If you are just starting an Age of Sigmar army, or you want to expand your existing collection you may have considered buying a chunk of miniatures at a discounted price. Games Workshop comes at the rescue with Start Collecting sets, that are a group of miniatures belonging to an army combined together at a discounted price.
This is an overview of all Age of Sigmar Start Collecting boxes
Aside from the Start Collecting sets, Games Workshop occasionally produces limited edition sets, around a theme (like the recent Broken Realms campaign), an edition (like the recent Dominion box set for AoS 3.0 launch) or for Christmas (the famous battleforces). Since those are limited editions, whose availability can be from few minutes to few weeks, they are not considered here.
However, the value of each Start Collecting can greatly vary from box to box; hence this article will try to explain which represent a good value and which are a hard pass.
Note that the new Start Collecting boxes for Age of Sigmar are called Vanguard boxes, similar to the rebranding in 40K to Combat Patrol. They represent a more expensive box but with the aim to provide more miniatures, and a solid base to reach easily your first 1000 points to have a small game of AoS.
At the end of the article, we will also have a summary page with all existing boxes.
Table Overview of Start Collecting Boxes: Explanation of table
In the table below you can see all of the different Start Collecting boxes for Age of Sigmar. It will give you the perfect overview of cost, savings, points values and a direct link to a shop where (based on your location) you can actually get the box much cheaper.
In the table you can see the following information:
- Box: name of the Start Collecting Box. The link will be to my review/overview of that specific box.
- Buy box: if you like this tool, feel free to buy one of the boxes via the link provided here. I will get a small commission (no extra cost for you) if you buy something after you click a link.
- Review: provides a link to our review of the Start Collecting Box
- Faction: the army/faction the box belongs to.
- Alliance: Which of the four Grand Alliances the faction belongs to.
- Price: the price in £ if you buy the box at the normal retail price (GW price).
- Price Ind.: The price in £ if you were to buy the individual units from the box separately (at GW price). Note that sometimes this is an approximation (when the box includes incomplete units or models that you can only get via the Start Collecting box).
- Discount: The discount in price if you compare the price of the Start Collecting Box with buying each unit individually (with GW prices).
- Models: the number of models in the box
- Inc.: the number of models that do not make a complete unit (with the latest pitched battle profiles as reference).
- Alter.: quite a lot of units in the boxes can be equipped in different ways. This can either change the point value slightly for the unit or even make a completely different type of unit. This is the number of alternative builds in the box.
- Points: the points values if you build the units in the box like pictured on the front of the box.
- PpP: this is price pr. point (in this case the Pound pr. Point). So the amount of money you need to spend to get 1 point via the start collecting box. It is a quick way to see how much value each box is.
| Name | Box | Faction | Alliance | Price | Price Ind. | Discount | Models | Units | Inc | Alter | Points | PpP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beasts of Chaos |   | Beasts of Chaos | Chaos | £85 | £116 | 26% | 34 | 5 | 1 | 730 | 0.12 | ||
| Thunderstrike Brotherhood |   | Buy Box | Stormcast Eternals | Order | £57.5 | £135 | 63% | 18 | 6 | 1 | 900 | 0.06 | |
| Fyreslayer |   | Fyreslayer | Order | £85 | £123 | 35% | 26 | 4 | 1 | 630 | 0.13 | ||
| Sylvaneth |   | Sylvaneth | Order | £85 | £124.5 | 35% | 10 | 4 | 5 | 730 | 0.11 | ||
| Anvilgard |   | Buy Box | Cities of Sigmar | Order | £70 | £100 | 40% | 13 | 4 | 2 | 400 | 0.15 | |
| Disciples of Tzeentch |   | Disciples of Tzeentch | Chaos | £85 | £128.5 | 38% | 27 | 5 | 740 | 0.11 | |||
| Flesh-Eater Courts |   | Buy Box | Flesh-Eater Courts | Death | £65 | £80 | 31% | 14 | 3 | 7 | 470 | 0.14 | |
| Goreblade Warband |   | Buy Box | Blades of Khorne | Chaos | £57.5 | £98.5 | 49% | 19 | 6 | 745 | 0.07 | ||
| Greywater Fastness |   | Buy Box | Cities of Sigmar | Order | £70 | £90 | 33% | 4 | 2 | 375 | 0.16 | ||
| Idoneth Deepkin |   | Buy Box | Idoneth Deepkin | Order | £85 | £113 | 29% | 15 | 4 | 1 | 630 | 0.13 | |
| Ironjawz |   | Buy Box | Ironjawz | Destruction | £70 | £98.5 | 39% | 14 | 3 | 450 | 0.16 | ||
| Kharadron Overlords |   | Kharadron Overlords | Order | £85 | £133 | 36% | 15 | 4 | 1 | 580 | 0.15 | ||
| Maggotkin of Nurgle |   | Buy Box | Maggotkin of Nurgle | Chaos | £85 | £117.5 | 33% | 18 | 4 | 1 | 740 | 0.11 | |
| Skaven |   | Skaventide | Chaos | £85 | £108.5 | 26% | 25 | 4 | 1 | 690 | 0.12 | ||
| Slaves to Darkness |   | Slaves to Darkness | Chaos | £85 | £119 | 28% | 17 | 4 | 1 | 675 | 0.13 | ||
| Gloomspite Gitz |   | Gloomspite Gitz | Destruction | £85 | £112.5 | 24% | 34 | 4 | 2 | 550 | 0.16 | ||
| Daughters of Khaine |   | Buy Box | Daughters of Khaine | Order | £85 | £118 | 32% | 21 | 4 | 2 | 550 | 0.14 | |
| Nighthaunt |   | Nighthaunt | Death | £85 | £121 | 29% | 34 | 5 | 640 | 0.13 | |||
| Ogor Mawtribes |   | Ogor Mawtribes | Destruction | £85 | £146 | 41% | 18 | 5 | 1 | 870 | 0.09 | ||
| Lumineth Realm-lords |   | Lumineth Realm-lords | Order | £85 | £131.5 | 35% | 26 | 4 | 540 | 0.15 | |||
| Khorne |   | Blades of Khorne | Chaos | £85 | £128.5 | 34% | 24 | 4 | 500 | 0.17 | |||
| Slaanesh |   | Hedonites of Slaanesh | Chaos | £85 | £126.5 | 33% | 20 | 4 | 1 | 590 | 0.14 | ||
| Soulblight Gravelords |   | Soulblight Gravelords | Death | £85 | £134 | 36% | 29 | 5 | 1 | 685 | 0.12 | ||
| Ossiarch Bonereapers |   | Ossiarch Bonereapers | Death | £85 | £129 | 34% | 26 | 5 | 800 | 0.11 |
Chaos Age of Sigmar Start Collecting Boxes
Vanguard: Beasts of Chaos
This is a good starting place for a Beasts of Chaos army. It contains a hero you will need (the Great Bray-shaman), 2 battleline options and 2 conditional battleline. The only regret is that the hero is not the brand-new Beastlord, but otherwise it’s a great set.
The Ungors can be assembled as the melee Ungors (although they can be given a ranged profile) or the shooting Ungor Raiders. The Gors and the Bestigors represent the infantry and the elite infantry respectively, with the Bestigors even scarier with the new battletome.
The Dragon Ogors are a good unit even without the support of a Dragon Ogor Shaggoth that makes them battleline and they have some really powerful attacks.
Compared with the old Start Collecting, the absence of a monster is greatly replaced by the Dragon Ogors and the Gors, but being a horde army, you will need plenty of these units. But not so many Great Bray-Shamans, so it’s up to you if the discount allows for duplicate heroes or not.
- Faction: Beasts of Chaos
- Miniatures: 1 Great Bray-Shaman, 3 Dragon Ogors, 10 Bestigors, 10 Gors, 10 Ungor/Ungor Raiders
- Points: 500+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £31
Review of Beast of Chaos Start Collecting
Start Collecting! Khorne Bloodbound Goreblade Warband
This box is half of the original Starter Set for Age of Sigmar that pitted Khorne against the Stormcast Eternals. As all starter sets it’s good value for money, but it contains mono-pose units with no interchangeable weapons. Blood Warriors and Bloodreavers in particular have much better options in their stand-alone boxes that in this box set (or in the new Vanguard box).
At the same time, this is the only box where you can find all hero options contained in it (and the Khorgorath). Some of these heroes like Bloodsecrator and Bloodstoker are good options for any Khorne list, especially those focussed on the mortal side.
The Mighty Lord of Khorne can also be played as Korghos Khul, one of the original antagonist in the first version of Age of Sigmar.
If you are starting a Khorne mortal army this is a good starting point as there are 3 heroes, 1 elite unit and 2 more battleline units, but remember you will need to integrate with more boxes to obtain the missing options.
- Faction: Blades of Khorne
- Miniatures: 1 Mighty Lord of Khorne, 1 Bloodsecrator, 1 Bloodstoker, 1 Khorgorath, 5 Blood Warriors, 10 Bloodreavers.
- Points: 700+
- Price: £57.5
- How much do you save?: tricky as most units in this box are available only in this box. Blood Warriors and Bloodreavers are monopose and without the weapon options or command group available in their separate boxes.
Review of Start Collecting Khorne Bloodbound
Vanguard: Blades of Khorne
Khorne’s Vanguard box in a certain way is an evolved version of the Start Collecting, with multi-part kits for both Blood Warriors and Bloodreavers. However, the Start Collecting is still the only place where to find some of those miniatures (see above).
On top of the considerations above, this Vanguard box contains an always useful Slaughterpriest and half of the Mighty Skullcrusher box (but enough to do a single unit of 3 models). Overall a good starting point that can be complemented with the Start Collecting to add some more heroes to the collection.
- Faction: Blades of Khorne
- Miniatures: 1 Slaughterpriest, 10 Bloodreavers, 10 Blood Warriors and 3 Mighty Skullcrushers.
- Points: 600+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £43.5
Bonus – Combat Patrol: Chaos Daemons
While advertised as a Warhammer 40,000 combat patrol box, this box is absolutely fine for Age of Sigmar as it contains all valid profiles of Khorne daemons, in particular since the Start Collecting: Daemons of Khorne has been retired.
If you need to expand the daemonic aspect of Khorne armies, here you can found a Bloodmaster, 3 Bloodcrushers, 10 Flesh Hounds (2 units) and 20 Bloodletters (2 units).
Vanguard: Hedonites of Slaanesh
Slaanesh’ Vanguard box replaces the previous Start Collecting box removing all daemons from the set in place of the brand new mortal kits recently released.
The box contains a hero: the Shardspeaker of Skaanesh. The Slaangor Fiendbloods represent the more bulky and elite units, still not resistant, but can punch hard. This unit can also be used in a Beasts of Chaos army.
The Blissbarb Archers and their Homonculus represent Slaanesh on-foot archery range, while the Slickblade Seekers represent the light mortal cavalry that can alternatively be assembled as an ranged cavalry (Blissbarb Seekers).
- Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh
- Miniatures: 1 Shardspeaker of Slaanesh, 3 Slaangor Fiendbloods, 10 Blissbarb Archers and 5 Slickblade Seekers/Blissbarb Seekers.
- Points: 600+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £41.5
Vanguard: Disciples of Tzeentch
This Vanguard box, that replaces the previous Start Collecting exclusive to Daemons, nicely merge the mortal and daemonic side of the Disciples of Tzeentch.
The leader is a Magister on Disc of Tzeentch, a valuable leader for mortals, with the new rules almost a must-take.
Start Collecting! Stormcast Eternals Thunderstrike Brotherhood
The Thunderstrike Brotherhood is the Stormcast Eternals half of the original starter set for Age of Sigmar that depicted the golden boys against the forces of Khorne.
The Lord-Celestant on Dracoth was originally Vandus Hammerhand, one of the protagonists of the Realm Wars and you can use either warscroll for the same miniature.
All units in this box are mono-pose and with no available weapon swaps, but the main problem in this box comes from the 3 Retributors since a valid unit would be formed by 5 models. Sure, you could buy 2 of these boxes but there’s really no incentive despite the low cost and the high number of points you could field from a single box.
Stormcast Eternals suffer from a huge number of warscrolls, heroes in particular, and a constant update of the range. This set comes from the first wave, Age of Sigmar 3.0 released the fifth wave of Stormcast making most of the units here outdated for style and some for rules.
The impossibility to change loadout for all 3 units in the box means that their use strongly depends from the current set of rules. In Age of Sigmar 3.0 Prosecutors with Paired Celestial Warhammers are an interesting option, Liberators with weapon and shield (after a much-simplified warscroll) still a valid battleline and the Lord-Relictor an evergreen hero.
- Faction: Stormcast Eternals
- Miniatures: 1 Lord-Celestant on Dracoth, 1 Lord-Relictor, 3 Retributors, 3 Prosecutors with Celestial Hammers, 10 Liberators.
- Points: 900+
- Price: £57.5
- How much do you save?: tricky, the Lord-Relictor is available only in this set, the Lord-Celestant in this set is unique to this box but another is available from half of the Dracothian Guard set, the Retributors are not a complete unit and the rest are mono-pose with no weapon options.
Review of Start Collecting Thunderstrike Brotherhood
Vanguard: Lumineth Realm-lords
For the Lumineth Realm-lords this is the official first starter set and uses the new Vanguard box.
It contains an interesting hero caster like the Scinari Cathallar, able to greatly hamper units with low bravery.
The rest of the box represents the martial side of the Lumineth (called Vanari) with their best units in full display. The Sentinels are not as strong in the latest battletome (2022) but still a really good shooting unit that will see presence in competitive matches.
The Wardens represent your chaff (screening units to interpose between your most precious units and the enemy) and they are great in this role. Wardens are battleline in Lumineth armies, and for every unit of them, you can take a unit of Sentinels as battleline.
The Bladelords are the elite infantry and they have greatly improved in the latest battletome, allowing them more gameplay. For every Scinari in your army, you can take a Bladelord unit as battleline.
Overall, this is an excellent box to start a generic Lumineth army, they even complement each other as the box contains 1 Leader and 3 battleline options if all taken together. As there are different temples and themes in the army, you may want to specialise in the future or just mix and match. Whichever direction you go, the martial side of the army is always useful and having a wizard can be convenient.
- Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords
- Miniatures: 1 Scinari Cathallar, 5 Vanari Bladelords, 10 Vanarai Auralan Wardens, 10 Vanari Auralan Sentinels.
- Points: 500+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £46.5
Vanguard: Sylvaneth
The Vanaguard: Sylvaneth box replaces the pre-existing Start Collecting box. It solves the problem of the Dryads sprue coming in a odd number (not enough for 2 full units) and provides new options and so much variety this box could be a multi-buy, even considering the foot hero.
The Branchwych has its ups and downs, being a single caster foot hero, however having one is always useful. The Treelord has 3 assembly options, 2 of which are leaders Treelord Ancient and Spirit of Durthu, and all three are Behemoths and Monsters. Our preference goes on the Treelord Ancient, but having 2 boxes you could have space for a second option, like a simple Treelord.
The Kurnoth Hunters are an extremely versatile kit with 3 warscrolls profiles: those armed with Greatbows are the best archers available in the army, the Greatswords are balanced hitters and the Scythes are there for their high rend and range. Whichever way you go, you will need more.
Finally the Tree-Revenants can be assembled also as Spite-Revenants. The first are battlelines, the others can be, so either way they are useful tools.
- Faction: Sylvaneth
- Miniatures: 1 Branchwych, 1 Treelord/Treelord Ancient/Spirit of Durthu, 3 Kurnoth Hunters with Greatbows/Greatswords/Scythes, 5 Tree-Revanants/Spite-Revenants.
- Points: 700+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £39.5
Death Age of Sigmar Start Collecting Boxes
Start Collecting! Flesh-Eater Courts
This box could also be called “an army in a box”. Basically, everything except 2 warscrolls (3 including the Warhammer Underworlds warband) can be extracted from this box.
The question is not if you need this box, but how many do you need as this is a mandatory purchase for any Flesh-Eater Courts player.
The big centrepiece can be assembled with or without the Abhorrant Ghoul King (in that case can be assembled on foot) and as a Royal Terrorgheist or the more popular Royal Zombie Dragon. It is also used in a Soulblight Gravelords army as a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon.
The 3 Knights can be assembled either as Crypt Horrors or as Crypt Flayers. The leader of the unit can also be assembled as a Courtier (Crypt Haunter or Crypt Infernal), leaving 2 Knights to be integrated with another set to become a viable unit. If you are curious with 3 sets you can have 2 complete units and 3 leaders.
Even the Crypt Ghouls have an extra assembly option: a unit leader can become a Crypt Ghast Courtier (on a 32mm base).
However you want to assemble the different sets, you will have enough material here by purchasing multiple boxes.
- Faction: Flesh-Eater Courts
- Miniatures: 1 Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist/Zombie Dragon, 3 Crypt Horrors/Crypt Flayers, 10 Ghouls.
- Points: 500+
- Price: £65
- How much do you save?: £20.5
Start Collecting Flesh-Eater Courts Review
Vanguard: Nighthaunt
Nighthaunt first discounted box since the release of Soul Wars starter set in Age of Sigmar 2.0, follows the Vanguard format.
The hero is an interesting melee option like the Knight of Shrouds accompanied by a unit of Spirit Hosts that can work as bodyguards increasing the survivability of any hero in the army.
The Chainrasp Horde are the main battleline of this army, and they thrive in hordes. While technically the minim amount required for a unit is 10, a unit of 20 (reinforced once) works really well. You can even different battlelines, but Chainrasps are always useful and cheap.
The last unit was the anvil of this army for a long time: the Grimghast Reapers, and even after the latest battletome they keep the same role. At least they are a valid alternative.
The savings on this box are good, even considering you may not be interested in a second or more Knight of Shrouds, being a useful hero you may be able to swap or sell in the second hand market and keep the advantage of the discounted units in this box that are all extremely useful.
The purchase of a single box is also highly recommended to start this army.
- Faction: Nighthaunt
- Miniatures: 1 Knight of Shrouds, 3 Spirit Hosts, 20 Chainrasp Horde, 10 Grimghast Reapers
- Points: 600+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £26
Vanguard: Ossiarch Bonereapers
Ossiarch Bonereapers first discounted box is a great starting point with both battlelines and essential units: the Mortek Guard and the Kavalos Deathriders. Mortek Guard have a minimum size units of 10, so this box contains either 2 units or a reinforced unit, great to make that impenetrable wall of bone constructs around your objectives.
The big guy is the Gothizzar Harvester, a giant construct able to resurrect or heal nearby units when other Ossiarch units are depleted around it. Basically you have a 50% chance to resurrect any slain Mortek Guard making the two a viable couple for holding objectives.
Finally the hero is a Mortisan Soulreaper, a melee based wizard with some damaging attacks whose usefulness you’ll need to consider carefully as part of the box discount is absorbed by this hero.
In general, this is a great first box and if you can find a use for the hero, it may be worth even a second box.
- Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
- Miniatures: 1 Mortisan Soulreaper, 1 Gothizzar Harvester, 5 Kavalos Deathriders, 20 Mortek Guard
- Points: 800+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £44
Vanguard: Soulblight Gravelords
Soulblight Gravelords vanguard box replaces the previous skeleton-oriented Start Collecting and is the last one of a long list of value added boxes available for this army. In particular here we have 3 brand-new re-sculpts that replaced older kits.
This set contains a Vampire Lord, a staple of Soulblight armies, able to buff basic units like the Skeletons included in this box.
The Skeletons are the only pure battleline in this box, and their minimum size unit is 10, meaning that you can either assemble 2 units of 10, or a reinforced unit. The new skeleton models with a single weapon profile makes so much easier choosing how to assemble them.
The other two options in this set are both conditional battlelines and let’s start from the Blood Knights, another recent and long-awaited re-sculpt. They are a splendid model and in combat they can be extremely damaging especially after a charge. As all vampires, including the Vargheists, can heal back after attacking.
The Vargheists are the vampires that lost control over their hunger and are now savage beasts. They are not as damaging as Blood Knights but they can fly and can be set-up from reserve. Their kit is also used in Flesh-Eater Courts to assemble various heroes and units.
Overall this is a great first box to start the collection, but does not have much re-buy value.
- Faction: Soulblight Gravelords
- Miniatures: 1 Vampire Lord, 3 Vargheists, 5 Blood Knights, 20 Deathrattle Skeletons
- Points: 600+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £49
Destruction Age of Sigmar Start Collecting Boxes
Vanguard: Gloomspite Gitz
Gloomspite Gitz are a mob of different races, extremely unpredictable but fun to play. The grots (or keyword Moonclan) comprise the biggest chunk of the army of which the Loonboss represent one of the melee leaders and the Grots the main Gloomspite battleline. The Moonclan Stabbas represent the melee side, but they can also be assembled as Shootas for some ranged support.
The squigs are another component of which the Squig Hoppers constitutes the main battleline. Alternatively, the valiant knights, can also be assembled as the more robust Boingrot Bounders, also a battleline (conditional).
The Troggoths, in the meanwhile, are the bulking monsters and the Rockgut are one of their battleline options.
So, this box contains a representation of 3 of the 4 parts of the Gloomspite (Spiderfang being the fourth, and Gitmob recently resurrected with the Snarlfang representing a fifth) and it needs to be evaluated in this context. As a mixed army this can be an interesting start but not that synergistic. You would need to integrate with other units to get the most out of the units inside.
If you are interested instead only on one of the four components of the army, this box fails to attract any attention. Overall, this can be a fun project but not a great place to start a Gitz army unless it’s a mixed one taking advantage of the new battletome.
- Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
- Miniatures: 1 Loonboss, a unit of 10 Squig Hoppers that can alternatively be assembled as 2 units of 5 Boingrot Bounders, a unit of 20 Moonclan Stabbas (or alternatively Shootas), 3 Rockgut Troggoths.
- Points: 500+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £27.5
Vanguard: Ogor Mawtribes
The Vanguard box for Ogor Mawtribes replaces the previous Start Collecting for Beastclaw Raiders, fully integrating the two sides of the army. If you are now interested only on the Everwinter side of the army, this box does not represent anymore a good deal as the main hero is gone.
However it contains a plethora of minimum size units, including a unit of 4 Leadbelchers and a unit of 6 Gluttons, both accompanied by their Gnoblars.
The Mournfang Riders are in a unit of 2 and they are a good threat to your opponent, while the last unit is an artillery piece with 2 assembly options: the Ironblaster, which can also be built as a Gnoblar Scraplauncher.
It completes the list the hero, the Tyrant, still a valid option for your army.
- Faction: Ogor Mawtribes
- Miniatures: 1 Tyrant, 1 Ironblaster/Gnoblar Scraplauncher, 4 Leadbelchers, 6 Gluttons, 4 Gnoblars, 2 Mournfang Riders
- Points: 800+
- Price: £85
- How much do you save?: £39.75
Start Collecting! Ironjawz
The Ironjawz are arguably the strongest component of the Orruk Warclans, now enriched with the Kruleboyz. As all 3 factions within the army (plus the mixed faction) are valid allegiances, you can decide to focus only on Ironjawz.
As such this box is an excellent starting point with a good choice for hero (better would be only a Megaboss on Maw-Crusha), an excellent cavalry unit (perfect role in this army) and the required battleline in 2 units.
Even if you want to create a Big Waaagh! or expanding from the the Age of Sigmar 3.0 starter set, you can’t get better options than this.
- Faction: Orruk Warclans
- Miniatures: 1 Warchanter, 3 Orruk Gore-gruntas, 10 Orruk Ardboys.
- Points: 450+
- Price: £70
- How much do you save?: £28.5 but you are 5 Ardboys short as the individual box contains 15 of them.
Review of Start Collecting Ironjawz