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Alright. After an hour of numbers, I finally have the results of how much the Start Collecting! boxes are worth, and the results are in! Keep in mind that some, such as the Tau Ethereal included with the Tau set, and the Terminator Captain from the Space Marines set had to be approximated, as the model was not in the web store.

169 Skitarii
167 Militarum Tempestus
166.75 Imperial Guard
164.75 Tau
161.25 Blood Angels
160.25 Tyranids
155.25 Orks
155 Dark Eldar
148.5 Eldar
145.5 Space Wolves
142.5 Space Marines
142 Chaos Space Marines
137 Necrons

So, after the ordering, the Skitarii came first in value, with the Necrons in last. For the Skitarii, it really was that $40 Tech-Priest that boosted them up there, and for the Necrons, the low prices of most everything in the box dragged it down. Following Skitarii, we have Militarum Tempestus, up there because the scions themselves cost $84. The Imperial Guard box comes with four units instead of the usual three, so it received a boost, and the Tau are pricy, and the Ethereal on Hover Thingie I priced at $25, you tell me if accurate or not. Gladly, the army I play, Tyranids, came soon after, falling $1 short of the Blood Angel box, which is great with the $40 Captain and Baal Predator. Tyranids, featuring a more Elite list instead of Swarmy, comes with Warriors, Gargoyles and a Hive Tyrant. It's great, but comes close to ½ of the list, so its value is a teensy weentsy bit above mediocre. Then, the bad and the ugly come in. Don't get me wrong, they're all great value, it's just how MUCH you are saving. The Orks are the median, as the Boyz and Nobz are both low-cost and old. The DE box is ok, but the lower prices of both troops and vehicle selection make this box’s savings under average. Underneath their Dark cousins are the Eldar. The box feels empty, though the models are all Jetbikes and Vehicles. The Warlock on the Hoverbike boosted it up, but even that boost couldn't save the box from the lower clutches. The Space Wolves. I hate Space Wolves. Anyhoo, the box doesn't contain much, though it does contain more than its follow-up, the Space Marines! The box is odd. A tac, a Venerable Dread, and a Termie Captain. The Captain was priced at $37, the same as the Termie Librarian, because the model isn't sold individually on the web store. Ahhh. The price is not good in this one. However, the SM’s maintain a bit of pride for staying at 50 cents above their hated enemy, Chaos Space Marines. This box also feels empty, as the Helbrute is small, the Termie Captain is even smaller than the Loyalist version, and the 10 man squad remained the same. You can see the way they tried to keep the two boxes equal, but the CSM’s fall short by a bit. At the bottom is the Necrons, but they were already discussed, so I think this wraps up this little find. However, tell me if this should be put in articles. Have a great day!

Good breakdown. I would caution though that some things are worth less than the GW stock prices when you take into account other box sets and what models are actually useful for an army.

For example, terminators are very easy to obtain on ebay as they've been in many starter sets, campaign sets and dark vengeance.

Also I value characters far lower than GW sells them for. A space marine captain (for example) is easily kitbashed and will still look good if done well.

There's also which models players actually want to buy. Getting 10 'free' tactical marines is less useful to people who already have loads, and their rules might well influence how often they see the table.

Id still agree that the skitarii are best value though. None of these drawbacks really apply to them. They aren't really many of them knocking around cheap on ebay either, being a comparatively recent army

I think it's a decent comparison though if you wanted to walk into A GW and determine whether or not it was worth buying the SC boxes to bag a few extra models that you may otherwise have overlooked.

Is this Canadian Dollars?

It's only a bargain compared to GW's insane prices, the sets are still not really affordable to younger people that want entrance into the hobby.

hobojebus wrote:
It's only a bargain compared to GW's insane prices, the sets are still not really affordable to younger people that want entrance into the hobby.

Its a cheap entrance point to the game. Some sets are worth buying twice or three times. After this, further addition of models/units will become expensive.

You should put the Khorne and Nurgle ones in as well. They're marketed with an AoS logo, but they pull double duty. And those two are great value too;
Khorne includes a Skullcannon/skull throne, 3 blood crushers, and 10 Bloodletters. If you make the cannon, you get a free Khorne herald as well
Nurgle includes a Herald, 3 Nurgling bases, 10 Plaguebearers and 3 Plague Drones.

Both are awesome starter forces.

 wuestenfux wrote:
Is this Canadian Dollars?

Yes, it's that sad dollar that's dropping like a rock.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
You should put the Khorne and Nurgle ones in as well. They're marketed with an AoS logo, but they pull double duty. And those two are great value too;
Khorne includes a Skullcannon/skull throne, 3 blood crushers, and 10 Bloodletters. If you make the cannon, you get a free Khorne herald as well
Nurgle includes a Herald, 3 Nurgling bases, 10 Plaguebearers and 3 Plague Drones.

Both are awesome starter forces.

I tried... I gave up after the HQ for Khorne was not available, and just said, screw Daemons.

lliu wrote:

 wuestenfux wrote:
Is this Canadian Dollars?

Yes, it's that sad dollar that's dropping like a rock.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
You should put the Khorne and Nurgle ones in as well. They're marketed with an AoS logo, but they pull double duty. And those two are great value too;
Khorne includes a Skullcannon/skull throne, 3 blood crushers, and 10 Bloodletters. If you make the cannon, you get a free Khorne herald as well
Nurgle includes a Herald, 3 Nurgling bases, 10 Plaguebearers and 3 Plague Drones.

Both are awesome starter forces.

I tried... I gave up after the HQ for Khorne was not available, and just said, screw Daemons.

It's there.

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Daemons-Of-Khorne-Skull-Cannon

Bloodcrushers have to be bought in six, but you can cut that price in half.

Total in Canadian dollars is 145.00

Interesting thing about the Khorne one is that you can build a full army with nothing but those boxes, and it even would be the Daemonic Incursion force.

Okay. Wonder when the Slaaneshi one will come out. I don't expect Tzeench's to come out soon, because of the lack of models.

The Scion set pretty much gives you a squad of Scions in savings

 Bulldogging wrote:

Interesting thing about the Khorne one is that you can build a full army with nothing but those boxes, and it even would be the Daemonic Incursion force.

Just to be pedantic, due to the way formations work and army construction, as long as they don’t include unique units, you can build an army out of any of the SC boxes, just by duplicating the formation in each one.

But taking the spirit of your comment, the Eldar box is also very good for branching out into a full, balanced list just by spamming the same box. The major advantage is the duel-kit HQ. Build 1-2 as farseers, and the rest as warlocks (either attached to bike squads, or as a council). Jetbikes are one of the best troops in the game, and eminently spamable. Prisms are not bad, can squadron, and can be built as nightspinners to mix things up a bit. Tactically, you can scatbike most things off the table, and those thing you can’t, you either magic to death or blow apart with lance shots from the prisms.

Most of the other boxes you are going to end up with a pile of unused HQs after more then a box or two.

lliu wrote:
Okay. Wonder when the Slaaneshi one will come out. I don't expect Tzeench's to come out soon, because of the lack of models.

Not sure if serious are sarcastic.

Pink Horrors of Tzeentch
Flamers of Tzeentch
Screamers of Tzeentch
Herald of Tzeentch on Disc
Burning Chariot of Tzeentch/Herald of Tzeentch on Burning Chariot

Okay. Well, I was being serious. Consider me wrong.

Not a bad deal considering current prices. But I will always miss the old Battle Force box sets. They came with twice the models for only $90 USD. I just bought an old Blood Angels Battle Force at my FLGS for $80, came with a Rhino, a Tac Squad, 5 man Assault marines, and a 5 man Death Company squad all NoS. Way better bargain than the new box set.

These are definitely nothing compared to the original battleforces (the IG one puts the IG Start Collecting to shame, it comes with a second squad, more HW squads and a sentinel in exchange for the commissar) but it's something.

Now I wish they can make a return of the Megaforces. Those were da gak and were basically marketed as "An army in a box". Those "Swarm" boxes were pretty close, I just kinda wish they made those as a permanent fixture on the website rather than a limited time deal (I would love to have gotten the original Fire Support Cadre. It was 200 bucks if I remember. Now the contents, if bought separately, skyrockets past 300 easily).

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
These are definitely nothing compared to the original battleforces (the IG one puts the IG Start Collecting to shame, it comes with a second squad, more HW squads and a sentinel in exchange for the commissar) but it's something.

And yet both IG battleforces(the one you're mentioning and one previous to it which swapped the Sentinel for a Leman Russ) were not actually legal armies out the gate.

The SC: IG one is able to be played right out of the gate.

Additionally, just to nitpick a bit more, the IG box never says it includes a Heavy Weapon Squad. It's a single Heavy Weapon Team intended to let you actually put a Heavy Weapon Team into the Shock Troop Squad since the Cadian Shock Troop Squad has NEVER included a Heavy Weapon on sprue.

And for a bit more:
The old IG Battleforce was a Cadian Command Squad, 2 Cadian Shock Troop boxes, a Heavy Weapon Squad and a Sentinel.
The IG Battleforce before that was a 20 man Cadian Shock Troop box, a Heavy Weapon Squad, and a Leman Russ Battle Tank with a set of ruins.

Now I wish they can make a return of the Megaforces. Those were da gak and were basically marketed as "An army in a box". Those "Swarm" boxes were pretty close, I just kinda wish they made those as a permanent fixture on the website rather than a limited time deal (I would love to have gotten the original Fire Support Cadre. It was 200 bucks if I remember. Now the contents, if bought separately, skyrockets past 300 easily).

The Fire Support Cadre came back again last year for the holidays, as did many of the things that are best classed as "Megaforces".

*sigh* I miss the old GW.

The skitarii and Stormtroopers are the biggest savings for one key reason. Theyre brand new kits, and therefore have brand new kit pricing. The 5 man stormtrooper box for example is over $30 even with usual discounts if I remember right, and the app costs $50. Meanwhile a ten man guard squad is $29 before discount and a chimera is $37 before discount.

Same for skitarii. Their HQ alone, the dominus, is over $30 American by himself.

Now astute observers will notice that If comes in 3rd. Thats because the heavy weapons squad box has always been stupidly expensive, if I remember right around $40. Throw in the tank and the new commissar and price jumps up quick.

That was the main problem I had with the Space Marine box. Take out the Terminator Captain and take away the price hikes the remaining two sets had during the years (the Dread use to be 45 CAD and the Tactical squad too) and suddenly there's no discount (I wouldn't say I'm paying more because 10 bucks for the captain is...pretty reasonable considering Terminators have come 5 for 60 since 4th edition). Yes one of them is technically a new set but the old Tactical Squad functioned just as well so I count this as a price hike.

The start collecting boxes are great. I was able to eBay one for under $70. If I buy another ill have enough for a small mono build force at 140$. Good move gw, keep pushing that direction and I'll invest in another army

lliu wrote:
*sigh* I miss the old GW.

We all do.

Any suggestions for spinning the Tau box out into 500 points?

First I thought "wow, that's a lot" but then I realized this was in Canadabux (tm).

 Kanluwen wrote:

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
These are definitely nothing compared to the original battleforces (the IG one puts the IG Start Collecting to shame, it comes with a second squad, more HW squads and a sentinel in exchange for the commissar) but it's something.

And yet both IG battleforces(the one you're mentioning and one previous to it which swapped the Sentinel for a Leman Russ) were not actually legal armies out the gate.

The SC: IG one is able to be played right out of the gate.

Additionally, just to nitpick a bit more, the IG box never says it includes a Heavy Weapon Squad. It's a single Heavy Weapon Team intended to let you actually put a Heavy Weapon Team into the Shock Troop Squad since the Cadian Shock Troop Squad has NEVER included a Heavy Weapon on sprue.

And for a bit more:
The old IG Battleforce was a Cadian Command Squad, 2 Cadian Shock Troop boxes, a Heavy Weapon Squad and a Sentinel.
The IG Battleforce before that was a 20 man Cadian Shock Troop box, a Heavy Weapon Squad, and a Leman Russ Battle Tank with a set of ruins.

Now I wish they can make a return of the Megaforces. Those were da gak and were basically marketed as "An army in a box". Those "Swarm" boxes were pretty close, I just kinda wish they made those as a permanent fixture on the website rather than a limited time deal (I would love to have gotten the original Fire Support Cadre. It was 200 bucks if I remember. Now the contents, if bought separately, skyrockets past 300 easily).

The Fire Support Cadre came back again last year for the holidays, as did many of the things that are best classed as "Megaforces".

Don't forget the 'old old' IG catachan battleforce.... 20 Jungle Fighters, a Sentinel and a Leman Russ and Jungle Tree's..... Gawd I miss the old sets.

You then have the old WD offers, I remember it being possible to get an entire dark eldar army, with a large chunk being metal, for something like 130 quid? About 1,500 points worth, I'll get my old WD's out at some point, but they used to have some great mail order bargins (back when mail order was still about).

Well, for practical purposes of army-building, some of the boxes are just a lot better than the others.

For example:

- Skitarri and Tau give you models that everyone wants and that far exceed the value of the individual models and are worthy of buying multiple boxes

- Eldar and Blood Angels give you a moderate value, but include models that most people don't want more than 1 of, if at all (Baal Pred, Karlaen, Fire Prism)

- Space Marines gives you moderate value, but includes stuff that a lot of people just don't want at all (Termie captain, Dreadnought)

- Necron is just plain far inferior to the old Battleforce box.

Wow! A lot of really great insight by everyone on the value of Start Collecting!

The Tau box is absolutely wonderful. I would gladly take 3 if I had the money.

 Talys wrote:
Well, for practical purposes of army-building, some of the boxes are just a lot better than the others.

For example:

- Skitarri and Tau give you models that everyone wants and that far exceed the value of the individual models and are worthy of buying multiple boxes

- Eldar and Blood Angels give you a moderate value, but include models that most people don't want more than 1 of, if at all (Baal Pred, Karlaen, Fire Prism)

- Space Marines gives you moderate value, but includes stuff that a lot of people just don't want at all (Termie captain, Dreadnought)

- Necron is just plain far inferior to the old Battleforce box.

Couldnt agree more! Same for the Orks box. 10 boys, painboy, deff dread and a box of regular nobz. Now boys are ubiqitous and can be found (aobr) online VERY cheap. The deff dread is a FANTASTIC model, but is hardly EVER used because the rules stink. The nobs box is great, but only for the nob bodies (great for converting/kitbashing into flash gitz, painboys, meks and with a LOT of plasticard work..mega armor nobz) and the bits that come in the box. I have never ever heard of people fielding a unit of nobs on foot. Painboy is EASILY converted/kit bashed.

So in agreement with you because the $ value may be ok.. but practically speaking isnt a great way to get into orks.

Battle for Vedros is one of the best bang for your buck options for Orks.

Turning Nobz into Mega Armored Nobz is a right of passage for Ork players.