I went to Gateway Open 2025!

I had the privilege to attend the Kill Team Grand Tournament at Saint Louis’ Gateway Open event. Many veterans all around the midwest were there, from Springfield, Urbana-Champaign, Saint Louis, Indiana, Wisconsin, Twin Cities… I swung down the Gateway center with Rob and Michael from the Dice Dojo gang, which made the road trip even better. At around 4 hours, it was a nice stretch to chat about random stuff with them. Thanks Rob for the smooth drive!

The atmosphere was grand, with friendly gamers and a great competitive level. Sporting 28 players, and 5 rounds split over Saturday and Sunday, I’d say it had a good balance of round depth for the attendance.There were at least two Golden Ticket holders, so there was some chance of trickle down. There was also a golden Ticket for “Best Painted” on the line but there was little chance I could aspire to that.

Rob, Michael and I played on our most frequently represented teams this edition: Rob on Acquilons, Michael on Starstriders, and me on Warpcoven. As good representatives of the Dojo’s meta as any in Chicagoland! Part of the farewell tour for Starstriders and Warpcoven, too. Season 1 for the lulz!

This is how it went for me - at a bird’s view, lest I bore everyone to death with my lengthy recollections of the games. Without further ado, here’s a collection of highlights by way of -

Tournament Report

Played under the 2025Q3 Balance changes.

Round 0: Practice game!

On the eve of the tournament, Michael, Rob and I improvised a War Room situation to share our thoughts on the meta and possible strategies. I was lucky to get a practice game with Rob’s Aquilons. I haven’t played Warpcoven in months, and the data slate had not been kind to my aggressive playstyle. I was determined to try a slow patience and a safe strategy despite my best instincts honed throughout this edition of Astartes ultra violence.

Given the Aquilons’ signature drop mechanics, Rob would have impunity to either deny Security Tac Ops, or punish me for standing still. Given that I could only imagine victory through a hyper cagey style, I decided to try “Plant Beacons”. As for Sorcerers, I picked:

  • Warpfire Sorcerer, Astral Bombardment, Khopesh
  • Destiny Sorcerer, Immaterial Sight, Khopesh
  • Tempyrion Sorcerer, Master of Immaterium, Khopesh

Rob chose side and gave me the high vantage. I was a bit puzzled by the choice but Rob had a plan.

I stayed mostly back on TP1. I moved a Tzaangor onto my home objective, and my Warpfire sorcerer stayed by the leftmost ruins. The rest of my team were in the stronghold, setting up. My Rubric lounged in the high vantage, with the other two sorcerers in the low vantage, and the Tzaangor Champion, Standard Bearer and Warrior with blades on the ground.

I opened TP2 by activating a Tzaangor that had received Temporal Flux on the previous turn, that barged out into the enemy territory to plant a beacon, then teleported back. Rob played patiently, mostly setting up. Then another Tempestus moved into my home objective to kill the Tzaangor on my objective, and revealed Storm Objective. My Warpfire Sorcerer dropped a grenade on himself, charged and killed the invading Aquilon, then Temporal Flux’ed back into the smoke. My last activation was my Tzaangor Icon bearer moving into the center objective. Then Rob fully opened up the floodgates of violence, dropping his precursor onto my Flag Bird. However, Tzeentch was watching, and the Flag Tzaangor was inspired by change, getting a crit and two normal hits. The precursor was forced to parry to survive, and my Tzaangor had bloodied him. The Servo-Sentry shot at my Warpfire Sorcerer but the smoke kept me mostly safe.

On TP3, Rob invested heavily around the center. Rob’s melta took the Warpfire Sorcerer out of commission, but then my Rubric Gunner shot the Servo-Sentry out of function, then dropped a krak on the melta and killed him. My Tzaangor Standard Bearer bloodied another Aquilon, gaining the title of MVP (Mutant Value Piece). The Destiny Sorcerer took the Gunfighter, and I had a solid control of the map. I wasn´t playing beacons optimally, but then Michael reminded me that beacons do not measure the distance horizontally - so I could use the verticality of the Stronghold to great effect. I silently chastised myself for having avoided “Plant Beacons” so much.

On TP4, I had Crit, Tac, and Kill advantage. I don’t take much joy in this victory - I felt I was aided severely by Rob’s patience and Michael’s analysis. I did, however, took good lessons - it was the first time I played against Aquilons, and the first time I managed to play conservatively. Yay! I was now a cowardly Warpcoven pilot, as in vogue by the big tournament champions!

Michael thought I was now ready to consider myself a Beacon Boy.

Beacon Boy

Round 1: Loot: Gallowdark vs Plague marines

The table was on Squad Games asymmetrical map 5. squad 5. I was matched against Bruns’ Plague Marines. I have seen my opponent around the Dojo, but I knew nothing about his playstyle, and he chose the bottom side. I presume he wanted a safe approach into the center, or a deadly corridor for me to assault. After losing the fifth attack on the Khopesh to the winds of balance changes, I thought I should aim for a shooty composition. Therefore I went for:

  • Warpfire Sorcerer, Mutant Appendage, Warpflame pistol
  • Destiny Sorcerer, Immaterial Sight, Khopesh
  • Tempyrion Sorcerer, Master of Immaterium, Khopesh
  • Rubric Gunner, Soul Reaper Cannon
  • Rubric Gunner, Warpflamer
  • Tzaangor Standard Bearer
  • Tzaangor Champion

I had also decided to try “Plant Beacons”. I thought Plague Marines had easy ways to invade my Security targets and stick around to deny control. I chose heavy barricades and light barricades, mostly to use as obstacles on the left and center. The heavy barricade was a safe staging point from which to access a few good Beacon spots and maybe take potshots.

I chose Reposition as scouting, so that my Warpfire sorcerer on the left started by the door. This is my signature Gallowdark opening, which poses a big threat since it can open the door for free.

Bruns chose to stage aggressively on TP1, opening the doors on his side to aggressively assault the room on the left. The plaguecaster wouldn’t be able to heal them, so I left Temporal Flux on my Warpfire Sorcerer, activated it, and moved and dashed to break the 2’’ off cover and took a cheeky warpflame shot at two marines getting good damage in. After the Feel No Pains, I think it was 5 damage on one, and 7 on the other,then teleporting back out of sight on my side. This was a good lead, since due to barricades he wouldn´t be able to charge me or get into a shooting spot. Temporal Flux is very good on Gallowdark, as planting it on a door’s threshold gives you a good threat range while also allowing to save a “Capricious Plan” CP since the operative can return to a safe spot out of sight.

On TP2, Bruns moved aggressively on all sides, as I did two “Plant Beacon” activations to wait him out. I then advanced with Rubric Gunner and shot his plague caster, then opened a door on the center’s left side to tie in melee a Plague marine that was On Guard. I was able to time my activations out to take shots at him after he went with relative impunity.

He had a more solid control of the right side, but the scoring would not be enough so that he had to take some risks on TP3, and it was not in the dice for him to get enough damage in. Since he didn´t had the Plague Caster and I had a damage lead, I was able to focus my shooting and eliminate his operatives.

I obtained an advantage in Crit, Tac and Kill ops and came out victorious.

Bruns was a very gracious opponent, and we stayed a few minutes chatting about strategy before the next round.

Round 2: Power surge: Gallowdark vs Phobos

I was matched against Daniel, Urbana-Champaign’s premier TO, that was playing Phobos. The map was Squad Games asymmetrical map 2. squad 2 I had the pleasure of facing him at the last Adepticon, and after that, we had exchanged a few ideas about how to play Warpcoven. He even went to play a tournament in Springfield as Warpcoven, flexing on numbers of Tzaangors.

Which meant - he either knew or imagined many of my tricks! My sweat glands started working. Could I really go against Phobos, since those reivers would have an easy time delivering their chain swords into my operatives’ necks?

Daniel chose side and took the bottom. That afforded him good safety to make long range threats, but also charge into the objectives.

I almost decide to go heavy on Tzaangors, to set up a meatgrinder. But Phobos could shoot them down easily if I had only one misplay. So I brought 2 Rubrics, that might have some chance of survival if I got low rolls on “Fate Itself is my Weapon” and a CP in the pocket for “All is Dust”. So I reiterated on the small brain composition to face marines:

  • Warpfire Sorcerer, Mutant Appendage, Warpflame pistol
  • Destiny Sorcerer, Incorporeal Flight, Khopesh
  • Tempyrion Sorcerer, Master of Immaterium, Khopesh
  • Rubric Gunner, Soul Reaper Cannon
  • Rubric Gunner, Warpflamer
  • Tzaangor Standard Bearer
  • Tzaangor Champion

My side favored Take Ground, since I had more APL than the 6 phobos to control doors. I only needed to succeed in one room - and I actually measured that I could theoretically control two doors with one operative! My left most door, once opened, allowed me to be both in its range and the opposing door if it was closed.

I again Scouted my Warpfire on the left to be able to threaten that room on TP1. Daniel had seen that moved and chose to respect it, so that we both played quite a few uneventful activations. I eventually opened the door on the left but was Temporal Flux’ed back into a heavy barricade. Unfortunately, his last activation was sending a reiver to stand on the center objective - I assume the gamble was I would either chicken out, or at worst had to move an operative far ahead to shoot it and then be a sitting duck.

My ultraviolence instincts kicked in. My last activation was the Rubric with Soul Reaper Cannon that moved, dashed, and shot the Reiver. I got a good shot and Daniel got bad saves, so that gave me a good lead.

On TP2, he delayed activation on the gunner. I went with my destiny sorcerer that used Sorcerous Scroll to get Time Walk, and with the extra inch was able to reach Daniel’s center door and fight the reiver Leader standing there. I got good enough rolls and killed the leader on two fight actions, but was left pretty wounded. Daniel was playing a solid Beacon game, posing enough threats on the big room on my right, but his shooting was not coming through on the operatives I had left open. My Rubrics died slow, very slow, as I gained control of the left side. With that, I got a good staging point that allowed me to maximize Tac Op for no actions.

I came out victorious. Daniel had played much better than in our last game, but the aggressive Reiver move on TP1 allowed me to start the trading war on my terms - since I have more operatives with activation advantage, and I don´t need to spend actions on my tac Op. I could seize the tempo pretty early.

Round 3: Transmission: Volkus vs Sanctifiers

I got matched against Ryan, playing Sanctifiers, on GW’s Volkus layout 3. volkus 3 I didn’t know much about how this team would play out now - would they be aggressive from the beginning, or would they use their durability for a security game? He could either wait all of my TP2 activations and then attack with moderate impunity, or he could go very aggressive from the beginning.

I got the bottom side - which allowed me some flexibility. The Stronghold has relatively good access to the center line and objective with safety - And it made for a very easy beacon geometry. So I went for my 3/1/4 flexible composition:

  • Warpfire Sorcerer, Mutant Appendage, Warpflame pistol
  • Destiny Sorcerer, Incorporeal Flight, Khopesh
  • Tempyrion Sorcerer, Master of Immaterium, Khopesh
  • Rubric Gunner, Soul Reaper Cannon
  • Tzaangor Standard Bearer
  • Tzaangor Champion
  • Tzaangor Warrior with Shield
  • Tzaangor Warrior with Blades

I could “Plant Beacon” on counteractions, or activations knowing I can retreat with Temporal Flux. If he went aggressive, the Rubric Gunner would afford me solid damage output. I took razorwire, which I used to block the left front of my large ruin, and then used barricades to plug the holes to the side of the small ruin in the center.

TP1, I moved a Tzaangor with Shield onto my home objective, and the Flying destiny sorcerer onto the Vantage on the left ruin. I had the Warpfire Sorcerer with mutant appendage and 3 Tzaangors on the Stronghold ground level, while the Tempyrion Sorcerer and Rubric gunner on the first Vantage.

TP2 he gained initiative and opened with his melta. Thanks to “Fate Itself is my Weapon” and his poor rolls, I only took one hit. Then I activated my Tempyrion Sorcerer, got a good heal on Destiny, and cast Temporal Flux on it. Ryan moved his Leader onto the ruins on the center. I lost my cool, and instead of playing safely and charge the melta gunner, I charged the leader. I got bad rolls, and died on that charge, with the leader barely taking one crit and Rosarius’ “Just a scratch”ing my last normal. I was in quite the pickle, having lost a big piece for just a little bit of chip damage that he would heal. I had the intuition he was going for Take Ground, so I used “Mutant Herd” to charge with both my Tzaangor Standard Bearer and Champion into the Leader. Since he couldn’t ignore a normal damage anymore, I should be able to down it should the fight not be denied by “Commanding Declamation” - otherwise, at worst, I’m disputing control of the ruin and central objective. The fight action got denied, so I ended up with two Tzaangors there. Then he started moving aggressively forward. At the end of the turn, he revealed Take Ground, and could only score one ruin, while I got 2 beacons.

On TP3 he got initiative, and opened with his melta that yielded disappointing results again. I played very aggressively, getting good shots and damage output, while the Sanctifier rolls went mediocre. I managed to get the leader and either kill or severely wound a few operatives, so that I ended with good control of the map and 2 new beacons. My Rubric gunner was shot multiple times, serving his noble purpose as lightning rod, barely surviving as I healed it while it got damage from ablaze.

On TP4, Ryan finally got a good melta shot, but by that point I had got decent scoring on the crit op and tac op, securing me the victory.

I had mixed feelings about the game. I had made one terrible mistake losing a Sorcerer on an activation where the math was against me, and had only crawled out of the maws of defeat through betting on aggression and getting good rolls while my opponent’s dice betrayed him.

Day 1 Wrapup

In a way, I was lucky that I would go into the top opponents of the GT - which is a good thing, allowing me to get solid practice. But I didn’t like being lucky, I would have wanted to win through better gameplay.

The lesson was rough - I needed to keep my cool and play safe, attack only with asymmetrical threats, and only when I had an advantage. Hyper aggression was never going to work on the current balance. I had managed that in the first 2 rounds, but it was no big feat - I had activation advantage against 6 Astartes, so that it was easy to be safe. On the third round, I had some good ideas, but in pretty much most universes I would have lost that game when my TP2 big play was a Sorcerer charging into his death. This brought me back to my previous tournaments this edition, where I misjudge an activation, or deviate from the plan I picked for the battle (such as deploying with a conservative strategy in mind, then switching to aggression) only to get punished for it.

Anyway. Many of the players went for dinner together, so that we got socialize a bit and get to know each other outside of the Killzone. Good times!

Later, Michael, Rob and I did another mini War room, and Springfield’s vaunted J.D. joined for a late night Midwestern chat and strategizing.

Round 4: Compile Intel against Felgors

I got matched against Dylan piloting Felgors, on GW’s Volkus 1. volkus 1 I expected him to rush me hard and overwhelm me in melee - and threat saturation is Warpcoven’s weak point. I got the top side, so again I decided again for the flexible 3/1/4 composition:

  • Warpfire Sorcerer, Mutant Appendage, Warpflame pistol
  • Destiny Sorcerer, Incorporeal Flight, Khopesh
  • Tempyrion Sorcerer, Master of Immaterium, Khopesh
  • Rubric Gunner, Soul Reaper Cannon
  • Tzaangor Standard Bearer
  • Tzaangor Champion
  • Tzaangor Warrior with Shield
  • Tzaangor Warrior with Blades

I went for “Plant Beacon”. I used razorwire and 2 light barricades to make the approach harder.

My plan was to stay back, score opportunistically and return to safety with Temporal Flux, while having my Rubric gunner zone him out of rushing straight in the open. My Stronghold would have some presence on the vantages mostly to control the right side, with some token presence on the ground to either use as bait or opportunistically. Unfortunately, I executed very poorly.

On TP2, I got moderately weak results on “Fate itself is my weapon”: a 1 and a 4. Given the felgor’s violent temperament, the 1 would do little for me. I charged with Destiny Sorcerer and killed the leader - but when Temporal Fluxxing back, I left the Sorcerer close to the wall, so that there was enough room on the vantage for him to charge me up without me realizing.

I used my Tempyrion Sorc to heal the Destiny Sorcerer, and cast Temporal Flux on the Warpfire sorcerer. Then Dylan charged with his champion into my Destiny Sorcerer, killing it easily. I went with Warpfire, played the mission on the center, planted beacon, then returned via Temporal Flux.

I had moved my Tzaangor Champion 3 inches out of my deployment zone on TP1, tucked on the outside of the stronghold. Dylan was able to charge it, killing it, and got the ploy for a second charge to tie my Warpfire Sorcerer down.

I had lost total control of the tempo by then and was restrained to play on the back foot.

I played a miserable TP3, with undesireably low results on “Fate itself is my weapon” which ended with the Vandal simultaneously charging my Tempyrion Sorcerer, Warpfire sorcerer and a Tzaangor warrior, then using “Sweeping Blow”. Dylan reminded me that I had kraks and had never used them, so I decided I might as well follow his nudge. So my Tzaangor with a shield moved to the door at the enemy stronghold, threw a krak at the Herd-Goad threatening mine, frenzied it, and planted a beacon with the free mission action. However the end position was a mistake. Although the Herd-Goad charged my warrior and didn’t kill it, Dylan’s Deathknell moved behind his stronghold’s door while staying on the objective, and finished it via hatchway fight. Had I moved the Tzaangor to a side, he would have gotten another activation on TP4 to do a far beacon, or maybe throw a krak.

I ended up losing 14 to 15 - and about 3 CPs I hadn’t used! I could had used Capricious plan plenty of times to get out of charge range, further back. Or a few rerolls fishing for crits. Alas. I had made too many mistakes, mispositioning my Destiny Sorcerer and Tzaangor Champion and losing them almost for free, while misplaying the last chance to swing back or get a tie.

But ultimately, I think my biggest mistake was not tracking what he had behind his stronghold’s door. I should have kept abreast of those threats until I got a better advantage on the right side of the map.

Round 5: Coordinates against Inquisition

For my final game, I was matched against Mike on Inquisition, on GWś Volkus layout 2. volkus 3 This was a very interesting way for me to end the tournament, because I haven´t faced inquisition on this edition yet. It is the team on the opposite side of the coin for Warpcoven - with lots of flexibility on operative and Tac Op selection. Mike was kind enough to joke that he had left the Sisters back home, but when I looked at the map, I realized that he could do a number on me if he brought Arbites. I didn’t really know what he could pick though, given the recent buff to Breachers, and the great value of Kasrkin’s comms. So I sighed and went for my “everything bagel” 3/1/4 again, as it allows me the best flexibility to choose between Security and Recon once I see the opponent’s operative selection. For completeness’ sake:

  • Warpfire Sorcerer, Mutant Appendage, Warpflame pistol
  • Destiny Sorcerer, Incorporeal Flight, Khopesh
  • Tempyrion Sorcerer, Master of Immaterium, Khopesh
  • Rubric Gunner, Soul Reaper Cannon
  • Tzaangor Standard Bearer
  • Tzaangor Champion
  • Tzaangor Warrior with Shield
  • Tzaangor Warrior with Blades

Mike ultimately chose Arbites, that are very durable and can swamp me effectively. I thought I had a good avenue into Plant Beacon on TP2 and TP3 - and that was enough. I wasn’t sure I could much in a Security game. I used light barricades, one in the center Stronghold to try to prevent the last stretch of a charge if I had to move an operative into the objective, and another one to slow down a bit the approach to my home objective. We both had ladders o ease our way onto the central Stronghold

I moved moderately aggressively. By the end of TP1, I had the Tzaangor Champion around the top right corner of the center Stronghold, and a Tzaangor with a shield around the top left corner of the Stronghold. Those would take any charges from shield people. My Warpfire Sorcerer was just behind the Tzaangor Champion, with Temporal Flux, just in range to go into the opponent’s objective and teleport back. Mike moved his Questkeeper aggressively into his home objective, ready to charge as deep as he could, while the Deathworld veteran was staged on the small ruins on the bottom left of the map, with plenty of subductors on his side of the Stronghold.

On TP2 I gained the initiative. Mike countered my “Fate itself is my weapon”, so I woudl have to play the regular dice gambling rules. I charged with my warpfire sorcerer into the quest keeper. I had a minor misplay - I attacked first before using mutant appendage. Had I rolled poorly, the Warpfire Sorcerer would have died as the quest keeper hits on the way out - but luckily Mike got an average roll, and I got a crit that allowed me to use shock. I realized after the results this could have costed me the game, but I ended up taking a solid threat out, starting the crit op and “Plant beacons”. Mike followed up with a few aggressive Arbites activations, charging a Tzaangor with a shield that survived on 1 wound, and another climbed onto the vantage to drop a krak on my wounded Warpfire sorcerer. Luckily it survived, and I was able to kill the agressor with my Destiny sorcerer using Doombolt and a krak of his own. By the end of TP2, I had a lot of pressure on me, and many operatives severely wounded, with the deathguard veteran sitting on my home objective. Mike revealed “Contain”, which was overall a solid choice given his beefy subductors tying me on my side. My Champion had moved into the Stronghold, behind the door and the barrel hugging his side, so that I denied one point. I had managed to hold my horses and save my Champion, getting a small positioning advantage!

However, on TP3, it was time for gloves out. We traded blows, losing a few operatives each, but I had managed to score 4 on Plant Beacons, and had a 1 point advantage on the Crit Op. I moved my Destiny Sorcerer by the top left corner of the Stronghold to shoot the deathworld veteran, and merely got chip damage in. My Tzaangor Champion even ended the turn on his home objective! I congratulated myself on being so chill and played that operative safely. Yay me!

Mike had made one mistake - at the end of TP3, he had moved his pistolier to the rightmost large ruin. My Tzaangor Champion was in range for a charge, and when I got initiative on TP4, that was my first activation. He followed up with an activation meant to get some additional crit op points, and then I used sorcerous Scroll to give my Destiny Sorcerer an extra inch movement so that he could charge the marksman on the corner his bottom left small ruins. The Sorcerer killed the marksman and planted a far beacon, finishing fully within 6’’of his deployment zone.

I came out victorious after a brain wrecking game. It really felt like we were playing 4d chess against each other, using all of the complexity each team had to offer - but Tzeentch had graced me with good rolls when I needed them, and Mike’s dice were merely average. This game helped me a lot - I took some risks but I had set up and played TP1 in a way that, while not perfectly safe, protected high-value activations. It wasn’t hyper-cagey, and other than the first TP2 activation, I had made no errors against one of the most challenging teams to manage in the current meta.

Day 2 wrap up

When the last game was done, I ended up 3rd (Best Coast Pairings placing), below Brett B on Brood Brothers, with the Championship going to Dylan and his Felgors. The Golden Ticket for best painting went to Lee Stuessiś Phobos, that had a magnificent Gallowdark-style display board with deep space lightning effects.

I was left with a bittersweet mood. On the bright side, performance-wise, I had actually played much better than I expected, since I was out of practice. I even got into the podium and a nice trophy to add to my messy desk! I had 5 wonderful opponents, and competitive games in novel situations to help me back into fighting shape.

But much to my chagrin, I haven’t managed to use my first two games to get into the right playing mindset. I made one egregious mistake in my third game, and at least three unforced errors on my fourth. This was a more solid performance than what I got at Adepticon and the last Dojo tournament (which I haven´t had the time to finish writing up, where I also made many mistakes), but I need to do better if I ever aspire to get a Golden Ticket.

So - on my personal journey, I definitely grew more competent. And on a social aspect, I got a kind exposure to the wider Midwest Kill Team scene.

Epilogue

The road back home was easy, in a way - traffic was low, and Rob got us all the way. My brain was a bit tired so I didn’t chat a lot, but at least I was able to follow Rob’s and Michael ‘s conversation (for the most)! I even recommended one or two media artifacts, or commented on anime we had in common interests.

On a gaming dimension, in conclusion, Rob mentioned he had been trying “Storm Objectives” in this tournament, that he had avoided for the most this far. It was harder than his usual strategies, but at least he got to practice with a new approach to the game. Michael achieved his goal of finishing in the top half with Starstriders, and level up his scoring strategy in maps he had never played before.

It took me quite some time to write this small chronicle. There were a lot of subtle moments of kindness or humor here and then that would lose some of their charm if rendered into words. The dinner on Saturday is best as a memory than as a blog post.

I also leave the more technical details of the games out, focusing more on takeaways that might represent the key moments we Kill Team players look for: the convoluted strategies, the risks, their miscalibrations, and plans crashing into plans or lack thereof. After all, Kill Team is fun as a game by itself, but most enjoyable as an opportunity to tell stories and meet friends.