ACOLYTE is a free fan expansion for Warhammer 40k Kill Team, enabling solo or co-op play through narrative-rich scenarios. Created by fan Bob MacNicol, aka Fodzilla, the supplement works with the free version of the Kill Team core rules, and is available to download now.
In ACOLYTE, players take control of Inquisitorial servants tasked with investigating Chaos cults, Xenos smugglers, and the other terrible things that lurk in the shadows of the Imperium of Man.
The game follows the core rules for Kill Team, with a few tweaks to allow for co-op or solo play. Scenarios use a deck of cards to generate random events, while enemies follow a simple decision tree to guide their actions.
Players start in control of a single Inquisitorial Acolyte, picking a background that grants them a special ability, and tooling them up with equipment. Over the course of a campaign that Acolyte will gain experience, suffer injuries, and attract followers, such as combat servitors or canids (the designated good boys of the 41st millennium).
The ACOLYTE rulebook states that “these rules are primarily intended for use with pre-written adventures, offering narrative objectives and party progression across multiple scenarios”. The rulebook comes with a mini-campaign that will see the player(s) hunt down a Chaos cult through the bowels of the underhive, and the design notes at the back of the book promise “more followers, more enemies and more adventures to thrust upon your Acolyte”.
The rulebook acknowledges the game is inspired by Rangers of Shadow Deep – a fantasy adventure wargame by Joseph McCullough that has lots in common with dungeon crawler board games and the best tabletop RPGs – and the original Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.
2023 should be a good year for fans of sci-fi skirmish games. We’re looking forward to The Doomed, a game that promises to be equal parts Warhammer 40k and Monster Hunter; and in the meantime, the Boarding Actions play mode from the Arks of Omen series is a way to play small but action-packed games with your favourite Warhammer 40k faction.
Source: Wargamer
