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The new Gundam wargame's miniatures are lightyears ahead of Warhammer 40k

Unlike Games Workshop’s ‘easy to build’ beginner minis for Warhammer 40,000, the minis for Gundam Assemble are genuinely easy to build.

A green painted Zaku II mobile suit miniature from Gundam Assemble faces off against a grey plastic Space Marine from Warhammer 40k

Warhammer 40k has long been at the forefront of model kit design for the miniature game market, with kits that combine a fun building experience, loads of options, and a final product that both looks great and plays well on the tabletop. But the game's dominance is about to be shaken by Bandai's upcoming Gundam Assemble wargame - team Wargamer has built some test models, and they're simply superb.

It's an open secret among model kit collectors that Gundam models (Gunpla) are, in many ways, more advanced than Warhammer 40k kits. Gunpla go together without glue, have fully articulable joints, and have more detail on individual components thanks to using three part rather than two part molds.

That's not to call them strictly better - people want to play games with their Warhammer 40k factions, and 40k minis are engineered with that in mind. Gunpla are more like delicate action figures, or military scale models destined for display or dioramas.

But what happens when Bandai takes its mastery of engineering and then makes a model that's designed for tabletop gameplay? That's what the firm has planned for its upcoming miniature game Gundam Assemble, and the results are impressive.

An unpainted model Zaku II mobile suit from the Gundam Assemble wargame

Wargamer editor Alex Evans and I had the chance to build one Gundam Assemble miniature each during the UK Games Expo. While the miniature wargame isn't due out until 2026, four models will release later this year, bundled in with the starter decks for the upcoming new Gundam TCG - check my Gundam TCG preview for full thoughts on that.

Each model comes on a single sprue (plus a sprue for a base and a mini-flight stand). There were no instructions at the booth, but these are vastly simpler kits than regular Gunpla, so that wasn't a problem. The components push fit together, and then lock in place.

A Zaku II Mobile suit model in pieces from the wargame Gundam Assemble

That sounds like Warhammer's 'Easy to Build' range, right? The difference is that these models actually are easy to build. Many Warhammer Easy to Build minis have stiff joins, awkward angles of connection, or involve pushing together delicate components.

Often there's a nasty combination of these factors, so the force necessary to get two parts to socket together is also greater than the force needed to snap one of the pieces - the spindly Aelves and Skaven in the Warhammer Underworlds range are particularly bad for this.

Putting the Gundam Assemble minis together was just smooth. And despite that ease of assembly, the parts aren't loose. I built a Zaku II waving an axe, and while it can be removed at the shoulder joint - you can see the kit disassembled after I painted it, above - it's not at any risk of dropping off.

They components are also suitably chunky - though the same could be said of regular Gunpla - so they should be durable little models that stand up well to tabletop play. The poses are fixed but characterful.

A maroon painted model of Char's Zaku II mobile suit from the miniature game Gundam Assemble

At the booth we had a chance to put some basic paint on the minis using Mr. Hobby paint, which went on without an undercoat. I don't know the Mr. Hobby range well enough to comment if that's a property of this paint or the plastic used in the model - Gunpla plastic is a little different than the HIPs used in Warhammer minis, and Mr. Hobby felt tackier than regular paint for miniatures, so it could have been either.

Both editor Alex and I were extremely impressed by the build experience, though as I've made Gunpla before, I wasn't as surprised as he was. Bandai has a broader range of engineering capabilities than Games Workshop - my only doubt was whether or not it could apply that to make a miniature suitable for wargaming. The answer is a resounding "yes".

A green model Zaku II Mobile Suit from the Gundam Assemble wargame prepares to swing its axe into the back of a yellow armored Space Marine terminator captain from Warhammer 40k

Are you a Gunpla builder, or a fan of the anime? Which mobile suits are you most excited to see as wargaming miniatures? Let us know in the official Wargamer Discord community.

If you want to get gaming with these miniatures as soon as the Gundam TCG starter decks release, you should check out the indie miniature wargame MechaStellar, which has rules for a frankly astonishing number of Gundams from the Universal Century and alternate universes.