5 Reasons you should check out GW’s small-scale boxed games

We’ve all been there, the slightly dizzying moment where there’s just a bit too much to keep track of in a 40k army. Maybe it was during a game, or while looking at ranks of unpainted minis, or maybe it was when you were first looking at getting into 40k in the first place.

Games Workshop’s two premier systems – 40k and Age of Sigmar - are BIG. They feature big battles with big miniatures, have decades of lore, and a deep and ever-shifting meta. This is why they are two of the most popular games in the world, but it can also be a barrier to the hobby.

But, as said by the narrator in a thousand infomercials, there is a better way! If you’re like me, you’ll have most fun with the smaller members of the GW game family. These systems – Warcry, Underworlds, Blood Bowl, Kill Team, Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis – might not be as famous, but they have a lot to offer several different kinds of hobbyist…

Many of the small box factions are ‘one and done’. From Corpse Grinder Cults to the Naggaroth Nightmares, a single box of minis forms the core of your collection. In Underworlds, the compact little warband boxes even come with that faction’s bespoke deck of cards.

This scale of game is also, frankly, cheaper. There’s nothing quite like a Necron monolith, but when your faction’s premier vehicle is £100, it can hurt. In comparison, the small box games are much more friendly to one’s wallet, which for many people (friends, total newbies, parents) is a huge advantage. And on the subject of making money go further….

While this isn’t true for every system, most of the boxed games have a good deal of cross-systemsupport, making a single model usable in multiple games. As well as being more bang for your buck, this makes it much easier to find players and set up campaigns. As well as its dedicated Warbands, Warcry has rules for models from every single Age of Sigmar faction (I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that my Stormcast Eternal Sequitors were the models needed to play Ironsoul’s Condemnors in Underworlds). Similarly, any 40k Genestealer Cult player will have the makings of a Kill Team and a Necromunda gang.

This also works the other way too – if you decide that you really do love parasitic alien egg layers, then a Genestealer Cult Kill team or Gang provides a good first step into collecting 40k.

Many of the box games take less time to play, and the battles take place on small tables; ideal for when you want to squeeze in a game in a cramped flat, or on an office lunchbreak. Or if you’re really pushed for floorspace, you could build an almost vertical Necromunda battlefield (I’ve played a game like this, it was brilliant chaos). I’ve even played Blood Bowl in a pub – with no terrain and a fold up board, any table can be a Blood Bowl table. (The only flaw with this was that cider made it sliiiightly harder to concentrate on winning, but with a Goblin team this was never likely anyway).

With fewer minis, there’s a lot more opportunity to personalise your models. With no rank and file troopers, the models in war cry bands are detailed individuals, each sculpt packed with details and character.

Also (and for me, this is perhaps the best part) there’s less to paint. This means that you can really take your time with each model, as you don’t have to worry about adding detail to nameless faces, or repeating schemes on multiple identical squad members. This let me get the blue on my Chaos Cultists juuuuust right.

Necromunda even has rules for entirely customised Gangs and Vehicles, allowing you to craft almost anything you want and send it to battle in the hives and wastes. (Beware my rickety ork-trukk-landspeeder!)

Some of the Boxed games are fundamentally different to mainstream GW fare. Most obvious for this are Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis, which use models on a totally different scale. This presents different painting opportunities and challenges, including miniatures that simply don’t exist in any other scale, such as the Iconoclast Titan. Aeronautica Imperialis might appeal to a player who loves the 40k lore, but has never been gripped by tanks and infantry – take to the skies!

Blood Bowl is worth a shout out for being different in terms of tone, packed full of contrived puns and bafflingly nonsensical lore. This gives hobbyists comedic creativity; from player and team names to colour schemes and even sponsors (“Warpstone Toothpaste! For strong teeth and stronger play!”)

There you have it, five reasons to acquire yourself a little band of cannibalistic-mercenary-birds- /space-elf-space-ships/crow-themed-murder-cultists/drunken-viking-werewolf-sportsmen! Get painting, and I’ll see you in the skies/on the pitch/in a magic swamp/creeping through the corridors of an ancient spaceship, terrified of the horrors beyond comprehension that could lurk in every shadow…