And so, after 360 hard-fought matches, with more than 10,000 votes cast for 76 competitors from England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Russia, Sweden, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia (did I miss anyone?) Season 5 of The Lead Painters League is finally over.
I know many of you will join me in saying a heartfelt – Thank God for that!
Because, yes, it’s a shitload of work, toil, effort, blood, sweat, tears, grit and determination.
And that’s just for the organisers.
For the competitors it’s far, far more onerous than that.
Thank you to everyone who took part, voted, and contributed as commentators.
In the entire 10 weeks I only had to remove a handful of comments which overstepped the mark of ‘non-constructive criticism’. And apart from a brief flurry of rules-mongering before we got underway, there was very little dispute from any of the participants about any aspect of the competition. So a big thank you for conducting the whole thing in a friendly, positive LAF spirit.
A sincere thank you too, to the inestimable Ray Rivers for his excellent work as official LPL returning officer. Splitting the admin workload really makes it a much more manageable undertaking. It’s still pretty time-consuming - but more bearable.
So thanks, Ray, for all your time, as well as your ever-helpful input and support.
Congratulations to those contestants who stayed the course and managed to produce a new team for every single round. An astonishing 42 out of 72 people collect the blue riband, and that really is no mean feat. Turning out 10 new teams to a good standard is a tough challenge. Real life has a nasty habit of throwing itself in the way and tripping up the best intentions.
And now (drum roll… ) to our winners... The Winner of Season 5 of the Lead Painters League, gold medal champion extraordinaire, is the incomparable FRANK with a socking great score of 575 points.
Was it ever in any doubt?
Well, yes actually, because several people pushed him very close at times, and Regulator’s superb landsknechts put Frank’s elves briskly to the sword in Round 3. But Frank fought his way back up through the field, with one stunning composition after another, to snatch the lead after Round 9 and comprehensively secure the title in the final furlong…
In second place on 547 points, congratulations to the indefatigable CHAMBERSOFMINIATURES!Patrick finished 10th in LPL2, 4th in LPL3, and 4th again in LPL4! This time he has shouldered his way firmly onto the podium to take the silver medal with a succession of his trademark clean-cut entries, covering all sorts of wonderful subjects. A very well-deserved result, which I’m sure many LAFers will applaud. Next time, Patrick, only the outright win will do!
In third place with 541 points – DR. MATHIAS, who has made a thoroughly impressive LAF debut with his LPL campaign. After several early successes, Matt suffered a couple of setbacks mid-league, but roared back to finish in style and nab the bronze medal. Well done Matt (and welcome to Lead Adventure by the way
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Well done to the winners.
Extremely hard luck and sincere commiserations meanwhile, to the mighty Hammers, who led the field at a canter for almost the entire LPL, before - tantalisingly close to the finish line - falling prey to REAL LIFE
Also to the ever-brilliant Bugsda, who came galloping up on the outside rail, looking a dead cert to snaffle the title - before running into some seriously stiff opposition in the final two rounds.
And finally to Blackwolf1066 who made it to the silver medal position on the leaderboard after 9 rounds… For which his reward was a bone-crunching showdown with Frank in the final. Sorry Guy.
Congratulations to that whole clutch of gallant competitors - Bugsda, Blackwolf1066, AndyM, Blue In VT, Matakishi, Arcturus, and D@rth J@ymZ - who all ended up within touching distance of the podium at round about the 520-530 point mark. You were all serious contenders and can be justifiably proud of your campaigns. (I’m proud of you, dammit!
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Ray will publish the final leaderboard shortly, so all competitors can see exactly where they ended up.
Winning isn’t everything of course (well, it is as far as I’m concerned - but I know not everyone feels the same
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For many people, taking part in the LPL is about being the best they can be and challenging themselves as much as anybody else. And I think that’s something which all LPL participants would sign up to. Of course not everyone has the same level of craft or skill – but everyone can learn and improve, and I see a huge amount of learning and improvement going on, even in the course of one season of the LPL. In inventiveness, painting, photography and presentation.
And the last word, of course, must go to thank the Prof - the fevered brain and beating heart behind this great forum. For dreaming up this fascinating competition, and promoting it week after week.
Thanks Alex.