Our faction guide told you the two-player starters are the best value in Moonstone, and then cheerfully left you to work out which one to buy. Let us finish the job.
Both boxes contain a complete game. Both give you eight miniatures, two playable troupes, and every card, token and measuring widget two people need. Neither is a trap, neither is the "bad" one, and you are not going to regret either purchase.
They just point at completely different halves of Tauber.
Dusk till Dawn: The Classic
What is in the box: Four Human miniatures for the Commonwealth (Baron von Fancyhat, Eric the Squire, Flintlock, and Friar Flavius) against four Goblins of the Dominion. Plus the cards, tokens and widgets.
Why it exists: This is the original matchup and the one the game was designed to teach with. Pompous knights against gleeful goblins is Moonstone's core comedy, and playing it is the fastest way to understand what the game is about rather than just how it works.
The one genuine exclusive: Friar Flavius is in this box and nowhere else. If you are a completionist, that is worth knowing before you decide.
The Commonwealth half plays like a toolbox. Good armour, reliable stats, and a faction that rewards thinking a turn ahead. The Baron is the game's headline bluffer, which means whoever takes this side gets the fastest education in Moonstone's actual skill.
The Dominion half is chaos with a body count. Cheap goblins, wild specialists, and a very high chance you blow yourself up at least once while learning. It is the more forgiving side to lose with, because losing is funny.
Buy this if: it is your first miniatures game, you are teaching somebody else, or you want the matchup that best explains why Moonstone is Moonstone.
Dusk till Dawn: Two Player Starter Set
Life & Death Struggle: The Supernatural One
What is in the box: Four Shades of Moonreach for the Shades (Negroli, Greymair, Serif and Angerboda) against four Fauns of the Leshavult. Same complete-game contents.
Why it exists: It covers the two factions Dusk till Dawn does not, which means between the two boxes you have seen all four troupes in the game. It is also the more atmospheric of the two: folk-horror fae against the restless dead, in a wood, at night.
The Leshavult half is speed and trickery. Fauns want to grab a Moonstone and be somewhere else before you can respond. If you like winning by being annoying to catch, this is your side.
The Shades half is patience and dread. They are content to stand there and outlast you, and their sculpts are, in our opinion, the best-looking models in the range.
Buy this if: you already know you like miniatures games, the gothic and fae aesthetic is what pulled you in, or somebody in your house has already got Dusk till Dawn and you want to expand the pool of playable factions.
Life & Death Struggle: Two Player Starter Set
Side by Side
| Dusk till Dawn | Life & Death Struggle | |
|---|---|---|
| Factions | Commonwealth vs Dominion | Leshavult vs Shades |
| Models | 4 Humans, 4 Goblins | 4 Fauns, 4 Shades |
| Tone | Comedy, pomposity, explosions | Folk horror, fae, the dead |
| Best for | First game, teaching others | Second box, atmosphere |
| Exclusive | Friar Flavius | - |
| Complete game? | Yes | Yes |
The Ten Second Answer
Is this the first miniatures game in the house? Dusk till Dawn. It teaches the game better, the tonal contrast between the two sides is sharper, and the Commonwealth are the most straightforward faction to learn the bluffing system with.
Does somebody in the house already own one? Buy the other one. Between them, you cover all four factions, and you will get far more mileage from four troupes than from duplicate copies of two.
Are you buying based purely on which models you want to paint? Then buy that one and stop reading. Genuinely. The rule of cool is undefeated in this hobby, and the box you are excited about is the box that gets assembled instead of shelved.
What Else You Might Want
The starters really are complete, so this is a short list.
- A second Core Rulebook if two of you want to read up separately.
- A spare Acrylic Measuring Widget, because passing one back and forth across a table gets old faster than you would think.
- Your first troupe box once you know which faction you liked. Three models, and it is how most people expand.
That is it. No hidden second purchase, no "you will need the expansion to actually play". It is one of the most honest entry points in miniatures gaming, and it is a big part of why we stock the game.
So which is it: knights and goblins, or fae and the dead?