Greetings my high speed, low drag readers! Today we are going to cover the upcoming 2025 Approved Operations mission pack, the most significant change to the game we have seen since the release of the new edition. Combine these with the release of two new kill teams – Deathwatch and Canoptek Circle, which we reviewed last week – and we’re likely to see a significant shake-up of the meta going into this year’s World Championships.
So what changed, and how does that affect your team in these new missions? In this review we’ll dive into the new pack and cover everything you need to know.
Before we dive into the new missions pack, we’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these missions for review purposes.
General Changes
There are three key parts here: In addition to new Crit Ops and Tac Ops, the deck comes with new map layouts. Most significantly, the Volkus maps have all been changed. And somewhat less significantly, so have the Bheta-Decima maps. Tomb Worlds maps have been added, while the Gallowdark maps have bafflingly remained unchanged.
Savvy players will notice that the Tomb World maps are basically Gallowdark maps with a significant amount of light terrain added to them. There are some differences between the two, however players who still want to use their Gallowdark terrain should be able to decently mirror the Tomb World layout. We’ve covered some of the key differences between the two in our review of the boxed set last weekend.
Meanwhile, Bheta-Decima maps still feel pretty barren. Not adding scatter terrain to the Bheta Decima layouts also seems like a missed opportunity to give this much-maligned Kill Zone some life on the tournament scene.
One big change is the removal of the Scouting Phase, meaning players will have fewer equipment and pre-game movement options. The best way to understand how initiative works going forward is by following these steps:
- After players have selected the Crit Op and Kill Zone they will roll to see who has Initiative prior to Turning Point 1. The winner of the roll-off decides who receives Initiative, then the person with Initiative chooses their Drop zone, and the other player gains a card that allows them to re-roll initiative on a future Turning Point.
- At the beginning of each Turning Point players will roll for Initiative, with the person currently without Initiative winning ties.
- Players, beginning with the player who would’ve lost the roll, may play cards or team abilities to modify the roll, going back and forth until both pass, much in the same way Strategic Gambits are played. Team abilities that modify rolls MUST be used before cards.
- The winner of the roll then decides who has Initiative in the next Turning Point. The loser of the roll, regardless of who is given Initiative, gains a modify Initiative card with a value equal to the current Turning Point.
It’s unclear if this is a good change to the game, mostly due to how the early game often works in Kill Team. If you lose the roll for the first Turning Point, you will gain a +1 to your next roll, but are likely to be given the Initiative, meaning you would still lose the tie. There are some definite head games going on here, and teams with initiative manipulation might feel even more encouraged to take them to offset their opponent’s cards.
Crit Ops
There was a significant overhaul of the available objective-based operations, but with a few classics returning, just so you don’t feel like things have changed completely. Here’s the rundown of what these look like:
- Secure / Loot / Transmission: Love them or hate them, the generic core rulebook options are all still here. These didn’t change, so if don’t like the new Crit Ops these are still here for you as options.
- Orb – Readers are likely familiar with this one thanks to the GW preview article, but to recap, The Orb begins the game occupying the center objective, and can be moved via the Move Orb (1 AP) action. If it is on the player’s objective it goes to the center, and if it’s in the center it goes to the opponent’s objective. At the end of Turning Point 2 onward, each objective without the marker is worth 1 VP. This one jumps out at me as strongly favoring teams that out activate their opponents, but it’s hardly unique in this case. Either way, odds are that this one is going to lead to a lower-scoring game due to only 2 VP being available during each Turning Point.
- Stake Claim – The “Called Shot” mission. As a Strategic Gambit in TP2 and onward, players must select a single objective and select one of two conditions: Either friendly operatives will control that marker at the end of the Turning Point, OR enemy operatives won’t contest it at the end of the Turning Point. You may not select the same objective more than once per battle. If your selection is true you score 1 VP at the end of the TP. The second VP is gained by simply controlling a majority of the objective markers. An interesting Op that will range from, straight forward when it comes to declaring your home objective, too complicated when you’re trying to determine what to claim on your opponent’s home objective. This one could’ve been made slightly more interesting by giving the players another option on what to claim, but ultimately you will win this Crit Op by simply controlling a majority of the objective markers.
- Energy Cells – Operatives may perform the Pick Up Marker action on objectives from TP 2 onwards with the caveat that the action takes an additional 2 AP and can not be reduced or modified in any way on that Turning Point. During TP3 it becomes an additional 1 AP but still may not be reduced/modified, and on TP4 the action works as normal. If you control more objectives than your opponent at the end of TP you gain 1 VP, and 1 VP if your operatives are carrying any objective markers. Operatives carrying a marker may not move more than 6 inches in a Turning Point. Not a wildly exciting Crit Op, another case of simply holding your home objective and taking control of the center, obviously favors teams with the numbers needed to run off and hide with their home territory objective.
- Download – You may perform the Download (1 AP) action on either the center or opponent’s objective marker, but only during TP3 and 4, and not on a marker that has already had the action performed on it. Players score 1 VP at the end of TP2 onward if they control a majority of objective markers, excluding those that have had the Download action performed on them. It is important to note that once an objective has been downloaded it remains so. Additionally, if you perform the Download action during TP3 you gain 1 VP, and 2 VP if you do it during TP4. Closer to Sabotage or Extraction in that choosing when to make your move for an objective will be key to beating out your opponent.
- Data – The new Intel, but with a twist. Either player may add to the Data on an objective using the Compile Data (1 AP) action, however this may only be done once per TP on each objective. The player who performed that action the most gains 1 VP at the end of TP2 onward. On TP4 players may perform the Send Data (1 AP) action to gain VP equal to the amount of data on that objective. There is no limit on how much VP a player may score during a Turning Point, barring the maximum of 6 available for the Crit Op, making this the rare Crit Op where a player could score 6 VP in the final round, and hypothetically both players could max this Crit Op at the same time, however unlikely.
- Reboot – Number the objectives 1-3 and both players secretly select one of the markers as a strategic gambit in TP1. If players picked different markers, then the marker neither of them chose is inert, and if they chose the same marker, that marker is inert. At the end of TP2, players score 1 VP for each marker they control, excluding any inert ones. Players may perform the Reboot (2 AP) action to make an inert marker no longer inert. This only needs to be performed once. I love the little mind games that this sets up in the first Turning Point, while still giving players a way out of it at a 2 action penalty. This seems to be slightly more prohibitive against elite teams, as opposed to horde ones that likely have a dedicated objective stooge for their home objective. However, if the center objective is rendered inert it could lead to a situation where neither player scores very heavily on this Crit Op.
Tac Ops
Recon
Flank – On first reading this one feels a little complex. Divide the board from the center of each player’s Kill Zone edge, essentially perpendicular to the line that divides your territories. An operative is considered to be contesting a flank when it is both wholly within that flank and their opponent’s territory. They control that flank if their total APL is greater than the enemy operatives doing the same in their opponent’s territory. This sets up an interesting scenario where the defending player has to be aggressive in order to counter the opponent’s aggression, and I’ll be frank. I don’t like this Tac Op, as its usefulness seems wildly different depending on the play style of the team using it. I can see this being of particular trouble when playing against Felgor or Goremongers with killing your opponent off your side of the board likely the best counter. Players gain 1 VP for each flank they control at the end of TP2 onward, which means this could be incredibly hard for teams that simply lack the bodies or ability to be that aggressive into their opponent.
Retrieval – Friendly operatives can perform the Retrieve (1 AP) on each objective marker once per game. When they do they generate a retrieval marker that they are immediately carrying. Friendly operatives may perform the Pick Up mission action on these markers. Each time you perform the Retrieve action you score 1 VP, and at the end of the game you score 1 VP for each marker your operatives carry. This is difficult Op to max, BUT you are not restricted in how many VP you score in each turning point, making it more forgiving in how you play it. A strong choice whether you’re confident you can roll over your opponent, or simply may only contest the center and just want to put points on the board.
Scout Enemy Movement – Operatives with the Conceal order can perform the Scout (1 AP) action against visible and readied enemy operatives more than 6 inches away. If performed, those enemies are considered monitored until the ready operatives step of the next strategy phase. At the end of TP2 onwards, monitored enemy operatives that are visible to any of your friendly operatives score 1 VP to a maximum of 2. This is a very strong Tac Op as it gives you A LOT of leeway, especially for shooting focused horde teams. The big downside is that since it must be performed against readied operatives it does give your opponent the ability to respond by either moving that operative to where it is no longer visible or attempting to put it in a position where you will be forced to incapacitate it to prevent further damage. Especially useful for teams that have snipers, such as Ratlings, this is basically Recon’s version of Implant.
Security
Envoy – At the start of TP2 onward select a friendly operative to be your Envoy. It may not be any operative you have already selected. If that operative is wholly within the opponent’s territory (outside of control range of the enemy) at the end of the TP, score 1 VP, if it has received no wounds score an additional VP. This is a rather straight forward, and very powerful Tac Op depending on the team. For elite teams this may essentially be useless if you’re strongly outactivated, but for horde teams that have access to operatives with super conceal and movement shenanigans this could be very difficult to counter.
Plant Banner – Friendly operatives can perform the Plant Banner (1 AP) action wholly within their opponent’s territory and 5 inches from a neutral edge, it may not be performed again. Both friendly and enemy operatives may perform the Pick Up action on the banner. At the end of TP2 and onward if the banner is wholly within your opponent’s territory you score 1 VP, and an additional 1 VP if it is not contested. This is definitely a risky one to take, but I can see it being popular with more elite teams like Ravenors who will be able to situate their tunnel on the banner, or Deathwatch who will simply plant the banner on the central objective and dare their opponent to force them off. This kind of strategy is definitely high risk/high reward but could possibly pay off given how tanky these teams can be.
Martyrs – Reveal when an operative is incapacitated while contesting a marker, place a Martyr token on that objective. At the end of TP2 onward you may remove any number of Martyr tokens for 1 VP each. You can score an additional 1 VP if you control that marker, maximum of 2 VP per Turning Point. This feels like a very strong Tac Op for shooting focused hordes who can line their gunners up on their home objective, and simply farm VP as a consequence for losing them, while it might be a tall ask for elite teams to use this.
Seek and Destroy
Rout – Fans of Seek and Destroy should be pleased to see the return of this op. Largely unchanged, operatives score 1 VP if they incapacitate an enemy while within 6 inches of the opponent’s drop zone, 2 VP if that enemy operative has 12 or more wounds. The obvious Turning Point restrictions apply to this, but right here we have one of the strongest Tac Ops in the deck. This is an obviously strong pick for teams like Goremongers or Felgor.
Sweep and Clear – This Op is revealed the first time an enemy operative is incapacitated while contesting an objective marker, or when friendly operatives perform the Clear (1 AP) mission action. When enemy operatives are incapacitated they add a “Sweep” marker to any objective they were contesting, while the Clear Action may be performed by an operative on any marker it controls. At the end of TP2 and onward you score 1 VP for controlling any markers with Sweep marker on it, and an additional VP if the Clear action has been performed on any of those markers. This Tac Op feels somewhat overly complicated, although far from impossible, the requirement to kill an enemy on an objective means it will run into the same issues as Storm Objective since players can often move off of an objective to deny you an opportunity to score.
Dominate – A superior form of Champion. Operatives now gain Dominate tokens whenever they incapacitate an enemy. At the end of TP3 and TP4 you may remove those tokens for 1 VP each, and you can’t score more than 3 VP per Turning Point. This could be especially powerful in the hands of teams that have effective snipers or other operatives are able to act offensively but not risk themselves, however there is no wording that accounts for 12 wound or higher operatives making this utterly useless against elite teams, kind of a big mistake on the part of the writers.
Infiltration
Track Enemy – Kind of a replacement for Implant, enemy operatives are considered “Tracked” if a friendly operative with the Conceal order is within 6 inches of them (but not in control range), AND is not a valid target for that enemy operative. At the end of TP2 and beyond you score 1 VP for each enemy operative tracked in this way with the added bonus of only needing to track a single enemy operative in TP4 to score 2 VP. This is a very strong Tac Op as it allows you to simultaneously score points, and set up threats for the following Turning Point. Much like Implant it does suffer from the inability to simultaneously score maximum on the Kill Grade and Tac Op. Additionally, it allows weaker operatives to contribute against opponents they would otherwise not be able to harm.
Plant Devices – All operatives may perform the Plant Device (1 AP) mission action to place a device token on objectives they control. At the end of each Turning Point you score 1 VP if you have planted a device on the enemy’s objective, and 1 VP for each OTHER marker that has a token and is contested by the enemy to a maximum of 2 VP per Turning Point. I’ll be honest, I don’t like this Tac Op. Maxing requires you either seize your opponent’s objective, or allow your opponent to contest your own, ironically making it less likely for you to score the more thoroughly you’re defeating your opponent. I will say it is better than Wiretap, which it seems to be replacing.
Steal Intelligence – Whenever an enemy operative is incapacitated, place an Intelligence Marker within its control range. Friendly operatives may perform the Pick Up action on these markers, and each may carry up to two of them. At the end of each Turning Point score 1 VP if any operatives are carrying an Intelligence Marker, and at the end of last Turning Point score 1 VP for each marker that is being carried by friendly operatives. Another Tac Op and not too thrilled with, since it seems like Confirm Kill, but with extra steps. The additional action economy load, and the potential to have the operative carrying the tokens simply die and drop them makes this one hard to stay on top of.
Final Thoughts
It is really hard to say how much these new Ops will affect the game; certainly players will have to figure out what works best with their team. On the plus side all the categories have at least one strong choice, meaning every team should have a couple of decent options. The downside is that we still have a problem with some of these Tac Ops being demonstrably more difficult to play than others, meaning some are unlikely to ever see play in a competitive environment.
Overall these seem more balanced than the previous set, and that’s a positive, and keeping play fresh is a plus. During our review, the team went back and forth on how these ops would affect teams on the whole but ultimately we didn’t feel like these ops would elevate any bad teams to being good so much as maybe just shift things around among teams that were already good. There are some stand-outs among these to be sure, but no obvious best options.
CYRAC: I actually really like the new Crit and Tac Ops. Crit Ops are more important and engaging, with a greater chance of going 0 points a TP if you’re not careful. They’re something you really have to focus on, which is great. Generally Tac Ops are also much harder to max as well, which is awesome. Security feels the strongest here overall but Rout is a definite problem that needs a nerf (i.e. 6 inches from opponent’s kill zone edge or 3 inches from dropzone) due to how easily consistent it is to max for Seek teams.
I am not a fan of the initiative changes. The modifiers ramp up too quickly, they’re open for abuse with teams that already modifiy initiative, slow down the game, and we lost the Scouting Phase for it. Scouting was part of the game’s identity to me, making it help stand out from other games, with its removal we lose a ton of depth from the game and make killzones with equipment tax even worse to play on. Also, allowing competitive players to ensure when they can win initiative is just danagerously bad, before I couldn’t plan to go first TP3 or 4 and now I can, which heavily changes things for people who can easily plan ahead.
As for the new maps, I think the Tomb World maps are great, Volkus is a mixed bag, and Bheta Decima’s are worse with one map having an unplayable objective. Sadly we got no new maps for Gallowdark or general killzones, basically leaving it up to the community to support them.
Overall, I do like the direction of AO2025. I need to play it out more and hopefully I’m wrong on the initiative changes. Security and horde teams are big winners here. Crit Ops favour teams who out-activate the opponent and the same goes for Security. Seek and Destroy, or should I say Rout, is a big winner too so rushdown aggro players will be happy. There’s a lot of depth to the new Crit Ops so I can’t wait to see how players approach them.
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