Best Fun per $ Ratio in Wargaming

[ElectricPaladin]

I thought this might be a fun debate.

The question: which wargaming line offers the best ratio of fun per dollar (or pound, or whatever)?

First, a few ground rules:
• There is no accounting for taste. I know it's going to be tempting, but let's try to avoid the conversation degenerating into a "my wargame is better than your wargame" conversation. That's not what we're after here. We're not talking the relative fun values of the game, we're talking about how much more fun each dollar buys you, relatively speaking.
• We're not talking about cheap games, though that's part of it. If you can make an argument that a $100 product adds sufficiently to your fun - it changes the game dramatically all by itself, is super cool, is fun and easy (or the right kind of challenging) to build and paint - then go for it. I openly admit that cheap games have an advantage, here, but that isn't the be-all, end-all of the conversation.

For myself, I propose that the title of most fun per dollar goes to Malifaux. A $40 box buys you a new Master and a new crew. In some boxes, the price-per-mini goes down to as little as $7. Each mini in Malifaux does something radically different. The crews are (largely) interchangeable within a faction, including some Masters that can work for other Masters (ie. Kaeris). Altogether, this adds up to a situation in which a single purchase can radically effect how you play, adding a whole new dimension to every game.

But the conversation is open. Go!

[lobster-overlord]

I agree that with malifaux (and also Warmahordes) you can get started for a lot less than most other games, but for me, the integrity of the build is key, so having fantastic models for the price is what I want, unfortunately the main game for me is 40k and thus not the best bang for the buck.

So right now, the best value and fun for hte money is using Wargames Factory minis for other games. I like most of the models, and they are decently produced. For $20 you can have a unit of anything.

[scadugenga]

For me it's Infinity. Low model count, excellent rules, and always keeps you "in the zone" during a game.

Most starter boxes work well as stand alones.

[White Tiger88]

Oddly enough i think its Flames of War.....Not bad models and quick to paint! (Plus the starter set is amazing)

[eldargal]

Necromunda. Thirty pounds gets you a gang of 12 that should be enough usually and gets you through a whole extremely fun campaign plus yo ucan always fight more campaigns. Even cheaper if you just use stuff from your bits box.

[Wolfshade]

40k by sole virtue of longevity.

Yes, the kits may be more expensive, but if you consider things like my first ever purchase that still gets used in virtually every list I run, the price per game is in the fractions of a pence, and since I enjoy my games that is a fraction of a pence / hour of gaming.

My friend who got into AT-38? because it was cheaper, is now without a system that he can play and without any new players coming through as the game collapsed.

[Mr Mystery]

Pretty much anything GW for me.

May not have the cheapest set up cost, but the quality speaks for itself, and I can pretty much guarantee I'll find an opponent wherever I might wind up in the British Isles. Other games, not so much!

[ElectricPaladin]

I find it kind of odd that GW - at least 40k and Fantasy - is even coming up here.

No insult intended - I enjoy my GW games, just had a blast sweeping the Xenos-Only Kill Team event at my FLGS last night - but I see GW's big games as having the worst fun-per-$ ratio of all. A typical box adds a single squad to your arsenal. That box might not even include all the bits you need (ie. a tac squad box not including most of the special/heavy weapons options), necessitating further purchases. For some armies ('Nids, Orks), one box might not even add up to a single maximum-sized squad, necessitating the purchase of even more boxes. And, once you've bought all those bits and boxes... remember, that's a single squad, one of two to four of the same squad that you will field.

Compare that to a game like, well... like one of GW's Specialist Games. Consider Battlefleet Gothic. A single Imperial Cruiser blister adds up to two cruisers to your fleet. Each cruiser can be different, and given that the game is written to discourage spamming, you are likely to assemble each cruiser differently. Thus, each purchase of a cruiser blister can add two new ship types to your collection, and is probably the only time you will need to purchase that ship type. Each ship type adds new tactical options.

That said, this conversation does inherently favor low model-count games. As I wrote earlier, fun-per-$ is not the only measure of a game's worth, but I just don't see how 40k and Fantasy can compete.

[Mr Mystery]

Depends how long you use that army for though.

Take my Dark Elves. Had them 10 years now. And they're still going. The Warmachine stuff I dropped a couple of hundred on? Sold that off 9 years ago, and barely used it then.

It's the endurance of the army!

[ElectricPaladin]

Depends how long you use that army for though.

Take my Dark Elves. Had them 10 years now. And they're still going. The Warmachine stuff I dropped a couple of hundred on? Sold that off 9 years ago, and barely used it then.

It's the endurance of the army!

I see your point. This is definitely my experiential bias speaking here: of all the games I've started, the only one to bite the bullet is Battlefleet Gothic! Perhaps in a dozen years, if it goes that way, I'll be talking about the durability of GW's big games and mourning the loss of all my little games as communities move on and companies go out of business.

That said, I don't think so - 40k is king of the hill at one of my local stores, but Confrontation - of all things - has a huge community at another, and every time I start a new game, I'm surprised at how many players I can scare up for it. Firestorm Armada, for example, leapt up to three local players once I started asking around, with a fourth who's interested in starting once his budget allows, and that's even before I started running demos!

[Mr Mystery]

I think it's impossible to reach any kind of consensus on this one, because it's so subjective.

For instance, as well as not finding Warmahordes rules to my taste, I'm not a big fan of skirmish games. I've been spoilt by the likes of Epic and Fantasy, and am hooked on sweeping, grand battles.

Skirmishy games I find myself tiring of my force fairly quickly, with the exception of Necromunda and Mordheim due to their progression rules. I'm sure there's others, but I'm wary of splashing out to get going, especially when there's not guarantee I'll get a game in!

[ElectricPaladin]

I think it's impossible to reach any kind of consensus on this one, because it's so subjective.

Consensus? What do you mean consensus? I was just hoping for a vigorous discussion... and you have not failed to deliver!

[gwensdad]

Have to admit, sort of digging the X-Wing series right now for this. If someone wanted to start something new I'd point them towards that right now.

[ElectricPaladin]

Have to admit, sort of digging the X-Wing series right now for this. If someone wanted to start something new I'd point them towards that right now.

Bah. Pre-painted plastic. Ugh. No thanks.

[Brakkart]

I'm going to go with Blood Bowl. I've had my Chaos All Stars team for about 15 years or so now. Bought the basic boxed team and added about half a dozen other models to it at the time, total cost about £35 I'd guess (it would obviously cost quite a bit more now though). I've played that same team through 3 leagues now and had a blast doing so. I've never won a league, but won a fair number of games and no team walks away unscathed from a match with mine.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Totally agree on Flames of War starter set. Split the cost with a friend and you are up and running with a decent sized army for a little over $30. What is not to like? On the other hand for pure cost value, it is hard to imagine being able to beat a hand full of Napoleonic miniatures from say, Irregular Miniatures (90p/figure), plus a copy of the free "Chosen Men" rules http://www.oocities.org/oculus1999/cm.html.

[Grey Mage]

Battlefleet Gothic- 150 bucks got you an fleet you liked at a playable size with options, never needed to add more unless you felt like it. Good game, wonderful scenarios you could set up all any wich way you liked and enough fleets that a going club could play for months at a time without getting bored.

My favorite GW game of all time, bar none. I was sooo pissed off the week it went away, still am some, but Ive got four fleets so next time I find a group whos up for it, itll be alright.