This first one, Betrayal at Calth, is a 2-player board game with models which can also be used in 30k and 40k. It comes with enough parts to make 30 MK IV Space Marines five Cataphractii Terminators, one Contemptor Dreadnought, and two captains, one in power armour, the other Terminator armour-clad. You also get a set of card playing tiles, a pack of action cards, strange-looking dice, rules for the game, FW-standard transfers and tokens. Clearly, they haven't skimped on content.
Straight from the get-go this is a high-quality product. The box card is thick and glossy, and the set has a fair bit of weight to it. Quality and quantity? A very strong start for Betrayal.
The £95 price tag may intimidate some at first, but once you compare it to Forge World it becomes clear. To buy the same amount of resin models, model for model, would cost in excess of £370 (and that's before you factor in the costs of the many special weapons and multiple arms for the Contemptor, so add another £30 to that). Add in the costs of the dice tiles, and maybe a fiver for the transfers, we could assume that the total value, in resin, is around £420. Over £400 of models for £95? Yes please! If you're lucky, your FLGS may be doing a discount. I got my copy for £85, making the deal all the sweeter.
I was surprised to find that most of the models are fully posable, not your typical mono-pose clip-together that Age of Sigmar and 40k deal with. Only the dreadnought and characters are mono-posed, though it is standard practice these days for the latter two.
Another bonus is that the models do not have any legion-specific marks, allowing for these models to be used for any of the eighteen legions (and their many splinter factions), without the hassle of shaving off existing icons.
GW's claim that the models are fully compatible rings true. Here are some test models for my Horus Heresy force (can you guess which?). I've added Thousand Sons metal torsos, which was easy to add since the bodies are two-parted. Weirdly the studs and holes on the torsos are reversed, so a tiny bit of trimming is needed just to remove those.
Based on the contents alone, this is an amazing set. Even if you decide the board game isn't for you, you've still got a strong foundation for a Horus Heresy army at a quarter the price.
Next week I'll be going through the game play for Betrayal at Calth, so stay tuned. To finish off, here is a new character I made for this army. Can you guess who it is? Comment below, and keep up to date on this project on Facebook.