Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

What box is the best "bang for the buck"?
What box is the best overall (ignoring the price)?
And just post you're opinions on all of them
Thanks

Tau has the best discount by far. In terms of usefulness its hard to say. Tau, Necrons, and Skitarii are all full of useful units but every one of the starter boxes can be of some use. Space Marines and Nids probably are the least effective as Dreads and Warriors aren't used all that often in competitive lists. Personally I have a Preorder in place to an online seller for the Tau box set. $63 US + shipping for all that is quite the deal.

Looking at the section of "Start collecting Warhammer 40,000" we see these cool box sets and then you see the redheaded step children that are Orks, Blood Angels, Dark Eldar, and Harequins sitting their with expensive "bundles" with some rather questionable model choices. I feel sorry for the pool misguided soul that buys that Ork "bundle" and finds out that the expensive Mek model is a 15 point challenge fodder or mek gun baby sitter.

Ironic that the marine one is probably the worst in both value and on the table top. The terminator captain is probably the worst unit out of all the 85 dollar ones.

Given that the formation bonuses are out, I'm probably gonna pick up the Skitarii box soon.

 jreilly89 wrote:
Given that the formation bonuses are out, I'm probably gonna pick up the Skitarii box soon.

Where are the formations?

Purely opinion here, as I'm not a 40k or WFB player. I do like GW's models for other games though.

Definitely picking up the Skitarii one - at discount, I buy an Onager, get a free Dominus and have a free box of Skitarii to trade, sell or add to the bitz box. And that kit is an amazing source of bits, some of the best models GW has ever made IMHO. So all in all not just a good saving but a bargain.

Alternatively, I have a box of Frostgrave plastics sitting around, and that box of Skitarii could be re-purposed to 20 techno-scavengers or thralls very easily.

Been tempted by a Nurgle force for a while now but the prices always put me off . That plan is now looking like a real possibility... come to think of it, two boxes wouldn't go amiss, and I could see a plague drone or three being a converted to a futuristic blight drone. Maybe clear the plastic mountain a little first, eh?

That's the great thing about these sets - I would never spend £41 on a Blight Drone from Forgeworld or £23 on bits, but I'm already planning what to do with all those goodies.

 Frozocrone wrote:

 jreilly89 wrote:
Given that the formation bonuses are out, I'm probably gonna pick up the Skitarii box soon.

Where are the formations?

This post in the Rumors board:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/150/675096.page#8360470

 Vankraken wrote:
Tau has the best discount by far. In terms of usefulness its hard to say. Tau, Necrons, and Skitarii are all full of useful units but every one of the starter boxes can be of some use. Space Marines and Nids probably are the least effective as Dreads and Warriors aren't used all that often in competitive lists. Personally I have a Preorder in place to an online seller for the Tau box set. $63 US + shipping for all that is quite the deal.

Looking at the section of "Start collecting Warhammer 40,000" we see these cool box sets and then you see the redheaded step children that are Orks, Blood Angels, Dark Eldar, and Harequins sitting their with expensive "bundles" with some rather questionable model choices. I feel sorry for the pool misguided soul that buys that Ork "bundle" and finds out that the expensive Mek model is a 15 point challenge fodder or mek gun baby sitter.

Started this exact thought process when I read the thread title, glad somebody has articulated it so well. I spent the last of my spending money on two of the tau boxes. I mean, that is practically the cost of the 3 crisis suits, getting a free 10-man fire warrior squad and an ethereal for free is a great deal. All of the models are extremely useful, though I plan to sell both ethereals some time in the future since I play FE (unless somebody tells me I shouldnt for some reason, it may be nice to have the option in the future...).

Anyway, like Vankraken said, Tau has a great deal, them as well as necrons and skitarii are good, stay away from Smarines and especially the expensive book bundles unless you have a good reason.

In terms of absolute usefulness, the Ad-Mech one is probably the best. Skitarii only has 3 model kits in total, and this one includes 2 of the 3 (the only one missing is the strider). The Dominus on the other hand is the cornerstone of almost all of the Cult Mechanicus Formations and a very powerful HQ as well, so it's definitely one of the "Must have" models too.

The Tau one (which is the only one that can come anywhere close to competing with it) has 2 useful units, but not everyone will want an Ethereal, let alone a surplus of them. The Dominus, at least, is featured in a bunch of useful formations so having an extra one on the cheap is never a waste.

Don't like the idea of "Getting started" meaning "buy this formation", although I do like that these boxes apparently will come with datasheets so that new players don't have to buy the whole codex if they don't want to.

 jasper76 wrote:
Don't like the idea of "Getting started" meaning "buy this formation", although I do like that these boxes apparently will come with datasheets so that new players don't have to buy the whole codex if they don't want to.

Truthfully, I feel that Formations are the best way to introduce someone into the game. Formations have a lot more variety in them while also having a bit more of a rigid structure than a CAD.

The boxes also contain a decent cross-section of unit types. For example, they all seem to come with for the 40k sets:
-A vehicle(Leman Russ, Onager, Necron Spider-Death-Walker that I can never remember the name of and Dreadnought), monstrous creature(Hive Tyrant), or other form of "unique" infantry unit(Crisis Suit being Jet Pack Infantry for the Tau) that has some kind of special rules
-An Independent Character
-An Infantry Unit

It lets someone learn some of the different ways these units work and gives them a feel for how the army as a whole might play without needing to invest too heavily.

HoundsofDemos wrote:
Ironic that the marine one is probably the worst in both value and on the table top. The terminator captain is probably the worst unit out of all the 85 dollar ones.

Honestly outside of playing with just the box set the marine formation is probably the best because you can take a full squadron of 3 riflemen dreadnaughts and make them shoot twice and you don't have to make the captain a terminator.

 jasper76 wrote:
Don't like the idea of "Getting started" meaning "buy this formation", although I do like that these boxes apparently will come with datasheets so that new players don't have to buy the whole codex if they don't want to.

[DAKKA DAKKA in NO WAY condones such activities - DO NOT advocate for piracy on this site - Alpharius]

 CrownAxe wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
Ironic that the marine one is probably the worst in both value and on the table top. The terminator captain is probably the worst unit out of all the 85 dollar ones.

Honestly outside of playing with just the box set the marine formation is probably the best because you can take a full squadron of 3 riflemen dreadnaughts and make them shoot twice and you don't have to make the captain a terminator.

It specifies "one Venerable Dreadnought", same as the Onager and Leman Russ specify "one".

 Kanluwen wrote:

 CrownAxe wrote:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
Ironic that the marine one is probably the worst in both value and on the table top. The terminator captain is probably the worst unit out of all the 85 dollar ones.

Honestly outside of playing with just the box set the marine formation is probably the best because you can take a full squadron of 3 riflemen dreadnaughts and make them shoot twice and you don't have to make the captain a terminator.

It specifies "one Venerable Dreadnought", same as the Onager and Leman Russ specify "one".

Venerables can be rifleman and have better BS to boot

Still a double tapping rifleman is nasty.

space marines either have a very useful box or a very worthless one, its tough to say until we get a better look at the formation sheet

the imperial guard have a rock solid box on there hands, good foundation formation right there.

necrons formation is either going to be silly overpowered or very underwhelming we will again need to look at their formation restrictions. logic tells me its going to be the former over the later because gw wants to sell models and to feth with writing rules fairly and selling models honestly

skitarii have an interesting formation but it needs to survive until mid and late game, by that point it will be useful, its getting there thats the challenge. could be a good walk on formation to come on the table from the edge as a reserve

the tau box is pretty mediocre i probably wouldnt bother which is a fresh change of pace from the bonkers nonsense they got a few weeks ago. maybe we could see them discontinue farsight enclave as well, that would be solid

the nids got a fun box, its not a very good box though, the big thing it offers you is the ability to fix a bad deployment in a limited capacity. so i think situationally a good box

I must say, even if the rules are utter crap most of the "start collecting" boxes are worth it for the models alone imo.

I say very few people will buy the skitarii box for the rules, and more for cheap Dominus and Onagers.

Is it just me, or did they get bumped up to 100 dollars? Weren't they 85?

 Carnikang wrote:
Is it just me, or did they get bumped up to 100 dollars? Weren't they 85? [/quote

They're still $85 for me

 Carnikang wrote:
Is it just me, or did they get bumped up to 100 dollars? Weren't they 85?

Welcome to Canada.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 jasper76 wrote:
Don't like the idea of "Getting started" meaning "buy this formation", although I do like that these boxes apparently will come with datasheets so that new players don't have to buy the whole codex if they don't want to.

Truthfully, I feel that Formations are the best way to introduce someone into the game. Formations have a lot more variety in them while also having a bit more of a rigid structure than a CAD.

The boxes also contain a decent cross-section of unit types. For example, they all seem to come with for the 40k sets:
-A vehicle(Leman Russ, Onager, Necron Spider-Death-Walker that I can never remember the name of and Dreadnought), monstrous creature(Hive Tyrant), or other form of "unique" infantry unit(Crisis Suit being Jet Pack Infantry for the Tau) that has some kind of special rules
-An Independent Character
-An Infantry Unit

It lets someone learn some of the different ways these units work and gives them a feel for how the army as a whole might play without needing to invest too heavily.

There is some pattern behind. I agree that these formations are made for starters in the first place.
But some formations, like Tau or Skitarii, are also nice add-ons.

In terms of the boxes, some boxes are just plain better than the others. But I don't think any of them on the 40k side are *terrible* (I didn't really pay attention to the Fantasy models).

I'm looking forward to more Start Collecting boxes!

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:

 Carnikang wrote:
Is it just me, or did they get bumped up to 100 dollars? Weren't they 85?

Welcome to Canada.

Since the Canadian dollar is currently sitting at around $0.71 USD, it's actually a deal. It's basically, well, $71

Im planning to buy the marine one as a start to my imperial fists army

Champion of Slaanesh wrote:
Im planning to buy the marine one as a start to my imperial fists army

Imperial Fists are one of the Chapters that benefit most from that formations bonus. It is too bad that the Terminator Captain is a requirement, rather than any captain.

The Tau one is excellent value, you are basically getting the strike team and ethereal for £5.

 Talys wrote:
In terms of the boxes, some boxes are just plain better than the others. But I don't think any of them on the 40k side are *terrible* (I didn't really pay attention to the Fantasy models).

I'm looking forward to more Start Collecting boxes!

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:

 Carnikang wrote:
Is it just me, or did they get bumped up to 100 dollars? Weren't they 85?

Welcome to Canada.

Since the Canadian dollar is currently sitting at around $0.71 USD, it's actually a deal. It's basically, well, $71

This sad truth makes me weep a bit considering travelling abroad now is much less lucrative than it use to be.

Can't wait for the Eldar one. I might end up getting multiple to start my collection.

I am actually surprised at GW releasing things that are actually a value. Le gasp!

 krodarklorr wrote:
Can't wait for the Eldar one. I might end up getting multiple to start my collection.

I am actually surprised at GW releasing things that are actually a value. Le gasp!

There's an Eldar one?