The Warhammer Age of Sigmar Extremis Starter Set turned up recently at the Super Secret Starburst Gaming Thunderdome thanks to our friends at Games Workshop and we simply had to take a look at this new box. As we said in our review of GW’s new starter paint set, this sort of collection is a essential for any healthy minis game.
To be clear, this is a proper introduction box that has two factions to paint, scenery, rulebooks, measuring tools, dice, and so on. It’s the sort of thing that birthday and Christmas memories are made of. This is intended primarily for those new to the tabletop gaming hobby. A previous release, Dominion, simply contained new models, cards, and core rules as it was intended for fantasy gamers looking to upgrade to the new edition. The Extremis box is the core entry boxed game and though it’s a great addition for old hands, it’s aimed at the newer gamer.
It wouldn’t be a Games Workshop big box game without miniatures, and we get a total of 32 push-fit models. You’ll have to paint them yourself, but that’s part of the fun. We get ten Stormcast Eternals (essentially magic knights), including an adorable Griff-Hound, a Lord Imperatant, three Praetors, and 5 vindicators. Or to put it another way; a general, three bodyguards, five shield-bearing elites, and a magical dog. They are strikingly posed, finely detailed and fun to paint.
The Orruks (basically bigger, nastier orcs), take up the remainder of the models. We get crazy looking shaman figure with a smaller goblin ‘pet’ carrying the shaman’s cauldron of vile brews. We get ten spear-wielding types and ten dual knife-wielding pieces. Both units look wicked and cruel, and again, are a lot of fun to paint.
Rules wise, we get a core rulebook, a background book called Extremis Edition which also includes tips on how to play, and various rules references.
We won’t go into a nuanced examination of the rules here, but essentially; it’s a Warhammer game. Simple to learn, difficult to master, easy to get stuck into. The Sigmar rules set is designed to delight pretty much anyone willing to learn the game; it’s crunchy enough that it’s deep but not so complex that it will put others off.
We also get an assembly and painting guide. The whole thing is a great introduction to the game and they’re in softback format because they’re intended to be well-thumbed. The Extremis book is especially well done; the Age of Sigmar setting is crammed with cool ideas and they support this with lots of ‘how to play’ content and lovely art. Both books also work as a decent refresher for older gamers, especially those more familiar with the older Warhammer fantasy setting.
You get one double-sided gaming board which is an odd choice as most games will need something a bit larger, but you can always eschew the board completely and play on the table. Talking of the gaming table, we get five bits of scenery. Highly detailed, high-quality scenery kits have become something of a standard for Warhammer boxed set.
These consist of some stacked up stonework, two shattered houses (essentially corner pieces that work as cover) a statue and a magical temple thing called nexus syphon with looks very pretty. They work well as scatter terrain and are a welcome addition to any terrain sets. They are a lot of fun to paint and extremely solid and fun to put together.
The Warhammer Age of Sigmar Extremis Starter Set is easily the most accessible wargame starter set we’ve seen for Warhammer. It’s fun, it’s reasonably priced, it’s got everything you need to get into the game and it’s also a handy way for existing gamers to bolster their collection. Recommended.
