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I was thinking about this now that I'm getting ready to drop some cash on Dropfleet. I'll happily be going in at ~$300. I've dropped about the same (a little less) on Age of Sigmar to get started. Thinking about it, if I really want to start playing a new game, $200-300 is about what I'm ready to drop to get going and help drag some others in with me if there is no existing community. What would you be comfortable paying to get going in a new game that you hope to be playing quite a lot?

Personally I like being able to pic up free rules and spend say $150 on models, but I am happy to go as much as $250 to get myself into a new game because, well, aussie prices even $250 is a lot better than what one might be used to from GW games (more like $600).

For me it would depend on the kind of game. If it's Ancients, ACW, modern 20mm, WW1 or WW2 naval, or spacefleet naval, or 28mm SF, I have all the figures I need, so I would be looking at a rulebook that I would pay £20 to £40 for. I spent I think £36 on the rules and cards needed to play Longstreet ACW, for example.

If it was Ancients I would expect to pay some more for army lists, but if they were a lot, I would think twice about buying the rules that required such expensive lists. (This is my current problem with DBMM v2.0)

Dropfleet would be an entirely new game for me, so I would have to expect to buy a rulebook and enough figures and vehicles to build a usable army. I think I would go up to £200 for this, with the option to add more units later on to make a larger army.

£100-150 seems to be about the usual for me.

Pre-painted, £45-55
Miniatures, well I expected to start 40k for about £80 and was woefully wrong, so I guess up to £150

Depending on the scale of the game, anything up to £150.

Ideally somewhere between £50-100 for enough models to play a faction (or two) and any rule books that are required.

Looks like I am SOL if I wanted to pick up any GW games as a new player

$300USD+ but it is dependent on the game.

For example I recently started up Warmaster, It's a old game but one I recently took up again as our club (and the SE of England) has had a bit of renaissance with the system.

Although I had a (very) dusty starter box from back in the day and the rules are available free online I have still purchase the rulebook and further models to the tune of around $300. On top of that I have bought scenery, terrain, paint and a games mat (DCS) that would add another $150 to that. In for a penny and all that.

Conversely I have spent less that $100 building a 1/72 Late war German force for Battlegroup in the last year.

AoS was somewhere betwixt the two.

On reflection it is all dependent on how much attention the Mrs is paying to my finances at the time.

I'll generally buy in pretty quickly at £50 for a 1 player starter, or £100 for a 2 player starter.

It depends on how good (I think) the minis look (£200+)

If I like them I'd spend a lot as I enjoy painting and building so the game would have added value

If the were just OK I think I'd max out at about £75, no matter how fun the game looked

It looks like I'm stingy; I'm willing to drop $40 on the rules and $100 on figures for a starter list for 2 armies. But that's just starting out, e.g. Warmahordes battle box, Malifaux crew box. If I enjoy it and can find a solid group I quickly start dropping more to hit a playable level with my preferred side.

If I can't play the game for under $50, (actually play it, too, not this Conquest garbage of 'oh, you can play with just the core set, but if you REALLY want to be able to ever win a game you have to buy 2-3 copies of the core set and each expansion') then no thanks.

I am already heavily invested into one miniature game, one CCG, and several RPGs. I don't need to invest even more in games that (in all likelihood) won't pan out.

I'm willing to drop up to about $100 to "get my feet wet" (have most of the rules, and a moderately-sized starting force). If I enjoy that taste, I'm willing to go a couple hundred deeper to start playing "Real" games.

Betwen 170 to 250 Gbp is my normal limit for a new game, but if i realy enjoy the system and the minis i am willing to go beyound that limit AS i did for Pike&Shot and FoW

I see £150 as the "Get a full sized force and the rules" cost for a big game system. Skirmish games tend to be a lot cheaper.

If I knew my friends were into it too and I would get a lot of joy out of it, easily over £200. If it was an unknown like, say, Warmachine is to me, £50

About to start Infinity and will spend $200 on it before I decide if I am going to stick with it or not. Ideally, two full army lists so I can really try the game to its fullest. No point dipping my toes in. I jump in with both feet and if I don't like it, I still like the look of the models themselves and will have a good time painting them.

It depends a lot on the model count (if any), model quality, and the quality of the game.

When I started MtG, I blew $300 in no time at all. Heck, when I got into the miniatures hobby in the 80's with 40k, I hit $300 in pretty short order (though that included some paint and such back then). Yet, for a boardgame with no models, I wouldn't want to play more than $100 to get into, even if it were the best game ever.

These days, a lot of it, for me, isn't just about how much I'll spend to get in, but how much I *could* spend if I like it. Ideally, I'd like to see a low entry point, but I want that ceiling to be very high, because I don't want a star that burns bright, but burns out quickly.

I think taking only price point in isolation, AoS, which is $100-ish to get into (a starter box with lots of great models), and then an endless amount of stuff to grow into if you want, is cool.

I don't think I understand the poll.

On average, I expect a printed rulebook is going to be $35 to $50. A two-player starter set is going to be about $100.

How much I'm willing to spend to get started with a new game is going to depend entirely on how much I like the rules, setting, or figures for the game. And, honestly, one of my criteria for buying models is "Would I be happy buying this model, putting it together, painting it, and then using it as a decoration?" If the answer is "Yes," then it's okay if the game turns out to be terrible.

I've spent probably a couple grand on a game I've never even played (Darklands) so I'm probably not the best gauge lol.

I spent about $100 on Infinity and $300 on WMH to get them started. I've expanded a great deal since then.

But for me, it depends on if I like the story, the rules and the minis in equal measure.

Edit: But if the question is more about starter sets, then completely depends on what you get in it.
The X-Wing set is outstanding. The Armada set? I'm not sure.
The Infinity set is amazing with all it comes with.
The Warmachine does have everything you need and one of the best values out there, but some of the units are a little underwhelming. Totally worth it though. The single player boxes however are almost essential.
The AOS set is a good deal in terms of minis, but awful in terms of what else it comes with.

Usually $50-150 (expecting 2 starter forces and some form of rules (i.e. at least a truncated thing) for that price point).

Kingdom Death has been my major exception. Also, with trading, I'm generally willing to jump in for more if it's a big batch.

$100au in miniatures. I generally don't count a rulebook against my buy in.

If I can't get a decent start for $100au, then expanding the collection is going to be pricey as well, so I'll give it a miss.

Funnily enough, the only games I've looked into so far that have hit the limit are GW games.