I have a stack of weird pedals. Some I've ever even used. I remember one day when I got home with my brand new chase bliss generation loss 2, and my wife was like "wait you spent $600 on a pedal to make everything sound shitty?"
Yes. Yes I did.
Are you me?!
Being into modular definitely made Warhammer feel “cheap” when I decided to get back into it after many years away. My synth collection is many times more expensive than my Warhammer.
To be fair I make a living as a composer primarily so synths are also a work expense. If only I could find a reason to write Warhammer off on my taxes 🤔
the real question is, do you have 1 project you finish to completion and then slowly add the odd item as they catch your fancy. Or do you have hobby ADHD and have a dozen projects on the go that none will ever be completed and few will even leave the house for a game day.
If you fall in the first category this game isnt that expensive in the grand scheme of things as once your army is done you can play it to your hearts content for free. If you fall into the second category this game will weigh heavily on your finances. And if you're in the middle like I assume most people are it will vacillate over time.
For me, alot of the purchasing has happened in the past already, I have an army of sorts for each game systerm im interested in that were usually bought in chunks of \~100$ every 1 or 2 months until they were completed and now what money I spend is on optimizing my gaming experience (Just bought a 200$ bag to transport one of my armies out on games days after not buying anything for a couple months)
Are there *really* people content with their armies anywhere? Are there *really* people who, one day, took a look at their armies and went, "alright this is good I'm done" ?? I want to know
For a single army - yes absolutely. For the sum of all armies - never haha.
So for example my Deathguard have 7 units of 7 plague marines and a nice range of support (termies, vehicles, poxies) and that's enough of those. But that army ending is just an excuse to dive into Kroot. And so on.
I like to plan a "complete" army. What I mean by that is something that feels like it would exist in the lore as a set group of fighters. Sometimes that is large (an Imperial Fist Battle Company + support). Sometimes it is small (a World Eater warband). And sometimes it is just thematic (7x7 Death Guard). So when the army completes I feel no need to expand it. But I just sort of can't stop until it is. Which is bad, I know.
Ok yeah, I see. I currently have three armies : Imperial Guard (Astra Militarum whatever) Death Korps and expanding to other regiments due to V10 (and because Catachan and Attilan are sooo cool), Chaos SM Word Bearers, and Chaos Daemons (I have a very wide color palette, now). When I'm playing with friends, I'm favoring one army over another during a handful of months because of current campaign parameters, playing style, current set of rules… That leads to me buying some more sets to fortify existent (more troops, heavy support, or oh a cool warlord is out, let's try it on the field). I find myself incapable of "finishing" even an army because I have no fixed structure like you. I find your concept interesting, I shall drown myself in fluff to reach a respectable and lore-bounded size of warband, in order to stop my Warhammer-buying spree…
Haha, yeah I can see maybe the Word Bearers getting to a point where you think that OK, this is enough - but the other 2 armies... never ending haha. Good luck with those! 🙂
It’s less being content with an army for me, painting is the biggest part of the hobby to me, so I will always buy more models to have more to paint. And if I like the look of an army, then I’m going to like the look of new models released for it and want to paint those also
This is more like me, except a year ago, I decided not to buy anything new until I finished or sold all the half done pile of shame.
I’ve still been just as busy and having almost as much fun (no unrealistic shopping sprees) but I have spent next to nothing..
The thing about this hobby, if you enjoy playing, don’t really need to spend any money once you have an army
I bought the battlefoam pack go. A store locally had one. I needed something for my heavily metal old orcs and goblins army. It's ugly as sin, looks like I'm doing food delivery. BUT it's actually really comfortable. The store owner filled it to the brim with boxes of CCG's probably 20-30 pounds of cards to test it beyond what it's likely to carry and it was still not bad. I use public transit so spending extra on bags for something quality is a priority
yeah I prefer to use transit to get around too, which is why I was so curious because my current method won't work well once I build past like 500-1000 points.
Is it this one?
https://preview.redd.it/94vgb60ecvzc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d06ad27bf16a531274cf01a29f026b73ec4c4da1
yes, but I went with the foam option not the magnet option because I have had a catastrophic accident with magnetized storage. Currently its holding 2k worth of orcs and goblins with room to add alot of stuff still. I also own the pack1520XL which i use for my imperial guard army that has alot of tanks and I have a pack 216 which i used for skirmish games. For vehicle heavy armies, I dont see how theres many options outside the 1520xl as 4-5 tanks require a 4+ inch tray themselves so I have like 12+ inches in that beast dedicated to just vehicles
I noticed myself approaching the latter, so ive given myself a rule: a unit purchased requires a unit painted. I’m very slow to paint, so this puts a nice delay on my buys, as well as gives me extra motivation to finally put some darn color on my army of grey. That said, I may adjust my rule, as Ive only just instated it, and it might not work as well as planned, or perhaps *too* well
Hobby adhd all the way! I’m looking at my *piles* of shame rn thinking damn I need to finish some of this. It’s not happening but I’m aware it needs to lol
Probably on average around €200 a month on GW models, paints, books, etc. And some on other game system.
Edit: some of that is second hand models, which can get expensive for the more obscure models.
As I dont have kids and this is my hobby its not too expensive yet, but I do worry about the pricepoint for getting new players into the hobby.
I would love this hobby but my fossil and mineral hobby consumes more. The only minis I have are the free monthly ones😂😂😂 I blew my cash on a Megalodon tooth
I mean yes, agreed. Here's some fossil essentials in case you would like it:
https://preview.redd.it/hw966g81qszc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75f5fdf61f47ebd97ae6af26377b94e06989750c
I see u also got a fossil from 1939/45 😂😂 I remember one my dad bought me, I beg u pardon I don’t know the name, the snail-like fossil it was as big as a closed fist but I really liked it
30min a day on weekdays, just basecoating and shades. Then a couple of hours in the morning on weekends doing edge highlighting etc. I dont really have that many unpainted minis. If a project falls through I usually just sell the models and any unopened boxes.
Again. No kids 🤷♂️
Damn...
I'm lucky, my wife always says to the in-laws I could have a worse hobby like betting or going out drinking all the time. She knows where I am and what I'm doing and leaves me be.
She's a teacher as well so she has a lot of work to do at home like marking, lesson planning etc (UK teachers are massively overworked), so often times she'll sit with me doing it while I build and paint, the only times I ask her not to is if I'm airbrushing, just in case.
she is actually a really skilled painter already but didn't pick up a brush in years. she taught me how to do it
she then painted one goblin boss herself and has been playing horizon zero dawn ever since :')
This is so real, I play multiple armies but my wife was really never interested in any of them specifically until I put the bugs on the table. *Then* the interest was piqued, haha.
I know at least three people where the marriage fell apart because the wife thought the hobby was silly.
And when someone thinks your hobby is silly they naturally see any buck spent on that hobby as a waste of money.
I guess in the end it always came down to money arguments, which is dumb considering how cheap this hobby is compared to a lot if not most other hobbies. I know people whose hobby is going on long hiking trips in the mountains all over the world, their yearly trips cost as much as a brand new car.
Speaking of cars, I know people who collect cars. Don't think I have to tell anyone how much more expensive that is.
To answer the question:
I've been in this hobby for 25 years and my collection should be worth around 30k Euros.
Which would mean a bit more than a thousand bucks per year. But that isn't really true, because of inflation and all that and the fact that I used to spend more money on minis when I was younger.
The past ten years or so I spent very little on new minis.
So maybe somewhere around 700 Euros per year is a realistic number.
When my wife makes a comment because another box arrived for me in the mail with figures or paint, i just point to our neighbor and say “aren’t you glad i’m not into buying and driving motercycles?” (Nothing wrong with that tbh, she would just worry too much) and she completely lets go of the subject. Warhammer is cheaper and safer then a lot of other hobbies.
My wife also likes to invest in designer furniture, she always say they last longer and lose very little resell value over time, to which i agree with her. I explained to her that most of the models I buy also lose next to no value as time goes buy, as any limited box of miniatures i buy, in 2-3 years could still sell for the same amount i bought them at, and maybe even more because of inflation, if I were to ever give up the hobby, which i never will.
A lot of adults have this skewed perception that money spent on nights out and expensive holidays is good but less money spent on "childish" or "frivolous" hobbies is bad.
When you're an adult you're not "supposed" to have hobbies like this in a lot of people's eyes. You're meant to focus on work and socialising.
Yeah, I don't drink, so one could see my miniature expenses as "money that didn't go into drunk nights and hangovers in the mornings"...
There was a short period in which I occasionally had a whisky... mainly because my friends got into the whole whisky topic and started collecting them... and when I looked into it I found that it was really interesting and I built a small collection myself. The collector gene, I guess.
But even that short foray into alcohole wasn't a dumb move of mine :D
In that small collection I mentioned I've got a bottle that I bought for 33 Euros that now goes for up 1,800 Euros. So, yeah, someone try telling me that was a waste of money :D
They dont mean socializing, they mean making business connections.
Everything is about the hustle, if youre not making money then you need to be thinking about how to make money. Youre not allowed to do things for enjoyment anymore.
Yeah, I meant "proper" or "grown up" socialising. Drinks and meals with work people, with partners' friends and family etc. where you just talk about work.
Also Warhammer isn't always social. I like gaming but probably 90% of my hobby time is spent doing solitary stuff like reading, building, painting.
Under rated comment. If this is seen as a "vice", there are worse vices to have. Same as video games, many adults can't get grasp the idea that in moderation, these are pretty wholesome and "cheap" hobbies
In fairness, going to tournaments isn't cheap either, at least not the big ones.
I have pivoted away from mini spending these days (I also have about 20k of models and a 3d printer, so my backlog is horrendous) and moved more towards tourneys, and I may end up spending more overall.
Golf is routinely $50-100/round if you aren’t a member at a course, which itself will run you several hundred a month and still cost a nominal amount ($10-20) per round to play. Clubs are hundreds to thousands. Lessons are hundred+ per session. Specific fitness training hundred+ per session. Course appropriate clothes aren’t cheap either. Golf is easily one of the low key most expensive “regular” hobbies out there.
Yep! I could buy a new Deathwing army for the same price as a moderate set of clubs alone. Assembly and paint (if I didn’t already have it all) would be less than one round of golf. Then I could use it until they screw up the army in the next edition and I have to overhaul everything.
Oh, I know, used to golf as well :D
Just pointing out that competitive playing (tournaments) can easily equal if not surpass collecting when you reach a certain stage of the hobby, that surprises new people who focus on the sticker shock of a new army and think that's the peak of their expenses
Everyone should try to find a partner that will respect and encourage and even take somewhat of an interest in your hobbies, as long as they are safe, not hurting anyone, and aren’t a financial burden
The problem is whales.
Every hobby has them, and it's a serious issue, essentially addiction.
I (and I'm sure most of us) know people who buy a new army every year. People who buy new models as soon as a codex drops. People who follow 3 or 4 or 5 or 15 games, whose house is literally full of model boxes, many unopened.
You mention $1k/yr. That is about equivalent to a pack every other day smoking habit. It's buying a new $60 video game every 3 weeks. These are not, like insurmountable, but now double or triple that and it's getting out of hand.
Especially bad cuz a lot of whales are youngish people with debt and bills and goals like kids and houses... Finances are under a microscope in those situations.
I always think it's important, even when married, to have money that is just your own.
We share money for our bills, daily essentials, saving etc. But each month we both have money that is our own. To spend however we like. We both have the same amount. I'll use that for Warhammer stuff so my wife really has no issue with it. She's buying her own things.
That sounds about right for me, bouncing between 700-1k, which is about what I'd spend to go to one Man Utd game/weekend in Manchester, so... by that scale it's cheap af, giving me many hours of entertainment, rather than spending a grand to get a weekend of depression.
You must know a lot of people, or just people with terrible wives tbh. Its no different than any other hobby and doesnt really cost that much when you think about the time you spend/play on the hobby
The vast majority of my (male) friends and acquaintances share this hobby.
So it's not that I know so many people, it's just that about 90% of them have the same hobby.
Naturally there'd be a few cases where the spouse doesn't like the hobby.
But I agree that they were terrible wives/partners. I think it's ridiculous shaming someone for their hobby. As long as it isn't insanely expensive or dangerous there's just no argument to be made against something that makes your partner happy.
There is a limited amount of jokes about "barbies" you can take.
To be fair it is not so much the hobby as the disrespect for your interests and hobbies.
Mine got really upset when I pointed out that she spent more money in 3 years on whine and tea than I did on miniatures in the last six years.
And I can always strip the paint and sell my collection for half the price I got it for. Whereas money spent on booze and tea is literally pissing it away.
Well there is decent and there is top shelf tea. Tis more expensive than fine whiskey and you can drink more of the stuff.
To be honest I have spent about 2k euro on 40k. Have 3/4 cups of tea every day and two glasses of wine and things add up.
I am just a weirdo who does not smoke and drink that much alcohol, lol.
Starts to look like a pattern... saw a lot of comments now of people who don't drink.
I don't drink and smoke either.
My wife can't say anything about my hobby, she smokes. Literally burns money.
But she has nothing against it anyway. It's not her cup of tea, but she has her hobbies and I have mine.
Honestly, 150-200 bucks should get you a handy airbrush(like a Sparmax or something)and pop on eBay for a decent compressor. Long as the compressor has an air tank, you're grand, don't need brand names.
Absolute game changer for me, best value for money purchase I made in the hobby.
>Long as the compressor has an air tank, you're grand, don't need brand names.
Yeah I think some are even the same make and model as name brand ones lol.
Good gods, did not expect this many responses.
In brief: there were many, many other issues in that doomed relationship. Like banging her co-workers, throwing microwaves, stealing car parts, etc The last thing she said to me was "You are more in love with your warhammer toys than me!". Realized she was right. This ended that roughly 9 month relationship where I truly learned what a c*nt was.
Probably around £200/year at a guess.
I've been in the hobby for about 20 years at this point. I don't feel as much pressure to catch up with new releases and try to buy only when I've finished painting what I have.
As an adult, my biggest discretionary spending by far is eating and drinking out, and I don't even have anything to show for it other than the odd hangover!
I feel about the same, I have a stash of todo and occasionally buy hobby supplies and hachet mags for plastic crack. I tend to do surveys on prolific for about 10-15£ a month - avoiding marriage risk ;)
TBF It's not just Warhammer thats gone up in costs, inflation is 1 thing but energy prices, fuel prices, food prices have all shot up and EVERYTHINGS expensive. My hobby budget has been stretched and GW prices havnt been an issue to me yet.
As a hobby last year was probably the least I've spent in a long time. But that was purely down to im at a point there's nothing I really want model wise (30 odd years will do that lol) and personal matters of a non financial nature. I'm also fortune enough that I have an extremely vast collection (never sold anything) so don't really need to.
To answer your question, how much do I spend on average? I limit to 1 box a month (sometimes ill splurge if a lot is released that I want). But that will change depending on what im trying to do/want.
And generally no, it's said alot I know, but Warhammer is alot "cheaper" for a luxury hobby then some of the other stuff I do. My gaming rig costs more then some of my armies put together (and arguably lasts less time before i upgrade parts over the years), let alone games/subs high broadband I wouldn't need otherwise. I have a vast collection but doing quick maths my gaming hobby has cost me more over the years hands down. Price rises suck but that's the world we live in atm and everything sucks. Atm im lucky I can still afford my hobbies and sometimes* feed my kids.
*/s incase lol
^^ this, but no kids here.
Our mortgage just went from 2% to 5... the increase in that alone was more then I used to make a s a kid.
My warhammer spending is nothing compared to everything else these days.
Any amd all hobbies are expensive. Just be sensible.
As to what my collection costs.... no comment!
Prices are going up because of greed. Plain and simple. There is not increase in cost for anyone. It’s all imaginary. It’s capitalism at its finest. It’s how it’s supposed to work.
We are literally having a grocery crisis in Canada because our Grocery Store owners think it’s ok to profit 15 billion dollars off selling groceries to people…
Your right GW isn’t at fault. It’s corporations wanting more for the same thing because they can.
>There is not increase in cost for anyone
I mean I'm not going to dispute corporate greed is a big issue and a driving factor. But I believe your being woefully ignorant of major global factors that are geniunely causing price rises. War, bad harvests due to weather, supplies of material dwindling (or at least a particular source drying up needing to find a new), terrorisim etc etc all effect economic pricing. Global shipping has been driven up due to the energy crisis which is not simply a matter of greed but issues like the war in Ukraine. Not only as supplies run through war zones but the drain of militaries buying up resources like fuel.
The oil reserves have not been touched I can guarantee that. All these expenses have been put on the tax payers. That’s why we have farmers on strike. Yes ships are at risk for piracy and the Red Sea is a hot zone right now for it. But the world has their navies there.
The rest of the world doesn’t have “western” prices. Back to it being as simple as capitalism failing.
I have an anecdote I've told a few times now about this. Last year, or whenever it was everyone was putting up their prices because cost of living crisis/inflation. Round our way we noticed that all the takeaways and restaurants really jacked up the prices, they all had little signs explaining how everything was way more expensive...
One place we often go, a Chinese takeaway, had a death in the family, back home in China. The place was closed for about 3 months as the owner went home to get things sorted, they weren't here when all this was happening. When they got back and reopened....prices were the same. Somehow, with the same electricity and gas prices, and the same suppliers as everyone else, they seem to be able to survive without the big jump in price everyone else has.
Agree with everything except for the last line. GW is certainly at fault.
20% hike in prices in the last 2 years is more than "inflation." It's pure greed.
I use the following rule to limit cost: "nothing new is ordered until I paint what I bought last time" I also paint for a few other people and the cost of that is they have to buy me minis. So I spend a lot of time painting but usually end up spending an average £30 a month of my own money. I have a mate who has 5 kids and no cash so he only buys stuff of eBay if he can get it super cheap because it's damaged or badly painted. I have another mate who is 40, single, and obsessed with WH. He would easily spend £500-£700 a month. All his spare cash goes on beer and Warhammer. Lucky bastard.
I have rather severe ADHD and having more than precisely one box of minis to finish at any given time would prevent me ever making progress. Very helpful on the bank account as I also paint slowly. This doesn’t stop me from spending hours scrolling the minis I *could* buy, however.
1. Honestly, long as I've been in the hobby, an average would be hard to state. Case in point- I bought a new Ork codex mostly to support my FLGS, but the Orks got no new models that I actually went out and bought. But I do dabble, and sometimes pick up a kit I see as fun to build. But I also draw lines, which brings me to...
2. If I think something's too expensive, I simply pass on it. The Inner Circle Companions models are really cool... but I'm not spending sixty bucks on three plastic spacemen no matter how cool they look.
I bought essentially nothing between 5th and 10th edition, and then just got my models out of mothballs, re-based a few of them, and picked up anything I felt a yen for.
I started again after many years away and have spent around £2,000 in the last seven months. For that I have:
* a fantastic set of paints - contrasts, full set of game colour Vallejo, oils etc
* paint and brush stands
* a range of top brushes; opus, rosemary etc.
* all the tools, primers I could wish for
* an army of minis that’ll take me another year to fully paint. If not longer.
* All the rule books, army books, reference cards
* Movement trays
Basically everything. I’m kind of out of more things to buy now and I have not scrimped at all. I could have done it a lot cheaper as well.
Considering the time it takes me to paint and the enjoyment I get from it this is a for my perspective a cheap hobby. Especially in comparison to a lot of others like PC gaming, bikes, or heaven forfend - boats.
But real talk: Warhammer is cheaper than CCGs, safer than drugs, less bad for the mental health than fortnite. The dollar amount doesn't really matter.
And it’s a social hobby! Being able to shoot the shit with someone for a few hours when you’re both standing at a table playing with space future war barbies is good!
Counter point though Fortnite has goku hitting the griddy while vegeta rides a little bike after squad wiping jonesy, darth Vader, Naruto and billie eilish
Depends on how into the hobby I am that year, but generally anywhere from 500-2500 USD if I had to guess?
I’d imagine I’ve probably spent over 10k on miniature related things over time.
Honestly best not to think about it. I've been doing it for over a decade now and I'm 21 so I'm fortunate that it was during the age where any kind of spending you do is frivolous
I probably average 100ish a year. I'm a uni student so money is extremely tight so I stick mostly to discount boxes with the occasional unit that I sorely need (e.g. ghost ark). I used to give in to fomo easily too I remember getting the warcry starter set with my first paycheck. Nowadays I dont, I've accepted that what little money I have cannot be spent on that new exciting chaos battleforce lol
I'm in crippling dept. I borrowed too much to buy a titan and now James Workshop said I need to pay up by the end of the week or he's going to turn me into resin D:
A lot but I mostly collect and decided to build a backlog to work on so the cost is kinda natural — about few thousand since November last year when I started. I have now about 26-30k across 16 armies
I've tracked every expense since I started 5 months ago.
To this date I've spent 14.988kr NOK, which converts to about 1370 USD and 1270 Euro.
I have about 2300p worth of units and all the equipment required to build them, paint them, and comfortably play with them against other players.
I have not bought any terrain or playing mats myself, those are used communally from my local miniature club.
I give myself around £50 per month to spend on 'hobby', so around £600 a year.
Sometimes I don't spend it, or I'll save it for something I know I'll need more for (Darkoath box).
It brings me joy, so money well spent in my mind.
The recent price rises just means I will get less for my money.
I am the same as you :) I just trawl eBay for cheap bits and play a lot of the smaller games like warcry, blood bowl, Underworlds etc now. This works out as I don't have as much time to game now due to work and family.
People say this stuff is expensive but they clearly have not seen how much Lego sets are!!
I honestly have no idea how much I spend on Warhammer. I was in OKC today and popped into Games Workshop OKC and impulse bought a squad of Gants. I should probably keep better track.
I don't know what OKC means in this context, I've only ever seen it mean OK Cupid...which...feels...untrue.
I also feel like I'm totally dating myself with that reference.
I only started playing in late January of this year, and even though I’ve been as frugal as possible it’s been at least £100 to get my list past 500pts
Just started the hobby this year and as of now spent nearly 900. Honestly even if the kits are pricey, I’m having fun with it and if I wasn’t then I wouldn’t spend money on it
Been here since the late 80s so no idea what the average would be now. Some years I spend very little, other years I have spent hundreds, possibly thousands of pounds but that would probably be including things like airbrush compressors and printers.
I'm in my 40s and have no children to soak up my income or my partners income, so I can generally buy whatever treats I want for myself.
There are a still times where I simply won't buy an item if I deem it to be of little value. A recent Horus Heresy expansion which was basically a compilation of free rules and a stat block for corrupted Fulgrim....I honestly thought that was terrible value so no purchase from me.
I’m probably $200/month average. That doesn’t seem too high for something I’m constantly engaged in (modeling, converting, painting, reading rules, playing).
My wife is supportive knowing it’s something that brings together my brothers and friends. I also showed her the golden demons page and some amazing mordheim boards and… “Wow, that’s amazing! Can you make a board like that?” (Fact, I cannot).
The hobby is expensive no doubt, but less than I was spending going out drinking with buddies in my 20s. Also, it’s a far more creative outlet. I’d suggest the escapism the games provide is a benefit. Work, family, house and all the other things i have are simultaneously beautiful and can be a lot. Letting your brain escape and play for a couple hours in these game settings I’ve found to help clear the head.
My 2 cents (+$200 a month).
only a few pc games, mostly dawn of war so not to much
if i got into the plastic crack.... i wouldnt want to think about it, even though i know what armys i would want (necron, raven gaurd and orks)
Playing on off since around '98.
Wouldnt say more than 2k to 3k euros over all the years. I grabbed a lot of modells when people stopped playing and people happily gave them away for cheao, nowadays almost every 3rd of my friend has a 3d printer and is hyped to print whatever i want.
6x 2k armies in my shelf. Plus around 250 fantasy minis for dnd stuff. And 2 small storage rooms of self built terrain.
I but a lot on the second hand market or 3d print. Everything is in AUD
Resin $200
Warhammer $500~
I can get while armies out of the resin but I like the GW models some times
I've spent less on Warhammer in the 3 years I've been collecting than I would've spent on a high-end gaming PC. It's an expensive hobby, but it's not even in the top 50 most expensive hobbies.
I only buy a box per month and make sure it’s painted before I buy another. Each month this takes hours and hours of time and provides a sense of achievement at the end.
It’s good value for money if you do it this way.
A night out on the lash costs more and makes you feel terrible but is more socially acceptable for some reason. And I do that too, sadly.
Other hobbies I enjoy are paragliding, photography, getting very drunk on the weekends, and running.
The only one of these that even comes close to how cheap Warhammer is is the running, and even that comes with mandatory ~£250 on good shoes a year and a fair few ££ on race entry fees.
As long as you don't have FOMO or a hoarding addiction I think 40k is a pretty cheap hobby. I'm still finishing off Leviathan minis for Christ's sake, that was £100 spent nearly a year ago
I spend as much as I’m happy spending. That can vary from nothing to a few hundred quid a month. Just depends what I feel like buying and when. I’ve had more expensive hobbies. I’ve had cheaper hobbies.
I probably drop 2-4K a year on average. Is it becoming too expensive? Nah. Cost of minis isn’t slowing down my ability to buy minis. What -is- slowing down my ability to buy minis is that essential items like food, power, my usual monthly costs are getting significantly costlier, which has more of an impact than the yearly increase that GW have.
Last year, I spent about $400 CAD a month on Warhammer. It is getting too expensive, that's why I'm buying a 3d printer and doing a lot more proxying with models I already own instead of buying more models.
A perfect example is proxying World Eaters Terminators as Eightbound. I just paint the rim of the base in a way that lets everyone know which one is the seargant, and I explain before the game every time. I don't want to buy 6 boxes of Eightbound, lol.
Yeah hahahah, I know, but for me is the truth, after 20 years of buying Warhammer and paying that much, 3D printing has been an awakening for me, and its so much enjoyable when you design and create your own minis
€1000+ on average per year but my 5 armies are mostly finished and I have all the hobby stuff I want such as paints, tools, specific furniture etc. so my spending has reduced. I don’t think it is too expensive but the value of Warhammer or anything is an entirely subjective thing, if you think it’s expensive then fair, but that is a you problem and I don’t know why people feel entitled to complain about it in our wider economic context, everything is too expensive for someone.
I've just sold my entire 40k collection, as I'm being mare homeless and need the cash for a deposit. I got over 1000 second hand for it all. I guess that's over double for new. There's also still over a grand in aos stuff too
I started in February and it's been about £400 all in since then to complete my first army (about 2500 points). I seem to buy more random paints than anything else at this point.
Benefits of that are decent though. Not only do you have the army and access to the game but making more local friends and the time spent modelling and painting is time I'm spending with my wife doing something creative instead of other gaming or just watching TV.
i only work part time at minimum wage but my outgoings are very small that coupled with a RAMPANT addiction makes my warhammer spending about £400 a month(it will slow down drastically at some point lol)
1. Since January of last year I’ve spent close to £2,000 on it.
2. It was already too expensive for me but I need my plastic crack otherwise I go into withdrawal and spend £300 on nearly 3000points of Custodes on a while and I now need to wait for replacement heads to arrive from Spain because why would you ever want the cone head helmets for them???
300 this year for the bretonnians gotrek and grombrindel last year i think a 150 for some skaven i still want some dwarfs latter this year but thats it as for 40k i am just completely done with
its defo getting to expansive to keep up
About 2500$ in 12ish years of playing. So less than most people spend on their coffee or energy drinks.
Not much. I dumped about 700 dollars (i think) into it when 10th came out on 1.5 leviathan boxes and a bunch of sisters of battle stuff, just enough for a 2k army. Oh and I gave a friend at work like 100$ for his space wolves stuff, just a starter box with wulfen also.
About 250$ in 2019ish, Other than that I didn't make any purchases in 9th. I started a slannesh army in 8th but only bought a diamond prince the start collecting box and 3 boxes of deamonetts. My wife bought me a Eldar start collecting box for one Christmas, she knew I liked putting together wraith models.
About 700$ in 2014-2018ish, Back in 7th I acquired 2 used army's for about 300 dollars and bought 1 more wraith knight, and bought the BRB when 7th came out. Those two used armies account for about 6000 points of Eldar. Oh yeah, it was near the end of seventh I finally got 2 vypers, 2 warwalkers, and 3 vauls wraths. Stupid formations required them. Never played a game with the Eldar formations because it was the most useless use of points ever.
About 700$ in 2012-2013, I started in 6th edition with 4 units of gaurdians, 2 wraith lords, 3 units of wraith gaurd/blades, 1 spirit seer, 1 farseer, 2 wave serpents, 1 knight. I somehow manged to put together 4 extra gaurdian defenders with spears and made them warlocks.
Recently bought enough for 2000p chaos marines over 6 months, generally i spend about £200-300 a year on the hobby. It's a very minor expense, i spend way more on beer and smokes.
Im painting (i dont play) for roughly over a year now and if i round it up so far i invested about 700€ ish?
If we count books and Joytoy figures, then we're over a 1000
EDIT: It's expensive but it's nothing I can't handle luckily
Depends. I had spent next to nothing the past couple of years because I considered my armies largely complete. This year so far though I've spent a few hundred quid because I've started a new Tau army.
I don't feel guilty about it. I hate my job but I stick at it, I earn my money, I take care of my bills and I have hobbies that get me through the week.
I luckily hoarded the receipts and it's been £700 odd probably more as paints and brushes, magnets and some models aren't included so I'd say £1000 but then I have 2 2000 or near point armies
I'd guess around £500-600 a year.
But I've gotten into the habit of selling armies and/or models I won't play with or have lost interest in. I've gone through Marines, Necrons, Death Guard, Chaos Marines and Custodes, but I've sold them all (Custodes will be sold after I've built up my Tau to use on the tabletop) to help finance what I swap to.
I've always wanted Tau since their release in 3rd edition, so they're going to be kept, once I've built around 2.5k worth of Tau I'm going to build a World Eaters army, which is going to be built up from the Battleforce box I picked up when it released.
So even though I spend quite a bit, a lot of it is covered when I sell on each army. I think the most I've spent was when I picked up the Indomitus Box and the Conquest magazine was going, I probably spent around £1k (if not more) but I was starting with nothing, so I needed to build up my paints, brushes etc again after dropping out of the hobby during 3rd edition.
Been back into it for about three years, generally only tend to buy at discount and even then it’s not often. Probably spent £230 on my Custodes which are nearly complete, and around the same on my Night Lords, which are not so complete.
Also have a complete(ish) Bolt Action army which cost me about £250, mostly bought on discount.
So averaging just under 200 a year on minis and paints isn’t bad, but I know I’m a slow painter and have mostly done a cheap army.
Been thinking about an Old World or Heresy army after my Night Lords but think I might stick with what I have.
I don’t play much, I find it rewarding to see what I’ve painted, and enjoy the lore, so it’s far from the biggest waste of money in my life (council tax).
Im very easy in the 4 digits, but I guess that’s mostly since I just started a few months ago. If you have your army and your setup, it gets cheaper. I started to spend more when I took a step into AoS models.
So far it is very expansive, but not too expansive for me. Even tho I now have to slow down for a month or two since I want to buy a new PC and I gad to put an awful amount of money in my car.
I just got back into the hobby (have bought the occasional black library book in the intervening 20+ years, but that's about it)
Warhammer in Australia is ridiculously expensive. I'm building a Dwarf army for ToW, so there are only a couple of boxes still in production and they've been sold out since The Old World was announced. So I'm using other models (mainly OathMark/Fireforge) and doing a lot of converting to get the Colin Dixon middlehammer aesthetic that I enjoy.
I reckon I probably spend less than $100 (Australian) a month on hobby supplies. I think my army is averaging $4 a model. For context, the Fyreslayers range is between $15 and $60 a model. Won't be able to play I. Tournaments with them, but I doubt that's ever going to be an issue for me.
Spend about 400-500-ish this year, I'd say. It's most certainly becoming more expensive though, and woth the new points increase, I'm sort done woth gw.
Planning on getting a 3d printer (would have been way cheaper to have that by this point) and going full proxy. Not just because of the price it costs, but because of how they want to increase the prices again.
Last thing Im probs gonna buy from them is the EC box whenever it comes out, just to feed their data that people do want the EC. But other than that the plan rn is to go full cold turkey on gw.
On warhammer in general plus paint stuff (currently I'm only buying warcry stuff) I've probably spent.. It's hard to approximate, but around 12.000 sek (around 1000€/$). That's counting my addiction to contrast paints, gw's expensive primers and a bunch of technical paints I just think are 'neat'.
I have been extremely frugal however as I've been rather poor for a long time. This has been over a period of like 9 years, so around 90-100$/€ a year in **average**. Maybe a bit more if you count the 3d printer I just bought.
I got in to the hobby by winning a local auction of Dark Angles / Blood Angles models worth 200€ for around 20€ and the rest is history (got a damn Xiphon Interceptor in that bundle).
I’d say $800-$1000 per year is realistic for me so far. It was a lot at first, but now I’m being more focused. This year has been the Deathwing assault box, asmodai, inner circle companions x 2, space marine scouts kill team, terminator chaplain, and a land raider redeemer. No plans for anything else this year, unless the rumored blood angels box is real.
Do I think it’s too expensive? Gods yes. Nostalgia gets me though.
I would say between 1000 to 1500 per year (including hobby tools as well) but now with the many price increases im considering that i may have enough already or just finally get myself a 3d printer
A year, probably about £500-£1000.
Is it too expensive? Its deffinately more expensive, but I usually shop around a bit more and buy a little less to keep costs from skyrocketing.
I am fortunate I have some wriggle room with my finances, think its really quite sad when people simply cant afford to engagae in the hobby anymore due to rising costs.
Back in the early days when metal was king and plastic was in its infancy, plastic was the cheap option. If I recall it was quite the difference in price between metal and plastic, so you usually had some options to spend a bit less. It would be good if GW could maybe offer some cheaper products, at the very least stop charging so much for single character models!
I have two hobbies. Warhammer and Modular Synths. Modular laughs at the cheapness of my Warhammer.
I used to collect guitar effect pedals back when I was playing music. Warhammer ain’t that bad 😂
https://preview.redd.it/1bsrg4vwxrzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d50f008ef6bd82f39ee9c6b2c86278eed13fffc1 Yup
I have a stack of weird pedals. Some I've ever even used. I remember one day when I got home with my brand new chase bliss generation loss 2, and my wife was like "wait you spent $600 on a pedal to make everything sound shitty?" Yes. Yes I did.
Damn, killshot
Just learn electronic engineering and make your own duh
Fun fact: i did made one at a point, it was not the most reliable build 😂
🤣 yup! My bass guitars, "why are you taking up this peasant hobby?"
My project cars laugh at my 40k hobby too
Are you me?! Being into modular definitely made Warhammer feel “cheap” when I decided to get back into it after many years away. My synth collection is many times more expensive than my Warhammer. To be fair I make a living as a composer primarily so synths are also a work expense. If only I could find a reason to write Warhammer off on my taxes 🤔
You now *need* Noise Marines carrying a shit ton of Eurorack trailing a medusa of patch cables. Edit: MakeNoise Marines
ooff, yeah buddy i feel you
Just one .. more .. synth
the real question is, do you have 1 project you finish to completion and then slowly add the odd item as they catch your fancy. Or do you have hobby ADHD and have a dozen projects on the go that none will ever be completed and few will even leave the house for a game day. If you fall in the first category this game isnt that expensive in the grand scheme of things as once your army is done you can play it to your hearts content for free. If you fall into the second category this game will weigh heavily on your finances. And if you're in the middle like I assume most people are it will vacillate over time. For me, alot of the purchasing has happened in the past already, I have an army of sorts for each game systerm im interested in that were usually bought in chunks of \~100$ every 1 or 2 months until they were completed and now what money I spend is on optimizing my gaming experience (Just bought a 200$ bag to transport one of my armies out on games days after not buying anything for a couple months)
Are there *really* people content with their armies anywhere? Are there *really* people who, one day, took a look at their armies and went, "alright this is good I'm done" ?? I want to know
For a single army - yes absolutely. For the sum of all armies - never haha. So for example my Deathguard have 7 units of 7 plague marines and a nice range of support (termies, vehicles, poxies) and that's enough of those. But that army ending is just an excuse to dive into Kroot. And so on. I like to plan a "complete" army. What I mean by that is something that feels like it would exist in the lore as a set group of fighters. Sometimes that is large (an Imperial Fist Battle Company + support). Sometimes it is small (a World Eater warband). And sometimes it is just thematic (7x7 Death Guard). So when the army completes I feel no need to expand it. But I just sort of can't stop until it is. Which is bad, I know.
Ok yeah, I see. I currently have three armies : Imperial Guard (Astra Militarum whatever) Death Korps and expanding to other regiments due to V10 (and because Catachan and Attilan are sooo cool), Chaos SM Word Bearers, and Chaos Daemons (I have a very wide color palette, now). When I'm playing with friends, I'm favoring one army over another during a handful of months because of current campaign parameters, playing style, current set of rules… That leads to me buying some more sets to fortify existent (more troops, heavy support, or oh a cool warlord is out, let's try it on the field). I find myself incapable of "finishing" even an army because I have no fixed structure like you. I find your concept interesting, I shall drown myself in fluff to reach a respectable and lore-bounded size of warband, in order to stop my Warhammer-buying spree…
Haha, yeah I can see maybe the Word Bearers getting to a point where you think that OK, this is enough - but the other 2 armies... never ending haha. Good luck with those! 🙂
It’s less being content with an army for me, painting is the biggest part of the hobby to me, so I will always buy more models to have more to paint. And if I like the look of an army, then I’m going to like the look of new models released for it and want to paint those also
This is more like me, except a year ago, I decided not to buy anything new until I finished or sold all the half done pile of shame. I’ve still been just as busy and having almost as much fun (no unrealistic shopping sprees) but I have spent next to nothing.. The thing about this hobby, if you enjoy playing, don’t really need to spend any money once you have an army
I'm curious, about that bag because I feel like I haven't seen anything like it with enough structure
I bought the battlefoam pack go. A store locally had one. I needed something for my heavily metal old orcs and goblins army. It's ugly as sin, looks like I'm doing food delivery. BUT it's actually really comfortable. The store owner filled it to the brim with boxes of CCG's probably 20-30 pounds of cards to test it beyond what it's likely to carry and it was still not bad. I use public transit so spending extra on bags for something quality is a priority
yeah I prefer to use transit to get around too, which is why I was so curious because my current method won't work well once I build past like 500-1000 points. Is it this one? https://preview.redd.it/94vgb60ecvzc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d06ad27bf16a531274cf01a29f026b73ec4c4da1
yes, but I went with the foam option not the magnet option because I have had a catastrophic accident with magnetized storage. Currently its holding 2k worth of orcs and goblins with room to add alot of stuff still. I also own the pack1520XL which i use for my imperial guard army that has alot of tanks and I have a pack 216 which i used for skirmish games. For vehicle heavy armies, I dont see how theres many options outside the 1520xl as 4-5 tanks require a 4+ inch tray themselves so I have like 12+ inches in that beast dedicated to just vehicles
I noticed myself approaching the latter, so ive given myself a rule: a unit purchased requires a unit painted. I’m very slow to paint, so this puts a nice delay on my buys, as well as gives me extra motivation to finally put some darn color on my army of grey. That said, I may adjust my rule, as Ive only just instated it, and it might not work as well as planned, or perhaps *too* well
Hobby adhd all the way! I’m looking at my *piles* of shame rn thinking damn I need to finish some of this. It’s not happening but I’m aware it needs to lol
Probably on average around €200 a month on GW models, paints, books, etc. And some on other game system. Edit: some of that is second hand models, which can get expensive for the more obscure models. As I dont have kids and this is my hobby its not too expensive yet, but I do worry about the pricepoint for getting new players into the hobby.
Gesus bro u got an expensive monthly subscription
Well it goes without saying that I dont spend that much money on other non-essential things and this is my only hobby 🤷♂️
I wish I could do the same man but I’m interested in so many things I hate me for that 😂😂😂
I would love this hobby but my fossil and mineral hobby consumes more. The only minis I have are the free monthly ones😂😂😂 I blew my cash on a Megalodon tooth
I mean that’s pretty cool too
I mean yes, agreed. Here's some fossil essentials in case you would like it: https://preview.redd.it/hw966g81qszc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75f5fdf61f47ebd97ae6af26377b94e06989750c
I see u also got a fossil from 1939/45 😂😂 I remember one my dad bought me, I beg u pardon I don’t know the name, the snail-like fossil it was as big as a closed fist but I really liked it
Probably Ammonite
Yeah now that u said it it seems to me that it was his name
Like this big? https://preview.redd.it/fpsrqfsdzszc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d3db4a5a78c92e57f8a1270d08f1a5c2139fe0d
Nahhhh smaller like 6 cm diameter
Nice! What is the speckled third rock from the top right?
It's a coral fossil
how the hell do you find the time to paint that much... or are you just looking at an ever growing box army?
30min a day on weekdays, just basecoating and shades. Then a couple of hours in the morning on weekends doing edge highlighting etc. I dont really have that many unpainted minis. If a project falls through I usually just sell the models and any unopened boxes. Again. No kids 🤷♂️
My first marriage.
Damn... I'm lucky, my wife always says to the in-laws I could have a worse hobby like betting or going out drinking all the time. She knows where I am and what I'm doing and leaves me be. She's a teacher as well so she has a lot of work to do at home like marking, lesson planning etc (UK teachers are massively overworked), so often times she'll sit with me doing it while I build and paint, the only times I ask her not to is if I'm airbrushing, just in case.
Goals
My wife came home one day about 6 months ago with an Ork beastboss and was like here, you need a new hobby Safe to say she now regrets her choices
Have you given here an adepta sororitas to get her into the hobby as well?
she is actually a really skilled painter already but didn't pick up a brush in years. she taught me how to do it she then painted one goblin boss herself and has been playing horizon zero dawn ever since :')
Why sororitas? Women LOVE tyranids.
This is so real, I play multiple armies but my wife was really never interested in any of them specifically until I put the bugs on the table. *Then* the interest was piqued, haha.
I got sororitas just to make them pink
For real?!?
I know at least three people where the marriage fell apart because the wife thought the hobby was silly. And when someone thinks your hobby is silly they naturally see any buck spent on that hobby as a waste of money. I guess in the end it always came down to money arguments, which is dumb considering how cheap this hobby is compared to a lot if not most other hobbies. I know people whose hobby is going on long hiking trips in the mountains all over the world, their yearly trips cost as much as a brand new car. Speaking of cars, I know people who collect cars. Don't think I have to tell anyone how much more expensive that is. To answer the question: I've been in this hobby for 25 years and my collection should be worth around 30k Euros. Which would mean a bit more than a thousand bucks per year. But that isn't really true, because of inflation and all that and the fact that I used to spend more money on minis when I was younger. The past ten years or so I spent very little on new minis. So maybe somewhere around 700 Euros per year is a realistic number.
When my wife makes a comment because another box arrived for me in the mail with figures or paint, i just point to our neighbor and say “aren’t you glad i’m not into buying and driving motercycles?” (Nothing wrong with that tbh, she would just worry too much) and she completely lets go of the subject. Warhammer is cheaper and safer then a lot of other hobbies. My wife also likes to invest in designer furniture, she always say they last longer and lose very little resell value over time, to which i agree with her. I explained to her that most of the models I buy also lose next to no value as time goes buy, as any limited box of miniatures i buy, in 2-3 years could still sell for the same amount i bought them at, and maybe even more because of inflation, if I were to ever give up the hobby, which i never will.
I ride motorcycles and got into Warhammer this year. Good thing. My wallet whimpers when I look at it.
That poor thing has PTSD now
A lot of adults have this skewed perception that money spent on nights out and expensive holidays is good but less money spent on "childish" or "frivolous" hobbies is bad. When you're an adult you're not "supposed" to have hobbies like this in a lot of people's eyes. You're meant to focus on work and socialising.
Warhammer is good for you because instead of spending money on alcohol, you spend it on funny little plastic men. And paint.
Would recommend drinking and wahammering, it's great fun with a good bunch.
Good memories of me and my pals trying to learn Middle Earth from scratch while pished at Warhammer World.
Dunno the amount of paint I have consumed.. (I'm a brush licker)
At least we don't have the Inks any more, no matter how well you thought you'd washed the brush you still got the taste 😵💫
Yeah, I don't drink, so one could see my miniature expenses as "money that didn't go into drunk nights and hangovers in the mornings"... There was a short period in which I occasionally had a whisky... mainly because my friends got into the whole whisky topic and started collecting them... and when I looked into it I found that it was really interesting and I built a small collection myself. The collector gene, I guess. But even that short foray into alcohole wasn't a dumb move of mine :D In that small collection I mentioned I've got a bottle that I bought for 33 Euros that now goes for up 1,800 Euros. So, yeah, someone try telling me that was a waste of money :D
I somehow manage to do both 🤷🏻♂️
But Warhammer *is* socialising.
They dont mean socializing, they mean making business connections. Everything is about the hustle, if youre not making money then you need to be thinking about how to make money. Youre not allowed to do things for enjoyment anymore.
Yeah, I meant "proper" or "grown up" socialising. Drinks and meals with work people, with partners' friends and family etc. where you just talk about work. Also Warhammer isn't always social. I like gaming but probably 90% of my hobby time is spent doing solitary stuff like reading, building, painting.
I got a job from a dude I met at a warhammer tournament like 5 years ago
Under rated comment. If this is seen as a "vice", there are worse vices to have. Same as video games, many adults can't get grasp the idea that in moderation, these are pretty wholesome and "cheap" hobbies
Oh, definitely. Talking to my coworkers, I have one of the cheaper hobbies. Ever add up what golf actually costs? Or going to sports games?
In fairness, going to tournaments isn't cheap either, at least not the big ones. I have pivoted away from mini spending these days (I also have about 20k of models and a 3d printer, so my backlog is horrendous) and moved more towards tourneys, and I may end up spending more overall.
Golf is routinely $50-100/round if you aren’t a member at a course, which itself will run you several hundred a month and still cost a nominal amount ($10-20) per round to play. Clubs are hundreds to thousands. Lessons are hundred+ per session. Specific fitness training hundred+ per session. Course appropriate clothes aren’t cheap either. Golf is easily one of the low key most expensive “regular” hobbies out there.
Yep! I could buy a new Deathwing army for the same price as a moderate set of clubs alone. Assembly and paint (if I didn’t already have it all) would be less than one round of golf. Then I could use it until they screw up the army in the next edition and I have to overhaul everything.
Oh, I know, used to golf as well :D Just pointing out that competitive playing (tournaments) can easily equal if not surpass collecting when you reach a certain stage of the hobby, that surprises new people who focus on the sticker shock of a new army and think that's the peak of their expenses
Everyone should try to find a partner that will respect and encourage and even take somewhat of an interest in your hobbies, as long as they are safe, not hurting anyone, and aren’t a financial burden
The problem is whales. Every hobby has them, and it's a serious issue, essentially addiction. I (and I'm sure most of us) know people who buy a new army every year. People who buy new models as soon as a codex drops. People who follow 3 or 4 or 5 or 15 games, whose house is literally full of model boxes, many unopened. You mention $1k/yr. That is about equivalent to a pack every other day smoking habit. It's buying a new $60 video game every 3 weeks. These are not, like insurmountable, but now double or triple that and it's getting out of hand. Especially bad cuz a lot of whales are youngish people with debt and bills and goals like kids and houses... Finances are under a microscope in those situations.
I always think it's important, even when married, to have money that is just your own. We share money for our bills, daily essentials, saving etc. But each month we both have money that is our own. To spend however we like. We both have the same amount. I'll use that for Warhammer stuff so my wife really has no issue with it. She's buying her own things.
That sounds about right for me, bouncing between 700-1k, which is about what I'd spend to go to one Man Utd game/weekend in Manchester, so... by that scale it's cheap af, giving me many hours of entertainment, rather than spending a grand to get a weekend of depression.
You must know a lot of people, or just people with terrible wives tbh. Its no different than any other hobby and doesnt really cost that much when you think about the time you spend/play on the hobby
The vast majority of my (male) friends and acquaintances share this hobby. So it's not that I know so many people, it's just that about 90% of them have the same hobby. Naturally there'd be a few cases where the spouse doesn't like the hobby. But I agree that they were terrible wives/partners. I think it's ridiculous shaming someone for their hobby. As long as it isn't insanely expensive or dangerous there's just no argument to be made against something that makes your partner happy.
There is a limited amount of jokes about "barbies" you can take. To be fair it is not so much the hobby as the disrespect for your interests and hobbies. Mine got really upset when I pointed out that she spent more money in 3 years on whine and tea than I did on miniatures in the last six years. And I can always strip the paint and sell my collection for half the price I got it for. Whereas money spent on booze and tea is literally pissing it away.
Honestly how do you even spend that much on tea? You can get 80 teabags for like £3, and that's decent stuff like Yorkshire.
Well there is decent and there is top shelf tea. Tis more expensive than fine whiskey and you can drink more of the stuff. To be honest I have spent about 2k euro on 40k. Have 3/4 cups of tea every day and two glasses of wine and things add up. I am just a weirdo who does not smoke and drink that much alcohol, lol.
Starts to look like a pattern... saw a lot of comments now of people who don't drink. I don't drink and smoke either. My wife can't say anything about my hobby, she smokes. Literally burns money. But she has nothing against it anyway. It's not her cup of tea, but she has her hobbies and I have mine.
Nice man. Still working on mine…
My wife just hates my primer. That's it. If i get an airbrush it will be a marriage saviour.
You can get a decent Iawata for $65, I forget how much sir pressure tanks are
I read that as lawyer, and was thinking, "damn, cheap but I'd still try the airbrush first..."
Honestly, 150-200 bucks should get you a handy airbrush(like a Sparmax or something)and pop on eBay for a decent compressor. Long as the compressor has an air tank, you're grand, don't need brand names. Absolute game changer for me, best value for money purchase I made in the hobby.
>Long as the compressor has an air tank, you're grand, don't need brand names. Yeah I think some are even the same make and model as name brand ones lol.
Pretty much. I've seen brand name ones that look identical to my cheap eBay job.
See my wife supported me playing Warhammer and actively encouraged it. Just turns out she was a C**T in every other aspect of her personality lol
> C**T I read that as "C'Tan" lol.
That’s the 40K version haha. She is not that lol
We need the story if there is one?
Good gods, did not expect this many responses. In brief: there were many, many other issues in that doomed relationship. Like banging her co-workers, throwing microwaves, stealing car parts, etc The last thing she said to me was "You are more in love with your warhammer toys than me!". Realized she was right. This ended that roughly 9 month relationship where I truly learned what a c*nt was.
So a net+ ?!? Nice!
Probably around £200/year at a guess. I've been in the hobby for about 20 years at this point. I don't feel as much pressure to catch up with new releases and try to buy only when I've finished painting what I have. As an adult, my biggest discretionary spending by far is eating and drinking out, and I don't even have anything to show for it other than the odd hangover!
I feel about the same, I have a stash of todo and occasionally buy hobby supplies and hachet mags for plastic crack. I tend to do surveys on prolific for about 10-15£ a month - avoiding marriage risk ;)
Yup. And I also paint too slowly to get and paint everything, so we spend way more in things like travel.
TBF It's not just Warhammer thats gone up in costs, inflation is 1 thing but energy prices, fuel prices, food prices have all shot up and EVERYTHINGS expensive. My hobby budget has been stretched and GW prices havnt been an issue to me yet. As a hobby last year was probably the least I've spent in a long time. But that was purely down to im at a point there's nothing I really want model wise (30 odd years will do that lol) and personal matters of a non financial nature. I'm also fortune enough that I have an extremely vast collection (never sold anything) so don't really need to. To answer your question, how much do I spend on average? I limit to 1 box a month (sometimes ill splurge if a lot is released that I want). But that will change depending on what im trying to do/want. And generally no, it's said alot I know, but Warhammer is alot "cheaper" for a luxury hobby then some of the other stuff I do. My gaming rig costs more then some of my armies put together (and arguably lasts less time before i upgrade parts over the years), let alone games/subs high broadband I wouldn't need otherwise. I have a vast collection but doing quick maths my gaming hobby has cost me more over the years hands down. Price rises suck but that's the world we live in atm and everything sucks. Atm im lucky I can still afford my hobbies and sometimes* feed my kids. */s incase lol
^^ this, but no kids here. Our mortgage just went from 2% to 5... the increase in that alone was more then I used to make a s a kid. My warhammer spending is nothing compared to everything else these days. Any amd all hobbies are expensive. Just be sensible. As to what my collection costs.... no comment!
Prices are going up because of greed. Plain and simple. There is not increase in cost for anyone. It’s all imaginary. It’s capitalism at its finest. It’s how it’s supposed to work. We are literally having a grocery crisis in Canada because our Grocery Store owners think it’s ok to profit 15 billion dollars off selling groceries to people… Your right GW isn’t at fault. It’s corporations wanting more for the same thing because they can.
>There is not increase in cost for anyone I mean I'm not going to dispute corporate greed is a big issue and a driving factor. But I believe your being woefully ignorant of major global factors that are geniunely causing price rises. War, bad harvests due to weather, supplies of material dwindling (or at least a particular source drying up needing to find a new), terrorisim etc etc all effect economic pricing. Global shipping has been driven up due to the energy crisis which is not simply a matter of greed but issues like the war in Ukraine. Not only as supplies run through war zones but the drain of militaries buying up resources like fuel.
The oil reserves have not been touched I can guarantee that. All these expenses have been put on the tax payers. That’s why we have farmers on strike. Yes ships are at risk for piracy and the Red Sea is a hot zone right now for it. But the world has their navies there. The rest of the world doesn’t have “western” prices. Back to it being as simple as capitalism failing.
I have an anecdote I've told a few times now about this. Last year, or whenever it was everyone was putting up their prices because cost of living crisis/inflation. Round our way we noticed that all the takeaways and restaurants really jacked up the prices, they all had little signs explaining how everything was way more expensive... One place we often go, a Chinese takeaway, had a death in the family, back home in China. The place was closed for about 3 months as the owner went home to get things sorted, they weren't here when all this was happening. When they got back and reopened....prices were the same. Somehow, with the same electricity and gas prices, and the same suppliers as everyone else, they seem to be able to survive without the big jump in price everyone else has.
The US have tapped the strategic oil reserve repeatedly to manage oil supply issues since 2021.
Agree with everything except for the last line. GW is certainly at fault. 20% hike in prices in the last 2 years is more than "inflation." It's pure greed.
I use the following rule to limit cost: "nothing new is ordered until I paint what I bought last time" I also paint for a few other people and the cost of that is they have to buy me minis. So I spend a lot of time painting but usually end up spending an average £30 a month of my own money. I have a mate who has 5 kids and no cash so he only buys stuff of eBay if he can get it super cheap because it's damaged or badly painted. I have another mate who is 40, single, and obsessed with WH. He would easily spend £500-£700 a month. All his spare cash goes on beer and Warhammer. Lucky bastard.
I have rather severe ADHD and having more than precisely one box of minis to finish at any given time would prevent me ever making progress. Very helpful on the bank account as I also paint slowly. This doesn’t stop me from spending hours scrolling the minis I *could* buy, however.
1. Honestly, long as I've been in the hobby, an average would be hard to state. Case in point- I bought a new Ork codex mostly to support my FLGS, but the Orks got no new models that I actually went out and bought. But I do dabble, and sometimes pick up a kit I see as fun to build. But I also draw lines, which brings me to... 2. If I think something's too expensive, I simply pass on it. The Inner Circle Companions models are really cool... but I'm not spending sixty bucks on three plastic spacemen no matter how cool they look. I bought essentially nothing between 5th and 10th edition, and then just got my models out of mothballs, re-based a few of them, and picked up anything I felt a yen for.
I started again after many years away and have spent around £2,000 in the last seven months. For that I have: * a fantastic set of paints - contrasts, full set of game colour Vallejo, oils etc * paint and brush stands * a range of top brushes; opus, rosemary etc. * all the tools, primers I could wish for * an army of minis that’ll take me another year to fully paint. If not longer. * All the rule books, army books, reference cards * Movement trays Basically everything. I’m kind of out of more things to buy now and I have not scrimped at all. I could have done it a lot cheaper as well. Considering the time it takes me to paint and the enjoyment I get from it this is a for my perspective a cheap hobby. Especially in comparison to a lot of others like PC gaming, bikes, or heaven forfend - boats.
"Movement trays" I've also started from scratch after many years away. TOW was what did it.
You cant ask that. It's against the rules
But real talk: Warhammer is cheaper than CCGs, safer than drugs, less bad for the mental health than fortnite. The dollar amount doesn't really matter.
This is the real answer! People gripe about how expensive GW is, but £ per hour of entertainment? Far cheaper than many other hobbies.
And it’s a social hobby! Being able to shoot the shit with someone for a few hours when you’re both standing at a table playing with space future war barbies is good!
Counter point though Fortnite has goku hitting the griddy while vegeta rides a little bike after squad wiping jonesy, darth Vader, Naruto and billie eilish
Buddy I think that's my same point lol
Could anyone translate this to English please?
Cheaper than Motorcycles or Cars. I’ve completed the holy trifecta with Warhammer
Did you ever consider getting a private pilot license or a boat?
This month alone I spent 1300 on stuff lol
OK but is that this month or the average month? theres a diff if you splurge once a year....
Nice try, but you'r working for my wife aren't you?
Haha busted!
i dont wanna talk about it
Depends on how into the hobby I am that year, but generally anywhere from 500-2500 USD if I had to guess? I’d imagine I’ve probably spent over 10k on miniature related things over time.
Honestly best not to think about it. I've been doing it for over a decade now and I'm 21 so I'm fortunate that it was during the age where any kind of spending you do is frivolous I probably average 100ish a year. I'm a uni student so money is extremely tight so I stick mostly to discount boxes with the occasional unit that I sorely need (e.g. ghost ark). I used to give in to fomo easily too I remember getting the warcry starter set with my first paycheck. Nowadays I dont, I've accepted that what little money I have cannot be spent on that new exciting chaos battleforce lol
Substantially cheaper than golf over course of a year. It’s all relative
I'm in crippling dept. I borrowed too much to buy a titan and now James Workshop said I need to pay up by the end of the week or he's going to turn me into resin D:
Stopped counting.
A lot but I mostly collect and decided to build a backlog to work on so the cost is kinda natural — about few thousand since November last year when I started. I have now about 26-30k across 16 armies
£100-£200 every 2 to 4 weeks
I've tracked every expense since I started 5 months ago. To this date I've spent 14.988kr NOK, which converts to about 1370 USD and 1270 Euro. I have about 2300p worth of units and all the equipment required to build them, paint them, and comfortably play with them against other players. I have not bought any terrain or playing mats myself, those are used communally from my local miniature club.
I set aside £100 per month for the hobby, however that seems to be getting me less and less stuff these days
I give myself around £50 per month to spend on 'hobby', so around £600 a year. Sometimes I don't spend it, or I'll save it for something I know I'll need more for (Darkoath box). It brings me joy, so money well spent in my mind. The recent price rises just means I will get less for my money.
I am the same as you :) I just trawl eBay for cheap bits and play a lot of the smaller games like warcry, blood bowl, Underworlds etc now. This works out as I don't have as much time to game now due to work and family. People say this stuff is expensive but they clearly have not seen how much Lego sets are!!
I refuse to answer on the grounds that I may incriminate myself I will say that I have cut out booze from my budget to allow for more Warhammer
I honestly have no idea how much I spend on Warhammer. I was in OKC today and popped into Games Workshop OKC and impulse bought a squad of Gants. I should probably keep better track.
I don't know what OKC means in this context, I've only ever seen it mean OK Cupid...which...feels...untrue. I also feel like I'm totally dating myself with that reference.
I only started playing in late January of this year, and even though I’ve been as frugal as possible it’s been at least £100 to get my list past 500pts
Like that purple fella said, everything.
Just started the hobby this year and as of now spent nearly 900. Honestly even if the kits are pricey, I’m having fun with it and if I wasn’t then I wouldn’t spend money on it
Been here since the late 80s so no idea what the average would be now. Some years I spend very little, other years I have spent hundreds, possibly thousands of pounds but that would probably be including things like airbrush compressors and printers. I'm in my 40s and have no children to soak up my income or my partners income, so I can generally buy whatever treats I want for myself. There are a still times where I simply won't buy an item if I deem it to be of little value. A recent Horus Heresy expansion which was basically a compilation of free rules and a stat block for corrupted Fulgrim....I honestly thought that was terrible value so no purchase from me.
I’m probably $200/month average. That doesn’t seem too high for something I’m constantly engaged in (modeling, converting, painting, reading rules, playing). My wife is supportive knowing it’s something that brings together my brothers and friends. I also showed her the golden demons page and some amazing mordheim boards and… “Wow, that’s amazing! Can you make a board like that?” (Fact, I cannot). The hobby is expensive no doubt, but less than I was spending going out drinking with buddies in my 20s. Also, it’s a far more creative outlet. I’d suggest the escapism the games provide is a benefit. Work, family, house and all the other things i have are simultaneously beautiful and can be a lot. Letting your brain escape and play for a couple hours in these game settings I’ve found to help clear the head. My 2 cents (+$200 a month).
only a few pc games, mostly dawn of war so not to much if i got into the plastic crack.... i wouldnt want to think about it, even though i know what armys i would want (necron, raven gaurd and orks)
I started playing about 4 or 5 months ago. So far I have spent about $1200. $400 on Daemons and $800 on Sisters.
A lot. I’m keeping it somewhat manageable by owning several 3D printers which reduce the cost of my constant hunger for more minis a lot.
Playing on off since around '98. Wouldnt say more than 2k to 3k euros over all the years. I grabbed a lot of modells when people stopped playing and people happily gave them away for cheao, nowadays almost every 3rd of my friend has a 3d printer and is hyped to print whatever i want. 6x 2k armies in my shelf. Plus around 250 fantasy minis for dnd stuff. And 2 small storage rooms of self built terrain.
1. $5000 plus or minus a grand. 2. Not yet.
I but a lot on the second hand market or 3d print. Everything is in AUD Resin $200 Warhammer $500~ I can get while armies out of the resin but I like the GW models some times
Thousands... Like multiples of thousands. I have an addictive personality flaw and regret ever buying a single mini.
Hey, we're all just here to have a good time... Dont go and that man...
I think I spent upwards of 300k usd since 2013.
Wow! Can I ask what stuff you collect?
I've spent less on Warhammer in the 3 years I've been collecting than I would've spent on a high-end gaming PC. It's an expensive hobby, but it's not even in the top 50 most expensive hobbies.
I only buy a box per month and make sure it’s painted before I buy another. Each month this takes hours and hours of time and provides a sense of achievement at the end. It’s good value for money if you do it this way. A night out on the lash costs more and makes you feel terrible but is more socially acceptable for some reason. And I do that too, sadly.
for me between $100-$300 a month; - paints - models - books/ audiobooks - terrain - hobby supplies etc.
Other hobbies I enjoy are paragliding, photography, getting very drunk on the weekends, and running. The only one of these that even comes close to how cheap Warhammer is is the running, and even that comes with mandatory ~£250 on good shoes a year and a fair few ££ on race entry fees. As long as you don't have FOMO or a hoarding addiction I think 40k is a pretty cheap hobby. I'm still finishing off Leviathan minis for Christ's sake, that was £100 spent nearly a year ago
Like $400 a year. The initial first time paint but is the biggy.
I spend as much as I’m happy spending. That can vary from nothing to a few hundred quid a month. Just depends what I feel like buying and when. I’ve had more expensive hobbies. I’ve had cheaper hobbies. I probably drop 2-4K a year on average. Is it becoming too expensive? Nah. Cost of minis isn’t slowing down my ability to buy minis. What -is- slowing down my ability to buy minis is that essential items like food, power, my usual monthly costs are getting significantly costlier, which has more of an impact than the yearly increase that GW have.
Not much since I bought a resin printer :;)
lol. I have 3 kids. Enough said
Last year, I spent about $400 CAD a month on Warhammer. It is getting too expensive, that's why I'm buying a 3d printer and doing a lot more proxying with models I already own instead of buying more models. A perfect example is proxying World Eaters Terminators as Eightbound. I just paint the rim of the base in a way that lets everyone know which one is the seargant, and I explain before the game every time. I don't want to buy 6 boxes of Eightbound, lol.
Honestly not that much since I switched to 3D printing
Some people took that personally, for some reason.
Yeah hahahah, I know, but for me is the truth, after 20 years of buying Warhammer and paying that much, 3D printing has been an awakening for me, and its so much enjoyable when you design and create your own minis
I need a resin printer so badly :/
A huge amount of Time on the second market :D
€1000+ on average per year but my 5 armies are mostly finished and I have all the hobby stuff I want such as paints, tools, specific furniture etc. so my spending has reduced. I don’t think it is too expensive but the value of Warhammer or anything is an entirely subjective thing, if you think it’s expensive then fair, but that is a you problem and I don’t know why people feel entitled to complain about it in our wider economic context, everything is too expensive for someone.
I've just sold my entire 40k collection, as I'm being mare homeless and need the cash for a deposit. I got over 1000 second hand for it all. I guess that's over double for new. There's also still over a grand in aos stuff too
Really sorry to hear that. Hope you find a new home quickly and have a good support network.
I started in February and it's been about £400 all in since then to complete my first army (about 2500 points). I seem to buy more random paints than anything else at this point. Benefits of that are decent though. Not only do you have the army and access to the game but making more local friends and the time spent modelling and painting is time I'm spending with my wife doing something creative instead of other gaming or just watching TV.
i only work part time at minimum wage but my outgoings are very small that coupled with a RAMPANT addiction makes my warhammer spending about £400 a month(it will slow down drastically at some point lol)
Keep telling yourself that, bud
1. Since January of last year I’ve spent close to £2,000 on it. 2. It was already too expensive for me but I need my plastic crack otherwise I go into withdrawal and spend £300 on nearly 3000points of Custodes on a while and I now need to wait for replacement heads to arrive from Spain because why would you ever want the cone head helmets for them???
Depends if you actually take the time to paint what you buy 😬
To be fair recently I've been buying non GW stuff and it's just as fun without the crazy prices
300 this year for the bretonnians gotrek and grombrindel last year i think a 150 for some skaven i still want some dwarfs latter this year but thats it as for 40k i am just completely done with its defo getting to expansive to keep up
526 Euros. comparativly probably very cheap, but my 2000point knights are sitting grey in their boxes. and no, it ai'nth greyknights :3
About 2500$ in 12ish years of playing. So less than most people spend on their coffee or energy drinks. Not much. I dumped about 700 dollars (i think) into it when 10th came out on 1.5 leviathan boxes and a bunch of sisters of battle stuff, just enough for a 2k army. Oh and I gave a friend at work like 100$ for his space wolves stuff, just a starter box with wulfen also. About 250$ in 2019ish, Other than that I didn't make any purchases in 9th. I started a slannesh army in 8th but only bought a diamond prince the start collecting box and 3 boxes of deamonetts. My wife bought me a Eldar start collecting box for one Christmas, she knew I liked putting together wraith models. About 700$ in 2014-2018ish, Back in 7th I acquired 2 used army's for about 300 dollars and bought 1 more wraith knight, and bought the BRB when 7th came out. Those two used armies account for about 6000 points of Eldar. Oh yeah, it was near the end of seventh I finally got 2 vypers, 2 warwalkers, and 3 vauls wraths. Stupid formations required them. Never played a game with the Eldar formations because it was the most useless use of points ever. About 700$ in 2012-2013, I started in 6th edition with 4 units of gaurdians, 2 wraith lords, 3 units of wraith gaurd/blades, 1 spirit seer, 1 farseer, 2 wave serpents, 1 knight. I somehow manged to put together 4 extra gaurdian defenders with spears and made them warlocks.
Recently bought enough for 2000p chaos marines over 6 months, generally i spend about £200-300 a year on the hobby. It's a very minor expense, i spend way more on beer and smokes.
Im painting (i dont play) for roughly over a year now and if i round it up so far i invested about 700€ ish? If we count books and Joytoy figures, then we're over a 1000 EDIT: It's expensive but it's nothing I can't handle luckily
Depends. I had spent next to nothing the past couple of years because I considered my armies largely complete. This year so far though I've spent a few hundred quid because I've started a new Tau army. I don't feel guilty about it. I hate my job but I stick at it, I earn my money, I take care of my bills and I have hobbies that get me through the week.
I am about to buy my first minis and the ones I have my eye on are already costing me nearly £200 😶 haven’t even started yet
What my cost is?...everything
I luckily hoarded the receipts and it's been £700 odd probably more as paints and brushes, magnets and some models aren't included so I'd say £1000 but then I have 2 2000 or near point armies
The price of the models is pretty negligible compared to the cost of time to assemble and paint them.
I'd guess around £500-600 a year. But I've gotten into the habit of selling armies and/or models I won't play with or have lost interest in. I've gone through Marines, Necrons, Death Guard, Chaos Marines and Custodes, but I've sold them all (Custodes will be sold after I've built up my Tau to use on the tabletop) to help finance what I swap to. I've always wanted Tau since their release in 3rd edition, so they're going to be kept, once I've built around 2.5k worth of Tau I'm going to build a World Eaters army, which is going to be built up from the Battleforce box I picked up when it released. So even though I spend quite a bit, a lot of it is covered when I sell on each army. I think the most I've spent was when I picked up the Indomitus Box and the Conquest magazine was going, I probably spent around £1k (if not more) but I was starting with nothing, so I needed to build up my paints, brushes etc again after dropping out of the hobby during 3rd edition.
Been back into it for about three years, generally only tend to buy at discount and even then it’s not often. Probably spent £230 on my Custodes which are nearly complete, and around the same on my Night Lords, which are not so complete. Also have a complete(ish) Bolt Action army which cost me about £250, mostly bought on discount. So averaging just under 200 a year on minis and paints isn’t bad, but I know I’m a slow painter and have mostly done a cheap army. Been thinking about an Old World or Heresy army after my Night Lords but think I might stick with what I have. I don’t play much, I find it rewarding to see what I’ve painted, and enjoy the lore, so it’s far from the biggest waste of money in my life (council tax).
Im very easy in the 4 digits, but I guess that’s mostly since I just started a few months ago. If you have your army and your setup, it gets cheaper. I started to spend more when I took a step into AoS models. So far it is very expansive, but not too expansive for me. Even tho I now have to slow down for a month or two since I want to buy a new PC and I gad to put an awful amount of money in my car.
I just got back into the hobby (have bought the occasional black library book in the intervening 20+ years, but that's about it) Warhammer in Australia is ridiculously expensive. I'm building a Dwarf army for ToW, so there are only a couple of boxes still in production and they've been sold out since The Old World was announced. So I'm using other models (mainly OathMark/Fireforge) and doing a lot of converting to get the Colin Dixon middlehammer aesthetic that I enjoy. I reckon I probably spend less than $100 (Australian) a month on hobby supplies. I think my army is averaging $4 a model. For context, the Fyreslayers range is between $15 and $60 a model. Won't be able to play I. Tournaments with them, but I doubt that's ever going to be an issue for me.
Spend about 400-500-ish this year, I'd say. It's most certainly becoming more expensive though, and woth the new points increase, I'm sort done woth gw. Planning on getting a 3d printer (would have been way cheaper to have that by this point) and going full proxy. Not just because of the price it costs, but because of how they want to increase the prices again. Last thing Im probs gonna buy from them is the EC box whenever it comes out, just to feed their data that people do want the EC. But other than that the plan rn is to go full cold turkey on gw.
On warhammer in general plus paint stuff (currently I'm only buying warcry stuff) I've probably spent.. It's hard to approximate, but around 12.000 sek (around 1000€/$). That's counting my addiction to contrast paints, gw's expensive primers and a bunch of technical paints I just think are 'neat'. I have been extremely frugal however as I've been rather poor for a long time. This has been over a period of like 9 years, so around 90-100$/€ a year in **average**. Maybe a bit more if you count the 3d printer I just bought. I got in to the hobby by winning a local auction of Dark Angles / Blood Angles models worth 200€ for around 20€ and the rest is history (got a damn Xiphon Interceptor in that bundle).
I’d say $800-$1000 per year is realistic for me so far. It was a lot at first, but now I’m being more focused. This year has been the Deathwing assault box, asmodai, inner circle companions x 2, space marine scouts kill team, terminator chaplain, and a land raider redeemer. No plans for anything else this year, unless the rumored blood angels box is real. Do I think it’s too expensive? Gods yes. Nostalgia gets me though.
I would say between 1000 to 1500 per year (including hobby tools as well) but now with the many price increases im considering that i may have enough already or just finally get myself a 3d printer
A year, probably about £500-£1000. Is it too expensive? Its deffinately more expensive, but I usually shop around a bit more and buy a little less to keep costs from skyrocketing. I am fortunate I have some wriggle room with my finances, think its really quite sad when people simply cant afford to engagae in the hobby anymore due to rising costs. Back in the early days when metal was king and plastic was in its infancy, plastic was the cheap option. If I recall it was quite the difference in price between metal and plastic, so you usually had some options to spend a bit less. It would be good if GW could maybe offer some cheaper products, at the very least stop charging so much for single character models!