"Ever Gamed With Unpainted Figures?" Topic

In all my years collecting, painting and gaming, I've never done that.

However, on the first game we played on our last campaign, I had not yet painted two of my units (one of slingers and the other of light cav). The rest of my force was painted and ready for action.

I really felt ashamed, though my opponent was very understanding. His figures looked fantastic compared to the two unpainted units. It was even worse when he started taking photos of each turn of the game.

How common is it to see unpainted figures on a gaming table? Do you ever do that?

CC

I will add that, no matter how busy I am this week, I will try to get them ready for my next game.

I just can't stand seeing unpainted figures (particularly mine) on the table.

CC

I am sickened that you should mention this topic at all, expecially in front of young and impressionable TMPers. I thought better of you than that.

At least you have the grace to admit you were ashamed of yourself.

In the future, please confine these sordid confessions to the Confessional, where it belongs. I hiope you do a LOT of penance for this disgusting mockery of all that is holy.

No! Never!! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I am sorry Dan,
In our club you would be paraded infront of the other memebers and the secretary would ceremonially strip you;

firstly of the club mongrammed T shirt;
then your dice would be sctattered over the floor;
finally your measuring device snapped over the Secretaries knee;

As you may gather it is frowned upon amongst the mature gamers in our club. Kiddies are permitted to do so but they are kept out of sight in the club house ;0)

you just might risk a black balling by using painted minis with unfinished bases but, and a big but we all remember that is how we (the British) lost an Empire :0(

I've played in games twice in 26 years with unpainted figures.

Hated it both times and really don't ever want to do it again.

A bad paint job is better than no paint job.

Only in cases of extreme emergency (the OOB need a unit and NO ONe had one painted).

I'm sorry. I promise never, ever to do it again (walking away, hiding head in shame).

CC

Once, in my very first wargame. I'd bought the figures and wanted to use them. It was way back in the late 80's and the opponents were very understanding.

These days I'd never dream of it but I'd not refuse to play any one using unpainted figures. I would of course riducule them without mercy but that's because it would be expected :).

Steve P

(crying in the corner of my cubicle now)

CC

I do remember a chap who fielded a part painted part undercoated Egyptian army. From then on he was always fielding question about the "Egyptain Stealth Chariots"

His painted stuff was a wonder to behold, he just didn;t get time to paint everything he had.

Never have I done it. I refuse to play unless my minis have at least 3 colors on them. I have seen an entire game played with unpainted minis on both sides… it made me weep.

Forest

(now sobbing and wailing under the desk)

CC

Anathema. I have seen the 40K kids doing it but among the groups I game with you see the odd half finished (tanks not detailed, bare bases etc.) to finish an OB but a pure bare metal or primer only unit or ship/aircraft would be mercilessly mocked.

Never. Period. If necessary, I might use a proxy unit, though.

Almost worthy of a stifling offence CC ;0)

I thought playing with unpainted figures was a requirement in GW games. (ducks for cover)

Only all the time. Axis & Allies. Battle Cry. Memoir '44.

Oh, unpainted metal figures? No. Yech.

Plastic is different, somehow. I've given serious thought to building some matching armies in 20mm plastics and just slopping primary colors over the figures and stands.

I guess someone has to take the other side here. Sure I've gamed with unpainted figures, on a piece of unpainted plywood with books and whatever was at hand as terrain. Lots of times. Not as a callow youth (don't know what that even means) either. We started off on the tabletop as adults in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, so that means a hundred figures a side to start. We weren't going to wait three months till we had everything painted. Gaming = fun. Grins for everyone.

WOW! Poor CC!!!
Just don't do it again…
Fielding unpainted and poorly painted (sloppy base colours with no attempt at even a black-wash…) figures on the table is shameful.The first time I saw it done was during a multi-player 40K game (the rest of us had beautifully painted armies for the long awaited event)--every other army on the table formed a temporary alliance and eradicated every unpainted disgrace within three turns…
Pray for forgiveness my friend!

Bless me, TMP, for I have committed a great sin in your eyes.

It's been an hour and 15 minutes since my last confession and I promise never to do it again (confessing, I mean).

CC

I played a lad who used bits of red foam to represent the more expensive parts of his army. I will not say what game it was, to avoid inflaming the prejudiced…..

I don't have a problem with people using unpainted figures, and we have a sort of house rule – you can play with unpainted figures, but next time they had better be MORE painted.

It spoils the view, but that's all.

Pat

What… you guys paint your miniatures?

Yes, sometimes. Rather have a game with unpainted stuff than no game at all… but having said that, I think poorly painted miniatures are FANTASTIC in comparison to unpainted miniatures. And I love fielding newly painted stuff for the first time… though I usually lose with it :)

Chalfant

The critics of the administration have been leveling complaints of all sorts of inappropriate behavior. The administration routinely denies these allegations, only to later have the allegations being proven.

Are these people capable of telling the truth?

That was not my post. Betcha guessed that --

I tested my 'Wooden Hand of Captain Danjou' Camerone game with unpainted mongol riders to substitute for the many dozens of Mexican cavalry required for the game. The hacienda was half finished as well. And the French were portrayed by Old West gunfighters.

The actual Mexicans and FFL were being provided by Richard Houston, at least a thousand miles away. He'd asked me to design the rules and build the hacienda.

This was done behind closed doors.

The actual presentation game was all anyone could ask for.

For me, it depends upon how the figures are mounted. If they're individually mounted (as for fantasy), the yes, sometimes I'll play with unpainted figures.

If they're individually mounted characters (for Pulp or Old West, or similar), then they get painted before use.

And if they're mounted multiples to a stand (like in Ancients or Horse-and-Musket), then they absolutely get painted before being used.

Never. Even unflocked bases make me queasy. I'm glad you've seen the error of your ways and I hope the penance your confessor lays on you is not too odious. Go and sin no more.

Hey, what you do in the privacy of your own home is your business… just don't share it with us!

And now that I've been thoroughly righteous, uhm, I will assert that solo games don't count, and neither do board games. Or, uhm, miniatures games that might as well be board games, or are really a cross between the two, and uhm… Stop looking at me like that! I had eaten too many cookies and was wired from a 2 liter Coke! The other guy wanted to play the game! He made me do it! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Can't say I have- but many years ago we ran a fictitious campaign based on the ACW- Everyone started with a small militia army which corresponded to the limited amount of figures we had at the time, In order to accelerate things the GM dictated that as people painted new figs, these would be added to their respective sides OB- In addition to the increased OB they got over time- A lot of people suddenly painted a lot of stuff.

cheers chris

O.o
wow
Im an unwashed heathen I guess……

Would rather game than not……

Always do, as I have a family and a job I dont always have the time to get things painted. When I do have the time I too would rather play than paint.

sometimes – I prefer painted figures but rarely have time to paint – if I want to play a game/try out rules, and it's not for a demo or in a tourney or something like that I have no qualms in doing so. Still, thank goodness for the current trend of pre-painted figures! :-)

Well – tonight I'm playing with an army I haven't even bought the figures for! We are trying out a set of rules I have never played, and so I have printed a load of labels, stuck them to bases and I'm going to use them tonight. If I like the game, I will use the bases and buy figures to stick to the other side of them…

So I think that's probably one step worse than unpainted!

Colin

All the time. I consider myself *much* more of a game player than a painter. I view painting as a "necessary evil" of tabletop miniatures, and something that I really don't like to do. That being said, I have spent a lot of money over the last couple of years to get my stuff painted.
So I'm at least making the attempt. :)

Kevin

My confessions- When I was a teen my first historical game had about half of the plastic figures unpainted.

Fast forward to today and the worst I'll personally admit to is going by a 4 color rule as a minimum- base, uniform, flesh, weapon. In extreme cases the primer used determines the uniform color, making it a primer and 3 color system. Works well for some generic soldiers giving me more time to paint others to a higher standard.

And we've used dice to represent monsters in D&D..Actually the Gurps 4 group I play in doesn't even like using miniatures and uses colored pins on graph paper instead.

In theory I'd play with unpainted figures depending on the crowd and setting, i.e.- a bunch of friends who don't care and don't have their stuff painted.

I really don't like playing with unpainted minis. But I do take issue with the "unfinished bases" critics. Most of my minis have what are considered unfinished bases. Why? Because nothing looks more stupid (or stupider if you prefer) than a mini with rocks and grass on the finished base standing in the middle of a desert sand game mat. Therefore I generally leave the bases plain black and just blowoff the "that would be a great mini if you finished the base" comments.

Game with UNPAINTED FIGURES?

NGAA! GHAAAAAAA! UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!

We haven't had this topic thrashed and trashed in ages. It's always fun to smite the heathens and heretics again.

More wood, please. Make it dry this time, I don't want them to die a merciful asphyxiation from the green wood first, though.

Come over to the Dark Side. If you don't paint you'll have more time for playing, reading, watching TV, etc.
I hate painting, which is why I primarily play miniature/board games like Memoir 44 or Battlelore.

So, um, what do you guys do to people who HAVE painted their minis… but the paint is starting to wear off from handle=ing and use?

I'll admit I've dome the unthinkable and played with unpainted mimis in the past it's been a few years since I've done so.

If you want to promote painting of gaming minis I suggest you find a group of Warmachine players. I was painting at the LGS last weekend durring one of the WM tournaments and the unpainted and just primed hordes were everywhere. It was down right ugly!

Heh, I just commented on this in my post asking about Warmachine. I watched the newly formed local league play this weekend and one guy had maybe 80% of his stuff painted. All the other armies were either primed or bare metal. One guy had sprayed all his figs blue, don't know if that was his primer or his paintjob lol.

I just can't bring myself to put unpainted figs on the table.
I've played against em, but I won't field em myself.
I played one game of DBA against a guy who had taped his unpainted figs down on the bases…lying down.

More wood, please.

I wonder how much of a split along these lines there is between historical gamers and the WH40K/Warmachine types?
I cut my teeth in a historical group and unpainted figs just weren't the done thing old boy.

I cannot remember myself playing with unpainted figures. I recall a friends effort of painting was undercoat black and paint flesh. Drove me nuts….

That being said my younger brother refused to paint a couple of figures in necromunda. They are still bare metal. I really don't mind now. I would rather play than fuss over if they are painted or not. Plus as I constantly repaint old stuff to a better quality, I rarely finish a theme. So my stuff is painted in a hodgepoge of colors most of the time.

toe

I haven't personally, but I was a member of a club where guys would field their whole army as unpainted lead.

What other people choose to do really doesn't bother me. Who am I to tell them how much time they have to devote to painting and modelling?

And they were a good bunch of guys, besides.

JW

I use unpainted minis all the time. I just don't really like painting very much. every now and again I'll get the urge to paint, but most of the time I just can't be bothered.

Mike

No. Nada. Nyet.

I've used ACW figures to test AWI rules and other unholy things, but they were always painted. I've used cardboard counters to test new rules before rebasing figures. Does that count? Bare metal or just primed, never.

we have a sort of house rule – you can play with unpainted figures, but next time they had better be MORE painted.

This is my approach as well. The winds of change sweep my FLGS often enough that expecting fully painted forces for all occasions is beyond unrealistic. I *prefer* to play with painted forces on both sides of the table, but with the terrain collection at the FLGS also being renovated, there are times when the unpainted metal *isn't* the most jarring thing on the table.

Gather the firewood lads. We have some unpainting gaming wargamers to burn.

…on the first game we played on our last campaign, I had not yet painted two of my units (one of slingers and the other of light cav). The rest of my force was painted and ready for action.

I really felt ashamed, though my opponent was very understanding.

The important question is:
Did your unpainted units kick butt (and thereby make your opponent gnash his teeth at the humiliation meted out to his forces), or did they die in droves (because you wanted to get them off the table as fast as you could)…?

I'm a skirmish gamer, so it's not really as big an issue for me. Even if I don't have the right figure ready, I do an *a* figure ready, then we can just swap it out with the correct (painted) figure the next week.

That being said… years ago I was about to start a long D&D campaign and I finally found the perfect mini for my character. So, we did use him unpainted that weekend, and then the GM's wife had him painted for me by the next game (she was an AWESOME painter, by the way, whereas I am not).