Return on Investment in the 40K Hobby

[Chaoschrist]

For me, I've always been of the mind that this is just something I put my spare money into because I enjoy it. Like with anything you enjoy, there is a price that you have to pay.

But if you enjoy 2 things equally (in terms of "feeling"), you can still look what gives you most value for your money. Of course there's a variable of "but if it's more expensive I might enjoy it less" and all, but just in terms of "I like both games equal, how much does it cost me to get in either, how much money does it require for me to keep at it?" that's the price you still can wonder.

I don't think the OP is talking "the fun factor"... it's probably more of a "how can I maximize the fun factor with my money".

[Kevin48220]

To an extent, certainly. The reality is (as has been pointed out in this thread) that any gaming habit can be expensive, depending on how far down the rabbit hole one wants to go.

Part of my reason for posting this was that I was talking to a friend of mine a few weeks ago, and the subject of 40K came up. He commented that my 40K hobby must be "really expensive" and that he didn't understand why I painted models for 6 months before I'd even played my first game (I was waiting for 6th edition to drop before playing).

I was a bit surprised, b/c he's one of those guys who will get two booster boxes of every MTG set when it's released, and then hunt for the rares he wants. From my point of view, his hobby is really expensive. But, we talked and it came down to something else that has been mentioned here--the initial investment to get into 40K is pretty steep once you add the cost of the rulebooks to a small set of models. He just couldn't get his head around the fact that I'd been into the hobby side of 40K for months before starting to play.

What does this mean? You got me; it certainly shows that we gamers are quirky, and that perceptions of value and return on investment are idiosyncratic at best. Given how much I'd enjoyed modelling and painting my C:SM models, I almost feel like I got my money's worth out of just painting them, and getting to play games with them is pure profit.

[Durendin]

Sweeping with a broad brush here but table-top war-gaming as a whole isn't exactly a cheap hobby but within the remit of table-top there is indeed a scale of costs based on the games.

Disregarding painting and background (which I consider to be relatively equal in costs regardless of the companies partaking) the base cost of Warhammer and 40K is definitely at the expensive end of the scale of the hobby simply based on a "boots on the ground" cost comparison, but such is the remit of the seller.

That said (and as previously mentioned) the cost overall depends on how much you want to spend. With 40K a Marine army bought back 20 years ago in Rogue Trader times is more likely than not just as playable today as what you'll find in-store. So other than the occasional update there's no need to go daft. Handled carefully this can be as cheap as chips.

[Kevin48220]

That said (and as previously mentioned) the cost overall depends on how much you want to spend. With 40K a Marine army bought back 20 years ago in Rogue Trader times is more likely than not just as playable today as what you'll find in-store. So other than the occasional update there's no need to go daft. Handled carefully this can be as cheap as chips.

That's key, not going too crazy with getting more models. I've had to deprogram myself from the CCG model of "more is better" and focus on my codex--i.e., looking at what specific models I need and don't have, and determining what bits I need to get to make them. Even down to deciding on which and/or how many models to get, this is a thinking person's game.

[aleyland]

Ultimately the GW is costly, but dependent on how deeply you buy into it.. One army, limited to a certain size, wont wipe you out financially, but that goes without saying for any miniature hobby. If you're ok with the limits you set for yourself you'll get a decent return on your investment, as it were.. That said, if you start collecting massive or multiple armies, I would think that "return" starts to diminish some as you end up with models/armies competing for your time spent with them. As some have said though, things like magic cards end up costing a lot, and ending up collecting dust on the shelf. So it's all relative regardless of what you play..

Even if you were into off road cycling or paintball or some organized sport, it all can spiral up to cost you a decent amount of money in equipment, leagues, field use, etc.. That said, if you're getting enjoyment out of a hobby or pastime and it's not breaking you financially, then IMO you're getting a decent return on your investment