What Are The Best Tabletop Games Like Warhammer?

In the miniature board game world, Warhammer and Warhammer 40k reign as the most well known of them all. But this doesn’t mean that they are the only miniature games out there that are worthwhile playing! Many games exist and stem from this style of gaming and have created quite the followings. Some have continued into the fantasy realm while others went more sci-fi and others still have actually even dabbled into the world of extreme sports! Here I have searched for some of the best miniature games that will entertain you for hours on end!

10. Heroscape

Ninjas, spiders, and beings from another universe, oh my!

Different realms and times collide within Valhalla to stop the end of the world from the evil Utgar. A simple wargame, Heroscape uses pre-painted miniatures and a hexagonal based landscape to create and shape the battle scenarios. With the large assortment of land tiles and vast array of different types of units, battle scenarios are unique and limitlessly varying.

How to Play:

• Assemble a team of Squads and Heroes under or at a set point value limit.

• Move and attack your opponents Squads and Heroes on the 3D hexagonal grid.

• Victory is achieved depending on the scenario but most often it is done by killing each of your opponents units.

Fun Factors:

• Setup: It’s actually really fun to set up these scenarios with friends, grabbing board pieces and creating interesting terrain shapes. Easy to use, easy to set up, and diverse enough to create whatever you want.

• Difficulty: With a low difficulty, this game is easy for anyone to learn and doesn’t involve anything too complex to understand, making it absolutely fantastic as an entry way into miniature wargames.

• Miniatures: Pre-painted and with minimal set up, these miniatures are well-designed, easily distinguishable from one another, and include a variety of themes to choose from, including fantasy to sci-fi to even historical America.

Price: 

$45-$60 for master sets, $2-$4 for individual figures.

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Game in Action: 

Heroscape Battle: Utah NHSD

9. Warmachine

Command the Warjacks and obliterate your opponents with heavy metal!

Set in a land known as the Iron Kingdoms, Warmachine takes on a theme of steampunk and fantasy and blends it together. You control a Warcaster, an elite warrior of your faction, who controls a giant mecha known as a Warjack, the pinnacle of technology and magic in this world. It is an all out fierce battle between factions and the victor is the one who survives the metallic clash.

How to Play

• Create a squad that incorporates a Warcaster, one or more Warjacks, Troopers, and Solos.

• Using the abilities of each member in your squad, you face off against an opponent and try to destroy your army.

• To win, you must destroy your opponent’s army and their Warcaster. To be defeated, your own Warcaster must be defeated.

Fun Factors

• Hordes: Another version of the same game if you aren’t that into the theme of Warmachine. Hordes plays very similarly but is just fantasy themed instead and has a whole different assortment of miniatures to collect.

• Fast-Paced Gameplay: Warmachine’s mechanics keeps it quick, pushing for  simple and fast rounds of combat so you can keep the pace going.

Price:

$130-$230 for a box of miniatures, $110-$160 for special Warjacks, $85-$100 for multiple unit packs.

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Game in Action: 

How NOT to play Warmachine MK3 with Trott - Part 1 (Tabletop Weekly Battle Report)

8. BattleLore

Beware a fiend's shoulder spikes...

BattleLore is a fantasy-based war board game that pits two players against each other with separate historical yet also fantastical armies. The players are given a scenario and pit their armies against one another! Travel across the board and send out your armies to defeat your opponents and obtain your objectives, earning Victory Points to win.

How to Play

• Chose either Daqan, the blue, or Uthuk, the red, as your army.

• Set up the game board according to the scenario and shuffle up the Command Deck.

• Move, attack, and use Command Cards for use on your turn.

• Win by either gaining 16 or more Victory Points or by eliminating all of your opponent’s units.

Fun Factors

• Gameplay: Easy to play and easy to set up all sorts of scenarios.

• Miniatures: Prebuilt and easy to distinguish figures along with an easy to customize board.

• Time: Gameplay is a perfect length of time at about an hour of intensive game time but has plenty of scenarios to keep up replayability.

Price:

$80 core set

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Game in Action: 

Let's play - Battlelore 2nd ed - #1

7. Guild Ball

Each Guild boasts unique characteristics that make each one lively to play!

Mob football, once a festive sport between neighboring cities, is now a worldwide phenomena that countries dish out piles of money for in the world of Guild Ball. Now, Guilds have sprung up to become these elite Guild Ball teams and aspire for fame and fortune. Will your team score or will they be buried 6 feet under by your opponents?

How to Play

• Set up your team of 6 from one of the various Guilds of the world.

• Roll for kickoff and launch the ball to the other side of the field.

• Using your players various skills and stats, either kill the other team or wrack up goals to achieve victory!

Fun Factors

• Soccer: For soccer (or football) fans, it brings a certain fun violence to the sport!

• Guilds: With a wide assortment of Guilds and many members in them, you can easily create some interesting combinations and matchups.

Price:

$75 for core set and paints, $50-$60 for a guild set

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Game in Action: 

Guild Ball SEASON 4 Match Report - Masons vs. Brewers!

6. Arcadia Quest

When heroes unite, it is up to them to... kill each other right before the final boss...

When the city of Arcadia, which regulates the balance of night and day, is overtaken by Lord Fang, the Guilds are on their way to stop him and his monsters! While each Guild is there to defeat Lord Fang, they are also striving to get rid of the other Guilds, trying to become THE Guild to defeat Lord Fang! Will your Guild’s Heroes be the ones to slay this mighty foe and save Arcadia?

How to Play

• Choose one of the four colored Guilds and choose your three Heroes.

• Choose which scenarios you want to play that will create your overall campaign for your session.

• Achieve victory in the scenarios while hampering each other to achieve success at the end of the campaign.

Fun Factors

• Scenarios: Each scenario splices into another one to make a new campaign each time, creating easy and fun gameplay.

• Variety: Each playthrough can result in a different hero composition and obtainable items, always creating new interesting playthroughs.

• Backstabbing: Defeating Lord Fang is the priority but to truly win, there can’t be anyone else to challenge you. Figuring out when to hamper your opponents and gleefully setting up strategies against the others is always good fun!

Price:

$100 for core set, $18 for pairs, $30 for expansions

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Game in Action: 

Arcadia Quest Gameplay with Jogando Offline

5. Infinity

Unite under one banner and see to it that your group becomes number one.

Set in future 175 years from now, Infinity is an interesting twist on what our future might become and how the eventual superpowers of our world will combine and clash against each other. Choose one of these factions and face off against your opponents in city and wilderness battles on all sorts of planets. Survival is key but achieving your goal is the means to victory.

How to Play

• Grab one of the many starter kits or scenarios that come for the game.

• Set up the scenario which includes miniatures and buildings as well.

• Depending on the mission, follow the objectives to achieve victory against your opponent who has their own objectives. Sometimes, this is as easy as simply destroying your opponents army.

Fun Factors

• Story: Incorporated into every unit and every piece of art, Infinity weaves the world’s story into everything instead of just generically filling the lore in when they can. Even normal units have history in this world and explain why the way they are.

• Buildings: More than just normal set pieces, they actually detail what would be in that location. Cities have shops and alleyways and even restaurants and motels for example.

• Not Quite Warhammer 40k: While a miniature game and one that takes place in space like Warhammer 40k, it is a decent supplement if you enjoy 40k but want something a bit more grounded in our world’s history.

Price:

$9-$15 for individuals, $20-$40 for squads of about four

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Game in Action: 

SU&SD Play Infinity

4. Malifaux

Mechanical juggernauts and bio-steampunk all rolled up into one!

When you combine elements of steampunk, gothic, the wild west and victorian horror, you get yourself the Wyrd game Malifaux. This insane mixture of themes combines in an alternate Earth where goblins, monsters, and magic exists, creating several factions and guilds throughout the world. With your factions in tow, get a crew assembled to take over and rule over the land of Malifaux and obtain as much Soulstone as possible!

How to Play

• Acquire the necessary models and cards for the scenario or battle that you are going to be playing.

• Draw a hand of 6 Fate Cards to use throughout the game and set up the board for your scenario.

• Using your deck of Fate Cards, achieve the mission you are given and make sure that you opponent does not achieve theirs.

• Cheat fate and destroy your opponents in this dark, wacky game!

Fun Factors

• Fate Cards: the way that chance is represented in this game is through a deck of cards instead of dice which changes the dynamics heavily for some more interesting encounters!

• Theme: the strange twist of themes with this game is a unique blend and adds a bit of freshness and diversity to the usual fantastical or sci-fi themes of other miniature games.

Price:

$35-$50 for most sets of miniatures

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Game in Action: 

3. Warzone Resurrection

Dystopia, meet Capitalism.

In a dystopian future of humanity, there exists only five mega-corporations that take up as much land in the nearby solar system as possible yet vye for more power. Along with them is The Brotherhood who stand to protect humanity against the Dark Legion, a dark force in the universe, even though the other factions are fighting amongst themselves the whole time. Join the fight to amass power, save humanity, or even destroy it.

How to Play

• Choose a faction and select your units,placing them within six inches from the edge of the board.

• Choose a “mission” that both sides are trying to perform, such as obtaining a cache in the field, saving refugees or destroying certain units.

• Using Resources and special abilities of your squads, destroy your opponents and obtain the winning conditions for your mission as quickly as possible!

Fun Factors

• Customizable Missions: While the missions are varied, there are mechanics in the game that can alter your missions drastically, creating interesting scenarios each time you play.

• Stats: All units of the same type are given generic stats but depending on the type of unit, these stats can change. Vehicles, for example, have several places to hit instead of one which can affect them in different ways.

Price:

$9-$35 for miniatures

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Game in Action: 

Mutant Chronicles - Warzone: Resurrection Battle Report - Ep 03 - Mishima vs. Bauhaus

2. Relic Knights

Stylistic, smooth gameplay, and creative strategies open up a whole world in minis!

Kickstarted for over $900k, Relic Knights shows us when anime meets miniatures in a sci-fi, aggressive tabletop setting. Join one of six factions to fight for the fate of the Last Galaxy in an attempt to conquer it, save it, or even destroy it. Using no dice and only a deck of cards, believe in your Esper Deck and draw your way to victory!

How to Play

• Gather your figures, set up the field, and draw a hand of five Esper Cards.

• Using your Esper Cards, use abilities and attacks that your units have to destroy your opponents.

• Victory is achieved when all your opponents have been utterly destroyed!

Fun Factors

• Anime: if you are a fan of anime, this will ring a chord for any fan as its mechanics even emulate some of the zanier moments in anime.

• Light-hearted: with wackier characters and comical tone, it’s a relief from the more serious and dark miniature games out there.

• Diceless: using only a deck of cards to play the game, it lets you use more strategy within your gameplay to achieve victory instead of relying on lucky dice rolls.

Price:

$5-$20 for most miniatures

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Game in Action: 

Relic Knights Gameplay Intro

1. Blood Bowl

The classic tale of humans versus orcs... in football... that's very very lethal.

Races of the Old World unite under their banners to battle against one another in the Blood Bowl Arena! Basically American football mixed with rugby on the fantasy extreme, Blood Bowl pits teams of races such as humans, dwarves, orcs and others against one another, vying to be the champions. Assemble your own team, fight (or cheat) your way to victory, and become the best team in the Old World!

How to Play

• Set up the board with your teams assembled at the two endzones.

• The game has two half-times with eight rounds each in which you must get as many touchdowns as possible.

• The winner is whoever has more touchdowns after 16 rounds or if the other team has been wiped out.

Fun Factors

• Football: North American football lovers can rejoice at a bloodier, more lethal version of one of North America’s favorite sports.

• Cheaters Win: Not only are you trying to win at football, but also trying to cheat to win, which puts a whole new spin and very mischievous way to win the game.

• Leagues: Just like football, this fantasy football also has leagues in which you can duke it out with other players in massive tournaments.

Price:

$35 for most starter team sets

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Game in Action: 

Blood Bowl League Season 2 Game 1 - Orcs vs Humans

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