Kill Team Aesir - Part I

As many of you will know, I do the best I can to cram superheroes into every miniature war game possible, partly because I never get to play as many Superhero games as I want to, but it's also become something of a joke with my gaming peers. So far, I've worked superheroes into 1949 Secrets of the Third Reich (Captain America, Union Jack, the Howling Commandos and Red Skull), Warpath Firefight (Colonel America), Empire of the Dead (David Lo Pan and the Lords of Death), Frostgrave (Guardians of the Galaxy) and have just finished my Red Ribbon PMC for moderns. I also have my Latverian army (primarily for SotR, but works in other games) and a growing collection of Skrulls. 
The big "setting" that I've never been able to figure out a way to get supers into has been Warhammer 40,000, as the tone just doesn't work. Sure, there are Grimdark superheroes, like The Darkness and Spawn, but they never really did it for me, and other than just making them another interpretation of Chaos worshipers, there's not a lot there to play with. As I've been playing some Kill Team lately (great game), I got thinking on this again and finally came up with a solution; Deathwatch but Asgardian heroes! 

It makes pretty good sense on the surface, powerful Space Gods with magic weapons become powerful Space Marines with a variety of exotic weapons. And the conversions are petty easy, Deathwatch Plastics with the odd Heroclix head and some reworking with parts from my endless box of bits. I started with ideas for Thor, Heimdall and The Warriors Three, but I'm already looking at Sif, Loki, Tyr, have built a Beta-Ray Bill, maybe Odin and Balder down the line. Most of the parts haven't arrived yet, but I have managed to get a couple of games in to see if I like playing the team (which I do). Last Friday night, a friend and I played the Strike at the Heart mission from the Deathwatch Kill Team Box. 

The battlefield for Kill Team is small, (22x30") which makes for fast and bloody games. 

Kill Team Aesir is on the scene, (from the left) Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing, Beta-Ray Bill and Volstagg the Voluminous. 

As we get our teams and terrain better painted, the games will be nicer to look at, I promise. 

I didn't get a good picture of Benny's (really nice) Death-Cult Kill Team, for which he uses the Dark Eldar rules. This Acro-Flagellant (Wytch) did not stand up to the Deathwatch Frag Cannon very long. I'm glad that the weapon I chose because it 'looked cool' was also effective on the table. 

As I went for a more melee-orientated Kill Team (both Beta-Ray Bill and Hogun had no ranged weapons), I had to be careful to avoid the long-ranged shots of the Death Cult. Even Power Armour was not always enough to save the Asgardians. 

Fandral and Beta-Ray Bill held the objective bravely, but weight of fire brought them down in the end. 

Volstagg and his Frag Cannon really saved me in the game, 2D6 automatic Strength 6 hits within 8" is pretty nasty. 

 The game came down to a clash between the Radical Inquistor and Hogun, with his power mace. 

In the end, Hogun won the combat, which forced a draw, but Benny really won the game, he played much better than I did and had me on the ropes from the first turn. 

Hoping to get more Kill Team games in soon, but work isn't helping and it will be a few weeks before the parts I need to finish Kill Team Aesir arrive. Next time, I'll try for a little more narrative as those AARs tend to be better received.