We have tried numerous checklists, vague levels, and even opponent-judged scoring over the last decade. For 2008 we enlisted the help of the organizer and Head Judge of the US Golden Demon Competitions, Nicole Shewchuk, to create a checklist that was clear, comprehensive, and rewarded both effort and skill.

We know that some people like to convert their models, while others are perfectly happy with taking them straight from the box, some hobbyists love to build elaborate display boards, while others recognize they lack the terrain building skills. After considerable testing, we believe that this checklist goes a long way towards clarifying what we consider the important aspects of Army Appearance.

Although the points show below can be added to 46 points, there is a cap of 40 points. This is to ensure that well-painted armies are not penalized by a lack of conversions, and those well-converted (but perhaps averagely painted) armies are still in the hunt.

Army Appearance Judging will take place throughout Saturday. For 2008 you will also have the opportunity to get your army “pre-judged” on Friday night after you have registered for the GT. Keep an eye out on our Updates page for more details as we get closer to the events.

Army Appearance Checklist

Painting (worth up to 35 points) Check One Box Army is fully painted, but only to the three-color standard of basecoating. 10 Points Army is beyond fully painted, additional steps beyond the three-color standard. 15 Points Check All That Apply to Bulk (80%+) of Army Painting is Uniform: Not a mix of schemes, styles, and looks. 1 Point Clean Basecoat Colors: Base colors are painted neatly. 1 Point Details: Details are painted such as eyes, buckles, and jewelry. 1 Point Clean Details: Details are painted well (clean, have highlights). 2 Points Hand-Painted Details: Details (that are well executed) have been added such as unit markings, banner artwork, blood marks, dirt on cloaks, etc. 2 Points Artistic: Banners, markings, and details are hand painted to an incredible degree! 2 Points Discernable Highlights/Shading: Drybrushing, lining, shading, inking, etc. (not required to be clean) - 1 point 1 Point Clean Highlights: Lines are neat, drybrushing is appropriate, inking is controlled and not sloppy. 2 Points Layers of Highlights: More than one layer of highlight, which may include shading, highlights over inking, blending, etc. 2 Points Beyond Basics: Highlights have been blended, shaded, or layered well – beyond the basic highlighting techniques of drybrusing and inking. 2 Points Masterful Blending: Highlights have been masterfully blended, shaded, or layered. 2 Points Overall Appearance: Overall appearance is amazing! Everything works great together to create an awesome scene. 2 Points

Basing (worth up to 5 points) Check all that apply to bulk (80%+) of army Based/Detailed: Bases have basing materials (flock/sand/tiles) or details painted on them. 1 Point Extra Basing: The bases have multiple basing materials (rocks/grass), extra details painted on them (cracks in tiles), or if extra basing is inappropriate, basing is done very well (eg. rolling desert dunes). 1 Point Highlights: Bases have highlighting (shading/drybrushing). 1 Point Special details: There are extra details on the larger bases (helmets, skulls, animals, building rubble, etc.) 2 Points

Conversions (Worth up to 4 points) Check One Box for conversions that are appropriate and well executed. Minimal: The army has some elementary conversions (head and weapon swaps, arm rotations) or a couple interesting swaps. 1 Point Minor: Units have multi-kit conversions including head and weapon swaps. This is for more than a few models such as a unit. 2 Points Major: The army has some difficult conversions that use things such as putty, plastic card, drilling, sawing, minor sculpts, etc. This could also apply to the entire army having very well done multi-kit conversions (see above) 3 Points Extreme: The army has some extreme conversions, which could be: a scratch built conversion or sculpt of an entire model, a large amount of models with difficult conversions (see above), or the entire army is extremely converted 4 Points

Other (worth up to 2 points) Check all that apply to bulk (80%+) of army Display Base: Basic based & highlighted or detailed display base. 1 Point Something Special: There is something above and beyond about a model’s painting, the display base, a conversion, or the basing (eg. movement trays are based/highlighted). 1 Point

As you can see, there are a lot of aspects to cover. We’re confident that by publishing this checklist we can expect to see a great level of Army Appearance at all three Grand Tournaments this year.

Again, competitors can earn up to 40 points for the Army Appearance category.