It's the moment I'm sure someone has been waiting for, and something I'm surprised I'm having trouble finding other bloggers discussing: the battle between Warhammer Underworlds and Godtear. This isn't a definitive answer to "which is better" or anything, just my thoughts on the two games and since they're aiming ti fill a similar spot in the market it seemed like as good a time as any to toss them into the ring together.
DING DING
Price
So let's start off with the big one: price to play. In this regard the two games aren't too terribly far apart. Underworlds does have a higher starting cost, with the starter set for the current season Beastgrave retailing for $75. Conversely, the both of the Godtear starters retail at $50. So right off the bat Godtear is cheaper to get into if you're buying the starter.
Expansion wise the two are pretty comparable. Most Underworlds warbands retail around the $33 mark, and new champions for Godtear retail at $30. With Godtear you'll get between four and six models per pack (with a couple of exceptions like Shayle or Keera), and in Underworlds you're looking between three and six models. However, in Underworlds you also get a stack of objective and power cards, which do factor into the overall cost.
Content of Starters
I want to touch on this because I feel like this is important, but I'll try to not drag on too long (no promises). Both starters get you a good amount of content, and obviously get you enough to start playing right out the gate. I'd say that in terms of amount of stuff the two games are fairly comparable, but Underworlds does have a little bit more (which is part of the cost). Not only do you get two warbands (totaling 11 models), you get all their stat cards, player cards, tokens, dice, two double-sided boards and rules. So it's a pretty packed box (the older starters are lighter on the models front as they both come with three man Stormcast warbands).
With Godtear, regardless of which starter you pick, you get ten models, six cards, a double-sided board, tokens, player dashboards, rules and dice.
The boards for Underworlds are, individually, smaller, but put together (as they would be for a game) they're probably around the same amount of material as the Godtear one. I will say this, though: the Underworlds boards have way better defined hexes on them. The desert side of the Godtear board is fine, but the woodland side seems to be really faded and can make finding hexes a bit of a pain in the ass.
Underworlds is also more versatile for demoing since the warbands are self-contained, while with Godtear a standard game is three champions per side.
The Models
So this is the big one, the one everyone is going to look at first. So, I'm going to say up front that I'm only judging them by the quality of the build. Everyone is going to have differing aesthetic tastes, so there's little point in my factoring that in here.
And without a doubt the winner here is Underworlds. I may have my gripes with GW, especially their rules teams, but I can never fault the sheer quality of their plastic models. The material is sturdy and solid, and I have almost never seen miscasts on GW plastics. The Godtear models aren't bad, per se, but they are of a more board game quality so some warping is possible (thankfully the individual champion packs come with a clear plastic front so you can actually see the models you're buying to inspect for any major warping).
Pick up and Playability
Here I'd say Godtear takes it. The ability to just open a new champion and play right away with them is super nice. While the Underworlds models are of better quality they do require assembly first, and while they are push-fit models if you don't have hobby clippers handy at that exact moment then you're sort of S.O.L.
The Rules
I've gone over these in more depth in my two reviews, so this is just a formality more than anything. I find both the rules to be quite good, smooth and easy to get. Both offer plenty of tactical depth and encourage players to really think through their moves and be smart. I think Underworlds has a great system with the limited number of activations, and Godtear's plot/clash phases adds a nice layer of depth. Both have their ups and downs, but Underworlds certainly seems to have less player downtime which I appreciate.
I will say that I think Godtear has the leg up on it's versatility; it's a lot easier to change things up between games since you just swap models than having to change up a deck and swap a bunch of cards.
Accessibility
So how easy is it to actually get your hands on these games? As it turns out, pretty damn easy. Both are, generally, speaking available from most online retailers, and I've seen them both in several local shops as well. It does seem, however, that GW is really bad at keeping stuff in stock on their own store. Of the like two dozen warbands available for Underworlds, only half of those are available on GW's shop (I suppose, technically, 14 if you count the two in the starter). However, if you go through anyone but GW's official store you should have your pick of the litter.
Overall
Both games are great fun, and really I can't say one over the other is better. It really comes down to what you want in it: if you want something more akin to the general miniatures gaming hobby then Underworlds is a good choice, if you want something with less prep work to play then Godtear is probably the better choice. They are both solid games, and I highly suggest checking both out if you get a chance.
For me? I'll probably stick to Godtear for a bit. I like the ability to just swap models around easily to change up your play style, and I like the fact I can just buy whatever I think looks cool. If I can find people to play Underworlds with (lord knows I don't want to play with the people I saw playing at one of my LGS' a while back, the dead-eyed "you can't have fun unless you win" types) then I'd absolutely jump in. As it currently stands, Godtear will be my game of choice when it comes to this type of thing.
Get some demos, both are totally worth it and have some fun.
I hope this has been somewhat informative for you, and I hope this gives you some ideas for new games to check out.
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