Is it FOMO, completionist or do I just have too many planes?

[Ken at Sunrise]

I'm not sure if this is a rant against myself, a confession, or a reformed plastic miniature addict wondering if anyone else has the same issue. I was reading the thread 'What role does the Pfalz D.III/a play in your collection?' and a few things occurred to me.

It all started a long time ago, haha I had to say that. Actually, for me it started when the WWI Giants hit Kickstarter. This was the first time I ever really taken a look at this game. Though I am far more of a Board Gamer today, I mostly played war games when I was younger, so this reminded me of those days and a familiar craving started inching its way back. I chose to back a couple of planes and decided that one or two dozen planes should be sufficient to play several battles; no need to get everything.

After receiving the two gorgeous giant aircraft, I started making a list of what I felt was needed to have a well rounded set. However, I quickly realized that this game isn’t well supported by its publisher. On BGG I saw that every year for the last 5, balloons were due out next year, reprints were good yet some most coveted planes were scarce. Now my list had become an obsession (FOMO, OCD, hmm maybe I should look into that). Luckily I found people selling exactly what I most wanted (sometimes at two or three times MSRP, but they had them and I didn’t). I found two balloons, Morane-Saulniers, Fokker E.IIIs and several Airco DH.2s. With some of the hardest to find taken care of I was both excited and happy, now I could focus on the easier finds. Even with much still in print I now needed the proper planes to battle balloons, take photo missions, two seaters, etc. I can see where this is leading.

I did enjoy this game. My wife and a friend preferred WOG WWI because of the history and the one person per plane aspect (we do allow kills to rejoin). My desire for a couple of giants and a dozen or so planes grew to balloons, support aircraft, etc. I was looking for proper storage, altitude markers, aircraft trays, I made my own booklet of player aids and scenarios; I made a spreadsheet of my collection listing points, history, pilots and in use years, etc. I was on board and fully went from ‘what do I need to play’, to FOMO, to near completionist. The path was clear and already owning a lot of games I decided I should probably have a stopping point.

Now I come to that thread, 'What role does the Pfalz D.III/a play in your collection?'. Instead of a dozen or so planes, or the 40ish I decided later on, my stopping point is my storage bins. Now I am at around 100 planes (81 ready to play and about 20 extras). We are more of a board game group so we haven’t played WOG in a couple of years. I own, but have never played, Tripods and Triplanes (shouldn’t it be called Tripods and Biplanes). We game almost every week and I am considering reintroducing this again.

But, why do I need so many planes that may never see table time and when, like the Pfalz DIII, so many of them are too similar to distinguish, apart beyond the paint scheme. The answer is I don’t need them.

I enjoy war games and this one, and a few others, is fun to play. I have a good collection of planes, not as many as some, but more than others. Sometimes it is just fun looking at them (yes I’ve done that, what can I say). Other times getting them out and choosing a scenario is just what we need for another afternoon of fun. Besides, next week we will be back to board games and this will be back in storage until the next time.

Isn’t variety and a good collection of miniatures awesome?

[Ken at Sunrise]

I still wonder what my humble collection is worth. Do you think I should share my spreadsheet. I like it and it is very interactive with you're collection, but it would take a bit of explaining to use properly.

[Hu Rhu]

I am a bit like you. My starting point however, was the purchase of a small collection that contained a whole range of aircraft but no logic to its structure. I set about collecting certain aircraft to fill in gaps and then found myself with more gaps than I could fill. So I became a little more selective in my purchases and sold off some surplus aircraft to fund these. So now I had a focussed collection with quite a few gaps but a plan to fill them. And I was slowly doing that with a mix of Ares/Nexus, Shapeways and Valom kits.

Then disaster struck as I bought up another collection which contained some of the models I was missing but also a much wider selection of planes (late 18, American, French and Italian) which I didn't need but were nice to have and of course the gap filling started again this time with a larger range of planes than I can actually use on any given night.

Should I re-think and re-focus? Probably but then again I think life's too short to worry about what is the right thing to do when there are so many lovely models to collect and fly.

I would like to see your spreadsheet and you never know I might have a few spare planes that you are looking for.

[camelbeagle]

Confession!!!! My name is camelbeagle and I cannot stop buying these things. I looked at the game many times when the miniatures started to get introduced. Did not hop in at that time. Saw the giants come out, but did not know at the time how to connect to other players. Heck, at the time I didn't even know about the several groups actually playing it. How I do not know there were actually several groups in the area is quite a mystery. I spent a lot of time playing Warhammer 40K, Star Fleet Battles, and other sci-fi type war games. Started to get de-motivated by the complexity of the rules and the continually arguing over them. Heck, we spent more time arguing rules then playing games at time. Started to fall out of the gaming zone and going back to the comfort of 1st Edition D&D. Then it happened. Ares got me. Tripods and Triplanes. I love War of the Worlds! Sucked me in to backing the full lot in the kickstarter. Then, I picked up a rules set at a local store and a couple sopwith camels and fokker dr.i. Starting playing around at home and started having questions about how the darn altitude work. Starting searching the internet and I discovered this wonderful forum!!!! Met some wonderful gents here who were in a group called the Wright Flight. Went to my first game with them and I was a full blown addict! Bought as many models and I could get my hands on. My credit card suffered badly at that time! This game is just an absolute blast! Simple and fun game. You can jib jab, play the game, and have a good time. I have personally grown quite fatigued with the rules heavy war simulation type games. This is fitting what I want out of gaming. Fun models. Fun Game! Great people! Can get my modelling fix out by doing repaints and shapeways! I have most of the models, but I still buy extra of the ones I like in order to repaint...someday! Just loving this game! It seems like I never have enough! But, eventually my storage area will top out! I have to admit, I have not flown all the different planes. We usually do scouts, so my two seaters do not get the action like my SPADs and Fokkers do. I have fun, and that is what counts! So what am I saying with this drawn out narrative! HAVE FUN! Life is too short and could end at any time for any of us! HAVE FUN!

[Baz]

Hi all, my name is Baz and I am an addict. Unlike the majority on here I only discovered and joined the game in January 2021 by accident. I was looking at solo games that could be played during lockdown, and having dabbled with Space Hulk due to an early interest in the Boardgame Space Crusaders with my children came across the Richard Bradley solo rules on BGG. I started slowly by picking up WoW Famous Aces, Watch Your back, Burning Drachens and Flight of Giants with a view to playing with the cards. Most of these were reasonable buys around the £20-£25 mark whereas Space Hulk plus various miniatures and impossible expansions (Deathwing, etc.) were in the £160+ range. Having spent some time painting Space marines and Genestealers I had plenty of paints and brushes. I then discovered that the game had moved on from the cards and that there were miniatures available and newer up to date rules. I decided that visually this would be a better game and also discovered this forum and signed up. Encouraged by others I bought a few miniatures finding that I was paying in the £15-£20 range, which I thought was ok. I then found that I wanted (needed) more and that these were the more difficult ones to find. However, with perseverance and some good luck, I managed to buy some of the large bombers and go5 a great deal on balloons from America. I have found that buying from Germany and Europe along with USA is no more difficult than buying from UK to help add to the collection, and with the discovery of Tim’s shop at a recent Fight Club has also helped. Of course i needed some books too and have now also bought 20-25 and downloaded electronic books to add to the collection. I joined the campaign OTT so that I played a regular game and then had to buy and paint missing planes from Shapeways, Red Eagle, Skytrex, Davao, etc. along with all the extras needed to display the pictures from the games and have 7 different mats. Then came along a cheap Tripods and triplanes set and more Tripod miniatures needed and a second set for an elusive missing mk.1 tripod and damage decks ( I got one for £18 that had a damaged box lid). So since my humble beginnings from January I now have in excess of 100 WW1 planes from Nexus/Ares and probably 20-30 others that have been painted up and awaiting their chance on the shelf. My SWMBO is supportive of this ‘hobby’ since we both retired last year but does question when planes regularly turn up in the post, to which my answer is that ‘it was too good a bargain to pass up’. For those just starting out, and the rarer things get I now expect to pay between £20-£25 for a plane as a reasonable price, with the rarer ones making in excess of £50 ( not a level I am willing to pay). So here I am with a solid foundation, enjoying the games I have played, attending Fight Clubs when I can and looking forward to getting to some events shortly. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any regular groups who meet in Essex where I am based, but have just found a games shop close by who provide gaming tables for free (Wayland Games) so may start to see if I can make use of these and get some others interested. Lastly, I have found everyone on this forum to be friendly and helpful which has also helped along with an easy to play game, it’s not every game where the designer is actively involved in the forum, which also helps. House rules or clarifications can be added if required to enhance your games and the downloadable material seems more than adequate. The future seems to be with 3D printing (with colour) with the printers and outputs becoming cheaper in time.

Baz

[Ken at Sunrise]

Hi Baz, my wife is supportive as well. Actually often encouraging saying 'you work hard, you should enjoy your hobbies'. Haha, that and before we married she new I was a gamer just from my collection.

[Dawn Patrol]

Fear of OOP prices. Or desire to get in on OOP prices by buying them just before the eBay onslaught. I’ve felt like I should buy up several of the Nieuport 28 because they are on the cusp of going OOP (Ricketybacker seems to be gone already). And it’s not like it was before - they’d go out of print, and people tenuously try to get $25. Nope, now one minute Sabeditsch was $12.99, then overnight he is $100 (not convinced anyone is actually paying that, but the nerve of asking it is telling).

Do I *really* need a Pfalz? No. I got two, but they are just yet another dull, unmaneuverable German plane, a step behind the entente scouts of the period. But at this point, the only thing I’m missing are a Caproni or two, so in for a penny, in for a few hundred quid.

Do you really need to be on the Italy/Austria front? It’s easy to bypass, especially now that half the planes are missing (Aviatik, Hanriot, Caproni). 1916 - all the Central scouts are oop. If you are content with 1917, maybe sliding into 1918 a bit, there’s a fair bit out there for that, and you can get enough for some variety (hope you got those Brisfits while you could), and even if the Cenral planes are slightly weaker, it’s not like all those one-gun Ententes going up the mighty twin-gunned Albatros.

Buy ‘em while you can, or be content with a narrower focus. But the call of history is the subtle siren’s song, dashing you on the jagged rocks of the Fear of Missing Out.

[Flying Helmut]

Hello
My name is Tim, and I'm a "Wings" addict.
I vaguely remember seeing the 'Nexus' minis at Wargame Conventions, but never pursued them, being too busy with other games/armies/periods.
I fell into the game completely by accident, after I joined a Wargames Club in 2012, and played in their "Christmas Special" traditional game, when all Club members were told to bring nothing but beer to the final meet of the year, at which everyone would join in a mass game of WGF.
I was loaned a "Kempf" Fokker Dr.1, was instructed how to play, and turned loose.
(It was Andy, "Sherlochnumber1", who did this - it's ALL HIS FAULT, BLAME HIM!!! )
I had so much fun, I went home and bought a dozen planes on ebay that very night!
In those days, I paid less than £10 for each...ah, great days.
I advanced through "Interest" and "Enthusiasm" to "Obsession" and "Completionist", side-lining all my other Wargame Projects.
I then discovered this Forum, and the extremely friendly and helpful UK Wing display team.
And repaints........
Then everything spiralled out of control.
And then I stumbled across WGS.
And all hope was lost.
I'm so deep down the rabbit hole that light from the surface no longer reaches me.
I have no alternative but to keep pressing onward.

[zenlizard]

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY PLANES.

[Teaticket]

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY PLANES.

Too much of a good thing is never enough.

[malachi]

This month will mark year two of my joining the forum, and the spreadsheet says I have 530+ WGF planes, which doesn't include WGS, Tripods, Battlestar Galactica, and Sails. I blame all of you, not myself, so that means I have not yet begun to resolve my "problem."

I first saw the game being played at a glance at Origins 2018 although I didn't bother to find out more until months later. Then I thought I'd just get a few planes and see how I liked it. That rejuvenated my interest in the history of WWI, found the great resources and people of this forum, and went spiraling down the rabbit hole faster than an out of date Pfalz. No regerts!

[Bishop33]

That’s a lot of planes… I have 3 so far. Planning on catching up once I think of a way of winning around my wife!

[Teaticket]

This month will mark year two of my joining the forum, and the spreadsheet says I have 530+ WGF planes, which doesn't include WGS, Tripods, Battlestar Galactica, and Sails. I blame all of you, not myself, so that means I have not yet begun to resolve my "problem."

I first saw the game being played at a glance at Origins 2018 although I didn't bother to find out more until months later. Then I thought I'd just get a few planes and see how I liked it. That rejuvenated my interest in the history of WWI, found the great resources and people of this forum, and went spiraling down the rabbit hole faster than an out of date Pfalz. No regerts!

Chris, we're all friends here and more than happy to help spend your money to justify our own purchases.

[Biggles downunder]

That’s a lot of planes… I have 3 so far. Planning on catching up once I think of a way of winning around my wife!

Looking at current prices on eBay you could try the ‘But it’s an investment!’ Ploy.

[camel crew]

Hello, my name is Iain and I'm a plastic crack addict. I've just realised that I've just celebrated my second birthday here. It's not my fault - I blame Andre for developing such a great game. It started with my D&D group in the early 00s. WoW was played as a filler when the group was a few people down one afternoon, but it passed. Then I attended a games convention at Alexandra Palace and saw Tripods and Triplanes. It was the planes that got me. Yes, the phrase "I'll get four or five planes and that should do it" Little did I know what was ahead of me. Then I discovered Albatroses in all their different guises. That meant an equal number of Entente planes. That lead to Kevin and decals. Then the history kicked in. I've gone back as far as mid 1916, Nieport 11 v Albatros D.II. Just when you thought it was done, ooh there's a good deal on WoS starter pack and away I went again.

This is a great site, with loads of background information, help and great people. Attended my first Doncaster and a great time had by all. Glad I met you all