The Kommandos are an Ork Kill Team for the Games Workshop skirmish game Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team. They are part of the Octarius Starter Set for the game. In Ork Kommandos Kill Team guide, we go through all their operative types and abilities so you can find out if they’re the right Kill Team for you.
The Orks are green-skinned brutes swarming across the galaxy looking for the next big fight to pick. Noone in the grim dark future understands exactly how they work, but there’s no denying that there’s always billions of them, and that they’re fearless fighters who seem to wage war for the joy of it. They use automatic weapons and internal combustion engines that resemble those of human technology, but it’s all very crude and seems to be held together by belief rather than craftmanship, in a way that seems more magical than anything else.
The Orks move in great migrations called Waaaagh!s, and they grow bigger and tougher the more enemies they kill. They can be regarded as evil, but mainly in the way a hurricane or natural disaster is evil: They just are what they are, a nigh unstoppable green tide of a natural disaster roaring through everything they come across.
However, the Orks are as cunning as they are brutal: The Ork Kommando Kill Teams are very different from most other fighters of their green-skinned people: Rather than running carelessly into combat, they sneak and plot and use specialized combat roles to outsmart their opponents. Their equipment is still pretty primitive and mostly made to do a lot of random damage with little accuracy, but compared to other Orks, they Kommandos are a bunch of sneaky secret agents.
In the game, the Kommandos excel at closing in on the enemy without getting shot down, and they are a versatile Kill Team working like a big, green, diesel-driven Swiss Army knife with a tool for every occasion.
If you like playing a classic war movie “dirty dozen” commando team on mushrooms, the Ork Kommandos might be just the right Kill Team for you.
[Note: This article is up to date with the changes implemented in the Q1 2024 Balance Dataslate]
Abilities of the Ork Kommandos Kill Team
Throat Slittas
Kommando operatives (that’s everyone but the Bomb Squig) can perform Charge actions while having a Conceal order. That’s the only special ability the Kill Team has, but playing by different rules than your opponent can make a big difference, especially when it lets you get into melee range without getting shot to pieces like this one does.
Operatives of the Ork Kommandos Kill Team
A Kommando Kill Team has 10 operatives (or 11, see the Bomb Squig entry), chosen from the following:
Kommando Nob (must take 1 per Kill Team)
The Kommando Nob is the Leader of your Kill Team (he doesn’t have the keyword in the Octarius book, but it has been FAQ’ed in since). Apart from the usual Leader bonuses of having more Wounds and a better Save than his crew, he also has the Get It Dun! ability that adds 1 to the Action Point Limit of 1 nearby friendly Kommando operative whenever the Leader is activated. He can also choose between two pretty powerful melee weapons, the Big Choppa and the Power Klaw, of which the Klaw is the more interesting one with its Brutal special rule which means opponents in close combat can only parry it with critical hit rolls. You have to take one Kommando Nob in your Kill Team, so make good use of him.
Kommando Boy (9 allowed per Kill Team)
The standard Kommando Boy doesn’t have any special weapons or abilities. The best thing about him is his versatility: Armed with a Slugga and a Choppa, he’s almost equally good in ranged and close combat, even though you will mostly be using him in close combat due to the pentagon/6 inch range of his Slugga and his ability to charge while concealed from the faction ability Throat Slitta.
Kommando Grot (1 allowed per Kill Team)
This sneaky little fellow is terrible in combat unless you roll a crit (but he only has 3 attacks, so that’s not that likely), but he’s good at getting anywhere on the battlefield without getting shot: He is always Concealed (even if the enemy has an operative at a Vantage Point) and can use his Grappling Hook to make a free Normal Move towards a chosen terrain feature. He only has 5 Wounds, though, so don’t get him into melee if you can help it.
Kommando Slasha Boy (1 allowed per Kill Team)
This operative is one of the options for your Kill Team that best suits the playstyle of the Kill Team: It has Throwing Knives that can be thrown even when the Slasha Boy has a Conceal Order, and it can reroll all of its attack dice with its Twin Choppas when it closes in on the enemy with the Throat Slittas faction ability. On top of that, it has the awesome Dat All You Got? ability that lets you roll to apply mortal wounds in close combat whenever the Slasha Boy suffers any damage while fighting.
Kommando Breacha Boy (1 allowed per Kill Team)
The Breacha Boy is a strong close combat combatant who does a whopping 5 normal damage in close combat and has the Brutal special rule that only allows the opponent to parry it with critical hits, and since the FAQ, it also has the Stun critical rule when it has charged in the same activation. Hilariously, it can also use its Breacha Ram to walk straight through terrain that’s up to triangle/2 inches wide when moving – very useful for attacking key targets in hiding and for comedic effect.
Kommando Snipa Boy (1 allowed per Kill Team)
The Snipa Boy is another very versatile operative that fits the style of your Kill Team very well. The first thing to notice about it is that it’s Scoped Big Shoota doesn’t work like a traditional sniper rifle with few shots and high damage. Instead, it has 6 attacks and a pretty low normal and critical damage, but it inflicts 2 mortal wounds per critical hit, which is very good. On top of that, it’s ‘Av It! Unique Action lets it turn its attack into an area damage attack by allowing you to attack each enemy operative next to your original target, subtracting 2 from your Attacks characteristic for every subsequent target. Finally, another Unique Action called Da Best Spot lets you shoot with the Scoped Big Shoota while having a Conceal order for 2 Action Points. Shooting while concealed is a great way to outsnipe other snipers.
Kommando Dakka Boy (1 allowed per Kill Team)
The Dakka Boy is a close quarters ranged operative: Its Dakka Shoota can reroll its attack dice if it’s within pentagon/6 inch range of the target. Its excellent Dakka Dash Unique Action lets it perform a free Dash action as well as a free Shoot action, which makes it much more likely for it to be able to get within that range, or get you out of melee threat range after shooting.
Kommando Comms Boy (1 allowed per Kill Team)
The Comms Boy is a bit of a weird one: Its Shokka pistol does 1 damage per shot, but it causes two mortal wounds on a critical hit and has the Stun critical rule, so it has the potential to be both really bad and really good. Its real utility is in its abilities and actions: I Got a Plan, Ladz lets it perform a mission or Pick Up action at the cost of one less Action Point than everyone else in your Kill Team, and Listen In gives a +1 to the Action Point Limit of a nearby friendly operative. If you can keep it alive, the Comms Boy is a really great addition to the squad you send in to perform the mission objectives in a battle, and it even has the chance to do some mortal wounds while doing so.
Kommando Burna Boy (1 allowed per Kill Team)
The Burna Boy is refreshingly simple: It just has a Burna flamethrower that attacks everything within circle/2 inches of its chosen target. It doesn’t do a lot of damage, but has a Ballistics skill of 2+ and 5 attacks, so its likely to always hit something.
Kommando Rokkit Boy (1 allowed per Kill Team)
You should bring the Rokkit Boy in your Kill Team simply because of its Rokkit Launcha: It has Armour Penetration 1 as one of the only weapons in the Kill Team, and the Splash 1 critical rule which lets it apply a mortal wound to everyone within circle/2 inches of the target for each critical hit rolled, and due to its Boom Boy ability, it can also reroll all of its 5 attack dice if it hasn’t moved before shooting. Scary stuff.
Bomb Squig (1 allowed per Kill Team)
This tiny ball of teeth and dynamite can’t perform mission or Pick Up actions, and can’t use the Conceal order – it’s just in your Kill Team to blow up stuff. It’s Dynamite attack can only be used in Engagement Range, and it’s a one-time use attack. It attacks everything within its Engagement Range with 4 attacks, high damage and critical damage, AP1 and it goes up to AP2 for each critical hit – and then its incapacitated. This attack also happens if it gets incapacitated by an enemy attack and rolls a 3+ on a dice roll, so be careful not to place it too close to your other operatives! As of the Q4 Balance Dataslate 2023, this operative can’t receive any positive modifiers to its Action Point Limit, but if you select this operative for your kill team, you also get the Kommando Grot for free, bringing you up to 11 operatives.
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Ploys of the Ork Kommandos Kill Team
Strategic Ploys
SSSSHHHH!
A once per battle free Dash action for each friendly Kommando Operative that’s not within Line of Sight of enemies or is a distance from enemies and has a Conceal Order.
Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!
Lets you turn a failed shooting dice roll into a normal success roll every time a friendly operative shoots in 1 Turning Point as long as that operative also rolled at least 1 critical hit in that shooting action.
Waaagh!
For 1 Turning Point, you can turn a normal hit into a critical hit in every fight attack action made by friendly operatives as long as that operative scored at least two normal hits in that attack action.
Skulk About
For 1 Turning Point, any Concealed friendly operatives get 1 automatic normal save dice without rolling it when rolling defence dice against a shooting attack.
Tactical Ploys
Just a Scratch
Lets you ignore the damage of one enemy attack dice for one enemy attack action (doesn’t work for the Kommando Grot). Since the Q1 2024 Balance Dataslate, this Tactical Ploy can’t be used for the Bomb Squig, and it only works on normal hits and not critical hits.
Krump ‘Em!
Lets one friendly operative perform a free Fight action.
Sneaky Git
In the Set Up Operatives step, you can use this Ploy to place one friendly Kommando operative (not the Bomb Squig) anywhere on the battlefield next to Heavy Terrain and more than pentagon/6 inch range away from your opponent’s drop zone. Since the Q4 Balance Dataslate 2023, you can only use this once per battle, and the operative you’re setting up can’t have its Order changed during the first Turning Point.
Equipment of the Ork Kommandos Kill Team
Choppa
An extra melee weapon like the one carried by Kommando Boys. Since the Q1 2024 Balance Dataslate, it now has 3 Attacks instead of 4, but it still does 4 normal and 5 critical damage.
Slugga
An extra ranged weapon like the one carried by Kommando Boys.
Harpoon
A good ranged weapon with the Stun critical rule.
Sledgehammer
A good melee weapon with Stun critical rule.
Smoke Grenade
Can be thrown to create a bubble of Obscuring smoke for one Turning Point.
Stun Grenade
Can be thrown to create an area of effect where all operatives within the bubble must be rolled for to see if they have to subtract 1 from their Action Point Limit.
Stikkbomb
A cover-ignoring throwable grenage with area effect and medium damage potential.
Dynamite
A heavy throwable weapon with very good area damage, but it has the Unwieldy rule that means it costs an extra Action Point to throw as a shooting action.
Climbing Rope
Vastly improves the bearers ability to move vertically (climb and drop) for the rest of the battle.
Tac Ops of the Ork Kommandos Kill Team
The Kommando Kill Team has the Seek and Destroy and Infiltration archetypes, so it can choose Tac Ops from those tables in the Core Book. It can also score the faction-specific Tac Ops listed below.
Blow it Up!
Your opponent has to choose a terrain feature that you have to blow up. If you perform the special Blow it Up! action close to this terrain feature with a friendly operative, you score Victory Points.
Shokk Tactics
This one awards you a Victory Point if any enemies were incapacitated during the first Turning Point, and subsequently rewards you Victory Points for controlling more objective markers than your opponent.
Get Stuck In!
Awards you a Victory Point for having three or more friendly operatives close to the opponent’s drop zone in each Turning Point except the fourth.
Playing the Ork Kommandos Kill Team
To play the Kommandos Kill Team well, it can be a good idea to think of your Kill Team as consisting of two groups: One that makes full use of the Conceal order and your Throat Slittas ability to close in on the enemy, and another “artillery” group of Kommandos with heavy ranged weapons who can play defense and provide fire support.
The many ways in which the Kill Team can ignore the disadvantages of Conceal orders makes it excellent at moving up the board quickly and safely while also dealing damage to your opponent, so board control is always a good strategy with the Kommandos.
Be aware, however, that the Kill Team has pretty bad Save characteristics all around, and is fairly reliant on getting into close combat or at least 6 inch range for many of its weapons, so you can be taken out quickly once you enter the fray if you’re not careful about positioning and Cover. This means that, while the Kommandos look like Orks who should just charge mindlessly into combat, you actually need to play them carefully like a covert special forces team. At the same time, you do have some sources of big damage such as your Rokkit Boy and the Bomb Squig – you just have to make sure to get them in place to make full use of their abilities.