Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => The Lead Painters' League => Season 9 => Topic started by: Captain Blood on February 27, 2015, 06:47:13 PM
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Lead Adventure Forum proudly presents the Lead Painters’ League 9
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/20/577_27_02_15_7_18_45.jpg)
This year, the Lead Painters' League will be held for the ninth time.
The rules are exactly the same as for season eight - so I’m hoping there shouldn’t be too many queries and questions :)
The basic rule remains: paint 5 figures as a team, take a pic, resize the pic to a maximum of 800x800 pixels and send it in.
In more detail…
Lead Painters’ League 9 (LPL9) Rules
1. Duration
The Lead Painters' League is held once a year, consisting of 10 rounds, with each round taking one week of real time.
2. Number of Participants
The maximum number of participants is 50.
3. Entry Requirements
To take part in the league, you must submit three new teams (to be featured in the first three rounds) by a specified deadline. See below for the league season's deadlines.
Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis - the first 50 people to submit three painted teams will take part in the league.
- You may not enter your LPL9 registration pictures before Friday 27th March 2015, 19.00 (7 pm) GMT. Entries sent before this date and time won't be accepted.
- The final deadline for entries is Friday 10th April 2015, 12.00 noon GMT. Remember, you must submit THREE teams by this date.
- You MUST specify which of these THREE teams is to participate in the first round, which in the second round, and which in the third.
4. Teams
A ‘team’ consists of 5 or more fully-painted miniatures or models in any scale up to 40mm.
A ‘new team’ is a set of painted figures, photos of which have NOT previously been published ANYWHERE on the Internet (this only applies to the miniatures in their painted state, of course).
All figures or models must be on finished bases, which may be textured, decorated, painted (with a pattern or in a solid, finished single colour) or consist of clear plastic (such as "flying" bases or clear acrylic/perspex shapes).
The figures must form a plausible ‘team’ by following a common theme AND being ‘on the same side’ - thus, for example, 2 Vampires and 3 Witch Hunters do NOT form a legal team, whereas 5 Woodland Indians do.
A miniature mounted on a steed of any kind (horse, lizard, warg, pig, motorcycle, squig or space hopper) counts as a single figure.
Larger beasts or vehicles, such as elephants and trucks, count as a single figure with their mahouts or drivers; any extra figures such as howdah fighting crew and passengers count as separate, additional figures.
5. Team Photographs
You should submit a single photograph of the figures in the team, which may NOT be a collage or composite of individual images.
The maximum image dimensions are 800 pixels wide by 800 pixels high.
The maximum file size is 500kb (due to technical limitations, and to reduce loading time for slower internet connections).
You may NOT use any kind of digital manipulation except for basic image correction to white balance, colour balance, sharpness, brightness and contrast.
The following modifications are expressly FORBIDDEN:
• Any text
• Any special effect (e.g. glow effects, artificial shadows, coloured outlines)
• Additional close-ups
• Alternative viewing angles
• Digitally-added background imagery
• Digital removal of base edges, addition of smoke, flames, etc
• Any kind of frames
The above list is NOT comprehensive.
In short, any modification that goes beyond making the picture representative of the actual figures (see above) is not allowed.
6. Photography Backgrounds
Your backdrop may only be a single colour, a gradient, or a scenery setting including terrain pieces. Note that the backdrop must be in the photo from the start (i.e. you must photograph the figures in front of it). You may not digitally add or paint in a background image at a later point.
7. Submitting Photographs
When submitting photographs, the following details must be supplied in the text body of the e-mail:
• Team Name: to a maximum length of 30 characters (including additional information such as "decals used" or "xx mm scale").
• Member Name: even if it is for the last round of the league, always remember to add your forum username to ease administration and avoid mix-ups.
• Declare if the team is new – i.e. previously unpublished (see 3. above).
To help us with administration, please also put your user name, team name and intended round in the mail header (e.g. "SamSamplename Crusader_Cavalry Round 2" and, if possible, in the file name (e.g. "SamSamplename_crusader_cavalry_rd2.jpg"). This is useful for keeping track, especially for a larger number of participants. Further details as specified under 7.a. need only be put in the text body.
Matches
8. Match pairings
In each round, participants' teams will be paired off in one topic for each match. LAF members may vote for either of the two teams. Each LAF member has a single vote on each and every match.
9. Winning, drawing and losing
If the vote difference is 11 votes or more, the team with the higher number of votes is declared the winner and receives 30 match points. The team with the lower number of votes is the loser and receives 10 match points.
If the vote difference is 10 votes or less, the match counts as a draw and both teams are awarded 20 match points.
10a. Vote share bonus points
1. Both contestants' total vote scores are added to determine the total vote score.
2. Next, each contestants individual score is divided by the total vote score to determine their share.
3. Each contestant receives 1 vote point for every ten percent of the total vote score.
4. For fractions of ten percent, the lower score is rounded up to the next full ten, the higher score is rounded down. This means that unless a contestant receives zero votes, the minimum score is always 1, the maximum score is always 9.
Example: If, in a match, 500 votes were cast, of which 400 were in favour of contestant A and 100 in contestant B, contestant A receives 8 vote points (80%) whereas contestant B receives 2 vote points (20%).
If contestant A received 370 votes (74%) whereas contestant B receives 130 (26%), contestant B's vote points are rounded up from 2.6 to 3.
We consider this to be a fairer representation of the voters' favour than the previous system based on the actual number of votes, since it does not penalise matches with low total vote scores.
10b. Newly painted team bonus points
In rounds 4 through 10, any new (i.e. unpublished, cf. 3 above) team will receive 10 points the first time it participates. Older, previously published teams may also be submitted to participate, but will not receive this ‘new team’ bonus.
11. Themed bonus rounds
Rounds 1, 5 and 10 are bonus rounds featuring a specific theme. See below for the specific themes of this year's season.
In these rounds, if you submit a new team for a bonus round that matches the bonus round's theme, your team receives an extra theme round bonus as specified below (in addition to the 10 point ‘new team’ bonus).
This year, the specific bonus themes are:
Round 1 - Armour
A team comprising figures that are all demonstrably fully or partially wearing some prominent form of BODY ARMOUR (i.e. Not just a helmet). From ancient, medieval, renaissance and fantasy subjects in plate or mail, through to sci-fi and modern subjects in power armour or kevlar.
Paint a team of at least 5 figures all in full or partial body armour and get 10 extra theme bonus points.
Round 5 - Animals
A team comprising (or including) five animals, real or imaginary EXCEPT horses. So dogs, wolves, camels, elephants, apes, wargs, dragons, mumakil, fell beasts, dinosaurs - anything you like providing they are not humanoid (or humanoid style aliens) or horses.
Paint a team of at least 5 animals and get 10 extra theme bonus points.
Paint a team of at least 5 animals AND 5 accompanying riders / handlers / herders / crew and get 15 extra theme bonus points.
(Please note this extra theme bonus for riders / handlers AND their animals, is an exception to the usual rule about a rider and mount counting as one figure)
Round 10 – Women
Paint a team of 5 or more female figures and gain 10 bonus points. Paint a team of 5 or more female figures AND an accompanying 'big thing' (e.g. a vehicle, large animal or creature, ship, siege engine or structure, aeroplane, armoured fighting vehicle, spacecraft) and gain 20 bonus points.
12. Unfair Means
During any round in which a team is participating in a match, you may NOT post images of that team elsewhere on the internet, nor ask other people to vote in your favour. This would constitute unsporting and ungentlemanly conduct.
13. Bonus Awards Points
The following bonus points are available during Season 9:
Round 1 - 10 pts theme bonus: ‘Armour’
Round 2 - no bonus
Round 3 - no bonus
Round 4 - 10 pts new bonus
Round 5 - 10 pts new bonus, 10/15 pts theme bonus: ‘Animals’
Round 6 - 10 pts new bonus
Round 7 - 10 pts new bonus
Round 8 - 10 pts new bonus
Round 9 - 10 pts new bonus
Round 10 - 10 pts new bonus, 10/20 pts theme bonus: ‘Women’
14. The Championship Title
After the final 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 will hold ‘paint-offs’ - but probably this will not be necessary.
The three highest placed participants will be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals shown on their LAF account and post info.
To this end, we have some newly minted LPL medals, created by Dr Mathias. The seven-sided design represents the seven seas that connect the worldwide community of Lead Adventurers. The relevant medals will also be added to the profiles of all previous LPL winners and runners-up.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/20/577_27_02_15_11_55_09.png)
15. Timings, Registration and Deadlines
The first round of LPL9 will start on Sunday 12th April, 2015.
Entries to any round must be received by 12.00 GMT on the Friday before the next round opens on the Sunday.
Which means that you have until 12.00 GMT on Friday 10th April to get your first three teams in at
lpl@leadadventureforum.com
The round entry deadlines for LPL9 will be as follows:
Round 1 - Friday 10th April
Round 2 - Friday 10th April
Round 3 - Friday 10th April
Round 4 - Friday 1st May
Round 5 - Friday 8th May
Round 6 - Friday 15th May
Round 7 - Friday 22nd May
Round 8 - Friday 29th May
Round 9 - Friday 5th June
Round 10 – Friday 12th June
PLEASE USE THIS RULES THREAD ONLY FOR QUESTIONS OR CLARIFICATIONS ON THE RULES.
FOR GENERAL COMMENT ON LPL9, PLEASE USE THE GENERAL LPL9 THREAD: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=76116.0
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Think I get the gist of it.
"Thunderbirds are go!" :)
Cheers,
Fred
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Great to see this getting off the Ground once again. I'm not sure I can participate this year but even if I don't it will be FUN to watch.
Thanks to you and your team for making happen again.
Cheers,
Blue
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To take part in the league, you must submit three new teams (to be featured in the first three rounds) by a specified deadline. See below for the league season's deadlines.
Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis - the first 50 people to submit three painted teams will take part in the league.
- You may not enter your LPL9 registration pictures before Friday 27th March 2015, 19.00 pm GMT. Entries sent before this date and time won't be accepted.
- The final deadline for entries is Friday 10th April 2015, 12.00 noon GMT. Remember, you must submit THREE teams by this date.
For anyone wondering what 1900 GMT March 27th is in their local time, I recommend the following excellent web resource: Time Zone Converter (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html)
That's 1200 (noon) on March 27th here in Pacific Daylight Time, for example. I'll have to have my photos ready the night before and email them to myself at work so I can send my entries in on my lunch hour, I guess.
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That's 1200 (noon) on March 27th here in Pacific Daylight Time, for example. I'll have to have my photos ready the night before and email them to myself at work so I can send my entries in on my lunch hour, I guess.
Note that you have a window of 13.7 days to submit your registration. While it is helpful for all involved to have your registration entries ready once the window opens, experience shows that it usually takes a couple of days to fill up (of course, it could all be different this year and all the slots will be taken by 7.15pm! ;)).
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Also worth pointing out that none of the last three LPLs actually filled up completely.
There were only 40 participants in LPL8, 30 in LPL7 and 46 in LPL6.
It was the last LPL which I ran (LPL5) which had 76 competitors! (Boy, that was a lot of admin!)
So it seems probable (but not impossible) that we may not fill all 50 places by the final deadline this time either - in which case I suspect there is no tearing hurry to get your entry in by 27th March - you can probably take the extra week or two and still be reasonably secure of booking your slot.
But... There is always the risk we will be miraculously swamped with competitors this time, so it's up to you how you play it :)
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Dear would-be participants...
I have had a couple of enquiries on this point, so worth repeating / clarifying it:
To take part in the league, you need to submit three NEW teams by the deadline.
A ‘new team’ is a set of painted figures, photos of which have NOT previously been published ANYWHERE on the Internet.
The reason why there are no 'new team' bonus points available for Rounds 1 - 3 is not because they don't have to be new teams. But because everybody has to paint and submit three new teams to be eligible to take part.
Which makes awarding 'new team' bonus points for those first three rounds a bit pointless - because all the teams in the first three rounds will, de facto, be new teams!
Hope that makes sense and helps clarify :)
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full armour, horses, chicks ... got it.
Need to get my digi-cam running or a new one ... and quick. Thanks for organizing it again. Hope I can be a part of it this year!
best wishes
DK
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full armour, horses, chicks ... got it.
Actually, full or partial armour, any animals but horses, and chicks :)
Apart from that - spot on ;)
Look forward to your entries.
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This part of the rules should be corrected: "The first round of LPL9 will start on Easter Sunday 12th April, 2015."
Easter Sunday is the 5th April! So the LPL9 will start on the 12th April, 2015, but AFTER Easter!
Just to avoid confusion ... o_o
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A very good point, Michael, thank you.
We were originally going to start a week earlier, which would have been Easter Sunday - but decided to give evryone a bit more time :)
I shall correct it.
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Captain
Couldn't see the e-mail address (probably I've gone blind) - Have sent it to same as last year - lpl@leadadventureforum.com
Is this correct?
Thanks
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Look again - it's in big bold letters lol
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I said I was going blind - too much time painting :D
Reckon if I went to Hollywood I'd miss the sign on the hill :)
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So a "big think" is not necessarily a big woman?
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So a "big think" is not necessarily a big woman?
The big thing can be any large, relevant object modelled to scale in with the figures - a large vehicle, creature, structure - anything.
(But not a great big email address ;))
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Would a piece of terrain qualify as a big thing, more specifically a building?
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Would a piece of terrain qualify as a big thing, more specifically a building?
Hi Nord.
Afraid not. See my earlier reply on the other thread...
It's a fine line. It shouldn't really be a piece of out-and-out scenery like a hill or a house. (You can include these sorts of things by way of a backdrop of course, but the big thing should be a gaming item rather than 'scenery')
It could however be a relevant structure like a siege tower or a crane. It's difficult to be definitive about where to draw the line. If anyone is in any doubt, please check via PM and I'll let you know whether - in principle - your big thing qualifies for the extra bonus points.
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Hi ! just a question about the round 5 (animals)
Donkey and Mules count like camel and will be accepted for animal, or count like horse and will not be accepted for animal ?
Stéphane
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Donkeys and mules are not horses and so would count for the bonus points.
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hah if i manage to finish the 15 miniatures i have on my desk in the next 3 days im in :D
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With the animal round, it says they can not be humanoid. Does this mean anthropomorphic animals are out?
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With the animal round, it says they can not be humanoid. Does this mean anthropomorphic animals are out?
Anthropomorphic animals are acceptable providing they are obviously animals - eg. Redwall-style armed mice or similar.
However, humanoid shaped aliens (such as Kroot) for instance, would not count for bonus points. Because although they have some animalistic physical traits, they are essentially humanoid-like bi-peds not animals.
If in doubt, pm me to check any specific suggestion.
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Anthropomorphic animals are acceptable providing they are obviously animals - eg. Redwall-style armed mice or similar.
However, humanoid shaped aliens (such as Kroot) for instance, would not count for bonus points. Because although they have some animalistic physical traits, they are essentially humanoid-like bi-peds not animals.
If in doubt, pm me to check any specific suggestion.
how is it with Ork Squigs ?
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how is it with Ork Squigs ?
I don't think it's really an animal is it? It's a form of small orc.
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I don't think it's really an animal is it? It's a form of small orc.
i wuld argue it is an animal because it doesnt posess any high form of intelligence and orks use it to ride on it :D
also its not in any way human or humanoid !
so animals are only animals that really exist ? so for example purple worms or unicorns are not animals ? How about Wargs ? i mean they were able to talk in the Hobbit novel and thus are not really animals either
but im not entering this year anyway....so i dont mind :D
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Well, as you say, it's a bit academic anyway... But, for the record, I would say there are lots of fantasy animals which are obviously animals: unicorns, wargs, dragons, griffins, mumakil, hippogriffs and so on... All very obviously animals - albeit imaginary.
GW (and GW-style) 'Ork' things, in all their various shapes and sizes, are not - in my humble opinion - animals. They are Orks.
We could probably agree they are 'creatures' though ;)
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I also recall a discussion that orcs are mushrooms of some sort - at least the GW ones. So they aren't even animals but belong to another biological "dominion" lol
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GW (and GW-style) 'Ork' things, in all their various shapes and sizes, are not - in my humble opinion - animals. They are Orks.
lets just agree to disagree then :D
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Dear LPL participants...
Just a brief reminder of one particular rule:
'Your backdrop may be a single colour, a gradient, or a scenery setting including terrain pieces'
The use of photographic backdrops was disallowed a few LPLs ago, as there was some concern over some post-production fiddling with images to 'comp' in photographic backgrounds. Which was not felt to be entirely fair...
However, I do realise the rules are slightly ambiguous as they stand. So I am amending them to read: 'Your backdrop may ONLY be a single colour, a gradient, or a scenery setting including terrain pieces'.
There are one or two entries amongst the first three rounds of teams submitted which DO include photo backdrops.
Obviously we don't want to make things difficult for people. So all those round 1 - 3 entries already made will be allowed to stand, with or without photographic backgrounds.
But for future reference, do please bear in mind from round 4 entries onwards - no photo backdrops allowed. Only neutral / plain/ graduated backgrounds (in any colour you like!) and / or physical terrain and scenery.
Thank you :)
Richard
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Are open-air photos (with real terrain) allowed too?
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Are open-air photos (with real terrain) allowed too?
You can photograph your miniatures wherever you like. Many past LPL entries have (not always successfully, it must be said) been shot with floral curtains or milk bottles in the background. So if you want to photograph your miniatures in the garden and there is sky naturally occurring in the background, well I don't suppose that's any different to me photographing my miniatures indoors with a blue wall in the background.
Please understand the good intent behind the rule: it is simply that no printed (or on-screen) photographic backdrops should be placed behind the miniatures while they're being photographed, or afterwards using photoshop.
A plain or scenery/terrain background is the safest option :)
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shame on me!! :'(
I must apologize. I misunderstood that part of the rules.
Whatever you need for amendment , just tell me.
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No problem. We shall go with what we have now :)
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You can photograph your miniatures wherever you like. Many past LPL entries have (not always successfully, it must be said) been shot with floral curtains or milk bottles in the background. So if you want to photograph your miniatures in the garden and there is sky naturally occurring in the background, well I don't suppose that's any different to me photographing my miniatures indoors with a blue wall in the background.
Please understand the good intent behind the rule: it is simply that no printed (or on-screen) photographic backdrops should be placed behind the miniatures while they're being photographed, or afterwards using photoshop.
A plain or scenery/terrain background is the safest option :)
Make it simple. All backgrounds MUST include a milk bottle. :-)
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Make it simple. All backgrounds MUST include a milk bottle. :-)
But we don't have milk bottles on the island, just milk cartons :'( :( >:(
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But we don't have milk bottles on the island, just milk cartons :'( :( >:(
was about to say the same lol
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I may try to make a billboard scenery item with a milk bottle on it :)
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why not having a Cleopatra mini bathing in milk, huh?
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why not having a Cleopatra mini bathing in milk, huh?
That could be going with entry 10... I have some minis by Brother Vinnie in mind that would fit...
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That could be going with entry 10... I have some minis by Brother Vinnie in mind that would fit...
Good idea.
Entry 10 - Cleopatra in milk bath + 4 servant girls + Milk bottle (something big) :D
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I am confused about one thing. You paint a new team each round - correct? So why the bit about having to submit three teams at the start? Or is that to make sure people have got into the swing of things?
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this ... and having the first three rounds settled I guess. So, after sending in the firsts, one has shown his ... devotion and has three more weeks for painting.
best wishes
DK
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I am confused about one thing. You paint a new team each round - correct? So why the bit about having to submit three teams at the start? Or is that to make sure people have got into the swing of things?
Prior to that rule, there would be one or two entrants that submitted one team and that was it... So, the same picture for ten weeks. As you can probably imagine that's pretty boring and throws off the matches because return teams get fewer votes, typically.
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Just a word because I'm new in this competition. I find no trace of the matching rules to determine who meets who in every round. This is random or there are rules? If so, which and where could I found them ?
Thanks.
Stéphane
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I find no trace of the matching rules to determine who meets who in every round. This is random or there are rules?
There are no rules - it's a random draw, which is then adjusted if it throws up an obviously uncompetitive match (or a pair who have been matched previously).
In practice this means a fair amount of adjustment, because of the huge range of differing abilities amongst the contestants.
If the draw throws up one of the very best painters against one of the least accomplished, that is going to result in an uncompetitve match with a 500 votes - nil result. This would be of no real interest or benefit to anybody.
Under these circumstances I redraw the match until a pairing emerges where at least both entries have a fighting chance - even if one seems to have an obvious edge.
I'm afraid that is a subjective process. I have to decide from the draw what is a reasonable match versus a pointless match.
But if we simply let nature take its course, with the top painters hammering the less good painters all the way through the league for 10 weeks, that wouldn't make for a very entertaining competition, and wouldn't be very motivating for the underdogs :)
So it's a compromise I'm afraid.
By the way, further manual adjustment takes place in the later rounds, to make sure that the leading pack of painters all face each other (if they haven't already done so), to make sure the eventual winners have been properly challenged, with no easy matches smoothing their way to the final.
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Man..... how come I always miss this??? ??? ??? ??? :'(
Darrell.
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Could you please clarify one aspect of the following:
Round 10 – Women
Paint a team of 5 or more female figures and gain 10 bonus points. Paint a team of 5 or more female figures AND an accompanying 'big thing' (e.g. a vehicle, large animal or creature, ship, siege engine or structure, aeroplane, armoured fighting vehicle, spacecraft) and gain 20 bonus points.
Should the accompanying "big thing" be necessarily a friend or can it also be an enemy?
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Accompanying, meaning something that thematically fits in with the 'team'. We will not be too strict, as long as the big thing makes some kind of sense in relation to the team itself :)
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Would it be possible in the future to leave the contestant names hidden until after the vote is cast for each match (in each round)?
This would prevent name recognition from giving even the appearance of a factor in voting.
Also, I find it quite unsettling when a contestant places no entries for a round and round after round their same re-used entry receives more votes than the other. I would like to see some adjustment to address this. Maybe something to the effect that a contestant gets 1 miss per season and then after that no votes are recorded and the match is forfeit.
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Would it be possible in the future to leave the contestant names hidden until after the vote is cast for each match (in each round)?
This would prevent name recognition from giving even the appearance of a factor in voting.
I think we've seen the main arguments at least in LPL4 aftermath (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=18781.msg227486#msg227486) and probably a couple of times after that too. ;)
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I just looked at that thread and that really isn't the issue. It's not a matter of unsportsmanlike it's the unconscious bias of expectation that is very tough to fight. I know I try to look at the photos and make a decision before making a voting decision, but it's not always easy to not look at the who before the what.
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It's a fair enough point eluczaj, and as Dolmot says, we have debated the point of 'anonymity' many times before. But it's been decided we will stick to how we do it for now. Most of the painters are readily identifiable by their style of painting, presentation, and preference for subject matter anyway.
The problem of recurring entries becoming boring is again a complaint we have heard before :)
The problem is, someone decides to take part fully intending to paint 10 new teams - and then real life intervenes, and they are unable to keep up the production line, so have to resubmit a team that's already been used, or let an existing team run on through several rounds.
It happens every time - a few people are always forced by circumstances outside their control to fall by the wayside.
Happy to hear your suggestions for how to handle it differently.
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Don't think you can avoid 'fanboyism', it's part of the hobby and perhaps life in general. :) I will freely admit that I voted for certain painters again and again, since I like their style regardless of topics. Also I want them to be honoured for their contributions and hopefully be encouraged at least by a place higher up the leaderboard. So that may well have influenced how I cast my votes. However, I prefer quality paintjobs or ingenious ideas anytime, so I tend to share my favourite entries with quite a few people.
Recurring entries are a different matter. On average I'm in favour of anyone who makes the effort to paint up something new each and every week during LPL (or at least paints as many teams in advance). Yet at times the recurring entry is simply superior for any number of reasons, and I feel it's not the spirit of this august competition to vote for something I don't like. In fact, I would find it unfair to simply expel someone who's unable to continue but has at least provided the required three unpublished teams to enter initially – that's more than I can manage, so…
In essence, I'm happy with the rules as they are. There's always room for improvement – and I would love to see the amount of rules obviously required to be reduced, which's illusive, of course –, but they've produced another high-quality, yet friendly competition in the best spirit of LAF.
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Well said, Doc. :)
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Regarding anonymity, it clearly won't and shouldn't happen completely. For example, people want to give personal compliments and ask questions during the ongoing round, thus if nothing else, checking the comments will usually reveal the identities. However, I think it would be possible to hide the names partially with some kind of spoiler tag functionality, near-invisible colours, or just moving them to the bottom of posts. That way people could personally vote with or without peeking as they wish. Conversely, worrying about other people voting "wrong" for any reason is rarely justified.
Still, we have a long tradition of painters using various tropes or signature bits on top of their inherent painting style. If any level of anonymity is attempted, would it then be considered inappropriate to include such signatures in the photos? I wouldn't find the ensuing debate and/or restrictions worth the trade-off.
Regarding missed rounds and recurring entries, I can think of a few small or large changes:
- Currently the rule seems to be that if no communication is received, the last entry is repeated. Otherwise the participant can choose, possibly favouring what they consider their best team. However, the greatest gripe seems to be continual repetition of the same entries, not missing rounds per se. As people already submit three initial teams by default, could we introduce some rotation principle among those (and any further entries) to avoid five-week streaks of the same team?
- At least this year we had an odd number of participants. The last one was thus left out due to pairing. Could we maintain a list of substitute painters to step in if some of the original participants clearly can't keep up? (Say, three weeks of total silence or announcing the situation themselves?) There should be some acceptable options for scoring in that case as well.
- What is the current rule for submitting old stuff from your collection? Obviously there won't be a new team bonus, but can you do that in the first place? In some cases it might be more interesting for the audience than repetition of ongoing season's stuff only.
One or two rounds of repetition is hardly a problem. After all, it's always been a rule that you don't have to submit something every week. In fact, I think the original idea of LPL was "replace whenever you feel like". Only later it gradually turned into expecting new entries every round, which is quite exhausting. I believe that's among the reasons why the number of entrants has been decreasing in recent years, thus we definitely cannot afford even stricter requirements for updating.
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- Currently the rule seems to be that if no communication is received, the last entry is repeated. Otherwise the participant can choose, possibly favouring what they consider their best team. However, the greatest gripe seems to be continual repetition of the same entries, not missing rounds per se. As people already submit three initial teams by default, could we introduce some rotation principle among those (and any further entries) to avoid five-week streaks of the same team?
- At least this year we had an odd number of participants. The last one was thus left out due to pairing. Could we maintain a list of substitute painters to step in if some of the original participants clearly can't keep up? (Say, three weeks of total silence or announcing the situation themselves?) There should be some acceptable options for scoring in that case as well.
- What is the current rule for submitting old stuff from your collection? Obviously there won't be a new team bonus, but can you do that in the first place? In some cases it might be more interesting for the audience than repetition of ongoing season's stuff only.
Point 1, yes. That would make sense.
Point 2, personally I don't think changing horses mid-race would be right - it then becomes a kind of tag-team effort, when it's supposed to be individual.
Point 3, perfectly acceptable to use old stuff from your collection or previously published pics. Which indeed is what Lt Hazel has done in the latter stages of this LPL, since his accident prevented him from painting any more new stuff.
There's no ideal answer - well apart from asking all participamnts to provide 10 new teams up front ;)
But in the absence of any instructions to the contrary, I do think a rotation of repeat entries (rather than running the same one again and again) would be a good idea and easy to implement.
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Good answers to the above I think, one of the problems is perhaps the timing or window of the competition
I didn't enter this year because I knew that I would have to return to the UK at some point because of a family illness and be unable to complete 10 entries
I would like to enter next year but the timing of the LPL coincides with a planned visit to the UK at Salute time and will mean that I will not be able to paint for 3-4 weeks, I can however prepare teams in advance and enter several before I leave, or having already completed and photographed them send the entries from a laptop during my travels each week (as I've done in the past)
Please can I ask a question? - if the special bonus teams were known well in advance, say before Christmas then one would have longer to prepare and complete and be in a position to be ready for the competition well in advance - the advantage is that those with a commitment during the "running period" would be able to take part - they still have to produce the teams but to their own time frame.
However under these circumstances they are not under weekly pressure - how much or how important is the ethos of "painting a team in a week under pressure for a deadline week after week for a short period" a desirable part of the LPL against painting all year round for the LPL but keeping it under wraps until the timing of the event
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Please can I ask a question? - if the special bonus teams were known well in advance, say before Christmas then one would have longer to prepare and complete and be in a position to be ready for the competition well in advance - the advantage is that those with a commitment during the "running period" would be able to take part - they still have to produce the teams but to their own time frame.
However under these circumstances they are not under weekly pressure - how much or how important is the ethos of "painting a team in a week under pressure for a deadline week after week for a short period" a desirable part of the LPL against painting all year round for the LPL but keeping it under wraps until the timing of the event
Kerry, I don't think the ethos of having to paint a team a week against the clock is that important really. I don't believe The Prof ever intended the LPL to be an exercise in self-flagellation :)
Truthfully, if one wants to enter 10 new teams across the 10 weeks of the league, it's always been perfectly possible to paint at least 7 of those teams any time you like in the preceding year.
Obviously, the only teams you're actually going to have to paint within the window of the league are the three teams for the theme bonus rounds - if you're chasing the maximum points. Which of course most participants want to... :)
But to be fair, over the last two or three leagues, the announcement of the LPL (including bonus round themes), has been made around 6 weeks before the league actually starts... So there's plenty of time to paint 15 or 20 figures.
My approach in the last couple of leagues has been to have 2 or 3 teams already painted before the league is announced (I'd normally do this over Christmas). Then get another 2 or 3 teams finished during that 6-week preparatory period before the league actually starts. Leaving me with only 4 or 5 teams to paint during the actual 10-week running period of the league itself. I'm sure many LPLers take the same approach :)
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No self-flagellation?
damn, should have known that before. However, the scars look cool on my back. :D
This year - my second LPL - my taking part came out more or less spontaneous, because at time of anouncement I realized, I already had 6 teams nearly ready, also never shown before.
Nothing special, cause it was fast painted purely for gaming, not show-case or show-off in any case, but cool enough for me (which is the most important part, anyway).
I had planned to take part with far more ambicious minis, but heck ... there is alway a next LPL.
Anyway, I can only strongly recommend to try the LPL. Seeing Your pix battle others in addition to other matches sharpens and opens ones mind to new ideas. And on top I am doing the pic-battle with people all over the world ... more or less literally.
It's simply great to be a part of.
so ... nike ... just to it :D
DK
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I'm all about the self flagellation ;)
I think maybe three figures were finished (minus basing) before the announcement. I usually show everything I've done online. I'll have to see how I compared to previous years, in terms of production.
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I only managed to make the commitment for LPL twice, and both times the 3 team buffer I started with was gone by the 6th week. I liked the boost it gave my painting output but it can be tough at the end. I have found joining the painting clubs is easier on my currently tight schedule. Hats off to everyone who participated this year. Lots of great work by all.
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So..... I was wondering..... when is the next one scheduled to start?
Apologies if this is the incorrect place to ask.
Darrell.
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So..... I was wondering..... when is the next one scheduled to start?
Darrell.
Just posted the announcement:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?board=22.0
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Just posted the announcement:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?board=22.0
Thanks Prof. Read and digested and printed too! I think I may have the ideal project in mind.
Darrell.