Today at 10.13AM GW sent out an email to those registered with them advertising new army box sets for both AoS and WH40K (on the UK website, may be available for other countries - using mobile so haven't checked)

For both games, the box sets cost £50 and give what I reckon is a nice selection of models. A cursory glance gives the impression that GW has just released some starter sets that are reasonable is not good value for money - especially compared to the sets sold last year. I'm vocal on these forums about the price gouging, but perhaps GW has turned over a new leaf with these sets?

It'll be useful if someone who's at a desktop could work out the model value and determine what you get discounted / in effect free per box.


I'm personally rather pleased, it's an affordable opening into AoS for Seraphon or Chaos. If a Tomb king version is made at a later date for the same price value, I'll get it.

AoS: Here
40K: Here

Thoughts? Views?


UPDATE:
The AoS sets are for Malignant, Seraphon, Slaves to Darkness (warriors of chaos), Greenskinz, Nurgle and Khorne Daemons.

The 40K sets are for Skitarii, Tyranids, Necrons, Tau, Marines, Astra Militarum.

I should point out I'm only looking at the £50 sets - not the codex with squad ones or already available force boxes which are FAR more expensive

They're all discounted by quite a bit. I mean, in Oz they're basically AUD$100 cheaper (the 40K ones at least).

Didnt even realise at first you can still get these sets from discounted retailers too, which makes the set reaaaaaaly tempting.

I mean a Hive Tyrant, Warriors and Gargoyles for a little over 30 quid? Errrrr yes please!

Hope they do one for every army.

 unmercifulconker wrote:
Didnt even realise at first you can still get these sets from discounted retailers too, which makes the set reaaaaaaly tempting.

Found a place here selling them for 20% off.

Combined with the in-build discount it was a 47% discounter overall, a bit like the old Malestrom days.

Is this a limited release or a permanent addition to the range?

The boxes are excellent value, especially since they seem to have rules in them as well. The codex-with-units bundles is a very different matter though, the Dark Eldar and Harlequin bundles at least are cheaper to buy the units separatley (by about £5 and £10 respectively) than to get the bundle.

*Prays for a Tzeentch starter set.*

There is already a preorder on eBay for the Starters at $70 with free shipping. I think I will indulge myself the SM Starter at that price. That is basically the Venerable Dread free at that point. Plus free formation.

Some FLGS have them for 25% off (online orders only, 20% in store) - selling at £37.50. The Seraphon box alone looks to be worth est. £95 full RRP

Was tempted to get the admech until I realized that I'd have to buy two army books to use it since the Dominus isn't Skitarii?

Silly bundle when I considered that, otherwise a tempting deal. I have zero desire to have to reference two different army books during a game.

The Tau one is also a pretty good deal even at full retail, it's £50 and the Crisis team in it is worth £45 on its own. I am very tempted to pick one up.

Juts posed some stuff in another thread about these, but yes the discounts are good. The Serapahon starter box is the same price as the Carnosaur on its own, and that is one of the models in the box, so everything else is essentially free - a box of cold one cav and half a box of lizard warriors,

Discounts seem to be between £20-£35.

And they are available at other places for 20% off, so £40 at Wayland.

The Ork one is the same price as buying all the parts separately.

The BA, DE, Ork and Harlequin ones also include a codex and don't have a snazzy photo.... Odd.

Edit: just notified the Ork and Harlequins ones are already available, others are pre-order. Were they available before these new ones were added?

The AdMech one is very tempting, if that's still around when I next have the funds I might just get it.... I can justify the price of the Magos if I'm getting a free Dunecrawler.

The BA, DE, Ork and Harlequin ones also include a codex and don't have a snazzy photo.... Odd.

They have some new starter bundles with army books, but they are not the thing we are talking about, which are the £50 starter boxes. There is an greenskin AoS starter box for £50 that saves you about £22. There isn't a 40k ork version.

I guess they didn't get anywhere with the space marine captain bundle they did a while back.

These starter sets makes much more sense. A sweet looking army commander with some line infantry and a heavy hitter. Enough to get started, but not too much that newbies would get overwhelmed by. I've seen a lot of cases where people have bought the bigger army bundles, and just sacked it off. With these it's a little taster of the hobby.

 unmercifulconker wrote:
*Prays for a Tzeentch starter set.*

Indeed

That ork starter set is just terrible. 1 Mek, 5 Flashgitz and a codex for £70?
Why bother?

This clearly demonstrates the focus that GW has, those £50 starter sets look great value, obviously they're trying to turn people off Orks, BA, DE and Harlies.
No Craftworld Eldar starter though, which is puzzling.

Aye the other already available stuff, especially the codex with unit sets are the expected GW gouging. The £50 sets though are what have surprised me - they actually seem reasonable

I don't know why GW tries to list those "1 click bundles" as some sort of special thing when they don't and probably can't discount them any.

Edit : ooops im dumb nevermind.

Huh, sorely tempted by the Admech one but alas it's my slow time of year for income and I don't play 40k anymore. Still love the walker and that character model though.


Hmm....

 KillusMaximus wrote:
Bit of a shame the Tau one has Firewarriors instead of the new Breacher squad - still a good deal though.

It's the new boxed set, so they can also be built as Breachers.

I've had a look at the AoS greenskin starter, and am intrigued with the conversion possibilities. 6x boar rider/ warbikers and a chariot/ wartrakk conversion plus some spare Boyz for further conversions is not a bad shout.

What's a good discounter for the US? I might want to get the Tau set for One Page 40k.

Seraphon and Nurgle demons starters are SO tempting.

Also it looks like the space marine one includes the terminator captain originally from the Strike Force Ultra box (released in Spring 2014 if i recall).

He was going for about £50-120 on ebay at the time.

Cannot remember if he was limited edition or not.

 agnosto wrote:
Was tempted to get the admech until I realized that I'd have to buy two army books to use it since the Dominus isn't Skitarii?

Silly bundle when I considered that, otherwise a tempting deal. I have zero desire to have to reference two different army books during a game.

The set comes with all the rules for the models plus a unique formation, so you wouldn't have to buy CM Codex if you didn't want to.

I am soooooooo tempted! I was meant to be buying Fyre Slayers this January... What should I do ㅜㅜ

 Bottle wrote:


I am soooooooo tempted! I was meant to be buying Fyre Slayers this January... What should I do ㅜㅜ

Yeah I know! I wonder if these starters are limited? If that is the case then the choice is easier.

That's what I'm also worried about, are these limited or not?

 giantearlessgnome wrote:
Also it looks like the space marine one includes the terminator captain originally from the Strike Force Ultra box (released in Spring 2014 if i recall).

He was going for about £50-120 on ebay at the time.

Cannot remember if he was limited edition or not.

I don't believe it was ever marketed as limited edition. The blurb at the time was along the lines of "currently only available in this box".

I wonder if the formations will be any good, or just "make these models usable outside of unbound" formations for starters.

 r_squared wrote:
That ork starter set is just terrible. 1 Mek, 5 Flashgitz and a codex for £70?
Why bother?

This clearly demonstrates the focus that GW has, those £50 starter sets look great value, obviously they're trying to turn people off Orks, BA, DE and Harlies.
No Craftworld Eldar starter though, which is puzzling.

old sets for orcs etc, not the new starter bundles.

My thought as to why some do and don't have bundles is what they want to package and what a formation might do:
Harlies- No HQ, maybe a release sometime this year with a high avatar? He would need a formation so a box with included formation makes sense so he can be used since this was one of the strangest decisions of the dex to not have an hq.
Orks, Tzeentch- maybe in line for some new model releases later this year? this is the year of Tzeentch sounds like so why put a bundle with the old models out when they are probably out of production?
Slaanesh- maybe a model release early 2017? or a phase out like sisters? either way slaanash is being given a low profile.
Dark Eldar- another codex with issues, perhaps a mid year release of an archon on jet bike or something, rules right now don't support it and it has really screwed with people and seems like a logical piece to add to a neglected army. kinda worries me too many models on web exclusive.
Eldar- Kinda surprised here, but rumors of replacing finecast aspects with plastic are around so it would make sense if the line is being phased out. what would a starter formation box look like? Autarch + two or three aspects? again, a lot of web exclusives but a popular army.
Chaos- again, kinda surprised since it doesn't sound like the chaos:sm line will see any real changes in 16 so no real reason NOT to do one unless it will be tied in with 30k releases.
sisters- heavily web exclusive and GW never promotes sisters.

Why does the skitarii one come with a dominus? He isn't even legal to field with the skitarii without two units of breachers or destroyers!

 Orock wrote:
Why does the skitarii one come with a dominus? He isn't even legal to field with the skitarii without two units of breachers or destroyers!

They explain on the website below the image

.... and an exclusive Skitarii rules sheet - the Dominus Maniple - allowing you to collect, assemble and play with your new miniatures right away!

Requizen wrote:
I wonder if the formations will be any good, or just "make these models usable outside of unbound" formations for starters.

The Necron set is not good enough since the Stalker is only useful in the formation. Here the battle box has a much greater value.
I'm tempted to consider the Khorne set since the models can be used in a Daemonkin army.

 Bottle wrote:

 agnosto wrote:
Was tempted to get the admech until I realized that I'd have to buy two army books to use it since the Dominus isn't Skitarii?

Silly bundle when I considered that, otherwise a tempting deal. I have zero desire to have to reference two different army books during a game.

The set comes with all the rules for the models plus a unique formation, so you wouldn't have to buy CM Codex if you didn't want to.

I am soooooooo tempted! I was meant to be buying Fyre Slayers this January... What should I do ㅜㅜ

Really? Well then, sold! thanks for the info. I hadn't bothered to check the GW site because I was going to buy from a retailer and they didn't have that info.

I'm at a loss for words

THat seraphon bundle, the tau bundle, the skitari bundle.

 giantearlessgnome wrote:
Also it looks like the space marine one includes the terminator captain originally from the Strike Force Ultra box (released in Spring 2014 if i recall).

He was going for about £50-120 on ebay at the time.

Cannot remember if he was limited edition or not.

He was suppose to be. But then again Captain Karleen was suppose to be limited edition too. I wouldn't be surprised if the next wave of these had a SW one with Krom in it.

No, they were never supposed to be LE, they were available there before anywhere else, but there was never any pretence they were either LE or Exclusive to the original box.

If they do an empire one with a captain steam tank and some dudes then I am in!

Start collecting! Scenery would also be good. If you are going to start collecting armies you need to start collecting the scenery to put on the table as well!

£80 of GW scenery for £50. Occulum, archway and a gate. Or 2 woods, garden morr and arcane ruins.

Wish these had been available when I started! Great bundles indeed.

Has anyone calculated the savings on each set?

Also, I guess Blood Angels, Orks, Dark Eldar and Harlequins don't sell well enough to get boxes, instead they are stuck with the terrible codex deals.

Im definitely getting skitarii, necron and maybe nids

Think I ll get some Tau... just to feed my airbrush with another painting scheme xD ... I hate GW, but I really love to paint their models xD

My guess is harlequins just don't have enough stuff to make a bundle sensible 1 troop, 2 vehicles and 2 characters

as you'd need at least the troop and one vehicle and a character for a bundle it would pretty much kill the solo sales of the whole range

I hope the lack of Orks means more stuff for them soon (and I guess maybe Blood Angels and Dark Eldar?)

(if it was just done on numbers we wouldn't have any of the AoS stuff...)

Found an online retailer selling the New Army boxes for 25% off. I figured that ~$63 for a standalone Skitarii formation seemed like a solid deal, and I can finally start them on a college budget.

Credit where credit is due, this is a fantastic move by GW. I hope they stay as permanent items.

Has anyone confirmed that these kits actually come with all the sprues though? Tyranids for example would be very easy to not include the winged hive tyrant sprue.

I might actually get the Admech one. Partly for the bits though - how much extra cool stuff (bits) do you get with those figures?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And how long do we see these being around?

Nvs wrote:
Has anyone confirmed that these kits actually come with all the sprues though? Tyranids for example would be very easy to not include the winged hive tyrant sprue.

Why on earth would they spend that much money to make brand new snapfit/single option sprues of kits that already exist? Not only that, but kits that look EXACTLY like their multi option counterparts?

If you look on the GW site, you'll notice them mention things like "Skitarii rangers, which can also be built as vanguards" in the descriptions, so if these aren't the regular sprues I would be EXTREMELY surprised.

Is it just me or did they just go from $89 to $100 on the web page?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
That is really weird. I have now definately seen them listed at $85 and $100. Can't find the $100 link now, but it was 5 minutes ago. Could be an introductory vs later price.

I heard a rumor about these talking to a guy who worked at a local hobby shop. I'll admit I didn't think much of it at the time, but wow these are actually good. As a Guard player that kit looks especially good.

 kestral wrote:
Can't find the $100 link now, but it was 5 minutes ago.

Here you go!

OK, so which one is it? Also, why would anyone ever buy the tau infantry set if it is the same sprue? Don't they want $100 for just 10 basic infantry.

 kestral wrote:
Is it just me or did they just go from $89 to $100 on the web page?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
That is really weird. I have now definately seen them listed at $85 and $100. Can't find the $100 link now, but it was 5 minutes ago. Could be an introductory vs later price.

The Canadian webpage has them at $100. The US at $85.

Derp.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Still, it seems TOO good.

 kestral wrote:
Don't they want $100 for just 10 basic infantry.

This? You went from the US to Canada and then to NZ. That's the wrong way to get excited.

Geez....wasn't planning on any wargaming purchases for a while, but that Cadian box is tempting me. Total $30.50 savings before any other discounts...that's not shabby at all.

I'm grabbing a Tau one now, to get the plastic Ethereal and some new crisis suits (which I skipped before) and then next paycheck the AdMech one. Assuming my FLGS's GW rep doesn't feth up again. I wanted that Skitarii Battle maniple!

If I hadn't just alternately sourced the plastic Captain Agemman, I would likely grab the Marine one for that model. And the IG one, well I have too many Russes as it is, especially since I just got another with my Tech Priest model, but my Orks could use a looted wagon, and I could use that plastic Commissar.

I would love to see more of these come out for other armies.
Orks, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Eldar, DArk Eldar, I can imagine good starter sets for all of these.

Ok... so... two AdMech boxes. That's a good start for my AdMech army with the other boxes I got when GW did those Mechanicus combo boxes.

Really tempted by the Nurgle one, and the missus likes the Lizards.

Bravo GW!

 Happygrunt wrote:
Found an online retailer selling the New Army boxes for 25% off.

Care to share a link?

The Nurgle one is quite good actually.

But I've sold my soul to the Omnissiah, so no Plague Father for me.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
The Nurgle one is quite good actually.

But I've sold my soul to the Omnissiah, so no Plague Father for me.

I saw that, but I don't know much about Nurgle (or any demons...)

Is it good for 40K, AoS, or just price?

The good thing about the Chaos Daemon models is that they can be used in 40K or Fantasy... AoS... whatever.

It's just a decent spread of minis - 3 units + a leader - for that price.

I'd be using them for KoW, personally.

That seems counter-productive.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
That seems counter-productive.

Why?

I like these models. I like KoW. I'd like to use these models for KoW.

Sorry if that somehow offends you.

Settle down Choppa. Did I say it offends me?

It was just my understanding that people bought KOW models to play Fantasy as it was cheaper that way, and not the other way around.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Settle down Choppa. Did I say it offends me?

It was just my understanding that people bought KOW models to play Fantasy as it was cheaper that way, and not the other way around.

Then your understanding is definitely not 100% accurate. There are folks out there who like the look of many of GW's models but also want a good set of massed battle fantasy rules. I'm definitely in that camp and I fully intend to use my GW models to play KoW.

Valete,

JohnS

Ugh the resistance is weak, found a good deal through a guy I know and am getting 3 skitarii boxes and 1 Marine box. If I get an especially good paycheck I may even pick a guard one since I can use the cadians as bits for conversions and I can always use another Commissar and Russ.

Why the hell I'm buying this stuff I don't even know, I don't even play, I just paint now.

 giantearlessgnome wrote:
Also it looks like the space marine one includes the terminator captain originally from the Strike Force Ultra box (released in Spring 2014 if i recall).

He was going for about £50-120 on ebay at the time.

Cannot remember if he was limited edition or not.

There is no "Limited Edition" here. There were as many figures as Strike Force boxes. Now he's in the Get Started box.

I'm pretty interested in the Greenskinz one to be honest, I got a bunch of Orcs cheapsies when my friend moved over to BC and I play with AoS now and then with my friends. Having a proper Orc Warboss model on a Boar and some Boar Boyz sounds mighty fine for that price point, plus Orc Boar Boyz have always looked great to me.

Sucks that they don't have one of these boxes for every race for either 40K or AoS yet though. Hopefully when certain armies get updated (looking at you CSM) that they release one of these sets alongside it.

The Slaves to Darkness box is really great. But nobody plays AoS here.

Please GW, all I want is a formation where my admech can get objective secured.

Totally getting the Admech one. Considering the Nurgle one too. These look like fantastic starters. I'm glad I put off daemons

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Ugh the resistance is weak, found a good deal through a guy I know and am getting 3 skitarii boxes and 1 Marine box. If I get an especially good paycheck I may even pick a guard one since I can use the cadians as bits for conversions and I can always use another Commissar and Russ.

Why the hell I'm buying this stuff I don't even know, I don't even play, I just paint now.

Impulse buy.
So you're a painter and collector and therefore in the main focus of GW.

Yeah, thanks, GW, but I already have a huge backlog to clear, AND I have no interest in starting any new armies, I've got about every army that interests me, thanks.

 Alex C wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
That seems counter-productive.

Why?

I like these models. I like KoW. I'd like to use these models for KoW.

Sorry if that somehow offends you.

Go for it. I don't think GW give a gak about what you use them for so long as you are buying them.

The are a model company after all...

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Alex C wrote:
I'd be using them for KoW, personally.

That seems counter-productive.

A lot of "vets" hate AoS and some of them are moving to KoW rules as a replacement for Fantasy. They can use all their current models with a better ruleset.

Do we know if these sets are limited availability in any way?
Not sure I can justify spending any one these this month so close to Xmas, but might have to if they are gonna be sold out by next month...

Probably. These are apparently supposed to be the new battleforce-style boxes, but practically everything GW does is limited now. Hate to be negative, but it sounds just like the kinda thing GW would do; make an introductory product designed to get new people into the game or encourage existing players to start new armies, a pretty wise decision when sales keep falling year after year and you seemingly have more people leaving the game than you have people buying in almost solely because of high prices (and gak rules, but you know)...and then making it super limited because they're deathly afraid of losing any money at all by offering people discounts, since they assume everyone would have just bought the kits at full retail anyway if they had no other option (even though they apparently aren't).

The Tau box is especially bizarre to me, since those fire warriors literally just got redone (with an absurd $50 price tag to boot), and now they're practically giving them away? They have to be limited, there's no way GW would allow that to go on for long. In any case I got one, and might get one more next week if there's one on the shelf.

Well, considering the Crisis suits are insanely jacked up in price, I'm assuming these boxes are still profitable, and if people decide to buy more boxes because of the deal, then they are making more money.

Even if you get them through a discounter, and start a Tau army, then you need to get a commander, a riptide, a storm surge, a codex...

I frankly love these new deals and am seriously considering picking up a box of admech to try out. I already have the terminator captain, so no rush to get that for me.

But my backlog is already so huge. :( two betrayals at calth, two imperial Knights, a strike force ultra box, the primarch, a knight Castigator, two sicarans, not to mention the stuff I have gotten second hand...

Then there are my poor, half painted, neglected daemons... My dads old tau.., my brothers dark Angels...

 Breotan wrote:
A lot of "vets" hate AoS and some of them are moving to KoW rules as a replacement for Fantasy. They can use all their current models with a better ruleset.

KoW of course being far better when it comes to pick-up games compared to WFB because WFB is (technically) dead thanks to the Sigmarines.

Ok, I get it now.

I do wonder whether some kits that are normally dual purpose are limited to one purpose. The Malignant one comes with a mortis engine, but no hint that it might be a coven throne. Is the sprue set such that they could provide the mortis engine but not the coven throne?

I noticed too that they're doing a cheaper bundle for both Admech books - granted you still need both books for the starter kit, but 66 bucks for two full-size codexes is pretty awesome.

I don't even play Admech and I want to start an army now, heh.

I think I might buy the codexes just because actually...

I'm really tempted to pick up a couple of the Nurgle sets as I'm short on Heralds and have no flying vacuums. Bit weird that the Daemon box sets aren't listed in the 40k section unless I'm missing something?

Probably because the data slates in the daemon one is for AoS.

 Crazyterran wrote:
Probably because the data slates in the daemon one is for AoS.

This seems to be the reason. But the models are perfectly fine for 40k as well.

Somebody asked earlier what the savings were for each of these starter sets, as opposed to buying individual boxes, and because I'm a good guy and because I've nothing else to do, it being a Sunday, I've decided to list the money saved for each starter set.

All prices are in British pounds, and all prices are taken from the GW webstore and not discounters such as Wayland Games.

If I'm 1 or 2 pounds out, then I'll see you in court

Ok, here we go, 40k first:

Necrons - you save £19

Imperial Guard - you save £21

Space Marines - you save £21 (based on venerable dreadnought and standard captain being part of the force. I don't know half of these new space marine units.)

Tau - you save £35!!! Bargains to be had with the Tau.

Skitarii - you save £35!!! Another bargain.

Tyranids - you save £32. This would be the case if it were 10 gargoyles instead of 8 (10 in a box) but still a good saving with two less gargoyles, or whatever those flying things are called

Blood angels - you save zero!

Harlequins - you save zero again

Orks - you save zero again

Dark Eldar - you save...I think you get the general idea now

Codex prices were based on hardback versions

Now for the Fantasy savings:

Nurgle - you save £33 or there about. Another bargain.

Chaos warriors - you save £24. Not bad

Khorne Daemons - you save £26.

Undead - you save £23.

Orcs - you save £21

Lizardmen (no army book deal) - you save around £25. The deal units didn't tally up with what you got in individual boxes, and I couldn't be bothered working it out, but it's still a good deal

And finally, I couldn't be bothered doing the army book deals, as I suspect they'll end up like the 40k deals with the codex. Zero savings in other words

Anyway, don't all thank me at once.

You get 10 gargoyles in the Nids one... And the Seraphon saves you £33.80.

 agnosto wrote:
Was tempted to get the admech until I realized that I'd have to buy two army books to use it since the Dominus isn't Skitarii?

Silly bundle when I considered that, otherwise a tempting deal. I have zero desire to have to reference two different army books during a game.

Yeah, I'm still not even sure what their own logic was for dividing the release into 2 different books. Especially when each book only gets 4 kits to play with. But as I've said before, I'll say again, if that's the price to play Ad Mech, it's still worth it.

Curse you awesome Tau bundle! I always need more Crisis Suits, and I don't have an Ethereal yet. The FW are just free bonus lol.

If I get this I can't get the Ta'unar for another month and this is something I've put off for awhile now.

Bit annoyed about the Tau one as I bought the campaign box to get the Ethereal, as well as the Fire Warriors and Crisis Suits when they came out - I'd have waited for this had I known!

Where did he get 8 Gargoyles from? It's a physical impossibility given the sprue layout.

I would get two of the Tau one, but I have a strange aversion to having multiples of unique models (so having 2 of that Ethereal would annoy me).

 Quarterdime wrote:
Yeah, I'm still not even sure what their own logic was for dividing the release into 2 different books. Especially when each book only gets 4 kits to play with. But as I've said before, I'll say again, if that's the price to play Ad Mech, it's still worth it.

You might argue that AdMech was a risk so they decided to make a half-measure rather than going all in with something that might not have worked... but minis are designed a year+ in advance, so that doesn't hold up.

Re: codexes and the dominus/skitarii pairing the store listings all say they include a formation datasheet.to allow you to "start playing straight away". My money is on the stats being included, like the reference sheets you get in starter boxes.

I'm a bit tempted by the Mechanicus one (I could use the Dominus and Skitarii in 30k, not sure about the Dunewalker though) and the Tyranid one (with the Swarm box I got agessss ago that still needs mostly building I might have an alright army core there).

 ImAGeek wrote:
You get 10 gargoyles in the Nids one... And the Seraphon saves you £33.80.

My bleary eyes missed those two gargoyles hiding near the Tyrant

As for the lizardmen, I doubt £8 will be a dealbreaker for most people. Still a good bargain.

After all the work I put in, typical of people to nit-pick at the small print!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Gamgee wrote:
Curse you awesome Tau bundle! I always need more Crisis Suits, and I don't have an Ethereal yet. The FW are just free bonus lol.

If I get this I can't get the Ta'unar for another month and this is something I've put off for awhile now.

The Tau bundle makes me think that Kirby is being held hostage at GW HQ

What over explanation can there be for this surprising generosity?

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:


The Tau bundle makes me think that Kirby is being held hostage at GW HQ

What over explanation can there be for this surprising generosity?

Maybe sales numbers that are continuing to be in significant decline, cost-cutting efforts that are no longer able to prop up the bottom line, and a panicky realization that HMS GAMESWORKSHOP has been heading for its own personal iceberg for some time now?

Valete,

JohnS

I think it comes down to the new ceo actually having power. I know people claimed he was another Kirby drone but nothing that's happened fairly recently or that they've announced I the future feels like kirby's workshop.

As it is I think I'm going to grab a lizardmen one for my kings of war army. I'm tempted by the chaos warrior one for the same thing but thankfully they didn't do a dwarf or elf of any kind box and the undead one is meh.

Maybe he had a vision from three ghosts over Christmas.

This is a welcome move by GW back in the direction of the old Battleforces. It's the same £50 sticker sweet spot, and a decent discount in most cases.

It would seem another nice step on their part, following on from the announcement of the revitalisation of specialist games. I'm starting to think Mr Rountree has actually clocked what used to make the company popular, as most of these things seem to date from his premiership.

 cygnnus wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:


The Tau bundle makes me think that Kirby is being held hostage at GW HQ

What over explanation can there be for this surprising generosity?

Maybe sales numbers that are continuing to be in significant decline, cost-cutting efforts that are no longer able to prop up the bottom line, and a panicky realization that HMS GAMESWORKSHOP has been heading for its own personal iceberg for some time now?

Valete,

JohnS

I think it's about realizing they needed to offer up a significant discount for people buying into a new army.

I'm really pleased to see it.

I hope they start reducing prices across the board. I can always hope even if it isn't likely.

 Gamgee wrote:
I hope they start reducing prices across the board. I can always hope even if it isn't likely.

I doubt we'd see that, but the new CEO did mention more 'bang for your buck', which I'd assume is about more stuff in the boxed sets like these, so bulk buying pays off.

I'm personally crossing fingers and toes we see a return of the Apocalypse bundles... I want that leman russ tank division...

I really think that the 'performance' of that Tyranid Hive Swarm box released a while ago on GW's own self confessed 'best selling' minis list could be a catalyst for this sort of product development.

I'm liking it though, not only for myself (Skitarii box, whoo!) as there are already two (non tabletop) gaming mates showing a bit of an interest where there was none before.

As mentioned elsewhere, I'm down for a box of Ad-Mech myself, I just need to find a way to make the Spider-Donkey fit in with my 30K stuff.

 BrookM wrote:
As mentioned elsewhere, I'm down for a box of Ad-Mech myself, I just need to find a way to make the Spider-Donkey fit in with my 30K stuff.

That's my exact 'issue' with it, I can use the Dominus and Skitarii easily enough in 30k but not sure what to do with the Onager.

Is anyone else sitting at their computer thinking "Great, GW found a way to reel me back in."? I don't have any real need for the stuff in the SM box, but I want it! I am probably going to wait until I see what that formation is though. At least they didn't try to trick me into buying more BA stuff. No errata to fix the fact they are the worst SM dex, no purchase from me.

Since no one has seen one yet that I am aware of, it's hard to say whether there will be any actual rules on the 40K versions of these Start Collecting boxes, or just the formation details. This is most interesting in the case of the Adeptus Mechanicus box, with its units from two different codexes. However, even if there are no rules in the box, you can get by with just the Skitarii codex - Just buy a digital or second hand copy of White Dwarf 69. The full rules for the Tech Priest Dominus were in that issue. If you haven't seen the mini, besides weapon options, there were two heads. One for a standard cloak/cowl look, and a tall priest like hat.

It's not as big a problem for the Sigmar Start Collecting boxes, as all one needs is the battalion 'formation' details. Any of the warscrolls needed can be had free online. I guess it will be interesting to see what happens in the 40K ones.

Do these bundles stand to be around for a while?

I might go for two of the Tau one to start an army/collection, and give 40k one last go, but would love to be able to do this in say March.

Any indication that these are limited time only?

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Do these bundles stand to be around for a while?

I might go for two of the Tau one to start an army/collection, and give 40k one last go, but would love to be able to do this in say March.

Any indication that these are limited time only?

There was no indication online or in White Dwarf 101 that these were going to be limited in any way, other than usual in/out of stock. I've heard secondhand some of the starters have gone from 'pre order' to 'email me when available' on some of the different world GW websites. That's better than 'no longer available' anyway. It seems they are going to be at least around for a while.

 Ketara wrote:
This is a welcome move by GW back in the direction of the old Battleforces. It's the same £50 sticker sweet spot, and a decent discount in most cases.

It would seem another nice step on their part, following on from the announcement of the revitalisation of specialist games. I'm starting to think Mr Rountree has actually clocked what used to make the company popular, as most of these things seem to date from his premiership.

I'm going make a very strange analogy here, so bear with me

Kirby is Stalin and Roundtree is Zhukov. Stalin, after his 1941 blunders, realises he needs his generals to win the war for him.

Stalin is prepared to let Zhukov have control until the war (sales go up again) is won and when the war is over Zhukov will be shipped off to Siberia

So... what you're saying is that Kirby once had someone assassinated via ice pick?

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
So... what you're saying is that Kirby once had someone assassinated via ice pick?

Seems about right.

 infinite_array wrote:
What's a good discounter for the US? I might want to get the Tau set for One Page 40k.

Discount Games Store - see their Facebook
Mini Stomp - by email order
Others depending on where you live.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wondering which ones sell the best. Ad Mech & Nurgle, probably Tau. Just curious, and based only on forum & Twitter responses

I have had great luck with Discount Games Store through eBay. I am going to jump on the Space Marine bundle through them. Fast shipping and great prices.

I am going to need to try really hard not to get started on Tau because of their bundle. 2.5 armies is enough!

Black Cultist, for anyone in Oz wishing to get a good discount on these.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:
Is anyone else sitting at their computer thinking "Great, GW found a way to reel me back in."? I don't have any real need for the stuff in the SM box, but I want it! I am probably going to wait until I see what that formation is though..

Yarp. With the disounts from Element Games or Dark Sphere, you're looking at £40 (or even £37.50). Got some Skitarii already, but those discounts get me a cheap Onager and Dominus, and a box of figures I can trade, sell or... the Skitarii are THE most amazing bitz box. Always wanted to do a Nurgle force but the price put me off - until now, I can get all that stuff for the price of the Blight Drones (or not far off).

Don't even PLAY 40k or AoS... but I can find a use for these. Bringing the price of a GW starter force close to stuff like the Warlord starters makes them a real contender for me.

Are there even any discounters left in Canada?

Zatsuku wrote:
Are there even any discounters left in Canada?

Meeplemart offers a discount, but you have to email them for a spreadsheet

I was looking at the £50 Ad Mech starter set, and decided to count up the total cost of buying them separately...£85.50.

Did I get that right, or has my calculator just taken a gak? A £35.50 discount???

Holy gak feth!

I was kinda sorta daydreaming about getting just a couple of boxes as a small allied detachment for my Raven Guard (with Kiavahr being a mini Forgeworld), just 500 - 1000pts or so...But feth me this actually excites me.

 ImAGeek wrote:
Bit annoyed about the Tau one as I bought the campaign box to get the Ethereal, as well as the Fire Warriors and Crisis Suits when they came out - I'd have waited for this had I known!

So would I. That's why they didn't want people to know.

That is seriously fething annoying, though, because like pax said below me you know they planned these out in advance. That means they released the Tau models at their new (ridiculous) prices, and the box with the "exclusive" ethereal that was basically just an excuse to shift product people weren't buying anymore just a couple months ago, knowing full well they'd be doing a bundle like this right after. So people like me, who basically started their Tau army all over again buying new boxes of crisis suits and fire warriors to replace the old models, got ripped off, and deliberately at that. Had I known this bundle was coming before I bought all that gak I could have saved enough money to buy a pair of ghostkeels or a stormsurge, which to me personally is not an insignificant amount of money.

What they should have done was just skipped the "Burning Dawn" box altogether and released this $85 starter instead. The models make a hell of a lot more sense as an ethereal's bodyguard than the scouts and stealth units in the other one, anyway.

 cygnnus wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:


The Tau bundle makes me think that Kirby is being held hostage at GW HQ

What over explanation can there be for this surprising generosity?

Maybe sales numbers that are continuing to be in significant decline, cost-cutting efforts that are no longer able to prop up the bottom line, and a panicky realization that HMS GAMESWORKSHOP has been heading for its own personal iceberg for some time now?

Valete,

JohnS

I think GW understanding their customers buying habits is more likely. Things like this don't just happen, they're planned a while out. They knew people would get excited over this (which we are) and released them when they wanted to.

You don't stay king of the hill by reacting to others, but rather knowing how others react to you.

 Wulfmar wrote:
I'm vocal on these forums about the price gouging, but perhaps GW has turned over a new leaf with these sets?

You're confusing price gouging with supply and demand. Raising the price of batteries during a snow storm is price gouging, it implies unethical business practices and can be against the law even, it's not very applicable to luxury items.

/looks at the ork bundle
flash gitz and a mek
wut

Nice idea though. Both the Space Marine and the Astra Militarum bundle are tempting as hell. So is the Greenskinz bundle, actually...

My favorite is the Militarum bundle. Golly.

 Sidstyler wrote:
Had I known this bundle was coming before I bought all that gak I could have saved enough money to buy a pair of ghostkeels or a stormsurge, which to me personally is not an insignificant amount of money.

I do get that, and I think I'd be similarly disappointed and angry if I'd spent a lot of money on stuff that's now come up at a huge discount.

Still, this is very like a January sale, and I think we have to treat it that way, at least in terms of disappointment management. I get that in theory the boxes are available indefinitely, but the timing of their release has to be an attempt to fill the huge hole in sales most retailers see this time of year, just like any other January sale. I think that overall these boxes are a great thing, not just because they're a great deal for us, but for the long-term health of the company (and thus, the hobby):

1) They make GW pricing actually competitive, for probably the first time ever. For years we've seen their pricing seem more and more unreasonable, both because of much cheaper alternatives (Mantic, Bones) for almost-as-good quality, and because of similarly priced alternatives for better or sometimes much better quality (Hasslefree, Raging Heroes, Corvus Belli etc.). This is a direct assault on both those forms of competition, in terms of the way minis fans are going to be spending their money right now and probably for a while longer.

2) They indicate that someone at GW is actually treating the business as though it were a business, rather than some weird hybrid of cash cow, hobby, drugs empire, and the unknowable, ineffable, mysterious market of wargamers, who are magically immune to market research and data and stuff because they just magically Buy Our Stuff forever and never look at alternatives because Moats and Walls and actually this is sounding more like a wacky religious cult or New Age pyramid scheme. Anyway. Hopefully this is a sign that the powers that be at GW are running the thing by the book (and not the Little Red Book).

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
I was looking at the £50 Ad Mech starter set, and decided to count up the total cost of buying them separately...£85.50.

Did I get that right, or has my calculator just taken a gak? A £35.50 discount???

Holy gak feth!

I was kinda sorta daydreaming about getting just a couple of boxes as a small allied detachment for my Raven Guard (with Kiavahr being a mini Forgeworld), just 500 - 1000pts or so...But feth me this actually excites me.

On a completely serious note....I'm very new to Dakka but I am loving all the new words I'm learning m
Gak
Feth. (Ok, this one I've heard as fething but rare)
Discount

Maybe these are forum substitutions for curse words

Yes, the forum substitutes (as best it can) the four letter S word as Gak and the four letter F word as Feth. Don't count on it correcting you every time, so get to using these words of you feel the need to swear.

I am pretty irritated by the SM bundle since I literally just bought a Tactical Squad. The same thing happened to me with Blood Angels before the Battleforces. It makes me apprehensive to buy anything not in a boxed set.

 ImAGeek wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
As mentioned elsewhere, I'm down for a box of Ad-Mech myself, I just need to find a way to make the Spider-Donkey fit in with my 30K stuff.

That's my exact 'issue' with it, I can use the Dominus and Skitarii easily enough in 30k but not sure what to do with the Onager.

Stick it on an oval base and call it a Thanatar?

Registering my interest in finding out what exactly the Necron Retribution Phalanx is/does (I don't see how those units would work with each other thematically, so am keen to see how they spin it/see whether they can actually make something functional out of them other than "The Warriors all have BS5 if standing near the Stalker.")

Do we have any firm info as to how long these bundles will be available? I know there's nothing saying 'time-limited', but -- anything on whether there's liable to be a price rise in a few months, even (as they've tended to do with actual starter sets)?

I'm guessing, given that we had no hint about this via any rumourmongers till a day or so before release date, we won't find out any changes till they happen either!

Not that I know of at least (I know, not saying much), speaking to the staff at my local, they haven't been told either but hope it's indeffinite. I've ordered the Skitarii box and hoping that they'll last at least until my next paycheque when I'll get the Nids box as well.

Well, I went through with it and preordered the SM box. I will post a picture of the formation once I get it. In spite of it having a Tactical Squad I don't really NEED, it still is mostly composed of stuff I don't have. And I can never have too many angry washing machines.

Can someone tell me if doubling up on the Tau box is a valid purchase for someone just starting the faction?

Will I get use out of 20 Fire-Warriors? Presumably the Crisis suits are obviously good to own.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Can someone tell me if doubling up on the Tau box is a valid purchase for someone just starting the faction?

Will I get use out of 20 Fire-Warriors? Presumably the Crisis suits are obviously good to own.

They could always throw one or both of the ethereal on eBay. It is a very good deal. It would have their bases covered between the FW and Crisis Suits.

Has anyone seen anything on the new ' Formation ' rules yet?

 Solar_lion wrote:
Has anyone seen anything on the new ' Formation ' rules yet?

None of them have been released yet - they're all on pre-order only

 pax macharia wrote:

 Wulfmar wrote:
I'm vocal on these forums about the price gouging, but perhaps GW has turned over a new leaf with these sets?

You're confusing price gouging with supply and demand. Raising the price of batteries during a snow storm is price gouging, it implies unethical business practices and can be against the law even, it's not very applicable to luxury items.

Price gouging is a reaction to supply and demand - if not, what is it? Raising the price for no reason on an item with no demand? Sure the term is used mainly on essential products for which there is no alternative (such as medication), but I was using it as a hyperbole so I don't really see what you're getting at.

I really am considering some AoS Chaos.... Must resist, I have a 30k army to finish first.

Just wanted to say, my favourite e-tailer put on their FB wall today that they've been told the new box sets are in fact limited. Grab 'em while you can, I suppose. Certainly dampens my enthusiasm a bit, one step forward two steps back...

Why am I not surprised.

We've already had people confirm they're general release and not limited. He might mean the first shipment.

 Mymearan wrote:
We've already had people confirm they're general release and not limited. He might mean the first shipment.

That's basically what always happens. GW tells nobody that there is going to be a small amount for shelf-stocking, but they'll fill all preorders.

The words they used were "Limited Run". I didn't see any confirmation to the contrary, guess I missed it.

 Bull0 wrote:
The words they used were "Limited Run". I didn't see any confirmation to the contrary, guess I missed it.

Yeeeah...I'll wait until it gets mentioned by somewhere other than an etailer.

I've appreciated some of GW's recent moves, and baby-steps towards improving, but did assume these bundles could be limited. The savings on several is just so deep that it renders several other products moot.

Who would buy Crisis Suits for $75 when this bundle exists at $85? Ditto, with some of the other bundles.

Its far sooner than I planned to buy them, but I just ordered two of the Tau sets. With FLGS discount, and sales tax I got them for just over $150 which is pretty terrific.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Bull0 wrote:
The words they used were "Limited Run". I didn't see any confirmation to the contrary, guess I missed it.

Yeeeah...I'll wait until it gets mentioned by somewhere other than an etailer.

Do whatever you want with the info, like I said I hadn't really seen it specified one way or the other before so thought it was worth sharing.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
I've appreciated some of GW's recent moves, and baby-steps towards improving, but did assume these bundles could be limited. The savings on several is just so deep that it renders several other products moot.

Who would buy Crisis Suits for $75 when this bundle exists at $85? Ditto, with some of the other bundles.

Its far sooner than I planned to buy them, but I just ordered two of the Tau sets. With FLGS discount, and sales tax I got them for just over $150 which is pretty terrific.

People who don't need another Ethereal or Fire Warriors and don't want to go through the hassle of selling the leftovers on ebay?

The old Battleforces were pretty good deals. In particular, the old Necron one was actually quite cheap compared to buying Warriors/Immortals/Ghost Ark separately, but I didn't buy it each time I needed Warriors.

My FLGS was saying Calth was limited, im not sure I take much stock when someone says its "Limited" considering when it is limited, it says so on the store page.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
My FLGS was saying Calth was limited, im not sure I take much stock when someone says its "Limited" considering when it is limited, it says so on the store page.

Yeah, if the store I was referring to had lied about it in the past I wouldn't take much stock in it either, but so far they haven't - they correctly identified that Stormclaw and Deathstorm would be limited ed, but with BaC made no such claim, only pointing out that people who didn't order might have to wait for shipment 2.

Another important thing to note, these are labeled "Out of stock" on the website, if they where limited run, it would say "Sold out"

Well...the Skitarii bundle is now 'temporarily out of stock' on the UK webstore.

I guess waiting till my birthday in May to get one was overly optimistic...

Requizen wrote:

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
I've appreciated some of GW's recent moves, and baby-steps towards improving, but did assume these bundles could be limited. The savings on several is just so deep that it renders several other products moot.

Who would buy Crisis Suits for $75 when this bundle exists at $85? Ditto, with some of the other bundles.

Its far sooner than I planned to buy them, but I just ordered two of the Tau sets. With FLGS discount, and sales tax I got them for just over $150 which is pretty terrific.

People who don't need another Ethereal or Fire Warriors and don't want to go through the hassle of selling the leftovers on ebay?

The old Battleforces were pretty good deals. In particular, the old Necron one was actually quite cheap compared to buying Warriors/Immortals/Ghost Ark separately, but I didn't buy it each time I needed Warriors.

Fair, but with the Firewarrior kit in this example also building the new Breachers (and... Pathfinders, or are those a different kit?), there is a lot of added value for $8-9 depending on your FLGS or online discount of choice.

Pathfinders are a different, cheaper kit.

How does a pre-order run out of stock?

Too many Pre-Orders. I mean, I bet they crunched the numbers and know how fast those can be churned out

Because all the boxes they've manufactured so far in the first production run have been sold? Ain't complicated.

How many previously available army boxes have been discontinued to make way for these? I know the Chaos Daemon one is gone all of a sudden. Would be pretty gakky if these are effectively their replacements and they're all limited and sold out in the first week.

 Abadabadoobaddon wrote:
How many previously available army boxes have been discontinued to make way for these? I know the Chaos Daemon one is gone all of a sudden. Would be pretty gakky if these are effectively their replacements and they're all limited and sold out in the first week.

Which boxes, in particular, are you referring to?

Bloodtide of Khorne box was discontinued back in July-ish, except places still have them on the shelves. Same thing goes for the Battleforce.


Additionally, we don't know if these are "limited editions" or a relatively small run. The Daemon boxes aren't sold out as of yet in any regards. The only two that are showing as "Temporarily Out of Stock" are the Skitarii(shock!) and Tau Empire(also shock--a powerful army that just got a new book, with a model that is otherwise only in a $110 box versus an $85 box, gets a huge deal on some of their most useful units). If they were limited edition, they'd be marked with "No Longer Available" like we saw with the Christmas bundles.

Formation info from the GettingStarted! Bundles via 4chan:

SM
Each turn a single unit of the formation within 12" of the captain can shoot in the movement phase instead of moving. It can still shoot again in the shooting phase.

Skitarii
At the start of the shooting phase select a unit within 18" of the Dominus. You reroll to hit against it.

Tyranids
In the movement phase the gargoyles if they are near the Tyrant can enter reserve and immediately deep strike on the board. If they arrive near the warriors they don't scatter.

Necrons
When the warriors or the scarab are destroyed they return alive at the start of your next wound within 5" of the Overlord.

Tau
A unit near the Ethereal can redeploy. Select a model of the unit and remove all other models form the table, then put them in again wherever you want near that model. Unfortunately I don't remember when you can do this thing.

Imperial Guard
All infantry model of the formation near the Leman Russ have a 4+ cover.

The Skitarii formation is confirmed via a pic of the dataslate.

That Necron formation is pretty freaking silly. Warriors go from hard to kill to "lol never die as long as the Overlord is alive".

I mean sure, they're just Warriors, and don't have ObSec or 4+ RP from Decurion, but an unkillable unit is pretty good.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Abadabadoobaddon wrote:
How many previously available army boxes have been discontinued to make way for these? I know the Chaos Daemon one is gone all of a sudden. Would be pretty gakky if these are effectively their replacements and they're all limited and sold out in the first week.

Which boxes, in particular, are you referring to?

Chaos Daemons Battalion/Battleforce. Pretty sure it was up until a few days ago. Somebody in the 40k General Discussion thread mentioned the Necron battleforce as well.

Does it mention unit requirements for these formations? For example, is the skitarii one a mandatory dominus, ranger squad, and onager, or is it something like 1 dominus, 1-3 ranger or vanguard, 0-3 onager?

also, that space marine one would be pretty crazy depending on what units can be taken in that formation.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Does it mention unit requirements for these formations? For example, is the skitarii one a mandatory dominus, ranger squad, and onager, or is it something like 1 dominus, 1-3 ranger or vanguard, 0-3 onager?

also, that space marine one would be pretty crazy depending on what units can be taken in that formation.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Does it mention unit requirements for these formations? For example, is the skitarii one a mandatory dominus, ranger squad, and onager, or is it something like 1 dominus, 1-3 ranger or vanguard, 0-3 onager?

The only formation with pic confirmed is the skitarii, and it specifies 1 Dominus, 1 unit of Vanguard, and 1 Onager Dunecrawler. So, Vanguard only, but of any unit size and 1 Onager only, not a unit of Onagers.

The marine one looks OK. There is a limit to how much firepower a tac squad and a dread can put out, even at double rate.

Might be fun to stick them in an ADL/fort to doubletap the guns...

The Skitarii one + an allied pod is great. Drop down on taret with Vanguard, get rerolls from formation, light it up with Skitarii special weapons. Actually seems like a decent addition to many Imperial forces, relatively cheap and killy without needing to take a full Skitarii(/Cult Mechanicus) detachment.

 the_Armyman wrote:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Does it mention unit requirements for these formations? For example, is the skitarii one a mandatory dominus, ranger squad, and onager, or is it something like 1 dominus, 1-3 ranger or vanguard, 0-3 onager?

The only formation with pic confirmed is the skitarii, and it specifies 1 Dominus, 1 unit of Vanguard, and 1 Onager Dunecrawler. So, Vanguard only, but of any unit size and 1 Onager only, not a unit of Onagers.

I thought onagers could get taken in squadrons of 3 per heavy slot?

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 the_Armyman wrote:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Does it mention unit requirements for these formations? For example, is the skitarii one a mandatory dominus, ranger squad, and onager, or is it something like 1 dominus, 1-3 ranger or vanguard, 0-3 onager?

The only formation with pic confirmed is the skitarii, and it specifies 1 Dominus, 1 unit of Vanguard, and 1 Onager Dunecrawler. So, Vanguard only, but of any unit size and 1 Onager only, not a unit of Onagers.

I thought onagers could get taken in squadrons of 3 per heavy slot?

They can, but formations sometimes specify a single choice rather than the specific unit.

The Ravenhawk Assault Group, for example, specifies "1 Dreadnought, Ironclad Dreadnought, or Venerable Dreadnought". Those can be taken in "units" instead.

The Space Marine one looks like it might be fun with Imperial Fists tactics. If those guys get on an objective, they are going to be incredibly hard to move off with that amount of shooting. Now, if you put them in a Rhino, do they still count as having moved it the Rhino moves?

 the_Armyman wrote:
Formation info from the GettingStarted! Bundles via 4chan:

SM
Each turn a single unit of the formation within 12" of the captain can shoot in the movement phase instead of moving. It can still shoot again in the shooting phase.

Skitarii
At the start of the shooting phase select a unit within 18" of the Dominus. You reroll to hit against it.

Tyranids
In the movement phase the gargoyles if they are near the Tyrant can enter reserve and immediately deep strike on the board. If they arrive near the warriors they don't scatter.

Necrons
When the warriors or the scarab are destroyed they return alive at the start of your next wound within 5" of the Overlord.

Tau
A unit near the Ethereal can redeploy. Select a model of the unit and remove all other models form the table, then put them in again wherever you want near that model. Unfortunately I don't remember when you can do this thing.

Imperial Guard
All infantry model of the formation near the Leman Russ have a 4+ cover.

The Skitarii formation is confirmed via a pic of the dataslate.

Link?

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Fair, but with the Firewarrior kit in this example also building the new Breachers ... there is a lot of added value for $8-9 depending on your FLGS or online discount of choice.

It could build 1 of 100 different kits and it wouldn't be any more valuable as you can still only build one squad. Paying more for extra bits that you can't use isn't value. It's a money-saving manufacturing exercise on GW's part, and precisely $0 of those savings are passed onto the consumer. In fact, the price went up.

 Wilson wrote:

 the_Armyman wrote:
Formation info from the GettingStarted! Bundles via 4chan:

SM
Each turn a single unit of the formation within 12" of the captain can shoot in the movement phase instead of moving. It can still shoot again in the shooting phase.

Skitarii
At the start of the shooting phase select a unit within 18" of the Dominus. You reroll to hit against it.

Tyranids
In the movement phase the gargoyles if they are near the Tyrant can enter reserve and immediately deep strike on the board. If they arrive near the warriors they don't scatter.

Necrons
When the warriors or the scarab are destroyed they return alive at the start of your next wound within 5" of the Overlord.

Tau
A unit near the Ethereal can redeploy. Select a model of the unit and remove all other models form the table, then put them in again wherever you want near that model. Unfortunately I don't remember when you can do this thing.

Imperial Guard
All infantry model of the formation near the Leman Russ have a 4+ cover.

The Skitarii formation is confirmed via a pic of the dataslate.

Link?

http://boards.4chan.org/tg/thread/44584819/warhammer-40000

In case you're not familiar with 4chan, most of the site is NSFW, so click at your own risk. Also, that thread will 404 soon.

It's a shame that the starters seems to only come with the sprues for the single models. Was looking to pick up the Malignants starter for the Coven Throne and to make/use black knights instead of hexwraiths.

 RivenSkull wrote:
It's a shame that the starters seems to only come with the sprues for the single models. Was looking to pick up the Malignants starter for the Coven Throne and to make/use black knights instead of hexwraiths.

For the last time they're the regular sprues. For feth's sake why on earth would they cut brand new sprues that look EXACTLY like the old ones just make them mono pose to screw customers?!?!?!

Even GW isn't that stupid, they would be wasting tens of thousands of dollars cutting new molds by doing that!

 RivenSkull wrote:
It's a shame that the starters seems to only come with the sprues for the single models. Was looking to pick up the Malignants starter for the Coven Throne and to make/use black knights instead of hexwraiths.

No. This is not the case. The articles in White Dwarf make it absolutely clear that these are the regular kits.

Still not clear if Skitarii can now take a Dominus....

What do you mean? They can in this formation, but not normally.

 Mymearan wrote:
What do you mean? They can in this formation, but not normally.

I was hoping they'd give the dominus faction type Skitarii as well as cult mechanicus :[

"It's cray cray that Skitarii don't have an HQ."


<time passes>


"It's cray cray that Skitarii can have an HQ."

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 RivenSkull wrote:
It's a shame that the starters seems to only come with the sprues for the single models. Was looking to pick up the Malignants starter for the Coven Throne and to make/use black knights instead of hexwraiths.

For the last time they're the regular sprues. For feth's sake why on earth would they cut brand new sprues that look EXACTLY like the old ones just make them mono pose to screw customers?!?!?!

Even GW isn't that stupid, they would be wasting tens of thousands of dollars cutting new molds by doing that!

But why bother reading when just griping about Great Satan Gee Dubs is so much easier?

Requizen wrote:
That Necron formation is pretty freaking silly. Warriors go from hard to kill to "lol never die as long as the Overlord is alive".

I mean sure, they're just Warriors, and don't have ObSec or 4+ RP from Decurion, but an unkillable unit is pretty good.

Indeed, the Necron formation is a bit silly. The formation itself looks a bit weak.

The Skitarii one is a bit naff honestly. With doctrinae, they're gonna be BS5+ for most of the game, so you'll mostly just be rerolling 1's for the most part. Restricting you to one Onager is pretty crap too as it undermines their key strength (battle harmonics)

Well I ordered 2 lizardmen ones and 2 chaos warrior ones for my Kings of War projects I'm working on. I love that I can get a new Carnosaur for 25% off and get a regiment of saurus warriors and coldone cav for free. And the Chaos ones are nice even if part of the value is the sorcerer but I'll probably sell one of those off. The rest of the kit is perfect.

nudibranch wrote:
The Skitarii one is a bit naff honestly. With doctrinae, they're gonna be BS5+ for most of the game, so you'll mostly just be rerolling 1's for the most part. Restricting you to one Onager is pretty crap too as it undermines their key strength (battle harmonics)

The intent of the formation is to simply allow someone to play a game with what's in the box.

 the_Armyman wrote:

nudibranch wrote:
The Skitarii one is a bit naff honestly. With doctrinae, they're gonna be BS5+ for most of the game, so you'll mostly just be rerolling 1's for the most part. Restricting you to one Onager is pretty crap too as it undermines their key strength (battle harmonics)

The intent of the formation is to simply allow someone to play a game with what's in the box.

I mean, it's also not too bad in that rerolls are never a bad thing, even if you're hitting on 2s. Especially if those Vanguard are taking Plasma Calivers.

I'm ordering a couple of them Skitarii/Cult boxes. I don't quite care about the formation since I'm fielding a Cohort Cybernetica already and my group has tight restrictions on the number of formations/detachments we can deploy, but the Onager and extra priests and vanguards will come handy

 JohnnyHell wrote:
"It's cray cray that Skitarii don't have an HQ."


<time passes>


"It's cray cray that Skitarii can have an HQ."

They still can't have one though. All this does is let you take one in a formation with Skitarii unit. There are still two seperate admech armies for some stupid reason and the dominus only works for the Cult Mechanicus. I was really hoping it would give you a simple Force Org of some kind, like say 1 Dominus , 1-3 Vanguard OR Rangers, and 1-2 Onager units so you'd basically have a mini codex to start out with a couple of boxes, but unfortunately that didn't happen.

All this formation does is let you play with the contents of the box sans codex. Ironically the formation only allows vanguard, when Rangers are on the box art, so if you wanted to build rangers they would be useless for the formation too. Pretty limiting and it's not like rerolls would've made the rangers OP.

Honestly for new players the Skitarii one is just going to be confusing as the vanguard and onager have doctrina imperatives and the Dominus has canticles. It would have been better if the special rule was that all units in the formation have canticles and doctrinae, making it a mini cohort Mechanicus.

If you think about it, the Skitarii box is probably the worst for a new player, because it requires you to make two codex purchases ($66 vs. $50), and both of those codexes contain a crazy number of special rules. On top of the warlord traits, army-wide rules, Doctrina Imperatives, and Canticles, practically every unit and every weapon has a unique special rule.

 the_Armyman wrote:
If you think about it, the Skitarii box is probably the worst for a new player, because it requires you to make two codex purchases ($66 vs. $50), and both of those codexes contain a crazy number of special rules. On top of the warlord traits, army-wide rules, Doctrina Imperatives, and Canticles, practically every unit and every weapon has a unique special rule.

It really doesn't, if the rules contained within these boxes are anything like the recent Tau and Raven Guard boxes.
Everything you needed to field the boxes were included. You could field those as Allied Detachments without purchasing a single additional box.


It only becomes an issue if the new player genuinely wants to run both armies--which isn't necessary despite what people like to say.

Then you're assuming a lot more than I am. Plastic sprues, instruction sheet, bases, decals, and a piece of paper for the formation are all I'm expecting. We'll know who's correct in a few days.

 the_Armyman wrote:
Then you're assuming a lot more than I am. Plastic sprues, instruction sheet, bases, decals, and a piece of paper for the formation are all I'm expecting. We'll know who's correct in a few days.

I am assuming a lot, but given that the product description is really close to what we've seen with AoS and 40k stuff that includes rules?

I'm fairly confident in saying that yes, this will be a "you don't need supplementary products" unless you want the full rules for something that might be in the main 40k rule set.

Post edited by Manchu

Please don't advocate illegal activities on DakkaDakka. Thanks!

Some people have better morals than that. Have fun stealing other peoples hard work

Wahey, a scumbag!

The SM formation is gonna get real cheesy if it includes Dreads. Rifleman/PC Dreads are gonna be super worth it.

Bi'ios wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
Anyone who is paying for actual codex's these days is making choice to burn money considering that you can get them for free online with about 5 minutes of googling and downloading.

Some people have better morals than that. Have fun stealing other peoples hard work

BrookM wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
Anyone who is paying for actual codex's these days is making choice to burn money considering that you can get them for free online with about 5 minutes of googling and downloading.

Wahey, a scumbag!

So buying two $50 dollar codexes to run an army is a sane alternative now? (yes I know they have the deal of $66 both right now but I doubt that'll last) Not even Battlefront with their 200+ gloss paged hardbacks charge that much, and they have dramatically more content. Grey Wolf alone has essentially 3 different nations and probably 30+ unique lists in it, all for $30 USA.

What other game do you know of where in order to run your army legally (if we're talking a combined cult/skitarii force) you need to spend almost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS US in rulebooks alone (both codex and the main rules)? I can't even imagine how much the rules must be for poor Australians.

I don't blame anyone for downloading the codexes offline. The prices for the codex are insane. I'm glad they're doing deals on the models now but they need to drop the insane price on the books too if they want to make real progress. The bundle for the admech books is a step in the right direction but honestly those codex should be $30 AT MOST.

Be that as it may, stealing is wrong.

So, imagine I buy the SM formation, I put the tac and the dread in pods, the captain in a pod too (maybe with a command squad).
They drop, and shoot twice ?
That's great.
If your tac has a melta, a multi melta (or grav can) and a combi melta, that's is 3 melta shoots + the heavy weapon.
A simple tac begins a honest threat for every vehicle.
A dread who shoots 8 times with his assault cannon ?!
And twice with his heavy flamer ?^^
Ok, it is not a top tier formation, but it seems OK for me.

 BrookM wrote:
Be that as it may, stealing is wrong.

That's... not actually the right word, but ok.

I won't endorse downloading a book without paying for it because I'm told that would be "wrong". But I do really hope that the rules are included in the boxes otherwise certain sites are going to see increased downloads on various pdf files, and I will be none too perplexed about it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 godardc wrote:
So, imagine I buy the SM formation, I put the tac and the dread in pods, the captain in a pod too (maybe with a command squad).
They drop, and shoot twice ?
That's great.
If your tac has a melta, a multi melta (or grav can) and a combi melta, that's is 3 melta shoots + the heavy weapon.
A simple tac begins a honest threat for every vehicle.
A dread who shoots 8 times with his assault cannon ?!
And twice with his heavy flamer ?^^
Ok, it is not a top tier formation, but it seems OK for me.

Doesn't disembarking from a Drop Pod count as moving? I don't think you can do the double-tap the turn you come out.

Look, this thread is not the place to boast about not paying for rules and whatnot.

 BrookM wrote:
Look, this thread is not the place to boast about not paying for rules and whatnot.

Nor is it a place to shame someone for something they may or may not have paid for.

Yeah, I'm afraid you're right...
And even if rifle man dred could be awesome, do you really want to pay that terminator captain ? Is it worth it ?
Suddenly, the formation seems meh^^

Perhaps these formations come without point costs and should just be fielded as is, against other formations from the same range.

Requizen wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
Look, this thread is not the place to boast about not paying for rules and whatnot.

Nor is it a place to shame someone for something they may or may not have paid for.

Why? Maybe more people need to be shamed these days when they act like a jerk. Social shunning as a tool of social order is terribly underused, IMO.

Sorry for the rude remark, it was out of line, but I so hate it when people casually remark things like that. It just reminds me of some people at my own local store who show up with tatty printed codex pages or play it "mentally" because they think the books are too expensive and don't want to support a store where the tables and terrain are free to use.

 the_Armyman wrote:
Social shunning as a tool of social order is terribly underused, IMO.

Apparently you've never heard of Twitter...

#leavepeoplewhorefusetobuyanarmybookalone?

 BrookM wrote:
Look, this thread is not the place to boast about not paying for rules and whatnot.

Someone should tell GW that with the codex prices

Alright I'm done, no more derailing.

Who knows, with all the positive changes we've seen so far, maybe that will change soon? The admech bundle hopefully means they're aware of how ridiculous its gotten. And honestly those should have been one codex from the start anyways

God I hope some little newbies try to actually play these against each other.

"Okay, I'm bs7 and I get to reroll to hit against you."

"My overlord gets to look out sir. I made all of them! Now my unit is back."

"This game is stupid. Let's play something else."

I was always under the impression that they would become one book, and that Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus were like the Militarum Tempestus to a larger AdMech book in the future.

Just didn't think it would take over a year

the_scotsman wrote:
God I hope some little newbies try to actually play these against each other.

"Okay, I'm bs7 and I get to reroll to hit against you."

"My overlord gets to look out sir. I made all of them! Now my unit is back."

"This game is stupid. Let's play something else."

You think that is stupid? You should play Powder Monkey.

 BrookM wrote:
Look, this thread is not the place to boast about not paying for rules and whatnot.

Correct. In fact, Dakka Dakka at large is not the place to advocate illegal activities. Doing so will earn warning/suspensions! Thanks!

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

Bi'ios wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
Anyone who is paying for actual codex's these days is making choice to burn money considering that you can get them for free online with about 5 minutes of googling and downloading.

Some people have better morals than that. Have fun stealing other peoples hard work

BrookM wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
Anyone who is paying for actual codex's these days is making choice to burn money considering that you can get them for free online with about 5 minutes of googling and downloading.

Wahey, a scumbag!

So buying two $50 dollar codexes to run an army is a sane alternative now? (yes I know they have the deal of $66 both right now but I doubt that'll last) Not even Battlefront with their 200+ gloss paged hardbacks charge that much, and they have dramatically more content. Grey Wolf alone has essentially 3 different nations and probably 30+ unique lists in it, all for $30 USA.

What other game do you know of where in order to run your army legally (if we're talking a combined cult/skitarii force) you need to spend almost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS US in rulebooks alone (both codex and the main rules)? I can't even imagine how much the rules must be for poor Australians.

I don't blame anyone for downloading the codexes offline. The prices for the codex are insane. I'm glad they're doing deals on the models now but they need to drop the insane price on the books too if they want to make real progress. The bundle for the admech books is a step in the right direction but honestly those codex should be $30 AT MOST.

Uhm, the Skitarii Codex and Cult Mechanicum Codex are $33 each, not $50. That's not a special price for the bundle, it's the regular price.

Really? I could've sworn that they were $50 a piece when they came out.

Nope. They're cheaper because they have fewer pages.

 JohnnyHell wrote:
"It's cray cray that Skitarii don't have an HQ."


<time passes>


"It's cray cray that Skitarii can have an HQ."

Except, you know, how they still don't have one. It doesn't count until you can take it for CAD and Ally Detachments.

I still can't fathom why GW wouldn't just explicitly permit both books to function as a single unified list; nobody is fooled, we all know they split them because they're greedy risk-averse buggers, and they don't listen to, care about, or respond to what customers have to say anyway so it's not as if they need plausible deniability on that fact.

Struggling to get back on-topic...

What are people looking forward to most about this? Personally I have been contemplating starting Ad Mech ever since they were released, and so will definitely pick up at least a box of the Ad Mech. I already have some counts-as Kataphron Destroyers from the Ramshackle kickstarter, so a box of this plus the rules will probably get me buying the Cult Mechanicus codex soon as well. No rush, though. I don't have regular local 40K gaming buddies any more.

What's more exciting to me is picking up the Lizardman box to play Dragon Rampant with. I already have a few skinks from eBay (scouts). I think this box should be a cheap way to make something close to a full DR army, with an Elite Cavalry (Carnosaur), 6 Heavy Cavalry (Knights), and 12 Heavy Foot (Warriors). I can add some dragons or other reptilian stuff from Bones to be warbeasts. The last couple of Knights can be modelled as heroes / magicians and fielded as Reduced Model Units. I may well grab the undead box as well, and use it similarly.

For me it's the massive discount on the Skitarii boxed set, €47 off! Mind, I only play 30K these days, but I'm sure I can find a use for both the Skitarii and Onager somehow.

These box sets will be HUGE sellers for GW. They're at the right price point, they have a good mix of units and they have a huge discount. This will be the first thing people recommend when newbies ask them "what should I buy", and on top of that, they're comfortably within impulse purchase range for existing players, like this thread shows. I really hope they'll keep adding armies.

 godardc wrote:
Yeah, I'm afraid you're right...
And even if rifle man dred could be awesome, do you really want to pay that terminator captain ? Is it worth it ?
Suddenly, the formation seems meh^^

I am willing to bet that the formation does not specify that you need a Terminator Captain(the Skitarii one doesn't give any limitations on how to equip the units, just that you must field them).

Yeah, Skitarii for me as well. As I have a Knight, it's basically a few boxes away from getting a War Convo at a very nice discount.

I went to a recruitment open night at a GW store, and at the end I asked if they had any of the new Skitarii painted up in the cabinets. (by this point people were just chatting about the hobby). I hadn't visited a GW store in over a year nor have I seen the Skitarii in person. And the guy tried to flog me a box.

I've been seduced by the Skitarii box. 100% impulse buy, especially after discount.

 BrookM wrote:
For me it's the massive discount on the Skitarii boxed set, €47 off! Mind, I only play 30K these days, but I'm sure I can find a use for both the Skitarii and Onager somehow.

Imperial Militia!

The Tyranid bundle has exactly the 3 warriors I need to match the last of my Shrike wings, last 10 Gargoyles to fill a brood up to 30, and another pair of Brainleech Devourera for my other Tyrants/Flyrants, and a body for a Tyrant conversion I'm considering. Almost seems like a must-buy.

Plus the Lizardmen bundle just rocks for RPG stuff and such. Don't really care about starting Fantasy/AoS at th moment. Very tempted to grab it too...

I wonder if these sets are to encourage new players, Lower the entry cost OR milk those already invested in the game of extra money to show an upswing in the next financial report

 zedmeister wrote:
I've been seduced by the Skitarii box. 100% impulse buy, especially after discount.

 BrookM wrote:
For me it's the massive discount on the Skitarii boxed set, €47 off! Mind, I only play 30K these days, but I'm sure I can find a use for both the Skitarii and Onager somehow.

Imperial Militia!

Ha, hell no! I play Solar Auxilia already, no way am I also going to play that horde army!

 Wulfmar wrote:
I wonder if these sets are to encourage new players, Lower the entry cost OR milk those already invested in the game of extra money to show an upswing in the next financial report

All of the above.

I agree these sets are pretty sweet, if I didn't pick up the Thunderbeast host I would have definitely grabbed this one. This would have been smarter to put out before Xmas. But maybe they wanted to clean stock a bit before releasing.

Seen the new Tau formation rules. Seems useless. Can't complain though with all the stuff we got recently.

 Gamgee wrote:
Seen the new Tau formation rules. Seems useless. Can't complain though with all the stuff we got recently.

These formations aren't meant to be "omgwin" for veteran players. They're meant to be things to let players start out.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:
Seen the new Tau formation rules. Seems useless. Can't complain though with all the stuff we got recently.

These formations aren't meant to be "omgwin" for veteran players. They're meant to be things to let players start out.

They appear to be that and something halfway useful for veteran players. I know I want my Venerable Dreadnought to hang out with a Captain and some Tacticals that can shoot twice.

 BrookM wrote:

 zedmeister wrote:
I've been seduced by the Skitarii box. 100% impulse buy, especially after discount.

 BrookM wrote:
For me it's the massive discount on the Skitarii boxed set, €47 off! Mind, I only play 30K these days, but I'm sure I can find a use for both the Skitarii and Onager somehow.

Imperial Militia!

Ha, hell no! I play Solar Auxilia already, no way am I also going to play that horde army!

Cyber Augmetics + Survivors of the Dark Age provenances, enjoy your modestly-sized(by Heresy human standards ) 3+/6++ save-Grenadier army.

 Mymearan wrote:

 Wulfmar wrote:
I wonder if these sets are to encourage new players, Lower the entry cost OR milk those already invested in the game of extra money to show an upswing in the next financial report

All of the above.

Haven't played in around a decade so basically a newbie here. These definitely pulled me in from looking at 40k again to buying 40k again. For the price through one of the online dealers I immediately bought a Tau set and I'm really tempted to buy a second......and maybe two of the Skitarii boxes as well. Gonna wait till I get the first box painted up before I go crazy though. Just hope these will be around for a few weeks at least.

 Yodhrin wrote:

 BrookM wrote:

 zedmeister wrote:
I've been seduced by the Skitarii box. 100% impulse buy, especially after discount.

 BrookM wrote:
For me it's the massive discount on the Skitarii boxed set, €47 off! Mind, I only play 30K these days, but I'm sure I can find a use for both the Skitarii and Onager somehow.

Imperial Militia!

Ha, hell no! I play Solar Auxilia already, no way am I also going to play that horde army!

Cyber Augmetics + Survivors of the Dark Age provenances, enjoy your modestly-sized(by Heresy human standards ) 3+/6++ save-Grenadier army.

I may use the Skitarii as a Tech-Thrall Covenant, that just leaves me with a use for the Onager.

I don't really know the Ad Mech stuff too well -- will I find uses for multiple tech-priests if I buy more than 1 set? Maybe to make him a Datasmith and find some counts-as Kastelans somewhere?

 Hulksmash wrote:
Well I ordered 2 lizardmen ones and 2 chaos warrior ones for my Kings of War projects I'm working on. I love that I can get a new Carnosaur for 25% off and get a regiment of saurus warriors and coldone cav for free. And the Chaos ones are nice even if part of the value is the sorcerer but I'll probably sell one of those off. The rest of the kit is perfect.

Could you please tell us more about it? Two factions, one project?

 BrookM wrote:

I may use the Skitarii as a Tech-Thrall Covenant, that just leaves me with a use for the Onager.

Ordo Reductor Artillery "Tank"? Seems they'd be pretty suitable and you've got a ton of weapon options to try

Do this new Sets include only formations or full dataslates with profiles. options and unit rules on full sites?

RazorEdge wrote:
Do this new Sets include only formations or full dataslates with profiles and options and unit rules?

It appears that there are only formations, not rules for the units. The formation is on a sheet with the rules in multiple languages. They could not do that with all of the rules.

 zedmeister wrote:

 BrookM wrote:

I may use the Skitarii as a Tech-Thrall Covenant, that just leaves me with a use for the Onager.

Ordo Reductor Artillery "Tank"? Seems they'd be pretty suitable and you've got a ton of weapon options to try

Not a bad idea, certainly beats just grabbing a Basilisk or Whirlwind from the store.

 BrookM wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:

 BrookM wrote:

 zedmeister wrote:
I've been seduced by the Skitarii box. 100% impulse buy, especially after discount.

 BrookM wrote:
For me it's the massive discount on the Skitarii boxed set, €47 off! Mind, I only play 30K these days, but I'm sure I can find a use for both the Skitarii and Onager somehow.

Imperial Militia!

Ha, hell no! I play Solar Auxilia already, no way am I also going to play that horde army!

Cyber Augmetics + Survivors of the Dark Age provenances, enjoy your modestly-sized(by Heresy human standards ) 3+/6++ save-Grenadier army.

I may use the Skitarii as a Tech-Thrall Covenant, that just leaves me with a use for the Onager.

Why not just use them as-is? I think Forgeworld have said it's fine to use the Skitarri dex in 30k at the moment, at least until Skitarii get their own rules for 30k.

 Imateria wrote:
Why not just use them as-is? I think Forgeworld have said it's fine to use the Skitarri dex in 30k at the moment, at least until Skitarii get their own rules for 30k.

No, I personally refuse to mix 30K and 40K. We'll soon be starting up a small 30k league at the store and we all want it to be pure 30k, so no Unbound or formation stuff, because that's something we're all quite tired of.

If only Skitarii has a HQ choice... If they did you could just use the AoD force chart.

Dammit GW!

 wuestenfux wrote:

Requizen wrote:
That Necron formation is pretty freaking silly. Warriors go from hard to kill to "lol never die as long as the Overlord is alive".

I mean sure, they're just Warriors, and don't have ObSec or 4+ RP from Decurion, but an unkillable unit is pretty good.

Indeed, the Necron formation is a bit silly. The formation itself looks a bit weak.

It does seem a bit odd.
If we're to go by the previously posted info, the formation only benefits the Warriors and Scarabs, but the Stalker gets nor gives nothing?
Something doesn't seem right there... like it's literally been shoehorned in.
("Quick, we're releasing new starter packs and we're stuck for ideas with the Necron one. We got the main part with the Warrior sprue sorted, but we need to throw something else in... Hmm, what's not selling as well?")

 wuestenfux wrote:

 Hulksmash wrote:
Well I ordered 2 lizardmen ones and 2 chaos warrior ones for my Kings of War projects I'm working on. I love that I can get a new Carnosaur for 25% off and get a regiment of saurus warriors and coldone cav for free. And the Chaos ones are nice even if part of the value is the sorcerer but I'll probably sell one of those off. The rest of the kit is perfect.

Could you please tell us more about it? Two factions, one project?

I'm actually rounding out my "Salamanders" army for Kings of War with the Lizardmen kits. The chaos are being combined with 2 Beastmen battalions I ordered at the same time for a 6th/7th edition Chaos Fantasy army feel with beastmen and warriors of chaos that Kings of War just released rules for

It's too bad they didn't make some of these starters for Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit.

 TheWaspinator wrote:
It's too bad they didn't make some of these starters for Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit.

Make a LotR Hobbit military set!!!

I would love one, but it wouldn't really work. Most of the Hobbit range is fine cast, therefore much more expensive compared to the 40K and AOS bundles which are mostly plastic. So the Hobbit box sets would be like double the price. Might work for Mirkwood, because they can do Rangers + Palace Guard, or Hunter Orcs with Hunter Orcs + Orc Riders + Fell Wargs, or Erebor with Erebor Warriors + Grimhammers.

Gundabad Orcs, Laketown etc would be completely finecast.

Edit: come to think of it, thats still 3 factions they can do for the Hobbit using the Hobbit plastics.

Its just my fething luck that I've already got all of those plastic sets individually bar the Orc Riders.

Isn't Hobbit/LotR under Specialist Games now anyway?

Not yet, no. Thats just rumour and speculation, but it is likely.

The LOTR/Hobbit SBG is shaping up to be the new Bloodbowl in terms of long term lingering popularity and a dedicated and enthusiastic community despite lack of support. Discontinuing it altogether would be a mistake, like it was a mistake to scrap Bloodbowl. The range is almost 100% complete, we just need a few new variants of existing Heroes - Armoured Azog, the unreleased Thorins Company - and a couple of blatantly missing models - Dain Ironfoot, Dwarf battlegoat cavarly, and the Gundabad Trolls. Maybe they could retool the existing plastic Isengard/Mordor troll kit, or do an upgrade sprue with unique armour, weapons and heads that fit onto the plastic troll kit.

If we get those missing models (along with rules for Dain, the Dwarf goat riders and the trolls, then the range will be complete and I'll be happy for years to come. They just need to keep as much of the range as possible available for as long as possible (maybe do small production runs every year to replenish stock only when it runs out).

It would be nice to get another Overlord into the Decurion. This formation isn't really cheaper than a royal court but totally different applications, less unwieldy for sure. I would be all about this if it was a unit of Stalkers.

Requizen wrote:
Isn't Hobbit/LotR under Specialist Games now anyway?

It's a seperate branch to them but under the same division. According to someone who was at the birthday bash thing at least; Forge World is now split into three sections, a 30k/40k/AoS section (led by Alan Bligh), a Specialist Games section, and a Middle Earth section.

 Matt.Kingsley wrote:
If only Skitarii has a HQ choice... If they did you could just use the AoD force chart.

Dammit GW!

I'm not looking to play 40k armies in a 30k setting though.

The point still stands though. While FW has supposedly said you can use the Skitarii codex for the time being you can't play using the AoD rules properly.

EDIT: I'm using 'you' in the general sense in this post.

 BrookM wrote:

 Imateria wrote:
Why not just use them as-is? I think Forgeworld have said it's fine to use the Skitarri dex in 30k at the moment, at least until Skitarii get their own rules for 30k.

No, I personally refuse to mix 30K and 40K. We'll soon be starting up a small 30k league at the store and we all want it to be pure 30k, so no Unbound or formation stuff, because that's something we're all quite tired of.

We don't mix 30k and 40k here either, say using a LR Crusader in a 30k army.
But its perfectly fine to use a 40k ally force in a 30k army, or vice versa.

In case it was missed, the 40k boxes do not contain the unit rules/points (formation only).

You would still require the codex to play them.

 wuestenfux wrote:

 BrookM wrote:

 Imateria wrote:
Why not just use them as-is? I think Forgeworld have said it's fine to use the Skitarri dex in 30k at the moment, at least until Skitarii get their own rules for 30k.

No, I personally refuse to mix 30K and 40K. We'll soon be starting up a small 30k league at the store and we all want it to be pure 30k, so no Unbound or formation stuff, because that's something we're all quite tired of.

We don't mix 30k and 40k here either, say using a LR Crusader in a 30k army.
But its perfectly fine to use a 40k ally force in a 30k army, or vice versa.

Allies from 40k is another thing we don't run around here. We're a bunch of fun-hating jerks I suppose.

Not even Daemons for Word Bearers/Cults? Harsh.

But now we're getting way off topic...

Can you preorder/order these through an FLGS, or is it a webstore exclusive?

 Sinful Hero wrote:
Can you preorder/order these through an FLGS, or is it a webstore exclusive?

Yes you can, at least I've seen them available online from UK discounters with an extra 25% off in some cases. It's certainly piqued my interest anyway!

No doubt it'll be the same in the U.S.

I've got my fingers crossed for an Ork and Kabalite Dark Eldar army starter at some point in the future as well!

I ordered 4 from Frontline for an additional 25% off the price. Meant getting them for around $65 which is super nice for what you get.

Does anyone have the official rules for the new Imperial Guard formation? I can't find them :(

 ae2016 wrote:
Does anyone have the official rules for the new Imperial Guard formation? I can't find them :(

They're in the box.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 ae2016 wrote:
Does anyone have the official rules for the new Imperial Guard formation? I can't find them :(

They're in the box.

I know, I ordered 3 of them but won't have them until Saturday. I'm wondering if somebody has a leaked picture of the formation rules.

Nobody's posted a picture aside from of the Skitarii one as far as I know.

These are the only ones I could find:

I don't understand the Tau one. So you can like, pivot them around one model? One has to stay still, and then the rest can just shuffle around as long as they stay in coherency? Seems odd, very limited in use.

If Tyranid Warriors weren't so bad, the Hive Vanguard might be pretty good in conjunction with a Tyrannocyte to put the Warriors in.

Requizen wrote:
I don't understand the Tau one. So you can like, pivot them around one model? One has to stay still, and then the rest can just shuffle around as long as they stay in coherency? Seems odd, very limited in use.

If Tyranid Warriors weren't so bad, the Hive Vanguard might be pretty good in conjunction with a Tyrannocyte to put the Warriors in.

If you could use Breachers instead of Strike Team it would be so much better.

Not terible at ensuring you remain safe from assault, just pick the dude the furtherest away, he stays there, everyone else redeploys behind at max coherency and then you can still move back 6" and rapidfire. The more spread out you are, the better this gets.

Can also use to suddenly string out in a conga line at max coherency (10 dudes on 32 mm bases and 2" coherency gives (32 x 10 + 8 x 25 + 3 x 25 = 595mm) 23.8 inches, just slightly less than 2 feet to claim objectives, add another ~6" if you've got a pair of drones too, useful for last turn objective grabbing, or even current turn objective grabbing if maelstrom.

Could also be used to launch surprise turn 1 assaults on vehicles if you take EMP grenades, string out in a big conga line 24" after deploying on the line, move 6", charge 2d6 and haywire the crap out of something like a knight or a land raider. Major lulz.

Sorry if already asked, but is there anything in the Nurgle or Khorne sets that you cannot use in 40K?

 Lord of Deeds wrote:
Sorry if already asked, but is there anything in the Nurgle or Khorne sets that you cannot use in 40K?

Nope, but it only comes with a formation for AoS. But the models are all fine for 40k.

Any clue if the models included in the daemon sets are not worth fielding in a game of 40K? Either set worth doubling up on?

The Khorne chariot is kinda meh. It's the only thing that's pretty poor out of the lot.

Plague Drones are alright, but you'll want more than the 3 that come in the box, ditto for Bloodcrushers. However, units of 3 of each are great for summoning, so if you're making a Summoning Daemons list, it's a solid buy.

Plaugebearers and Nurglings are pretty good Troops. Bloodletters not so much, but again, they're great if you Summon them up for free and on top of the enemy. The Herald of Nurgle is extremely solid imo and can also be summoned via Sacrifice.

 Drasius wrote:
Not terible at ensuring you remain safe from assault, just pick the dude the furtherest away, he stays there, everyone else redeploys behind at max coherency and then you can still move back 6" and rapidfire. The more spread out you are, the better this gets.

Can also use to suddenly string out in a conga line at max coherency (10 dudes on 32 mm bases and 2" coherency gives (32 x 10 + 8 x 25 + 3 x 25 = 595mm) 23.8 inches, just slightly less than 2 feet to claim objectives, add another ~6" if you've got a pair of drones too, useful for last turn objective grabbing, or even current turn objective grabbing if maelstrom.

Could also be used to launch surprise turn 1 assaults on vehicles if you take EMP grenades, string out in a big conga line 24" after deploying on the line, move 6", charge 2d6 and haywire the crap out of something like a knight or a land raider. Major lulz.

All models have to be deployed within 3" of the lynchpin model, so there are no 24" conga lines or 1st turn assaults.

 ae2016 wrote:

Confirmed: the Stalker is a completely pointless addition to the box.
Nice job trying to offload stuff that's not selling, guys.

 skoffs wrote:

 ae2016 wrote:

Confirmed: the Stalker is a completely pointless addition to the box.
Nice job trying to offload stuff that's not selling, guys.

Worst part is that the Stalker is what you are paying for the most in this boxed set. The Overlord is what you are getting for free.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

 skoffs wrote:

Spoiler:

 ae2016 wrote:

Confirmed: the Stalker is a completely pointless addition to the box.
Nice job trying to offload stuff that's not selling, guys.

Worst part is that the Stalker is what you are paying for the most in this boxed set. The Overlord is what you are getting for free.

In that most Necron players are already going to have a bunch of Overlord models from bàck when we picked up Annihilation Barges, the last thing we need is ANOTHER free Overlord.
(this box just officially went on my "do not want" list)

Still garbage pricing for what you got just five years ago.

 skoffs wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

 skoffs wrote:

Spoiler:

 ae2016 wrote:

Confirmed: the Stalker is a completely pointless addition to the box.
Nice job trying to offload stuff that's not selling, guys.

Worst part is that the Stalker is what you are paying for the most in this boxed set. The Overlord is what you are getting for free.

In that most Necron players are already going to have a bunch of Overlord models from bàck when we picked up Annihilation Barges, the last thing we need is ANOTHER free Overlord.
(this box just officially went on my "do not want" list)

Which is irrelevant considering these are *Start* Collecting sets. They are not geared toward existing players. The Stalker is just a bad choice. They could have a Ghost Ark in there instead. The Stalker is probably a case of GW wanting to clear out some stock.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

 skoffs wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

 skoffs wrote:

Spoiler:

 ae2016 wrote:

Confirmed: the Stalker is a completely pointless addition to the box.
Nice job trying to offload stuff that's not selling, guys.

Worst part is that the Stalker is what you are paying for the most in this boxed set. The Overlord is what you are getting for free.

In that most Necron players are already going to have a bunch of Overlord models from bàck when we picked up Annihilation Barges, the last thing we need is ANOTHER free Overlord.
(this box just officially went on my "do not want" list)

Which is irrelevant considering these are *Start* Collecting sets. They are not geared toward existing players. The Stalker is just a bad choice. They could have a Ghost Ark in there instead. The Stalker is probably a case of GW wanting to clear out some stock.

That may be the case, but there's no reason they couldn't try to work the Stalker into the Formation rules somehow. It would have literally cost them nothing and, if implemented well, could have seen sales of Stalkers increase. This is just laziness on GW's part.

jamesk1973 wrote:
Still garbage pricing for what you got just five years ago.

Example? Been in the hobby since the old RTB set , and whilst I'll accept the value of these sets is a little variable depending on faction, I don't remember much short of the old Apocalypse formation boxes offering this level of official discount. Prices naturally increase with inflation. The Skitarti, Daemon, Tau, Serapon ones are especially goodie terms of value - not forgetting that for AOS you could literally be in the game for £50 now. That's the cheapest ever entry into GW including rules I can remember ever in the last 20 years, especially given you gave some choice in selecting a force.

Even competitor wise, the Mantic equivalent gives you more models but garbage quality, plus you still need the rules as the full rules are not free. £35 gets you a warmahordes starter but less models, though you are set rules wise.

I think these are a great move, combined with online discounters - my local lgs basically dropped most tabletop games and has no space anymore so I see little point in supporting them - I've got two Skitarri boxes for £75 shipped, which is less than the retail price of two dune crawlers.

Yeah this really is a fantastic deal compared to most other manufacturers. Find me somewhere you can get five "evil knight" cavalry for £37.50, let alone the chariot and the infantry...

Anyone wanting a cheap way in to fantasy tabletop wargaming can go for Dragon Rampant (about £8 delivered from Amazon) and one of these sets, and even grab a hero/wizard/commander mini for a fiver or so from Hasslefree or someone, and still be paying around £50 total.

Dragon Rampant army with the Seraphon set:

Dinosaur thing -- Greater Warbeast (6)
12 Infantry -- heavy foot (4)
6 cavalry -- heavy cavalry (4)
2 cavalry (hero type mini + wizard type mini) -- elite cavalry, Reduced Model Unit, Spellcaster (6+4 = 10)

This probably has too many Toyz and not enough Boyz to be super competitive... but it's a starter set, who cares? It will get you playing a full-size 24-point game of DR, assuming your opponent also has an army. Add some cheap Skinks for scouts or Light Missiles and you even have some varied lists.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
Yeah this really is a fantastic deal compared to most other manufacturers. Find me somewhere you can get five "evil knight" cavalry for £37.50, let alone the chariot and the infantry...

Anyone wanting a cheap way in to fantasy tabletop wargaming can go for Dragon Rampant (about £8 delivered from Amazon) and one of these sets, and even grab a hero/wizard/commander mini for a fiver or so from Hasslefree or someone, and still be paying around £50 total.

There's a sorcerer lord in the Slaves to Darkness box already - it's human-sized, so easy to miss. Consider your nits picked

Totally agree with you about the usefulness of these boxes for ANY game - Dragon Rampant is the easiest, an army in a box! But also starters for Kings of War or SlightlyOldhammer. The Fantasy boxes seem more amenable to multiple purchases than the 40k ones - the command figure is either one of the cheaper parts of the set or easily repurposed.

At that Dark Sphere price, it's a case of "what do I want to do with all this stuff?". My Skitarii box is on the way - 35% savings off retail for the Onager and Dominus that I want AND I get a box of FREE Skitarii that I can do... something... with.

Can anyone who has the 40K Demons codex tell me about how many points are in the AoS Demons boxes? It would be a huge help

360 for khorne, and 310 for Nurgle. Can do about 30-100 points of upgrades with champions/icons/musicians on both sets.

Got my space marine box, and the terminator captain's assembly instructions are on a clampack size/style piece of paper - does anyone know if he came with this in the strike force ultra box? Or is this an indicator that he might be available separately soon...?

 Nicky J wrote:
Got my space marine box, and the terminator captain's assembly instructions are on a clampack size/style piece of paper - does anyone know if he came with this in the strike force ultra box? Or is this an indicator that he might be available separately soon...?

I can't find any confirmation one way or another, but that is also how Shadow Captain Solaq came in Shadow Force Solaq as well. I think that is just how they are doing things now. Captain Karlaen and Krom Dragongaze did not come that way in their respective boxed sets.

 Lord of Deeds wrote:
Sorry if already asked, but is there anything in the Nurgle or Khorne sets that you cannot use in 40K?

You can use everything in these boxes also for 40k.

Opened the Skitarri box to find that the points/stats for all the models are on the assembly sheets.

Anyone with sense at GW should do a store bundle of two start collecting boxes and a mini softback rule book for £100 offer.