These battleforces are just the beginning for Warhammer 40k. If you’re starting a new army this Christmas, here’s what to buy next…
We’ve already covered all the Battleforces in an earlier post. With a ton of exciting army building blocks coming to the shelves for the holidays, you might be wondering where to go next. Here’s what we recommend. But remember, this is just a simple recommendation. It does not mean you HAVE to buy what we cover here. Now let’s dive in.
Blood Angels Crimson Spear Strike Force
The Crimson Spear Strike force is decent, but there are a few options that you’ll want to either never build or sell somewhere else. The Baal Predator and Terminator Captain are easily the weakest link in the chain here. We already saw GW phase-out stratagems for the Vindicator and Predator. It’s probably only a matter of time before the Baal Predator gets left in the dust as well. And as for the terminator Captain, he’s WAY too slow. In a Blood Angels army, you need speed and want to make full use of all the Jump Pack Stratagems at your disposal.
Sold for $60 on GW’s Webstore
For future buys, another box of Intercessors for Troops can’t hurt. This will flesh out a Battalion as you already can have two squads of five built from the box.
Next, you’ll probably want to use the thunder hammer from the Terminator Captain and find some spare bits to make a jump pack Marine. This will be your handy dandy Smash Captain. You can usually go to an LGS and dig through a bits box to find what you need for a few bucks.
Tyranids Bioswarm
You’ve got a lot of options for whichever way you want to branch out from the box. However, Gargoyles are hardly ever seen on the tabletop nowadays. And as for the Hive Tyrant on-foot, you’ll want to give him some wings. Mobility is huge in the meta right now.
So if you were to branch out, you really couldn’t go wrong with more Termagants. massed S4 assault 3 shooting with Stratagem support is one of the faction’s strongpoints right now. But ultimately, they need a new book. Genestealers are also good but you’ll need to buy a ton of boxes as only 8 come in a box for $35.
Tau Starclaimer Hunter Cadre
Looking at the Tau Battleforce, it’s pretty obvious that you’ll want your next purchases to be two more Fire Warrior units and a Cadre Fireblade. You can always split the ten-man squad into two five-mans to save money. This will help flesh out a Battalion and gett you started on the right foot. From there, you can go with Riptides, Hammerheads, or even an awesome stealth suit list. But the most important part is moving from a Patrol Detachment to a Battalion.
Fire Warriors are sold at $50 for ten models. As for the Cadre Fireblade, he’s $25 by himself. But ultimately this will serve as solid ground for you to build your force up from there.
Space Wolves Talons of Morkai
For this Battleforce, the same thing goes. You’ll probably want to get one more HQ and one more box of Troops to make a Battalion. The most popular right now are the Intercessors. Remember, Intercessors are sold as a box of ten for $60.
A Rune Priest definitely can’t hurt either, as this opens you up to the Chapter’s Psychic power tree. You can get one relatively cheap at $25. And if you like the style of the Wulfen, you’re in luck because they’re also one of the army’s most competitive units. They’re pretty steep, however, at $60 for five models.
Drukhari Poisonblade Raiding Party
You’re off to a strong start for Dark Eldar in this box. With twenty total Kabalite Warriors, you only need one more HQ to bring a Battalion. If you’ve seen the Dark Eldar flying lists and that appeals to you, you can always grab another cheap Archon and start funneling your money to Voidraven Bombers and such. If you want to build an army of something like Grotesques/Taloses, you’ll want to get a Haemonculous to start. Either way, this box is very good.
Chaos Space Marine Vengeance Warband
As for this Battleforce, it’s not terrible but it definitely could be better. The strongest units out of this box are the Havoc squad and ten-man Chaos Marine Troops units. You can split these guys into five-man units and only need another box of Marines for $60.
As we mentioned the Havocs, they’re also a top Chaos unit. However, their kit only comes with one MONEY weapon. That being the Chaincannon. If you want to get the full use out of these guys, you’ll need to come up with three more minigun bits before you completely assemble these guys. Luckily, POP Goes the Monkey sells alternate bits including multibarrelled rip cannons.
Terminators are usually just too slow, although they aren’t quite as bad as Loyalist Terminators and the Chaos Rhino is just a points sink for the meta at this point in time.
With all of these options covered, which Battleforce will you be getting? Will this be your first step into a new army?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
