"Cheapest way build Space Marine force" Topic

Thinking of raising a Space Marine force for my nephew.
What is the cheapest way to buy the plastics.
Is there a starter set that's a good buy?
Prefer not assembled, let him have the fun.

eBay

If you want new-the Battle for Vedros line. Basically the Assault on Black Reach figures supplemented by some other plastics.

link

Comes with a simplified set of rules better suited for youngsters.

The Betrayal At Calth set is a pretty cost effective way to get a lot of marines. You get 30 regular marines, two characters, 5 terminators and a dreadnought for $150 USD retail.

Depending on how you kit them out you could have over 2000 pts from it. A less elite force would probably come in around 1300 pts.

Depends on his age and skill level. Battle for Vedros is push pin/no glue (easy assembly) and Betrayal at Calth are regular models.

You could go with non-GW proxies.

The Denizen Sci-Fi figs are very nice, as are the old GZG 25mm Sci-Fi troops.

If there are gaming conventions or similar in your area that have a bring-and-buy market you can save heaps by buying someone else's surplus figures AND you get to check them out before you commit money unlike Ebay. Sometimes you can get complete boxed sets that just have worn boxes, squad boxes still in their shrink wrap and sometimes just plastic bags of complete sprues.

Ebay seconded.

Dark Vengeance Dark Angels Marines go for incredibly cheap prices occasionally on eBay…so eBay X3.

Also, buy from a shop that has discount… Wayland games sells at a decent discount but there are loads out there that also do the same.

The Betrayal set is a very good way to get a whole bunch of Marines that are in a coherent squad organization

That being said if you are ready to hunt around eBay is a great way to go

Thanks guys! Looking at the Dark Vengeance Marines at the moment, but the Betrayal set is tempting.

I had good luck with Bartertown

Wolfhag

Well first off buy them back in the early to mid 1990's.

Otherwise Ebay

Actually, even at mid 1990's dollars, the Betrayal At Calth set is cheaper.

So if you take into account inflation the Space Marines are much cheaper now than they were back then.

Not if you brought them back than.

Yes, even if you bought them back then.

Yes Mithmee,
We are both old. Comic books were 25 cents, as was a gallon of gas; You could afford take your HS girlfriend to a movie and buy popcorn on minimum wage; and the sun shined brighter back then too.

Also,
Check out the bits sellers on ebay.
Dark Angels and Chaos figs sell for a dollar or two and you can still assemble and paint them.

[Not even Mithmee can pooh pooh these prices, since they are cheaper (not even adjusted for inflation) than the 1990s and are far better quality.]

I use this guy, because his shipping is the easiest to deal with.
He also breaks up standard boxes which are more expensive than the Dark Vengeance sets. That's why you will see a wide difference in prices for similar models.

terminators – auction

Marines – auction

Rules-(Young eyes can read it fine) – auction

Complete List – auction

True but those are for Dark Angels that came with the Dark Vengeance starter set.

Ebay is flooded with them.

So yes those are great prices, but you will have to like Dark Angels and many players don't. So you can get them for these prices.

I already have around 200 Dark Angels figures so don't need any more.

Thing is you will never see prices like that from GW.

Oh and Pictor,

Yes if you got your miniatures 20 years ago they were a lot cheaper and in many cases would have been metal instead of plastic.

Oh and TheGaffer,

Comics once cost only $12 USD cents.

I stopped buying comic books over 20 years ago though that was driven mostly due to the direction comics were going.

The comics that I still have take up more space than my miniatures (18 long boxes filled with them).

So tell us Mithmee, what did the comic book companies do to earn your wrath? Do you preach against them also? Bah Humbug, screw the Easter Bunny as well and misery to all! Next you will be telling us The Great Pumpkin doesn't exist…

Well how about lousy storylines and thinking that they needed to plus social agendas.

"Yes if you got your miniatures 20 years ago they were a lot cheaper and in many cases would have been metal instead of plastic."

No, if you bought a dreadnought, two characters, 30 space marines and 5 terminators in 1995, the mid 90s, it would have cost you more and been less versatile even if you compare 1995 dollars without adjusting for inflation.

It would cost you $168.97 USD in 1995 with 1995 dollars vs. $150 USD in 2016 in 2016 dollar. Comparing apples to apples, so all in 2016 dollars, it is $267.68 USD vs. $150 USD or almost half price over what it was.

In addition they are now plastic figures instead of metal figures so you are actually getting better figures too.

Mithmee, would playing against Rainbow Warriors that called their Rhinos Unicorns brighten up your day? Cheese dip a social agenda? You killin me bro. Are there other sites you post to as well? Twitter? I can't seem to get enough. It is like the two old Muppets sitting in the balcony.

I stand corrected! LOL.

Does anyone actually prefer the old hybrid metal/plastic marines from the early 90s over the current plastic ones?

Looking back, I wouldn't want to have to deal with them today. It was a pain just getting them to hold their bolters right with those open left palms and most of the time they just wind up looking goofy with their legs in a derp-squat position and their heads not looking down their bolter barrels. On top of that, I remember them being $29.99 USD for a squad of 10. In comparison I can get a tactical squad for less than $40 USD off ebay, and that includes the very nice Horus Heresy MkIV squad.

Not only that but metal/plastic hybrids combine the worst of both materials without any of the benefits.

I liked the early Imperial Guard with plastic arms and plastic lasguns… every one had shades cause they were cool…

But back to the question… cheapest way to build a 40k army… eBay all the way. My kids had their first game at the weekend. We played Space Hulk 1st Edition with the original plastic Termies. I managed to replace those with the first release of metal ones, all off ebay at about £2.00 GBP each.