Buying Models

One of the things that you have to do as a hobbyist is buy the models. Duh. But the point is, there are a lot of ifs ands or buts about it. See first of all, what you should buy, then how to buy it, and all that within a budget of what you can get, what you need, and what you want. SO lets get started!

What you need: obviously, two troops, and one HQ, a lot of people swear by the whole starter box thing, I for one, don't. See, What an imperial guard army needs, is vastly different from what another army needs. For example, guard get one troop and one fast attack, in our starter box... well, we're gunna need another box, AND then we need to buy a whole nother command squad. O.o
and did I mention that it's fewer points there than 500? cuz it is. and that cost over $200 ;~; it's hard bein guard. SO that all said, if you play guard, do what I did, buy six packs of ten men, $130, and then hit up one heavy weapons squad, for $35 bucks. That right there, is cheaper, for the same thing - two sentinels. So, there you take your ten men squads, make four of them regular squads, and split the 20 remaining men, into 4 squads of five. Make 2 platoon command, and 2 company command. Next up, spread the heavy weapons love. There are three of every kind, one platoon could be all heavy bolters, the next all rockets, and then have lascannon heavy weapons squad from the box. (that's what I did) and then you can give the command squads mortars or autocannons. To make regular models heavy weapons teams, one model needs to be laden with ammo, so he is without doubt to anyone looking at him, a loader. The other, get creative, start snapping off arms, and combining parts, use green stuff to fill in any cracks if you're picky, if you can't afford green stuff, then like me, you can't afford to be that picky. But yeah, it's very doable. If you're really a stickler, cut a base out of masonite, foamboard, or just use a poker chip.

What you want: eventually everyone wants a huge army, decked out with elites, heavy support, maybe some fast attack sprinkled in. or if you're like me, six massive troops choices. The thing to remember here first is, if you want practicality or flair. If the answer is practical, then go for what's best, if it's flair, go with what you want. As guard, I can't afford ogryns in large numbers, but I can afford decent ammounts of stormtroopers, so I compromised, and headed with stormtroopers, they aren't "great" but they have flair, and are more practical than a $500 pair of 10 ogryn squads.

Where to buy: If you don't mind playing the risks of Ebay, the reward can be fantastic. I however, do not trust people, and go to great lengths to avoid purchasing from Ebay. So instead, I roll with good ol' GW, despite the higher cost. So if you're really desperate then I say go ahead and use Ebay, if you are patient, then roll with GW.

:p