Hey Folks,
Play Unplugged takes a look at three starter sets used by three popular miniature companies to introduce their customers to table top miniature games. March over and check it out!
http://www.playunplugged.com/2011/03/pressed-into-service/
This article is an overview of some popular starter-sets and meant for gamers looking for an intro into Table Top Miniature Games. However, some vets may still find it and interesting read.
Pressed Into Service: Recruiting Your First Miniature Game
Enrico Nardini, Play Unplugged
If you “love the smell of napalm in the morning” you may have been considering jumping into the hobby of table top miniature games. Perhaps you visited a well-stocked local game store and admired some beautifully modeled battlefield terrain or nicely painted rows of regimented toy soldiers. Maybe you were drawn in by the camaraderie of players discussing painting tips and game winning tactics or a fanatical friend is demanding you give miniature gaming a try.
Diving into the miniature war game hobby can be quite daunting. There are literally hundreds of choices, and it is easy to walk into your local game store and be overwhelmed by the volume of options in even the most basically stocked miniature section. For the purposes of an introduction we are going to look at three of the most popular table top miniature games and the starter sets they offer.
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is Games Workshop’s most popular game and is a hugely successful property in the world of “unplugged” gaming. It has spawned countless in-house and licensed spin-off products and played a crucial role in Games Workshop’s evolution into a publicly traded company.
Warhammer 40,000 benefits from a large following and in many stores (assuming you have a game store near you) it will be easy for you to find a game. Games Workshop even has their own stores which serve to not only sell their games, but as information centers that teach how to build, paint, and play with their products; a great gateway into the hobby.
Warhammer 40,000: Assault on Black Reach retails for $90.00 dollars, giving it the distinction of the highest price tag of the starter sets featured in this article. Assault on Black Reach is a comprehensive set giving you two playable forces (Space Marines and Orks). Both forces are varied with many different unit types. All the plastic miniatures are beautifully sculpted and as a bonus are plug-and-play. This means that you do not even have to glue your miniatures together to begin playing with them. Assembly is a snap (pun intended) making this the best choice for rookie model builders and appropriately aged children.
Assault on Black Reach also features a complete digest sized Warhammer 40,000 rule book. Though it does not include the depth of background information featured in the full-sized hardcover rules, it is complete in the sense that it has all the rules you need to play the game (minus your Codex). This is accompanied by an introductory booklet (magazine sized) that walks you through all the rules in the game using the models from the set and provides the necessary statistics for each of the units.
The boxset also features plastic rulers, templates, and dice. Warhammer 40,000: Assault on Black Reach, more than any of the other starter sets, allows new players to truly jump right into the hobby. The price tag may seem daunting at first, but you get a tremendous amount of product for your dollar. This is a great set to split with a friend because of the two forces included. Internet savvy gamers can even sell one of the forces or if you are a miniature fanatic (like myself), just build two armies!
Warmachine
The brainchild of gaming pioneer Matt Wilson, Warmachine grew out of the Iron Kingdoms role playing setting released by Privateer Press during the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Warmachine is considered steampunk fantasy. It has many traditional fantasy elements such as monstrous creatures and magic, combined with steam engine technology and gun powder. This gives the miniatures a very distinct and attractive look (unquestionably part of the game’s popularity).
Warmachine offers four different battlegroup boxsets that are appropriate starting points for their game. Each box corresponds to one of the four major factions in the Warmachine game: Cygnar, Khador, Menoth, and Cryx. So, for example if you like the look of the Menoth faction, you would purchase the Proctectorate of Menoth Battlegroup. In contrast with Assault on Black Reach, you can choose your starting faction adding a degree of variety and choice. Each has an aesthetic distinct to their faction with enough variety to allow most gamers to find a faction with an appearance and play style they will enjoy.
The Warmachine faction boxsets include a Warcaster (the focal point of the army) and an assortment of Warjacks (the signature unit of Warmachine), steam powered juggernauts magically controlled by the Warcasters. The miniatures are attractive multipart plastic kits with some degree of pose-ability (particularly in the arms). Unlike Games Workshop’s plastic kits, Privateer Press’s kits require super glue (cyanoacrylate glue) for their assembly, making their miniatures a bit more difficult to assemble. You also get far fewer miniatures with the largest battlegroup consisting of only five miniatures.
The boxsets also include unit cards for the miniatures and a quick-start rule sheet. The unit cards are Privateer Press’s method for referencing unit special rules and tracking important information. The quick-start rule sheet, though far from the complete rules for the game, is enough to get you playing with the miniatures in the box. Each battlegroup boxset retails for $49.99 and each player will require their own battlegroup.
Flames of War
The only historical game of the three featured here, Flames of War, is a product of Battlefront Miniatures and is set throughout the second world war, spanning the varied forces of the European and African theaters (no Pacific forces yet) and the evolution of those forces over the duration of the conflict.
Flames of War also differs significantly from Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine in scale. As a 15mm scale miniature game, its figures are significantly smaller with many vehicles being the size of one man in other games. This means that a base consists of multiple troop miniatures and is meant to represent a group of soldiers on the battlefield. This allows Flames of War to facilitate battles of a much grander scope than the previously mentioned games.
Flames of War’s starter set is titled Open Fire. Open Fire includes two rule books, five tanks, and a set of American and German themed dice. The tanks are cast in resin which is a bit more prone to chipping and breaking (especially when cleaning mold lines with a hobby knife), and include metal gun barrels which need to be attached with super glue. They are very well made replicas of the actual vehicles they were sculpted to represent, which will delight history buffs.
Open Fire includes a digest sized copy of the full Flames of War rulebook and an introductory guide. The introductory guide walks players through scenarios which teach the basic rules of the game in a similar fashion to the one included in Assault on Black Reach.
The Open Fire boxset is the least expensive of the three, retailing for $40.00. However it also lacks the depth of play out of the box and players will quickly get bored using just the box’s content. One thing that Open Fire does excel at is easing the player in. Each scenario teaches one aspect of the game (movement, shooting, etc.) increasingly adding rules as you go. This logical progression helps you remember the rules. The only other drawback being that there are rules specific to infantry, artillery, and aircraft that are beyond the scope of the introductory guide.
Final Thoughts
Everyone will want something different from their game. Consider your own tastes and the available player base. Look at the aesthetics of the miniatures. Do you want to build and paint them? Be observant the next time you are at your local game store. What are customers playing? Will someone play a demonstration game with you so you can learn the rules? Talk to your local game store’s staff. Do they offer instruction in rules, modeling, and painting?
A starter set is just that, a start, where you go from there is up to your imagination. Any of these sets could be a fine introduction into the hobby of table top miniature gaming. Know yourself and your preferences and you will make the best choice for you. Most importantly, remember that many like-minded folks in the miniature gaming community want you to succeed. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There is a wonderful community out there waiting for you so get marching!
