off escape routes as Drûkh's Yieldwrights seek to reach the wellhead. The kill team's grenades and shotgun blasts barely slow the monstrosity, while their APM launcher wrecks only one klaw. All the surviving Yaegirs — save Gunner Rânsa — grimly lure the Deff Dread to the wellhead. Drûkh gives Rânsa the order and she fires. The blast ignites the wellhead and chemical fire roars out to the other workshops, but it also brings down tonnes of scrap, burying both the monstrosity and her comrades.
The forge shrine of Kharex is devoid of influence or reputation. This suits Magos Biologis Vorn, who uses its isolation to trade with renegade pirates and conduct reckless experimentation on xenos biosamples. Little does Vorn know that her activities have come to the attention of an Inquisitor of the alien-hunting Ordo Xenos. They have dispatched a kill team of Inquisitorial Agents, Null Team Sigma, to seize the Tech-Priest and ensure none of her servants or records survive.
Interrogator Chiros has learned that Vorn has received a shipment of biosamples, and he aims to seize whatever corpse fragments she has acquired. Chiros gains entrance to the forge shrine with clearance ciphers provided by his master, but as the heavy doors slam shut behind Null Team Sigma, the groups of cyborg soldiery they had expected to fight are nowhere to be seen. Thumping reverberations and resonant whines echo in the distance as the kill team delve deeper, slowed at intervals by locked down bulkheads. It is at a secured landing dock that they witness the first signs of conflict: gouged walkways and smashed machinery covered in blood and scattered limbs. A cradle of girders sit snapped and twisted around fragments of an enormous blackened mass, its insides wet with ooze. Chiros realises the biosamples Vorn has received are not mere fragments a moment before the Screamer-Killer smashes into the dock from a side passage, with scraps of a Tech-Priest's robe hanging from its talons.
The agents skilfully evade the Tyranid's initial bullish charge, counterattacking with their own powerful weapons and esoteric talents. Yet what damage they inflict seems only to incite its ferocity. Three agents are ruins of smeared viscera before Chiros orders his team to fall back, only to discover their route out is now barred. His Autosavant, Scrivener Jaqus, detects a loop of protocols locking the temple down from the inside. What follows is a desperate chase through Vorn's laboratoria as Chiros searches for a means to warn his master. His team's fate is clear, and he has already commended their souls to the Emperor.
Rules for creating your own nemesis operatives to use in games of Kill Team. Each nemesis operative needs two blank datacards to record its rules (found in the Nemesis Operatives card pack, on the official Kill Team app, or at warhammer-community.com). Build one by working through the seven steps below.
Select one of the following allegiance keywords and add it to the operative's datacard: Aeldari, Chaos, Imperium, Leagues of Votann, Necron, Ork, T'au Empire, Tyranid. Other operatives that don't share that keyword cannot be used in the same kill team as it. Each nemesis operative has an allegiance trait determined by its allegiance keyword (see Traits, below).
Select the nemesis operative's size: this determines many of its starting stats and how many weapons it can have. The bigger the operative's size, the more powerful it is, so fewer operatives will accompany it (see the Mission Packs tab). Close quarters killzones (e.g. Killzone: Tomb World) aren't recommended for large nemesis operatives — larger bases (100mm or more) can be awkward to place.
| Size | Control | Move | Save | Wounds | Weapons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (S) | 4 | 6″ | 4+ | 35 | 2 |
| Medium (M) | 5 | 6″ | 4+ | 50 | 2 |
| Large (L) | 6 | 6″ | 4+ | 75 | 3 |
Control is a new stat for nemesis operatives, used for the APL stat in all instances except spending action points (e.g. determining control of markers, and rules that compare a dice result to the operative's APL stat). Nemesis operatives can activate twice per turning point, but activation restrictions and action point limits vary depending on whether it's an NPO or player operative — see the relevant mission pack.
If the operative is a player operative, you choose its order and actions. If it's an NPO (non-player operative), select its behaviour, which specifies its order and actions during the battle.
This NPO will move towards the enemy to fight them, but will seek cover on its way. When activated, if it's a nemesis NPO or will perform the Fight or Charge action during that activation, give it an Engage order; otherwise, a Conceal order.
This NPO will move to an ideal position to shoot the enemy. When activated, if it's a nemesis NPO or will perform the Shoot action during that activation, give it an Engage order; otherwise, a Conceal order.
This NPO will move towards the enemy to fight them, but will seek cover on its way, and will shoot if the need arises. When activated, if it's a nemesis NPO or will perform the Fight, Charge or Shoot action, give it an Engage order; otherwise, a Conceal order.
This NPO will shoot the enemy as a priority, but will fight if the need arises. When activated, if it's a nemesis NPO or will perform the Fight, Charge or Shoot action, give it an Engage order; otherwise, a Conceal order.
Nemesis operatives can perform the Operate Hatch and Breach mission actions, and nemesis NPOs will do so where necessary to fulfil their behaviour. Close quarters killzones (e.g. Killzone: Tomb World) aren't recommended for large nemesis operatives.
Select a number of weapons up to the quantity permitted by the operative's size. Weapons with the Selection X weapon rule count as X selections instead. Any selections you don't use grant an extra nemesis trait selection in the Traits step. Use whichever weapon feels most representative of the miniature — even across allegiances, many weapons share common stats and rules. You cannot select weapons the operative isn't modelled with, and it cannot use weapons that aren't on its datacard (e.g. no grenades from universal equipment).
| Name | Atk | Hit | Dmg | Weapon Rules | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autocannon | 5 | 3+ | 5/6 | – | Deathspitter, missile pod |
| Burst cannon | 5 | 3+ | 3/4 | Ceaseless, Torrent 1″ | Scatter laser, devourer |
| Cyclic ion raker | 5 | 3+ | 4/5 | Heavy (Reposition only), Piercing 1, Selection 2, Torrent 2″ | – |
| Flamestorm cannon | 6 | 2+ | 3/3 | Range 8″, Heavy (Reposition only), Selection 2, Torrent 2″ | Flamespurt |
| Havoc launcher | 4 | 3+ | 4/6 | Blast 2″ | Grotzooka, spore mine launcher |
| Heavy bolter | 5 | 3+ | 4/5 | Piercing Crits 1, Torrent 1″ | – |
| Heavy flamer | 5 | 2+ | 3/3 | Range 8″, Saturate, Torrent 2″ | Incendine combustor, liquifier gun, skorcha |
| Heavy onslaught gatling cannon | 6 | 3+ | 4/5 | Heavy (Reposition only), Selection 2, Torrent 2″ | Avenger chaincannon, enmitic exterminator |
| Heavy phosphor blaster | 5 | 3+ | 4/5 | Saturate, Severe | – |
| Heavy rail rifle | 5 | 3+ | 6/7 | Heavy (Reposition only), Piercing 2, Selection 2 | Doomsday blaster, gauss destructor |
| Heavy stubber | 5 | 3+ | 4/5 | Torrent 1″ | Big shoota |
| Lascannon | 4 | 3+ | 6/7 | Heavy (Reposition only), Piercing 2 | Bright lance, dark lance |
| Macro plasma incinerator (standard) | 5 | 3+ | 4/6 | Blast 2″, Heavy (Reposition only), Piercing 1, Selection 2 | – |
| Macro plasma incinerator (supercharge) | 5 | 3+ | 5/6 | Blast 2″, Heavy (Reposition only), Lethal 5+, Piercing 1, Selection 2 | – |
| Meltagun | 4 | 3+ | 6/3 | Range 6″, Devastating 4, Piercing 2 | Fusion blaster, heat lance |
| Missile launcher (frag) | 4 | 3+ | 3/5 | Blast 2″ | – |
| Missile launcher (krak) | 4 | 3+ | 5/7 | Piercing 1 | – |
| Multi-melta | 3 | 3+ | 6/3 | Devastating 4, Heavy (Reposition only), Piercing 2 | – |
| Plasma cannon (standard) | 4 | 3+ | 4/6 | Blast 2″, Heavy (Reposition only), Piercing 1 | – |
| Plasma cannon (supercharge) | 4 | 3+ | 5/6 | Blast 2″, Heavy (Reposition only), Hot, Lethal 5+, Piercing 1 | – |
| Plasma gun (standard) | 4 | 3+ | 4/6 | Piercing 1 | – |
| Plasma gun (supercharge) | 4 | 3+ | 5/6 | Hot, Lethal 5+, Piercing 1 | – |
| Rokkit launcha | 6 | 4+ | 4/5 | Blast 1″ | – |
| Shuriken cannon | 5 | 3+ | 4/5 | Rending, Torrent 1″ | – |
| Splinter cannon | 5 | 3+ | 3/5 | Lethal 5+, Torrent 1″ | – |
| Starcannon | 4 | 3+ | 5/6 | Lethal 5+, Piercing 1 | Heavy venom cannon, kustom mega-blasta |
| Stranglethorn cannon | 5 | 3+ | 3/5 | Blast 2″, Lethal 5+ | – |
| Thermal spear | 5 | 3+ | 6/3 | Devastating 4, Heavy (Reposition only), Piercing 2, Selection 2 | Fusion collider |
| Twinned weapon | — | — | — | Select one other ranged weapon this operative has to have the Ceaseless weapon rule; if it's a burst cannon, add 1 to its Atk stat instead. | |
| Name | Atk | Hit | Dmg | Weapon Rules | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chain weapon | 4 | 3+ | 5/6 | Brutal, Rending | – |
| Close combat weapon | 3 | 4+ | 4/5 | Selection 0 | – |
| Dread saw | 5 | 3+ | 4/5 | Rending | – |
| Fleshmower | 5 | 2+ | 4/5 | Brutal | – |
| Paired weapon | — | — | — | Select one other melee weapon this operative has and add 1 to its Atk stat. | |
| Power fist | 4 | 3+ | 6/8 | Brutal, Shock | Crushing claw |
| Power scourge | 6 | 3+ | 3/5 | Lethal 5+ | Lasher tendrils |
| Power talon | 4 | 3+ | 5/6 | Lethal 5+, Rending | – |
| Power weapon | 4 | 3+ | 5/7 | Lethal 5+ | – |
| Scything talons | 5 | 3+ | 4/6 | Ceaseless | Ghostglaive, macro-scalpels |
| Thunder hammer | 4 | 3+ | 6/8 | Shock, Stun | – |
Your nemesis operative has one allegiance trait determined by its allegiance keyword (full rules on the relevant allegiance card):
Then select one nemesis trait (table below) to capture the operative's narrative. Each weapon selection you didn't use in the Weapons step grants an extra nemesis trait selection, but you cannot select a trait the operative already has. These rules are written from the perspective of the nemesis operative being friendly — if it's an enemy NPO, apply them from the NPOs' perspective per the threat principle.
| Nemesis Trait | Effect |
|---|---|
| Armoured | Whenever an operative is shooting this operative with a weapon that has a Normal Dmg stat of 3 or less, improve this operative's Save stat by 1. |
| Blitz | Whenever this operative performs the Charge action, its melee weapons have the Severe and Shock weapon rules until the end of that activation. |
| Duellist | Whenever this operative is fighting or retaliating, you can resolve one of its successes before the normal order; if you do, that success must be used to block. |
| Focused Targeting | Whenever this operative is shooting during its activation, if it hasn't performed any other actions that activation, its ranged weapons have the Punishing weapon rule. |
| Close-range Lethality | Whenever shooting the closest valid target within 8″, its ranged weapons have Lethal 5+ (or Severe, if it already has Lethal 5+). Its melee weapons have Ceaseless (or Relentless, if it already has Ceaseless). Worsen the Hit stat of its ranged weapons by 1. |
| Fury | This operative's melee weapons have Ceaseless (or Relentless, if it already has Ceaseless). Worsen the Hit stat of its ranged weapons by 1. |
| Implacable | Ignore any changes to this operative's weapon stats from being injured. |
| Crushing Impact | When this operative finishes moving during the Charge action, inflict D3+3 damage on one enemy operative within its control range. |
| Shielded | Once per battle, when an attack dice inflicts damage on this operative, you can ignore that inflicted damage. |
| Shrouded | Whenever an operative is shooting this operative from more than 8″ away, attack dice cannot be re-rolled. |
| Tenacious | Ignore any changes to this operative's Move stat from being injured. |
| Tough | Whenever an attack dice inflicts damage of 4 or more on this operative, roll one D6: on a 5+, subtract 1 from that inflicted damage. |
| Violent Demise | If this operative is incapacitated, before it's removed from the killzone, inflict D6+1 damage on each other operative within 3″ of it (excluding operatives with Heavy terrain wholly intervening). |
6. Name Operative: Choose a name for your operative — the name of the miniature it represents. You can also give it a suitable moniker, tag or call sign to evoke its background or (in)famous deeds.
7. Core Rules: Nemesis operatives have some important core rules to reflect how different they are from normal operatives. Note that when a nemesis operative is a player operative, it doesn't gain a faction keyword and cannot be selected for kill team faction rules that specify an operative with that keyword.
Extra Defence: Whenever an operative is shooting this operative, collect and roll one additional defence dice, unless this operative is injured.
Bulky: This operative cannot be placed on Vantage terrain higher than 2″ from the killzone floor. Whenever it would perform the Fight action, the distance requirements of its control range can be changed to 1″ horizontally and 4″ vertically until the end of that action. It can move through other operatives (excluding nemesis operatives). Ignore all changes to its APL, and if it's a player operative, APL changes don't affect the 5AP you can spend per turning point.
Towering Size: In the Firefight phase, whenever you determine this operative's order, you cannot select Conceal. It cannot be in cover or obscured by Light terrain, terrain parts less than 3″ tall, or terrain that's not wholly intervening. Whenever another operative is shooting, being within control range of other operatives doesn't prevent this operative from being a valid target. It can move through terrain parts less than 2″ tall (but not Accessible terrain unless also less than 2″ tall, excluding hatchways); whenever it would finish a move in such a terrain feature, temporarily remove it, then return it when this operative leaves (or remove it from the battle entirely if it's equipment terrain).
// pp.24–31 — four worked examples of the Custom Builder process, ready to use as-is or as a guide
| Control | Move | Save | Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 6″ | 4+ | 50 |
Weapons:
Behaviour: Marksman. Allegiance Trait: Defenders of the Imperium. Nemesis Traits: Armoured, Focused Targeting.
Allegiance IMPERIUM (fighting alongside a Spectre Squad kill team). Its melee weapon is Selection 0, leaving a weapon selection unused — spent on the extra Focused Targeting nemesis trait, fitting its searchlight and habit of firing from an optimal position. Keywords: Imperium, Nemesis, Armoured Sentinel.
| Control | Move | Save | Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6″ | 4+ | 35 |
Weapons:
Behaviour: Marksman. Allegiance Trait: Supporting Fire. Nemesis Trait: Shielded.
Allegiance T'AU EMPIRE (fighting alongside an XV26 Stealth Battlesuit kill team). Modelled with two fusion blasters (represented as a meltagun), so its second weapon selection is Twinned, giving the meltagun Ceaseless. Shielded represents its advanced countermeasure tech. Keywords: T'au Empire, Nemesis, XV8 Crisis Battlesuit.
| Control | Move | Save | Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 6″ | 4+ | 75 |
Weapons:
Behaviour: Battler. Allegiance Trait: Will of the Hive Mind. Nemesis Trait: Fury.
Allegiance TYRANID (fighting alongside a Ravener kill team). Third weapon selection is Paired, adding 1 to its scything talons' Atk. Fury suits its preference for violent melee. Keywords: Tyranid, Nemesis, Screamer-Killer.
| Control | Move | Save | Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 6″ | 4+ | 75 |
Weapons:
Behaviour: Guardian. Allegiance Trait: Defenders of the Imperium. Nemesis Trait: Implacable.
Allegiance IMPERIUM (fighting alongside an Angels of Death kill team). The gatling cannon counts as two weapon selections, leaving the power fist as the third. Implacable suits an elite veteran of warfare. Keywords: Imperium, Nemesis, Redemptor Dreadnought.
Four mission packs feature nemesis operatives for head-to-head, cooperative and solo games. Joint Ops and Nemesis Ops (below) are the two generic packs; the Ambull and the Archivist each also get their own dedicated pack (see their tabs). With some house rules, nemesis operatives can be used in other mission packs too — restrict mission rules for them as feels right.
A player (or players, treated as one 'player' for CP/equipment purposes) battles a collection of NPOs, with one or both sides possibly using a nemesis operative. One player can act as game master, controlling the NPOs so others can focus purely on their own operatives.
Kill Team Selection: If using a nemesis operative, it must share the allegiance keyword of your selected kill team, and the number of other operatives you select is reduced according to the table below (row = kill team's normal starting number, column = nemesis size).
| Normal Size | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| 10 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| 12 | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| 13 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
| 14 | 9 | 7 | 5 |
NPOs & Points: Non-nemesis NPOs use the appropriate datacards from the Nemesis Operatives card pack, each with a Points stat determining how many are set up (per each mission's Nemesis NPO Size table). Unused points go to an NPO Reinforcements pool. NPOs don't gain CP but do use Strategic Gambits; they always pass once required gambits are used.
NPO Activation Cards: A deck numbered 1–13 determines NPO activation — draw a card whenever it's the NPOs' turn and resolve per the mission's table, then discard it. If you draw a card you cannot resolve, skip that activation. NPOs cannot counteract. Reshuffle the deck (including discards) whenever it runs empty. A card deck ships with the book, or substitute a standard suit of playing cards (Ace=1, Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13).
Nemesis Activation: Nemesis NPOs can activate twice per turning point via the activation deck. Player nemesis operatives also activate twice per turning point (not a second time until all other friendly operatives are expended), cannot move more than 12″ per turning point, and the player(s) cannot spend more than 5AP for it in total per turning point.
Threat Principle: For NPO decisions, always go with the option worst for the player(s) — e.g. which ready NPO activates first prioritises the one that can Shoot/Fight and is most threatening, then not in cover, then closest.
Difficulty: Adjust by changing the NPO point total (±1 whenever points are added), swapping in tougher/weaker NPO datacards, or drawing two activation cards and choosing the worse (or better) result.
Mission commanders demand a strike against the enemy's supplies to choke off their reinforcements — but the target nexus sites are guarded by the foe's most potent assets.
NPOs: Nemesis NPO Size table — None: 15 pts · Small: — · Medium: 8 pts · Large: 5 pts starting NPOs. Each turning point after the first, add D3 points to Reinforcements and set up NPOs from the pool with Conceal, base touching the NPO killzone edge.
Mission Action — Sabotage Nexus (1AP): An objective marker the active operative controls is sabotaged until the end of the turning point; the third time this is performed in a turning point, gain 1 Sabotage point, spendable to discard a drawn NPO activation card and skip that activation. Cannot be performed turn one, in control range of an enemy, or on an already-sabotaged marker.
Victory: Score 1VP whenever a player operative Sabotages a Nexus. At the end of turning point 4: 7–9VP Major Win · 5–6VP Minor Win · 3–4VP Minor Loss · 0–2VP Major Loss.
Campaign: Major/Minor Win → 04. Strongpoint Assault (Offence) · Minor Loss → 02. Outmanoeuvre · Major Loss → Campaign Loss.
A pocket of the enemy is massing and full encirclement cannot be deployed in time — a bold, multipronged assault must disrupt their escape route.
NPOs: None: 14 · Small: 10 · Medium: 8 · Large: 5 starting points, reinforced by D3 pts/turn as normal.
Reserve/Outflank: Half the player(s)' operatives set up as normal, half set up outflanking (to one side). Outflanking operatives activated in turning point 1 are immediately expended. As a turning point 2 Strategic Gambit, select a neutral edge as the outflank edge and remove the nearest player-territory objective marker; outflanking operatives then set up on that edge when activated.
Victory: End any turning point after the third to finish the battle. Control 2 objectives + contest the 3rd → Major Win. Control 2, don't contest 3rd → Minor Win. Control 1 or fewer → Major Loss.
Campaign: Win → 04. Strongpoint Assault (Offence) · Minor Loss → 01. Erosion of Power · Major Loss → 03. Ambush.
Planned extraction is compromised as vengeful enemy forces converge — a signals array is the nearest place to coordinate a new exit strategy, but the foe know this too.
NPOs: None: 13 · Small: 9 · Medium: 7 · Large: 5 starting points. Reinforcements: 1 pt/turn, or D3 if Coordinate Extraction has been performed.
Mission Action — Coordinate Extraction (1AP): Randomly determine one killzone edge (excluding the players') as the escape edge. Cannot be performed turn one, in control range of an enemy, without controlling the objective, or more than once per battle.
Escape: Once the escape edge is set, player operatives moving wholly within NPO territory over that edge are removed from the killzone, having escaped. Ambush Advantage: NPOs shooting/fighting the same turning point they were set up gain Accurate 1.
A fortified position is threatened by two powerful weapons that must be ushered into position and protected as the defenders resist.
NPOs: None: 13 · Small: 9 · Medium: 7 · Large: 5 starting points, D3/turn reinforcements.
Offence/Defence: Role set by the previous mission (or chosen/randomised for a one-off). Offence operatives may set up in reserve, entering via Dash when activated. Safeguard Munition Routes: two objective markers start at location 1; the side controlling one at end of turn can advance it (Offence) or retreat it (Defence) one step.
Victory (end of turning point 5): At least one marker at location 3 → Offence Major Win / Defence Major Loss → Campaign Win. Both at location 2 → Offence Minor Loss / Defence Minor Win → 02. Outmanoeuvre. One or fewer at location 2 → Offence Major Loss / Defence Major Win → Campaign Loss / 01. Erosion of Power.
Both players build their own kill team (each with its own nemesis operative, selected/reduced as in the Joint Ops table) and battle directly, with no NPOs. Each mission below scores VP for controlling objectives/flanks/quarters as specified, plus a shared rule: incapacitating the enemy nemesis operative scores 2VP (1VP if it's injured but not incapacitated) at the end of the battle.
Operatives secure a route for an anticipated spearhead through a dangerous frontier prowled by an elite enemy kill team.
Terrain/Objectives: Terrain features are paired up by similar size/type and drafted alternately (loser of the pair-pick gets the other). Objective markers are set up after terrain: one on the centreline, then one per player wholly within their own territory.
Mission Action — Secure (1AP): Secures an objective marker for your kill team until the opponent secures it back. Cannot be performed turn one or in control range of an enemy.
Victory: 1VP per turning point (after the first) for each secured objective marker, plus the shared nemesis-incapacitation VP.
A defensive force spots what looks like a suicidal strike — until the attackers' reinforcements surge from the flanks.
Reserve/Outflank: Half the Manoeuvring player's operatives deploy normally, half outflank; those activated turn one are expended, turn two they enter wholly within Manoeuvring territory touching a neutral edge.
Flanks: Holding player territory splits into left/right flanks. An operative contests a flank while wholly within it; you control a flank if your contesting operatives' total APL (Control, for nemesis operatives) exceeds the enemy's.
Victory (end of turning points 3 & 4): 2VP per flank controlled, 1VP per flank contested but not controlled, plus the shared nemesis-incapacitation VP.
An aggressive push into enemy territory is on the brink of breaking through — but a counterassault is prepared to tear the throat from the incursion.
Objectives: One marker per player, set on the centre of the objective line, more than 3″ from killzone edges and the opponent's territory. Reserve: The Manoeuvring player's operatives all start in reserve, entering wholly within their territory touching a killzone edge (or their own edge, if a nemesis operative) when activated.
Table Quarters: The killzone is quartered by the centreline and objective line; control a quarter if your contesting operatives' total APL/Control exceeds the enemy's. Mission Action — Secure (1AP): as Territorial Gains.
Victory (end of turning points 3 & 4): 2VP per secured objective, 1VP per enemy-territory quarter controlled, plus the shared nemesis-incapacitation VP.
A defensive stalemate must be broken — a kill team escorts a powerful ally capable of ravaging the site, wary of enemy specialists rumoured hidden throughout.
Roles: Advancing player has initiative before the battle; the Holding player may re-set terrain in their own territory. Objectives: Holding player sets up three markers (one in their drop zone, two elsewhere in their territory). Reserve: Advancing operatives may enter in reserve, arriving via a Dash-equivalent action from a killzone edge, or be expended instead; any left in reserve at battle's end are incapacitated.
Besieged: The Advancing player may re-roll initiative; after turning point 3, if they have operatives in Holding territory, roll a D6 — on a 3+ the game continues another turning point.
Mission Action — Demolish (1–3AP): Roll a D6 per AP spent; any 3+ removes one controlled objective marker from the killzone.
Victory: 2VP per marker remaining (Holding) or removed (Advancing) at battle's end, plus the shared nemesis-incapacitation VP.
These monstrous beasts lurk in subterranean depths across the galaxy. They — or the remains of their victims — have been found on countless worlds, as well as aboard voidships and orbital stations. They are feared throughout the Imperium and beyond, recognised by spacefaring species as both an utterly lethal and sinisterly invasive threat.
Ambulls are hulking, predatory xenos, possessed of strength and durability beyond almost any other beast of their size. They sow rampant catastrophe wherever they are encountered, thanks to their destructive burrowing. Anyone brave or foolhardy enough to attempt to hunt them down must contend with their renowned territorial ferocity.
Ambulls excavate their subterranean lair networks using their taloned forelimbs and vicious mandibles, scything back and forth to cut rock and metal with ease. The hyperdense materials of their claws and mouthparts enable them to dig through ferrocrete, adamantine shielding and — given time — even the ancient macrofoundations of hive cities.
Ambulls thrive in the harshest of environments. Chitinous plates cover much of their body, and injured flesh is quickly ingested by rad-maggots — symbiotic creatures whose hyper-stimulant saliva triggers the reknitting of their host's wounds. Ambulls gorge not only on those who come within reach, but also on exotic energy sources. On Imperial worlds, Ambulls are drawn to power conduits and generatoria; their relentless tunnelling has caused heat regulators and air filters to fail, and some have even triggered catastrophic meltdowns. Absorbing this energy, mature Ambulls are able to release it in a scourging pulse when threatened.
Ambulls aggressively defend their territories from intruders. It is here that their nests may be found. The Ambull's larvae are known as Borewyrms: ravenous grubs that seek out and devour radioactive minerals, as well as power cells and energy emitting technology carried by invading species. A single Borewyrm is almost as large as a Human. Their serrated mouth pincers can burrow through the torso of an armoured soldier, and they gather in infestations of multiple larvae that can dismember a warrior in moments.
From their origins on a world of scorching polar deserts, Ambulls have spread across the galaxy. Attempts to exploit them for food or as living boring engines have catastrophically failed on countless occasions, with the xenos always breaking out of their confines. As a result, other species usually avoid Ambulls, though the sadistic Drukhari delight in hunting them — capturing specimens for gladiatorial displays, or releasing them onto populated worlds, revelling in the resultant carnage and horror.
The Underdelve Vigil: On deploying to the mining colony of Halex Hope, Kill Team Varrox discovers carved fetishes, piles of miners' rations, and a vacant Ambull's nest with empty egg sacs — signalling more than one xenos. Watch Sergeant Varrox realises the colonists' gifts represent an emergent cult of alien veneration. His battle-brothers track faltering biosignatures for miles through twisting tunnels, igniting savage firefights and enduring ambushes and collapsed passages, until Varrox finally carves open the Ambull's head — only to find a trail of its spawn leading up into the world's starport.
Contract Reversal: Archon Xurul the Bleak looses an Ambull into a rival's Commorrite territory to humiliate her, goading it with torture and stimulants and fitting it with a neural aversion device. The device malfunctions — perhaps sabotaged — and instead draws the beast into Xurul's own domain. Desperate, Xurul bargains with Mandrakes of Aelindrach to hunt it down; their slicing blades and balefire finally bring it low, and they vanish into shadow with the mortally wounded Ambull, leaving Xurul to dread the price of his bargain.
Corruptive Vectors: The Plague Marines of the Suppurating Sore, faced with the holy ward of St Goetha's Shield, divine a deep-lurking Ambull as the ideal vector for an exquisite disease. Cornered in its lair, the xenos proves far more durable than anticipated — its rad-maggots reknitting torn chitin faster than the Plague Marines can inflict damage — and rips three of them apart before the rest fall back. Only their Malignant Plaguecaster is satisfied, having seized an egg from the nest: a seed of new life.
Burrowers Beneath: As Tyranids descend on Bholvan IV, an Ambull — perhaps triggered by hyperadapted Raveners tunnelling nearby — bursts into the hive's lower layers from below. The two alien species hunt and gorge on each other through the hive's ancient underbelly, weakening it until huge sections collapse; the Tyranids swarm through the breaches and consume all biomass down to the bedrock, though later investigation finds boreholes delving deep towards the planet's mantle.
Contains rules for the Ambull nemesis operative and its two Borewyrm Infestations, plus two missions: mission 1 is PvE (co-op/solo vs the Ambull and Sentry NPOs), mission 2 is PvP with the Ambull and Borewyrms as a disruptive third party. The Ambull can be used in other missions at your discretion.
The Ambull and Borewyrm Infestation are NPOs (use the threat principle/behaviour as normal). The Ambull is also a nemesis operative with the Extra Defence and Bulky core rules, but not Towering Size.
Burrowing Emergence: In the Set Up Operatives step, the Ambull and Borewyrm Infestations are always set up in reserve (cannot be activated while in reserve) — they enter the killzone as determined by the Intruder deck.
| NPO Activation Deck (cards 1–8) | Result |
|---|---|
| 1–4 | Borewyrm Activation — activate one ready Borewyrm Infestation NPO (or an expended one if none ready). |
| 6 | Rad-Maggot Outbreak — roll one D6 per operative (excl. Ambull/Borewyrms) on the killzone floor; if less than that operative's Save stat, inflict damage equal to the result halved (round up). |
| 8 | Energy Pulse — inflict D6 damage (rolled separately) on each operative within 6″ of the Ambull NPO. |
| — | Ambull Activation — activate the Ambull NPO with APL 2 (cannot activate more than twice/turn or move more than 12″/turn). |
| — | Enraged Ambull Activation — as above but APL 3 and can perform two Fight actions. |
Intruder Deck (cards 9–13): Drawn at the end of each turning point after the first, and whenever a mission action (excl. Operate Hatch) finishes, then removed from the game. 9–10: no additional effect. 11–12: set up one Borewyrm Infestation NPO ready with Conceal (near the active operative or a random objective, per trigger). 13: as above but sets up the Ambull NPO.
Game Sequence mirrors the generic Joint Ops sequence (pg 37): choose mission 1 or 2, select/create operatives, set up equipment then operatives (Ambull/Borewyrms always in reserve), play the battle, then resolve victory as each mission specifies.
| Control | Move | Save | Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6″ | 4+ | 35 |
Weapon: Enormous claws — Atk 5, Hit 3+, Dmg 4/5, Brutal, Ceaseless, Rending.
Core Nemesis Rules: Extra Defence, Bulky. Behaviour: Brawler.
Rad-Maggot Symbiosis: Whenever this NPO is activated, it regains a number of lost wounds equal to its APL+1 (its APL is determined by the NPO activation card).
| APL | Move | Save | Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4″ | 5+ | 5 |
Weapon: Vicious jaws — Atk 3, Hit 4+, Dmg 3/4, Rending. Behaviour: Brawler.
Small: Whenever this NPO has a Conceal order and is in cover, it cannot be selected as a valid target — taking precedence over all other rules (e.g. Seek, Vantage terrain) except being within 2″.
After infiltrating an enemy-held location, elite operatives must identify and eliminate key infrastructure, then escape before reinforcements arrive — unaware a lurking apex predator has already sensed them as prey.
NPOs: A three-way battle — the player(s), 1 Ambull + 2 Borewyrm Infestation NPOs (set up in reserve, arriving via the Intruder deck), and Sentry NPOs (D6+10 points, Conceal, alternating NPO drop zones).
Player Order: Roll one D6 per side to establish an activation order instead of standard initiative; re-roll ties between sides.
NPO Activation: Ambull/Borewyrms use the NPO activation deck; Sentry NPOs follow the threat principle and cannot counteract. Sentry reinforcements: D3 pts/turn as a Strategic Gambit.
Mission Action — Eliminate Assets (1AP): Removes a controlled objective marker; draw an Intruder deck card afterwards. Cannot be performed turn one or in control range of an enemy.
Victory: Battle ends once all player operatives have escaped or been incapacitated. 1VP per marker removed (players) or remaining (NPOs collectively); 1VP to NPOs per third of the players' starting operatives incapacitated. Higher total wins.
Within a ruptured generatorium on the brink of meltdown, two kill teams race to salvage power cells and deny them to their foe — but the meltdown's cause, a feeding intruder, is still here.
NPOs: The Ambull and two Borewyrm Infestations are third-party operatives (reserve/Intruder deck as usual) that activate last in the turn sequence, after the final player but before the next round's first.
Modified Threat Principle: An NPO's target is the closest visible player operative it could fight/move towards; the opponent of that target's controller controls the NPO for that action. Drawn to Energy: Reposition/Dash actions move the NPO towards the closest objective marker instead, if possible. Sickening Emissions: Friendly operatives with an objective marker in control range cannot re-roll attack or defence dice.
Mission Action — Siphon Power (1AP): Siphons a controlled objective marker; draw an Intruder deck card afterwards. Cannot be performed turn one, in control range of an enemy, or on an already-siphoned marker this turn.
Victory (end of turning point 4): 1VP per Siphon Power performed (max 2/turn); 2VP for incapacitating the Ambull NPO; each incapacitated Borewyrm drops a Borewyrm marker that can be carried — 1VP each at battle's end. Most VP wins.
The Zoat known as the Archivist is a data trader, mercenary and puppet master, who manipulates the greed and ambition of others to achieve its own aims. Physically powerful, highly intelligent and technologically advanced, the Archivist has operated as both an ally and an occasional foe of the Imperium in shadow conflicts across the galaxy.
The Archivist first crossed paths with Imperial agents on the space station known as Precipice, far to the galactic west, where it stood out among the diverse populace with its large reptilian body and biotech augmentations. Presenting itself as a trader in esoteric information, it offered explorers great rewards to help it cross the Seethe — a barely navigable region of shifting matter in the Blackstone Fortress — to salvage fragments of an ancient Zoat voidcraft, using another Zoat relic, the Grayl Intulia, to control the Seethe's turbulence.
In truth, its proposals were just one facet of a much wider manipulation affecting many exploring parties on Precipice. Once it had stockpiled a large personal cache of artefacts, it disappeared, leaving promises unfulfilled and many hapless allies trapped in the maddening depths of the station.
The Archivist now roams once more as a free agent, capitalising on the laxity of regional authorities to salvage relics amidst the anarchy of the Cicatrix Maledictum. It draws on all its technology and intellect to disrupt other operatives, or mould them to its purposes — particularly when rare archeotech is at stake. Those it cannot coerce, deceive or bargain with often find themselves facing much more hostile methods: it will not hesitate to engage its formidable atomic disassembler or eradicator glove to destroy any who resist its manipulations.
Betrayal in District Vex-03B: Using a Rogue Trader as go-between, the Archivist tips off Exaction Squad EO-N93 to a broker in xenos artefacts, demanding the broker's hoard in return. After gunning the broker down, the Arbitrators try to double-cross the Zoat — but it has anticipated betrayal, using stolen grav-inhibitors and xenotech shielding and bringing down a hab on two Arbitrators before smashing through walls to escape, leaving only scattering drifts of disassembled matter where a Proctor-exactant made her final stand.
The Kethtep Raid: When the Archivist breaks into a Necron tomb on Kethtep, Nehmtek the Geomancer's Canoptek Circle responds, expecting an easy kill. The Zoat's size makes it infuriating to stop — bulldozing through energy screens and using its eradicator glove to tear open sealed portals, its synthetic organs repairing much of the damage it takes. Ambushing Tomb Crawlers and a desperate restructuring of the crypt finally drive it out, badly injured — but Nehmtek later realises it breached the Star Matrix chamber, and the plinth inside is empty.
Reptilian Reprisal: On the feral world of Solphus, the Archivist seeks a shard of the shattered Vornoth Stele, also sought by a Blades of Khaine kill team from Craftworld Biel-Tan. Cornered, it tries to negotiate via its psychic resonator; the Aspect Warriors attack instead, and though it cannot match their agility, its ferocity to hold its prize nearly overwhelms them. Only after it crushes the Exarch's body and spirit stone with its gauntlet do the bloodied Asuryani withdraw — vowing to hunt it down.
Malign Machinations: Within the Nephilim Anomaly, two rival Adeptus Mechanicus Battleclades search for blackstone deposits the Archivist wants for locating another Blackstone Fortress. Promising each Tech-Priest support against the other, it waits until Triquint Deltic strikes a find, then informs Phimega-8-0 of the tech-heresies underway. As the two cybernetic kill teams fall upon each other, the Archivist stalks them, killing and protecting seemingly at random to prevent either side from dominating — then descends into the site to claim its prize while the survivors flee.
Mission 1 is PvE (co-op/solo, with the Archivist fighting alongside the players — until it betrays them). Mission 2 is PvP, with the Archivist a third party both players compete to win over. It can be used in other missions at your discretion.
The Archivist can be a friendly player operative in both missions (it gains no faction keyword in that case). As an NPO, use the threat principle/behaviour as normal. It's also a nemesis operative with Extra Defence and Bulky, but not Towering Size. As an NPO it uses its own activation deck (each mission's table), activating twice per turning point; NPOs cannot counteract, but a card is still drawn (and resolved for any secondary effects) even if nothing can activate.
| Control | Move | Save | Wounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6″ | 4+ | 35 |
Weapons: Atomic disassembler — Atk 5, Hit 4+, Dmg 4/2, Range 8″, Devastating 3, Piercing 2. Eradicator glove — Atk 4, Hit 4+, Dmg 5/7, Brutal, Shock, Stun.
Core Nemesis Rules: Extra Defence, Bulky.
Behaviour: Shoots the closest player operative as a priority, but fights if needed and shoots other NPOs: 1. Fight. 2. Shoot the closest player operative. 3. Charge the closest operative with fewer than 10 wounds remaining. 4. Reposition towards the closest player operative, to cover if possible. 5. Shoot the closest NPO. 6. Dash towards the closest player operative, to cover if possible. Engage order if it will Fight or Shoot that activation, otherwise Conceal.
Xenotech Shielding: Whenever an operative is shooting this NPO: ignore the Piercing weapon rule; Normal and Critical Dmg of 4 or more inflicts 1 less damage; and it can benefit from Extra Defence regardless of being injured (overriding that rule's normal restriction).
The Archivist has aligned with your operatives to seize a cache of artefacts from a fortified vault — but experienced warriors know better than to trust its fluid loyalties around xenotech.
NPOs: 15 points set up in NPO territory but outside the Vault; D3+2 points reinforce each turn as a Strategic Gambit.
Archivist's Path: The Archivist starts as a friendly player operative at point 'A', and when activated must move along a fixed path towards the Vault (all other decisions remain the players'). Once it becomes an NPO it instead follows its behaviour freely.
Xenotech Vault: Operatives can't be set up inside while the hatchway is closed. A player operative carrying the Vault's objective marker cannot be removed-and-redeployed and cannot Dash.
Betrayal: Each Strategy phase after the first, roll a D6, adding 1 if two+ player operatives are closer to the player edge than the Archivist, +1 if it's turning point 3–4, +2 if the marker is being carried. On a 7+ (or turning point 5), the Archivist becomes an NPO for the rest of the battle — hostile to everyone, and everyone hostile to it.
Victory (end of turning point 5): A player operative carrying the marker in player territory → players win. Archivist NPO not contesting the marker → draw. Archivist contesting it, or the marker outside player territory → players lose.
Ever the manipulator, the Archivist leverages a kill team to seize infocores from a derelict vessel — while others hunt the same prize, and it plays every side against the others.
NPOs: The Archivist is a third party, set up in the second Strategy phase's Ready step touching a random neutral edge, and activates last in the alternating sequence (after the drawn card is resolved).
Infocore Extraction: Player operatives (not the Archivist) can Pick Up Marker on Infocore mission markers; APL 3+ operatives can carry two at once. Each player gains Negotiation points equal to enemy-controlled Infocore markers, per turning point.
Negotiation: Whenever the Archivist would activate via its deck, both players secretly bid Negotiation points (0 or more, as dice in hand) and reveal simultaneously. Higher bidder spends their points and controls the Archivist as a friendly operative for that activation; if tied (including 0–0), it remains an NPO and follows its behaviour.
Modified Threat Principle: Its NPO target is the closest player operative in control range, else the closest visible operative carrying an Infocore it could act against.
Victory (end of turning point 4): 1VP for incapacitating the Archivist; 1VP per controlled Infocore marker at battle's end. Most VP wins.
The original 77-page scanned dossier lives in Google Drive (Boardgames/Kill Team/Nemesis Operatives). Grouped below by section — click through to view the full-resolution scan for any page.