GW wants us to have painted armies. Should they be Required?

[Ishagu]

This can be a fun discussion, on facebook it has been quite productive and lots of different opinions arose.

 

Should armies require a paint job as a general rule, with certain exceptions? Is it part of the social contract, or is it not?

 

What do you think of this funny blurb on the side of the miniature boxes, and what about the rule-book (page 188 saying miniatures used in games should be painted):

 

 

 

Tournaments have rules on this, as do official GW events. More narrative focused players with a love for the hobby and lore tend to have some lovingly painted armies as well.

I personally will not accept a game against an entire army that has not been painted, or one that shows no effort as I personally feel it takes too much away from the experience. 40k is a very strong visual game, in fact it's one thing that really puts it ahead of competitors - a well painted, thematic 40k army looks better than anything from Warmahordes, as an example. infinity have great models but an army as a whole doesn't have the same impact, although in fairness it's a different style of game. 

 

Anyways, what do you guys think?

 

 

[PeteySödes]

Depends for me, I don't want to exclude anyone that just doesn't want to paint. That said, if i had a choice in a pickup game id pick the painted army 9/10.

 

I put a lot into my stuff so I hope for others i share my time with to do the same. Thats one of the main draws to competitive play for me.

[Captain_Krash]

I've had friends I've been playing gw games with for 20 years now roll there eyes at me that I paint my models and take so long to finish an army. I don't play with anything unpainted as it looks like trash on the battlefield. The way I see it, if I'm spending stupid money on models why leave them unpainted? I might as well use pennies or pieces of cardboard to represent the models. I'm in agreement with your opinions Ishagu

 

Krash

[Marshal Rohr]

Obviously miniatures should be painted. 

[Guest MistaGav]

Judging by the content of what's written, I'd assume it's more for some legal or advertising thing that it needs to be written on the box otherwise joe bloggs will pick it up and be stunned to find out it's a bunch of grey sprues and not what's on the front of the box.

[Athrawes]

I don't like using unpainted minis, so I try to paint everything before ever putting model to table. But I understand that people have lives/jobs/children, or other such commitments and so may only get 30 min a week to hobby. 

 

So my rule of thumb is this: your army needs to be more painted than the last time we played. Whether that means 1 new complete/painted model, or the whole army with at least 3 colors and basing., there is obviously a wide range for what counts as "more painted"

 

Since there is no obligation to accept games from people you don't want to play, there is a social contract between players, that varies based on the players involved. For me, that means I don't like to play against unpainted minis, but so long as you're making progress of any kind towards that end, I'll accept a game no problem. 

 

I think models should be painted, I think it should be required for events/tournaments/megabattles, but for pick up and friendly games e.g. 95% of my hobby gaming, the rules are a bit more lax, and so  I'm happy to just see people trying and putting whatever effort they can into their models.

[Dark Shepherd]

5 colour/fully painted for tournaments is really good rule IMO

 

Casual games I think it depends on how new the player/unit is. Playing is the most fun part but that can eat into painting time, but its more fun to play painted v painted, so a slight catch 22 there

[Panzer]

It's required on tournaments and that's good enough. You can't enforce it with your friends or random people and if you start doing that in your shop you are more likely to have those people simply not coming anymore. ^^

[Overwhelming Odds]

As a rule for myself, I won't play with unpainted miniatures.  That does two things for me:

 

Guarantees that my "experience" is as immersive as possible when playing

 

-and-

 

It really motivates me to find the time to paint the models I really want and need to play with.

 

V/r,

Dan

[Lord Blackwood]

I  will never turn down a game because an opponents army is not painted. 

I  will  not play my own armies if they are not painted. 

This is a personal rule  and I  do not expect it of anyone else.  

The major exception i make is basing, I  dont care about that at all. 

[WarriorFish]

Everyone enjoys the hobby in their own way, I always think back to seeing a child in GW playing with a couple of models as if they were action figures once. If he's having fun who are we to say otherwise? Albeit a more expensive way to enjoy the hobby...

 

GW want us to paint our models because it's the best advert they can get; a fully painted army looks great no matter the skill of the painter. Helps move some paints and that off the shelf too I imagine which can't hurt. I think it's also part of the package if you compare 40k to some other wargames that are "off the shelf" with models, as it makes the army much more yours by comparison.

 

Like many, I will not field unpainted models. As much as I'd like my opponent's army to be the same as it makes for better games there's not much difference between a game with or without paint when you factor in how important your opponent is as to how much fun you have.

[NTaW]

I prefer to play with and against fully painted and based models but have no real issue with unpainted or WIP ones on the table. Sometimes my friends and I just want to play some new models or try a different matchup using WIPs to fill a role; it's not as cool looking but the games are still plenty fun. Edited January 15, 2020 by NTaW

[Vykes]

I won't turn down a game from an opponent with unpainted units, (A mate of mine had just bought a full Daemon army in 30K and was in the process of priming them after he had to finish some commission work), and I regularly find my typical opponents have at least one new or not quite finished unit painted in our week to week games because it's an awesome new conversion and they just wanted to show it off and try it out. 

 

It's totally cool with me.  if I know my opponents (and I usually do), I sure won't begrudge them it, because I know eventually it's gonna get done.  And it's totally their choice how their army looks and what models they use.  Most of the time the unpainted model gets removed first (Just like for me, helmetless models in squads typically go first).  

 

I don't play games with unfinished armies.  They need to be based, they need to be weathered, they need to be varnished and absolutely complete.  That's on me, it's my choice.  The theme and pageantry of the game is an enormous draw, as is the talking and joking with friends when the dice inevitably go against us (or the rare times, for us...).   I can say with a bit of pride, that I've heard that by me always fielding fully completed armies and hosting games with fully painted tables, my opponents feel the 'shame' in not having it done and want to show me up next time we play... that's the kind of coercion and competition I can get behind  .  And it usually pushes them to try new things on the painting front.

 

Heavy handed imposed restrictions: sure for tournaments or the like, or for the shop.  For me, doesn't matter.   

[Marshal Rohr]

Also, that label is for people who buy the box expecting it be painted like an action figure. It’s a disclaimer like someone assembly required’ on ikea furniture.

[MoshJason]

I'd like to play with painted models. But it takes so long to paint one, that I find myself constantly running behind and Fielding half painted armies. Edited January 15, 2020 by MoshJason

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

I play with half-painted and unpainted models regularly. I don't enjoy it as much, and finishing my full Raven Guard army as it is now (minus a Primaris Lieutenant with Power Sword out of Dark Imperium I picked up about an hour ago and don't have the Agrellan Earth to base) was intensely satisfying. I don't mind playing against other people with unpainted or partly painted armies, it's not a big deal to me. I definitely PREFER to play fully painted armies, and my speedpainting-esque techniques and batch painting tends to make that easier, but it isn't always possible for me to run a full army of painted models. This is especially true when I've only been playing for the past year, and thus a bunch of my earlier paint jobs - relatively horrid ones - are still looming over me to a degree.

[Dark Shepherd]

I'd like to play with painted models. But it takes so long to paint one, that I find myself constantly running behind and Fielding half painted armies.

The problem I have is if I keep models in the carry case they never get painted/worked on. But if I leave them in my to do pile/painting area theyll get worked on but I have to exclude them from my list then

[Chaplain Elijah]

It's a game, i don't care.

[The Yncarne]

I only play with painted minis.

I do not tell others to paint their minis.

[MegaVolt87]

I prefer painted armies to play with myself, though don't try to boss people around to paint theirs. I think playing fully painted + based indirectly gets other people doing the same eventually. 

 

I find putting away/ displaying painted stuff helps getting it done over time. Its the unassembled stuff that starts to pile up in boxes that lags for me to paint. My custodes are lagging because I just don't like how fiddly the plastic jetbikes are to assemble, taking away my enjoyment, thus slowing me down etc. 

[Warbringer]

I prefer to play with painted minis but will play with them in various stages of being painted, generally I spend time initially getting a force once basic colour and washed and then will start adding in the details so it gets better every time I play.

 

Depends on the game and a lot of times we would play will all painted :)

[taikishi]

Yeah, that's not telling the buyer they must paint the models inside. That's a legally required statement to inform the buyer that the models come unpainted and unassembled. As for your question, a number of players in my area rarely have time to paint due to families, jobs, etc., so unpainted/partially unpainted armies are the norm.

[MARK0SIAN]

I prefer to play with fully painted models but I will sometimes play with a half finished unit in amongst a fully painted army if I haven’t had time to get it done for the game.

 

I would expect my opponent to have made at least some effort to paint their army. The only real objection would be to pure grey plastic. With all the sprays available and how quick they are to use there’s no real excuse for a model not to be at least base coated/primed.

Edited January 15, 2020 by MARK0SIAN

[Lucerne]

Someone gatekeeping by swooning at the mere existence (preferences are obviously another story) of unpainted or "no effort" armies existing for games that are frankly about casual enjoyment  is honestly being more than a bit pathetic in a way that smacks of them not having much else to offer.

 

Obviously painting an army is rewarding and the artistic side is a major facet of the hobby for people that choose to engage in it- and more power to them, the painting side of things is great in its own right even as it's not the be-all and end-all of the hobby- but attempted snobbery with "I refuse to play you, good sir, for your army is not sufficiently painted- the scandal of it!" is, well. There are a lot of words to describe that sort of mentality over a game with cobbled together, slapdash rules made as an excuse for a company to sell little plastic army men, and very few of them civil.

 

If someone hasn't or doesn't feel like painting their army, it's their loss, not yours, and none of your damn business. You might as well refuse to play anyone that doesn't stick LEDs in their Marines- after all, it's solely your opponent's army visuals as dictated by you that matter and not setting up the minis and playing a game with someone for fun, right?

 

Which isn't to say that painting isn't a significant facet of the hobby, but it's ridiculous to try and cram that down someone else's throats if they don't feel like doing it- or physically find it difficult for more than one member of the hobby I've seen in passing.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Lucerne

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

A lot of it depends where you live. I’m fortunately in a huge metro area that has an established player base that values more than just winning. Me I paint everything. It’s great to play versus other painted armies.