Kill Team Guide: Secrets of the Sicarians

I'm officially on my second week of non-stop late nights at work, by which I mean I literally do not get out of the boarding house until 11pm after a 7am start. With the idea of a robot body having more and more appeal, we wrap up our analysis of the AdMech with some of my favourite models from Games Workshop: the Sicarians.

kill team warhammer 40k 40000 shooting melee assault psychic psyker guide faq analysis games workshop command points specialists tactic scout sniper adeptus mechanicus admech canticles of the omnissiah ruststalker infiltrator sicarian

Sicarians

The Sicarian frame is not the sturdiest in the world, but hits hard and fast. It’s no tank, and it shouldn’t be fielded as such, more an aggressive and panic inducing model.

The common attributes of the Sicarian models are as follows:

  • Bionics: 6+ invulnerable save
  • 2 Wounds
  • Lightning quick 8-inch movement
  • Strength 4

They are tougher and faster than your Skitarii units, and at first blush are geared for all out assault. Toughness 3 is not quite the detriment it was in older editions of 40K. It’s still relatively weak, but you’ll be caught by 2+ To Wound rolls less often in Kill Team than in 7th or older.

Strength 4 alongside their wargear options puts them well above other units in the AdMech roster, and brings them in line with the standard melee units of other factions.

The movement speed of 8-inches is one of the fastest in Kill Team, and you’ll have an edge in mobility whatever you play against. About the only ones who match you are the Space marine Reivers and Tau Stealth Suits, but in slightly different ways. To make the most of this swarm around on the same level rather than Spider-Manning from roof top to roof top, skulking in alley ways and ambushing from dark corners. 

These are not exactly the Terminator elites of other armies, but in Kill Team they’ll gladly match up to any Astartes and might even make them sweat.

Rust Stalker

A close combat beast, but not enough of one to counter the lack of any ranged weapon at all.

Special weapons:

  • Transonic Razor: Wound rolls of 6+ cause a Mortal wound
  • Transonic Razors: +1 Strength, Wounds rolls of 6+ cause a Mortal wound
  • Chord Claw: Hit one time, and Wound rolls of 6+ cause a Mortal wound

You can take a chord claw with a single razor or go with the pair of them for +1 Strength. With Kill Team the best set up would be the two razors. Unlike in 40K, where Mortal Wounds carry over to other models in the unit, you’re better off going for the better wound chance with your “normal” weapon, rather than going for the risky Chord-claw. If the Transonic Razors didn’t offer the same mechanic as the claw this might be more challenging, but in Kill Team you rarely need more than one mortal wound to down a model.

The Ruststalkers get one more attack over the Infiltrators, but I’m not convinced this makes them better alternatives. They have a chance of putting out more damage, and are a semi-reliable source of mortal wounds, but they lose a great deal in flexibility by only having melee weapons. He singular melee focus actually plays against the mobility of the 8-inch move, since it can’t be used in any turn you want to charge in.

The issue with Rusttalkers in Kill Team is that there is even less reward for overkill than in 40K. Whilst you may very well buzz saw that cultist down with a string of lucky mortal wounds, you’ll still be shot to pieces by his buddies who are just out of consolidation range.

Infiltrators


Perhaps the most perfect Kill Team model in the game, and thematically suited to this version of 40K too!

Spcial Wepapons:

  • Flechette Blasters: Strength 3, 5(!) shot pistols
  • Taser Goads: +2 Strength, with To Hit rolls of 6+ causing 3 Hits rather than 1.
  • Power Swords: You know what this is.
  • Stub Carbines: Range-18, 3 shot bolt pistols

The taser Goad is paired with the flechette blaster, and the Stub carbine the power sword. Honestly both options are good and viable, with my personal preference going to the taser goad for the sheer novelty of killing Astartes with cattle prods. Mathematically they are very close to each other, with the power sword edging out the taser goad in most situations. The taser goad also suffers from the same problem of overkill the Ruststalker has, but at least the extra hits are much easier to trigger thanks to AdMech Tactics.

Pistol wise, the stub carbine (now a pistol instead of an assault weapon) makes the Infiltrator a decent shooter as well as melee combatant. 9-inch half range might not sound like much, but it’s enough to cover most of Kill Team situations. The flechette blaster is a guilty pleasure of mine though, as your opponent realises you’re putting out 25 shots a turn with a 5-man squad.

  • Neurostatic Aura: -1 to Ld within 3-inchs of a model with this.

As good as it is on Reivers, this alone makes up for the loss of a single attack from the Ruststalker.
Whilst it pains me to say it, power swords and stub carbines are probably the best option to go with. The balance of shooting ability and excellent melee, combined with the Neuro-static aura makes it an “all-comer” model, allowing it to both exploit the mobility of the Sicarian frame for shooting and really punishing those it gets into melee with.

Suggestions

Take a full 5 man squad of Sicarian Infiltrators, one being a Leader and 1 being a Co,bat Specialist. Arm them with Stub carbines and power swords. Thi will leave you with enough points to field a Comms specialist and Sniper Specialist plasma caliver vanguard pair as a good firebase.

As an alternative, consider two Gunners with Arc Rifles, and make the majority of your Infiltrators specialists (Veteran for 1st turn charges, Zealots as a good Melee companion to the Leader). That gives you extra points for another warm body with a radium carbine.

I perhaps over-rate the Infiltrators compared to the Rustalkers, and I know I tend to favour generalist units over narrow specialists. Let me know if there’s something missing in the comments below.

Right, the next faction we’ll look at is the Genestealer Cults, this wrapping up the starter box set units. I have to admit that I haven’t quite worked out the appeal of the Cultists. I look forward to seeing what shenanigans I can dig out of them.

Until next time!


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Comments

  1. Hey man, just found your page and since I am working on my 12 man roster for a kill team campaign and playing AdMech, naturally this article was interesting. I tested the Ruststalkers yesterday and you are right, the blades are way better than chordclaw and razor. When it comes to Infiltrators Ive been playing them with flechette and goads in 40k since their release. Judging by my experience so far the taser will struggle against Astartes and the like so maybe one should build a fire team with 2 of both?
    cheers mate and keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting! To be honest the maths only shows very minute differences between the two. The taser goad works better with the Doctrina Tactics though, getting in more hits thanks to the +1 to Hit.

      I still think the power sword is more useful in most situations, but it's hard giving up the goad. It's unique to AdMech, and just looks cool. I'd take 2 of each if only for that alone.

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