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I once played against an Eldar Avatar that was still in the blister pack. Funny as hell watching it charging a unit.

I don't mind as long as people are working on the army. If you have a new unit, vehicle or character painted or built next time, we're all good. Be lazy, I won't be overly impressed.

I recall a guy I saw playing years ago who screeched in horror when his opponent picked up a mass of dice to roll and yelled 'What are you doing? They're my Brettonian bowmen!'

Dude, get some models!

This type of attitude hurts the wargaming side of the hobby really with no real benefit to you (the player who refuses to play with unpainted models). Sure your games might look a lot better but how many more games could you play if you allowed non-painted models?

stalkerzero wrote:This type of attitude hurts the wargaming side of the hobby really with no real benefit to you (the player who refuses to play with unpainted models). Sure your games might look a lot better but how many more games could you play if you allowed non-painted models?

But then again, if you're trying to play with unpainted models in a situation where there's rules in place saying "You must have your army painted with X amount of colors and fully flocked" then you have noone to blame but yourself for not obeying those rules.

Escalation leagues(as an example, especially since the whole point of an Escalation league is that everyone comes up together from having a small force to a full army) commonly have a caveat to the effect of you can't get the full amount of points if you've made no progress in painting your army over the course of the Escalation league.

stalkerzero wrote:Sure your games might look a lot better but how many more games could you play if you allowed non-painted models?

How many games do you think I want to play? I play very occasionally and it'll be prearranged so can afford to be picky. I', happy to make my small quantity the best quality. If I needed to play very frequently then I'd have to take games whenever I could find them.

I prefer not to field unpainted minis, and I am very disappointed when I see people who haven't even tried to paint them or paint them ridiculously poorly. I can't remember where I saw the battle report, but a guy, in order to get by the GW 3 paints rule, had minis that looked like a horde of 5-year-olds painted them.

But as to allowing my opponent to play them? I don't really see how I can say no. Especially in a tournament setting, I can't really tell someone they have to show up with painted minis or leave. That's the tournament organizer's problem.

I'd prefer to have their models all painted as i really don't like looking at an army of grey, black or white. It's hard to tell the difference between one unit and another. But i'd still play them since i did come looking for a game

Yes, I allow un painted models on my table. You know why? Because the people at my LGS have things called jobs and families, and sometimes they want to play a big game, but no have the massive amount of time required to paint a 3000 point army to a good standard.

Do I prefer to play with painted models? Yes, of course, but I wouldn't not play with someone because they had an unpainted army.

I have half my army unpainted at the moment and if someone told me, "nope you can't play because those are unpainted," I'd consider doing something rude to him and take game and go play somewhere else, somewhere where the players have class and a realization of the real world.

Thankfully that has never happened. And as for quality of paint, that doesn't urk me at all, after all thats what orks are for, right isn't the tutorial book called "Learning to paint 40K With Space Orks." If someone is trying I see no reason to discourage such a person.

Now if someone comes week after week with the same army and never even base coats them, I'll make a kind remark about at least scrapping off the mold lines and slapping some decals on them at least.

I don't see the problem as long as they are working on it.

SoloFalcon1138 wrote:But as to allowing my opponent to play them? I don't really see how I can say no. Especially in a tournament setting, I can't really tell someone they have to show up with painted minis or leave. That's the tournament organizer's problem.

Which is why I maximize my limited playing time with events that require painted models because that is what I want to play against. So the Event organizer tells people "you have to show up with painted minis or leave."

Pretty much the rule of the house is what goes. If the 'house' allows non-painted, suck it up or leave. If the 'house' requires painting, then suck it up or leave. It is pretty simple.

KRUDD wrote:Good points, i like to see the models painted when they come out to play, my LGS when i lived in NY wouldnt allow you to play unless models had 2+ colors and your bases were flocked

Thats a good way to lose bussiness.

nieto666 wrote:

KRUDD wrote:Good points, i like to see the models painted when they come out to play, my LGS when i lived in NY wouldnt allow you to play unless models had 2+ colors and your bases were flocked

Thats a good way to lose bussiness.

Actually, Many store owners say painted armies on the tabletop generate more sales and bring in more new customers because it goes from "300$ for my 12 year old to play with plastic toys?" to "300$ for a mature, hobby which will take hours of dedicated and skill and keep my kids off drugs?"

Painted models sells product. And from reading these forums, it sounds like a lot of the gamers who monopolize gaming space are the same who don't purchase models at full MSRP from the local store anyways. So I would be warey how much business is actually 'lost' by denying gaming space to people who don't shop there anyways. Not to mention, painted models (or at least PRIMED) helps curb theft. It is a lot harder to open a blister, glue it together and add it to an army of 300 models when the store requires no bare metal/plastic in the store. It is very hard to keep track of who is assembling a box of purchased models and who is just stealing stuff.

There is a balance and the store owners usually know what thier store can support. This is why lots of places have painted 'events' on high traffic times like weekends but no requirements during off hours like weeknight gaming. Everyone wins. I fully understand why Owners like to require standards which is why I never use an unpainted mini ever as I am a guest in his store and I want to support and respect him while I am there.

Wow, this topic comes up monthly, but this may be the longest it's ever gotten! Still it's a usefull discussion, so I'll play...

I try to never put an unpainted model on the table. Sometimes I'll play a unit that's only basecoated, but it's a matter of pride that I put a painted army on the table everytime.

As to my opponents. I can't dictate there standards, but I prefer to play those with painted armies. If you show up with an unpainted army, we'll have a game, but if you're not at least making painting progress, I probably won't play you again. My favorite part of the hobby is the spectacle of painted armies, which puts me at the other end of the spectrum from someone who's interest in the game is primarily the game itself and not the painting/modeling aspect. It's fine that there are people on the other end, but it's not for me.

I've recently switched over to a club that plays various skirmish games. We've been playing bi-weekly or more for about 4 months and have yet to put an unpainted model on the table! We also enjoy quietly sniggering at the walls of grey fielded by other folks playing GW and PP games at our FLGS.

What about models that are painted so poorly you wish they just left them as bare plastic?

Honestly? I haven't gotten around to painting my army yet because none of the models are, well, modeled to my standards. Sure, I could basecoat them, slap some colors on, but then I'd have to scrape the paint off every time I want to swap a limb, or add some greenstuff, or change the head of their choppa. I'm finiky that way, and what of it?

It's especially difficult for people (like me) that are doing a themed army, yet are unable to get ready-made models that fit that theme properly. Why waste the paint and time when you're just going to take it off again in a week?

MikeMcSomething wrote:What about models that are painted so poorly you wish they just left them as bare plastic?

I've seen some real crap paint jobs, and played against folks whose armies mix paintjobs and even that is preferrable to unpainted in my experience.

I really feel that putting unpainted miniatures on the table is often a by-product of the vibe that I get from alot of people that playing a game of less than 1200 points isn't worth it, and the general comp-oriented nature of certain game.

I'd be interested to hear from others with longer and wider experience, but it's been my experience while wargamers of all stripes seem to have unpainted figures it seems to be mostly GW and PP players who put them on the table.

I spend the time to paint my minis to the best of my ablitiy, i still let others play unpainted, but i whisper to the models '' don't worry you might get painted soon!!''

i then get told to paint them! we have fun.