Wargaming
Its my hobby, I dont smoke, gamble or do drugs. I drink occasionla. My vice is (toy) soldiers.

Its not just the figures that cost. To play the new version of Warmachine its an initial £25 outlay for the core rules; its probably a good idea to bet one of (if not all) the Forces books, 5 of them, about £20 each. Now these are gorgeous books, well worth the money, but even so this is not even with a single figure; my Rhulic army cost about £150, plus paint etc, probably another £20 or so. Ive played about 3 games of it so far.

Currently, Im trying to finish my Flames of War Germans (78 Sturm Division). Im awaiting my mortars and some HQ stuff; the whole army's about £150. I have a large Russian army, bout £300. This is before rules, army books etc.

Historically, my group is looking at Ancients, Im about to embark on 28mm Romans, not sure how many I need cos GW are playing silly buggers with new version of Warhammer Ancients (£32). We could use Field of Glory, but then armies will be about £300!
(kitescreech still here, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 18:53, 20 replies)

My recent calculations tell me
that the new edition of D&D would set me back about 250 quid if I buy all the "necessary" books.
Then I'd need all the minis to go with them. Can't play D&D without minis now, oh no.
Bah. Although it does mean I'm single-handedly keeping my game shop open, and the club that goes with it.
( Invisible Wizard - 9th Level Pissant, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 19:06, closed)

Or you could
get the d20 rules for free (www.d20srd.org) or download one of the 'clones' for free (eg OSRIC (1st edition AD&D) , Swords & Wizardry (the original 1974 rules) , Labyrinth Lord (Basic))
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 19:59, closed)

great link

(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 20:01, closed)

Or buy the new redbox
Which can last you through to level 5-6 and it's 20USD.
(CactusZack Shaved his coin purse on, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 20:21, closed)

I downloaded PDFs of all the source books for my housemates and I to use
And we use pryed-off old computer keys as figures, and scraps of cardboard with letters on for monsters. D&D is fun but there's no way I'd have started playing if I'd had to actually buy all the stuff. The only thing I paid for was a set of dice, and that alone set me back 20 bucks.

(Yeah, yeah, I know, I should support the company. But when we started playing I was an unemployed student. Maybe I'll buy the source books at some future point. PDFs are annoying as hell to flip back and forth through.)
(oball needs Satan more than he needs me, Tue 5 Oct 2010, 0:51, closed)

250?
DMG 1, (2 is good, but not necessary)
MM 1, 2, 3
PHB 1 (or rules compendium)
Use the trial of the character generator for class/power/feat info until level 3

I make that 5 books, ~£100

Even the full core set is 8 (DMG1+2, MM1,2+3, PHB1,2+3), so ~160

If you play rather than DM, that can be shortened to the PHB for your class, and the rule compendium is that isnt PHB1.


That said, I have sent back a ton more money than that (the minis look good, and they look even better on ebay auctions, and working it out as 75p a mini doesn't seem to bad... Especially since you're putting on some early bids due to holiday and will probably win only 1 or 2 of the 5 auctions at best...), and have a D&D insider subscription.
( Tedium Alduce me to interlow myself., Tue 5 Oct 2010, 10:19, closed)

I used to enjoy a bit of war gaming in my teens.
We used to play War Hammer and Dark Future, but as we got older moved onto second world war planes and the American wild west. With the latter two, we bought figures, then wrote our own rules. We had just as much if not more fun playing our own games.

My point is, why buy hugely expensive books? Surely you must have the imagination to write your own rules.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 19:27, closed)

Well
one of our group writes and has had professionally published rule sets; but we dont like his style. He goes for small, quick games with few pieces; the rest of the group prefer bigger, longer games.
(kitescreech still here, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 21:01, closed)

I'm afraid none of this makes much sense to me. But jolly good, carry on.
(Chopsey, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 19:29, closed)

Kitescreech's room smells of lynx, old t-shirts and stale spunk.

( Amorous Badger NAKED BEA ARTHUR PHOTOS 4U, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 22:19, closed)

Er no,
and FUCK OFF.
(kitescreech still here, Tue 5 Oct 2010, 19:07, closed)

Worse than heroin, that.

( BrokenCoccyx doesn't mind if you grope on, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 19:33, closed)

I used to do some 40k
But since they released Dawn of War why would you pay so much more for a worse game?
( Cadmus has teh uplikn coeds at, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 19:54, closed)

Why don't you buy
a set of rules that doesn't require a branded set of miniatures?
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 20:01, closed)

Advanced dungeons and dragons 2nd edition
Got given the three main books by my uncle, bought me-self some dice and then let my imagination do the rest. Oh and got some friends to kill in my fiendishly designed mega-dungeons come on an adventure.
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 20:05, closed)

Cos
the branded minis are very nice, or price wise there is little difference.
(kitescreech still here, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 21:02, closed)

Jesus Christ.
Just... Jesus Christ.
( CaptainCrackerjack live trout, slow motion, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 21:45, closed)

Amen to that
I've got most of a 40k Imperial Guard tank regiment sat in the cupboards at my parents' house - not touched in ten years.
( evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 22:28, closed)

Stick that shit on ebay
Probably a bit of cash in that.

I was so shit at the old painting and *ahem* modding, that these figures have lost a lot of value. Mind you it was only between the ages of 11 and 13 so it was more my parents wallet suffering...
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 22:33, closed)

I've spent a lot of time (with work) in the GW headquarters in Nottingham
and yes, there are some girls that work there... most of them terrifying.

they have a bar onsite though, they worked out that as they've got the most busy branch of their shops onsite, and a massive gaming room - they really should cater for all the adults that have to drive their kids to the place (people come from all over the world apparently).

this is what the place looks like from the outside... I think you'll like it!

maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Lenton+Lane,+Nottingham&sll=52.125374,-2.305498&sspn=0.006613,0.021136&g=wr14+1bs&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Lenton+Ln,+Nottingham+NG7+2,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.940893,-1.176009&spn=0.003246,0.014656&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.941491,-1.174993&panoid=80hyB4EqHuoEcJv22PjQ3g&cbp=12,181.5,,0,5
(Ross McBingobangobongo bingobangobongo, Tue 5 Oct 2010, 16:11, closed)