I'm a month into my overseas deployment and I'm going a bit stir-crazy. Even though I've never played a lick of Warhammer, I've always enjoyed the painting aspect and thought that'd be something I could do out here to keep me sane.
I've been looking at the available minis and trying to figure out which army for which system I like*, but am having a hard time figuring out how to get the actual painting supplies. It'd all have to be mail-order, so I've eyeballed a couple starter sets here at Paizo, but I don't have the experience to be able to say "I need this color and this brush and this file and..."
Any advice? Is there a good starter kit worth buying? Should I buy all the pieces and colors I need piecemeal?
* For Warhammer I'm leaning towards Empire (maybe Bretonnians). For 40K, as much as love the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter miniatures, they're kind of pricey. I'd probably go with Tao for sheer variety.
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It's really too bad you're trying to order them while already on deployment...I use acrylic craft paints to paint my minis, and they work juuust fine. And at $1-2 for a bottle that's at least twice the size of Citadel paints, it's a much better deal...though I do like their inks...
You should have at least 3 brushes, a fine brush, a general brush and a dry brush. I have about 5 brushes I use regularly...but 3 to start should be ok.
Not sure where you're deployed, but it's best to use a clear coat after you're done to protect the finish, if you're on a small ship I don't know where you'd do that....
I did my painting on an Aircraft carrier, and had access to corrosion control...so I had 0 problems...
I've been painting miniatures for years; it started when I first looked at 40k way back in my wee years. By now I've got a lot of experience under my belt. I've stopped collecting Warhammer, mostly because I have the armies I want (Lizardmen, Empire and Orcs) and I really don't like the power creep in the current rules. But I paint GW and other miniatures regularly, and I remember starting in on it back in the day.
For a starting army you're probably not looking to create 'Eavy Metal quality paint jobs, and a starting set can do just fine for you. The GW starting sets have declined in quantity a lot lately; I use GW paints almost exclusively and I use only the larger pots they sell. The paint consistency is high quality, a little goes a long way, and the color selection is fantastic. If you can find a GW starter set with more than the tiny clear-plastic containers of paint, that's a good starter.
Reaper Miniatures also sells great paints, in greater quantity at lower price. Reaper has some great starter sets as well, with a bit more tailored uses. And hobby store acyrillics certainly get the job done, though I don't like the consistency as much (a personal preference).
I don't know what the wait is like for you because of your deployment, but if you can I'd pick up GW's "How To Paint GW Miniatures" book. Though a lot of it is an advertisement for their armies, it's got great pictures, tips, and a host of ideas for painting miniatures. This is a hobby in which you really should read up on pro tips, and that book is a great primer. It will also probably help you look at some more miniatures in detail and get a feel for what units you want to start with.
On that note: Start with one unit at a time. GW miniatures are overpriced, especially their metal ones, and a plastic boxed set can take a long while to paint. Start slow and build up.
Also, all miniatures you're going to play with should have some kind of clear coat (I use a spray-on matte varnish, you can get paint on varnishes). Plastic miniatures which have been primed with spray paint hold the paint better and have better durability than metal ones.
If your thinking about doing a witch hunters army you could do a lot worse than collecting a combination of witch hunters and imperial guard.
It means you can get a cheap core to the army, as well as the beautiful and more unique witchhunter figures supliment it.
I've been painting miniatures for years; it started when I first looked at 40k way back in my wee years. By now I've got a lot of experience under my belt. I've stopped collecting Warhammer, mostly because I have the armies I want (Lizardmen, Empire and Orcs) and I really don't like the power creep in the current rules. But I paint GW and other miniatures regularly, and I remember starting in on it back in the day.
For a starting army you're probably not looking to create 'Eavy Metal quality paint jobs, and a starting set can do just fine for you. The GW starting sets have declined in quantity a lot lately; I use GW paints almost exclusively and I use only the larger pots they sell. The paint consistency is high quality, a little goes a long way, and the color selection is fantastic. If you can find a GW starter set with more than the tiny clear-plastic containers of paint, that's a good starter.
Reaper Miniatures also sells great paints, in greater quantity at lower price. Reaper has some great starter sets as well, with a bit more tailored uses. And hobby store acyrillics certainly get the job done, though I don't like the consistency as much (a personal preference).
I don't know what the wait is like for you because of your deployment, but if you can I'd pick up GW's "How To Paint GW Miniatures" book. Though a lot of it is an advertisement for their armies, it's got great pictures, tips, and a host of ideas for painting miniatures. This is a hobby in which you really should read up on pro tips, and that book is a great primer. It will also probably help you look at some more miniatures in detail and get a feel for what units you want to start with.
On that note: Start with one unit at a time. GW miniatures are overpriced, especially their metal ones, and a plastic boxed set can take a long while to paint. Start slow and build up.
Also, all miniatures you're going to play with should have some kind of clear coat (I use a spray-on matte varnish, you can get paint on varnishes)....
Just in reply to this.
The idea that GW models are some how over priced is frankly a little silly.
For £50 you can get 32 non-random imperial guard models, including a vehicle. I would love to see another company that sold so much for so relatively little.
I prefer war machine as a game, but £50 pounts would likely only get me 10 models for it.
And citidels minitures are infinately higher quality than DnD Minis. And in this country atleast, also much cheaper.
well; for WH fantasy painting; I recommend Empire. Any are great but I think Empire is what you will like best and here is some reasons why.
1) many units; Empire has many units each with their own flair. There are not only many types of mounted knights as heavy calvary; but also units of light calvary like the pistoleers which are young nobles not yet shown to be knighthood material
2) many counties in the Empire; so each can be painted differently; so the swordsmen from Hochland have different colors than those of Middenland for example.
3) really interesting, yet easy to pack ordinance; face it; rock lobbers are fun; but it sure is easy to pack a cannon or seven in a case.
4) Empire is an excellent army choice; if your the kind of player that loves a versitility; then Empire is for you; the force can be tailored to fit any playstyle; it really is a army where your build has to outthink your advessary.
The idea that GW models are some how over priced is frankly a little silly.
For £50 you can get 32 non-random imperial guard models, including a vehicle. I would love to see another company that sold so much for so relatively little.
I prefer war machine as a game, but £50 pounts would likely only get me 10 models for it.
And citidels minitures are infinately higher quality than DnD Minis. And in this country atleast, also much cheaper.
See, that strikes me as a high price for plastic miniatures. To be fair - GW produces some of the best miniatures out there, and their plastic miniatures are rather reasonable. I've just seen the price of 16 plastic miniatures rise from $20(US) to $35(US) and no appreciable increase in quality.
That being said, GW's plastics are absolutely fantastic miniatures, with plenty of fiddly bits for the hobbiest. A box of zombies, skeletons, orcs and free company have given me enough DnD models for any campaign.
It's the metal minis, which you need to really play the game, that are absurd. They have character models for $15 which are nearly identical to ones produced by Reaper sold at $5. Reaper's metal casts are now reaching the point of being superior to GW's - at a third of the price.
Privateer and Reaper have also been raising their prices, but comparably to GW their metals are still far more affordable. With the price of tin dropping, both PP and Reaper have dropped some prices.
And I am NOT comparing to DnD Minis, which I consider to be filler when I don't want to break out my finely crafted and painted miniatures. They are not quality and are overpriced.
why is this thread getting co-oped to price? guy wanted to know what would be fun to paint and collect.
The idea that GW models are some how over priced is frankly a little silly.
For £50 you can get 32 non-random imperial guard models, including a vehicle. I would love to see another company that sold so much for so relatively little.
I prefer war machine as a game, but £50 pounts would likely only get me 10 models for it.
And citidels minitures are infinately higher quality than DnD Minis. And in this country atleast, also much cheaper.
See, that strikes me as a high price for plastic miniatures. To be fair - GW produces some of the best miniatures out there, and their plastic miniatures are rather reasonable. I've just seen the price of 16 plastic miniatures rise from $20(US) to $35(US) and no appreciable increase in quality.
That being said, GW's plastics are absolutely fantastic miniatures, with plenty of fiddly bits for the hobbiest. A box of zombies, skeletons, orcs and free company have given me enough DnD models for any campaign.
It's the metal minis, which you need to really play the game, that are absurd. They have character models for $15 which are nearly identical to ones produced by Reaper sold at $5. Reaper's metal casts are now reaching the point of being superior to GW's - at a third of the price.
Privateer and Reaper have also been raising their prices, but comparably to GW their metals are still far more affordable. With the price of tin dropping, both PP and Reaper have dropped some prices.
And I am NOT comparing to DnD Minis, which I consider to be filler when I don't want to break out my finely crafted and painted miniatures. They are not quality and are overpriced.
I have to disagree on several levels.
Firstly, on plastics alone i can produce nearly ever male adventurer and monster model i will ever need. I am a modellers and i would rather work with plastic in nearly call cases.
Also, for me I can get the 'Mordheim: Elf Mage' for the same price as '02343: Drake Whiteraven' once postage is taken into consideration, and personally consider it to be the far superior model.
Reapers quality outside of its 54mm lines, for the most part is not up to the same standards as GW. Their are some expetional models which are cool but mostly Reaper minis arn't upto much in my oppinion.
Now privateer press do lovely models are a fairly reasonable rate. Not as good here in the UK perhapes, but the quality and look is really cool. However, outside of using them for playing warmanchine, they don't really fit that many fantasy settings and their is a limit to the range availible. They are also far to expensive for mooks.
I am more than happy to go to companies other than GW for models, but it is almost exclusively for Female models and game specific stuff i cant do with Plastics.
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Sorry ZN but I have to disagree, but some of the reapers are of equal quality...
Plastics from GW are a decent value, but as others have said...the metals have gotten ridiculous (not for older game models, such as the Mordheim Elf Mage, since those are just recasts.)
GW games require you to use GW models for their tournaments...the best reason to buy GW...if you want to compete.
Sorry ZN but I have to disagree, but some of the reapers are of equal quality...
Plastics from GW are a decent value, but as others have said...the metals have gotten ridiculous (not for older game models, such as the Mordheim Elf Mage, since those are just recasts.)
GW games require you to use GW models for their tournaments...the best reason to buy GW...if you want to compete.
Yes GW's metal mini's are expensive. But you have to realize they have been phasing out metal mini's in favor of plastics for awhile now. Many armies are almost exclusively plastic. It takes time to resculpt, and remold your entire minature line. Since GW is overall using less metal for there miniatures they don't get as good a deal on buying metal in bulk. So its costs them more money to produce. Including switching everything over to plastic, part of the burden is passed over to the customer.
Now comparing GW's mini's costs to Reaper is like comparing the NFL to arena football. The Overall quality is different, and its only fair to compare GW to miniature companies that deliver similiar quality product. If you look at Rackham, Avatars of War, Anima, and Scibor Miniatures you will see GW's prices on average are lower.
Any advice? Is there a good starter kit worth buying? Should I buy all the pieces and colors I need piecemeal?
* For Warhammer I'm leaning towards Empire (maybe Bretonnians). For 40K, as much as love the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter miniatures, they're kind of pricey. I'd probably go with Tao for sheer variety.
For Fantasy you can pretty much build an all plastic Empire or Bretonnia army. I reccommend you buy the Army Book first and see what theme and play style you like better.
For 40k hold off your the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter armies. They are due to have an update soon since they haven't had a new codex since 3rd ed. With every new army release there are usually new plastic kits to support them. Tau are a very flexible and dynamic army. Just read up on there tactics to see if there play style is for you.
Sorry ZN but I have to disagree, but some of the reapers are of equal quality...
Plastics from GW are a decent value, but as others have said...the metals have gotten ridiculous (not for older game models, such as the Mordheim Elf Mage, since those are just recasts.)
GW games require you to use GW models for their tournaments...the best reason to buy GW...if you want to compete.
Yes GW's metal mini's are expensive. But you have to realize they have been phasing out metal mini's in favor of plastics for awhile now. Many armies are almost exclusively plastic. It takes time to resculpt, and remold your entire minature line. Since GW is overall using less metal for there miniatures they don't get as good a deal on buying metal in bulk. So its costs them more money to produce. Including switching everything over to plastic, part of the burden is passed over to the customer.
Now comparing GW's mini's costs to Reaper is like comparing the NFL to arena football. The Overall quality is different, and its only fair to compare GW to miniature companies that deliver similiar quality product. If you look at Rackham, Avatars of War, Anima, and Scibor Miniatures you will see GW's prices on average are lower.
I hadn't seen Avatars of War before. I am shocked they haven't been sued by GW yet :) That said, supremely impressive.
I hadn't seen Avatars of War before. I am shocked they haven't been sued by GW yet :) That said, supremely impressive.
You might also like UltraForge mini's and Samuel's sculpting. Samuels scuplting is at miniaturessculpting.com
[For Fantasy you can pretty much build an all plastic Empire or Bretonnia army. I reccommend you buy the Army Book first and see what theme and play style you like better.
Sage advice. For any miniatures game I usually buy the rulebook first to see what I think of it. GW's army books have everything you need for the army, along with painting tips and army tactics. More importantly, they have some of the best flavor and fluff of any gaming supplement. Seriously - every theme, character type, and battle that you could possibly want is worked into the book. They usually have great artwork to book. It's a good way to plunge into the Warhammer world.
GW does offer all their specialist games rulebooks online for free. If you're thinking of Necromunda, Warmaster, etc. etc. it's a great place to look. Those games aren't as popular, but I have fun with them.
For Warhammer fantasy, I almost always recommend the Hobby Starter Set and the Battle for Skull Pass Box. Both can be purchased from Paizo.
The Hobby Starter Set comes with paints, platic glue, paintbrush, clipping pliers, and a couple of extra goodies. This may or may not be a good deal for you depending on what your looking for and what you may already have.
The Battle for Skull Pass Set comes with two small armies for very cheap (much less than you would pay buying seperately), along with a starter guide, templates, dice, and my favorite; a miniature rulebook that has all you need from the big rulebook in a small pocket sized book.
For 40k there is a set similar to the fantasy battle for skull pass set, including a miniature rulebook for the 40k game. It features the Space Marines and the new version of the Orks. WAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!
Good luck and Good gaming!!!
I sympathize with you, I am oversees as well, been here for almost 3 months and painting has kept me sane, working on dark elves. If you know you want to do empire then the battalion box is probably your best bet, lot of plastic infantry and cavalry, and a warmachine as well. As others have said, you should probably get 3-5 brushes, a modeling knife, and a pair of plastic snippers, (essential for getting all those plastic bits off the sprue).
I see most paint sets as a bit bloated with colors you would rarely use. I would just buy what you need, all the the basic colors and then a couple of light and dark varieties of your army colors for highlighting. I use prefer the acrylic craft paint and the vallejo or reaper eye dropper paints. They cover a lot better than the GW paints, at least better than the older GW ones, The GW paints also tend to dry up quicker than other varieties as the bottles were not air tight, once again this for he older bottles, not sure about the current ones. Has anyone used these? GW red would never cover black primer very well, it would take at least five coats to get a decent red color unlike reaper which can do it in two coats.
good luck painting
Kelly
Thanks for all the insights, gang. I’m not 100% new to painting minis, though. I have a pretty good collection of Dogs of War, of all things, but have since tossed all of my painting and modeling supplies during all my moves. To be honest, it’s only the extra pay that I’m getting for this deployment that has me looking at Games Workshop, but I love all those fiddly bits that come with the plastic models. Assembling is half the fun.
Having spent hours ogling the online catalog, I’ve made up my mind on Empire and Tau for Fantasy and 40k, but I’m not so convinced that the GW paints are the way to go. They just seem like they’re too expensive for the little bit of paint you get, especially compared to how much it costs to get for a big bottle of Ceramcoat (fer instance) from any online craft supplier. I have, however, heard that GW's metals and washes are superior. Should I pay the extra for those? Are they really top notch?
I’m actually assigned to a special ops unit in the Philippines right now (never thought I’d ever have to say that sentence) so space isn’t quite as restrictive as if I were on a ship. I’m sure one of those battalion sets won’t take up too much space even when assembled and I can’t imagine having enough free time to need any more than one of those while I’m here.
Great choice of armies; those have been my choices for a long time; been playing empire for over a decade.
here are a couple of my tactical playing codes I never break if I want to win, which is always.
never bring one cannon; if you bring cannon come big as you can; at least four; Balfic can tell you how scary that is hehe.
never bring one tank; same reason as cannon; they are point for power pretty expensive and just one is too big and vulnerable a target for the opposing player and loss for you. your opponent will have some tank crackers and long range stuff; so dont let him focus it all on one target.
max your unit size. this applies to everything; if your bring empire halberts; bring about no less than 30; if you do Kroot; bring them all; fill out the whole profile; all the kroot; hounds; krootox that you can or just dont bring them. With both these armies; you gotta have the ability to soak damage so you need all those extra guys. you are gonna loose some guys; but big units are more resistant to running and with all the firepower of both these armies you are going to hopefully kill them faster than you get killed.
concentrate firepower; wipe units rather than wound lots of units.
It is all about victory points and conditions. always remember the scenario victory conditions; nothing is more frustrating that crushing your opponent and loosing the game because he sat on some hill and you didnt.
Dont play to their armies strength; maximize yours; that means if your facing someone like mounted chaos knights of Korne; dont get in a slog fest with them; they will eradicate you in short order. Just take a lot of really cheap units to keep them busy so your army workhorse units can do their job.
well; them are my play rules; have fun.