FTGT Hobby Budget Challenge

Recently I was digging through my old White Dwarfs and stumbled on a series from way back that I really enjoyed: A Tale of Four Gamers. This was a regular series in White Dwarf for five months that followed four White Dwarf staffers as they followed a set budget and build and paint an army from scratch. 

In a Tale of Four Gamers, they used the relatively modest budget of £50 to start and £25 for following months. Thanks to inflation and pricing changes (including everything coming in boxes instead of blisters as in the past) we will have to use a bit higher budget, but the end goal will be the same.

The purpose of the FTGT Hobby Budget challenge is to complete a sizable army in six months. We're encouraging anyone interested to participate and share their results alongside our own. 

The theme, direction, or guiding influence for an army is up to the participant. The army could be a brand new army and the goal could be to have a solid base for that army to grow; or the army could be an expansion for an existing army that possibly takes the army in a new direction or theme, such as incorporating all the new Tyranid kits into an existing Hive Fleet. 

At the end of the challenge, participants will have a fully painted army of their choosing. For 40k, the ballpark goal is expected to be about 1,500 points, but this is not a requirement. Participants are welcome to choose a different game system and goal, so long as they maintain the budget constraints and get everything painted.

The monthly budget for our challenge is $75. Additionally, participants are allowed a single Double Up month once during the challenge, where they can double their budget to $150 for that month. *Edit* - Unspent budget can be rolled over month to month.  At the end of the challenge, participants will have assembled and painted a usable army for $525 or less.

For consistency, models used for the challenge are considered to be purchased at their official retail value as listed on the GW site. The exception to this is if the participant is purchasing Out of Print models, in which case the actual purchase price can be used.

Since many participants may have a large backlog of unassembled models, currently owned models may be “purchased” for the challenge, but should still follow the budget rules and be counted as original retail price. These models should be unpainted at a minimum, if not unassembled.

The Challenge will begin December 1, 2014. At that point, participants should post their army of choice, a general plan for completing the challenge, and their first month’s purchases. The first month’s check-ins will be done in the first week of January.

A check-in will consist of photos of the completed models from the previous month as well as purchases for the following month. Any games played with the army throughout the challenge should be mentioned in the monthly update along with a discussion of any change of plans that may come from gameplay.

The final check in will take place in the first week of June, 2015. Participants are then encouraged to share any plans for the completed army. 

If you would like to participate in the challenge with us, leave a comment below, hit us up on our Facebook page, or send us an email. Same goes if you have any questions or suggestions for the challenge.