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My FLGS got their preview copy of the boxed set and I had a brief look at it this Saturday.  I didn't get to spend any time reading the rules- I had to go play my scheduled game- but I did form some overall impressions.

As we knew, there's a lot of figures in the box.  Almost all of the rank-and-file are one-piece sculpts.  A few of the command are multi-part, as are the cannon, wagon, troll, and goblin hut-thing (pile of firewood? I couldn't tell.)  No problems there, and the dwarfs seem identical in style to the most recent plastic regiment set.  However, the figures are much smaller than the traditional GW figures.  I would say not 28mm, but rather more like true 25mm.  If you mix these models in with an existing army, they will look like they are the wrong size.  In fact, the goblins seem barely larger than the metal snotlings- smaller than the plastic goblins that came in the 3rd ed. boxed set.  The figures are designed to snap together, so you can start playing soon after you open the box, without waiting for glue to dry.  The detail on the models is adequate, especially for one-piece sculpts; and some of the models are really nice (e.g., the cannon & pony-cart).

There is a large magazine that walks you through the basic mechanics of battle, with nice color photos.  Clearly written, but definitely for the new player. 

There is a small, thick, softcover rulebook.  As far as I could tell, it is complete.  It is in black & white, and has some rather small print in places, but with this in hand you shouldn't need to buy the hardback rulebook with color photos of the various armies and a 'hobby section'.

I have had a box reserved since I knew it was coming.  Now that I have seen what's in it, I am satisfied.  For $45 U.S., it is a great deal, and hopefully we'll see more youngsters starting Fantasy.

Thanks for the review, Fellblade.

And for the record, the hobby section missing from the softcover rulebook includes the scenarios. All you get in the softcover is pitched battle.

Darn.  That sucks.  The whole point of having that soft cover book for most of us is to not have to drag that big book around to games.  That ruins it

There are other scenarios for fantasy than pitched battle?

Oh yeah. What can I think of off the top of my head? Breakthrough, Supply Train. There are are a few others.

don't mind the smaller size goblins, as I'll be buying them for my 40K grot army. But the size change is a little odd - does it imply that the new night goblins boxed set (NOT the same as the Battle for Skull Pass models) are also smaller? Ah well, I have plenty of the old night goblins, and like the idea of mixing and matching - a bit of variety in figure size is a good thing.

Yeah- the new kit is what the one piecers in this box are made from. Unfortunately it wasn't made by Brian Nelson

I do plan on picking up a kit or two to throw in with my Nelson gobbos just for kicks- I love the banner tops and shields and think the smaller gobbos add lots of needed variety in the units since gobbos are supposed to widely varry in size.

The new White Dwarf comes with free miniatures from the boxed set. I finally got around to comparing the sizes. The dwarf is, surprisingly, the same size as the new multi-part regiment dwarfs. Funny, it looked a lot smaller. The night goblin is in fact smaller than the old night goblins, but as Drake said, the two can be intermixed for the motley appearance gobbos are known for.

I only use Orks and Gobbos for Mordheim, but I don't have a problem with the smaller Gobbos. At least they're properly scaled now. The old ones, while great, were awfully big when placed next to a human model.

I have the skull pass set in my possession. I am painting it up for my FLGS for them to run demos. I have to say that the models are really nice for the price. I don't play fantasy, but the models are cool enough and you get a buttload of them...I can see it drawing new players to play.

Capt K

But smaller models is nothing new. Remember the Space Orks that came in the 2d Ed box set? They were all the same model and "different" than the sculpts at the time. The same goes with Gorkamorka, which GW claimed could eaily be used for 2d Ed Orks. The Gorkamorka Orks looked like sickly cousins of the Orks at the time.

I'm not saying its right, I'm just saying there is a precedent.

-James

In this case James, I don't think GW is doing the wrong thing. The small gobbos make sense from a fluff persective. I'd like to see them lined up beside the current night goblins though, as I worry they might be too small to fit in my army. I hope they're only a bit smaller, not on the order of almost half the size :p Judging by the bases I'm sure they're not that small though

I for one am glad to see they are trying to reverse the seemingly inexorable scale creep that has plagued GW's plastics since the release of the Catachans. Smaller gobbo's makes sense and is a good thing. Plus, they look pretty good for what they are and I'm looking forward to eventually cobbling together some sort of Ork & Goblin list.

I have to say I love the set
I have 8 boxes of the Nelson goblins, but I like these more, and they're so easy to clean (and to rank up!)
and it makes it really cheap to get my goblin horde up and running

I have ordered 20 of the box sets for my store once they are released
the problem im finding is that a lot of people only want one side or the other and the rulebook
I am seriously considering breaking up 5 or so boxes and selling the parts individually

No need to break them up. People can trade the parts they don't want, just like some did with the old Big Red Box. The latter which I'm hoping I'll be able to find a few on deep, deep discount for more Orkses and all the nifty Empire bits for my Vampy Things. After all, I bet you didn't break up the Battle for Macragge sets, why do it for this?

Actually

 

we did break up alot of BFM's

and i happen to have 2 of the big red boxes still new since you mentioned it if you want one let me know.

I dont know what im going to do here ..depends on demand i guess

Robert

thedropzoneonline@gmail.com

If a store has a good WFB folllowing, why wouldn't it break up a box or two?  The models aren't great, but they provide exactly what you need to start a decent army, and they're incredibly cheap.  so you parts out a box as follows:
Dwarfs: $20-25
Gobbos :$20-25
rulebook: $15-20
Templates/Dice: $3-5

Even at the low price, a store makes an extra $10 in profit, and either suckers in a new player, or makes a veteran happy.  At the higher prices, customers still great incredible value (esp. on the gobbo side), and the owner makes a ton of profit.  People hate buying stuff they don't need. 

There were places that did a similar thing with BfM.  Even battlewagon bits sells the parts out of that box.