Five New Warhammer Starter Sets Just Went Up For Pre-Order, Here Is Which One To Buy

Games Workshop has just put five new starter products up for pre-order at once, and they range from a thirteen paint set all the way up to a full two-player army box with everything included. I'm going through every single one of them: what's actually in the box, who each one is genuinely built for, and which one I'd tell you to buy depending on your budget and how serious you are about getting into this.

I came into this hobby through the lore rather than the tabletop. I read before I painted and painted before I ever played a game, which means I made pretty much every mistake a beginner painter can make along the way. Ever since, I've been making videos for people who feel exactly like that: interested, a bit overwhelmed, and not sure where to actually start.

Getting into tabletop wargaming is one of those hobbies that looks completely impenetrable from the outside. For most people, their first experience of Warhammer is either a mate proudly showing off an army that has taken the best part of a decade to build, or walking into a Warhammer shop and being confronted by walls of boxes with names like Combat Patrol and Battleforce. If you are already in the hobby that makes perfect sense, but if you are new they might as well be furniture names. When I finally decided to actually do this, it felt like walking into Currys to buy a TV: every person had a different opinion, every video contradicted the last one, and everyone was convinced their way was the only sensible way to start.

The timing is pretty perfect too. Warhammer 40,000 has just had its biggest rules refresh with 11th edition, which means this is probably one of the best times in years to start. There will be veterans who have been playing for years, but even they are busy relearning rules and discovering that half the things they thought they knew do not work the same anymore. Everyone is reading the same rulebook again, and that levels the playing field more than you would think.

The Two-Player Starter Set Pairs A Full Space Marines Army Against A Full Ork Army

This is the one I would recommend if you have got someone to jump in with. It is a proper two-player game in a box, built around two complete Combat Patrols, Space Marines on one side and Orks on the other, so both of you get an actual army each rather than one person drawing the short straw with three models and a dream. On top of that you get a pair of battlefield boards, enough terrain to actually build a table, the full core rulebook, a new starter handbook, quick reference sheets, dice, and transparent rulers.

Honestly, you could open this on a Friday night, clear the dining table, order a takeaway, and be rolling dice twenty minutes later. That is about as low friction as Warhammer has ever been.

Games Workshop will quite rightly tell you to split this with a mate, and I actually think that is solid advice. If you have got someone who has been saying they fancy giving Warhammer a go, this is probably the cheapest and easiest way for both of you to get started. That said, let us be honest about where most of us are: we are thinking we could split it with someone, right up until that little voice starts whispering that the Orks look quite fun too.

I do not have a mountain of gray plastic hidden in a cupboard, mostly because I cannot afford to buy hundreds of pounds of models just to leave them in a box. My hobby cupboard is basically my Blood Angels, a random assortment of Lego pieces, and a Dreadnought that is currently missing a leg. I would much rather own an army I have actually built, painted and played with than five armies I am just promising myself I will get round to one day. Splitting this with a mate is sensible advice. Whether either of you actually sticks to that plan is another matter entirely.

The Introductory Set Lets You Test The Water Before Committing To A Full Army

If the full two-player set feels like too much of a commitment, this is where I would point most people, because none of us really know if a new hobby is going to become a lifelong obsession or something we forget about three weeks later. Inside you get a Space Marine Lieutenant and five Intercessors taking on an Ork Nob and five boys, plus a play mat, card terrain, a ruler, six dice, six paints, and a starter brush. It is a small game intentionally, because the whole point is learning the basics rather than trying to remember what thirty different units all do.

The forty eight page handbook is a nice touch too, because it does not just explain the rules, it gives you a whistle stop tour of what Warhammer actually is: collecting, painting, gaming, and a bit of the universe behind it, which I think is something the hobby has been missing for a long time. Think of it as the instruction manual nobody hands you when you get given a hand me down army from your uncle's loft.

These are also brand new sculpts you cannot get anywhere else, and I am sure there will be collectors who have already decided they need them. But I personally do not think that is the reason to buy this box. If you are already knee deep in the hobby with three or four armies at home, this is not aimed at you. If you are sitting there wondering what all the fuss is about, this is for you.

This is actually the one I am quite curious about, because I genuinely do not know what I would have done if it had existed when I started. Part of me thinks I might have gone straight for the bigger starter set if I had the money, because I have no self control when I get excited about a new hobby, but another part of me thinks I probably would have made the sensible choice and used it to see whether I actually enjoy building, painting and playing before diving in headfirst.

Two Separate Paint Sets Strip Everything Back To One Faction Each

You have got two separate paint sets, one for Space Marines and one for Orks, and they strip the whole thing right back. The Space Marines box gives you a couple of Intercessors along with the paints you would actually need to paint them in the classic Ultramarine scheme, blue armor and gold trim, the Space Marine everyone pictures when you say the words Warhammer 40K. The Orks version does the same thing: two boys and a Gretchin, with the paints for that proper Goff look, lots of black and plenty of character. There is no board, no rules, no dice, just exactly what you need to paint two specific factions and nothing you do not.

One of the things I found genuinely intimidating when I first started painting was not the painting itself, it was walking into a shop and seeing an entire wall of Citadel paints. There are hundreds of them, base paints, layer paints, contrast paints, shades, and air paints, and when you are completely new nobody tells you what any of those words actually mean. I once bought a pot of Citadel air paint without realizing it was designed for an airbrush I did not own, and I bought contrast paints because everyone online kept saying how amazing they were, then painted them on like normal paint because I had no idea they were supposed to work differently. The results were not exactly golden demon standard.

That is why I think these sets are clever. You do not have to stand in front of a wall of paints wondering whether you need base, layer or contrast, and you do not accidentally buy products you do not understand because someone online mentioned them in passing. Games Workshop has basically done the thinking for you: here are your models, here are your paints, go and have some fun. Sometimes the biggest barrier to a hobby is not the hobby itself, it is feeling like everyone else knows something you do not, and these sets take that feeling away.

The Hobby Set Skips Miniatures Entirely And Just Gives You The Core Tools

This one is a little different because there are no miniatures in the box at all. Instead you are getting the foundations of a hobby desk: thirteen paints curated around fundamental color choices, a starter brush, a pair of plastic clippers, and a mold line remover, basically the core tools you reach for every single time you sit down to build or paint.

I do not actually think this is the sort of thing most people buy as their very first Warhammer purchase. What usually happens is you buy a box of miniatures, get them home, borrow whatever tools you have got lying around in the kitchen drawer, and hope for the best. I certainly did.

I still remember my very first game of Warhammer. I had spent ages prepping the units I needed from my Blood Angels, put Dante on the table feeling ridiculously proud of myself, and then somewhere during the game his iron halo snapped off. That is the point you realize these are not just little plastic toys, they are hobby projects, and having the right tools, taking the time, cleaning mold lines and clipping parts properly actually makes a difference, not just when you are building them but when you are transporting and playing with them too.

If you have already decided painting is the bit of the hobby you are really excited about, this makes a lot of sense as a sensible foundation you will keep using long after those first miniatures are finished. "It's a bit like buying a decent toolbox, I suppose, before you start doing the DIY. The toolbox isn't the exciting bit, but you'll be very glad that you've got it once you actually start." It is probably the least glamorous product in this lineup, which is exactly why it has probably become one of the most useful ones.

The Getting Started Set Assumes You Already Have A Mate Or A Club With The Rest

This one sits somewhere between the introductory set and the big two-player set, and the big difference is that you are not paying for all the extras. There is no rulebook, no dice, no gaming boards, no terrain, because the assumption is that you have already got access to all of that somewhere, maybe a mate who is already into the hobby, maybe your local gaming club, maybe you have discovered your local Warhammer store.

Instead the money goes where it matters. You get a full Combat Patrol of push fit miniatures, Space Marines or Orks, the same forces as the big starter set, plus eleven paints chosen specifically for that faction, including a texture paint for the bases, a paintbrush, a texture spreader, and a beginner's guide for that faction.

I genuinely think this is quite a clever idea. One of the nicest things about Warhammer is that despite its reputation it is actually a really social hobby. Most people do not sit in a room playing against themselves, and you end up joining a club or meeting people at your local store or convincing a mate to give it a go. When that is the case, you do not necessarily need to buy everything yourself. If someone else has the rulebook and the terrain, why pay for another copy that is just going to sit on a shelf? It keeps the costs down and lets you focus on building your army, and I would not be surprised if this ends up being one of the popular ways people get into the hobby.

Games Workshop have already said this range is going to expand. So if you are thinking that all sounds great but you do not actually want Space Marines or Orks, it might genuinely be worth waiting a little while. If this becomes the template for every faction, it is a really nice way of letting people start with the army they will actually fall in love with in the first place.

There Is Finally A Sensible Progression Path After Your First Box

Every time I make a beginner video I get the exact same question: I bought the starter thing, but what do I buy next? For the first time in a long time there is actually a pretty sensible answer. If you start with the introductory set and discover you absolutely love playing the game, the next step is obvious, you move up to the full starter set for bigger armies and the complete rules.

If, on the other hand, you finish those first few games and decide Space Marines and Orks are not really your vibe, do not force yourself to stick with them. Go and buy Combat Patrol for whichever faction actually made you interested in the first place.

If there is one piece of advice I would give anyone starting this hobby, it is this: "Buy the thing that makes you want to come back tomorrow." Not the one that is trending as strongest this month, not the one your mate says is easiest to paint, and not the one that has just won a tournament and is currently good in the meta, because rules change, editions change, the meta changes, but if you genuinely love the models and the stories behind them you will enjoy building and painting them years later. That is exactly how I ended up with Blood Angels, not because they were the best army in the game, but because I just love the lore, long before I ever rolled a dice.

And if somewhere along the way you realize the thing you enjoy most is sitting down with a podcast on and painting for three hours and completely forgetting what time it is, welcome to the club. At that point pick any miniature you think looks cool, follow the paint guide in the box if you need to, stick a few tutorials on and just enjoy it, because "there isn't a wrong answer. The only wrong answer is buying something because someone else told you it was the correct place to start."

My Own Recommendation Depends On Whether You Have Got Someone To Play With

Having looked through the whole range, I actually think Games Workshop have got this one right, not because every single box is perfect and not because every veteran is suddenly going to rush out and buy all of them, but because for the first time in a long time it feels like they have thought about what it is like to be new. There is a route in, a route forward, and a route that does not immediately expect you to know the difference between a codex, a combat patrol and a detachment before you have painted your first model.

If a mate contacted me tomorrow and said they had never played Warhammer before and asked what to buy, I would give one of two answers. If they have got someone to learn with, a partner, a mate, a family member, I would point them straight at the big two-player starter set, because I honestly do not think there is a better value way to get into the hobby. If they are doing it on their own and still not completely sure whether Warhammer is actually for them, I would probably say grab the introductory set, enough to find out whether you enjoy building, painting and playing without feeling like you have accidentally signed up for a second mortgage.

The getting started sets are good too, for exactly who they are aimed at. If you are brand new and have already decided Space Marines or Orks are your army, they are a really sensible way to get going. If you have been in the hobby for twenty years with three paint racks already, they are not going to be for you, and that is okay, not every product has to be made for every player.

If you could go back to the day you started Warhammer knowing everything you know now, would you buy that introductory set first, or would you still go straight for the full two-player starter set?