Justifying Expensive Models

In a pseudo follow-up of my post talking about Quality vs. Quantity, I find myself in a bit of a mind regarding the purchase of a single expensive model. With the release of Colossals and Gargantuans, the game of Warmachine has finally started moving towards "big things smashing other big things" that everyone wants it to be. But with that comes a cost, and it can be a hefty one.

Take the colossal for Khador, for example. At 19 points, it costs as much as two average warjacks. It comes with a huge damage grid, ranged and melee threats, and a big fat base to put it all on. The thing is also intimidating to look at, and from the work I've seen people do it seems like a blast to paint. I really want a great big robot, but acquiring it will hit me for about $135 MSRP. As a comparison, for a few bucks more I could get a Battle Foam bag to carry my entire army in.



But it's not just the price that is off-putting, it's the use I'd get out of each dollar spent. If I spent $135 on models I could get a mixture of units, solos, warcasters and warjacks. While I'd still be growing my army, I'd be breaking that money up in to 3-5 choices (or more!), with at least 1 purchase easily sliding in to any future list. The Conquest, while a decent warjack, is a full-blown 19 points in a game where the highest level I'll play at is 50 points.

Investing nearly 40% of my points in a single model means my other choices are limited, and he becomes virtually unplayable at 25 or 35 point games. And with the exception of a few armies, many huge-base models have a lot of competition from lower-cost models. What's worse, an army's best heavy jack/beast can mostly accomplish what the more expensive model does for 6-8 points cheaper! And let's not forget I can buy a Convergence of Cyriss starting army for the same price.

When comparing the cost of a colossal vs. Battlefoam, it's important to point out that I would be buying the colossal for $95 from DiscountGamesInc. So $95 for one model vs. $155 (+ shipping) for a foam bag is a bit less painful. But if I were to buy from KR Multicase again (an upcoming review will explain why I may not), I can carry the same amount of troops as the Battlefoam bag for about $130 with free shipping.

Maybe it's because I've only been gaming for over a year, but it's so hard to look at the more efficient ways to spend my hobby money and then put it in to a single warjack+. But when I look at the Conquest... I really want one. It's not something I need, but I am often tempted to forego foam and other units and just buy a big hunk of metal and plastic. This has been my conundrum since their release - can I justify spending so much money on a single, amazing model?

So how do you guys justify spending so much money on a single model? Have you regretted it? Or if you haven't yet, what keeps you from buying one?

See you tomorrow, which is the very last day to enter my Warmachine/Hordes faction dice giveaway! Tell your friends!