Warhammer 40,000: Darktide The Miniatures Game prepares video gamers for the price of the hobby.
I’m amazed it’s taken this long for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide to get a tabletop adaptation. However, Games Workshop have delivered the goods at the second-most opportune moment.
Darktide (the video game) has just received a major update in Path of Redemption, and players jumping back into the digital battles of the 41st millennium will be tempted by its board game counterpart. But is it a good jumping-in point for fans of the universe to try tabletop gaming? And is it worth the £65 price tag?
The first thing most people will tear into when they open Darktide are the miniatures. While most veteran players are disappointed they’re all existing models, this isn’t a game for them. Newcomers may still be a little disappointed that the Kill Team, as your squad of antiheroes is called (more on that later), are the most generic models in the box, but the lovely sprue of Traitor Guard should make up for it. These are rare models at this point, too, which may be a small incentive for the more Chaotic inclined Warhammer players to look towards the box.
NOTE: Luckily this isn’t the Poxwalker sprue with half a Plague Marine on it, as that would inevitably result in an influx of confused questions in online communities.
However, once you’ve pored over the plastic, you’ll notice what else is in the box. Hidden beneath the customary sheet of card that Games Workshop uses to protect paper components are four boards covered in hex tiles, datacards for each model, two nearly identical A4 sheets of tokens, a large deck of cards, and a bag of dice.
The game plays pretty straightforwardly, as you would expect from a game aimed at introducing beginners to Games Workshop’s often complex systems. It uses a modified version of the Kill Team rules (see why your operatives are called a Kill Team now?) which simulates enemy behaviours for a seamless co-op adventure.
Before you get that far, though, you have to set up the board. The four double-sided A4 boards are made of sturdy cardboard with a glossy finish, and can be put together in a number of combinations to keep each mission fresh. However, this doesn’t quite do justice to the drastic scene changes of the video game.
From the great furnaces beneath Tertium’s surface to the last stand on the Bridge of Martyrs, Darktide’s epic set pieces are invigorating, and showcase the best parts of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. There is no attempt to recreate this in the miniatures game.
However, the co-operative aspect of the video game is translated well, as are the various mission types. Drawing from the activation deck activates your Kill Team, as well as the ‘Darktide’ of enemy models, which have set behaviour profiles on their datacards. Draw the Ogryn, take your turn. Draw the Traitor Guardsman with a Flamer, use the profile on their card to carry out their attack patterns. The deck-based enemy system is less random than the dice-based enemy actions of Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower, with more similarities to the Dark Souls board game.
NOTE: Unlike the Dark Souls board game, the deck is shuffled when you reach the end, meaning you can’t learn attack patterns.
The preparation phase, which occurs before every turn after the first, adds another layer of depth to this, as your Kill Team can opt to loot, heal, or scout. Loot grants them a random equipment card, heal removes D3 damage, and scout allows you to manipulate the activation deck ahead of the forthcoming turn.
All have their places during the game’s six missions, which consist of three rounds each. I like this system because it keeps matches short, but adds repercussions to your actions. If a member of your Kill Team is incapacitated in the second round of a mission, they can’t participate in the third. Wounds carry over between rounds as well, but there’s extensive healing between missions so this won’t cause you problems unless you’re already in trouble. Each round comes with a new objective and board set up, too, which keeps things feeling fresh and does well to recreate the shifting objectives of the video game.
The missions themselves are fun, and quick to play through if you’re an experienced tabletop gamer. I’m not entirely sure how much replayability you’ll get from it, however, and it would have been good to include a page explaining how to create your own random missions. A seasoned veteran would be able to cobble something together, but a few tables and dice rolls would allow Games Workshop to ensure homebrew missions are fairly balanced, and could give players more bang for their buck.
However, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide The Miniatures Game was never about bang for your buck. You can tell that from the £65 price tag, recycled miniatures, and big advert for Kill Team on the back page of the rulebook. This isn’t a game meant to be replayed, it’s meant to be a gateway to siphon video gamers who enjoy the universe into the far more profitable miniatures systems. Play Darktide, play Darktide (tabletop), play Kill Team, buy an Astra Militarum army. That’s the path Games Workshop wants players to take. It wants feet in Warhammer stores and plastic in hands.
Having said that, the Darktide board game is quite fun. Like Darktide, it can even be enjoyed alone, although the real experience is finding a group of friends to revel in the frenzy. Maybe you could swap operatives after completing all six missions to keep things fresh, but you’d have a hard time prizing the Ogryn out of my hands.
Is it £65 fun, though? Maybe if you split it between four of you and take a model each to paint and play with. Maybe if you’ll also add the models to your Traitor Guard army.
If you just want to try tabletop gaming after enjoying Darktide the video game, though? You’re better off playing Kill Team proper. It’s a steeper learning curve, but you get nicer models, a more well-rounded ruleset, and endless replayability.
Games Workshop provided a copy of Warhammer 40K: Darktide The Miniatures Game for this review.
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By BEN SLEDGE 4 May 2024
