I am an accessory goblin-like hoarder and I’m always keen to expand my collection of cool tokens, MDF terrain and assorted gaming accessories so when the call went out to the Goonhammer Offices that Battle Kiwi had updated their 9th edition Battle Slate alongside the release of a slew of other 10th edition tools, I immediately dropped down from the crawlspace behind the ceiling tiles into the editors’ breakroom (it’s the last place they look), narrowly missing One_Wing’s collection of Wraithknights as I bravely volunteered to oversee this review. After promising Rob more photos of the elusive “Spiders-Man,” I followed his mimed directions toward vacating his office, my cape billowing behind me (and “accidentally” knocking over the Wraithknights on the way out).
Thanks to Battle Kiwi for providing us with their 40K Battle Box, 40K Battle Slate, 40K Tactical Command 2 player Board, Battle Shock Tokens and AoS Battle Scroll for review. The 40K Command Data Slate 9.0 edition and my stockpile of Paint Pot Holders were purchased personally prior to this review
An Introduction to Battle Kiwi
The Battle Kiwi crew are a mob of creative gamers based in New Zealand, or Aotearoa the land of the long white cloud. A place of mystery, hobbits and mostly sheep (Note: Beanith is an Australian and as such is required by law to sink the boot at least once when writing about New Zealand. New Zealand in turn gets to beat us at most sports).
Battle Kiwi has a large range of hobby terrain pieces and accessories covering over 15+ games. Most of their products are made from sustainable New Zealand MDF manufactured in New Zealand.
The 40K Battle Box
$89NZD/$82AUD/$53USD/£43GBP plus shipping for the complete bundle.
The 40K Battle Box is a modular series of magnetised MDF boxes designed to be a go-to portable solution for all of your necessary tools of wargaming needed for a successful game or three with your mates.
Designed for 10th edition in mind, each section is built around a particular theme or use in mind.
- Depending on which bundle you plumb for, you have the option of either the Dice Tray or Battle Box Lid. The lid is an additional sheet of MDF with the engraving of the Kiwi Aquila which fits neatly over the Mission Command Stack. Mine came with the Dice Tray which is engraved with Battle Kiwi’s special Black Edition Illustration of a Tech Priest both on the lid as well as on the laser engraved faux leather rolling area.
- The Mission Command Stack has dials to help you keep track of your Primary and Secondary points along with what turn you’re on and how many Command Points you have available. It has spaces to hold your current Secondary mission cards for fixed or tactical mission play and a space to keep special dice and tokens separate.
Battle Kiwi Mission Command Stack – Beanith - The Tool Logistics Stack is the section to hold all of your shiny math rocks along with your rulers, tape measure and various bits and bobs such as objective markers and tokens. It can fit about 200+ 16mm dice by themselves so Ork players may want to get an extra two or three. The two small dividers can be removed to make some extra room if needed.
Battle Kiwi Tool Logistics Stack – Beanith - The Mission Card Stack is made to hold the Chapter Approved: Leviathan Mission Deck with three card slots to separate attacker and defender secondary missions as well as the primary mission selection and deployment cards. Or you can do what I plan to do and stick all the cards in one slot and use the remaining space for more dice!
Battle Kiwi Mission Card Stack – Beanith
Thoughts
It’s a very well built piece of kit with some excellent joinery and magnetised so everything slots together like a dream. The faux leather lining of the dice tray makes a very satisfying noise as you roll your dice. The Mission Command Stack is brilliantly designed and I love the slots designed for the Secondary Mission Cards with indents making it super easy to switch out cards each round as needed. One minor bugbear to grumble about, the dials are a little sticky but with a little use I’m sure they’ll smooth out in time or I could hurry the process along with some wax perhaps.
This will certainly replace my current method of “multiple small sewing kit boxes” for all of my dice and “burying my Mission cards in my bag or one of several different cardboard box lids littered around my hobby room necessitating the traditional where the hell is it now?” search prior to every game day.
A note for Battle Kiwi, I’d love to see an add-on container suitable for the Data Cards although you may need to make room for the hefty Space Marine Index Cards.
The 40K Data Slate 10.0 Edition
$38NZD/$35AUD/$23USD/£18GBP plus shipping.
The 40K Data Slate 10 is the updated version of Battle Kiwi’s very popular 40K Command Data Slate 9.0. Slimmed down thanks to the removal of dozens of differently named missions you could take in 9th, you’re instead left with dials to help you keep track of your Primary and Secondary points along with the Turn and how many Command Points you have available.
Thoughts
It’s a cool hand-sized widget that won’t take up much room on the battlefield allowing you to keep track of how badly/well you’re doing in game. It fits neatly within the Tool Logistics Stack section of the Battle Box if you remove one of the optional dividers which is excellent because I need all the organisation help possible. Again the dials are a little rough at first but they’ll smooth out with plenty of use in time.
Another note for Battle Kiwi, if you shave a few mm off the length, it would fit perfectly within the Mission Card Stack section…
The 40K Tactical Command 2 player Board
$26NZD/$24AUD/$15USD/£12GBP plus shipping.
The Tactical Command Board is a neat little scoreboard for both players to use to keep track of both primary and secondary scores, command points and what turn it is using 16mm dice. It features a handy slot to place the Primary Objective card. While slightly too big to fit within the Battle Box, it’s still a good size to set off on the side for both players to see and track various info.
Thoughts
For me this may see a bit more use than the Data Slate or the Mission Command Stack as I really like the 2 player aspect. I also like using the dice to keep track of everything as I am already justifying to myself an excuse to buy more math rocks in different colours from my current dice sets. In case anyone was wondering, the first reason/excuse off the ranks is “I can’t count the number of times I’ve accidentally rolled the dice I’m using to keep track of command points”
The AoS Battle Scroll
$51NZD/$47AUD/$30USD/£25GBP plus shipping.
Lastly we have the AoS Battle Scroll or the High Fantasy Age of Sigmar version of the 40K Data Slate. This handy dandy tracker lets you keep track of your overall Grand Strategy and which Battle Tactic you have chosen for that current round. Along with that are tokens for you to use to keep track of Command Points which can be placed beside your heroes when needed.
Thoughts
This tracker is closer to the 40K Command Data Slate 9.0 with built in storage for all of the loose tokens so it maintains its very portable nature. Plus with every new Generals Handbook and Battletome, Battle Kiwi has released extra accessories so you can keep your AoS Battle Scroll up to date. I don’t play as much AoS as I should (if only Path to Glory was a better system) so I may not get to use this tool as much as I would like… Still going to add it to the toolbox though.
Final Thoughts
Overall I am one very happy camper, these tools will see plenty of use on my game days with my mates. They are very good value and could make for excellent stocking stuffers alongside Battle Kiwi’s most awesome Paint Pot Holders.
Professional Grumpy Old Man, Wet Blanket and Total Buzzkill Jon-kil has pointed out we do have Tabletop Battles so you could be incredibly boring and track these things on your phone. Bah humbug I say, we’re playing a tabletop wargame with dozens (possibly hundreds) of models, dice, tokens and measuring sticks… where’s the harm in a few more cool accessories my fellow accessory goblin-like hoarders?
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.
