[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-/guides/warhammer-40k-combat-patrol-magazine-review":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":285,"date":286,"description":287,"extension":288,"heroImage":289,"intro":290,"lastUpdated":286,"meta":291,"navigation":292,"path":293,"related":294,"seo":298,"shopSearch":299,"stem":300,"tags":301,"__hash__":302},"guides/guides/warhammer-40k-combat-patrol-magazine-review.md","Warhammer 40,000 Combat Patrol Magazine Review - Is It Worth It?",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":270},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,25,33,36,64,68,80,83,88,91,133,144,148,151,162,166,169,172,186,189,193,200,230,234,254,258,261],[10,11,12],"p",{},"I subscribe to the Warhammer 40,000: Combat Patrol partwork, so this is a review from the pile of magazines on my desk rather than a spec sheet. Here's what actually turns up, how the money really works, and who should sign up.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"what-is-it","What is it?",[10,19,20],{},"Combat Patrol is a subscription magazine from Hachette Partworks, produced with Games Workshop. Over the run it builds you nine complete Combat Patrol armies - Space Marines, Tyranids, Aeldari, Chaos Space Marines, Orks, Leagues of Votann, Genestealer Cults, Astra Militarum and World Eaters - plus, on most factions, an extra unit with its own datasheet that you don't get in the boxed Combat Patrol. There's an optional premium tier that adds bigger kits like the Brutalis Dreadnought and Rogal Dorn Battle Tank.",[14,22,24],{"id":23},"what-actually-arrives","What actually arrives",[10,26,27,28,32],{},"It doesn't dribble in one issue at a time. ",[29,30,31],"strong",{},"Four magazines ship in a batch every month",", which is a much nicer rhythm - you get a proper stack of models to work through rather than a single sprue and a long wait.",[10,34,35],{},"Each issue is more than a bag of plastic:",[37,38,39,46,52,58],"ul",{},[40,41,42,45],"li",{},[29,43,44],{},"The miniatures"," - the reason you're here, and the bulk of the value.",[40,47,48,51],{},[29,49,50],{},"Paint guides"," - step-by-step colour schemes for the models in that issue, which is genuinely handy if you're new and don't know where to start.",[40,53,54,57],{},[29,55,56],{},"Terrain cutouts"," - card scenery to fight over.",[40,59,60,63],{},[29,61,62],{},"Skirmish battle briefs"," - short scenarios to play with what you've built so far. These are a nice touch and mean you're playing games early, not just stacking grey plastic.",[14,65,67],{"id":66},"the-real-reason-to-subscribe-the-price","The real reason to subscribe: the price",[10,69,70,71,74,75,79],{},"Here's the honest headline - ",[29,72,73],{},"there just isn't a cheaper way to get plastic into your collection."," Almost every issue is a serious discount on the retail price of the models inside. And the clever part is the layering: a boxed Combat Patrol is already discounted against the RRP of the units it contains, and the magazine run undercuts ",[76,77,78],"em",{},"even the boxes",". So you're getting a discount on a discount.",[10,81,82],{},"If your goal is to build an army as cheaply as possible while you learn the hobby, that's hard to beat.",[84,85,87],"h3",{"id":86},"how-big-are-the-savings-really","How big are the savings, really?",[10,89,90],{},"Big, on the model issues. A few representative examples from the UK run:",[37,92,93,103,113,123],{},[40,94,95,98,99,102],{},[29,96,97],{},"Aeldari Windriders x6"," (issues 27-29) - RRP £37 per three, so the magazines save you around ",[29,100,101],{},"£44",".",[40,104,105,108,109,112],{},[29,106,107],{},"Premium sets"," - the Brutalis Dreadnought + Hive Tyran set was RRP £90, ",[29,110,111],{},"saving £54","; later premium sets save £29-53.",[40,114,115,118,119,122],{},[29,116,117],{},"Aeldari Wraithlord / Wraithguard"," - around ",[29,120,121],{},"£30 off"," each.",[40,124,125,128,129,132],{},[29,126,127],{},"Typical infantry squads and characters"," - somewhere between ",[29,130,131],{},"£16 and £24 off"," the box.",[10,134,135,136,139,140,143],{},"The one exception - and it matters for a paint site - is the ",[29,137,138],{},"paint-only issues."," Every \"Paints x2\" issue actually ",[76,141,142],{},"loses"," you a couple of quid: you're paying a ~£9.99 magazine cover price for £5-8 of paint. That's the one part of the collection where you're better off buying elsewhere (more on that below).",[84,145,147],{"id":146},"you-dont-even-need-to-subscribe","You don't even need to subscribe",[10,149,150],{},"Here's the part that makes it almost silly: back issues turn up on the usual gaming retailers - Wayland Games, Element Games and the like - so you can cherry-pick individual issues without ever signing up. Once you know a magazine issue contains the exact unit you want, buying a box of, say, Termagants at full RRP is hard to justify when the correct issue is sitting there for around £9.99. Work out which issue holds the kit you're after, grab that single magazine, done. It's a genuinely useful trick even for established collectors topping up a unit.",[10,152,153,154,161],{},"To work out which issue is which, the community-run ",[155,156,160],"a",{"href":157,"rel":158},"https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/384128-hachette-partworks-combat-patrol-summary-thread/",[159],"nofollow","Bolter and Chainsword summary thread"," is the best reference going - it lists every issue and batch, what's in each, the RRP savings, and where to pre-order. It's also honest about the exceptions: a few units (Ork patrols, for instance) are spread across so many issues that buying the box from a discount retailer works out cheaper - so check before you commit.",[14,163,165],{"id":164},"signing-up-a-bit-clunky-but-the-support-saves-it","Signing up: a bit clunky, but the support saves it",[10,167,168],{},"I'll be honest - getting signed up wasn't the smoothest part. If you've never heard of Hachette Partworks (I hadn't), it feels slightly odd handing over card details to a subscription-magazine company you don't know, and the website doesn't do a brilliant job of explaining itself or the process.",[10,170,171],{},"Two things made it fine in the end:",[37,173,174,180],{},[40,175,176,179],{},[29,177,178],{},"You can start from a back issue."," You're limited in how far you can jump in, but you can go back around 10 issues from the current one - so you're not forced to begin mid-army or miss the early, best-value issues.",[40,181,182,185],{},[29,183,184],{},"The phone support is genuinely good."," Speaking to a real person cleared up my questions and was massively reassuring when the website left me unsure. If you're on the fence about whether it's legit, a quick call sorts it.",[10,187,188],{},"So: expect a slightly dated, not-obvious sign-up flow, but a real human on the other end if you need one.",[14,190,192],{"id":191},"what-youll-need-to-paint-it","What you'll need to paint it",[10,194,195,196,199],{},"As the value breakdown above shows, the paints are the ",[76,197,198],{},"one"," thing in the collection you shouldn't rely on the magazine for - the paint-only issues are the only issues that cost you more than buying the contents outright. So this is exactly where a little planning pays off. Rather than paying over the odds for the pots the guides name, match the colours to cheaper equivalents from Vallejo or The Army Painter:",[37,201,202,210,218],{},[40,203,204,205,209],{},"Use the ",[155,206,208],{"href":207},"/tools/paint-matcher","paint matcher"," to find the closest paint from any brand to the ones the guide lists.",[40,211,212,213,217],{},"Not sold on the official scheme? The ",[155,214,216],{"href":215},"/tools/scheme-generator","scheme generator"," will give you an alternative palette for your army.",[40,219,220,221,225,226,102],{},"New to painting entirely? Start with the ",[155,222,224],{"href":223},"/guides/miniature-painting-starter-kit","starter kit checklist"," and ",[155,227,229],{"href":228},"/guides/how-to-start-painting-miniatures","how to start painting miniatures",[14,231,233],{"id":232},"the-catches-worth-knowing","The catches worth knowing",[37,235,236,242,248],{},[40,237,238,241],{},[29,239,240],{},"The subscription is a stream of models."," If you only want one specific unit, don't subscribe - track down that single back issue from a retailer (see above) instead of committing to the run.",[40,243,244,247],{},[29,245,246],{},"The models are the classic Combat Patrol contents"," - great for a new collector, less exciting if you already own these kits.",[40,249,250,253],{},[29,251,252],{},"The paint issues are poor value."," A handful of issues are just two Citadel pots for the full magazine price - the only issues that cost you more than buying the contents separately. Treat them as skippable and source your paints cheaper (see above).",[14,255,257],{"id":256},"verdict","Verdict",[10,259,260],{},"For a new or returning player who wants to build a real army cheaply and pick up the painting and playing along the way, the Combat Patrol partwork is one of the best-value on-ramps into 40k there is. The four-a-month cadence, the built-in paint guides and the little battle scenarios make it feel like a course rather than just a delivery. Pair it with a smart paint-buying plan and you'll spend far less than the shelf price to get a fully painted force on the table.",[262,263,267],"affiliate-shop",{"label":264,"search":265,"tid":266},"Shop paints for your Combat Patrol","warhammer combat patrol paint","combat-patrol-review",[10,268,269],{},"Match the magazine's paint guides to cheaper equivalents and stock up in one go.",{"title":271,"searchDepth":272,"depth":272,"links":273},"",2,[274,275,276,281,282,283,284],{"id":16,"depth":272,"text":17},{"id":23,"depth":272,"text":24},{"id":66,"depth":272,"text":67,"children":277},[278,280],{"id":86,"depth":279,"text":87},3,{"id":146,"depth":279,"text":147},{"id":164,"depth":272,"text":165},{"id":191,"depth":272,"text":192},{"id":232,"depth":272,"text":233},{"id":256,"depth":272,"text":257},"Reviews","2026-07-03","An honest, subscriber's review of the Hachette Warhammer 40,000 Combat Patrol partwork - what you get, how the discount really works, and whether it's the cheapest way to start collecting.","md","/images/guides/warhammer-40k-combat-patrol-magazine-review.webp","A subscriber's honest take on the Combat Patrol partwork",{},true,"/guides/warhammer-40k-combat-patrol-magazine-review",[295,296,297],"warhammer-40k-for-beginners","how-to-start-painting-miniatures","miniature-painting-starter-kit",{"title":5,"description":287},"warhammer combat patrol","guides/warhammer-40k-combat-patrol-magazine-review",null,"Y7oelcuStcZd0tX4-LKYSeI8IezC0_9_1I5DaxGFYIw"]