Slann
Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl
Eleventh Spawning
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Agreed, army boxes have gradually decreased in value since the Fantasy/proper 40K days.
Originally you had Battalion/Battleforce boxes, around £50-60 like SC boxes and with a good few units in (the Lizardmen one for example had 20 Saurus, 12 Skinks, 10 Temple Guard and 8 Saurus Cav). I started Tyranids with the Tyranid Battleforce that was around at the time. These were great for army expansion, the only issue with them as starter boxes was that they didn't include a character model unless you were willing to convert your own. Then the SC boxes started to make an appearance around AoS 1st Edition and 7th Edition 40K era, which had less units in them but included a character, for around the same price as the Battalion boxes, so in effect had the opposite pros and cons - great for starters, but not so good for army expansion unless you had an idea for converting your second iteration of that character model into something different.
The current Vanguard and Combat Patrol boxes embody the worst strategy yet - yes they give you more models than a SC box and give you a character model which the Battalion boxes didn't, but £85 is too much to spend at once for what you get, especially given that one used to be able to get entire boxed games for less.
I honestly think GW should have just released the SC boxes alongside the Battalion/Battleforce boxes rather than replaced one with the other, as the SC boxes were better for new players while the Battalion boxes were better for players wishing to expand their armies, and having both on offer would appeal to both those customer bases. Not to mention this is a way more customer-friendly strategy than the current one, as it gives customers the option of just buying one for a more affordable amount, or (Gods help their wallets) buy one of each to get a huge starter collection.
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