Half-assed painting: Why? WHY?!

[Mananarepublic]

To be tournament legal you have to have at least 3 diffrent colors on your models.

Yes - and those rules are there to be followed. If you arranging an event you can make whatever rules you want (everybody wear baby blue? :-)) But the key thing is this: Just because you can't/don't have time to/don't want to paint you should not be considered a less valuable part of the hobby. This can't be argued with unless you are very narrow minded and/or an elitist.

Let me use an example: Football (or soccer as they say in the United States) - everyone can enjoy and play it, but not everybody have the most perfect equipment and shoes (for various reasons). Is their enjoyment of the sport less valuable than a professional player (enjoyment not monthly paycheck)? Same thing goes here - if I just want to play a few games here and there and not think anymore about it: I am just as valuable as any hardcore hobbyist spending 120 hours on every model.

If we can't see beyond this - we will never have a hobby that is as large as it deserves to be because we are setting up way to high barriers for entry.

/M

[Gibbtall]

I had a friend who ran out of primer half way through doing his army, so he had a nice big army of half black half grey tau.

[Larkii]

My take on this is that to each his own. I am a modeler/painter of average skill who rarely plays but love the fluff, converting, painting etc. I am sure the hard core gamers have a word for people like me and it's probably not kind. I got started because one of my kids started to play when he was about 10 or 11 and I got hooked on the modeling/painting aspect. I build/paint he plays. Maybe I'm stunting his modeling part of the hobby. He does come up with some great conversion ideas that I have to figure out how to excecute and he does paint with me some. Besides he has to figure out how to play with a really fluffy army! Lots of kids particularly want to play the game only and you have to start somewhere. Live and let live, but a well painted army is mor fun on the table.

[GAR]

Hmmm.

I remember when I used to think this way. Every army had to be a masterpiece where all the blending and meticulous conversions would astound all my buddies at my FLGS.

Nowadays, personally I don't care if the army is even painted. Most of my own armies are half if at all painted.

I still paint and love painting. it is my first love next to my wife. But that being said, I don't have time to get all my armies painted. I do work on them from time to time as time allows. But most of my free time goes inot painting competition figures. If I have 2 or 3 hours, I am working on my next Golden Demon entry. If I have an hour or less, that time usually goes to my armies.

Needless to say, most of my armies are horrible examples of any kind of real quality in terms of what they could look like, but my goal is not to have the best looking army, at least not anymore. My goal is to have a bunch of guys with their heads and arms glued on that I can play a game with.

While it may be true some folks can not be bothered to paint anything, one should remember that there are a multitude of reasons why their armies may not be painted. Some could be flat out lazy or others cold have other priorites.

I think to blanket say "Paint your figures or go do something else" is a bit over the top. I know a lot of great wargamers who don't have painted armies who I enjoy playing against because I am going to have a good time.

I also know a few fellows with beautiful armies who are complete schmucks and I just assume go home and mow the grass rather than waste anytime playing against them.

But each to thier own....

[Spectral Dragon]

I hate it when people just dip and play, at least put another coat on it or something. It's especially common with necrons. I paint all mine to look especially good, and a lot of people have told me that they thought necrons looked best when done with those quick painting guides you see all over the web until they saw my necrons. Sure, it takes a little bit of extra time, but everything that is worth it always does.

[Aldramelech]

You will have realized by now that Warhammer 40,differs from normal games. There are unlimited possibilities and players must be prepared to expend time and effort collecting, assembling and painting their models and setting up their battlefields. If this sounds like hard work, your right, it is! Glory on the battlefields of the future is not won lightly.

Sound familiar?

[Mananarepublic]

You will have realized by now that Warhammer 40,differs from normal games. There are unlimited possibilities and players must be prepared to expend time and effort collecting, assembling and painting their models and setting up their battlefields. If this sounds like hard work, your right, it is! Glory on the battlefields of the future is not won lightly.

Sound familiar?

Yepp - but I am sure even Mr Johnson and Mr Blanche would rather see many casual players than a few hard core...

/M

[Huntzt]

some only enjoy the game part of the hobby

[tylermenz]

some only enjoy the game part of the hobby

I have heard many others say the same thing that I am about to say, when you only are interested in playing the Game of 40k, then it no longer becomes a Hobby. The Hobby is a combination of painting, modelling, and playing. If you are really just interested in the game then you dont even need miniatures, paper tokens on stands would technically do.

On the Subject of dipping, My brother has a dipped army of deathgaurd, he based them green, painted the metal bits, and bone bits, and then dipped them. From start to finish painting, I think that it took him maybe 10 minutes a model, probably less. Do they look great, no. Are they fully painted, yes. Does the army look cohesive and painted from a distance, yes. Are they tabletop quality, yes.

Once again, I think that alot of people confuse painted, with well-painted. I have another friend who paints all his models to look good from an arms length away(since that is about how far you are away from them on a table), and they look good. Painted is not hard, and does not take any more time than putting the miniatures together. 3-4 colors with no highlights should take no more than a couple minutes a model.

[Hairy Piggy]

I personally enjoy the painting and modelling dide of the hobby hugely and am constantly trying to improve on that score. On the other hand, I can respect that some people see 40K as a game rather than a hobby and would rather not spend hours painting there army.

When I play, I like watching the scene of two fully painted armies fighting across a tabletop with some decent terrain, but for those who don't want to, well, that is there choice.