Doing 40k on the cheap

Dartz

Then wheres at whens and what's to buy...

First of all, with the exchange rate (Today at about 95P to the Euro) nearing 1:1, and GW calculating it's Euro prices based on the £1:€1.3 rate from a while back, you'd be mad not to go up to the North if you're making any large amount of Purchases.

Good example:
1x Baneblade
Leman Russ
20x Cadians
Heavy Weapons Squad
Spraypaint.
Gun Dice.

In Ireland, that'd be about 200+ Euro... maybe a bit more.
In GW Belfast, it was around 130-140 pounds, IIRC. (They were out of Battleforces, otherwise it would've been even cheaper).

Busfare was 22 euro return. That is a massive saving right there, and If I'd had more cash to hand, or they'd had a the Cadian battleforce in stock, I'dve saved a good deal more.

Second. I buy my brushes at Easons, and glue at Marks Models on Hawkins street. Easons Artists' Acrylic brushes are heavier and thicker than GW brushes, and they feel better to use. GW brush left bristles all over my older Baneblade, Easons brush isn't. (They also last better beneath the teeth of a compulsive chewer.)

I bought my modelling knife at Easons too. Cheap, cheerful. Sharp as hell with a set of different blades. And, it can be sharpened on an oilstone.

Anyone else got any other suggestiions?

Phototoxin

move to warmachine.. cheaper minis =p

Erm, convert stuff... a lot of my wood elf army is plastic.. way watchers = 'scouty' glade guard with extra camo, I converted treekin from dryads and scratch build a treeman.

For 40K I dont know as I'm not really into that scene at the minute. Fantasy and hopefully warmachine soon

Dont diss older models perhaps ? Some can be gotten on the cheap.

Warmaster

GW do their conversion in store at 1 pound = 1.50 euro

Phototoxin

they are also the only company I know of to put up their euro prices in light of a weak pound. I'm told the reasoning is that if its £10 for something and the euro is worth 50p then the euro price is €20, but if the euro becomes worth 75p then they put up the EURO price so that they get the equivilant pounds. It makes no logical sense but thats what I was told a few years back in GW.

*head asplodes*

Dartz

I actually asked about the prices in a GW, if they would be dropping to match and was told it was fixed at 1.3, and that they weren't allowed consistently track the exchange rate. It's fixed across all North Europe. When it was fixed, it was at the right exchange rate. That said, I remember when the punt was at a similar level to the Euro is right now, and they used to charge the exact same prices in Punt as Sterling. They lost a few P per sale compared, but it seemed like things cost more sensible money.

Now, it's just horrifically unjustifiable.

Unless you shipped the things by airmail with lead packing...

ttcomet

Why not just shop from 40kempire (recently changed name to wargamesempire.com) or wayland games, you get about 25% off the RRP plus the current savings with the weak pound? I think 40K has a max shipping of 35 and Wayland is 15 (free if you spend over 500 ).

If nothing else Wayland have this rather cool looking if slightly illegal (build wise) bundle.

There are a load of others as well with similar prices. The only problem is you will have to wait longer to receive them.

Edit: For the models and dice it would have been 113 sterling including shipping from Wayland. You are not supposed to send propellants in the mail so I did not included the spray paint.

Mantel

ttcomet wrote: »

If nothing else Wayland have this rather cool looking if slightly illegal (build wise) bundle.

it would be useful for an Apoc game. One of the last white dwarf's had an apoc formation with just deathwind drop pods.

VonLuck

I'm surprised no one mentions MaelstromGames don't get a mention much here. They offer a 10-15% discount, it's in pounds so you get the good conversion rate, plus Free Delivery on pretty much everything....

Lemming

Dartz wrote: »

I actually asked about the prices in a GW, if they would be dropping to match and was told it was fixed at 1.3, and that they weren't allowed consistently track the exchange rate. It's fixed across all North Europe. When it was fixed, it was at the right exchange rate. That said, I remember when the punt was at a similar level to the Euro is right now, and they used to charge the exact same prices in Punt as Sterling. They lost a few P per sale compared, but it seemed like things cost more sensible money.

Now, it's just horrifically unjustifiable.

Unless you shipped the things by airmail with lead packing...

I've heard this argument elsewhere and in fairness to GW this is all to do with accountancy practices that you will find are the norm not just for GW but across a lot of companies with branches across the UK & the Eurozone.

They set the conversion rates in cycles. So their rate gets stuck at x for n months and doesn't change (bar something drastically bad happening that sees them haemorrhaging money) until the next cycle, whereby the conversion rate gets set again.

I'm not defending GW's pricing structure but I think a lot of you are blaming the messenger for the king's message so to speak (i.e. it's out of the particular shop's hands)

Phototoxin

VonLuck wrote: »

I'm surprised no one mentions MaelstromGames don't get a mention much here. They offer a 10-15% discount, it's in pounds so you get the good conversion rate, plus Free Delivery on pretty much everything....

The Drogheda Gamers club offers 20% and its 25% off in january if I remember correctly. No one mentions them here either.

commandant

dose anybody know where I could get the old empire troops as the new ones look a little foolish when the have a slashing weapon rather than a spear weapon

themurphyfella

commandant wrote: »

dose anybody know where I could get the old empire troops as the new ones look a little foolish when the have a slashing weapon rather than a spear weapon

Ebay is probably your best bet if you're looking for the older plastics

Which version and weapons are you looking to pick up?

elbrop

I'm just ordered the Assault on Black Reach boxset for €40.32 from http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk. They don't charge any P&P anywhere in the world, which is nice. They claim to match or better any other uk site.

The cheapest I could find that boxset in Ireland was €50 (from www.modelsinc.ie) and that's before P&P.

This will be the first thing I've ordered from them so will report back when it arrives to confirm prompt delivery and condition. If they are good I think I'll grab a demon prince for €18.14

(Also handy, they have a button to convert all their prices to Euro.)

Dartz

I understand it's out of his hands, but I'm surprised at how long they're holding onto it. It depends on how long/how far their cycle is, but the rate's held steady since the Euro conversion. But I suppose, it isnt costing them any money.

I preordered a Shadowsword from my LGS paying full whack for the bloody thing... because I was too lazy to rally up North mid-semester.

elbrop

elbrop wrote: »

I'm just ordered the Assault on Black Reach boxset for €40.32 from http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk. They don't charge any P&P anywhere in the world, which is nice. They claim to match or better any other uk site.

The cheapest I could find that boxset in Ireland was €50 (from www.modelsinc.ie) and that's before P&P.

This will be the first thing I've ordered from them so will report back when it arrives to confirm prompt delivery and condition. If they are good I think I'll grab a demon prince for €18.14

(Also handy, they have a button to convert all their prices to Euro.)

Well I ordered it on the 12th. For some reason it took them till the 17th to change the order from processed to packaged. It's now the 23rd. If it doesn't arrive today I will assume the worst.

Will update when/if I learn more.

Mantel

elbrop wrote: »

Well I ordered it on the 12th. For some reason it took them till the 17th to change the order from processed to packaged. It's now the 23rd. If it doesn't arrive today I will assume the worst.

Will update when/if I learn more.

It's like ording from play. Once they say it's send you just have to wait for it to turn up. I put a small order in with them to see what they're like on the 10th of feb. It got completed and posted on the 12th or 13th and there was no sign of it last week, I have my fingers crossed for today!

ttcomet

I put an order in with them on the 14th and it turned up this morning. Although I was careful to only order items they had in stock. Lots of new paint and brushes for me

On the other hand I ordered of 40kempire(wargamesempire) on the 2nd and I am still waiting to get all the items, he left me short one box in the order.

elbrop

Checking their website they do say that if something doesn't arrive after two months they'll replace it.

Well here's hoping it's just a slow delivery.

Phototoxin

Theres Project Hydra in the UK - www.wargamesonline.co.uk

Free EU P&P and 10% off the first order if you use Hydra1986 (I think). Also I got a warmachine Nightmare for £15 and saved a bucket vs irish prices

So I can reccomend them aswell. +1


They do GW minis at 10% off but there's no P&P so I dont know how that works out compared to other places that are 15% off but with P&P. Also there's the sterling saving aswell.

Leman_Russ

Indeed. one of the huge things ive noticed with these 25% off stores is the huge PnP, to the point where I may as well get a Train to Belfast.

A site I would recomend is http://www.totalwargamer.co.uk/ 10% off minimum, 15% off anything £50 or more iirc and a Flat €5 shipping fee to Ireland whether you buy a single blister or half the shop!

Phototoxin

sweet leman

Leman_Russ

yup, another good place for deals is ebay, especialy if you wanna start orks, since the AoBR orks are dead sexy (the marines look aweful imo)

I was able to Pick up 80 ork Boyz and a Warboss for Under €50. Thats like 60c a model. Its kinda insane!

elbrop

elbrop wrote: »

I'm just ordered the Assault on Black Reach boxset for €40.32 from http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk. They don't charge any P&P anywhere in the world, which is nice. They claim to match or better any other uk site.

The cheapest I could find that boxset in Ireland was €50 (from www.modelsinc.ie) and that's before P&P.

This will be the first thing I've ordered from them so will report back when it arrives to confirm prompt delivery and condition. If they are good I think I'll grab a demon prince for €18.14

(Also handy, they have a button to convert all their prices to Euro.)

Update:
Good news, my order arrived today. While it took longer than I would have hoped it did arrive within their delivery estimation (1-3weeks from the date they mailed it)

The condition of the box set is perfect and I have no hesitation from ordering from them again in the future.

Phototoxin

The scientist in me said to do an experiment. So here it is based on an idea for Tau. Keep in mind that this could be mapped to most armies in as prices are reasonably standardised. (I guess nids replace the tanks for carnifexes!) It works out at about 1750pts which is standard enough.

Anyway sample army:

Codex Tau
Battle Force x 2 [crisis suit, 3 stealth suits, drones, devilfish, 12 firewarriors 12 kroot (all x2)]
3 pathfinders
3 pathfinders w/rail rifles
2 Skyray Missile ships [you can build them as hammerheads either ]
2 Broadsides
Crisis Commander (to get all the funky weapons)

However in terms of other armies you could say (for example with chaos): codex, battleforcex2, 6 raptors, preditor, vindicator, oblitiorators and commander and it would work out the same-ish I would expect in terms of points and E/£

All prices will include Vat as most of us plebs will be paying it !

Right firstly themodelshack.com, they only had some of the above in stock and it cost £165 ex-shippin and was still sans a codex and pathfinders - not good

Project Hydra [wargamesonline.co.uk]; £203.70, inc Shipping (which is free)

wargamesempire.com; £189.75, Inc Shipping (which is £25)

Wayland Games; £185.96 inc courier shipping (which is £15)

Maelstrom; £199.58 inc shipping (which is free)
They also claim that they will match anywhere else so tis possible that they would do it for £164.75 (wargamesempire minus shipping?) So I'm going to pop them an email

Totalwargamer.co.uk £204.66 inc shipping (which is £5)

On the face of it Wayland games seems the cheapest including everything however the acutal miniatures themselves are cheaper at wargames empire BUT as mentioned Maelstrom claim that they will price match...

oniondublin

instead of getting on the train to belfast, why not just buy online on the GW site and just choose store pick-up for free P&P? you pay in pounds and so make huge savings. i've done it a few times for the liffey street GW in the last few months. the shop get their deliveries on a wednesday so average wait is a week and a bit.

magicianz

Not only finding cheap places to buy but making and converting models also! I find with my tow i gather a lot of spare parts - except torsos! So if u find a way to hide this fact you can make models from spare parts! I put my tau lying down nd covered the missing parts with mini homemade tents with legs arms and guns and heads sticking out-ill post pics later

Phototoxin

I ordered from wayland games... maelstrom never got back to me either which is a pity as I know people who reccomend them heartily.
I saved over 130 euro from getting the same in a GW shop and about 75 euro from getting it from UK gw [that's including the P&P]. Just to share


Lemming if thats not OK to say can you let me know?

Also buying models that are plastic and converting them 'kitbashing' is a good and efficent way to get minis that are otherwise rediculously expensive.

Seraphicblue

Aye, for tau you can just cut off the grenade launchers on a carbine and stick it on top of another and shazam! pathfinders

Warmaster

cheers photoxin for all the info as regards different companies I just advanced ordered something from Wayland, their customer service is quite good so far let's just see how fast they can deliver

Phototoxin

Well I ordered ze army on : Mar 23 at 15:35. I've been in touch and they are waiting for something to come in from GW but it should be shipped today. Its courier so in the happy ideal world I would have gotten it on friday but I'm guessing monday. So we'll see. Keep me posted too warmaster!

elbrop

Phototoxin did your order arrive ok? I've just been looking at their prices and they seem a bit too good to be true.

mcgarnicle

elbrop wrote: »

Phototoxin did your order arrive ok? I've just been looking at their prices and they seem a bit too good to be true.

I'd also like to know... has anyone used Wayland? I am thinking of making an order and would love to hear how people got on with them.

elbrop

mcgarnicle wrote: »

I'd also like to know... has anyone used Wayland? I am thinking of making an order and would love to hear how people got on with them.

I decided to do a test run with Wayland Games and ordered a modeling tool set. Their price (including p&p) was €22, next cheapest I could find was Maelstrom Games at €30 (with free p&p).

The order went smoothly and the tool set arrived within the week, which was nice.

With larger orders it seems that what you save on the individual models you pay in P&P, making it a toss up between them and Maelstrom on pure cost. However the Wayland P&P is Courier instead of airmail so it should mean faster, more reliable delivery.

I think I'll be ordering about €60 worth of stuff next. I'll let you know how it goes.

TheLastBaron

When ya order from the GW website, is your order converted directly into € at the proper exchange rate or do they charge you the Irish prices?

elbrop

I have an account with the GW site so I tested how their online store holds up. First I can confirm they charge UK prices and not their Irish ones, so that's ok. Or so it seems.

Below is the cost of ordering a Tyranid Hive Tyrant. On their site it lists as £29.35.

Merchandise Total:£31.01
Standard Shipping: £6.34
Value Added Tax(Included in)
- Merchandise:£5.49
- Shipping: £1.12
Order Total:£37.35

A few things to note: Yep, they use that old trick of listing everything without VAT till you get to the checkout. More interestingly the basic (pre VAT) price suddenly becomes £31.01. No idea why and as such I would consider it very dodgy.

The only redeeming thing GW do is give you the option of having your order shipped to your local GW store, where you can collect it at your convenience and not pay shipping charges.

Next lets compare them to some rivals mentioned in this thread already

Total Costs for ordering hive Tyrant (in Euro) inc. P&P
Games Workshop: €41.40
Maelstrom Games: €30.24
Wayland Games: €30.43
Models Inc: Don't list any Tyranid models on their site. Oh well.

All in all I would not recommend ordering directly from GW.

TheLastBaron

Thanks, ya cleared up things for me, there.

Jesus, kinda getting more pissed off with GW by the day... It's just such a rip-off. I'd really like to start collecting again, it's just such a financially daunting prospect.

If I do end up collecting again, I think I'm gonna head up to GW Belfast to take advantage of the exchange rate.

elbrop

re: my order with wayland
I placed an order for two boxes of deamonettes and a rhino on the 18th. After finally getting the stock from GW they listed it as shipping out a few days ago. I just found out that apparently they didn't in fact ship it as I hadn't supplied a postcode.

Yeah, a postcode in Ireland...

They said they emailed me about this but I certainly didn't get it (and I have gotten all their other emails).

Not very happy with them right now.

EDIT: Found the missing email, for some reason it had been nabbed by my Junk filter. Annoying!

Warmaster

wayland apparently shipped my order thursday should be here in a day or so hopefully

Warmaster

TheLastBaron wrote: »

Thanks, ya cleared up things for me, there.

Jesus, kinda getting more pissed off with GW by the day... It's just such a rip-off. I'd really like to start collecting again, it's just such a financially daunting prospect.

If I do end up collecting again, I think I'm gonna head up to GW Belfast to take advantage of the exchange rate.

seriosuly just order online man it's much cheaper!

elbrop

After thinking my problems with my order were sorted, it turns out wayland uses ****ing morons as couriers. Just got this email

Hello there,

We are emailing you to update you on your order status.

We have attempted shipping of your order, but unfortunately, our courier service has returned your package to us, stating that they cannot deliver to an address with no postcode. We know the situation in Ireland, but unfortunately they haven’t been able to help us in this case. We are sending your order back out to you via Royal Mail International Signed for post, it was picked up this morning, please let us know when it arrives with you. We will be refunding you your original shipping costs to compensate you for the inconvenience.

Regards,

Adam

Warmaster

Order arrived in perfect condition on tueday, given the bank holiday that means it took two working days to arrive. Very impressed I will be using them again.

@Elbrop, it sounds like Wayland are making a good effort to get their goods to you

Crónhóle

I'll have to give wayland a gander then, cheap is my middle name