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Monday 17 October 2016

Armies on Parade 2016


You asked to be kept up-to-date on my entry into Armies on Parade, there's not much to tell really. If you'd seen my post on the 40k addict facebook group you'd see that there was no medal for me. However, I did get the nifty little pin badge. I wouldn't be human if I wasn't a little disappointed but by now everyone should be aware that although I like to win it's not all about the winning.

For some reason it reminded me of what Matt Damon said about winning an Oscar so young, and how it would feel if that's all you aspire to achieve.



OK I'm not Matt Damon and AoP isn't an Oscar but having won the gold and a silver already there are only a couple of incentives I have - taking part and hopefully getting a bronze medal so I can complete the set. I even finally reconciled 'winning' four years ago. To have failed to achieve anything the last two years it made me question what I'd done the first time around as there was no competition but I realised I did something no one else did - made an effort. The reward was first prize and the piece of mind never to have to 'win at all costs', to be in a position to just enjoy showcasing my armies. And I got that throughout the day - seeing all the AoP boards appear all over Facebook. It was great to feel part of that, I suppose being in store might have made it even more fun but I probably would have felt uncomfortable about the 'competition' side of it.


I've begun to believe the event suffers because of the competition. I saw a few people on facebook disappointed about being beaten by store managers or cliques block voting. However, without the competition I doubt folk would put in the extremes of effort they do, so it's a double edged [power] sword.

I'm not sure what I'll be displaying next year, regardless of the result I'm the only person to have displayed for the last four years and I want to continue that run. I strongly believe in the event is we'll just have to see what I complete between now and then.


I took a few pictures when I picked my board up. This was the eventual winner, Chris won two years ago and came third last year.


The Bastion was really nice, I was a bit envious actually.


Loved the scouts and their camo cloaks.



This was second place


With a sneaky Tau hiding in plain sight.


Unfortunately third place had gone by the time I got there but pictures of all the entries are in the facebook link above if you're interested.

On another side note I did receive a facebook friend request later in the day from someone at GW worth more than any medal, so I'm doing something right :)

8 comments:

  1. It is always hard not to win, especially when you put in so much effort. At the very least you have a lovely looking army to play with.

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    1. Absolutely, AoP is really just another opportunity to aim for to get stuff done. My only problem is next year I'm not sure what I'll be able to share that's new but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it :)

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  2. Good effort fella, you did yourself proud and the lads look great! At least you'll have more time for gaming with them now too :)

    Also, don't you have some Big Purple Stamps of Approval to award yourself by way of consolation?

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    1. I do, I have to award them for my Bastions, unfortunately I haven't taken the pictures yet so it's on hold at the moment

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  3. As ApP gains popularity it will become more competitive, someone's got to keep the original spirit alive though and remind everyone what the events really about.

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    1. Thanks Steven, as much as I enter into the painting competitions at tournaments and such I really don't like them. I haven't enjoyed them since my first one [http://www.40kaddict.uk/2010/11/dark-angels-genesis-vol-3.html].

      To be fair though that's not the only reason it's the presumption of winning. It's why I don't do the lottery, that 'gotta be in it to win it' somehow translates to 'be in it and you'll win it' in my head and leads to disappointment. So 90% of me is entering to share what I've done and the little 10% greedy hind-brain is wanting to win and I hate that little fekker because he spoils the whole vibe.

      That's the challenge, whether it's painting or gaming. I'm just after a good time and try to keep those old unpleasant competitive aspects at bay. You're right though, seeing so many folk desparate to win, as if that's the be all and end all of the Parade it's dispiriting in the least.

      I even had one guy look at my display on the Friday night and state he wasn't going to bother entering after seeing it and that's bad for a number of reasons. He was clearly well off the mark though ;)

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  4. Shame you didn't get your third place, but well done on a great AoP board.

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    1. Maybe next time? You can't predict these things anyway. As I've said before people vote for whatever they want, with no criteria you can never tell what that is. Some folk look for effort, quality, quantity, theme or any mix of the above.

      Bottom line I don't think you can plan to win one of these things - you can put in tons of effort, do the best you've ever done but on the day people vote for what they want, the trick is being comfortable with your own efforts and luckily I have that thanks to all the support from you guys.

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