Games Workshop has announced the coming release of a new line of Vanguard starter army boxes similar to those found in Warhammer 40k. The Maggotkin of Nurgle is the only Vanguard set for now, although Games Workshop claims additional armies will receive their own boxes sometime further down the road.

The announcement was made in a Warhammer Community post earlier today, alongside the reveal of the Age of Sigmar battleforce boxes releasing this holiday season. GW’s comparison of the new Vanguard boxes to the existing Combat Patrol sets suggests Age of Sigmar will follow a similar direction to Warhammer 40k, with new Vanguard boxes replacing the game’s Start Collecting! beginner kits, just as the Combat Patrol boxes did in 40k.

The Maggotkin of Nurgle Vanguard set looks to contain the following miniatures:

• 10 Plaguebearers of Nurgle
• 5 Putrid Blightkings
• 2 Pusgoyle Blightlords
• 1 Spoilpox Scrivener

The Maggotkin of Nurgle’s Vanguard box also implies that they’ll follow a comparable structure to the Combat Patrol kits, giving a broad range of well-chosen models that may serve as the base of a larger force and build up a substantial army. There’s been no mention yet if Vanguard will be a new playing style in Age of Sigmar but we can expect some surprises coming from these sets.

But Wait, There’s More!

On top of the Maggotkin of Nurgle release, the following factions also look to be getting a Vanguard box of their own (Faction images are NOT the Vanguard starter box sets…they’re just really cool pictures!).

Hedonites of Slaanesh

• 1 Shardspeaker
• 3 Slaangor Fiendbloods
• 10 Blissbarb archers
• 1 homunculus
• 5 Exalted Seekers
• 10 elite warriors buildable as Mymirdesh Painbringers or Symbraesh Twinsouls.

Soulblight Gravelords

• 1 Vengorian Lord
• 5 Blood Knights
• 20 Deathrattle Skeleton warriors
• 40 Deadwalker Zombies.

Ossiarch Bonereapers

• 1 Mortisan Boneshaper
• 1 Soulreaper
• 20 Mortek Guard
• 3 Necropolis Stalkers (also buildable as Immortis Guard)
• 1 Gothizzar Harvester
• 1 Mortek Crawler.

Lumineth Realm-Lords

• 1 Vanari Bannerblade
• 1 Lord Regent
• 10 Vanari Auralan Wardens
• 5 Bladelords
• 5 Dawnrinders
• 1 Sharstard Ballista.

We’ll touch back once all the sets have been released to dive into what the Vangaurd starter boxes mean for Age of Sigmar overall and how these new sets impact the game. As always, we’re excited to see new things coming down the pipe from Games Workshop. Not every idea sticks but it keeps the community thriving as we’re given new toys to play with!