"Painting Matters!" Topic

Probably preaching to the choir, but I finally sat down and typed out my feelings on painting -or the lack thereof- and the importance of maintaining certain hobby standards.

link

And of course just to drive the point home we've included some pretty pictures of miniatures as well.

Yes, painting does matter … !

Phil

I have heard horror stories (that I hope are untrue!) of players dumping a bag of 30 Old Glory hoplites on a movement tray at a tournament. I would hope that such a foul miscreant would be flogged through the streets lashed to the back of a honey wagon!

I could not agree more with the article. And yes I have noted that those who do not paint also often do not fully assemble their models either. "Oh these guys have the uber zap you to nothing in seconds rail guns I just only put the legs on the bases." Nope not going to game with you. Nothing personal but if I am taking the effort to bring all my stuff at least painted to game quality and WYSIWYG then I expect as much from those I am going to play with. Now I am a good painter. Not the best mind you but my figures are generally more than block colors and dip. And I have nothing against those that follow that method as I have seen how fast and nice the figures look on a game table. I still have armies that have yet to see primer.

Now if we are talking a friendly game at home or at a friend's house where I am trying to get a feel for the force then that is fine. I am in the process and there is the unspoken commitment these figures will be painted. Oh and yes they are fully assembled. Painting the figures is part of the hobby period.

Totally agree. I do like that you will make an exception for someone you know who's painting work is in progress.

I also recall that GW at least used to insist that armies in tournaments be painted with at least THREE colours.

Good article….

The folks that ran the Warmachine tournament at this year's Texicon had elaborate tables of beautiful terrain. Before the tournament began they played the "Conan the Barbarian" soundtrack. Yet, when the tournament began, there were only 2 or 3 painted armies in the entire tournament. It was too painful to watch.

I agree wholeheartedly! You don't have to be a Kevin Dallimore or Tom Weiss to paint your minis! I normally do a base paint job with a wash followed by highlights and I still get compliments. It's just like coloring with crayons, stay inside the lines with the colors you're using!

I haven't been to the club for a while as I have nothing based and painted that I want to and so my absence is my motivation to get on with it!

Thanks for the comments folks. Looks like I was preaching to the choir!

One minor clarification that I just added to the comments section also:

The club is always welcoming to those without painted miniatures. We have always been able to provide painted forces for visitors and newbies who don't have painted miniatures of their own. The object is to include everyone in our fun, while still excluding unpainted miniatures from our tables.

I paint it before it sees the table, period.
I hate painting but like to play.
My stuff is tabletop quality with washes and drybrushing.
Make an effort to do good work but it's never going to win a positive award.

The 3 color GW requirement was once knocked out by a fella I saw. He primed his Eldar black. Then took two brushes, one filled with yellow and one with white. Each model got smacked with each of the yellow and white brushes to create a single splotch of color.

I enjoy painting miniatures myself, but I know not everyone does. Since I only play wargames occasionally, and then only with a couple of close friends, it doesn't matter.

Good piece. I abandoned 40k years ago but at the time, games at the GW store here in NYC required painted models to play. On occasion I still drop in to grab some paint or just look at the new toys. I've been surprised as of late to see so many unpaiinted models on the table. Maybe the game or the players have changed, but with such great models it's sad not to see them finished. The 40K scene just drove me nuts at the end with all the ridiculous arms race mentality, but I always loved building and painting the models.

I think minis gaming might be compared to being in a relationship in that both people need to contribute in order for it to be considered serious.

No paint no play!

In regards the Warmahordes crowd (and apologies if you are fond of the game) and also to comment to what Atomic Flozy posted, sadly at Siege of Augusta the War Machine/Hordes tournament consisted of small squares of green felt on bare tables. The attention to the models from the participants was on the same par.

And if they had fun, more power to them.

My minis are all painted. For me the spectacle is the whole point of the hobby. Lately my energy has been spent on upgrading my terrain. That mostly means buying it, but I'm doing some building and painting as well.

In addition to "no paint no play" I won't play in "two trees and a yard of felt" games. That's one reason I don't go to many cons any more – been disappointed so many times in signing up for a game only to arrive and find the terrain is made of Hero-clix tiles, or squares of plain felt on an old tarp.

If that's fun for you, great, you can have my seat, and enjoy!

The Warmahordes crowd has two unfortunate factors going for them.

First, maneuver is so important that any kind of ambiguity in terrain can be a complication, so squares of felt or paper are actually preferred by some players!

Secondly, my buddy is friends with a FLGS owner and he has observed that the current meta is for a player to buy nearly every single unit in a given faction so that they will have a powerful combo available for any force they face. Warmachine has never had a high percentage of painted models around here, but now it's even less likely that a player is going to prioritize and paint his army, even if he can get past the intimidation factor of having so many models to paint.

Not that the warhammer scene around here is much different, but I remember a couple years back (when the club used to meet at a FLGS) seeing the inside of one of the WM players rental locker. It was 3-5 shelves filled with unpainted )(but based) metal models. Not a lick of paint besides a few that had been primed!

If someone can't be bothered to paint their miniatures I can't be bothered to play them. Works in progress are ok.

so many models to paint.

Wha? How many could that be? 20? I have units bigger than that. Even so, spray prime all models in base color (time: 30 minutes). Add two details per model (time: 40 minutes).

You could at least have non-metallic mins in one short painting session…..

I'm with you.
Still, I can see how having a few dozen warmachine models to paint could be kind of intimidating. Those aren't just simple line troops after all.

Of course besides the factors I mentioned, the REAL cause IMHO, is that there simply isn't a strong painting culture in the WM scene around here. WM figs are almost treated like Really expensive 3D magic cards. Something to be bought and played, with no real expectation of ever painting them. Quite a sad irony since despite what some folks think of the style, WM has some of the finest sculpting work in the industry.

It's not my kind of game anyway, but even if it was, it'd be a real downer of a scene for me and not likely something I'd stick with.

Painted figures every time.

Like most things, what players do in the privacy of their own home is there business but I don't want to see it at a club or a public event.

In my group, we've put off games because the figures needed weren't ready (usually because I haven't finished them). On the other hand, our most recent game of Chain of Command featured a few primed, unpainted figures. They didn't look great but I was there to have fun.

When I started playing Warmachine back in 2003, I lost a ton of games! Why? Because I only fielded what I had painted. I'd play a game, buy a new unit, paint it before next week's game night, and slowly improve my army and my win/loss record.

Nowadays the average Warmachine game looks like a robot threw up all over the battlefield. Silver chunks everywhere. To say nothing of the terrain! Felt squares, unpainted sprue fences, etc. As someone who played WM at the very beginning, it's very disappointing.

We wonder why teenagers do not want to get involved in this hobby.

Terrement,
But their figures are painted and it looks like they're having a great time. Still, if it was our club, a couple of members would have showed up with 3d buildings. It's just the way we are.

As for the car and train clubs comments, I didn't say there was no value in sharing of in-progress projects. Most clubs have some sort of this and at the club we're always talking and showing off in-progress models. We even have some hobbying nights. The point of the standard is that unfinished minis and terrain aren't going on the gaming tables.

The Bachman plastic wheels point (I should have clarified) was made to reflect the value of collective standards in general. Plastic wheels gum up the track over time, so many clubs do not allow them.

IGTBKing,
I think that has more to do with the prevalence of video games and other instant gratification sources of entertaiment.

That said, there's alot of teenagers and young adults wargaming around my area. We've got a pretty vibrant scene with quite a few thriving FLGS's. Of course they're mostly playing GW, PP, and similar games, but that's how most of my group got started before we moved on to other games.

"So, your universal ban on unpainteds might be fine for you."

It's less of a universal ban and more of an enthusiastic group decision to use painted minis whenever possible. No dictates, no directives, just a bunch of guys with tons of spare minis, ready and willing to be loaned out for virtually any game or system.

@ Ordinarybass – So how many stifles/ignores did you get for this reactionary, illiberal position you've taken? It's a position I share, of course.

I haven't been keeping track. I don't think I've gotten any for it, but it could be 1 or 2. Folks here at TMP tend to be pretty pro-painted armies.

Interestingly, the initial discussion that got me thinking about this and where I posted what became the basis for my essay is a much more 40k/Warmachine-centric place and there was a bit more heated discussion.

IIRC the original 40K rules stated you could use anything to represent your troops: coins, counters, dice, etc. That went away after more miniatures were produced.

But here a question (only slightly facetious) for you: If you don't have paints, can you color your miniatures with Sharpies instead? I haven't done that for the most part, except on the eyes or touch up an area where the paint just wouldn't stick. But in theory it should count as painted.

tdkguy,
I'm inclined not to answer. Here's why.

1st.
It's not something we've ever had to deal with at the club. That's because everyone understands that painted minis is a core value of wargaming and they paint accordingly. No one's ever tried to break the "spirit" of the law by doing something ridiculous passng primed-only minis as painted or flicking some paint at a model and calling it painted.

2nd
For the same reason, we've never had to create a standard for painting. 3 color, 80 color, prepainted, whatever, it's all good. The point is to paint them.

3rd
Really though, I wouldn't comment without seeing what sharpie-painted minis look like.

Not so bad on plastic, really, but better if you prime it.

I've experimented with calligraphy ink for detailing. Don't apply a finish or it will run.