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Breng77 wrote:
The thing I find funny is the people complaining most about book prices are those with like 5 armies.

It's almost as if some of us have been into wargaming for years & years...

 Yodhrin wrote:

Breng77 wrote:
The thing I find funny is the people complaining most about book prices are those with like 5 armies.

It's almost as if some of us have been into wargaming for years & years...

Unpossible. That Devilfish I finally assembled that I've had for 16 years was clearly just purchased. A sadly true story (the assembly bit, not the purchase). That one was actually an eBay purchase back in the day for I think $20; showed up in a plastic bag with "Devilfish" written in Sharpie, but the sprues were otherwise completely intact.

While not quite a price-conscious measure, I do tend to acquire as much as I can when available; prices for "new" (i.e. - not assembled/painted) stuff don't really drop much, and I'm too fussy to bother with stripping/re-assembly most days (I can barely get around to the stuff that DOESN'T need that step). The brand-new stuff will drop of course, but if you're looking for something from 2015 or earlier, the price has likely stabilized a bit for formal vendors. While it's spending money on stuff that sits around for (evidently) decades, it's things that don't need to be acquired at a higher price later if it fits into what you're planning for the army anyway. Similarly I think I have a set of 4 Rhinos I got as a bulk deal for $60 when they were released (buy 3 get 1 free if memory serves). For essentially the same kit that's $150 retail and even from eBay you're looking at the $20-$30 range for $80-120.

Not always a solid plan, but if you're playing the long game and you know you want to stick with a given faction it can be savings over time as well.

EDIT: Also wanted to throw in a hat-tip to Inquisitor Gideon's post. A budget that you adhere to is obviously the best way to navigate. It also has a generally beneficial effect on everything else in your life if you do it properly. It is surprising the number of people who don't really have such a thing or think about it.

Breng77 wrote:
The thing I find funny is the people complaining most about book prices are those with like 5 armies.

Back in the long ago, when armies were cheap, it was the norm for anyone to have at least 2 armies. It gave them much more variety.

For 40K, I had Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Imperial Guard. And at least a box from each other faction.
For WHF, I had Chaos Dwarfs, Orcs & Goblins, Lizardmen, and at least a box from each other faction.

Most of my gaming buddies have a small faction of everything-up-to-the-point-they-quit in their lofts.

Of course now with the prices, new entrants tend to stick to a single army.

One approach for the longbeards with multiple armies that are complaining about the price is to downsize to 1 or 2 armies, either selling the rest to pay for new stuff, or just putting them on hold for an edition.

But with most other games, the army lists are either option, mega cheap, or just included in the core rules. 40K is the only game where you're largely forced to buy a book per army to play. There's no GHB equivalent in the BRB?

I like metal models for their weight so mostly eBay.
Conversions instead of single model characters.

What the prior posts said.
Plus I would that it makes sense to multitask with hobby materials.

For example use sonic cleaner to strip paint and actually clean something, as well as make liposomal vitamin c and so on.

1 - Have budget. Keep to budget. If needs be roll it over from month to month to buy larger bundles or models. Do not, ever, borrow from the future budget - the temptation to let it slide 'just this once' can be very strong.

2 - Don't play in a GW Store so you can use non-GW models and parts. Not that they ever noticed when I did it. Half my conversions use stuff that would make the Redshirts cry.

3 - Patience and bargain hunting. A lot of third party sellers have sales more often than GW do.

4 - Second hand. I admit, I've got more models than I know what to do with because I buy second hand. I only recently started the hobby again, but when I went through what I have I found three or four armies that I'd simply forgotten about because I paid so little to get them. £20 for a pile of abused Grey Knights that will need a lot of pinning and repainting before they can be seen again, a good 2000 points of Lizardmen, an Empire gunline...and probably enough Marines to make a Chapter, let alone the Chapter I have painted up and converted. I don't even remember where I got half this stuff.

With a little practice you'll find it is quite possible to reduce even a plastic glued space marine down into his component parts again, although it might take some repair. You can certain do it so they can be re-equiped and painted.

5 - Presents. If you're a lovable sod like me, you'll have friends and family who wish to buy you things. Make sure they know what you want. Amazon Wishlists don't have to contain just Amazon stuff, after all.

1. I don't buy stuff I don't need. I/e, new Magnus comes out. Yeah, it's a pretty model, but I won't buy it for solely that reason, only for it to sit in a shelf, collect dust and be sold on ebays later. I also don't understand the whole buying for the sake of having. 500000 points worth of IG, 4 Baneblades, 30 Russ tanks - seriously?

2. I don't buy stuff if I know new one's coming out. I/e, new datacards. Why buy general ones when faction specific ones are coming out later? I can live those few months with dice rolling and a sheet of paper.

3. I'm pretty much not interested in 75% GW range, so that saves me some time

Paint everything to the highest level you can and don't buy stuff until you have finished your current project. I will second that the hobby is not nearly as expensive if you take your time with every kit that you get.

Avoid rip-off models and use conversions whenever you can. In my case, instead of buying Crypteks I looked for some conversion ideas and saw that they are really easy to make.

Browse the second hand market. Eventually you will find someone trying to dump that unit or army that you want. There are some crazy deals out there. There is a danger here though because you might get caught up chasing some overpriced OOP item.

Also try to share books as much as you can. Buying every book new and in hardback adds up fast.

This is going to sound counter-intuitive, but pick up a second, non-GW wargame to futz around with. Avoid the other 'big name' games like Malifaux or Warmahordes, but go with something a little more modest like Frostgrave, Congo, Pulp Alley, Strange Aeons, or any historical that's not Warlord.

These games tend to be small enough and the minis cheap enough that two forces are easily affordable for one player. Doing this will give you something cheaper to hobby with for those times when you have a little hobby money burning a hole in your pocket but not enough for a GW box set. It will get you branching out into multiple manufacturer's miniatures.

In doing so, you will also get a better gauge for what miniatures cost and are 'worth' outside the GW bubble, and I find that helps me plan GW purchases with a more appraising eye. I now carefully consider whether or not I want this new box set of GW miniatures, knowing exactly what a premium I'm paying over other, similar plastic miniatures from other manufacturers. It's made me a bit more careful about planning all my hobby purchases, but especially GW products.

Herzlos wrote:

Breng77 wrote:
The thing I find funny is the people complaining most about book prices are those with like 5 armies.

Back in the long ago, when armies were cheap, it was the norm for anyone to have at least 2 armies. It gave them much more variety.

For 40K, I had Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Imperial Guard. And at least a box from each other faction.
For WHF, I had Chaos Dwarfs, Orcs & Goblins, Lizardmen, and at least a box from each other faction.

Most of my gaming buddies have a small faction of everything-up-to-the-point-they-quit in their lofts.

Of course now with the prices, new entrants tend to stick to a single army.

One approach for the longbeards with multiple armies that are complaining about the price is to downsize to 1 or 2 armies, either selling the rest to pay for new stuff, or just putting them on hold for an edition.

Anecdotally, I've found it a bit different. Almost everyone seems to have multiple armies now. Mostly, what I've seen, is only young people have one, due to lack of funds/interest. That's been how it is since I was a kid too, when it seemed like you had "your army" and didn't cross streams so much. Might have just been my area/friends group.

I don't think GW is all that expensive as a hobby if you're into the hobby side of it. A $50 pack of guys could give me 30 hours or so of enjoyment, before even using them in the game. More and more, I don't want a horde of crap models for cheap either.

The books though I don't buy except the rare one. GW's writing is really bad. To each his own though.

I abhor buying books again and again... to the point where I will let myself fall behind and just see what GW's strategy is and play with what models I know. If you absolutely must play games eahc week, then you can borrow a friends copy or get a hopefully cheaper digital version.

I do a mix of the above:
1) Buy second hand, try to buy poorly painted minis as well that you can strip and repaint, these are usually much cheaper
2) Buy starter set contents after the initial buzz has died down, 90% of my ~10k of Orks are built using the AoBR box
3) Trade as much stuff as you can, you can end up with much more stuff than selling and then buying
4) Try to predict when the new stuff is coming out and off load the old books just before then, even if you only get some of the cost back, never sell just when the army comes out
5) Work out the army list before you buy, proxy it for a few games to make sure it works for you, then buy it
6) Never buy anything if you have stuff waiting to be painted
7) If you aren't using an army or model off load it if you can get back what you paid, otherwise be sure you aren't going to use it as it will usually cost you more to buy it again
8) Don't game in a shop if you can help it, you will end up spending money on something even if it is just food/drink if you are there all day. If you are gaming in a store/venue take your own food, just don't be TFG by taking stinky food
9) Never buy on credit, always save up

Assemble your models in store. Offer to 'tidy away' anyone elses unwanted sprues/bits. Be forthcoming with your own spares to foster good will.

Do these acts of gestures as good will, many stores aren't happy if you trade bits in store (after all, maybe you would have otherwise brought the whole kit for the bits you had liked)!

Want to save money gaming? Avoid Games Workshop.

Wagguy80 wrote:
Want to save money gaming? Avoid Games Workshop.

Given the thread title, I can only assume the thread crapping was intentional.

Though to be fair, there is an inadvertent point there. If you are interested in 40k or AoS, used models, ebay, online discounters or even maybe a discount at your local stockist are probably also options you can check out rather than buying direct from GW.

If someone is willing to go with any game with any miniatures, then yeah, you can drastically cut the costs of the hobby. But since this thread is (GW focused) that would likely be off topic.

Here is something else I did to dractically cut the cost of my hobby...

http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2017/07/wargaming-on-budget-making-models.html

Basically, I was priced out of the market and decided to start making my own models, games, and terrain. Keep in mind, you are substituting time for money but it can be an added pleasure and expand your hobby skills beyond painting and playing.

Orks are certainly the perfect 40k candidate for scratch building the vehicle side of things, but I am glad to see that trend continue to expand on the imperial guard side as well.

Turns out scratchbuilding your own stuff goes back a long way. Here's a baneblade from the pages of White Dwarf (132). The article also had templates and was specifically about building your own tank: