Giving it all up? Why not?

[grant]

I think it was Correus who brought this up. But it's got me really thinking - what if I did cut my collection down to just one period? How much simpler would my life be? Given that I had to take a break from Naps this week and do 6mm and also 1:2400 naval, could I really do it?

I think I will actually consider this, and pare the collection down.

Options:

Rules/Period
a. Black Powder
b. Pike & Shotte
c. Cold War Moderns (GHQ Micro Armour)
d. WWII (Flames of War) (Bolt Action - upcoming)
e. Trafalgar
f. some other random rules and things.

Collections in size
1. Napoleonic French - around 1000 figures
2. Sudan by Perry - both sides, enough to game the whole thing
3. ECW - a decent sized army
4. Flames of War - 3 1500pt armies
5. Bolt Action - about 3 forces of platoon size
6. 1:2400 Naval. No decent ruleset ... but terrific models.
7. 1:1200 Trafalgar naval - painted mostly.
8. Cold War moderns - Canadians and Russians c. 1965-68
9. Wings of War - I have a complete set from WW1 to WW2 - everything before they closed up.

Can I narrow it down? I don't know.

Part of all this of course is that my club dissolved. There are merely a few historical players, and I am likely to be left in the sad position of being a ... SOLO WARGAMER ...

Or perhaps I just ... GIVE IT ALL UP ...

[Big Al]

So, when you snap a stick of Blackpool rock in half, it has Blackpool running all the way through it. If we did the same to you, would it say "Wargamer"?

I don't think you'll be able to give it all up or forsake other periods!

[canadasteve]

You cnat give it all up Grant. Do what I did and get rid of the stuff you never use, even if it looks really good. Look at the chances of you actually playing with the army then stick it on evilbay if it needs to go. For example I sold a small Wings of War lot a few weeks back and I made a ridiculous amount of money, £113 for one plane !!!!! Of course most of the cash I made ended up in Mr Stallards pockets

[Darkwing Duck]

My theory is if you dont use, play it or read for 2 years time to move the army on. Fails of course still have stuff I havent played in 10 years just cant bear to move them on. As for solo done it for years wife sometime wonders who I am arguing with still havent lost a game or an argument.

[mikeland]

Only one solution mate.... emigrate!!!! There is a house for sale down my street, you could move over here and we can re fight the ECW battle for battle!

[Phillistien]

Several years ago I made the same choice.

I had 15, 20 and 28mm armies plus all the terrain etc. So I sold everything but my WW2 and Ancient 28mm stuff. I really now regret selling my French 28mm Napoleonic army. I would suggest to anyone thats thinking of downsizing, to stick to 1 size. This saves on terrain etc. My house seemed empty once I sold all the 15 and 20mm armies and buildings.

[mrtn]

I don't know how many threads I've seen with people regretting that they sold their old armies. I've traded away a few models, but never sold any, and I doubt will sell any of my armies (though a few of the random models I've ended up with when buying big lots are for sale).

[shadegate]

I had similar thoughts when impending job changes forced a financial re-think. I took a slightly different tack though.

1 - From the periods/genres I am interested in I chose some 'core systems'. These are games I get a lot of replay from. This mainly boiled down to Sci-Fi, Fantasy, ECW, WW2, Ancients. (In descending order of collection size)
2 - For each of these genres I chose a ruleset and 2 (or 3) armies. These armies will be developed up to the rules max (most already are)
3 - Stop buying anything outside of these choices. No new armies, possibly sell off some of the figures for part collected forces especially ones not yet big enough to use. WW2 is an exception here. I've been holding off buying larger forces until Bolt Action is released. I have Brits but Germans and Americans will be bought.

Not much of a saving so far.

4 - Chose a few lesser systems (Personal interest, not a comment on the systems in general!) Napoleonic, Naval combat, 15mm WW2. I have unpainted figure collections of varying sizes for these systems.
5 - Stop buying anything new for these games until the current collection is at least assembled, and ideally, painted.

All of the rest

This is where potential savings will come from. I am an avid rules collector, i'll still keep the books but I'm not going to buy figures for Malifaux, Dystopian Wars, Uncharted Seas, Legends Of The Old West, KGN, Saga, Mordheim, to name but a few. Plus some of the above can be played with existing figures anyway.

I'm not going to make a vast sum of money from selling off things but the savings from not starting any more periods are potentially huge. My gaming group have also made a 'stick in the ground' decision regarding Warhammer and W40k. We're stopping at 8th ed fantasy and the new edition of 40k. We like the hardback codexes and will not be upgrading further. Any new must-have models released in the coming years will be covered by our own house rules.

Terrain is another area where savings can be made. By eliminating 15mm WW2 all my terrain is now the same scale. I am also using smarter buying when deciding what to get. A piece that can be used for multiple games is more likely to be bought. Geographical stuff is pretty standard. A river is a river whatever the system. Buildings are mainly rural European, these double up nicely for fantasy. Sci-Fi is the loser here to a certain extent but then it's easier to scratch build things with no current prototype to judge them against.

[Piers]

Grant,

I did this when I was at uni.

Stopped and sold everything except WW2. Only I didnt get much more done (I got sidetracked by Mordheim) and since leaving Uni I have sopld and redone my entire WW2 collection anyway along with starting scores of others.

If you have a period that captures your interest completely it can be done (for me tahts always WW2) but as I get older I find myself wanting things that are more varied.... Hence my new dalliance into Seven Years War and now buying Thirty Years War.

I think its part of the wargamer that we have the attention spans of goldfish.

Though I do wonder how much WW2 stuff I would have done if I stuck purely to that... And I know people who do.

[Vogless]

Sorry to hear about the club, Grant.

If it still brings you enjoyment, I'd hang in there. Sounds like you need a break from the French. I'd put those away for a while and come back to them at a later date. Projects that turn into a grind are brutal.....