Yes they are quick, and they produce some ok results, but feel they are aimed more for large armies, that look good at tabletop level, and not under close scrutiny like the HQ gaming pieces would be.
Plus I feel they take away the enjoyment of sitting down and painting the whole miniature, from start to finish.
I'm not knocking anyone who uses it, and have seen some good results here, yes I'm looking at you Sjeng, I just find nothing more satisfying, than looking at a completed piece knowing that it's all you.
Now onto budding new painters.
Yes it's hard, & no there aren't any perfect shortcuts
Oh my word for gods sake get some decent acrylic paints and sable brushes (Games Workshop, PP3, Coat D'Arms, Foundry, Vallejo, all good paints) Stay away from wood paints and Apple Barrel.
Thin your paints slightly, water is fine, don't waste money on flow enhancers, remember you're a novice.
Practice. Find minis you don't need/want and practice techniques on them, even strip them and re use if you like, but practice eventually makes perfect, but don't expect miracles overnight.
Take your time. Don't rush, ever. All you'll end up with is a poor paintjob. Take your time, and clean any areas you might have strayed onto whilst painting another part of the mini.
Which leads us to;
Keep it neat. Better to have a neat painted miniature, unshaded but with all the colours inside the areas you've decided they should be, than having a messy slopped on partially shaded miniature.
Take breaks. Nothing is more tiring on the eyes than close up painting.
Shading. Personally I find Games Workshops range of shading washes invaluable, they are designed to do exactly this job.
Highlighting. Try to mix lighter shades of your base colour or use one thats premixed nearest to the next step in lightness, also stay away from using white to lighten, and black to darken. Try something like Bleached Bone instead of white to lighten colours, and a grey or brown to darken. Gives a smoother less harsh level of highlighing.
Above all else have fun and go wild with your colour choices, after all they are Fantasy miniatures, not real people/animals, painting anything you like in any colour and say PFFFfffTTttttt!!!!! to the naysayers that stick to the rules that an Orc has to be green.
Sorry if any of this sounds preachy, but stick to these simple rules and you'll be flashing off showy minis in no time.
The Wizard looks ok to me, needs a little tidying up in places but perfectly useable as is.
The Mummys would benefit from a nice light coloured drybrush, as would the Skeletons.
Here's a quick example;
These two Orcs were painted around 10 years ago as an example to a guy who wanted his set painting but didn't want to pay for the best of the best painting levels.
So I showed him this pic, the one on the left has been painted and shaded, and one highlight, the one on the right is unshaded base colours only.
To be honest I think a full set painted either way would look great, just notice the neatness.
I think that's what makes them look better in my humble opinion.
Matt, Dave and Dan are great people who have done a lot for my local gaming community. A lot for the online community too. The only positive from their situation is Dave might have more time to play some HeroQuest with my group. He plays a great Wizard. 
