by Ed Fortune
Warhammer 40,000 is now in its tenth edition, which means that Games Workshop will be doing everything it can to get people to play their new game. One way to do this is to make the game itself easy to get into by providing a starter set with just enough cool stuff to get you hooked.
The lovely folk at Games Workshop sent the Warhammer 40,000 Introductory Set to the Secret STARBURST Gaming Thunderdome for examination, and upon opening it, we wanted to play a game of Warhammer 40,000, so that’s pretty effective. This is an entry-level box filled with models designed to get someone into the game. The recently released mega set Leviathan was aimed at existing players; this set is for those new (or returning) to Warhammer.
Inside the box, we get 16 Citadel miniatures, all of which come on a sprue, so you’ll have to clip them out. You also get a pair of clippers to do exactly that, five points, six dice, a range ruler, a double-sided playing mat and a basic 48-page handbook. This is everything you need to start.
The play mat is a large poster. One side is a detailed industrial complex; the other is an alien desert. This is nice, though it’s not something that’s going on your wall. The dice are small and straightforward; there’s nothing that exciting about them. Given that fancy dice are a thing in most games now, that’s a bit of a shame, but dice are dice. The range ruler is also quite simple, being the size of a large bookmark. (In fact, it fits nicely in a hardcover Warhammer book.) We don’t get any counters or scenery for the play mat. Part of the box has counters and scenery printed onto it, but this feels like an afterthought. The Recruit Edition Starter Set from the previous edition was a little bit more creative with the packaging, allowing for a little bit more scenery, and it feels a bit of a let-down that we don’t get that here.
We get an assembly and painting guide and five Citadel Colour paints; these are straightforward paints for new hobbyists, so no shade, contrast or technical paints. We get a simple black paint, a gold, a bone white, a dark magenta, and a bright blue, which is enough to be getting on with and fun to mix. The clippers are pretty solid and will last a long time. You get a basic brush, which is all you need to get started.
The miniatures are the main draw here, and they are splendid. The set is divided between Space Marines and Tyranids. Namely, the new Infernus Primaris marines, big, long-legged space soldiers with cool-looking flame-thrower rifle things. On the other side, we get 10 Termangant Tyranids and a ripper swarm. The latter are basically fast-moving armoured snake things with teeth, and the termagants are a messed up cross between a velociraptor, a spider, and an infantryman. It wields a wicked grin and a messed up-looking organic rifle. These models are finely detailed and appropriately weird for the world of Warhammer 40,000. Gorgeous stuff and fun to assemble and paint. They click together and need no glue; this makes sense, as it’s a starter set intended for 12+.
The book also has the rules of the game, walking you through your first game as a small band of heavily armoured super-soldiers take on a horde of monsters. It’s quite replayable, and though not very deep, it’s still fun. There’s some setting material, just enough to get you interested.
Broadly, this is a good starter set; Games Workshop do more expensive starter sets with more models, but this box is budget-friendly and absolutely aimed at new gamers. Worth adding to the gift list.
