#BloodBowl #ArmiesOnParade Mega bowl or Death Bowl pitch - TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been working on my #ArmiesOnParade2023 board. This year is all about showcasing 4 of my Blood Bowl teams. The 'best of the rest' category is always quite small and I wanted to showcase it doesn't have to be 40k or 30k [and not a cynical attempt to reduce the odds]. Mega bowl is way of playing Blood Bowl  with 4 teams and I wanted a 7's pitch so that it would fit in a 2'x2' square. However, 7's pitches are 21 spaces long and you may note this is one square short... Nevermind, it's not like I'm going to limit it to seven players on the pitch either. Anyway, I created the grid, the 3x3 corners will be space for reserves and the inner square is the 'no-man's' land that teams start outside of.

Next up - tile spacers to create tangible squares. Superglued in place, although the glue was a little temperamental sometimes. It was quite the challenge to make sure the crosses were all aligned neatly while 'floating' on this cushion of superglue. Using a couple of scalpels to press it in place was the easiest way to do it. 

The whole thing got a PVA and sand covering, then primed with Halfords Red Oxide car primer, then I think matt black car spray. Lots of Burnt Umber brown, but the bottom quarter will be my Nurgle tar pit, so I mixed talcum powder with PVA to create an effect similar to my Gloss Black 3d Texture paint. The tile spacers were still a little too plasticky, so I added some Valejo Red Oxid texture paste on all of them. 

I started mixing in some Latte [cream] art acrylic into the Burnt Umber for highlights in each player square.

And yet more highlights, creating a much paler board than I had expected.

I added a bit of shading around each tile spacer and then picked each one out in white so they're clearly defined.

I then added the rest of the pitch markings, so now we can begin to understand the layout a bit more. Now, we know where Nurgle is going, but the Humans and Halflings are on grass, while the Orcs are barren earth, which is what we currently have. So who else goes where?

This is a Photoshop mock-up as I had always envisaged the grass splitting the pitch.

Halflings opposite the Humans.

But I suddenly wondered if dividing it diagonally might make more sense.

With 'good' on one side and bad encroaching from the other.

So I used the mock-ups to poll on a Blood Bowl group and they all suggested splitting the pitch was the better option. I'm not sure why but this is where we got to with the flocking, some small flowers in the Halfling reserve area [I swapped the human halfling sides] and gloss varnished the tar pit. The grass was much less green than my renderings but other than that it came out OK.

So, next was picking out the endzones, which was pretty straight forward and fun to do.

And lastly the BB double skull logo in the centre. In 7's 2 balls fit in 2 of the 4 centre squares [so actually if it had have been 21x21 squares it wouldn't have worked]. So the skull is a nice touch to help show where that is and harks back to the Astrogranite™ original. I printed an outline stencil, cut it out and stippled white. The a second stencil for the black outline, which I then tidied up freehand.

So that pretty much TO DONE! and as it was done quite a few months back now it actually gets the last GREAT Big RUSTY Stamp of Approval. 

So, as far as I'm concerned my AoP is now ready. The only thing I feel I could add is a backdrop, but I'm not sure I have the wherewithal at the moment to fit that in alongside my other hobby projects. We'll see after #DreadTober as our in-store parade is earmarked for 18th November... 

What GW should do - #ArmiesOnParade2023

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been taking part in #ArmiesOnParade since 2013 and I would argue I'm its BIGGEST FAN! Sure, I haven't won any of the national [or internationally] recognised prizes, or even spend as many hours on my Parade as those that do. But, as I've said countless times, the prizes and competition are not what I believe is the spirit of Parade Day and as far as I'm concerned no one is pushing the open and inclusivity of the biggest hobby event in the world as much as I do.

I usually don't like to be egotistical like that, but the facts support it. I'd say around 50% of the latest tweets about #AoP are mine and these aren't tweets about what I'm doing, these are mostly my recent campaign to have the official Armies on Parade Website updated. This isn't about just me, it's about everyone taking part. Everyone understanding the rules of the event, few as they are, and also showcasing the very best of what can be done but also celebrating as many entries as possible to make it clear - 

if you have an army - you can parade

Of course, I understand that keeping a website updated requires resources and this 'external' page predates www.warhammer-community.com which is where they want to receive most of their traffic and presumably have the most resource to keep up-to-date. In fact they've mentioned the continuing challenges and bi-monthly categories in various posts for the last few years. It's not that there isn't support for #AoP it just feels like the forgotten official page undermines their push to make it more of a year long event. Put it this way, if you google 'Armies On parade' the official site is 2nd in the result. If you google 'Armies on parade 2023' it's 11th, on page 2.

Now the simplest thing to do is to just take down the site - no resource needed, no out-dated information or stench of neglect. But that's the last thing I, or anyone else who is passionate about AoP [c'mon, own up] should want. There is so much good content on there. As mentioned, past winners, community posts from various store parades around the world, staff entries from the likes of Eddie Eccles, Chris Peach, Dan Harden and one of my favourites [for pure simplicity] John Bracken. But there are showcases of the very best as well as guides to help you prepare your own board. The site is full of great ideas and great examples to share with the hobby community.

At the very least the website just needs it's Terms & Conditions updated, y'know, the legal stuff that people can hold GW to account with when they do focus on the competitive aspect! On top of that maybe update the FAQ's. It doesn't look good when it's still showing an Armies On Parade 2020 banner. And lastly, add in the new bi-monthly painting challenges and quarterly challenge pin info. Maybe even mention the new Leviathan box competition category to remind people that their efforts in painting #New40k can be shared with the world at the end of the year. I mean Leviathan has it's own satellite warhammer40000.com website, so it's not like they can't dedicate resource when they want to.

In an ideal world you'd use the official site to showcase the 1,000s of entries sent through each year to the online competition, or shared on social media for various store parades. These don't have to be the winners but acknowledge as many hobbyists contribution as they can. Not everyone wins an Armies on Parade gold badge, but everyone who participates and paints an army is a winner and the official site should be where that's celebrated as much as possible. And I guarantee anyone who is featured on the 'official' website will feel just as happy as if they won a medal on Parade Day. So little effort to achieve so much hobby joy worldwide. They could even add in the various AoP themed videos from YouTube to get more views on these clips.

I'm not sure there's much appetite for any of these suggestions, understandably there are bigger events and releases coming but I really hope someone takes the time to make the official page feel official again. For those that love this event it's a tragic waste. It would only take about 30 minutes to do the bare minimum fix, but if they really committed to it it would be an amazing hub and global showcase for what is the biggest and best advert for the hobby there is.

#ArmiesOnParade2022 Thoughts, what GW should do next

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #warhammercommunity as my #ArmiesOnParade coverage has come to an end, or until the Twitch live stream of the awards ceremony I just wanted to share my thoughts on this year's AoP. I first entered in 2013 and have taken part every year since - 9 years. I've paraded instore [sometimes twice in 2 different stores] and online and I'm a strong believer that AoP is for everyone in the hobby, for everyone who's painted an army - from and Underworlds Warband to the entire 1st Legion of the Horus Heresy. For this reason AoP should be celebrated for its inclusivity. It's for all hobbyists of all abilities, not just the best and most fantastical parades. Although the best boards rightfully deserve recognition, so do the many 1000s of entries who's owners would be made up to just get their board on a hobby round-up, let alone some kind of medal or certificate.

OK, so what are my thoughts about #ArmiesOnParade2022? 

A year of Armies on Parade

If you recall 23rd November 2021 GW came hot out of the blocks from their 2021 awards stream on the 20th November with this community article announcing a 'year round schedule of AoP events'. And here they are:

• January – February: New Year New Army
• March – April: Battlefield Behemoths
• May – June: Gods of War
• July – August: Wizards and War Machines
• September – October: Fields of Battle
• November: The Grand Finale

At the time I gave my thoughts on this which were broadly positive. 12 months on lets see if it was a success or any of my fears came to fruition. From what I could see online, for those who followed the bi-monthly structure it really helped. Having a plan and something to aim for meant some people took part that either may not have done so in the past or found preparing an entry much easier. For me it was mostly irrelevant, as I have my own projects and whims that didn't always coincide with the current theme. At the beginning of each two months there was a reminder on Warhammer Community of the theme, with a hobby round-up piece that showcased hobbyists efforts on the just finished theme. I've included the links above so you can check them out.

This was a really nice touch to try and keep such a long term event relevant. It was also another way the community could get some recognition just by taking part. That said I somehow missed some of these posts. I don't know if that's my fault or what, but I think it was July before I saw the Wizards post that sent me scuttling backwards through the archives to see the missed articles. I'm not sure if they could have done anything better with this, they were afterall asking on Twitter for people to share their efforts so there was wider reach than just the round-up/heads-up.

The official Armies on Parade website.

I was disappointed to see that the official website still hasn't been updated, even after I emailed them twice about it - this time last year and also a couple of months back! It's still showing AoP 2020 information and is missing out on the opportunity to showcase more recent winners and other online entries. Maybe the site has run it's course and doesn't really fit into the Community and social platforms that are GW's main comms outlets. In which case, I'd suggest they even take it down. As much as the content is useful and inspiring it's out of date and undermines the current year's event if it's not actually kept current. So, either commit to it or get rid. I'd prefer they commit to it and find a way to cross pollinate content from Warhammer Community to AoP but if that's not possible, or cannibalises the Community hits, then quietly retire it.

Showcase as many Parades as possible to encourage more, not just the winners

As in my intro I strongly advocate for a less competitive promotion of AoP, I was sad to see that all too often it was the award winners from last year that were used to promote the event. These are stunning Parades and absolutely worthy of sharing again and again. But, I saw once again people openly admitting to being intimidated by the standard. I asked @WarComTeam repeatedly for more focus on all the other entries that were sent in. For Twitch hobby round-ups that showcased other great boards or first time entries, Young-bloods, small boards etc. Just anything that showcased the diversity of skill level to encourage all that they should be part of it. But they're not necessarily masters of what goes out and I'm only one voice on the matter. I think there may have been one Twitch show that did feature other 2021 boards, but I'm sure there could have been more and there was definitely scope for the official AoP page to host a gallery of entries, why not?

Get your date and socials right

As the deadline for entries approached I saw a number of posts on social media from those attending events instore and those that had entered online and here I think GW could do better. They don't appear to control in-store Parade days, Warhammer Liverpool were a week earlier than many other UK stores. I've even seen some posts over the 12th November weekend from store parades, weeks after my own! But they can try to be clearer when it is for social purposes. Pre Covid it was much clearer which was Parade day, it was set by HQ and the deluge of #ArmiesOnParade content on that day would have been sufficient to get it trending. Now I think it's somewhat diluted - is it your in-store parade? Is it online deadline day? Or, is it Twitch stream award day? Clarity of when it is will help swamp social media with everyone's hobby efforts and do more to raise the events profile. 

Additionally, get the hashtags right - make sure #ArmiesOnParade #ArmiesOnParade2023 [maybe even #AoP #AoP2023] are being used because I saw the first two independently of each other. I'm no expert on these matters, how many hashtags are relevant? But be consistent and push it with those who are entering and get them to use them all year round if you're going to continue it as an all year round event.

I must admit to feeling a little bit lonely in the online entries phase. I felt like the only one sharing or pushing the event. Even WarComTeam felt less supportive than I was. There were about 5 or 6 other twitter users sharing their efforts but no one seemed to be excited until some of the store Parades, but even so there was much less about it than previous years. After a year of trying to build some hype and momentum it felt somewhat anti-climactic being the only one that cared. I may not be the best at it, I'm not even bothered about winning but maybe I'm too passionate about it? 

And to date, I've seen zero YouTube content around AoP. There were a few Shorts on one channel, about the themes, throughout the year but that was it. You'd think it'd be an awesome opportunity for content, for these content creators. The perfect showcase for the 'slapchop' approach to painting armies quickly. What better way to thumb the nose at the hobbyists than for the gamers to flood the biggest hobby event with their netlist meta army painted in a week! Failing that - all those channels that have armies for their battle reports - they're already done. It's about 10 minutes for them to just take pics of an army they're about to play with. I just don't understand why they've overlooked the event and the opportunity it provides. 

Or, what of all the League of Votann and 30k Horus Heresy boxes sent out? I don't think I saw any turn up on AoP. They may well have provided content and promotion around their respective launch dates but weeks or months on there was another bite of the cherry there to both add content to their channel and push the latest kits. Maybe it'll come out after the Twitch awards but I'm not so sure.

Competition

With a year-long lead up to Parade day it was somewhat disheartening to discover that prizes for my store's competition had not [all] been sent. Now maybe that was them parading early, I'm not sure, but we were lucky with participation pins at least, I value these more anyway. There were some gold category pins but I've since seen online there were Gold and Silver certificates too. Liverpool took our phone numbers in case anything else turned up so there could be more incoming. And weeks later I start to see glass trophies pop up for 'store champion'. There seems to have been a lack of consistency on what's on offer, so for in-store entries be transparent. Previously I loved the 'crux terminatus' prize medals, still want a bronze one for the set. I'd happily sacrifice that goal for continuing the certificates and pins given out this year, as the glass trophies feel like an afterthought. 

The competition aspect is my least favourite part of AoP and in no way do I wish to devalue the winners. But, much like the Blog Wars approach to tournament prizes I'd rather the overall prize was less significant than rewarding all those that took part. By highlighting what each and every participant is gifted with, you will get more people entering. Arguably you might suggest that means people won't put in as much effort but the online entries can take care of that. There's still prizes and trophies there. But be honest, show what's up for grabs, both in-store and online. You're doing it with the 'organised play' packs going out for the various games, so show off the pins, the certificates etc. and keep them low-key to encourage participation first and foremost.

Clarity

Touched on in places already but be clear about the rules. I love how simple the rules are but much like 8th edition 40k the [initial] simplicity often leads to confusion. Pre Covid there were more categories introduced - best theme, best painted, young bloods, first time etc. Since then we have Young Bloods, 40k, AoS and 'Best of the Rest' but I saw one hobbyist claim they'd been called a 'cheater' because they had two armies fighting each other - no such rule. In the past someone, who through no fault of their own, had to display just Guilliman and Magnus and told it 'wasn't an army', was made to feel bad for just wanting to take part! Just say every Parade is valid, so long as it's Citadel/Forgeworld minis. Make it as open as possible, so people don't start making up their own rules and making people with less minis feel excluded. Granted, a single Warhammer Underworlds warband is never likely to 'win' AoP, but stop with the focus on winning! Tell them their Parade is welcome and be clear about it. More entries means more exposure.

#ArmiesOnParade2022 Instore Parade

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been at my local Warhammer store in Liverpool for #ArmiesOnParade I can't recall the last time I was instore for the biggest hobby event in the world but even pre-Covid I was often Parading in absentia. It was more convenient to parade at my work Warhammer but this time I was going to my nearest, just one train journey and the store is literally in the train station. No hoofing board and countless bags across the entirety of Manchester city centre. Anyway, here are the entries, first up a mother and son team.

This is Frank's goblins, everything he did himself, the only entry in the Young Bloods category, which is sad overall but brilliant for him.

For a young kid like that the first time they enter and they win will have been so exciting. He was already full of ideas for next year and planning on coming back on the Sunday for gaming practice too!

Brigette's Saurus Parade, a nice simple board. 

Well thought out though with the darkened area where the Lizardmen are walking just the right size to contain all the figures - well planned.

I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't get the name of the guy who's board this is. We had quite a long chat from the moment I started waiting outside with the rest of the entrants. 

He'd decided last minute to give it a go and I fully support a small display like this and even going to the effort of a little background card.

The great thing about a small board is it forces you to look closer and then you notice things like every single marine has a freehand custom Chapter badge - a cog with 3 scimitars/swords inside, oh and it's on a quartered background. It's difficult enough to paint a decent circle, then to make it a cog and THEN to paint 3 curving swords inside it! Not only could I not do that, I wouldn't even contemplate it

This Nighthaunt display was very deceptive. I think the standard Nighthaunt colour scheme feels somehow 'easy' despite me being unsure I could replicate it. I have quite a few Nighthaunt models I will one day paint, when I can settle on a style and have free time.

Close inspection showed that the scheme was rendered exceptionally well. I think my issue was the colour of the board, it perhaps felt too warm. I think it works in the close-up but the full board seemed odd. I wonder if a grey or dark brown, scattered with autumn leaves might have had a different impact.

Don't get me wrong, I think it was stunning and if I could have voted for a specific category I'd have given it best painted for sure.

I just think the initial vibrancy of the board overwhelms the models... says the man with a bright red board covered in black and grungy dirty brown and orange figures! 😂

I believe it won best overall and I think best Age of Sigmar board, so my opinion is irrelevant anyway as it was well received and rewarded. 

I had never seen those scythe handed wraiths before, which was a surprise.

I had not realised how big that Mortis Engine is. One day, when I have the time I will look forward to painting that thing.

And here's where you can see the level of detail and care shown to the models - clearly some masking has gone into airbrushing the Necromancer's cloak to get that effect. Fascinating result.

And to what I would have voted for best Warhammer 40k Parade - these Orks were awesome.

So many conversions and a great display board.

Absolutely no shame in losing out to this board, as soon as I saw it it felt 'next level' to me'.

I always say boards are optional, but if you are into the competitive side they are necessary and here's one that's bespoke.

It's still probably playable in a gaming sense, if you still use 2'x2' board pieces that is but unless you're also preparing a bespoke display board how can you compete against such awesomeness.

And the painting was excellent too.

Consistent throughout, with loads of weathering and battle damage - a huge amount of effort.

And although one could say that's one technique repeated over, and over again [whereas the Nighthaunt had many different techniques] just look at the attention to detail here. So many conversions, which is another consideration worth recognising and the detail in that standard bearer is awesome. A worthy category winner.

I felt bad about this, because that's my backdrop to the left, that somewhat obscured Adam's Necron civil war display. In my defence I set up first, the store Tau display was already in situ and I didn't want to obscure that, even though it wasn't entered in the comp.  

With hindsight I would have suggested we swap places, or I may consider creating a single edge backdrop in the future. I always do a corner board but I think it may be time to paint one from scratch and have a different arrangement.

Regardless Adam's small display was cool and interesting how he'd chose it as two Necron Courts coming to blows. We had some interesting discussions about the event.

Alongside the Tau display there was another store Parade for these Space Wolves.

Lots of interesting detail and a straightforward layout. 

Maybe that's something I should think about in the future?

Is that the fancy Command Land Raider you can only get from Warhammer World?

And the Tau display.

Again, good use of terrain as everything rises up from front to back.

Tallest models displayed on the platform for added height and presentation. I love these examples as it shows how simple but effective your board can be with a few bits of gaming terrain and just your army.

And in comparison my own display is incredibly busy with limited focal point.

You've seen these pics already, I only share them again here for context alongside the other entries.

Although I am proud of my entry I'm well aware of its flaws. I think next year may be very different and may actually be  a couple of my bloodbowl teams... not sure. OK, that's the AoP coverage for this year. I do have another post I want to write about my overall opinion of the event, from announcement last year to now, but I should probably wait until the online awards stream has been done on the 26th November to give the full insight. Either that or I add my preliminary thoughts and hope it goes some way to capture the entirety of #ArmiesOnParade2022 rather than just the 'best of...'

Talking of capturing more of the hobby, here are some of the Warhammer Liverpool displays. The Genestealer diorama is from a hobby event 'Battle of the base' I think it's called. You buy the large base and are free to model, convert and paint whatever you want in that space - a mini AoP almost. I may well give it a go next year. Also, the Warcry terrain, those trees are amazing and the contrast paint is so effective on the bamboo, just had to take pictures.

 

More pics of the Warcry terrain.

And a pretty awesome Alpha Legion 30k force.

See you next year for #ArmiesOnParade2023