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Play Vassal 40K?

Best way I found to save money is to resolve NEVER to go into a GW store again.
Buy you minis online (Maelstrom, WarStore or eBay) - buying from England seems the cheapest.
Buy Vallejo paints - you get move paint per dollar of equal/better quality
Buy brushes from an art store
Buy plastic glue from Humbrol or Tamiya or another model company
Buy 20 packs of superglue for $1 from the dollar store.
Buy spraypaint/primer/tools/PVA glue from your Hardware store. However, avoid anything that comes with a 'hobby' label if possible.
Get sand and rocks from the backyard or local park.
Use cheap canvas acrylics to paint your bases so that the sand doesn't soak it all up.
Buy rolls of Kneadatite rather than greenstuff - you'll get triple the amount for the same cost.
Make your own terrain from polystyrene and MDF.

SDFarsight wrote:Play Vassal 40K?

Umm.... I think not!

I am new to WH40k and finding the climate quite expensive. More than expensive enough to scare most new customers off, I have to wonder if GW (like all corporations) is in fact ran by varied forms of monkeys (none of them human) wearing funny little hats, and smoking cigars. The fact that I have NO CHOICE (and I mean no choice) about buying GW minis because I want to play some WH40k makes me extremely angry. After all is said and done, I can either use GW mins, or I can choose to NEVER be able to play most WH40k gamers; I am not trying to debate this "elitism", it is just true.

So... after spending months researching what faction, and furthermore specific models I wanted to use, I figured out that their is no easy way to get cheap minis. This may be an issue in the U.S. alone, I honestly do not know. E-bay is ok... I just can't fully trust some of the shadier businesses on there; this guy sells stuff out of his garage, ok... I am skeptical. My opinion on FLGS is a mixed one; I could care less about supporting GW, but I don't mind helping my FLGS stay in business. In the long run GW can get huge bailouts and tax-cuts, whereas a proper FLGS has insane overhead (which is their choice) that they HAVE to pay to stay in business. After adding all this up, I find I am being stiffed by A.) GW B.) my FLGS' overhead, and B.) the government... yes they are always responsible in some way, pointless to debate this as well. In a recession I have no desire whatsoever to help ANYONE with lots of money, at the end of the day business is a #$% and you better learn to ride the wave while you can.

(The fact that this is modern day business in a nut-shell is extremely sad, being that the larger fishes actions have such drastic effects on the smaller ones, and in turn you get absolutely reamed as a customer... with a cucumber covered in rusty nails.)

Now to my experiences in the wonderful and wacky world of budget gaming. First off, it really doesn't exist. Even at 20% off you are still being overcharged, and this is mainly because of the codex creep that is so EXTREMELY prominent in 5th edition. I say this rock is actually a massive diamond, and you better believe me or you are going to absolutely get owned by our best POWER GAMERS (echo!). I have recently bought around 130$ of WH40k related items from a site that I WILL name in the near future. PM me if you want to know about this crappy store now. After waiting 3 weeks and calling 2 times I have recieved half of my items, the other half of which I will have to go all the way back to the post office to get when they arrive. Free shipping + wasting my @#$%!*& time = one mad ass-#$%@ who will complain to hell or high water and I still want the rest of my GODDAM STUFF...

..."Arranges funny hat and cigar..." I still maintain a very fragile belief that this individual company has ACTUALLY made a simple mistake... it was not GW's fault. The new online retailer rules are preposterously in GW's favor, which is debatable, but I hope to god GW learns something from their previous "mistakes"... and ends up losing half of their customers.

The single best way to budget game is to simply not buy GW products. If you happen to find some miraculous fair price, I would hope to find out about this. I'll take a few reads through the thread so I can find some good reviews.

Orlanth wrote:Ok, some nice pointers above but rule number ONE has yet to be mentioned. Thus expect a thoroughly hypocritical attention grabber to get the thread back in a logical order:

DONT BUY MORE, PAINT YOUR BACKLOG FIRST.


Got army?
Unfinished? -- Still in box!?
Ok why are you entertaining thoughts of buying new?

Any bargain is a rip off price if you wont complete the stuff you have already got.

QFT.

I don't even pretend to imagine that GW falls into the "too big to fail" category. In other words no government gives a flying crap about them because they are peons in the big scheme of things. They are, however, big enough in this particular industry that they have a lot of pull despite the fact that they're bleeding money. You really can build an army for next to nothing (or even at a profit) if you're willing to spend your free time trolling ebay and various other websites. If you're buying anything new, though, then it will end up being an expensive hobby. It does take a lot of time and effort to save or even make money in this hobby.

For those here in the US...check Craigslist...I just bought the following from an advertised Garage Sale...

1 - Tactical Squad (10 figures)
1 - Marneus Calgar (Lord Macragge)
2 - Terminator Librarians (different versions)
1 - Space Wolf Gray Hunters (10 figures)
1 - Techmarine with Power axe
1 - Regular Librarian
1 - Terminator (really old because he is way smaller then the new ones)
1 - Terminator (it says 'terminator' on its base but looks like power armor)
1 - Captain (1990 model)
4 - Space Wolves figures
2 - Metal Tactical Squad Figures
1 - Blood Angel Honor Guad Figure
1 - set of 5 figures of really old metal SM Troops which are wearing gas masks
1/2 cup worth of bits (arms, weapons, and 1 snap fit termintaor legs)

All of the above for $50 which I feel was a great deal. He also had some eldar he wanted to get rid of but I didn't need them. So, keep an eye on Craigslist.

Wrexasaur wrote:

SDFarsight wrote:Play Vassal 40K?

Umm.... I think not!

.....Any reason why you um-think not?