And so, after around 400 teams, over 2,000 lovingly painted miniatures, one total system crash and a short interlude, finally we reach the end of the Lead Painters League, Season 3.
Goodness knows how many man hours of work that lot represents - but it’s a lot. Blood, sweat and tears. But also a huge amount of creativity, determination, artistic skill, ingenuity and passion.
It’s been a pleasure to run the league with hardly any problems, complaints or tantrums to spoil things…
And I now know more about Excel spreadsheets than I ever really wanted to.
Particular congratulations to those contestants who stayed the course and managed to produce a new team for every single round – it takes a titanic effort of willpower to achieve this, but over half of you did, and you have the bonus points to prove it!
I know from your emails that it cost some of you dear (wives, work, household chores – all set to one side in favour of frenzied painting).
Gladiators - I salute you
For those who couldn’t quite sustain the pace – well, we all know there are an awful lot of things in real life that get in the way, and some of them, frankly, are a lot more important than painting small soldiers… Or fairies in Plynkes case...
And so, we come at last to the winners.
The Winner, supreme champion, top banana - in first place, the Mighty Grimm, the tattooed God of Lead. He had to share the title with yours truly in Season Two. Now the glory is his alone! Well done Grimm, me old Hamburger. You saved the best until last.In joint second place – the ingenious
Tsar1701 and the Indefatigable
Orctrader.
These two not only achieved the same points total, but also accumulated an almost identical number of ‘votes for’ in their matches. It would be churlish in the extreme to count the wafer-thin votes difference between the two as the difference between silver and bronze, and therefore they share second place.
Tsar1701’s every entry told a lovingly crafted story. Beautiful layouts. Great painting. He fought his way to the top of the pile to muscle in beside Orctrader - master of the subtle brush and vivid palette. To come so close only to be pipped at the post is cruel indeed, but OT knows we all think he’s marvellous anyway.
In third place – Admiral Benbow, who painted some of my favourite entries of the entire season, and proved a stern challenger to all who faced him.
Congratulations to the winner and the runners-up for their well-deserved and hard-fought podium positions.
I imagine The Prof will arrange medals, citations, or somesuch in due course.
Tomorrow, I will randomly draw a lucky recipient of the prize kindly donated by Alex of Forge of Ice...
Meanwhile, for honourable mentions in dispatches, may I just pick out:
- Chambersofminiatures, who came within a whisker of a top three finish. Very frustrating to be squeaked out of one of the top slots I know, but a fantastic performance nonetheless.
- Overlord, who managed to achieve the highest ‘votes for’ and the highest points difference (+726) - despite finishing in 7th place
- Moriarty, who ploughed his own particular furrow with his old-fashioned Spencer-Smith miniatures – and never wavered for one moment in his belief in his project. And sod the voters!
- Mancha, who won 8 out of his 10 matches – the only contestant with such a high success rate apart from Grimm and the ever-threatening Bugsda – and yet still ended up in 20th place. Curse those bonus points!
It only leaves me to thank Alex, the Prof, for maintaining this marvellous site which gives such pleasure and inspiration to so many. Cheers Alex.
(By the way, next season, Prof, we want to see you either running the league, or competing in it! Or both… )
I don’t think there are many other wargame sites on the web where painters of all talents and interests, and (as far as I can work out) of at least 11 nationalities (that’s counting Scotland and Groningen as independent states) can compete on a fairly level playing field, and in the kind of friendly, sporting spirit engendered by the LAF.
So now, sit back, relax, enjoy a break from painting for a few days and when you get a moment, raise a glass in a small, private toast to The LAF… Long Live The LPL!
Oh yes, and here's the final table...