Strictly theoretical choices

[Conquistador]

Okay, I am just curious (bored?) which you would do if you had limited funds - that could not be saved for a later date - for buying some generic gaming goodness.

• A)  buy rules that took all your funds to start a new genre/scale/era wait to buy miniatures if and when more money is available
• B)  buy miniatures that took all your funds to start a new genre/scale/era and wait to buy rules if and when more money is available
• C)  buy miniatures for genre/scale/er you currently have even though you want to do new genre/scale/era above more
• D)  buy rules for genre/scale/er you currently have even though you want to do new genre/scale/era above more
• E)  buy terrain building materials that can be used to build terrain - including buildings
• F)  buy paints, tools for hobby functions
• G)  buy something unrelated to hobby

Gracias,

Glenn

[Connectamabob]

Since the first four all assume you want to try something different, I would not choose C or D unless I was already obligated to a group for my current game.

If I was not so obligated, I would do B, as rules are more flexible than minis for me. I.e. I don't require a specific official ruleset if a free one or one I already have can be modded to serve the same ends, whereas I tend to have fairly rigid standards when it comes to sculpting quality and art style in my minis, and making/modding minis is more labor intensive than making/modding rules.

That said, E, F, and G are all possibilities, depending on my needs at the moment. I could not answer for those outside of actual circumstances, therefore.

[Froggy the Great]

Generally what happens for me is I pick up a figure or 8 for an existing project that fits better in a new project.  Then I pick up the rules and spend months slowly building armies as funds allow.

[Lowtardog]

C for me I think

[dijit]

C for me I think

Ditto here.

[carlos13th]

C probably. There are some miniatures I really want from certain manufactures that I would love to pick up. If I had the cash and it as no object I would pretty much buy the entire Steel Fist and Perry Samurai ranges, a few of the Old Glory Samurai and a Bunch of Terrain from Oshiro.

Or G and buy a new PC or  pre order some games.

[FramFramson]

I play all of two miniatures games. It'd be a toss up between E, F, and miniatures for a current game (with no plans to start a new game at all), depending on what I had already been plannining on getting next.

[Major_Gilbear]

If I had limited funds, that couldn't be saved, I probably wouldn't buy rules for a game that's new if I couldn't also get some figures too. The other way around, maybe.

The reason is this: If I have both I can can play the game, but if I have only one... I may never get the project off the ground. Plus, I could always sell off the miniatures later if I wanted to, but would likely struggle to sell off the rules.

Therefore, choices C-G all look good.

However, if I felt that it was likely that I might be able to get some funds later (say in a couple of months' time), I might be more tempted by choices A-B since I can wait a couple of months. More than that, I'll have likely moved on!  

[Conquistador]

I play all of two miniatures games. It'd be a toss up between E, F, and miniatures for a current game (with no plans to start a new game at all), depending on what I had already been plannining on getting next.

You clearly are a 3rd sigma miniatures player and/or incredibly focused/disciplined.      I am in awe...    

Gracias,

Glenn

[FramFramson]

 

Up until last year, my wargaming collection consisted almost entirely of prepainted Mage Knight figures and most of my hobby investment had been in Magic cards (which I have played for 20 years, since the game started). I focused on building terrain. Before that, I had occasionally purchased minis to paint just for fun, but hadn't gamed with them, though eventually I started buying fantasy minis painting them to swap out the uglier Mage Knight figures (or the heroes/leaders which I had specifically bought cool replacement figures for).

This worked out well, because I was able to game from the very beginning, without having to paint anything (this was/is especially great for rank-and-file dorks in lesser units). But when I did want to put in the effort, I could upgrade with my own properly painted minis.

Nowadays the insanity of Magic finances and the loss of all my old play groups meant that my interest in Magic has waned quite a bit (though I doubt I'll ever give it up entirely), and wargaming has grown on me. There's so much more personalization and ownership in wargaming. You pick your models, pick your rules, paint the army as you see fit, you can modify your rules or your figures to suit your taste. So much nicer than waiting for some company with a rigid system to provide a specific widget you need or want. The community also seems to be more like the long-gone communities I used to enjoy most when playing Magic.

On top of that, I hadn't had a game of Mage Knight in years because WizKids made such a wretched stink that the game died really hard. Then Pulp Alley came along with its fantastic, easygoing set of rules, which I really fell in love with. So I finally decided, yes, I was fully willing to commit to a new game.

Like many of you, it takes quite a lot of motivation for me to get cracking on work, so I've chosen to play things conservatively. One of the most attractive aspects of Pulp Alley is that it requires as few as three figures on a team. That means, after only painting five or six figures there's a sense of acheivement and of getting something done. Plus it's simple enough a game that I might be able to convince the normally non-wargaming locals to try a game. My wife never had any interest in maneuvering Mage Knight armies, but is certainly interested in trying out Pulp Alley.

As far as  disicpline goes, it also helps that I've come to really hate speaning money on things that are just going to lie around. For years I did the "I better buy these Magic cards because I might put them in a deck someday!" dance and really got sick of it. I really really try to stick to only getting things I will genuinely use now. Of course, I too have a bit of a lead pile now, but it's extremely modest compared to many folks on here - perhaps 150-250 figs or so - but much of that was a big intial Pulp Alley buy-in and I have solid plans to paint at least around 50 of them in the near to mid term (though I do also have some 50+ figures coming from the Tercio Creativo IGG campaign, for eventual Mage Knight replacements).

So that's where I'm at.