Games Workshop has launched its latest wave of tabletop pre-orders, headlined by the $165 Kill Team Exodite box set introducing future-primitive Aeldari dino-riders to the skirmish wargame. The release window also brings Horus Heresy MkIV armor kits, combat terrain, and expanded standalone releases for previous squad boxes.
Tabletop wargamers face a busy acquisition cycle this week as Games Workshop rolls out a massive catalog of reinforcements. The centerpiece of the drop is Kill Team Exodite, marking a return for the future-primitive faction after a decades-long absence from the wider universe. Alongside the high-profile box set, collectors can secure new infantry kits for the Horus Heresy setting and independent releases for previously exclusive skirmish squads.
Inside the Kill Team Exodite Expansion and Rules
Designed as an expansion that requires the core rulebook, dice, and measuring tools, Kill Team Exodite focuses on jungle warfare and narrative operations. Unlike standard competitive box sets, the release centers on a single player-controlled force facing off against non-player operative enemy forces for solo or group play. The Exodites, those of the Aeldari race who drew into seclusion to avoid the fall that nearly ended their species, live in isolation from the wider conflicts of the galaxy, but there is only war, and it has found the Exodites in the form of the Orks, who now ride to protect their isolation, but ending the Ork threat before it begins.
The $165 box packs a hardbacked dossier—noted for staying flat on the table during play—alongside scenery templates, event cards, and a specific opposing force. For the first time, the Dossier is a hardback book rather than the usual paperback, which means that it sits nicely with the pages open on the tabletop, rather than having to be held down during gaming to see the rules that you want. Players receive a fixed roster consisting of three mounted Aeldari Dragon Masters and two support Drakolithes alongside 15 Ork miniatures, which comprise 10 Beast Snagga Boyz and five Squighog Boyz serving as hostile non-player targets in the narrative missions, along with 88 datacards, Exodite transfer and Ork transfer sheets, and tokens.
“The future-primitive Aeldari of the Exodites have arrived after a decades-long absence from the 40k universe.”
Bell of Lost Souls
Mounted Powerhouses and Tactical Flexibility
Mechanically, the Exodite Dragon Masters operate as heavy hitters on the skirmish grid. Each mounted operative commands 24 wounds, a 3+ save, and four action points per activation cycle. Because these units activate twice per turn while spending up to three action points per activation, positioning mistakes carry severe penalties. The Kill Team Exodite Dragon Master Clanblade is a melee-focused operative.
- Clanblade: A melee expert wielding Moonblades that have 5 attacks, doing 4 damage, or 6 damage with a 5+ critical hit.
- Leystalker: The Kill Team Exodite Dragon Master Leystalker is a ranged-focused operative.
- Stonesinger: The Kill Team Exodite Dragon Master Stonesinger is a psychic-focused operative.
Tactically, the mounted units exploit a free sprint action of up to 9 inches each turn, but when using the sprint action, can only move in straight lines, rotating up to 45 degrees either before or after the activation, but they cannot move more than 12 inches in total per turn. When setting up the kill team, only the Drakolithes are deployed, the 3 Dragon Masters are set up in reserve, appearing on the tabletop when they activate, with their bases touching the kill zone edge and spending 1 AP to do so, then they operate as normal.
Horus Heresy Hardware and Standalone Squads
Beyond the Aeldari expansion, the pre-order slate reaches deep into other product lines. Kill Team players who missed out on earlier box-bound units can now purchase six dedicated multi-part 40k kits individually originally available only as Kill Team sets, including Kroot Farstalkers, Navy Breachers, Exaction Squads, Fellgor Beastmen, Raptors, and Kasrkin for $65. Meanwhile, the Combat Patrol Battlezone is here for 40k for $170, which includes 15 pieces of Armageddon themed terrain, plus a double-sided board and set of terrain footprints; exactly enough terrain to play a full game of Combat Patrol.
For historical hobbyists, the Horus Heresy line expands with a resculpted MkIV Tactical Squad priced at $90 for 20 marines, two of which can be built as sergeants to run a max squad of 20 or a pair of 10-mans, accompanied by a $73.50 MkIV Assault Squad configured to deal death from above with your choice of chainswords or power lances if you want to use them as a veteran squad. An accompanying $48.50 Combi-weapons and Shotguns Upgrade Set delivers plastic weapons upgrade compatible with all current plastic Heresy marine kits, including 10 Combi-volkites, 10 Combi-flamers, 10 Combi-plasmas, 10 Combi-meltas, and 10 Astartes Shotguns.
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