It seems to me that there is a basic division in the warhammer community, people who want to play the game/ vs people who want to enjoy the hobby. I personally don't care much about the hobby (I've never been into modelling and came from a RTS and RPG background) but I have been playing for over a decade and have always felt pressured to paint/model my army because it is a package deal; meaning you can't play without participating in the other aspects of the hobby. I love the game of warhammer but wish it could be separated from the hobbying aspect, for instance it pisses me off to no end that I pay around $100 for a rulebook and half of it is a painting showcase... I have tried other games but they tend to lack the depth that warhammer has. I also find GW marketing strategy infuriating, instead of simple Representative figures they go all out on finely detailed sculpted miniatures and charge through the nose for them. I would love for them to sell both so that people could choose the version that they want (I thought that was what FW was supposed to be). I was just wondering how the other members of this forum felt about things or if I am just off my rocker.
I think essentially when you first start looking into the hobby, you can see straight out that it involves assembling and painting figures so really yes it is part of the package. Don't buy the 100$ rulebook, buy the mini rulebook either with the starter set or just on ebay cheaply then it isn't half filled with painted stuff. I think that is GW way of catering to the people who don't want a huge rulebook full of everything about the hobby and for the most part it works well. Remeber though that you aren't forced to use GW models unless you play in GW stores or tournaments. In your own gaming group, you could just use cardboard cutouts if your opponents don't mind. I personally don't think it would look as good, but if you are just after a game then it works. There are also other companies that produce models cheaper than GW, Mantic Games make them cheap and also aim for larger armies so they are generally easier to assemble. The range is a bit smaller at the moment though. Anyway, as to my personal views... I find painting can be a bit of a drag, cleaning models is annoying and boring, but I enjoy assembling and converting, I also enjoy finishing models and being able to look at really nice looking models, so I guess I enjoy the rewards of painting. I definitely enjoy the overall hobby vs just the game.
I've used a rock to represent my Slann a few times. That was before I had a model for it. I agree with Strewart. Painting can be really steal my motivation sometimes. Right now about 1/4 of my army is painted, 1/2 is primed, and the last 1/4 are just assembled. There are shields and arms missing until they are painted, plus a lot of flyers that aren't based yet (Terradons and Gargoyles). At my local gaming shop, about 95% of the players are the same way. Only the guys that actually work at the shop have their armies fully painted. It is their job after all.
I come from a totally different community. I'd say 90% of guys play with 100% painted and based armies. Which unfortunately has led the ruling class to have all tournements to have signifcant painting scores. Usually about 20% of your overall points are painting base. Mines painted but only because its an adhoc of my old minis and some painted ebay ones. And that basically mean I can never win a tourney But I've bought in, started High Elves as my well themed army and painted army
I enjoy both thoroughly, even though I'm not the greatest at playing the game. I'm quite lacking in being able to predict the outcome of many events and seem to be followed by unexplained misfortune whenever I try. I am also highly prone to procrastination so the painting apartment is only moving slowly forward once in a while. I enjoy both no less though, I don't need to buy models often since I usually have something to paint already if I feel like painting and if it's because I want to try something out it's usually perfectly fine to use a proxy model or as far as half my army, an unassembled one (empty bases, half-built models, etc.) In short, I like both even though I don't play often or very well and I don't paint or assemble stuff more than once in a blue moon.
Like you I'm in it more for the game than painting. If you frequent a GW store than there will be no getting out of the hobby aspect of the game. Whenever I'm asked if I plan to paint my army I'm just upfront and say "not really" or "maybe someday if I'm in the mood". They will still be glad to have you spend $ on minis so it's usually not an issue where I attend at.
Shrug, seeing painted dark elf cold one riders when I was 13 got me into the game. Having fully painted armies kept me playing for years and years. A desire to get back into painting my lizards brought me back 14 years later. So I suppose at the end of the day the hobby interests me the most. After all, it's rather hard to be a d-bag hobbyist. The same cannot be said about gamers, especially at a tournament.