So you're getting into Kill Team

The cleanest entry point: two balanced starter squads, the full core rulebook, terrain pieces, dice, and a range ruler. Everything in one box, nothing missing. Buy this before any other Kill Team product and play before you buy anything else.

A full season campaign box with two complete operative teams, premium terrain, and a narrative campaign supplement. If you've played the starter and want to go deeper with a specific faction pair, this is the next step. The space-hulk setting is one of Kill Team's best environments.

If you already own Warhammer 40K miniatures and want to use them in Kill Team, the Compendium unlocks most existing 40K factions without buying a new box. Not the starting point for most beginners, but the right bridge if you're already in the 40K hobby.

The default primer for most Kill Team factions. Black undercoat means paint only needs to land on raised surfaces; the recesses stay dark automatically, giving your miniatures immediate depth without any shading work. Formulated for GW plastic, so it won't crack or frost.

If you're painting bright armies or using Contrast paints, grey primer is the better base. Contrast paints pool and flow best over a light undercoat. Grey Seer is the standard light primer for the Contrast workflow and pairs perfectly with Wraithbone-style recipes.

Larger can for roughly the same price as a GW spray. Army Painter primers bond well to plastic and come in faction-matched colors, which is useful if you want a colored base coat. Spray over a test sprue first to confirm it plays nicely with your chosen Citadel paints.

The single most impactful purchase in miniature painting. Nuln Oil is a dark wash that flows into recesses automatically, adding shadow and depth to any miniature with a single coat. Apply it over your base colors and watch your models transform. Every Kill Team player uses this.

Contrast paints are one-step wonders: apply a single coat over light primer and get a shaded, graduated base color in minutes. The starter set samples multiple colors so you can find which fit your faction before buying the full range. Great for painters who want results fast.

A solid base-color palette at roughly half the price of buying individual Citadel pots. The Warpaints range mixes well and covers cleanly. Not a perfect match for GW faction paint recipes, but close enough that online guides translate with minor color substitutions.

Covers every brush type you'll use in your first six months: base, detail, drybrush, and wash brushes. Not the highest quality, but totally adequate while you're learning technique. Cheap enough to replace individual brushes as they wear without any guilt.

The brush miniature painters upgrade to and never go back from. Kolinsky sable holds a needle-fine point and springs back to shape after thousands of strokes. One Series 7 outlasts a dozen cheap brushes. Buy after you've painted at least one complete squad.

Drybrushing is the fastest way to add highlights to armor, stone, and fur. Load the brush with paint, wipe most of it off, then lightly drag it across raised surfaces. GW's large drybrush has the right stiff bristle shape for the technique. One brush covers most Kill Team drybrushing jobs.

The sprue cutter that miniature painters recommend above every other. Spring-loaded flush-cutting blades leave almost no nub on the part. One purchase that lasts a decade. Cheap cutters tear the plastic and leave white stress marks; the Tamiya does not.

Plastic cement works by chemically welding the two plastic surfaces together; the join is stronger than the plastic itself. This is what GW miniatures are designed for. Super glue is brittle and parts will pop off. The fine needle applicator gets into tight joins cleanly.

You need a sharp knife to remove mold lines before painting. The X-Acto X1 with a #11 blade is the standard choice. Scrape lightly at 90 degrees to the mold line and the ridge peels away cleanly. Replace blades often; a dull knife tears instead of shaves.