FTGT Hobby Budget Challenge Official Kickoff

As some of you may know, today marks the official kick-off of our FTGT Hobby Budget Challenge. You can participate in the challenge by joining our Facebook Group. To get started, sometime this week you need to post up what you plan to get completed in December within your hobby budget. Check out the full rules here and the early FAQ.

Facing the Grey Tide Podcast - Episode 15: New Nids and the Hobby Challenge

What's up Everyone?  Last week Bryan, Evan, and Ron got together to talk about the new Nids that are being released, the upcoming Facing the Grey Tide Budget Challenge, and Bryan getting ready for the Renegade Tournament.  The Boys run down a lot, talk about some of the fun things the Nids are getting, and talk a little shop.  What more could you want from a Thanksgiving Day Podcast?

Let the New Nids Drop.

Guest Post: Hobby Budget Challenge - Tom's Tyranids

Today we have a guest post from my buddy, Tom, who is joining us for the FTGT Hobby Budget Challenge and starting a Tyranid army. 

Here's Tom:

When I saw the budget challenge I knew this was my chance to start a new army without hearing an ear full from my better half.  Being married to a woman with an MBA, who accounts for every dime I spend on my hobby, it is much easier to talk to about starting a new army when she hears the word “budget.”

Knowing that my time as a doctoral student to both play and paint are limited, I wanted to build a competitive list where I would get the most “bang for my buck.”  I’ve dabbled in other armies but most fizzle out because what my desire to paint often outweighs my desire to play.  I enjoy painting large models with unique color schemes and, with this is mind, decided that a new Tyranid army was in order.

When I was looking at all the various armies that GW puts out, along with all the box sets offered I decided there was no better deal than the Wrath of the Hive Mind. Containing a Hive Tyrant, Tervigon, 3 Tyranid warriors and 20 Termagaunts, an individual retail value $221 for only $165 was the ideal way to start off.  Not only saving money but also jump starting a new army in grand fashion.  Since I will have the most of December off, being in between semesters, I felt that if I didn’t use my double up month early I might not get the chance to paint everything before it was time to make my next month’s purchase.

While the Wrath of the Hive Mind was being ordered I took the chance to look at what competitive Nid lists looked like, setting the layout for the rest of my budget and army.  I see the potential in running a Skyblight Swarm, and wanted to base the rest of my purchases around this formation.  Looking at the dataslate I knew I needed 3 Harpy/Crone kits and 30 Gargoyles, having the Flyrant and Tyranid Prime accounted for in my first months purchase.  With the destruction of a gargoyle unit coming back on a 4+ I felt that I needed to capitalize, not only on the model count boost, but also on the budgeting of such a formation.

These additions added up to $327, adding to my $165 gave me a total of $492.  Like the final piece of a puzzle I realized that I could add another box of termagaunts for $29, not only giving me an under-budget total cost of $521 but also now making my tervigon a troops choice, since I will have a least 30 termagaunts, 32 to be exact.  It’s like the stars aligned and my destiny to lead this army was solidified, with some careful accounting, and the approval of my wife. December 1^st can’t get here soon enough!

Thanks to Tom for sharing his plan. For anyone else joining in on the challenge who wants to share their plan, monthly purchases, or updates on the blog, shoot me a message on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or through my email. 

Hobby Budget Challenge Plan - Tau

Once we settled on the time frame and expectations for our Hobby Budget Challenge, I debated several different armies to paint up for the challenge. My biggest debates were between completing an army wasting away in my closet or trying out something cool and new.

FTGT Hobby Budget Challenge Update and FAQ

First things first, we have a Facebook Group for everyone interested in joining the FTGT Hobby Budget Challenge and sharing their progress. To recap, the budget challenge is a six month challenge in which we will make monthly purchases and paint schedules. At the end of the challenge, participants should have at least the core of a solid army. The challenge kicks off December 1, 2014, and will run through the first week of June, 2015.

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.