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I don't get the fuss, it's a GW thing released on the GW site, of course it's going to focus on GW's retail offerings. It's a promotional tool, just like Games Days, 'Ard Boyz and the like are promotional tools.

GW is a company that's trying to make money, and availing themselves of any and all means to do that. So the examples are going to use GW products such as the Realm of Battle boards.

As others have stated, you don't need to buy it for a valid entry, heck you don't NEED to buy any models at all assuming you own at least one army.

If ti inspires a few people to start a new army, then it's done its job. If it inspires a few of us crusty old vets to finish painting up our models then it's done its job.

If I go to a GW "Hobby Center" and see a bunch of these on display, it might make me think about buying something. Or I might see something on the display board that gives me an idea for terrain or a conversion to indulge in. I'm probably going to check non-GW sources for stuff, but anything that gets the creative juices flowing is a good thing, surely?

What new army are you going to start?

I have some Chaos Dwarves that need painting, and might conceivably make a seige tower for them.

If I was going to start an army for it, I'd go Genestealer Cult. Now, if only I could remember how to do good Magus, Patriarch & Hybrid kitbashes

ArbitorIan wrote:Time to get those Squats painted up, then...

Lol win

The disappointing part of the contest is that you have to have a GW store near you to enter. I have no clue where the nearest one to Atlanta is.

loranafaeriequeen wrote:The disappointing part of the contest is that you have to have a GW store near you to enter. I have no clue where the nearest one to Atlanta is.

Road trip time?

They had this at Baltimore Games Day last year, but instead of a contest at GW's, you could just enter your army. The stipulation of a 2x2 board is because of the display. They have each army in a glass cube. Notice that you can use multiple 2x2 areas? Two 2x2's works, but not a 2x4. It was a fun way to show off your army, and take a look at what other people were doing.

How long is this competion running for? I mean I'd love showing off a painted army of mine, but, really I'd like to play wirh them at some point too.

Alright, but will all my tau fit? 2ft x 2ft .... oh man i brought to much. ah .... damn even my cadians won't fit. Night goblins, High elves, Bretonnians they should be ok, sweet!!!!!

The whole point of this isn't to put an entire army on all at once, Kevlar.

It's to create a themed scenic diorama, using the core of a force(ex: a commander, a pair of troop choices and their transports shoring up a defensive line; stuff like that) on a 2x2(or 4x4) surface.

Kanluwen wrote:The whole point of this isn't to put an entire army on all at once, Kevlar.

It's to create a themed scenic diorama, using the core of a force(ex: a commander, a pair of troop choices and their transports shoring up a defensive line; stuff like that) on a 2x2(or 4x4) surface.

If the army dosent have to be legal, and we have our own backstory, could we mix factions together, like SM and IG, to make a scene? I have "The defenders of Poli-Aima", which was a mix of SM and IG. Would I still be able to field that, if both armies were technically "playable"?

Happygrunt wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:The whole point of this isn't to put an entire army on all at once, Kevlar.

It's to create a themed scenic diorama, using the core of a force(ex: a commander, a pair of troop choices and their transports shoring up a defensive line; stuff like that) on a 2x2(or 4x4) surface.

If the army dosent have to be legal, and we have our own backstory, could we mix factions together, like SM and IG, to make a scene? I have "The defenders of Poli-Aima", which was a mix of SM and IG. Would I still be able to field that, if both armies were technically "playable"?

Maybe you could use your LITKO Industrial Towers?

Hmmm... sounds fun

The problem is I can not envisage a situation where my Imperial Guard might be moving through Space Corridors.

Guess I'll just have to buy some COD terrain instead. ho hum.

I don't see what could possibly be bad about this.

Though I'm not sure how they could make this work worldwide. My local GW in Japan is so tiny, I'm not sure they could even have room for one 2ftx2ft army display. I guess if they shut down the gaming tables for a day they could show maybe 8.

It's overall though a great idea. It costs very little for GW to support, and allows fans to be involved without getting into the ultra-competitive Golden Demon stuff. Which makes me wonder: why is GW only thinking of this now? It just makes so much sense to invite players to bring in their armies for display that I had a bit of a brain freeze when I read that this was not SOP.

Oh well, it's a good idea so I'll give points for it being handed in late. Now can we please get the winners showcased on the web with full size pictures that aren't completely different from their thumbnails?

Are GW advertising their products on their own site? Yes
Can it be viewed cynically? Yes
Should it be view cynically? Depends on your overall PoV on GW
Is it a good idea? I think so.
Does it get me a a bit exicted/thinking about possibilities? Yes
Overall I think its a decent idea and am looking forward to seeing some of the boards that will be made.

I started reading that article this morning had some interesting ideas for a guard base... then I scrolled further down the article and saw all of them already done on the example board *cries*

Still. I've been meaning to build a board for a while, so I might give it a go...

This would be a good opportunity to build a part of an army just for the fun of it.
Like a dwarf gyrocopter squadron or an all-trees wood elf force. Or maybe some pink tanks.

I have a really hard time understanding how people can actually be grumbling about this promotion. I see it as one of the rare promotions in existence that both helps the company who is putting it on and is something really cool for everyone in the hobby regardless of whether you choose to actively participate in it or not.


Let's just say you're the jaded gamer who has absolutely no interest in participating in this. Even with this attitude the promotion will end up getting armies into the spotlight that probably wouldn't otherwise be seen. I'm sure GW will put up pics of some of the finalists, and beyond that I'm sure people will snap pictures of the entries in their local stores or at Games Days. Those pics will invariably end up on the internet for all to enjoy.

That means even if you do absolutely nothing for this promotion, you're still going to end up getting some cool pics of some awesome armies. Plus, invariably this 'parade' of armies will inspire some newbs wandering by their local GW store, so any new blood brought into the hobby is good for everyone.


Now let's say you're interested in participating but aren't inspired to start a *new* army for the promotion. Well, there are no rules forcing you to buy a *new* army, so if you have an existing army that you've always wanted to show off, you can simply put it up for the contest and get some nice 'oohs' and 'aahs' from people walking into the store. Even if your army doesn't win, it can be fun to show off your previous hard work and again, I'm sure your army may have the potential to inspire new blood into the hobby which ends up helping the entire community out.

As for the 2x2 display board, again there are *no* rules about what you can use, so if you don't want to spend money on buying a board, you can spend the time and energy to create something awesome. And of course, that 2x2 board will be awesome for you to use as an army display board for future local tournaments!


Of course, you could really be inspired by this promotion to create a NEW army. Well, maybe you just have an unpainted army sitting around that's been looking for a reason to get painted? Or maybe you've been meaning to strip an old army of its paint and redo it? Or maybe you just wanted an excuse to go buy a new army all together. Whatever the reason, this promotion can give you that inspiration...not because you necessarily think you'll be the big winner of a trophy, but more just the challenge of making an army with a timed goal in mind. Similar to the kinds of deadlines that gamers often impose on themselves on websites like Dakka to help motivate themselves.

Whatever the case, if this promotion does inspire new armies to be created, again it is a win for the whole community as we get to see armies that wouldn't normally have been in existence, and again any new blood these armies entice into the hobby is good for us all.


And of course for GW, this is a PROMOTION, which is meant to sell product and promote their business. The genius of this promotion is that it does not force anyone to do anything. You can use an existing army or you can buy a new one. You can buy a realm of battle board for your display or you can make one. And of course, the 'parade' of armies in their store will naturally be a great selling tool for new people walking in off the street. Yes, people choosing to buy new armies for the promotion and new sales generated from new players interested by the 'parade' are profits for GW...because it is a PROMOTION and that's the whole point.

But again, the awesome thing about this promotion is no matter what level you choose to participate in it (even not at all) you're still going to get some cool benefits from it.


So perhaps flip the frowns upside down and just ENJOY the dang thing!


Kudos GW. Great idea!

yakface wrote:
I'm sure GW will put up pics of some of the finalists, and beyond that I'm sure people will snap pictures of the entries in their local stores or at Games Days. Those pics will invariably end up on the internet for all to enjoy.

Related to this, perhaps...

We've just created a new group on Flickr so that you can upload your own photos of miniatures or events: http://www.flickr.com/groups/gamesworkshop - it's a little sparse there right now, so get uploading.

There's been some nice stuff on there already.

I confess that its this kind of iniciative that pumps me with energies to sculpt more on my GW armies, I mean anything that motivates people to paint looks good in my book...
Its a very strange iniciative because ( unlike some golden deamons were minis have to be based on strict legal bases etc) this time they dont even care if the army composition is legal as long as is a cool combo of minis! Thats a great thing... I would be all over this IF there was actually a GW in my country... yeah Im in europe but GW forgot about us so yeah I try to return the favour sometimes

yakface wrote:But again, the awesome thing about this promotion is no matter what level you choose to participate in it (even not at all) you're still going to get some cool benefits from it.


So perhaps flip the frowns upside down and just ENJOY the dang thing!


Kudos GW. Great idea!

Thats exactly what I was thinking I didn't want to get in the way of the usual anti-GW complaints though

If it specified you MUST have a realm of battle board and MUST get a brand new army I'd understand all the negativity but thats not what it is doing at all.
Its just a general all round promotion for the hobby, I cant see how or why anyone would complain at that.

Yakface - not just a pretty face, but continuing to prove he is a wise old fellow as well

yakface wrote:
And of course for GW, this is a PROMOTION, which is meant to sell product and promote their business.

This.

I just wish the original post hinted at people to finish armies they already started. To me
that's more valuable than people starting new projects. The first time you finish a project
you realize it can be done, and it makes all the other follow up projects much easier.

I would imagine the negative reaction was more to provoke a predicitable response than much actual disdain for the promotion.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=&categoryId=3700002§ion=community&aId=15100036a

Link to the rules above.

Rule 1 ; No purchase is necessary to enter.

You could be picky and point out that as they must be Citadel miniatures, a purchase is necessary but there is nothing to stop you entering an old army.

I may even get my Praetorians around the old card Firebase. How OOP is that?

Basically, what Yakface said. Our omniscient over-lord injects a bit of logic into an other-wise unreasonable GW bashing.

Much like the example Yak gave, I'm not entering but I'm going to love seeing the entrants and it may well inspire me to start something new. It's a win win.
Also, that Flickr link Red posted is pretty nice too.

I'm obviously far too keen still as i didnt read this and get consumed with acidic bile, nor did i get the urge to raise my hands to the sky and scream "DAMN YOUR MARKETING NOOOO!"

instead, i was really interested - My favourite from the games days is always the dioramas but they focus on small number of models normally.

This instead, allows me to see some amazing artists make some astounding diomaras with more models than i'm used to see.

I have a million ideas in my head and not 1% of the painting / modelling skill needed to achieve them but i really, really look forward to seeing what people perform and i'll be down at my local GW to see what people bring.

Bet money it involves the managers custom angron model

Just Dave wrote:Basically, what Yakface said. Our omniscient over-lord injects a bit of logic into an other-wise unreasonable GW bashing

That he did, of course I said more-or-les sthe same thing in fewer words upthread, but I'm not the elusive yakface, and I don't co-own the greates 40K site on the internet. Still nice to hear one of Dakka's true old stagers agreeing with my awesomeness.

Now, I wonder if I can sculpt a Pyramid with interiors to display some tomb kings on.


For Khemri!

I have several questions, I must admit...

1 - What do they mean by Citadel Minatures? It mentions the guy kitbashing Orks, but the army I'm thinking of using is a Ad Mech Army, complete with a kitbashed Warhound Titan. The titan is almost entirely made from Games Workshop products, and the only extra is plasticard, but it's hardly what I'd call a Citadel Minature anymore...

2 - Can you use Forgeworld models and parts? Again, the mention of Citadel Minatures has thrown me.

3 - Can you use more than one army, such as Marines routing some Orks out of a building?