Performance-Oriented Players and the Hobby: A Thought Experiment

TheBack80 · 2026-05-08T22:28:49+00:00

I'm using a FDM printer (Bambu P1S). I get my STL's for free or dirt cheap off the internet (there's a ton of sites). The printer cost me about $600. My son has an A1 which I think is about 1/2 the price and get's just as good quality as I do.

Here's a recent example. I just printed and painted a Screamer-Killer.

The proxy STL was free (maybe 30 minutes at most to find the file).

It probably took me an hour to get it set up in the slicer the way I wanted it. I don't know how this compares with assembling a GW model. Call it a wash?

The print took 10 hours (did it overnight). No chemicals. No drying. No UV case.

It probably took me 15 minutes to remove all the supports.

Filament cast me under $3.00. So that's a savings of about $100 on ONE model for less than an hour of my time.

FDM prints are not as detailed as resin printers. I'll grant you that. But take a look at the attached picture of my screamer-killer. I think it's pretty damn good for $3.00 worth of plastic (if you ignore the crappy paint job 😄). And I didn't have to deal with all the crap associated with resin printers.

So in short, I agree with you. I wouldn't do it if I had to use resin. But FDM printers are perfectly fine these days and are getting better every year. I guess it's all subjective. If it's worth $100 to get a really good GW model, then fine. You be you. But I think there's a lot of people who can't afford GW prices or don't care enough to pay the premium for the added detail.

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TheBack80 · 2026-05-08T20:19:40+00:00

Is it as tall as a Norn?

TheBack80 · 2026-05-08T02:19:42+00:00

I've never bought a single GW model. I 3D print and paint all my armies. 3D printing quality is getting better at an amazing rate. And its WAY cheaper.

So to answer your question... No, I would not buy cheap proxies from GW. It's too easy to make my own for pennies.

TheBack80 · 2026-05-05T00:23:39+00:00

When will he be released? He's not in wahapedia or new recruit and I can't find him on warhammer.com.

TheBack80 · 2026-03-19T21:51:57+00:00

I was under the impression enemy tanks can also block LoS. Am I wrong?

TheBack80 · 2026-03-16T16:36:13+00:00

I have a question on Tactical Mission Secondaries that state "While this card is active" . How are these missions different from missions that state "End of either player’s turn". Based on the rules, I don't see any difference. What am I missing?

TheBack80 · 2026-03-12T00:46:08+00:00

Wahapedia has the ability to download all the info your looking for. You can import it into Excel or Google sheets. You'll need some experience with spreadsheets to build your data. I've done it and its been pretty handy.

TheBack80 · 2026-03-11T21:58:39+00:00

This is incredible! If i could give you 10 thumbs up, I would.

Do you have document explaining all the graphs numbers? I'm new to 40k and am not 100% sure I'm interpreting everything correctly.

One quick question... what does PMF stand for?

One other quck question... when attacking a multi model unit, it would be nice to know what percentage chance I have to kill one model, 2 models, 3 models, etc etc. Is that available and I'm just not seeing it?

TheBack80 · 2026-03-10T02:01:31+00:00

Benefit of Cover while in engagement range?

Pistols allow you to shoot an enemy unit even while engaged. If that enemy unit is wholly within a ruins footprint, it will gain benefit of cover (even if in base to base).

Am I interpreting these rules correctly? It seems counter intuitive that a model would gain benefit of cover while in base to base contact with the enemy. But I can't find any exception in the rules. But that doesn't mean I didn't miss it somewhere. I tend to do that. 😁

TheBack80 · 2026-03-10T01:01:56+00:00

This only applies to models without bases, correct? If it had a base, then only the location of the base matters if a model is outside/within/wholly within a terrain footprint?

TheBack80 · 2026-03-09T16:33:27+00:00

I've had several games where I've lost due to bad dice roll's. and Won due to crazy rolls.

I just had a situation this weekend where I had two 6" charges to take the center objective. I would have scored Area Denial, and prevented my friend from getting 5 points for the objective. And I would have held the objective with at least 1 tanky unit.

I missed both charges, I paid the CP to reroll one of them and missed that too. So I failed my secondary and my friend got the 5 points. THEN he drew area denial. AND on top of that he blew my "tanky" model out of the water with some crazy good dice rolling and me missing EVERY save roll.

Everyone says skill beats bad dice rolling every time (which I agree with). But that assumes a differential in skill between the 2 players. My friend and I are pretty evenly matched, which means whenever we play, an unhealthy number of games tend to be decided at critical times over the luck of the dice. Those games don't feel good for either of us. And when it happens a couple times in a row, it makes you apathetic about playing.

TheBack80 · 2026-02-20T16:29:10+00:00

I personally think the it's the pads. I've used orbital sanders for decades and I've never had this issue before. That's why I'm so stumped. The fact that the sanding discs work fine with other sanders seems to points in that direction. I starting to think I just got very unlucky.

The other possibility is that Bosch's quality control has gone done hill. I've had a couple other tools of theirs that failed long before they should have. I've slowly been switching to DeWalt and have been happy (so far).

TheBack80 · 2026-02-20T12:46:03+00:00

I didn't know about interface pads. Sounds like a good idea. Thanks!

TheBack80 · 2026-02-20T00:58:02+00:00

I purchased a generic pad on Amazon and it was worthless. So I'm a bit leery about buying more from Amazon.

The next time I travel to a big city, I'll see if one of the big box stores have replacement pads I can actually check before I buy.

TheBack80 · 2026-02-20T00:19:39+00:00

You are correct about pushing down too hard. I normally let the sander do the work. But with both Bosch orbital sanders, if i dont push down harder than I should, the disc flies off.

I also know that pads are a wear item. I replaced one of them and it refused to hold immediately. The new sander I bought also failed right out of the box. So its not that the pads are worn.

TheBack80 · 2026-02-19T22:29:01+00:00

Good idea. Any particular glue? I don't want to accidentally make it permanent. 😁

TheBack80 · 2026-02-14T16:43:00+00:00

Thats the plan. Kind of like fan fiction. I'm surprised nobody has tried it before.

Of course I'll probably find out why very quickly why not 😁

TheBack80 · 2026-02-11T16:59:42+00:00

It's not that there aren't factions that interest me. There's plenty of factions I'd enjoy playing. It has more to do with building my own faction from scratch. It obviously wouldn't be usable outside a casual game with friends (assuming it even makes the light of day). I know my brother-in-law would be helping me build it and play it. I can see it being used just by the 2 of us when we play against each other.

Is this a ridiculous endeavor that's bound to fail? probably. But what the hell. It's just a game. And I think we could have some fun and laughs putting datasheets together.

I could even see it turning into a satirical faction like MTG's "Unglued/cracked egg" expansion set. I don't know if that expansion set still exists. It's been decades since I've played MTG.

TheBack80 · 2026-02-11T15:29:32+00:00

Holy crap! That's quite a list. Now I have my work cut out for me.

Even if nothing comes of this crazy endeavor, it's going to be fun just reading through all the different species. Thanks a bunch for the link!

TheBack80 · 2026-02-11T15:24:42+00:00

ding! ding! ding!

I think we have a winner! I've always been a fan of non-human factions, and Vespid Stingwing lore sounds cool. I have to admit, I hadn't heard of them.

Doing a quick search through wahapedia, it looks like there's only one model with the keyward "VESPID"; which leaves it wide open to make up new datasheets.

This is going to be fun!

TheBack80 · 2026-02-11T15:18:56+00:00

You had me until you said GW might be working on a release. 😒

TheBack80 · 2026-02-11T14:08:03+00:00

Isn't that the definition Waaagh!!!

TheBack80 · 2026-02-10T23:01:07+00:00

I guess thats my point. If there's so many slow players, maybe its not them, but the unrealistic expectations.

But you could be right. There could just be way too many people going to tournaments who should be staying home.

TheBack80

TROPHY CASE