What's stopping you buying GHQ stuff? (Apart from Money!)

CG2 · Post by **CG2** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:34 pm

I've long resisted the temptation to invest in a modern UK army because of the outdated infantry (especially Heavy Weapons). What single pack is stopping you from starting a new force or moving from a token skirmish presence?

Donald M. Scheef · Post by **Donald M. Scheef** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 9:21 pm

I don't have this problem.
I do 1/2400 scale Micronauts. In the past I have bought 1/385 Microarmor, but decided to concentrate on ships because I can't afford to buy everything.
Within this field, I don't purchase modern Micronauts - aside from hypotheticals there just haven't been enough historical ship-to-ship combats since 1945.
With a few exceptions, I don't purchase submarines. In my opinion, the proper model of a submarine in 1/2400 scale is an invisibly-small periscope. Yes, I know that many WWI and WWII submarine attacks were made on the surface, but I have to deal with my prejudices.
With a few exceptions, I don't purchase aircraft carriers. The main reason here is that the range difference between even the largest guns and that of WWII aircraft makes setting up a scenario difficult unless you want to play either all guns or all planes. Besides that, I just like surface warfare.
With GHQ's range of Micronauts, there are plenty of ships that still haven't been produced, but no single pack that prevents me from purchasing.
Even with these limitations, I have over US$3,000 in planned GHQ purchases that I haven't budgeted yet. I'm gradually whittling this down and hope to be up to date with GHQ releases by the time I retire and have to put more severe restrictions on my purchases.

Don S.

Waddell · Post by **Waddell** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 10:30 pm

Well, to be brutally honest and based on my purchases over the last few years I'd have to say nothing at all! Bwahahahahaha!!!

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 12:36 am

A "honeydo" list a mile and a half long, deciding which units to complete, and which units to build next. There is also the issue of availability. GHQ doesn't make all the models I need, which is a real shame to say, given their wide scope and variety.

Donald M. Scheef · Post by **Donald M. Scheef** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:11 am

I believe the appropriate term is "bucket" list rather than "honeydo" list. My honeydo list is all the things my wife wants me to do instead of playing with my "toy boats" all the time.
Don S.

scopemaster · Post by **scopemaster** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:33 am

I also do not have this issue as my wife is a gamer gal and also it keeps me off the drag strip etc and out of trouble, I have been buying GHQ since early 1970's and gaming with it. They do most of the items I would like/need but there is so much good stuff in the lines they make this will keep me busy until they trow the dirt on me

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:46 am

Alas, Mr. Scheef, I used the correct term. My wife's honeydo list does keep me from spending as much time as I'd like playing with my "little tanks." At least she does not object to my hobby and in fact, encourages it (We met when we were both in the Army).

I don't have time for a bucket list, but in any case, I crossed off most of that list while in the Army.

Donald M. Scheef · Post by **Donald M. Scheef** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 3:52 am

I stand corrected. Congratulations.
Don S..

kfeltenberger · Post by **kfeltenberger** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 7:13 am

This may ruffle some feathers...

I hate buying poorly sculpted lumps of pewter or lead. In 1984 I was out at Gencon and my enthusiasm overrode my logic and bought about $100 or so worth of Heroics & Ross Soviet armor - T-72s or T-84s (forget which, they looked like whittled lumps with a stick for a gun) and BMP-1s. It was, to put it bluntly, a waste of my money and one of the main reasons why they're a company I will only consider as a last resort.

GHQ, on the other hand, pretty much owns the market; they have the highest quality and most consistently sized miniatures currently produced. They also, IMO, produce some really esoteric stuff that other than completeness or diorama purposes, probably is never really *used* on the game table. These things are cool from a completeness perspective, but from a practical perspective I think they're pretty much "dead lead".

The downside to this is that time is spent crafting the masters and molds and that time could be spent on stuff that's more usable. IMO, of course.

All that said, I don't let the lack of something prevent me from starting an "army". I built an Israeli armored brigade and now I'm going to build a modern (circa 2016) Swedish armored or mechanized brigade. I'll but GHQ for as much as possible and hope by the time they're painted that something else that I'll need will be released. Otherwise I'll find something similar by GHQ and substitute.

For me, this isn't about gaming, it's about the relaxation I get from painting and the sense of satisfaction when I can look at it and say, "Yeah...they look a hell of a lot better than the WW2 Soviet armor that RJ painted using a spray can of Testor's Sherwood Forest Green!" For gaming, all I really have is painting as there isn't that much interest in microarmor (modern or other) here in central Pennsylvania.

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 9:10 pm

Kurt,

Like you, I find quite a bit of satisfaction collecting, painting, and organizing. We have the added benefit that our collections don't face the usual hazards of gaming - dropping, rolling over by ham-handed "helpers," constant handling of intricate paint jobs, loss during transport, etc. My OCD is satisfied by organizing and lining up, by saying to myself, "Yup. That looks just as I remember them." or just as I have seen them or just as they do in pictures. And as soon as I have room in the basement for a ping pong table I will line them up in a division-plus sized motor pool with the Russians on the opposite side and NOBODY will play Ping Pong on that table. I have quite a bit of painting to catch up on, but my last son is heading off to college this Fall, so I'm likely to have far too much time on my hands and may start catching up.

Hoth_902 · Post by **Hoth_902** » Sat Jun 18, 2016 11:02 pm

There are two reasons that prevent me from buying more. The biggest thing is my slow painting speed. It takes me a while to paint my vehicles and the Finance minister will not loosen the purse strings until I burn through some of my back log. The second reason centers around a relocation I currently find myself in. My land lord decided to sell our town house. This means everything must be packed up and stored. We are down sizing for about the next 9 months, from a 1400 square foot home to a 659 square foot apartment.

That aside, I am currently doing more collecting, painting, and organizing like Panzergator and kurt. There is something immensely satisfying to see all the vehicles lined up by units. THough I have not done it in a while, I like to build 1/35 scale models, but at that size there is no way you are going to put a whole company together and have room for it.

Ultimatly my hope for collection was also to wargame with them, but my group has decided that true scale is the way to go, so they have been gaming more with 1/600 scale. They are not fond of having a different ground scale than the vehicles and still have fun.

So for now, I collect.

Cav Dog · Post by **Cav Dog** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 5:04 am

For me it is a case of they haven't made what I need to finish my current forces and interests:
Soviet Cold War weapons with Saggers, SA7/14, SPG-9 RRs,
infantry suitable for 67 & 73 war Israelis,
Korean war Norks and Chinese infantry,
WWII US infantry in overcoats/cold weather kit
SADF infantry and armor for 79-80s bush wars
War Two through modern European civilians and vehicles.

I'll buy when they offer what I want, which lately hasn't been a match. I have no interest in multi engine aircraft bombers, different variants of modern Italian armored cars or Swedish APCs.

So what have I been buying? I dropped a couple of hundred dollars last month on different field works from LegionIVHire and factory ruins from Novus, as well as some of Allen Rockwell's excellent buildings.

That said, I've got plenty to paint and get on the table so I won't be bored or lose interest.

cabin4clw · Post by **cabin4clw** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:18 am

For me, it is just the fact that I do not need anything else for my ww2 armies. I have late war Germans, Soviet and USA.

Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:26 pm

Much of my collection has been bought second hand, so it is a bit of a mess. After I finish revamping my 15mm Vietnam, my MicroArmor is next. That means organizing, labeling and basing. Selling off trading what I don't want/need. Buying what I do need (which admittedly is not going to be much).

I'm a gamer. So I'm prettyfast and loose with a lot of things. Transport for example. I have a motor pool of prime movers, trucks etc. I just use whatever I have. As it happens I needed more Soviet trucks so I painted up another 2 dozen. But they will serve every formation in the army....

The bigger issue for me is the logic of releases. They release off the wall stuff while main stay units or infantry are still missing. As a result some of my troops are from other places (hello PIATs).

battlewagon · Post by **battlewagon** » Sat Jun 25, 2016 9:49 pm

Aside from my job and subsidizing my wife's Disney addiction, the biggest thing that has stopped me from buying more GHQ has been the simple fact that the recent releases over the last couple of years have not interested me. I am a big fan of battleships and of WW 1 and WW 2 ship to ship combat. I served on an aircraft carrier (CVN-65) and while they are nice to look at, in most miniatures gaming situations they are about as useful as screen doors on a submarine. I would like to see the classes of capital ships filled out more with ships that actually engaged in ship to ship combat.

If GHQ ever decides to go "Wehrmacht '47" on the Micronauts, I hope they go for the capital ship designs that were canceled due to the Washington Treaty in the inter-war years...those are some awesome looking designs that nobody makes in a scale or price range I can deal with. I have kitbashed / scratchbuilt the CC-1 Lexington and the late war IJN Fuso but it would be so much easier to just buy the kit.

Vent-ex completed...carry on.