Problem I fall into is trying to paint the models to the level of the marketing. Now Im forcing myself to only get to "battle ready" level, and I can add more later when the army is done. A basic painted army will always look better than an unpainted army.
I'd rather game than paint, to be honest. And as GW are now essentially a kit company, rather than a game company, As long as folk buy the kits, they really have to care about the games. But there's no point in complaining. If you don't like the way things are and you are not enjoying it, then stop and look elsewhere.
This is why batchpainting one step for the entire army is the way to go. And also choosing the best work/ results ratio for the painting style. I was lead to believe slapchop is particularly good at this
You know what's funny I'm the same way. I'm more of a painter than a player. I play twice a year and I'm so critical of my paint. When I put them on the table though and I'm playing looking at them from 3 ft away they look amazing. Especially from across the table. Don't beat yourself up to much
Isn't that what makes the hobby fun? Getting a new spue and making it come to life? Why are we complaining about a company making more product for people?
@makalepetermeyer5893 Cause this company literally doesn't make more product for people they do limited edition runs of all these box sets he's mentioned with no reprints. They do limited edition runs of all the new books they release (again with no re prints) so it's impossible to buy any of them unless you want to pay The three figure price online resellers are saying it is. Gw Is a giant pile of shit and deserve all of us to constantly shit talk them all day. Once they have actual nice and good consumer practices. Then I would be okay with saying yeah there's just a company
@@kennan6176 I'm just confuse, are we complaining because they are making too much product or because they are now making too little? Like I agree GW does have some major supply line issues and they need to open up a 2nd Factory. However, nobody is making you buy these boxsets or buy from Ebay. These models will remain relevant for years. I myself do not buy from GW though, I vote with my dollar. I help support my local hobby store and make sure to put a pre-order through them if I really want anything.
@@kennan6176 Bro, calm the hell down. GW doesn't owe you anything, and you don't owe GW anything. What do you "mean good consumer practices"? Over-producing kits they'll never sell out like Gorka-Morka? They sell what they claim to and will replace defective models no questions asked. What else do you want!? They're kits are expensive; so what? They do limited runs; so what? It's a niche product. I can't afford an ARCH or a Ducati, even though I want one. I'm not going to be such an ass as to call those companies giant piles of shit.
Such a realistic, grounded approach to the reality of the situation. Obviously they exist to make money, but so many big companies now prey on you to squeeze every penny out of you.
@@Akimbo411 yup. Some companies will at least acknowledge they wouldn't be where they are without the fans and customers... But soooooo many just don't
@@christinebeckett7060 that is true. We're the ones that ultimately make the decision to give them our hard earned dollars/pounds... But at the same time they still need to make a quality product
To be fair, while they’d love you to buy every product they release, I’m sure they are realistic enough to know that doesn’t happen. So they market multiple areas and see what people are willing to rope themselves into. I’m pretty happy with 40k as far as GW releases go. Legion Imperialis is sorta tempting but I have no desire to jump into a new expensive game system and need to find people to play it. Especially when I can mostly scratch that scale itch with Battletech (even if the model quality is not the same, it’s good enough)
Two decisions I've made: 1, I'm not buying any new kits until I've built everything on my to do list (which isn't my entire pile of shame, but it's all the things I currently wish were on the table), and 2, my new year's resolution is to do at least *some* hobby work every day. Because even if I'm not feeling it on a given day, if I force myself to sit down for five minutes, I inevitably get into it and will spend at least the next hour happily hobbying. You've also given me an idea - I run a school club and I worry about parents' budgets. What I'm going to start doing now for new members is send a letter home actually explaining all of this. Finally, as a counter-point, you say 'I don't blame GW, it's just the world we live in' - I'd argue that this is only the world we live in because of the choices people/companies make...!
That's what I need to work on, it's so easy for me to print/buy minis I'm excited for, and maybe get a good week or two long sprint on them. Then I just putter out and never get around to working on shit again. The imminent release of The Old World is changing that though, I really genuinely want to get into that, regardless of whether I can get people I know into it, or just end up having to try and find people to play with at a game store.
Looking into getting a 3d printer for the club might not be a bad idea. Could possibly be used for lessons and printing minis is way cheaper once you get past the initial purchase of the printer.
On thé « companies are doing it », they do it because it’s their job to sell, consumers’ job is to not buy if they don’t want it, I know you can somewhat induce demand but ultimately it’s up to regular people to sanction or stop a company’s behavior. And if they don’t, well, « that’s the world we live in », if people are going to reward GW for doing something wrong it’s not GW’s job to not do the thing. Of course I’m all taking about wrong within the bounds of the law and human rights, if GW is revealed to engage in child slavery to build their kits then sure at that point we can say it!: the company’s fault XD
It's not just the money and the time but the space. It takes up so much space once assembled, not counting all the tools and supplies that go with it. The way to store it, transport it, an area to play it. All the books, dice, rulers, mats, terrain, etc. It's very easy to be unprepared for that side of it since it's so well packed in the boxes. I don't think they do enough as a company to provide answers or foreshadowing to that part of it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to sell an army of Tyranids to make room for some more compact models of GSC because the Tyranids are just so all over the place.
@@Lil-ig7br the cost of developing video games has gone up. In the 80s many of the best games, really strong big AAA games, were made by one or two men, with perhaps a third contracted for the intro music. At least in the UK. The US sometimes had slightly larger teams, but not vast. Development was weeks or months, never years. Those games cost £35 (in today's money). Now we have multiple games that cost HALF A BILLION quid to make and market, loads in the hundreds of millions bracket, and it's almost impossible to conceive of a AAA game slouching in at less than several tens of millions. But the cost of games is now twice that of the 1980s, around £70.
It's an interesting difference between Warhammer models and, say, old school model planes or model tanks. Those were always "You go out, buy a single model, take it home, build it, and paint it, for as long as it takes, taking your sweet time until you're satisfied." Maybe you're done in a weekend. Then, next weekend, you can go out, buy a different tank, and do it again. It was a slow, casual sort of hobby, and you also had no pressure to spend money. A Sherman tank is a Sherman tank and will always be a Sherman tank. There's no meta or game system to go with it, no FOMO boxes, no points that require you to buy more to assemble an army. It's just a model you build for fun. Warhammer, though, has constant releases, changes to its game system, NEW game systems, more factions, constant value boxes, points changes, and it's all really just in service to get you to buy more and more plastic. Instead of having fun, you're piling up a mountain of sprues because "Oh, this was on sale! I have to get it!" or "This'll be sold out in 30 seconds!" or "They just changed the rules for this." Or "It's a new faction!" Or "It's an old faction!" and so on and so on. They really do know how to manipulate a consumer's psyche.
Even compare it to playing Historical wargames. That box of Roman Legionaries you buy today will still be on the table when you are old and grey, and when your army is finished, it's finished
I've been playing and painting Warhammer 40k and 30k for 23 years and this is the relationship I have with my models. Stop buying new things and focus on one army.
All serious scale modellers have at least a serious pile of shame, where they buy stuff they're interested in, but another fancier kit comes out and it gets stuck on the bottom of the build priority. Some estate sales have hundreds of thousands of dollars of old scale model purchases, a lot now worthless as newer, more intricate kits come out. Also, you're thinking of the scale models 2 decades ago, where instructions up to 25 were considered advanced. These days you have tank builds with internals where parts number in the thousands and steps up to 300.
Two things that have helped me massively with my backlog is having someone to "hobby party" with, where we just chat and chill while painting and building minis; and setting painting goals for myself, usually one unit per week. I don't always succeed at it, but it keeps me focused.
Same experience. I'm an old figure painter and I can't resist painting these to a very high standard. It takes me forever to paint a set of these, and at times, I've switched back to 54mm figures or building a 1/35 scale tank for long periods of time justto get away from WH. It's just too much.
In 1 years I got 1 space marine boarding patrol 1 eradicator 1 captain and 1 interessors box Fairly did half And I got more stuff printed from a friend I bairly started so I get him 😂
54mm is awesome! I’ve been rescaling some of the beautiful 32mm 3D sculpts out there to 54mm and it’s very satisfying. They’re not going into an army anyway and the size is a blast to paint.
I imagine a lot of us buy these products with good intentions to build, paint, and having amazing battles with each “new product of the week”. We get drawn in by amazing previews, IG posts, battle reports, etc and imagine ourselves having the same fun. Then we get our stuff and remember that we aren’t full time content creators and have traditional jobs, kids, house work, and other time constraints. So we build a few models and maybe get some painted over the course of a week or two and, by then, the next new shiny thing is out. Add FOMO marketing to the mix and it can become a viscous cycle.
For GW, consumerism is the hobby. For the weak, consumerism is also the hobby. Buying a box of plastic is not the hobby, you’re not a hobbyist-you are a consumer. Cycles of hype and FOMO are tools to short circuit the consumer. Buy a box, build and paint the box, THEN buy the next. Don’t be a consumer, be a hobbyist. You can be a fan and you can spend money but just don’t let GW hustle you.
I only get new models when ive finished the stuff i have, mostly because i have a pride thing where i cannot field a unit that is not sporting the colors
It's more about the fear of missing out on exclusive stuff. And if you are not only a painter, but also a player, you are in ever-lasting arm race and you basically required to buy new stuff to enjoy the playing side of hobby.
Hard to do that when the box you want to buy next is sold out and now oop. GW are deliberate in their perpetuating FOMO and content creators, who are given all these sets for free so they dont miss out, are guilty of feeding into this hype machine.
This is a really good distinction to make. Personally, the roll out of TOW has put me at my wits end with GW. I've decided to take the time and money I would had put into TOW, had GW actually bothered to invest in it and sell it at a reasonable price point, and put it into making my own rank & flank game from scratch. I'm not going to be a piggy bank for any company that so blatantly holds me in such apathy or contempt.
I think the phrase "I was lucky I didn't buy a lot these past 6 months" already tells a lot of the story. And you're actually right, they market you those nicely painted models, but we're actually buying unassembled unpainted plastic, that will require a ton of work and time to get to look nice. Much more effort than just getting excited and buying yet another box of miniatures.
I find this greivence strange as a scale model hobbyist since that’s generally the intention of plastic model kits since their inception. I get that it’s also a game and you wanna get to the part where you play with them though.
I get the view point, but for me I would never want a pre-painted or defs never pre-assembled model. I far prefer learning painting techniques, trying new things with conversions etc. What annoys me is the fact that I always think I can paint/assemble quicker than I do, I am slow af... And I have sooo much grey
@@fallenfossl trust me, I know prepainted models and want nothing to do with them. What I meant is, we get sold the idea, that final look of the painted model (in everyone's head depending on their capabilities), but what we buy is just the project, the DIY, the "prospect" of having those models built and painted. Then, another shinny kit shows up, and process is repeated. Because buiding and painting requires more effort than dreaming about the next kit we'll eventually build and paint.
@ET-Gamer my only answer is gunpla. Its already "painted" (more like the plastic was colored that way when it was injection molded) do painting it is completely optional for the person
GW has one other problem that nobody seems to address: Their products are not perishable. I've collected WFB (and some 40k) for 30 or so years now. I STILL have the first models I ever bought (back when they were much cheaper) and painted. Even though I don't play anymore, I just can't part with them because I enjoy assembling them and painting them that much. But GW hasn't made a dime off of me in over a decade. I bought the collections of several friends when they left the hobby over the years, always for close to a 'just take them' price. I bought more on EBay for a while. Many are painted, some are not, but you can see the problem. After my initial purchases, GW hasn't gotten any of my money except for the core rule book and the army books. Because my models will last forever unless I sell them or trash them for some reason.
They absolutely have survived player turnover, surprisingly well to be honest. They haven't made money off you, but they do get new players in, and other existing players often start work on a second army so they can stick around too. You haven't played or paid in ten years... when you left the hobby GW shares were £600 each. They're currently £10k a pop. The Amazon shows, when they hit, will treble this valuation. There's going to be 40K mania, wait and see.
Lately it seems they've been looking to that problem by making more and more things unplayable, or much harder to play. Off the top of my head, Age of Sigmar Wood Elves got phased out over a couple of editions, each time losing a few units till now there are none. Similar with a lot of the old Empire stuff in Cities. Yes, it can be used in Old World, but at this point a Wood Elf or Empire player since WFB would have had to go from square based, to round, and now BACK TO SQUARE. Not to mention the phasing out of First Born Marines, which makes sense because almost everyone had a Firstborn army if they've been playing pre-8th edition. Most First Born armies have had massive chunks cut out of them, with armies like Dark Angels and Blood Angels suffering the worst. By kicking Bikes, various Firstborn Dreads, Land Speeders, and Jump Marines to Legends, all 3 of my Space Marine armies were rendered unplayable, mostly just left with Tactical Squads. And the less said about my Death Korps of Krieg army, the better. If I wanted to keep playing 40k, my only real option was build a new army.
@@ashers9680they're only phased out for competitive play, and even then, only if the tournament officials enforce it. But every tournament still allows proxies. So that squad of firstborn Marines you can still be played as Primaris Marines so long as you don't end up against a rules lawyer SHFG
I do think part of the issue with models taking forever to paint is caused by the size of new models and the insane level of detail. I can remember the 25th anniversary of 40k, I took part in a speed painting contest where we 15 mins to paint one of the old push fit tactical marines. Everyone managed to get their's finished within the time to a decent standard (even me and I was like 12). More recently, I was at a store birthday and took part in another speed painting contest. Again, we had 15 mins but this time the model was the stormcast line infantry from the 2nd ed AoS starter box. I actually won it, not because mine was the best painted but because I was the only one there who had managed to get four different colours onto the model within the allotted time.
There’s a old concept that relates to coupons and sales. If you walk into a store with a plan to spend let’s say $30 on items that you do need but you see a bunch of on sale items that you don’t need and end up buying them, spending let’s say $130 total, you’ve just lost $100 not saved any. It’s the same thing with the combat patrols, a sale or low price is only actually a low price if it’s something you would have bought at full price
I completely agree with your point about the combat patrols. FOMO hit me when the new DA got revealed and I wanted to get the old one as it is seen as better. I came to realize that I only really wanted the redemptor and the inceptors and I already have the Deathwing box coming in so some of my unbuilt tyranids would likely end up starting my pile of shame and I might never get to them as they’re termagaunts.
It is also: big box set. You need to spend too much at once. Everything is disguised as a good deal if buying a bundle but you still need to buy the bundle
That’s the FOMO part. Look at that “good deal” you get. In reality, everything in the box set becomes available in individual kits later. Will it cost more? If you buy everything maybe. But what if you don’t?
@@timunderbakke8756 and even if it costs more to get the kits seperatly, so what? A larger amount spread out over a longer time is way more managable than a big upfront cost.
@@timunderbakke8756if you buy it separately 4 characters + Dreadnought+maybe half of infernus squad will cost you same as leviathan box. So book, cards two and a half squads of units + all bugs are extras
This is all so true. I found that every time I played the game, I would think, "if I only had that unit, I would have done better", and I got this big pile of shame. I also bought a lot of the big box sets that came out. So, for the past six months, I have stopped playing and I'm just building and painting. It's very restful when you aren't chasing the meta and not falling for FOMO. Sometimes you just need to step back from it all.
One thing with all the releases is I believe very few people actually participate in ALL those game systems heavily. Most people participate in one or two, and even people that do participate in 3+ probably focus on one or two at a time, they just happen to have their old Blood Angels army in the closet. But even considering that, I do think the number of releases has gone up significantly. I think everyone has to ask themselves if they want to play the game competitively (rules are kinda dogshit a lot of the time so I don't recommend), or enjoy relaxing and painting things how you want to paint them (which also usually will save you a lot of money too tbh). If you want to be a competitive player, then you're probably gonna need to get many of the new releases to stay competitive because that's just how it goes. If you just want to make an army that looks cool, it's a lot easier to abstain from new releases that don't wow you and only spring for the real 10/10 ones.
I want the Combat Patrol magazine because I am splitting it with a group of friends. If I was getting it alone I would only buy 2-3 of the armies. So get a group of friends to paint and play with.
In their defense, the drip feed method is literally the modern market. Every industry wants this business model. Not only does it make them the most money, it's literally a means of addiction development. The pleasure is being in a constaint state of what's next rather than being able to enjoy what we have.
Paint what you have before you buy more is a really hard rule to live by, but it's a good one. It takes a lot of discipline but it can be rewarding. Schedule what you're going to build and when and eventually you'll get into a rhythm and know exactly what to buy and when. You have to make your hobby a habit. Eventually, you'll catch up and have a good, regular output and can gage exactly how long each project will take. At that point, you'll be able to plan and schedule everything out between the preorder and the arrival of the box so that when you get it, you know exactly what you're going to do. Just as planned.
Great video. I'm 51 and I love GW. I basically have an unlimited budget and you should see my pile of shame. They really are great at marketing. I bought several of the big boxes this year and most aren't even built. I agree that stepping away and trying not to follow all the releases is a good idea. I check the forger world site several times a day. A model will come back into stock and before I know it I'm buying it. I have a FW shame pile over 10K. I've really had to force myself to stop looking at FW site and when I do to realize that I don't need to buy something just because its been out of stock for a long time.
You buy hobby debt. You buy backlog. Add up the amount of work you'll need to do to complete your backlog. It can be a very humbling experience. If your backlog will take 5 years to clear, how do you feel about that? 10 years? What if you own so much that you'll never complete it before you die?
I really think this is something a lot of new hobbyist go through and it's something that just falls to your own personal responsibility. In the past 6 months my wife gave birth to our daughter and I've still painted over 2000 points of death guard, almost 1000 points of ossiarch bonereapers, a cerastus Lancer, and I'm about to finish a vampire blood bowl team before I move on to flesh eater courts. In the last year, I've painted almost 10K points of total models but I had this same realization last year when I came to the point of realizing I owned over 10K points of unpainted minis and having a daughter on the way helped wake me up. I've slowed down on buying stuff even if it's within budget and even if it's limited availability. my next 6 months of painting are spoken for so the only way I buy soemthing is if it's going straight from the store to my desk, not the pile. And to be honest, if you haven't painted a single box set worth of minis in 6 months you might not enjoy painting as much as you think you do or you might need to learn how to create deadlines for yourself. I play about once a week right now. My friend group is starting a blood bowl league this coming Friday and that's what's pushing me on these vampires. Then the GW store I play at is doing new year new army which I'll be painting flesh eaters for. I have til the end of the week to do vampires before I then get 1.5 months to do 1K of flesh eaters. I'm not trying to rub anything in anyone's face or be condescending but I'm saying it's worth reflecting on your own circumstances. Do you play regularly? Do you have social groups to share your painting with? Does all this plastic actually bring you happiness or do you just enjoy the dopamine realise that marketing uses to prey on consumers? It's really hard to tell the difference and I think it primarily comes down to do you have a friend group you share this hobby with frequently.
Important to understand that Warhammer is NOT about gaming, it‘s all about COLLECTING. People collect armies in the same way they used to collect postage stamps or coins. You get two of the set and want, no need, to get the higher denominations. The set aka “the team”. The gaming part is purely a bonus. The collecting part is largely satisfied by buying the boxes, and it’s almost irrelevant if the figures never see the gaming table.
A clever marketing trend I've noticed GW Community adopt, was rebranding the 'Pile of Shame' into a 'Pile of Potential', further encouraging buying more piles of minis.
GW has mastered the art of selling essentially plastic toy soldiers ... and making you assemble and paint them to boot at luxury prices. And then get you to rebuy it all in 2 years.
I just started 40k tabletop like 6 7 month ago. Started painting them like 4 month ago. I Finished Eldar / Orks Combat Patrols, 1 Dark Reaper / 1 Guardian Squad / 1 Banshee / 2 Autarchs / 1 Vyper / 1 War Walker / 1 Dire Avenger Squad / 1 Striking Scorp / Maguan Raa / Eldrad / 2 Warlocks / 1 Shroud Runner Squad / 1 Ranger Squad. Working on some Eldar tanks now. Tbh I think I am very slow and take too long. I still have loads of stuff to build and paint since I kinda went full Mid life crisis on this game :) Most important thing is I do enjoy building and painting the models. Sadly I only managed to play like 4 games only until now but was very enjoyable.
Preach I love this. My goal for 2024 as a blood angels player is to build my pile of shame. Resist the Death wing assault box set and wait for the next blood angels releases! I feel I’ll get more out of the hobby and have a kick ass army at the same time
This is me dude, saw the dark angels box set and was like damn. But made the decision to resist and wait for blood angels army box in a year. No fomo for me. I went back and started repainting my finished BA into successors, like blood drinkers in golden arm
I’ve just gotten back into 40K and have so far avoided buying more than I can paint. I have two rules: 1. Nothing goes on the table until it’s FULLY painted and 2. No more than one thing in my waiting pile. Looking to get into Kill Team as it seems like it would allow me to just paint a cool thing one at a time without always needing more or different.
I wish I had your restraint :P ... started in 2021 and currently looking at a huge backlog but I did make a new year's resolution: No new plastic until I have most of my backlog under control. Now I just hope that I'll keep my resolution ;)
@@Morrodin182 to be completely fair I still have a pile of unpainted stuff in the basement from when I was into it years ago (2nd-3rd) but I figure if it’s in the basement it doesn’t count. :p So my new approach is hard learned.
Sadly, I will never afford the paints nor the figures. I painted Orks as a young teen, always wanted the Lizard men. I was going to get back into warhammer and finally get me some Lizards.... The I saw the prices of everything...
As someone who has only gotten into this hobby in the past year - I really underestimated how long it takes to get models painted to a level I'm happy with, and also how easy it is to let motivation slip and make no progress for long periods of time... I do however highly recommend audiobooks while painting!
Nice video, cheers! I started WH this year, it is a whole lot of fun building and painting and I'm now trying to focus on what I've got and soaking that in. Models will pretty much always be available in the future if I really want them.
I just started collecting and playing 40k. I rushed to get my primary army painted, and now I am taking a break from painting to learn how to play. I have played a few games and I am improving and having fun. I already know what my second army will be, but this will not be as much of a "rush job".
Truth is you CAN keep up, but it demands some discipline and good planning (in fact, since it needs logistics as well, you could consider it a war on itself! Battle the Grey Tide!). The first step is to decide on a color scheme, which is tied to, in this case, the space marines chapter you want (I always suggest an unknown successor so the rules won't hold you every time a codex drops, and so you can make as much background as desired for several successor chapters); in this it's better to choose one that has a base color of an already existing rattle can for priming (so you base & prime at the same time); the second step is to either grab an airbrush or a second rattle can that stays between the base color and a much clearer version (easiest scale is black primer, gray cenital spray, white drybush), apply color details (metalics, weapon extra colors, some decoration, etc...) and apply an ink to finish it off. The objective here is to pain a base troop in less than 1-2 hours, which can be further optimized by apllying the same step to several models at once, which is not fun, but makes the battle against the grey tide feasible. Also, try not to buy *everything* released... most of the time you don't need it.
You think you can keep up spending 1-2 hours per troop? There is no way you can match the release schedule doing that. The reality is you have to not buy the marketing hype and not try to buy & play everything. If you do that then 1-2 hours per troop and doing this as a hobby will work. I set myself a challenge of averaging 1 figure per day about 10 years ago. I have ended up averaging over 1 fig per day across that decade and still can't touch the sides of the release schedule. 2 main games, 15-20 factions per game 3 year edition release cycle means you need to be painting 10 armies a year to match the release schedule if you want to just play 40k and AoS. You cannot keep up. So don't try.
@@dafruk1 As I mentioned before, there is no need to buy it all (not even several boxes of the same model). Also, consider that your position regarding the buying of new releases may fall to zero spending in certain factions (Eldar for example don't usually get many releases, with the Striking Scorpions being the new one since... I think the Eldar vs Drukhari box years ago?).
This video puts into words what i felt a few months ago during my period of burnout with WH. AoS is my preferred game of the 2 big ones. I have 3 armies in that. This is because, when i first started, it was peak covid. I did not realize at the time just how much STUFF this hobby has. I got into the games by myself in a leap of faith so i had no real warning about what you describe above. So i took the dive with beasts of chaos. By the time i had 1k points built and grey, lumineth reveals and preorders were up. They were also one of the main reasons i started playing, so i started purchasing and building them too. This was all in the span of maybe 3 months at the most. I had also purchased a Soul wars box for the Stormcast models around this time. My memory is hazy but the next big thing was 40k Indomitus. Necrons are by far my favorite faction in that and the new refreshes were amazing. So i started buying and building them. It was when i was trying to hunt down one of the new Monolith models thay i really started to notice that, there is just way too much stuff for one man to reasonably finish in such a short timeframe. Fast forward to today. After 2 burnout periods of several months each, i am now halfway through building my Guard army. But this time it is at my own pace. And even still i am overwhelmed with the constant barrage of new content. And most of it isnt even my vibe. I have a buddy who has over 10 armies because he is less picky than me. The way GW, or Wizards, or any huge "nerd" game, advertises their stuff is super predatory. They know its alot. But they dont really care how it affects the community in the long run as long as sales continue upwards. In fighting games (SF6/MK1) theres a feeling called a character crisis. You might LOVE how a particular character looks or sounds, but something about their intended playstyle just doesnt feel right. So after the initial hype of a new game coming out, you may find that you dont have the "perfect" playstyle and you may end up putting the game down to try something else while you wait. That happened with me in Warhammer as well. 2nd edition Beasts of Chaos are a completely different playstyle than 3rd edition. And unfortunately, I preferred the old one. But the vocal minority of beast men players were unhappy with how bad the army was performing in tournaments and the competitive scene. Whether true or not, I blame the social media presence for these changes. The constant need for balanced factions and the constant hype train of new products, dont allow enough time for Individuals to breathe and enjoy things at their own pace. Thank you for reading. The Emperor Protects. :)
is a really valid point. I've started a Lamenters force maybe, what, almost 3 years ago now? and I have 10 assault marines, 5 tac, one lib dread, 3 eradicators and a terminator. These are all painted up to a degree I'd be happy with yet the amount of models I've collected from GW, Tortuga and friends/eBay to kitbash, say firstborns have made me not buy anything from them in the last 6 months. I'm like you and can happily paint all day (I've started Cursed City last year and am trying to finish the set, highly satisfying tbh) and it's like a never ending conveyer belt at times unless I'm trying new methods, styles or with a friend while doing it.
You have taken your first step into a wider world, you can indeed love the hobby, the games, the universe without having to buy everything, it is hard because everything they make is fantastic but also a big commitment, that's the plan to maintain you almost in a state of panic trying to "keep up". Welcome to the light at the end of the tunnel.
Thank you so much for this. I’ve actually recently hit a point of burnout with the hobby purely because of this endless stream of new stuff that just got overwhelming for me, especially as I think I have ADHD which makes trying to focus and resist FOMO even harder. Glad to see it’s not just me that had these issues
Its especially disconcerting if you are a completionist. The feeling of missing out on sets can weigh on the mind. Ive really had to just take a step back and focus on the models I truely love, bacause the hobby is becoming too pricey. I fear Warhammer is going down the same route Magic the Gathering did where instead of a new set every 3 months, its something new every week. Burns out your interest and the wallet.
I play MTG and have been backing off, recently started looking back into the lore and painting of 40k, bought an army, and seeing some of this similar stuff is kind of dismaying!
You’re bang on with your observations. I think GW is aware of the realistic limit to who is actually going to buy. I mean there are many players but not as much sales are there players. I think that the “small batch” or “conservative batch” roll out of new products, stops them from overreaching.
@@Kingofdragons117 How would they be able to double production? Basically everything they make is made in England. Its not feasible at all. At least it seems not feasible based on what I know of supply chains
@Kingofdragons117 Yeah GW really does need to make another factory at least. Almost everything GW puts out almost gets sold out instantly, might be time to expand from the one factory they have to a second one.
When I got into this hobby it was because I found a few early Age of Sigmar sets really cheap at Half Priced Books, it was a hell of a find. I wanted to start small but then I just wanted all the things. Getting three 1000 point armies grew into an obsession. I then had over 20,000 points of stormcast but then I started Nighthaunt then Fyreslayers, then Seraphon, then Lumineth then I bought a whole Slaanesh army, the 3.0 came out and I bought all new Battletomes, I bought two dominion boxes and then I had the idea of starting Kharadon Overlords so I grabbed a start collecting kit but then I bought an entire Sylvaneth army..........I took on way too much. I realized that I would never get through all this and I had to downsize. So I did. I kept what I liked but I sold three entire armies and close to 8000 points of stormcast and now it feels more manageable. I am resisting the urge to buy whole armies and might even downsize further by selling one more army. GW sells models I want in whole box sets and I have been getting better about splitting up boxes with others so I don't accumulate as much stuff that I will likely never use. Some of this is my finding out the kinds of armies I like to play and how I want them to play. I now find myself being more selective about what I buy and doing less meta chasing. It's easy to fall into a trap where you need the best models out there when GW releases tournament stats and you want to replicate those lists with every army you have.........but rules and points change and those models you didn't get around to building and painting are now $1000 worth of plastic dust collectors. As got got more refined in the hobby it started to be easier to shrug off all that plastic crack. The stuff designed to get new players into the game achieves that but it also gets overwhelming very quickly.
I don't have this problem because everything I might want is about $15 to $20 out of my impulse buy range. The price is just high enough that I have to stop and think if I really want something. Like, where I might have blown 30-35 on the newest marine hero character just because it looks cool, they're starting to be around $50. I impulse bought some of the old $90 army starter boxes in the past that I never built, but there's no way to accidentally spend $160 on a combat patrol box.
Many people do not realize that their hobby is not painting or playing miniature games, it's buying stuff. THATS why people have a "Pile of Shame", they don't like building the models (so thats why they're still in the box) they don't like painting the models either so they don't do that, but they can't admit this to themselves. They never miss the opportunity to buy new models though, because buying stuff and getting exited for new stuff to buy *is their actual hobby*. 40K or what have you, is just an outlet or a target for that dopamine hit of buying stuff.
This is quite interesting perspective. My own experience is that there are a few things that can help to stop a person from being overwhelmed. The first is stop having FOMO. You cant get everything, so stop worrying about not getting everything. Probably easier said than done, but at least acknowledge you can can't have it all. The second is too limit the number of games and or armies you play. You can only play a finite number of games. So having 8 different armies means if you played every week for a year, you will only use an army a dozen times at most. I do have a lot of factions, but I limit myself to 2 or 3 factions per version. This helps with painting and learning how to use the faction to get the most from it. Third, I would say try not too build up too big a back log of mini's. I have a pile of shame, but it is not too big, and I know I will clear most of it down before I start any new armies
This how I'm doing it too. I have my 3 factions that are my hobby. I have been chasing down the units I want and have been assembling and priming everything before I let myself buy anything new. I also have been buying lots of used models for awesome prices. I just got 10 terminators for 50$!!!
The amount of people that just buy plastic and have it sit there is insane. I have been painting for around a year and a half now and don't even play the game. I just like models. I see so many people buy these giant boxes while still having 3 of similar sized boxes still waiting to be painted. For me, at most i have a box waiting and maybe one or two single character models in my backlog. I will never understand "piles of shame." Unless the box/model is being retired or you got a extremely good deal. Then that makes a bit more sense.
Recently got back into the hobby after nearly 30yrs and there's two things I think is a real shame they stopped doing: One is the little blister packs with just one or two regular sized minis in it. They were great because you could buy them with your pocket money (price was like £1-3 I think back in early-mid 90s) and spend a week or two painting them without being overwhelmed by a pile of sprues. If you mostly liked painting and weren't so interested in building an army, or just wanted some variety in your units, they were perfect. The other thing is having cheap boxes of plastic minis that were aimed at those who were mostly interested in gaming. They were great because they were less detailed, less varied, and so quicker and easier to paint up, as well as not breaking the bank when all you wanted was to pad out your army. You could then spend the extra time and money on your characters/special units instead.
it took me around 2 months to do cadia stands. sure i did paint a few other things as well as it but still it took me ages. in all honesty the amount I can build and paint depends on complexity and if i have to fix issues along the way
This reminds me of an Airfix documentary where one bloke had his garage filled with unmade kits. It introduced me to the term "S.A.B.L.E.: Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy".
This resonated with me so much dude,I have bought so many models this year and it's nowhere near how much I actually wanted to buy, but my thirst for new models is nowhere near compatible with the volume of painted models I output. thank you for this you have earned yourself an new fan and subscriber
A voice of common sense. Subbed. When i was a teen in the mid 90s all my models were painted, i couldnt get enough to paint so painted for friends and even the gw shop... Now i have money for models but little time, i dont have a huge pile of shame, but it is a challenge 😅
I’ve slowly reconfigured my relationship with the hobby to be similar to that of someone restoring a car, filming a movie or writing a novel. Work in every section (model) to the best of my ability and over a few years complete an army with the intention of keeping it forever and handing it down generations. I take summers off (kids at home) and December off (silly season) and this rest period really focussed my desire for the next few months. I’m currently starting a zero outside year having sold and swapped my pile of potential down to only one project. FOMO just leads to sadness because of the disconnect between my output at the release schedule
I definitely had a feeling similar to this as I saw the Christmas Box set reveals. With the Space Marine army box having pushed me away from increasing the size of my force at all this year. I have over 2000 points of gray assembled Marines that I don't even currently game with, for what purpose would I realistically buy more? I can't fool myself into thinking that I'm going to build and paint them anymore as I stare at my cabinet full of gray each morning.
An interesting thing happened to me once I started branching out of GW and looking at other manufacturers. At some point I discovered Test of Honour, a small samurai skirmish game by a 2-man company. (Fun game by the way!) I initially went through a *flurry* of mini purchases - samurai are one of my favorite settings, and this spoke to me in a way Warhammer hasn't in a few years. So initially, I was buying way more models than before. (I can't bring myself to buying a new GW army if my previous ones aren't finished - and they're never finished!) However, once that calmed (Test of Honour is a small game so it's feasible to own the bulk of the entire range), my mini purchases have ground nearly to a halt. You see, once I had been looking at all the mini manufacturers and game systems out there, suddenly I realized, *the minis that truly speak to me are out there*, and I dont need to buy minis that are just *ok* for me. In the distant past, when I got into 40k, I picked Imperial Guard, but not because they *truly* spoke to me, but because they were the best of the options for my tastes at the time. But if I were making the decision now, I know that I dont need to settle for minis that I think are cool - if I give it time and searching, I can find minis that I think are the *coolest*. I only got this perspective when I saw the vast array of companies and model ranges out there. Surely Games Workshop makes some premium stuff, as far as detail and quality goes, but they are not comprehensive when it comes to all the minis out there. Not even close. Not even 2%. Once I saw Fireforge Games, Grey for Now, Crocodile, Warlord, Black Site Studios, Footsore, Oathmark, Relic Blade... I knew that there's so many options, and rather than making me buy way too much, it's given me the perspective to buy only what I *need*. Of course, this does require being willing to play something other than 40k/AoS, or perhaps playing with a group who's willing to let you proxy non-GW into those systems. For example, I'd love to bring my samurai into Warhammer Fantasy - the community-driven Armies Project has a Nippon army, but if I ever want to play official GW rules they'd probably need to be proxies for Empire or something. Hopefully I can convince my friends to let me do this! ;) Of course, I can also buy, say, Mierce Miniatures minotaurs and make a Beastmen army for Warhammer: The Old World. If I dont like the GW minis for a faction, I can support a small company and GW at the same time. And I dont feel the need to buy into the hype of the hip new thing, because I know there will always be something perfect for me out there. But there's also other game systems out there. Test of Honour was a godsend for me, because while 40k can be fun, it's also very dense. Sometimes switching it up gives the inspiration needed to paint up a new unit! Hope this perspective helps someone out there.
To be fair, its not a problem. It is actually good that it goes so well nowadays. It s a "us" problem that we want to buy ALL OF THE STUFF because its cool
I absolutely resonate with what you’re talking about. The breakneck pace of reveals and releases has felt overwhelming the past year or two, and I am someone who works at a pace similar to yours. I’ve found it best to just focus on a handful of current hobby goals and think about that every time I feel the urge to pick up some shiny new set. I realize most of this stuff never gets painted or heck even assembled, and just ends up on ebay a year later when I’m trying to free up space. Thankfully I’ve also managed to restrain myself quite a bit in 2023. I think the only new kits I picked up were the Leviathan Dread and the MK3 marines for HH, and some secondhand Lumineth for AoS. That’s not to say I haven’t been tempted by half a dozen boxed sets this year, us plastik addicts can rarely resist a “deal”😅
Great video! I recently seen my pile of shame grow to new heights and finally made the call to start selling off what i cant handle ( levithan ). Its only a sale or deal if you were going to buy it in the first place.
I've made far to many purchases. Especially big purchases. I bought the Sisters of Battle launch box and literally wanted to one of the first to get it. Didn't even assemble any of the box until this last year cause life happens. XD I don't regret my purchases but definitely there is a feeling that "i don't have enough time" XD
It has been ages since I've played a game, but I went along to a games club in the area I've moved to recently, just with some models to glue together, because my more complete armies are in storage, and it really clarified that I want to play games, and so I have to choose to concentrate on a single army, for a single game, so that I can do so. While I was there I also saw a Baneblade (want), some Knights (want the Cerastus Castigator), a game of Legions Imperialis (want), and heard some people talk about The Old World (was one car repair away from pre-ordering a bunch of stuff), and it's hard not to send myself off in loads of different directions. Even with the Ork army I'm currently working on, I'm really enjoying the warbiker models, but yet I'm spending a lot of time thinking about buying some Killa Kans, or a Deff Dread, Battlewagon, Gorkanaut, Dakkajet or one of the various buggies. It's hard to simply do one step at a time.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. It’s strange to accept that not buying the models is a struggle and a pretty substantially difficult thing to do. The biggest step for me is to only buy ONE of something that I NEED for a pre-planned army without going on a spending spree- as the barrier of purchasing something is broken.
I have this issue with both plastic and resin, mostly the latter with it also being mostly made up of 3D printed models. My MMF account is *filled* with models that I probably won't get to printing and painted in the next decade.
This situation is a bit different because digital files don't take physical space, they are waaaay cheaper than GW and you can print as many as you want in as many sizes and poses as you want, they are waaaay easier to build because prints are almost always multishell. And lastly and sadly, fomo is a reality in the digital world thx to James's bully tactics towards small creators and artists so you pick the file while you can...
Here's my experience: I bought some Bestiarum minis for $75 from a company called Questbourne (who I suspect did not have the rights to sell). When they came, I was disappointed at the quality. So I got a 3D printer and now $75 covers 5 months of subscription from some companies and 7 months from others. Within a short time, my library has hundreds of sculpts. But there's no FOMO. I don't need them all. But every time I do want to print something and it comes out great I think of that stupid $75 and feel good. So yeah, some GW money is definitely getting funneled that direction this year. $75 covers 1 to 5 models from them. Would most people rather have The Old World Tomb Kings than this month's rather similar Titan Forge release on MMF? Yes. But then they look at the price difference and many will change their minds.
Yep, I only have some official stuff to keep the purists from whining all the time and to support my LGS. Even then I have a bunch of 3D Printed bits to reduce costs. I got a bunch of intercessors cheap on Ebay so I could kitbash them into the other kits. @@Kragnorak
I think that people misrepresent the cost of Warhammer. It shouldn't be measured in dollars. It should be measured in time. Sure, a box looks like a fantastic deal: Oh my god it's 45% savings... But you're not saving in time. You can easily fall into the opposite where you are in a time debt of hours, weeks, months of hobby time required to fulfill those goals. It's too easy to fall into the trap of believing that you are saving dollars when the real cost is paying for your purchases with time.
I look at it very differently. If it takes me 20 hours to paint a box of minis that I paid $60 for that’s only $3 per hour of enjoyment and fun I got from the purchase. Way cheaper than going to the movies or a concert or a bar, etc…
@@Dram1984 I think that I can appreciate that. I used to value certain video games by the lasting length of appreciation they offered. I think that what has changed for me is that I began valuing time differently as a resource in itself.
@@YouWinAFREEiPOD oh for sure, its easy to waste time on entertainment, whether its games or movies or whatever. I try and paint just a few hours a week, and keep my paint pile to just one or two things at a time. This means I drop about $50-70 every couple of months and get to spend a few hours a week doing something I enjoy.
I subbed to the Hachette Imperium 40K magazine thinking I could cope with the 1 issue every week plan - and it was a good way to get into 40k. In reality it was 4 issues every 4 to 6 weeks, depending on postage, and surprise, to this date I have painted absolutely none of it. It could be because the paints that accompanied it were released in bits a pieces over the weeks (I don't have many Citadel paints) or it could be because I have 101 other projects on the go (I'm into painting historical minis). The sub is complete and frankly I don't know if I'll start it now or just put it on Ebay.
I got a bunch of stuff I still need to paint and I realized since I've bought so much that I'm only gonna buy 1 more thing and then I'll try to paint everything. I'm waiting for the new Dark Angels Upgrade with the new Deathwing stuff to come out and that'll be my last purchase for a long while. I have been hobbying more than last year but I need to step up so that I can actually get more stuff done.
All excellent points. GW's Mega-release Schedule won't last....esp. once 3D Printers become *'ALL~IN~ONE'* & ubiquitous.....like Home PC's in the 90's. RESIST the Grey (i.e. Shame Pile(s)-In-Waiting )
Jokes on you I just finished my leviathan box set today after getting it for Christmas! Granted a lot of time was spent painting minis to take a break from building them,
I got back into it by buying Leviathan. I haven't completed the set yet. It's mostly all built, but I'm taking my sweet time doing it as well as I can, making sure to clean all mould lines, fill and smooth any gaps etc. I did give it a rest for a few months and only now have I got round to ordering some paint and my first airbrush. My mentality from the outset has definitely been to not buy anymore until I finish what I have. Guess it helps that I don't have anybody immediately available to play a game with.
When you discover that you can use your models in a variety of games, you can play older Editions of games, and get used to finishing projects it will really energize your hobby. You don't have to feel guilty about collecting models. You like them you bought them. Best to leave in the shrinkwrap until you're ready to commit to the project. Then push thru, you can take a break, but come back and finish those projects. Start a new one, finish an old one. I used to feel intimidated by a huge model or project. As you finish armies and projects you will gain more confidence. You know that you are capable of pushing through to get it done. You learn to do some research, paint some test models, come up with a paint plan and continue to refine it during the project. I've found that that project I abandoned 20 years ago, is quite fun to pull out, push thru and use in the intended game/Edition or use it for a different game. I will do 1 army per Edition of 40K. I will us the older armies for other games or Editions as needed. I also will sell off parts of my collection that are still NIB years later, they usually appreciate in price. There's always new things coming out, I'm looking at models and games of all types, Gamefound, Kickstarter, On Table Top and Wargames ILLUSRTATED are chock full of new games and models. Finding quicker ways to paint that still get quality results. I am very selective with GAMES WORKSHOP products though, they are very expensive.
Good video. I've not been into Warhammer/40k for about 25 years, with my modelling time now being spent with model railways. Its a different hobby with different dynamics, but I see a similar theme alot online in the model railway world, with people complaining about the price of models and fretting that the hobby is unaffordable and therefore dying. In 2023 most of my modelling spend was on plasticard, glues, paints, and tools. I brought very few model railway products yet spent 100s of happy hours railway modelling with plasticard, brass, and paint. I think you're hitting the nail on the head here - the difference between the zen and basic enjoyment within a hobby against a consumerist urge to acquire. Its about enjoying both the essence of a hobby, and being happy with what you have rather than getting anxious or angry about what you cant afford.
As far as i look at things: - 40k if you want to play the big 3000 games you either spend years painting a single army which can turn from a fun hobby to something you HAVE to do which can become less fun, or give up and bring grey boring Pieces you didnt Paint yet which can feel also pretty bad - Horus heresy Is Just space marines vs space marines idk why people even bother with It, its very limiting and as someone Who likes the creative xenos in the universe its an Easy pass - legions imperialis on a similar note Is a pass since its Just Epic Horus heresy, which Is a shame because It could be a pretty cool revival of Epic 40k - old world and i know this Is a controversial take but, Just feels pointless, Its meant to be a prequel to fantasy so GW can milk the nostalgia and players of Total war Warhammer but It feels like If people want tomb Kings or bretonians Just bring them back in AoS, also, yeah i cant help but state that fantasy factions are boring, they feel like GW opened a history or fantasy book pointed their finger at a picture and said "oh yeah One of those please", 40k and AoS at least took these races and gave them twists to make them feel less boring and less like "oh yeah i played DnD" - AoS Is Just confusing, in fantasy and 40k you have a clear universe of characters, in AoS you have realms that are how big? How small? How do you travel between them? And some of fhem have different ways in which time flows so events May happen very quickly from the POV of other realms, It feels too mystical and abstract to really get into the world, its like if 40k and fantasy were entirely made up of the warp, they could fix It, or at least find a way to minimaze the scale of where events take Place so It feels more grounded and with stakes but for now It feels confusing - necromunda is made up of factions that feel too generic, like each faction feels like Just a single unit in a larger faction and most of them feel pretty generic with the Only real exception being the Ash Waste Nomads - Underworlds Is too limiting, i dont enjoy the idea of playing defines characters, i would much rather prefer having the freedom to make my own characters -the quest games get very little support by GW - adeptus titanicus Is Battletech but in 40k and that isnt a compliment considering that the concept of "you wanna play a mech, mech or a mech" gets boring pretty quickly - Blood Bowl Is Just the Mario party of Warhammer, nothing really to complain about except the lack of support, but im not gonna sick Money into that - thus kill team and war cry are the Only two things i bother with and even then war crys factions are many times a big Whomegalul because of AoS short Life, thus i Stick with kill team, everything else as i said i can pass
I'm not a fan of GW. I'm a fan of Warhammer, but I don't like how GW does business. I really appreciate your calm and reasoned presentation here, it describes my experience of the last six, seven years exactly. Say you get all of the things. Then what?
As someone who has had a cripling Magic the Gathering addiction for about 8 years and as someone who's studied psychology for almost 3, it is important to resist addictions. We can't get rid of them but only replace them. Love yourself more than the hobbie. It's only fantasy and games.
If you can't get rid of an addiction you are a weak, stupid person. You are in control of your own actions and desires. Nobody else is and neither is any force or influence. Modern psychology is in this weird, unscientific state where it simultaneously encourages and defends weakness of the mind while also completely ignoring the things that make life intolerable even for strong minds; it does both by defining "normal" as agreeableness and submission to the status quo, neither of which have any historical basis for being desirable states within a society. It completely neglects thousands of years of philosophical development, most of which said everything valid in psychology many centuries before Freud's grandfather was born.
This video hit me hard. I started in 2021 and I really feel that compulsion to buy more models, despite having enough to keep me busy for years. This video is a VERY important lesson to remember in this hobby.
I think it's a valid conversation to have that you don't need to buy everything that you like the look of. There's plenty of hobbyists who stick to one army or warband for one game. The rest of the new releases don't affect them. There's some games such as MESBG which gets barely any releases so arguably the release schedule could be busier. It's up to us to hobby within our means and in our best mental health interests.
Yeah cause for me and my friends, most of us don't collect Space Marines or play other game systems. So we tend to complain about GW not updating our model ranges or only getting 1 or 2 releases a year.
I was just reflecting on my experience today with the Old World pre-order. I have been collecting Tomb Kings since 6th ed but never got a chance to pick up the 8th Ed kits. Like everyone else, I was Furious when GW canned whfb and replaced it with aos. I swore I would never play the new game. In the meantime, I eventually reconciled myself with GW and resolve to get into 40k. Six years and four armies of various stages of completion later, I find myself getting excited about fantasy again even though GW is just reselling mostly old kits for current money. I told myself I just want the 8th ed stuff to supplement what I already have. In the meantime, I found myself side eyeing Ossiarch Bone Reapers for conversions and even seriously considering picking up Seraphon to (gasp) play Age of Sigmar with. I have no willpower whatsoever. James knows exactly what he's doing.
@damionkeeling3103 I don't get nearly as excited about either. Although my interest waxes and wanes, if I'm not into something at the time, I can't really push it. Frostgrave is a little bit too limited, and historicals are okay but just not as interesting as fantasy.
As someone who enjoys painting textures for VRChat Avatars, I see this as an absolute win. Painting textures prepared me for painting miniatures, and painting miniatures has improved my texture painting skills likewise.
This is the exact same reason i started 3d printing everything, i sold almost all of my unopened boxes of models and now I'm trying to approach projects one at a time. I still have a pile of shame, even thou is mostly digital, but instead of 40 boxes now i just have 9 huge models waiting for me to be painted, and i kept just a few GW minis in case i want to jump back into warhammer. Not having that mental load or having to follow the FOMO at every cost has been a blessing, i really should just paint more now!
I've only recently bought my first models, a combat patrol plus some extra to take it to 500 points (the Guard sucks money wise). I plan to build, paint and get some games in with them and ONLY THEN buy new stuff, such as one or two Leman Russes. I feel like the Imperial Guard gets screwed over hard by the current pricing model, as you have to spend many, MANY times the money to get to the unit numbers and variety to even play one list, not mentioning several.
This is the first video of yours I’ve watched. This really hit home, I’m guilty of my FOMO gland in the last few years. This year I plan on buying less/hardly anything and concentrating on my backlog.
I think speedpainting techniques need to be popularized more. It feels to me like a "Step 1" that most people skip. I can get an entire small army painted in a single day, and looking pretty nice on the game table. It's really quite easy, just spray them the main colour, pick out a few strategic details (faces etc.), apply some washes with a big brush, if you have an airbrush apply a cool highlight, done. It's really a breeze if you treat it as an assembly line and do each step on all minis together. You have a finished army, ready to play, they really look nice together, 100 times better than a mix of bare platic, painted, half painted etc. And you sacrifice nothing, cause now you can pick out your special characters, generals etc. and start the usual painting process, adding details etc. to the level you're happy with. I've been in the hobby since the early 90's, and I've never had a "pile of shame".
Youre right, there are far too many products. My local stores dont even bother ordering in things anymore because there is no room and no one can afford anything more than one box set a year. I picke done game system, HH, and stuck with that. But now I am going through a separation and might just sell everything I have. Thankfully I have over 7000pts well painted and just a few units on sprue because I was able to hold true to HH only
I agree. Too little time to get all of it done in such a short time unless you paint for a living. I do think those are great products, but one needs to take a good look at what will be actually done and only pay that. I can let a good deal pass me by if only it helps me to not be overwhelmed. I wanted to paint some Cities of Sigmar - bought basic infantry unit on secondary market and it took me around 2 weeks to get it done to a standard that I am comfortable with (I trieed speed painting once and I hated my result, maybe wrong technique). Don't overbuy, guys!
I think it really depends on how the individual looks at it. I have been modeling for 46 years. I recently started acquiring many Warhammer kits as it was something I had been resisting for years despite admiring the kits being released. My son in law, who is a big Warhammer fan, gifted me a Warhammer kit a couple of Christmases ago, which spurred me on to get more kits as I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of building and painting it. I normally build armour, aircraft, ships, cars, motorcycles, sci-fi, etc.... Having been a modeler for so long I have acquired a large collection of all genres, and would have to live another 500 years to get them all done! I do find the need here and there to "cull the herd" and sell items I may no longer be interested in but I enjoy the vast collection I have. The majority of modelers fall into this and unwittingly become collectors, accumulating many models which are continuously added to the stash. My philosophy is, enjoy your hobby any way you like, regardless of whether or not you get around to building and painting everything in the stash. If you're not feeling up to building or painting, you can peruse through your collection and "fondle some plastic", admiring the work that has been put into producing the miniatures and maybe doing a little planning of future projects. In any case, as long as your hobby does not come as a detriment to your finances, enjoy and have fun!
It’s a pattern. Of having a collection of hundreds of paints, of which I consistently use about ten, during weeks long periods of (mostly) joyful creativity, followed by burnout, until I see a set I really want to paint, that gets added a backlog, while I push myself to finish my last project before I can get to what got me excited start back up.
Wow I have been feeling the same way. It’s actually pushed me away from GW. The constant stream of new stuff and the pressure of buying before you miss out. I have been collecting for years and have all the 40K starters, all the WFB starters, and even the LOTR starters, along with many of the one off games. Those were fun and I had time to digest them, whereas now, games are coming out so fast you barely have time to not only paint and learn the rules, but also find players. I said to myself that 40K 10th edition would be the last game I bought from GW. Amazingly I even put off buying Legions Imperialis, and Epic has been my favorite game for years. But the business model has alienated me and I am just over it. I have a lot to still paint too, and are just going to focus on what I have and be happy with that. It’s quite liberating actually.
I agree with you for the most part but I completely disagree with the combat patrol mag part. I like bloodbowl, killteam and warcry [and I have a box of underworld but don't know how to play] because its 1 box and that's all I need*. And I can paint 1 box. And then I have a fully painted army. And a combat patrol is essentially that. I am SOOOO excited for combat patrol [in like 2 years when it comes to australia]. Hell, from the imperium mag I got an admech and sister combat patrol with some slight kitbashing for the tanks from them. I have 5 painted bloodbowl teams, 3 killteams and 1 warcry. I have 2 half or less 40k armies.
I am experiencing the exact same thing sadly… And not only from Warhammer/GW, but also from Magic(Hasbro). It never stops, there is a new special product dropping every few days it‘s just stressing me tf out even thinking about it. So I try limiting myself to buying Minis only after finishing a few units and to building maybe 1-2 Decks for mtg a year. That helps a ton and makes the hobbies and new purchases fun again.
I think that's why i love buying off-hand, half-priced, pre-painted/primed minis. Someone has already done the depressing part, mounting the sprues, sanding the mold lines and all.
Yeah that's why I look at new reveals, not as "oh I need this box set!" but rather as just a preview on what I'm gonna want from the shelves in a few months. I have a house, car, and lots else to pay off, so I have to be careful of my purchases. I know there's only a few boxes that I'm like "I *need* this" like the Cadia Stands box. For other boxes, ones that I "want" but can't fully justify. I wait to see if it's at my comic shop for as long as it takes for me to save up a couple bucks every paycheque to get it. If it is, cool, it's mine, if not, then I have hobby money for my several other projects.
Really sensible video, and an issue that affects us all, but is rarely discussed. I am absolutely going to be following this advice this year. My pile of grey isn’t *that* big, but I’m not adding to it till I make more progress with what I already have.
Well said! I remember years ago there was an open letter from stamp collectors to the Royal Mail about a similar issue. It was one of the saddest things I read. To paraphrase it wen something like: "We feel that with the volume of new stamp collections the Royal Mail are now releasing they are taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of our community. Many of us are distressed by an incomplete collection and have a very strong compulsion to buy everything that is released. This is now having a substantial burden on our time and finances. We would like the Royal Mail to return to a small number of releases each year..." yadda yadda yadda Overwhelming is the word!
Great video and very well said. I very much agree and have also found myself in this situation over the last few years to be honest. I made the call at the back end of 2023 just to go back to ground zero. Stop falling into the FOMO. Sell off all my uneeded bits and start from fresh. Now I'm keeping to the buy one set and no more until it's done and I feel so much better about my hobby. Also ironically I've been doing more since not having this massive overhang of kits over my head. Probably because I'm enjoying and appreciate what I do have more now. I know that kind of thing isn't for everyone but yeah. It's been so refreshing to do that for myself personally and the message within this video is very important to help keep that realism aspect injected into the rose coloured lense these companies try to get us to see through. ^^ Keep up the great work, looking forward to checking out more of your stuff! :)
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Problem I fall into is trying to paint the models to the level of the marketing. Now Im forcing myself to only get to "battle ready" level, and I can add more later when the army is done. A basic painted army will always look better than an unpainted army.
I'd rather game than paint, to be honest. And as GW are now essentially a kit company, rather than a game company, As long as folk buy the kits, they really have to care about the games.
But there's no point in complaining. If you don't like the way things are and you are not enjoying it, then stop and look elsewhere.
This is why batchpainting one step for the entire army is the way to go. And also choosing the best work/ results ratio for the painting style. I was lead to believe slapchop is particularly good at this
You know what's funny I'm the same way. I'm more of a painter than a player. I play twice a year and I'm so critical of my paint. When I put them on the table though and I'm playing looking at them from 3 ft away they look amazing. Especially from across the table. Don't beat yourself up to much
Sounds like the seller telling you what to do with your models 🥲
More practice. Speed comes with practice. It's supposed to be fun, remember.
" You're not buying models, you're buying spues" is going to stick with me for a while.
Isn't that what makes the hobby fun? Getting a new spue and making it come to life?
Why are we complaining about a company making more product for people?
@makalepetermeyer5893 Cause this company literally doesn't make more product for people they do limited edition runs of all these box sets he's mentioned with no reprints. They do limited edition runs of all the new books they release (again with no re prints) so it's impossible to buy any of them unless you want to pay The three figure price online resellers are saying it is. Gw Is a giant pile of shit and deserve all of us to constantly shit talk them all day. Once they have actual nice and good consumer practices. Then I would be okay with saying yeah there's just a company
@@kennan6176 I'm just confuse, are we complaining because they are making too much product or because they are now making too little?
Like I agree GW does have some major supply line issues and they need to open up a 2nd Factory. However, nobody is making you buy these boxsets or buy from Ebay. These models will remain relevant for years.
I myself do not buy from GW though, I vote with my dollar. I help support my local hobby store and make sure to put a pre-order through them if I really want anything.
@@kennan6176 Bro, calm the hell down. GW doesn't owe you anything, and you don't owe GW anything.
What do you "mean good consumer practices"? Over-producing kits they'll never sell out like Gorka-Morka?
They sell what they claim to and will replace defective models no questions asked. What else do you want!?
They're kits are expensive; so what? They do limited runs; so what? It's a niche product.
I can't afford an ARCH or a Ducati, even though I want one. I'm not going to be such an ass as to call those companies giant piles of shit.
Yeah, like any model.
Such a realistic, grounded approach to the reality of the situation. Obviously they exist to make money, but so many big companies now prey on you to squeeze every penny out of you.
If they don’t, someone else will.
@@Akimbo411 yup. Some companies will at least acknowledge they wouldn't be where they are without the fans and customers... But soooooo many just don't
They are not squeezing money out of you. You are choosing to give money to them.
@@christinebeckett7060 that is true. We're the ones that ultimately make the decision to give them our hard earned dollars/pounds... But at the same time they still need to make a quality product
To be fair, while they’d love you to buy every product they release, I’m sure they are realistic enough to know that doesn’t happen. So they market multiple areas and see what people are willing to rope themselves into.
I’m pretty happy with 40k as far as GW releases go. Legion Imperialis is sorta tempting but I have no desire to jump into a new expensive game system and need to find people to play it. Especially when I can mostly scratch that scale itch with Battletech (even if the model quality is not the same, it’s good enough)
Two decisions I've made: 1, I'm not buying any new kits until I've built everything on my to do list (which isn't my entire pile of shame, but it's all the things I currently wish were on the table), and 2, my new year's resolution is to do at least *some* hobby work every day. Because even if I'm not feeling it on a given day, if I force myself to sit down for five minutes, I inevitably get into it and will spend at least the next hour happily hobbying.
You've also given me an idea - I run a school club and I worry about parents' budgets. What I'm going to start doing now for new members is send a letter home actually explaining all of this.
Finally, as a counter-point, you say 'I don't blame GW, it's just the world we live in' - I'd argue that this is only the world we live in because of the choices people/companies make...!
45 minutes a day! Try it out, I’ve got more done and had a lot of fun doing it like that.
That's what I need to work on, it's so easy for me to print/buy minis I'm excited for, and maybe get a good week or two long sprint on them. Then I just putter out and never get around to working on shit again. The imminent release of The Old World is changing that though, I really genuinely want to get into that, regardless of whether I can get people I know into it, or just end up having to try and find people to play with at a game store.
Looking into getting a 3d printer for the club might not be a bad idea. Could possibly be used for lessons and printing minis is way cheaper once you get past the initial purchase of the printer.
@@batingbunnies learning the 3D printing process may also bump his club up in the budget talks, if his school does that.
On thé « companies are doing it », they do it because it’s their job to sell, consumers’ job is to not buy if they don’t want it, I know you can somewhat induce demand but ultimately it’s up to regular people to sanction or stop a company’s behavior.
And if they don’t, well, « that’s the world we live in », if people are going to reward GW for doing something wrong it’s not GW’s job to not do the thing.
Of course I’m all taking about wrong within the bounds of the law and human rights, if GW is revealed to engage in child slavery to build their kits then sure at that point we can say it!: the company’s fault XD
It's not just the money and the time but the space. It takes up so much space once assembled, not counting all the tools and supplies that go with it. The way to store it, transport it, an area to play it. All the books, dice, rulers, mats, terrain, etc. It's very easy to be unprepared for that side of it since it's so well packed in the boxes. I don't think they do enough as a company to provide answers or foreshadowing to that part of it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to sell an army of Tyranids to make room for some more compact models of GSC because the Tyranids are just so all over the place.
You can get a LOT of models into a decent fishing tackle box.
Pretty sure that's why most games go for the digital model of infinite purchases. I bet the lack of space being used makes it easier to stomach
@@Lil-ig7br the cost of developing video games has gone up. In the 80s many of the best games, really strong big AAA games, were made by one or two men, with perhaps a third contracted for the intro music. At least in the UK. The US sometimes had slightly larger teams, but not vast. Development was weeks or months, never years. Those games cost £35 (in today's money). Now we have multiple games that cost HALF A BILLION quid to make and market, loads in the hundreds of millions bracket, and it's almost impossible to conceive of a AAA game slouching in at less than several tens of millions. But the cost of games is now twice that of the 1980s, around £70.
@@darthkek1953 no it hasn't
@@darthkek1953 I could Mario on my computer for free now a days 👌
It's an interesting difference between Warhammer models and, say, old school model planes or model tanks. Those were always "You go out, buy a single model, take it home, build it, and paint it, for as long as it takes, taking your sweet time until you're satisfied." Maybe you're done in a weekend. Then, next weekend, you can go out, buy a different tank, and do it again. It was a slow, casual sort of hobby, and you also had no pressure to spend money. A Sherman tank is a Sherman tank and will always be a Sherman tank. There's no meta or game system to go with it, no FOMO boxes, no points that require you to buy more to assemble an army. It's just a model you build for fun.
Warhammer, though, has constant releases, changes to its game system, NEW game systems, more factions, constant value boxes, points changes, and it's all really just in service to get you to buy more and more plastic. Instead of having fun, you're piling up a mountain of sprues because "Oh, this was on sale! I have to get it!" or "This'll be sold out in 30 seconds!" or "They just changed the rules for this." Or "It's a new faction!" Or "It's an old faction!" and so on and so on. They really do know how to manipulate a consumer's psyche.
I have been manipulated 😔
Even compare it to playing Historical wargames. That box of Roman Legionaries you buy today will still be on the table when you are old and grey, and when your army is finished, it's finished
I've been playing and painting Warhammer 40k and 30k for 23 years and this is the relationship I have with my models. Stop buying new things and focus on one army.
All serious scale modellers have at least a serious pile of shame, where they buy stuff they're interested in, but another fancier kit comes out and it gets stuck on the bottom of the build priority. Some estate sales have hundreds of thousands of dollars of old scale model purchases, a lot now worthless as newer, more intricate kits come out.
Also, you're thinking of the scale models 2 decades ago, where instructions up to 25 were considered advanced. These days you have tank builds with internals where parts number in the thousands and steps up to 300.
@@Kburn1985 Yes, a gloat box or a shame box, or maybe even a whole room of unbuilt kits.
Two things that have helped me massively with my backlog is having someone to "hobby party" with, where we just chat and chill while painting and building minis; and setting painting goals for myself, usually one unit per week. I don't always succeed at it, but it keeps me focused.
Same experience. I'm an old figure painter and I can't resist painting these to a very high standard. It takes me forever to paint a set of these, and at times, I've switched back to 54mm figures or building a 1/35 scale tank for long periods of time justto get away from WH. It's just too much.
In 1 years I got 1 space marine boarding patrol 1 eradicator 1 captain and 1 interessors box
Fairly did half
And I got more stuff printed from a friend I bairly started so I get him 😂
54mm is awesome! I’ve been rescaling some of the beautiful 32mm 3D sculpts out there to 54mm and it’s very satisfying. They’re not going into an army anyway and the size is a blast to paint.
I imagine a lot of us buy these products with good intentions to build, paint, and having amazing battles with each “new product of the week”. We get drawn in by amazing previews, IG posts, battle reports, etc and imagine ourselves having the same fun. Then we get our stuff and remember that we aren’t full time content creators and have traditional jobs, kids, house work, and other time constraints. So we build a few models and maybe get some painted over the course of a week or two and, by then, the next new shiny thing is out. Add FOMO marketing to the mix and it can become a viscous cycle.
For GW, consumerism is the hobby. For the weak, consumerism is also the hobby.
Buying a box of plastic is not the hobby, you’re not a hobbyist-you are a consumer. Cycles of hype and FOMO are tools to short circuit the consumer.
Buy a box, build and paint the box, THEN buy the next. Don’t be a consumer, be a hobbyist. You can be a fan and you can spend money but just don’t let GW hustle you.
I only get new models when ive finished the stuff i have, mostly because i have a pride thing where i cannot field a unit that is not sporting the colors
You hit the nail on the head with that man.
It's more about the fear of missing out on exclusive stuff.
And if you are not only a painter, but also a player, you are in ever-lasting arm race and you basically required to buy new stuff to enjoy the playing side of hobby.
Hard to do that when the box you want to buy next is sold out and now oop. GW are deliberate in their perpetuating FOMO and content creators, who are given all these sets for free so they dont miss out, are guilty of feeding into this hype machine.
This is a really good distinction to make.
Personally, the roll out of TOW has put me at my wits end with GW. I've decided to take the time and money I would had put into TOW, had GW actually bothered to invest in it and sell it at a reasonable price point, and put it into making my own rank & flank game from scratch. I'm not going to be a piggy bank for any company that so blatantly holds me in such apathy or contempt.
I think the phrase "I was lucky I didn't buy a lot these past 6 months" already tells a lot of the story. And you're actually right, they market you those nicely painted models, but we're actually buying unassembled unpainted plastic, that will require a ton of work and time to get to look nice. Much more effort than just getting excited and buying yet another box of miniatures.
I find this greivence strange as a scale model hobbyist since that’s generally the intention of plastic model kits since their inception. I get that it’s also a game and you wanna get to the part where you play with them though.
I get the view point, but for me I would never want a pre-painted or defs never pre-assembled model. I far prefer learning painting techniques, trying new things with conversions etc.
What annoys me is the fact that I always think I can paint/assemble quicker than I do, I am slow af... And I have sooo much grey
@@fallenfossl trust me, I know prepainted models and want nothing to do with them. What I meant is, we get sold the idea, that final look of the painted model (in everyone's head depending on their capabilities), but what we buy is just the project, the DIY, the "prospect" of having those models built and painted. Then, another shinny kit shows up, and process is repeated. Because buiding and painting requires more effort than dreaming about the next kit we'll eventually build and paint.
@ET-Gamer my only answer is gunpla. Its already "painted" (more like the plastic was colored that way when it was injection molded) do painting it is completely optional for the person
...Did you not realize you had to build and paint them?? 🤨
GW has one other problem that nobody seems to address: Their products are not perishable. I've collected WFB (and some 40k) for 30 or so years now. I STILL have the first models I ever bought (back when they were much cheaper) and painted. Even though I don't play anymore, I just can't part with them because I enjoy assembling them and painting them that much. But GW hasn't made a dime off of me in over a decade. I bought the collections of several friends when they left the hobby over the years, always for close to a 'just take them' price. I bought more on EBay for a while. Many are painted, some are not, but you can see the problem. After my initial purchases, GW hasn't gotten any of my money except for the core rule book and the army books. Because my models will last forever unless I sell them or trash them for some reason.
They absolutely have survived player turnover, surprisingly well to be honest. They haven't made money off you, but they do get new players in, and other existing players often start work on a second army so they can stick around too. You haven't played or paid in ten years... when you left the hobby GW shares were £600 each. They're currently £10k a pop. The Amazon shows, when they hit, will treble this valuation. There's going to be 40K mania, wait and see.
Lately it seems they've been looking to that problem by making more and more things unplayable, or much harder to play. Off the top of my head, Age of Sigmar Wood Elves got phased out over a couple of editions, each time losing a few units till now there are none. Similar with a lot of the old Empire stuff in Cities. Yes, it can be used in Old World, but at this point a Wood Elf or Empire player since WFB would have had to go from square based, to round, and now BACK TO SQUARE.
Not to mention the phasing out of First Born Marines, which makes sense because almost everyone had a Firstborn army if they've been playing pre-8th edition. Most First Born armies have had massive chunks cut out of them, with armies like Dark Angels and Blood Angels suffering the worst. By kicking Bikes, various Firstborn Dreads, Land Speeders, and Jump Marines to Legends, all 3 of my Space Marine armies were rendered unplayable, mostly just left with Tactical Squads. And the less said about my Death Korps of Krieg army, the better.
If I wanted to keep playing 40k, my only real option was build a new army.
As it should. They still make more than enough.
@@ashers9680they're only phased out for competitive play, and even then, only if the tournament officials enforce it. But every tournament still allows proxies. So that squad of firstborn Marines you can still be played as Primaris Marines so long as you don't end up against a rules lawyer SHFG
It's the same for me, I only buy from 3rd party or ebay sellers because I can't afford GW
I do think part of the issue with models taking forever to paint is caused by the size of new models and the insane level of detail. I can remember the 25th anniversary of 40k, I took part in a speed painting contest where we 15 mins to paint one of the old push fit tactical marines. Everyone managed to get their's finished within the time to a decent standard (even me and I was like 12). More recently, I was at a store birthday and took part in another speed painting contest. Again, we had 15 mins but this time the model was the stormcast line infantry from the 2nd ed AoS starter box. I actually won it, not because mine was the best painted but because I was the only one there who had managed to get four different colours onto the model within the allotted time.
There’s a old concept that relates to coupons and sales. If you walk into a store with a plan to spend let’s say $30 on items that you do need but you see a bunch of on sale items that you don’t need and end up buying them, spending let’s say $130 total, you’ve just lost $100 not saved any. It’s the same thing with the combat patrols, a sale or low price is only actually a low price if it’s something you would have bought at full price
I completely agree with your point about the combat patrols. FOMO hit me when the new DA got revealed and I wanted to get the old one as it is seen as better. I came to realize that I only really wanted the redemptor and the inceptors and I already have the Deathwing box coming in so some of my unbuilt tyranids would likely end up starting my pile of shame and I might never get to them as they’re termagaunts.
It is also: big box set.
You need to spend too much at once. Everything is disguised as a good deal if buying a bundle but you still need to buy the bundle
That’s the FOMO part. Look at that “good deal” you get. In reality, everything in the box set becomes available in individual kits later.
Will it cost more? If you buy everything maybe. But what if you don’t?
@@timunderbakke8756 and even if it costs more to get the kits seperatly, so what? A larger amount spread out over a longer time is way more managable than a big upfront cost.
@@timunderbakke8756if you buy it separately 4 characters + Dreadnought+maybe half of infernus squad will cost you same as leviathan box. So book, cards two and a half squads of units + all bugs are extras
@@johnythefox100 Then do that.
you don't say 🙄@@rileybender3655
This is all so true. I found that every time I played the game, I would think, "if I only had that unit, I would have done better", and I got this big pile of shame. I also bought a lot of the big box sets that came out. So, for the past six months, I have stopped playing and I'm just building and painting. It's very restful when you aren't chasing the meta and not falling for FOMO. Sometimes you just need to step back from it all.
One thing with all the releases is I believe very few people actually participate in ALL those game systems heavily. Most people participate in one or two, and even people that do participate in 3+ probably focus on one or two at a time, they just happen to have their old Blood Angels army in the closet. But even considering that, I do think the number of releases has gone up significantly. I think everyone has to ask themselves if they want to play the game competitively (rules are kinda dogshit a lot of the time so I don't recommend), or enjoy relaxing and painting things how you want to paint them (which also usually will save you a lot of money too tbh). If you want to be a competitive player, then you're probably gonna need to get many of the new releases to stay competitive because that's just how it goes. If you just want to make an army that looks cool, it's a lot easier to abstain from new releases that don't wow you and only spring for the real 10/10 ones.
I want the Combat Patrol magazine because I am splitting it with a group of friends. If I was getting it alone I would only buy 2-3 of the armies. So get a group of friends to paint and play with.
In their defense, the drip feed method is literally the modern market. Every industry wants this business model. Not only does it make them the most money, it's literally a means of addiction development. The pleasure is being in a constaint state of what's next rather than being able to enjoy what we have.
The same amount of dopamine hits just from the anticipation of what’s next 😂
Paint what you have before you buy more is a really hard rule to live by, but it's a good one. It takes a lot of discipline but it can be rewarding. Schedule what you're going to build and when and eventually you'll get into a rhythm and know exactly what to buy and when.
You have to make your hobby a habit. Eventually, you'll catch up and have a good, regular output and can gage exactly how long each project will take. At that point, you'll be able to plan and schedule everything out between the preorder and the arrival of the box so that when you get it, you know exactly what you're going to do.
Just as planned.
Great video. I'm 51 and I love GW. I basically have an unlimited budget and you should see my pile of shame. They really are great at marketing. I bought several of the big boxes this year and most aren't even built. I agree that stepping away and trying not to follow all the releases is a good idea. I check the forger world site several times a day. A model will come back into stock and before I know it I'm buying it. I have a FW shame pile over 10K. I've really had to force myself to stop looking at FW site and when I do to realize that I don't need to buy something just because its been out of stock for a long time.
You buy hobby debt. You buy backlog.
Add up the amount of work you'll need to do to complete your backlog. It can be a very humbling experience.
If your backlog will take 5 years to clear, how do you feel about that? 10 years?
What if you own so much that you'll never complete it before you die?
I really think this is something a lot of new hobbyist go through and it's something that just falls to your own personal responsibility. In the past 6 months my wife gave birth to our daughter and I've still painted over 2000 points of death guard, almost 1000 points of ossiarch bonereapers, a cerastus Lancer, and I'm about to finish a vampire blood bowl team before I move on to flesh eater courts. In the last year, I've painted almost 10K points of total models but I had this same realization last year when I came to the point of realizing I owned over 10K points of unpainted minis and having a daughter on the way helped wake me up. I've slowed down on buying stuff even if it's within budget and even if it's limited availability. my next 6 months of painting are spoken for so the only way I buy soemthing is if it's going straight from the store to my desk, not the pile. And to be honest, if you haven't painted a single box set worth of minis in 6 months you might not enjoy painting as much as you think you do or you might need to learn how to create deadlines for yourself. I play about once a week right now. My friend group is starting a blood bowl league this coming Friday and that's what's pushing me on these vampires. Then the GW store I play at is doing new year new army which I'll be painting flesh eaters for. I have til the end of the week to do vampires before I then get 1.5 months to do 1K of flesh eaters.
I'm not trying to rub anything in anyone's face or be condescending but I'm saying it's worth reflecting on your own circumstances. Do you play regularly? Do you have social groups to share your painting with? Does all this plastic actually bring you happiness or do you just enjoy the dopamine realise that marketing uses to prey on consumers? It's really hard to tell the difference and I think it primarily comes down to do you have a friend group you share this hobby with frequently.
Important to understand that Warhammer is NOT about gaming, it‘s all about COLLECTING.
People collect armies in the same way they used to collect postage stamps or coins. You get two of the set and want, no need, to get the higher denominations. The set aka “the team”.
The gaming part is purely a bonus. The collecting part is largely satisfied by buying the boxes, and it’s almost irrelevant if the figures never see the gaming table.
A clever marketing trend I've noticed GW Community adopt, was rebranding the 'Pile of Shame' into a 'Pile of Potential', further encouraging buying more piles of minis.
GW has mastered the art of selling essentially plastic toy soldiers ... and making you assemble and paint them to boot at luxury prices. And then get you to rebuy it all in 2 years.
I just started 40k tabletop like 6 7 month ago. Started painting them like 4 month ago. I Finished Eldar / Orks Combat Patrols, 1 Dark Reaper / 1 Guardian Squad / 1 Banshee / 2 Autarchs / 1 Vyper / 1 War Walker / 1 Dire Avenger Squad / 1 Striking Scorp / Maguan Raa / Eldrad / 2 Warlocks / 1 Shroud Runner Squad / 1 Ranger Squad. Working on some Eldar tanks now.
Tbh I think I am very slow and take too long. I still have loads of stuff to build and paint since I kinda went full Mid life crisis on this game :)
Most important thing is I do enjoy building and painting the models. Sadly I only managed to play like 4 games only until now but was very enjoyable.
Preach I love this. My goal for 2024 as a blood angels player is to build my pile of shame. Resist the Death wing assault box set and wait for the next blood angels releases! I feel I’ll get more out of the hobby and have a kick ass army at the same time
This is me dude, saw the dark angels box set and was like damn. But made the decision to resist and wait for blood angels army box in a year. No fomo for me. I went back and started repainting my finished BA into successors, like blood drinkers in golden arm
I’ve just gotten back into 40K and have so far avoided buying more than I can paint. I have two rules:
1. Nothing goes on the table until it’s FULLY painted and
2. No more than one thing in my waiting pile.
Looking to get into Kill Team as it seems like it would allow me to just paint a cool thing one at a time without always needing more or different.
I wish I had your restraint :P ... started in 2021 and currently looking at a huge backlog but I did make a new year's resolution: No new plastic until I have most of my backlog under control. Now I just hope that I'll keep my resolution ;)
@@Morrodin182 to be completely fair I still have a pile of unpainted stuff in the basement from when I was into it years ago (2nd-3rd) but I figure if it’s in the basement it doesn’t count. :p
So my new approach is hard learned.
Sadly, I will never afford the paints nor the figures. I painted Orks as a young teen, always wanted the Lizard men. I was going to get back into warhammer and finally get me some Lizards.... The I saw the prices of everything...
Good chat!! audio-book + paint is one of my favourite pass times :)
As someone who has only gotten into this hobby in the past year - I really underestimated how long it takes to get models painted to a level I'm happy with, and also how easy it is to let motivation slip and make no progress for long periods of time...
I do however highly recommend audiobooks while painting!
Nice video, cheers! I started WH this year, it is a whole lot of fun building and painting and I'm now trying to focus on what I've got and soaking that in. Models will pretty much always be available in the future if I really want them.
I just started collecting and playing 40k. I rushed to get my primary army painted, and now I am taking a break from painting to learn how to play. I have played a few games and I am improving and having fun. I already know what my second army will be, but this will not be as much of a "rush job".
Truth is you CAN keep up, but it demands some discipline and good planning (in fact, since it needs logistics as well, you could consider it a war on itself! Battle the Grey Tide!). The first step is to decide on a color scheme, which is tied to, in this case, the space marines chapter you want (I always suggest an unknown successor so the rules won't hold you every time a codex drops, and so you can make as much background as desired for several successor chapters); in this it's better to choose one that has a base color of an already existing rattle can for priming (so you base & prime at the same time); the second step is to either grab an airbrush or a second rattle can that stays between the base color and a much clearer version (easiest scale is black primer, gray cenital spray, white drybush), apply color details (metalics, weapon extra colors, some decoration, etc...) and apply an ink to finish it off. The objective here is to pain a base troop in less than 1-2 hours, which can be further optimized by apllying the same step to several models at once, which is not fun, but makes the battle against the grey tide feasible.
Also, try not to buy *everything* released... most of the time you don't need it.
You think you can keep up spending 1-2 hours per troop? There is no way you can match the release schedule doing that.
The reality is you have to not buy the marketing hype and not try to buy & play everything.
If you do that then 1-2 hours per troop and doing this as a hobby will work.
I set myself a challenge of averaging 1 figure per day about 10 years ago. I have ended up averaging over 1 fig per day across that decade and still can't touch the sides of the release schedule.
2 main games, 15-20 factions per game 3 year edition release cycle means you need to be painting 10 armies a year to match the release schedule if you want to just play 40k and AoS.
You cannot keep up. So don't try.
@@dafruk1 As I mentioned before, there is no need to buy it all (not even several boxes of the same model). Also, consider that your position regarding the buying of new releases may fall to zero spending in certain factions (Eldar for example don't usually get many releases, with the Striking Scorpions being the new one since... I think the Eldar vs Drukhari box years ago?).
This video puts into words what i felt a few months ago during my period of burnout with WH.
AoS is my preferred game of the 2 big ones. I have 3 armies in that. This is because, when i first started, it was peak covid. I did not realize at the time just how much STUFF this hobby has. I got into the games by myself in a leap of faith so i had no real warning about what you describe above.
So i took the dive with beasts of chaos. By the time i had 1k points built and grey, lumineth reveals and preorders were up. They were also one of the main reasons i started playing, so i started purchasing and building them too. This was all in the span of maybe 3 months at the most. I had also purchased a Soul wars box for the Stormcast models around this time. My memory is hazy but the next big thing was 40k Indomitus. Necrons are by far my favorite faction in that and the new refreshes were amazing. So i started buying and building them. It was when i was trying to hunt down one of the new Monolith models thay i really started to notice that, there is just way too much stuff for one man to reasonably finish in such a short timeframe.
Fast forward to today. After 2 burnout periods of several months each, i am now halfway through building my Guard army. But this time it is at my own pace. And even still i am overwhelmed with the constant barrage of new content. And most of it isnt even my vibe. I have a buddy who has over 10 armies because he is less picky than me.
The way GW, or Wizards, or any huge "nerd" game, advertises their stuff is super predatory. They know its alot. But they dont really care how it affects the community in the long run as long as sales continue upwards.
In fighting games (SF6/MK1) theres a feeling called a character crisis. You might LOVE how a particular character looks or sounds, but something about their intended playstyle just doesnt feel right. So after the initial hype of a new game coming out, you may find that you dont have the "perfect" playstyle and you may end up putting the game down to try something else while you wait.
That happened with me in Warhammer as well. 2nd edition Beasts of Chaos are a completely different playstyle than 3rd edition. And unfortunately, I preferred the old one. But the vocal minority of beast men players were unhappy with how bad the army was performing in tournaments and the competitive scene.
Whether true or not, I blame the social media presence for these changes. The constant need for balanced factions and the constant hype train of new products, dont allow enough time for Individuals to breathe and enjoy things at their own pace.
Thank you for reading. The Emperor Protects. :)
is a really valid point. I've started a Lamenters force maybe, what, almost 3 years ago now? and I have 10 assault marines, 5 tac, one lib dread, 3 eradicators and a terminator. These are all painted up to a degree I'd be happy with yet the amount of models I've collected from GW, Tortuga and friends/eBay to kitbash, say firstborns have made me not buy anything from them in the last 6 months. I'm like you and can happily paint all day (I've started Cursed City last year and am trying to finish the set, highly satisfying tbh) and it's like a never ending conveyer belt at times unless I'm trying new methods, styles or with a friend while doing it.
You have taken your first step into a wider world, you can indeed love the hobby, the games, the universe without having to buy everything, it is hard because everything they make is fantastic but also a big commitment, that's the plan to maintain you almost in a state of panic trying to "keep up". Welcome to the light at the end of the tunnel.
Thank you so much for this. I’ve actually recently hit a point of burnout with the hobby purely because of this endless stream of new stuff that just got overwhelming for me, especially as I think I have ADHD which makes trying to focus and resist FOMO even harder.
Glad to see it’s not just me that had these issues
Its especially disconcerting if you are a completionist. The feeling of missing out on sets can weigh on the mind. Ive really had to just take a step back and focus on the models I truely love, bacause the hobby is becoming too pricey. I fear Warhammer is going down the same route Magic the Gathering did where instead of a new set every 3 months, its something new every week. Burns out your interest and the wallet.
I play MTG and have been backing off, recently started looking back into the lore and painting of 40k, bought an army, and seeing some of this similar stuff is kind of dismaying!
You’re bang on with your observations. I think GW is aware of the realistic limit to who is actually going to buy. I mean there are many players but not as much sales are there players. I think that the “small batch” or “conservative batch” roll out of new products, stops them from overreaching.
I just feel like they could easily cut their prices and double production and make more money in the long run imo.
@@Kingofdragons117 How would they be able to double production? Basically everything they make is made in England. Its not feasible at all. At least it seems not feasible based on what I know of supply chains
@@monkey5266 Make a factory in the States.
@Kingofdragons117 Yeah GW really does need to make another factory at least. Almost everything GW puts out almost gets sold out instantly, might be time to expand from the one factory they have to a second one.
When I got into this hobby it was because I found a few early Age of Sigmar sets really cheap at Half Priced Books, it was a hell of a find. I wanted to start small but then I just wanted all the things. Getting three 1000 point armies grew into an obsession. I then had over 20,000 points of stormcast but then I started Nighthaunt then Fyreslayers, then Seraphon, then Lumineth then I bought a whole Slaanesh army, the 3.0 came out and I bought all new Battletomes, I bought two dominion boxes and then I had the idea of starting Kharadon Overlords so I grabbed a start collecting kit but then I bought an entire Sylvaneth army..........I took on way too much. I realized that I would never get through all this and I had to downsize. So I did.
I kept what I liked but I sold three entire armies and close to 8000 points of stormcast and now it feels more manageable. I am resisting the urge to buy whole armies and might even downsize further by selling one more army. GW sells models I want in whole box sets and I have been getting better about splitting up boxes with others so I don't accumulate as much stuff that I will likely never use. Some of this is my finding out the kinds of armies I like to play and how I want them to play. I now find myself being more selective about what I buy and doing less meta chasing. It's easy to fall into a trap where you need the best models out there when GW releases tournament stats and you want to replicate those lists with every army you have.........but rules and points change and those models you didn't get around to building and painting are now $1000 worth of plastic dust collectors.
As got got more refined in the hobby it started to be easier to shrug off all that plastic crack. The stuff designed to get new players into the game achieves that but it also gets overwhelming very quickly.
I don't have this problem because everything I might want is about $15 to $20 out of my impulse buy range. The price is just high enough that I have to stop and think if I really want something.
Like, where I might have blown 30-35 on the newest marine hero character just because it looks cool, they're starting to be around $50. I impulse bought some of the old $90 army starter boxes in the past that I never built, but there's no way to accidentally spend $160 on a combat patrol box.
Many people do not realize that their hobby is not painting or playing miniature games, it's buying stuff. THATS why people have a "Pile of Shame", they don't like building the models (so thats why they're still in the box) they don't like painting the models either so they don't do that, but they can't admit this to themselves. They never miss the opportunity to buy new models though, because buying stuff and getting exited for new stuff to buy *is their actual hobby*. 40K or what have you, is just an outlet or a target for that dopamine hit of buying stuff.
This is quite interesting perspective. My own experience is that there are a few things that can help to stop a person from being overwhelmed. The first is stop having FOMO. You cant get everything, so stop worrying about not getting everything. Probably easier said than done, but at least acknowledge you can can't have it all. The second is too limit the number of games and or armies you play. You can only play a finite number of games. So having 8 different armies means if you played every week for a year, you will only use an army a dozen times at most. I do have a lot of factions, but I limit myself to 2 or 3 factions per version. This helps with painting and learning how to use the faction to get the most from it. Third, I would say try not too build up too big a back log of mini's. I have a pile of shame, but it is not too big, and I know I will clear most of it down before I start any new armies
This how I'm doing it too. I have my 3 factions that are my hobby. I have been chasing down the units I want and have been assembling and priming everything before I let myself buy anything new.
I also have been buying lots of used models for awesome prices. I just got 10 terminators for 50$!!!
im almost done working on my guard combat patrol and it is difficult it took me ten days to build it all and i'm still not done painting
Your commentary is on point
The amount of people that just buy plastic and have it sit there is insane. I have been painting for around a year and a half now and don't even play the game. I just like models.
I see so many people buy these giant boxes while still having 3 of similar sized boxes still waiting to be painted. For me, at most i have a box waiting and maybe one or two single character models in my backlog.
I will never understand "piles of shame."
Unless the box/model is being retired or you got a extremely good deal. Then that makes a bit more sense.
I painted two Warcry warbands, and a combat patrol in 2023. I bought more than twice that though.
It's the FOMO effect
Recently got back into the hobby after nearly 30yrs and there's two things I think is a real shame they stopped doing:
One is the little blister packs with just one or two regular sized minis in it. They were great because you could buy them with your pocket money (price was like £1-3 I think back in early-mid 90s) and spend a week or two painting them without being overwhelmed by a pile of sprues. If you mostly liked painting and weren't so interested in building an army, or just wanted some variety in your units, they were perfect.
The other thing is having cheap boxes of plastic minis that were aimed at those who were mostly interested in gaming. They were great because they were less detailed, less varied, and so quicker and easier to paint up, as well as not breaking the bank when all you wanted was to pad out your army. You could then spend the extra time and money on your characters/special units instead.
it took me around 2 months to do cadia stands. sure i did paint a few other things as well as it but still it took me ages. in all honesty the amount I can build and paint depends on complexity and if i have to fix issues along the way
I wish they came pre assembled. In adult life I just don't have the time to build.
This reminds me of an Airfix documentary where one bloke had his garage filled with unmade kits. It introduced me to the term "S.A.B.L.E.: Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy".
The documentary sounds interesting. Could you tell me the name?
@@Gggggg-qo6rv James May's Big Trouble I Model Britain. Episode 1 of 2
This resonated with me so much dude,I have bought so many models this year and it's nowhere near how much I actually wanted to buy, but my thirst for new models is nowhere near compatible with the volume of painted models I output. thank you for this you have earned yourself an new fan and subscriber
A voice of common sense. Subbed.
When i was a teen in the mid 90s all my models were painted, i couldnt get enough to paint so painted for friends and even the gw shop...
Now i have money for models but little time, i dont have a huge pile of shame, but it is a challenge 😅
I’ve slowly reconfigured my relationship with the hobby to be similar to that of someone restoring a car, filming a movie or writing a novel. Work in every section (model) to the best of my ability and over a few years complete an army with the intention of keeping it forever and handing it down generations. I take summers off (kids at home) and December off (silly season) and this rest period really focussed my desire for the next few months. I’m currently starting a zero outside year having sold and swapped my pile of potential down to only one project. FOMO just leads to sadness because of the disconnect between my output at the release schedule
I definitely had a feeling similar to this as I saw the Christmas Box set reveals. With the Space Marine army box having pushed me away from increasing the size of my force at all this year. I have over 2000 points of gray assembled Marines that I don't even currently game with, for what purpose would I realistically buy more? I can't fool myself into thinking that I'm going to build and paint them anymore as I stare at my cabinet full of gray each morning.
An interesting thing happened to me once I started branching out of GW and looking at other manufacturers. At some point I discovered Test of Honour, a small samurai skirmish game by a 2-man company. (Fun game by the way!) I initially went through a *flurry* of mini purchases - samurai are one of my favorite settings, and this spoke to me in a way Warhammer hasn't in a few years. So initially, I was buying way more models than before. (I can't bring myself to buying a new GW army if my previous ones aren't finished - and they're never finished!)
However, once that calmed (Test of Honour is a small game so it's feasible to own the bulk of the entire range), my mini purchases have ground nearly to a halt. You see, once I had been looking at all the mini manufacturers and game systems out there, suddenly I realized, *the minis that truly speak to me are out there*, and I dont need to buy minis that are just *ok* for me. In the distant past, when I got into 40k, I picked Imperial Guard, but not because they *truly* spoke to me, but because they were the best of the options for my tastes at the time. But if I were making the decision now, I know that I dont need to settle for minis that I think are cool - if I give it time and searching, I can find minis that I think are the *coolest*. I only got this perspective when I saw the vast array of companies and model ranges out there. Surely Games Workshop makes some premium stuff, as far as detail and quality goes, but they are not comprehensive when it comes to all the minis out there. Not even close. Not even 2%.
Once I saw Fireforge Games, Grey for Now, Crocodile, Warlord, Black Site Studios, Footsore, Oathmark, Relic Blade... I knew that there's so many options, and rather than making me buy way too much, it's given me the perspective to buy only what I *need*. Of course, this does require being willing to play something other than 40k/AoS, or perhaps playing with a group who's willing to let you proxy non-GW into those systems. For example, I'd love to bring my samurai into Warhammer Fantasy - the community-driven Armies Project has a Nippon army, but if I ever want to play official GW rules they'd probably need to be proxies for Empire or something. Hopefully I can convince my friends to let me do this! ;) Of course, I can also buy, say, Mierce Miniatures minotaurs and make a Beastmen army for Warhammer: The Old World. If I dont like the GW minis for a faction, I can support a small company and GW at the same time. And I dont feel the need to buy into the hype of the hip new thing, because I know there will always be something perfect for me out there.
But there's also other game systems out there. Test of Honour was a godsend for me, because while 40k can be fun, it's also very dense. Sometimes switching it up gives the inspiration needed to paint up a new unit!
Hope this perspective helps someone out there.
To be fair, its not a problem. It is actually good that it goes so well nowadays.
It s a "us" problem that we want to buy ALL OF THE STUFF because its cool
I absolutely resonate with what you’re talking about. The breakneck pace of reveals and releases has felt overwhelming the past year or two, and I am someone who works at a pace similar to yours. I’ve found it best to just focus on a handful of current hobby goals and think about that every time I feel the urge to pick up some shiny new set. I realize most of this stuff never gets painted or heck even assembled, and just ends up on ebay a year later when I’m trying to free up space. Thankfully I’ve also managed to restrain myself quite a bit in 2023. I think the only new kits I picked up were the Leviathan Dread and the MK3 marines for HH, and some secondhand Lumineth for AoS. That’s not to say I haven’t been tempted by half a dozen boxed sets this year, us plastik addicts can rarely resist a “deal”😅
4:59 My 10 squad intercessor squad sometimes feels like a lot of work, then i saw that and i thought "Abso-Fucking-lutely not"
Great video! I recently seen my pile of shame grow to new heights and finally made the call to start selling off what i cant handle ( levithan ). Its only a sale or deal if you were going to buy it in the first place.
I've made far to many purchases. Especially big purchases.
I bought the Sisters of Battle launch box and literally wanted to one of the first to get it.
Didn't even assemble any of the box until this last year cause life happens. XD
I don't regret my purchases but definitely there is a feeling that "i don't have enough time" XD
It has been ages since I've played a game, but I went along to a games club in the area I've moved to recently, just with some models to glue together, because my more complete armies are in storage, and it really clarified that I want to play games, and so I have to choose to concentrate on a single army, for a single game, so that I can do so. While I was there I also saw a Baneblade (want), some Knights (want the Cerastus Castigator), a game of Legions Imperialis (want), and heard some people talk about The Old World (was one car repair away from pre-ordering a bunch of stuff), and it's hard not to send myself off in loads of different directions.
Even with the Ork army I'm currently working on, I'm really enjoying the warbiker models, but yet I'm spending a lot of time thinking about buying some Killa Kans, or a Deff Dread, Battlewagon, Gorkanaut, Dakkajet or one of the various buggies. It's hard to simply do one step at a time.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. It’s strange to accept that not buying the models is a struggle and a pretty substantially difficult thing to do. The biggest step for me is to only buy ONE of something that I NEED for a pre-planned army without going on a spending spree- as the barrier of purchasing something is broken.
I have this issue with both plastic and resin, mostly the latter with it also being mostly made up of 3D printed models.
My MMF account is *filled* with models that I probably won't get to printing and painted in the next decade.
This situation is a bit different because digital files don't take physical space, they are waaaay cheaper than GW and you can print as many as you want in as many sizes and poses as you want, they are waaaay easier to build because prints are almost always multishell.
And lastly and sadly, fomo is a reality in the digital world thx to James's bully tactics towards small creators and artists so you pick the file while you can...
Here's my experience: I bought some Bestiarum minis for $75 from a company called Questbourne (who I suspect did not have the rights to sell). When they came, I was disappointed at the quality. So I got a 3D printer and now $75 covers 5 months of subscription from some companies and 7 months from others. Within a short time, my library has hundreds of sculpts. But there's no FOMO. I don't need them all. But every time I do want to print something and it comes out great I think of that stupid $75 and feel good.
So yeah, some GW money is definitely getting funneled that direction this year. $75 covers 1 to 5 models from them. Would most people rather have The Old World Tomb Kings than this month's rather similar Titan Forge release on MMF? Yes. But then they look at the price difference and many will change their minds.
Yep, I only have some official stuff to keep the purists from whining all the time and to support my LGS.
Even then I have a bunch of 3D Printed bits to reduce costs.
I got a bunch of intercessors cheap on Ebay so I could kitbash them into the other kits.
@@Kragnorak
I think that people misrepresent the cost of Warhammer. It shouldn't be measured in dollars. It should be measured in time. Sure, a box looks like a fantastic deal: Oh my god it's 45% savings... But you're not saving in time. You can easily fall into the opposite where you are in a time debt of hours, weeks, months of hobby time required to fulfill those goals.
It's too easy to fall into the trap of believing that you are saving dollars when the real cost is paying for your purchases with time.
I look at it very differently. If it takes me 20 hours to paint a box of minis that I paid $60 for that’s only $3 per hour of enjoyment and fun I got from the purchase. Way cheaper than going to the movies or a concert or a bar, etc…
@@Dram1984 I think that I can appreciate that. I used to value certain video games by the lasting length of appreciation they offered.
I think that what has changed for me is that I began valuing time differently as a resource in itself.
@@YouWinAFREEiPOD oh for sure, its easy to waste time on entertainment, whether its games or movies or whatever. I try and paint just a few hours a week, and keep my paint pile to just one or two things at a time. This means I drop about $50-70 every couple of months and get to spend a few hours a week doing something I enjoy.
I subbed to the Hachette Imperium 40K magazine thinking I could cope with the 1 issue every week plan - and it was a good way to get into 40k. In reality it was 4 issues every 4 to 6 weeks, depending on postage, and surprise, to this date I have painted absolutely none of it. It could be because the paints that accompanied it were released in bits a pieces over the weeks (I don't have many Citadel paints) or it could be because I have 101 other projects on the go (I'm into painting historical minis). The sub is complete and frankly I don't know if I'll start it now or just put it on Ebay.
I got a bunch of stuff I still need to paint and I realized since I've bought so much that I'm only gonna buy 1 more thing and then I'll try to paint everything. I'm waiting for the new Dark Angels Upgrade with the new Deathwing stuff to come out and that'll be my last purchase for a long while. I have been hobbying more than last year but I need to step up so that I can actually get more stuff done.
All excellent points. GW's Mega-release Schedule won't last....esp. once 3D Printers become *'ALL~IN~ONE'* & ubiquitous.....like Home PC's in the 90's.
RESIST the Grey (i.e. Shame Pile(s)-In-Waiting )
Jokes on you I just finished my leviathan box set today after getting it for Christmas! Granted a lot of time was spent painting minis to take a break from building them,
One of the best Warhammer channels out there, very balanced commentary between GW criticism and community criticism.
Thank you so much! What a lovely comment to read :)
I got back into it by buying Leviathan. I haven't completed the set yet. It's mostly all built, but I'm taking my sweet time doing it as well as I can, making sure to clean all mould lines, fill and smooth any gaps etc. I did give it a rest for a few months and only now have I got round to ordering some paint and my first airbrush. My mentality from the outset has definitely been to not buy anymore until I finish what I have. Guess it helps that I don't have anybody immediately available to play a game with.
When you discover that you can use your models in a variety of games, you can play older Editions of games, and get used to finishing projects it will really energize your hobby. You don't have to feel guilty about collecting models. You like them you bought them. Best to leave in the shrinkwrap until you're ready to commit to the project. Then push thru, you can take a break, but come back and finish those projects. Start a new one, finish an old one. I used to feel intimidated by a huge model or project. As you finish armies and projects you will gain more confidence. You know that you are capable of pushing through to get it done. You learn to do some research, paint some test models, come up with a paint plan and continue to refine it during the project. I've found that that project I abandoned 20 years ago, is quite fun to pull out, push thru and use in the intended game/Edition or use it for a different game. I will do 1 army per Edition of 40K. I will us the older armies for other games or Editions as needed. I also will sell off parts of my collection that are still NIB years later, they usually appreciate in price. There's always new things coming out, I'm looking at models and games of all types, Gamefound, Kickstarter, On Table Top and Wargames ILLUSRTATED are chock full of new games and models. Finding quicker ways to paint that still get quality results. I am very selective with GAMES WORKSHOP products though, they are very expensive.
Good video. I've not been into Warhammer/40k for about 25 years, with my modelling time now being spent with model railways. Its a different hobby with different dynamics, but I see a similar theme alot online in the model railway world, with people complaining about the price of models and fretting that the hobby is unaffordable and therefore dying.
In 2023 most of my modelling spend was on plasticard, glues, paints, and tools. I brought very few model railway products yet spent 100s of happy hours railway modelling with plasticard, brass, and paint.
I think you're hitting the nail on the head here - the difference between the zen and basic enjoyment within a hobby against a consumerist urge to acquire.
Its about enjoying both the essence of a hobby, and being happy with what you have rather than getting anxious or angry about what you cant afford.
As far as i look at things:
- 40k if you want to play the big 3000 games you either spend years painting a single army which can turn from a fun hobby to something you HAVE to do which can become less fun, or give up and bring grey boring Pieces you didnt Paint yet which can feel also pretty bad
- Horus heresy Is Just space marines vs space marines idk why people even bother with It, its very limiting and as someone Who likes the creative xenos in the universe its an Easy pass
- legions imperialis on a similar note Is a pass since its Just Epic Horus heresy, which Is a shame because It could be a pretty cool revival of Epic 40k
- old world and i know this Is a controversial take but, Just feels pointless, Its meant to be a prequel to fantasy so GW can milk the nostalgia and players of Total war Warhammer but It feels like If people want tomb Kings or bretonians Just bring them back in AoS, also, yeah i cant help but state that fantasy factions are boring, they feel like GW opened a history or fantasy book pointed their finger at a picture and said "oh yeah One of those please", 40k and AoS at least took these races and gave them twists to make them feel less boring and less like "oh yeah i played DnD"
- AoS Is Just confusing, in fantasy and 40k you have a clear universe of characters, in AoS you have realms that are how big? How small? How do you travel between them? And some of fhem have different ways in which time flows so events May happen very quickly from the POV of other realms, It feels too mystical and abstract to really get into the world, its like if 40k and fantasy were entirely made up of the warp, they could fix It, or at least find a way to minimaze the scale of where events take Place so It feels more grounded and with stakes but for now It feels confusing
- necromunda is made up of factions that feel too generic, like each faction feels like Just a single unit in a larger faction and most of them feel pretty generic with the Only real exception being the Ash Waste Nomads
- Underworlds Is too limiting, i dont enjoy the idea of playing defines characters, i would much rather prefer having the freedom to make my own characters
-the quest games get very little support by GW
- adeptus titanicus Is Battletech but in 40k and that isnt a compliment considering that the concept of "you wanna play a mech, mech or a mech" gets boring pretty quickly
- Blood Bowl Is Just the Mario party of Warhammer, nothing really to complain about except the lack of support, but im not gonna sick Money into that
- thus kill team and war cry are the Only two things i bother with and even then war crys factions are many times a big Whomegalul because of AoS short Life, thus i Stick with kill team, everything else as i said i can pass
I'm not a fan of GW. I'm a fan of Warhammer, but I don't like how GW does business.
I really appreciate your calm and reasoned presentation here, it describes my experience of the last six, seven years exactly.
Say you get all of the things. Then what?
How else am I supposed to collect all the tactical rocks?!
Go outside 😱
Jk 😂
As someone who has had a cripling Magic the Gathering addiction for about 8 years and as someone who's studied psychology for almost 3, it is important to resist addictions. We can't get rid of them but only replace them. Love yourself more than the hobbie. It's only fantasy and games.
If you can't get rid of an addiction you are a weak, stupid person. You are in control of your own actions and desires. Nobody else is and neither is any force or influence. Modern psychology is in this weird, unscientific state where it simultaneously encourages and defends weakness of the mind while also completely ignoring the things that make life intolerable even for strong minds; it does both by defining "normal" as agreeableness and submission to the status quo, neither of which have any historical basis for being desirable states within a society. It completely neglects thousands of years of philosophical development, most of which said everything valid in psychology many centuries before Freud's grandfather was born.
This video hit me hard.
I started in 2021 and I really feel that compulsion to buy more models, despite having enough to keep me busy for years.
This video is a VERY important lesson to remember in this hobby.
This is what I liked about Warmachine back in the day. I liked Cryx and Everblight. That’s all I “needed” to collect.
I think it's a valid conversation to have that you don't need to buy everything that you like the look of. There's plenty of hobbyists who stick to one army or warband for one game. The rest of the new releases don't affect them. There's some games such as MESBG which gets barely any releases so arguably the release schedule could be busier.
It's up to us to hobby within our means and in our best mental health interests.
Yeah cause for me and my friends, most of us don't collect Space Marines or play other game systems. So we tend to complain about GW not updating our model ranges or only getting 1 or 2 releases a year.
I was just reflecting on my experience today with the Old World pre-order. I have been collecting Tomb Kings since 6th ed but never got a chance to pick up the 8th Ed kits. Like everyone else, I was Furious when GW canned whfb and replaced it with aos. I swore I would never play the new game. In the meantime, I eventually reconciled myself with GW and resolve to get into 40k. Six years and four armies of various stages of completion later, I find myself getting excited about fantasy again even though GW is just reselling mostly old kits for current money. I told myself I just want the 8th ed stuff to supplement what I already have. In the meantime, I found myself side eyeing Ossiarch Bone Reapers for conversions and even seriously considering picking up Seraphon to (gasp) play Age of Sigmar with. I have no willpower whatsoever. James knows exactly what he's doing.
Why not look at something like Frostgrave instead or do historicals?
@damionkeeling3103 I don't get nearly as excited about either. Although my interest waxes and wanes, if I'm not into something at the time, I can't really push it. Frostgrave is a little bit too limited, and historicals are okay but just not as interesting as fantasy.
As someone who enjoys painting textures for VRChat Avatars, I see this as an absolute win. Painting textures prepared me for painting miniatures, and painting miniatures has improved my texture painting skills likewise.
This is the exact same reason i started 3d printing everything, i sold almost all of my unopened boxes of models and now I'm trying to approach projects one at a time.
I still have a pile of shame, even thou is mostly digital, but instead of 40 boxes now i just have 9 huge models waiting for me to be painted, and i kept just a few GW minis in case i want to jump back into warhammer.
Not having that mental load or having to follow the FOMO at every cost has been a blessing, i really should just paint more now!
I've only recently bought my first models, a combat patrol plus some extra to take it to 500 points (the Guard sucks money wise). I plan to build, paint and get some games in with them and ONLY THEN buy new stuff, such as one or two Leman Russes. I feel like the Imperial Guard gets screwed over hard by the current pricing model, as you have to spend many, MANY times the money to get to the unit numbers and variety to even play one list, not mentioning several.
This is the first video of yours I’ve watched. This really hit home, I’m guilty of my FOMO gland in the last few years. This year I plan on buying less/hardly anything and concentrating on my backlog.
I think speedpainting techniques need to be popularized more. It feels to me like a "Step 1" that most people skip. I can get an entire small army painted in a single day, and looking pretty nice on the game table. It's really quite easy, just spray them the main colour, pick out a few strategic details (faces etc.), apply some washes with a big brush, if you have an airbrush apply a cool highlight, done. It's really a breeze if you treat it as an assembly line and do each step on all minis together. You have a finished army, ready to play, they really look nice together, 100 times better than a mix of bare platic, painted, half painted etc. And you sacrifice nothing, cause now you can pick out your special characters, generals etc. and start the usual painting process, adding details etc. to the level you're happy with. I've been in the hobby since the early 90's, and I've never had a "pile of shame".
Youre right, there are far too many products. My local stores dont even bother ordering in things anymore because there is no room and no one can afford anything more than one box set a year.
I picke done game system, HH, and stuck with that. But now I am going through a separation and might just sell everything I have. Thankfully I have over 7000pts well painted and just a few units on sprue because I was able to hold true to HH only
I agree. Too little time to get all of it done in such a short time unless you paint for a living.
I do think those are great products, but one needs to take a good look at what will be actually done and only pay that.
I can let a good deal pass me by if only it helps me to not be overwhelmed. I wanted to paint some Cities of Sigmar - bought basic infantry unit on secondary market and it took me around 2 weeks to get it done to a standard that I am comfortable with (I trieed speed painting once and I hated my result, maybe wrong technique).
Don't overbuy, guys!
I think it really depends on how the individual looks at it. I have been modeling for 46 years. I recently started acquiring many Warhammer kits as it was something I had been resisting for years despite admiring the kits being released. My son in law, who is a big Warhammer fan, gifted me a Warhammer kit a couple of Christmases ago, which spurred me on to get more kits as I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of building and painting it. I normally build armour, aircraft, ships, cars, motorcycles, sci-fi, etc.... Having been a modeler for so long I have acquired a large collection of all genres, and would have to live another 500 years to get them all done! I do find the need here and there to "cull the herd" and sell items I may no longer be interested in but I enjoy the vast collection I have.
The majority of modelers fall into this and unwittingly become collectors, accumulating many models which are continuously added to the stash. My philosophy is, enjoy your hobby any way you like, regardless of whether or not you get around to building and painting everything in the stash. If you're not feeling up to building or painting, you can peruse through your collection and "fondle some plastic", admiring the work that has been put into producing the miniatures and maybe doing a little planning of future projects. In any case, as long as your hobby does not come as a detriment to your finances, enjoy and have fun!
It’s a pattern. Of having a collection of hundreds of paints, of which I consistently use about ten, during weeks long periods of (mostly) joyful creativity, followed by burnout, until I see a set I really want to paint, that gets added a backlog, while I push myself to finish my last project before I can get to what got me excited start back up.
Wow I have been feeling the same way. It’s actually pushed me away from GW. The constant stream of new stuff and the pressure of buying before you miss out. I have been collecting for years and have all the 40K starters, all the WFB starters, and even the LOTR starters, along with many of the one off games. Those were fun and I had time to digest them, whereas now, games are coming out so fast you barely have time to not only paint and learn the rules, but also find players. I said to myself that 40K 10th edition would be the last game I bought from GW. Amazingly I even put off buying Legions Imperialis, and Epic has been my favorite game for years. But the business model has alienated me and I am just over it. I have a lot to still paint too, and are just going to focus on what I have and be happy with that. It’s quite liberating actually.
I agree with you for the most part but I completely disagree with the combat patrol mag part.
I like bloodbowl, killteam and warcry [and I have a box of underworld but don't know how to play] because its 1 box and that's all I need*.
And I can paint 1 box. And then I have a fully painted army.
And a combat patrol is essentially that.
I am SOOOO excited for combat patrol [in like 2 years when it comes to australia]. Hell, from the imperium mag I got an admech and sister combat patrol with some slight kitbashing for the tanks from them.
I have 5 painted bloodbowl teams, 3 killteams and 1 warcry. I have 2 half or less 40k armies.
Great video, I grew we have gotten to marketing pilled
I am experiencing the exact same thing sadly… And not only from Warhammer/GW, but also from Magic(Hasbro). It never stops, there is a new special product dropping every few days it‘s just stressing me tf out even thinking about it. So I try limiting myself to buying Minis only after finishing a few units and to building maybe 1-2 Decks for mtg a year. That helps a ton and makes the hobbies and new purchases fun again.
I think that's why i love buying off-hand, half-priced, pre-painted/primed minis. Someone has already done the depressing part, mounting the sprues, sanding the mold lines and all.
Yeah that's why I look at new reveals, not as "oh I need this box set!" but rather as just a preview on what I'm gonna want from the shelves in a few months. I have a house, car, and lots else to pay off, so I have to be careful of my purchases. I know there's only a few boxes that I'm like "I *need* this" like the Cadia Stands box.
For other boxes, ones that I "want" but can't fully justify. I wait to see if it's at my comic shop for as long as it takes for me to save up a couple bucks every paycheque to get it. If it is, cool, it's mine, if not, then I have hobby money for my several other projects.
Really sensible video, and an issue that affects us all, but is rarely discussed. I am absolutely going to be following this advice this year. My pile of grey isn’t *that* big, but I’m not adding to it till I make more progress with what I already have.
My biggest problem with Games Workshop is the lack of supply. This is driving me to 3D printing.
Well said!
I remember years ago there was an open letter from stamp collectors to the Royal Mail about a similar issue. It was one of the saddest things I read. To paraphrase it wen something like:
"We feel that with the volume of new stamp collections the Royal Mail are now releasing they are taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of our community. Many of us are distressed by an incomplete collection and have a very strong compulsion to buy everything that is released. This is now having a substantial burden on our time and finances. We would like the Royal Mail to return to a small number of releases each year..." yadda yadda yadda
Overwhelming is the word!
Great video and very well said. I very much agree and have also found myself in this situation over the last few years to be honest. I made the call at the back end of 2023 just to go back to ground zero. Stop falling into the FOMO. Sell off all my uneeded bits and start from fresh. Now I'm keeping to the buy one set and no more until it's done and I feel so much better about my hobby. Also ironically I've been doing more since not having this massive overhang of kits over my head. Probably because I'm enjoying and appreciate what I do have more now.
I know that kind of thing isn't for everyone but yeah. It's been so refreshing to do that for myself personally and the message within this video is very important to help keep that realism aspect injected into the rose coloured lense these companies try to get us to see through. ^^
Keep up the great work, looking forward to checking out more of your stuff! :)