How would you feel? Would having the option of buying the miniture you want already assembled and painted (like hero clix ect. ect.) intise you to do more with 40k then you do now?

What do ya think? Would ya like to see this someday?

My opinion:

Yes. I would love this to happen. I could finally buy myself my dream Tyranid army, and not have to assemble and paint a buttload of minitures.

I would be all for it, so long as it was alongside the regular range, rather than replacing it.

Anything that results in a higher percentage of painted armies on the table is a good thing, in my book. Leave the modelling to those who actually want to do it, and let those who just want to play the game do that.

insaniak wrote:I would be all for it, so long as it was alongside the regular range, rather than replacing it.

Anything that results in a higher percentage of painted armies on the table is a good thing, in my book. Leave the modelling to those who actually want to do it, and let those who just want to play the game do that.

This, I don't care if other people want to bypass the modeling side and just game with decent looking figs but I would want the normal range still available, modeling is a big part to me.

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

I think that in some respects it would be a good idea, especially if, as has already been said, it was along side the current range.

I think that it would be somewhat limited though, especially with armies like marines, where there are supposed to be 1000 chapters. Though, so long as they made more than just UMs.. for instance making minis in the chapter colors of all of the first founding marines. Also the same with Eldar, since you have the aspects covered, the main craftworlds could be covered in the farseer models (or whoever in the eldar get their respective craftworld colors)

This game is so wide open, that it would be a shame to see literally everyone playing the same army with different build (ie. all smurfs, or all evil sunz, or all HV leviathan, etc.)

I would LOVE for GW to release pre-assembled models.. Since I cant fathom how anyone could enjoy putting together generic troop models over and over again.. Total chore

Characters and unique models are fun.. and big stuff is fun *once*.. After that, I will pay extra to save me massive amounts of time. To me this is a major issue for WFB where your rank and file grunts have 0 personality and after the first rank exist only to die. Its horribly boring assembling guys who you barely see and are just wound markers in essence

My favorite part of the hobby is the spectacle of two personalized armies kicking the crap out of each other. Prepaints and pre-assembled models mitigate that. I wouldn't give anybody a hard time for fielding prepaints, but I'd rather see the real deal.

RE: Topic

I wouldn't mind... so long as they don't discontinue the kits. As much as I like making lists and playing, the hobby aspect of it is what keeps me going.

A no from me. As time consuming as it is, modelling and painting are a big part of the hobby. Preassembled, prepainted miniatures would take away its soul. You may as well play with Star Wars figures.

If Games Workshop did this, then everyone who rides the whaaaambulance about the pricing will go into overdrives. "they're not painted just right" "wow, would've expected better quality" will be the by-words of the gaming community then.

Just stop complaining that this happens to be a two-fold hobby. If you can't paint, pay someone to paint for you. Then complain that they didn't do it how you wanted them to.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

Is it a fact that the paint is overpriced? It's generally comparable in size, quality, and cost to Vallejo, Reaper, and PP's line of paints.

I would not buy any, and I would expect GW to fold in the near future.

I'd just expect them to dump the line and file bankruptcy shortly after.

Like Wotc did with D&D minis (if a company their size can't make it work, no-one can).

Still, other games on the tabletop. About time another small miniatures company got the chance to do the "Global domination" thing.

I would not be a fan. Part of the draw is to be able to do your own thing with models, either in the poses you use, or the colours you paint them.

I'd love to see it just to watch our LGS owners head explode. the guy hates pre painted mini's

Didn't another mini company already try this and with less than spectacular results? Can't remember the name of the company offhand. If the quality can be kept high then it might be a winner but knowing GW, it would be outsourced to the cheapest possible supplier in order to keep the margins as high as possible.

I'd honestly stop collecting if they did that - modeling (and to a lesser extent, painting) is the biggest part of the hobby for me, as I don't get much time to get any games in. Take that away and I've got no reason to get them anymore. Too restricting in my opinion.

filbert wrote:Didn't another mini company already try this and with less than spectacular results? Can't remember the name of the company offhand.

Your thinking of confrontation/rackham.

Terrible idea


I played a game called "Mageknight" for a few years when I was a kid. Lots of "My Big dragon figure fighting... the same exact one."

I think of the "GW Hobby" more then the "I play 40k... the game... not the hobby". A bet a majority of the people posting here that want pre-assembled/painted figures don't have fully painted armies and can appretiate the end result.

Pre-assembled is fine, but pre-painted is not so great. I would only want it on Troop/Core choices, things I need in bulk.

But for my Tyranids, I know they wouldn't be in my Hive Fleet colors, so I'd have to repaint them anyway.

But pre-assembled, especially Fantasy rank and file, would be pretty nice.

In an ideal world, it would be great. People who don't like painting would be able to play without the guilt of unpainted models. I used to buy D'n'D minis and I quite liked that they were ready to go immediately.
At the same time, I like painting my warhammer armies, but hate assembling miniatures. Snap fit minis like those in the boxed sets are a godsend to me.

I know that in reality, a move to pre-oainted would suck resources away from what GW is really good at (high quality plastic kits) and enrage certain segments of the fanbase, so I would be against it actually happening for that reason. Nice idea, though.

To be honest, Skaven Clanrats largely are "preassembled" (I think preassembled is the wrong word for this thread, multi-monopose might be more appropriate). You only have to glue on the weapon arm. In this case, it works fine and makes the overall miniature look better. On reflection, I think I would definitely like to see more kits with complete bodies (like Dark Eldar, Beastmen etc) but keep separate options for heads, arms and the like.

When I made this thread, I did mean pre-assembled and painted released along side the current kits. I love the model and paint part, just cannon fodder fig's get so tiresome after painting the 30th one.

Very good discussion so far.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

They'll pull a Rackham on us: selling crappy pre-paints and releasing army or campaign books that tell you if you paint your models in certain colours they benefit from certain things in game.

I don't see it as a bad idea, there would probably be a fairly large market for something like this. However the prepaints would either have to be rather expensive or poorly painted. With that said though, I don't want to see GW release prepaints but discontinue their regular line as I rather like painting.

To each their own though.

insaniak wrote:I would be all for it, so long as it was alongside the regular range, rather than replacing it.

^ This.

It would make it far easier for me to branch out into other armies than Eldar. I have SOOOO much Eldar, the LAST thing I want to do is start a new army to build and paint. I despise the grey armies, so that is not really an option. I think G-Dubbs could really profit from somethign like this. I would wager that this very topic has come up a time or two in the boardroom...


King Ghidorah


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Brother SRM wrote: I wouldn't give anybody a hard time for fielding prepaints, but I'd rather see the real deal.

What about fielding unfinished models with no heads/arms/guns and bare plastic or metal? Would you rather see that? At least with pre-paints, you would get to see painted, finished, cool models the majority of the time. I mean, it's G-Dubbs. It's not like they'd put out crappy (comparatively) minis on a detail level of Star Wars Miniatures, or Axis & Aliies...



King Ghidorah

I'd never buy them.

But I understand that some people do not have the time, physical ability, or skill to paint. So, I'm not against the idea. They just wouldn't get a penny from me.

BrookM wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

They'll pull a Rackham on us: selling crappy pre-paints and releasing army or campaign books that tell you if you paint your models in certain colours they benefit from certain things in game.

That last part?

I'm actually kind of...intrigued by that. It'd cut down on the Darkultrawolfangeltemplar armies at least

As Insaniak said, if they made them in addition to the regular range, it's fine. A bit of a low kick to those of us who got into the hobby because of the painting, but I understand not everyone likes to paint. If they replaced the models with prepainted crap I'd flip out. Heroclix, DnD minis and even reaper mini prepainted models all look like complete garbage. Eyes in the middle of cheeks, symbols and icons smeared-it looks like a two year old painted them with his breakfast food. If my warhammer models were completely replaced by that, I'd be pissed.

I think they could do it and do it successfully but not in the way you're thinking. They could release a small, skirmish level, game kind of a gateway drug for the younger market that would introduce people to the universe (both fantasy and 40k) with simplified rules that they could later expand into full-scale battles with later.

An example of what I mean would be something like this:
An army box with a small booklet that introduces the army and has unit information. The box could contain 1 HQlord, 1 troop/core choice and 1 fast or heavy/special or rare.

They could also release a battle box-set with 2 opposing forces and an additional booklet of fluff/scenarios that basically walked the players through a series of fights and the two units' struggle inside a larger war for a world/kingdom. (Smurfs vs. Orks, Empire vs. Dark Elves, etc.)

They could release small "expansions" that would introduce a dynamic between other armies.

The main fluff/rulebook would lay the groundwork for the mythos and serve as an advertising tool for larger battles later.

The models could be pre-painted of course. The basic idea would be an escalation league type environment but controlled by the company.

Unless their production methods differ appreciably from what we currently have, these models would end up costing a fortune.

Think how long it takes to clip models out of sprue, assemble including removing sprue and mold lines, and then actually paint them to a 3-color standard with a wash to make it look decent.

Even if it's 2-piece Macragge/Blackreach Tacticals, you're looking at a LOT of labor and time; waiting for each color of paint to try enough to wash, waiting for wash to dry, fixing up 'goofs' like an eye lens color slopping over onto the helmet...

10 fully painted Tacticals could easily be double or triple the price of a normal kit, and you'd be stuck with whatever generic color scheme GW decided to endorse (probably Ultras).

I don't think there'd be enough demand to keep the product around. Having pre-set colors in a game that places substantial differentiation on affiliation and background expressed through color scheme is too counter-intuitive for me to think it'd work. It's probably doable for stuff like Cadians, Aspect Warriors, and Fire Warriors, but how can it possibly work for Marines?

sourclams wrote:10 fully painted Tacticals could easily be double or triple the price of a normal kit...

Which precisely fits GW's business model...



King Ghidorah

I would, like most others stop collecting because warhammer is all about the painting and different colour schemes of armys.

Kanluwen wrote:

BrookM wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

They'll pull a Rackham on us: selling crappy pre-paints and releasing army or campaign books that tell you if you paint your models in certain colours they benefit from certain things in game.

That last part?

I'm actually kind of...intrigued by that. It'd cut down on the Darkultrawolfangeltemplar armies at least

Well, AT-43 only had one campaign pack, which was on a snow world. If your infantry models had white or snow camo on the models, they'd get an extra cover save or something like that. They book actually told you that if you wanted that save or whatever it was, you gotta paint your minis white.

Ghidorah wrote:

sourclams wrote:10 fully painted Tacticals could easily be double or triple the price of a normal kit...

Which precisely fits GW's business model...



King Ghidorah

Yes, BUT, it wouldn't actually increase their margin, the additional price would get eaten up in labor costs.

Then you have the issues with demand for the product, which is probably going to be lower due to a merely 'adequate' paint job, wrong colors, or boring poses, and the headache of stocking triple the 'normal' number of Tactical boxes, but now in Ultramarine and Imperial Fist as well.

I think the direct and indirect costs eat up any margin incentive they'd have to do so.

BrookM wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

BrookM wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

They'll pull a Rackham on us: selling crappy pre-paints and releasing army or campaign books that tell you if you paint your models in certain colours they benefit from certain things in game.

That last part?

I'm actually kind of...intrigued by that. It'd cut down on the Darkultrawolfangeltemplar armies at least

Well, AT-43 only had one campaign pack, which was on a snow world. If your infantry models had white or snow camo on the models, they'd get an extra cover save or something like that. They book actually told you that if you wanted that save or whatever it was, you gotta paint your minis white.

Oooh yeah, I remembered hearing about that.

I found it quite entertaining.

It could get me interested again, well in buying more than the occasional mini anyways. As far as actually playing 40k...that will require a major rules revamp. I like almost nothing about the current edition of 40k.

BrookM wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

BrookM wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

They'll pull a Rackham on us: selling crappy pre-paints and releasing army or campaign books that tell you if you paint your models in certain colours they benefit from certain things in game.

That last part?

I'm actually kind of...intrigued by that. It'd cut down on the Darkultrawolfangeltemplar armies at least

Well, AT-43 only had one campaign pack, which was on a snow world. If your infantry models had white or snow camo on the models, they'd get an extra cover save or something like that. They book actually told you that if you wanted that save or whatever it was, you gotta paint your minis white.

Followed by them releasing a select amount of the models in snow camo, mitigating that requirement. Worst part? That upgrade was FREE, points-wise.

insaniak wrote:I would be all for it, so long as it was alongside the regular range, rather than replacing it.

Anything that results in a higher percentage of painted armies on the table is a good thing, in my book. Leave the modelling to those who actually want to do it, and let those who just want to play the game do that.

Exactly. I'd rather see the same cruddy ultramarines on every table than have to look at ones dipped in house paint

Although quality is an issue. GW just wouldn't be able to paint everything to a decent standard, unless you paid like three times as much for them :3

I would be in favor of having maybe the starter set being pre-painted, but I wouldn't buy pre assembled, or pre painted models. I like painting my horde of Guardsmen thank you very much. it makes me feel a little attached...

I'd say no thanks. Not for any personal objections against pre-painted(I own butt tons of AT-43), but because I would buy more than I currently do(I own butt tons of AT-43).

If they cost a bomb in pieces what will the premium be on models that are made and painted?!!

Aside from stuff like Heroclix, the only companies I've seen offering painted miniatures have a smallish customer base and offer a limited range of painted items.

There's only one way a company the size of GW could hope to reliably supply the volume of painted miniatures and at a price anywhere near that needed to make this remotely viable and that's through unethical means - It's chinese kids in sweatshops painting 12 hours a day so they can afford to buy a potato for their family that night.

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't most prepainted minis just colored injection molded plastic. Which is why alot of them look like ass.

I would be fine with it. At the very least I feel some of the terrain that's available should have both painted and non-painted options.

sourclams wrote:Yes, BUT, it wouldn't actually increase their margin, the additional price would get eaten up in labor costs.

Initially, yes. But, just like the HUGE and highly expensive move to plastic models, the overhead eventually turns into profit and capitol to increase the scope of production lines.

There was an article in a White Dwarf back in the mid 90's that discussed the immense costs GW faced when first moving to plastic kits. It took MILLIONS of dollars in design of the models, development of the sprues, r&d on the plastic casting machines, purchasing the machines, production materials, and so on. As you well know, they have CLEANED UP on plastic kits and the product has shifted to majority plastic. With all the price hikes, they have more than made a good ROI.

No reason to think that pre-paints would not work out in a similar manner.

Of course, that's just my theories. They are base solely on conjecture and speculation. Basically what "sounds about right" to me. Take it with as much salt as you like.



King Ghidorah

Flashman wrote:A no from me. As time consuming as it is, modelling and painting are a big part of the hobby. Preassembled, prepainted miniatures would take away its soul. You may as well play with Star Wars figures.

While I wouldn't buy prepainted figures because I enjoy personalization, to many people playing the game is a much bigger part of the hobby. Why the modeling/painting community gets up in arms over this in thread after thread is beyond me.

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't most prepainted minis just colored injection molded plastic. Which is why alot of them look like ass.

Some are but many are painted in chinese sweatshops by twelve year old kids and that's also why they look like ass. IF GW were to release prepainted minis you rest assured they wouldn't look like Golden Demon winners but probably more like the crap put out by heroclix and the like.

augustus5 wrote:

Flashman wrote:A no from me. As time consuming as it is, modelling and painting are a big part of the hobby. Preassembled, prepainted miniatures would take away its soul. You may as well play with Star Wars figures.

While I wouldn't buy prepainted figures because I enjoy personalization, to many people playing the game is a much bigger part of the hobby. Why the modeling/painting community gets up in arms over this in thread after thread is beyond me.

I was quite relaxed when I made that observation, hardly up in arms at all actually

There are always painted armies on ebay, and there are several miniature painting services who would be happy to help the "I want prepaints" crowd.
Prepaints seem to be the death toll of too many systems.
I don't think they are a good idea.

If it was possible to introduce and work, then yes!

But it does seem too difficult to make work.

(I SUCK at painting :( )

Pre assembled I've been wanting forever.

Prepainted, no.

I think GW could released colored plastic models pre-painted on the sprue. It is pretty simple for Genestealers to be purple plastic and Blood Angels to be red.

All they would need to do is plan plastic sprues in such a way that the colors would match up better and then have the robot spray that part of the sprue with a little extra color. It is the same way toys are done as most of them are simply colored on the sprue by the raw color of the plastic then painted on the sprue.

It would take explicit design of the molds to make sure all the 'green' parts were on one sprue and all the black or metal parts were on another. That is assuming they wish to keep the quality the same. AoBR could have been done with 1piece plue marines and onepiece black orks with ork arms and heads on a green sprue and marine weapons on a black spure.

It 'COULD' be done but I am not sure the increased cost would lead to increased sales at all.I have a feeling anything anyone makes people will immediately say "costs too much" or "looks like crap"

Personally, I think it is easier to just do a drybrush and dip technique and call it a day, (since that is basically the quality you are paying for with a pre-painted model)

If there was a business model where it would work, I think it would be good for someone to do. I am not sure there is a working business model for pre-painted minis... Just aftermarket painted minis.

Hell, I'd LOVE GW terrain assembled and painted. Some of it is nice, but I look at GF9 and see higher quality, assembled, and painted for cheaper, it gives me no reason to buy GW terrain.

It'd be cooler if you could just rent the models for a game, or for a long period of time, rather than buying them.

GW could make a LOT of money from that

I wouldn't agree to it really, I like assembling my mini and then painting them in my own color scheme

wouldn't renting army make people want to switch over to the next big thing immediately after it launched? while just returning their old army ?

I have seen my friend's D&D prepaints and to me they look like gak, but I am a model painter. They like them just fine as they are a step up from pennies and poker chips. I could see the merits of some very basic prepaints, especially something with a simple color scheme... a blob of blue plastic with 2 dots for eyes, a silver gun, and a yellow rim around the shoulders = ultramarine, a blob of black plastic with a green face and arms with a silver axe head and gun = goff boy. A blob of tan plastic with, well, yeah thats it = fire warrior, necron warrior? those couldnt be too hard. At least we wouldnt have to play against the greys any more.

I don't see them ever doing this, for a lot of reasons.

chromedog wrote:I'd just expect them to dump the line and file bankruptcy shortly after.

Like Wotc did with D&D minis (if a company their size can't make it work, no-one can).

When did WotC file for bankruptcy?

They've dropped the D&D minis, certainly. But they 'made it work' for what? 10 years? That's a fair whack of time in the miniatures industry. And at a guess, I would say that it was the random collectible nature of the D&D minis that ultimately killed it off, rather than any inherent failing of pre-paints. Makes it harder for newcomers to collect what they want, as older sets become progressively hard to find, and you have to keep up the buzz to keep people buying boosters... which gets progressively harder with each set released.

Alongside sure go for it. If they stopped doing it as they do now in favor of assembled / painted I would stop playing. It's no longer MY army, it's (insert painter here)'s army that I'm using. I lose all personal connection to the army & to me it becomes a toy not a hobby.

Howard A Treesong wrote:If they cost a bomb in pieces what will the premium be on models that are made and painted?!!

Aside from stuff like Heroclix, the only companies I've seen offering painted miniatures have a smallish customer base and offer a limited range of painted items.

There's only one way a company the size of GW could hope to reliably supply the volume of painted miniatures and at a price anywhere near that needed to make this remotely viable and that's through unethical means - It's chinese kids in sweatshops painting 12 hours a day so they can afford to buy a potato for their family that night.

I do think that overseas painting operation is the only way GW could make this work. However, they could do it the way many other painting services do and not create a sweatshop.

Companies that have gone to prepaints have done so with games with a relatively limited number of factions and sub factions that can be produced en'masse on a production line. Unless GW wanted to only pick certain sub factions for prepaints, it would be hard to use this production model. GW is so varried that the only way I could see prepaints done would be if it was a special order where you select your forces and then pick from a list of GW approved paint schemes then GW has them painted and mailed to you from overseas.

Basically GW being the middleman for what many folks like this are already doing http://www.paintedfigs.com/index.html

cyrax777 wrote:Correct me if I am wrong but aren't most prepainted minis just colored injection molded plastic. Which is why alot of them look like ass.

Most prepaints are made of white or black vinyl. The figures are then painted (usually by hand, though quickly) with vinyl paint (or some other very sticky paint) that adheres to the vinyl better than standard paint, hence the near indestructibility of CMG paint jobs. Some look like crap and most are sub-par, but, I've found many that are tabletop quality, or can be made to be so with a bit of touchup.

Prepaints sell buckets and its the best thing since sliced bread... According to Rackham Look were it got them.

Recipe for disaster if you ask me...

Until this thread was made, I didn't realize premades did so poorly in the gaming community.

NAVARRO wrote: Look were it got them.

Mismanagement and a subsequent buying by a company that didn't know what the company really was(they thought it was a toy company, not a game company according to the old staff) is what did them in ultimately.

But blaming something else without knowing the real facts is good, too.

it would have to be of good quality not crappy paint jobs like heroclix SWM and the like for me to even consider it. most likey not tho it would get boing seeing all models from a certain range all painted the same as every1 elses

Platuan4th wrote:

NAVARRO wrote: Look were it got them.

Mismanagement and a subsequent buying by a company that didn't know what the company really was(they thought it was a toy company, not a game company according to the old staff) is what did them in ultimately.

But blaming something else without knowing the real facts is good, too.

Lets not get into another Rackham debate shall we not?

Real fact was that shifting to PPP was the MAIN trigger to Rackham's mass abandon from everyone... but yeah the shifting fom metals to PP may be called "Mismanagement" if you want to call it that... Funny how even now people try to defend the indefensable.

NAVARRO wrote:Funny how even now people try to defend the indefensable.

And yet, AT-43 sold better than Confrontation did as metals.

You're right, this isn't the place to get into arguments, but the fact still is that you're basing your argument on your own opinion while I got information from the people actually involved(and burned by the new owners). Yes, they'll admit that switching Confrontation from metal to plastic hurt sales, but overall, AT-43 helped them more than any loss from Confrontation hurt(especially thanks to Americans). The company wasn't in the best place before the switch happened, they just didn't tell everyone.

The company would have closed years ago if PPP AT-43 hadn't existed. As well, their last attempt for non-PPP(Legends) went horribly, with only 2 models(the giant Goat demon and the Therian Overseer) selling in any real quantity.

Platuan4th wrote:

NAVARRO wrote:Funny how even now people try to defend the indefensable.

And yet, AT-43 sold better than Confrontation did as metals.

You're right, this isn't the place to get into arguments, but the fact still is that you're basing your argument on your own opinion while I got information from the people actually involved(and burned by the new owners). Yes, they'll admit that switching Confrontation from metal to plastic hurt sales, but overall, AT-43 helped them more than any loss from Confrontation hurt(especially thanks to Americans). The company wasn't in the best place before the switch happened, they just didn't tell everyone.

The company would have closed years ago if PPP AT-43 hadn't existed. As well, their last attempt for non-PPP(Legends) went horribly, with only 2 models(the giant Goat demon and the Therian Overseer) selling in any real quantity.

lol Yes that, no point in getting on the same debate for the 12982345928572985th time... yes you have inside info and Im a bumble bee that just landed here crapping personal opinions based on nothing.... Be happy your totally right like you have always been towards rackham all these years... funny how your optimism didnt saved them from the inevitable.

"What if GW released pre assembled and painted models..."

if they released pre assembled and painted models it wouldnt be a hobby. yeah it would save people time and frustrastion but thats part of the hobby. surely it would be like takeing games and giving you game completed saves with the disc, or people selling books that just have the end and nothing else.

Flashman wrote:A no from me. As time consuming as it is, modelling and painting are a big part of the hobby. Preassembled, prepainted miniatures would take away its soul. You may as well play with Star Wars figures.

Just as an observation, the operating words here are, "...part of the hobby". Try to keep in mind that GW has created two things in one: A hobby, and a game.

Modeling and painting are a big part of the hobby. I think it'll be very hard to find somebody to disagree with that. I certainly agree.

However, pre-painted minis would allow people to play the game just for the game's sake. This would appeal to a large chunk of the GW gamer market. How many unpainted/unassembled/unbased armies do people field or face in FLGS and basements around the world?

For the hobbiest, pre-paints = bad. For the gamer, pre-paints (may) = good.



King Ghidorah

I love painting my models but if GW released their metal models already assembled I would happily snap those up. I HATE HATE working with metal models. I don't see a reason why for example the blister packs don't just come with the models already as one piece. But painted? No. If I didn't get toi paint my models 90% of the fun of this hobby goes out the window for me.

I would be fine if they still sold disassembled and unpainted models. Modeling is half the fun for me. Half the models i own i bought just because i thought they would be fun to paint.

Prepaints don't really do so well, honestly.

Personally, I think it is because of the factors of personalization, and your time and efforts put into YOUR army, not just plopping down a couple of bucks for the same guys that tom dick and harry buy, but YOUR army.

The examples that we've been subjected to as far as prepaints do we've had from pretty good, to absolutly craptastic, and the games either fall by the wayside and after about three or four months disappear, or they evolve into something like a train wreck.

As far as an idea goes, Prepaints is one of the worst.

Only for horde infantry, it's too uneconomical to do it for entire armies. Plus it's disallows quite a bit of variety.

Grot 6 wrote:... and the games either fall by the wayside and after about three or four months disappear, or they evolve into something like a train wreck.

Mageknight lasted more than 10 years.
Star Wars Minis lasted 6, and was canned for colateral reasons rather than because it was doing badly.
D&D minis lasted around 10 years, and it's unclear whether it was canned due to poor performance or simply due to a re-focussing of the D&D range.
Mechwarrior... off the top of my head, I think is still going, after at least 6 years.
Heroclix is still going after 10.

Auxellion wrote:Terrible idea


I played a game called "Mageknight" for a few years when I was a kid. Lots of "My Big dragon figure fighting... the same exact one."

I think of the "GW Hobby" more then the "I play 40k... the game... not the hobby". A bet a majority of the people posting here that want pre-assembled/painted figures don't have fully painted armies and can appretiate the end result.

This. I remember this game, I collected them back in the early 2000's I also collected some of those halo prepainted minis. Both games were awful, the quality of the minis was subpar, the paintjob sucked. Most prepainted minis games cater toward younger kids who dont have the patience or skill to model and paint, the minis are always poor quality and everybody ends up having the same generic crap.

Personally I agree that, as an addition to the regular range, this is a good idea, and this could be useful in horde armies like Skaven, Goblins, Imperial Guard or Orks.

I know there are some things as well I'd much rather not have the displeasure of assembling and/or painting. I do enjoy painting and assembling stuff most of the time, but with evil creations such as Terradons or god forbid, the Goblin Warboss on a Gigantic Spider, I'd pay almost double not to have to deal with that again

insaniak wrote:

Grot 6 wrote:... and the games either fall by the wayside and after about three or four months disappear, or they evolve into something like a train wreck.

Mageknight lasted more than 10 years.
Star Wars Minis lasted 6, and was canned for colateral reasons rather than because it was doing badly.
D&D minis lasted around 10 years, and it's unclear whether it was canned due to poor performance or simply due to a re-focussing of the D&D range.
Mechwarrior... off the top of my head, I think is still going, after at least 6 years.
Heroclix is still going after 10.

Stop inserting facts into the pre-painting bash!

Flashman wrote:

augustus5 wrote:

Flashman wrote:A no from me. As time consuming as it is, modelling and painting are a big part of the hobby. Preassembled, prepainted miniatures would take away its soul. You may as well play with Star Wars figures.

While I wouldn't buy prepainted figures because I enjoy personalization, to many people playing the game is a much bigger part of the hobby. Why the modeling/painting community gets up in arms over this in thread after thread is beyond me.

I was quite relaxed when I made that observation, hardly up in arms at all actually

Sorry Flashman, I didn't mean to say you were up in arms in particular, but that there have been several threads discussing playing with painted vs. unpainted miniatures and it seems the must-paint crowd gets pretty heated toward the hobbyist who prefers the game over the modeling/painting experience.

If GW released prepainted mini's I wouldn't mind assuming the kits are still widely available. If they went exclusively to prepainted I'd never purchase a single GW set again. The painting and assembling is the part I like, take it away and I'll go somewhere else.

The Night Stalker wrote:Most prepainted minis games cater toward younger kids who dont have the patience or skill to model and paint,

Most prepainted games are really not aimed specifically at kids at all. From my experience, they tend to sell more to adults with no time or inclination for modelling, or who like the subject matter of the game. Star Wars and D&D minis were most definitely not aimed at younger kids, nor were AT43, Confrontation, or Monsterpocalypse. Mechwarrior drew away a certain amount of the adult 40K crowd, who just wanted something quick and easy to play when the 40K rules were wallowing in the mess that was late 3rd/early 4th edition. And how many younger kids are going to be the slightest bit interested in Axis and Allies? No idea on the land-based variety, but the Naval expansions are far too complex for young kids to be picking them up on the fly, even if they were remotely interested in WWII naval battles when there are so many more kid-friendly settings out there.

And that's not even mentioning Ex Illis, the game where you need a laptop and an engineering degree to play. Or whatever that mass Fantasy battles game was that's probably gone away by now. Armies of something or other.

the minis are always poor quality

The minis released for AT43 and Confrontation were arguably not that hugely inferior to the metals they replaced. It was more the paintjobs that let them down rather than the sculpts. While there are certainly some dogs, there are quite a lot of very good sculpts in the Star Wars and D&D ranges. Even some of the Mageknight sculpts (mostly larger minis) were actually pretty good.

and everybody ends up having the same generic crap.

That's entirely down to the players. There was quite a strong modelling community on the Star Wars miniatures message boards, with people repainting, reposing and building or converting custom figures.

The fact that minis come pre-assembled and painted doesn't mean that they have to stay that way.

insaniak wrote:The fact that minis come pre-assembled and painted doesn't mean that they have to stay that way.

Hear, hear!

Bottom line for me is, I would rather play an army of GW pre-paints than an army of grey, headless models. I was in an FLGS awhile back and there was a dude playing Marines with dixie cups for drop pods! Is this somehow preferable to playing against pre-paints made by GW?



As far as pre-paints themselves, bear in mind that we're talking about GW-made pre-paints. Say all you want about GW, they do make a high quality product. They always deliver models that rival any (most) other company. I firmly believe that pre-painted models created by GW would be crappy, Chinese sweat-shop calibre models. The flagship company for our hobby, the face of wargaming, if you will... No way they would put out poopy minis.

As long as nothing changes with their current line, why would anyone give a f*** if they added a pre-painted product? If you don't like them, don't buy them. End of story. If you're against the idea wholesale, then know... it is YOUR fault I have to play grey, one armed-headless Plague Warriors or bases with D. Eldar warrior legs.



King Ghidorah

I still believe without a doubt that a prepainted/preassembled range would never catch on with GW. It is simply could not be profitable, if this were to happen what would dictate the quality of the miniatures, you could either end up with two different scenarios, the first being cheap, rubbery, and poorly painted imports or factory made products. But on the other hand high quality prepaits could exist but the price of an individual mini would nearly triple, a box of tactical marines could go from 22$ to nearly 60$ since the labor cost for the artist would no doubtly be high.

That problem aside who or what would decide what armies/color schemes get box sets? For space marines there could be a UM, BT, DA, BA, IF box sets. and thats just a few of the well known color schemes what about more obscure ones. What would determine what the minis would look like? would they have different poses? weapons? armor? or will it just be 5 or 10 of the same soldier? The costs would be finominal every race would need box sets, and every box would need its own individual cover art, packaging, and printing.

How would vehicle kits work? how would weapon options, upgrades both vehicle and infantry work?

Finally I feel that introducing premade models would do the game a horrible injustice. So much of this game is about customization, making you army truly YOURS, mainlining everything into premade pieces would make everything feel more like a board game. And here is a thought for all of you who complain about gray models and unbuilt things, it is YOUR choice and yours alone to paint your minis, i have seen my share of horrid things on the table top but I have no authority to correct that player, its their army and instead of being so concerned with other peoples gak, I pour all my effort and creativity into making my things look good. And believe me its a great feeling when you are at a store and someone comes up to you and complimets your stuff, I have put alot of work and effort into my armies and prepainted minatures would kill the tad bit of originallity that this game has left.

/rant

insaniak wrote:
And that's not even mentioning Ex Illis, the game where you need a laptop and an engineering degree to play. Or whatever that mass Fantasy battles game was that's probably gone away by now. Armies of something or other.

I think you're referring to Arcane Legions with that last bit, in which case, only the Boosters(Characters and "rare" or "uncommon" units) and Legendary units(Dragons, Sphinx, Ballistae) are prepainted(though you can buy pre-hand painted versions of the Infantry and Cavalry sets at a premium on their site). The Booster units are painted much to the quality of Mage Knight figures were, but the Legends(at least the Dragons, which is what I have) are painted to Monsterpocalypse(or better) standards, which mean they look really good and don't need a touch up or repaint(unless you want them in different colors, of course).

Don't forget that Heroscape(even though I hate the game) ran succesfully for a good 6 years before being shut down by Hasbro last year. Hell, that on was even played regularly at one of the FLGS around here.

People, adults certainly, do buy painted models. I see it at wargames shows, if you haven't the time or ability, or really like the paint job then people will buy them.

I found out the other day that Warlord Games have recently offered painted Romans.

http://shop.warlordgames.co.uk/battle-ready-roman-legionaries-24-4673-p.asp

These are 24 for £100, or £4 a pop near enough. A regular box of 30 costs £17 or 56p each.

They seem a good tabletop standard but the markup for painting is 8 fold. I think hopes of GW doing boxes of Marines on even a 3 fold increase is somewhat optimistic.

If I was really going to wimp out and just buy a painted army. I'd buy everything I want and send them out to commission painters like Les or Blacksun.

Hi all.
I do think that a range of pre assembled-painted minatures alongside minature kits would be fine.

I do find it odd that people who convert and paint , but dont play the game .
Are seen in a 'better light' than those that just want to play the game.

I suppose it appeals to GW plc to have a customer that buys all its products (rule ,codex and army books for fluff and inspiration.)
And expects mimimum support from the company.

Where as gamers want constant updates and equal support for all races and a reasonable amount of ballance and game play.
They are so demanding in comparision....

When the asthetic plays such a large part of the game as it deoas in 40k, the more painted armies , the better...(even bog standard prepaints are beter than the grey hoard.)#

TTFN.

Ghidorah wrote:... it is YOUR fault I have to play grey, one armed-headless Plague Warriors or bases with D. Eldar warrior legs.



King Ghidorah

You don't have to play against any army that offends your seemingly tender sensibilities. Just decline the game. Or only enter tourneys with paint requirements. QQing over other people's armies just makes you look like an elitist.

I would buy the pre-paints. I don't see why GW couldn't do two lines that can be played together.

And I see that Mage Knight is being brought back by the new Whiz Kids.

Ouze wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Mark1130 wrote:What if GW released pre assembled and painted models...

If they did that then they couldn't sell you overpriced paints, glue and hobby tools.

Is it a fact that the paint is overpriced? It's generally comparable in size, quality, and cost to Vallejo, Reaper, and PP's line of paints.

I find all of those overpriced. I buy $.67 acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby, and over the last few years I've only had maybe 3 crappy bottles. Unless it's a specific color that I can't match, or I need something like a wash I've stopped buying GW or Vallejo paint.

Mark1130 wrote:How would you feel? Would having the option of buying the miniture you want already assembled and painted (like hero clix ect. ect.) intise you to do more with 40k then you do now?

What do ya think? Would ya like to see this someday?

My opinion:

Yes. I would love this to happen. I could finally buy myself my dream Tyranid army, and not have to assemble and paint a buttload of minitures.

No. It would reduce my already low gaming time even further.

Honestly, I want GW to bring back the "3 colors and based" rule as a "3 colors, based and not look like poo" rule. Too many WAAC players and dumb kids with primed (at best) models dirtying up the place now that they don't have to paint.

And most of the models that are painted are so ruined that they're not even worth the effort of buying second hand for $5 and cleaning up when the kid gets the Warhammer kicked out of him after 3 weeks.

I can see why some people find it attractive, but its definitely not for me.
I'd prefer the system to stay how it is; those who do not wish to assemble/oaint their minis have the option of many, many services offering different levels of quality and price to suit every pocket.

It wouldn't bother me to see GW do something like that, I just wouldn't buy them. I put a great stock in knowing that when I set my army up on the table, everything is me. The details, the design, the good job and the screw ups. The open endedness of the hobby is its biggest draw to me.

Remember when there was talk years ago of Bandai buying out GW? Never knew if that was true or just BS.

But, a pre-painted line (and an even bigger step towards GW's product being sold as a 'toy') would be the kind of thing I would expect if something like that would ever happen. A distinct possibility if the share price drops lower enough that a majority share buyout becomes more likely, and we get someone who has no concept of the hobby taking control of the company.

If so, pre-assembled marines in plastic fronted blister packs (with plug in weapon options, and who the hell knows DoW style soundbites if you press a button on his ass) could well become a reality.

Pacific wrote:...DoW style soundbites if you press a button on his ass) could well become a reality.

That would be AWESOME! I would soooooo play Marines if they did a button on the back that did this:

GW toy Marines!


King Ghidorah

Ghidorah wrote:

Pacific wrote:...DoW style soundbites if you press a button on his ass) could well become a reality.

That would be AWESOME! I would soooooo play Marines if they did a button on the back that did this:

GW toy Marines!


King Ghidorah

Platuan4th wrote:

NAVARRO wrote:Funny how even now people try to defend the indefensable.

And yet, AT-43 sold better than Confrontation did as metals.

You're right, this isn't the place to get into arguments, but...
blahblahblahblah...

Seriously, if this isn't the place to argue, then why do you insist on arguing?

Automatically Appended Next Post:
The concept of pre-painted is appealing, but I don't think it could work.

I bought a lot of AT-43, which was designed as PPP from day one, and therefore the army lists were built around having very few options for each model and unit. You could add or subtract special weapons or a medic, engineer etc. but that meant many unit combinations were impractical. If my Red Blok wanted three missile launchers, I was in luck; one box of troopers, plus one box special weapons got me what I needed. But if I wanted three guass cannons (can't remember the names now) I needed to buy three boxes of special weapons (only one guass per box). Not gonna happen, so everyone ends up with the same army configurations. Sergeants don't get wargear, because you can't model it. Which fit AT-43 just fine; sergeants were for morale and additional tactics, not combat monsters. Vehicles were generally built with a single weapon configuration available, maybe two.

Consider that some of the people who want to buy pre-painted want very specific armies; they want power fists on their sergeants, not plasma pistols. They want twin-linked plasma/las cannon razorbacks, not heavy flamer razorbacks. So, do the B&M stores have to carry every option, every combination? Consider how much shelf space GW generally takes in your average store now. Now multiply that by having several pre-painted versions of each troop and vehicle. Multiply that by each of the available codexes. What store has the space for that? Even if they just put several turrets in each box, you're paying for items to be painted that you aren't using, and not at the bare plastic prices. People already b!tch about $50 for a vehicle.

Chances are they'd never keep up with demand for say, plasma/lascannon SW Razorbacks, but wouldn't be able to move a single Ultramarine Predator. People get annoyed they can't get exactly what they're looking for. "Whadday mean you don't have six TLP/LC SW razorbacks in stock? Next month???" I ain't waiting 'til next month! Yeah, that would ensure good feelings among their customer base. Again, it's the local store that sits on thousands of dollars of additional stock, hoping that someone finally breaks down and starts that ork footslogger army.

Naaah. GW knows its target market is disgruntled at the best of times. Why poke it with a stick? If they do switch to pre-painted, it means simplifying the entire game to reduce the options so the new codexes fit the "streamlined" product line. That would kill the game for me at least.

Mastiff wrote: If my Red Blok wanted three missile launchers, I was in luck; one box of troopers, plus one box special weapons got me what I needed. But if I wanted three guass cannons (can't remember the names now) I needed to buy three boxes of special weapons (only one guass per box).

So not really that different to many of GW's squad boxes now...

If they do switch to pre-painted, it means simplifying the entire game to reduce the options so the new codexes fit the "streamlined" product line.

Or they would just offer pre-painted versions of the more popular unit options.

Or even just releasing them on a rotating basis would work. This month/quarter/whatever: Ultramarines Strike Force Clavdivs. Next month/etc: Hive Fleet Brobdingnag Splinter Group. The month after that/or whatever: Dark Angels Strike Force Hoodius Maximus.

Release each set with an A4 painting guide sheet, so if you want to add different options to the available units, you can do so with a more-or-less matching paintjob.

Limited quantites, on the understanding that they'll be gone when the next set is released. People will buy them while they can, stores don't need a massive inventory, everybody wins.

insaniak wrote:

Mastiff wrote: If my Red Blok wanted three missile launchers, I was in luck; one box of troopers, plus one box special weapons got me what I needed. But if I wanted three guass cannons (can't remember the names now) I needed to buy three boxes of special weapons (only one guass per box).

So not really that different to many of GW's squad boxes now...

Personally, I hit up Miniatures Market and their broken down box singles for the ones that didn't come in enough numbers.

Unfortunately, it's not an option so much anymore...

I would not buy any of them! It takes away the entire spirit of wargaming. Don't you love customizing your armies?

insaniak wrote:

Mastiff wrote: If my Red Blok wanted three missile launchers, I was in luck; one box of troopers, plus one box special weapons got me what I needed. But if I wanted three guass cannons (can't remember the names now) I needed to buy three boxes of special weapons (only one guass per box).

So not really that different to many of GW's squad boxes now...

Correct. Except that you're paying more for the pre-painted boxes, and instead of having bits left over for conversion fodder, you have unwanted minis that you paid a premium for. When I bought my dark eldar wyches, I had all the pieces I needed for every type of weapon. But I didn't pay for every weapon to be painted.

insaniak wrote:

Mastiff wrote: If they do switch to pre-painted, it means simplifying the entire game to reduce the options so the new codexes fit the "streamlined" product line.

Or they would just offer pre-painted versions of the more popular unit options.

Or even just releasing them on a rotating basis would work. This month/quarter/whatever: Ultramarines Strike Force Clavdivs. Next month/etc: Hive Fleet Brobdingnag Splinter Group. The month after that/or whatever: Dark Angels Strike Force Hoodius Maximus.

So in addition to waiting years for a new codex, necron players will wait three years for their painted armies? There are 14 armies listed on the GW website. Building and painting enough models to supply the international market with complete armies on a monthly turnaround is pretty optimistic. I would be amazed if they could set up painting standards and quality control for three month turnaround. Do they want their audience sitting around and waiting two years for their favorite army to be released? again, this builds plenty of ill will, and where's the profit? If they charge enough to make them viable as a specialist, premium item to justify their limited run, they either price themselves out of the market, or make no money.

insaniak wrote:Limited quantites, on the understanding that they'll be gone when the next set is released. People will buy them while they can, stores don't need a massive inventory, everybody wins.

Look at the response the Games Day limited edition models get; there are always complaints of elitism, that people who pick the army after the event can't get them, etc. Now you're trying to get new players into the game, but tell them that they missed the deadline to get their army painted. Sucks to be you. Hey, I think we still have some Orks in the back. Again, it's fodder for the "GW doesn't love us" crowd, and pisses off more of their consumer base.

Besides, GW has been pretty relentless about sticking to their core competencies, and packaging off anything that even remotely interferes with sales efficiency. That's why Black Library, Forge Word and Specialist Games are separate entities. Blood Bowl is a great game, but with a limited market and limited repeat sales it got kicked to the curb. As a publicly-traded company, I just can't see them looking at pre-painted as a legitimate option if it means relying on dozens of individuals to handle each miniature and produce consistent quality. Mongoose found out with Battlefield:Evolution that paying minimum wages to overseas companies may keep costs down, but doesn't do much for quality or consistency. If GW could automate the painting process, then I could definitely see them considering it, but that would mean simplifying the models.

Right now people have a perfectly valid option; find an independent painter, and pay them to paint their army. They get exactly what they want, and GW sticks to making money on selling toys.

Well, here are some thoughts on this topic. Could it sell? Of course it would. When I walk into my local gamestore, it is astonishing how many armies are unpainted. And the same guys show up with unpainted week after week. Everyone has their reasons. Not good at it. No time. Some simply could care less about the painting aspect of the hobby and would rather focus on playing. And who can blame 'em? Who wants to buy a 2000 pt army and then NOT play with it until it is painted?

The hobby is really at least 2 hobbies right now. 1) Playing. 2) painting and modeling. Those that don't care or don't have time for #2 would consider buying prepainted models no matter the quality. Especially for rank-and-file troops. Not everyone thinks that painting 200 Orks, all essentially the same, is fun.

I could see people with less time opting to personally paint vehicles and commanders whilst buying in-bulk the troop choices for their armies. And seriously, who would care? The die-hard would balk, but experience has taught me that despite the fact that I've lovingly hand-painted every model in my army, at the game store, it is rare that any opponent or passerby would take more than 2 seconds to inspect the paint job on any model in my army - and when they do so, they want to look at my Warboss (not the grots) and then the compliment they give is usually a 1-word compliment such as "cool." In short, people really don't care about your army's paintjob unless you are a supremely awesome painter. They're more interested in their OWN armies. True, painting my own army gives ME a sense of pride, but others, in general, could care less, harsh but true.

True story: I spent about 2 years painting and assembling my Green Tide - unit of 100 Orks. The crowning accomplishment of my gaming career. The compliment I got for this from my oppenent: "Wow, and they don't even look like cr@p!" Gee, thanks!

Okay, so back on topic here. If GW makes them, they will sell. Everyone SAYS they wouldn't buy them, but at the end of the day, the temptation to be DONE with the paintjob straight out of the box is just too great. Sure, you could repaint the prepaints, but I think this would be rare, too. There would be a few who would insist on continuing to fully paint their own armies, and yes, they would get the occassional "cool" from passerbys, but for those gamers who aren't very interested in the painting aspect of the hobby, prepaints would be embraced.

Now, here's the thing. GW would have to decide how much to sell prepaints for. If I sell 10 Prepainted Orks for the same price as 10 unpainted models, would people consider prepaints a better deal? Or would the kits be a better deal since you get the bits? Would GW have to charge more for Prepaints since you don't have to buy any paint or brushes or primer? In short, how would GW make money on prepaints?

Mastiff wrote:Correct. Except that you're paying more for the pre-painted boxes, and instead of having bits left over for conversion fodder, you have unwanted minis that you paid a premium for.

Which you trade off for other stuff that you do need. Or you don't buy the box in the first place, and just buy the unpainted versions instead.

So in addition to waiting years for a new codex, necron players will wait three years for their painted armies?

If it's only as an optional extra to the core range, I don't see the problem with that.

We waited longer than that for a Land Raider in the gap from 2nd to 3rd edition.

Mongoose found out with Battlefield:Evolution that paying minimum wages to overseas companies may keep costs down, but doesn't do much for quality or consistency.

That's because as Mongoose also found out, you have to actually have some sort of controls in place to ensure that the company you hire to produce the models actually gives you what you paid for and what they claimed they could deliver.

Wizards had much better 'luck' with their pre-painted production. While the quality of the sculpts varied considerably within their ranges (which wasn't the fault of the company producing the finished product), the casting, assembly and painting were largely pretty consistent. Not brilliant, but consistent... which, as I understand it, was more or less what they were after. There's a trade-off between quality and price and companies have to choose the spot on that seesaw that they are comfortable with.

I still disagree. In the end GW makes decisions based on profit margins, and I just don't see this being a money-maker. I do see it as a way to alienate more consumers.

That's my TL;DR version. I'm not against the idea, but I don't believe it fits GW's business plan.

Here's a suggestion: I would like to see GW dabble with coloured plastics rather than painting. Producing orks in green plastics, with all the weapons and gear on a second grey/black sprue, would be a way to instantly give some life to the models, while still keeping the process (and therefore quality control) in their hands. No idea what that would do the price though. But at least GW wouldn't need manpower or shipping for assembly, while still making the consumer's job easier.

How much would the process be sped up if the Blood Angel models were all red? A quick wash and a lick of bolt metal would make them table ready.

An 'Eavy Metal Team painting service would suffice. I'd do it. I love the game but hate the painting and modeling.

Mastiff wrote:Here's a suggestion: I would like to see GW dabble with coloured plastics rather than painting. Producing orks in green plastics, with all the weapons and gear on a second grey/black sprue, would be a way to instantly give some life to the models, while still keeping the process (and therefore quality control) in their hands. No idea what that would do the price though. But at least GW wouldn't need manpower or shipping for assembly, while still making the consumer's job easier.

That would be the other easy option, yes.

With some of the technology available for plastic casting these days, you don't even necessarily need separate sprues... Some Japanese model makers are producing plastic kits cast with multiple colours on individual parts.

I wouldn't buy them, I love the modeling and painting aspect too much. But I wouldn't mind them.

I would prefer to see uncompleted models over pre-painted armies because it means (most of the time) that the player is putting in the effort to make their armies their own.

But that could also be me being a little biased since my army isn't completed. All my unpainted models don't have arms on them.(It make it easier to paint the chests and backside of the weapons.)

Has its pros and cons I guess. It probably would get more people playing. The modelling apect is a big turnoff for some folks.
However, everyone's army will look the same. The fact that everyone's army is just a little bit different is something special about Warhammer that would be a shame to lose.

When you boil it down the same people who say "love the game, hate the modeling" are the same who say "the models cost to much."

The only way they will accept pre-painted models is if they are as cheap if not cheaper than they are now. Which the only way to reach that price point is to be sold by the tens of thousands like 'toys' in stores, not like models in hobby shops.

To make the game marketible to a wider audiance, the rules will probably need to be shrunken and simplified in order to attract younger kids, reduce the math aspect and make the game easier to master.

And once GW has done of this to make the people who won't pay for the models 'happy' they will go 'feh... you ruined the game...'

So why should GW do this again?

I would buy pre-painted models. =D

And I have two fully painted armies (Orks and Dark Eldar), and three partly painted armies. Painting only gets done because it is mandatory for GTs, but I hate it.

GW coming out with prepainted and pre-assembled models would be one of the worst things I can imagine for the hobby. I love assembling and painting my models, and I love thinking up new paint schemes and different things that can be done to make that tank look just a bit cooler.

I would fething HATE for this to happen.

Given the number of unpainted / primed-only minis I see on game tables, I don't think this would ruin anything. The thing is that, given the price of their regular stuff, if they were to implement something like this, the price would be (even more) outrageous.

Mark1130 wrote:How would you feel? Would having the option of buying the miniture you want already assembled and painted (like hero clix ect. ect.) intise you to do more with 40k then you do now?

What do ya think? Would ya like to see this someday?

My opinion:

Yes. I would love this to happen. I could finally buy myself my dream Tyranid army, and not have to assemble and paint a buttload of minitures.

I'm not sure if I would be so crazy about it. I may not find enough time to do so, but I find that half the enjoyment of the hobby is putting the models together and painting it whatever you want them to look like. For the purposes of economy (both monetary and time), I would say yes, but if that was all I cared about, I wouldn't have been playing another game. Plus, when you know you've done a good job, it really shows into how much work you put into painting the models so they look just right

Ghidorah wrote:
GW toy Marines!

That made me lol.

What... and have everyone's army look the same as everyone else's?
That would be just stupid....

I just could never support this, I have 2 fully painted armies and am currently working on a third, many models I own have been ocnverted and customized to my liking, just the thought of walking into a game store and seeing a mob of children clutching mobs of cheap, identical ultramarines makes me shudder. I know that there are others that have put in alot of effort into their models, and to make the game even more cookie-cutter would be a big mistake.

if games workshop started making pre made pre painted sets, eventually they would create combo sets, and then toy sets for 10 year olds! Imagine, walking into an toys 'r' us and seeing a warhammer shelf with "space marine squad vs tau spaceship, Free tree included" DA HORRORS!

It is profitable...

There are sides to this that would work and others that wouldn't. Of course everyone wants an army painted to the greatest standard ever but then the army isn't theirs, it's someone elses. Really, this could kick of and work but personally I think it would fail because painting and constructing your army is one of the major parts of the entire game.

@DAWARBOSS: If GW were to release toys in toys'r'us it would make the hobby a laugh in my eyes, it would ruin it.

DAWARBOSS wrote:I would not buy any of them! It takes away the entire spirit of wargaming. Don't you love customizing your armies?

Yes I do. Very much! I just gets incredibly tedious when your trying to customize the basic troops individually. I have done it with 4 diffrent armies. I'm all done, had enough .

Tanks, leaders, special charecters I LOVE customizing. Basic dudes, Id rather buy pre mades now.


Like others have said. I'd rather play pre mades then play the greys/ just primed, that I run into 80% of the time.

If GW did it right, I don't see why it would hurt the market or product at all. Kits for the hobbists and premade for the gamers.

crimsonfist832 wrote:@DAWARBOSS: If GW were to release toys in toys'r'us it would make the hobby a laugh in my eyes, it would ruin it.

It would still be profitable, anyway i was just kidding!

GalacticDefender wrote:GW coming out with prepainted and pre-assembled models would be one of the worst things I can imagine for the hobby. I love assembling and painting my models, and I love thinking up new paint schemes and different things that can be done to make that tank look just a bit cooler.

I would fething HATE for this to happen.

This just astounds me, to be honest. This is a recurring sentiment that I've seen voiced here several time. I just can't wrap my head around it... Why the hell would a person care about pre-paints as long as GW kept everything else exactly as it is? Just because YOU (in the generic use of the word) don't like pre-paints or LOVE the painting/modeling side, why the hell would you care about somebody else wanting pre-paints?

I mean, it wouldn't impact YOUR hobby at all. In fact, it would make your hobby experience in a good way. It could/would likely reduce all the bare grey, half-assembled armies that plague our game tables now. How on EARTH is that not a desirable side effect of pre-paints? That alone is reason enough to add them to the product line. Then, you're trying to do a swarm Ork army but you dread painting/building all those boys? Paint 2000 pts. of playable army w/ a few options, then bulk out the remaining 80 Orks for that Green Tide with pre-painted filler Boyz. Ever painted an Apocalypse army? I have 10k points of Eldar painted. You realize how many Guardians and Dire Avengers (heck, infantry period!) that is? If they had my Eldar colors available pre-painted, you bet your arse I'd buy 'em. I'd use my own painted for everything other than Apoc. but whatever...




King Ghidorah

Flashman wrote:A no from me. As time consuming as it is, modelling and painting are a big part of the hobby. Preassembled, prepainted miniatures would take away its soul. You may as well play with Star Wars figures.

gotta agree withthis, i wouldnt be too upset about it, would still play, but i really think the modeling and painting aspect is a huge part of the game and prepainted models will really alter that even if the normal range is still around.

insaniak wrote:With some of the technology available for plastic casting these days, you don't even necessarily need separate sprues... Some Japanese model makers are producing plastic kits cast with multiple colours on individual parts.

I was wondering if that was a possibility, but I wasn't sure if the technology existed or not. That's where I could see GW taking the plunge. They have a consistent product and predictable costs. Do you know of any examples?

nkelsch wrote:When you boil it down the same people who say "love the game, hate the modeling" are the same who say "the models cost to much."

Are they?

I've played against quite a few people over the years who were more than happy to splash out the cash... but just couldn't be bothered with painting. I would also think, given the usual pricing structure, that the existence of commission painting studios would seem to make this generalisation somewhat dubious.

Mastiff wrote:I was wondering if that was a possibility, but I wasn't sure if the technology existed or not. That's where I could see GW taking the plunge. They have a consistent product and predictable costs. Do you know of any examples?

Not specific examples, no. I believe (from previous discussions) that some Gundam kits have been cast in this manner, but haven't seen any personally.

I would not mind, but personaly would not buy them(and want un painted and assembald ones to go down in price, not that that would happen...)

I owuld certainly buy the pre-assembled models of those that i find annoying (or impossible to assemble) and i'd infact find this very useful. It'd also be useful if i needed something at short notice for a tournament etc...

However most of the models i'd buy would be the regular ones that come as sprues, as assembling and painting are almost as enjoyable for me as actual gaming.

I personally prefer to assemble and paint the models myself.
Im not a great one for customising the models, but I do enjoy sticking them together and painting when I have the time (but I do prefer having a nicely painted army on the table rather than just base coated).

The plus side of them being pre-assembled though for me would be for the models that you spend ages putting together and end up putting so much pinning in it that you are afraid to touch it

GW has released a few products using colored plastics, a long time ago I remember a starter set existing that consisted of blue space marines and purple genestealers. Not to mention that the space hulk figures are all made of colored plastics.

Still I fail to see this as an advantage, pre colored plastics are very difficult to paint over in any other color besides the base, therefore a blue model would have to remain blue and a red model would stay mainly red. I could see how it would help people who play certain chapters and color schemes, but what would determine what color plastics would be produced?

The Night Stalker wrote:GW has released a few products using colored plastics, a long time ago I remember a starter set existing that consisted of blue space marines and purple genestealers. Not to mention that the space hulk figures are all made of colored plastics.

Still I fail to see this as an advantage, pre colored plastics are very difficult to paint over in any other color besides the base, therefore a blue model would have to remain blue and a red model would stay mainly red. I could see how it would help people who play certain chapters and color schemes, but what would determine what color plastics would be produced?

I think I've got some older Genestealers (Possibly a carry-over from an older edition of Space Hulk?) that came in a dark blue plastic (sold in normal boxes from GW) and they primed white just fine. The molds were a little rough by that point, but they're still kind of cool models.

Why don't they make the plastic black then, pre-primed figures would be sweet.