News: New Box sets!

Still waiting on the pricing for these kits, but Games Workshop is releasing a brand new set of paired unit box sets.


Some of the early runs they did of this were HQ units and retinues, such as a Chaos Terminator Lord and a squad of Chaos Terminators. It would be fair to say no one found these particularly interesting... new players would generally have all the HQ models they need from the Start Collecting! kits, and older players tend not to need bulk deals to expand their armies.


Now Games Workshop have worked out what's needed, and are selling paired units and transports... which is just miles better, and useful in nearly all situations.


So a couple of things to speculate here.


Is the price going to be good? If we're just going to get the same price for these boxes as the two individual units, then I can see people buying them out of convenience. However, if they are going to be cheaper, then we can expect to see eBay flooded with cheap tactical marines. I mean more flooded.


But any table top gamer worth their salt cares little for market forces; we want to see how well these things work with other box sets on the market.


Starting from the top:

Space Marine: OK/Good. This depends on whether or not you started with the Ultima Strike Force box of the Start Collecting! kit. With the Strike force you now have a fully functional 1000+ point army, with everybody mounted in transports. With the Star Collecting! kit you have footslogging tactical marines and HQ, and potentially a suicide dreadnought in the drop pod.

Blood Angels: OK. Blood Angels actually do quite well with Rhinos compared to Drop Pods thanks to their Overcharged Engines. But it's rare for people to field full tactical squads, so I think quite a few marine models will be wasted.

Dark Angel: OK/Good. Similar to the Blood Angels, Dark Angels will tend to minimise the number of tactical marines in their armies. Whether you agree with this or not, you're already getting a full squad from the Start Collecting! kit and the Ultima Strike Force. Let's no kid ourselves, this is basically a vanilla Space Marine Rhino box with Dark Angels slapped on it. The same logic for the Space Marine drop pod kit applied here.

Space Wolves: Very good. The Wolf pack kit can be turned into Blood Claws or Grey Hunters, with the occasional Wolf Guard thrown in. An outside purchase of Rhino or drop pod means you get a very decent core for a Space Wolf army alongside the Start Collecting! kit. You can also get minimum requirements for some of the Wolf Claw Great Company formations from these two.

Chaos Space Marines: OK. Since there's no Strike Force Ultima equivalent for Chaos yet, this is only OK... and people tend to argue against Chaos Space Marines in favour of cultists. So-so, but not because of the models, only the ironic lack of diversity in starting boxes. On the other hand, can become Very Good if you get the Dark Vengeance starter box and make them Alpha Legion!

Orks: Great! More boys, plus Trukk. Nothing more to add.

Eldar: Great! Dire Avengers and Wave Serpents are an objective securing match made in heaven. It depends how much you want to go down the scatter jet bike path, but these are both powerful units, and with no models wasted. Also, despite having the lowest model count, may in fact be the most expensive in terms of points... essentially making it easier on your wallet to get army to table.

Imperial Guard: Very good. Turn those troopers into veterans and you have a great troop slot for a CAD. The only thing stopping this from being Great! is the somewhat lacklustre start collecting kit.

Tyranids: Very good. Those Tervigon spit out Gaunts every turn, creating a literal tide of them. The only thing stopping them being Great! is the fact you'll ned to buy more Gaunts. Works well with the Start Collecting! kit, as you now have some decent Troops units to go with the fast attack, elite and HQ there.

Necrons: Very Good. Not much to say for this. More Warriors plus transport, same as Orks. One more specialist unit would net you a full 1000 point army when used alongside the Start Collecting! kit.

Dark Eldar: OK/Bad. This depends on your view on Raiders vs. Venoms, and how you use Kabalite Warriors. If you treat them as a tax, then it's bad. If you love your en masse splinter rifle fire, then OK. Matches perfectly with the Start Collecting! kit, as you basically get another troop choice. On the other hand... why not just pick up another Start Collecting! kit. Hmm.

Tau: Very Good!/OK. This one's difficult to call, and depends entirely on your opinion of Pathfinders. It's good they're finally packaged with the Devilfish... in previous editions it used to be a compulsory choice for them. I like Pathfinders though, and this pairs up neatly with the Start Collecting! kit.


Pretty good stuff so far. These are slated for a January release so they won't be in time for Christmas gifts. However, giving a bit of cash for these box sets would probably fill that £30-ish gap the cool Uncle/Aunt spends on plastic soldiers for their nephews/nieces.


Until next time!


Thanks for reading.

If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please visit and donate at my Patreon. Every Little helps!