Talk Fantasy Football

As well as the main tournament, the NAF World Cup will also be hosting the first ever dedicated Blood Bowl painting competition (known informally as the "Golden Snotling"...)

To allow people to express as much creativity as possible we have devised a number of categories, detailed below. Entrants can enter each category as many times as they want but I would like to stress - a team cannot be used to play in the tournament AND be entered into the painting competition. Astute readers will note that it bears no small resemblance to the Golden Daemon, reason being that the aforementioned competition is a proven format which required minimal tweaking to give it a true Blood Bowl feel.

The judging will take place as follows. A panel of NAF staff judges will look at all entries in the first round and if they judge the entry worthy to continue, they will place a small sticker on/near the entry to indicate their choice. If half of the judges "sticker" a given entry it becomes a finalist. An important note - although a competitor can enter each category more than once, only one of their entries can be put forward to the final. If it transpires that a competitor would have more than one piece put forward, the competitor themselves chooses which one they would like to progress. The finalists are then each considered by the judging panel as a whole and a bronze, silver & gold award is given for each category. In addition to this a "Best Overall" award is given.

The categories are:

Best Team
This is an anything-goes competition to judge the best team. Conversions are allowed, coaching staff can be part of it and the entry will be judged on overall quality of painting, modelling, theme and impact. Display bases are encouraged but it is primarily the models that are judged, not their setting. Minimum requirement is 11 models.

Best Star Player
This category is restricted to the standard GW star players from the LRB 5 and from 2nd edition Blood Bowl, though converted/non GW figures may be used (provided they are instantly recognisable as the actual player. Please note Thrud may not be entered into this or any other category.

Best Big Guy
As the name suggests, this is limited to a single Big Guy figure.

Best Coaching Team
A Coaching Team consists of between 4 and 6 figures. Although the standard Head Coach, Cheerleaders, Apothercary, Assistant Coaches etc. are expected, inventive and characterful coach models are encouraged. The entry will be judged as an ensemble piece so an entry with 6 models does not necessarily stand a better chance of winning than an entry with only 4.

Duel
This category is restricted to showing two seperate models, mounted on a "big guy" sized base. Judges will be looking for imaginative and evocative work able to convey the impression of a duel between two players within the limited space afforded by the base. Some "overspill" over the edge of the base is allowed, but entrants are encouraged to keep this to a minimum.

Diorama
A chance to portray a snapshot scene from a hectic game of Blood Bowl! The diorama has no upper limit on the amount of models that can be used although the base is strictly limited to 210mm x 297mm - the size of an A5 sheet of paper. Let your imagination run wild!

Best Dugout/Stadium
This award goes to the coach with the best dugout or stadium. Size isn't everything in this category - a well painted & modelled dugout with lots of intricate detail and nice touches stands as good a chance as any full size modelled stadium/pitch. It is worth noting that for this award, coaches ARE allowed to use their entries to play and judges will assess them mid-game.

Open
For this category, anything goes! All we ask is that you bear in mind the limited space we will have to display entries to the painting competition, so constructing a full scale replica of an Ogre cheerleader may mean we can't actually display your work! (not to mention it being a fairly disturbing thing to construct in the first place...). Bear in mind this is the one category where your NAF judges can also enter so expect the standard of competition to be very high indeed.

For the Open award, the entries are judged by the players themselves. NAF judges are NOT allowed to vote in the open as it is expected they will be competing in it themselves! Furthermore, coaches entering the Open competition are not allowed to vote.

Please post here with any questions/comments.

Looks good, but could we informally know it as something more original than "Golden Snotling"? That seems to be the default name for any (GW related) painting competition that in any way models itself along Golden Daemon lines. Something BB related would be good. So Golden Boot/Ball/Helmet/Blitzer/whatever. Even calling it after a named star might work. The Golden Zugs has a nice ironic ring to it.




And does the Best Team entry have to be "game legal", or can it be any team that the average warped mind can conceive?

There's no way in hell I'm going to call ANYTHING the "Golden Helmet"...

And I'm sure Golden Zugs has it's own meaning in prison slang.

No restrictions on it being game legal per se, but naturally a team of 11 models is more likely to function better as a cohesive unit than 2 goblins and a troll.

The informal name is still open though, so any and all suggestions are gratefully received.

Just want to make sure that I got that right: If I want to enter the "best team" painting competition, I have to bring two teams to the event? And the "playing" team's paintjob will not be judged in any way whatsoever?

Correct, the team you are playing with will not be entered or impact any painting competition entry you use.

Hm. I gather that this is due to the time needed by the panel of judges to go over the entries while tournament play continues?
I can understand that, even though it puts me in something of a pickle, as I very much like to bring the team I consider my personal "best painted" to each tourney which is now impossible..

Another question: Suppose I turn in a whole team, complete with sideline staff, Big Guy and Star player, all done-up in the team's general appearance, colour scheme etc., maybe even all placed on one scenic base. Would this entry be regarded solely as an entry for the "best team" event, or would judges consider the relevant parts of the entry for the other categories? Could they, e.g., discard the team as a whole from the "best team" competition while picking the Big Guy in it to proceed to the finals of the "best Big Guy" event?

Edited for yet another question: Why is "Best Star Player" limited to the available LRB5 Stars as opposed to the available stars "minis-wise" (or "fluff-wise")? Now there's guys like Dieter Hammerslash or Bilerot Vomitflesh unable to compete.. they won't be happy about that..

I second that the 'Golden Snotling' is an oft used and poor name.

I agree a more 'BB' name would be better. Perhaps the 'Team Kit Artwork' or something (off the top of my head - I know it doesn't have a ring to it).

In Spain we use "Golden Blitzer" for the painting contests organized by Festen in the tournaments, i like that name a lot, but Golden Snotling is nice too

I will try to paint an entry for some categories, the contest will be amazing for sure

Hi all,

I only saw limits for diorama and duel bases, what are the limits for single players (star player, big guies, etc....), is there limits for the Height.

I know these questions sounds stupid, but I am sure you don't define it, we will see nobbla on a big buy base ^^ (like a mini diorama)...

is there any problems with my question?

Dave's been away at the dungeonbowl, I'm sure he'll answer shortly!

I had replied to your question... odd, I must not have hit submit...

Anyway, as for limits on the bases, see below. I've also added a final category that slipped my mind first time around.

All single model categories should be mounted on appropriate bases, i.e. a standard size player on a standard size base, a big guy on the larger base etc. However, it is entirely acceptable that the model is also then mounted on a display base, such as a wooden plinth, which may in itself be "decorated". Painters should note though that for the individual model entries coaches are looking at the MODEL, not it's surroundings - although a good base will finish a model, if the entry is lost in a cluttered, over-the-top base it will not rate as highly as a well painted figure on a simple base.

I leave it to coaches discretion as to the height of their single figure/team entries - again, bear in mind that unless it's in the diorama category the impact a base will have on the overall chances of a model winning will be severely limited.

Your best bet if you have a great idea for a base is to turn it into a diorama then enter something else into a single figure category

Finally. The final category is:

Best Dugout/Stadium
This award goes to the coach with the best dugout or stadium. Size isn't everything in this category - a well painted & modelled dugout with lots of intricate detail and nice touches stands as good a chance as any full size modelled stadium/pitch. It is worth noting that for this award, coaches ARE allowed to use their entries to play and judges will assess them mid-game.

The reason for allowing pitches to be used with and played with is simply because we are not likely to have sufficient space to permanently display full size pitches and dugouts whereas we WILL have space for people to play with them!

Can the duel only contain 2 players?

um it wouldn't be a duel if it didn't :/

I agree with Grum... if there were three it'd be a menagé a trois