Finally, I can actually sit down and play one of these games without having to start a year later once I've actually gotten around to painting them...
Even better, I can concentrate what little painting time I have on conversions and painting over the more important models, rather than having to sit and paint squads. I've always preferred painting individual figures to squads, so thats a bonus. I can sit and add weathering effects to troops and vehicles as the bulk of the painting is already done. It isn't going to stop me painting, and will mean I can enjoy more the time I do spend painting doing the things I want to do rather than the repetitive prep work in getting the figures to where they need to be in order to do the detailed stuff I enjoy.
I have a two-year painting backlog already, and plenty of other games that require me to spend half my life painting in order to play them, so this fits in with my needs perfectly. I'll be able to play BF: Evo from day one instead of three months later - even better.
I noticed someone earlier asked a question about whether this would make a difference for retailers not pushing SST enough in their stores. In my opinion, it'll make one hell of a difference - retailers can actually put the figures on display and set up demo tables, without having to get them all painted first.
Most importantly, finding new gamers - there'll be far more new players in all games as more people are going to go for the prepainted minis for their first game, rather than more expensive plastic kits.
Some people aren't going to like it (okay, already don't, that's obvious) - I can only say I had most of the same concerns at first, but the longer I thought about it, the more I came to like (and prefer) the idea. For those that like painting, I really don't see why this should stop you repainting (I'm going to have fun converting the BF Evo stuff into alternative forces that haven't been produced to compliment those that have)
