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What is the etiquette about having a painted army? I was originally painting space marines but I will not lie, they bored the hell out of me. I switched to the Orks from AoBR and have enjoyed painting them much more. The paint scheme is semi-consistent. I had enchanted blue so they all have the same color and washed pants, and obviously, the checkered pattern here and there. I was wondering is it okay with people to show up with an army that is half finished? I just started playing and I love painting but would love to finally start playing past the demo level. Would it matter if I have 1/3 of my army simply primed? I have found I am decent at painting so I do not want to rush them simply to start playing. Weird question, I know. Thanks in advance.

After reading alot about WH40k I came to realize some people can be anal. Since I am new I would be annoyed to run into it without warning heh.

Accurate modeling is the bigger goal. For instance, make sure the Power Klaw Nob has a Power Klaw displayed.

Painting really only comes into play in tournaments. Most people don't mind too much in pickup games.

Thanks Raum. Thankfully since it is from the assault on black reach they are all pretty much modeled for me. I am really just worried about how people view a partially painted army and if it absolutely matters if they are painted to chapter or clan or whatever spec. I make my painting consistent but not to spec as it were. They have coherency, just not exactly to anything listed. I found the whole Goff with black thing boring to paint and I had enchanted blue just sitting there heh.

dvdmks wrote:Thanks Raum. Thankfully since it is from the assault on black reach they are all pretty much modeled for me. I am really just worried about how people view a partially painted army and if it absolutely matters if they are painted to chapter or clan or whatever spec. I make my painting consistent but not to spec as it were. They have coherency, just not exactly to anything listed. I found the whole Goff with black thing boring to paint and I had enchanted blue just sitting there heh.

Like Raumkampfer said, it isn't too big of a deal with local non tournament games. If you go to something like Ard boyz, a fully painted army is much more acceptable. Big tournaments pretty much require a painted army. I play every Sunday at my local shop and most of the people there have half painted armies.

If someone really complains about it, remind them you are playing a game. Paint doesn't change tactical ability or they way the dice roll.

As others said, for most pickup games, people will be fine with an army that's half-painted. Some GW stores have policies about them not wanting people to play with mostly unpainted armies (for understandable reasons). But in your case, it will be fine as long as you'll finish your army some day and keep on working on it. I always tend to work on my armies to get them painted and didn't want to rush it either so I know your situation and so far, everyone was okay with it. I've also met (few) people who just don't bother painting their armies but it's their loss essentially; they're missing out on a great thing.

Mattlov wrote:If someone really complains about it, remind them you are playing a game. Paint doesn't change tactical ability or they way the dice roll.

But it IS an incredibly important part to the game in itself. And we all know that the dice favor painted armies.

Thanks for the responses guys. I am working towards having them all painted. It is not a situation where I open the box and play. I have just been unsure how people accept it. Honestly, if it was a problem I would probably just drop it. If it is not, and I can paint how I like than this is the hobby for me. I love theme but hate rigidity. Orks called me after painting space marines because they have a chaotic quality too them.

Some tournaments and sponsored games will require all painted minis, but very few do. I played against a guy last week with an all painted army and it was wonderful, while just a couple days ago I played him again with another army that was totally unpainted. While the game didn't look as good as it would have if everything was painted, it was never brought up and we both had fun.

Lord Scythican wrote:If you go to something like Ard boyz, a fully painted army is much more acceptable. Big tournaments pretty much require a painted army.

'Ard Boyz does not require ANY minis to be painted; just WYSIWYG. I have NEVER been to a BIG TOURNAMENT that REQUIRED your army to be painted. Sure you may loose some Comp points *if you play that nonsence*, but thems the breaks.

Most players prefer to play with painted armies, because of the visual enjoyment.

Why would you pay all that money not to paint them?

All primed armies can be hard to play with as nothing stands out.

Actually I think to be able to use the red paint job on ork vehicles the model has to be painted red.

At least you're showing the initiative to paint your minis. When I went to Ard Boyz last year, I was very disappointed to see only about a quarter of the armies were painted. MY buddies army was getting rave reviews from people who has just spray-painted their blood angels red.

We all don;t have time to get everything done, we all have lives. But a half incomplete army is a half completed army, too!

My store doesn't mind non painted miniatures, provided your showing progress in the painting department. Like you start with 30% painted, next time you come you've finished off another unit, and so on and so forth until it's fully done.

Kilkrazy wrote:Most players prefer to play with painted armies, because of the visual enjoyment.

I prefer my women "hairless" (for the visual enjoyment), but I will DEFINATLY play with one that isnt.
All in all; it's about what blows up YOUR skirt.

Some people doen my FLGS play with completely unpainted armies-including the staff.

I prefer to try and play with fully painted stuff only, which is fine as I don't play that often, and when I do I usually have lots of time to get everything I want to play with painted.

Hasn't stopped me playing with partially or unpainted stuff in the past... but part of the enjoyment for me is seeing all my guys rocking around fully painted.

Though it doesn't help that I hate painting