To Paint Or Not To Paint... That Is The Question

 

Greetings and welcome fellow wargamers. This was not going to be my original first topic but a recent discussion among some gaming friends prompted me to make it so. It is a topic that has plagued Warhammer for pretty much as long as I have been in the hobby and I started back in 1987 with Rogue Trader. Back then it wasn't really an issue but in the last twenty odd years as the Internet became a thing it has certainly become something that has raised heated discussions. That question is, should players paint their models?

I have always been of the opinion that it is down to the individual player as to whether they wish to paint their models or to focus on the gaming aspect of the hobby. Personally I am more interested in the gaming side but I too like to paint my models, and two painted armies on the table top look a lot better than the basic grey plastic. I'm never going to say no to a game where my opponent rolls up with an unpainted army.

Tournaments have always put out a requirement that models need to be three colour minimum or more recently, be classed as "battle ready", in other words they look good enough on the table. When people come in and see fully painted armies or see photos of the event, it looks more respectable and visual. This looks good and helps to potentially draw new people in to at least look at the game. Games Workshop even went so far under 9th edition (I can't remember if it existed under 8th but I don't think so) to introduce a 10 victory point reward for a player whose army was painted to a "battle ready" standard. Outside of tournaments no body uses this rule. It's unfair to people who don't want to paint their armies or perhaps don't have the time. Also, are we not here to play the game rather than quibble over painted models?

What raised this topic among my friends recently was with regards to leagues and tournaments run by our local gaming store. The idea is to get people playing. Get them into the store, meeting fellow gamers who they might not have previously met, rolling some dice and pushing little toy soldiers around the table. The point was mentioned that this should have been for a limited period and then the store should have been including the "battle ready" standard to promote players painting their models. It was felt that by not using the painted bonus that it simply encouraged WAAC (Win At All Costs) players.

I disagreed. Firstly because I have seen that locally players have been slowly painting their models and expanding their armies. There is one player who I know will probably not paint his models and is by his own admission WAAC. Can't do anything about that. 

From a personal perspective I feel that it has to be down to the individual. For all of us who field painted armies and work to reduce our pile of unpainted models, there are players who simply don't enjoy the hobby side of Warhammer and instead just want to play the game. As long as everything is WYSIWYG or close enough, then I don't worry about it. For me, playing the game is where my enjoyment of 40K comes from and even if that wasn't the case I wouldn't begrudge an opponent because they don't have a painted army.

Now, my friend wasn't being a jerk about it. It was just a personal preference for himself. For him painting comes first and the gaming side of things second. But from pervious discussions it has meant that he would rather travel to another store or club where they enforce fully painted armies rather than play at a friendly local games store where it's more casual and new player friendly. 

So, the question is, should stores and clubs enforce fully painted armies? One one hand, as I mentioned above, painted armies look better and are more appealing. Painted armies on parade on the table top look better to passers-by and may tempt them to pop in for a look. On the other hand, enforcing painted models could result in losing players from their events or even friendly pick up games. Potentially even hurting sales if you're a store. 

I now open the floor to you. Do you agree that armies should be painted or are you happy to just the play game regardless? I look forward to your replies.