Review: Kill Team: Shadowhunt

Here comes the Tale of Painters review of Kill Team: Shadowhunt, with an unboxing video in 4K, high-res sprue images, and a list of all build options. On the industrial world of Garranox, the feral Murderwing searches for dark malefic energies, and clashes with the witch-hunting Celestian Insidiants of the Adepta Sororitas. Alongside two new kill teams, Shadowhunt also contains rules and missions for the Descent killzone, which links the Volkus and Tomb World settings on a two-part game board. All that and more in this post.

Kill Team: Shadowhunt will be available for pre-order starting Saturday, 24 January 2026. The pre-order period lasts two weeks, with the official release date set for 7 February 2026. Please note that there will be only one production run, so the box is available only until stocks last, and is expected to sell out fast with independent retailers. The RRP is £88 / 115 € / $45.

Kill Team: Dead Silence unboxing

Like the previous expansion box Dead Silence (read our review here), Shadowhunt also contains no terrain piece. Instead, there are two half-size gaming boards that are required for playing Descent kill zone games. These probably also account for the substantial price jump of £20 compared to Dead Silence. At £88, it’s even more expensive than Kill Team: Blood and Zeal, which was £82.50 and had an additional terrain piece.

In this video, I go through all of the box contents, inc. a look at the boards and a flip-through of the Shadowhunt dossier. For a detailed look at both teams and high-res sprue images read below.

Included in the Shadowhunt box are:

• The Murderwing kill team (6 models)
• Celestian Insidiants kill team (10 models)
• Adepta Sororitas and Chaos Space Marines transfer sheets
• datacards and tokens for both kill teams
• Kill Team: Shadowhunt dossier expansion book
• 2 half-size cardboard gaming boards (to represent the upper and lower Descent killzone)

Celestian Insidiants Kill Team reviewed

The Celestial Insidiants are a new infantry unit for the Adepta Sororitas. These Sisters of Battle have dedicated themselves to exterminating witches and psykers in close combat with null maces and condemnor stakethrower bolt pistols.

The kit contains 10 models on 32mm bases, spread across three medium-sized sprue segments. Additionally, there’s the Sisters of Battle Infantry transfer sheet (plus the tokens and datacards you get in this expansion box).

The build options:

• Insidiant 1 is the Sister Superior, complete with obligatory tactical rock. Armed with null mace, plus you have the choice between a left forearm with stakethrower relic bolt pistol (parts 9 and 103) or inferno pistol (10). Additionally, there are 4 special heads: 1 with a particularly ornate helmet (105), and 3 bare heads (106 to 108).
• Insidiant 2 can be built as Denuncia, or regular Warrior with null mace and stakethrower bolt pistol. The Denuncia has a Staff of declamation (19), a raised left arm (22 and 23), as well as a special head (109) and back module with Voice of condemnation amplifier (24).
• Insidiant 3 can be built as Censor, or regular Warrior with null mace and stakethrower bolt pistol. The Censor has an arm pair with Virge of admonition staff (30 to 33), as well as a special head with hood (110).
• Insidiant 4 can be built as Reliquarius, or regular Warrior with null mace and stakethrower bolt pistol. The Reliquarius has a right arm with icon (40 to 43).
• Insidiant 5 can be built as Abjuror, or regular Warrior with null mace and stakethrower bolt pistol. The Abjuror bears a blessed sword and praesidium protectiva shield (51, 52, 54, 55) and a special chandelier power pack (56).
• Insidiant 6 can be built as Mortisanctus, or regular Warrior with null mace and stakethrower bolt pistol. The Mortisanctus wields a dual-hand blessed greatsword (65 to 68), and a special power pack with an arched icon (69).
• Insidiants 7 and 8 are regular warriors with null maces and stakethrower bolt pistols, no other options.
• Insidiants 9 and 10 can be built as Cremators, or regular warriors with null maces and stakethrower bolt pistols. The Cremators have alternate left arms with hand flamers (94 and 102) instead of bolt pistols.
• There are also 10 interchangeable heads (1 helmeted head, 9 bare heads) for all the operatives that don’t come with special heads.
• The left arms have flat contact points and can also be swapped, though each arm pose is clearly designed for a specific body.

Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.

The Celestian Insidiants offer plenty of options. You can build the models either as a unit with standard weaponry for potential use in 40k, or almost every model as a special operative for Kill Team. Apart from that, the poses themselves are quite locked-in. Only the heads are truly interchangeable.

Celestian Insidiants gameplay overview

In-game, the Insidiants kill team comprises 9 models, so one model remains as a reserve. As always, you want to take as many special operatives as possible. Additionally, you can choose up to two Cremators with hand flamers and fill the rest with Warriors. The archetypes are Security and Seek & Destroy. The faction rule revolves around Inspiration, which mechanically is a bit reminiscent of Warhammer Underworlds, making certain weapons stronger after the Inspire condition is met. Additionally, there are anti-psyker weapons and protection from psychic actions, and through Martyrdom, killed operatives who were inspired can give buffs to nearby models.

The Murderwing reviewed

The Murderwing kill team consists of the existing Chaos Lord with Jump Pack kit, plus a redesigned Raptor/Warp Talons kit with 5 models. Alongside standard weaponry for use in Warhammer 40,000, this sprue also contains additional parts for special operatives for Kill Team.

The Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (or Murderwing Chaos Lord, as he’s called in Kill Team) dates from 2024 and comes on a single small sprue and a 40mm base. The kit contains a few weapon and head options. Stylistically, he fits excellently with the design of the new Raptor models, so the models were probably developed in parallel.

The build options:

• 1 helmeted head with large horns (21), or bare head (22)
• 1 left arm with power axe, 1 left arm that can be built as either a power fist (part 18) or a lightning claw (17)
• 1 right arm with boltpistol (9) or plasma pistol (19), 1 left arm with lightning claw (13 and 14)
• Note that not all weapon combinations are a legal option in Kill Team.

The redesigned Raptors kit comprises 3 medium-sized sprue segments, which is quite generous for 5 models, as well as five 32mm bases and the Chaos Space Marines Infantry transfer sheet (plus the tokens and datacards). From the five models you can build 5 Raptors with chainswords and bolt pistols, or 5 Warp Talons with lightning claws, or a mixed Murderwing kill team. While the models are painted as Night Lords, the kit is generic without any Legion-specific heraldry.

The build options:

• Model 1 can be built as Champion, Raptor, Depredator, or Warp Talon. For the Champion/Raptor there is a right arm with either bolt pistol or plasma pistol, plus a left arm with either power sword or power fist for the Champion, or chainsword for the basic Raptor. The Depredator has a dual-handed heavy chainaxe (parts 20 to 22), while the Warp Talon has a pair of lightning claw arms.
• Model 2 can be built as Shrieker, Raptor, Skysear, or Warp Talon. The Shrieker has a special head (134), and a bolt pistol (31 and 33) and chainsword arm. There is also an arm with plasma pistol (30 and 32) for the Raptor, which uses the same chainsword arm. The Skysear has a pair of arms with flamethrower (36 to 38), while the Warp Talon has a pair of lightning claw arms.
• Model 3 can be built as Curseclaw, Raptor, Skysear, or Warp Talon. The Curseclaw has a special pair of daemonic legs, a mutated pair of arms, severed heads as trophies (parts 60 to 65), a special head (136), and a pair of daemonic wings (115 and 116). The other variants have regular power armoured legs instead. There is a bolt pistol and chainsword arm for the Raptor, a pair of arms with plasma gun for the Skysear (53 to 55), while the Warp Talon has a pair of lightning claw arms.
• Model 4 can be built as Raptor, Skysear, or Warp Talon. There is a bolt pistol and chainsword arm for the Raptor, a pair of arms with melta gun for the Skysear (77 to 79), while the Warp Talon has a pair of lightning claw arms.
• Model 5 can be built as Huntmaster, Ratpor, or Warp Talon. The Huntmaster has a pair of arms with a power javelin (99 to 100). There is also bolt pistol and chainsword arm for the Raptor, and a pair of lightning claw arms for the Warp Talon.
• The following pieces are freely interchangeable between the models: 12 heads (6 helmeted ones, 5 bare heads with half-masks), 10 shoulder pads (5 plain, 5 with various Chaos motifs), 5 pairs of optional jump pack wings for the Warp Claws, 5 optional holsters, 5 optional grenade packs, 5 interchangeable jump packs with 5 different thruster pieces (102 to 106)
• All of the arms have flat shoulder contact points and can be interchanged as well, though the poses are designed with specific torsos in mind.
• Heads, arms, shoulder pads, and jump packs are fully compatible with other current Chaos Space Marine kits.

Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.

The previous Raptors/Warp Talons kit wasn’t even that old, so I was surprised to see it updated. Its only problem was probably that it appeared shortly before the rollout of the current Chaos Space Marines range. The proportions of the previous Raptor/Warp Talon models corresponded more to the previous generation of mid-2000s Chaos Space Marines and Firstborn Space Marine models. The new kit now corrects this. The poses have also become more dynamic, and it introduces additional options for special operatives.

All in all, a great upgrade, only the “chicken legs” design of the daemon-possessed Curseclaw doesn’t quite work for me. The stringy proportions of the daemonic limbs don’t harmonise so well with the blocky power armour for my taste.

Murderwing gameplay overview

The Murderwing kill team is played as a team with 6 models. The Chaos Lord is mandatory, then you can choose from a list of special operatives, each selectable maximum once (Warp Talons also count as special operatives), and basic Raptors. You can have a maximum of two plasma pistols, melta guns, and/or plasma guns per team in total. So to flexibly cover all possible combinations, you’ll need at least a second box. The available archetypes are Recon and Seek & Destroy. The faction rules revolve around all sorts of movement shenanigans with the jump packs, which practically give the Murderwing flight. As Astartes they can also perform two Shoot or Fight actions, though with two Shoot actions the bolt pistol must always be used once.

A look into the Dead Silence dossier

If you’ve held one of the recent Kill Team dossiers in your hands, you know what to expect in the 88-page Shadowhunt dossier. There are a couple of pages of narrative including a two-page short story and an introduction to both kill teams. Then the Celestian Insidiants are explored using lore, artwork, photographs, and another short story. After that follows the same for the Murderwings of the Chaos Space Marines.

The third section comprises the Kill Team rules including faction rules, ploys, and datasheets. You can also download these rules for free on Warhammer Community.

The fourth section and centrepiece of the book are the new missions. For these, the Descent kill zone is introduced, which connects the Killzone: Volkus and Killzone: Tomb World setting. The idea is that models can switch between levels (that is, boards) using entry markers. For this you’ll need the two included half-size gaming boards, one of which is printed in the Volkus design (and Octarius on the other side) and the other in the Tomb World design (and Gallowdark on the other), as well as the corresponding terrain from the previous Kill Team expansions. A workaround if you don’t have the boards, which probably won’t be released individually, is to fold your existing Volkus board in half and play Tomb World with a 6 x 4 grid.

The Descent Killzone missions

The first Joint Ops: Shadowhunt mission pack is a PvE (player vs environment) mission pack with optional game master, for cooperative or solo gameplay. 3 missions are included. There are NPC datacards for the models from the Kill Team: Tomb World box (Scarab swarms, Necron Warriors, Tomb Crawlers, and Macrocytes); generic Trooper, Tough, and Brute profiles in both melee and shooty variants; and, for the final mission, the C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer for an epic boss fight (and a sales push for the new model). The second Adversary Ops: Shadowhunt mission pack is a PvP (player vs player) pack with three subsequent missions.

Last but not least, there are 12 more Descent kill zone maps for use with other mission packs.

More details about the book contents in the unboxing video above.

Where to get

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