There are quite a few reasons why Games Workshop makes all the new 40k and AoS army box sets they do with codex books and data cards.
Sometimes it seems a little arbitrary and confusing at times. But if you are guessing it has something to do with sales numbers and production, you’re probably mostly right.
Let’s check out all of the overall reasons!
Why GW Makes the Army Box Sets They do
Let’s start with the most glaring reason, GW makes the army box sets they do. It has a lot to do with the number of sprues they have to produce to make all the tooling and overhead costs turn a profit.
For the current edition of Warhammer 40k, it seems like they often do this with less popular demi-factions. They paywall the release through the initial army box, while providing an early access value to the rules as well.
This allows them to make multiple releases for the same sets of sprues (or kits), first with the initial army box, the individual box set releases, and then a Combat Patrol box. Sure they don’t always follow this path, as sometimes the combat partol comes first, maybe the same sprues are in a battle box release, you get the idea…
By doing this, Games Workshop basically gets three or sometimes four releases out of the same sprue sets while also extending the hype for those same releases.
Overall it is smart on their part, and if there is enough value and availability, it is a win-win for anyone wanting these models!
The Path to Market For Army Box Factions
One of the first they did this with was the Sisters of Battle army box. While it had a ton of new minis inside, at the time, Sisters were not a very popular faction for several reasons.
The army box had a bunch of seemingly random minis inside, but as we said, you also got the book so there was value for hobbyists. Obviously, after this was released, there were individual releases of everything. But… they were paywalled for some time.
Then, they came out with the Combat Patrol, which had almost all of the same units inside. Thus, giving them triple the use for all the kits inside. This lets them take a less popular faction and still get all the profit from the kits from releases spread out from 2019 into 2021.
The Most Recent Example
Chaos Knights have never been the most popular of factions, but it seems like now they are set up for a similar release cycle. First, they release the box on its own to paywall the new minis.
Then, they will release them on their own. Lastly, if the combat patrol does have two boxes of the Armigers inside, they will follow the exact same release schedule of Army box, to single kits, to a potential combat patrol that we’ve seen many times already.
So don’t be surprised to see a combat patrol with similar models inside for these in the near future.
Is There Value?
The initial army boxes are generally good deals “in GW Money” because you get the book and cards more or less for free. However, if you just want the minis, generally, you can actually get them for cheaper or the same price later.
So, while you do save some money, the combat patrol is often the best value as they save the most cash on minis, not on things like books or cards. It could be from a Games Workshop perspective; this lets them continue to support the possibly less popular factions while still making the profit they need for tooling new kits.
Which equals more new models like Orks Beastsnaggas, Black Templars, and maybe multiple releases for the Leagues of Votann as well!
One everyone seems to love is more new models, so Army Box sets seem to be a win-win for hobbyists and Games Workshop alike!
Do you like the army boxes Games Workshop releases?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
