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Oh I like that approach

When an unpainted model is removed from play at a tournament, it should be "permanently removed from play."

Tournaments are not casual play.
A casual tournament may be more relaxed, but it is still a tournament.
The requirement is to have all your models painted, it does not say you have to them painted well.

Tournaments tend to be flagship events for our hobby. They are large gatherings of players who are putting their best foot forward, bringing their A game, and hopefully playing on the best tables your club/store can muster. So why are you bringing an army of models that look like gak and show that you can't be bothered to put forth a minimum effort? Players go to tournaments with an expectation that their is going to be a minimum standard of quality. It is insulting to those who have put forth the time and effort to paint their armies (especially those who can't paint well but still tried!) and to those who are putting forth their time and effort to run the event. You should feel embarrassed about yourself.

Tournaments aren't for everyone and if you don't want to be forced to paint your models then maybe you need to admit to yourself that tournaments aren't for you. The concept here is that there is a minimum requirement expected of you in order to participate. If you can't handle that well, good luck in life kid, 'cause you ain't going anywhere.

I agree on the D-bag list comments. I see a lot of guys chasing the most-winningest-internet-list they can find. Having a painting requirement tends to knock those guys out of it. Yes, some guys with larger painted collections are able to field those lists, but that's what they get for spending lots of money to collect all those models AND PAINT THEM, and have probably been doing so for years! Once your own collection gets big enough, you'll be able to do that too!

Interestingly enough, years ago my LGS did have a painting requirement for our tournaments. This was clearly spelled out in the tournament flyers, and it was stated that unpainted armies were not eligible for any prizes or awards. Basically, if you had an unpainted army you were automatically disqualified. Yet many players with unpainted armies continued to enter, year after year. They were never actually kicked out of the tournament so they did get a day of gaming out of it at least. The TO was happy to collect their entry fees for prize support.

@ Swordbreaker

As a 47 yr old man, I have absolutely no reason to feel "embarrassed about myself" for having an opinion that differs from your opinion on painting requirements. The self-righteous arrogance one displays with that type comment is the kind of attitude that drives newcomers away from the game instead of drawing them in. A monthly tournament at a LGS is not a flagship event for the hobby...Adepticon and Feast of Blades are a couple of examples of the flagship events for the hobby. There are 3 flagship events for the store over the course of a year where I have no problem with minimums for such special events. As I previously posted, all of my models are painted above a 3 color minimum, WYSIWYG, so the rules do not affect my ability to play if I do decide to sign up at the last minute. Being insulted by seeing grey models is quite an overreaction imho*. Am sure that my opinions are due in part to the fact I put more importance on playing the game, am only concerned with how my own models look[though I do enjoy looking at a well painted model], and have little interest in the fluff of the 40K Universe.

I can understand why people would feel the need for minimums if they faced grey "net-lists" by TFG(s) on a repeated basis. Have not experienced that situation myself so guess I am lucky to live where I am and game where I do. That is at least a rational reason versus the I've got all my models painted, you can paint them quickly this way or that way, and I work 40 hrs a week blah blah blah arguments. Some people need to take more time and simply paint their models slower than others. It is a bit unreasonable to ask someone to do hack job that they will have to remove to paint a model as nicely as they intended to.

The pluses I see by not have not having minimums are greater numbers of players, helping newcomers to the game learn from experienced players/their mistakes while they are building out their armies, and more sales of items in the store.

The minuses I have seen so far is the ability of people to keep easily rotating between the latest net power lists and offending some peoples' sense of aesthetics.

Appreciate the thoughts and opinions as I did not think I would draw this many responses. Did not expect that it would strike a nerve and arouse such deeply held sentiments.

Here's the thing: 40k is a hobby more than it is a game. It's even said by GW that it's more a hobby than a game, and a hobby is something you do in your free time. With the way things have been going, at least in the US, the last couple of years, free time is often a luxury many don't have. I myself work 2 jobs and am seriously considering getting a 3rd. This means that what little I spend on the hobby nets me models that have been used, painted (usually poorly) by other people. Now I'm no artist, and I am attempting to paint my own army, but the amount of time required to paint a whole army is rather significant, more so if you consider that many of the people you're talking about don't have speed painting, quick brush techniques, or other such tools under their belt.

Basically, I don't think painting should be required to play or to win in a tournament. I think if you want to make painting a thing, you have a painting contest alongside the tournament, where best painted, maybe even top 3, armies get prizes as well.