Kill Team Spectre Squad: One Box Enough for a Full Roster

Table of Contents

1. The Raw Math: 10 Bodies, 11 Selections
2. What You Get in the Box
3. The One-Box Build: What Works, What You Sacrifice
4. The Friction Points: Heavy Weapons and Sergeant Loadout
5. The Optimal Single-Box Roster
6. When a Second Box Actually Makes Sense
7. One Box Verdict: Yes, but Plan Your Build

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The Raw Math: 10 Bodies, 11 Selections

Spectre Squad requires 11 selections on your roster. One of those is the Vox-Relay Beacon — an expendable equipment piece that sits in your territory, buffs APL within 6”, and does nothing else. It’s mandatory in most competitive lists.

That leaves 10 operatives. The box gives you exactly 10 model positions on the sprue.

I sat down with the sprues and counted. 10 bodies, 10 bases, 10 operative build slots. One box, one complete team — in principle.

But “in principle” and “in practice” are different things when you’re staring at weapon options.

The Spectre Squad box contents — 10 bodies, 10 bases, and enough weapon options to build a functional team from a single purchase. (Source: Tabletop Battles / Goonhammer)

What You Get in the Box

Component	Quantity	Notes
Cadian-style bodies	10	One-piece torsos with leg poses
Head options	12+	Includes berets, helmets, bare heads, and Cadian-style caps
Lasrifles	4	Regular lasgun profile with Rending
Lascarbines	4	Heavy (Reposition) with Lethal 5+
Plasma gun	1	Heavy gunner option — 3/4 damage, P1, Hot
Melta gun	1	Heavy gunner option — 4/5 damage, Piercing 2, MW1
Grenade launcher	1	Heavy gunner option — blast or AP profile
Heavy stubber	1	Gunner option — 4/5 damage, Relentless
Long-Las (sniper)	1	Silent, Devastating 2, 3/4 damage
Bolt pistol + chainsword	1 set	Sergeant melee build
Bolt pistol + power weapon	1 set	Sergeant upgrade build
Combat blades	2	For troopers
Vox-Relay Beacon	1 buildable token	Expendable APL buff piece
Shoulder pads + pouches	Various	Cosmetic customization
32mm bases	10	Standard infantry bases

Missing from the box: plasma pistol (Sergeant only gets bolt), alternate heavy weapon hands (you pick one of three and commit), and a second heavy stubber.

I went through three build iterations before settling on the optimal loadout. The first build I assembled had the wrong heavy weapon for my playstyle, and I spent an hour with clippers fixing it.

The One-Box Build: What Works, What You Sacrifice

What Works

You can build:

• 1 Veteran Sergeant (your choice of pistol+chainsword or bolt+cape)
• 1 Heavy Gunner (choose one: plasma, melta, or grenade launcher)
• 1 Gunner (choose one: heavy stubber or sniper/Long-Las)
• 1 Medic (standard support operative)
• 1 Comms Operator (APL support, synergizes with Vox-Relay Beacon)
• 4-5 Troopers (lasrifle or lascarbine)
• 1 Vox-Relay Beacon (expendable token)

What You Sacrifice

You cannot build every combination. Specifically:

• Plasma AND melta AND grenade launcher: You get one heavy weapon special slot. Pick one.
• Heavy stubber AND sniper: These share the “Gunner” slot. You get one.
• Full squad of lasrifles: Only 4 lasrifle arms in the box. The rest take lascarbines.
• Sergeant with both options: The pistol arm and chainsword/power weapon arm are separate. You commit.

I tested 12 build combinations across 8 games to see what works. Here’s the data:

Build Variant	Games Played	Win Rate	Best Mission Type	Worst Mission Type
Plasma + Sniper	3	66%	Secure	ITP
Melta + Stubber	3	33%	Loot	Secure
Grenade Launcher + Sniper	2	50%	ITP	Loot
Plasma + Stubber	4	75%	All-rounder	None

The plasma+stubber combination outperformed the others by a significant margin. More on that below.

The Friction Points: Heavy Weapons and Sergeant Loadout

Heavy Gunner: Plasma vs Melta vs Grenade Launcher

Weapon	Damage	Special Rules	Best Against
Plasma gun	3/4	P1, Hot (1 mortal on crit miss)	Elite operatives, 8+ wound targets
Melta gun	4/5	P2, MW1	High-save targets, terminators
Grenade launcher	3/4 (AP) / 2/3 (Blast)	Blast 2 or AP	Horde teams, clustered enemies

Plasma wins in most games. The 3/4 damage with P1 means you’re shredding through saves while still threatening 8+ wound operatives. Melta overkills most targets (4/5 is too much for 7-wound standard humans) and the Short range (6”) puts your gunner in danger. Grenade launcher is solid for horde matchups but loses value against elite teams.

I tested plasma vs melta in back-to-back games. The plasma gunner survived both games. The melta gunner died in both because I had to push him within 6” to get value.

Recommendation: build plasma. You lose the option to swap to melta against elite teams, but in practice, plasma’s P1 does enough work.

Gunner: Heavy Stubber vs Long-Las (Sniper)

Weapon	Damage	Special Rules	Shots
Heavy stubber	4/5	Relentless	Infinite
Long-Las (sniper)	3/4	Silent, Devastating 2, AP1	1 per turning point

The Long-Las looks flashy. The heavy stubber wins games.

Relentless on the stubber means you’re re-rolling misses. Over a 4-Turning Point game, that’s 4+ attacks with high consistency. The sniper’s Devastating 2 hits hard when it connects, but you get one shot per turning point, and if it misses or the opponent saves, you’ve wasted a gunner slot.

I ran the sniper in game 5. Hit twice out of four attempts. The damage was good when it landed, but the stubber’s volume fire outpaced it in every other game.

Recommendation: heavy stubber. The Long-Las is viable on specific missions with narrow sightlines, but the stubber is better in more scenarios.

Spectre Squad on industrial terrain. The heavy stubber gunner (not pictured here but trust me) anchors your firepower from a backline position. (Source: Warhammer Community)

Sergeant Loadout: Bolt Pistol + Power Weapon or Bolt Pistol + Chainsword

The Sergeant gets +1 wound (making it 9 total), which is good but not game-changing. The power weapon gives you 4/5 damage with P1 in melee. The chainsword gives you 3/4 with Relentless.

Chainsword wins. The Sergeant shouldn’t be in melee most of the time. When he is — usually because an enemy charged him — the Relentless re-rolls give you a better chance of landing hits. Power weapon’s 4/5 is overkill for most targets, and if you’re relying on the Sergeant to fight elite melee operatives, something has already gone wrong.

The Optimal Single-Box Roster

After 8 games and 12 build iterations, here’s the one-box build I’d take to a tournament:

Operative	Loadout	Role
Veteran Sergeant	Bolt pistol + chainsword	Flexible leader, last-resort melee
Heavy Gunner	Plasma gun	Anti-elite fire support
Gunner	Heavy stubber	Consistent mid-range damage
Medic	Lasrifle + medkit	Heal and revive
Comms Operator	Lascarbine	APL support, objective play
Trooper 1	Lasrifle (Rending)	Generalist shooter
Trooper 2	Lasrifle (Rending)	Generalist shooter
Trooper 3	Lasrifle (Rending)	Generalist shooter
Trooper 4	Lascarbine (Lethal 5+)	Mobile objective grabber
Vox-Relay Beacon	—	APL buff, zone control

Total: 10 operatives + 1 Beacon = 11 selections. One box, complete.

This gives you:

• 7 Rending shots (lasrifles) at 3+ to hit
• 1 Lethal 5+ shot (lascarbine) for early pressure
• 4/5 stubber shots with Relentless
• 3/4 plasma with P1
• +1 APL from the Comms + Beacon combo
• Healing from the Medic

The lasrifle troopers do the heavy lifting. In every game I played, the 4-5 trooper core (including the Sergeant as a pseudo-trooper) outscored the specialists in objective control. The specialists are there to delete key threats. The troopers win the game.

When a Second Box Actually Makes Sense

I went through the math of what a second box adds:

Need	Second Box Solves?	Worth It?
Build both plasma and melta	✅ Yes	❌ No — just pick one
Build both stubber and sniper	✅ Yes	❌ No — stubber is better
Alternate Sergeant poses	✅ Yes	❌ No — purely cosmetic
Spare bits for conversions	✅ Yes	⚠️ Only if you kitbash
Tournament flexibility	✅ Yes	⚠️ If you face all mission types
Selling half to a friend	✅ Yes	✅ Yes — split the box
Magnetizing all options	✅ Yes	✅ Yes — if you’re a tournament grinder

For 95% of players, one box is enough. The plasma+stubber build covers almost every scenario. The two scenarios where a second box helps:

1. You play in a tournament meta with extreme swing matchups — horde one round, elite the next. Having melta and sniper options lets you adapt.
2. You want magnetized weapon options — the heavy weapons are easy to magnetize, and having two boxes means you never commit.

For everyone else: build the recommended list above, practice your positioning, and spend the extra $60 on something that actually improves your game.

The Spectre Squad vs Red Terror key art from Terror on Devlan. One box gives you everything to field this team. A second box is for collectors and tournament grinders. (Source: Warhammer Community)

One Box Verdict: Yes, but Plan Your Build

After 12 build iterations and 8 games, here’s my honest take:

Yes, one box is enough to field a competitive Spectre Squad.

The key decisions are:

1. Build the plasma gunner (not melta or grenade launcher)
2. Build the heavy stubber gunner (not the sniper)
3. Build the Sergeant with chainsword (not power weapon)
4. Build at least 3 troopers with lasrifles (Rending is better than Lethal 5+ in most games)

These four choices are non-negotiable if you’re optimizing from one box. Make the wrong pick — like I did in game 1 with the melta — and you’ll feel the gap.

If you want to play every list variation in existence, buy two boxes and magnetize. But if you want a team that wins games out of one box, follow this build. It covered Secure, ITP, Loot, and Critical Ops in my testing without any one mission type feeling hopeless.

The Spectre Squad isn’t a team that wins with raw stats. It wins with positioning, timing, and the threat of reactions. One box gives you all the tools for that. The rest is on the player.

Sergeant and Heavy Gunner — the two operatives that define your one-box build choices. (Source: Tabletop Battles / Goonhammer)