Late to the Party: A look at the "Getting Started With Warhammer 40K" magazine

A few weeks ago I bought the "Getting Started With Warhammer 40K" magazine from Games Workshop. This glossy 105 pages long publication includes an unpainted Primaris Space Marine Intercessor miniature and is supposed to be the first and cheapest gateway into playing Warhammer 40K for those that know nothing or only a little about the game and world beforehand.

I must admit that I fall well outside the target group of this product. While not being a real Games Workshop geek, I have been playing their games, with several long pauses since the mid-1990s. I began by playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle and then continued with Blood Bowl, Warhammer 40K, some Battlefleet Gothic and a lot of 2nd edition Epic 40K and Mordheim.

Due to moving house several times most of my GW-stuff have however been packed away for a number of years, until recently when I dug it up from the basement out of curiosity. Old unpainted sins will not stay buried forever it seems, but at least me finding all the stuff reignited this specific part of my gaming hobby.

Being gone a few years from GW and the 40K universe I was curious about how it would be to enter the hobby again, and how accessible it is for new players. Because of this, and a nice 20% discount, I decided to buy the magazine and have a look.

"Getting Started With Warhammer 40K" is actually only one of several specially designed entry products into the Warhammer 40K miniature game, but it is by far the cheapest of these. I paid the equivalence of 4.88 USD for the magazine, but this was with the beforementioned discount and the prices seem to vary quite a lot (the price in Games Workshops own webshop is 8 USD at the time of writing). On average the cost for this product is however relatively low, compared both to other GW-products and to glossy magazines in general. To be fair though, the magazine is mainly a glorified advert for 40K, while the more expensive introductory box sets are complete games that can be played with what is in them.


The Package

"Getting Started With Warhammer 40K" comes in a plastic wrapper that includes the magazine and an unpainted Space Marine miniature in a separate plastic package.

Getting Started With Warhammer 40,000.

The first impression is that of a neat product and you can clearly see the miniature on the sprue, including a base with a bunch of sculpted details. The front page illustration of the magazine is in the usual modern 40K style with Ultramarines fighting what I guess is Chaos Space Marines. It looks fine, but is quite generic, which I guess is okay when you want to introduce someone to a franchise.

The whole backside of the magazine is dedicated to an ad for the "First Strike" starter set. This is the smaller and cheapest of the 40K boxed starter sets, and the logical next purchase for anyone that wants to try the game for real.

Backside ad for the First Strike box.

The Magazine

The magazine starts with a full-page image of an Ultramarine force on the inside cover, and a "Getting Started" page about the 40K-hobby on the right side. After this, we get the contents page and assembly instructions for the included miniature.

The next section is 15 pages of 40K lore, including short introductions to all the major armies/factions in the game. This is followed by a few pages about collecting miniatures and showing off three different armies, the Ultramarines, Servants of Nurgle and the Aeldar, the first two of which are included in all the three starter boxes that can be purchased for the game.

The Servants of Nurgle page spread.

Now a short introduction to how the game can be played follows, as well as a 10-page long battle report of a medium-sized battle between an Ultramarine army and a combined Death Guard and Nurgle daemon force.

Back in the day, the battle reports in White Dwarf used to be one of my favourite parts to read in these magazines, and even if you can now get plenty of excellent YouTube-videos of GW-battles, these are still good reads. The only negative thing to say about the report is that it includes a lot of units and some special rules that are not described elsewhere in the magazine. Still, this never bothered me back when I read the battle reports in White Dwarf, usually long before I had ever tried the games they were about.

After several pages of adverts for other 40K products, the various environments where battles can be fought are described. These texts feel a little isolated and short. They do give an idea of the large and varied universe of 40K, but for a new reader, they are probably not very useful on their own.

Now a long section follows that first showcase finished painted Citadel miniatures, and then gives us a very extensive general painting guide. This guide is really good with many techniques being described in a way that is easy to understand, even though it of course only focuses on Citadel products, as one would expect. The instructions cover the painting of Space Marine Intercessors and Reivers, as well as Plague Marines and Poxwalkers. This ties into the various starter boxes that all include these specific miniatures, but except for the intercessor, this feels a bit unnecessary here when the buyer only has that one model, and most likely no paints to use on it anyway.

The last 22 pages of the magazine contain the core rules of Warhammer 40K. These are good and clear introductions that really explain how the game is played, even if you would need several more miniatures to actually put the knowledge into action.

As could be expected from a large and experienced company such as Games Workshop, the magazine is professionally produced. The texts are well written and easy to understand. The illustrations are of the highest standard, the photos are flawless and the miniatures that can be found in images on almost every page are painted to a very high standard (really too high for most of us normal painters).


The Miniature

The plastic miniature included in the magazine is a single Primaris Space Marine Intercessor, basically the standard heavy infantryman of the Adeptus Astartes since the Indomitus Crusade.

The Space Marine miniature in the plastic box.

The model is of the "Easy To Build" (push-fit) type that is included in several 40K products aimed at new players. These models have pin joints that could theoretically be assembled without any glue. Most people however still use some CA-glue or plastic cement when they assemble them, especially if they are going to be painted.

Even if it is possible to assemble the miniature without glue, there is still the need for a tool of some sort (preferably some clippers) to get it off the sprue, and if mould lines are a problem a small knife or file is also handy.

Space Marine miniature sprue.

The magazine contains short assembly instructions for the miniature on page 3 and painting instructions on page 74. To actually paint the intercessor some model paints and a brush are of course also needed.


Conclusion

So who is "Getting Started With Warhammer 40K" really for and is the product worth the price?

On the one hand, it is a very nice guide to the game for anyone that is curious or know nothing of the world and game concept. On the other hand, it is not a product that lets the buyer really experience the game. The magazine contains 40K's core rules, but to actually play it you will need at least a handful more miniatures, dice, army lists and a ruler.

The miniature itself is unpainted and since no paints are included (which is understandable) it will not be possible for a beginner to paint it without more investments, despite the extensive painting instructions in the magazine.

The price of this product is however quite reasonable compared to magazines in general, and this factor in itself makes it a potentially great purchase (or even better, gift) for anyone that wants to know a bit more about the game and world of 40K before they invest more money.


The next step?

What is then the next step for those that find this introduction magazine interesting? Well, there are no less than three different boxes that each give two persons the opportunity to actually play the game.

"First Strike: A Warhammer 40,000 Starter Set" is the cheapest of these boxes at 40 USD (but again the prices varies a lot and I have found the product for only slightly over 30 USD in some places), and this considered it is not surprising that it is also the smallest of the three boxes. It contains six Ultramarine and nine Chaos miniatures, a double-sided gaming mat, ruler, dice and the core rules. This is everything you really need to play a small game of 40K.

First Strike

"Know No Fear: A Warhammer 40,000 Starter Set" is twice the price of "First Strike", but also includes more than twice the number of miniatures with 14 Space Marines and 17 Death Guard models, in addition to all the other stuff from "First Strike".

Know No Fear

"Dark Imperium" finally is again twice the price of "Know No Fear", but also contains a lot of stuff. In addition to the full official rule book and all the extra things from the smaller boxes, Dark Imperium includes 53 miniatures (not however of the push-fit kind). The 22 Space Marines and 31 Death Guards amount to slightly over 800 and 700 points respectively and could each form the core of a substantial 40K army.

Dark Imperium

As can be seen, there are plenty of choices for those that want to start playing the game and contrary to some other products from Games Workshop, these boxes all give decent value for the money (they are after all meant to get people into the hobby, to hopefully spend a lot more money later).

But which one should you choose? Well if you are certain that you want to play 40K and are interested in either playing Space Marines or Death Guards, one of the two largest boxes is a good investment (especially if you can find a friend that is interested in the army you don't fancy to share the cost with).

If you, however, find the magazine intriguing but are still unsure about investing a lot of money in the game, "First Strike" is the logical step. In this small box, you will get enough miniatures to actually play a few small battles, but for a price that is still low enough to put it aside with good conscience if it was not your cup of tea, or if you decide on another faction for your first real 40K army.