I remember the days when aWarhammer 40,000army box was just a selection of random models thrown in a slightly bigger cardboard package and sold for the same price as all of its components combined. They weren’t so much army boxes as, ‘look at all this cool stuff boxes’, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
I remember begging my parents to splash out on a box of Tau vehicles so I could batter my friends. I’m certain it contained multiple Hammerheads and Sky Rays, maybe as many as four or five, but I can’t find any evidence of it ever existing now. It was probably released at Christmas to shift unwanted stock on gullible kids. It would have worked were it not for my parents being so goshdarn sensible.
This was during the same era as the Space Marine Battle Company in a box, which gave you 106 Space Marines and nine transport vehicles for a whopping $500. That was a half-price deal, but still an eye-watering amount of money to spend on one box of toy soldiers.
The thing about that Tau box, and the Space Marine Battle Company, is that they weren’t very good. It wasn’t a usable army. In the case of the Tau, it wasn’t even a legal army. They were intended as reinforcements, ways to make your forces bigger and better, including many multiples of the same kit. Sell more stuff to the people who already buy the stuff.
Over the years, boxes shifted from gargantuan bait for the company’s whales to become more attractive for new players. Small, usable forces were priced competitively as intros for beginners. And now,Games Workshoppackages up every new release for an army in one big, attractive box.
You only make minor savings on Workshop’s new army boxes, but there’s a lot to like about them. First of all, the models. The new Kroot are some of my favourite sculpts Workshop has produced in a long time. The Krootox Rampagers in particular are full of momentum and speed, with dynamic poses being held up by just one heavy paw in some cases. The War Shaper is as big as a Primaris Marine, and the whole army refresh is exactly what the mercenaries needed.
You get one of each new release in the box, as well as index cards and a limited edition Codex. The Codexes themselves aren’t worth buying the box for, but the foil detailing looks stunning. The Kroot box also steps up from previous armies by wrapping the Codex, datacards, and instruction booklet in a card package within the box, held together with a piece of elastic. It adds absolutely nothing to the game, but helps with the premium feel these new boxes go for, and makes your purchase feel justified. You’re spending three figures on toy soldiers, you deserve to get a little bit of elastic and feel good about the product you receive.
The whole package is perfectly executed. From beautiful sculpts and a premium feel, to the excitement that comes with holding such a big box of toys in your hands, Games Workshop has nailed the lot. Deathwing Assault was great, and the Tau army box is even better.
What’s more, this is a usable force. It’s not the best army you could put together from the new Tau Codex, and probably not even the best Kroot-only Tau army, but it’s an army that won’t get you kicked out of your LGS nonetheless. You get one of every unit (barring those yet to be released, of course), except for Kroot Carnivores, of which you get two. Unless you smush them together to make one big unit. You get the picture. This box is the perfect accompaniment to the new Kroot detachment in the Codex, and that synergy between releases and gameplay is something that Games Workshop has been missing for a long time.
There’s a business reason to all this, of course. While not strictly limited (and stock seems reasonably high for these), this is your chance to get all the shiny, new toys a couple of weeks before they’re released individually, a tactic Games Workshop’s likely picked up from TCGs and their prerelease kits. It’s preying on FOMO a little too much for my liking, but the contents do justify your purchase.
With Orks, Adeptus Custodes, and Chaos Space Marines due to launch new Codices this spring, and Genestealer Cults, Adepta Sororitas, and that mysterious redacted Codex to follow, look out for army boxes involving each of them, provided they get enough units to justify a whole box. 40K’s army boxes are on an upward trajectory, so I can’t wait to see what’s next.
