Following up on our 2020 Tabletop Gift Guide, where our focus was roleplaying and board games, we present our 2020 Wargaming Gift Guide, for advice on what to pick up for your wargaming friends and family, or if you just fancy a new wargame to get on the table this holiday season.
You can buy all the Wargaming Gift Guide products from our tabletop sponsor, Firestorm Games.
Star Wars Armada
Star Wars X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games had a significant impact on wargaming. It is an easy entry skirmish game with simple but deep rules. Star Wars Armada takes that one step further and lets you play out huge space battles commanding forces of ships, rather than focus on individual pilots. The Star Wars Armada Core Set, which was released a few years ago, but is still a solid product, contains enough to get 2 players into the game, but further purchases are required in order to see the full potential of Armada. It's a great entry point, and if you enjoyed X-Wing, you're a Star Wars fan, or you simply love a great wargame, then this is a fantastic purchase. It's also very quick to get onto the table, as the miniatures are pre-painted, so the unwrapping to playing time is very short.
Warhammer 40K Starter Sets & Merch
I could write an entire Gift Guide on Games Workshop's products. They have games for all requirements, from the great competitive skirmish wargame Warhammer Underworlds, and the newly released Second Season Edition of the fantasy sports wargame, Blood Bowl, to the fantasy and sci-fi skirmish games, Warcry and Kill Team. But their real star is Warhammer 40,000, or simply 40K. 40K received a brand new edition this year, which started with the Indomitus Boxed-Set and is now available in 3 different starter set editions. The Recruit, Elite, and Command Editions build up from a small entry-level product to a complete starter-set package. The new edition of 40K is the most accessible, and plays well at all sizes of armies, allowing new players to get into the game quickly and build up. The Crusade campaign system is also extremely well done for players who want to play as part of a longer campaign. If you want to get into 40K or buy a gift for someone who does, then any of the 3 starter-sets are a great place to start.
Also available is a huge range of Warhammer Merchandise of all types of products for all their game ranges and factions. If you're looking for a gift for a Warhammer player, then find out which army they play by looking at their collection, and head to the Warhammer Merch store, where you can filter by faction or product.
Army Painter Starter Sets
We recently looked at a selection of The Army Painter starter sets that are perfect for gits in our Army Painter Gift Sets Guide. The Army Painter produces a whole range of quality hobby products. For an easy single purchase for a beginner hobbyist, The Army Painter Hobby Set includes everything a player new to wargames needs to put their miniatures together and start painting them for the first time.
Aristeia plus Prime Time
Aristeia is a futuristic sports battle game set in Corvus Belli's Infinity universe. It comes in a complete board game package with everything needed to play, and the miniatures can also be used in the full game of Infinity. Aristeia recently received a multiplayer expansion, Prime Time, that turns the 2 player game into a 4 player game. It is available separately for players who already own Aristeia, and also in a complete All-In-One package with the Core Game and Prime Time in the same box.
Bushido 2-Player Starter Set
Bushido by GCT Games in an incredible fantasy skirmish game with a fantasy feudal Japanese theme. The latest edition Risen Sun has a very tight rules package and GCT studios are regularly releasing new units to add to your forces. The 2-player Starter Set is the easiest way to start playing and contains 2 iconic forces and all the rules, cards, and tokens to get going, all you need to add are 6-sided dice and a tape measure.
Kings of War - War In The Holds 2-Player Set
Kings of War is a fantasy mass battle game from Mantic Games. The focus of Kings of War is on battles between units and heroes, rather than on individual troopers. A brand new starter set has been released, featuring 2 new forces of Goblins and Ratkin, and the War in the Holds 2-Player set is the only way currently to get these miniatures. The set includes the full rules and 2 forces to get playing straight away, all that needs adding is some 6-sided dice and a tape measure.
Are you grabbing any of these? Or do you have other plans for gifts or holiday gaming? Let us know in the comments below! From all of us here on the TechRaptor Tabletop Team, we hope you and your loved ones have a safe and happy holiday season.