Games Workshop Start Collecting!

In the grim darkness of the far past of the 2000-early 2010s, there was only overprice.

The foul forces of Chaos gave the middle finger to the costumer. But in their darkest hour, one man would save us all.

Historical Background

The tabletop gaming hobby was on his historical pick back in the 80s/90s, with the lack of things like internet and lots of more accesible entertainment compared to the modern world. Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering and Games Workshop being The Three Kings of The Tabletop, their kingdom would be hit by an accelerating world, and would start to struggle over time. True be told, wargaming in general had brigther times and were more common. Kids wanting to get a box of orcs after passing by a hobby shop started to get less and less common with new videogames and action figures. Maybe a few wanted a set of miniatures after watching Peter Jackson's, but they didn't had the time or patience to build them so they just forget about them. Making things worst, the entry cost became more and more expensive over time due to different reasons. Certain companies started to close, and certain others started to increase the price in order to milk their costumers.

Arguably, Magic and many other TCG would be the ones who better survived, and they are still popular to this day, but his two other brethren would not get so lucky; D&D would live one with books and expansions, and the miniature wargaming would start an even sharper decline by the dawn of the new millenium. Nobody wanted to buy stoopid pieces of resin and pewter at stupid high pieces when they had their awesome Nintendoes and fancy internet that didn't let you use you phone. Noooo, we where the nerds back then, and we are the nerds now.

Until nerd was the new cool.

Why did this happend? Who was responsible of this? Not sure, but at least nowadays people are starting to get interest in the ways of the past, while living with the fruits of thier time.

Yes, there are still pricing discrepancies in Games Workshop's catalogue, but one of the first moves under Rountree's run as CEO of GW was the release of brand new kits, properly named "Start Collecting!", with an exclamation point!

Starting from a humble pool of factions, today a healthy portion of factions from both Age of Sigmar and 40K have at least one, or in select cases, multiple, kits with savings, with the standard prices at $90 USD ($5± in some cases), trying to help out those new possible collectionist to make the jump with a sizable force. And this article, 5 years later of their initial introduction, has been made to help you figuring out where to start.

And, with the help of you, fellow nerds, we can make this article be as helpful as possible.

From a collectionist and/or non-competitive enviroment view point

Just buy whatever you like. If you want to make a parade army or just collect some neat models for yourself, just get whatever you want. In the end of the day, you will still save money, and get something you like.

From a more competitive point of view

Saving are fantastic, but sometimes you get more juice from certain lemons than others. We are going to make comprehensible, simple tables in hopes to help newcomers who are still afraid of the hobby being too expensive (wonder thanks to who...), and if you are interested in making your own little army with super weapons, powers and use your tactical knowledge, we can help you, and you can safely ask at your FLGS. The more players, the better.

HEADS UP: we are going to try and help you, but don't think we want to corrupt the new generation. We want you to have a great time!

We are going to rate the kits as GREAT, GOOD, OKAY, and COULD BE BETTER.

For players willing to help: give your opinions on the notes collumn. Trying to make it short and sweet if possible. Jus ad another point if necesary or if another viewpoint is needed.

Start Collecting!

The namesake of this article, this kits give you one leader and one troop as a minimum, with an additional one or two extra units of another type.

As a note, this kits are being replaced with Combat Patrols for the 40K, format so expect to see a new table as new kits get released.

Age of Sigmar Kits

Name	Contents	Savings (compared to the kits sold separately)	Deal?	Notes	Image
Beastclaw Raiders	- 1x Stonehorn/Thundertusk - 4x Mournfangs	$	Great	5 miniatures for this price might look expensive, yet you only need 3 of this kits to have a 2000 points army list of heavy hitter cavalry (and durable leaders), and the kitbashing potential and possibility to magnetize the Thuntertusk/Stonehorn rider sit helps. Lots of extra bit are always welcome.	[Image goes here]
Anvilgard	- 1x Black Ark Fleetmaster, 10x Black Ark Corsairs, 1x Kharibdyss/War Hydra, Scourgerunner/Drakespawn chariot	$$$	Good	Pretty much a Start Collecting! Pirate Dark Elves.	[Image goes here]
Beasts of Chaos	Great Bray-shaman, Cygor/Ghorgon, 10 Ungors and a set of 10 Bestigors	$$$	Great	Literally everything you need for a regular in a box. Multiple kits are an option, but you might want to add Tzaangors, Bullgors and some other thing to adapt better your army. Remember, they can also be part of any other of the four main Gods of Chaos armies, so you can use this guys on more and different armies.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Khorne	Herald on Blood Throne, a set of three Bloodcrushers and ten Bloodletters.	$	Good	Multiple kits are a good investment, as both 'crushers and 'letters are good. The Blood Throne can be build as a Skull Cannon an kit the herald on a different base with little work. They are compatible with 40K, too, so they have that extra value, and they also work in Khornate armies.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Nurgle	Herald of Nurgle, a set of three Plague Drones, a set of three Nurglings and a set of ten Plaguebearers of Nurgle	$$$	Great	Multiple kits are a good investment, since this set contains pretty much all you ever want for a Nurglesque army. They are compatible with 40K, too, so they have that extra value.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Slaanesh	Exalted Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh; can be regular or a Hellflayer, 5 Seekers of Slaanesh and 10 Daemonettes.	$$$	Great	Multiple kits are a good investment, since this set contains pretty much all you ever want for a Slaaneshi army. They are compatible with 40K, too, so they have that extra value.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Tzeentch	Chariot of Tzeentch with Greater Flamer or Herald of Tzeentch on foot (on of the last two has to be on the Chariot, the other can go on foor with the extra supplied bases), 3 Flamers of Tzeentch, 3 Screamers of Tzeentch and 10 Pink Horrors.	$	Good.	You are pretty much here for the Pink Horrors, which don't come with their Blue or Brimstone counterparts. They are compatible with 40K, too, so they have that extra value.	[Image goes here]
Daughters of Khaine	- 1x Shrine, which can be manned (womanned?) by either a Hag or Slaughter Queen, Bloodwrack Medusa, or Avatar of Khaine - 5x Melusai Blood Stalkers/Sisters	$$$$	Could be better.	An expensive kit for an expensive army. It would be much, much better with 10 Sisters of Slaughter/Witches, who are seriously overpriced for Battleines, and even more for a relatively old kit.	[Image goes here]
Flesh-Eater Courts	Terrorgheist, three Crypt Horrors, 10 Crypt Ghouls	$$$	Great.	Everything you could want. You might get tired of buying multiple boxes due to the Behemoth, but seriously, 9 out of 10 time you need to expand this army, just buy another SC!. It is that reliable.	[Image goes here]
Fyreslayers	Magmadroth; it can be rided by 3 leaders, and you have enough bases to put the two who will not mount it on foot, 10 Vulkite Berserkers	$$$$	Good.	At realease, the Magmadroth was too expensive, to the point that they reduced the price and now they are only available on the SC!. Price wise, is excellent, but buying additional kits might not help on the long run as you start to get into bigger games.	[Image goes here]
Gloomspite Gitz	Loonboss, 3x Rockgut Troggoths, 10x Cave Squigs, 2x Squig Herders.	$	Good.	Need from dedicated serious GSG players here, there has been debate of how good this this actually is. However, this is a nice starter kit, and your battleline Grots are actually affordable.	[Image goes here]
Greywater Fastness	Warden King, 1x Cogsmith, 10x Ironbreakers/drakes and 1x Gyromachine (copter or bomber)	$$	Good.	Start Collecting! Dwarfs all but in name.	[Image goes here]
Idoneth Deepkin	1x Isharann Soulrender, 10x Namarti Thralls and 3x Akhelian Guard	$	Great.	Two or three of this kits makes up for a great core.	[Image goes here]
Idoneth Deepkin	1x Isharann Soulrender, 10x Namarti Thralls and 3x Akhelian Guard	$	Great.	Two or three of this kits makes up for a great core.	[Image goes here]
Ironjawz	Orruk Warchanter, three Orruk Gore-gruntas, ten Orruk ‘Ardboyz	$$	Great	Any, ANY, time you need Gore-Gruntas, buy this kit instead. The price for the separated Gorgruntas just can't justify buying them, unless they are gifted or sold for a candy bar.	[Image goes here]
Kharadron Overlords	Endrinmaster, a set of 5 Grundstok Thunderers, a set of 3 Skywardens, a Grundstok Gunhauler	$$$$	Good	Funny enought, this is more of an expansion kit, given the lack of Battlelines. It still makes for a good kit given that KO are quite an expensive army.	[Image goes here]
Khorne Bloodbound Goreblade Warband	Mighty Lord of Khorne, a Bloodsecrator, a Bloodstoker, a Khorgorath, 5 Blood Warriors, 10 Bloodreavers	$$$$	Good	Used to be part of the first Starter Kit for AoS. Despite being monopose and push-fit, buying another kit might be a good idea.	[Image goes here]
Maggotkin of Nurgle	Mortis Engine, 3 Spirit Hosts, 5 Hexwraith Cavalry.	$$$	Great	All of this kits are extremely durable in battle and quite as expensive in real life. Buy this kit whenever you need Blightkings or lords.	[Image goes here]
Malignants	1x Lord of Blights, 5x Putrid Blightkings, 2x Pusgoyle Blightlords, optionally one as a Lord of Affliction.	$	Great	Start Collecting! Nighthaunts before the Nighthaunt name was cool. Try to get this box whenever you need extra Hosts or Hexwraiths.	[Image goes here]
Seraphon	Carnosaur, 8x Saurus Knights, 12x Saurus Warriors	$$$	Great	THE BEST DEAL. The Carno alone costs as much as the kit. Everytime you need extra Knights, buy this kit. You could buy this when you need warriors too, if you don't mind having a couple of extra Carnos lying around. If you don't want to use the Carno right away, you can use the sprues for the Oldblood on foot.	[Image goes here]
Skaven Pestilens	Plague Furnace, a Plagueclaw, a horde of twenty Plague Monks	$$	Great	Good way to get Monks, and the Furnace and Plague Claws can be built as a Screaming Bell or Warp Lightning Cannon. There is enough bases to make a Grey Seer or Plague Priest on foot.	[Image goes here]
Skeleton Horde	Arkhan the Black, 10x Skeleton Warriors, 5x Black Knights	$$$$	Great	Buy three so you can get the three mounted Mortarchs.This is one of the most newbie-friendly kits too.	[Image goes here]
Skinks	1x Skink Starpriest, 12x Skinks, 3x Terradon Riders/Ripperdactyl Riders, or 1 Terradon Chief/Ripperdactyl Chief, 1x Bastiladon	$$$	Great	Yet another great way to start or reinforce a Seraphon army. Everything here is worth it and it can be worth to buy a couple more kits.	[Image goes here]
Slaves to Darkness	1x Chaos Lord on Karkadrak, 5x Chaos Knights, with the option to build a Doom Knight with a Cursed Flail and Chaos Runeshield, 10x Warriors of Chaos	$$	Great	Excellent point for start a new StD army, or one to dedicated to the four main Gods of Chaos. Everyone here is monopose tho, yet everyone has excellent poses. The regular kits for Warriors and Knights are older, but more customizable/posable.	[Image]
Stormcast Eternals Thunderstrike Brotherhood	Lord-Celestant on Dracoth, a Lord-Relictor, 3 Retributors, 10 Liberators (including 2 Liberator-Primes), 3 Prosecutors	$$$$	Good	Half of the original Starter Set for AoS. All of them monoposes	[Image goes here]
Stormcast Vanguard	Lord-Aquilor, a set of 5 Vanguard-Hunters, a set of 3 Vanguard Palladors, a set of 3 Gryph-Hounds	$$	Great	Works well both as an expansion and starter point if you want a Vanguard army or a Vanguard wing.	[Image goes here]
Sylvaneth	Branchwych, a Treelord, 16 Dryads	$$	Great	A great starting point and expansion for Sylvaneth. Helps to compensate how expensive your Kurnoth Hunter will be.	[Image goes here]

40K Kits

Name	Contents	Savings (compared to the kits sold separately)	Deal?	Notes	Image
Adeptus Mechanicus	- 1x Tech-Priest Enginseer - 1x Skitarii Vanguard/Rangers - 1x Skorpius Dunerider/Disintegrator	$$$	Good	10 man Troop and Transport/Tank. HQ could be better.	[Image goes here]
Astra Militarum	Leman Russ Battle Tank, a Cadian Heavy Weapon Team, an Officio Prefectus Commissar and a 10x Cadian Shock Troops	$$$	Great	Another kit with whatever you might need to start an army. Once again, multiple kits are a great option to expand.	[Image goes here]
Blood Angels	10-man Blood Angels Tactical Squad, a Blood Angels Terminator Captain and a Baal Predator.	$$$	Okay	[Blood Angels player, please share your options here].	[Image goes here]
Chaos Space Marines (2019)	- 1x Master of Possession, 1x Venomcrawler, 2x Obliterators, 2x Greater Possessed and 10x Chaos Space Marines unit.	$$$	Okay	More of an expansion than a starting point [CSM, please share your options here].	[Image goes here]
Craftworlds	Farseer, 5 Wraithguards/Wraithblades, a Wraithlord, War Walker. Includes a transfer sheet.	$$$	Okay	Good for certain Craftworlds.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Khorne	Herald on Blood Throne, a set of three Bloodcrushers and ten Bloodletters.	$$$	Good	Multiple kits are a good investment, as both 'crushers and 'letters are good. The Blood Throne can be build as a Skull Cannon an kit the herald on a different base with little work. They are compatible with 40K, too, so they have that extra value, and they also work in Khornate armies.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Nurgle	Herald of Nurgle, a set of three Plague Drones, a set of three Nurglings and a set of ten Plaguebearers of Nurgle	$$$	Great	Multiple kits are a good investment, since this set contains pretty much all you ever want for a Nurglesque army. They are compatible with AoS, too, so they have that extra value.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Slaanesh	Exalted Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh; can be regular or a Hellflayer, 5 Seekers of Slaanesh and 10 Daemonettes.	$$$	Great	Multiple kits are a good investment, since this set contains pretty much all you ever want for a Slaaneshi army. They are compatible with AoS, too, so they have that extra value.	[Image goes here]
Daemons of Tzeentch	Chariot of Tzeentch with Greater Flamer or Herald of Tzeentch on foot (on of the last two has to be on the Chariot, the other can go on foor with the extra supplied bases), 3 Flamers of Tzeentch, 3 Screamers of Tzeentch and 10 Pink Horrors.	$$$	Good.	You are pretty much here for the Pink Horrors, which don't come with their Blue or Brimstone counterparts. They are compatible with AoS, too, so they have that extra value.	[Image goes here]
Drukhari	Succubus, 10 Wyches, a Venom and 3 Reavers.	$$$	???	Quite literally a Start Collecting! Dark Eldar Wyches. Do note that there was a previous Dark Eldar kit, which was more of a Kabal. Need opinion of a Dark Eldar here to help.	Image goes here
Genestealer Cults	1x Acolyte Iconward, 5x Acolyte Hybrids, 10x Neophyte Hybrids, 1x Achilles Ridgerunner.	$$$	???	Need opinion of a Genestealer Cultist here to help.	Image goes here
Militarum Tempestus	10 Scions, an Officio Prefectus Commisar and a Taurox Prime.	$$$	???	Need opinion of an IG here to help.	Image goes here
Orks	1 Painboy, 5 Nobz (and 1 ammo runt), 11 Boyz, 1 Deff Dread	$$$	Okay	Boyz and Nobz. But the rest is nothing to lose your breath.	Image goes here
Space Marines	Terminator Captain, Venerable Dreadnought and 10 Tactical Squad	$$$	Okay	The most vanilla you can get. Sadly, we are on the Primaris Age.	[Image goes here]
Space Wolves	3 Thunderwolves, a Space Marine Commander and 10 Space Wolves Pack	$$$	Okay.	Should be great, not being for the Combat Patrol.
Tau Empire	Ethereal on Hover Drone, three XV8 Crisis Battlesuits and a ten-man Fire Warriors	$$$	Great	Amazing for both starters and expansions. It has everything you might want to get for any army. Buy this instead regular Crisis or Fire Warriors teams, you can even use the ethereals as Fireblades with a bith of kitbashing.	[Image goes here]
Kunbarrasaurus	1x Ahriman, 10x Tzaangors, 10x Rubric Marines, 2x Tzaangor Upgrade Packs.	$$$	Good	Good if you need Ahriman.	[Image goes here]
Tyranids	8 Genestealers, a Broodlord, a Trygon/Mawloc	$$$	Good?	Need players guide.	[Image goes here]
Vanguard Space Marines	1x Lieutenant in Phobos Armour, 3x Suppressors, 3x Eliminators, 10x Infiltrators	$$$	Good?	Expansion for Space Marines	[Image goes here]

Other ways to start

• Each edition, there is a new Starter Kit with two armies. You can buy them with another player.

• Battleforces, each December.

• Proxy armies from other companies. Do note that despite most players having 0 problems with this, official GW kits do not condone it.

• Around each two or three months, there is a new Boxed Set featuring two confronting armies. They have savings and great models.