One thing we end up saying a lot when Warhammer 40k fans talk amongst ourselves is, “This isn’t a cheap hobby”, which is true, but that doesn’t mean that costs need to be prohibitive when you’re starting out. In this article we’ll reveal some of our favourite tips, tricks, and strategies for making the most out of your hobby budget. This is an area where we’ve seen some real effort from Games Workshop over the last few years, particularly in expanding the options for new starters, but even beyond that, there’s a lot you can do to save money on Warhammer 40,000 miniatures.

Splitting a Starter Set

Ah, the old classic. Find a friend, and split the contents of a starter set with them. Games companies always price these keenly to entice new players and Games Workshop is no different here. In addition, a well designed starter set (and the current offerings from GW certainly qualify) will include small but playable forces of a couple of different unit types to make the game fun to play. In addition, a starter set will include rules, dice, and maybe even a little scenery to play with.

There are currently three Warhammer 40k starter sets available, and all are based on Space Marines versus Necrons. The “Recruit” and “Elite” editions offer two options at different price points, with paper playmats, a simple scenery item, and a cut-down rules pamphlet.

The third option, the “Command” edition, has the same minis as the Elite edition, but a more complete rulebook, a proper playing board and plastic scenery. All of the sets are a good deal for what you get, but this stands above the others as a great deal.

The main downside to this approach is the limited choice of factions – it’s Marines versus Necrons and so, if neither of these factions do it for you, then you’re going to want to look at another option.

Choosing a 40k Faction

If you’re choosing an army outside the starter offerings then cost may be a factor in your choice. Horde armies like Orks, Tyranids, Genestealer Cults, and Astra Militarum tend to cost more money to build because each individual model is weaker in game terms, so you need a lot more of them. Elite armies like Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Custodes, and so on can be cheaper because you need fewer models.

An Imperial Knight looks expensive as a single purchase, but with three of them, you’ve got an army. (Not a hugely competitive one, but certainly playable). Even so, the best warhammer 40,000 army is always the one that you’re most excited about collecting and using. In some ways, this means you should choose the 40k faction that’s best for you, then decide on your plans from there.

Ready-Made Bundles

Games Workshop are in the process of rebranding and re-packing these. For most of the last few years, they’ve been known as “start collecting” boxes. Usually, these include a troops choice, a vehicle (or other large model), and an HQ character, giving the basis of a small force and easy options for expansion. The prices vary a little but have hovered around the £60 RRP mark and at that point offered 30-40% discount over buying the contents separately.

These seem to be being superseded by slightly larger “Combat Patrol” bundles. These are larger and currently have an £85 RRP. They’re larger because they’re offering forces specifically sized for playing games at the combat patrol size defined in the 40k rules.

These bundles are always great value and there’s usually one available for every faction in the game. Also, unlike starter sets, you’ll be getting the multi-option versions of the included units, instead of the single-pose quick-build versions in the starter sets. The downside is that you’ll very rarely find the newest models in them. Brand new (or largely re-tooled) armies won’t get a box like this for about a year after release.

Battleforces are related to these. Usually, in the run-up to Christmas, GW will announce some larger bundles for armies – around double the size of the start collecting boxes. These are really good deals, but they’re limited-run and one they’re gone, they’re gone.

Limited Battle / Launch Boxes

When GW have some nice new exclusive long-awaited miniatures coming out, they’re in the habit of launching them in a semi-limited battle box, like the recent Ork V Space Wolves box that was used to launch the new Ghazghkull and Ragnar minis. This box will be the only way to get these new miniatures for a few months.

These boxes are pitched usually as alternative starter sets and while not as good a discount as the main starters, are still priced below RRP for all the units in the box- plus some of them will be new and exclusive. This means that there’s nearly always a market for doing splits. Occasionally these may be pitched as standalone games, like the Ork “Speed Freeks” release of 2018 or the earlier “stormcloud attack” flyer bundles.

The downside of course is that it’s not reliable. 40k might get one or two of these boxes a year and there’s no predicting what each one will be unless you work at GW HQ, (and even most of them won’t know). They often (but not always) sell out on pre-order, which is another count against their reliability. But time it right and you can get lucky.

This also applies to the “new Army” bundles such as when Sisters of Battle were revamped in late 2019 (these are usually only mildly discounted over individual purchases, but come with exclusive pack-ins), or the “Indomitus” box that launched 9th edition. In cases where demand is overwhelming, GW have started doing a second “to-order” run of these so keep an eye out around these boxes. Make sure you’re signed up to our newsletter and following our social channels for the latest news on these when they drop.

Kill Team – Start Small

One of the most important things to remember about 40k 9th edition is that it’s very scalable in size, from a massive clash of hundreds of troops, down to a couple of squads. However it’s possible to go down even further in scale and start with Kill Team. Using around 5-10 models depending on your chosen faction, Kill Team puts you in charge of a band of grizzled specialists on a desperate mission.

Those models can then be used as part of larger 40k armies, and the focus on individual models makes this a game that really appeals to narrative gamers. Because Kill Team can be played using just a single squad box, you can play fun games on a very small scale, for very low outlay.  Kill Teams are a really popular way that hobbyists explore factions that aren’t their main armies and get a feel for what they like without having to commit to a full-sized force.

Buying Used

Buying used via eBay or local ads is one way of maybe getting some cheap Warhammer miniatures, but what you may save in cash, you can lose in some other way, so you need to take care. The secondary market can be broken down into 3 or 4 main types of offering:

New on Sprue – some sellers will buy bundle boxes and then resell the contents individually. These will usually be selling for RRP or near enough to it. Where this can be very useful is where you’re wanting a specific miniature that’s only available in a big box (such as Amallyn Shadowguide from Blackstone Fortress). An alternative scenario is a hobbyist clearing out their pile of shame and using those funds for something else, but in all cases you’re unlikely to save much over RRP unless it’s a kit that’s been replaced by a newer,better one with more options.

Assembled – The miniatures have been built, but not painted. On the up side, if you don’t like assembling minis, then someone else has done it for you! On the down side, you’re losing out on the chance to choose the models’ build options, and they may not have been assembled well. You can get lucky with these (especially if you’re buying a starter set or easy-to-build minis where there are no build options and it’s very hard to build them “wrong”. Just bear in mind you’re buying someone else’s work in progress (or part of it). So just be careful and look closely at any pictures. Plastic glue works by melting and welding the plastic so disassembly is almost impossible to do without damage.

Painted (Non-Pro Level) – There’s a huge range here and you can get models cheaply when they’ve been badly painted. You’ll probably want to strip and repaint them yourself, and isopropyl alcohol is recommended for doing this. In general, the worse the paint job is, the cheaper you’ll find the minis, but the harder it’ll be to remove it cleanly. There still can be bargains to be had- especially just after major FAQs or codex releases as competitive players offload what they feel are no longer top-level tournament units. But for casual play? This is unlikely to bother you.

Painted (Pro-Level) – Within the scope of an article about doing things on a budget, it’s really not worth looking at. Well-painted models will cost multiples of RRP, because of the time that’s been put into them. Even if you value a painter’s time at minimum wage (and you shouldn’t), the time taken to paint a model well carries a value far in excess of the physical object.

Other Systems

A final note is that the headline “Warhammer 40,000” wargame isn’t the only way to explore this amazing universe on the tabletop. Games Workshop have spent the last few years adding new games systems alongside 40k, and many of them have low costs of entry.

Necromunda takes the idea of Kill Team’s small scale skirmishes and puts you into gang wars in the depths of an impossibly large city. There’s a starter box and individual gang boxes and you can be up and running for well under £60. We’ve got a guide to Starting with Necromunda here.

Aeronautica Imperialis puts you in charge of aerial combat above the battlefields of the 41st millennium. It’s a fun, fast game with reasonable value starter boxes for £55 or a single-faction playable force won’t set you back much more than £50 for two boxes of planes, which at a quarter size scale compared to 40k, are basically adorable. If this sounds like it’s for you, put on your flight jacket and report to our Aeronautica Flight School.

Adeptus Titanicus is another small scaled game, but this time, It’s giant war robots. It started out with a bad reputation for cost but it has a very low model count. (and is incredibly fun) The new starter set is almost criminally cheap for what it offers. To find out more about this amazing game, take a look at our Titanicus Tutorial articles.

Board games like Blackstone Fortress and the periodic releases of Space Hulk give you lots of miniatures you can also use in 40k. Costs vary and some are better value for this approach than others but you do also get a game to play.

To browse our amazing Warhammer 40,000 range click here.

To find out more about the Warhammer 40k hobby, check out some of our other articles coming soon, covering basic painting techniques and tools, choosing a 40k army, Learning to play 40k, and more.