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I am just about to embark on a new army project (quite a large one actually) and I was wondering where people tend to get their models when they are working to a tight budget. I used to use ebay a lot but it now seems to be quite hard to get hold of any new boxed sets for much below GW RRP, especially when you factor in postage. I know some of you will say I should just buy from my FLGS but GW prices are getting really high and some of us (students) just can't afford to shell out £20 for a measly Tactical Squad (even I am old enough to remember when they were £12, albeit with less options).

Thoughts Dakkaites...?

I get my cheap stuff from www.waylandgames.co.uk, they sell the stuff cheaper than GW and it's based in the UK also ^^

Maelstrom games are pretty good, though their last sale ended last night I think.

Still have a reasonable discount off GW (and many other) products, and free shipping as well if I recall correctly. I get a lot of stuff from them.

Gifts for Geeks are the best UK stockists for large orders.

(Gonna use the Tac Squad as a baseline here, as you've not said what your project is )

I've used http://buyforlessonline.co.uk/

Atm, it's £17.47 for a Tac Squad, or £49.97 for 3. Nice little savings, but you get tons of payment/postage options, bought myself a Necron battleforce for about £42 and sent it 2nd class (took about a week to get to me, I was in no rush at the time) and that only cost around £2. Theres options for couriers at about £15 if you're desperate, but I'm happy enough waiting a while. Admittedly though, I ordered some Daemonhunters from them, a Coteaz box and a PAGK box, and it did take the full 2 weeks to arrive, so I was a bit miffed then

I've just had a look at http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/ , they've got Tac Squads at £16, LRs for £28, but I've no experience with them, maybe someone else has?

Another big one I've heard about is Maelstrom Games, again I've never ordered from em, but they're selling Tacs at £18 Edit2: With no postage

Besides buying some models from friends, local players, here or bartertown, you'll not be able to save a great amount on newer models, I started when I was a student, and it can be pretty tough to get going.

Alternatively you could order from outside the UK, although I'm not sure if theres any import charges, and again, postage and shipping times could be pretty high.

Hope this helps!

Edit: I just remembered, it's a bit more time consuming, but I've started building all my vehicles from plasticard. An A4 sheet for around £1.00 can easily build Rhinos, Drop Pods, Preds... anything really, for less than a fiver. I'm just starting to build up my 3 Land Raiders for my Daemonhunters army. It's slow, yet rewarding

Marushi wrote:Another big one I've heard about is Maelstrom Games, again I've never ordered from em, but they're selling Tacs at £18 +postage.

Ah yes, that massive Worldwide Free Postage is such a drag.

Gwar! wrote:

Marushi wrote:Another big one I've heard about is Maelstrom Games, again I've never ordered from em, but they're selling Tacs at £18 +postage.

Ah yes, that massive Worldwide Free Postage is such a drag.

Ok, so I missed the postage price. Gold star for you.

Go to flea markets and garage sales.

seriously, you can get dirt cheap prices on minis, you just may need to strip paint and convert some of them to cover up hacked assembly attempts.

I bought a new in box Land Raider, a GW carrying case and about 20 poorly assembled/primed marines for $20 a few years back. Back when I was unemployed I would regularly do this, once every few months I'd find a stellar deal.

EBAY might be the most common place to sell things, but older folks whos kids used to play the game when they lived with them but now that they have moved out they need to clear out their junk... great bargains.

I get my stuff from www.buylessonline.co.uk I also get free postage as I know them They're based in B'Ham.

Thanks guys, just interested to see what alternatives people have found. I like the look of Wayland Games, especially their packs of paints, much better allowing you to choose the paints you get in a set to tailor it specifically towards your needs.

I've used Maelstrom, Wayland, Gifts for Geeks and Buy more for less. All good. There is also Dark Sphere, near Waterloo in London. but I have not tried them yet, but have heard good things.

Unfortunately if you really want to work out your lowest cost option then it will take a little time, but you are a student so you clearly have plenty of that!

If you are going for a big project I would recommend working out what you want first and then literally plugging it into each of their webstores. They all have differant pricing structures and rewards especially when you buy in bulk, so while Maelstrom will be good at low - mid price ranges because of the free deliver, some of the others will offer free postage at a certain level, say £100, £150 or £200.

If you can't be bothered or only want a few items (say less than £100), I would just suggest Maelstrom good discount (10-15% off RRP) plus they will give you loyalty points for your next purchase of upto 5% depending on the amount you have bought. Finally they will price match tp any other UK based webstore if you find it cheaper. I have found this last point to be a great service personally as they have refunded sizable chunks of money even after my order had been placed (IIRC I found Tattered Fates for about £12 on amazon when I had ordered it from them for £17 and they refunded the differance plus you get the loyalty points on top!).

This really can be used to your advantage, so you can search the web for the best prices for each of your units and buy them all in one place, pretty sweet in my book.

Now that is interesting. I'll have to check them out too

If you're making a massive purchase all at once, it might be worth it to join Bit Kingdom's Inner Circle program. Their IC discount for GW is, like, 38% off. So, you'll save a bundle. There's a monthly limit of $1500 [after IC discount] per month, so you'd likely be able to fall within that range.
Also, if you're not going to buy all at once, you could save your money, then buy all at once when you have it together.

Eric

Maelstrom is great and im not just saying that because its my local store. I think i will definatly check out some of the other online stores mentioned here though.