Pete the Frugalista

Hey, Frugal Gamers! I think I had best introduce myself before the year disappears any further. My name is (don’t all shout at once) Pete, and I’ve been following Dave’s blog since I read about his fantastic tips for Dettol as a paint remover. This changed my life – primarily, it changed the way I smelled and the expression on my wife’s face on an evening, as I spent yet more time with a toothbrush and a tub of antiseptic Dark Elves.

Since you can’t stop me (moo ha ha), I’ll explain a bit of my history. I started gaming many years ago, when Games Workshop had a sale. I bought a lot of Dark Elves, and lost many games with them against a more experienced friend. Since then, I have played a range of GW games (Necromunda, Gorkamorka, Warhammer 40K, Mordheim) and lost a truly hideous number of games. I’ve also branched out into other game genres – card games, board games, roleplay games, and I’ll give anything a try if it becomes available.

As a frugal gamer, I have my own plans for fulfilling the Two Commandments of Dave:

Spend Less

I’ve already not done too well at this one, to be honest. Already this year, I’ve bid on a number of items on eBay to try and round out my collection. As far as new models go, I am resolved not to buy anything unless it is in a sale – Maelstrom Games is my store of choice for GW models, and they hold sales throughout the year with up to 17% off. This is a boon for anyone looking to save money on their models!

I feel that my losses here will be slightly mitigated by selling old games. I have a huge collection of Star Trek CCG cards which have been waiting for many years to come out of storage. I didn’t expect their eventual return to be a cataloguing exercise, prior to selling them. I also plan to go through old models and sell off anything that’s never going to get painted.

Play More

Games are no good sitting in cupboards. To this end, I am going to try and hold a Games Night at least every six weeks – that should be eight nights by the end of the year. My wife and I have held a few over the last couple of years, but we have a young son now and painful experience last year has taught us that we need to find a babysitter to make a Games Night work well. I will, however, be including any babysitting costs as a gaming cost this year, just to keep myself on focus!

Pete’s Year Ahead

One of the resolutions I have set myself is to paint all my Dark Elf figures. This resolution should help me stop buying too much more for them, because if I buy more... then I have to paint more. This doesn’t make sense (but then, when have gamers ever really made sense?) I plan to bring you any painting tips I learn along the way – nothing to save money, but at the very least it’ll make me feel guilty if I fall behind!

Alongside my Games Night resolution, I’ll use the opportunity to review games and give advice on how to run your own Games Nights.

Finally, writing this introduction has made me realise that I have quite a few things that I want to run forward with and talk more about that could easily become their own essays. I’ll be sure to write about those when I get the chance to.