Starter Factions and New Player Hobby Entry

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

Spinning off from the discussion in the rumour thread:

• Could Cities of Sigmar replace Stormcast as a starter faction?
• Are they too hard to paint or do they maybe just not have the right type of appeal?
• How hard is it actually for new players to enter the hobby?

[EntMan]

What evidence do we have, either way, of how common it is to enter the hobby via starter sets anyway? I know that's not how those of my kids that do AoS got into it.

[CommissarRotke]

1 hour ago, EntMan said:

What evidence do we have, either way, of how common it is to enter the hobby via starter sets anyway? I know that's not how those of my kids that do AoS got into it.

anecdotal evidence but the Warhammer shop manager gave me the same pitch he gave anyone returning to the hobby or looking for a gift:

1. starter set gives you a choice between two armies plus the rulebook (if you get the full starter)
2. you can immediately play with someone else
3. you get two different playstyles and paint jobs to try
4. you can sell the other half you don't end up wanting

I would say pretty dang common for these reasons. Start Collecting boxes are fine if you specifically are only going to hobby, but if you want to try playing? the tiered starter kit value is too good to pass over.

Edited August 24, 2023 by CommissarRotke
sentence syntax

[novakai]

I mean beside Stormcast and Marines being big and easy to paint they are also design their model that can be primed one color and be good to go (spray retributor gold or Maccragge Blue)

I not saying The community is overestimating the popular appeal of Cities but like the Lumineath situation, they probably ended up in the middling tier of army popularity like where most army end up in.

I also doubt GW will move on from Stormcast, they just continue them to be the face of AoS judging by their commitment to their marketing. 

[Gitzdee]

Just speaking from my own experience here from when i started the hobby. I had the luxury of someone teaching me how to paint minis at a decent level (base, layer, wash, drybrush). I also picked O&G and Eldar because i really liked the armies. Didnt look have the knowledge to see whats hard to paint and whats not. Also dont know anyone that started their hobby based on a starterbox.

I prefer boxes like the broken realms/ dawnbringers. Just focus around a subfaction and imho also a good starting point for an army. 

I would always advise people to buy what they like and not SCE because its easy to get into because they are designed that way.

Is the hobby hard for new players? Social media also helps a lot getting into the hobby and allows u to research paint techniques and colour theory etc if u want to go beyond that. Just be carefull to not look at the pro painters too much, they leveled their skills for years, it just makes u feel bad if u cant achieve the same results. I guess contrast paints help, but i like painting the old way.

I would say the entry level for the hobby is pretty high. Getting your hobby station ready was a lot of trial and error. It took me a while to find brushes i liked and finding other proper tools like a wet palette, texture paints, magnets, proper lamp, dont spraypaint in hot or damp weather conditions. Just those quality of life things u have to figure out for yourself. 

Sorry dont know where im going with this, just rambling at this point. Dont think SCE will stop being the posterboys, they are the super heroes of the mortal realms.

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Gitzdee

[Doko]

stormcast are the posterboys and gonna stay as one of the two armys in every new edition boxe as happens with marines in 40k.

this wont change,is the market style of gw,they had one diferent in fantasy and then created this idea of posterboys getting 90% of the attention and new products for 40k with marines and seems have been a good idea for them,because they copyed this style to aos with stormcast.

so if they dont have change the marines of being posterboys and even they added this style to aos is imposible or veryyyyyy rare that they gonna change sc as posterboys.

 

also all the hype around of city of sigmar miniatures dont means nothing if at the end of the day nobody buy them.

per example in the media we have many influencers doing hype with new miniatures but when they are asked if they gonna do a city army then they all answer that no,they love the new style etc etc but wont buy them.

then in my personal experience is the same,every player in my club think that the minis are great etc etc buy nobody gonna buy them or start a city army(only myself and because i had 4k of citys allready,but i dont like the style of new humans and i only getting them because this boxe is cheap)

time gonna tell if city is popular or not,but we can say for sure that they wont replace sc as starter army

[The Lost Sigmarite]

7 hours ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Spinning off from the discussion in the rumour thread:

• Could Cities of Sigmar replace Stormcast as a starter faction?
• Are they too hard to paint or do they maybe just not have the right type of appeal?
• How hard is it actually for new players to enter the hobby?

To answer point by point :

1. No. Unless CoS minis suddenly become bigger and grow lots of smooth surfaces.
2. Yes, because they're chock full with details, require lots of paints (armor and weapons, 2 different colours for the City heraldry, skin, leather), are small and as a "horde" army can be expensive/discouraging for beginners.
3. I'd say it depends on a lot of factors. Are they accompanied in their entry by another hobbyist to guide them ? Is there a community of hobbyist around them when they start ? I'd say that if you enter the hobby alone, it's quite easy as long as you use the starter boxes. It's gonna be difficult if you pick a Vanguard of the faction that fancies you. If you have someone guiding you, then it's easier and you can go for non SCE or Kruleboyz for the start. 
   I think it really depends if you have a healthy wargaming community around when you start. It allows to follow threw with your first buys and actually play the game. If the community is unhealthy, beginners are more likely to drop entirely after their starter boxes (seen that happen).

To me, the biggest problem for a beginner (because I've experienced it myself) is what goes after the starter box. You're pretty dissoriented after that and if you don't by cleverly you'll end up with heaps of useless minis, and you'll have spent money unwisely.

[Greyshadow]

No. The headline army should definitely stay Stormcast Eternals. My five year old son can knock out a new Stormcast model on a Saturday and his models look great. These models had him painting before he could read. Us old folk might prefer other ranges like Cities but for bringing new people into the hobby - that’s something Age of Sigmar got right from day one.