The Importance of Painting

Hey all!

We all have seen tabletops that are almost completely barren looking - even in the heat of battle.  What I mean is, we all have seen games that have no terrain, a few primed models, and one or two painted models a side, while the rest fight as an unrecognizable blob on the table.

I know this because I have been there.  When you play the hobbies, you want to PLAY.  You want to be knee deep in the action, rolling dice and getting as much play time in as possible.  However, I am a true believer in the power of painted models, and fully decked out tables.  Most of us don't have time to lavish details on the hilt of an ax of one dwarf warrior who is probably going to die tripping over a log in a forest.  If you do have the time and patience to do that, I envy you.

Most of us want an army that looks reasonably well painted, and follows the 3 foot rule.  If a P-51 mustang looks like a P-51 mustang at 3 feet, your home free.  You don't need to paint super detailed.  In my gaming group alone, there is a player who I respect greatly.  He plays Wood Elves in Warhammer Fantasy, and has a fairly sizable collection that does generally well on the tabletop.  However, in the coarse of 8 months, he has managed to paint a single model.  This is because he suffers from "Perfectionist's Paralysis" as I call it.  His models must be perfect and detailed, right down to the individual locks of hair on their head.

My point of this ramble is, don't settle for having a grey blob army, and don't get "Perfectionist's Paralysis."  Paint your models quickly and get them on the table!  It looks so much better and gets the juices flowing a little bit more when your model that you DID lavish with detail because it is a centerpiece model obliterates through your enemies painted flank and drives his army into a state of panic.  So below I will put some links to youtube channels and websites that I think offer some great advice and wonderful tips on painting quickly but retaining some of the models details to make them look great on the table.

Great articles on painting pretty much anything (also has a great youtube channel!):
http://itslikewatchingpaintdry.blogspot.com/

Blue Table Painting has some excellent painting tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bluetablepainting/videos?view=1&flow=grid

Awesome Paint Job shows you some good stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/user/awesomepaintjob/videos?flow=grid&view=1

One of my new favorites (probably has to do with the Firestorm Armada stuff):
http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlPainting/videos?view=0&flow=grid

There are about a million more, but these are some of the major ones I can think of.  They have great stuff and can give you some inspiration!  As always, remember to paint those models, roll those 6's - unless its moral checks - and Tarum et clama dimit belli canes!