In a recent Interview with The Canadian Wargamer Podcast, I talked about 2 Player Starter Sets for Miniatures Games. Specifically I talked about how they are one of the best ways to get people into a new miniatures game. If you know Must Contain Minis, you know that I like show off the alternatives that are out there for your mini wargaming pleasure.
In this post, I show you some of the best 2 Player Starter Sets out there for you to add on to your Christmas Wish List (and personal purchase lists) for this year. Many of these sets I have personal experience with. Some I wish for myself, and others on this list are actually suggestions that have come from my readers.
I encourage you to share this list with your loved ones to drop some hints on what games you want. Perhaps, you are like others and just buy yourself what you want. Some people even give the gifts they buy for themselves to their family to give back to them on Christmas. Whatever approach you take, I hope that you find today’s list helpful.
A Quick Note…
As a heads up, I received word from a few sources that we should get our Christmas orders in early this year or risk missing out. I am not a fan of the “Fear of Missing Out,” but this year it takes on different meaning with supply shortages everywhere.
Because of this shortage, I figured I would get this list out early. Hopefully it will help you make a wish list or find a new game of interest to you.
Affiliate Disclosure
As a quick note, Must Contain Minis participates in a number of affiliate programs. If you buy from some of the links in this post, a small commission goes back to this website at no extra charge to you. In the interest of full disclosure I have listed those links as [Affiliate].
In the case of Amazon, the links will do their best to take you to the best matching product in your country. Some of the links will unfortunately take you to just the American Store. You will find this issue specifically with the embedded Search results.
With that out of the way, let’s get into my suggestions.
My Suggestions of 2 Player Starter Sets
Osprey Games
My first suggestion is actually a little bit of a trick. I am a huge fan of Osprey Games. They don’t sell starter sets at this time, but if you buy a book, that might be all you need. If you already own related miniatures from other games, then a rule book is all that you need to play the game. Osprey allows you to use miniatures by any manufacturer for their games. This means that as long as what you have fits the setting and scale, then you are in business.
Bolt Action
These next two starter set suggestions go to one of my favorite games out there. That is the game of Bolt Action by Warlord Games. Right now Warlord Games publishes two starter sets for Bolt Action. I own Band of Brothers and unboxed it years ago. They also have a new one where America takes on Japan.
Warlord is such a big company that you could also find their games at many retailers. One of them is Wayland Games. From here, you can check the price on Island Assault [Affiliate]. You can also check the price on Band of Brothers [Affiliate]. It looks like there may be some supply issues for one of them. If you look around the Wayland Site, you can find Band of Brothers in a few languages instead of just English.
Wild West Exodus: Showdown at Retribution – 2 Player Starter Set
This one is brand new! In fact, it is on pre-order right now, but should be shipping out soon. This is the newest edition of Wild West Exodus and I am already looking forward to seeing it.
The folks at Beasts of War (On Table Top) will be doing a slow grow league with this starter set soon. If you join them, there is a chance to win some lovely prizes with them. You can check that out over on their sign up page for the Global Gunslinger League.
Want to know more? You can check out the price over on Wayland Games [Affiliate].
Conquest: Last War of Kings
This one is a Starter Set that a few readers asked me to take a look at. At this time, I don’t know much more than the basics about this game. It is a rank and file game with larger sized miniatures. People tell me that the game has a good feel and reminds them other rank and file games from the past.
Right now, Para Bellum is really sweetening the deal to make their Core box one of the most appealing 2 Player Starter Sets out there. Look at all that is in there at a fairly affordable price.
As mentioned earlier, Para Bellum made this deal even better. Right now you can get the starter plus two additional starter boxes for just $99.
These miniatures are bigger than other games, but if you want to give it a try, I have a way for you to save even more money. When you go to the Para Bellum Store [Affiliate], use the code “MCM” to save even more money on your first purchase from them.
I plan to take a look at the miniatures from this game in the future. I am a fan of the Spire and like what I see from the other factions so far too.
Dystopian Wars
Warcradle has really been doing some exceptional work of late with their miniatures. Among these great pieces is Dystopian Wars: Hunt for the Prometheus – 2 Player Starter Set. What I really like best about Dystopian Wars so far is that there are so many different ways that you can build the ships in the kits. This starter set included. You can build them the recommended way or study the rules online and come up with your own fleet composition.
You can pick this straight up from the parent company of Warcradle Studios [Affiliate] or you can check the price over on Amazon [Affiliate].
Flames of War
The folks at Battlefront and Flames of War know how to make a starter set. I bought two of their WW2 third edition starter sets. Their 4th edition features extremely similar content to the 3rd edition starters. Value-wise, Hit the Beach is one of the best deals out there. That is why I bought two of the third edition starters.
Although I haven’t played 4th Edition, I would whole heartedly recommend this starter set for anyone interested in Flames of War. Battlefront also sells a fictional WW3 game of the Cold War gone hot. They call that game Team Yankee.
Wayland Games also has really good stock levels of Hit the Beach (check price here – Affiliate) and a couple copies left of WW3: The Complete Starter (check price here – Affiliate).
Suggestions of 2 Player Starter Sets from my Readers
On top of spotting games on my own, I also get requests from my readers. These requests are for games that they would like to see me cover.
One of those requests is Core Space. I haven’t tried this game from Battle Systems yet, but it looks so cool! It is more of a miniatures board game, but it is full of flatpack 3D terrain. This company has teased a Fantasy version of the game for the future.
Another one that a lot of my readers recommend is A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ve played this one and it is a good one. The miniatures scale at about 32mm and the game has a cross between a miniatures and board game feel. You can check out my battle report here. If you search around this site, you will also find a number of showcases of painted miniatures from this game.
The image below is an Affiliate link.
Another favorite of readers seems to be Marvel Crisis Protocol. Many have asked me to cover this game, but I am not much of a Supers fan. That said, I know there is a ton of fan interest out there and people really enjoy this game. If you want to play games with Super Heroes, be sure to check this game out.
The image below is an Affiliate link.
On top of these three games, I get requests from my readers about Para Bellum’s Conquest (that I mentioned earlier) and the Bolt Action Starter Sets.
Other 2 Player Starter Sets I have my Eye On…
There are way more games out there than one can possibly keep an eye upon. Warlord Games has a number of them. Just head to their website and look up each game. You will find a 2-player starter set for all of them.
Mantic Games also has a ton of games to try. Many of them have multiple starter sets. The new DeadZone Starter Set has my interest. That said, it is also almost sold out already. Armada also happens to be doing extremely well.
Personally I like Mantic, and I once owned a lot of their miniatures back when they had Kings of War in its First Edition. They are now on the Third Edition. I collected Dwarfs and Undead.
I want to mention a few more companies before wrapping it up. TT Combat, has a few two player starter sets for their games. Star Wars Legion is also a game that I have had my eye on for a very long time. There are two 2 player starters for that game.
The images below are Affiliate links.
Another game that I keep an keen eye upon, but have not yet bought into is Infinity by Corvus Belli. It looks so awesome on the tabletop and everyone I talk to that has played enjoys the game. You can check out the price of the Battle Set on Wayland Games [Affiliate].
Finally, one more game that I wanted to buy into but never did is Fallout. This one looks really interesting.
The image below is an Affiliate link.
Wrapping it up…
There you have it. These are my suggestions for 2 player starter sets that you may want to put on your Christmas list for 2021. Due to the pandemic and issues in the supply chain, this might be a year that you want to get your shopping done early. Including if that shopping is just for yourself.
If you look around, you will find more that I did not cover including games by Games Workshop. Personally, I like to promote the other companies in hopes that you find something that I shared interesting.
If GW is more up your alley, here are some options from Amazon.
Thanks for reading this post looking at two player starter sets for miniatures games. There is so much available out there and I do apologize to any companies that I missed. The ones in this list are the ones currently that I have my eye on.
If this were next year, a new two player starter set for Blood & Plunder would be on this list, but I expect to see that kit to come out early in 2022. Be sure to keep an eye on Firelock Games for that one.
Until next time, Happy Wargaming Everyone!!!
In the same vane as Osprey Games, I would also strongly recommend that you have a look at the Saga rules by Studio Tomahawk. They are a set of easy to learn rules that are model agnostic, and you can choose to play in a number of different “universes” – there is a setting for just about everyone’s own favourite period. At this time, there are the Age of Hannibal, Age of Invasions, Age of Vikings, Age of Crusades, and Age of Magic. An unique aspect of the rules are the sets of faction specific Battle Boards, which give the game a lot of tactical depth. Check it out!
Saga is a game that I have been looking at for years. Thanks for the suggestion and comment!