Warhammer 40K Kill Team set includes miniature miniatures for your miniatures

Let it never be said that the folks behind Warhammer 40,000 don’t have a sense of humor.

While Games Workshop’s institutional ability to always play it straight is well known, sometimes to its detriment, the goofs that its corporate edifice allows to be made are often some of the best in gaming. If you need proof, look no further than the Chaos Noise Marine, a goof that cost thousands of dollars in tooling and is now celebrating its third decade of relevance. Let us also never forget the one time Games Workshop rebranded water to “WAR”ter, or that the canonical name the angriest character in its entire universe: Angron. Now Games Workshop has elected to make fans smile again, and it might just be the company’s most inside in-joke yet.

The latest boxed expansion set for Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team, the small-unit skirmish version of the full-fat Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame, is called Kill Team: Soulshackle. Inside the $185 box you’ll find two all-new factions: the Judge Dredd-like Arbites and a band of Drukhari Eldar, which are literally the most evil humanoids in the entire 40K universe. You’ll also find a gloriously grungy set of walls and bulkhead doors that you can use to roll your own space hulk. It’s a fantastic set of miniatures, with some really great skirmish scenarios to boot.

And there’s also this:

The holographic something-or-other from Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Soulshackle. Photo: Charlie Hall/Polygon

That’s right. Inside the box that holds your miniatures and their miniature walls is another miniature miniature that your wee little miniatures can use to play their own little miniature games... in miniature. It’s quite possibly the most charming little Easter egg yet delivered from the grim darkness of the far future.

Some diehard fans may be seen rolling their eyes, but the real ones are all fired up about this little bit of glorified dollhouse furniture. That’s because now that they have a tiny little Kill Team board, with tiny little controls on the side, it’s opened up all kinds of kitbashing and modding opportunities.

Folks that collect tons of Warhammer 40K miniatures absolutely fawn over this kind of inspiration. They’ve got so many parts and pieces left over from past kits that they simply can’t wait to find a dusty little corner of their gaming table to plop down something goofy — like a miniature version of their gaming table. There are hundreds of Necromunda players alone out there that can’t wait to start building tiny, greasy little arcades to have a gunfight in. This miniature at the least represents the standard (template construct) which all future in-fiction 40K gaming goofs must be compatible with.

This little table is a gift to collectors and hobbyists, and the kind of bit that will be coveted on eBay and talked about at fan conventions for decades to come. Good show, GW. Now on with the game.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Soulshackle is currently sold out online, but should be available soon at retail stores. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.