Mini Monday: Beware! An analysis of a Game Project

Recently I posted a link to a new army box soon to be released.
There were the usual remarks 'So Tempting!' 'What a deal!', but there was also a
'I'd have to get more than an occassional game to get my investment back' comment. So today I have decided to do a little investment anaylsis. Now before I start let me warn you that you should never ever let your spouse see this if she questions your hobby budget both in time and finance. Also let me point out that the following  has nothing to do with whether I buy into a project or not. If I can afford it and it's shiny enough, it's mine!

So item to be considered, Warlord Games soon to be released Pike and Shotte Samurai Army box.

$120 for 124 figs (cavalry counts as 2), a metal mounted General and decals, trust me you want those decals! Less than a $1 a fig, certainly a good price. I've personally assembled and painted the Warlord, ie old Wargames Factory figs, and though a bit tedious at first glance they come out fairly nice. So pricewise the Army Box is sweet.

Now Assembly time,  now of course this is relative to your style and speed. If you have to clip every bit off the sprue and sand down every flash it will take you longer. Also as you get familiar with the models you will get faster as well. I suggest test assembly of 5 ashigaru, 2 samurai and 2 cavalry to get the feel first, then go on and do 10 or more at a time.
My estimate is about 5 min per fig. 5 x 124 figs, 620 min or about 10 hours. Have I ever mentioned that I love plastic figs but simply hate putting them together.
10 Hours Assembly

Painting time. Certainly varies by the painter. For instance,I taught my wife how to paint minis years ago and now she paints better figs but in twice the time that I do, roughly.
Thus this is nothing but shear guesswork on my part.
First up you have the Ashigaru, which you can paint in a uniform scheme thus saving you much time. Let's say 20 minutes each, 20 x 80, 1600 minutes or about 26 hours.
I suggest playing any movie by Kurasawa in the background for motivation.
26 Hours Ashigaru

Next up we have the samurai on foot. 20 figures. Gotta give these bad ass boys  some extra love, shall I say 40 minutes each. So 20 x 40, 800 minutes or about 13 hours. (roughly I say roughly)
13 Hours Samurai on foot

Now we get to the Mounted Samurai, certainly your most stunning unit or so you should plan. The horses really won't take as long as the samurai themselves so let's just say an hour a fig.
12 Hours Mounted Samurai

pic
Last up is the Samurai General, Well you  gotta look the part so let's say 2 hours.
2 Hours General

Doing the math, we're looking at some
53 Hours Total

Whew that was a lot of math! 53 hours, does seem like a lot. That would be about 25 movies or prime time TV watching or 12 football games or 6 novels. But if you  break that down with 3 hours during the week and 4 hours on the weekend, 7-8 weeks or about two months to get the whole force on the table. Not so bad.

Now figure 4 hours for a Pike and shotte game, so about 13 games to get your hourly investing back out of it.

But and it's a big But, This all assumes that the only pleasure comes from actually playing the game. That there is no joy in planning or painting your army, that you are just a gamer and not a hobbyist. But I doubt that because, a true gamer only type would be playing boardgames, cardgames or just video games. Only a gamer hobbyist spends $125 on a Samurai army, because the thrill starts when you open that box.

Finally the Samurai and Cavalry

Well, after a bit of a hiatus, the first of the Wargames Factory Samurai and Samurai Cavalry are done. The Samurai box is a bit of a pain. Attach legs together and then to torso and then arms and then head and weapons. The Cavalry box was a delight! Lower torso to upper then arms/w weapon attached! The rider fits on the horse perfectly! I hope to buy some extra rider weapon sprues to use with the other boxes. Major drawback of the cav box was that the horse hoofs had to be attached to the base. I added a pin to brace the horses that only had 2 hoofs touching the ground. But it was an easy fix and easily covered up.

First Samurai and the Red Clan

Picked up a box of Samurai and put together a couple of the models. Totally different than the Ashigaru boxes. The legs have to be slotted into the torso before the torso is assembled. Allows for a bit more of a torso variation. Painted two for the Blue Clan, turned out okay, but I am getting use to the armor.

Third box of Ashigaru went to starting the Red Clan. Used a samurai head to upgrade one of the commanders. Each set of ten is getting easier.

Picking up the cavalry tomorrow  as well as the missile troop box for the Red Clan. Hope to have this
project at 120 figs by the end of the year.

Archer support is here.

Second week and the second box is done. This time it is the Ashigaru missile troop box. Went with two units of archers to support by 'Blue Clan'. Also added a drum team and a banner bearer.
Have to say that I'm getting use to these plastic figs, they can get a bit fiddly to be sure. I highly suggest gluing the legs to the bases and allowing them to dry before adding the rest of the body.

Mikeasagi is on his way!

Two weeks ago I caught the Samurai bug again! The first time, ten years ago, I bought up a few skirmish figs and designed the buildings you see in the pics. I lost interest but my wife copied the designs, then made and sold some $500 worth. The second time, I picked up some 20mm plastic, it passed quickly. Last year, in a sudden outbreak, I gathered some 75 Dixon 25's, but lost interest after I painted the first fig. But two weeks ago I picked up a box of Ashigaru at the local store and presto! I'm finishing up the second box tonight and hope to have the third done by next week. The wonder wife, who is betting that interest will wane before the end of the month, promises to paint up a new building for me if I make it to November.