I've been collecting and playing Warhammer for very long (20+ years). Warhammer it's not only a game, it's a hobby, the fans of warhammers are people that enjoy the building process, the painting process and that like to dream with having, one day in some far future, their beautifully painted armies on the board. For most of us, the game it's just an excuse to put our toys on the table, and show off our cool painted models.
I get that for most folks it will be the gateway product, but GW and Warhammer are brands. Despite how much they pretend that they are the only ones out there or even invented the thing, which they didn't by a couple of centuries, they are just the most know, widely spread and publicly traded company. Within the hobby they do not produce the best minis or rules rules nor do they provide the best value for money. Most of their starters aren't actually complete products and the less said about the edition churn the better. Which isn't to say a ton of folks aren't having fun with it, but pretending GW is the pinnacle or even one of the more affordable or easy to get into segment of the hobby is just intellectually dishonest.
And your mindset is why the hobby will struggle to grow. I get that building and painting is a massive part of the hobby, but you're asking new players to take huge leaps of faith that they will enjoy the actual game part only AFTER they go through the work of building.
@TheBigMeetch that is an inherent part of the hobby. What you're asking for is completely unreasonable, and impossible to achieve without fundamentally changing what 40k is in the first place. You're asking for a board game, not a tabletop game. Even if every single model came pre assembled and prepainted, the price would be much higher, and you could literally NEVER "start playing in 10 minutes." I can't do that with my own fully painted army that I've been playing for 10 years. Also, newsflash: the hobby is not struggling to grow. Dumbass.
As someone who sees the models and artwork at game stores, I've tried getting into it and you guys just hit everything on the nail. Couldn't agree more
Hey, I listened to the whole thing and you are speaking about getting invested and becoming players for life, if they would take the aspect out of the starter boxes (preassembled and prepainted minis). I get your point about the differences in starterboxes and I believe the community (myself included) knows your struggle. But as others in the comments pointed out its a miniatures- not a gamecompany. The selling point/ What you get if you don't go with a boardgame like Blood Rage or Root is the hobbyaspect, which vented about. If this doesn't appeal to you, you're looking at a hobby which isn't for you (no offfense). . I suggest a different approach for all newcommers: Grab a unit which seems interesting to you. Buy the painting starter set (which i believe comes with a brush and a clipper), glue and a rattlecan primer. Then take the time to build and paint. If you didn't have fun until this point just quit. If it was fun go to your local store and get some advice about a next purchase that suits you. Maybe even play an introduction game. If you just want to play the game go into boardgame simulator and try before you buy The thing you struggle with seems to be the realisation, that warhammer and the hobby take time (even on the starter level). It deffinetly is a hurdle for some. But it's also what makes it special for the people who are into it.
3d print the models and your own terrain, download the books, play with your friends, the best part of the hobby is the modeling/painting (i suck at it but im learning). GW models are very nice but the value isnt there for the price to me.
I started in 2019. All of the full-size Warhammer games need main rule book, faction rule book, terrain and models. They should not call something a "Starter Set" unless it contains all these things. Also, they used to make models in starters different colored plastic. They should bring that back for the starters. I hope you guys have fun.
I'm new to warhammer as well. Bought a beat up but fully loaded skaventide ultimate starter box from ebay for around $150. Been trying to get into warhammer for over 6 months. I know no one who plays and don't have an official GW store in my town (one is being built now) so I don't even have an official place to go to learn about it. From what I've learned so far GW was a model making company first and a game system company second. Like a group of guys 30 plus years ago loved building models and wanted to make a game to where their models do more than sit on a shelf after being built. Like you ive built some gunpla so it seemed like the next step in hobby building. so, they want to keep that aspect of model making and building core to the experience though have more recently (past 10 years or so) shifted marketing into an over games system company to try and reach a broader audience like us. It's a pain to learn everything solo. To try and be the guy to get the friend group into the game even when you're willing to invest the time and money. I've had my box for over a month and have only had time to build the storm cast eternals and the spearhead terrain from the box. I've painted the terrain and 10 models from the storm cast. Still haven't figured out fully how to play and need to build the skaven army. The barrier to entry is high and convoluted. They don't even have the full point army build system listed in this ultimate starter set I have purchased so I have to go onto their website to learn those rules or buy a separate book. Also have to buy or download separate documents to see all the abilities of each unit that comes in my box. My interest in Warhammer stemmed from playing a video game with a buddy and around 15 years ago playing 40k one time with my British friend who was super into it. Though I had no money to put into the game at the time and haven't see that guy in well over 10 years. GW really needs to make the access more user friendly. Most people will not invest what we have so far to try out a new hobby. Glad I'm not the only one struggling to get into this. Love the lore, the models, and over concept the game but damn they need to make something for new players to ease the bar of entry.
Sorry to add another comment i just looked at the age of sigma stuff found it confusing if I was a new player ( played 40k for 30 years and 20 years ago used to play Warhammer) anyway the boxes you are looking at are to entice new players and are not that good for value, the age of sigmar rulebook is where you start the rules for playing spearhead forces are in here as well , then you can get a big set with 2 armies for value, or wait until Xmas as in November they announce Xmas box sets which are great value army’s in one box and are normally the price approx to the spearhead army boxes ,so basically get either skaventide or the age of sigmar rulebook and a spearhead (unit box ) each for whatever forces you decide
Just buy the Skaventide box, it comes with the spearhead bits plus more. If you're worried about cash, sell the additional models that aren't part of the skaven or SCE spearhead.
Most people usually start with the lore and learn about the setting to decide which factions they are passionate about so it's not as jarring when you first start rather than just wanting to "play warhammer and do the thing" hearing you guys @ 4:16 leads me to believe this may not be the specific table top game for you. You might dig mordheim, infinity, BLKOUT or warhammer underworlds Ebay is also your friend
I understand the frustration. GW considers the hobby to be five things: Collect, Build, Paint, Play, and Read (and Watch?) That explains why the "Starter Sets" contain things like paints, or that you can go build/paint a mini at their shops, but rarely you'll be able to play there. If only playing is what you are after, Tabletop Sim has a lot of community content ready to be used that require little setup (including Spearhead). But the advice I always give is: buy the (Spearhead) box of the army you like, not the one that is on sale/pushed to you, build it, paint it, improvise a game, and see if you are still in it or not.
Guys your entry point for Warhammer 40k is Killteam. By a Killteam starter box between you and it will give you the entry point and experience required to get a feel for the bigger game. For Age of Sigmar by an Underworlds starter box set for £35 between you. That will give you a feel for that world/game. Hope that helps. I would not buy into the bigger games until you try the above or you could seriously feel defeated with the learning curve and the amount of building you have to do.
In theory this is correct but to me Kill Team is a much harder game to play then Warhammer rules wise for a new player. Its smaller for sure but I have a buddy who tried to get into miniatures games with Kill Team with his friends and they eventually just made their own rules up. I then showed him how to play Warhammer 40k and within one game he said he understood 40k much more. Could be also that someone was teaching him so who knows.
i can recommend the stormbringer magazine for an introduction and the tools to learn assembling, painting and playing AOS when you are ready to move past Spearhead. plus it's dirt cheap if price is a talking point.
You shouldn't have to go to second hand to get into the hobby. As someone whose been into it awhile now, I've never bought a box set they're insane. Also if you hate the building aspect, look for pre built minis online. I know a guy in Virginia who has a huge business in it and he saved me so much time and money
Buy a box of minis you like start with a small game like kill team or warcry, buy painting and modeling equipment used if you have availability nearby your location. Build, paint, play. Look the rules at wahapedia or online no need to buy the books. Later on you want to expand, maybe get some terrain but you got all the base stuff you need already. You will get through the first year with 300-500 euros/dollars and that is cheap if you say it's not try golf or tennis. Heck you cant get even guitar lessons for a year with that amount or a new midrange gpu for a gaming computer. It is exggerated how cheap vs expensive this hobby is. You can even play and not use gw minis buy 3d prints.
Once you have models, you should play One Page Rules because it's a much better game system that doesn't trick you into keep losing money to GW. Also, the rules are free.
Time to get into OPR or rather any other wargame at this point. But OPR is a great game, fast to learn, armies are much cheaper, if you own a resin printer then its even cheaper, if not then you can buy high quality resin prints for less than you'd ever be able to buy an entire army for 40k. OPR also has fantasy as well as Sci-fi and tons of other games added.
You need to go to a local game store ,they will give you good advice to get started with,gw can help but just want your money so instead of buying a box with everything you need for a game (skaventide 2 army’s, rule book and other things) gw will pressure you into getting skaventide, paints ,extra rule books etc,
The biggest problem is that everything, including "starter sets", are designed for people who already know what they want and need. GW doesn't want customers that can pick up, play and then move on. They want people for who ALL of their hobby dollars go to Warhammer. They want to sell you models, tools, glue, brushes, paint, books, novels, cards, dice etc etc. While the games themselves are better than they've ever been (I currently play Kill Team, Warcry and Spearhead and I'm growing my Cities army up to play 2k point AoS games) really this is a hobby MORE than it is a game. You will almost certainly spend more time building and painting than you ever will playing, so if you don't get equal enjoyment out of those things then you really should just look elsewhere. One thing you are missing about the comparison between model kits and pre-built/pre-painted soft plastic is the quality. This isn't an excuse for GW's prices, but you simply cannot get the same level of detail with pre-built or injection molded and you can't get beyond passable with pre-painted (not to mention GW produces their plastics in the UK, not China while most board games are made in China for MUCH cheaper). With that being said, if you did get enough stuff to play Spearhead then you already have enough stuff to play Warcry as well as the board is the same size, and the rules for Warcry are completely free! IMO you'd be better off saving a bit more and buying the Skaventide box off of an online seller.
If you guys are looking for a more friendly and better balanced game - give Kings of War a shot. Not to mention there smaller and medium scale variants of that fantasy game.
Getting into warhammer is like committing to a 6 month DnD campaign but all the time, money and effort is crammed into the "session 0". Think of all the crazyness that goes into sticking to and participating in an in-person dnd campaign. Its about the same.
I have been playing for 35 years . Honestly if I had to start over again I wouldn't. It has become an expensive lifestyle hobby which I feel is just not worth it anymore.
I guess I should say this to. Warhammer really is not aimed at what we would call the average gamer. It is actually aimed at a zealous frothing at the mouth type person with deep pockets that will just throw money at the hobby.
Games workshop have always stated they are Miniatures company first The game comes second Although the last decade or so the game part has improved a lot It is still not that great of a game compared to other rule sets out there Warhammer nerds ( and I’m one of them 35 years deep ) are in it for the miniatures The tournament competition play system ends up being basically pay to play . Buy this to have the most competitive list type of game. They are not biggest part of Warhammer sales nor community They are the smaller but more vocal and interesting to watch type of hobbyists Majority of Warhammer consumers are there to build and paint army’s over a long time And take enjoyment in that process Then maybe play a game once a month If you want to play a quicker game with a better intuitive ruleset and use of time involved in learning the game Try Warcry or Killteam
So on the "A pack of pre built ready to play miniatures" portion. The reason they don't really do this is because many units have different weapons and equipment you could give them. However for some models they've been going to monopose where it's just the one dude with no options, and honestly there's no reason they shouldn't be just molded that way rather than a build kit. I suppose it does give you the full experience to some degree but with prices the way they are they really need a way for people to just play the game.
