How Does One Downside a Collection?

[Uprising]

Hello everyone

 

Warning:  Wall of text below, here is the cliff note version:  I have too many armies/projects please help me choose who to keep or tips on how to manage my time and stay motivated. 

 

It has been a long time since I have posted on these forums, even longer since I actively posted a project and contributed to the community.  Life has changed a lot since I started this about hobby 11 years ago while I was in high school.  But in the last two years, I can not contribute much time to the hobby I still cherish.  In the last two years, I have moved 3000 miles for my first professional job, work on average 65 to 70 hours a week, and going to school still for my masters.  I now have money to fund the projects I have always dreamed to do, but now the time is missing (funny how that happens).  So, for the last two years, I have basically been buying and hoarding armies, which leads down the path of grey unbuilt armies on shelves in boxes.  There are other interests, saving, and bills I wish to spend money on as well.  I do not play much 40k anymore due to a lack of a gaming group, and now read, build, and paint for the most part.  I do play kill team but want a few decent size armies around.  I have decided to downsize my collection, so I may focus and finish a few armies/projects for display quality.  Motivation has also been an issue as of late mostly due to the mountain of projects. So, I come to my brothers and sisters for advice and suggestions on what to do to manage collections and time and maybe who to sell. 

 

So, let go through my collection and my ideas behind them. 

 

40k

 

•    Tyranids:  My first 40k armies and one of three reasons I got into the hobby (the others were lizardmen and my best friend).  I currently have about 5000 points of the space bug with a hierophant mostly unpainted.  I got rid of many of my old poorly painted figures, but I love the lore and models and wish to complete them.  The idea for the project is hive fleet Kraken vs scythes of the emperor on Giant Coffins (great story and the red contrast nicely with jungle bases).  I enjoy playing them in kill team as well. 

 

•    Necrons:  I have a small Necron force for kill team (1 Lord, 1 cryptek, 10 warriors, 10 immortals, 5 death mark and a canoptek tomb stalker due to loving the model).  They are assembled and primed, and zenithal highlighted.  I would like to keep them as they only need to be painted.  For some reason, I have no motivation to completed them.  The idea for the project is Necron catacomb with a silver, gold, bone scheme with purple gauss. 

 

•    Dark Eldar:  Another small kill team force (1 succubus, 10 wych, 10 warriors, and two mandrakes) themed around a group of Xeno trying to afford to become scourges (I love the bird helmets and gives them a reason to work with my chaos forces).  They are mostly unassembled. 

 

•    Chaos: My beloved chaos.  I have been down this path of insanity many times.  I have switch Warband/legions for years.  I have bought and sold them for years.  But with the recent releases, the new models are amazing and what I have been assembly and converting lately.  I think I finally figured it out due in thanks to ADB excellent Talons of Horus book (currently reading The black legion).  I love every traitor legion so why not play them all don in black?  This gives me modelling and conversion freedom while staying within the same army (I have A TS, DG army with normal CSM).  I have daemons from every god from AOS and an infinity heavy Renegade guard army 300 strong made from enforcer torso and cadian parts with tanks.  The story of why each member don the black is interesting.  Out of all my project barring nids, this is a top contender.  I even have three knights that can be converted for the cause (or use them for IG and SM).  Everything combined, maybe 8000 points (I would have to do inventory). This may be THE project featuring a Warband invading a shrine world using every aspect of chaos under the black legion. 

 

•    Kroot:  Another kill team (I see a trend here).  I have 16 Carnivores, 6 hounds, and a krootox.  I always like the kroot, their lore is good, but the models are a bit dated.  A fun side project, but I have so many.  

 

•    IG:  I technically have four IG projects (about 30 DKOK models, 4000 points of scions, and 300 guardsmen with tanks and flyers that can be cadian or renegades.  I somehow bought about 300 enforcer torso and 150 cadian hostile environment torso over the years as I love both helmets).  Some of my favourite stories in all of 40k are the Siege of Vraks and cadia vs the black crusades.  I would love to complete all the projects but as stated above time is an issue. 

 

•    Space Marines:  I am conflicted on the current state of Space marine line.  I enjoy the old marines, but the advancing storyline has made the primarsis marine interesting.  Some of the primarsis models are simply amazing while others I have conflicting opinions on to put it nicely.  I do not have many of the loyalist left due to selling some over the year but I have the following remaining: (10 tact, 50 scouts, 12 drop pods, some heroes, four rhinos, one vin, FW siege dreadnought, two copies of tooth and one copy of wake the dead), then their also death watch (10 marines, a Ven dread, and watch captain).  Ideally, I would like a mix company half primarsis and half old marines with support.  Problem is which chapter and the direction GW is moving with the line makes me worried. 

 

•    Knights:  I have three normal knights all magnetized.  I can put/convert the robots for any force. 

 

30k:  When it comes to 30k, I never played a game but I collect/build/paint forces because of the models and lore. 

 

•    Death Guard:  I love my Death Guard and will be keeping my 3000 point force. 

 

•    Salamanders:  Love the lore and models but could never get the green right.  Always been an issue for the last 10 years.  Considering putting them in the SM force or absorbed into the death guard.  Sadly, I do not think I need 30 Firedrakes. I could do a themed Zone mortis Salamander terminator force led by Vulkan with dreadnoughts. 

 

Overall thank you for reading.  I been thinking about the situation for a few months now (writing it down does help) and would love to hear some suggestion.  At this point I am thinking of reducing to 3 or 4 projects. Thank you and take care. 

 

[Panzer]

Start a Slaanesh army and blame the god of excess. Done. :P

[Slasher956]

I sold my Brett’s off earlier this year so I know how it feels...

 

Step 1, box up everything you’ve not played with or painted in the last 6 months... (these are your working hobby models)

Step 2, keep the boxes out of sight for 6 months

Step 3, after 6 months think how many times you gone ‘where is x?, I want to play y, or paint z

Step 4, selll every thing boxed up that wasn’t in step 3

[Kinstryfe]

Slasher956 is directly on the path I'd recommend. I'd add to think about the future. Let's say you box up your guard. Do you need the money that selling them would bring? No? Would you regret not having them if somewhere down the road you did you have the time to focus on that project? If yes, box it up but keep it. If you wouldn't miss it, you can look at more permenant solutions.

 

I do always add though that I can't count how many times I've heard "I wish I'd held onto XYZ" among my gaming groups. Part of the hobby is collecting, so sometimes there's satisfaction just in having that rainy day project in the closet.

[Kenzaburo]

Slasher's way is the right way to go, I think. Of course you do have emotional attachement to all these projects, like most of us have. But it's a good way to at least figure out, how your gut would prioritise them. :)

 

Also, for someone not playing much, your collections are pretty vast - another way to demotivate oneself. if some of those armies were paired down a bit - to say 500 to 1,000 pts forces, they might seem less intimidating and thus frustrating. buy in batches, not armies and focus on those batches first.

 

and hey, we all have been or are in that boat. just don't let stuff like that stress you out. it's your hobby, after all, and supposed to bring you joy. :)

[mughi3]

Fury at GW changing legal army lists forced me to sell a lot of my old stuff, since I only had purpose built 1,850 40K armies I do miss some of them now since we are going back and playing modified 5th ed.

ravenwing (3rd)-sold all my land speeder tornados and attack bike squads as per 4th ed codex changes

deathwing (3rd)-sold all (30)of the old terminators(somebody game me a squad of new ones so win?)

Tyranids (5th)-sold it all, it was for my wife but she stopped playing

tau (4th)-sold everything but a single hammerhead and FW crisis suit

sisters of battle (4th)- sold all but lord karamozov, and the 4 assassins

I still have a mix of deathwing/ravenwing stuff and a bunch of land raiders (FW ones I won't part with) in DA colors to make a decent army in 5th edition.

I built a small primaris force for 8th using mantic dwarves...because space dwarves

Lastly and this is the key-my DIY space marine chapter (see my avatar) which is my core and biggest most loved army

I arrived at the decision because I play 8 diffent game systems- 40K/epic scale 40K, Babylon 5 wars(including conversions for trek and star wars), victory at sea, DUST 1947, infinity, warmachine, classic battletech, battlefleet gothic.

Like you I ran into the same problem transporting all that stuff and never getting to play with it even though I work at a game store once a week was just to much.
Other than just display models like the hammerhead the easiest way to choose was to pick my single favorite 40K model and focus my army around that......which was the space marine dreadnought.

It's still a lot of 40K stuff even after i downsized and I only bring about 2,800 points (5th) with me to play games in 28mm (we use epic scale for 8th).

Now that I think of it I have 7 dreads, 2 superheavy tanks, 1 warhound titan (mostly a display piece), 1 aircraft, 2 non-superheavy vehicles, 2 land speeders, and 33 infantry models specifically just attached to this army.......still so much stuff

[MegaVolt87]

I would sell/donate out the necrons, dark eldar and kroot. Paint up anything that's unpainted in the bigger collections, sell/donate/bin everything you think is a potato paint job that you cannot re-strip + re-paint. I am in a similar situation with my old SM's and BL. They are so poorly painted, the effort required to strip and re-paint them is just not worth it. The value is also nothing in their current condition, not worth putting on ebay. I will end up donating them or just bin them.  I have picked out select pieces that are kitbashed/converted, those are worth keeping and re-furbishing. You got enough from the bigger armies to port to kill team. Don't tie yourself up with lots of small projects you don't finish end to end, you will get nowhere. If you must do a small project, finish it end to end. Don't buy anything else until you paint what made the cut after the decimation of your collection like I suggested. 

[Uprising]

I thank everyone for the advice given.  It was good to get everything written out.  The decision has been made and it is time to make a blog and focus on army.  Time to enjoy the hobby again.