Greetings one and all,
With the holiday season quickly approaching, Gamesworkshop has shared with us pictures of its Christmas boxsets. For those of you that have been reading my reviews for a while, you’ll know that I hate the inclusion of special characters in boxsets as I feel that massively detracts from the value of the box. Who needs two of Mortarion?
As it turns out I wasn't too far off of my guess of £140 these boxsets will cost a reasonable £130 which makes some of these save truly massive, but let's have a look at the individual cases.
So why don’t we have a look at them and see what kind of savings we’re likely to get?
Adepta Sororitas – Sanctorum Guard
Cost of individual models
Morvenn Vahl = £35
6 Paragon Warsuits = £85
5 Celestian Sacresants = £35
10 Battle Sisters Squad = £36
Total = £191
Saving = £61
This is a nice boxset, especially if you already have a Sisters of Battle army and want to add some really heavy firepower to it. The Paragon Warsuits are gorgeous models and the inclusion of Morvenn Vahl isn’t a deal breaker for me as she can be easily converted into a normalish Paragon warsuit.
Adeptus Custodes – Watchers of The Gate
Cost of individual models
Captain-General Trajann Valoris = £26
3 Vertus Praetors = £36
3 Allarus Custodians = £32.50
15 Custodian Guard = £108
Total = £202.50
Saving = £72.50
Honestly, I think this might be the best set out of the lot, especially with the Horus Heresy Liber Imperium right around the corner (at the time of writing). The inclusion of a special character, Trajann Valoris, doesn’t even take away from the value considering he is also very easy to convert.
Adeptus Mechanicus – Elimination Maniple
Cost of individual models
Belisarius Cawl = £35
2 Kastelan Robots = £47.50
6 Kataphron Destroyers = £72
10 Skitarii Vanguard = £30
Total = £184.50
Saving = £64.50
Another really good boxset, but much like the Adepta Sororitas – Sanctorum Guard it’s more a boxset for those that already have a Mechanicus army. That said, with just one more box of Skitarii, you've got a really nice army there. Obviously, there is some real versatility in this boxset as the Skitarii can be built as Vanguard or Rangers and the Kataphron can be built as Breachers or Destroyers. The inclusion of Belisarius Cawl does take away from the value for me though, because if you already have him then you really don't need another, do you? Any of the other HQ choices could have been used here and they would arguably have been better value for money.
Imperial Knights – Chainbreaker Lance
Cost of individual models
Knight Preceptor Canis Rex = £100
2 Armigers Helverins = £52.50
2 Armigers Warglaives = £52.50
Total = £205
Saving = £75
What can I say about this? It’s a boxset of Knights, hell yeah! This boxset is 100% what Gamesworkshop should be doing if they are going to include special characters in boxsets as Knight Preceptor Canis Rex can be built as a variety of other Questoris-class Imperial Knights – the Errant, Paladin, Crusader, Gallant, Warden, or even a Despoiler if you learn more towards the Ruinous powers. This is great for anyone at any level of the hobby; you have knights, you can get more knights, you want Knight Preceptor Canis Rex, you can get him. It’s just a win win in my opinion.
Death Guard – Council of The Death Lord
Cost of individual models
Mortarion, Daemon Primarch of Nurgle = £95
5 Blightlord Terminators = £36
14 Plague Marines = £65
Total = £196
Saving = £66
And now we get to the worst example of a boxset. If you’re starting a Death Guard army then this box is okay… If you have a Death Guard army and don’t have Mortarion then this box is okay. But if you don’t fit in either of those categories, then well… It’s worthless to you. Please avoid this kind of thing in the future Gamesworkshop.
Thousand Sons – Court of The Crimson King
Cost of individual models
Magnus the Red = £95
3 Exalted Sorcerers = £36
20 Rubric Marine = £70
Total = £201
Saving = £71
On the topic of things to avoid, this is another example. Why is Gamesworkshop so driven to make rubbish Thousand Sons boxsets? Like above, unless your starting a Thousand Sons army or don’t have a Magnus yet, this is a hard pass.
Imperial Fists – Bastion Strike Force
Cost of individual models
Tor Garadon = £26
3 Primaris Aggressors = £32.50
15 Heavy Intercessors = £120
Imperial Fists Primaris Upgrades and Transfers = £16
Total = £194.50
Saving = £64.50
Right, from bad to good. I like this boxset, even if it has Tor Garadon. He’s easy to convert if you already have him in your army or don’t collect Imperial Fists. The 15 Heavy Intercessors are great, love the model and my god are they hard to kill. It is an Imperial Fist boxset and so comes with an upgrade pack, which does lower the value if you don't play Imperial Fists, but that's why eBay exists. Overall, very strong boxset.
Raven Guard – Ravenstrike Battleforce
Cost of individual models
Kayvaan Shrike = £26
Librarian in Phobos Armour = £21
10 Primaris Reivers = £36
2 Invictor Tactical Warsuits = £80
3 Eliminators = £32.50
Total = £195.50
Saving = £65.50
This is what I would call the thematic boxset. It’s really built around the Raven Guards way of warfare and it is a Raven guard boxset, so that’s great. Every unit here is useful for other armies too (bar the Reivers and Shrike), so overall, really cool if you’re a Raven Guard player or want to become one. Otherwise, it’s kind of a weak boxset.
Right, so in summary, Gamesworkshops Warhammer 40,000 Christmas boxsets are an interesting mix of good and oh god NO! (chaos boxsets I'm looking at you). I am slightly confused about where the rest of the Xenos armies are as every year thus far, we’ve gotten at least one or two of them. This year they’re very much absent. I’m also really confused as to why Gamesworkshop need to put a special character in each boxset. Just put a normal HQ choice, please, they’ll still do fine and it means people will have to spend less time listing them on eBay.
Tomorrow I’ll head over to the realms of Sigmar and look at their boxsets as well and see what I make of them.
Until then, stay safe and remember, when using a scalpel: cut away from yourself.
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