A lot of folks have pointed out that FFG's choice to show pre-assembled and professionally pre-painted miniatures for Legion in its marketing is generating hype for the game that IA never got to enjoy with it getting a much more honest marketing campaign featuring gross slightly boring looking grey and beige miniatures.

I am every time amazed and surprised at what a huge improvement even just a base-coat of color makes an IA mini look compared to how it comes out of the box, even without any shading or highlighting. 20% of the work I put into most minis accounts for 80% of the improvement from unpainted to painted. Minis that I initially thought looked terrible (Jabba) end up looking great even after just a couple layers of base coat. Legion's marketing allows players to see what the minis would actually look like on the table which is way more exciting.

Now that Sorastro is on FFG's payroll (sponsorship, whatever), would it be worth it for FFG to go back and insert photographs of Sorastro's beautifully painted IA miniatures in all of their marketing? If not old spoiler articles then at least the current product pages and future articles.

I say no, and here's why-

On the forums here, we're all relatively well versed in FFG's recent updates (including that ever so existential question of why there's no IA products in the online store). So we understand that Legion isn't coming painted, and we accept that the marketing is just to show examples. And, I imagine most hobby gamers will, too.

But a Star Wars game like Legion marketed by a somewhat mainstream company like FFG (in that an FFG game is probably a little more likely to hit a random table than some heavier wargame companies) is bound to attract the attention of players who aren't as familiar with how wargames are done. They're gonna see the Star Wars licensing (and seriously, do not underestimate the Star Wars licensing) and I imagine quite a few gamers are going to pick up a copy of the core box only to be enraged at the fact that their minis aren't painted. It's silly and it's stupid... but it's also almost certainly bound to happen.

Then, of course there are going to be reasonable players trying to calm them down and point out the obvious missteps that amounted to a player purchasing a $100 game with little to no research- but there's also going to be gamers who know better but also feel entitled to pre-painted minis, feeding into and validating the complaints of those who felt wronged.

I don't know, maybe I'll be wrong, but I feel like it's gonna be a bit of a nightmare, at least for a while. Or, it might just be mildly annoying- but honestly, do we even want anything similar to the relatively small caliber of the "online store" question here again? I'd rather be spared the headache.

I can see subtrendy2's Point, but still I prefer at least some images of painted minis as part of the marketing of a miniatures game. You could do both at the same time: Show unpainted, pre-assembled minis in the main marketing as they do currently, but use images of painted minis to accompany articles that go a bit deeper into the game, into a figure pack, or describe what new mechanics a new figure brings to the game, and point out that your gaming experience can be increased even further if you choose to paint your minis. That's how I'd go about it.

It's Imperial Assault, FFG just can't be bothered to paint the minis for marketing purposes.

painted minis in the release material would be much more attractive however Legion is a mini war-game and it is accepted that that sort of game is a hobby game rather than a play out the box game (e.g. boardgames) IA falls into the latter and so makes sense for them to show grey minis so not to mislead consumers. I would rather seeing painted minis with a disclaimer saying that they come unpainted but I do understand the reasoning for not doing it

Painting minis to update months to years old articles is great if you want low to negative return on investment. If anything, FFG should work on developing a sith miniature with automatic lightsaber rotation that functions like a helicopter's blades.

Seriously, though, painted minis for games like RuneWars and Legion are good for current marketing and to appeal to the tabletop minis crowd. If FFG were to move forward and paint their IA figures, it might be ok (outside of the product confusion mentioned above), but what does it add to their marketing that they don't already have?

On 11/16/2017 at 3:14 PM, Mep said:

It's Imperial Assault, FFG just can't be bothered to paint the minis for marketing purposes.

"Imperial 'what'? Is that one of our games?"- FFG, probably

6 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

"Imperial 'what'? Is that one of our games?"- FFG, probably

Hey, you get expansions and articles. Armada fans are feeling really neglected.

Showing painted mini's for IA would be acceptable for like a header image, but for the main content of an article, or on the box, I'd advise against it. I (and most people I talk to) hate seeing nothing but painted content in advertisements and on boxes only to buy the product and end up with something completely different. It's allowed in miniature gaming, but IA falls more into the boardgame department.