Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

In this current situation having the better part of the social economy shut down, no gaming, lots of time at home. organizing, painting and inventorying my stuff-

It has led me to a bit of deeper reflection on my gaming hobby.

First i love the hobby, i started way back in the late 80's with battletech when i was in high school, (so yeah hard to believe i am nearly 50 now) and it really took off in the early 2000s with my introduction into 40K.

Over the years i have been involved in many hobbies that i don't have the time, space, money or people to do it with anymore (dirt bikes etc...) so the gaming hobby fits nicely because it requires little effort once your stuff is built and painted.

I see the big topics like "most recent purchases" and i think to myself, as much as we all like cool stuff and there are so many companies out there bringing out new things, there has to be a point where we need to thin things out a bit or slow down. especially now with the way the economy is my work has severely cut down my hours (but hey at least i still have a job, so small positive) which directly cuts into my gaming budget.

Now over the years i have paid the community forward selling entire 40K armies super cheap or giving away units or even all of my flames of war stuff to help new players get into the game etc.. and i currently have some gifting planned when everything re-opens to help out some newer players to DUST and 40K with things in my collection i will never really use.

In my game room i counted up 11 game mats, an entire cabinet of terrain that runs the gambit of pieces for infinity, 40K , WWII,, naval, battletech, space, to epic.

When it comes to the minis-a footlocker full of battletech, 3 DUST armies, 3 B5 wars fleets, star trek attack wing/star wars armada ships(for B5 wars), my DIY chapter 40k army, deathwing/ravenwing armies, a smattering of IG tanks and special solo 40K minis like imperial assassins , a small cult mechanicus army, a small warpath forge fathers army, 2 BFG fleets, 2 forces of valor armies,, 3 epic 40k armies, 2 victory at sea fleets., a heavy gear army, a largish collection of infinity minis for my haqqislam army, my monpoc factions, and my khador for warmachine..

I do love every single army and every game they are for, but with so much variety i only get to play some of the systems every few months, or even once a year even though i volunteer at a game store once a week (normally) and bring a large selection of the above mentioned items with me.

I have seen some postings here about other peoples collections that blow my mind, things like . 3 or 4 40K armies of normal scale (28mm) in excess of 10K points each, enormous warmachine collections for a skirmsh game usually played with 15 or so minis. i understand swapping things out from time to time for variety, or people more into the hobby aspect of building and painting. however generally that's alot of minis that will never see the table.


This brings me to the point of the topic. I think it is time to put on the brakes. i have more than enough armies and systems to keep the variety alive (another reason why not to dive into the primaris stuff), i have the terrain, a place to play with a friendly, active gaming community and a more restrictive budget for at least the near term.

So how much is enough? where do you draw the line? has your time away from being able to actively game changed your attitude any?

I think internally, I have pretty much already drawn the line. My gaming cave is my garage and it is literally filled floor to ceiling with half-started and unfinished armies and projects. I have enough in my painting backlog to last the rest of my life. So as much as I enjoy collecting and buying into new games, I have had to put my foot down and say no more, until such time as I either sell stuff off or finish what I already own. It has taken me a lot of willpower to even get to this point as I am an inveterate hoarder.

My situation mirrors your own, but not as a result of the current situation. My collections sound exactly like yours, except remove the WM/H models, and replace them with multiple 40k, WHFB, Civil War, and Medieval Armies, not to mention both sides for Colonial Sudan gaming.

My move away from collecting so much, is that I just don't have the time (strange now that I'm home almost all the time, but of course with no opponents) to set aside 4+ hours to play a game of 40k more than once a month with home responsibilities, etc. And my interest in 40k has dwindled in 8th after a strong start, due to all the rules, bloat, and general mess of trying to track what is where. I'm also around 50, and while I still enjoy painting and the background, the game itself isn't fun. And with all of my other collections, when I've been looking at the same shrink wrapped unit, or tank, for 10 years, I think I can safely part with it. And I have. so. much. stuff.

So I'm taking this current downtime to downsize what I do have to the things that I will likely complete, or for games I am likely to actually play, and sell or trade off the rest. I will most likely replace those with something else, but it'll be along more historical/skirmish lines, or models that I've always wanted to paint. I've been playing more Mordheim, WHFB skirmish, The Men Who Would be Kings, and other smaller, mini agnostic rules, and those seem more manageable. When your miniatures have no carrying cases that can hold them, its probably time to move some out - I've sold moderns, Team Yankee, 15mm ACW, 15mm Napoleonic, 1/1200 Napoleonic Naval, Epic stuff, Aeronautica Imperialis (the new one), and several units from 40k and AoS.

I'm actually beginning to see the shelves that used to hold all the models and boxes, which I'll take as progress. But I still need to start my 28mm Hoplite Army, my 28mm Crusades force, and my 28mm Arab opponent.

Enough is what you use.....

I also have miniatures for Greeks, Gladiators, Gangsters, Battletech, 40K, Supers, and more. Despite my Dakka Dakka title, I have no Nappies!

I don't buy any models (or make them) unless I have finished a project AND have a plan to use them. My work bench only has stuff I am actually going to be using on it.

The great thing about wargaming is once you have both sides you never really need to buy anything again! No one can take the models or minis away from you unless you choose to part ways.

Plus, I recycle models like crazy. Space Marines I use in about 4-5 different game systems besides 40K. Martian Tripods from All Quiet on the Martian Front? Same thing.... I have about 3 or 4 Systems I can use them in fine. Therefore, nothing is "wasted". They are shuffled to other game systems as needed.

I started a P&M blog with the following quote:

"He who dies with the most toys wins." - Malcolm Forbes

And I dunno about you, but I'm in it to win it.

Enough is however much gives you pleasure

(and it's perfectly possible for stuff in a box in the closet you've not even opened for years to give you pleasure, you'll get round to doing something with it eventually honest)

if it's no longer fun buying it stop and give yourself a break

if it's no longer fun owning it give it 6 months to make sure you won't change your mind and start selling/giving it away

(please don't throw it away it will make the minis sad to go into landfill)

Its a good question - one i have started asking myself...

I buy alot less than I used - partly due to being able to game much less in the last few years and partly due to lack of space - I have plenty of money but its reached the point of no room so i am starting to prioritse the collection of hundreds of books, thousands of models and start looking at painting getting painted what I have and dispossing of ubnpainted models and undeeded books.

I’ve been selling off a ton. Mostly on FB because unless you have a high, in demand gem on here, people seem to want it for almost free (had somebody balk at 50% off before shipping on stuff last week). But even so, I have more than I can use. It’s made me decide to wipe out my space marines in full, sell off all non-daemon Nurgle stuff, let go of most board games, Mantic and Knight stuff. I don’t regret it. I’ve got Slaves to Darkness, Khorne, Slaanesh and Tzeentch stuff in excess of 15000pts altogether. And the K, S & T stuff will work for 40k as well. I think I’m doing a good job of scaling back (already returned $1000 from it all). And I’m not done yet!

Well it's been joked that my Spirit Animal is a dragon.....
So where do you think my "Enough" line lies?

I am about where I want to be, I have the miniatures for the games (rpg and tabletop) that I need, now not so much downsizing as swapping out. I get where TTW is coming from, I wont even consider selling here either.

One of the big challenges with answering this question is just that "enough" is an ever shifting answer. I have a lot of armies that I consider complete right up until a major change requires some major changes. That said, one of my big projects of the last couple of years is to get rid of the backlog so that I can focus on what I'm excited about in the now.

For me, I've been finding "enough" is easiest to reach by sticking to 1 or maybe 2 factions in a game. That lets me initially focus on a playable force and then maintain it with new releases or other changes. I get in trouble when I try to add new factions, as that initial sprawling purchase to find what I want is what most bloats my backlog and leaves me with more purchases than I can paint. As much as I'd like to say 1 is "enough" in my experience sticking to one faction just leaves you in trouble when that faction falls by the wayside, so having a backup matters.

So yeah, enough for me is just looking at a game, getting a painted playable army for it, then making sure I only add to it what I'm capable and willing to paint. I can't say I always succeed in that goal, but that's the overall plan.

As said above, enough is what makes you happy. Im never going to stop buying and collecting, but I have gotten rid of half finished projects that I knew Id never finish recently.

Felt great, and freed up money for existing projects I like better.

If you like it, keep it.

Problems arise when:

A) It becomes a financial burden.
B) You become a hoarder and it impacts your life or relationships.
C) You no longer find joy in collecting/painting/playing.

I have a load of hobby stuff...but financially speaking it pales in comparison to some other hobbies I partake in. Brings me joy...and doesn't take up a ton of space. I also tend to sell of extraneous stuff or things I replace.

Why do we beat ourselves up about this?

I have more than I need. (Actually, I don't NEED ANY).

If you want and can afford more - get more.

If you want less, have less.

If you are happy with what you have, be happy you're happy.

 Elbows wrote:
Problems arise when:

A) It becomes a financial burden.
B) You become a hoarder and it impacts your life or relationships.
C) You no longer find joy in collecting/painting/playing.

I have a load of hobby stuff...but financially speaking it pales in comparison to some other hobbies I partake in. Brings me joy...and doesn't take up a ton of space. I also tend to sell of extraneous stuff or things I replace.

This^^. If you feel "compelled" to buy things, or the ideas of not owning a new thing causes you anxiety, or you buy things simply because everyone else is buying one (Knight titans, I'm looking at you), then you have a problem and should seek help - from a therapist, not from Dakka Dakka!

I'm amused, though, too see Marie Kondo entering this discussion.

For my part, I own two Detolf cabinets. When they are full (they're nearly full) I'll buy a kit to double the number of shelves. When those are full, I'll start selling stuff off. That's my line. Two full, double-shelved cabinets is my definition of "enough". Any game that expects me to exceed this can stuff off.

I recently had to put the brakes on, but this train is one that is hard to stop.

Both age, time and space are starting to weigh on me - I'm not as spry as I used to be, my time is already divided by too many projects and I've run out of space to store all the crap I love.

As it is, a good portion of my (RPG) collection has been moved off to a storage unit. I need to get rid of it, but it's mostly a bunch of 2E and 3E glut items that it wouldn't be worth trying to sell in anything short of bulk.

Even what I have kept in my game room is still too much clutter - all four walls of a converted garage are lined with overstuffed bookshelves and I fight with the wife (and her sewing hobby) for the use of the game room. I tried to convert our back porch into another game room for my sole use, but that failed and it's become tub storage for terrain.

For me, the line has been drawn when I have so much stuff, I can't seem to enjoy what I do have.

stroller wrote:
Why do we beat ourselves up about this?

I don't. I'm at peace with my inner Dragon.

Easy to know how much is enough: one of each army for 6th Ed. WFB, 3rd Ed. 40K, and BFG. That should do the trick.

Oh, and replace all my pewter minis with plastic versions and record a video of me smelting them and using the metal to make 1 oz. pendant sinkers and uploading the video to youtube under the title "How To Convert Metal Minis" with the comments enabled.

I don't have much space so when stuff starts to not bring me any happiness to use or look at, I generally try to get rid of it. I find clutter mentally exhausting.