I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few months obsessing over paint jobs for my Imperial Assault series for GeekDad Paints! But even as I’ve gotten more comfortable with painting, I’ve known in the back of my mind that I could be doing more with bases and techniques. But where to start?
If you’re like me and are just getting started, or you’re simply looking to take your wargaming further with new options, War Games Supply has created a perfect way for you to level up. (Spoilers ahead if you’re a subscriber!)
A monthly subscription service, War Games Supply sources materials, supplies, and wargame materials from the entire industry, big and small, and sends them out monthly at $28 per box (the price obviously drops if you go for longer subscriptions). They were kind enough to send along their February box for review and before I even got the box open, I was already impressed.
That’s a copy of the January 2016 issue of Warhammer Visions, which is, on its own, a $10 value. Besides featuring some seriously inspiring/intimidating painting, this Games Workshop publication has an impressive amount of techniques in the back pages (some of which I might just have to try out for some upcoming Jedi…).
So already, we’re over a third of the way towards recouping the cost of the box (and I’ve learned some things)! Let’s open it up…
Now this is exactly what I was hoping for when I heard about the box! There’s a big container of grass I can use for dressing up the bases of a few of my Stormtroopers. The Avatars of War Lord of Pestilence mini will be a lot of fun to try new techniques on. Those barriers from Secret Weapon are definitely getting used in Imperial Assault. And those Secret Weapon lava bases are nuts. I mean, just look at what you can do with them!
Plus, I can never have too many dice. Now, there are some items here that I won’t use. I don’t do formal wargaming, so those fancy acrylic deployment zone markers will sadly go untouched. And I don’t currently have a wet palette to use with the Retarder Medium. Even so, the value of the box altogether is well over $50–much more than the $28 you’ll spend on the month-to-month subscription.
I’m excited to see what Chris at War Games Supply comes up with next. He’s hinted at themes and curated boxes but didn’t have anything concrete to share before the February box shipped. The best way to stay abreast of what’s going on is to follow War Games Supply on Facebook or Twitter (@wargames_supply). Even better, sign up for a subscription before this month’s box is all spoken for!
What I love about this subscription service is that all of the items have utility. They are items that will, as you say, help you “level up” your miniatures skills. Even the magazine has utility. After the enormous entertainment value of perusing the magazine and looking at all the professionally painted miniatures, the magazine has “how-to” instructions at the end as well as the pictures themselves are inspirational and idea generating.
The War Games Supply monthly subscription is the kind of thing that would give me that giddy feeling of anticipation I used to get when my Dragon magazine showed up.