Tabletop, tabletop+ or display: choosing a paint level for your army
Most people commissioning an army ask one question first: how good should it be? The honest answer is that one army rarely needs one level. A commission painter will happily paint every model to the same standard, but the budget goes further when you choose a level per group of models, based on how close anyone will look at them.
This guide covers what the common levels usually include, how to decide which models deserve which, and how to write the choice into a brief so every painter quotes the same job.
The levels, as studios describe them
There's no industry standard. Each studio names and defines its own tiers, so read their definitions rather than trusting the label. Two published examples show how much they vary.
Frontline Gaming's paint service lists three tiers. Its Tabletop Standard is "a clean base-coat, detail work and 1-2 levels of highlighting per base color", with details such as eyes included. Its Table-Top Plus Standard has "a minimum of 2 levels of highlight per base color" and may add blending, weathering pigments and lighting effects. Above that sits a Masterclass tier.
Chest of Colors uses four: basic gaming quality ("simple but neat and clean"), good gaming quality ("this looks good on the tabletop"), elite gaming or basic showcase quality, and showcase or exhibition quality. It calls its tiers "guidelines not limits".
The pattern underneath is the same. Each step up adds highlight layers, finer detail on faces and edges, smoother transitions and more elaborate bases. Each step up also takes more time per model, and painting time is what you're paying for.
| Level | What you usually get | Looks right at |
|---|---|---|
| Tabletop | Clean base colours, a wash or shade, one or two highlights, simple eyes, painted base rim | Arm's length, across the table |
| Tabletop+ | More highlight layers, edge highlights, painted eyes, cleaner metals, textured bases | Picked up in hand |
| Display | Smooth blends, glazing, freehand, light effects, scenic or sculpted bases | Close-up photos and cabinets |
Where the eye actually goes
In a game, nobody inspects the fourteenth trooper in the second rank. People look at the warlord, the big monster, the vehicle in the middle of the table and the unit that does something memorable. That's where higher levels pay off.
Chest of Colors frames its own tiers this way. It suggests the basic tier for "larger forces", the elite tier for "elite units of your army, centerpiece models, or characters", and showcase work for "important characters, big monsters and army centerpieces".
A practical way to sort your list:
- Leaders and centrepieces. Your general, named characters and the one big model your army is built around. These are photographed and picked up. Consider display or the highest tier you can afford.
- Elite and character-adjacent units. Bodyguards, champions, a squad with heavy wargear. Tabletop+ usually does them justice.
- Rank-and-file troops. Most of the model count. Tabletop keeps them clean and consistent and keeps the total sane.
- Vehicles and terrain-sized pieces. Large flat panels show smooth paint and weathering well. Many buyers go one level above their troops here.
Why a mixed army saves money
Painting cost scales with model count multiplied by time per model. Raising 40 troopers by one level adds that extra time 40 times. Raising one warlord adds it once.
So a mixed brief (tabletop troops, tabletop+ elites, display leaders) puts most of the budget into the handful of models that carry the army's look. The army still reads as one force on the table if the colours, basing and highlight colours are the same across all levels. That is a briefing job, covered below.
There's a second saving. Our price guide notes that batch size affects the per-model price, because setup and paint mixing are shared across a batch. Troops painted to one level in one batch get that benefit. Display models are priced more individually.
Keeping the levels consistent with each other
The risk with a mixed army is that the leaders look like they came from a different collection. Ask the painter to do the following:
- Use the same palette at every level. The display model gets more steps between shadow and highlight, but it should use the same base colours.
- Match the basing. The display models can get extra scenic elements, but the ground texture and rim colour should match the troops.
- Paint the test model at the troop level. That's where most of the money goes, so check it first.
The miniaturecommissions.com FAQ suggests splitting a big army into batches of ten to twenty models. That keeps the paint consistent and lets you check quality early. A mixed army fits this well. Send the leaders as one batch and the troops as others, so each one is quoted and checked on its own.
Writing the levels into your brief
"Tabletop+" means different things to different painters, so describe the result as well as the label. For each group, write:
- The group and count. For example, "20 infantry, 5 elite infantry, 2 characters, 1 monster."
- The level, in words. "Tabletop: base, shade, one highlight, eyes dotted, rim painted."
- A reference photo of a finished model at that level, ideally one of the painter's own.
- Basing per group, for example textured for troops and scenic for characters.
- What's identical across groups: palette, base texture, rim colour, any transfers.
Then ask each painter to quote each group as its own line. You can compare like with like, and if the total is over budget you can see what dropping the elites one level saves. You don't have to cut the whole army.
Painters on miniature painting services and custom figurines on The Spool List quote against your written brief, so whatever the levels say in the brief is the standard the models are checked against on delivery.
Common mistakes
- Ordering display for a whole army and then cutting the model count to fit the budget.
- Ordering tabletop for the centrepiece you'll photograph for years.
- Leaving the level unwritten. "Good quality" is not a level. Name it and describe it.
- Skipping the test model on a large batch. One model is cheap to repaint. Forty are not.
FAQ
Can one painter do all three levels in one army? Usually, yes. Many studios publish several tiers and paint mixed commissions. Check their portfolio at the highest level you're ordering, because not every tabletop painter takes display work.
Will tabletop troops look out of place next to display leaders? Not if the palette and basing match. On the table the eye reads colour and basing first. Detail shows up only when someone picks the model up.
Which level should a gift be? If it's one character for a shelf, display or the studio's top tier. If it's a playable warband, tabletop+ is usually the better use of the money.
How do I know what a level looks like before paying for the army? Ask for a test model at the level you'll order most of, and send a reference photo. Ask for a second test only if you're ordering display work as well.
Post your army free on The Spool List, with a level for each group, and compare painters' bids line by line.