Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team is undeniably a trendsetter. The skirmish miniatures game, played with just a handful of thematic figures on a grimdark landscape no bigger than your kitchen table, has inspired a cavalcade of competitors in just the last several years. But for the most part, these roughly $200 boxed sets have remained out of the price range of many would-be consumers. That high barrier to entry ends this weekend with a tremendous new Starter Set that goes up for sale on Nov. 9. The price? Just $112.
If you were looking for a way into the 40K hobby, this is the new best place to start.
The main attractions in Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Starter Set are the 14 miniatures that come bundled inside the box. These aren’t fragile Imperial Guardsmen, tiny little Tau, or two-bit Imperial Navy brawlers. No, inside this box you get seven Space Marines and seven Plague Marines, all with distinct looks. And not just bog-standard Marines, mind you. These are sculpts that were previously only available as collectibles overseas.
Best of all, you don’t even need glue or even a hobby knife to put them together. Just pop them out of the frames by hand, slap ’em together, and get going. It’s about the easiest way I’ve yet seen to get a viable fighting force to the tabletop.
The documentation included with the boxed set supports that mission as well, with a lengthy tutorial that actually shows people playing with these very same unpainted miniatures. Only in the very last few pages does the guide dive into painting, and there it’s mostly just a jumping-off point. This box is all about the gameplay, and that’s a welcome change of pace.
Even the terrain included in this set impresses. Instead of hard plastic, it’s made of a very sturdy medium-density fiberboard (MDF) — a strong, rigid type of engineered wood. It’s not the traditional plastic terrain that usually comes with Kill Team sets, but it’s an excellent compromise that helps to keep the price down. While it’s moderately more eco-friendly than plastic, the real value comes from its graphic design. These aren’t artists’ renditions of what Games Workshop terrain should look like, but actual high-resolution photography of professionally painted terrain. As you upgrade your setup over time, these bits will continue to hold their value and will be far less likely to fall apart than cardboard or papercraft alternatives.
The only drawback here is that this set does not come with the full and complete version of the rules. You get all the tokens and counters required, plus two fold-out cheat sheets to keep track of your units and their abilities during play, but to enjoy the full-fat version of the game you’ll need a Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Core Book. But honestly, between assembling, learning the basics, and starting to paint up your new collection of Space Bois, you’ll more than get enough value right out of the box.
If you’re shopping around for the holidays, or looking to go in on a box with a friend or two, be sure to consider some basic painting supplies to help extend that value. In fact, here’s everything you need and a video tutorial straight from Games Workshop itself.
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