Hello guys

after some posts in the Armada-Subforum a few years ago I think its time to get active again. Star Wars Legion seems to be the miniatures game, I was dreaming about for my whole life - and this dream now becomes true. But, as one of the biggest fools in miniatures painting alive, Im facing a real big problem.... should I desecrate this gorgeous models with my foolish, ****-looking paintings?

Why is Legion unpainted?

Of course I see the point that it would be unaffordable and really difficult to produce detailed and painted miniatures in a necessary quantity.... BUT I'd definitely pay a huge amount of money to have that Legion Game painted and ready2play. And I dont think Im alone with this..

Regards

Jimbo

This topic has been beaten to death. There are arguments on both sides, but it appears FFG wants to make Legion more of a hobby game like 40K. The back of the LTP has 6 or 8 pages on the hobby, terrain making, and painting minis.

Don't mean to be a ****, but if you don't want to paint, then don't buy the game. Or if you're willing to pay more, commission someone to paint your minis. Or take the first step like everyone else and paint. We can all revel in our horribly painted troopers while we pathetically attempt to recreate Sorastros work.

Complaining about the unpainted minis will yield no results. We as a community cannot force FFG to paint them since the product is already been developed.

Cost-wise.... a Regular unit in Legion is 25 USD, compared to 15-20 USD in X-wing. A Trooper unit comes with 7 models, while the Speeder bikes have 2 x-wing sized models and the AT-RT is notably larger than a comparable model in X-wing or Armada. You're getting significantly more plastic in each expansion than a comparable expansion in FFG's space games. It's also worth pointing out that at least some of the units are unassambled- Vehicles come with multiple assembly options for each of their hardpoint upgrades, and the AT-ST is at least somewhat posable (Compare the Model in the Preview Article to the one in Undeadguy's photos of a demo game *. The latter is significantly taller), which suggests models don't come completely assembled.

*Warning: Lots of photos, so it may load slowly if your internet is sluggish. The AT-ST is at the bottom of the second post.

I know that this was discussed before...

everytime I visit the FFG site I could destroy myself for being that incompetent to not be able to play Legion in a way it would be appropiate -.-

Solution is easy. Commission a painter. I’ve known a few people to do that.

Nowadays there are even companies that commission army painting. If u are willing to pay that extra buck just go for it. Everybody wins with unpainted miniatures.

Just ignore those who would give you flak for playing unpainted.

Oh for **** sakes. Not this again..

Edit: This post kept feeling harsher than I meant it to be, so I've deleted the original content. The intent was for it to be encouraging but silly and self deprecating, but I kept worrying that it felt snide. Suffice it to say, I feel a lot of us underestimate how well we can paint Storm Trooper-like minis, and a lot of enclosed vehicles are also pretty easy (Just time consuming).

2 hours ago, Jimbo2142 said:

Hello guys

after some posts in the Armada-Subforum a few years ago I think its time to get active again. Star Wars Legion seems to be the miniatures game, I was dreaming about for my whole life - and this dream now becomes true. But, as one of the biggest fools in miniatures painting alive, Im facing a real big problem.... should I desecrate this gorgeous models with my foolish, ****-looking paintings?

Why is Legion unpainted?

Of course I see the point that it would be unaffordable and really difficult to produce detailed and painted miniatures in a necessary quantity.... BUT I'd definitely pay a huge amount of money to have that Legion Game painted and ready2play. And I dont think Im alone with this..

Regards

Jimbo

Just a thought...If you are willing to pay a huge amount of money to have the game painted, hire a painter to paint it for you! It will look better then anything FFg would supply you with AND you get to decide the paintscheme if you want!

11 minutes ago, Soulless said:

Just a thought...If you are willing to pay a huge amount of money to have the game painted, hire a painter to paint it for you! It will look better then anything FFg would supply you with AND you get to decide the paintscheme if you want!

Ehhh... unless you can get a pretty good rate, you'd pay a good bit more for an individual commission than FFG paying for every last mini to get painted. Also, commisioning painted minis mean you have to wait a week or more before your purchase can hit the table.

1 minute ago, Squark said:

Ehhh... unless you can get a pretty good rate, you'd pay a good bit more for an individual commission than FFG paying for every last mini to get painted.

Yeah probably, I said nothing indicating anything else.

If you’re prepared to pay a huge sum of money for it to be painted like you said then go for it... hire a painting service.

For those players who are time rich but money poor it’s nice to keep the price point lower so that everyone can get in. What’s confusing about that exactly?

6 hours ago, Jimbo2142 said:

Hello guys

after some posts in the Armada-Subforum a few years ago I think its time to get active again. Star Wars Legion seems to be the miniatures game, I was dreaming about for my whole life - and this dream now becomes true. But, as one of the biggest fools in miniatures painting alive, Im facing a real big problem.... should I desecrate this gorgeous models with my foolish, ****-looking paintings?

Why is Legion unpainted?

Of course I see the point that it would be unaffordable and really difficult to produce detailed and painted miniatures in a necessary quantity.... BUT I'd definitely pay a huge amount of money to have that Legion Game painted and ready2play. And I dont think Im alone with this..

Regards

Jimbo

1) Because it reduces the cost of the miniatures on their end and hopefully ours.

2) Because it is more difficult to paint good looking miniatures like these than say X-Wing or Armada miniatures.

3) Because FFG has been pushing us further and further into a hobby gamer group. Think about it, X-Wing was the hook to get people who couldn't paint, Armada was the hook to paint just a little bit with the squadrons, Imperial Assault was the hook to get people to start painting figures, and now Legion brings us to the point where we build our miniatures, glue them to a base and then paint them.

Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , and Part 10 .

Also, just because you might be interested Beast of War did a simple painting guide to the Wave 1 and Core stuff that looked fairly easy and a quick way to have painted looking stuff brought to the table.

28 minutes ago, beefcake4000 said:

If you’re prepared to pay a huge sum of money for it to be painted like you said then go for it... hire a painting service.

For those players who are time rich but money poor it’s nice to keep the price point lower so that everyone can get in. What’s confusing about that exactly?

Nothing, and it certainly would be better if they were prepainted to look as they do in the advertising. No different than the way X-wing comes prepainted (nothing inherent in that prevents art afficianados from repainting)

It’s disheartening to see how many comments there have been in the run-up from 40k snobs who only enjoy painting minis, but have little to no interest in the fact it’s a Game first and a painting exercise second.

21 minutes ago, Derrault said:

Nothing, and it certainly would be better if they were prepainted to look as they do in the advertising. No different than the way X-wing comes prepainted (nothing inherent in that prevents art afficianados from repainting)

It’s disheartening to see how many comments there have been in the run-up from 40k snobs who only enjoy painting minis, but have little to no interest in the fact it’s a Game first and a painting exercise second.

Never played 40k a day in my life. Painting is part of a hobby game. Most successful miniature game's require painting. Other than x-wing there are not many successful prepainted mini games. The only snobs I see are the people who repeatedly come here to ***** about how the game isn't prepainted and turn up their nose at the game. If they were really putting the have first they wouldn't give a **** about painted or not.

24 minutes ago, devin.pike.1989 said:

Never played 40k a day in my life. Painting is part of a hobby game. Most successful miniature game's require painting. Other than x-wing there are not many successful prepainted mini games. The only snobs I see are the people who repeatedly come here to ***** about how the game isn't prepainted and turn up their nose at the game. If they were really putting the have first they wouldn't give a **** about painted or not.

This is a tabletop war game, I’m not sure what hobby game is supposed to refer to. Every game is potentially a hobby.

It's not that difficult to understand. Painting and terrain building. There is even a section in the learn to play about it .

I realize that maybe you just don't know much about miniature games. Most successful miniature games and board games that use minis do not use prepainted miniatures. Some examples: 40k, Warhammer, bolt action, infinity, flames of war, blood rage, rising sun, zombicide, descent, imperial assault... Most of the market.

1 hour ago, Derrault said:

Nothing, and it certainly would be better if they were prepainted to look as they do in the advertising. No different than the way X-wing comes prepainted (nothing inherent in that prevents art afficianados from repainting)

It’s disheartening to see how many comments there have been in the run-up from 40k snobs who only enjoy painting minis, but have little to no interest in the fact it’s a Game first and a painting exercise second.

I've never played a miniature wargame in my life. (I've played X-Wing, but let's agree that's different.) The first thing I did when I heard about this game was to go out and by a few IA miniatures, a half-dozen paints and a brush. I decided it was worth a small investment to find out if I "could stomach" the painting before I got into this game. Turns out I really liked it and I'm now more interested in the painting than the game - which I am still really excited about.

Now that may not be the way you feel about it and that's fine. But that is what this game is. If this is not the game you're looking for, I hope you find one that works out better for you. But there is definitely a group of people that are very excited for the market that Legion hits. And we're most certainly not all "40k snobs."

2 hours ago, Derrault said:

It’s disheartening to see how many comments there have been in the run-up from 40k snobs who only enjoy painting minis, but have little to no interest in the fact it’s a Game first and a painting exercise second.

Not everybody in opposition to the OP is a "40k snob" some of us just don't have the budget(or the want) to pay twice as much for **** paint jobs.

I will borrow a fantastic idea from another similar post, get someone at your LFGS to do your painting and pay him in product. Odds are you can find someone that is money poor and time rich. In doing this you are helping a fellow Legionnaire.

One thing I have found with painting of miniatures is that it can be a very relaxing way to spend an evening. Find some movie/TV show/podcast/music/audio book/etc. to put on, and settle in with a couple of brushes, a cup or two of water (make sure any beverages are clearly marked, paint water is not the best for one's health), paints, and start putting brush to miniature. It's a great way to get extra enjoyment out of the game for times you can't find an opponent for one reason or another.

Do you need to do that absolute best paint job? No, just do your best, and a good wash hides many sins. It's amazing how much painting can improve over time.

The benefit to unpainted miniatures is that everyone's army will probably end up looking slightly different depending on paint choices. Plus, vehicles can be a ton of fun to customize with decals, stencils, or for the truly adventurous, freehand . Don't want to paint? Fine, just glue the minis together and play. So far no one has seriously said "You HAVE to paint your minis if you want to play Legion. Otherwise FFG will come to your LFG and take your minis away because you aren't playing their game right!"

8 minutes ago, Caimheul1313 said:

No, just do your best, and a good wash hides many sins . It's amazing how much painting can improve over time.

This. A bottle brown wash is like Liquid Talent. Drybrushing also works wonders- Instant sheen on guns, and it also works well for giving texture to fur and wavy hair. And while these can kind of sound complicated, they're really not. A wash is just really watery paint (A number of companies pre-mix their own blends or you) that you can apply carefully or liberally as the whim takes you, while drybrushing is just flicking the brush across the model after wiping almost all of the paint off on your pallet.

Just now, Squark said:

This. A brown wash is like Liquid Talent (don't drink it, obviously). Drybrushing also works wonders- Instant sheen on guns, and it also works well forgiving texture to fur and wavy hair.

And if you don't like the sheen after washing, a quick brush/spray of a matte varnish will take the shine off and protect your paint job. For places you want a sheen, use a gloss varnish.

2 hours ago, Derrault said:

It’s disheartening to see how many comments there have been in the run-up from 40k snobs who only enjoy painting minis, but have little to no interest in the fact it’s a Game first and a painting exercise second.

Like IA the choice on painting or not will be given to the players. As such there are three choices, paint them, get them painted or don't paint them.

I am a 40k snob , but for me the driver is that I am quite intolerant to the visual differences between models and therefore find that unpainted models often "hide details" that can be important. In many miniatures games the unpainted armies often create a degree of sameness and those small differences about who has what gun can be hard to distinguish. At 4-5' an unpainted plasma pistol looks like any other unpainted pistol. I found this also to be a factor in Flames of War as a player, you could hide important bits of information in a sea of gray.

The models look pretty nice unpainted and for the most part quite distinct on the table. The unit cards and upgrade cards, which in time you learn to recognise the art work from across the table also provide a lot of information that also assists in planning moves and looking at possible problems to your actions.

The original post asks why unpainted, and I think the correct reply is, because it would make the miniatures unreasonably expensive to everyone and thus limit the appeal of the game to a fairly small market.