Love the video dave! Greggs will never be the same again. Im working my way through my necron army pretty consistently, I do have a mini pipe of shame infront of me, but nothing too intimidating! Appreciate the advice!

Definitely had an extended patch where the hobby became a habit that was more about the buying than any of the rest of it. Finding my way back to enjoyment of building, painting and playing lately though.

One strategy I've decided on, to avoid or reduce the pile of shame, is to move toward figure-agnostic games. That allows you to use a smaller collection of figures, in multiple games. It also allows you to jump straight into a new game, without the delay that often kills the momentum.

Very relatable, helpful, sage advice. Sell things you cannot or will not use. If you’re going to invest in something make sure your heart is really in it, I wanted all the 2nd edition metal genestealer cult sculpts 20yrs ago, I want them now, and I have them, although they haven’t yet been painted, one day the ancient prophecy of my boyhood will be fulfilled.

This is a great philosophical topic for the hobbyist. Sometime within the last few years, I decided to start calling my collection of unpainted models my "Pile of Opportunities". This change has been vital for my mental health and inspiration for painting more models that I already own, more often than not. This mental process allows me to enjoy the experience and the journey of the hobby instead of seeing it as a chore that needs to be completed. It's a reward and escape for getting my work and chores done each day. I've been involved in this hobby since 1990 and turned 53 earlier this year. I have learned where to draw the line at which games I will play and which factions I'll play in them. This limits the models I'll buy quite a bit. Occasionally, I have purchased a model (or a set) just because I want to paint it, especially now that I have an airbrush. I've already had to get creative about where to store the unpainted and painted models for display, safekeeping, or transporting. If I don't have every model I've purchased over the years painted by the time I leave this earth, I've left instructions in my will for my family members to sell the unpainted models through a local FLGS and donate the proceeds to a favorite charity (minus a cut and first dibs for the store owner for sorting the inventory out). I've also left instructions to donate the painted models, paint sets, brushes, terrain, materials, & whatever models don't sell to a local private high school gaming club. Once that process was in place, I became more free to buy whatever set or model I want, within reason, while I'm still breathing, sharing, teaching, creating, painting, and kicking dirt in this life.

My pile of shame is currently the thing bringing me joy. I fell out of the hobby when I was about 14-15 and where ever I’ve gone in life, I’ve had to carrying around this collection of models I’ve had since I was a child. At points I never had any intention of picking it back up but was too scared of selling my models. They retained their sentimental value the entire time. The pandemic like it did for many, gifted me free time I usually wouldn’t have and over the last few years, especially with the rise of war gaming content on KZfaq, it’s been a growing interest in me so when that free time became available, I picked up the hobby again and I’m loving it. I’m now 31, the stuff I’m painting isn’t a complete mess (which is partly why I gave up as a kid), and I’m slowly getting through all this sixth edition WH and even bits and bobs that my dad and uncle handed down from the early 90’s. I’m trying to hold myself to the challenge of getting through as much of what I already have before I buy anything new. The only new stuff I’ve bought is a pack of GW skulls! I am very tempted however to start a nurgle army, so maybe this is where buying too much begins for me haha

I’ve found selling discarded projects even at a loss helped clear up my hobby

Buy a model on aestetics Rules change, a great sculpt will look good on your shelf forever

I'm definitely feeling the Pile of Shame at the moment. I'm a fast painter but I need to be in the mood and I haven't always been feeling it at the moment.

#3 FOMO is real! I'm only into Middle Earth Strategy Battle and with all their limited time "Made To Order" releases you either cough up the dough or wait several years for it to come around again.

I bought space rangers from Virgin Megatore in Sheffield back when they had random piles of miniatures inc. Battletech and very old Aliens

Some great advice mate, I recently made the discovery myself that I was just buying stuff because I thought that will be really cool to build one day. Now I have a cupboard full and still the same small amount of time I get every week to hobby, If I don't buy any more I should be done by 2050 😂.

A great danger of overbuying for me is when I find something really cool, like a film, a show or a book and think, that would be a cool miniature project. I just made a list of all projects I want to do. Oh boy. I do have to up my output if I want to get it done before I'm 80 😂 moving all boxes of plastic crack to the basement helped with the mental load of it. I have now only the stuff I currently working on in my hobby space. Also sometimes I think of some kits and boxes just as kitbashing potential and I'm fine with never actually building it. But overbuying is defenitley an issue in our hobby.😅

I went a little (a lot) overboard when I got into 40K. I collected four full armies (Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Orks, and Eldar) before I realized I would never be able to paint them all, and my plan to have a fieldable army from every faction was bonkers.

I hobbied years ago in my teens and 20's and at the time I couldn't financially afford to get too deep into the hobby, so it was rarely an issue. I recently jumped back into the hobby after an extended hiatus and definitely went a bit too all in, overestimating my free time and energy, and now have a closet filled with boxes of unpainted minis for 3-4 armies, and maybe 1k points actually fully painted.

We need more messages like this. F- the ‘new thing’. Slow and steady is the way to go. I’m slowly chipping away at the Dominion box set for $99.

Tony Destaffano add break in perpetual forward motion advert is always a treat

About 3 years ago now I made the decision to minimise any future purchases and start working through my (pretty huge) pile of shame instead. I made myself a rule that if I do buy something new, I have to paint it right away, so it doesn't go on the pile of shame. I've actually made pretty decent progress through my pile and it feels good to see the pile of grey models going down and the display case filling up.

My biggest hobby regret was allowing myself to get roped into playing a CCG. That was a lot of cash that could have been a pile of old models to go with my other pile of even older models because I still have almost everything I bought as a teenager and young adult.

Personally, my pile is a 'pile of opportunity', it makes me happy knowing I'll paint them at some point (even at times I'm buying things faster than I paint them).

A double edged sword is bulk buying an army second hand. On the plus side you can get crazy discounts, but on the negative side you are committing to painting a whole force that is realistically going to be lots of similar stuff.

I got into warhammer when I was about 14 years old or so. I read a couple omnibus when I was in high-school and saw some good ol' Duncan painting videos but never had the money to get into it. Went straight into the military out of high-school and never had the space to paint or keep models. Fast forward to the present day minus a couple years and you can imagine my "pent-up hobby rage". Pretty sure I spent close to $1,000 within the first month (mostly on paint and tools/supplies). I now have a small'ish pile of shame and it used to bug me a lot because I watched a lot of videos before making purchases and swore to "never be that guy". After revisiting the thought it doesn't bother me anymore that I have a bunch of random models and no proper army to show for it. I bought the models I did because I thought they were rad and I really enjoy the assembly and painting process. It is like therapy in a way. Also, my small pile of shame helps reign me in on purchases because I know I have 5 or so boxes of models that still need to be painted so I don't feel a "need" on anything other than something I've already been looking forward to.

I've been selling tons of my POS on Ebay lately and even dipped into some of my painted stuff. My hobby space had become a beacon of misery to me as opposed to a source of joy and inspiration. Now that I'm getting closer to manageable I'm trying to buy on pace with my paint production (and failing gloriously cue the cycle).

I'm mainly just a spectator in "the hobby" so I don't really buy models and stuff, but I can relate because I buy WAY more art supplies than I have time to use them.

7:00 This false scarcity that started with Indomitus and the Sisters box is what pushed me out of the hobby for over a year. If I had to get up hours early before work to join in the F5 war to *maybe* get their product then they weren't getting my business. The benefit to coming back recently is I've sorted all of my pile of shame and am slowly painting things since the original hype I had has faded

Quick little tip for Games Workshop products, if its still in a saleable (unopened) condition then just take back and part exchange the box for something you want!!! Stuff they don't sell anymore they may not do but current models they will! I found loads of unopened models and paints I never used and swapped them for my Beast of Chaos army!!! A great way of getting rid of models you don't want or never going to use and get something you do!!!

What I really love is having an enormous pile of treasure which I can just sit on. I just like looking at my pile of treasure.

To date, this is the best video on this subject matter. You didn't 'shame' the practice of owning a pile of opportunity, like the others did. Thank you!

This last year when I got the itch to buy a kit I instead got out something in my backlog. By October or so I had cleared out all the most useful things in my backlog to the point where it was mostly 1 off, single figure models and some historical kits. It helps when you aren't interested in playing multiple armies. It also helps to understand the difference between what's actually going to have a presence on table top, and what is just engaging in retail therapy. The former is tough for newer dudes to know.

Great video. Everything you've said has passed my thoughts at some point in the hobby. But I won't lie to myself. It's an addiction. And all the things we couldn't buy as kids because of money we can now as adults. Sometimes. You know. Because bills and kids are also expensive 😅

I've bought, and then later sold at a slight loss, two starter armies without any real attempt at painting/assembling them

I implemented a paint a unit buy a unit policy a while back. My pile of shame is still large BUT… it hasn’t grown. So that’s a success.

I'm an oldie that came back to the hobby after a 17 year gap, but this time I had cash, so went deep and now I'm surrounded by this stuff! The past year was going well until I fell for the HH box, a game I don't play! It was shiny, had marines, nice books, I was in......but I have held back.....I've got to sell some stuff....

Ya I got in hard. At the time I was newly free of my parents, and was making WAY more $ than I needed. A friend returned from the military with a small space marines army all painted and pretty. Next day I went to a GW store and lost my mind, so many choices and all so cool. Ended up falling in love with both the Eldar and their evil siblings. I ended up with so much stuff, a GW staff member had to help bring it to the car. I bet I painted less than a quarter of it before I moved across the country. I ended up giving it all to the local charity kids hang out, and haven't touched a mini since (almost 20 years now).

Shadowvaults just turned up in the mail halfway through this video. I haven't finished painting Octarius. Impeccable timing!

I got back in to the hobby at the start of lockdown. One of my mums lockdown tasks was sorting out mine and my siblings shit from around their house. She dropped off a couple of toolboxes filled with my old hobby stuff. In it was an unfinished box of 00s era multipart space wolves and necron warriors. lo and behold Indomitus drops with space marines and necrons in the box, cue me buying indomitus and still not finishing it fully to this day because cooler stuff launched in the meantime. To my credit my painting output exceeds my purchasing but 2020 Nige was too busy thinking about how much money he was saving by working from home and bought a silly amount of stuff to counteract it. I will eradicate my pile of shame in time and switch to a “no grey plastic” policy before purchasing more stuff. To new hobbyists I’d definitely recommend only buying new projects after existing ones are finished, having a pile of shame saps the fun out of hobbying.

Okay so here is my “pile of shame” story: So when I first got into the hobby I was thrilled to just play the game and start being creative in a format that I’m actually pretty decent at. So the first thing I did was buy an entire slaves to darkness starter set and I built them all and primed them all but when I actually looked at it I never painted them. (I still have them actually and that was about 2 years ago.) Then I got a Tau start collecting box and guess what never actually finished it. THEN I got an imperial knight that I thankfully still have but it isn’t completely built yet. THEN I got a start collecting box of Necrons that guess what I never finished. I ended up selling pretty much all of the Warhammer I owned bar the slaves to darkness and the knight but I realized that I definitely needed to just stop buying any Warhammer until I 100% knew I was not gonna sell it and waste my money. So good tip: please just don’t waste away all your money.

Selling minis is a great way to cut down your back log. Be honest what that you actually will get to and more importantly what you want to get to and sell the rest.

An old gamer's recommendation to newer players: start a gaming club (not necessarily a formal one like y'all have in the UK and Europe, just a group with a regularly scheduled gameday) that plays a previous edition of the game. Doesn't matter if you're playing 40K 2e or 9e, as long as it is a discontinued edition. You don't have to worry about the meta changing every three months if your last gamebook was published during the Bush administration.

When I started again (previously I was 2nd Edition) it was to capture that old nostalgia. Planned on a couple Terminators and a Land Raider. Couple years on I have 8 unpainted display armies with the entirety of a built in bookcase filled with models. I am near the end of the buying part (once the World Eaters stuff comes out) but if I were to paint 1 model every day, I’d be over 2 years before I am finished. Thankfully I’m at the point now as well where there is genuinely nothing else in the range that I want/need, and if I do get anything new it will be to replace anything that gets made cooler looking in future editions.

We all need a mate who will bring you back a sausage roll

I only recently started in the warhammer hobby, but I have noticed that it really helps if your buying what you think is personally cool. For example I was gifted a boxes of adeptus mechanicus and I just couldnt bring myself to finish painting them, not because i didn't like the models, but because it felt like a choir to paint them

You are an adequate hobbyist. Many occasions where I seen your work it has been sufficient.

Some games don't need their models painted. I bought Blackstone Fortress partly because it was something to play inbetween other games that I would prep for.

Go easy on those classic Space Ranger models! I got a box of those when I was a wee lad to try to learn to paint. And now my 7yo daughter practices painting on the ones I still have laying around. 😂

I gave up on 'chasing the Dragon' with GW over a year ago. However, I now chase BT minis, Dead Man's Hand and various boxes from Wargames Atlantic. It's a process, progress, but still chasing.

Agree on miniatures, I’m also collecting limited edition black library novels and those you kinda have to buy on release since they sell out in < 5min.

I've got a decent pile of potential sat there! I have a lot I want to paint, but fortunately none is GW. I do like to break things up with painting busts as they are a whole different scale and challenge.

I feel I've finally nailed the measured approach this time around with Warhammer, just buying what I plan to build and paint next, no rush, no fuss, no pile of shame. I get to be smug about that, because I'm ruined after I went in hard buying scale model kits. And diorama/terrain scenics. And model railways. And all the acrylic paints. And flight sim addons. And music software/plugins. And cookware. Fuck. I'm such a mark...

I bought a ton of Privateer Press stuff on clearance and I wouldn't mind not painting it all because the average cost was about a dollar per model.

I have a decent routine when it comes to my pile of shame. Before I figured it out I had about 15 boxes of models. So my routine involves painting a unit or single model I already have built. Then building a box of models once that's done. Then back to painting another unit or single model. Then I buy new boxes but not exceeding more than 3 items to maintain a small pile of shame. Currently I have 7 box in my pile and Im content with that

I bought some 28mm miniatures got a tiny bit in over my head building so I switched to painting the few metal models I had and fell in love with metal. I switched to 15mm I don't have to build anymore I just paint base and play.

I got back into Gundam earlier this year and definitely overbought a bit. I mean, my backlog is only 30 kits so that isn't too bad. The biggest issue for me though was that I started getting extra stuff to customise my kits and then I stopped wanting to build them unless I already had the extra parts. This led to me not building things because I was worried I wouldn't do it justice. Sort of like buying that big Warhammer kit but then never painting it because you are afraid you'll screw up the paint job. Come to think of it, I also got the big 2 player Conquest box at the start of the pandemic along with extras and I haven't even taken the bubble wrap off... After watching this, I think I might go and build a Gundam right now, so cheers for the motivation.

2-6k points in 8 different armies... sitting back at my parents garage attic. Only Tau tabletop ready as I got 90% off eBay in various states of construction. It's not how much you save, it's how much you spend, and life circumstances can change your available time drastically. I expect to see my legions of shame in ten years at best.

So some of the tips I give new players and finder of our medieval lords serf tax plan is as follows 1. build collections not lists, you said this in the video but it is worth repeating. Your army is going to suck at some point plan and simple. *8th ed Imp knights were deliciously underwhelming* Dont worry about it, collect, build, paint it up. It is your army for a reason. 2. Focus on what makes ya happy, for me I find joy in every aspect of the hobby because I like the creative outlet it gives me. Enjoy or try out the various sections to see what you vibe with. Not much into the gaming, try the novels. Not into buildng? try the painting aspect, etc 3. Your interest are going to change. There is nothing wrong with getting together an army and not playing it. Here the fun thing it will still be there when you want to return to it. For me it is entirely based around what book I am reading. I just started grey knights because of Garro the first grandmaster, hand of the sigilite. 4. Do not worry about the cost of the hobby, yea it absolutely sucks nowadays I remember when codexes was 25 bucks. Regardless space it out, you do not need to rush it, I promise you it will be there. Plus there is nothing stopping you from buying secondhand or buying 3d printed/recasted models. Yea some people will complain but who cares this is your hobby. 5. You do not need the best tools out there, my exacto knife I used for cleaning is a white rectangle box cutter I got a dozen of for free from a job years ago. This works for me but mate you dont need to drop the money to get the best tools. Start with what you are comfortable with and upgrade later once you know what you are doing. 6. HAVE FUN! this is the biggest and last tip I give, remember to have fun. This hobby does have its low moments and you will get upset but remember that at its core this is what you are doing in your free time. Have fun with it. My pile of potential has shrank pretty substantially but the way I look at it, just keep at it and it will get done eventually. I hated rebasing my ogors and it took twice as long as I thought it would take but now a coat of primer and some paints, the mawtribes are ready for the board. Slay the grey everyone!

I'm blessed I only have a small grey tide and 2 painted armies. I love building though so if I build a Cadian army box I can just hit it with primer and resell it for practically the same cost, buy something else, chill and build while watching YT, radio, repeat. And I can paint maybe a tank or maybe some AoS addition at my leisure. I literally have not upgraded my SoBs from anything of the second wave, no Vahl, or Saints, or APUS, or CAstanks, nothing. I have not even got Morathi for my DoKs. I have no HQs for any of my Astartes Chapters, or Cadians, or Necrons, or Nighthaunts. GW isn't making anything I want so that saves me a ton of money. I'm 90% of the mind of build it and get rid of it.

I buy a model and paint it, repeat. Having too many models sat waiting in the wings does seem to cripple my enthusiasm.

I still struggle with pacing my purchases XD I've been sitting on built models for years and only recently got back into the hobby because I got a new friend into the game. They jumped head-first into it - two combat patrols, two codexes, and a unit of Elites for both of them - but that inspired me to re-direct my own hobby energies towards terrain so we can have a space to game instead. The old Fantasy Dwarfs and Black Reach Orks I might never pick up again will probably be going to Frontline Gaming, if they still do their used-model trade-ins. That way I'll free up my space for things I have the drive to build, and the old minis will get to be enjoyed again by someone new :)

The way I've limited myself it by getting smaller games like underworlds stuff. I bought the Bladeborn and Fire Team boxes for $50 at the book store and then bought each of the expansion teams supported in the box to make a super-box, Bladeborn being essentially a smaller scale Warcry on an Underworlds board and Fire Team being a smaller scale Kill Team box on an Underworlds-style board. I helps but it's no cure for the collection bug. Oh, and I collect 3D print files... but they don't take up any space! 😅

Completely am feeling the pile of shame, bought a Minas Tirith battlehost and an orc combat patrol a few weeks ago. Then I found a Pelennor Fields box set. I have so much stuff to paint. Ahhhhhh!

Short, simple and quick answer to the topic: YES.

I just plummeted into the ocean of airbrushing kit, I guess at least it's a tool I can use again and again. I try to divert what I would spend on the constant slew of new plastic into hobby materials, as at least then I know it could be used at any moment in a creative sense. Love your video's btw!

Yes. Yes. And yes again. My worst habit is FOMO for savings. Got all the Nighthaunt from Mortal Realms and 2 x craft worlds start collecting boxes just in case I want to start those armies in future and buying it now will "save me money" in the long run. I do get my Smaug on sitting and looking at the pile.

Been very frugal with my adult reintroduction to the hobby. Started with gaslands, Etsy shop selling cars funded branching out to other games. Kept purchases to affordable starter sets or eBay.

Wanted to start Warhammer Fantasy with High Elves back in the day. Got a huge box of them to get started. Realized this was going to be a very long slog. Set them aside, never got to them. They're somewhere. But sure glad I got all these LotR minis on clearance when my local store decided they wanted to finally clear them out. Ho ho! Loving this channel. Cheers.

Yes Dave and I know to my costing figures, way too much bought and paid for over the years. So next year I will be driving South to Mirfield and see the man and hopefully turn my man-cave around with books instead of mini's. Cheers for the wibble.

I paced myself at first, but being pretty good at painting from the outset got me way too excited to do it and I started hunting around for deals, ended up with more models than I know what to do with. I've since dialed my spending WAY down in favor of building and painting what I have ( I don't generally have the time to play games, I've still yet to play a single game of warhammer or even killteam) and the other stuff I do to chill out.

great video, my first army was fantasy high elf, 500-600 points .... then i got a cheap high elf army from ebay for 100 € and its was a 5000 point army i was drowning in miniature´s after that i was smart enough getting slower. greetings from austria

Oooh, your sound, the quality has improved, either a new mic set up or the little tunnel you’ve so wonderfully framed yourself in! 😍

As a Gundam guy, this happens to us too. Bandai? More like Bandit. Anyway, good advice!

Hey man, you put some respect on SPACE RANGERS! 🤘🤨 I had that box and it was 100% serviceable still have a couple odd weapons/ backpacks that keep turning up in my bits...I'd kill for like 5 of them to proper paint nowadays ...thanks for the memory!

It took me a year to get round to opening and painting the Warhammer Kill Team Octarius box-set, which I had ordered on the morning of release. I first 'had' to work through a tiny pile of shame. Also, I bought myself a birthday present ten months ago: Guardians of the Riverbank from the Northumberland Tin Soldier Company. They would have been painted by now, to play using rules by Burrows and Badgers, but I kind of got carried away with painting up a small Ork and Gretchin army! In the meantime, GW have released a tonne of stuff that I'd love to buy, if only I had the time and money (inflation permitting!). However, I have mastered my desires like a Zen Buddhist and will wait patiently for The Day!

I knew about the "pile of shame" thing before I got into it and bought anything. I bought and finished my first models, they I got some more and somehow I now have half an army of nighthaunt, some sisters of battle and some chaos marines waiting for paint. Building everything is definitely a good idea though. You can see what needs to be done and you can just pick them up and paint them whenever, without thinking you need to build and prime them and everything that comes with that.

Good commentary mate. If I could add one more it would this this - you do not need every single item to start, enjoy or complete a hobby project. You can have just as much fun with 5 paints and two models as you can with paints and models. Plus if you don't wait you'll get more done and improve faster anyway.

Started gaming back in the 80s and was told by the old boys (and I mean that figuratively and literally) that if you didn't have your own body weight in unpainted figures you would never play the game again (back then it were easier because it was all lead figures). My friends once bought me a fleet for Full Thrust after an intro session which I enjoyed and I sat down and painted the lot. Never played it again. not once. So in the last year I have got back into figure based gaming and I have purchased some GW stuff along side some other producers and I will say that I have gone for figure agnostic rules because of all the things that were said in the vid, and I am enjoying keeping a pace and not worrying about what next ED will do to my army (I had a decent sized Squat army that never got finished and a Ork force that was based around the Shokk attack gun, for reasons don't judge me). I'm not a great gamer but I enjoy gaming and have seen to many people spend too much on trying to have the ultimate collection and it spoiling it for them and others. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought along these lines :)

Awesome vid. Tony's ad spots are the best, the only SS ads I watch. The thing that helped reel in my hobby acquisition rate was 3rd party rules. When the folks selling you the rules are not the same folks selling you the minis, a lot of the false urgency goes away.

I’m pretty disciplined with it compared to most, I’ve limited my self to two armies for now to flip between when I’m bored of one of them. Not including the orks I bought and then didn’t like anymore before I’d even built them (we don’t talk about them though)

When I first got into the hobby the fact I didn't have heaps of money meant I kept up painting with what I bought with the pocket money or got for a birthday. When I came back to the hobby a couple of years back I could essentially afford whatever I want and unfortunately I've got a budding pile of shame. It's not the worst but still a shelf's worth of kits and maybe 6 months solid painting! 😬

Have bought into and sold out of the hobby multiple times. This time the difference has been having a dedicated hobby space. I use some 8 oz plastic cups. 1 night a week i snip out 6 guys, put them in the cups and when i get the urge to build grab a few cups clean off the boys and start gluing. The other big difference is i havent invested heavily in rules. Last time i tried to get into the hobby was 8th 40k and by the time i had my space marines all assembled and primed and ready for some table top action i came to find i neeeded a bunch of faq nonsense an oop white dwarf, a new codex cause the one i had bought a few months before was out of date, and a psychic awakening book I also have a kill team 2021 pile of shame. As i assemble my Black templar army i hope is ready for 10th i take breaks by building some kill team stuff, its not really played in my area but it gives me enough variety from black and white with some ivory tabards.

I sold 10,000 points of 40k (mostly marines) during the pandemic. I realised that it was not possible for me to live long enough to paint them being late 40's (plus, I'm an events photographer in an apocalypse, so... money... capitalism... hard times). Anyway, it was the best thing I ever did, now I'm a painting beast, much more productive and able to get into other stuff, like Bolt Action. The grey plastic was a psychological ball and chain. Cheers for the content as always dude

Oh the hulk hogan reference made me chuckle like i was 7 years old again.

To answer the title; yes, to the extent that I've started selling the entire pile of shame on eBay. I've shifted my hobby focus from buying armies and such to buying characters and small units for Kill Team and (whisper it) Cursed City (caveat - I got a couple of non-hobbyists into playing because of this game). I've also shifted my general focus from looking at meta stuff to interesting units that I find fun, but may get destroyed in every battle.

Honest talk going on here brother. I really like the new kill team boxes so they got me with Shadow Vault recently, still have not painted all the terrain from the prior set yet. Before that I had a clear out and gifted most of my 40k stuff to friends. It was full armies worth of stuff I was just having fun buying for discount or second hand. Lesson, cheaper is not a saving if you never use the stuff.

Always happy to see a new video pop up in my queue. Great advice. I particularly like the tip on doing something else when you get bored of a particular thing. I have two armies that I almost always enjoy building, anything orky and my favorite angry AoS trees. So, if I'm working on my 40k sisters army, I like to buy just a single box or units and build it. But, since I'm not great with anything artistic, they are a massive challenge for me to make them "battle ready" enough that I'm not embarrassed to have them on the tabletop. To keep from getting resentful of that army, I'll switch up with a few Sylvaneth models, or something ork/orruk (don't care, I play both games). Trees and orks are much easier for an amateur to feel comfortable with, and both lend themselves wonderfully to kit bashing and storing extra bits for other projects.

I recently did a huge purge from my Kings of War and Warhammer backlogs. I don't even play WH anymore, so sold off all of it. For Kings of War, I consolidated to just 2 mega armies (ratkin and Brotherhood but using Bretonnians). Tempted to cut down one of those as well. The Bretonnians would stretch a long way for a hobby budget down the road. I don't even know if I'd get them all painted given the desire to try to freehand and do patterns...

I have nursed the same collection of models for 20 years, always with the intention of getting back into the hobby and painting them (one day). It is not a large pile of shame but definately a lingering one. I've started painting them now, and bought a few new models, getting into terrain making also. I realise now how easy it is for the grey pile to grow larger rather than smaller.

Interesting topic! I’ve found myself in an interesting place with buying things. I got back into the hobby when my partner bought me silver tower as I loved old warhammer quest. Being out of the hobby so long I though, hmm don’t want to mess these models up so I should practice first - well here we are 5 years later and I still haven’t painted that box but I do have other boxes for days. I did start painting some of my purchase up but I’m not going to lie some of it fills me with dread - I love sw legion and went bananas when they where on offer and have 4 core boxes, the running joke being the mould lines in that og core box being horrendous - 3-4 days of mould line removal. Not looking forward to putting those together 😅 I should have gone slower but hey, everyone has a bad day and thinks hmmm that will definitely give me something to do and cheer me up!

Great video. Especially the Greggs run.

Thanks, great takes on the topic!

I look forward to your forthcoming video on railway scenics. Keep up the good work.

I been binging your content and commenting on vids from the past 3-6 months today. Dude, love your content. Your outlook is so refreshing. I think i've figured out my balance.For me, to stay building and painting across the board consistently. I have to be working on something that peaks my interest at the time

I actually started about 3-4 months ago, I set myself the limit of only buying 1 box at a time and then buy the next once this is build and painted. Because of this I actually had no pile of shame but a big death guard army so far. Just recently (as in This week) I caught myself buying way too much stuff, so I will hold back now until everything is build and painted.

Really interesting subject and one I hadn't really thought about. I know for me I should not have gotten back into Warhammer when I did as I went all out on a Bretonian army, 6 weeks later they nerfed the line at the beginning of AoS. However it did lead back to the hobby and good friends so not a total issue.

I love this video so much! What a treat to wake up to and enjoy first thing on a Saturday. I love your unadulterated, don’t-give-a-sh*t delivery of truthiness. Thanks for existing and making these, friend. Love from Minnesota, US.

The inner battle among us all once you cross that line from dipping your toes in to going for a full on swim. Great video as always and some brutal honesty as needed. I think this is a great topic and will always be relevant as long as the hobby exists. A very important message for new comers for sure! :)

I’ve only just started with warhammer. This month I’ve bought seraphon starter set, league of votann, some death guard, kill team into the darkness and I’m looking at necromunda, too. No real plan to actually play any of it, just buying what I think is cool looking and then learning to paint.

On the "getting into the hobby too quickly" side of things, I think something that's worth considering is that you'll have a finite amount of "first" experiences when it comes to your purchases. Like, I remember how exciting it was to buy a boxed game from GW for the first time. I remember the thrill of getting my first big miniature like a Stardrake or an Imperial Knight. Then it was the feeling of buying a "premium" model from ForgeWorld (which, of course, we all learn later has less to do with quality and everything to do with just being a niche interest - but it doesn't feel like that at first). The first time I bought myself a nice sable brush and felt like my painting experience was that bit nicer. The first time I got into a second system and feeling excited about how different everything seems, or started playing less ubiquitous games like Middle-earth. The first Kickstarter where I got massively excited about all those free minis and the great deal of it, watching the stretch goals unlock. Half a decade back into the hobby, I now see big boxed game or starter boxes as the big commitment that they are. I see ForgeWorld as a tax on wanting something niche rather than a premium product. I kind of just 'expect' to use sable brushes now, and a new edition of a game just means I need to do buy new books, do a bunch of reading and learning and maybe have to paint some new models to make things still "work". This is all fine now, because I'm in the habit of painting minis and I know what I love about it, what I get from it and have no issues motivating myself to hobby most days - but those little purchasing milestones and the associated dopamine hits really did a lot to help motivate me and keep me excited for the next big thing in the early days. If I'd just jumped back into the hobby by purchasing several hundred of pounds worth of ForgeWorld Horus Heresy models from the get go, I'd have missed out on all these little milestones that made me feel like I was progressively getting deeper into the hobby. There wouldn't be as many exciting new experiences to discover along the way, fewer worlds to conquer, less dragons to slay. It's the hobby equivalent of trying to grow up too quickly. Enjoy your youth, when everything remains fresh, mysterious and exciting and don't be in too much of a rush to experience everything right away.

Dave, bloody good point. I have a great pile of shame, but have painters block plus the usual curse of the modeller - work! It's great to know that I'm not the only one! Best Wishes Johnny

I got into the hobby (late in life at 54), mainly for the painting side of the hobby. Self care and addition subjects for my macro photography also. And I also have too much to paint. I purchased the ravaged star veil touched as the starter 😂 so am prepping for them to appear in March. No interest at present in playing at all.

...I have 2 mounds of shame. I get Warhammer Imperium magazines, and been slow going. The Marines are greys....Necrons are better off. Got Kill Team starter, but boxed. Some Orks. However, I also have my collections at my parents house, as they never got moved when I moved out.... last seen late 2000's. Tau, 2 Ork armys, 2 Imperial Guard armies (including Tallarns), couple of Necromunda gangs, some Dark Angels.....and 2 boxes worth of Goblins & Dwarves from the WHFB starter....Its the modelling supplies that I still wanna get back...