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Hey, I've yet to be to a tournament, though I've attended and watched Ard Boys two years now, and I was wondering what some of the experiences have been on the painting scores. My primary concern is that though my army is painted to tabletop and a bit above standard that I'd be marked down for the style of the paint. I know a lot of people like their troops as grimdark as the fluff in having lots of chipped armor and tanks looking like they've been through hell and back which is great and all, but I tend to like my army to look crisp, well-rested, and ready for the day's combat, not like they'd been dragged out of one hellhole and dropped into another. I was wondering as I am working on my Predator and it looks like it belongs more on a parade route than on a battlefield.

I would like to hear your opinions and your experiences in this regard. Thanks.

My thoughts are that who is to say this fight isn't their first fight. Especially Space Marines who have a legion of serfs to keep their stuff clean. Just assume it's the first drop/encounter of the campaign.

In Tournament terms no one is gonna mark you down for crisp and clean. Not that I've seen anyway. As long as the highlights are there.

i agree im no fan of this battle dammage fad, but each to their own. i have a mordian army and each is pristine in their parade style colours, and always get good marks for painting when they are marked. so i dont think you get marked down for not doing damage, as you will do different touches here and there
they do like to see at least one conversion of some discription even if just a head swap etc

I think it just comes down to style. I have seen many armies that are so covered in battle damage that the original models are impossible to see, but there have been a few if done right that it looks ok. A good example is the WD when the SW were featured. There was a guy in the back who had his wolves looking like they were in the middle of WWXX (world war 20), and it looked good. I also run tornaments, and if you were to walk in with an army damaged up it would not matter in my tournaments, because we took the soft scores out of tourneys. At our shop it is either 100% painted and based, 50%, or none.

I'm not too hot with conversations as I end up doing deeper cuts to my fingertips than the models. Would greenstuffing chapter and deathwing icons count? Or just painting the symbols on freehand?

Shouldn't usually get docked by your style of painting anyway, its not meant to be opinion based, but rather checklist based, unless of course its a prize based on peer opinion.

Luco wrote:I'm not too hot with conversations as I end up doing deeper cuts to my fingertips than the models. Would greenstuffing chapter and deathwing icons count? Or just painting the symbols on freehand?

What, do you say the wrong thing, resulting in them charging at you with a knife?

Checklist based? Like:
based
painted
highlighted

with checks next to whatever is done right?

lol no, I just have unsteady hands and tend to slip so I tend to cut my fingers instead of the models. I could just attach a DA logo on each of the captains foreheads, would that count? lol

something like this,l where you get a max 10 points


1. 3 Colours - 2 point
2. Based - 2 point
3. Washing/ drybrushing - 2 point
4. Highlighting / Shading - 2 point
5. Conversion work - 2 point (*conversion being as little as changing the way an arm or pose is constructed)


that way, you dont have to be a golden daemon to get the points needed.. and if you needed a best painted, probably use public opinion or add extra criteria to get the best painted stuff.

OP@ It all depends on the tourny judges. I have been to tournaments where each opponent judges your paint score. In one tournament I got both an 8 and a 3 out of 10. One opponent was new to the game and when compared to his models I was very good. My other opponent normally enters Golden Demon comps and I was subpar compared to him. (I don't like those tournaments BTW)

As for the ones I run, I use a 5 point scale check the box

0 - Nothing done to army, Grey legion
1- Army at least primed
2- Less than 50% painted, even if they are GD quality it is based on whole army not one or two models
3- At least 3 colors on every model
4- 3 colors and models based
5- Wow , Fully painted, based, highlighted attention to details on whole army. Maybe some conversions but not required.

The only room to argue is if I gave someone 4 and they believe they deserved a 5. 0-4 there is no arguing as you know going in what you will get. If you feel you deserve a 5, then you will at least get a 4.

I have seen very few tournaments where one opoint in paint would of changed the out come of the whole event.

To get the full points you'd have to meet the criteria on a model, half army, or full army? Its difficult to use washes since the army has black armor, though I could sepia the gold bits.

Luco, not suire who you are addressing. If you are asking me, mine are on a Army level. To get full points the army as a whole needs to have full detail. I also take color in to consideration. If you paint black then of course washes will be difficult to notice.

Yea, you, sorry I didn't specify. Thank you!

Yeah, more and more tourneys are going to checklist based as otherwise it is purely subjective.

GW put out a check list in 2008/2009 that was pretty good. Fully based, tabletop quality earned 7out of 10. Then there were specific details to get the last 3 points, several painting techniques demonstrated blending, extreme highlighting, etc. I like those best.