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I’m coming back to 40k after several years away. I played Tau (I know) and I’m thinking of switching to IG or Space Marines, but everything is so expensive now! What happened to Games Workshop. Yea it was always bad but not it felt like it used to be a little better. I honestly don’t think I’ll end up buying models now, unless I go recast but that seems like a bad move since
1. Some people are automatically against recasting even in the face of blatant inflation
2. It seems like all the recasters have vanished

What is a player to do?

Play smaller games.

collect much slower

buy second hand as always and put in the elbow grease to offset the cost of buying new

look for good deals on ebay/local store sales

get in bed with a game store owner or start your own store and get that sweet direct sales price

proxy with other company products

play with cardboard cut outs

sell a kidney

win the lottery

lots of options mate

You can always buy second hand. Granted this will likely mean paint stripping models to get them back to plastic/metal (finecast I believe is harder to strip as you have to be careful of the chemical used otherwise it can melt).

Prices are as prices are and one can debate to the end of time about why GW prices are what they are and how we'd all like them to be lower, but chances are they won't.


You could consider some of the specialist games such as Necromunda which have much lower overall costs to play. Another option is to consider other games, the market has opened up a LOT over the last few years. Privateer Press are in a very strong position and probably the second most popular fantasy wargame on the market (ergo you should be able to find matches at local clubs). There's also Infinity and Wyrd which are both popular small scale skirmish games - the kind where you buy perhaps half-a-dozen models or so and you've got a viable force. Being smaller scale (in terms of the number of units on the table) they are much more tactical games.

There's a lot in the market so if you can't afford GW prices, or feel that you'll have to spread out the costs over a longer period of time then do consider the other options - do a search locally and find some clubs/game groups and see what they play and what's popular.

Furthermore don't forget that whilst recasters might be gone* there are several companies that make alternate sculpts. So long as you're playing at a club that should be fine (GW stores will want GW models on the table - you might get away with one or two non-GW here and there, but otherwise should be GW products in their store). Raging Heroes would be one such company


*in my view a good thing

Ebay ebay ebay ebay

Castrol super clean

Get good at painting

Only play painted

Should slow you down

Reset the clock.

Ebay, trade with with other players, scratch build models etc.

Honestly, 40k isn't even that expensive. Just buy things a bit slower if you have to. If you only play with painted models and paint to a decent level you'll probably be more limited by time than money anyway.

Never buy direct from GW, always use ebay or discount sellers. I haven't bought from GW in a long time. Lately their prices have put me off from continuing with 40k.

BaselessSavage wrote:
1. Some people are automatically against recasting even in the face of blatant inflation

What does "blatant inflation" have to do with approving of recasting? Price increases do not justify IP theft.

I didn't like the new cost of models when I returned either. So I finished painting what I already had. I started to come back in 7th, but never got any books or games in. I came back fully in 8th. With a fully painted 3000+ WE army. Got the books and learned the new rules.

Then I splurged. I spend a few hundred dollars at the FW booth and then more at various dealers all at GenCon. Now I'm playing catch up with the painting. That being said, if I could do it all over. I'd have bought slower, to allow myself to catch up. I've got almost everything caught up, almost 6 months later. So, yeah buy slowly. also the second hand thing is also a good idea. I've picked up quite a few good deals second hand.

BaselessSavage wrote:
I’m coming back to 40k after several years away. I played Tau (I know) and I’m thinking of switching to IG or Space Marines, but everything is so expensive now! What happened to Games Workshop. Yea it was always bad but not it felt like it used to be a little better. I honestly don’t think I’ll end up buying models now, unless I go recast but that seems like a bad move since
1. Some people are automatically against recasting even in the face of blatant inflation
2. It seems like all the recasters have vanished

What is a player to do?

Prices haven't actually increased very much for the most part, it's mostly inflation.

Exhibit A: a 2nd edition Chaos Terminator
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/132273106406-0-1/s-l1000.jpg

This price, £2.99, must have been roughly late 90s. Adjusted for inflation that is about £5 in today's money.

Current price of a 5 man Chaos Terminator Squad? £28. That's a 12% increase in real terms.

Of course there are examples of individual models that are much worse value (recent Space Marine characters a prime example!), but overall pricing is pretty similar, and justified by the increase in quality in my opinion.

Expensive? Now?

I mean, it's not like GW has that good prices, but today if anything it's better than ever. GW finally got memo dumb Kirby pricing policies don't work and their boxed sets actually offer significant savings over buying individual boxes. Sure, these are still on a bit hefty side, but starting an army or expanding it is easier and cheaper than it was pretty much any time last decade...

GW has always been expensive. I'd second Thargrim, always check eBay and third party retailers before going direct to GW.

Expensive? Ha! I went out for dinner last night to a steak house with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece. After a couple of courses each, a few drinks and then coffee it was £280. A whole army for a decent meal for me and my family. I appreciate that a lot of people that play GW are kids with no real income, but a few hundred pounds is not "expensive".

Actually it's very expensive compared to other miniature games. If people suggest buy second hand you know something stinks.
Minis are way overprices! 30 euros for a single pose plastic characters, 110 euros for a plastic blob (GUO).
You're better off getting a diffent game.

 Modock wrote:
Actually it's very expensive compared to other miniature games.

Sure, compared to other miniatures games, but miniatures games in general are a cheap hobby. It's like saying a $10 dinner is very expensive compared to a $1 hamburger. Yeah, it's a true statement, but neither $10 nor $1 are very large amounts of money for most people.

 Modock wrote:
Actually it's very expensive compared to other miniature games. If people suggest buy second hand you know something stinks.
Minis are way overprices! 30 euros for a single pose plastic characters, 110 euros for a plastic blob (GUO).
You're better off getting a diffent game.

You could, but A) the vast majority of miniature gamers play either 40k or X-wing so if your options can be pretty limited and B. Unless you go the X-wing/Armada route, GW models, especially recently, are so much easier to work with and nicer to look at than places like mantic, or even Privateer Press most of the time that it can totally be worth the extra scratch.

Also, depending on your army...some are quite reasonable, but only if you look at the correct products.

Some armies have better starter boxes, and some armies (read: Space Marines) have some very cheap routes into building armies. Other armies, like Eldar are stuck in the past with majority finecast, etc...and a whole slew of items you can't even get from retailers.

Good luck.

I do second the eBay option, particularly if you take some time to learn how to strip and recover used models.

Check Ebay for questionably cheap miniatures.

Ask no questions, be told no lies

For Marines if you buy one starter box and trade the Death Guard half for another Space Marine half, you've got a decent sized playable army just from that.

Learning to convert can be useful too - avoids buying the expensive character models when you can get one or two cheap bits to achieve a similar enough effect.

 Asmodai wrote:
For Marines if you buy one starter box and trade the Death Guard half for another Space Marine half, you've got a decent sized playable army just from that.

Dark Imperium is ludicrously good value! You could throw the faction you don't want straight in the bin and it would still be a great deal.

It's £76 from 3rd party sellers. If you bought the equivalent sets individually (you can't get the exact ones outside the box, other than from resellers) it would likely cost over £300 including rulebook and such. Sure, they're mono-pose with no choice in wargear, but they still look fantastic (if you like Primaris/Death Guard), and that massive a discount is pretty well worth it!

Factoring the quality of the minis, I could see an argument for this being one of the best value sets they have ever released.

BaselessSavage wrote:
I’m coming back to 40k after several years away. I played Tau (I know) and I’m thinking of switching to IG or Space Marines, but everything is so expensive now! What happened to Games Workshop. Yea it was always bad but not it felt like it used to be a little better. I honestly don’t think I’ll end up buying models now, unless I go recast but that seems like a bad move since
1. Some people are automatically against recasting even in the face of blatant inflation
2. It seems like all the recasters have vanished

What is a player to do?

First of all, I agree with a sentiment echoed earlier in the thread when it comes to recasting. In addition to this your comment which simply states "blatant inflation" lacks any context, if by inflation you mean that prices have increased according to fluctuations in production costs and general currency values then I fail to see how that is unreasonable or a point which holds any value. If you are remarking on practices such as price gouging then I'd argue that your comment holds little to no weight.

As far as recasters vanishing, this is most likely a result of GW enforcing their IP holdings.

When it comes starting anew people have covered almost every aspect. You've got options; you can always look for deals/bargains on eBay but I'd personally look to third party suppliers (retail stores other than GW) which offer discounts. In addition to this the best piece of advice I can give, and which I've been given myself on other occasions, would be to plan out an army before you start making purchases.

Decide on how you want to play (are you aiming for competitive play? Are you more interested in trying to craft your own story? Are you looking at a middle ground? Are you just looking for casual play? etc etc.).

Research each faction that appeals to you, look at the lore and consider paint schemes etc.

Decide on what style of play you want to emulate. Do you want to run a Astra Militarum Mechanised Infantry Battalion? Alternatively do you want purge daemon's using all the tools of the fanatical Black Templars? Or perhaps you fancy unleashing the elite of the elite in the upcoming Custodes?

Build your army list. Figure out what it is you need/want to buy,

Finally, build slowly. Don't rush. The last thing you want is a modelling/painting backlog which leaves you overwhelmed and directionless.

It may also be worth investigating/approaching your local community to see where you will be playing games and which factions are the most common. This last point, regarding popularity, is a personal element which may not bother you.

Hopefully this is of some help.

edit: as an additional point, there are many within the community who will be happy to help with list building and any questions.

Ebay is really a good place to go, if your patient and not too picky you can get some really good deals I did an entire 2000 pt spacewolf force for under 100$. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but it works well enough. Lots of Grey Hunters and blood claws.

Otherwise check local stores, some of them do things like sell used trade in models. Mine does and is my favorite store to buy stuff from.

To the OP: When you played before, how much was a Mars Bar?(or candy of choice) How much is it now?

Yes it's expensive. Desubot has good advice.

But if you want a 10,000 point army for - say - $100 - 40k is not for you, unless you're REALLY lucky, in which case I look forward to seeing your name in the tournament rankings....

Have fun and stick to budget.

BaselessSavage wrote:
I’m coming back to 40k after several years away. I played Tau (I know) and I’m thinking of switching to IG or Space Marines, but everything is so expensive now! What happened to Games Workshop. Yea it was always bad but not it felt like it used to be a little better. I honestly don’t think I’ll end up buying models now, unless I go recast but that seems like a bad move since
1. Some people are automatically against recasting even in the face of blatant inflation
2. It seems like all the recasters have vanished

What is a player to do?

I don't think IG or SM are in a bad place, price wise, right now, if you buy smart.

For Space Marines, buy Dark Imperium. If you don't like Death Guard, sell that part off, you've got a rulebook, 10 intercessors, 5 hellblasters, 3 inceptors and 4 characters. Then buy Betrayal at Calth, 30 tacticals (which can be made into veterans/devastators), a dread, a chaplain, 5 terminators, and a terminator captain. So for $370 CAN, you get your rulebook, a ton of 5 man squads, 6 characters and some support units. And that's at GW prices, buying at discount retailers probably brings this down to $300. It's not tournament competitive, but so what?

IG is going to be more expensive, because you want lots of bodies. This has always been true for IG. Cadian Shock Troop boxes are $35 CAN - that's $3.50 per miniature, which isn't terrible! Leman Russ Tanks are $60 CAN, compared to 'new hotness' vehicle releases which are $100. Look around for the Cadian Defense Force - $200 CAN for a Leman Russ, a Chimera, 2 squads, a heavy weapons squad and a command squad. Two of those plus a Start Collecting would have you with 3 Leman Russ, 2 Chimera, 50 Cadians, 7 heavy weapons bases, 2 Command Squads and a Commissar for $500 CAN, again at GW prices. You need a rulebook too, but you've got a fairly competitive force because IG are strong right now.

For Tau, wait for the Codex to drop, but the Tau Start Collecting is $100 CAN for 12 Fire Warriors, 3 Crisis Suits, 8 Drones and an Ethereal. Right now everyone is using Crisis Suits as Commanders, but 3 Start Collecting boxes of Tau makes a pretty decent force.

TL;DR, the older GW stuff is still priced much the same, adjusted for inflation, and there are discounted collections to take advantage of. Avoid the new hotness and your wallet won't cry too badly, buy off non-GW retailers for price savings. Go secondary market if you want to save more but are willing to put in extra work.

Edit: Also, what happened? Wage stagnation in the lower and middle class income ranges. If minimum wage had kept pace with inflation in the USA, it would be sitting above $20 right now. GW is charging more, but you're also making less $$$ after adjusting for inflation.

 John Prins wrote:
For Space Marines, buy Dark Imperium. If you don't like Death Guard, sell that part off, you've got a rulebook, 10 intercessors, 5 hellblasters, 3 inceptors and 4 characters. Then buy Betrayal at Calth, 30 tacticals (which can be made into veterans/devastators), a dread, a chaplain, 5 terminators, and a terminator captain. So for $370 CAN, you get your rulebook, a ton of 5 man squads, 6 characters and some support units. And that's at GW prices, buying at discount retailers probably brings this down to $300. It's not tournament competitive, but so what?

Some of the best advice right there.....and you can often pick this set up for even cheaper......

So as for the higher prices. Because they can. From a production standpoint prices should have dropped compared to 2008. Im in the usa. The price of plastic (pretty well all models) follows oil prices, preceding oil fluctuations by mere months. And gas is half the price it was 10 years agos. GW has rolled out a few models and they may be trying to recoupe mould cost but now that the price is up it will only go down when supply over reaches demand.

As for recastors people can cry about ip theft but gw is stealing from fans by askig higher prices for models that havnt been reworked or changed for several years. There creative and production cost are already covered but they still insist on price hikes. I watched the prices for eldar nearly double over night, what was it a month ago the the start collecting boxes went from 85 to 135 dollars using no new models. Thats outragous enough so that ill not buy anything from gw and move onto other hobbies.

My army (built over the last 4 years) is outdated and weak, my books have been pushed to the side but my army codex has barely changed if want to play i have to buy all new and different models. Feeding the pig.

vaurapung wrote:
So as for the higher prices. Because they can. From a production standpoint prices should have dropped compared to 2008. Im in the usa. The price of plastic (pretty well all models) follows oil prices, preceding oil fluctuations by mere months. And gas is half the price it was 10 years agos. GW has rolled out a few models and they may be trying to recoupe mould cost but now that the price is up it will only go down when supply over reaches demand.

As for recastors people can cry about ip theft but gw is stealing from fans by askig higher prices for models that havnt been reworked or changed for several years. There creative and production cost are already covered but they still insist on price hikes. I watched the prices for eldar nearly double over night, what was it a month ago the the start collecting boxes went from 85 to 135 dollars using no new models. Thats outragous enough so that ill not buy anything from gw and move onto other hobbies.

My army (built over the last 4 years) is outdated and weak, my books have been pushed to the side but my army codex has barely changed if want to play i have to buy all new and different models. Feeding the pig.

Bear in mind GW is a UK company and, although oil prices may have come down, if you use petrol (gas) prices as an indicator relating to fluctuations of oil based products this reduction in oil price has had little effect here in the UK. Another factor regarding cost also falls down to numerous import/export fees as well as numerous other costs which include, but are not limited to, taxes levied by the US Government for GW conducting business and selling products within the USA. There are many, many factors here and a lot of those extend beyond, relatively simple, production costs.

Regarding the increase to "Start Collecting" boxes this is undoubtedly a massive price increase, perhaps email GW Customer Services to query this? Granted it will probably fall on deaf ears given the nature of the query but you never know. Admittedly this increase seems very strange when taking into consideration the fact that no increase has occurred here in the UK but in lieu of this fact I suspect it's probably a result of changes to taxation laws or similar in the USA . Especially when GW announced that they're reshuffling prices for Canada due to changes in exchange rate etc which is actually resulting in better prices for Canadian customers (family in Canada who play).

Which army/armies do you collect Vaurapung? Is it Eldar? I find it hard to believe that your entire army has been rendered useless. The only potential factor I can think of here is if you play competitively or as a tournament player, in which case you're going to feel the impact of rule changes much more keenly, at least arguably, than casual/recreational players.

edit: regarding your point about recasts, I'd just like to reinforce Stux's point, GW are fully entitled to enforce their IP rights. Your argument comparing GW's prices to theft simply holds no weight. By purchasing recasts of GW/FW products you are damaging a hobby which occupies a very small niche, money which could potentially go towards the costs associated with creating new designs/casts and as a result generating a vicious cycle (just a thought).

vaurapung wrote:

As for recastors people can cry about ip theft but gw is stealing from fans by askig higher prices for models that havnt been reworked or changed for several years.

What!? How is a company setting a price you don't find agreeable for a non essential luxury item they own the IP to in any way comparable to stealing? You don't have the right to someone's IP because you don't like the price.

This is 85 dollars, what are you talking about 135?

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Start-Collecting-Craftworlds-2017