Would you/do you buy miniatures without knowing their rules?

[YorkNecromancer]

Simple enough. GW have announced their new policy of releasing models without rules, the better to 'trick' us into buying a model that looks great, only to find we invested a small fortune in something that just sucks on the battlefield.

Oh hey there Pyrovore. What's that? You've not been used on the battlefield by anyone who knew what they were doing since 2008? And everyone else felt betrayed that they spent a huge amount of money on you, only to discover you are the worst unit ever in the history of any wargame? You're only ever used to proxy Biovores? Man.

Yeah, I feel your pain. 'Cause you're a pretty great model, but if I see someone field you as yourself, I know they're either stupid, insane or a newbie. Possibly all three.

Oh hey there, Mandrakes. What's that? You're still proxying as Incubi? Oh, you're proxying as Harlequins now? Because you're a great model, but have utterly underpowered rules and serve no useful purpose when compared to the significantly better choices available in the rest of the Codex?

Have you met Pyrovore? You two should talk.

So: where do you stand on the idea of spending a large amount of money on a new model? Do the rules matter to you, or do are you just about the aesthetics?

For me, I'll buy any model I like... but if the rules are bad, I will convert the **** out of it to make it something actually useful on the battlefield.

[Chris Copeland]

All of my armies are built out of models that I want to paint. I have several fully painted armies and it is because I keep to the rule of sticking to stuff I find visually interesting. I play with a very groovy/low key/non-tourney (mostly) playing crowd so this approach works well for me. Cope

[Mr Mystery]

Meh.

I have an uncanny knack of building really hard armies without setting out to do so. This started with my old Dark Elves, put together around 2002/2003. The interwebs maintained the army was The suxxorS, so I went against the grain. Black Dragon, Manticore, 30 RXBs, 4 Chariots, and 2 Hydras. And that army turned out to be absolutely rock hard. Then.....then came the next book, when everything got Hatred and Hydras became filth. That army became absolutely stonkingly hard. Not to say it never lost, but I won the vast majority of my games.

Likewise my old Saim Hann army. Craftworld Eldar edition. Was also shockingly hard, despite what the interwebs maintained.

Net result for me? Ignore the internet. Most of the time advice is contradictory, and based entirely on a given person's local 'meta', which you know, being local, is barely meta in the first place.

I now buy the models I like. Any army can win any game, if you're willing to sit down and give it a good think.

Also, I had a Pyrovore in my old Nid army. And I loved him. He was surprisingly ace. Why?

1. EVERYONE thought it was rubbish, and wouldn't bother shooting it.
2. I'd do my best to get it to charge a high value, equal initiative enemy unit.
3. Let them pull all it's arms and legs off.
4. Wet myself with laughter as it wee'd acid blood all over the unit, and if given a powerfisting, then exploded in their face.

Very, very rarely did not pull it's points weight, and most often punched above them by a considerable margin.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Yep! I like collecting and painting, and narrative games. I don't mind so much whether something is Double Hard or not.

[Pssyche]

If I don't like the looks of a model then I won't buy it whatever it's rules are.

Case in point.
I've got 18K of painted and based Eldar, plus around 2K of Harlequins and about 4K of unpainted Work-in-Progress Eldar.

Yet, I still do not own a Fire Prism.
I can not abide the model, neither old nor new.
I don't own any Shining Spears for the same reason.
I bought a job lot of Eldar, some six years ago that included three Shining Spears and I gave them away.
I've no interest in owning a model I don't like.

Conversely, my favourite models that I own are the Forge World Shadow Spectres, Exarch and Phoenix Lord
I think they are wonderful yet rarely field them unless I'm making up points for an Apocalypse Battle.

[Mr Mystery]

I really like the Fire Prism!

[Psychosplodge]

oh look another poll...

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Now to the question at hand.

It's all about the looks. I like plasma cannon devatators, hence I have twelve, they look awesome. The fact its a scary weapon is a bonus.
I have a box of harliquins. I have never played eldar.
I will never buy centurions or dreadknights because they look ridiculous.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I only buy models purely for the way they look, if I dont like the way they look I will not buy them. I do not care about the rules whatsoever as I'm not a fan of most wargame rules in general.

[Houghten]

Short answer: yes.

(Edit: since the poll and the title are phrased such that "yes" to one means "no" to the other, I'll clarify that: yes, I buy models without rules.)

Long answer: I'll quite happily buy a model and then completely invalidate its WYSIWYG-ness, such as putting bright lances on a Wraithknight's shoulders or giving a Lychguard a warscythe and dispersion shield. I've also expanded my High Elf army beyond the Island of Blood despite the army book being one of those perpetual "eh, maybe next month" purchases, just because I liked the new plastics (same reason I didn't just trade away the IoB elves for more ratmen). Plus the stuff like Reaper and Studio McVey that I have no intention of ever shoehorning into a game, just building and painting.

ETA:

It's all about the looks. I like plasma cannon devatators, hence I have twelve, they look awesome. The fact its a scary weapon is a bonus.

This too, although I only have ten. Hell, I built the Fourth Company army list around them, and then made up a backstory about it, and then kit-bashed a Space Marine-driven Leman Russ Executioner with more plasma cannon than any Leman Russ can legally take (but really, why would I have anything else as the hull weapon?) because it was in the story.

Two months later, Forge World brought out the Predator Executioner and I bit my paintbrush in half.

[Wolfshade]

rule of cool.

Also, why is the option

I'm not too fussed either way, but this new strategy seems kind of underhanded.

and no option of

I'm not too fussed either way.

After all they are a miniatures company.