What to Buy Next: Your Guide to Expanding Your Halo Flashpoint Collection
Anthony Salazar
So you picked up the Spartan Edition you’re liking the game, now you're sitting there looking at the box thinking, "okay, what's next?"
Welcome to the dangerous part of the hobby.
Flashpoint is halfway into its second year and the product range has grown considerably since launch. There's a lot out there now, and for a new player staring at the Mantic website for the first time, it can feel genuinely overwhelming. Big boxes, small boxes, terrain packs, playmats, accessories, and a whole wave of new stuff on pre-order dropping this September.
But here's the thing. You do not have to buy all of it. And you definitely shouldn't feel like you do. Like any hobby, tabletop gaming can get expensive fast, and disposable income is not exactly something most of us have in endless supply right now. Government tariffs and import fees haven't made it any easier either, especially for US buyers, but more on that in a moment.
The biggest piece of advice I give to people at the shop who are looking to expand is this: buy what looks cool to you, and go from there. Style over substance. In a hobby like this, where the investment is real and the options are many, you want to spend money on the things that genuinely excite you, not just whatever someone on a forum told you is the most competitive option. Flashpoint is about fun. If you're not having fun, what are you even doing here. In being honest about Flashpoint, most of the units are balanced very well, so you won’t run into a “bad buy” from Mantic, whatever you pickup will be useful.
So let's break it down. Models first, then terrain, then accessories. We'll go through everything currently available, what it is, what it costs, and whether it's worth your money or not. (Links to product pages will be attached to product names through out the article)
Understanding the Product Tiers
Before getting into specifics, it helps to understand how Mantic structures their releases because it's not immediately obvious from the outside.
Faction Boxes are the big ones. These are full expandalone sets, meaning everything you need to play this new faction/sub-faction is in the box, but still requires the Spartan Edition for base game components and gameplay features. They come with multiple models, a hard cardboard battlefield, cardboard terrain and scatter, exclusive themed dice, tokens (specific for inclusions to that box), and a full rules booklet, packed in a large but organized box. That booklet is important, it includes points values for all the units and items when building your teams, as well as new gameplay scenarios themed around that expansion. These are the highest value purchases in the range.
Expansions are smaller releases that come with a handful of models, the rules booklet for that specific faction/sub-faction with points values and scenarios, unit and weapon cards, and tokens specific to that set. No terrain or battlefield included, smaller box.
Fireteams are the leanest option. Just models and their stat cards, nothing else. No booklet, no scenarios, no tokens. These are the right call when you just want a few more models and already have everything else you need, but keep in mind you won't get any new scenarios or points content in these.
Special Issue / MasterCraft Resin sets are the premium tier. Named characters like Noble Team and the Spartan Killers fall here. High detail resin, higher price point, and produced in limited numbers each year.
Now let's get into the actual stuff.
Halo Wars 2 Concept Art | By: Halo Studios (Formerly 343 Industries)
The UNSC
Fireteam Cerberus
£25.00 / $45.00
If you own the Spartan Edition and want to expand your UNSC Spartan roster, this is our top pick. The loadouts inside are genuinely different from what you get in the base box. The CQB Spartan with a Gravity Hammer is a scary close combat threat, and the Gungnir paired with a Spartan Laser is one of the hardest hitting long range options in the game. These are getting reworked in the 1.5 update too, so we are eager to see how the units will change.
Fireteam Hydra
£25.00 / $45.00
Quick note here. If you own the Spartan Edition, you already have the same Spartans that come in Fireteam Hydra. Same models, same loadouts. This is an easy skip unless you specifically want duplicate units for painting, or you started off at a different entry point from the Spartan Edition.
Fireteam Grizzly
£25.00 / $45.00
Same models found in Cerberus, different loadout options. Worth picking up once you have Cerberus and want even more variety in your Spartan builds, these guys are fun.
Fireteam Phoenix / Fireteam Wolf
£45.00 / $65.00~ each
These are MasterCraft Resin versions of the same core Spartans from the starter box, just in new poses with higher detail. If you already have the base models these are easy to skip unless painting is a big part of why you play. The Deadeye model in Fireteam Phoenix is worth a specific callout though, the crouching pose physically changes how cover interacts with the model on the table, making it more effective. It's not a massive advantage, but it's real. I have to be honest in saying whenever I play the Deadeye, I exclusively use that model. But for someone still building out their collection, there are more impactful things to spend money on first.
Halo Wars 2: Operation: SPEARBREAKER Concept Art | By: Halo Studios (Formerly 343 Industries)
Feet First Into Hell - ODST Faction Set
£100.00 / $149.00
This is the UNSC's second full faction box and it is a great purchase, but it is specifically for people who want to go deep on ODSTs as a sub-faction. It comes with two of each ODST types, which gives you the full roster to experiment with and enough models to run exclusively ODST lists if that is your thing. It also comes with Buck and Dare, new terrain, a battlefield, and a full rules booklet with ODST specific scenarios and points content.
If you are not ready to commit to that level of investment, we recommend the Desperate Measures ODST Expansion instead. It gives you one of each ODST type, the booklet, and the cards, which is more than enough to start experimenting with how they work alongside your Spartans. I will say, the carboard terrain in this set is amazing, but can be purchased separate at a later time.
For more on how to field ODSTs effectively, keep an eye on our Field Manual over at theblackharriers.com. (Coming Soon)
Desperate Measures - ODST Expansion
£40.00 / $70.00
One of each ODST type, rules booklet, unit and weapon cards, and tokens. This is our recommended first step into ODSTs for most players. Get familiar with the units, see what you enjoy, its a good bouncing off point from the Spartan Edition.
Buck and Dare
£25.00 / $40.00
If you already own Feet First Into Hell you already have versions of these two. The standalone set features alternate sculpts in new poses in MasterCraft Resin. Totally skippable if you just want to play. They offer great gameplay capability, and are worth considering later in the online, for now you can safely hold off. $40 for two models is a lot. Worth it if you love to paint though, they have great detail that you can easily pull out.
Product Image By: Mantic Games
The Master Chief: Humanity's Greatest Weapon
£12.50 / $22.50
The man himself. His points cost is high but his stats justify it, very low numbers across the board and in Flashpoint low numbers are good. He is also included in the upcoming Army Painter Paint Set reprint, so it is worth checking that out before buying him standalone to avoid doubling up.
Noble Team Expansion
£69.00 / $89.00 (Limited Availability)
Six legendary Spartans in MasterCraft Resin. Carter, Kat, Jun, Jorge, Emile, and Noble Six. Comes with all six character and special order cards, new Man Cannon terrain pieces, and the Noble Team Expansion Booklet introducing the Big Team Battle format for 8x16 cube play.
We want to be upfront here. Noble Team is a fantastic set, and if you are a Halo: Reach fan it is probably the thing you want most in the range. But at this price point, for players who are just starting to grow their collection, we strongly recommend building out with more accessible and affordable sets first. Get your Fireteams sorted, pick up an expansion or two, get comfortable with the game. Its also important to note, that due to their point costs, you will only be able to field 2-3 models out of this set in a given 200 point team, they are expensive in points cost. You can draft all six in a BTB 400 point list, however.
UNSC Marines
£50.00 / $80.00 - Pre-Order, Ships September 2026
This is the big UNSC release of the year and we have a dedicated article on it over on the Dispatch. Marines change how UNSC plays in a fundamental way, moving the faction toward board control and defensive positioning in ways Spartans alone cannot do. Very excited about these.
Halo Wars 2 Concept Art | By: Halo Studios (Formerly 343 Industries)
The Banished
The Banished play completely differently from UNSC, and it's worth understanding the broad strokes before spending money. This faction runs on contrast. You have Elites (Sangheili), who are fast, mobile, and aggressive, built around closing and/or increasing distance and getting around your opponents line of sight, thanks to their “Evade” keyword. Then you have Brutes (Jiralhanae), who are the opposite. Slow, durable, hard hitting tanks that absorb punishment and hit back harder. Running them together means you always have a threat your opponent has to deal with on their terms, and that is genuinely powerful.
For anyone looking to get into the Banished, our recommendation above everything else is to start with Rise of the Banished. The smaller individual expansion options are fine, but Rise of the Banished opens up the entire faction in one go, giving you the full spread of everything you need for a new faction to play, and Atriox himself. It is the most complete way to start playing Banished and it will hold you over with content for a long time.
Rise of the Banished - Faction Box
£100.00 / $149.00
Your Banished starter and our strongest recommendation for anyone picking up the faction. Atriox, a full squad of Brutes across multiple unit types, a double up on the Sangheili Mercenaries from the Spartan Edition, new terrain, a battlefield, exclusive dice, tokens, and the full Banished rules booklet. Atriox alone is worth discussing. He is the Banished equivalent of Master Chief on the table. He is a massive board presence that your opponent cannot ignore and has to deal with, and with the 1.5 update bumping his Armour to (2), he gets even scarier. Pair him with a health pack and he becomes a genuine nightmare. The Brutes in this box are slow but durable, and lean hard into close combat. The Elites complement them perfectly as your fast, mobile flankers.
Sangheili Mercenary Fireteam
£25.00 / $45.00
Worth flagging here. These are the exact same Elites that come in the Spartan Edition. If you own the base box, you already have these models. This set exists for players who want additional copies or came in through a different entry point. If you have the Spartan Edition, this one is a skip.
Defiance - Banished Expansion
£40.00/$70.00
Four Brutes, carboard tokens, new weapon cards, special orders and their matching booklet. If you want a lighter entry point given you already own the Elites in the base box, this is a great pairing.
Product Image By: Mantic Games
Banished Jiralhanae Fireteam
£25.00 / $45.00
Four additional Brutes and their cards. Great for filling out a Brute heavy list once you have Rise of the Banished and want more variety in your Jiralhanae options.
Banished Reinforcements - Grunts and Jackals
£50.00 / $80.00 — Pre-Order, Ships September 2026
This is the other big Banished release of the year alongside the Marines, and we have a full article on this one too. Grunts and Jackals bring cheap, numerous units to the Banished for the first time, opening up board control and objective holding in ways the faction has never had access to before. Separate from Rise of the Banished and absolutely worth picking up alongside it once September hits, but we recommend looping back at either the big box, or the expansion first.
Banished Spartan Killers - Hand of Atriox
£59.00 / $79.00 — Pre-Order, Ships September 2026 (Limited Availability)
Jega 'Rdomnai, Hyperius, and Tovarus in MasterCraft Resin. The Banished answer to Noble Team, built specifically to hunt Spartans. These are genuinely terrifying on the table and the models are stunning.
Same note as Noble Team though. For newer players still building their collections, we strongly recommend starting with the more accessible options before committing to a set at this price point. These are for the dedicated player who is already comfortable with the game and wants to push into legendary character territory. Worth every penny when you get there, just not the first thing to spend money on, especially as therre are only three models in this set.
Product Image By: Mantic Games
Terrain and Accessories
Playmats vs. Hard Boards
There is a pretty even split in the community between players who prefer the included hard cardboard battlefields and players who prefer neoprene playmats. Both are valid.
Hard boards feel great. There is something tactile about the tap of a model base against cardboard, and the solid feel of a building sitting on it, and are found in every big box set. The downside is storage, especially if you are trying to travel light.
Playmats roll up, go in a bag, and take up almost no space. Easy to transport, easy to store, but they can crease and fray.
Worth knowing: because Flashpoint uses the same gameplay system as Mantic's other game Deadzone, all Deadzone game boards and playmats are fully compatible with Flashpoint. You can often find Deadzone mats at a discount from online retailers (they are at a lower price than the Flashpoint mats on Mantic’s webpage). The Sector 2 Deadzone battlemat in particular gives off a great night time New Mombasa vibe at $35 for any Halo 3 ODST fans out there (yes that is a very specific recommendation and yes I stand by it).
Product Image By: Mantic Games
Reach Deluxe Gaming Mat
£50.00 / $75.00
The big double sized mat for Big Team Battle format. Looks great, especially in photos. Honest note though: I noticed on mine, the printed imagery has come through slightly pixelated or blurry, which is a bit disappointing at this price. It is still a great functional product and photographs beautifully, just something to be aware of going in.
Zeta Halo Deluxe Gaming Mat
£30.00 / $55.00 — Pre-Order, Ships September 2026 (Limited)
Fresh new battlefield themed around Installation 07. Forerunner architecture and green flora. Perfect for anyone wanting a board that matches the new wave's setting.
Other Playmat Terrain For Flashpoint is offered at the £30.00 / $55.00, if anyone wanted to check it out.
UNSC Scenery Set
£25.00 / $45.00
Great set, highly recommended. The UNSC barrier shields, Reach-era generators, and crates are all immediately recognizable and look excellent on the table. I pair official scatter like this with 3D printed pieces for maximum variety, and honestly the combination looks great.
Product Image By: Mantic Games
ODST Scenery Set
£25.00 / $39.00
Fantastic with an asterisk. The drop pod is iconic, immediately recognizable, and a must have piece of scatter for any ODST player. However, sizing it up against an actual ODST model the pod is noticeably smaller than it should be to scale, which will bother lore accurate players. The turrets in this set are a great upgrade over the cardboard tokens but are only useful if you own the ODST expansion that introduced them. If you have Feet First Into Hell, this is a must buy. If not, hold off.
Banished Garrison Scenery Set
£25.00 / $45.00
Fun models to paint and place, but there is an honest critique here. Most of these pieces are on the shorter side, and do not offer much meaningful cover for the larger Brute models. A Brute stepping behind most of this scatter is going to have it hit somewhere around the shins rather than actually guard against bullet fire. Good for visual flavor on the table, not as functionally useful as the UNSC terrain for actual gameplay cover.
If you’re just starting you journey in expanding your Flashpoint collection, we recommend waiting on this
New Mombasa Terrain Set
£27.50 / $45.00
Solid urban scatter themed around Halo 3 ODST's New Mombasa setting. Pairs beautifully with an ODST force and adds great visual variety to the board. We especially love the watchtower that come in this.
Outpost Buildable 3D Terrain Set & Deluxe Buildable 3D Terrain
£40.00 / $70.00 & £80.00 / $130.00
The modular plastic building system made iconic by Mantic. These look excellent in retail photos and are genuinely impressive on the table. But there are real things to know before buying. The connector system, plastic pegs slotting into holes on the tile edges, is inconsistent in quality. Some connectors are too loose, others simply will not go in no matter how hard you press. And trust me, focusing that much pressure on small hard plastic areas will hurt your fingers. I ended up having to take an exacto knife to trim pegs and widen holes before anything fit properly. After all that I just super glued everything together, which means you lose the modularity entirely. The smell from doing all that super gluing in a small space also got nauseating, which is on me for not wearing a mask.
Also be thoughtful about what you build. I shot myself in the foot early on by making two large multi-story 3x3 bases that are too big to reasonably fit on a standard 8×8 board. They ended up working out once Big Team Battle arrived, but at the time it felt like I wasted tiles on what could have been more modular and diverse buildings. If you do buy these, build small and varied rather than going big, I also recommend verticality.
If you have access to a 3D printer, printing terrain is honestly the better call for Flashpoint. Files for Halo Infinite, Halo 3, and Reach maps are widely available and the quality is excellent. But if a printer is not an option, these are still a genuine upgrade from cardboard, just go in with eyes open.
Product Image By: Mantic Games
Force Organizer Pack
£20.00 / $35.00
These are plastic tray organizers for keeping your unit cards, weapon cards, and item tokens sorted on the table during a game. And honestly, we do not recommend them at their current MSRP. Four plastic trays for over thirty dollars is a tough sell, especially when cheaper organization solutions exist. If you genuinely want them though, there is a fun bonus: because they are plastic you can prime and paint them in any color you want, add accent details with your acrylics, and turn a functional accessory into a personalized hobby project. But for most players, this is a low priority purchase.
It should also be noted: These tray organizers are designed to perfectly fit unit and weapon cards, and tokens. If you play with sleeves (I myself do), then they will not fit inside. If anyone is interested, Ultra-Pro sells “Oversized” sleeves that are perfect for the unit cards.
Halo Flashpoint App Subscription
$3.00 USD / month
The free version lets you build one list and access unit stats and keywords. The subscription unlocks unlimited list building, which is genuinely useful when you're trying to figure out what to buy next. For three dollars a month you can build hypothetical lists, check point costs, read keywords, and figure out exactly what fits your playstyle before spending money on actual models. If you are on a budget and trying to be smart about your collection, a month of the app subscription before a big purchase is one of the smartest investments you can make.
A Note on US Pricing and Tariffs
Worth being direct about this. Due to import tariffs on goods coming into the US, Mantic has had to adjust US pricing on several products and prices have crept up from their original launch figures. The best way to get accurate current USD pricing is directly from Mantic's website using the USD toggle at the top of the page, or from a US local retailer. Shopping through your local game store is always worth it when possible, both to support the store and because they sometimes have pricing flexibility on pre-orders. Ettin Games here in Albuquerque offers 20% off MSRP on all Mantic pre-orders, which is genuinely significant on some of the bigger boxes. Always support your LGS (Local Game Store)!
The Short Version
Start with Fireteam Cerberus if you want more Spartans. Grab Desperate Measures to try ODSTs without the full box commitment. Go Feet First Into Hell if you want to run a full ODST force instead. Pick up Rise of the Banished if you want to switch sides with the full Banished faction. Check the Flashpoint App before any purchase over $45.
And buy what looks cool. That part we cannot stress enough.
For unit strategy and deeper breakdowns, keep an eye out for the upcoming Field Manual section at theblackharriers.com. We will be building that out for players wanting to master their units.
GL/HF.
Disclaimer: The Black Harriers and the Harrier Dispatch are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Mantic Games. Any links to products or purchase pages included in this article are non-partnered and non-sponsored. We do not receive any compensation, commission, or benefit from purchases made through those links. All product recommendations reflect personal opinion and genuine experience with the game, nothing more.
