The Price of Revolution

This costs how much??

This post is Dangerous.

I saw a post on TMP about how much does an army cost and it got me thinking (a dangerous pastime, I know).  Now today we have a post about the costs of starting a new genre in wargaming.   NEWS FLASH; this silly little hobby is expensive.   In OTHER NEWS, water found to make people wet.

But SSShhhhhh, don’t tell the wife. 

Not that she reads this blog anyways.  She knows I have it.  But she’s never gone “Hey, I really liked your last blog post.  It reminded me of how funny and attractive you are; (/seductive voice) COME TO ME.”

 Link to the TMP page if so inclined: TMP

 

Buying Frenzy:

Like many wargamers, I already have a decent collection of miniatures, rulebooks, and terrain; so when I do buy stuff, I’m just adding to a previously started project.    Therefore the purchases tend to be in smaller batches; a box or blister of miniatures here, some terrain there; modest amounts. I don’t like the lead pile to grow unchecked.  This tends not to be super expensive because the initial set up costs have all been paid. 

It’s been forever since I started a new game project from scratch like I have with this 28mm AWI project.  Mostly scratch, I have some appropriate 28mm terrain because my dark ages and LOTR collection is in 28mm; fields, roads, and some trees.  But nothing else. 

With an upcoming pay cut for all of us state workers I been doing a lot of my discretionary spending now, before it’s too late.  In a few months I might not be able to buy my family the nicer things, but we can all have some comfort in my new, totally awesome AWI miniature collection.  (That last bit makes me sound selfish, I should talk to my editorial staff).   Usually these costs are way more spread out and therefore obscure.  Yet being in a buying frenzy and rapidly making purchases brings it all to light. Which just goes to show, when one is too busy to paint and cannot play games, one will always find time to shop. 

 

The dangerous bit: How much does starting a new period really cost? 

I broke down the spending into categories, then rounded the costs to friendly numbers for easy maths.  Then there is some witty commentary on how this cost could be adjusted.  Prices include shipping to my house because ain’t nobody shopping in person during these days of pandemic... 

Rules:

Musket and Tomahawks II Rule bundle: Main rule book, AWI supplement book and card deck, and tokens: $70

You need rules to play a genre by.  I bought this through a pre-order and so got a small discount.  I don’t think $70 is an outrageous amount to pay for a modern day rule set.  Regardless of the rules themselves, the books are of high quality.  

Miniatures:

Brigade Miniatures AWI British: $100 for 48 miniatures

Brigade Miniatures AWI dirty revolting colonists Americans: $160 for 78 miniatures.

This is a steep cost.  BG miniatures are rather on the pricey side at $2 a miniature.   There is a 10% discount but that really just cancels out the shipping costs.  There are cheaper options out there that could bring down this cost.  I went with BG for a couple of reasons:

I wanted the British to be in the 1768 warrant uniform.  The uniform we all think of when we say Redcoat.  I know that realistically/historically this uniform went by the wayside rather quickly in the AWI in favor of lighter modifications.  But I wanted turnbacks and large cuffs dammit. 

And while I don’t have anything against plastic miniatures, I just like metal ones better.  If anything it saves me the step of building them.  Though plastic is much cheaper.  Everyone goes with Perry Miniatures for the AWI, and I wanted miniatures different from everyone else.  (Though the plastic Perry box set of AWI British infantry is in the 1768 warrant uniform, but I wanted more variety of poses, but I bet I’ll pick up a box eventually). 

And most importantly, BG was open for business during this pandemic. 

Another preference of mine that raised the cost was for dirty rebel patriotic militia.  Using Militia always means needing more figures, because their quality is in the quantity.  If I had gotten more continental line infantry the cost would be less. 

Small pile of Continental Infantry on the right,
LARGE pile of Militia on the left.

I am though, overall very pleased with my purchase and really like the miniatures now that I’ve painted up a few.    

Bases:

BG Miniatures do not come with bases, so I ordered some.  

Shogun Miniatures 25mm round magnet bases.  $40 for 150 bases. 

I could of gone cheaper with plastic or fender washers, but have plans for how I am gonna store these miniatures and how I eventually want to use them in large units.  So I wanted magnet bases.

Plus, with Magnet Bases I can make troops march up the fridge.
Just to demonstrate that magnets work.

 

Terrain (didn’t have much to start)

Battlefield Terrain Concepts fences kits: $65 for 3 bags (each is supposed to make 5 feet).

Future Fences.
15 fifteen feet might sound like a lot,
but from prior experience I know it's not for a wargame table.

Sarissa Precision North American Buildings: $100 for 5 buildings

I don't have the building yet, and with shipping from the UK to USA being what it is these days, don't suspect that I will anytime soon so no pic...

Naturally I didn't need to buy 5 buildings all at once.  I just figured that I'd want 5 eventually so might as well get them all at once so I can make homesteads or villages versus just having a single house here or there in the woods.   

Total:

$535 without even playing the a game yet. 

This is not a humble brag.  I genuinely find this stuff interesting and it’s a side of the hobby that we don’t talk about much.  We all come from different SES and have different amounts we can afford.  The costs of wargaming is one of the daunting aspects that keeps people out of the hobby or even out of a particular style or period of play.  I have often heard that the rise of skirmish games is due in part to the cost of acquiring large armies.  

I generally don't have a strict hobby budget.  I tend to get what I want when I want; mainly because I am a grown man with a decent job and my hobby is literally the only place in my life where I am able to do that.  Everywhere else in life is compromise.  However, I'm also generally responsible and am not a spendthrift.  But this is clearly a large investment and goes to illustrate how expensive starting a new miniature project can be.  And why these days I don't just start new genres without serious thought for a few years.  And believe it or not, it's out of character for me to get so much so quickly.  It's the old experiment; get everything at once and see of you can paint it all before going on to something else.  How often have we tried that int the past? 

Though, I have been known to focus on genre for a lengthy amount of time. 

Or maybe it's a symptom of this Pandemic.  In any case, this genre might well cover my spending for the rest of year.  Unless something really cool comes along.  Or maybe if I actually do paint it all,  I'll get myself a small reward. 

Besides, during the pandemic I've been saving a lot of money on haircuts...

This is my COVID look

Thanks for reading.  See you again soon with a hobby update.