DZC Starter Set… The Best In The Industry?
August 14, 2013 by warzan
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Let’s face it, GW hasn’t really innovated in their starter experience in a long time. The sculpts for the individual minis keep getting better but the package feels less complete. Remember the Maccrage set that had terrain in it? It wasn’t a lot of terrain, but it was something, and it was usable either as difficult terrain, obstacles or objectives. The new sets have higher production values in printed material, and some really good sculpts, but they feel less like a starter set and more like just another box of minis every with every redesign. PP is the same way… Read more »
Very true! They could ship the Buildings of Malifaux set with a double-sided 4×4 paper mat drawn from WWG’s existing art with the Himmelveil Streets on one side and Deadfall on the other.. or perhaps a 50/50 mix of Buildings and the ground tiles from Streets. As part of a two gang starter set it would certainly help to ship a few copies of M2E!
Honestly, I think they should just commission a special set of single building terraclips that can each fit inside one of their existing starter boxes. Think of it. The Lady Justice box has one building in it. The Whitechapel box has a different (resurrectionist-themed) building in it. Each starter has one building and just enough clips to hold it together. The one little box is pretty simply on its own but is also completely compatible with the rest of the terraclips range. They could increase the price of the starter boxes, and people would pay. People would start buying the… Read more »
Yeah that’s actually pretty smart! Too bad that things have been so quiet over at WWG this year.. 🙁
GW’s starter sets are still pretty impressive. In fact, in many ways they are the best things they do – a rulebook, dice, other bits and bobs, plus plenty of really good miniatures is excellent…excellent..kaff…kaff…sorry, it’s just sticking in my throat a little…excellent value. How often, these days, can one end a sentence about GW with those words?
That said, other companies are starting to offer comparatively impressive starter sets – and follow-up minis that don’t require you sell a kidney to afford them.
i think flames of war vietnam needs a starter set similar to open fire
I agree completely. If they did a ‘Nam set to the standard of Open Fire I’d buy at least 2.
Plenty of people I know end up buying the GW start box for the small rulebook. They buy the kit and then sell/trade the models. I find the difference with the GW vs FoW starters is that you can buy the FoW starter many times over and continue to grow two or three different army lists but there is a finite amount of times with the GW kit. Not something many do, but I know more folks that buy multiples of the FoW kit vs only one or two that would buy even one of the GW starter for more… Read more »
I agree starter sets are often the first impression people have for a game.
Plus for Dropzone the great value for the starter can help offset the perceived expense of the game (I know for a fact that its what has stopped half of my local group from picking up the game).
It would be awesome if the other 2 factions got a box set in plastic but I don’t expect that too happen
Couldn’t agree more mate. This is an awesome value, and if HWG mirrored that quality with a PHR/Shaltari starter I might have to put off buying my new PC… and car… Seriously though, it’s genuinely pleasing to see a company which so conveniently aligns it’s products with my interests.
Think my favorite starter set was the second edition 40k one, had everything you needed, even card scenery.
Very true – that was the box that got me started down this path many years ago! 🙂
This was a smart move on their part as well as a needed tool to get people interested. As said by @kombine most people I know that where hyped up about the game fell silent once they saw the price tag for a single starter set. I might get into the game now that they have it more affordable.
I loved the flames of war starter set and was impressed in the fact that not only did you get a shed load of minis, but also some very basic terrain (almost enough of a whole board). Ok it may have only been flat tree bases etc, but far better than anything GW has put out in the past. I like the look of the DZC set, although it doesn’t have as many minis as the FOW one, this seems balanced by the terrain etc. Both companies seem to care about their customers offering you all you need out of… Read more »
See if you can get that as a pre-tax paycheck deduction. I’m tempted to try that once in a while.
This reminds me of the first two Epic boxed sets. 2 opposing forces and best of all, terrain. This is what sets this box apart. The fact that I can put this stuff together and have a nice looking battle in no time. Hobby time is often in short supply and this is just what’s required – even more so than having two forces in plastic (though I might have felt differently if there were any post-humans in the box :)).
I would like to see Wyrd bring out a two player starter set and as previously said containing terrain etc. I also feel that Infinity and carnevale would benefit from a 2 player box. Carnevale in particular suffers from lack of terrain support which I think makes it dificult to get people interested in. I have had two carnevale starter sets since release that I haven’t played with yet. I do think other companies need to up their game with 2 player sets after recent years and even more so since the release of open fire and dropzone. Unfortunately GW… Read more »
Basically everyone has shown GW how its done , hope for their own good they drop prices and improve their quality before its too late
Prodos games can probably top this in the near future
Time for the haters of the DzC prices to shut up. This is by far the best starter set out there for style, appeal and cost. Everything being included makes this a no brainer purchase for my school club. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw £60, cheap as chips! Glad it doesn’t contain PHR as I would have cried for not waiting.
GW did a lot to the hobby. I still think that their starters are the best products you can find. However, DzC is a great starter. I think it has a great potential to gather a nice community of new comers (like me) to discover the system. FoW is also a starter that looks solid, I am not attracted by the WW2 as much as I could be with Irak war or futuristic. Anyway, well done DzC, I ll buy your starter… actually I ve already bought the rule book last week, just waiting for it to show up now… Read more »
I remember Warhammer 40K second edition starter set, it contained miniatures, rules, Dices, terrain and a small Campaign to play. I Think its to bad that GW didnt continue to make starter boxes that way.
I will certanly take a look at the DzC starter
I have said many times before that GW should go back to doing what they used to do. I mean the old Epic 40k starter box was fantastic, it had armies terrian etc just like the Dropzone Commander set. I must admit though I thought that the Open fire set couldn’t be beat on quality and value for money but I must agree that Dropzone Commander is the new kid on he block. So to any company wishing to produce a starter set in the future then I think for your product to do well you should look at these… Read more »
40K second and third also included the full rulebook, none of this half sized cut down rules only stuff, all of it, fluff and all. I havent watched the unboxing video yet so I’ll take Warren’s word as to how good the starter is, but for me, GW SHOULD be miles ahead of the game in terms of best starters, they have th emost money , best model production facilities and by far the most experience of making starter boxes in the industry, that anyone is even close to competeing with them, let alone that many beat them for quality,… Read more »
Thats true, the old editions came with the big rulebook. I’ve started 40k with the box of the third edition and the box was okay with plastic miniatures, two ruins and a few trees. But there was one big problem – the Dark Eldar had no chance against the Marines. In every game just with the models in the box the Dark Eldar were killed. A good starter set have to have two good and balanced armies and specially scenarios for the content of the box. What could be better with the DZC-Box? Well, I would love to see a… Read more »
Seeing this box makes me really tempted to pick dropzone up!
Starter sets are the flagships for the respective games; it is so refreshing to see that there are good quality sets being put together for the prospective gamer. This increases the quality of future games, and keeps the emphasis on any company to keep proactive and offering the best to gamers. It is a good time to be a gamer!
The DUST Tactics Revised set is a great starter box especially for the price (if you can find it anymore) but this DZC Box looks awesome!
With the amount of new games on the scene this surely is the best way to build up a loyal customer base.
I’m sure we are going to see more and improved starter sets as new standards are set.
The original point behind the GW “starter” boxes was that they could be sold in toy stores alongside regular board games and be bought by parents to give to their children as gifts. They weren’t intended to allow them to compete in a crowded 21st century internet-driven minis market. Their role has subtly changed as they’re less concerned about getting into toy stores and more concerned about selling direct but the starter box role hasn’t fundamentally changed. It’s still a simple entry point a parent can buy their child when they first show an interest in playing. As Warren touched… Read more »
Nice surprise to see this today, not really followed DZC so don’t know if this was expected on their forums etc but it was news to me. Also bit surprising not to see a set like this on Kickstarter, 3 new plastic sprues cant be cheap. Rest of the range must be doing quite well or they have an extremely rare and helpful bank manager. Either way Warren is right, really hard to find fault with it and I can see this taking the game to a LOT more players (including me). Well done Hawk and put me down for… Read more »
Dave kept the game under wraps for years until Salute last year and as far as I’m aware this starter set has come out of the blue as well. The only difference being that BoW rather than Salute are the platform for the announcement. It would seem as if this is the Hawk way of marketing, keep everything quiet until they’re close to release and then spring it on everyone.
Nice to have a good surprise once in a while. With the amount of leaks these days in the industry, a bit of the fun’s gone 😛
I’m so happy this came along. This is one of my favorite games, and the starter set has taken care of basically EVERYTHING for you! Nice work Dave, this is truly how you do it!
Bolt Action has a pretty good starter as well, but having this amount of high quality terrain to start with is surely a water devider.