Article:
The Hidden Costs of Beginner Warhammer Collecting
Having been playing some great games of Fantasy Flights’ War of the Ring board game and copious amounts of the Dawn of War 2 RTS PC title, I’ll admit I’ve once again been bitten by the Warhammer bug. I haven’t collected, played or painted with the little miniatures for almost ten years, so it was with some excitement that I ordered my first bits online.
My initial forays into Warhammer in my early teens were in the Fantasy realm, but with my exposure to Relic’s excellent new Chaos Rising expansion and Last Stand modes, I was all in with the 40k universe. When it came to choosing what army to collect, it was also rather easy as I’d always enjoyed playing as the Orks in my Fantasy days and continued to do so in the 41st millennium universe; so Orks it was.
Fortunately for me, the latest starter set for collecting Warhammer 40,000 is known as Assault on Black Reach, and not only comes with a miniature rulebook, dice and all the starter templates you’ll need, but a reasonable Ork army, and a Space Marine one too; to eBay I went. Managing to pick up a brand new box of AoBR for £35, I was relatively chuffed with my purchase, stomaching the £7 postage cost to guarantee it got to me in good condition.
However, then I got to thinking about the other bits I would need.
Knives, that’s what I need next; to cut the miniatures out of their sprues. Fortunately I found a pair of modelling knives with blades and a couple of superglue packs for £8. “Not bad”, thought I, and the BuyItNow button was summarily clicked. These bits then arrived along with the box set and I set to work. Unfortunately these knives were of poor quality and broke rather quickly, so I was forced to buy another set, though the £6 I spent this time got me about 8 knives with 30 odd replacement blades; no more sharp object purchasing for me.
The next pot hole I hit on my rocky Warhammering was that I managed to put several large, deep cuts into the surface of our kitchen table; the Mrs wasn’t having that. So a couple of cheap chopping boards were required, total cost: £6.
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Although this additional investment at the outset might seem harsh bear in mind that traditional miniatures games are all about the long-term goals. Once you've invested in the necessary tools and paints they should serve you for many years and for the many games that you may get into over that time. It's a long-term investment, and it will definitely pay off in time.
Also something you may want to look into other than the knives, are the Citadel clippers. It seems like another way to get money from you, but they really are fantastic at getting bits off the sprue. They are also very durable as I have had mine for close to 5 years now and they still work just fine.
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The whole cost for the Warhammer pieces is what stops be from playing, the small bits of cheaply made plastic and occasional metal are not worth the money that Games workshop ask for. I regret not having the money for them but i think ill stick to playing online instead.
Shepard