So far I've talked about two reasons for not attending tournaments: cost and attitude. Those I think are the biggest deterants. But if neither of those reasons are a big enough deterant, the last reason generally finishes it for most people and that is the issue of having their army painted.
The last reason I find most people don't want to play in tournaments is because their army isn't painted. I have to say that this is the worst reason not to enter a tournament (in my opinion at least). Planning for a tournament gives you time to paint your army and generally motivates you to actually paint an army to a decent standard.
Entering tournaments always motivates me to paint whatever I haven't painted yet. I don't want to be the guy who gets the spray primer prize for having a grey legion or the guy who ends up playing the best painted army with my legion of grey. It's just embarrassing. With that said, I am not the best painter in the world. Whenever I paint it's always quick, easy and usually 3 colours plus highlights. None of this 12 hours per model business that all the award winning painters do. I just don't have time to spend hours and hours on a single model when most people will only see the details if they are up close. Last I checked when you played the game most people are standing a few feet away so they won't notice a lot of the little details.
Regardless of what army you play, you can find a quick and easy way to paint them. Whether it be the armoured legion of space marines or the less smooth surfaces of an imperial guardsmen, there are always ways to speed paint and make it look decent. Techniques such as drybrushing, washing with the citadel washes and airbrushing speed things up soooooo much and will generally get a good result. Even if you get just the basic 3 colours on your model, it will looks loads better than a legion of grey.
Without tournaments, I probably would not have any painted figures. This holds true even now. When I look at my model collection, the only figures that are painted are the ones that I actively use in my tournament armies. If it's not part of my tournament army, I tend to not paint it. I've got a few squads of tactical marines, devastators and even a full Ravenwing bike squadron waiting for a coat of paint but since I don't use them in any of my tournament builds (mostly Deathwing oriented by the way) they are still waiting for that coat of paint.
Even if a tournament has no painting restriction, I still do my best to bring a painted army. Sometimes I feel silly for bringing painted models to 'Ard Boyz but at least I can say I have one of the better looking armies at the tournament. Maybe it's a matter of pride on my behalf, but I think it makes the game more enjoyable for both sides if both armies are painted regardless of the environment.
Now, hopefully I can convince some of those younger gamers to enter into tournaments when I go to the store next. I enjoy them, others enjoy them and generally they are lots of fun whether you win or lose. A few bad games shouldn't sully the experience as there are a lot more positives which I hope I've touched on.
Next, maybe some WIP of my new Deathwing command squad courtesy of placing 1st at my local 'Ard Boyz.
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