Warhammer 40k - Assault on Black Reach

Collecting and playing Warhammer 40k can be expensive as time goes on. Collecting the miniatures, painting them, developing terrain for gaming tables, and buying other resources can add up.

This is why the starter set is such a great value for its contents.

For less than $100 (from Amazon), you can get easily more than $150 worth of gaming materials, the ability to play the game right out of the box (some assembly required, these are models after all) and have a good basis to purchase more minis and build your armies.

Here's what you get:

* The stripped down rulebook, which provides just the straight rules and takes out the fluff that is present in the handsome 5th Edition hardcover rulebook. Granted, the 40k universe is rich and well-written, but when starting out you really just need the rules. The convenient, smaller handbook-sized rulebook is both portable and complete.

* You also get a 33 page getting-started handbook which runs you step by step through the process of playing and understanding your troops. This helps you hit the ground running. The big hardcover rulebook doesn't do this for you.

* Warhammer 40k requires dice and measuring tools like a small tape measure. Any gamer worth his or her salt already has dice and measuring tape is easy to get a hold of, but the game includes these things (dice and measuring sticks) and the coveted scatter dice and templates that you can't get elsewhere (and pay a premium for if you buy them separately).

* Most importantly, you get an amazing range of miniatures that you can play the game with, and give you a big start on a bigger army. These include:

*Space Marines - 4-5 Squads*
1 Space Marine Captain
10 Tactical Space Marines (that can be broken down into two squads)
5 Space Marine Terminators
1 Space Marine Dreadnought

*Orks - 4-5 Squads*
1 Ork Warboss
20 Ork Boyz (that can be broken down into two squads)
5 Ork Nobz
3 Ork Deffkoptas

These miniatures come unpainted, but that is part of the fun of collecting 40k models. These particular models are designed to snap together, and require a minimum of glue. You might want to get some anyway just to make sure arms and bits don't fall off.

Introduce yourself to the Universe in the 41st Millennium and battle between the Emperor's forces, the Space Marines, and the powerful forces of the monstrous hordes of Orks.

The box set has everything you need to start playing right away including miniatures for two opposing forces, rulebook, dice, templates and rulers.

Save 20% when buying from Amazon and get it shipped right to your house.

Warhammer 40k is a complex game with lots of rules. Assault on Black Reach helps ease you into the game, and you will learn a lot even from these small skirmishes.

Normally, games are played at a certain point level. 500-1000 points is a good start for beginners. The Assault on Black Reach box set forces are short of these totals, but don't worry about that for now. You can always invest in more figures in the future.

For now, you have what it takes to start filling out your force organization chart. The force chart shows the maximum forces your army can have, and the minimums you need to play the game.

There are 5 types of forces:

HQ - Your leaders, who are more powerful than the standard troop unit
Elite - Troops who are more advanced than standard troops at the cost of higher point values.
Troop - Your standard units, which are flexible, and often, but not necessarily expendable.
Fast - Units designed to deliver swift attacks and avoid fire, often at higher point costs but greater effectiveness
Heavy - Units that deliver devastating fire, including tanks and other armored units.

The minimums are in place to make the game fairer at lower points costs. It would be unfair to have nothing but heavy units if your opponent has more troops. To establish a basic force organization requirement, the minimum force required consists of:

1 HQ and 2 Troops

Assault on Black Reach fills this requirement beautifully (and better than older sets) by giving you 1 Space Marine Captain and 10 Space Marines (which can form 2 5-man squads), and 1 Ork Warboss and 20 Ork Boyz (which can be similarly broken down into two 10 Ork mobs).

Each force also includes an Elite squad (Space Marines get 5 Terminators, while the Orks get 5 Nobz).

The Space Marines also get an additional Elite choice - A Dreadnought

The Orks counter with a Fast choice - 3 DeffKoptas