40k on a budget? Fact or Fiction? Part 1

is it possible?

i think so...

i guess it is a matter of choosing your army carefully and knowing what to look for miniature wise.

So what i have done is chose Eldar (again), as they are rather an elite army. very specialist in what options are available to them, making them pretty much as small or large as you want. im going for a small army obviously, dont want to be spending to much cash.

the beauty of the eldar miniature range as well is they they have changed so many times over the 20ish years they have been circulating that there is plenty of  models out there for any bargain hunter to grab their hands on.
car boot sales, gumtree, eBay even old friends clearning out their garages.

i chose a nice 1500 point list to have a play with to see what i could get my hands on over the course of a couple of weeks.
it was open to change as i could obviously not guarantee what i was able to get hold of cheap.

the list was as follows. (please note this is not a serious army but in games it is actually considerably annoying!! for your opponent anyway, i found it quite comical).

Illic - 140
Autarch - 165
Uldanorethi Long Rifle, Mantle of the Laughing God. Warp Jump Generator & Power Sword

6 Pathfinders - 150
6 Pathfinders - 150
6 Pathfinders - 150
6 Pathfinders - 150
6 Pathfinders - 150
6 Pathfinders - 150

3 Dark Reapers - 146
Starswarm & Starshot Missiles. Exarch - Fast shot & Marksmans Eye
3 Dark Reapers - 146
Starswarm & Starshot Missiles. Exarch - Fast shot & Marksmans Eye

Total 1497



So now with the plan underway its time to grab some models.

first stop is my bits boxes to see what i could find lying around. and in luck i found my first 3 Dark readers and 4 rangers. Win!!

Ebay was my next bet as usually alot of old eldar models have been replaced with plastics now which is great as these are easy to strip of old paint jobs.

does it matter if the models are current? No not really. the model still reprisents what it reprisents so whether it is 20 years old or 2 years old as long as they are still in the codex we are game.
in my case though i would rather them be the older ranger/scout models as these can make way for the newer models being my HQ choices.

after a good few hours trawling ebay i found 2 auctions for eldar rangers. the first was a whole 22 rangers. 16 old and 6 new. and the second was for a further 9 old rangers.
£16 posted spent on the 2 auctions. Baragin!!

so thats 25 older minis to fit in the ranks nicely giving me 29 now and from the 6 newer models i have the 2 i need for my HQ choices.

I didnt intend to buy the Illic model especially for this little project as i think one of the current ranger models is similar enough to pass off as "counts as".




so 7 more rangers to go and 3 dark reapers...




i found my final 3 reapers on ebay again but with a few days to go on the auction. and with the weekend in sight i hit the local car boot sales to see if i could get my reapers and rangers.
in luck i came home with 10 more rangers. £5 spent and beautifully painted in Dulux?????
no reapers though so back to ebay it was...

eventually winning the 3 reapers for £4.50 posted.

£25.50 and i have my army. can you believe it?




so with some care and a little paint stripper heres what this pest of an army looks like...

So my Pathfinder Army in all its glory. with a few close ups of some Pathfinder units

 

Heavy Fire support from the Dark reapers

 

my "counts as" Illic.

Bald head, sniper rifle, cloak and mesh armour, with a cool base. about sums it up really ;)

 

And last but not least the Autarch. simply made from a current Ranger model and a modified Warp Spider Exarch generator. just looking for a suitable power sword for him and he's complete.

It just needs painting now but i have lots of other things to get on with so these guys may just have to wait....

... or maybe not, who knows?

So there you have it, 40k on a budget
hope you have enjoyed the very long read!!