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I'm trying to decide what to do with the armies I don't use often enough. I've got, at the moment, 4 armies on the go, but lately I never play anything other than chaos marines. I've got probably about 10'000-11'000 of CSM in various stages of assembly and painting, along with 6'000 points of IG with possibly only 2000 points painted and somewhere around 3500-6000 points of nids I've been amassing with maybe 1000 points basecoated (I'm really dreading having to paint them), and a box of 200 odd Orks of almost every flavour and a few unassembled jets but that's about it. I've been meaning to get to my Orks since months before their latest codex came out, but they've never even been played with and I don't own the codex yet.

I collected a 3000 (which I never used once) point Tau army and a 4000 point GK army (which played 5 games at most), both of which I traded away to help build up my IG, Nids and CSM. How do other people manage having more than one army and giving them all the love and attention (and paint), they deserve? Do you set a certain points for the "other armies" and just have a main one? What would you in your own experiences consider too many forces? Do you go 6 months without playing an army and then decided it's time again? The tau and gk were picked up as great deals so I had no attachment to them. IG was my first new force since I traded and/or sold my Eldar and BA that I played with way back in 2nd and 3rd ed, and is the first army I actually painted. My nids I absolutly love playing with, but haven't in a long while and I truely dread painting them. My CSM... Well I can't figure out why I like them so much, but I do and I think I like them most of all and I'm in the process of, slowly, painting them up. My Orks... I've always wanted Orks and I don't want to give up on them before I even start.

I'm lost as to if I should keep them all, or cut back on an entire army, or just pick a points level and get rid of everything over that points for certain armies. For chaos, I'm not really looking to cut back as I fairly regularly play realy big games with them (3000-8000 or even upwards or 12'000 once), but for the others I just don't know. Who's had/has the same dilemma and how did you deal with it?

I have a friend who has collected 5 armies.
He never got a drop of paint on any one, and miraculously I still haven't punched him in the face.

If you have the room to store everything I don't see the problem.

I currently have 2 armies that currently play with (BA and SoB), but I've got intentions to start SW and IG armies. I've got bought stuff for both but haven't got around to starting either project yet, I know what you mean about getting to use all the armies you have, I play 1 game a week on average and tend to go through long-term uses of an army, just switched from SoB to BA but if I have more armies they'll all get less play...

On the other hand at least having lots of armies gives you plenty of choice and allies options (even without Battle Bros you can make some great combos that compliment each other).

D

If you have the space to keep them, and don't need to sell them on to release funds then I would say keep them.

One thing you could do to help with your painting is split up what you do, so for example paint a batch of 10 Termagaunts for your Nids, and then paint a Rhino for your CSM. Then maybe after that, paint an Ork Trukk. By breaking up what you paint, it may help relieve what may seem a daunting task!!

Out of interest, why are you terrified of painting your nids??

Over 20 years of playing 40k I have now 4 armies; Eldar, CSM, Necron and since recently GK. My wife also has Chaos Daemons which I use as well, so you might say 5 armies.

I would never sell a single one of those. I wouldn't know one single reason. I do not desperately need money and selling them would mean I lose the considerable amount of time I spent assembling and painting them.

Also I love having many armies. I play what I feel like at that day, I am less susceptible to changes in power level (At any given point in time at least one of my armies will probably not be too shabby) and it brought my painting skills forward a lot.

I can also play with people who are interested but do not want to have their own army for some reason.

And by the way, my armies are still painted more than those of many people I play with and who have only one army.

Bottom line: I would never sell one of my armies unless I am in dire need of money. And this has not happened since my youth

 Spuj wrote:
Out of interest, why are you terrified of painting your nids??

Long answer:
I think it's a combination of mass of models, lack of unique modeled details and the time spent on them is time not spent on my IG and Chaos. I like the converting/painting part of the hobby as much as the playing. With my guardsmen, I did a proper all infantry army and painted it up and just basecoated the tanks. I was able to convert my own HQ's, advisors, comissars and stormtroopers to go with the hoard of generic troops to give my army the feeling it was "mine". Even the little "extras" they give you to add on or the transfers tell me who is in what squad, who are vets and if this is a sgt or an officer. I'm actually going back now and adding more minor painted details to really make them pop. With the Chaos marines, I'm really enjoying the different colour options and modeled details. They're much more individual than the guardsmen and almost every model is different in some way from the others. As anyone who enjoys building chaos knows, the appropriate opportunities and choices for conversions are almost endless. So the more marines I paint and convert the more they're "mine" and the more I want to paint and play them. With nids, they are what they are. You can change a few poses, magnetize some weapon options but the only thing that makes them unique from another nid army or even from another model or squad in your own army is the paint on them. Any details I want to add to make them pop is really just added just through paint, like with feathering on the carapaces. And with the sheer biomass I've accumulated I'm almost at a loss to start or even wanting to start.

The biggest issue is growing attached to them. I could never sell/trade my guardsmen because they're the 501rst Muskokans and not just a bunch of IG models. For my CSM, I have converted 4 different looking sorcerers and even though only one has a power axe compared to three power swords, one of those power sword models is the ML3 diviner, another one is always ML3 telpathy, the third is always a ml 2 telepathy guy who drives around in a rhino to zzap things with psykic shriek. The power axe guy is a biomancer who always tries to get into close combat and hangs out with MoK marines whenever possible. They have personalities. . Just from playing them, they have a serious rivalry with the fleshtearers. I'm making a new spawn model to represent my Sorcerer who finaly caught up and gutted a necron cryptek and was rewarded a little to much for his efforts. Unlike the IG and CSM, the tau and GK were easy to part with as the only time and enegry spent on them was just what went into aquiring them. They were just models. My nids are rarely played and I just have tons of them. I like the playstyle, but they're too generic for me to get attached too and I'm not keen on putting the time into painting an army that I'm not specifically going to be excited about using on any given day. I'd be just as happy playing 40k with a borrowed army as with my own nids. The excitement come from playing the game. But if I know I'm going to go up against Flesh Tearers or Necrons, then I get excited to pit my CSM against their main rival or those souless metal husks that need a good smashing.

Short answer:
My IG and CSM are my unique collection with details and conversions. As for the nids... while I like the close combat alien hoard playstyle, but I can't really get into painting them or excited about them as to me they're just models. I don't want to start painting them and still not be excited about them.



Alternatively, perhaps the question should be: When do you give up on an army you rarely play and are unlikely to paint?

100 percent of my Nid army was aquired through trade so there are just tons of models with different basecoats, primers, paint schemes and until I put the time into stripping them all down I'm not really happy with how they look on the field. Since I'm not tripping over myself to paint them and don't want to use them until I do, is it time to cut them loose?

Something you could try in doing your bugs....
Maybe do them up as an arch enemy of your guard or chaos (or both).
This way, you can incorporate spare parts from them onto the bugs and their bases to tie them in with your other armies and give it more of a character in your mind.
Would also make it more fun in case someone wanted to play against you using them.

My advice....don't sell them unless you need the money. Maybe you can paint up a unit, then go back to your Guard or CSM, and just build the Nids/Orks you have up slowly but surely. If you sell them, and later decide you wished you hadn't, you're gonna kick yourself.

Just my 2 cents....If you need the money or don't have enough space, that would change my advice.

Well first thing I would say, is if you have some pictures of your Guard and Chaos I would love to see them as they sound awesome.

As for the nids, it does sounds like you aren't that infused with them (much like the Tau and GK) and are keeping them because you like the play style.

I suppose an option could be, find a paint scheme that you like or come up with one, paint a squad of troops and an MC to see how they come out. Once complete you may have a better idea of how you feel about them because you would have put a bit of time and effort into them. This could then lead to

1. You still aren't interested in them at which point I would suggest selling them.
2. You are happy with them but still don't want to do the whole army.
3. You find yourself happy and paint the whole lot.

For Option 2, I guess you could pick a couple of lists that you would want to field, keep those for painting and move the rest of the stuff you have to a new home?

I also like the idea mentioned above of a theme that pits them against your Chaos and IG, that may give the army a bit more meaning.

Personally I wouldn't sell the army and percivere, but I completely understand where you are coming from in terms of being attached to the army and not wanting to put time into something you still won't be happy with. That's why I think trying a couple of units out will help you in making a decision??

Repeating obligatory "Don't sell unless you have a personal need to" sentiment or just don't feel like playing them again... ever. No need for seller's remorse.

I'd also state that I've been fired up the past couple of weeks bouncing between painting units for 3 different armies, one of which isn't even at a playable level, just something fun and for practice (plugging the P&M in my signature!). If you're scared of painting nids, give it a shot and experiment a bit. You may find something you like doing. If nothing else, grab some spray on base coat (or an airbrush if you have one) and prime and base coat like mad. You may feel better about the unpainted stuff even at that level of effort.

If you dig a different playstyle, it never hurts to have them in the wings to break out occasionally. Or even play against your own armies, solo or with a friend, just to try stuff out and to have fun. My fiance and I lend stuff to friends who come over to play all the time (models, building and painting materials, and books), as many of them don't have extensive collections, a couple are pretty new, and a couple are getting the hang of painting still. They've been inspired to try new things and new tactics. just citing some personal experience

Though Tyranids have less (still some!) individuality, that's the draw for me. There's nothing quite like several hundred models in a cohesive scheme, it's the overall army that ends up having personality in my opinion.

There's still room for creative basing, magnetization, head and limb swaps, conversions (the most fun!)... not to mention the freedom you get with regards to colour schemes. Look at Nard's Nids for example... you could never do that with Marines. Maybe Slaaneshi ones...

I've seen bug players have amazing paint jobs and asked the owner how they did it. They told me it was easy to just bang out whole units at a time. What they did was put on a base under armor color, contracsting armor color then dip and flicked n wood stain. Then touch up a few details.
Combine something super easy and fast like that with my idea of adding in parts of your other armies so that those parts stand out and you have a great faceless enemy eating away at your precious armies to be your arch nemesis.

Cool guys, thanks for the responses and food for thought. I might just end up cataloging all my nids and boxing them up. I have a buddy who wants to start up an IG force, so maybe I'll also do a list of my still unpainted guard forces, set aside a certain amount for me to max out at and box up the rest in case he catches the bug.

I think I'll start a post in the PM Blog section to put some personal pressure on myself to finish or at least push on with my Marines. If I get them done I'll be able to go back and finish my redetailing on my guard. Then... Maybe even orks and nids.

Personally to avoid that problem I am probably going to limit myself to 2 armies, my Tau and Imperial Guard. I am able to go to a game store once a week where I can get a few games, but even then playing more then two armies seems a little to much for me. Id rather have a small number of armies but be able to expand upon both enough to where I could run almost everything out of either book.

I have lots of Codexes so I know who is pulling a fast one on me

But I only really have two armies, DE and Tyranids. May delve into SW, Orks and Necrons when I'm done collecting all the models..

Verviedi wrote:
I have a friend who has collected 5 armies.
He never got a drop of paint on any one, and miraculously I still haven't punched him in the face.

hahaha I have collected 5 armies, and kept 3 painted

SM, Orks, and Eldar I have tons painted. IG too, but it's not up to date. Starting on Dark Eldar soon, hopefully in a year or two, the ratio will be slightly better... like 6 and 4 (I'm thinking of collecting Necron)

Okay, so here's my next question. What points level do most people keep their 'alternate' armies at? With my CSM I'm going to keep going big and I usually get a 5000-8000 or bigger game around once a month so I'm cool with big points. But for my other armies I'm wondering around what do most people keep their other smaller armies at? I'm clearly going keep whatever units/tanks I like but I'm curious what other people level off their armies at if they already have one that they like to use for bigger games.

I'm not limiting myself to a point level. I just add whatever I want to play or want to paint