Warhammer 40K: Where Did All The Combo Army Boxes Go?
Dark Angels vs Chaos. Space Wolves vs Orks. Adeptus Mechanicus vs Necrons. Space Marines vs pretty much anyone. Where did all the combo boxes go?
Games Workshop seems to have shifted gears on their boxed sets for 10th edition. I don’t think I’m the only one who noticed but Warhammer 40k has shifted away from the boxed sets that featured two armies in one with a narrative bend. You might remember boxed sets like Wrath of the Soul Forge King, Eldritch Omens, or (if we go waaay back) Stormclaw. Or even the old launch boxes from 2nd to 5th editions.
These boxes were always interesting to me. They featured two different armies in each box, always in a fight against each other in the narrative. We’ve had a lot of different pairings over the years, too. Some of the weirder ones were Custodes vs Genestealer Cults (in Shadow Throne), Vanguard Space Marines vs Chaos (Shadowspear), and Aeldari vs Death Watch (in Death Masque). Some of these match-ups were just odd narratively. Others were blatant attempts to push specific miniatures at the time.
But why did these go away?
Warhammer 40,000 – 10th Edition Shift Army Box Shift
The last combo box was really Leviathan which kicked off 10th Edition. Since then, Games Workshop really does seem to have shifted gears quite a bit. They are now creating single Army boxes (typically for a new release/refresh of an army), Battleforce boxes, and Combat Patrols.
To be honest, I don’t think this is a bad move either. I kind of appreciate that GW moved away from these combo boxes for 40k and AoS. It certainly makes collecting single armies a whole lot easier and cleaner. You no longer have to find a buddy to trade/barter/split the combo boxes with for the half you didn’t want. Plus, who was going to end up with any extras? That was always confusing.
For GW this really cuts down on the reseller market. I don’t know how many Necron armies got dumped on eBay when Indomitus launched but I’m pretty sure that was a GREAT time to start a Necron army.
I doubt GW will ever come out and say the specific reason why they made this shift in 10th Edition. I’ve got my own theories (a few I’ve listed above) but that doesn’t really matter. The fact is that in 10th edition we’re just not seeing these combo boxes for 40k or AoS. But they didn’t go away entirely…
Kill Team Combo Boxes
Kill Team has taken up the torch of the Combo boxes and it honestly makes a lot of sense. Think about it. The boxes come with two complete Kill Teams (and sometimes terrain). You don’t need to trade off one of the Kill Teams if you don’t want to (or can’t find any takers). It’s a full team ready to run. If you get bored of running one team you’ve now got a second to try out.
These boxes are much better for solo-collectors. And I think that’s the strategy on GW’s part. I don’t have the numbers but I wager that if you’re hardcore into Kill Team you’re probably collecting more than just one Kill Team to play. If nothing else, you might want to know how those other Kill Teams work on the tabletop. Oh and why not build up your own collection of terrain while you’re at it? You do want to play at home too, right?
I’m on the fence when I think about these combo boxes being more consumer friendly or not. On the one hand, a single person can use pretty much everything in these boxes. Again, it’s two complete Kill Teams. On the other hand, getting a heckuva deal on 1/2 of one of those combo boxes via splitting or trading (or eBay) was really nice for the wallet! So I can see the advantage for both options. Especially if you just wanted the one new miniature in the combo box for your army. Let’s not forget that used to be the first way to get your hands on the shiny update for a miniature…
All The Single Army Boxes
I think this trend is going to stick around for a while from Games Workshop. 10th Edition is all Army Boxes and Combat Patrols for 40k. They do tend to be pretty good deals for new players or veterans looking to start or expand an army. I think the biggest issue (at least for the customers/players) is that these Army Boxes tend to sell out the day they go up for pre-order. I’m sure GW is happy about that as it’s not a waste of inventory. But it can also be disheartening as a player when you really wanted to get your hands on that Army Box to start a new army and it’s already gone before you can get it.
The same can be said about a lot of those holiday Battleforce Boxes, too. And I do understand the business strategy behind the scarcity model — but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. For players, it does stink that these bigger boxes aren’t kept in stock all the time. However, I do want to give credit to GW for at least having the Combat Patrols be a long-term stock item. But at the end of the day GW wants folks to build complete armies. That typically means you’re going to have to buy individual (and more expensive per miniature) unit boxes.
What do you think about the shift? Do you miss the old combo boxes? Are you glad GW is just focused on Army/Battleforce/Combat Patrol Boxes? Is the shift to Kill Team for these combos justified? I want to know what you think so let me know in the comments.
I don’t necessarily miss the combo boxes — except when it was a pair of armies that I did play. That was like Christmas!
