Collecting Multiple Armies

[Arzalyn]

Hi Everyone!

As someone new-but-not-so-much to the hobby (a year and some months) I would like to talk a little with more experienced folks about collecting more than one army. 
I'm almost getting my starting army to 2k and in the mean time I ended starting other 2 projects (throught box splitting with a friend and a good deal on second hand models), and honestly there is still other factions that I would love to paint and play with. I started looking at what other list options I could make with the armies that I alredy have, but after a certain point to get a different enought list I would need lots of new models to make it... Which ends costing as much as starting a smaller force of another faction!

With that in mind, I started to wonder how everyone else tackle those problems. Some things I would like to ask some insight on how everyone proced with:
- When you start a new force, do you set yourself to a points limit other than 2k (like 1k or 1.5k)?
- When you choose to expand beyond the 2k range? 
- When you decide that you finished getting everything you wanted for a army?

[Sttufe]

6 minutes ago, Arzalyn said:

Hi Everyone!

As someone new-but-not-so-much to the hobby (a year and some months) I would like to talk a little with more experienced folks about collecting more than one army. 
I'm almost getting my starting army to 2k and in the mean time I ended starting other 2 projects (throught box splitting with a friend and a good deal on second hand models), and honestly there is still other factions that I would love to paint and play with. I started looking at what other list options I could make with the armies that I alredy have, but after a certain point to get a different enought list I would need lots of new models to make it... Which ends costing as much as starting a smaller force of another faction!

With that in mind, I started to wonder how everyone else tackle those problems. Some things I would like to ask some insight on how everyone proced with:
- When you start a new force, do you set yourself to a points limit other than 2k (like 1k or 1.5k)?
- When you choose to expand beyond the 2k range? 
- When you decide that you finished getting everything you wanted for a army?

Right now, I am also not too into the hobby, but I have kinda arrived at the same spot you are at, and really my answers tha ti found (for myself)

- I like really big forces, so I dont set myself a limit at all, just kinda slowly building up.

- See number 1

-See number 1

Yeah, I honestly think that some people would definitely not be able to manage not setting a limit, but I buy a box a month, sometimes every other month, and I basically just decide from there which faction it goes into.

[PiotrW]

16 minutes ago, Arzalyn said:

- When you decide that you finished getting everything you wanted for a army?

"Finished". What does this word mean? Me not compute

Seriously, let's talk about my 3 AoS armies, 7 WHU warbands, 3 Warcry warbands (soon to be more due to new starter), 3 WH40K armies, as well as 8 armies for Corvus Belli's Infinity...

"Finished"? Hmmmm

That said, when it comes to invidual armies, my logic is: I'm finished when I have all the models I find cool and usable - and enough of them that I can build a functioning army. When it comes to AoS, the one army that kind-of reached that state are my Skaven: I got every model for them I wanted, I honestly don't know what else I could add aside from one or two additional Verminlords. And it all translates into army of 2000 points, more or less...

[Overread]

One thing I do is I go through the army options and work out a "most practical" concept for each unit/model. That is I work out how many you could field at once in a "sane" army. I find this useful to get an idea of the upper limits for most units, the upper limit then at least gives you an idea what a complete and "practical" collection could be (practical being one where you could use those models - not in every army but in an army). Of course this is based around the 2K point value as that's the most typical.

It doesn't mean I will or have to buy up to that limit, it just means that that's a restriction on practical collecting within the army. 

[Doko]

I usually try get one of each unit of the army and then if i havent 2000 points i get more(with 40k i got as 350 points only getting one of each unit lol)

 

Also i usually start new armys due to battleforces or others cheap boxes and then i only add one of each unit untill 2000 .

 

But now that im finishing my 2000points of city of sigmar its a problem because i only have all tye dwafs and high elfs,i havent any human yet lol i think city gonna be a problem for my wallet due to have so many units and my "catch them all" symdrome

[someone2040]

In general, any force I actually start (which means building and painting models for) I tend to have a somewhat firm idea of how I want to build the army for the first 1000-1200 points. This is generally when I'm playing the army in a more casual setting among mates starting new armies.

From there, unless there's something else that has captured my interest in the mean time causing me to change direction, I'd probably start thinking about what I need to do to get the army to a competitive '2000 point' level. This will generally involve going a bit beyond 2000 points, giving a little bit of flexibility to change around a few characters or a unit or two. I'd say most would finish around the 2500 points level. Once I get to that point, I'm most likely working on a new army hobby-wise, or projects for other games while I play games with this newly painted army.

That being said, I'd call very few of my armies 'done' even when they're at this point. This is partly because I almost always overbuy, so there's always the lingering thought in the back of my mind that some day I'll go back to the army and 'finish them off' - hasn't really happened that often though!

 

The only army I have which I would consider done is my Flesh-Eater Courts. I recently painted every single model that I have for that army, and in general I was pretty good about not buying too much excessive stuff. They could've landed in my 'done for now' pile as I did have an army I was fairly happy with, but I decided to make the push to finish them off since I only had about 20 Ghouls + Zombie Dragon + a few characters to finish. I also didn't really have another army I was working on starting/continuing at the time, so I just continued making progress with that army while working on some side projects at the same time.

[SleeperAgent]

I usually just buy enough plastic to have 2000-2500 points, put it together and try out a bunch of lists. Then if I like em i keep em, otherwise I resell them and invest in the next army. I have tried most armies in the game this way with not a ton of investment.

[Joseph Mackay]

When I first got into the hobby back in 2001 with Middle-earth, I used to be able to stick to one army, I’d get enough stuff for an army over time that I could play 500pts, 750pts, 1000pts and 1500pts lists. After which I’d then change up and get a new army. This became a little bit blurred in the later years of Middle-earth as I started combining armies together (eg Isengard and Mordor as one), but for the most part I was able to collect enough to play before moving on. This continued when I got into 40K around 2006 as well, however my lists started to stop at 1000pts rather than 1500pts in the early 2010s. Then came AoS. With the fantasy model range, there were tons of individual models I liked but not necessarily the army they belonged to (eg Frost Sabres, Bullgors, Demigryphs etc). When AoS came out with the whole Grand Alliance thing, that issue went away, and so did my self control to stick to one army at a time. Fast forward to now, and it’s not uncommon for me to a buy a box of Stormcast one week but then next week buy a box of orruks. Because of this, I actually have very few ‘complete’ armies these days

[Beastmaster]

First world problems 😅

I decided that I‘ll only have one „full“ AoS  army (Mawtribes) and only buy models from other factions for small skirmish games. In this way I have a clear focus and will have one sizable AoS force over time (currently around 1600p, will go well over 2000 once I got everything I like about them) but I can paint and use a wide variety of models when I’m currently sick of Ogor skin.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Beastmaster

[zilberfrid]

I have calculated what I have purchased for Kharadron, and it turns out it's 1400 points (though quite a bit of that was originally the Dwarf Blood Bowl team). With the planned Ironclad, that adds up to a full army (Ironclad +Navigator + Endrinrigger, they are included).

I had a Cities army, and then I purchased the collection of a friend, which was about another 3k points, (which I am now winding down again).

But then, I also have some Tsaangors, blood bowl teams, and a few Underworld warbands that have not a single use in an army that I might be interested in.

Edited October 16, 2020 by zilberfrid

[Greyshadow]

The way I am doing it at the moment is to start with an Age of Sigmar: Skirmish force. (The 2nd edition ruleset is available in White Dwarf January 2019 with a follow up campaign in White Dwarf February 2019). Here is my first war band investigating an abandoned archeological camp in East Thondia in Ghur: 

Next, I grow this into a Path to Glory force. When I've finished that campaign I'll have enough models to form the core of a full Age of Sigmar army. The good thing about this approach is you can start playing with only three models and have a blast doing so.

[SirSalabean]

So I collect multiple armies however I will preface I am yet to play a game due to Covid. I’ve been painting on and off for years and too a plunge this year. I’ve got a large Space Marine Army, a large Necron Army, a Medium Idoneth Deepkin Army, and a Medium Lumineth Realm Lords Army.

 

I paint as a hobby so I don’t know how many points I have but I’ve got 4 bookshelves of models lol I just try and get one of everything for the rule of cool. My main armies for each game are Necrons and IDK so I’ll be playing those when I can. 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

Really surprised by how many people just buy one of every unit. That way of building an army would have never occured to me.

On to the topic:

I just got back to the game about a year ago and was just recently in a position where I decided to start a second army. My first army was a skeleton focussed Legions of Nagash force. I got that to a point where I can pull off the stuff I am aiming to do with the 2000 point list I had originally planned to build. I then decided it would be nice to have a second army to play games with friends who don't play AoS and possibly get them interested in the game.

- When you start a new force, do you set yourself to a points limit other than 2k (like 1k or 1.5k)?

I decided to build a Cities of Sigmar list for more casual games. Since painting a bunch of skeletons has kind of worn me out, I built a list that can get to 1000 points with very few models (three Steam Tanks, three Gyrocopters, a Knight Azyros and a Gunhauler). But I designed this list with the option to expand it to a 2000 points semi-competitive army eventually.

- When you choose to expand beyond the 2k range? 

After getting my original LoN list mostly done, I also painted a few units that overall put me well over 2000 points. I picked up Nagash because he gives me a different playstyle by just painting one additional model and is very good points per price. I also picked up a few nighthaunt models for conversions (because I also enjoy just painting for it's own sake), but am now also making lists to put those models to use. I have most of the models I want from LoN currently, and will probably not expand much more unless new models come out or I get a cool idea for a conversion or variant list. I also still have about 50 skeletons left to paint to realize the most competitive variation of the list I had originally planned.

- When you decide that you finished getting everything you wanted for a army?

In the case of LoN, once I had all the skeleton stuff I wanted it made little sense to get many other models. This is because introducing extra drops would just make my list weaker, so it makes adding other stuff less appealing. As for Cities, the army is not yet done and not all of the list is set is stone. I can see a few variations for the final list (more or less infantry, more or less KO ships), but I also know there will not come a point where I suddenly start picking up, for example, wanderers models for it. Of course, everything can change when new models or rules revisions come out.

[zilberfrid]

6 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Really surprised by how many people just buy one of every unit. That way of building an army would have never occured to me.

For my Kharadron, that was a conscious choice. I like the aesthetic, but repetition isn't my thing. So I build and paint each of them, do some kitbashing with Blood Bowl models, and move on to the next. The only one I have multiple is the Underworld team.

Though I have a reducing amount of Freeguild Guard, building and painting all of them would seem like a chore instead of a joy.

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

1 minute ago, zilberfrid said:

For my Kharadron, that was a conscious choice. I like the aesthetic, but repetition isn't my thing. So I build and paint each of them, do some kitbashing with Blood Bowl models, and move on to the next. The only one I have multiple is the Underworld team.

Though I have a reducing amount of Freeguild Guard, building and painting all of them would seem like a chore instead of a joy.

I totally get it from a painting/collecting standpoint. If that was all I was doing with my models I'd probably do the same. But since there is a game attached to them that I want to play, as well, and I know I am painting at least somewhat in service of playing it, I would not be able to buy just one of everything without feeling bad. Like, am I really going to paint upwards of 2000 points and not have a playable army by the end of it?

[Skreech Verminking]

I have like my main Army project, that  is still growing.

as A huge skaven Fan, I am actually looking forward to having the biggest skaven collection in all of the 13 realms.

and as a side project I usually tend to build an army up to like a max. Of 2500points.

The skaven part of my hobby is probably the only one that I’m actually considering putting up to 31000 points 

 

[zilberfrid]

2 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I totally get it from a painting/collecting standpoint. If that was all I was doing with my models I'd probably do the same. But since there is a game attached to them that I want to play, as well, and I know I am painting at least somewhat in service of playing it, I would not be able to buy just one of everything without feeling bad. Like, am I really going to paint upwards of 2000 points and not have a playable army by the end of it?

Well, I'm not really interested in the game, just in the models. I did build a brickton of pistoleers and outriders for a Tempest's Eye army, but that's never going to be completed because it's boring to do.

I'm not interested in having a playable army, I just like painting Steampunk dwarves. This happens to end up at about 2000 points when I'm about complete with the models I like (so it's not an army per se, I don't intend to play them). I don't think I'd be able to make a horde army, because it'll get boring.

[Kramer]

13 hours ago, Arzalyn said:

Hi Everyone!

As someone new-but-not-so-much to the hobby (a year and some months) I would like to talk a little with more experienced folks about collecting more than one army. 
I'm almost getting my starting army to 2k and in the mean time I ended starting other 2 projects (throught box splitting with a friend and a good deal on second hand models), and honestly there is still other factions that I would love to paint and play with. I started looking at what other list options I could make with the armies that I alredy have, but after a certain point to get a different enought list I would need lots of new models to make it... Which ends costing as much as starting a smaller force of another faction!

With that in mind, I started to wonder how everyone else tackle those problems. Some things I would like to ask some insight on how everyone proced with:
- When you start a new force, do you set yourself to a points limit other than 2k (like 1k or 1.5k)?
- When you choose to expand beyond the 2k range? 
- When you decide that you finished getting everything you wanted for a army?

I build up multiple 1K armies. And if I like them for playing too. I build them to first 1,5K. And if ever, then to 2K. 
I prefer 1,5 anyway. And it’s usually a nice spot for one of every cool unit in a faction. And not many 30+ model units

with my stormcast in past 2k, unpainted though, as it’s a big range with lot of cool models and cheap ways to collect them 

Edited October 16, 2020 by Kramer

[EccentricCircle]

So I'm much more of a collector, since I barely play  the game. My experience thus won't be especially relevant, but here goes...

I pretty much buy models which I like the look of, and think I will be able to use in games which I play. For the most part that's D&D, with some dabbling in frostgrave. So I'll gradually pick up a smattering of models across any army or range, as and when I need them for my next adventure, or some scenario I'm planning.

Sooner or later a collection thus reaches a tipping point, where I have almost enough models of a specific faction for it to work as a 1K point army. At that point I will likely start to deliberately get a few things that I don't have another use for, just to make it a functional army. However, I tend not to like to get hundreds of battleline models, just so an army is competitive in a game I'm not going to use it for much. My armies thus tend to be quite hero heavy and I'm much more likely to just have one of each troop choice, or maybe an extra unit here and there to be able to build some of the alternate weapon options. Start Collecting sets and Battleforces are great for this kind of approach, as you can fairly quickly get the core of an army, and end up with a lot of variety for RPG and skirmish type stuff.

However, I do have a tendency to get a bit obsessive when I like things, so if I have enough models in a range to feel like I'm collecting it, I can get to the point where I want to get one of everything, just because its fun to paint and I want to be able to rank them all up and see my army on parade. As a result I've ended up with some quite large armies, which I probably could build competitive lists from if I were so inclined.

 

So basically my take on collecting multiple armies is:

"If once you start down that path, forever shall it dominate your destiny!"

[EonChao]

6 hours ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I totally get it from a painting/collecting standpoint. If that was all I was doing with my models I'd probably do the same. But since there is a game attached to them that I want to play, as well, and I know I am painting at least somewhat in service of playing it, I would not be able to buy just one of everything without feeling bad. Like, am I really going to paint upwards of 2000 points and not have a playable army by the end of it?

I think the thing to remember is that "playable" has a broad meaning. I mainly buy to build and paint so tend to follow rule of cool with my purchasing choices but at the end of it, when I have 2000+ points of an army, that's still playable regardless of whether it's built to be competitive or even especially functional. I can use my armies amongst themselves with friends to play casual engaging games without having to collect 3 of the same unit because it's optimal if it jars with the flavour of my army. And that's just as valid a way to play as any other.

[Praecautus]

When I got back into the hobby I started building a Khorne army and essentially went rule of cool and buying painting what looked fun. As I got to about 1500 of random stuff I started playing again and ended up fine tuning the list a lot. I ended up with a solid 2k list and a lot of add ons allowing experimentation around a core or mortals. It allows me a lot of variety and keeps it fresh. I can pretty much field different list types now eg horde, elite, multiple battalions
When slaves to darkness came out it became clear I had most of a Khorne marked slaves army ‘by accident’ so I am currently expanding into that list. As such I can’t see my Khorne being complete with daemons and beasts of chaos still to explore, but it provides a huge area to experiment and play in.

I also have an Idoneth army. I have about 2.5k and have stopped. Baring an interesting update these guys are done. I like them but currently I find them to be 1 dimensional to play and with none of the tricks I can pull in a Khorne army. They make a nice palette cleanser so to speak

[Sleboda]

On 10/15/2020 at 3:56 PM, Arzalyn said:

When you start a new force, do you set yourself to a points limit other than 2k (like 1k or 1.5k)?
- When you choose to expand beyond the 2k range? 
- When you decide that you finished getting everything you wanted for a army?

If I'm dabbling in a new force (Kharadron, Sylvaneth, Khorne demons, slaanesh demons, dwarfs, dark elves, flesh eaters, bonesplitters, Ironjawz, gitz, daughters, etc.):

- I just get what looks cool and I will end up having a few thousand points if I ever decide to play the army. So, that also means I don't really consciously decide to expand, just get more cool stuff if I feel like it. Also, I'm only finished with that army if GW stops making cool stuff for it.

Sometimes this leads to a new event army for me, like my Ironjawz and Khorne demons, where I end up with 2000 - 3000 points of a proper army, paint it, play with it a few times, and then display it, but often it just means I have a hundred or so cool looking painted models in a cabinet.

 

If I'm jumping into a new army that really has me enthused and excited (Tomb Kings, Skaven, Empire, Nighthaunt, Bonereapers, Necrons, Deathguard, Orks):

I'll buy one of everything alongside enough of each unit to field a max sized unit of each type and weapon option, including enough for all core varieties for a 2K minimum.

I'll look at the range and get multiples of the cooler looking stuff. I almost never consider the power of the units at this stage. I'll even get multiples of things like faction scenery in case I want to make boards or larger scenic pieces.

So, for instance, for Bonereapers I currently have 6 boxes of Mortek Guard, 6 boxes of the cavalry, 3 boxes of the harvester, 3 of the catapult, 5 nexus, Katakros, 3 of the mounted heroes, 3 of the hero standing on the skull, 2 of each of the other heroes, 1 Vokmortian, 12 stalkers, 12 morghasts, 12 immortis, arkhan, Nagash, and the endless spells.

Almost all of that was a Day 1 purchase (exceptions being the older models and a few kits I added over the few months after release to supplement ones I picked up at launch). It's about 10,000 points I think, and I'll probably do a second army of them in a different paint scheme down the road. (I've done at least 3 differently colored TK armies of over 10,000 points over the years, plus several generic Undead armies ... loves me some skeletons!)

I'm in a similar boat right now with Necrons and Deathguard (my bank account is not looking forward to seeing what new stuff they get in a few weeks).

Necrons (even though I have some older Necrons, this is effectively a new army given how much was added and changed), Bonereapers, and Deathguard were "second" (or 10th lol) armies that excited me a bunch, so I dove in.

On the other hand, for Kharadron I only snagged one of each thing plus an extra core troop set at launch and have maybe 2500 points of them. I've only added a single additional box of the troops in the time they've been out.

Not to get into prices, but I was looking forward to adding a Sons of Behemat force as well. I have two little guys and the Forgeworld giant from older days. I was thinking of getting 4 of the new giant kit (one of each to play as-is save one for converging) and 7 more little giants, but my enthusiasm was 97% killed by the cost of the new kit. I got the book, but that'll be about it, really.

So, it really is all about enthusiasm level. If it's high, I'm going all in. If it's medium, I'll dabble. If it's elven (or another version of low), I'll pass pretty much entirely.

 

One final note -

I get the books for all armies, the war scroll cards for armies I may eventually play (so far the only army I think I'll end up never getting cards for is Lumineth), and the limited edition books for my high enthusiasm armies. Dice are a pass on almost all cases. Images on two faces plus being often very hard to read puts me off them. I've got the Squig, Necron, Deathguard, and Bonereapers dice - that's it.

[Aelfric]

My passions in Fantasy were twofold - Dark Elves and Orcs & Goblins, and I had an army of each.  Aelves and the Greenskin races have always been a passion for me within this Genre, so when AOS began and both my armies were split into several, it meant I suddenly had more armies with each being smaller.  I could also play under the Grand Alliances, though, which meant that suddenly I could add different Aelves in Order, likewise for Destruction.  So, a Wanderers army (with a smattering of Sylvaneth) was born and Ironjawz added to my Greenskins.  Then a Troggoth update came along, which became a must have army, followed by a dabbling in Idoneth and a full plunge into Lumineth.  

When I start a new Faction, I do tend to think in terms of reaching 2000 points as an initial goal,  But I don't put a limit on how far beyond that I'll go.  I'm in this more as a collector and painter than as a player (though I do like to play), so really limitations are almost exclusively financial.  Sometimes, as with Idoneth,  the playstyle of the army will put me off continuing for a while - I prefer to play with armies that have variety in their playstyles.  This also means my armies tend to consist of many different units rather than multiples of the same unit, dependant of course on the range for each faction and playability.  Even though I don't play very often, I still want my collection to have functionality on the table.  Power level is not so important since having a number of different armies will mean you should always have a range of power levels at your disposal for match-ups irrespective of where each one currently sits on the circle.

Basically, I will keep adding so long as GW keep producing models I like - providing they're Aelves or Greenskins of course  (other races are available).

[Fairbanks]

I collect every army in a casual way, so I will hands down have the worst answers.

On 10/15/2020 at 3:56 PM, Arzalyn said:

- When you start a new force, do you set yourself to a points limit other than 2k (like 1k or 1.5k)?

- When you choose to expand beyond the 2k range?

- When you decide that you finished getting everything you wanted for a army?

How I evolved my buying/collecting habits since 8th Edition WFB below. It's the reasoning behind my answers to the questions above, but is definitely TL;DR for anyone but myself to really care:

Spoiler

 

How I started is no longer as viable a method, because I started collecting in 8th Ed Fantasy. At first it was 1 Battalion Box, 1 Generic Hero, and 1 box of something interesting (usually a unit and not a big centerpiece. Centerpieces were something I didn't like at the time and had to grow into). Goal was usually 500 points that didn't use a BatBox unit or two.

When it was certain that 8th was coming to an end, my goals shifted. I liked the game and didn't like what AoS was looking like at the time. I wanted 1,000 point armies, it was all I was willing to spend/build vs Tournament Standard 2000/2500points. I looked at a lot of 8th Ed tournament lists, tracked the unit sizes and count of multiples of the same units, then cut everything down to 1,000 point lists that had a little of everything you might take to a tournament. I had most everything I wanted bought and wrapped up when GW killed Brets and TK. Makes me sad to know I won''t be able to flesh out those armies beyond 2000 like I had everything else without spending $$$$$.

Onto AoS; I tried the game out, liked it, but had no idea how to balance it and play strangers, so I stuck to playing alone with my private collection. Eventually, there was enough unofficial balancing systems and the FEC book was encouraging to how the older and currently segregated armies were going to end up go. It was a sentiment that I kept until the older High Elf stuff was flushed in mid/late 2019, but by then AoS was easily back to the roster size of 8th Ed armies.

Back to Early 2016,  from here the project spread and I wanted to touch a little bit of all the new segregated armies (everyone used the term ghettoized, Euros vs Yanks I guess). I started taking yearly inventories at this time and counted all I had. Made a new Want List to touch it all, and went about doing so. Still to this point, I didn't collect any of the new armies that had come out (Stormcast, Fyreslayers, Ironjawz, or Khorne Bloodbound), and it took a lot for me to make that leap. When the 2016 Christmas boxes came out, I didn't jump on them and regret it. All four were amazing entry points for each army, but at the time I wasn't going to spend money on a game I didn't have anyone to play against, especially after spending $2-3000 on old fantasy (most of it used, which may have soured my impression of buying used stuff going forward).

2017 was really the first bloom off the bush. Disciples of Tzeentch signaled a commitment to flesh out armies for the Chaos Gods, which is something I had done with Daemons, choosing to go with 500 points of each of the four gods instead of keeping it to 1000 points of Chaos Daemons. The second was the Kharadron Overlords release, which had a roster at the same size of Sylvaneth, but was all new models. If Ironjawz or Fyreslayers had released at that size, I probably would have made the AoS jump sooner. KO however, would mark the beginning of another trend in my army collection purchases. KO's Battleforce came out at the end of 2017, I bought it and three other units; a box of Thunderers, box of Endrinriggers/Skywardens, and a Skyhauler. So you can imagine my reaction when the Start Collecting KO Box came out.

I don't regret it too much though. As unbuilt, unpainted, and unfinished as my massive 78,000 point collection of Age of Sigmar is, I still lo every bit of it.

I remember 2018 as being a big year for Age of Sigmar, what with a movement in the setting with the Malign Portents, more reformatted armies in Maggotkin, Legions of Nagash, and Daughters, another new force in IDK and climaxing with Soul Wars that then delivered a promise to fix some ghettoization by reuniting Beastherds, Thunderscorn, Warherds, and Monsters into Beasts of Chaos, setting forth a plan for where armies would inevitably sprout from. But really, 2018 on the whole cemented what lessons I had learned from the previous years: Be patient, purchase larger box sets when you find them, and slow down the spending. I personally started a Hobby-Every-Day Challenge in 2018 that I feel comfortable in saying that I completed, and to date, this is the closest the collection has come to being BUILT.

2019 was a bigger year for AoS than 2018. We nearly completed the remaining armies (Only Seraphon had never been touched before the year had ended). There were box sets, start collecting boxes, and new releases (OBR) that crystalized my buying habits that have held through to this point in 2020. So let me visit those:

 

How do I build an Army:

I don't really start new armies in the same way as everyone else (getting an idea, falling in love, tournament focus, etc). I love most armies right away, but I wait for Start Collecting Sets, Two Player Box Sets, and Battleforce Boxes to come out, purchase those, and evaluate what I have. After a certain point of collecting those, I evaluate what is missing to make the army feel complete, and list the models that get me there in my Want List.

Example, My IDK:

Spoiler

I didn't buy any IDK until the end of 2018 (Battleforce Release). My next purchase was the Start Collecting box (Early 2019), which brought the army over 1000 points. My want list included one box/pack of every other unit that I didn't have. Since then I have had only two additions, both of which were listed high in the two categories of the Want List for the army. The first was the Akhelian King, which was a XMas gift because it has a major place in IDK tournament lists that I had seen (I use tournament lists to help differentiate what I might want that is/isn't helpful to the army. The second was a Leviadon, which was part of a major purchase I made in March 2020 where I found an eBay seller who was selling a number of things at 30-40% off. This was a centerpiece model that while not the most competitive was a nice touch to the force.

My Buylist reflects two items for each army: A Good Competitive Choice, and a Good Fluff choice that fills a gap in what I'm missing (either a size/role gap or something taken as a fluff part of the army). For IDK, my Want List still has a Soulscryer, Shipwreck, and More Eels (although the Eels are probably something I will never try to get, as I see eels one day getting a nerf that knocks them out of a competitive standing) in column A, and an Eidolon in Column B. While things are on the Want List  for every army, I rarely act on it anymore. I'm content with what I have and in waiting for box sets which have a better per unit discount. I'm more than happy to receive them as a gift, or make as an impulse buy if I make the effort to go to the shop (honestly, harder to do since I can't wander and look). But unless I'm close to a key points level (1k, 1.5k, 2k), I'm not actively looking to make a purchase.

When do I choose to move beyond 2K? I find an item to fill the hole in an army and the additional buys move everything beyond the mark. The armies I moved beyond 2K with were usually due to getting a better collection with the box set (example: My DoK has one unit of snake ladies, and the additional two units in the Shadow and Pain box cements my purchase of it, but that adds a unit of the Khinerai I'm more than happy to just have (since the DoK Battleforce already added a unit of each). OR I decided to buy the army's Centerpiece model (For DoK, I purchased Morathi in the same set as the Leviadon mentioned earlier. This moved my DoK from 1870 to 2350 without much more effort.

So when am I finished with an army?

True answer is that I haven't 100% completed one yet. While I'm done collecting for 1K, 2K, etc point size, there's always some fluffy model in the army that I still don't have that I still kind of want for the army. I'm just not burning a hole in my wallet to get it. The only army that has nothing in 'Column B: Fluff' is Seraphon. Column A has a Slann, but I openly refuse to buy an old metal one, and really would like a new/plastic one to button up the army. eyod that though, I don't mind increasing the size of units that I have (ex: My Temple Guard are only 12 strong. If a new box has 10 and another unit from another army I want, I'm more than happy to get the box)

The other answer is the Unique Centerpiece: Morathi, Alarielle, Archaon, Teclis, etc. It's usually enough points that puts the army way high on the army points list and well into the "This isn't a purchasing focus" category.

[Kramer]

On 10/16/2020 at 12:00 PM, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I totally get it from a painting/collecting standpoint. If that was all I was doing with my models I'd probably do the same. But since there is a game attached to them that I want to play, as well, and I know I am painting at least somewhat in service of playing it, I would not be able to buy just one of everything without feeling bad. Like, am I really going to paint upwards of 2000 points and not have a playable army by the end of it?

Surprisingly you cans play the game pretty well when you take one of everything  

And then start adding the things that work well just for the game. Because it’s sadly a game which rewards the player going all in on one theme and not spreading it around.