Minis

[Midnight Dawns]

I wanted to thank everyone for there advice. I have begun looking into the different games that have been suggested. And Thane, I will make sure to look into the different groups around me. Again thanks everyone.

 

[Xphile]

If you want to get into miniature wargaming, what you need the most is...

Someone to play against.

So, take a look into what clubs or other meeting places are in your vincinity and see if you can find some suitable folks there. That will most likely also give you a good idea what games to look into.

I'd agree with this most. You might want to approach this as getting into it by joining a local club or talking to a friend. You might want to pick up a rule book or two of different games and play test them before buying an army.

I'll name off a few other games that I'm currently looking into:
The Uncharted Seas
Firestorm Armada
Arcane Legions [Starter pack should only cost you about 25$]
AT-43
Lord of the Rings

 

[Dire Bare]

Another bit of advice...

If you decide to pick up and start playing Warhammer or Warhammer 40K....plan on getting a second job to support your hobby.

You can get the fun of WH and WH40K without quite the price by picking up and playing Mordheim (as a sub for WH) or Necromunda (as a sub for WH40K). Both basically let you control a small gang instead of a giant army.

DS

While I think Sabathius is overstating a bit on purpose, I have to disagree.

Miniatures wargaming is not an inexpensive hobby regardless of game system you play, but it's not anywhere near that bad! When I started Warhammer 40K, I first purchased the Black Reach starter set ($60-75 depending on where you buy it), and that was all I needed to learn to play and to start playing small battles with my friends. Next, I choose the Tau army to start building and collecting, and I purchased the Tau Empire Codex ($17-22) and the Tau Battleforce Box Set ($70-90) and that's it! I also purchased a few inexpensive tools to help put together my minis at my local FLGS, but I haven't painted my figures yet.

Right now, I'm saving up for a second Tau Battleforce box set and then later some paints and brushes . . . but I'm in no hurry. Overall I've only spent around $175 (tools included) spread out over half a year. I've been playing every other week and haven't felt like I don't have enough "stuff" to compete and have fun. Sure, I want more figures for my Tau army, and I'm eager to start painting, and I even would like to start collecting another army. But if you pace yourself, the hobby is very doable with one job that doesn't even pay all that well!

 

[Thanee]

Agreed. Besides, GW isn't even that expensive. There are far worse contenders out there.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Dire Bare]

Miniatures wargaming is not an inexpensive hobby regardless of game system you play, but it's not anywhere near that bad! When I started Warhammer 40K, I first purchased the Black Reach starter set ($60-75 depending on where you buy it), and that was all I needed to learn to play and to start playing small battles with my friends. Next, I choose the Tau army to start building and collecting, and I purchased the Tau Empire Codex ($17-22) and the Tau Battleforce Box Set ($70-90) and that's it! I also purchased a few inexpensive tools to help put together my minis at my local FLGS, but I haven't painted my figures yet.

Oh, and I purchased a plastic tote and some eggshell foam at Wal-Mart to house my baby army, so I've actually spent closer to $200 over a 6-month-ish period. Not too bad by my standards.

 

[MerricB]

Oh, and I purchased a plastic tote and some eggshell foam at Wal-Mart to house my baby army, so I've actually spent closer to $200 over a 6-month-ish period. Not too bad by my standards.

Not at all. In the last six months I've probably spent close to $2000 on boardgames.

Cheers!

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I can't speak for everyone on the boards, but if I had a $2000 a year game habit I most assuredly would need to go find another job (or work a lot of voluntary overtime at my current one) to fund it.

I would also probably not post here anymore, as my wife would have already killed me and put me in a shallow grave...

My venom aimed at GW isn't necessarily at the initial cost of building a decent army, its at the continued cost of swapping out old models when new codexes come out making your old armies obsolete for organized play.

I'd post pictures of my very expensive but totally worthless Chaos Dwarf, Genestealer Cult, and Old School Tyranid armies to back up my point.

DS

 

[Dire Bare]

I can't speak for everyone on the boards, but if I had a $2000 a year game habit I most assuredly would need to go find another job (or work a lot of voluntary overtime at my current one) to fund it.

If you go all out, I can see someone dropping $2,000 or more per year on miniature wargaming. But you don't have to go all out to participate in and enjoy the hobby.

You don't need tournament legal miniatures to play casual with your friends, and also at most tournaments and game nights held at your FLGS. If you want to step up and play the official tournaments, that's cool (and probably more expensive in the long run) but not necessary to enjoy the hobby.

As I mentioned upthread, I've probably spent around $200 on the hobby so far, and right now funds are low so I won't be expanding my army in the near future. But I am enjoying what I have and I'm having fun playing with my friends, and occasionally at my FLGS. Eventually I'll want to add figures to my existing army and maybe start a new one, but I can do all that with pacing my expenditures . . . I won't be spending $2,000 per year, that's for sure!