This is how it all began. In June 2009 or thereabouts, whilst wandering the aisles in Hobbycraft - one of the most enjoyable shops to wander in, I'd say - I came across a display of Games Workshop stuff. This was news to me - my wife and I had been Hobbycraft regulars for some time, but had never seen any GW stuff.
Suffice it to say that my interest had been piqued. Fond, hazy memories of teenage days of spending pocket money on models, painting them, and having battles with friends began to come sneaking back into my head. I was beginning to get a hankering to get back into it...
On our next Hobbycraft trip, I had a closer look and was tempted by a couple of sets - mainly The Battle for Skull Pass, which is a starter Warhammer set including over 100 models, the Warhammer rulebook, and various other bits and bobs. I did some research at home and found out it usually cost £50, yet Hobbycraft were selling it for only £40. The temptation began to build...
The trip after that I cracked, and Skull Pass was in the basket along with a few paints and a couple of paintbrushes. Frankly, I was like a kid in a sweetie shop! That afternoon I got home and began to take things out of the box.
Firstly, I couldn't help but notice what an excellent set this is. It'd have been a steal even at £50, but £40 was simply phenomenal - the image above should give some indication of the number of models and other bits and pieces which come in the box. It includes everything you need to play a small game of Warhammer, with a small Dwarf army and a slightly larger Goblin one. The models are all finely detailed, yet easy to put together without any glue so it's ideal for anyone new to the hobby - or anyone, like me, coming back to it for the first time in years.
So after snipping the models out of their sprues and clipping them together, I was able to look over my Goblin horde and Dwarf army and begin to think about getting a battle together and beginning to paint things up and see if I could get any of my artistic skills back! I was never a great painter, but perhaps losing some of the impatience of youth would allow me to do a bit of a better job than before.
Anyway, more to follow on both gaming and painting. Suffice it to say that Skull Pass is a great starter kit, and has certainly got me hooked again!
You've got to really love these starter kits, and the amount of kit you get in them. From a gaming point of view, I'm inclined to think the Skull Pass set has an advantage with the lack of construction needed with the models, since most of them are just single-piece.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, it means you can be up and running quicker, as with the 40K set I did find myself wanting to get bits painted before assembling them.
Couldn't agree more, and as we've discussed before it's good to see them sell them at an affordable price. It certainly makes business sense for GW as the amount of cash we've now spent on paints/other models/games etc must be mounting up!
ReplyDeleteOh God yes. I dread to think about how much I've spent based on the £40/£50 initial purchase. Certainly they've got their money's worth out of me :-D
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