REVEALED: Warhammer 40K Christmas Boxes - Warhammer

Hail Mighty Readers, Followers of the Luck Gods Math Rocks, 

Today has shown the reveal of the Warhammer 40K Christmas Box sets so we are going to go through what we thought and how we did.  Sadly we don't think we've done very well and were more than a little disappointed with the boxes that are available with only one really jumping out at us.  Here's what was revealed and their contents:

Faction: Chaos Knights

Why?

To be honest we get the feeling that this is going to be the year where the epic Plastic Chaos Warhound is going to be announced at Christmas.  As such you're going to need some other Titans to accompany them.  So hence why we're going with them.  

What would we add to the box, lots and lots of War Dogs.  lol

Whats in the Actual Box?

Knight Ruinator (can alternatively be built as Knight Abominant, Knight Rampager, or Knight Desecrator)

4 War Dog Stalkers (can alternatively be built as War Dog Brigands or War Dog Karnivores)

How'd we do?

Well to be honest with most of the other Knights being War Dogs we knew that we got those words right.  lol  However they went for Stalkers instead.

What do we think?

Pretty fair and looks reasonable to us as a release, from all the ones coming out, this is the one that we think will be popular, especially if the Plastic Chaos Warhound is announced.

Faction: Space Marines

Why?

40K's poster boi's and of course the ones that make them the most revenue, there seems to be a new box for them each year.  However with 11th having just been released and with this being the edition of mobility, I'm going to guess its going to be pretty damn heavy with troops like the Outriders, possibly with a Land Speeder, a Chaplain on Bike etc.  Would definitely make a good addition to anyone's forces who utilises them and for specialist armies like Raven Guard and the White Scars for whom the bikes are iconic additions, would be more than useful especially at the box price savings.  

Whats in the Actual Boxes?

Space Marines: Indomitus Task Force

Captain In Terminator Armour

Chaplain

Redemptor Dreadnought

5 Terminators 

5 Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs

10 Intercessors

The Indomitus Task Force gives you a versatile core to base a Space Marines army around, and includes a little bit of everything Warhammer armies need – shooting, fighting, and durability.

Space Marines: Champions of Fenris:

Logan Grimnar

Arjac Rockfist

15 Wolf Guard Terminators

Unleash Fenris’ finest with a mass of powerful Wolf Guard Terminators, led by the Great Wolf himself and his personal champion. It’s a force as blunt and savage as the Space Wolves themselves, and a terrifying prospect for any enemy.

Blood Angels: Angelus Assault Force

Commander Dante 

Blood Angels Chaplain with Jump Pack

Death Company Brutalis Dreadnought

3 Sanguinary Guard

5 Death Company Marines with Jump Packs

Blood Angels Upgrade Frame

The Blood Angels love a thunderous flight into the thick of the melee, and the Angelus Assault Force gives you units you need to crash down on your foes. All of your infantry hurtle in from above, while the enemy is rightly distracted by a rampaging Brutalis Dreadnought rapidly charging towards them.

How'd we do?

Badly, we knew that we'd get one box of Space Marines but didn't expect three.  With the Orks as one of our guesses we should have thought about the Blood Angels and didn't consider them.  

What do we think?

For us the Indomitus Force feels pretty rounded and if you were to be starting a general Space Marine Army feels like a good starter to build off.

The Champions of Fenris seem OK and is a character built starter it will definitely appeal to newbies who love the Norse Aesthetic and as a mini count its pretty solid, however we are surprised that there wasn't been a unit of Blood Claws within.  

As to the Blood Angels, this box feels pretty damn flat and pretty poor as an offering, this is the box that we think may well be left after the others have sold along with the Greenskins.

Faction: Orks

Why?

Starter faction for 11th Edition, as such years where a force is in the Starter box they tend to get a Christmas box.  I suspect yet again, because its about Mobility that we will see quite a few Orky vehicles included.  Warbikes are going to be a must, probably a Wartrakk and some other bits which we suspect may also include some DeffKopta's.

Whats in the Actual Boxes?

Warboss In Mega Armour

Battlewagon (can alternatively be built as a Gunwagon)

Deff Dread 

3 Meganobz

10 Ork Boyz

Load your Meganobz and Warboss into a Gunwagon and blast them up the field in double-quick time, before unloading everything into your opponent’s face at point-blank range. Build it as a Battlewagon, and you can even fit all 10 of the Boyz in at the same time.

How'd we do?

We knew that the Orks would be here this year, but what we thought would be the aesthetic of as a fast moving force was wrong.    

What do we think?

Definitely falls flat as this is an older miniature box set feeling more designed to get rid of old stock rather than showcasing newer options.  We do feel that the Mega Nobz are going to get a refresh in the future as is the Battlewagon and Deff Dread, although we could be wrong, these are the ones that we think will be done for the second part of 11th Edition.

Factions we Guessed that were completely wrong:

Faction: Imperial Knights

Why?

If you're going to be going up against Chaos Knights, you need some serious firepower of your own.  With it being new this year we're guessing the Knight Destrier will be one of the core components.  We would also guess that the Knight Defender would also be in the box purely for its defence capabilities.  Will definitely be interesting to see what they put in a box to fight against those Chaos Worshipping Enemies of Mankind.

Faction: Adepta Sororitas

Why?

Feels like its been ages since we last had an epic box set for Christmas featuring the sisters, however with 11th being about mobility and speed, this severely limits what they can bring to the table.  Its going to be restricted mainly to things like the Seraphim and Zephyrim.  The only things until they get their releases that would be left are more vehicles like the Castigator.  

Faction: Adeptus Mechanicus

Why?

I suspect that this is going to be the edition we see the Dark Mechanicum emerge from the void, so what better to get ready to face them than a highly mobile force of the Cog Boi's,  Some obvious includes Sulphurhounds or Raiders, Skystalkers or Sterylizers and maybe some Destroyers or Breachers, backup?  Archaeopters.

Warhammer 40K

Faction: Adeptus Mechanicus

Why?

I suspect that this is going to be the edition we see the Dark Mechanicum emerge from the void, so what better to get ready to face them than a highly mobile force of the Cog Boi's,  Some obvious includes Sulphurhounds or Raiders, Skystalkers or Sterylizers and maybe some Destroyers or Breachers, backup?  Archaeopters.

Boxes We didn't Even Guess:

Faction: Chaos Marines

Whats in the Actual Box:

Warpsmith

Defiler

Venomcrawler

2 Obliterators

5 Havocs

3 Mutilators

Heavy weapons and hulking daemon engines are a particular favourite of the Iron Warriors, but you can use this Battleforce to represent any Chaos warband. After all, who in their right mind would turn down a Defiler, especially one flanked by some of the toughest and deadliest infantry this side of the Great Rift?

What do we think?

Feels like a good starter to build upon for any Chaos Force especially if you're also going to add the Chaos Knights to your army.

Faction: Necrons: Disciples of the Nekrosor

Whats in the Box: 

C'tan Shard of the Nightbringer

Nekrosor Ammentar

3 Ophydian Destroyers

Canoptek Doomstalker

10 Necron Warriors

3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms

Nekrosor Ammentar and his collection of Nightbringer C’tan Shards made an incredible mess around Ultramar and now have their sights set on the rest of the galaxy. Two powerful centrepiece miniatures surrounded by some Necrons mainstays is ideal for reclaiming your lost empire.

What do we think?

Another force that is a good starter set if you want to control these mechanical mayhem machinations with as the description says two powerful centrepieces in much the same way the Space Wolves box is.  

Final thoughts?

Having done pretty poorly on our guesses upon carefully looking at them all the ones that we would consider (depending on price as that hasn't been announced yet) were we to be buying any are:

1)  Chaos Knights

2)  Champions of Fenris

3)  Chaos Marines

Reasons:

To be honest we all ready have most of the standard options for a Space Marine force.  The only thing we're currently missing are Terminators and we do plan to order those shortly.  The Blood Angels we feel is a real let down and as such and for us the Champions of Fenris feel like a good purchase if we really wanted to get into the Space Wolves.  At the moment we have too many mini's to paint but those damn Chaos Knights and Marines definitely are tempting for a brand new Army.

The only real unknown now is the price, that will heavily effect whether we can get more than one and even with requesting others for Christmas we feel our 40K stocking is going to be a bit light this year.

All the best,

ThunderMouser