Painted Armies for Tournaments

[Deguello]

Let me chime in on my opinion.. Clearly the words below are my own.. but it is how I feel about painted or unpainted armies.

 

Let me start out by saying I am not a painter.. I am an adult or have nearly been one the past 20 years..so time is not my own. I marvel at the items displayed at events. even the ones at the Asylum not to mention Reaper con. That being said the game rules mention nothing about painting. However I believe because the game isnt solitaire. That you owe your opponent something besides just a good game. Proxy or not to proxy is not my point. If you as the opponent put some time and effort into your game and your army. You make the game way more enjoyable for the people you play against and the people who stand by and watch you play. Trust me if you were at Reaper Con on Saturday. You could not get away from the Warlord

 

 

 

 

 

. People that don't currently play also look to see whats was going on. If they see someone putting that much time and effort into a wargame it inspires a little more than interest. To go with primed or bare metal, essentially turns the hobby into chess or monopoly or another dice rolling game. So I would like to see official tourneys be painted again this is purely my opinion

[Wowahboy]

"Warlord players field armies made up of small metal or plastic figures that are primed, painted, and ready for play on a tabletop surface."

 

- Page 18, Warlord Second Edition Rulebook

[herzogbrian]

I had a nickle left over from ReaperCon, so I thought that I just might throw it in.

 

While I am a HUGH fan of painted armies, I do not think that a requirement for them for game play is the way to go. IMHO a 3 paint dip army is more offensive than an all grey army.

 

That being said, there is a way to encourage folks to paint. Give an additional reward for best painted army and ones for armies in which greater than x% (80%? 90%?) is painted. Don't tie it to the results of the tourney at all, but make it a prize worth working for. Not quite the winning prize, but close enough. If you REALLY MUST add it into game play, then make it a tie-breaker, greater % painted, or something like that.

 

I personally would like to see a multi-figure catagory back in the Painting Contest at RCon, nothing too extreme, say 4-5 figs, at least until the # of entries allows an uping of the ante. They wouldn't have to be Warlord. They could just be an adventure party.

 

Anyways, that is my nickles worth,

Brian

[Fruggs]

I am going to jump in here.

 

I am a painter first, but a very picky one who is very particular about my paintjobs. I also have a kiddo and run a house and take care of my family and work. I get to game maybe once a month, I paint a bit more but not enough even in a year to have a fully painted force.

 

I don't have a fully painted army, I probably won't for years. I wouldn't play the game if it was required. I paint when i can and if that isn't good enough then I don't want to play you.

 

Id rather play then not and rather play against someone than not regardless of the paint on the mini.

 

I think if there was a desire to encourage painted forces then it should have no result on the play and result of the tourney. Have a separate award.

 

I think in general we want to expand the game and the player base, not turn people away because they don't have an "acceptable" force. That would seem counterproductive. Paint has no effect on the game results.

[kristof65]

I think in general we want to expand the game and the player base, not turn people away because they don't have an "acceptable" force. That would seem counterproductive. Paint has no effect on the game results.

But most of us would probably agree that paint does have an effect on the coolness factor of mini gaming...

 

You bring up a good point here. I think most mini gamers - regardless of which mini game they play - are interested in expanding the player base. Who doesn't want more opponents to choose from? I know from personal experience that people seeing fully painted forces squaring off across a table full of nice terrain* from each other does inspire them to want to play. So it would seem that encouraging fully painted armies would be helpful to the hobby. OTOH, I also know from personal experience that the often daunting or overwhelming prospect of painting all those figures often causes newcomers to quit. Which pretty much counters the above argument about fully painted armies are beneficial.

 

So perhaps instead of discussing the merits of painted/unpainted figures in tourneys, we should be discussing how to deal with that - that is getting more people to not only enjoy playing, but how to get more painted minis on game tables everywhere without alienating anyone.

 

In my old game group, several of us were always willing to help new comers get their minis painted - usually by offering to paint a unit or two for them. I wish we'd thought of having group painting nights back those days - I'm sure that would have been a huge motivator in all of us getting things painted.

 

----

 

*while I'm fairly ambivalent about playing with/against unpainted minis, I will readily admit that I'm somewhat of a terrain snob/elitist. I'd rather play with and against unpainted pewter than play on a table with terrain made of stacked CD cases and pop cans. Since I also enjoy building and sharing terrain, this has never really been a problem for me as I've yet to meet an opponent who was upset I provided better terrain.

[Vaeris]

I think in general we want to expand the game and the player base, not turn people away because they don't have an "acceptable" force. That would seem counterproductive. Paint has no effect on the game results.

But most of us would probably agree that paint does have an effect on the coolness factor of mini gaming...

 

You bring up a good point here. I think most mini gamers - regardless of which mini game they play - are interested in expanding the player base. Who doesn't want more opponents to choose from? I know from personal experience that people seeing fully painted forces squaring off across a table full of nice terrain* from each other does inspire them to want to play. So it would seem that encouraging fully painted armies would be helpful to the hobby. OTOH, I also know from personal experience that the often daunting or overwhelming prospect of painting all those figures often causes newcomers to quit. Which pretty much counters the above argument about fully painted armies are beneficial.

 

So perhaps instead of discussing the merits of painted/unpainted figures in tourneys, we should be discussing how to deal with that - that is getting more people to not only enjoy playing, but how to get more painted minis on game tables everywhere without alienating anyone.

 

In my old game group, several of us were always willing to help new comers get their minis painted - usually by offering to paint a unit or two for them. I wish we'd thought of having group painting nights back those days - I'm sure that would have been a huge motivator in all of us getting things painted.

 

----

 

*while I'm fairly ambivalent about playing with/against unpainted minis, I will readily admit that I'm somewhat of a terrain snob/elitist. I'd rather play with and against unpainted pewter than play on a table with terrain made of stacked CD cases and pop cans. Since I also enjoy building and sharing terrain, this has never really been a problem for me as I've yet to meet an opponent who was upset I provided better terrain.

 

 

One thing I think would help promote would be a photo section on the main Warlord page that had pictures of the people who play in action with, of course (lol), their painted armies. Volunteer basis only as I know not everyone wants a mugshot on the internet. But it would be cool to have such shots showing people all over the country/world playing Warlord on the main Warlord site.

[Shakandara]

While this is not quite what you are looking for, there happens to a thread right here in the Warlord forum for painted armies. There are only 5 people who have posted links to anything there, including yours truly.

 

And now that I look back at that thread, I'm overdue to update my post. I now have something like 3x as many painted Elves, almost twice as many Crusaders, and finally enough Dwarves to be worth shooting. Updates tonight if I can grab a little time after work.

 

See? I love painted armies too. I just don't always field them...

 

~v

[Rastl]

Shak - thanks for that reminder. I've got some pictures of my army on the table at RCon but will be taking individuals this weekend.

[Lionheart]

It's probably a good thing I'm not a judge for any of your tournaments. I'd probably have to DQ you for poor sportsmanship.

 

It's probably a good thing I'm not a judge for any of your tournaments. I'd probably have to DQ you for poor sportsmanship.

 

-Lionheart.

 

So, which do you find is the problem, my choice to show up with a painted army or my choice not to show up for tournaments that allow unpainted armies?

 

Oh, it's neither of those.

 

It's your attempt at coercing others to accomodate your weaknesses. Where I come from, sportsmen don't do that.

 

-Lionheart.

[Lionheart]

So, which do you find is the problem, my choice to show up with a painted army or my choice not to show up for tournaments that allow unpainted armies?

 

Oh, and also where I come from, sportsmen don't throw straw-man arguments. It's considered ungentlemanly.

 

-Lionheart.

[Heisler]

And let's not forget that there we did introduce a couple of army painter classes at RCon this year!

[Wowahboy]

Hey guys out there like me that like to paint:

 

Try painting some miniatures for your gaming friends that are otherwise not so inclined. Sometimes giving a figure or two away helps to get them motivated. If not, at least you will have some opponents with painted figures. Plus, they seem to think it is cool and some even say "thanks, man."

[Wedge]

Hey guys out there like me that like to paint:

 

Try painting some miniatures for your gaming friends that are otherwise not so inclined. Sometimes giving a figure or two away helps to get them motivated. If not, at least you will have some opponents with painted figures. Plus, they seem to think it is cool and some even say "thanks, man."

 

Thank you so much for the Ssathuss that you painted for Josh but then Josh gave to me cause he doesn't play Reptus (it still counts )! It is a beautiful paint job and I've actually been motivated to paint this week finishing 3 of my other soldiers (2 Spike shells and 1 Reptus Warrior). You are the coolest!

[Shakandara]

Yeah, Dan's painting is quite sweet. I'm still trying to figure out what I need to do to weasel him into painting some of my massed metal. Then maybe I'd show up at every tournament with a painted army regardless of what I choose to play...

 

~v

[shakhak]

Despite everyone going to the jugular about painted armies, is anyone else happy as hell that there is a topic with more than 3 posts in it on the Warlord Forum!

 

 

I always feel like people only paint their miniatures so they can fudge distances. "Oh I would be in b2b contact, but that miniature is painted and I don't want to damage it."

Pfft. :)