Throne of Skulls Doubles Tournament Feb 2018 - Part 5 - Best Painted Competitions

Following up from our tournament reports: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4. I thought it would be good to write a quick post about the best painted competition for the weekend regarding what happens, what to expect and of course post a few photos of the armies nominated.

We were one of the lucky pairs to be nominated and although we didn't win - we didn't deserve to which you'll understand when you see the other armies involved - it is a very proud moment to see your hard work in the cabinets at the mecca of 40k - Warhammer World.

'The Feth on Parade'

What happens?

During a tournament weekend at Warhammer World there is always a 'Best painted army' competition where the best 6 armies in the room are shortlisted by the organisers and invited to be displayed in the glass cabinets at the front of the gaming hall. During lunchtime on the second day of the tournament everyone in the tournament then votes for their favourite and the army with the best votes wins the title!


During the first day at the tournament the organisers have a wander round the gaming hall with some post it notes scribbling away furiously. Quite often you'll be playing a game and you'll spot a pair of eyes and a forehead at table height having a good look at the models on the table.

After the initial inspection and during a later game, if you are lucky, they will then start a covert conversation asking general questions about your army. "Did you paint it yourself?", "What colours did you use?", "Are those models converted?" etc. etc.
During a game you don't tend to notice the questions but afterwards you realise that you have been quizzed!!

Then on the second day of the tournament during the first game, if your army has been shortlisted one of the organisers will come over and check that the army is yours and invite you to display it at the front of the gaming hall for everyone to view and vote on during the dinner break. So as soon as your game finishes it is a case of getting your army there asap and setting it up just so.

Past performances

Rich and I have been very lucky in the past managing to get a nomination and our army on display in every doubles tournament we have entered. Unfortunately we have never won overall but I think that secretly we know that we never will. After speaking to many people and the organisers themselves about it our army is a little too muted in its colour scheme and we have quite a few models (it is an Astra Militarum army!) with no real stand out centrepiece. This means that while our army looks ok, is different and fits together as one even though it is two separate armies, it doesn't catch the eye enough to gain the attention against more elite armies with a spectacular centrepiece model.

What does it take to win?

Here are my bullet point thoughts (apparently they all begin with 'c'!) on winning a best painted army competition.
- Consistency - All models have to fit together in colour scheme, basing, style of painting and theme.
- Centrepiece - There needs to be one model or unit of models that takes all of the attention and is painted to a really high standard.
- Conversion - Most of the winners I have seen have had quite a bit of conversion work in the army. This really helps the army stand out from the rest and shows that you have put a lot of effort in.

The entries for Feb 2018

Below are the 6 entries for the February doubles tournament:

Entry No. 1

Entry No. 2 and eventual winners

One of the 2 centrepiece models on entry 2

The other centrepiece model on entry 2

Entry No. 3

Entry No. 4 - The Emperors Feth

Entry No. 5

Entry No. 6

As you can see the level of painting is very high and depending on your tastes any of these armies could win. However, I do think that the sisters and Astra Militarum army were deserved winners with some great details, a great theme and 2 amazing centrepiece models.

The nomination certificate

The lucky geeks nominated for best painted army!

The Emperors Feth

So what next for our army? To be honest I am quite happy with how it looks and it's fun to play so I am more than happy with just a nomination. I think it would take quite a bit of work to get it up to 'best painted' and get people to see through the model count to the conversion and details that the army has.

Below are some more photos from the Warhammer Community site of our army. By all means comment and let us know what you think and how we could improve.

All the best
James

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads