The Hobby With (almost) No Budget

 Hi!

We're into June already and I thought I'd spend a bit of time rambling about my hobby choices for 2026 and on.

A lone adventurer in Stump

Sadly my budget is being increasingly squeezed by the cost of living and the dreaded Real Life and one of the cuts I've had to make is my hobby budget. In years gone by, I'd have £25-£40 a month to pick up new figures and whatnot which led to an ever increasing number of projects I'd want to try out but thats now being spent on necessities and I was faced with the real prospect of having to just abandon any hobby stuff until things improved.

My hobby is really important to me though as its my way of relaxing and de-stressing from said Real Life shenanigans so I started rummaging round for ideas for wargaming on not only a micro budget but also with limited amounts of space as our spare room, my mancave is pretty packed with books (the perils of being a bibliophile and working in a bookshop for 20+ years!) so my gaming board is 3'x3' and I'm never going to be able to get anything bigger, let alone the gold standard of a 6'x4' board.

My ramblings initially brought me to the solo RPG option and I've played quite a few now and really enjoy them but its not quite wargaming so I migrated onto combining the two, as can be seen with my Inquisitor Fisher campaigns which combined small numbers of figures into a narrative driven campaign with a lot of RPG lite additions and its been great fun. 

Stump Art Scribbles

The increase of cost of living and a bad case of loss of gaming mojo last year saw even this outlet curtailed as I found myself completely de-motivated and everything I tried just seemed to go nowhere.

I'd considered moving scale for my figures but 15mm and even 6mm figures are ramping up price wise to a point I realised that I couldn't really justify.

Things were looking a bit grim until January this year when I decided to do something completely different and just make some tiny figures that would quickly tick a box for a project I'd wanted to do for years and I made my Star Mogul Farpoint Salvage crew over the course of a week between work, quickly followed by Bossman Salvage, their sworn rivals.

Farpoint Salvage

For the first time in quite a while now, I felt the return of my hobby mojo, I was enjoying making, painting and creating entire narratives about these tiny, blocky guys and I realised that I'd found the answer to the malaise that had been effectively ruining my hobby for so long and answering the question of how do I keep the hobby that I've been immersed in for the last 30+ years going.

Bossman Salvage

While the Tiny Troops aren't too detailed, they do have a certain charm to them and with miniatures being so expensive these days, they'll do the job!

Men at Arms

Now I'd love to be able to collect and paint armies of old school figures, or pick up new games and whatnot but I just cannot afford to do so and my tiny figures have enough of a feel of wargaming miniatures to do the job.

I've used about £5 worth of materials and constructed and painted 108 figures in five months which is pretty good going covering fantasy and sci-fi. I've got the beginnings of entire armies that I never thought I'd get round to done for the fraction of the cost of doing it with actual miniatures.

While they may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I seem to have found real pleasure and a sense of achievement working on them and suspect I'm going to be making a lot more of them as time goes on. Handily I've now got my gaming board back up so I expect to be able to play some actual games in the not too distant future too.

I must admit that I've been seeing quite a few folks branching out into a more crafty hobby approach either making their own or kitbashing everything from pebbles to army soldiers and its been fascinating.

Hopefully I'll get chance to post some more pics of my next batch of stuff soon but in the meantime, All the best!

Imperial Guard Platoon

 Hi!

I've been working away on making some tiny troops for a 40k 1st/2nd edition project that I've been humming and hahing over for years and making my own tiny figures seemed to be the perfect way of making my mad ponderings a reality!

Imperial Platoon

I've pained them up in classic 1st edition Imperial Guard colours of black flack jacket and helmet, grey uniforms and red visors (which got several coats of gloss varnish to give them a real bit of a reflection).

Command Squad

The command squad consists of a Leutenant with bolt pistol, power sword and carapace armour, a melta gun and a flamer for special weapons and a pair of troops with lasguns to provide security. 

I know that it's not really codex compliant for either 1st or 2nd but I've gone for a more fluff filled method of building as it just doesn't feel right to give them all special weapons or even two heavy weapons. Game wise, they're short ranged fire support should help stem the tide if baddies get close to Imperial lines!

1st Squad

1st squad has troopers supported by a heavy bolter and a grenade launcher while the sergeant has a chainsword.

I figure this is pretty likely to be standard kit for my Imperials giving them a decent level of long range firepower to hopefully whittle down foes before they get too close.

2nd Squad

2nd squad is supported by an auto cannon and a plasma gun giving them a bit more anti-armour capability and will give my small force some decent stopping power.

I still need to make a heavy weapon squad and possibly another basic squad but I'm really pleased with how they've turned out and am now contemplating making some vehicles for them too and it's been really pleasing to make and paint the little guys as it's been a bit of a dream to collect an Imperial Guard army for years but I just don't have the time, money, space or patience for a 28mm version so this has been a satisfying little project that is achievable!

I've got a couple of days worth of holiday left so I'll see what I can get done but in the meantime, All the best!

Sir Bedevere's Bunbury Siege Tower

 Hi!

I've been working away on my Monty Python and the Holy Grail themed warband and have finished a new unit in the form of Sir Bedevere's Bunbury Siege Tower!

Sir Bedevere's Mighty Siege Tower!

Made entirely from EVA foam, the siege tower is based on the Trojan rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail but with a few alterations and will be forming a suitable centrepiece to the army.

I'm planning on using it as a greater warbeast or possibly a chariot for Dragon Rampant but am not sure which suits the model best yet but it was pleasing to make such a silly model and I really enjoyed making the wooden monstrosity.

My next unit is going to be more infantry and possibly some archers to give my slowly forming army some ranged firepower and I'm thinking on making them up like the guards for the wedding guests but we'll see what I can come up with.

Trev and Simon the beasts crew

I've also got a squad of Imperial Guard done but I'll post them up as part of my next update as I've got a second squad mostly built and will see what other whimsical bits and bobs I can get finished over the next week.

Until then, All the best!

Tiny Troop Reinforcements - Men-at-Arms

 Hi!

So April has been a very busy period with work and all manner of Real Life shenanigans putting the spanner into the works when it comes to the hobby but I've managed to end the month with my Tiny Troop Men-at-Arms for my slowly developing Dragon/Lion Rampant King Arthur project.

Doughty Men-At-Arms

I've tried to give them a certain amount of individuality while still looking part of a unified unit and am rather pleased with how they turned out, especially the kettle helms and halberds!

As per usual, they're made from Sculpey heads and bodies and details are all EVA foam and a little bit of wire for the hafts of the Halberds. At some point, I feel I will need to bulk them out a bit with command models and banners but that's a job for another day, especially as Lion and Dragon Rampant only require 12 figures per unit.

The Assembled Retinue

I'm in need of adding another unit of halberds as well as lots of other exciting stuff such as archers, three headed giants, mysterious knights who say NI! and a large wooden rabbit but as things stand, I'm really pleased with progress on the tiny guys and am surprised by just how much character they're developing.

After this army is finished, I think I'll need to make some sort of themed opposition but am not currently sure what that's going to look like. I do have a unit of Goblins so could easily begin expanding that until I've got a full 24 point army and then can begin duking it out with a game or two!

It's not all been fantasy here either as I've just finished constructing my first Imperial Guard squad for some classic Rogue Trader/2nd edition 40k goodies too and will post pictures of them on my next update but for now, All the best!

Planet 28 Final Edition Kickstarter

 Hi!

Apologies for the lack of updates but a mixture of work and heading down south to deepest Wales for my sister in laws wedding has resulted in a decided lack of hobby time. 

While I was away, I spotted that Nick Evans, the creator of my favourite ruleset, Planet 28 has a new kickstarter going for the ultimate final edition of the game!

As a massive fan of the rulesets he's produced, I've backed the project and highly recommend the game itself to as its such a joy to play, simple enough to learn quickly but with enough to give it a good tactical feel and its a great sandbox to create pretty much anything you'd like to play too!

The project has already funded and smashed all its stretch goals too and there's even an STL for the cover character now available to boot:

I can't wait to get my hands on the new set to complete my collection and if you're interested in backing the project, Here's the LINK to the Kickstarter page.

In the meantime, All the best!

Tiny Troops- Monty Python and the Holy Grail Edition

 Hi!

I've been working away at expanding my unit of Crusaders into an entire army and for a bit of fun I decided to make some leaders for the warband and settled on none other than Arthur, King of the Britons along with his loyal retainers!

Camelot!

At present, I've got Arthur, Bedevere, Galahad, Lancelot, Robin and Bors to give me a six man unit for Lion or Dragon Rampant but plan on making their squires to make a 'mounted' option.

Royal Retinue

I've also been working on a unit of twelve men at arms to give me some numbers and will post pictures of them when I'm finished but I'm really pleased with the tiny knights as I hope they're relatively easy to identify with their tiny hand painted heraldry.

I must admit that this project is a little bit silly but it's developing a bit of a life of its own as I now need a three headed giant, a black knight and his component pieces, the Knights Who Say Ni, Tim the Enchanter, wedding guests, some obnoxious Frenchmen and a giant wooden rabbit...

I suspect that this project is going to take quite a while to complete but has been such fun, I can't help but keep working on it!

In other news, I've also begun work on making a platoon of Imperial Guard so I can tick off another hobby obsession as I eventually plan on making Tiny Troop versions of every force for 2nd edition 40k and wanted to start with recreating my old Imperial Guard army from back in the day but more on that next time.

In the meantime, All the best!

Aeronef British Dig Squadron

 Hi!

Just a quick update today as I've got a load of things to take pics of and post about but never enough time to get it all done!

I recently picked up some interesting wooden beads from a local craft bank and thought they'd make excellent airships. As per usual, the beads sat in my bits box for a couple of months until I rummaged them out and set to work turning them into dirigibles! 

British Dig Squadron

The basic body is made from an oval wooden bead approximately 25mm long while the nose cone is a plastic rhinestone. The tail assemblies are made from EVA foam and some small beads while the gondola's are also small pieces of EVA foam too.

In keeping with the super cheap hobby vibe I've had going this year, I didn't buy flight stands but used some MDF bases from Warbases (absolutely top company by the way!), a hexagon of thick paper and a small nail to give me some properly sturdy bases as I am rather sick of using the old plastic flight stands which have a tendency of snapping!

The total cost for the three digs, is about 30p and while they look a little high tech for a VSF or Steampunk game such as Aeronef, they'll do the job in a pinch.

I've really enjoyed making the tiny vessels, and have another four in various stages of completion and will post up the entire fleet once it's done!

In the meantime, All the best!