New Starter Sets Sighted For Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition
July 28, 2020 by brennon
Games Workshop are continuing with their previews for Warhammer 40,000 this week as they showed off THREE new wargaming Starter Sets to help get you into a world of grimdark miniatures.
Recruit Edition // Warhammer 40,000
Get Stuck Into Warhammer 40,000 @ Store.OnTableTop
We start with the above set, the Recruit Edition. Much like with the Starter Sets that were created for 8th Edition and the recent update to Age Of Sigmar, they come with progressively more "stuff" which allows you to choose the entry point that you feel comfortable with.
With the Recruit Edition, you get a squad of troops for both sides plus a leader to take them forward into battle. You'll also get that little gaming mat, terrain (which is the base of the box) and the dice and rulers you need to get going. You also get a booklet which gets you up and running with the game.
If you fancy going for something with a bit more to sink your teeth into then you can also check out the Elite Edition.
Elite Edition // Warhammer 40,000
With the Elite Edition, you get a few more options to get you going and build up a fearsome fighting force. As you'll have noted, it comes with the more or less the same options as the first set but also with bikes, and massive Necron monsters to have a bit of fun with.
Finally, you've also got the Command Edition which takes things to the next level and is probably the entry point for those who are familiar with Warhammer 40,000.
Command Edition // Warhammer 40,000
In this set, you get all of the models from the Elite Edition but with the addition of some big chunky plastic terrain to make your tabletop look even better. You also get the new Rulebook and a Command Booklet which features six missions that will introduce you to the game's concepts.
I can see these being good entry points into the game for those who are new to Warhammer 40,000 and also ways for existing wargamers to dive in and update their Necron or Space Marine armies. All of the miniatures included are still new so it's not like you'll be getting repeat sculpts of anything you already own. Well, unless you bought into Indomitus.
Warhammer 40,000 - Bladeguard Veterans
The Bladeguard Veterans are missing from these Starter Sets but have no fear, they are coming out as their own multi-part plastic kit later in the year.
New Bladeguard Veterans // Warhammer 40,000
It's odd to think of some of the Primaris Space Marines now being veterans. I guess they have been around for a number of years now in the lore and the story has moved on quite a bit! It is nice to see that the design team have gone back to the "Knight" aesthetic for the Space Marines with a lot of the new releases, adding a bit more of that personality from their older Battle-Brothers into the mix.
Are you going to be picking up one of these Starter Sets and if so, which one?
"Are you going to be picking up one of these Starter Sets and if so, which one?"
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So these are actual starter sets. I do wish that GW would had been more clear about things and made sure that these are going to be thing.
I think GW was very clear from watching the launch video and other direct publicity of theirs… Other people that repeated and interpreted what GW put out were not.
It seems to me that the only way that GW could have been clearer was to release this info at the same time as the Launch Box Set, but that would probably have lead to fewer sales of that set.
I always thought that they would be replacing the 8th ed “starter box” 3 tier range with a similar products on a one for one basis.
They said from the get go that the Indomitus box was a limited release launch set and the starter would come later. Not a good move, from our perspective, but in that they were upfront about it.
It was obvious new starter sets were coming. What was not obvious is how bad they would be and how little models / variety of models they included.
I suppose it depends on what you’re looking for in a starter set. Dark Vengeance and Dark Imperium had more minis but no scenery. This has dropped the mini count but you get a playable game board straight out of the box. And it’s proper scenery you can expand on for larger tables, not card stuff that gets wrecked or ignored when you start to upscale.
” This has dropped the mini count but you get a playable game board”
lol
Good starter set’s a great way to go into the heathen primaris? newbe marines then.
I can’t see any of the rules pamphlets that were in 8th edition. They really on relying on people using the app and rules in that did not impress, just divert you to a dropbox.
Suspect the top end box will be £100. Personally I’d prefer it if GW did one player starter sets with one for each faction instead of the start collecting boxes.
Awkward one – think it really depends on what requirements you’d need for a suitable one player starter set. The best analogue would probably be the old £50 battleforce boxes which I used to get me into the hobby 20 years back. I really miss the old battleforce boxes but I don’t think they’d be quite as sustainable anymore. Old days when you could spend £50 on a battleforce and straight off you had the bare bones of an army and you really didn’t need to make many additional purchases at all to really round it out. As an entry… Read more »
It looks like the Recruit/Elite/Command Manuals are quick start rules (three levels of detail too) with the full rules only coming with the big box.
I don’t have a strong opinion on this as I won’t be getting any of these boxes. I’ve no desire to get any space marines or Necrons.
I’ll pick up a 9th ed book if there’s any sign of my Imperial Guard getting painted before 10th comes out ?
I’m with you on that! Bloody guardsmen, I’m convinced they’re breeding. Every time I go to paint up some more they seem to have multiplied…
hoping the points increase will jolly me along. Now a squad’s 50 points I’ll be 25% more efficient next time I finish 10 lads.
I was able to get a box of Indomitus, so these are obviously of less interest to me. It does seem to allude to the reasoning behind why they where so short on Indomitus box sets.
Three starter sets just seems like overkill. Seems to be Way to extravagant in my opinion. I mean, really… why three? There is no way LGSs are going to want to stock all three. Pricing will be very interesting.
Just mirroring what they’ve already done with the previous edition, when it comes to pricing I imagine it will be somewhat similar to the existing offering – First Strike/Know No Fear/Dark Imperium
They did so with AoS 2nd too
The idea is that if you offer people a ‘cheap’/’basic’ version they are easier to tempt with the bigger ones (a bit of FOMO).
It is a great idea for people new to the hobby, because they’re not scared by the big box of plastic minis.
I think I’ll get the command box. Mainly to get the smaller rule book. Would be better if it will be in A5, but having half the pages as the “normal” rule book is good enough. Don’t want to carry the bulky thing around every time…
Always been my biggest gripe about 40k, hate having to cart a library’s worth of books around to play a sodding game, and when I’m working on computers all day I really CBA with leafing through the virtual pages of a pdf on a device. Handy A5 rulebook deffo the way to go.
The 3 levels were already present in 8th edition, but this time the top tier is an absolute piss poor boxed set for a beginner, at the dreadful level of what Battle for Macragge or the 3rd Ed starter represented. It provides only 2 units per side, which isn’t even enough to learn to play properly and not enough to even provide the start of an army. I got the Indomitus box order in, and am sad to say that this is the first boxed starter I won’t be getting into, and I suspect I won’t be the only one… Read more »
Well it’s two units and a HQ a side which is pretty much where the Start Collecting boxes were at. Enough for patrol detachments at 500pts which I’d argue is exactly where you want to be learning how to play. I also love seeing scenery included in the box and I think it’s probably more important to beginners. Veterans most likely have a table to play over but for new players having a proper battlefield straight away is a bonus. The card terrain was great to use quickly but it would end up dumped as you couldn’t add to it.… Read more »
Well, the 2 units per side aren’t enough to even learn the game or have an escalating mini-campaign, and, as such, won’t provide a complete experience even as a boardgame, which previous starter sets could actually do. They increased the price to boot. Buying the Elite + Recruit sets would, I argue, be a better option for beginner players. The primaris start collecting does come with 4 units and a character. And once again I agree that the terrain is nice, but a beginner won’t need it as much as he needs to learn the game and have a start… Read more »
So the only one that comes with a full rulebook is the Command edition.
Not even that one. The full rulebook can only be purchased in the Indomitus edition, now gone, or separately. The “Command Manual” does have all the rules, but is a cut down version, it seems (368 pages on the full book vs 184 on the command manual)
But is it a ‘complete’ rulebook just minus the fluff and pages of pictures of minis? Or is it missing the terrain rules, campaign mode etc?
I would imagine if it says The Rules on the front – it will be all of the rules minus the background and fluff since the FREE Rules are the even more cut down version.
Pretty “nasty” what GW are doing. They had such great success with Dark Imperium and the equivalent other 2 starters Know No Fear and First Strike. Both Marine and Death Guard players could use those boxed sets alone to build a great army. Especially if GW prices had priced you out of the game. these kits are specifically designed to STOP players from doing that. It’s cruel and intentional. They want to prevent players from bulking up their armies with the Starter Sets. You don’t even get 10 assault marines in the command lmao (pathetic). Notice that GW have hiked… Read more »
Look, more space marines.