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If you can manage to use the AoBR models for much of your army, you can certainly come in with good armies on a shoestring budget. I did my bike nobs as the following:
22 Warbikes (converted from AoBR Deffkoptas at $5 each)
1 unit of gretchin (ogre kingdom gnoblar box $25)
2 boxes of kroot (optional step, just wanted the heads and bits $50)

Made a mean 1750 for under $200. Took a fair bit of greenstuff and effort though.

Moz wrote:If you can manage to use the AoBR models for much of your army, you can certainly come in with good armies on a shoestring budget. I did my bike nobs as the following:
22 Warbikes (converted from AoBR Deffkoptas at $5 each)
1 unit of gretchin (ogre kingdom gnoblar box $25)
2 boxes of kroot (optional step, just wanted the heads and bits $50)

Made a mean 1750 for under $200. Took a fair bit of greenstuff and effort though.

Was waiting for someone to say that. The AOBR Deffkoptaz are no brainers for Ork nob bikers.

Slackermagee wrote:Everyone's totaling up army lists like they buy them all in one go. Is this true? Have we lost the art of patient building? Working our way, with a plan, from 500 points upwards?

If the group you play with plays 500 point games, then there is some point in making a 500 point list. If the group you game with play 1500 point lists, then if you don't get 1500 points, you're playing your old army or watching.

With the way the modern world works, it is simply more cost effective to plan as far ahead as possible, buy in bulk to get the best discounts possible, and get shipping costs as low as possible and then go from there. There's nothing inherently wrong with building slowly, but buying piecemeal will cost you more in the long run.

Slackermagee wrote:Everyone's totaling up army lists like they buy them all in one go.

How else would you build an army?

All at once makes it more likely that everything matches when you build it and paint it. Much easier!

Well, I collect loose change at work to fund my hobbies.

Example: I recently purchased 2 Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer kits with 4 bags of quarters ($0.25 US) totalling $30 US in each bag. Those quarters were gathered between the last week of November and first week of January (Holiday season in the USA).

Basically, those 'Raiders and an box set of Grey Knights were functionally free, because people are too lazy to pick up a coin or two from the ground.

SJ

I'm playing against people who have been collecting for years, and I can now beat them about half the time using AoBR, a few boxes of grots, some lobbas and a modified painboy. This totals 200-250 bucks. Obviously being able to get more units will make the game more fun since you can mix things up, but in terms of win/lose having a small army of uints that you know can actually be an advantage.

Slackermagee wrote:Everyone's totaling up army lists like they buy them all in one go. Is this true? Have we lost the art of patient building? Working our way, with a plan, from 500 points upwards?

If you are buying it piecemeal it is not really an army yet. To play a competitive event you are going to need at last 750 points for a Doubles Event and at least twice that for a regular one. I do not think patients has anything to do with it. Either you have the money to buy an army - or you do not. My brother has just started Archery again and purchased a $400 Bow, he could have spent twice that! Teenagers may see 40k as expensive because they have a very low income however I still think it is a relatively cheap hobby.

You can get a 1500 point Marine army off ebay for about $100 and it is pre-assembled and painted. I purchased a couple to get myself back into 40k a couple of years ago.

jeffersonian000 wrote:Well, I collect loose change at work to fund my hobbies.

Work at a toll booth do you?

Redbeard wrote:$300 to make a 1750 army? That's a joke - this isn't a cheap hobby. Or, perhaps take one of the above, knock 25% off it and say I got it at a discount store

Seriously, it's hard to make a 1750 list for $300, let alone one where you try to be competitive. Essentially, with that requirement, you're asking people to overload on upgrades instead of models, and that's a universally uncompetitive approach to the game.

I disagree it's hard to find 1750 competitive list for $300. You hit the nail on the head with the 25 % off. I bought 4 boxes of lootas and 3 boxes of bikers from Heavysupportgames.com for $130! With free shipping!

The rest of my army has been purhcased off Ebay (sniping cheap boyz) and using the extra bits from the Lootas box set with AOBR orks. In total I've spent about $250 on orks and I'm about to drop another 50 on a BW. The most expensive was I had to buy retail the painboy and mekboy with KFF.


edit: as for the Green Tide list above at $450, why would you buy all your boy boxes individually when you can get 100 boyz and a warboss for $120. Or even snipe a lot of AOBR sprues. YOu can usually get 20 orks on sprue for about $10-$20 on ebay. If it's more than that leave it.

If you're worried about shootas YOu can get 10 shoota arms for about $8 on Ebay.

I just bought the entire AOBR ork set with rulebook, templates, dice for $25.

Redbeard wrote:

jeffersonian000 wrote:Well, I collect loose change at work to fund my hobbies.

Work at a toll booth do you?

No, at a mall. Which is about the same thing.

SJ

Chaos boxed army $240 for 1500 points, everything useful
Plauge marnies $35
Attack squad $20
Grand total $295

or Boxed army $240
bezerkers $30
Rhino $30
Total $300

It's easy for chaos, we have all plastic and only metal bits for upgrades.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wow, this challenge was TOO easy, I can make 2000+ points of chaos marines from the boxed army plus 2 boxes of bezerkers
HQ
Chaos lord, termi armor, deamon weapon, mark of khorne 155
ELITE
Termi squad, reaper, 2 combi guns, 2 power fists; 180
Land Raider, possession 240

5 chosen, champ, flamer, melta, plasma, power weapon, icon; 155

5 chosen, champ, flamer, melta, plasma, power weapon, icon; 155
TROOPS
8 bezerkers, skull champ, power fist, personal icon; 213

10 bezerkers, skull champ, power fist, personal icon;255
Rhino, possesion; 55

6 bezerkers, skull champ, power fist, personal icon;146
Rhino, possesion; 55

5 CSM, Champ; 90
HEAVY SUPPORT
5 Havocs, 2 heavy bolters; 105

Vindicator, possession; 145

Defiler 150

Grand total, 2099 points
Cost $300 retail

After reading through these posts, im slightly confused, who out there has a cheap hobby? I dont know of any hobbies that are inexpensive. To quote a brilliant man, "I don't have hobbies; hobbies cost money. Interests are quite free."

Fire is a cheap hobby.