I understand that time and painting minis do not always match up. But as a ‘mostly collector’ I find the pride in my army is mostly in how it is painted. I would never field an unpainted model, in fact I’ve even found myself not wanting to field an old favorite, because I’ve realized it is no longer up to my own standards. Painting minis is like training the troops, you can’t send them into battle without training/painting. It also goes to show that if you are playing against a well painted army, the ‘commander’ has put love and effort… Read more »

Speaking of painting miniatures and dice, I shudder with horror everytime I see beautifully painted terrain and miniatures having dice thrown all over them.

… first thing … who cares 😛 personally I love painting minis, but then I’m an artist, so I will always like that kind of stuff 😛 but some people either can’t paint well or can’t afford the extra cost of paints ( it’s an expensive hobby ) or they have only been playing a short time and haven’t even learned how to yet … to get angry at someone for such a small thing is pointless in my opinion and gives the impression of being someone who plays only to win, not someone who plays to play … life… Read more »

I think the more strict we are on painted, the more we reduce our intake of new minis gamers. For some they gradually come to terms with painting, others never will, but the more tolerant we are the bigger the industry can get. This is until everything becomes PPP anyway lol.

Cripes, if I felt like I couldn’t play unpainted minis I’d never get a game in 😀

If you’re someone who does paint minis and loves painted minis, then there is a simple, three step solution;

1. Choose a skirmish game with a very small model count.
2. Buy and paint two or more opposing forces.
3. Invite your friends over to play with your beautifully painted minis on your gorgeous terrain.

This is of course assuming you trust you friends to play with your beautifully painted minis 🙂

I must admit I don’t enjoy painting much but I always try to do the best job I can – albeit in a production-line manner so they at least look decent from a distance.

I’ve turned into a bit of a snob over time and will admit that I don’t enjoy playing a game against or with figures that aren’t painted. I myself suffer from too many games, not enough time. While I don’t expect or require my opponents to have a painted force, I would appreciate if it is at least fully constructed and primed. With all the wonderful coloured primers out there you could simply prime your models an interesting colour call it done. I feel like if you’ve had the time to build the models, not priming them is pretty silly.… Read more »

To my eyes unpainted minis are unfinished minis. When i play games i want to play against painted armies because i put time and effort in to painting my minis. BUT! i don’t care about the level of painting on the army that im playing against. As long as the person has put in some time and made it their own. It shows that they care about the game and love for the army/minis.

I am personally certainly not an artist, I would describe my paint job as neat but certainly not good enough for painting competitions. But for me wargaming is certainly a visual experience, both terrain and minis must look at least decent. We do not see metal-coloured men walking around any more than we see book-shaped hills. So I have felt a bit insulted when playing against an opponent who has been in the hobby for years, and has boasted about his big new army, and when I see it there is absolutely no paint job at all. But certainly OK… Read more »

Bad as assembled and primed. But using just the base as a proxy is even worse. After the first time, I go by the “What I see is What you get” philosophy; nothing showing, nothing there.