The Lead Painters' League - Season Four - Rules

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Lead Adventure Forum proudly presents

"The Lead Painters' League" - Season Four

Rules Stuff

Participants

Obviously, since we want to have a „league“, we´ll require an even number of participants, so that each round will see an equal number of matches. Due to the software used to manage the league pairings, we will no longer be able to accept any new participants after the first round. You MUST submit an entry in time for the first round, i.e. until Sunday, the 21st of February.

Duration

The league will run for a total of 10 rounds, with each round taking one week of real time.

Entries

Participants will enter pictures of their “teams”. A team consists of a number of painted figures, at least five, but possibly more. The gist is that the “team” must follow a common “theme”, for example you might enter a Cowboy Posse, but not Masai led by a Silver Age Superhero or German Fallschirmjägers led by Indiana Jones. Other than that, a “team” might be a “posse”, a “squad”, or even a “regiment” – the sky is the limit.

To repeat, at least five figures following a single, distinct theme. The team must represent a homogenous group, not antagonists from the same period or theme. It's supposed to be a team.

The entry picture may NOT be a collage of individual pictures, but should be a "group shot" of the complete team, possibly in a decorated environment, or in front of a plain backdrop. You may, however, add some closeups of small aspects, like faces, equipment, etc., but the main focus of the image must clearly be on "the team".

All picture entries must be sent to lpl@leadadventureforum.com and must meet a previously-specified deadline, namely 07.00 GMT on the Sunday before the next round opens on Monday morning. A picture must meet a maximum resolution of 800x800 pixels. All competitors must resize their own images before submitting them. This means they can be uploaded straight into the competition pages without any work in photoshop. Your images can be smaller than this if you like - but not bigger.

It's NOT allowed to post pictures of your team elsewhere on the LAF during their current round in the LPL. First after the end of the round.

Painting

The only hard and fast rule - all figures must be completely painted, and all bases must be finished. We ONLY accept pictures of finished models, "work in progress" (WIP) shots are NOT allowed.

Scale

There are NO scale restrictions. From 2mm to 120mm, and beyond, anything goes; of course, the scale should be consistent within the team, although you might enter different teams in different scales, and there might be some leeway for scales within teams, for example including a larger-scale figure as a "giant" in a group of otherwise smaller-scale figures - just make sure all figures follow a consistent theme.

Composition of the Team

The only thing NOT acceptable as part of a team is any type of terrain, which may only be used as a "backdrop" for your entry photography. Other than that, you may enter any assembly of miniatures, including humans, aliens, monsters, animals, robots, vehicles, ships, aircraft, spacecraft etc., or a combination thereof, for example a team of humans and animals or of humans and a vehicle (or multiple vehicles). The ONLY stipulation being that the team must follow a consistent theme.

Themes

The Season Four will not feature any limits, you may choose any theme or topic you like.

League Tables

All results will be collected in a „League Table“, continually updated and always showing the current state of the championship.

Matches

In each round, a number of matches will be held. In each match, two randomly-determined participants will face each other, the winner being determined by public vote in a Poll linked to the respective match.

Depending on the number of votes cast, participants receive League Points.

If the difference between votes is Five or less, the match is considered a "Draw" and both participants receive 20 points.

If the difference between votes is Six or more, the participant who received more votes is considered the "Winner" and receives 30 points, whereas his opponent, the "Loser" receives 10 points.

In addition, participants receive "bonus points" depending on the number of votes cast. For this, the number of votes received by the participant is divided by 10, the result being the number of "bonus points" the participant receives, ranging from 0 (9 votes or less) to a maximum of 15 (150 votes or more).

Rounds 1, 5 and 10 will be "bonus rounds", in which participants may enter teams that follow a previously-determined theme. If they meet the theme, they will be awarded match points, a bonus of "x" points for meeting the theme, vote bonus points and 10 points for entering a newly-painted team, as usual. The bonus themes are announced here - http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=15869.0

However, since it isn´t a “knock-out” system, losing a round will NOT mean you have to leave the league, just dropping in the league tables – if you put on a good show in the following rounds, you may still claw your way back to the top.

Winners

After the last round of the league (round 10), the winner will be the participant who collected the greatest number of League Points. Should two participants have scored an equal number of League Points, we´ll hold “paint-offs”, but probably, this will not be necessary.

The first three places will be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze status and will receive a special notion to their LAF account and post info.

Replacements

You do NOT have to enter a new team in every new Round, but you are ALLOWED to do so. You may compete with a single team for the whole season; even if a team should lose a match, it will NOT be dismissed from the competition. Note, though, that you receive 10 bonus points for every NEWLY-PAINTED (PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED) team you enter.

Again, bonus points will be scored for newly-painted teams - which means previously unpublished ones. In other words, groups of figures which have not been shown before, either here or on other forums. You can enter old teams if you like - but if they’ve been pictured online or in print before - no bonus points. Please tell me when you send me your entry if it’s a ‘new’ team or an ‘old’ one.

In the Round One, bonus points will NOT be earned for entering a new team in the league because everyone is entering a new team into the start of the League - even if some of those teams were not 'newly painted'. From Round Two onward, bonus points will be awarded for entering a new team which is newly painted (or previously unpublished one)
 
Please also clearly state the name of your team / entry.

It is perfectly acceptable to use one team for the whole season. However, participants may enter new teams between rounds, but NOT during a round; the only stipulation is that the new team must also consist of at least five figures and follow a common theme, but you may freely choose another theme if you feel like it – for example, replace a team of Pulp cultists with Gangsters, or Cowboys with Spartans, etc...

Registration and Deadlines

The first round of the first season will start on Monday, February 22th, 2010. Entries to any round must be received by 07.00 GMT on the Sunday before the next round opens on Monday morning. I’d really appreciate each Sunday to sort everything out ready for the Monday. All participants must have entered a pic prior to that date; all pictures received after deadline will enter play in the second round.

Entry Deadlines and Round Durations for the Season Four will be:

Round 1 (Sn4 Start)    February 22. – February 28.
Round 2          March 1. – March 7.
Round 3          March 8. – March 14.
Round 4         March 15. – March 21.
Round 5         March 22. – March 28.
Round 6         March 29. – April 4.    
Round 7         April 5. – April 11.
Round 8         April 12. – April 18.
Round 9         April 19. – April 25.
Round 10 (Sn4 Finals)    April 26. – May 2.

Participants may enter until until Sunday, the 21st of February.

OK, here we go, let the games begin !!!