Painting all the minis for the group

[Mr. White]

Has anyone bought up and painted all the minis for a game your group will be playing? Could be anything. Blood Bowl, Frostgrave, Gaslands, Warcry.

Anyone find themselves with friends who will game, but don’t buy or paint? All the upfront work on you.

If you’ve been here...how’d it work out? Still fulfilling to some degree?

[Etrangere1]

I definitely fall into that category.

I have done so for both AWI and War of the Roses settings.

I also generally end up umpiring, unless someone can't make it.

I still find it fulfilling though.

I assemble / paint miniatures as a way of actively relaxing.

[ced1106]

Pimping Gloomhaven (it's mostly standees). Finally putting to use miniatures I bought years ago.

Fulfilling in the sense that any painting makes you a better painter, and I finally have an excuse to buy those miniatures I wanted!

[Gabbi]

It depends... for "regular" gaming, i.e. where we decide on a ruleset, everybody picks a faction an build an army, no. Each person is usually responsible of his own army. I may paint the occasional piece for someone else, or give someone a model to paint for me, just to break the monotony of painting one army in the same color scheme.

I can, however, paint all the models for games that are somewhat "finished". I have bought and painted all the models I have for Rumbleslam, but that's a boardgame more than a miniature game. You can see a few here: https://gabbigames.wordpress.com/tag/rumbleslam/

I also have modified and painted enough cars for Gaslands to supply 3 or 4 players, and I plan to do more. But some friends who especially enjoyed the game decided to make their own, at some point.

Also, I'm in the process of painting, as a side-project, some squad of sci-fi models for multiplayer games, atm I think I'll use Fistful of Lead. The idea is to make stat cards for them, and keep the game with the models as a "kinda of boardgame", ready to be put on the table when there's a chance to play a game (odd number of players, main game ended early, etc).

[black hat miniatures]

Nowadays I paint both sides for anything I do so I have a complete collection I can play with outside the club as well as on club nights.

I am starting to drift away from what most of the other people in the club do anyway as they are still using 15mm for a lot of periods and I have moved up to 20mm minimum...

Mike

[N.C.S.E]

As a completionist, I work on the assumption I'll be providing both sides.
Interest in my area doesn't normally run far enough to justify people buying and painting VSF or 3mm or 28mm WW1 or specific 15mm units for CoC. Hence I assume I have to provide them, and enjoy the experience of it. When its all my stuff, the victory is putting stuff down on the table, so I don't mind if I win or lose in those situations.

It's very liberating actually. I get more competitive if I'm using other people's, if it's both or half mine, I don't care.

[Dentatus]

I host our weekly sessions, providing all the terrain and minis for our games, so that's my default setting. I have a decent selection that covers a variety of genres and settings, which means we're usually all set. I'm at a point in life where I can offer that and I'm happy to do so. The rest of the guys, not so much.

That said, someone wants to introduce a new game or setting not in my collection, that's on them.

If I'm going to run a demo at a local game day or after-school program, I arrive with everything painted, prepped, and ready to go.

[Elbows]

Yes, but then I also write half of the rules for games we play too!

I fell in with a group of older gamers after college who introduced me to the way I now hobby.  Firstly; painted miniatures only.  Do your part to not let the game atmosphere down.  Secondly; if you want to play something...you host it.  That means, terrain, miniatures, etc.  This allows everyone to play more games without buying into an arms race for each game (which is kind of a weird thing that's not terribly commonplace outside of large games like 40K).

If you love a game about a particular genre or time period...you host it, and if others like it they're welcome to partake and if they want to buy into the game as well, even better.

So if I host an Old West game, I provide the table, dice, rules, miniatures, etc.  All painted and ready to roll. Just show up - and bring snacks.  Same for dungeon crawling, or gladiators, etc.

The easiest way to introduce anyone to wargaming is to provide everything and simply let them try it.  It's too expensive and time-consuming of a hobby to just say "hey do you want to try this out?  Spend $150 and 20-40 hours and we'll give it a go!".

Also allows people who are not interested in joining the hobby to still play a game every now and then.  My brother has long been up for playing games, but he's never ever had the itch to join in collecting/painting, etc.

[Mr. White]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I think I’m about to undergo this with Blitz Bowl. I’m a BloodBowl fan going back almost 30years. I’m at a point now though where BB proper and a league just isn’t feasible. Plus, I know people I enjoy gaming with, but they don’t have interest in collecting and painting. Blitz Bowl seems like a solution to allow me to hobby in a universe I enjoy while also being able to get the fast playing games in.

I despaired at first, but your words here have been encouraging.

[robh]

Another yes from me.  I paint both sides (all sides?) for every gaming collection I do.
Never used to until emigrating to Spain, but moved out here with a lorry full of armies and scenery which I could not use as I only had one side and no opponents. I am primarily a 15mm or 6mm gamer and the local club are 20mm fanatics.

Since then there has been some crossover but I now paint anything necessary for the games to make sure the game can happen.  I am happy to leave my stuff in its boxes if someone does turn up with their own Mordheim or IHMN warband but generally I provide everything.

[Inkpaduta]

Yes. That has pretty much my gaming experience. I can always find people to play but I do the painting and put on the games.

[Cat]

I paint up two or more sides for games for decades, works just fine here.  In one small group of friends, most of them don't enjoy painting like I do, and we all enjoy each others company and the gaming.
 
At the club, we all tend to specialise and each provide all, or most, of the figures for different games.  That's also a good way to ensure that all the needed figures make it to the club for the scheduled game and things aren't thrown for a loop if one player (and their needed figures) can't make it in that day.

[tin shed gamer]

Another Yes.
Done so for around thirty year's. Especially since my local club seem incapable of believing you can buy 28mm without committing a cardinal sin.

[Daniel36]

Pretty much. Or at least... I try. I painted a LOT of Mordheim models, both mine and from others, and painted up a lot of Frostgrave models and I am also working on all of the Necromunda gangs. But nowadays it's for the day my sons are old enough to play games with me. I kinda left the "scene".

[Marine0846]

I enjoy playing a lot of periods.
So I try to paint both sides.
Usually I paint enough figures to play a 2 vs 2 player game.
They seem to enjoy the games.
Most of the time nobody else is interested in painting that period.