Me and Painting, or, how I learnt to live with the atomic bomb

So I paint, not particularly well, but well enough to put toys on the table and not be embarrassed. I would have to say that I must give most of the credit for my painting at all to a friend of mine who shamed me into it.

You see I used to be one of those guys that would play with primed minis and have fun. I lived happily in this state for nigh on ten years, but then I started playing with a new fellow. We had talked about our collections of minis, and mine sounded much more impressive than his. But then when we had our first game he took his lads out of the case and... what's this!... 'dude! All of your models are painted!' He tries and fails to hide the look of disdain mixed with pitty 'Yeah, and yours don't seem to be.' I sheepishly finish out the game and vow to not use unpainted minis any longer.

While I didn't quite make it to the 'never plays unpainted' stage, I more often than not will play a fully painted army. Once I've learnt how to play with a unit I will force myself to paint it or just not field it. I find this works for me, and when I get a little lazy, there is always somebody around who is putting in the effort to make me look bad so I get back at it.

Basically it comes down to this, I don't think I enjoy painting in and of itself, but the pleasure I get out of playing the game the way it is meant to be played, more than makes up for the evenings spent with green hands.