Playing on a budget

[vecna101]

In my time with the game, I've mainly focussed on, as someone who can't really aford models, how to play on a budget. So, I want to ask what you all do to lower the cost of the hobby, as well as talk about what I do.

So, as for what I do, I've found two main methods to play cheap. One is to just buy cheap models, like vanguard raptors. Although many of these units aren't that good, this is actually a plausable plan, and lets you play in GW tournaments. (this does include buying off EBAY and the like.)

The other main method I've found is proxies and replacements. this can span from casually playing with slips of paper, to playing with models from other games. The best example I've found is Mantic games' KoW (Kings of war), which is full of warhammer esque things.

What have you found?

[Clan's Cynic]

Going cold turkey on buying 'what I want' and demanding I build/paint the grey plastic I already have. I know it's a bit of a meme, but I genuinely found it saves me a lot of money in both the short and long term.

[EccentricCircle]

I've not actually tried doing it, but I wonder if playing games over Roll20 could work quite well. Take the pictures from the AoS store, and upload them into a campaign with a big terrain covered map in, it, and you're good to go. I mainly toyed with the idea to allow me to game against people who are a long way away, rather than for budgetary reasons, but it would be effectively free, and the options would be practically unlimited.

[Landohammer]

I generally point people to the start collecting boxes on amazon. Most are still priced at the "pre-hike" prices so you can get a big chunk of your army for ~$70 shipped.

If you have some patience, Ebay is your friend. People will frequently sell badly painted or incomplete units for pretty cheap. Just an old tooth brush, glue and some Simple Green and you will have brand new(-ish) models for 1/3rd of the price. 

Finally, check FB for local wargaming groups. If you post what you are looking for and your budget, you might be surprised at what you get. Most wargamers would love some of their unused/old stuff to go into the hands of a newer player. 

I would avoid proxies, at least on a large scale.  You don't want to have to stress about whether you can even attend certain events. Also chasing down proper bases can actually end up making the cheaper models cost more than you think.

Hilariously, many people including myself, eventually end up purchasing the model they were originally trying to proxy, thus completely eliminating the point lol. 

 

 

[StarJackel]

If your on a budget, then you can’t go wrong with using one of the online retailers. 20% off doesn’t sound like much but the savings do definitely add up. eBay is a bit of a mixed bag, a lot of resellers and ‘professional’ traders. You can still get the occasional bargain but it’s not what it once was. Start Collecting boxes are also absolute gems as are the occasional big boxes they release (like Looncurse), if you can find somebody to split the set with. 

You could also choose to focus on one of the lower cost games instead, such as Warhammer Underworlds or Warcry.

Edited October 15, 2019 by StarJackel
Typo

[Charleston]

Actually I came during the last years to the following conclusion:

• Buying the cheapest models often ends up in buying twice. Buy the fun/cool/powerfull models you really want if you can somehow afford it. You propably end up purchasing them someday anyway.
  • There is actually a lot on this school of thinking, f.e. from buying tools. A nice saying I´ve heard once is "A poor man can´t afford to buy cheap tools"
• Second Hand buying really allows you to get stuff cheap a.f. Really. You will need some time to find some neat offers and it comes handy if you have some community which supports trading stuff. My local games club isn´t tied to a gw or lgs directly which allows free second hand trade and people can easily get rid of stuff from their backlog for a fait price. I have to admit that I belive this is highly dependant on were you live. Living in the U.S. may be an handicap.

[bushman101]

I feel like there is always someone in every group who buys every starter box of Stormcast to get a few models. Make friends with this person and see if they have 'extras' to spare.

[zilberfrid]

Garage sales, craigslist, ebay.

This will lock you in to certain factions, but among them is CoS, which is my preference anyway.

I have purchased about 6500 points of models (with proxy, but it's GW proxy which is fine where I play) for the price of 600 points in chariots or 320 of skyre acolytes straight from the GW store (but those are very expensive for their point cost, I paid about 350 euros in total, including some new stuff). Addition to the collection may be harder.

But don't buy models you have no plan for. Or rarely do so.

There is some manner of balance between cheap, convenient and competetive, if it's cheap and convenient, chances are it's not competetive. If it's competetive and convenient, it's not cheap.

You could also check whether Saga, kings of war, pike and shotte or other wargames are played locally. Frostgrave is different but close. These are either model agnostic, or have cheaper models. GW is on the pricy end of the spectrum.

Edited October 16, 2019 by zilberfrid

[XReN]

Buy second-hand models
You can save up and buy an army second-hands once you find a good deal.

Or play Stormcast, they are by far the cheapest to collect because they are elite (means more points for less models) and poster boys ( means having loads of 2 faction boxes, battalion boxes and start collectings which you can buy yourself, split with a buddy orm again, buy second hand for low price)

If SCE are not your cup of tea - you can still choose a more elite army to go for (like FEC, you can get 2000 points for very cheap price)

Don't buy units because they are cheap, buy what you actually want when such opportunity arrives. 

If you stumble into a deal with units that you do want and don't want you can still buy it, strip whatever you don't want of paint and re-sell, or just re-sell it, I just think stripping models of paint would add some value to them for not that much effort.

Trade bits, make conversions, lately I've got a unit of freeguild guard for free with mish-mashed weapons, I just need to find some bit's to build a normal unit from them. I also converted myself a Ghast Courtier for my FEC from bits and Blackstone Fortress' Ur-Ghoul that I've got really cheap.

[Cronotekk]

Play Warcry or Hinterlands

[chuckecheese]

I definitely use both GW and non-GW minis. Sometimes because of price, usually because of liking the model. For my gloomspite gits I have 12 rockgut troggoths (Mantic KoW trolls), the price equivalent would be like 4.5 GW trolls. Not the best Mantic models, but I have never had an opponent not know what they were representing. I don't play at GW stores or in big tournaments. I do play small local FLGS tournaments occasionally though and it is never a problem.

An additional bonus is I also play KoW, so painted minis can go between both rulesets.

[VBS]

^this (if you don't play in GW-enforced places). And besides all the obvious stuff mentioned (ebay, etc...), I would add:

• Kickstarters: If you don't mind waiting, you can get insane deals on bundles and many choices (KS overload is real). For example, I'm getting 100  minis for 90 Eur in April. Enough for a full army, keeping me busy for a long time for an unbeatable price.
• Wait for discounts: If you don't mind waiting (I notice a trend...), just wait for Black Friday or similar events. Add that with other ways to get cheaper minis (3rd parties, ect) and you automatically get another insane deal. For example, I got some very very cool looking Chaos stuff from another company whose equivalent in GW would be 87Eur, but I payed..... 28Eur!!

Tbh, it's no longer about being able to afford the minis or not (imho, wargaming isn't a particularly expensive hobby) but getting great deals is sort of addicting! So I almost only buy minis this way. And I no longer feel getting value for money when buying directly from high-end price companies when you can just get much better offers.

[christophe]

Oil paint instead of shade !!

[Greyshadow]

Age of Sigmar: Skirmish. The rules are (now) in two back-issues of White Dwarf and a warband consists of only around three to nine models. You can focus your time and budget on painting these models as well as you can which is a good way to improve your painting. Will keep you going for ages.

Warcry is another option. It is a more sophisticated game but not all factions are supported unlike in skirmish.

[chord]

2 minutes ago, Greyshadow said:

Age of Sigmar: Skirmish. The rules are (now) in two back-issues of White Dwarf and a warband consists of only around three to nine models. You can focus your time and budget on painting these models as well as you can which is a good way to improve your painting. Will keep you going for ages.

Warcry is another option. It is a more sophisticated game but not all factions are supported unlike in skirmish.

I agree skirmish is a fun way to start AOS since the models you paint for it can be directly added into your larger army.   I've scanned all the Skirmish rules from WD into a PDF for easy use during play.   Most battleplans can be adjusted for warband scale play

Plus with Skirmish if you are happy with it, you can just buy single models off ebay to build out various warbands.  

[Fairbanks]

1. You don't need the book.  The AoS App has your unit profiles, 1d4chan has most of your Allegiance Abilities and Battalion Contents listed out, and for those gaps missing, almost every other youtuber/podcaster will talk about the few that are worth using.

2. Buying used models on eBay is usually the quick/cheapest way to go. Take your time bidding on items, there will always be better deals in the future. Avoid models that have already been primed (some primers are absolute garbage and will damage your models).

3. Ask local players if they have armies they would offer.

4. Buying fresh?: Splitting a two player box like Soul Wars, Wrath and Rapture, Looncurse, or Carrion Empire  (Whoops, those two don't exist anymore) provides one of the best points/price ratios you can get. You can usually find these on eBay for about 50% MSRP of the box.

5. If you are building fresh selecting an army that has high points/price ratio, such as Beastclaw Raiders, and avoiding others, like Daughters of Khaine will allow you to get a full army for your bucks.

6. Playing at the 500 points level until you can get enough to muster 1000 points, then staying at 1000 points until you have 2000.

7. Don't paint your models unless you have to. Paint is just something money gets spent on. If you do have to paint, choose an easy color scheme and don't sweat details, or go with an easy scheme, like Khorne with Red, Black, and Brass.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Fairbanks

[Greyshadow]

Respectfully don't agree with @Fairbanks about painting. Painting is a core part of the hobby. Painting can be quite an upfront cost yes but dollars/minute of enjoyment it is very, very cheap and for many the most rewarding part of the hobby. I would also suggest you invest in the best possible brushes and paints you can afford.

[Wraith01]

When I got into Age of Sigmar I was unemployed hence I didn't have any $$$ (just unemployment checks) but had a lot of time on my hands. I bought the 2 player starter set, the getting started magazine that came with a Slaughterpriest and some paints. I got more models from family for Christmas that year, a few start collecting sets for Stormcast and Khorne, allowing my forces to grow. While I painted it all up nicely I went to the local games store every week to play, made new friends and took my mind off of everything. Building and painting my AoS armies was like therapy and playing the game every week was like my second church. 

It wasn't until I landed a new job that I could afford more models at my local gaming store and I expanded into a bunch of other armies, but now I hardly have time to build, paint or play... I have a lot of grey plastic that makes me happy. Lately I've been able to play Warcry a few times!

So I'd say stick to the start collecting sets and make a Christmas list if your family and friends do that. I like supporting my local games store since that is where I go to play. Online stores like Miniature Market and Amazon sell at a discount and even though I don't buy from Ebay they seam like a good option too. 

Edited October 17, 2019 by Wraith01

[vecna101]

this is going to sound really dumb, but the GW prices are sometimes disproportionate between currencies, so you can convert money to another currency and buy with that to save. Sometimes.

[Evangelist of Cinders]

there are cheaper tools and paints then the ones GW sells that work well some money can be saved there. Skirmish and warcry have been mentioned. I can say these are amazing for low cost games. When i started the hobby I was in a country where the exchange rate made buying a armies of minis INSANE however skirmish games like mordheim were doable. GW at the time released a lot of scratch built guides and advice on how to DIY stuff. this has regrettably ceased but was common back when they didn't even produce the minis for all their units(I'm looking at you spoon turret Wave serpent). However this ethos is still there in a lot of corners of the internet(yahoo groups, EZboards,  ect). a skirmish campsign will give time to build up an army sllowly and spend more time on your minis. By the end you can have a bunch of home built terrain and what what.You'll get pretty great and the building side of the hobby with scratchbuilt spawns and unique heroes.

 

on minis if you want a dark age of sigmar or low fantasy feel .they are off scale(historic vs heroic 28mm) but perry minis makes some really affordable kits, grab a box and/or some frostgrave. Use this with some GW humanoid minis or bitz from ebay to make some great kitbashes. I can say from experience they work well scale can be off but you could get  about 90-120 Mahdiest amar inspired cities of sigmar or chaos troops a la War of the roses for the price of 30 GW

[kuroyume]

I search the local Facebook/Whatsapp groups looking for people selling their stuff. Another man's trash can be my treasure. Usually all it takes is some stripping and repainting and you get units for 25-50% of their cost.

[Eevika]

Just buy like 3 start collecting flesh eater courts boxes and play Gritlegore. Its the perfect starter army. Easy to play, cheap to buy and super strong. 

[flemingmma]

Conversions are your friend

I was an unemployed ****** subsisting on governmental study allowance when i started and using the easy to build kits i made a bunch of different heroes to start my various skirmish forces. 

This did however lead to my current situation where i have multiple skirmish to 500pt warbands but no actual playable armies

A couple of examples are below