Following the example set by Dino over at Chaosbunker, starting last month, we shall abide by a simple rule:
Every month I have a budget of $25 for my hobby.
Another year, another attempt at locking down the hobby spending. We are starting off 2022 with a small purchase – the Feb. 2022 issue of Wargames Illustrated. I placed a pre-order with Game Kastle (based in California) and am still awaiting the issue to arrive, but the money spent must be counted. I am not a frequent reader of Wargames Illustrated but the Feb. issue comes with a sprue of Warlord Games Epic Black Power infantry. Epic Black Power is a main focus for me this year and a chance to not only get an additional sprue of troops but also hardcopy articles on the game was not a chance to pass up.
Oh, and I bought some paint.
| Month | Funds remaining | Item |
| Jan. | $7 | Wargames Illustrated 410 ($8), paint ($10) |
| Total | $7 |
2022 is off to a strong start – only one purchase and it was well under budget. I’ve spoken with both Ben and Seamus and we are making a pact to hold one another accountable in 2022. Not only on spending but also on projects. If it’s not an existing project listed, you cannot begin until another is completed. We shall see how this goes…
– Andrew
Starting off 2022 big. The monthly budget is back. I bought some new hobby supplies and models for Adepticon. Picked up more of the perfect Perry Miniatures Foot Knights. Perry Miniatures are the best in the business. Got some paints, primers, models, and glue.
These will be forming my second block of 20 Grave Guard for my second Age of Sigmar army. If, and hopefully when I attend Adepticon this year, I need an army that can travel. I need an army that could fit in a Tupperware container under an airplane seat. I needed an army that could double for Age of Sigmar and Bolt Action … what could fit that bill?
A magical idea came into being … Using the Bedknobs and Broomsticks army from Bolt Action. Filled with ghost knights, spectral flags and English civil war artillery batteries, this army could be used as a Vampire Counts force in the world of Warhammer. Led by a powerful witch, raising spirits from the dead, this was a perfect fit. I also had 85% of the army painted and finished.
So, after fleshing out some army lists, I locked in what I would need to complete it and pulled the trigger.
| Month | Funds remaining | Item |
| Jan. | $16.51 | Foot Knights, paints, primer, glue (-$84.86). Sales (+$76.37). |
| Total | $16.51 |
– Jeremy
January oh January! Another year, another list to write up and work through. I have planned to get all my metal minis for Ultra Modern painted by the end of the year, which is approx. 200 minis… achievable I think. Another worthwhile item to mention is my plan to finish up painting my US and German Bolt Action armies. I started strong and found time to finish 11 minis already and started the next 7 for that Ultra Modern section.
Cash wise I went pretty heavy this month. Right now, I am only able to play one game per month, due to buddies and me being busy with the usual workstuff, so I have been playing mainly solo. Thanks to a Google suggestion of an unknown blog post about solo wargaming I stumbled upon this purchase:
I am talking about Warfighter, to be precise Warfighter Shadow War.
Warfighter is a card wargame where you take control of a squad to fulfill certain missions. It sounds very strange, I know, but it is really a pretty in-depth wargame, you still move around (from card location to card location) and resolve shooting just like you are used to with dice, needing to roll a specific target value to overcome cover and to hit and wound your target hostile. You do have also the benefits of building your squad, choosing from different soldiers, weapons, equipment, skills and even ammunition types (at least for Shadow war with additional subsonic and black ammo). I did choose to go with the “Shadow War” version of the game, because I do enjoy some sneaking around and stealthy gameplay. In Shadow War there is a unique mechanic where each action you do generates potentially noise. There is a noise bar that gets raised and you roll a die to see if you got noticed or not (if there are hostiles in your location). I could go into more detail, but I will keep that for a more in depth review or Hot-Take, as this game is really unique and blew my mind.
So what did I actually buy?
I bought the Core Set for Warfighter Shadow War and already got three expansions sets. Yes there are expansion sets and tons of them. The Core game is set in North Korea and gives you missions ranging from tapping a hacking center, assassinating a VIP and destroying certain structures like for e.g. a Chinese Pipeline. I thought about expanding to North Korea and getting the Yongbyon Nuclear Facility expansion for that. As I am also a Russian special forces enthusiast I just had to get the Russian Forces expansion and fittingly the Eastern Europe Adversaries pack. So far I have just used the core game, which by the way comes with US Forces. Get to get the mileage out of that first, right? 😀 So… the number!
The Core Set set me back 53,82€ and each expansion 17,96€. Yeah that is way more than 25,-€. At least I got free shipping…. and I am really really having a great time with the game.
| Month | Funds remaining | Item |
| Jan. | -107,70€ | Warfighter Shadow War and expansion sets |
| Total | -107,70€ |
– Daniel
“The bill. Comes. Due.” – Mordo
Hey, ho! This sounds like fun. Also, as Andrew mentions above, I am all about concentrating on project completion this year and a hobby budget is an excellent tool!
What better way to jump into a budget challenge than to start in the red? I had already made the purchase before deciding to join this endeavor but, again as Andrew says, the money spent must be counted. I made a purchase of GW product, which is always going to hit hard on the budget side of things, so I start the year with a deficit of – $60. I will have to work hard to get out of the red in the coming months. In theory, my focus on painting existing items should help me in this regard.
| Month | Funds Remaining | Item |
| Jan. | -$60.00 | Tyranids! |
| Total | -$60.00 |
– Seamus
The Fine Print
The $25 per month limit applies to models, rules, paint and supplies. It does not apply to event tickets or travel costs.
Chicago Dice 