"Warhammering on a college budget?" Topic

Hey all!
I used to play Warhammer in highschool, a proud tomb kings player….. until I left the hobby for better things, and sold my collection.

Anyways, a few of my friends want to start getting into warhammer, after watching a ton of videos online, and playing an rpg in the setting
We are going to go through our retro game club and get the older 7th edition rules…. heresy I know! but you can't beat $5 USD an army book, and $10 USD for core rules.

The only problem: the models.

On a college budget, how can we get enough models to play even 1000pts?
if you have any idea, I'd love to know, thanks!
Austin

Mantic games are a good alternative source of much cheaper and yet still reasonable quality 28mm Fantasy figures.

Or Ebay where mothers dispose of the stuff they find in little Johnny's wardrobe closet when he goes off to College :)

As someone who collects war-hammer exclusively at the 1000 pts level here is my advice for what is worth

Non-Heretical Option 1: Instead of the Army books, use the Ravening Hordes lists for army books: These are 1) Balanced 2) Free (there is yahoo group on it that has the files). They are fine with 7th and even 8th edition rules.

Non-heretical option 1: buy armies second hand. Both E-Bay and TMP Marketplace can have good deals. Over the years I sold people 1000-1200 point well painted armies for 200$-250$ which is a steal.

Non-Heretical option 2: Count each models points as double. This will create smaller but cheaper armies. Or set unit sizes as standard (10, 15, 20)

Heretical Option 1: Wherever you can get away with it, use historical 25-28mm miniatures or other company fastasy stuff. For example

Empire, Dogs of War, Brettonia can be be built using Perry Miniatures 28mm Plastic War of the Roses Stuff, Old Glory stuff, Front Rank Stuff etc.

Chaos Humans: You can use Gripping Beast Plastic Vikings for Marauders, and Mongols for Mounted Marauders.

Deamons: Tons of alternative stuff available by other manufacturers

Same for almost all armies. You can still pick and choose, but for many mass elements of the warhamemr armies (as opposed to heroes etc) historicals or other fantasy ranges can save you a ton of money.

Here is an example of my starting empire built using a mix of GW and Perry Miniatures

EDUCATE yourself on your options.TMP is great for that. GW survives because its gamers many times do not know they have other options (though many people specifically like its stuff)

Heretical Option 2: Go FULL BLOWN other manufacturer. GW overprices its specialist models (heroes etc), you can get armies much cheaper than going full GW, though they will not be a s stunning always.

Heretical Option 3 (this one will burn your soul): Do not build your armies at 25/28mm, but instead go for 15mm and 10mm. If I was doing my warhamemr project again, I would seriously do that. Armies paint faster (you save time), look mightier (40-60 model units are doable), take less space, and are cheaper. The quality options available are staggering. From GWs own defunct Warmaster Line, to many others. If you ever want to play 4000-10000 points battles, this is the option IMHO

Here is Hetairos small 10mm armies. Nothing stops you from having double the units

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Which option you are going to follow depends on whether you want to do warhammer because of the GW Miniatures, or the fluff.If you go for the fluff all options can give you what you crave.

Also if you decide to go for 15mm-10mm try Warmaster, instead of Warhammer. Its a mor balanced system and a better game IMHO.

Whatever you do have fun! But I would be happy if you become a Heretic :D

Play Mordheim.

Reaper Bones are a cheap source of nice fantasy miniatures not everything will be useful but big monsters, characters and some rank and file can be bought pretty cheap.

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There's an even more heretical option--find old bendy plastic (including clickies--like Mage Knight or some of the Heroclicks) figures for elves, as these tend to be sculpted much thinner than "regular" heroic scale figs.

Sure--other figs may look better, but these can be had fairly cheap and already come painted (though not well, usually).

Rob

Use something other than GW's overpriced models's. There are some good suggestions above. Empire can be built using historical figures for a fraction of the cost of GW.

By sticking to GW exclusively, you may find your degree was cheaper in the end.

I want to be a bit clear. If your club can discipline your-selves to sticking to 1000 point armies, than the costs are not exorbirant. Its the arms race that makes it super expensive.

Play Mordheim, or Coreheim (free).
You only need about a dozen models for a war band.

I'd scale down and use the Demonworld minis.

I second the notion to use clix minis. MageKnights rank and file can be had for almost nothing and are already painted, if not to a very high standard. They also take paint well, and their character figures are very characterful (no pun intended).

If you do stay at the 1000 point level for 7th edition that is not much more then a Battalion box set ($100-$150 depending on army) and 1-3 characters ($10-$25 each depending). Maybe $300 USD for some of the larger figure count armies at that level if you buy new. Can get them for less if you go EBay route.

I don't know what a "college" budget is. I live on a fixed income myself. I have managed to build 1000 point High Elf, Orc/Goblin, Dwarf, and Skaven armies by starting off with the Skull Pass/Island of Blood pieces off Ebay and adding a few extra bits here and there.

Find a swap meet, or try bartertown, but the best bargains I have ever come by have been at swap meets.

For Tomb Kings you are in luck.

Wargames Factory has a box of plastic skeletons that will work for you. The weapons might be a little out of place but you can buy some of their other sets to fix that problem.

It won't get you everything you need, but it will go a long way. They also have chariots but not skeletal horses.

Use paper stand ups. Not only is it cheaper it takes up much less storage space.

Your first decision is whether to stick to GW models or not. Doing so will allow you to play in the local store and tournaments, whereas buying non-GW will LIKELY bar you from this (I say "likely" because each store differs--the one in St. Louis has had a 50% rule). If you are going to play an older edition, you have essentially already decided not to go the store-0/tournament route, however, because these almost always follow the most up-to-date rules.

Mantic is one of the best sources for alternative 28mm fantasy figures, though do not discount the possibility of getting even GW figures cheaper on Ebay. I routinely buy GW off of Ebay and get substantial savings. Historical figures, like Old Glory or Perry especially, are far cheaper than ANY fantasy options for human armies.

I'd recommend against the Wargames Factory skeletons, those things are an absolute NIGHTMARE to put together – separate feet, legs, torsos, heads, arms, I couldn't handle it so I sold them even cheaper to a friend. Now he can't stand the thought of assembling them either and is trying to sell them on himself lol! If you want undead, look to mantic basically.

"I want to be a bit clear. If your club can discipline your-selves to sticking to 1000 point armies, than the costs are not exorbirant. Its the arms race that makes it super expensive."

This is also true :)

Have you seen the counters on this site ordinarygaming.blogspot.com ?

There are some great deals on bartertown that I've noticed already.
Same with ebay.

I actually got a pm on another forum already for 1500 pts of night goblins, he only wants $150. USD

A college budget is $100 USD every other week of income, and $50 USD of it needs to go to a wedding fund ;)

I don't want to take the scaling down route, simply because my friends want a "true" warhammer experience, and want to play with and paint 28mm models.
I found some sweet landsknecht to work for an empire army, that is relatively affordable.

I'm not worried about playing with anybody else except the people in my club.

Thanks
Austin

Ok, then it seems you have made your decision. That is cool. But I would still push for Ravening Hordes.The army books tend to get unbalanced which spoils the game, because they are produced sequentially, which was not the case with Ravening Hordes.

And I would still advise that you and your mates sit down and decide on the upper limit of your collections before hand. Remember that you can get huge battles via multiplayer games, as opposed to just two players with 4k armies.

Have fun collecting and gaming your armies. If I was still in the US I might had sold you guys my 6 1000 point armies. But alas I am not.

Em4 is also amazingly cheap for decent mono-pose plastics of dwarves and orcs. With a little work you can make them look great.

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Paper stand ups??? Then what's the point of bothering with minis.
My suggestion is use Old Glory for Empire Rank and File, Fireforge, Perry, and a host of others for almost every human army. Wargames Factory skeletons are small and extremely fiddly to assemble…

Actually, I rescind my statement on paper minis, those Romans Thomas O linked to are awesome…

Well, if you went with 1/72 scale plastic figures, you could buy 30-40 figures for around $10 USD-$14, delivered (search e-Bay for sellers located within Ukraine, and Taiwan)! There are Goblins, Orcs, Elves, Humans (historicals, galore…), Undead, and even Orc Warg Cavalry. The 1/72 plastics are actually well detailed, and they can be quite easy to paint. Manufacturers to check out are: Caesar (Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Adventurers, Goblins, and Orcs) and Dark Alliance (Dwarves, Elves, Half-Orcs, Orc Warg Riders, etc.). Cheers!

Student Loans

Sounds like you've got some options in the works. I'll just add that it's perfectly possible to put together several Warhammer armies by shopping game store flea markets, discount bins and internet auctions.

Where can I find this ravening hordes book?
Is it compatible with 7th ed?

Thanks
Austin

Austin, I would say they are compatible. There is yahoo groups page on them called Ravening Hordes. You can also email me at ktravlos at yahoo dot com.

Thanks for the plug, Thomas O, for my Warmaster counters!

On a budget? Play Warmaster instead. The rules are free and play soooooo much better than WHFB. Just ask Rick P, the creator of both games.

You can play WM using inexpensive proxy 10mm figures, spending the a bit more money to buy the odd unique unit like a Steam Tank. If 10mm is too small, as it is becoming for me, you can move up to 15mm. Then the whole world opens up, especially with the WHFB-esque Demonworld miniatures and the plethora of 15mm out there. One 15mm or 10mm-proxy WM unit would cost only several dollars.

I created my WM counter sets for playtesting armies and playing the game without spending any money. They also allow people to play the game as they are painting their units.

But if you are dead set on playing a 1970s throw-back old school set of rules like WHFB in any of its iterations where you line up and move straight forward all afternoon, then I hope you all enjoy it as much as possible.

If you would like to actually maneuver real armies and use real tactics, then Rick P and myself would welcome you to the world of Warmaster.

"But if you are dead set on playing a 1970s throw-back old school set of rules like WHFB in any of its iterations where you line up and move straight forward all afternoon, then I hope you all enjoy it as much as possible."

Hmm….I play 8th Ed Fantasy regularly and I can't remember the last time we just 'lined up and moved straight forward all afternoon' lol. Plus he specifically said several times that he and his crew want to use 28mm figures (although I do agree 100% that Warmaster is a superlative ruleset, along with it's spiritual historical successors from Warlord Games).

Ebay is a great source for GW & non-GW minis – some are priced to move – some are priced appropriatley – some are overpriced – be patient & know what you are looking for and how much you want to pay – be aware of the shipping costs – if you are willing to strip the minis (pinesol works great) you can get poorly painted minis and strip/repaint them.

I already play hail caesar, and its fantasy variant from the yahoo page.

I have tons of 6mm and 10mm and 1:72 armies of romans, celts, saxons, vikings, macedonians, persians, and renaissance germans.

I've played warmaster as both a fantasy game and a historical game.
I like it, but my friends don't want to play.

Im okay with the slugfest of warhammer….
I have a million strategic historic games to play, why worry about one other game?

Thanks
Austin

Hey Austin! That is cool man! Above all is your mates and you having a good time. I never liked Warhammer 40k. I like the fluff, but as a game, meh. But it was what my mates wanted to play, so that is what I collected for a while.

So you do what you think is fun and what your mates and you can enjoy together!

KTravlos,
I agree so much. Ultimately, we are just playing soldier with our friends,which should be fun, for everyone.
Not to say that warmaster isnt fun, i love it.
Warhammer just has an early highschool nostalgia thing going for it for me, plus thats what my friends want to play.

Terrement
I sent you an email, my email is croucha@bgsu.edu
Sometimes because its a .edu, it gets sent to spam

Thanks
Austin

Hmm….I play 8th Ed Fantasy regularly and I can't remember the last time we just 'lined up and moved straight forward all afternoon' lol. Plus he specifically said several times that he and his crew want to use 28mm figures

Hence the winkie. A bit tongue-in-cheek hyperbole.

I hear you aapch45. I remember last year when you were looking for Warmaster Ancients. Nostalgia can be fun.

For sourcing…

-I'd second the idea of cruise the various used venues. I routinely see super cheap deals at TMP, Bartertown, and my local game store's Auctions.

-EM4's Plastic Dwarves and Orcs are great unit filler and I think they are about 35 cents each.

-Old Battlemasters figures can sometimes be found for a good deal.

-Old Glory has some good options, especially in the "West Wind Dwarf Wars" lines that they carry. If you can swing the $50 USD yearly fee for their "Old GLory Army " club, you can get 40% off their already low prices.

-Black Tree Design miniatures has fixed their customer service issues and has two lines of fantasy figures (each containing several races) that are pretty clearly designed for warhammer-ish games. The prices are pretty good as-is, but sign up for their mailing list and you will get some amazing deals. I think that right now their infantry is 50% off!

A couple of things to also consider.
First, have you considered Kings of War. A nice fast ruleset that is a free download from mantic. If your goal is just to do some nice big fantasy gaming and you want a ruleset that doesn't get in the way of that, then KoW is definitely worth a look. It's a favorite of mine. It is obviously intended as an alternative to Warhammer, but the rules allow for much more flexible army construction.

Lastly, unless your FLGS has some restrictions, don't worry about GW-only miniature rules for tournaments. GW doesn't even run tournaments in the USA anymore, and the biggest USA convention/tournament "Adepticon" doesn't require that ANY of your figs be GW.

Hey I found half of my old tomb kings collection!

Would anybody want them?
I'm trying to get an empire army going.

I have about 32 skeleton warriors, 16 archers, 3 chariots (no crew) and an unassembled screaming skull

Thanks
Austin

Good news everyone

Ebay really is your friend, as is bartertown.

I'm getting a 1250 brettonian army from bartertown for my tomb kings
and we found mantic elves on ebay (about 1000pts worth of warhammer high elves) on ebay for around $40 USD with shipping.

And finally an old friend of mine is selling 3000 points of lizardmen with armybook and core rulebook for $150 USD to one of my other college buddies.

So far so good!!

If we can get a few more armies going around here, we can start a league!

Austin,
Send me an email if anybody in your group wants a dark elves army. A guy I work with gave me a pile of older metal minis that I could pass on. Not sure off hand what is there, but I bet it would be a good start on 1,000 points.

Borderguy190

h DOT peless AT gmail DOT com

My email isnt going through for some reason

Go with 15mm or 1/72 scale plastics… A little creativity on your part but can make great alternatives. Just looked myself and found so many great sets in 1/72 I'm tempted to start an army or 4…Probably do it all for $100. USD