These GW painting standards for Warhammer have become the hobby norm, as tournaments are back you get free victory points now!
As a Wargamer, you should be proud of your army. Stand by it and show it off. Only… it’s hard to do that when it isn’t painted. Step up your hobby! Plus, with the addition of 10 VPs GW added in, it has become the norm for competitive and even some home games and leagues.
Almost anyone will tell you that their gaming experience is better when the models on the tabletop are completely painted. Nobody is going to say “oh man, I can’t get enough of that grey sheen on plastic minis” or “I love that glue frosting effect”.
Hey, life happens and things take time. But, if you’ve been thinking about going to a tournament or have even been in the wargaming scene for more than a year, it’s time to slap some paint on those models.
GW’s Painting Standards at Warhammer World
Painting standards from Warhammer World: fully painted (left panel), tabletop quality (middle panel), below par (right panel)
Coming from the mouth of GW themselves, they expect to see the level of painting on all minis like the one all the way to the left at their events at Warhammer World.
It looks good and it really doesn’t take that long to get your models to that quality. If you’re wondering where your model stands on the scale just ask yourself this; Are you going to go to the judge and pull the “but it’s painted and even has a wash” card?
If you said yes, maybe go a few steps more and throw the extra details in. It’s probably just a matter of time until GW makes any event they sponsor start enforcing these guidelines, so now is a great time to get practice in. Especially with more tournaments adding more hobby scores to the tournament, you sometimes just have to try.
Plus, if you have a really well-painted army (to the best of your abilities), even if it’s super strong, people won’t care as much. What really gets people is when you just throw the minimum on and don’t try, you might get labeled as the WAAC guy.
These GW Painting Standards Are The Competitive Norm
Coming from Frontline Gaming’s ITC format, they’ve said that models should be up to a three-color minimum. And no, a wash doesn’t count as a color. Take pride in your models. Especially in tournament play. You don’t want to go to a tournament being “technically legal” with a three-color minimum, a wash, and a basing effect only to have it looking like a hot mess.
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With that said, we know that some painters are definitely better than others. But that’s because some people are at a different point in their hobby walk. If you stay honest with yourself and do the best you can when you paint, your models will show it. Don’t be” that guy” who slapped some paint on the models with an industrial-sized brush just so he could play. If you’re worried about your skills, the internet has soooo many resources to get better and also faster. So take a little time and level up your hobby skills.
Models are expensive and are only going up in price. If you take care of them, they’ll last you a lifetime. If painting just isn’t for you, there are plenty of companies out there you can commission.
They’ve got all kinds of painting levels too. This means you can pick the look you’re going for as well as what works best with your wallet.
Check out:
Get started on some commission options for the tournament season! If you want to see how we do our hobby scores (which make games way more fun), check out the Long War Doubles.
Long War Doubles Tournament & Army Theme
Painting doesn’t have to stop at getting some colors on the model. You can also have some fun with it and put a theme to your whole army. In fact, the Long War Doubles Tournament gives you a score based on your theme. Believe it or not, the Long War Doubles Tourney is just one of many events that score your army’s looks/style.
We even throw in a score for how fun you are to play against! So it keeps everyone on the happier side of the game.
You could paint up your Death Guard to look like Deep Sea Divers and convert them to look more “aquatic.” Paint some Death Korps of Krieg to look like WWI French/German soldiers. The creative list could go on and on. The bottom line is the game is just as much of a hobby so have fun with your models and take your time.
Get Your 10 Points!
While most people don’t enforce this in local games, it is nice that GW actually put something into the game to try and get players to paint. Even though it really isn’t anything crazy, it is finally showing that even competitive players can benefit from having painted armies!
So, even if you’re the most competitive player out there, to max out those points, you need to paint! So if you’re going to spend the time painting, might as well take some time and make it great!
What do you think about GW’s Painting Standards? Do you like playing against awesome-looking armies?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
