As the end of the year draws near we get to a time that a lot of Warhammer fans have been waiting for; Battleforce time! This year we’re looking at seven boxes from across the mortal realms all coming in at £130 or $210. This article is going to give you a full AoS battleforce value breakdown to determine what boxes offer the best bang for your for buck. It’s worth us saying before we start – we’ve based this breakdown off what Games Workshop list as the contents of the boxes, but a lot of these models have several build options that could alter the units points values!
We’ve also broken down this years offerings from the 41st millennium, so check out that article as well!
Daughters of Khaine: Khainite Slaughter-Coven
| Unit | Cost (£) | Points |
| 1 Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood | £47.50/$80.00 | 315 |
| 5 Melusai Blood Sisters | £35.00/$60.00 | 140 |
| 5 Khinerai Heartrenders | £35.00/$60.00 | 95 |
| 5 Doomfire Warlocks | £26.00/$42.00 | 145 |
| 10 Witch Aelves | £36.00/$60.00 | 115 |
| TOTAL VALUE | £179.50/$302.00 | |
| Saving | £49.50/$92 | |
| Discount | 28%/30% | |
| TOTAL POINTS | 810 | |
| Cost per point | £0.16/$0.25 |
This Daughters of Khaine battleforce is literally a bit of a mixed bag. There’s a bit of everything going on, which is either a good think of bad thing depending on what you’re looking for. The value of this one is going to be in the eye of the beholder. Planning a DoK specialist army? probably not for you. Prefer a generalist force? This could well be the foundation you’re after.
A nice bonus is that if you build the box as Games Workshop advertise it (with a Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood) you’ll actually be able to build a Hag Queen on foot and a Bloodwrack Medusa. Because Games Workshop haven’t advertised it as part of the list we haven’t included it in our calculations but it’s definitely a nice addition. It’s on the lower end of the savings in the AoS battleforce breakdown, and clocks in at the lowest total points value as well. There’s quite a few extra pieces needed to get this shaped into a competitive army.
Orruk Warclans: Kruleboyz Swamp-Lurkers
| Unit | Cost (£) | Points |
| 1 Swampboss Skumdrekk | £35.00/$60.00 | 290 |
| 1 Gobsprakk, the Mouth of Mork | £90.00/$150.00 | 260 |
| 3 Man-Skewer Boltboyz | £30.00/$50.00 | 120 |
| 10 Gutrippaz | £32.50/$55.00 | 160 |
| TOTAL VALUE | £187.00/$315.00 | |
| Saving | £57.50/$105.00 | |
| Discount | 31%/33% | |
| TOTAL POINTS | 830 | |
| Cost per point | £0.15/$0.25 |
The heavy lifting of this box is done by it’s two big bosses, and the Gutrippaz and Boltboyz are some nice bonuses. It feels like Games Workshop’s marketing team might have been involved in the planning of this one, because the units here compliment the Kruleboyz half of dominion pretty ideally. If you’re looking to start a Kruleboyz army then our advice is to use the money you save on this box to buy the Dominion minis off someone who’s not interested in them.
Gloomspite Gitz: Stampeding Squigalanche
| Unit | Cost (£) | Points |
| 1 Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig | £24.00/$38.00 | 110 |
| 2 Mangler Squigs | £105.00/$170.00 | 500 |
| 10 Squig Hoppers | £32.50/$55.00 | 180 |
| 12 Squig Herd | £30.00/$50.00 | 140 |
| TOTAL VALUE | £191.50/$313.50 | |
| Saving | £61.50/$210.00 | |
| Discount | 32%/33% | |
| TOTAL POINTS | 930 | |
| Cost per point | £0.13/$0.22 |
This battleforce is far and away the best (read: my personal favourite) purely based on The Rule of Cool. Just naming it the Squigalanche puts it right up there. This box has a clear theme and it sticks to it, but considering the Grand Narrative Preview revealed their new battletome is coming in ‘winter’ it’s anyone’s guess how competitive this battleforce is going to be. However at 930 points and nearly one third savings, it’s a lot of new sculpts and generally really good fun, so I love it.
Skaven: The Verminous Host
| Unit | Cost (£) | Points |
| 1 Grey Seer on Screaming Bell | £42.50/$70.00 | 325 |
| 1 Warlock Bombardier | £17.50/$30.00 | 115 |
| 3 Stormfiends | £42.50/$70.00 | 320 |
| 40 Clanrats | £52.00/$84.00 | 200 |
| 40 Plague Monks | £52.00/$84.00 | 180 |
| TOTAL VALUE | £206.50/$338.00 | |
| Saving | £76.50/$128.00 | |
| Discount | 37%/38% | |
| TOTAL POINTS | 1140 | |
| Cost per point | £0.11/$0.18 |
Now that’s a lot of models! The Great Horned Rat has smiled on his followers this holiday season, with a box that’s not only the second best for savings, but its a really solid start to a Skaven army (or strong choice to expand an existing force). Those huge blocks of rats and monks are great battleline, the stormfiends are beasts and the warlock bombardier is there to power them up. You save a hefty £75 on this box, so get yourself a Skaven Vanguard Box and you’ll be a character or two away from a really nice looking Skaven army.
Nighthaunt: Legion Of Grief
| Unit | Cost (£) | Points |
| 1 Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief | £30.00/$50.00 | 340 |
| 1 Black Coach | £80.00/$130.00 | 335 |
| 10 Bladeghast Revenants | £30.00/$50.00 | 175 |
| 10 Dreadscythe Harridans | £30.00/$50.00 | 160 |
| 10 Grimghast Reapers | £30.00/$50.00 | 160 |
| TOTAL VALUE | £200/$330.00 | |
| Saving | £70.00/$120.00 | |
| Discount | 35%/36 | |
| TOTAL POINTS | 1170 | |
| Cost per point | £0.11/$0.17 |
I find this box a bit of a challenge to get behind. It feels like it’s targeted at new Nighthaunt players, as a lot of current players are likely to have already got hold of Lady Olynder and the black coach, and doubling up on them isn’t helpful. The revenants and harridans are both great units and the reapers are decent so troop wise its a solid selection BUT the coach and Olynder are going to put people off buying multiple boxes, which I think otherwise might have been a fairly popular choice. Definitely a bit of a mixed bag, but they are the second highest savings of all the boxes.
Sylvaneth: Revenant Wargrove
| Unit | Cost (£) | Points |
| 1 Drcyha Hamadreth | £36.00/$60.00 | 335 |
| 2 Treelords | £85.00/$140.00 | 520 |
| 10 Spite-Revenants | £60.00/$100.00 | 210 |
| 16 Sylvaneth Dryads | £30.00/$50.00 | 160 |
| TOTAL VALUE | £211.00/£350.00 | |
| Saving | £91.00/$140.00 | |
| Discount | 38%/40% | |
| TOTAL POINTS | 1225 | |
| Cost per point | £0.11/$0.17 |
Of all the AoS battleforces this offers the best value by a pretty significant margin. Treelords and Drycha have been nerfed a bit in the most recent tome but can still carry their weight. With the Dryads and Revenants as your battleline you just need to spend your savings on some Kurnoth units and you’ll round out a solid army. The main draw back is that Revenant kits aren’t the easiest builds and the Dryads are old with rough mould lines. Great savings and easy way into collecting Sylvaneth but not ideal for first time mini makers.
Stormcast Eternals: Thunderstrike Spearhead
| Unit | Cost (£) | Points |
| 1 Knight-Relictor | £21.00/$35.00 | 120 |
| 3 Annihilators | £32.50/$55.00 | 180 |
| 10 Vanquishers | £37.50/$60.00 | 220 |
| 10 Vigilors | £37.50/$60.00 | 340 |
| 2 Stormdrake Guards | £70.00/$115.00 | 340 |
| TOTAL VALUE | £198.50/$325.00 | |
| Saving | £68.50/$115.00 | |
| Discount | 34%/35% | |
| TOTAL POINTS | 1200 | |
| Cost per point | £0.10/$0.17 |
Now we end the list with the low point of the christmas battleforces. The Stromdrakes and Annihilators are both tempting, but there are much better options in the Stormcast range than the other models on this list. Despite the savings I’d give this one a miss, buy the decent units separately and spend the remaining money on more competitive models.
Overall the AoS battleforce value is pretty high this year. There’s seven boxes and six of them are solid choices, though the Sylvaneth and Skaven are both the closest to a full army and the Squigalanche runs (hops?) away with the trophy for coolest set firmly gripped in it’s fangs. Are you goign to be picking up one of these boxes? What do you reckon of the AoS battleforce value this year? Let us know in the comments!
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