Happy Old World, everyone! Let’s take a look at what’s on offer for the Bretonnians and Tomb Kings and whether they are overpriced or just expensive.
The Bretonnian starter army box for Warhammer: The Old World comes in at a hefty $255 (or $216.75 in the FLG store!) and the Tomb Kings box is $290 (or $246.50). This is a good chunk of change, even in 2024(!) dollars. But is this an example of classic GW price gouging, merely an expensive box, or actually a decent value?
As everyone is likely aware by now, the Bretonnian starter box for The Old World comes with an impressive 76 minis:
- A Lord on a Pegasus
- 3 Pegasus Knights
- 12 Knights of the Realm
- 36 Men-at-Arms
- 24 Bowmen
And that’s not all, there is also a rulebook, QRS, decal sheet, dice, templates and two red whippy sticks for switching your younger brother! The Tomb Kings come with the same game play items as well as an impressive 93 minis:
- Liche Priest on Bone Dragon
- Tomb Prince
- 3 Chariots
- 16 Skeleton Cavalry
- 40 Skeleton Infantry
- 32 Skeleton Archers
But how does all this stack up to other starter boxes and second hand versions of the same minis? Well… pretty darn good, actually! Let’s get second hand items out of the way first. eBay prices do not appear to have dropped yet, and they have nothing on this box. Just take a look for yourself:
Now there are some caveats, such as that those are “buy now,” “OBO” items, but the Men-at-Arms have sold since I took that screen grab, which is just wild to contemplate. Assuming they were both sold by the same seller and you could combine shipping, you would be paying $190 (74% of sticker price for the new boxed set) for only 24 Men-at-Arms and 16 Archers. And bear in mind, these same minis that are listed on eBay are being rereleased in this box, they aren’t “classic” sculpts anymore.
So what about other boxed sets? Well, I think the price point for these new boxes is actually, uh, on point, for a number of reasons. The Primordial Star Host and Vengorian Court boxes for AoS get you 30 and 38 minis, respectively, for $220 ($187 in our store!). Sure, they are newer sculpts, but TOW boxes are the clear winner here. The Ultimate Starter Set for 40K retails for $210 ($178.50 in our store!), contains 44 push fit models plus a decent amount of terrain and everything you need to play. Again, I think TOW boxes come out on top.
Leviathan retailed for $245 and came with 72 minis, which is much more in line with these boxes, but there are some less tangible differences. Leviathan came with updated sculpts, including some very excellent Terminators, but they were all push-fit. We had to wait for the multi-pose variant of these minis to be released much later and buy them again if we wanted them. TOW boxes are exclusively older sculpts, with the exception of the new leader models, and some will compare them unfavorably to minis of this decade. However, they are almost all multi-pose (except the Bretonnian archers, who do have interchangeable heads). Furthermore, many of the minis can actually be assembled as more than one unit type. The Bretonnian knights can be assembled as Knights of the Realm or Knights Errant, and all the skeleton infantry and cavalry can be assembled with melee weapons, rather than bows.
But these are all comparisons to other GW boxes. What about similar offerings from other companies? Para Bellum Games offers double and single player starter sets for Conquest that give similar miniature counts for as much as $100 less. Mantic has comparably sized army deals that are priced in between GW and Para Bellum. GW is and has been the premium option from the beginning. Mantic positioned themselves as the budget answer to GW, though their quality has increased of late. Para Bellum’s minis and game are good, but they are very different from GW and most cannot reasonably be used as proxies in The Old World.
There is no denying that these Old World boxes are expensive, but that is not the same as overpriced. I am actually quite impressed with their overall value and I hope that helps jump start The Old World. Did you manage to get your pre-order in before every place online sold out? Which box did you get, or which one are you waiting for? Let us know in the comments!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
