So now that you’ve begun your journey with a new army, you may find your old army is just sitting on a shelf or languishing in a stack of foam. There’s no reason your army couldn’t be doing something more!
One of the first thing you should consider is whether you plan to play the army again. Perhaps there were models you wanted to add, but never got around to. Or maybe there was a new formation released that changed how you think of the role of a particular unit in your army. As always, careful thought at this stage can prevent a hasty decision. I’ve talked with many players who lamented the fact they played an army, switched forces and got rid of the original army only to want to play them again a year or two down the road. So take a good, long look at all the money, time and talent you’ve invested in your original army before deciding to unload it.
If you can’t see yourself playing your first army again, one of the best ways to give it new life is to use it as a tool to get somebody else into the hobby of miniature wargaming. It can be daunting to start a time-consuming hobby such as ours, but if you have models already assembled and painted you’re not going to use, you may find it easier to convince a buddy to try the game out. I’m not suggesting you give your hard work away for free. Perhaps your friend has something in his possession you would be willing to trade your original army for. Trading among friends has two benefits as it allows you to expand your player base with somebody you already know and enjoy spending time with, as well as gives you access to the army should you ever change your mind and don’t want to have to re-purchase the models new. You could, hopefully, trade again and get them back! Regardless, there is something wonderful in seeing a buddy get enjoyment from running the models you put together and painted and knowing your old Champions are still seeing play, even if you’re not the one playing them.
If you don’t know anybody in your local scene willing to take them off your hands, you should give serious thought to selling your army. Those models you lovingly assembled and painted might be able to finance additions to your new forces. Even better, as with trading your army, they can be a great start to the hobby for a new player! The pitfalls of this, especially if you’re selling on eBay or Craig’s List, is that shoppers on those sites want to make a deal, so you’ll likely be getting less than you paid retail. For some, already painted/based models actually cheapen the worth of the force to the potential buyer as it means time will need to be spent removing paint, bases, and possibly components to get the army to work in the specific way the buyer may require. Keep that in mind, but know what your rock bottom line is. If you can’t let your 2,000 point Chaos Space Marine army go for less than $500, it’s better to re-list an auction than to let it go at a loss you cannot bear.
Those are simply two options for ways to keep your old army active in the 41st Millennium. Though, if you’re like me, you’ll not be able to bring yourself to do such a thing. If you’re fortunate enough to have the space, creating a display cabinet for your forces can be worthwhile. Just don’t let them sit idle too long. Hopefully, if you decide to keep your army, the day will come when you’ll want to through them feet-first into battle again!
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