Skills and vision
Once again, the most fantastic miniatures of the role-playing scene will be chosen and awarded in the traditional miniature figure painting competition of Ropecon. You can sign up for the competition during the convention on Friday or Saturday at the miniature wargame desk. Signing up in advance is not available. Competition pieces can be retrieved on Sunday before the award ceremony.
Please note that competition pieces may have to be moved. It is recommended that they should be prepared to withstand transfer without falling over.
Welcome to the competition!
Miniature wargaming 2017
Ari Luoma and Ville Mutka
figupelit@ropecon.fi
Schedule
Sign-up at the miniature wargame desk
Fri 3 pm – Sat 3 pm
Audience voting at the miniature wargame desk
Sat 3 pm – 9 pm
Retrieving pieces from the miniature wargame desk
Sun 12 pm – 5 pm
The award ceremony
Sun 4 pm (location tba)
Competition categories
1. Single showcase miniature
⊗ The main focus of judging in this category will be on how the miniature will look when viewed from up close, so there will be a large emphasis on technical execution and painting skills.
⊗ The miniature should fit on a square or a round base (max. 40 mm across) or on a cavalry base of similar dimensions. Exceptions include human sized miniatures which come with a larger base due to the size of their accompanying vehicle or mount, e.g. the cavalry of Privateer Press.
⊗ It is more than recommended to decorate the base as well to include it as a complementing element in the overall competition piece.
2. Single tabletop miniature
⊗ In addition to the technical execution and painting skills in general, the main focus of judging in this category will be on how the miniature will look when viewed from a slight distance, similar to how it would be seen while playing a tabletop role-playing game.
⊗ The miniature should fit on a square or a round base (max. 40 mm across) or on a cavalry base of similar dimensions. Exceptions include human sized miniatures which come with a larger base due to the size of their accompanying vehicle or mount, e.g. the cavalry of Privateer Press.
⊗ The base of the miniature should be stylized to represent the imagined game board. Please note that only gaming bases can be entered in this category: showcase or display bases are not acceptable.
3. Team of miniatures
⊗ In addition to technical execution and painting skills, the main focus of judging in this category will be on the cohesion, personality and dynamics of the team as well as on creating an illusion of having a large number of characters present in the piece.
⊗ The team should consist of at least three miniatures.
4. Diorama
⊗ In addition to technical execution and painting skills, the main focus of judging in this category will be on conveying a story through the diorama.
5. Open category
⊗ The open category is for those pieces that do not fit in any other categories. These could include miniatures such as war machines, large statues, dragons and other monstrous beings, as well as giant robots.
This year’s theme category: classics
⊗ In addition to signing up for one of the categories listed above, each participant may sign up one of their competition pieces to the theme category. This piece must be somehow connected to the yearly theme of the convention. The theme for Ropecon 2017 is “classics”. In this category, the main focus of judging will be on how well the piece embodies this year’s theme, as well as on the technical execution and painting skills.
Rules of the competition
Signing up
Participants may enter one piece for each of the categories, and one of these may in addition be chosen to enter in the theme category. All pieces must be painted by the participant themself.
It is also possible to enter pieces to the competition on behalf of someone else. In this case, you will be required to fill in the personal and contact information of the person who has painted the miniatures when signing up. The person who will be collecting the pieces after the competition will also have to fill in their contact information.
Judges reserve the right to move pieces to another, more suitable category if needed.
Judging and audience voting
Judges will examine the pieces signed up for each category and choose which ones will make it to the final round. Winners of each category as well as the winner of the overall competition will be chosen from the pieces in this final group. Judges will also choose a winner for the theme category. Additional honorary awards may be given out at the competition.
Attendees of Ropecon will also have a chance to vote for their favourite miniatures during the audience voting. The winner of the audience vote will be rewarded as well.
If they wish so, participants can get comments and feedback on their competition pieces from the judges after the award ceremony at the miniature wargame desk.
Owners of the pieces are responsible for them during the competition
Ropecon is not responsible for theft or any damages caused to the miniatures or competition pieces during the convention unless they are explicitly caused by mishandling or other mistakes made by our staff members. By entering the competition the participants understand and accept that the pieces will be left out on display in glass showcases overnight at the convention. So far in the history of Ropecon not a single miniature has ever been stolen from the miniature wargame desk. Our staff at the desk will look after each piece as if they were their own and handle them with utmost care, treating the miniatures as gently as they would a colony of cute fruit bat burritos.
Any questions?
figupelit@ropecon.fi