Warhammer 40,000 Starter Set Review

Warhammer 40,000 is a daunting franchise. From the many books about the lore & history of the IP, to the various different games, sets and miniatures available it can be hard to know where to start. In this review, I talk about a great set that has been recently released which, I think for the money, is a good point to jump into the world of Warhammer and tabletop wargames. Be warned though, dip your toe into this world and you may well be sucked into the Chaos Warp.

With the recent release of the 10th edition, Games Workshop has released several starter sets. The one I want to talk about is the Warhammer 40,000: Starter Set. This is the middle set and is bookmarked on either side by the Introductory set and the Ultimate set.

In this Starter Set you get an army of Space Marines comprising of 5 x Terminators, 5x Infernus Marines 1 x Captain in Terminator Armour and a squad of Tyranids comprising of 20 x Termagants, 2 x Ripper Swarms, 3 x Von Reaper Leapers, 1 x Psychophage and 1 x Winged Tyranid Prime. In addition to the miniatures mentioned above you get a 64 page rulebook, 2 x reference sheets, play mat, rulers and 10 x six sided dice. This is everything (well, almost everything - see later) you need to run a combat patrol mission. You can play this straight out of the box as a 1vs1 competitive fight.

The miniatures are push fit assembly, easy to put together and look fantastic. The game is complex, there are many rules to consider, different missions, objectives, strategy and a lot of dice rolling. The core concept of the game is that two players go head to head, fielding their respective armies and compete to either eliminate their opponent, control objectives and compete on the specific mission parameters that have been selected.

Without going into a deep rules explanation the game is played over the course of five rounds. Each round is broken down into the following phases:
-Command Phase
-Movement Phase
-Shooting Phase
-Charge Phase
-Fight Phase

In the Command Phase, players will receive combat points which can be spent on various stratagems, In the Movement Phase players will move each of their units up to a set number of inches, traversing the battlefield. In the Shooting Phase players will roll dice based on the Attack value of their models weapons, aiming for a value equal to or higher than their Ballistic Skill. For example, 5 models are shooting with an Attack value of 2. So 10 dice to be rolled aiming for a result of 3 or more. The player shooting will then roll the number of dice that have hit and compare their weapons strength versus the opponents toughness, trying to roll a set number. Carrying on with the example above, 10 dice are rolled and 7 have a value of three or more. With a weapons strength of 6 and the toughness of the opponent being a 4 these 7 dice are rolled again aiming for a value of 3 or more. Out of these 7, 4 have rolled a 3 or more. These are the number of potential wounds the shooting player has inflicted on their opponents. The opposing player gets to perform a saving roll, which determines the number of wounds inflicted on their models. Depending on the results of the saving roll a number of models may be wounded and possibly removed from the battlefield.

The Charge Phase involves a player with models within 12 inches rolling 2 d6. If the result is equal to or more than the distance between the two opposing players then the Charging models can move into close combat.

In the Fight Phase any models within close combat range perform in the Fight Phase. This works in a similar way to the Shooting Phase, rolling for the number of Attacks trying to hit the Weapons Skill, rolling for wounds and rolling for armour saves. The difference with the Fight Phase is that the opponent gets to fight back.

The above is a relatively brief rules explanation and there are many more keywords and subtleties within the game. Hopefully, the above explanation gives you a good idea of how the overall game play will flow.

Final Thoughts

A bit of background before I get into the review. I used to play Warhammer back when I was kid, I think it was 2nd edition at the time. I had three 2,000 point armies, all painted with handmade terrain. I had fond memories of playing this with my Dad.

Fast forward several years later and I am a Dad myself and my eldest took an interest in the Warhammer world, pulled in by the large, nicely painted miniatures in the Games Workshop windows. When the 10th edition was released and these new starter sets were announced I picked a copy and started to read the rules and play. Several games in now and it is safe to say I am back in.

So, the starter set itself, I think this is probably one of the best sets to pick up if you are wanting to start dipping your toes in this tabletop wargame. It comes with a manageable number of push fit miniatures to assemble. The rulebook is very good at walking you through the initial rules to get you up and running. Despite its complexity the game can be played in several different ways, starting off small with just the basic rules for moving, shooting and combat and then expanding to add in stratagems, additional keywords and different missions.

The game has a lot of depth, there are layers to the game that extends beyond just the core gameplay. Models can be equipped with different weapons and loadouts. There are factions within the respective armies that offer different abilities and keywords that can be triggered. There are a ton of options to build your army with additional models and the starter set is a good way to start and build up from. The only downside that I would highlight with this starter set is that you need two additional models to run a Combat Patrol mission. You will need an additional Librarian in Terminator Armour for the Space Marines and a unit of Barbgaunts for the Tyranids. It is a small inconvenience but one that is worth highlighting if you intend to pick up this set.

The overall gameplay is great. There can be some stand out moments and tense die rolls. There can be times when you have only a slim chance of a model surviving but you pull off an almost impossible saving throw. It creates theater, drama and moments that you will be talking about post game. There is a lot of rolling to resolve, so you are at the mercy of the die roll at times. With clever use of special ability and your stratagems there are ways to mitigate this or re-roll die. There can be some swing to the dice results of course, but for me, this just adds to the drama of the game. There is nothing more exciting than a lowly squad of Termagants standing firm against the onslaught of a Terminator Squad with Power Fists charged. Rolling the dice and seeing the results can offer some fantastic moments. Warhammer 40,000 is not a game to be played sitting down. You are on your feet, moving the models, measuring and throwing a ton of dice. Whilst it may sound like there is a lot of luck involved, there is a great deal of strategy needed to play effectively. Knowing your armies strengths and weaknesses vs your opponent is often key to success. Knowing which of your units is stronger against your opponents units is helpful. Knowing your faction/army specific abilities and keywords can be the key to turning the tide of battle.

There are a bunch of mechanisms and topics I have not covered in this review but suffice to say I am glad to have picked up the Warhammer 40,000: Starter Set. It offers a great entry into the game and its mechanisms, which you can play pretty much straight out of the box (you may want a few additional models for the Combat Patrol mission). You could pick this up and be happy with your purchase or it can make a great gateway into the hobby on which to expand from as you see fit.