Do you buy GW miniatures for the game?

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**jonolikespie**

Just seeing how many people are buying to 'collect', just to paint, or because they like playing the game

**chromedog**

To start with, I wasn't aware there WAS a game for them.
Later on, I bought the rules to go with the models I had bought.

Still later, I bought the models DESPITE the rules.

Now, I don't do either very much. I might see something I like nth hand in a BSS table at an event, but feth buying anywhere near retail for their product these days.

**jonolikespie**

I know what you mean by that. GW keep saying that people buy their minis to collect and paint and the game is just something to do with those collections. Currently I fit into that catagory of people, but thats because I gave up on the game. I now spend a couple of hundred bucks a year on GW, when I played I spent a couple of hundred bucks a month.

**Stormonu**

I originally bought the models with the intention of playing, but the truth is I just seem to collect them and occasionally paint them. I've played about a dozen games, three-quarters or more of them since 6th. Many different armies so far - Space Marines, Tau, Eldar, Orcs, Adeptus Mechanicus, Necrons, Chaos Space Marines (belonging to my son), Imperial Guard, Tyranids - collected over a period of 30 years or so.

If the rules went belly up, there's a good likelyhood I'd still pick up the occasional model - mostly the vehicles, as that's where my true interest lies.

**Grief**

Evidently people do buy models to collect and paint, but do they buy 3-5-10 of the same models to collect and paint?

If I wanted a big giant model such as a Wraith Knight, Imperial Knight, Storm Surge, Rip Tide, Bane Blade etc... to collect and paint I would just stop at 1. If I did not play I would not buy more of the same models. I would collect many different models not so much of the same models. Use these models in different games or have a variety of different models on display on my shelf.

**Crimson Devil**

The models are absurdly priced and over-rated. The rules are a quagmire. The fan base increasingly fractious and hostile. Almost a perfect storm of fail.

I would not own any 40k models without the game, and my interest in the game is running on fumes.

**oldzoggy**

This poll needs more options and the question is kinda ambiguous.

- Yes I like to model miniatures, collecting them is an inconvenient byproduct of building and owning them. Meh that just takes up more space.

- Yes I would like to play the game.
This is really important for me. The minies are kinda worthless if I can't play with them. Since to be honest they aren't really display pieces to show off to even your geeky friends. I store all my minies in a broom closet.

-No I do not buy GW miniatures.
their rules are fethed up and keep getting worse by the day, the same goes for their prices and I am still sad / angry for killing off warhammer. I simply do not trust this company enough to make investments in it at this moment. Why would I spend my good euro's on an army that has a high risk of being completely useless in a year or so. I am currently scratch building / converting armies based on my shamefully large "bitz boxes." And hoping on decent 40k rules when the army is finished.

The other option might be to look for a group of old hammer players who like to play 5th wfb or something similar but this is harder then I would like it to be.

**Francil**

I'm buying second hand GW miniatures to play, because I like to play and would like to play more. Initially in my small gaming group we set up the rule: no unpainted mini on the table, thus I had to paint them, in the beginning it was almsot a chore to be honest.

However, as many of us I guess (

) I end up spending a lot more time on painting than on playing.

I came to appreciate to paint, to always try to improve a bit, to always try to have the mins look a bit better than the previous one. So I guess I'm becoming a collector too, even though I'm still waiting for the next game with impatience.

**IllumiNini**

I'm definitely in it for the gaming. The assembly and painting can be great fun, but I something find it tedious, especially if I'm not doing an Assembly/Painting/Gaming day with my mates. I also found* that assembly and painting are good ways to get episodes of a TV Show or Web Series "out of the way".

That being said: If the end goal wasn't gaming, then I probably wouldn't buy or paint models at all. Gaming is what I enjoy most out of the tabletop side of this hobby.

*My mates insisted I sit down, assemble and/or paint, and catch up on episodes of Critical Role haha.

**Griddlelol**

Can we add another option? I like the lore, the miniatures fit into the lore, the game is just a way for me to mess around with 40k lore with friends.

I wouldn't have been interested if it was just game/models.

**Iron_Captain**

I have entire collections of different games that will never see a game simply because there are no players in my area. I buy miniatures because I like them, regardless of whether I plan to use them in a game or not. That said, 40k miniatures I buy do often end up in a game regardless of the reason why I bought them and the practicality of them being in a game. I am still wondering how I can put my lone SoB Hospitaller into my Inquisitor's retinue though.
I don't really like painting stuff though. It takes too long and I always get distracted by something else before finishing even a single 28mm miniature. So most stuff is just sitting in boxes (or piles on the floor) unpainted (or half painted). But don't worry, I will finish everything someday! Even though that is also what I said three years ago...

**Bottle**

For the game.

Without the game (or a game) I would not collect or paint any miniatures. I have never bought and painted something for myself without the intention of eventually getting it on the table. I am a regular player of AoS. I haven't played 40k since 5th Edition, but when I bought my Skitarii last summer the end goal is to get them on the table eventually.

**ChazSexington**

For the game. Without the game to support it, I wouldn't buy them, though I play because of the fluff.

**jonolikespie**

oldzoggy wrote:This poll needs more options and the question is kinda ambiguous.

Griddlelol wrote:Can we add another option? I like the lore, the miniatures fit into the lore, the game is just a way for me to mess around with 40k lore with friends.

I wouldn't have been interested if it was just game/models.

I'll admit it's not the most comprehensive poll ever, the point is simply to see if people are buying GW's models to play the game, as opposed to the oft cited 'the game is unimportant, our customers are collectors' comments of GW.

**oldzoggy**

Let me rephrase my answer. I play this game because I like to build and play with my own fantasy army. This requires me to build and buy models. Owning a Fantasy army isn't really that interesting for me. It actually is an inconvenience. ( So I am only a collector against my will. ) The current rules and meta for this game currently doesn't allow me to field my own fantasy army and actually that is actually fun to play / has any chance at winning. This makes me unhappy and removed all intentions to buy new models.

**Ashiraya**

Griddlelol wrote:
Can we add another option? I like the lore, the miniatures fit into the lore, the game is just a way for me to mess around with 40k lore with friends.

I wouldn't have been interested if it was just game/models.

Hear, hear.

**oldzoggy**

jonolikespie wrote:
oldzoggy wrote:This poll needs more options and the question is kinda ambiguous.

Griddlelol wrote:Can we add another option? I like the lore, the miniatures fit into the lore, the game is just a way for me to mess around with 40k lore with friends.

I wouldn't have been interested if it was just game/models.

I'll admit it's not the most comprehensive poll ever, the point is simply to see if people are buying GW's models to play the game, as opposed to the oft cited 'the game is unimportant, our customers are collectors' comments of GW.

This poll is a over simplified version of the age old question GW employees like to ask you when you walk in the store and even that question doesn't do justice to why you buy or don't buy models.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Not that it is bad, it is just that a large part of the county doesn't really have a fitting answer to choose from in this way.

**MrMoustaffa**

I hate to admit it, I am one of those customers GW talks about that "buy to paint and collect, not play the game."

Keep in mind that's not by choice, but because the rules are terrible.

And yet for some reason I can't stop painting and building them. Since I mostly play historical, 40k is a nice break to paint and model since it's a break from the historical tans, greens, browns, and white. Granted most of my models are used, and I'm phasing out my GW paints because whoever designed these paint pots needs to get a swift kick to the nuts/ovaries, so I'm not exactly supporting them, but I still pick up GW models from time to time.

I've noticed there's a decent sized group of people who are in a "wait and see" mode. Basically they collect models they want, usually used (because it is insultingly cheap to get 40k minis right now with a constant amount of people seemingly quitting) paint them, and then just hold onto them and hope the rules improve someday

**GreyCrow**

Great initiative for the post !

When it was announced from GW's insider investor meeting that their "market research team" found out that people were only interested in collecting, I speculated that this was crap and that about 20% of people were only interested in the models and the rest were gaming to some extent.

The rules are what either makes the sail or put the last nail on the coffin on gorgeous minis.
Obviously, GW understands this and fudges the rules to give an advantage to new minis. It's no surprise that Centurions, when they were released, were OP.

The problem is that it takes a few games in beadty metas for people to realize that the game isn't balanced and at which point their spending goes down drastically.

**Likan Wolfsheim**

I sorta feel like the poll is a bit too binary for me to give a truly accurate answer, at least as far as things are presently.

In the past it was definitely a firm 'Yes' answer. Senior year in High School a few of my friends wanted to get into 40k and after repeatedly stating my lack of interest in making such a large investment I eventually caved and gave it a go. I ended up loving it way more than the rest of my friends.

At first buying the models was a requirement I needed to fulfill to play the game I wanted to play. Then I began enjoying gaming and modelling/painting in equal measure. Eventually the game started becoming more of an excuse for me to collect more models. And now I do much more modelling and painting than gaming.

When I buy a GW kit now it's more for the modelling/painting/collecting aspect than for any gaming purpose. However, I still like the idea of playing the game and want more opportunities to do so. But I haven't put nearly as much effort into actually trying to seek out 40k games.

...W40k, WFB, assorted 28mm historical soldiers *and* tanks, however, are all frequently used in my D&D games. So I guess I do get a use out of most of my 40k stuff, even if I'm not playing much 40k.

**Drasius**

GreyCrow wrote:
Obviously, GW understands this and fudges the rules to give an advantage to new minis. It's no surprise that Centurions, when they were released, were OP.

I'm not sure that this is the case, since Warp Talons and Mutilators were new releases with absurdly terrible rules. The Tau fliers (Razorshark & Sunshark) were both completely ignored for everything else in the codex. The DA fliers were both terrible on release. The entire Scions codex is sub-par, as is most of the Harlequins codex. The doomsday ark was always overshadowed by the anni barge. Skarbrand is still a waste of points. If memory serves, the Haruspex and Toxicrene never set the world on fire. The space marine Hunter and Stalker were both widely panned on arrival, despite coming at a time when flyers were still a big deal.

I suspect that GW actually has very little idea about what makes for a good set of rules, or at least I choose to believe that, since the alternative, that they willfully churn out utter rubbish like CSM/Orks/BA right before things like Eldar/Tau/Necron releases and think that they are balanced.

I belive that the saying goes, don't ascribe to malice what can be explained by stupidity.

**Xerics**

If there was no game I would never have bought the models nor would I have gotten my wife into it.

I feel like GW fired all their game testers and designers in favor of the modelers. The way the writing is done it must have been done by an artist as it takes an abstract mind to completely understand the rules especially when it comes to RAI vs RAW.

**hobojebus**

I quit when 7th edition came out I really disliked 6th and the latest edition didn't fix any of the glaring problems it was just a cash grab.

So I haven't spent anything on GW for two years my monies gone to their competition.

**Dowager Countess M**

I buy miniatures mostly to paint, but I have been getting into the gaming scene a little more. The lore is what got me into the game, and I quite enjoy painting.

**Ratius**

I buy both to collect and to play. Amend the poll!

**Purifier**

WHy are so many people whining about the poll?

It's a perfectly reasonable yes or not question.

If you don't play and don't collect, then the poll isn't for you. It's taking a poll to see what those that do collect do it for.

If you like both modelling and playing, then you pick "playing."

The question, as far as I understand it (and I find it interesting too) is how large a percentage of people that own models do so without any interest in the rules.

Griddlelol: you like the lore, ok. But do you use your models to play the game or only to paint and because you're interested in the lore? Or do you also use them to play? If you use them to play, pick option #1. If not, then you're in the "other" bracket of option #2.

Ratius: then you are option #1.

Ok, it could be clearer. Option #1 could have simply said "I use my models in games of 40k."

I wouldn't have bought a single model if there were no rules, but if GW scrap their rules entirely I would be happy. This game has such a large fanbase that we would then get fanmade rules that would get generally accepted as defacto standard, and those rules would inevitably be better than the absolute garbage we're being fed.

I would only miss the nice physical books.

**Xerics**

It would be cool if someone wrote a rulebook for 40K after GW died and sold the book at cost ot people who actually wanted the BRB hardcover and stuff. It would be a not for profit initiative, although I don't know how any printing company is gunna let you print books only a few at a time for someone who wants it.

**zedmeister**

For me, they go together. I need a combination of an engaging and/or strong background along with a game set within it, including options for scenarios and campaigns. Couple that with nice miniatures that help set the scene and I'm set. 40k rules definitely need taming or approached with a relaxed attitude to play to properly enjoy.

I do buy the odd miniature to just paint, but it's usually other companies miniatures that I do that with. Although nice, GW miniature are a bit plain and definitely too characature-esque when it comes to painting

**kronk**

My first 2 GW purchases were for D&D. I bought a box of Moria Orks to use as goblins (excellent value at the time) and a box of Chaos Warriors (also a cheap buy at the time) just for random, evil bad guy mooks.

**ProwlerPC**

I'm in it for the hobby of collecting and painting first and foremost. The game is a way for me to interactively show off my stuff while having a cold beer.
I've done art with leads, inks and oil paints all on flat surfaces. I wanted a new medium to work with so I went with models and acryllics. GW has the best and most detailed models on the planet. Further research lead me to 40k Orks as the most aesthetically pleasing and their fluff tickles me greatly.
Whatever the game currently is now will change in a few years. The flavor of the week interests me less then the appeal of having my own lovingly painted orks
In conclusion, I want GW models, not scratch built stuff from Legos.