Tag: challenge

  • Finish your backlog with the Warhammer Mindful Spending Challenge 2025

    Finish your backlog with the Warhammer Mindful Spending Challenge 2025

    Is it just me, or does everyone else have lots of Warhammer lying around the house that never gets painted? Join the Warhammer Mindful Spending Challenge and you’ll smash through your pile of shame.

    Warhammer can be an expensive hobby. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. It is easy to get swept in the hype release cycle that Games Workshop likes to force on us hobbyists. It is also very easy to go out and buy a box of miniatures. Unfortunately, it takes way more time and effort to get that box fully painted and ready to play. And so the grey pile keeps growing in your cupboard, collecting dust and occupying space. So this year I have decided to create the Warhammer mindful spending challenge 2025.

    Hot on the heels of last year’s NO Warhammer challenge, I decided to repeat the challenge and formalise it a little better. The ultimate goal behind this challenge was to help me to reduce (somewhat!) my backlog of miniatures.

    Why a Warhammer mindful spending challenge?

    Thundrik's Profiteers warband with a Zenithal Highlight for the game Warhammer Underworlds
    The next warband on the bench for my Warhammer Underworlds Collection

    The main reasons why I’m doing this mindful spending challenge are:

    • Combat FOMO
    • I already have a lot of Warhammer
    • I love to look at my collection of painted miniatures
    • Save money
    • Declutter space and clear my backlog

    This is why I’m going to stick to it this year as well.

    Combating FOMO is definitely up there. Game Workshop releases a lot of stuff often. It’s impossible to keep up with even a single game system. Combine that with all their hype cycles and FOMO boxes. You can see that it can be stressful at times. You end up with purchases that you don’t actually need. This challenge will remind me not to fall for them!

    I have so many Warhammer miniatures already that I don’t really need to buy more either. They occupy a lot of space too! So this challenge will help me clear my space, having more models painted and saving money. It’s a win win win for me!

    The rules for this mindful spending challenge allow to buy some miniatures. However, it doesn’t allow me to buy all of them all the time. Exercising willpower to not buy things all the time can be tiring. Allowing some purchases during the year helps recharge your batteries. And it’s fun!

    The Rules

    The essence of the challenge can be summarized as not buying new miniatures until all the current ones are painted. However, it does have a more flexible spin to it.

    Subdivide your collection into “mini collections” first. This is the bed rock of the challenge. Once you have done so, the rules are these:

    1. You have to paint all your miniatures in a mini collection before buying new miniatures for that given collection.
    2. You can sell miniatures to reduce the size of a mini collection.
    3. Gifts are allowed. Birthdays, Christmas and such occasions should allow joy in our lives as we battle our pile of grey. Gifts do not to follow any of the rules in this list (except this one!).
    4. You cannot start any new games systems.
    5. You can start a new game system if you finish one mini collection. Painted all your Necromunda? Go head, you can start Blood Bowl now.

    Let’s see what I mean by dividing your Warhammer collection into “mini collections”.

    Subdivide Your Collection

    The miniatures of Treebeard, Gandalf and Bilbo from the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game from Games Workshop
    My fully painter Lord of the Rings miniatures collection 😉

    A “mini collection” is a subset of your existing collection. You’ll divide your collection in many mini sets. When completing one, you are allowed to go ahead and buy something new. The criteria for subdividing things is up to you. As long as discrete boundaries are well defined, you’re good to go.

    As a few examples, your collection can be divided by:

    • Game systems
    • Factions
    • Army list
    • Model types

    The game systems method works well for skirmish games, as it’s easier to have all your warbands painted. For example, you need to have all your Warcry painted before buying more. In my case, all my Underworlds warbands need painting before I’m allowed to get more.

    For big scale games like Warhammer 40k I prefer the faction/army list method. It gives more wiggle room for your spending! For instance, after painting 2000 points worth of Space Marines, you can go out and buy something new.

    The Model types version can be used if you have an eclectic collection. Many all vehicles? or all monsters. If you are for a challenge, maybe a subset is all the chaff units!

    Warhammer mindful spending challenge 2025 let’s go!

    I hope this challenge inspired you to paint lots of Warhammer this year while keeping your wallet safe.

    I did this same challenge myself last year, albeit it was less structured. Head over to my Warhammer Challenge end of year recap post to read how it went. It’s a good example because it shows how it can help you paint more of your Warhammer collection.

    I’d love to know if you will be taking part. Or if you have any feedback, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments. Good luck to you all!

  • The NO Warhammer challenge recap for 2024

    The NO Warhammer challenge recap for 2024

    Last year I set a challenge for myself to not buy any Warhammer miniatures. It was my personal Warhammer challenge for 2024. It’s now the end of the year and I decided to review the past 12 months. I wanted to see how the challenge helped me against my pile of miniatures.

    Overall, the NO Warhammer challenge didn’t go badly. The whole idea of the challenge is to divide your miniatures collection into discrete sets determined by specific criteria, i.e. all the miniatures for one faction. You cannot buy any miniatures that meet those criteria. First, you must paint all your existing collection of that set.

    This worked pretty well for me because it allowed me to buy some bits without going crazy. It also forced me to finish what I had before buying new stuff. Sometimes it just prevented me from buying anything altogether. So let’s see what happened in 2024.

    Gitz Gitz Gitz

    I planned to focus on a primary set this year. My goal was to finish my Gloomspite Gitz for Age of Sigmar. This project involved finishing an impressive army. It’s an army which counts over 50 models and a massive piece of terrain. And that’s just the 2000 points I had in mind – there is more that’s still grey! Given my painting speed I’m super pleased to finally have an army fully painted. This is, hands down, the biggest achievement of my hobby life because :

    • I never ever had an army in the first place
    • Never ever had a fully painted one at that.

    Now, the viability of the army it’s a whole different kettle of fish. I took so long to paint that the 4th edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar came out. This rendered the squigs completely useless.

    Moonstone

    The Moonstone boxsets for the Mushrooms and Mayhem and Ribald

    Moonstone was another game which was its own set. If you haven’t already, please check out the game as it’s incredibly fun! I painted some characters of the Goblins (obviously) faction. They are super fun. I didn’t manage to completely finish the collection before buying some more. Due to time commitments and a game that was scheduled, I had to buy a couple more minis for it. However, the last miniature before the purchase was about 70% complete so I’ll give myself a pass.

    Warhammer Underworlds

    The Brethren of the Bolt sprue that comes with the Warhammer Underworlds Wintermaw boxset

    At the beginning of the year I set myself to paint my Wurmspat Nurgle Underworlds warband. Suffice to say that I haven’t got around to it. Game Workshop released so many Underworlds boxes that I pretty much checked out and lost interest. Until the new edition was announced.

    I really like the Brethren of the Bolt warband. However, I knew I couldn’t buy it. Not all my Underworlds stuff was painted. And so I came up with a grand plan: sell what I have, then get what I want.

    And so I managed to stay within the boundaries of my Warhammer challenge. My set was complete so I was allowed to buy new stuff!

    Some Sylvaneth

    The Arch Revenant box for the Sylvaneth army in Warhammer Age of Sigmar

    I went to my first ever Warhammer tournament at Warhammer World this year. I had a blast. It was an incredible experiece (thanks Tim for inviting me!).

    I played against Jimbo’s amazing Sylvaneth army. For those who do not know, Jimbo is one of Age of Sigmar’s designers. His army was gloriously painted. This, combined with the hype of being at the event, made me buy some Sylvaneth to take home. I purchased one Arch Revenant to try some paint schemes.

    Concluding the NO Warhammer challenge

    In the end I didn’t quite stuck to the rules. I broke the challenge with both Moonstone and Age of Sigmar. Thankfully I didn’t break it by much, and that was the whole point of the challenge.

    I’m looking forward to repeating it for 2025. Keep an eye out for the next post, where I’ll formalize the rules so that you can take part yourself!

  • The NO Warhammer Year Challenge

    The NO Warhammer Year Challenge

    Hello friends, and welcome to another article where I challenge myself (and you the readers!) to not buy any Warhammer for the whole of 2024. Smash the NO warhammer year challenge and you’ll be titled master of your own destiny.

    You’ll receive a cookie as a reward.

    Why no warhammer for a year?

    In my previous article I mentioned how I want to tackle my backlog, and well. My backlog is big enough – I could buy no miniatures for years and still have some grey plastic lying around my home. I feel this is a state that many hobbyists in the Warhammer sphere share. I know that some of you out there love your pile of unfinished plastic, and that’s fine. If you like it that way, more power to you.

    Personally, having lots of unpainted Warhammer minis stresses me out. At the same time I like buying new models as much as the next guy, so you can see how these two aspects can create tension in my life.

    This said, I think that my Warhammer collection is big enough (and old enough), that if I were to pick a box at random from it, it would feel like it’s new and I’d get the same buzz of buying from a shop.

    Basically, I may be able to recreate that shop experience in my own home, meaning I won’t need to go out of my way to spend my money on yet more models.

    A mindful approach

    Secondly, I want to be more mindful and more intentional with my wargaming hobby in 2024, especially when it comes to Warhammer. I love Game Workshop products, and I’ll never stop following and being excited about the next new releases. And yet, I don’t like the aggressive release schedule that Warhammer has at the moment.

    A new set of pre-orders every week is just too much for me. I feel that this is at the detriment of the hobby and takes away from the enjoyment of it. As an example, just in the last couple months we’ve had the christmas boxes, Legion Imperialis and now Warhammer: The Old World just went to pre-order!

    How does the NO Warhammer Year Challenge work?

    Here are the rules:

    • Cannot buy anything for a faction or game system if you already own miniatures for it.
    • You can only buy more miniatures from the same faction or game system if you have no unpainted models left in that faction/system.
    • You cannot start any new factions or game systems.

    I think this set of rules is tight enough but also loose enough to not feel like a burden to me in the next 12 months.

    How would it work in practice?

    As an example, the new system won’t allow me to buy any more Gloomspite Gitz until all that I own is painted. At the same time I cannot start a new army, so it’ll force me to stick with the green skins!

    On the other hand, since I’ve painted all of my Lord of the Rings miniatures, I am allowed to get something new for it.

    Another example is that I won’t be able to buy more Star Wars Shutterpoint until my collection is painted, and I won’t be able to buy into a new game system like Kings of War.

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    The plan

    Of course my big item is to carry on with the Gloomspite Gitz, and sprinkle in there a few smaller collections. These are:

    • My Moonstone warband – 4 models
    • 2 Shatterpoint squads – 8 models
    • Blood Bowl Skaven team + Rat Ogre + mutated skaven – 16 models
    • Wurmspat Underworlds warband – 3 models

    Finishing one of these 4 collections would allow me to buy something new for it. For instance a new Underworlds warband (best model GW products btw), or a cheeky Blood Bowl team.

    Some of my Gloomspite Gitz collection, send help.

    Conclusions – NO Warhammer year Challenge

    There you have it, this is my personal NO Warhammer Year Challenge.

    I’m doing this because I want to reduce my growing backlog of unpainted minis and be more mindful in my hobby and spending. This way I’ll live a more intentional hobby life and have completed collections at the same time.

    What do you think of this Challenge? Will you be trying the same? Or maybe you are just happy as it is? Let me know in the comments!

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