Wrath and Glory Starter Set Review- Warhammer 40K Roleplaying

Published: April 18, 2019 1:00 PM /

Reviewed By:


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After reviewing the Warhammer 40K roleplaying game (RPG) Wrath and Glory, we wanted to follow up with some coverage of the new Wrath and Glory Starter Set.

We love RPG starter products here at the TechRaptor Tabletop Team and recent years has seen most development companies producing all-encompassing entry level products for the biggest RPGs. RPGs have historically started with a core rulebook and then supplements added as the product grows, but sometimes these can be overwhelming for new players, especially those with no RPG experience. RPG Starter Sets usually contain a slimmed down rulebook, usually with enough flavour and background information to get you going along with the core rules of the system, some pre-generated characters and a beginner's adventure. To be a complete out of the box Starter Set though, it should contain any specialist dice and anything else needed to run the adventure.

In this article we're going to focus on the contents of the Wrath and Glory Starter Set, rather than the rules for the system. If you want to know more about the system itself, please check out our Wrath and Glory review.


The Wrath and Glory Starter Set is a complete product in terms of RPG starter sets and includes everything you need to get a group playing.

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The Wrath and Glory Starter Set includes a Beginner's Rulebook and starter adventure.

The core of the Wrath and Glory Starter Set is the Beginners Rulebook and Escape the Rok adventure. The Core Rulebook weighed in at 450 pages and suffered a bit because of the sheer amount of information it needed to put across. The Beginners Rulebook is a punchy 72 pages and has none of the layout issues the Core Rulebook does. It's very designed and laid-out to bring players into the system. The introduction is done in a great comic book style that introduces players not only to the Warhammer 40K setting but also to roleplaying in general.

It then takes players through the core of the system, combat encounters, and adventuring and then ends with wargear and a bestiary.

The Escape The Rok adventure is also extremely well designed for beginner GM's and is filled with tips and guidance. Some reading and preparation will need to be done in advance, but that's what's required of a GM for any system. With the punchy beginner's rules system and maps and tokens we'll show later, it's a great entry for anyone interested in trying out GMing for the first time.

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The Starter Pack contains 6 pre-made characters from a variety of backgrounds. 3 of them, the Sister of Battle, Space Marine and Imperial Guardsman are combat focused. The Commissar is a leader and keeper of discipline, maintaining the purity of the troops she is assigned to. The Inquisitorial Acolyte is an Interrogator, seeking out alien intrusions on the Imperium of Mankind. The Ministorum Priest is a religious figurehead and a bulwark against the impure forces assailing Mankind.

Each character comes with a 4-page character-folio, detailing all their skills, abilities and equipment. The rear page also gives a full brief on their character type, their background and motives and links to the other pre-generated characters.

The text on all the character-folios is large and easy to read, with the information displayed clearly across the central two pages.

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2 double-sided squared maps are included for use alongside miniatures or acrylic tokens. The 4 sides of the maps are, the inside of an Imperial ship, an Ork Mech workshop, a Chaos ritual site and a blank map with squares for your own design. These maps are for use with the Escape the Rok adventure or can be used freely in your own missions.

The squares on the maps are the right size to use Warhammer 40K miniatures on or the included acrylic tokens. The tokens are double sided, with one side having a glossy acrylic covering, and the other side a rougher matt finish. The tokens also have an arrow indicating the direction of facing.

52 tokens are included in the Starter Set and feature the 6 pre-generated characters, named and generic non-player characters from the adventure. The tokens are also sized differently according to the rules, so a Space Marine takes up more space than a Guardsman, and an Ork boss more space that a grot.

The tokens are durable and the maps are of a very sturdy quality, which means they will need some flattening before use, as the tokens can slide around if ridges are left.

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The Wrath and Glory Starter Set dice including the red Wrath dice.

The final component of the Starter Set are the custom dice. It comes with 9 black D6 and 1 red D6 which acts as the Wrath dice for use in games. The dice are a very nice touch and because they are D6, they can be used outside of this product in other games as well.

 

The Bottom Line:

Our biggest criticism of Wrath and Glory was the layout and polish of the Core Rulebook, but the Starter Set feels very different. It's well designed and has some great components. The system is extremely beginner friendly, but also very combat focused. Using the game mat and tokens, which can easily be upgraded to painted Warhammer 40K miniatures, does feel great, but then you're almost playing Warhammer 40K on a smaller scale. If that's what you want, then this is a fantastic product for you to get into Wrath and Glory and can also be a perfect bridge to go from wargaming/skirmish games to roleplaying in general. We love that the D6's in the system and in the starter set are just D6s, which makes it very beginner friendly and also makes use of the custom D6s outside of the product. The six pre-generated characters are varied and well presented and the adventure, Escape the Rok is a great introduction for players and new GM's.

Get this game if:

You want to learn how to roleplay or GM in the Warhammer 40K setting.

You want to try out Wrath and Glory before committing to the full rulebook.

You want to play a great combat adventure in space.

You love smashing D6s on the table.

Avoid this game if:

You want a fantasy setting.

You want a game more focused on the theatre of the mind.

 

This copy of Wrath and Glory was reviewed with a physical copy which was provided by Asmodee UK. A digital copy is also available through Drive Thru RPG without the dice or tokens.

 

Have you played Wrath and Glory? What do you think of the starter set? What do you think about RPG starter sets in general? Let us know in the comments below.

 

Where's the score? The TechRaptor tabletop team has decided that the content of our tabletop reviews is more important than an arbitrary numbered score. We feel that our critique and explanation thereof is more important than a static score, and all relevant information relating to a game, and whether it is worth your gaming dollar, is included in the body of our reviews.

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A Potts TechRaptor
| Senior Tabletop Writer

Adam is a Tabletop Specialist for TechRaptor. He started writing for TechRaptor in 2017 and took over as Tabletop Editor in 2019 and has since stood down… More about Adam