How much does WARHAMMER cost? Entry price of EVERY game!
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- Опубликовано: 5 апр 2023
- Warhammer is well known as an 'expensive hobby' but is that true? Here's every single Warhammer game broken down by starting costs for a new entrant.
Wanna get Warhammer for LESS? Get your discount HOBBY FIX (and buy me toys in the process!!)
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EDIT: Since doing my research, it turns out the the Kill Team Starter Set DOESN'T contain full rules for the two included teams, only a cut down version. To get full rules you'd need another book, bringing it's cost to £95. However, it's place in the rankings would be unaffected!
If you think being a Warhammer 40K fan is hard (for the miniatures hobbying side), being a WH4OK fan in Latin America is incredibly difficult.
I would say that there’s a cheaper way of entering into kill team, given the entry criteria you’ve outlined doesn’t include terrain.
A box of intercessors. Everything else can be accessed for free - core rules via warhammer community (they’re all you need to get playing) and faction specific rules for the intercession faction via Warhammer community.
The premise here is that you’re playing against someone who already has a team and terrain.
Lite rules - www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ekD0GG2pTHlYba0G.pdf
Intercession squad - www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bq0onwVbVTnpoA5k.pdf
@@Dracobyte *Australia and New Zealand enter the chat* I'm not sure how our prices compare to Latin America, but we absolutely feel your pain.
@@AndrewMcColl Where I come from (México), is 20 times more expensive.
In Argentina is 500 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE.
Plus, you know, taxes and shipping fees.
There's a running joke in Finnish Warhammer circles, so old that I remember hearing it for the first time when I started in the early 2000s, that "Warhammer is much cheaper than other Finnish hobbies, such as ice hockey or drinking."
This is the most Finnish joke since how many Russians it takes to change a lightbulb
I’ve never heard that one. Care to share?
Ditto on the Russian lightbulb joke, comrades.
@@redspy6018 I can not tell you that
venture to the highest mountain of Finland and prove yourself worthy to the monks atop the mountain and they will take you in beat them in a nude drinking contest and only then will they tell how many Russians it takes to change a lightbulb
Actually I just forgot what the punchline of that joke was sorry 💀
I was an exchange student in Finland not long ago, and when I moved into Helsinki, my friend showed me the city. He was like: Alright, Lidl is usually cheaper than K-market or Prisma, shop there. This is the closest Lidl to your place, and also right next to it is a store where you can buy Warhammer. You can't really buy Warhammer in Hungary without ordering. Let's just say I had a bit of an issue with my luggage at the end of my exchange.
I really dislike the fact that 2000pts is seen as the standard, I think it can really put of players looking to get into the game proper, there should be more of an effort within the community to push 1000-1500pt games as a more acceptable standard
Yes. Personally, I seldom play bigger than 1000-1500 myself, and haven't for the last 5 years.
i think that's what boarding action will become. and before that there will be the combat patrol where everything is balanced around only combat patrol boxes
I can't speak for 40k because I've not played it in nearly a decade, but AoS is clearly balanced for 2k armies. Playing at 1/1.5k is fine as a stop-gap, but the lethality of AoS means that anything below 2k can be extremely unsatisfying to play in the long run.
I'd love for smaller sized games to become another viable option in the community, but GW would need to do a lot of the legwork here too and make 1k feel fun.
This is how it was with 500pts as the entry level when I was a lad. For what it's worth lol
The problem as far as I can understand is that the games aren’t really balanced for these sizes, which means if you only play 500 or 1000 points games you might end up not having much fun. Heywoah’s response to Miniac’s AoS rant gets into this a bit: basically, AoS at 500-1000 points is very swingy and has a high potential for feel bad moments compared to the standard 2000 points game. So really, it’s on GW to balance the lower model count games better, especially since they might actually be scaring new players away.
The Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game: The start box set "Battle of Osgiliath" comes with 2 armies, terrain, tokens, dice and full rule book for the game. It also includes a small pamphlet that contains the datasheets for the models in the box set and some scenarios you can play with the models provided. Both armies come up to approximately 370-400 points which is smaller than an average game of MESBG (averaging between 500-800 points, standard being 700) but are easily still playable against one another or in smaller games. These armies can be supplemented with either the Mordor or Gondor Battlehost box sets, however if you do get these you will probably need to also purchase the "Armies of Middle Earth" rule book to get the profile of the troops and heroes that aren't included in the box set.
Battle of Osgiliath Box Set: £125
Battlehost Box: £55 each
Armies of The Lord of the Rings Book: £37.50
As with all Miniature War Games the amount can go up or down significantly depending on what you are looking for, but this is a good starting place.
And even if you're not looking to start Mordor or Gondor, and want to play a Lord of the Rings army well-supported with plastic kits plus a couple resin/metal heroes, it's still a fair bit cheaper than AoS or 40k. And the game's great!
Yeah I came to say the same, that he'd forgotten Lotr
If you think being a Warhammer 40K fan is hard (for the miniatures hobbying side), being a WH4OK fan in Latin America is incredibly difficult.
In Mexico is 20 times more expensive, in Argentina is 500 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE.
Oh no. Oh no no no. Oh god no. I wish you hadn't posted this comment.
I've been able to resist the lure of 40K/AoS and diving head-first into Yet Another Expensive Hobby(tm), but I probably won't be able to resist the lure of a LotR-themed tabletop miniatures game....
Is Battletech cheaper?
Got a friend who questioned the cost a while back. His main downtime seems to include trips to the pub. Nothing wrong with that, love a trip to the pub myself. But, I asked him how much he spends drinking every month. One month, ~ 4 times a month, 4 hours (approx) and 5-6 pints (approx) per time, at a cost of ~ £4 per pint = £80-96 per month. For ~ 16 hours of mostly good fun.
Over a year, that's ~ £1k spend.
I'm really labouring this point, but GW, per hour of enjoyment for me, comes out at a cost of pennies per session over the years. It's not buy it and consume it within a couple of hours. Once you have the minis, the cost goes down and down, every time you play a game. It's very cost-effective fun.
PS. Kudos on the continued excellent quality of the content on this channel.
I think part of why we are all so fixated on prices in warhammer compared to other hobbies is the lack of logical (for a customer) pricing model. GW seams to price things depending on how many copies of it they expect you to buy over all so we can have single character model, unit of 5 elite models and unit of 10 infantry all with a minimal difference in cost in no way representing actual cost of material or something tangible. Also if you have playing with models in mid, buying them is only the beginning investment before you account for time most of us spend before having a box painted. While I love painting and other hobby elements outside of gaming I think the multi layered nature of this hobby can mess with perception of investment a bit.
The reason for that how-many-copies-they-expect-to-sell pricing is at least *based* in something real - amortised sculpting and tooling costs, basically - and I'd like to think anyone who can grasp the rules for a GW game should be capable of understanding that. I think the problem there is more the perception that the scale of the difference isn't justified, really.
But compare and contrast GW's injection styrene minis to Forgeworld resin, where the material costs and per-unit labour are far, far higher (resin casting basically can't practically be automated like injection styrene can and resin is much more expensive than styrene per cubic metre) and you'll certainly see the differences. For example, Heresy marines are consistently £9-15 each seemingly based on casting complexity (including some stuff you'd never see in 40k plastics like jump pack troops costing the same per-mini as regular) and characters (again, more-complex minis) are more like 2-3 times more expensive rather than 6-10x.
This video is extremely helpful, primarily for kids like me who have about enough money to buy a new pair of shoelaces and maybe a slurpee on a good day
If it makes you feel any better - this has always been the case since Games Workshop founded Citadel Minatures in 1979. You're participating in a grand tradition, at thirteen I could never afford the Bretonian figures I wanted in 2005 either.
Maybe you could find someone with access to a rule book who doesn't care about proxies. At your age I played mostly with preschool toys in my buddy's basement.
If that’s your financial situation, absolutely go for Underworlds (or, if you really want the 40k setting, Kill Team). A full skirmish force you can play real games with will give you so much more fulfillment than bits and pieces of an army.
I remember that time! When my army and all my friends armies were two boxes of the cheapest monopose plastic troops and whatever big characters we'd got for our birthdays!
Ah my friend you have awoken my nostalgic feelings for 1987!
I think the cost issue rears it head more often around Warhammer (than other hobbies) as many of us start as cash-strapped kids/teens, where the cost does limit what you can do, and the mentality sticks with you. Also Warhammer has kept up with inflation, while the heavy Venn-diagram overlap of video gaming stayed the same price for over a decade (so got relatively cheaper and cheaper since the mid-90s, at least until the latest very costly generation arrived).
As an adult it’s pretty much in line with other similar “scale” (something that uses up a few hundred a year and fits in a cupboard if you don’t go overboard) hobbies I think, if not a bit cheaper. I also think it’s really handy to have friends get into it with you who are happy to play smaller size games or split boxes, share rules etc.
You are coping hard if you think 40k is in line with other similar hobbies. It just isn't. Then again, if you're in the UK the prices are honestly reasonable. It's the +30ish% (on average) burger tax for being in the US that hits us the hardest.
while you can get a game for 60 dollars or around that how many games don't have a cash shop or dlc. the most expensive games are free to play
@@hansyolo8277 40K is easily the best value hobby I have, even if I was paying retail prices. My car, firearms and rc cars are all vastly more expensive, stressful, and break or require maintaining. In comparison wargaming offers much better value for money from a cost to hours of enjoyment point. Even in that space, although Star Wars Legions starter sets are really well priced, the individual unit boxes are comparable or more expensive than 40k, whilst also having way worse sculpts and lower quality plastic.
Warhammer also appeals to people who come in from tabletop rpgs, which in comparison are absolutely dirt cheap, so there is some sticker shock happening in that direction too.
@@lv100Alice Nice strawman.
The biggest thing to remember with 40k and AoS is that the army doesn't "Rotate out" like say MtG you can basically use it forever.
A tiny thing to notice around the Warhammer Underworlds starter set, is that it contains everything needed to play the two warbands included against each other. However it does not include the magic dice (I have no idea why this was left out of the box). If you then buy a new Warband that includes a wizard, or face someone with a Wizard you will eventually need these dice, that I have no idea where you’d go about buying just the magic dice.
MAgic dice aren't in the starter set because it's basically the First season's box and that didn't have magic. It wasn't added until Season 2.
Fair point. The vast majority of warbands dont need them though so I think you'd still get a lot of longevity out of the game before you need to buy a new starter set
You can proxy regular attack dice as magic dice if you need to, the symbols are wrong but the ratios of them match, otherwise you can usually find the old warband themed dice sets that a lot of hobby shops have had in the clearance bin for years. Or if you know a long-time player then I'm sure they'd be glad to dump some spare dice considering how quickly they stack up if you keep buying the core sets.
This was an excellent video for explaining that the separate GW games are and a general cost of how much they are. After playing 40K and HH for about two years I have seen Kill Team, Necromuda, etc. but never really knew what they were. This video was great and I learned something new. I don't think GW spells out what they various games are either, at least I haven't run across a page that summaries them.
Back in the 90's I was introduced to Whammer by a buddy, we borrowed his big brother's boxed set and played on the floor of his mother's preschool. We had so few minis that we used the preschool toys as proxies. That orange block? That's a gyrocopter, that red one is a dragon. That gi joe is my runesmith, etc. Even bought a few codexes. Loved Chaos Dwarves because the bull centaurs had mobility regular dwarves lacked while still packing big artillery.
Worth noting, in many countries GW products are a lot more expensive, you're likely going to want significantly more paints/tools over time, and certain factions/list styles can be much more expensive. There are models that cost more CAD$ than in-game points!
Warhammer is definitely the big exception to the general rule that North Anerican nerds get everything first and cheapest.
If you think being a Warhammer 40K fan is hard (for the miniatures hobbying side), being a WH4OK fan in Latin America is incredibly difficult.
In Mexico is 20 times more expensive, in Argentina is 500 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE.
The biggest hurdle is the fact there's no cheap version you can start with to get up to speed.
In most other hobbies you can always get a cheap pair of boots and gear or whatever else is considered the basics just to see if you're interested.
Want to get into weightlifting? A pair of dumbbells costs like...30 quid, probably some cheaper ones too, they're just lumps of metal. If you don't like it cool, you just lost 30 quid. Could even just lift heavy objects if that's an issue.
For warhammer there's all the paints, the model construction, the time required to put it together and paint (another hidden cost) before you can even play a single game. And even then you might just not find other players....It's a social game, you can't just do it by yourself. at least there seems to be no official rules to support singleplayer games in any capacity.
So you then need to convince another person to try it.
Anyone trying to tell you it's "cheap compared to other hobbies" is full of it.
Starter sets that include two teams potentially work out cheaper. You need an opponent to play, so if you and a mate are both interested, you might be able to go halves on the starter set.
The trick we always talked about back in the day was you and your mate both buying a starter set and swapping the models so you basically had a double set each! If you did this with say, black reach, A marine player would have 20 tactical marines, 10 terminators, and 2 dreadnaughts, and 2 HQ's, which tbh isn't a bad start! and Orks would have 50 boys, 6 Deffkoptas, and 2 bosses. This also gives you both copies of the rules and templates, and ends up costing the same price as buying a starter set on your own.
HOWEVER, the key problem here is that it relies on two people meeting up where each person wants a different army. And because marines are pretty much always in the starter set, and are vastly more popular, this obviously can be difficult to make happen in the real world!
I think the best way to get into warhammer is to not buy anything. Just find a veteran willing to teach you how to play one of the games. If you enjoy it then start small and work your way up.
I'd recommend the second hand market. Armies like Space Marines, Orks or Necrons (and various other factions that have either sold well or were packed in bigger boxes) are commonly sold online for a fraction of the gw prices. You can probably get a competitive army for a few tenners if you are lucky. Sometimes new on sprue.
I think secondhand markets make sense for players with some experience or who new players with some guidance, but if your just starting out navigating that area can be tough if you're just learning even what you want to play.
If you think being a Warhammer 40K fan is hard (for the miniatures hobbying side), being a WH4OK fan in Latin America is incredibly difficult.
In Mexico is 20 times more expensive, in Argentina is 500 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE.
@@Dracobyte Wasn't aware of that. Here in the EU it is not as bad but already an expensive hobby. How much do they ask for shipping (and imports) if you'd buy from ebay? There are some English bulk traders where you can get crazy bargains, even with shipping and import it can be worth it once they combine shipping costs. Might not be worth it for separate lots/models.
@@svenv460 Since GW has no official prescence in our region, the shipping fees vary a lot among Ebay sellers, scalpers or resellers.
Edit - LOL, wrote this post before reaching the end of the vid!
I'm mid-40s and last played 40k in 2nd edition. None of these prices I feel is extortionate for a hobby, when you consider that the priciest here is cheaper than a current gen games console plus games. It's fairly comparable to, say, annual costs for taking part in sports (club/ gym fees plus any gear/ clothing).
If I was to pick out a barrier, I'd be more inclined to say
1. finding a nearby gaming group to play with!
2. deciding whether I actually find the game fun especially in the long term to justify the outlay.
Ian, I'm actually a little saddened you didn't mention the used Miniature market. While buying whole armies is still expensive, buying used, individual units are actually way cheaper.
Buying stripper, and those used models is incredibly cost effective. I've seen full sized Heresy Squads go for half of what they cost at MSRP.
It's cheaper but there's a huge time investment involved in getting those used miniatures back to a usable state that you're happy with.
As someone who enjoyed Aeronautica Imperialis when it first came out don't worry. GW and pretty much everyone else forgot about it too.
As a person that has always been into the lore but never got around to painting minis and playing games, I find this video to be very useful and I feel like I will be coming back here during my decision-making process hehe. Thanks Arbitor.
I completely agree with your statement.
As I have been into Sci-Fi all my life , I have never gotten into Painting and Gaming line this.
Decision is key because you become part of what you Paint and Create to Play , and the Books alone can be daunting as to pick and choose a path .
There is a massive short cut to the process online at the website ;whereas , the website asks several questions and selects a faction suited to your answers .
I got One group on one try and then answered the questions different and got a different answer. So it appears to choose for you for your style of gameplay.
I want to read the lore and get my choice by the storyline.
Good luck in your decisions
Live Long and Prosper 🖖🏻
Love this, particularly the cost comparison at the end! I've always felt the the price was reasonable considering the quality of plastic, amazing designs and hours of hobbying. I play Star Wars Legion and the starter boxes are really good value, but the individual unit boxes are both more expensive than 40k, as well as noticeably poorer plastic quality and sculpts. I also have RC crawlers - £550 for a starter TRX4 without batteries, and after replacing unreliable parts, buying a a decent charger and a few batteries you'll be £800 deep. Want a low centre of gravity crawler? You're probably pushing £1,500...
I play necromunda and I have 2nd edition blood angel and ork armies so I buy a mixture of new (necromunda) and second hand (2nd edition). I think both are terrific value because I get to enjoy hours of painting and our weekly games usually last 3ish hours (lots of laughing and chatting) which probably equates to £1.50 per hour of enjoyment over the year. Furthermore I think the community is priceless. Gaming is so friendly, everyone at our gaming club are super friendly.
Sean 2nd edition was one of the best though I do love the Rogue Trader era
@@derekmcmanus8615 I've never played rogue trader but I hear its very good. I thoroughly enjoy 2nd! I like collecting minis from that era
Even if 2000 are the event standard size I'd still recommend beginning players to start with smaller armies. Dropping 300 Pounds on a full sized army and turning up at a tournament with only a basic grasp on the game might turn out to be frustrating. Not to mention tjhat it's a daunting task to paint an entire army - I've seen lots of people who bought several boxes of models to start with subesequently turned off by looking at the seas of grey plastic they felt they had to paint.
But in the end it all depends on the local community - I'd say asking one of the local store regulars if they would be willing to meet for a small-sized training game should definitely be considered before going in big...
I will say personally as someone who got out of the game around 5th edition. Price was always a huge limiting factor. Warhammer was always a hobby that seemed to demand other hobbies be set aside to make both the time and cost feasible.
Pricing is always an interesting discussion. One thing I want to note is that while yes, games do tend to be played at certain points values, in my experience there are often veteran players who are willing to play at lower points against newer players.
Glad you included things like video game consoles and a few sports activities at the end there also.
"Most stores will sell this with up to a 20% discount" not over here in the US, my local game store ups the price ~25% they sold the HH starter box for about $350 + tax, the other local store had it for $320 + tax, and the closest GW store is 25 miles outside of the city. Ive literally never seen GW stuff at a discount in any private hobby story its irritating.
I wouldn't support a game store that sold product at 20-25% *above* suggested retail price, personally. At that point I go to an internet retailer and buy there, then find some friends and play in my living room instead.
eBay stores have the discount
I have to order my stuff off ebay. The price is just nonsense. Every once in a while I'll throw my lgs a bone and buy a box of something or paints
Awesome job! This was super-helpful in setting a context for the WH tabletop games for a newbie like myself (2 years in). I am deeeeep into the lore and loving it, yet I’ve often wondered about the true scope and cost of the tabletop games. Morbid curiosity on my part. 🙃
I think its worth taking a moment to emphasize that if you're new to the hobby, it's actually worth to bite on GWs sales model and not try to resist it. You wanna play 40k? Well Kill Team and Boarding Actions are (quite explicitly) the beginner experience. Theyre your entry point. Drop $160 on a combat patrol or Boarding action box of your preferred faction. The viable kill team is included. You're now playing both Kill Team and a mini version of 40k and can have *years* of hobby fun while you start building a full 2K point army.
Its really the best way to not feel like youre having to shell out $600 just to start. You drop less than $200 and then just buy a box here and there as funds allow. When you do it that way, its just another hobby that grows with you, rather than hobby with what feels like an insurmountable barrier to entry.
A great resource for people looking to get into the hobby! I like that you brought up how cheap Warcry can be even though the starter boxes are expensive! Love that all the rules are free (aside from new gangs) and super easy to pick up some AoS minis for cheap from a store or second hand!
As a Tiny Plane Lover, your crime is forgiven
Within my gaming group we often compare the hobby to golf, because that makes us feel better about the money we spend.
I always compare it with golf and cars. Warhammer and golf don't have the upkeep cost of a fast car though.
Beautiful work as always, Ian!
An additional consideration for new players is 40k's two new "~500pt" initiatives, Boarding Actions and the upcoming support for playing Combat Patrol boxes as their own format. It's hard to say whether those are things people will actually want to play in a year (and Boarding Actions may not be any cheaper outside of a playgroup when you factor books and terrain) but it's an encouraging development that GW seems committed to finding a lower barrier to entry for full 40k.
It would be cool if smaller games became more common. I've been building 2000 points of marines at a glacial pace for a few months because I keep getting distracted by other factions and painting a detachment or two.
i'm a big fan of gw's "skirmish" games, but i think they suffer from an issue where some part of the player base wants continual releases to maintain interest, and another part of the base (myself included) either paints very slowly or is also invested in _other_ games, so kind of wants the release schedule to slow down a lot (or maybe even stop). i think the main battle games have a similar problem, too (with constant new releases that can be hard to keep up with), but those games are already so popular that i think loads of people would still keep playing them for a long time, even if e.g. no new campaign books or rules updates came out for a year or so. not so much with the skirmish games, where there are generally fewer players: especially e.g. necromunda, which is at its best with a reasonably large group of committed players that can support a "campaign".
if half of the 40k players in the world drop out because there have been no new space marine models for over two months, you can probably still get a game with someone. if half of the players in your necromunda campaign drop out, that might be a little harder to keep up.
I’m gonna disagree on several points. In Japan you can get a new game console and game for less than a heresy starters set, it comes to just over 400$, and the 200$ for a combat patrol is comparable to a Nintendo switch. I can’t speak for others but any game I buy will be played for years on end and is playable right out of the box so it’s actually better value.
And when I lived in Canada even independent retailers sold at the advised GW price.
I think the major problem is that instead of doing equivalent pricing, GW just converts directly on the exchange rate and then tacks on shipping and taxes, so things become progressively more expensive. I basically had to give up Space Marines and switch to Dark Eldar/ Harlequins because it was the only affordable way to keep collecting, and this really holds the game back in Japan. Models are everywhere over here and you get a good gundam model for 3,650¥, about 36.50$.
It's worth pointing out, you never buy full MSRP, that's just ridiculous. The way I like to go about it is, every paycheck I give myself about 50$ allowance to go towards warhamer. If I want to save up I can, so that way, once every other month I go big and look on ebay and buy a bunch of models really cheap.
At this point at full MSRP every model I have bought would total close to 10k $
I have spent nowhere near that thanks to local store deals and sales, eBay, and friends.
If it's only you and a friend playing, or a group of friends, look at old versions of the game you are interested in trying out. Lots of the old rules are free online. Until relatively recently, the only way to play games like Blood Bowl and Necromunda was to use the free rules online. You can start playing a game like Mordheim for the cost of a box or Skaven Night Runners and two boxes of Freeguild Guard (one with Close Combat weapons and one with the ranged weapons), which get even cheaper if you look at the second hand market or none GW equivalents. All the rules are available free online - thanks GW. I wouldn't be surprised if you could start playing for as little as £10 if you know where to look and use the ol' terrain is stuff from around your house trick.
I would also say that most people don't buy whole armies when starting to play these games. They buy a squad or two of guys and get them made and painted, then learn with a group who already know the game. No need to buy a starter box or anything like that. Start by learning the hobby basics and the basic rules - use proxies if needed. Don't go out and buy a whole army until you have slowly built and painted your first army and know that you love the game. Buying a whole tournament ready army will just put you off before you have even started. 1 box/unit/squad/tank/etc. a month is the best way to start building an army and see if you enjoy the process. Spending £30-50 once a month or every few months and getting that one box together and painted will lead to a completed army that you are excited about putting on the table. And more importantly won't feel like a huge investment or an overwhelming task to complete.
1500 hits the sweet spot for my group. Big enough to take some cool things and small enough to fit 2 games within the afternoon we have
Great video as ever!
16:30 - Canadian here, I would disagree with that. While the price of a new system will set you back a bit, even a new video game priced at $70 would be the price of a SINGLE higher-priced unit (or two troops).
Edit: And as for time, it depends on the type of game. If it's an action game, that could be done in a less hours, while an RPG will take up a good chunk of time to complete.
And that's not even getting into the lower-priced indies - that themselves can provide hours of enjoyment - or official sales you can find.
Mate this is excellent. You have, honest to god, the most rational and chilled out smart Warhammer content on RUclips. Thanks for posting, as always.
Great video as always. As a long time collector, I was actually surprised by the numbers here. I thought it would have been way more! 👍
MESBG? The forgotten games workshop game 😅
Was looking for this.
It’s the best fantasy game in GW‘s range, imo. I enjoy that the rules are actually contained in the main rulebook, you don’t need to understand a library of army special rules to play the game 😊
It's good, but I haven't included it because it's not 'Warhammer'
@Daniel S I've got back into it after 20 years away from the hobby. I'm having a great time.
love the inclusion of AUD.
seeing 40 pound jump from 90aud to 100aud(from paint to underworld) hits too close at the speed of inflation over here.
As I’ve grown into the world of adulting, I have discovered that money is incredibly subjective, especially when it comes to hobbies and recreational activities.
Warhammer really isn’t expensive when you consider just how far you can make a box of models go. Like really, really far.
But aren’t they just little plastic toys?
Someone might decide to buy a Gibson Les Paul, play it for a week, and then never pick it up again.
Alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, harder drugs - use them once, that’s it. Literally drinking, burning, snorting, and injecting money.
Yes, plastic crack ain’t so bad. Just don’t look at the pile of shame!
So magazine like age of sigmar stormbringer is worth the money. Paints , clippers, and two full armies and tarrain , 10 pounds a week for 80 issues
Thank you for this insightful video. As a Mexican Warhammer 40K fan, it is very hard to get into from the hobby / miniature collecting side. Videogames and novels are a more accesible way for me!
If you think being a Warhammer 40K fan is hard (for the miniatures hobbying side), being a WH4OK fan in Latin America is incredibly difficult.
In Mexico is 20 times more expensive, in Argentina is 500 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE.
1:32 not to worry Ian, so did GW!
Over the decades, I've collected several wargames: Ground Zero Games (GZG); which have Stargrunt 2 (25mm & 15mm) sci-fi rules (free), metal miniatures (very nicely sculpted). They also have Full Thrust (space ship battles), and Dirtside 2 (epic scale).
Mantic: Deadzone, and Warpath Fireteam (skirmish). Battletech. There is also Warmachine.
My current chaos space marine list would cost €582 today, note I’m buying in Euro and this is part of a Collection I’ve accumulated over years, I’ve never spent more that €85 on the collection in one go the entire time, but this particular list isn’t huge only 55 minis so I was a little shocked at how much it would cost today. That’s an average of 10.50 a model or 3.4points per Euro and again that’s just my current list not the entire CSM collection
The big issue on entry level fir the skirmish stuff is alot of the sets don't contain enough terrain any more. The first edition warcry set had so much more.
Warhammer is expensive compared to kids hobbies, but if you compare it to grown-up big boy hobbies, like say, Golf or Scuba Diving, Warhammer is basically a rounding error.
IMO, it compares favorably in price in to Model Railroading. You have a few pricey models, the locomotives and bunch of fairly cheap models (all the freight and passenger cars), and a *lot* of terrain.
Speaking of Age of Sigmar, I was looking at some Skaven army lists for that I a saw one that only had 37 models in it. Geeze, my Oldhammer Skaven army has single units almost that big. Of course, it's also never been completely painted...
These days I'm mostly into Blood Bowl and Necromunda. BB *could* have been a much lower cost option. Except
that I've got BB16, and BB22 and Dungeon Bowl and Death Match, and 8 different pitches, and 10 teams. And I've still got BB 3rd and the old BB 2nd Astrogranite edition box sets and teams. So far I've held it down to only 4 different gangs for Necromunda, not counting the Goliaths & Orlocks that came in the Underhive and Ash Waste starter sets that I'm kind of sort of considering trading off.
Right now I'm working on getting a couple of BB teams painted up for the Warhammer Open Tournament at Tacoma in July.
I’ve only just started, not finished painting and building yet, and haven’t looked at rules, but I’ve spent about 4 hundred pounds on not lore stuff, and that includes the elite edition, wrath of the soul forge king (I’m going for Dark Angels) as well as a Ravenwing upgrade sprue, loads of paints (starter paint kit for 40K, as well as a 10 pack bundle, and 3 or 4 more to get my The lion book into the free shipping) then I’ve spent about £10 on Amazon brushes, £15 on glue, I got the citadel water pot, spend about 20 in Hobbycraft on a knife pack and cutting board, about 5 on kit for a build your own wet pallet, as well as 2 citadel spray cans. It’s a high curve, but it’s going to last me for a while, and I’m going to expend further with a combat patrol, the lion (when he comes out for round 2) and the leviathan box.
Edit: forgot to mention that I’ve not bothered buying any codexes, because of course, but that will also (depending on what happens in 10th) happen. What do people think and where did I go wrong/can improve/need to grab asap?
I have sunk way too much money building a big 2nd edition army. But the one time I played 9th, I disliked it, and then worked my way backwards.
Best bang for the buck: go with One Page Rules, plus any models you want. It is going to be cheaper than basically anything any game manufacturer offers and is so much fun.
Amen
I can honestly say the hobby is quite pricey, but i don’t think i spend any more money on it than i do the other hobbies i enjoy.
Even though each AT miniature costs a lot of money, you need so few of them for a full army including options, that it is the game I show people interested in scifi tabletop games.
I've more than once helped foster a culture at our local store of helping new folks with new armies. My marines and IG were helped along early on by other people's excess they may have just sold instead--I've gifted an old chimera and a squad to a young guard player awhile back who was just starting out and buying in parts off of a high school job. It's not for everyone obviously but it helped create a nice atmosphere and we got a couple of folks to play with we may not have--and of course, a healthy secondary market with good prices also definitely helped.
Fantastic and very informative video. I'd definitely start with the cheapest option, because less models to paint and short game time. Thank you for making this video. Keep up the good work.
If you think being a Warhammer 40K fan is hard (for the miniatures hobbying side), being a WH4OK fan in Latin America is incredibly difficult.
For context: Where I come from (México), is 20 times more expensive.
In Argentina is 500 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE.
Plus, you know, taxes and shipping fees.
True dat!
Thank you very much for this rundown
My friend has been playing for just over 25 years .
I am slowly getting into the lore and slowly going to choose a path to build a decent set to play.
This has been saved and will be using as a reference.
Thank you 🙏🏻
Live Long and Prosper 🖖🏻
i think its a good idea to mention too that if you get a starter set you can split it with a mate. if you live close to each other you can obviously just keep the rules book and stuff where you play
Great content as always. Just wanted to ask where you got the model Chaos Gate in the background of your video?
The reason 500, 1000, 1500 & even 1750 games exist but aren’t played is because GW doesn’t support them with rules. They expect you to play 2k rules with 1/4th the model count and anyone who knows the rules to the game knows how busted that is. I mean the current meta of 500 is running space marine troops because you can run through an objective, take it, and then leave because of the sticky objective rules where you hold an object until it’s taken away.
before i watch the video i'll just say that people say warhammer is an expensive hobby and while it's not cheap i have also seen the price of an electric matutine bike
Factor all this in to the US dollar and every game system is $100.00+. We have stores selling one pot of paint for $6-$8 depending on the store
Enjoyed this video a lot; I thought GW was expensive when I was first getting into the hobby and am glad I don't collect AoS. I do think another useful comparison to include at the end would have been a ttrpg; unlike video games and like tabletop games it's a virtually endless amount of content and a significantly lower price point for most systems.
A couple weekends of drinking and sniffing costs more than a full ultramarine army... I've made the wrong choices
These figures are all a bit low, as Ian didn't include the cost of the necessary Warhammer Candles.
OTHER CANDLES ARE AVAILABLE
When I started as a kid in 3rd edition. I had no idea all the random cadians, vostroyans, and forgeworld death korps I collected, would quite literally double in value by today, (though the forgeworld stuff evens out given the British pound was 2x the usd back in the day)
The idea that price rises are evergreen content is depressing but true 😂
After months of trying to get my non-Warhammer friends to play with me. I guess I’m planing to buy the boarding actions terrain and play different games with my current models.
Seems the best way to get them to play
Cheers for this! Been thinking about tsking the plunge when 10th ed drops.
Might start with Kill Team first tho. I hear it's a good entry point for newbs to the hobby...
Thanks, really useful video Ian. Was thinking of getting into 40K in some capacity with my son. Kill Team looks like a good starting point and not too bad on price.
Well, I discovered Warhammer when I was 36, in 2016 with the original Age of Sigmar 2 player starter set, it cost $125 back then. I thought it was very expensive for a board game, but the mini's looked awesome and it had almost everything I needed to play the game. I also bought a getting started magazine that included a miniature, and a hobby kit that included some cutters, glue, a brush and paints. So, for under $200 I got into the hobby. Little did I know I'd be obsessed with everything wargaming... but it makes me happy. I've never been to a tournament, I just played at the local gaming store before covid and at home since the pandemic.
i love the topics you come up with, a real swiss army channel you’ve got here
I think this is why games like Battletech have taken off. Lower entry price, consistent product ranges (GW keep cancelling games/products to push FOMO) and can be played at a much lower model count. And it also has a lot of Lore that is as engaging as 40K.
Please name the last game that GW has actually fully “cancelled”. And while I like BattleTech as much as anyone, it doesn’t really “scratch the itch” when what you really want to play is 40k, lower cost of entry or not.
It's a shame it wasn't included as GW's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game is pretty affordable compared to AOS and 40k. The starter set gives 2 decent sized starting armies and the model range is cheaper with most troops coming in boxes of 24 models. The most affordable armies being The Fellowship and Thorin's Company as both boxes are £35
I've been thinking on the idea of cost vs. benefit for Warhammer since watching this and it's funny because it's a hobby where the concept of "what counts as a cost, what counts as a benefit, and how do you measure them?" is extremely nebulous.
There's the cost of the models, paints, and rules, sure. But for some people, the time and effort of assembly and painting is a cost, while for others it's a benefit. Hell, for some of us, that's the ultimate end point of our participation. Similarly, a lot of people see play time as the benefit, but I've met some people who play games as cost because they feel that without the game, it doesn't have a point and the assembly and painting feels hollow, which is fair enough.
And that's without even touching on the games in other media, engaging with the lore as a reader, watching RUclips content on it, etc, etc, etc.
Not trying to take away from or disagree with your video, talking about the economic cost of the hobby is important, it's just interesting to try figure out where your personal cost/benefit, accounting for all resources expended (incl. time and effort) and benefits received (like engaging in lore).
Compared to Kingdom Death: Monsters, warhammer still looks like a steal, the base game is about £400 then you've got the boss monster expansions which cost between £60 for the humanoid sized ones to £150 for the big boss monsters, to complete the entire thing you'd also have to look to the second hand market because there is some OOP boss monsters/kickstarter exclusive boss monsters.
I think actually getting the full thing for Kingdom Death: Monster is like £1000+
Thoroughly well laid out explanation
Am I the only one who enjoyed Blackstone Fortress? It was a gateway game for The Hobby for a few of my friends as well.
Warcry Heart Of Ghur is the current edition starter set. It comes with everything you need to play (even the full core rule book).
US player here. 750 points seem to be the most common game size in my small town but we all dream of a proper 2000 point game
Any real hobby costs about 500 bucks, no matter what it is: Instruments, sports equipment, kitchen tools, gaming hardware - whatever it is. Though I'd say knitting is probably cheaper.
The starter boxes from GW are very different in their real value. Some armies like custodes pack a real punch, while others suck extremely (hello Deathguard, hello Thousandsons, hello Mechanicum) but cost the same. Also, GW tends to add free, crappy addons like vehicles (e.g. the free Rhino or that hover thingy Primaris have nowadays) or named characters or overpriced terrain to fake some value. The @Poorhammer channel discusses these boxes and compares them. Other hidden price increases come with new models; they are often monoposed and the boxes contain less models or parts than the previous version of that box. Just look at the new and old Orks or Cadians.
You also don't want to buy HQ- or named characters because they often cost as much as a full box of dudes with a nice proxy in it. Why should I buy some leader for 50 bucks when I get a box with a leader and 4 dudes for the same price?
You also may combine AOS models with 40k models - just compare the 40k Ork Meganobz with the AOS Aard Boyz - you get double the amount of miniatures for the same price and they look better too. If someone needs some different bits, those are also sold seperately from Bits-shops.
I just bought a 1500 points Ork army with 28% discount and strategically combine boxes with interchangeable parts to get more squads out of the kits: ruclips.net/video/ezO8rDMcy-s/видео.html
I'd also never pay for 40k rules. I did that twice and the codexes and core rules went further before my army was even ready to be played. Also nobody forces someone to play the very latest rules. Just buy an old core book and old codex and play with that. What is it about the hype train to have the latest and bestest (which is never true)?
Because there are 1000 tournament players in the world you never play with anyways?
GW has great marketing, be careful guys.
And every other company sells paints and tools that are at least as good or even better than those from GW, while being a lot cheaper. Also nobody forces you to follow a special paint scheme and even if you want to, there are paint equivalency charts on the web. So instead of taking Dark Angels Green from GW you take Dark Green from Vallejo, which is the frickin same paint in a bigger bottle and for a lower price. Afair they even manufactured the paints for them for a while.
From my 40k/AoS experience, expect to spend a solid year accumilating everything you need to play the game effectively. Time and money can be significantly reduced if you arent new to model building and painting of course. GW does fortunately makes box sets for nice discounts. When I started I bought every box set that Necrons came in and its done me soo well. My entry into the game was a lot nicer than others. Its why I always tell new players to buy every box set you can find of a faction before getting individual kits. Also one cost effective way to get into Killteam/Warcry along with 40k/AoS is too see if your faction already has a box set for those skirmish games.
I remember the days of 2nd edition 40K.
If memory serves in 1993/1994 it cost me about £25 for the full box which was a good starting point.
With the new ones that contain 2 armies it does make it so if you want one and a friend wants the other, split the cost between you.
I play Kill Team, Got into Bloodbowl and Age of Sigmar (Slaves of Darkness), I tried to find a group of people that play Underworld but its not many groups in Sydney plays it and Warcry, it's so difficult to play and get many people in Warcry events i dont get many games with people
Ngl I've always loved though my friends. Never been able to afford and not until your channel did I have a reason to know the lore as much as I do now.
Thanks for a great video Ian, very useful in helping me start my Warhammer journey!
Aeronautica is a paint to get into now as there isnt a starter set anymore, the one rule book and boards goes out of print all the time. But if you can get a board and rule book, all you need to get into the game is a couple of boxes of aircraft. So to get started you will be looking at about £110. But as writing the board isnt even listed on the GW site, so affectively, GW is selling something that cant be played if you buy direct from them. 3rd party companies are selling neoprene mates but if you are in the UK they are generally from eastern Europe so once you pay customs you will be looking at about £60-70 for a board, increasing the cost to about £160-£170.
It's such a shame as the game is great. Very simple to play but hard to master.
GW need to get the synergies to gether when selling products and make sure that they have all the components needed to play the game available 24-7.
I do think that the starter boxes for 40k and AoS do a good job at keeping costs low. Picking up the Extremis or Elite edition set removes the terrain from the box for $99 USD total to split between yourself and a friend for $44.5 USD each, and you can share in the core rules booklet, and build off of it. For $44.5USD you have a Character and 2 or 3 units for just about 200-300pts per side, quite a bit more on the AoS side, and most army compositions really, really like what's in these boxes. Except Outriders, Outriders are okay
I started this week with Warhammer Underworlds. Thank you for your content.
I love warhammer. The lore, everything. But its the 3d printing comminuty and a cheap airbrush with some paint from the local artshop together with a dozen or so hours on youtube on how to do paintts excetra that made my entry in the hobby possible.
I'm a fan of the lore, I read the book, I've played some of the tabletop RPG's and some of the videogames, but for the life of mine I could never bring myself to play with the minis, on account of my deep hatred for anything requiring me to paint stuff. I now know I could buy prepainted armies from people on the Internet, but by the time this became a viable option I was too old and too busy to get into another hobby.
Excellent video great starter point for someone thinking of getting into the hobby! Also proves its not all that expensive when you think about it.
What was the entry price for Warhammer Fantasy Battle? I know start collecting box set propped up during AoS.
USD, around 2011 for Blood Isle I think it was called- 8th editions starter set with High Elves and Skaven- was $75. Battalion boxes were also $75, and character models in a blister were $12.75. Metal, too. An army book generally ran you $25, but it went up to something absurd like $40 by the end of the edition which they justified because they went to full color and hardback. Rulebook was around $50. 8th edition was genuinely the worst edition of WHFB, though; if we're talking purely cost, 8th was when we really saw the atrocious meta of massive blocks of the cheapest (in points) infantry you could get on the table as per 'the horde' rule. Basically you would take four ranks minimum, because four ranks would net you +3 to combat resolution. However, 'the horde' made it so that any regiment that had ranks of at least 10 models would be able to fight with an additional rank, and because 8th had the rules for 'supporting attacks', meaning that everyone now fought in two ranks, not simply those with spears (although you could only get one attack with the models behind them, which didn't matter because the majority of models only had one attack), this meant that taking a block of 40 infantry arranged 10x4, either as cheap as you could get them or with spears if that wasn't standard, you were fighting with three ranks, or all four with spears.
This was one of the major elements that lead to the decline of Warhammer Fantasy; this meta of monetarily expensive horde infantry blocks that generally were going to price newer players out because these things were tar pits that felt essential. There was, of course, more to it, but I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. Point is, Fantasy got wildly expensive and GW said "Wow, no one is playing Fantasy now. I guess that means they're not interested. Oh well. Trash it." rather than fixing the game.
I will wrote down that slight against Aeronautica players in my tiny flight plan and pass it to 4 or 8 Ork pilots with Apocalypse-scale planes and they will bomb your two favourite bridges.
I just started out, got the vashtorr set, combat patrolle, paint and gear, around 400 - 500 $ spent
The way I tend to think is in terms of entertainment value. A box that costs $200 US but I spend 10 hours a week assembling and painting for 12 weeks (about how long Cursed City took me) costs me about $1.67 per hour of entertainment before we even get to the time playing the game, enjoying the books, etc.
"This suggested list from... eurgh, SpikeyBits" - yeah, harsh but entirely fair, lol!
also aeronutica might be a thing but when was the last time we got plastic release so that plane have flown