Warhammer 40K: Ranking The New Battleforce Boxes
We’ve got 8 new 40k Battleforce boxes on the way. Which ones would be our top priority to snag and play with? Here’s the order we’d get them.
Hopefully by now you’ve seen the new battleforce boxes and also our points breakdowns for each. But we figured we could have some fun with the boxes and figure out which ones have us the most excited. We’re going to pretend we don’t have any of these armies already and rank the boxes based on if the contents inside are enough to get us excited to start that army. Ready? Let’s go.
#8 Imperial Fists – Bastion Strike Force
Contents:
- Tor Garadon
- 3x Primaris Aggressors
- 15 Heavy Intercessors
Coming in hot at #8…okay maybe not so hot. This box is not only the least amount of points, it’s also, well, bland. I mean it’s thematic as heck — if you want to play an Imperial Fist army. But it’s just a bunch of Heavy Intercessors, a trio of Aggressors and a Character. At least it’s just going to be a little over 1/4th of your army total so you’ve got lots of room to spice it up. This one is a very meat-and-potatoes box…filling but not very appealing.
#7 Adeptus Mechanicus – Elimination Maniple
Contents:
- Belisarius Cawl
- 2x Kastelan Robots w/ Cybernetica Datasmith
- 6x Kataphron Destroyers
- 10x Skitarii Rangers
To be perfectly honest the Ad Mech army is a little daunting to play. There’s just a LOT to keep track of rules wise. This box really isn’t bad and you get a wide assortment of units. But it also feels very generically Ad Mech with a splash of this and that. And yeah, you get Cawl, but it feels almost too light on theme here. It’s just not enticing enough to get us excited to start that army. At least you’ll have room to expand points-wise because this one’s still roughly a 1/3rd of an army — it’s a strong core so it’s got that going for it.
#6 Raven Guard – Ravenstrike Battleforce
Contents:
- Chapter Master Kayvaan Shrike
- Librarian in Phobos Armour
- 10x Primaris Reivers
- 2x Invictor Tactical Warsuits
- 3x Eliminators
This box is a really strong theme and is actually a good pick-up for anyone looking to play a particular style of Space Marine army. Unfortunately, that style doesn’t really appeal to us. As a Raven Guard themed box it’s got a lot of the right components and it’s a good purchase. We just aren’t thrilled about running Reivers and Shrike. This one ain’t our style.
#5 Adepta Sororitas – Sanctorum Guard
Contents:
- Morvenn Vhal
- 6x Paragon Warsuits
- 5x Celestian Sacresants
- 10x Battle Sisters
This is another solid themed army with Morvenn Vhal and the Paragon Warsuits making up the core. If you wanted to start an Adepta Sororitas army this is a great place to go. But does it make us want to play that army? Eh…It’s a little unfair because I, personally, don’t like their Faith Point mechanics. But I got out voted which is why they come in at #5.
#4 Death Guard – Council of The Death Lord
Contents:
- Mortarion, Daemon Prince of Nurgle
- 5x Blightlord Terminators
- 14x Plague Marines
The Death Guard Box is coming in at #4 because it’s one that we’d be a just fine to start playing based on this box. It’s got a cool, centerpiece model with Mortarion. And it’s packing a lot of beef with the Plague Marines and Terminators. It’s right around 1/2 of a 2000 point army, too! So you’ve still got points to build from but all you really have to do is stick to the theme presented here. I, personally, wouldn’t be sad if I got this box as a surprise. It might not be my favorite but I wouldn’t want to return it either.
#3 Imperial Knights – Chainbreaker Lance
Contents:
- Imperial Knight Preceptor Canis Rex
- 2x Helverin Armigers
- 2x Warglaive Armigers
The Chainbreaker Lance is, well, it’s another 1/2 of an army in a box! You’ve got all the basics here. This is also one of those boxes that if you snagged 2 of you’d basically be done. I don’t know if I’d actually want to get two or if I’d rather get some more full-sized Knights to round things out instead of more Armigers. But I wouldn’t be upset if I got this as a present either!
#2 Thousand Sons – Court of The Crimson King
Contents:
- Magnus the Red
- 3x Exalted Sorcerers
- 20 Rubric Marines
Alright, now we’re talking. Magnus is an awesome model. We’ve got 3 more Sorcerers to really dominate in with the psychic powers. And we’ve got 20 Rubrics to silently march forward, take objectives and warpfire bolter things away. This has all the elements of a good core and strong theme that appeal to me and I didn’t get out voted this time. But the one box all of us here at BoLS agree on being the hands-down best of the batch?
#1 Adeptus Custodes – Watchers of The Gate
Contents:
- Captain-General Trajann Valoris
- 3x Vertus Praetors on Dawneagle Jetbikes
- 3x Allarus Custodians
- 15x Custodian Guard
This is just under 1300 points (without Wargear) of Henry Cavill’s The Emperor‘s Golden Boys. Not only is this army arguably the most competitive of the batch, it’s the most complete as well. It helps that each model is a chunk of points but it’s gets top points for theme, too. It’s the most points dense, the most competitive, and has the strongest theme (because it’s hard not to have a strong theme when you’re playing Custodes) — this Battleforce box check all the …boxes. Personally, I’d sprinkle in a few more Dawneagle Jetbikes and maybe some more Custodians just to fill the 700 point gap. It’s ready to rock.
Agree or disagree with our rankings? Let us know your favorites in the comments!
