60 min ago finished a casual LGS game with a pal that is returning to the game after a two year parental leave.

Now he owns one TAP, Tie FO, Tie SF, Imperial Vets... But not a Raider. As a Tie Advanced lover he needs title plus ATC...he wants it. But you must be a Brave man to buy such a large model if you are married with children without your wife's OK.

So...married X Wing players... Tell us about your wife's reaction when you say... "Honey... I want to buy a 100 bucks model..."

I just buy it. Better to beg forgiveness later than to ask permission now.

I also lie about how much things cost. ?

Xwing ships are the main thing I request for birthday/Xmas presents. So I've gotten many of my ships that way. Including all but one of the epic ships (the other I bought with a store credit that knocked the price in half).

For new waves, even though it's not that expensive to buy all the ships at once, I usually space them out over several weeks.

2 hours ago, BlodVargarna said:

I just buy it. Better to beg forgiveness later than to ask permission now.

I also lie about how much things cost. ?

My brother's favorite tactic is to buy something and leave it in the trunk of the car for a few months. When it has achieved vintage, he busts it out, and the wife finally sees it. If she starts to complain about him buying more new things, he says "but honey, I've had this for months. . ."

I guess I'm just a bit arrogant. . .since I make most of the money, I don't really feel the need to justify myself. BUT, today there are flowers, chocolates, tarts, LBV port, and a card all waiting for my wife to get home from work. I'll place an order tomorrow. . .

I tend to sneak in boardgame expansions, put them in the main game box. (mainly to save space) and then silently get rid of the expansion box. And then later when you are playing the game just go: "No honey, you must be mistaken, this was in the base game. We just didn't use all the extra rules and components last time."

Another nice trick: Get yourself a roll of stickers with 30%, 50% or 70% on them, and stick 'em on your newly purchased game. Your GF/ wife will think you got them at a discount and you get to brag how sensible you are with your money.

Both of these will not work with gamer girlfriends /spouses because they know just as much about games (Release dates MSRP, etc.) as us, and they will immediatly become suspcious when you come home with the latest new expansion on release date with a 60% discount sticker over the price tag.

1 hour ago, Robin Graves said:

I tend to sneak in boardgame expansions, put them in the main game box. (mainly to save space) and then silently get rid of the expansion box. And then later when you are playing the game just go: "No honey, you must be mistaken, this was in the base game. We just didn't use all the extra rules and components last time."

Another nice trick: Get yourself a roll of stickers with 30%, 50% or 70% on them, and stick 'em on your newly purchased game. Your GF/ wife will think you got them at a discount and you get to brag how sensible you are with your money.

Both of these will not work with gamer girlfriends /spouses because they know just as much about games (Release dates MSRP, etc.) as us, and they will immediatly become suspcious when you come home with the latest new expansion on release date with a 60% discount sticker over the price tag.

One trick to fool the aware spouse is to open and damage the box. Also "losing"some of the parts.

I owned a hobby shop a long time ago. I had a customer come in from out of town and he went crazy! He picked up about $125 worth of kits and was happy until we totaled the purchase. He knew his wife would go ballistic if he walked in with this stuff. So I pulled a little scam. I removed the clear sprue from several kits, marked them down to 25% of msrp. On another big kit we carefully opened the shrink wrap, removed the box and kit parts and crushed the box. Then reassembled everything. Put an "AS IS " sticker on it and sold it dirt cheap. He split the purchase between cash and card, kept the credit receipt. He was happy, his wife wasn't unhappy and we made a good sale. Of course this was before computerised receipts, everything was hand written so much harder to do today.

You should still be able to split the bill. Ditch the cash receipt, keep the credit card receipt and pray your wife doesn't monitor how much cash you carry about.

MY Women know who brings home the gaddam bacon and they are happy that I allow them to be in my world... Yah DAT!

to the OP - tell your brother to go on eBay, unless he really wants the Raider in and of itself.

and my wife encourages this hobby to an almost crazy extent as a) she is the perfect wife, b) this is a lot cheaper than most of my pals hobby's (golf, as an example) and c) if all expenses are taken care of, she doesn't see it as being her business what I waste money on

Golf is a b***h.

When I was 16 my father encouraged me to play wargames as one healthy hobbie. He was not very friendly about RPGs (games not grenades) so on a regular basis when I purchased a cheap soft cover RPG module I hide it between school books.

15 years ago he told me I was a very, very bad smuggler. Do you think you can be smarter than your wife?

all my ships are in gear hangers. i buy a new ship, print and make the gear hangers in work then slip it into my box without her knowing.

Works wonderfully well! it helps my boys like the game so i can get away with buying 1 for me without her knowledge then another one still in the wrapping for "the boys"

i have got magnets being delivered to my house shortly though to magentise my fleet. im not sure how she will react ot items being posted into the house! lol

Not married or with children, but we live together. As i use my own budget for gaming my girlfriend is fine with anything I get, although her "You are aproaching 1000€ here, aren't you?" comment on my hobby shelf yesterday wasn't exactly enthusiastic. Worst thing is that she is right, so I am currently looking at which expansions I don't care about anymore (cards have been reprinted and I don't intend to use the ship anymore). So far the YT-1300, at least one of two IG-2000s, one Firespray, one Most Wanted pack (minus the HWK material I think...otherwise there also is an HWK that needs to go as I would only run 3 as scum), the E-Wing, one T-70, at least one Phantom (probably 2, though) will soon have to find a new home. Don't think I'll miss them too badly.

So don't always sneak hobby stuff behind your partner, sometimes they are right! I think X-Wing is at the point where thanks to reprinted cards you can cut down on your collection on the older parts without hurting your experience much if at all.

I bought so many behind my wifes back that now even if i dont buy anything every argument we have ends with "again you bought those stupid ships"....da fuq?

At least she lost count now and im free to buy them as long as i hide it from credit card

Um...You could try honesty. My wife and I both have budgeted fun money. Starships come out of my fun money, and when the fun money runs out, that's it. Is it really that hard? She doesn't complain about my "toys" and I don't complain about her haircuts and pedicures. And then we don't have to lie to each other or fight.

7 minutes ago, Piscopas said:

Um...You could try honesty.

That's what I was thinking...

I have my own budget and anything I buy with it is up to me, she doesn't care one way or the other as long as I'm not dipping into the household budget. I also work on the side from time to time and that money is all mine, so that's a big bulk of what I spend on toys.

Buy the raider for her.

You just need to borrow a couple cards down the road.

Failing that, I don't see what's wrong with both parties spending evenly on fun money stuff. Surely she has something in the price range she wants.

Support her getting hers first...Then after that it's your turn.

You can reduce the price by playing small store tournaments. They usually give out store credit for prizes.

We budget "fun" money for ourselves each month. Because we're still paying student loans, it took me about 5 months to save enough to buy my Raider. Delayed gratification. That Raider will still be there. (Though maybe not that U-wing...)

I also ask for ships for Birthday and Christmas.

My wife and I do the fun budget as well, usually $100 every few months. I buy X-Wing or Armada, she gets stuff from Victoria's Secret.

Win-win for me!

So your fun budget is 200$ every few months...

Hmm... The $100 model tends to be an ask first for me... anything else, provided it's Imperial, is pretty near just buy it and present it... Admittedly, she flies Imperial more than me...

6 hours ago, Hexdot said:

So your fun budget is 200$ every few months...

With two kids in diapers and I in grad school how much do you think I should have?

My wife and I each get $20 to use for whatever we want every week. She might load hers on her Starbucks card or buy some clothes/shoes. I save up a little to pay for annual subscriptions like Xbox Live and Fantasy Football dues, but the rest goes to hobby junk.

1 hour ago, flyboymb said:

With two kids in diapers and I in grad school how much do you think I should have?

100$ X wing plus 100$ Victoria's... 200$ of pure fun.?

My partner doesn't really comment on my hobby purchases. Given that trust is an essential part of a relationship, part of that trust is her knowing that if buy something, It's because I can afford it and I'm not spending money we need for other things that month.

She is also just being a responsible partner on the few occasions when she does ask. Sometimes it's good to have a reality check as to whether you actually really want/need something or not.

Every pay period we have a small portion we set aside for ourselves, our "fun budget" as some people call it. And she's very supportive (it helps that she's a SW fan) but I still feel a little crummy when I buy stuff for myself; I feel like I have to hide it or justify it to her. Growing up hovering near the poverty line does that to you I guess.

Another thing I appreciate is that for the most part, these games are going to stick around my home for the next 20-30+ years. They might stop producing ships, the license might expire or be pulled or whatever, but I'll still be able to play my analog game as long as I have someone to play against.

Long story short: Budget for a big purchase. Make your partner aware of what you're planning to buy. You shouldn't need permission if you're being responsible, and you shouldn't treat her any different.

Agree 100% about the durability of the game. I think I will play X Wing in a future. We play Advanced Squad Leader and some of our modules are 30 years old. Last summer my Talisman first ed. saw some action and many 80s wargames occupy the best places in my shelves.