Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

so most of my army is primed or base coated. but I don't want to go any further than that due to the fact I Have tried before and I just completely ruin the models look. would most people play vs a primed/base coated army?

I really don't care if they are painted or not to play against. It is part of the hobby though.

Depends. If theyre primed pink or yellow then no. Or if someone uses wal mart house priming paint then also no. Otherwise i dont mind. everyones been there before. Long as people show some progress every now and then and dont just leave em flat primed.

I love painted models, I just discovered I cannot paint them to the level I want them to be painted. so I will have to pay others for painting :( (dam my shakey hands!)

and its not fun to spends 3 hours on a few models and then say, (man,, these guys don't look good) :(

Yeah i have shakey hands too. Couple of ways to overcome it ive found though. I shake more when hungry, dehydrated, or running low on nicotine so fix those. Next is the hand trick (well not really a trick). Put your pinky of the hand you use to hold the brush against the model youre holding with the other hand. works pretty well for me. Looks goofy but gives extra control.

Yes. That is all

Am I playing in an event that requires them to be painted? If no then I will play anything.

I'd be kind of a hypocrite if I didn't, most of my Tau army is unpainted/proxied for friendly games, although am kind of working on that when I have the time.

Yes, but I'd subtly try and hint that he should paint his models. Asking what colour scheme he's going to do, when he's going to paint them, etc.

I'd better as 99% of my Eldar aren't even primed. The only reason so many of my Nids are painted is because someone else painted them.

I prefer to play with and against a nicely painted army. That said, my IF's are not fully painted, quite a few of them are just sprayed yellow right now, and yellow is a PITA to paint, but i'm stubborn and they WILL all get painted!
In tournaments many of them hold to a 3 colour standard, and the tournament rules are the tournament rules. but in friendly games (competitive or non-competitive) then i guess we would all LIKE to see both armies painted, but realistically that doesn't happen as much as we would like, so anything goes

given the choice between an unpainted army or a fully painted one, I would preferentially play against the painted one. I'm also likely to be less competitive, as painting really helps with immersion, so I will sit back and enjoy the game more.

my dark angels are completely uniform.......grey

I had better play against that, The only painted models of mine are a few Leman Russes, everything else is just primered (damn gw paints cost so much and i have a poo load of models to paint

On the whole, I will play anything so long as I can tell what it is, but I myself will try and play everything painted. However, if someone had a good reason for not painting or even priming their stuff (and I count lack of interest in painting in a perfectly good one, to be honest, it's just not everyone's cup of tea).

That said, I do try and encourage my gaming group to try and paint a bit more, and always get more out of a game if I'm playing painted models.

I'm not elitist enough to push someone away just because their models aren't painted.

Sure, but probably as a once off.
If the same guy comes back 6 months later in the same state, well he just aint trying......

I dont like painting, arent good at it and would rather play but having at least 2-3 colors army-wide isnt that hard imho.

#shrug

I would and I have.. One local game store I used to frequent I was one of the only ones that did paint my army... It pissed me off but not enough to not play. The store I frequent now it is poo pooed but if you are testing something or just starting it is accepted but if not progress is being made then people start to give that person a hard time. My local store now over the summer series made painting and basing a must to play in the tourneys. I kinda like it. If you are in the competitive scene you should have to embrace all aspects of the game so I think painting should be part of it... Just my 2 cents.

I would always prefer to play against a painted army.

You don't have to paint them exceptionally well. Start out just doing some basic painting of the weapons and shoulder pads and whatnot. After you have done that a bit try taking one of your models and painting it a bit fancier, it probably won't look great but you might be surprised at how the practice of some of the basic painting has made you better able to control your brush and the flow of the paint. Over time as you push your technique a bit you will probably find your work is better and better and you will be going back and fixing the very basic paint work you did earlier. Don't expect to do work like the guys in White Dwarf, even later on, but then you never know what will happen with practice.

I don't normally recommend White Dwarf but they do have some decent painting tips, the close ups they do layer by layer give a better idea of what to do then most videos I have seen. Although some videos are helpful. A great deal depends on how much time and effort you are willing to put into it, I have an trygon I have been painting for longer then I want to think about with all the delays I have had recently.

Of course, its possible that you might just end up having a negative trait when it comes to painting or just hate spending the time to do more then base/prime. In which case that is ok too. Its a game, have fun.

Painting is not for everyone. Anyone who says it is part of the Hobby is wrong. It's a part of THEIR hobby.

This Hobby can be all or just one of these and more that I may have forgotten.

Gaming
Collecting Minis
Painting
Converting
Fluff
People Interaction

So if only one applies to you, then Kudos for at least putting an army together, and then do what you like, Play and have fun.

As a good friend of mine puts it, the moment you start bringing unpainted minis to the table is the moment you stop being a galactic general from the distant future and become a grown man pushing plastic toys across a table.

Lol, seriously, I'll play anyone, painted or not. But for some odd reason I ALWAYS lose against unpainted armies. Fact.

Painting is not for everyone. Anyone who says it is part of the Hobby is wrong. It's a part of THEIR hobby.

This Hobby can be all or just one of these and more that I may have forgotten.

Gaming
Collecting Minis
Painting
Converting
Fluff
People Interaction

So if only one applies to you, then Kudos for at least putting an army together, and then do what you like, Play and have fun.

Fair enough post, well written.

But how far do you push it then?
What if someone showed up to play you with a Landraider but hadnt bothered to glue the side sponsons on ("too much hassle!") or all their tactical marines had no bolters glued on ("hadnt got the time!").

So you now have half glued models, non painted, non WYSIWYG (I hate that rule btw - just saying).

Where can we draw the line?

 Ratius wrote:

What if someone showed up to play you with a Landraider but hadnt bothered to glue the side sponsons on ("too much hassle!") or all their tactical marines had no bolters glued on ("hadnt got the time!").

most of my tactical marines don't have their bolters glued on. or their back packs for that matter, since i'm halfway through painting them, and have been for some time. its not much of problem given i make sure the special/heavy weapons are glued on, or at the very least use blutac. the same with my landraider, i've not put the sponsons on yet since that would make it harder to paint

i guess it comes down to being able to tell what something has, and if you can't then it becomes an issue.

most of my tactical marines don't have their bolters glued on. or their back packs for that matter, since i'm halfway through painting them, and have been for some time. its not much of problem given i make sure the special/heavy weapons are glued on, or at the very least use blutac. the same with my landraider, i've not put the sponsons on yet since that would make it harder to paint

No issues there though, you do intend to paint them (?).
So one or two friendly games is fine but in 6 months if they still had no bolters etc?

Dont get me wrong peeps, Im anti-WYSIWYG and dont believe in handicapping fun by any means!
I just think if you're going to start an army as a passion/hobby, getting them glued and painted to 3 color minimum isnt *that* hard.

And thats from a guy who HATES painting

Not everyone has time as much as others to work on the hobby aspect of 40K as others. So don't have a problem playing against those types of unfinished models. Just so long As their Army lists are correct.

I don't like to play my own army un-painted. It kind of limits me sometimes and my collection builds pretty slowly. That being said I don't have a problem playing against an un-painted army.

Only if it's obvious they're making a proper effort to paint the model.

Also OP you need washes.

I would but I probably wouldn't enjoy it.

Generally I find the better painted the models the better the player is. You put effort into your painting and you put effort into your tactical decisions aswell.

I keep in touch with players that keep a nicely painted army and play well, if you don't maintain those two standards I'll gladly try you out once but won't contact again.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one at my FLGS who actually cares about how their minis look.

So, yes, because I'm used to it by now.

I would too but I try to keep my armies up to date with painting : it is more funny to play with painted models, on a nice battefield, it is a part of the game IMO

No way! I can't stand it. Spend so much time, blood sweat and tears to get your army looking good and then you have some kid rock up with a half assembled army. Few weeks ago I versed a guy with a tau army and he had arms missing, parts broken off and I just couldn't get into the story of the battle at all. I think if you buy an army you should at least make an effort to paint them tabletop quality at least. 3 paint standard. That's my view anyway