Warhammer 40K’s new $299 box set is a sign of his dedication

Warhammer 40,000’s most exciting setting, the small-unit skirmish game Necromunda, gets a massive new box set. Independent retailers have confirmed this to Polygon Necromunda: Ashen Wastes will retail for $299 and is available to pre-order online this weekend at the official Games Workshop website, where it is expected to be listed at the same price. And yes, that’s a lot for a large box of unassembled plastic pieces, a book, and a few pieces of cardboard. It also represents a not-so-subtle change in the scale of the 40K hobby and a show of force in the face of mounting competition.

The original Necromunda system dates back to 1995 when it was featured in the pages of White Dwarf magazine. In 2017 it was relaunched with a new ruleset and elaborate plastic miniatures. For example, a single 28mm miniature could easily contain 12 or more tiny parts – including a tiny little cigar that’s a fraction the size of a grain of rice, which was really a hassle to glue in place, thanks. That opened the door to modding and customization that the hobby simply hadn’t seen before (except maybe the Space Ork armies known for literally going to war in heaps of hacked together garbage built from the ground up… well, garbage were built ).

Image: Games workshop

Now out of print, 2017 Necromunda: Underworld goes for about $175 on eBay. A later revision of the starter set, Necromunda: Hive Warsells for about the same price while Necromunda: Dark Uprising is somewhat more sought after and more expensive by collectors. All of these sets come with some plastic backdrops, rulers, markers, dice and a manual.

So why ash waste cost almost twice as much? An early preview of the components, published on Monday, shows exactly how much stuff is in this box. It contains two bands of 10 miniatures, two four-wheeled vehicles and four soldiers on mounts. That’s far more fighters than any previous box set. ash waste also includes a new and comprehensive rulebook and short story campaign, as well as dice and other odds and ends.

Image: Games Workshop via YouTube

But the real icing on the cake for Necromunda fans are the parts of the elaborate landscape that are offered in the form of “apartment blocks”. In 40K fiction, they’re basically slum-like modular enclosures that can last for millennia without maintenance – but for hobbyists, they might as well be catnip. While previous sets of Necromunda scenery were, with a few exceptions, fairly basic kits without much variation, these seem to allow for previously unheard of modifications right out of the box. There’s little reason your terrain should look like everyone else’s, and that’s very exciting.

Additionally, the modularity of this terrain clearly demonstrates a desire to expand the range of landscapes available to Necromunda fans. It should be easy to craft compatible terrain for under $300 ash waste fans available in the near future. But the design of these apartment blocks in addition seems to offer a very simple and straightforward way to connect bits you may already own (or bits you may want to model from scratch) with the bits included in the box. Close examination of a playthrough of the Warhammer Plus subscription service clearly shows that no Apple Lightning connector is needed here, just gravity.

Simply put, the design of this Necromunda box seems to borrow from what makes this particular corner of the hobby so special: unique, fan-made designs that blur the line between tabletop wargaming and works of art.

It also expands the lore for the game, adding an entirely new faction and setting, both of which were previously unexplored territory. In short, it’s a statement piece—a statement piece that costs $300.

So why make such a power move now? In the last few years of the pandemic, Games Workshop sales have exploded even as many consumers are unable to play together in public. This revenue and earnings growth also comes against the backdrop of increasing consumer acceptance of 3D printing technology. But instead of just rehashing the same old Space Marine factions with different details and color schemes, Games Workshop is working to expand its other franchises – including Necromunda. The company also puts a lot of time and effort into old favorites like Blood Bowl and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, and continue to support new lines like Warhammer: Underworlds. Next on the horizon? A reboot of the Warhammer 30,000 series, better known as the Horus Heresy.

Image: Games Workshop via YouTube

There’s a reason Necromunda: Ashen Wastes costs as much as a new video game console. That’s because Games Workshop expects consumers to spend as much time assembling, painting, and playing with it as they do with their Nintendo Switch. After Monday’s reveal, things are looking very good. Most importantly, Games Workshop feels it has a plan to expand and support these new product lines. It seems to plow his record profit to support that expansion with more research and development, more and deeper lore, and more polished new models that fans of the hobby are craving.

The increasing depth and complexity of their product offering – positioned alongside the beloved lore that underpins it all – will make it difficult even for 3D printers to compete.