Pocket Money Wargaming, Or The Small Change Approach. Or How I Took Up Drugs, Hookers And Legitimate Theatre - And Saved Money

 I have been having a few days off from the world, to allow me to take stock of things and have three nights at the theatre in one way or another. Last night we saw Nigel Kennedy and frankly, were blown away by the playing and at his audience rapport.

In the moments I have grabbed from what has been a hectic schedule - with more late nights than I have had in the last 20 years, as a result of being a 'patron of the arts' - I've been thinking a lot about how my hobby was afforded when I was a kid. Apart from spending money of £3 per week, and whatever I could scrounge from not using all my dinner money (around 40p per day), that was it until I started painting after school and earning more than my first job paid, every week.

So, on a level playing field and for the first couple of years of being a gamer, I built armies on a weekly wage of £5, which got around 60 15mm or 20 25mm figures each week. 

So, it must have been possible to do a lot, because I had a lot of stuff and indeed was building decent armies and piles of RPG books.

The question is, can I do it now? The last month alone has cost me just (and I mean just) shy of a five figure sum on completing the last half of my ECW project. That is just nuts, doubly so when you add on the 5 figure sum spent over the preceding 3 months on part one of the ECW project. Although, to be fair, I get a lot more for my money than the lunatic whose only concept of wargaming is with Dames Workshop, post-1990, who will either have to be a descendant of Croesus (Games Workshop being their own personal Cyrus, of course, as time will prove, no doubt) or, well - a lunatic.

I have got to a point, where I simply decide what I want make a list and add it to the collection. It's become rather mechanical, and with that comes the sense that you are just number crunching.

For example, the ECW project (and let me say that for me the ECW has a lot of emotional threads running through it) became formulaic in the sense that I simply thought: '44-50 man regiments for foot, 12-18 man troops of horse... So, 12 regiments of foot per army grouping, 16 troops of horse and add artillery, forlorn hope and 3 x 12s of dragoons.'

And this was repeated 4 times, with a load more cavalry and artillery being added along the way. Job done, but no real engagement in the crafting of a 'living' collection. It was a bit too sterile and easy, on reflection. 

So, I have been thinking over the idea of gaming more along the lines of how I did when I was a kid. If we allow a 5x adjustment for inflation, that gives me a £25 per week 'pot' of spending money, so if I want something big, I have to save.

Now, this is not how I do things. I generally just buy or commission what I want, pay the bill and get on with it or wait for delivery.

Now, this new approach for 2026 (the duration of the experiment being Jan 1st to October 31st, 2026) will undoubtedly mean that there will be things that will miss out on, if the funds have not been saved up, but hey, that was how it went back then, and I still survived and thrived, and became the gamer I am today.(No doubt, much to the chagrin of certain people, to whom I send this message: 'Go screw yourselves!' :) )

I will allow myself to do deals for bulk discounts because I have done that for the last 45 years and cash has always been king. I will only buy plastic where I am forced to by lack of metal models for that period, but that said, I don't see any need yet, to go there.

It's a good time to try this little experiment because as you know, I've pretty much done with the acquisition phase and am heading into my Imperial phase of wargaming, where I hold court here at Fackham Hall, ruminate on a life disgracefully lived and sordid  behaviour which would get me cancelled in the modern 'progressive' world - but of course those people who would disapprove of my antics will never know the saturnialian pleasures I have known - and generally have a damn good time as I slide sideways towards the grave at breakneck speed.

Another rule, is that I must do it because I want to for my own sake, not to follow fashions or fads. I picked up a copy of Wargames Illustrated last week, with the 'free' Konflikt 47 sprue, and at the last moment, snapped back to my senses and threw it back towards (almost reaching) the shelf.

It may also be, that I try and recapture a few of those armies and suchlike, that I owned as a kid. Hell, I may even try to recreate the British Colonial army that I painted and based in a single 24 hour session, to add piquancy to the whole thing.

I know that I will be going to less shows, which is contrary to the teenage me, but to be honest, I'd rather spend weekends at the theatre now, than waste time walking around a cattle shed, lookinbg at the same stuff repeated ad nauseum and suffereing from literal nausea, caused by people who think a set of Space Marines is more important than a wash or a clean T-shirt. (*side note* - I'm already booked into 3 gigs and 5 theatre trips for 2026, but at this time, no drugs and hookers have been considered or indulged in)

I will of course keep a diary on this blog, to see how it goes. I'll allow myself to also add in any money I get for my birthday and Christmas, for the sake of authenticity.

It's going to be fun, one way or another...

 

TTFN