07 April 2010

Is That Model Really Worth It?

I was going over some Beastmen and Empire army lists the other night and working out how much they would cost to purchase at Games Workshop's recommended prices. I rarely pay full price for models, but the MSRP gives a good baseline to look at for comparisons.

In looking at a Beastmen list I decided to see what I could do to lessen the cost, just dividing the cost of the models by the number of game points they are worth to come up with an overall cost per point individually and for the overall list. The first model I targeted was the Doombull, as it is a rather pricey metal single figure. I compared him to some models that looked fairly cheap, the Chaos Warhounds. The result was pretty surprising. Depending on the build you go for, the Doombull costs between 12.31 and 17.55 cents per point. This was well below the average for my overall army list, so I got the idea that something was up. Depending on the options you pick for the Warhounds, they cost between 22.00 and 36.67 cents per point. That turned out to be about middle of the pack for the stuff I considered.

Razorgors topped out the price-per-point list at 45.45 cents. This is somewhat expected as they are low-point metal figures. Centigors are also metal models and come in at 36.09 to 40.53 cents per point when built at 10 models and 20 models with full command. Other units in the higher range of price-per-point include the Ungors and Bestigors, which come in at the high 20s to mid 30s.

The next lower bracket include the higher-points plastic infantry models; Gors, Minotaurs, and the Giant. The Gors range from about 23.50 to 27.75 cents per point, while the Giant and Minotaurs hover right around 20 cents per point. Character models come in cheapest per point, with the Doombull I discussed earlier and the Bray-Shaman coming in at a super-low 8.28 to 17.67 cents per point.

Once you get into the named characters, you get really cheap on a per-point basis. They range mostly in the single digits, with a maxed-out Great Bray-Shaman coming in at 3.96 cents per point. Even Gorthor the Beastlord with his chariot comes in at under 12 cents per point.

You could cut some of these costs even further by building lists around the Battalion sets and converting your characters from regular plastic kits, like building a Doombull and two Minotaurs out of a single plastic box, or building an army general out of a Gor box set.

I imagine that armies available almost entirely in plastic would be even cheaper per point. the Empire army I priced out came in at about 4 cents less per point overall when compared to the Beastmen. I guess it's pretty nerdy to go through and do all this math, but it was interesting to have some of my perceptions (high-cost Centigors) borne out and some of them (Doombull and Chaos Hounds) turned upside down. It might be fun to go through some of your armies and see how they stack up.

The reason this is relevant for me personally is that I want to build an army that focuses on the larger creatures, but I figured it would cost a lot more than an army full of the smaller infantry simply because the unit price is so high. But when you factor the points found in a box of Minotaurs or a single Giant, the cost actually may go down. An army will still need some of the small creatures, but I can save money by getting those figures in a Battalion box or two and fill in the rest with the larger stuff. At least that's the plan.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting post there Chris.
    It appears, on reading, that GW are making more money on the lines that people would buy the most of. Most manufacturers price their figures so that those you only buy one or two of cost more than the fodder. They do this to make sure players buy lots of figures. GW do the reverse - good business practice if you can get away with it.

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