With their imminent arrival to pre-order this weekend it’s time to rank the new Chaos Battleforce boxes for Warhammer 40,000!
If you’re wondering how exactly we can even begin to rank the Chaos Battleforce Boxes, honestly, so am I!I think the most common way to rank things like this is just based on vibes. However, that’s not really how I want to go about this. I’m thinking of a way to rank these boxes objectively. I think it’s fair to rate them on a few factors like pricing (what has the most savings) and point provided in the box. And I’ll even toss in my person ranking based on what I think about the units included in the box — for the folks that care about the “vibes.” I’m going to do them in order they were originally presented. So let’s start with the Lords of Excess.
Lords of Excess Battleforce
Pricing Rank: #3
Points Provided Rank: #2
Units Included Rank: #1
Price-wise this boxed set will have the 3rd most savings and points-wise it comes in 2nd. There’s really not much to argue about there as I’ve done the math for both in the pricing breakdown article. That said, why did I give it the #1 rank for units included? Well, to be frank, all of the units in this box are new Emperor’s Children miniatures with the exception of the Daemon Prince. And, let’s be real, the Daemon Prince is one of those miniatures that you’ll find a use for if you’re playing ANY flavor of Chaos. This is packed full of Cult Chaos Marines. If you’re looking to start an Emperor’s Children army this one is all killer and no filler. I don’t think you can beat that value relative to the other boxes.
Khorne Daemonkin Battleforce
Pricing Rank: #2
Points Provided Rank: #4
Units Included Rank: #4
Again, I’ve done the math for this box in the Pricing Breakdown already. Feel free to check my work. But why did I rank this one so low on the Units Included metric? I’ve mentioned this a few times in the other posts about this box: It’s because of all the Khorne Daemons. But I feel like I need to qualify that one more time. This box is specifically designed to be used as part of the Khorne Daemonkin Detachment in the World Eaters army. It’s the one where you’re supposed to have a mix of World Eaters and Khorne Daemons. But I’m not fond of this particular mix of Daemons and Cult Marines. I’d rather have more World Eaters in the mix and way less Daemons. Plus, Chaos Daemons in 40k are in a very funky spot right now. Frankly, more daemons in my collection for 40k is just not what I’d be looking at adding right now.
But if you wanted to buy this one and split it up in to a 40k and AoS army…that’s another topic. I’m trying to keep this focus on 40k only though and I’m just not a fan of the Khorne Daemonkin Detachment. I’m not saying this force is terrible on the tabletop. However, I’m just saying relative to the other boxes and their included units, this one is my least favorite. And I actually like the World Eaters.
Sekhmet Coven Battleforce
Pricing Rank: #4
Points Provided Rank: #1
Units Inlcuded Rank: #2
This box is jammed with some very expensive units in points. But, based on the fact that all of these boxes are the same price point, it’s actually got the smallest discount comparatively. Somehow it’s the best deal in points and the worst deal for your wallet. So I think that’s why the units included rank is at 2nd. This is another case of a hard lean into the Thousand Sons units and I like it. I’m still not 100% behind the Mutalith Vortex Beast in the box but I kind of see what GW is doing. And, as I mentioned in other articles, this one very much feels like a “did you place Space Marine 2 and like all the Thousand Sons you fought? Well check out this box!” type of a set.
Vile Vectorium Battleforce
Pricing Rank: #1
Points Provided Rank: #3
Units Included Rank: #3
This boxed set has the most savings out of all the boxes. It’s by a single dollar, but that’s the difference between 1st and 2nd! Points-wise it’s also only 10 points shy of the 2nd place spot. And, to be fair, you could kit this set out to be a lot more points if you were really looking to max that aspect out. Taking those factors into account is important for context. But why did I rank it 3rd for Units Included? It’s got all Death Guard so that should give it a boost. It’s packed with a lot of redundant options, too. Isn’t spamming good units the real trick to success on the tabletop?! Eh…that’s another topic. I ranked it 3rd because I didn’t want to have a tie for second.
Really, this box is probably in contention for the top pick overall. Even though it’s got two 3rd place ranks, everything in this box can be useful for a Death Guard army. It’s you’re getting a good deal in value for the money-to-points ratio, too. I don’t really have anything negative to say about this box other than it would have been nice to swap out the Poxwalkers for Plague Marines. But I see what GW is doing here with the heavy armor of the Terminators in contrast to the light armor of the Poxwalkers. Really just toss in Typhus to this and you’ve got a really mean (almost) 1k points. And those Poxwalkers are surprisingly durable. And you’ve also got those Bloat-Drones with can be surprisingly deadly. So yeah, the rankings might look low, but this box could easily be the top pick if you wanted to modify how you built things.
Good luck getting your pre-orders in this weekend. I think these boxes are going to move fast.
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Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.
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