Site: http://www.novaopen.com/?page_id=1388
Hello All,
Below is the current 2015 Army Appearance Primer- It is different from last year so take a look.
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Overview
A
3-judge panel scores army appearance over the course of two rounds: an Initial
Round and a Final Round. In the Initial
Round, Judges rank contestants into one of four tiers based on an overarching
assessment of the army. This evaluation
looks at the army as a whole, without detailed review of individual models. More detailed evaluations take place in the
Final Round, as a way to whittle down the contestants who passed the initial
elimination. Only armies that were
assessed to be in the top tier of competitors will advance to the Final Round
of judging.
NOVA
Open scoring does not use a “points checklist”.
Judges use guiding criteria (shown below), which offer latitude to both
the hobbyist and the judges, to give flexible weighting to different aspects of
the army. This method allows the
strengths of an army to perhaps overcome some of its weaknesses, whereas a
checklist rubric offers no such flexibility.
Moreover, the use of a 3-judge panel levels out biases among different
judges.
Scoring
The
Nova Open uses one consistent scoring method across all tournaments. Having one army appearance scoring system is
easier for players, TOs, and judges to learn and implement.
The
scoring is intended to result in a rough bell curve. Qualifications for entering the top tier, and
moving on to the Final Round of judging, can be modified to fit the
situation. For example, if competition
is particularly steep, the rubric may be adjusted to stiffen the requirements
for entering the Final Round.
It’s
important to remember that tournaments attract competitive hobbyists and the
field is strong. As a result, the judges
may see truly lovely armies that will not be passed to the Final Round, simply
because the overall competition is too steep to allow for it at this time. This system is designed so that the majority
of players (approximately 70%) will end up in Tier 2. Entry into Tier 1 is limited in order to save
time for players, TOs, and judges. The
top tier is for the armies with the best chance of winning the competition once
the judges go in for the detailed inspection.
Initial
Round Judging
Initial
Round judging is designed to be fast and efficient. There are a limited number of judges and they
are responsible for every entry from every tournament. Some players may even have their armies
judged multiple times if they entered the same army in more than one
tournament, (e.g., 40k GT and Trios). It
is of extreme importance to the judges that they NOT waste the players’ time,
especially in cases when it was difficult to schedule a time to do the
judging. Therefore, the Initial Round of
judging is designed to move quickly and efficiently. It is not uncommon for a judge to see an army
that is interesting and well painted, and for that judge to want to spend more
time examining said army. However, if
there is anything about the army that will hold it back from making top tier,
the judge must move on and continue to evaluate the remaining armies.
Each
army will be evaluated by at least two judges during the Initial Round. If the judges don’t agree about which tier
the army should be placed in, a third judge in brought in as a tiebreaker. If the scores of all three judges differ, then
the Head Judge adjudicates them. The
Head Judge has the option to conference with the other judges or to decide
unilaterally.
Judges
will study in detail only those armies that are placed in the top tier. Once the Initial Round elimination takes
place, the players who did not proceed to the Final Round are free to spend
their time as they see fit. It’s been
said that the Nova Open Army Painting Competition should do detail level
judging on all entries. However, the
organizers of the competition feel that it is more respectful to release the
competitors who are in the lower tiers, so that they can enjoy the rest of the
convention…instead of standing around for hours while 100 other armies are
given in depth examinations.
Examples
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| This is an Imperial Knight painted by John Steinning as part of the Nova Open 2014 Charity Raffle. John submitted another Imperial Knight to the 2014 Capital Palette competition and won Best In Show. This is absolutely an example of a work of art model. |
 |
Dave
Taylor was another artist who generously donated some of his work to the Nova
Open 2014 Charity Raffle. This Land
Raider is another clear example of a work of art in model painting.
|
 |
| Here we have the Best Painted army of the Nova Open 2010 convention. Since no one really counts 2009 as more than a beta test, that makes this the first best Painted army the Nova saw. This is also a good example of a display board. Nice touch adding the player’s name to the board. |
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| This is a unit that would be ranked into Tier 2. The colors match and the technique is good, but nothing is jumping out for that “Wow factor”. |
 |
| Now this army is a real shame. It’s a solid Tier 2 candidate, but would ultimately be dropped into Tier 4, which is essentially disqualified, due to one simple oversight on the part of the artist. Several of the bases aren’t finished. Remember, at a minimum, bases must be sanded or flocked. Simply painting the base, or worse yet, simply gluing the model to the base, will get the entire army disqualified, even if only one model doth offend. |
Unfortunately,
it’s hard to come by pictures of a Tier 3 army, since they aren’t often
photographed. :)
Final
Round Judging
As
stated previously, only those entries that were judged to be in the top tier
will be evaluated for the Final Round judging.
Whereas, there were only two judges in the Initial Round, with the third
judge acting as a tiebreaker, all three judges contribute to the score for the
Final Round.
Four
criteria have been identified for the detailed judging, two of which are
considered Objective and two of which are considered Subjective. Objective criteria can be “graded” according
to a technical standard or according to artistic principles. Subjective criteria account for creative qualities
that cannot be measured against a standard.
(See chart below)
The
four criteria do not have a formal weighting.
For each of the four criteria, each judge assigns a modifier (+1, 0,
-1). For three judges across four
criteria, a player’s score can range from +12 to -12. This creates another bell curve distribution and,
once again, the use of three judges counteracts any individual biases.
A
word to the wise contestant: Be cautious with the use of advanced
techniques. Don’t look at the chart
below and think that this is a grocery list of techniques that the judges want
to see on the armies. The judges are
more focused on how successful the technique was than they are on the fact that
it was attempted at all. It is possible
for a player to make it to the Final Round of judging with a beautifully
painted army that uses simple techniques like washes and highlighting. It is also possible of an army to attempt,
and fail, more advanced techniques and never make it the Final Round of
judging, where those techniques would come into play for scoring. Make the army as attractive as possible to
get it to the Final Round, and focus on the techniques that you are confident
with.
Final Round Judging
Criteria
Display
Boards
Some
players go extra lengths to present their army on a display board. There is no requirement to do so, nor are
display boards formally included in the judging criteria. Whether a judge includes a display board as
part of his or her assessment is left to the judge’s discretion. There may be exceptions, where a TO tailors
his or her tournament to formally recognize display boards for judging. Regardless, display boards are fully
encouraged as a growing and exciting part of the hobby, which peers and judges
alike are sure to appreciate and which undoubtedly supplement the “wow factor”
of your army.
Lessons Learned. In our experience, the optimal size for a
display board is two feet by two feet.
This is not the same thing as four feet square. A display board that is one foot wide and four
feet long is a much different proposition that one that is 2 x 2, especially
when most doors are three feet wide.
Consider
that you are probably transporting your army on the display board. You don’t want something that is unwieldy and
hard to maneuver through a crowded convention.
2 x 2 keeps the board close into your body and limits the possibility
that someone will jostle you and spray hundreds of hours of your work all over
the convention floor, where it can get broken and even stepped on. For this same reason, it’s best to keep any
vertical height to no more than 2 feet, as well. You want to be able to see where you are
going, after all. Note that vertical
dimensions are NOT required on display boards.
It’s just something that we’ve seen.
Appearance
Judging Process
The
logistics for how and when an army is judged depend on each individual
tournament. As much as possible,
arrangements will be made with the TO to work out a method that suits the
particular tournament. However, in no
case will armies be judged during play. Times
for appearance judging should be listed on the convention schedule. Judges will also be walking around
approximately ten minutes before the judging and calling out what tournament is
being judged and in what location.
Army
Appearance Judging is now completely voluntary.
In previous years, players were required to participate in the appearance
judging in order to gain a painting score for the Renaissance Man prize for the
40k events. Going forward, players are
no longer required to participate, but their paint score will automatically be
0, thus effectively disqualifying them from receiving this prize. It is possible that other tournaments may
enact something similar in the future, but at no point will appearance judging
be mandatory. If you have any questions
about when and how to have your army judged, ask your TO.
Starting
in 2015, players will be able to opt-out of the appearance judging for their
tournament during online registration.
It is our intention to setup the registration so that players can alter
their selection online after registering, should they change their minds. There
will also be an undecided option. If a
player is undecided, then he will be asked if he intends to participate in the
Appearance judging when he checks into the convention. That decision is final.
Credits
Thank
you to Mike “Shades” Schaeffer, Bob Likins, and Mike Brandt for their work in
initially developing the Nova Open Appearance Judging Scoring system. Contributions were also made by Adrienne
Geffert and Neil Gilstrap. Special
thanks to the hobbyists that have participated in the appearance judging
competitions since this system was implemented and took the time to provide
constructive feedback to the designers in order to help us make improvements.
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