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This is primarily a question for those who are NOT highly competitive gamers.

In a recent topic there was some discussion about unpainted armies being the more prevalent among gamers who tend to me more competitive and who's focus was more the game itself. I'm not certain that such is usually the case, but for those who aren't competitive gamers:

When playing someone who is fielding an extremely optimized, competitive army is it easier to take a beat-down when the force annihilating you is painted?

Yes for sure, simply because while being beaten down I have something interesting to look at more than just a field of grey or one colour & dip with someone who argues because the base rim is a different colour "thats three colours".

Don't overly care how well painted something is as long as it looks like a bit of thought and effort went in to it.

If you're not going to bother with the hobby side may as well use card counters - indeed slightly amazed there are not more events doing just that

The beat-down is easier to take because what was fielded took a serious investment in that configuration.
It is not a flavor of the week (or at least does not appear to be).
The highly competitive players want to get down to the business of playing and if the model could get away with no arms they would do so.
Well painted miniatures also give more to discuss and look at = more entertainment than just the pure game strategy.
Rule of cool: hard to say no to playing against something that looks awesome! Overpowered or not.

Yup.

Don't mind getting slapped around by something pretty.

Painted is always better than unpainted, regardless of who wins. Well painted armies are a great thing to see on any table.

I think the game overall has a softer edge when both players have fully painted armies simply because there is usually a 'distracting' element in the visual appearance which gives both players the ability to stop being opponents for a second and find common ground in discussing 'cool looking models'.

Sometimes people who get way into the competitive nature of the game forget these people they are playing are humans too and possibly even nice people or friends.

I think people respect effort. Being a good player takes effort. Painting your army takes effort. Effort goes a long way to showing respect and making for good social interactions.

I get +1 to my die rolls cuz my stuff's painted.

Lots of good points here.

I also chose the first option. I don't 40k anymore, but when I did, I took ALOT of beat-downs. The best were always against an interesting painted army. Gave me something neat to look at and even if it became apparent that our approach to the game was very different, it was a constant reminder of a part of the hobby we both valued. A sort of common ground.

On the other side it also helps put a stop to negative things I might be prone to thinking while losing. It's alot harder to mentally stereotype someone as being "only concerned about winning" or "Just fielding the flavor-of-the-month netlist" when they put a painted army on the table.

For me it more depends on the opponent I suppose.

Though getting to play against the regular Tau player, who has a nice army of blue armoured and red armoured Tau is always a treat, whether we're playing battle forged, unbound or something like Kill-team.

Makes me feel bad about my own half-done army. But at least I got the conversions and non-GW models going for me that makes the opponents go "woah!"

it's a little prejudicial of me to think like this but when I play a pretty army, win lose or draw, I feel like I'm playing someone who's just really into it. And I don't mind taking a beating against someone who's worked so hard on their own army because maybe after all that work they earned it.

Yes it does ease the beatdown a bit. Not by much, but having my ass handed to us by a well painted force that someone has spent time and dedication working on is by far a more pleasurable experience to a bunch of grey bare plastic and metal minis that my opponent has just slapped together and has no care or love for.

I voted Yes too.

Arguably, a really well-themed and painted force is less likely to be flavour of the week just because of the amount of time and effort required to get it to that place.

I mean, there are a ton of exceptions, but if you're playing a well-balanced/fluffy list, there's nothing worse than the feeling that your opponent has chosen his army SOLELY on the basis of what combination of toys is the most powerful at the moment.

Yes, its always better loosing to someone who's put love and care into their models than just forked out on a few wave serpents and wraithknights, assembled the models and stuck them on the table to own you without even a base coat on them.

This is why I try and get mine painted before buying new ones, it saves my wallet as well.

I can't really talk because the only two times I've really been beat down was at a 6th edition tournament where the two players armies were PHENOMENALLY painted netlists. One was white scars bikers and cent star that the owner had had professionally painted and even with an included display board for an astronomical cost (but hey, if you have the money, what's to stop you?) And the other was a wave serpent spam list that had been done entirely (all 1850 points in probably six hours or less) with stencils and spray paints (not even sure if the guy owned an airbrush. It didn't look like it). Needless to say, the point that both armies were stunning gorgeous beautiful shiny eye candy did nothing to help with the crushing defeat.

I was not playing an army I had painted either (shame on me) but I was playing Blood Angels so I don't think anyone was really complaining about the free win.

The Daemons player that was there was really cool though and had painted almost all of his models himself (i think like one of his daemon princes was pro painted or something?) And we had a great fun game, filled with like four turns of Angels and Khorne dogs smashing each others faces in

In other games that I've played, painted armies have definitely increased the amount of fun I had with those games, which is why I've set about putting in the time and the effort to paint my own Tyranids army for playing at tournaments or the FLGS before I take on any other projects.

It always bothered me when I was younger to have my fully painted army get beaten by grey plastic hordes. I fortunately play pretty much exclusively against painted armies now though. I play games for the spectacle and story of them - to see big armies clash and heroes battle it out and the like. Regardless of the outcome, I'm having a much better time when it's against a painted army.

I have a fully painted WMH army and I always get beaten by half painted armies.
But yes, I do enjoy the game more when I'm facing a fully painted army, even if it's not done very well.

I won't remember whether I won or lost a game ten minutes after playing, unless a particularly exciting moment happens.

I will remember a beautifully painted and assembled army months later...

 Drefan wrote:
I won't remember whether I won or lost a game ten minutes after playing, unless a particularly exciting moment happens.

I will remember a beautifully painted and assembled army months later...

That's the best response here so far.

Agree, that's a really nice sentiment to have.

Paradigm wrote:Painted is always better than unpainted, regardless of who wins. Well painted armies are a great thing to see on any table.

Definitely a +1 to that!

MightyGodzilla wrote:I get +1 to my die rolls cuz my stuff's painted.

Really? I usually find the opposite is true, and the most recently painted minis are the first to die. Also survival time is inversely proportional to the amount of time spent painting it..

BrookM wrote:For me it more depends on the opponent I suppose.

Definitely. I think you're always going to notice the manners of someone stood right in front of you rather than the little miniatures on the tabletop in front of you, although I do find more often than not that they go hand in hand.

 Drefan wrote:
I won't remember whether I won or lost a game ten minutes after playing, unless a particularly exciting moment happens.

I will remember a beautifully painted and assembled army months later...

This is very true. He's not an overly competitive player, but my buddy ran a really nice Thark (6-limbed green Buroughsian Martians) warband that stomped me a couple of times in this summer's Song of Blades campaign. I don't remember much at all about the battles, but I sill marvel at the cool figures and look forward to facing them again someday.

 Drefan wrote:
I won't remember whether I won or lost a game ten minutes after playing, unless a particularly exciting moment happens.

I will remember a beautifully painted and assembled army months later...

My sentiments exactly.

 Pacific wrote:

MightyGodzilla wrote:I get +1 to my die rolls cuz my stuff's painted.

Really? I usually find the opposite is true, and the most recently painted minis are the first to die. Also survival time is inversely proportional to the amount of time spent painting it..

I hide the really nice stuff behind the Land Raider!

Seeing a fully painted horde army is always a joy to see, or at least for me.

I love seeing a nicely painted and interesting army arrayed against me across the table. Historically I'm terrible at 40k, therefore I'm no stranger to being beaten like the red headed step child..but seeing a thematic and pretty force to look at as I receive said beating makes it easier.
A mate of mine whilst I was based at RAF Marham was a brilliant painter and felt a little sorry for me because of my losing habit. He offered me 10 minutes of painting tuition for every 100 pts that I lost whilst playing against him. I picked up some great skills and they have stuck with me since then. Top bloke....