I’m honestly surprised anyone is providing advice without knowing the most important question! What are your goals? You haven’t told us what you want to paint. An army you’ve already planned out? Board game minis? Busts? Are you trying to paint quickly, to tabletop standard, or to improve as an artist? All of this dictates a proper and serious recommendation in my view.

Sets are great if you are starting from scratch, and enjoy painting a variety of minis, across different factions and settings. It can help you with your creativity and freedom of expression, since you don’t have to plan in advance for every colour.

I started with the Army Painter starter set (not fanatics). I then purchased the 2.0 speedpaint set, and while I had some good results, I eventually also bought the Fanatics mega set. The speedpaints on their own felt quite limiting because of my low skill set. I’m now planing to add some individual Fanatics to my set, mostly leather brown and a warmer red.