The Best Game Ever!

Our club is currently engaged in the furious dice-rolling, insult-hurling and cursing of the annual Bloodbowl tournament. We've just had the quarter finals and I'm currently on cloud nine after my Ogre team, the Tinys 'N' Titans, narrowly beat Mark's Orcs, the Pigsturd Stealers, to book a place in the semis.

Due to this being a playoff game, and needing to be decided, the game lasted 28 turns after I had equalised in the last turn of normal time with a throw team mate move. Over time featured last gasp blitzes, goal line trips, sendings off (for a failed foul on a Snotling!) and at least one death.

The game was the most fun game of anything I've played for quite some time. The only spectre on the horizon being that in the semi-final I have to play Wayne's Chaos team, the Slaanesh 69ers, a team with a ridiculous level of advancement (three Strength 5 Chaos Warriors!!!). Wayne beat me in the last game of the regular season, but it was only by one touchdown in the last turn, so although I'm clearly the underdog, there's room for hope.

However, the Ogres provide an excellent example of two more of the rules of Cheaphammer.

Rule 7: Never buy new, if you can help it.

The basics of this rule is that miniatures are always cheaper second hand. Sheffield is belssed in the second hand department by the presence of Wargames Emporium, our FLGS, but however you get hold of them (ebay, FLGS, friends, jumble sales, etc.) second hand models will be cheaper than new, and that's how I got the Snotlings/Gnoblars for my Ogre team.

An added tip is to look for second hand models at a time when the market is saturated or when particular armies are a bit unfashionable. So right now, High Elves and Skaven from the Island of Blood, and Wood Elves, Ogres and Bretonnians (especially foot troops) are a little bit cheaper than the equivalent Daemons, Dark Elves and Orcs.

Rule 8: Have yourself a strategic little Christmas.

Let's face it. Some parts of the army you want, you simply cannot get second hand, nobody will simply give it to you and there aren't many cheaper alternatives. Big centrepiece models like the new Tomb King Necrosphinx are a good example of this. However, all hope is not lost. Plan you Christmas and Birthday presents accordingly and tell relatives EXACTLY what you want.

I did this with the Ogres for my team. I wanted new Ogres as I wanted to have the arm and head options and to be able to give them the belly plates without weapons attached. Specifically telling my wife what I wanted, I was not disappointed and technically I got the Ogres without spending money (I argue this because my wife would have spent the equivalent on me anyway).

So, there's two more ways of doing this stuff relatively cheaply. More to come, and I promise to actually do some painting this weekend...