=][= E Tenebrae Lux VI =][=

[Spyros]

Captain Semper , when it's over, please give us the results quickly!

[Captain Semper]

Yeah, there will be a final report - but you should expect it some point on Sunday...

[Filkarion]

Tank you Semper! The EtL is wonderful every time!!!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Is the ETL closed yet? The doors to the fora have closed, but not here! ;)

[Captain Semper]

Try posting a completion - see what happens... :)

[Augustus b'Raass]

Haha fair enough.

 

Genuine question though: two years ago you introduced the Legio Titanicus Badge and promised there would be copies made for it in the style of all ETLs so far, so that everyone who ever finished a Titan (Knghts don't count, right?) in an ETL would be able to bear the relevant ETL's Legio Titanicus Badge. I did a Warhound in ETLIII, so I would love to see one in that crisp nostalgic green!!

 

 

The ETL Collegia Titanicus: This is a new ETL Badge of excellence to reward those committed enough to complete at least one Titan during the ETL. The ETL Collegia Titanicus will be expanded further to award badges depending on the type of Titan each participant completed and will create specific badges for previous years as well... In the mean time, all those who completed a Titan this year but also in the past, feel free to wear it. 
 
http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2016_Badge_11_Collegia_Titanicus.jpg

 

Are they going to be available with the report?

[Mard]

Thanks for the comp Captain Semper!!!

You deserve a whole bunch of praise for wrangling this fantastic event, it always helps motivates my painting and hobby.

Always a fan of ETL and I really enjoyed how you ran IFOR this year with the ability to add in units from the other factions.
Looking forward to the next B&C painting challenge!

Posted below is this years completions all together. Maybe next year we'll have a fair few more faithful joining the Sisters

[Kizzdougs]

My contribution to this year's ETL. Only a small contribution model and point wise, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out :)

 

 

Thanks again to Semper for running such a fantastic event and congratulations to everyone that contributed :tu:

[Captain Semper]

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_6_Poster_01_Announcement_V2.jpg

 
Captain Semper surveyed the field. 

 

The three-month battle was over, and Emperor knows how savage it has been. Captain Semper has seen it all before of course so he should not have been all that surprised by the carnage. Yet there was something that was troubling him…
 
- So, it is all over Captain, Interrogator Chaplain Javert said quietly.
- It is indeed Javert, it is indeed…
- Yet you seem troubled Captain, as if something is wrong…
 
The carnage was total. The savagery and brutality of battle was beyond anything seen before. The mangled bodies, the blood, the destroyed vehicles and the countless dead. In some cases the bodies were even unrecognisable as belonging to a human – or even a Xenos…
 
- Something is wrong Javert, and it’s deeply troubling
- What did you expect Captain? The atrocities of Chaos are well known to us by now!
- But that’s the thing Javert, these were not done by Chaos… 
- No? But the savagery and the mutilation of the bodies…
- No Javert, that was done by the Emperor’s finest. That was done by the Blood Angels!

 

 

BLOOD ANGELS: E TENEBRAE LUX VI DOMINUS EXERCITUS!!! 

 

The Final Report consists of several Sections and for ease of access, each Section will in a different post. Please see below the links to each section

 

1. Section 1 - Overview
2. Section 2 - ETL VI Magister: the Factions' Performance
3. Section 3 - ETL VI Primus Inter Pares: Forums' Performance within each Faction
4. Section 4 - ETL VI Dominus Exercitus: Forums' Performance across Factions
5. Section 5 - Custos Fidei and Oathbreakers
6. Section 6 - Badges of Excellence: Forum Champions
7. Section 7 - Badges of Excellence: Faction Masters and ETL VI Martyr
8. Section 8 - Badges of Excellence: Artificer / Master Artificer
9. Section 9 - Captain Semper's Notes 

[Captain Semper]

Section 1 – Overview

ETL VI, the first ETL of the 8^thEdition of Warhammer 40k is over!

After a year of hiatus, the ETL was once again re-introduced, tuned to fit 8^thEdition, and accommodating the changes in the B&C, the most prominent of which was the inclusion of the Xenos! The revamped ETL also provided a new level of complexity and interaction among participants as for the first time it introduced the Faction-level competition, the in-Faction level competition and the cross-Forum level competition.

Despite this increased complexity and the discontinuity of 2017, here are some interesting facts:

• 409 participants 
• 659 vows
• 441,610 pts pledged
• 315,757 pts completed before penalties
• 307,947 pts completed after penalties
• Completion Rate: 69.7%
• Total ETL Score: 220,186 
• A total of 7,061 posts across 20 Outposts

I think all participants should feel proud for participation in such a big community event even if they did not complete their vows – either through ol’ common procrastination or because real life presented obstacles, way higher priority than our hobby…

Be that as it may I think that all 408 participants deserve congratulations for committing irrespective of the result. Those who completed their vows, not only can boast their achievement but also end up with some painted minis, hopefully to a quality reflecting the best of their ability.

The highlights of the event would be the following:

The Blood Angels fantastic performance under the stern leadership of Reclusiarch Jolemai! We are talking a huge completion rate of 87% post penalties and an even more awe-inspiring 85% among first vows rising to 88% if one excludes penalties. That means that of the points pledged among first vows, 88% of them actually got completed! I will go into more detail later but that level of commitment to the team is amazing and highlights what the ETL is all about!

The Chaos Marines also had a fantastic performance completing more points than any other forum! And this performance comes after three consecutive years of holding the top position! Now that is drive if there ever was one! Unfortunately for them, this performance led to a completion rate of some 10 percentage points less than the BAs with the result being a very narrow loss… Superior resources is a significant advantage but this year, the BAs had a savage will to win and it appears an 87% completion rate makes up for lower amount of points pledged, if only just! Or to put it differently, it takes an almost 90% completion rate by a loyalist chapter to win the might of the Chaos Marines!

I would also like to mention the Xenos that appeared for the first time in the ETL (and are the newcomers in the B&C). The participation might have been limited, and that was largely expected, but the enthusiasm and quality coming out of those Outposts was overwhelming. As the Xenos sub-community will start to become a more established affair in the hallowed halls of the B&C it can be expected that the following will grow and their presence in the ETL will grow with it! For now, one can only revel in the quality and passion of this, as yet, small group and can only hope to see it grow!

Lastly, I would like to mention the battered Age of Darkness guys! Despite the limited support from their main benefactor i.e. the Forge World that recalled more HH items than produced new in the past year and with no new Black Book coming out (probably due to the untimely loss of Alan Bligh – the driving power of the HH project) they retained their significant presence, passion and quality of output ending up second only to the loyal Marines and with completion rates north of 70% post penalties…
 
But I think this is the time for the results table:
 

E TENEBRAE LUX VI – FINAL RESULTS

Faction/ForumParticipantsVowsPoints pledgedAvg. Vow Completions (net) CRSCRAdeptus Astartes 186 292 174,564 598125,166 71.7%  89,747 Space Marines 67102 53,757 527 33,002 61.4% 20,260Blood Angels 44 7946,857 59340,696 86.9% 35,345 Dark Angels 46 67 41,877 625 29,613 70.7% 20,941 Space Wolves 29 44 32,073 729 21,855 68.1% 14,892 IFOR 67 98 80,472 821 49,193 61.1%  30,072 Adepta Sororitas 6 9 4,804 534 2,053 42.7% 877 AdMech 13 21 11,764 560 9,141 77.7% 7,103Astra Militarum 21 34 24,585 723 17,959 73.0% 13,119 Imperial Agents 12 13 21,676 1,667 8,222 37.9% 3,199 Grey Knights 2 2 2,658 1,329 2,658 100% 2,658 Deathwatch 13 19 14,985 789 9,160 61.1% 5,599  Realm of Chaos 67 121  73,700 609  52,651 71.4%  37,614 Chaos Space Marines 55 105 59,683 568 45,706 76.6% 35,002 Chaos Daemons 4 5 4,145 829 1,752 42.3% 741 LatD 8 11 9,872 897 5,193 52.6% 2,732  Xenos 42 66  34,671 525  24,749 71.4%  17,666  Aeldari 11 12 3,539 295 310 8.8% 27 Necrons 10 16 8,612 538 6,993 81.2% 5,678 Orks 4 8 5,099 637 4,364 85.6% 3,735 T’au Empire 13 25 14,305 572 11,377 79.5% 9,048 Tyranids 4 5 3,116 623 1,705 54.7% 933  AoD 47 82  78,203 954  56,188 71.8%  40,370  AoD-L 26 44 38,598 877 28,689 74.3% 21,324 AoD-T 21 38 39,605 1,042 27,499 69.4% 19,093  Total ETL VI 409 659  441,610 670  307,947 69.7%  220,186 

 

Now let's move on to see what happened on a Faction level: 

[Captain Semper]

Section 2 – ETL VI MAGISTER: Factions’ performance

As it is evident from the table in the previous post, in terms of Factions the ranking is the following:

1. Adeptus Astartes – 89,747
2. Age of Darkness (AoD) – 40,370
3. Realm of Chaos – 37,614
4. Forces of the Imperium (IFOR) – 30,072
5. Xenos – 17,666

As such the Adeptus Astartes is the Faction to win the ETL and all participants in any of the constituent Forums who has completed all his/her vows may wear the Badge of ETL VI MAGISTER that can be found below:

It goes without saying that the Adeptus Astartes commands unapparelled resources within the B&C. This has to do with the general popularity of the Marines within the 40k hobby but also due to the B&C legacy of being initially a loyalist Space Marine Forum and later a “Power Armour” forum. Years of that legacy cannot be easily ignored and despite the fact that the Imperial Forces are a part of the B&C for years and most recently the Xenos were also added, the bulk of our members are Marine players and collectors! As such, even without the contribution of Deathwatch and the Grey Knights, the resources (participants and points pledged) of the Adeptus Astartes put them this, first year of the ETL’s new structure, in an unassailable position – or conversely, the ETL reflects the real fact that B&C members are overwhelmingly loyal Marine players/collectors. Is this going to be the case in the future? Will other Factions lure some of our members away from the Astartes making it a more balanced affair? Only time will tell.

The unassailability of the Adeptus Astartes, makes the second position way more interesting an affair. Indeed, the IFOR and the Realm of Chaos ended up with the same number of participants (67) and even more interestingly, the IFOR had more points pledged than any other Faction bar the Astartes! So, what happened?

At face value IFOR had more resources so an average completion rate would have delivered handsome results. They also had the advantage of being the only Faction where the individual Forums could use units from other Forums from within the same Faction. That effectively gave each participant access to 6 Codices and assorted Forge World units as well as Knights. But, as it happened, the IFOR had the lowest Completion Rate among the 5 Factions at 61%, proving that resources and options alone are no guarantee for the final result. The weak point of the IFOR, what really had an adverse impact was the Imperial Agents Forum that contained a sizeable 22k pts and only managed to complete 38% of them resulting in a net ETL Score of just 3.1k. Deathwatch was also a bit on the weak side with 15k pts pledged and only 61% completed. As I said in the past, the ETL is now a 70%+ completion rate game... And here the Sisters could have come in handy, a high completion rate might have boosted IFOR above the Realm of Chaos, but alas, here too the completion rate was very low at only 43%, thus blunting their potential and their contribution to IFOR. On the other end of the spectrum, the heroic Grey Knights (both of them) managed a 100% completion rate capturing the ETL unicorn from the horn and all glory should be bestowed upon them! The Astra Militarum and the AdMech managed high completion rates, well above 70% but that was not enough to reverse the IFOR fortunes. As such they settled in 4^thplace. If they had managed the 70% completion rate that was the ETL average for this year, then they would have amassed an ETL Score of some 56k pts and would have been the undisputed second!

Chaos had similar resources but, mainly due to the Chaos Space Marines singlemindedness managed a much better performance with a completion rate of 71% and despite the higher penalties they had to pay for incomplete second or subsequent vows, they managed to get a clear distance from the IFOR. This distance could have been even more pronounced had the smaller Forums (the Chaos Daemons and the Lost and the Damned) of 42% and 53% respectively, hampering the Faction’s overall performance. And that is a pity because the AoD that managed to come in second, by less than 3k pts – a gap that could have been filled (just) if both the Daemons and the LatD had managed a 70% completion rate – i.e. the ETL VI average.

So let’s see the AoD then… These guys had a magnificent performance! Being in a disadvantage as far as participants go (they had 20 participants less than the IFOR or Chaos) they made up for it the hard way: high average vow AND high completion rate! The high average vow worked well against Chaos (the difference in average vow stood at 345pts) so with similar completion rates of 71-72% still managed to complete more points. This was a close call as they only won by 2.8k score difference, but a clear victory nonetheless. The high completion rate worked very well against the IFOR that also had a fairly high average vow, but with a completion rate of 10 percentage points less they could never have hoped to match the AoD and came ahead of them by more than 10k is score difference. This is even more impressive considering that the HH is still in 40k 7^thEdition that generally has a point discount vs. the 8^thEdition. In short, although the Astartes are officially the ETL VI Magisters, the AoD have a great moral victory here!

Now the Xenos... Well in their first ETL they managed to completed 71% of their pledged points, in line with almost every other Faction and in-line with the ETL average. But, as the community is still in its first steps in what is a predominantly still a "human" forum (after all, the B&C was subtitled "Armies of Humanity" before the Xenos were allowed in) their resources were materially lower compared to all other Factions. So lower number of participants and lower overall points pledged created an artificial ceiling of how high the Xenos' collective score could go. Could it have been better even with those resources? Sure thing! The Aeldari and the Tyranids significantly underperformed, creating inadvertently a mini challenge for next year! The Tau, Necrons and Orks on the other hand over performed showing that the core of the Xenos community is vibrant and there is a lot to be expected for the future! It must also be said that the Xenos produced some of the most impressive painting in the ETL...

So the Astartes won the Faction competition but the AoD held the moral high-ground!

ADEPTUS ASTARTES: ETL VI MAGISTER

All participants that vowed for the Adeptus Astartes Faction (i.e. Space Marines, Blood Angels, Dark Angels and Space Wolves) are eligible to wear the ETL VI Magister Badge in their signature:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_ETL_VI_Magister_Faction_Astartes.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_04_ETL_Magister.gif

[Captain Semper]

Section 3 – ETL VI Primus Inter Pares: Forums’ performance within each Faction

Irrespective of how the Factions faired in the ETL, within each Faction a silent war was taking place… The Forums comprising any given Faction were fighting each other for the top position and to gain the title of Primus Inter Pares! Let’s see what happened:

IMPORTANT NOTE: All graphs in this section are at the same scale so the relative performance can be visually relayed

Adeptus Astartes Faction:

1. Blood Angels – 35,345
2. Dark Angels – 20,941
3. Space Marines – 20,260
4. Space Wolves – 14,892

Winner of the Primus Inter Pares within the Adeptus Astartes Faction is without a doubt the Blood Angels! With an astounding completion rate of 87% and with adequate resources to begin with, they managed to deliver almost 15k pts of ETL Score difference to the second Forum in line, the Dark Angels. Third were the Space Marines (also known as “Codex” in previous ETL iterations) that despite their superior resources since the beginning of the event, having 67 participants vs. 44 for the BAs and 46 of the DAs and 54k pts worth of vows vs. 47k for the BAs and 42k for the DAs suffered from their chronic ailment, namely that of a low completion rate. Despite the last week’s pick up, the completion rate of the Space Marines’ Forum was 61.4% not only the lowest in the Astartes Faction but also pretty low by ETL VI standards (ETL average stood at 70%). As such the Space Marines could not exploit their resources’ advantage to establish themselves as the top dogs, not only missing the opportunity to become the Primus Inter Pares of the Astartes but also as the Dominus Exercitus – probably the most prestigious ETL award! Instead they finished in third position within their Faction with the Dark Angels getting the second place. Just.

In fact, the DAs were slow movers. They did OK in the end but what really limited their ability to challenge the top position was the timid re-vowing. Their re-vowing rate (i.e. number of second or subsequent vows over first vows) stood at only 46% vs. a scary 80% of the Blood Angels. How did the latter manage that? Well early completions and relentless re-vowing. That way they augmented their total vows pledged and completed, while leveraging on their participant numbers. In short this meant that the BAs put forward 79 vows vs. just 67 of the DAs and although at generally lower value per vow, their stupendous completion rate of 87% vs. an OK-ish 71% of the DAs yielded a chasm between the results of the two Forums. But that very same completion rate of 71% was the ticket the DAs needed to secure second position if only by 680pts.

The Space Wolves had a great finish, but they too suffered from low resources (a common situation for them judging from previous ETLs) and an uncharacteristically low completion rate. Not extremely low mind you, at 68%, but having a resource disadvantage, it used to be their common practice to have high completion rates and then leverage on them with high value re-vowing. Be that as it may, the Space Wolves still managed a relatively high average vow, but the lack of re-vowing did not allow them to challenge a better position.

So kudos to the brave Blood Angels that really managed to maintain their pace even during the difficult period of June and early July and delivering such solid results.

BLOOD ANGELS: PRIMUS INTER PARES – ADEPTUS ASTARTES

All participants that vowed for the Blood Angels Forum are eligible to wear the ETL VI Primus Inter Pares - Adeptus Astartes in their signature:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_Primus_Interpares_Astartes.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_03_Primus_Interpares_01.gif

Forces of the Imperium Faction (IFOR):

1. Astra Militarum – 13,119
2. Adeptus Mechanicus – 7,103
3. Deathwatch – 5,599
4. Imperial Agents – 3,119
5. Grey Knights – 2,658
6. Adepta Sororitas – 877

The Astra Militarum managed to re-affirm its dominant position within the IFOR. With a respectable completion rate of 73% and adequate resources, they managed to translate 24.6k worth of pledged points into an ETL Score of 13k, almost double vs. the second best, the AdMech. The latter managed an even higher completion rate of 78% but starting from a materially lower starting point, there was limited room to expand…

On the other end of the spectrum, the Imperial Agents that had pledged a similar amount of points to the Astra Militarum and had the added incentive of the brand-new Codex Custodes with the assorted fantastic new range of miniatures delivered the second lowest completion rate in the ETL (after the 9% of the Aeldari). With such low a completion rate the large amount of points contained within the Agents’ Forum could not be deployed, dragging the Agents down to fourth place within the IFOR Faction. Indeed, the Deathwatch with significantly less pledged points overtook the Agents and grabbed 3^rd position, even with a mediocre completion rate of 61% but with some fantastic artistic results.

A special mention should be made to the Grey Knights. The two brave participants in the Forum managed to get the holy grail of the ETL, the 100% completion rate! Obviously, the Grey Knights did not have the pool of points to challenge the rest of the IFOR Forums thus ending up in fourth position but oh, the Glory!

Lastly the Sisters, despite starting with a lot of enthusiasm, only two of the 6 participants ever delivered a completion and with a weak completion rate of 43%, the score could not have been very impressive either. Generally speaking the IFOR Forums this year had a number of missed opportunities… The Agents’ performance pains me especially because there was so much potential with the new Custodes and we never got to see that Warlord Titan – the only one vowed this year. Maybe (hopefully) next year...

ASTRA MILITARUM: PRIMUS INTER PARES – IFOR

All participants that vowed for the Astra Militarum Forum are eligible to wear the ETL VI Primus Inter Pares - IFOR in their signature:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_Primus_Interpares_Imperium.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_03_Primus_Interpares_02.gif

Realm of Chaos Faction:

1. Chaos Space Marines – 35,002

2. The Lost and the Damned – 2,732

3. Chaos Daemons – 741

Here things were pretty straight forward. Chaos Space Marines dominated the Faction in every way and did not leave any doubt at any point of the event that they would be unchallenged for the Primus Inter Pares position within the Realm of Chaos. In fact, they were a contender for the top position of Dominus Exercitus something that was fought for in the last 30 mins of the event (but more on that later)! The other two Realm of Chaos Forums, the Daemons and the LatD had a supporting role since the beginning and could have been instrumental in boosting the Realm of Chaos as a Faction or beat other Forums of similar resources – something that for the most part did not materialize. I could go on praising the Chaos Marines and the determination with which they fought and I’m going to later on.

For now I want to focus on the LatD as they had positively surprised us with 8 participants pledging 9.9k pts between them. That potential though was largely uncaptured as the completion rate only reached 54% and also suffered a 500pts penalty too… Similarly, the Daemons had an even lower completion rate of just 42% resulting in the second lower score in the ETL after the Aeldari. A pity really, as there was an opportunity there to get an ETL Score at least better than their arch-Nemesis, the Grey Knights (that only had two participants btw)!

At this point I feel compelled to add something about the Chaos Marines: They fought an uphill battle since the beginning, against mostly the loyal Space Marines. It was not until the mid-ETL that the BAs emerged as a main opponent and even then, a defeat was only possible if the BAs re-vowed like crazy and delivered huge completion rates – who knew they would…

CHAOS SPACE MARINES: PRIMUS INTER PARES – REALM OF CHAOS

All participants that vowed for the Chaos Space Marine Forum are eligible to wear the ETL VI Primus Inter Pares - Realm of Chaos in their signature:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_Primus_Interpares_Chaos.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_03_Primus_Interpares_04.gif

Xenos Faction:

1. T’au Empire – 9,048

2. Necrons – 5,678

3. Orks – 3,735

4. Tyranids – 933

5. Aeldari – 27

Xenos Forums had their first ETL and that was fun because I literally did not know what to expect – there was no history, no known Forum traits – I didn’t even know who I will find in those uncharted waters. Imagine my surprise when I saw Elmo, a long-standing Dark Angels player and a member of the Inner Circle leading the Tau effort… And I thought Cypher was bad!

On a more serious note, let’s see them one by one and let’s start with the T’au, the champions of the Xenos Faction. These guys were phenomenal. We had a Manta (yes, a Manta) and a huge vow comprising super heavy walkers and flyers and even drones… all in yellow! What sort of crazy stuff is that? There were of course some who failed to complete their vows but despite that the completion rate hit 80% - a very strong number! And the re-vowing rate reached 92%!!! I mean they have virtually doubled their initial vows – now this is commitment, no? So, a well-deserved first place for sure.

In the second place it was the Necrons – another small by tightly knit sub-community, intent on delivering on their vows with a completion rate even higher than the Tau at 81% although their re-vowing rate was a much less impressive 60%. Here the limited resources put the brakes on and denied the Necrons the top position. One can argue that the absence of high point units that the Tau and other Forums enjoy is an in-build disadvantage. There may be some truth in that and I’m willing to discuss if people want to, but there is little I can do about it – unless GW decides to go full out on plastic Necron Super-Heavies...

In the third place, the best surprise of all: the Orks! Now these guys were fanatics. Only four of them joined but their completion rate hit 86% (!) and their revowing rate, wait for it, reached 100%!!! Now this is what I call commitment! Seriously, the Orks is the only army among Xenos, not to have an updated 8^th Edition Codex at the time of the ETL, and worse still, there are concrete rumors (or is it an official announcement) that the new Ork Codex will be coming soon and most likely with an updated range. Still those guys saw the challenge and all they did was to shout Waaagh! and join the fray! I think, the ETL VI can be called Waaagh Warhead01 – as this participant alone accounts for 2.8k pts of the 4.3k Ork total through 5 vows! Toaae and tvih also supported the effort valiantly and I can only say: huge respect guys!

The Tyranids were kind of silent. Only four participants here as well, and only Filkarion managed to complete his vow with no penalties. Where the Tau, Necrons and Orks all hit completion rates of 80% or better, the Tyranids settled to just 55% - a relatively low completion rate even for materially larger Forums. Be that as it may, Filkarion must feel proud of himself – standing tall and saving the honour of his Forum. As an anecdote, Filkarion only reported a completion in the last hour of the event. At that point, I thought it would be the first time in ETL history that a Forum will get zero points! Thankfully Filkarion saved the day!

Which brings us to the Aeldari… What happened here? Completion rate of just 9%? And average vow of only 317pts? And a total score of just 27? (no typo, 27). I don’t get it. The Eldar have a fantastic range of minis be they Craftworld, Drukhari, Harlequins or Ynnari… you name it. Not only beautiful minis but in all sizes and shapes: walkers, bigger walkers, even bigger walkers, flyers, skimmers, tank skimmers and an endless array of colorful, if in some cases disturbing, infantry. I really don’t know… There is a redeeming feature though: The painting quality! Oh boy, this is going to have an impact…

I sure hope the ranks of the Xenos will be bolstered, inspired by this year’s performance and we’ll see more of them going forward!

T’AU EMPIRE: PRIMUS INTER PARES – XENOS

All participants that vowed for the T'au Empire Forum are eligible to wear the ETL VI Primus Inter Pares - Xenos in their signature:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_Primus_Interpares_Xenos.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_03_Primus_Interpares_03.gif

Age of Darkness Faction (AoD):

1. AoD-L – 21,324
2. AoD-T – 19,093

Well, finally we arrive at the Horus Heresy crowd. These guys are the die-hard followers of the Heresy, that stood firm and fought even in a year with limited support by Forge World or other sources! And what a fight they put up!

First let me say that the Loyalists appeared to have more resources in the opening days of the event, but pretty soon the Traitors took the upper hand, they narrowed and even reversed the gap as was reflected by their superior re-vowing rate of 81% vs. the 69% of the Loyalists. So, they completed vows earlier and then re-vowed thus leveraging their initial force continuously and with point-rich vows thus maintaining their average vow among the highest in the ETL, above 1k pts. Yet they did not come on top… So, what happened? Well, the answer is simple: a couple of failed follow-up vows produced penalty points and that was it! The Traitors would have won! That’s how the ETL rules work and, in this case, they were visceral!

Having said that, both the AoD Outposts did quite well in the wider scheme of things, as the next section will demonstrate and together... well, as we said in the previous sections, together they propelled the AoD Faction in the second place after the big and mighty Adeptus Astartes… Who knows, next year, with some support from Forge World, the AoD may be even in a position to threaten the Astartes! It has happened in the past…

AoD-L: PRIMUS INTER PARES – AGE OF DARKNESS

All participants that vowed for the AoD-L Forum are eligible to wear the ETL VI Primus Inter Pares - AoD in their signature:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_Primus_Interpares_AOD.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_03_Primus_Interpares_05.gif

[Captain Semper]

Section 4 – ETL VI Dominus Exercitus: Forums' performance across Factions

Apart from the strongest Faction and the strongest Forums within each Faction, the ETL VI recognizes the strongest Forum across all Forums irrespective of Faction! This is the closest comparable achievement vs. the previous ETLs Primus Inter Pares – although not exactly the same as the Forums/Factions have been modified and adjusted since.

In ETL VI, there are 20 Forums all competing for the top position! Yes, there is glory in becoming the first among equals i.e. the first within your Faction, but the glory of becoming the top among ALL 20 Forums is unparalleled! AND THIS GLORY GOES TO THE:

BLOOD ANGELS: DOMINUS EXERCITUS ETL VI

All Blood Angels’ participants who completed ALL their vows are eligible to carry the Dominus Exercitus badge in their signature!

It is easily understood that the Dominus Exercitus will be found among the Primus Inter Pares, i.e. the Champion Forums of each Faction. However, here are the rankings of all the Forums:

Here I need to focus on the top two. As you can see, the difference in score is just 343pts! And more to the point, Chaos Space Marines have completed more points in absolute terms. So that is as close as it can get. However, the Blood Angels high completion rate and fewer penalty points brought them to first position.

For all the collective distinctions, the ETL rewards team work and the completion rate is a massive bonus – a bonus designed to allow Forums that have less traffic to have reasonable chance, if they pull together, to challenge other, more popular Forums. But that also means that in order to make that theoretical chance a reality, the effort should exceed average performances and indeed stand out in achieving high completion rates above and beyond the call of duty!

And sometimes even that is not enough if it is not backed by substantial resources, i.e. a reasonably high number of participants and a reasonably high level of points pledged.

For example, the Space Marines had the most participants and the for the better part of the event they also had the most points pledged but with a completion rate of just 61% they had to settle for 5^thposition. On the other end of the spectrum, the Grey Knights with a magical 100% completion rate had limited chance of a good ranking as they only had two participants and only 2.7k points pledged between them.

In the case of the Blood Angels, well, they did have 44 participants – a decent amount but by no means the highest. The Space Marines had 67, the Chaos Space Marines had 55 and the Dark Angels had 46. So yes, they had a relatively strong showing, but certainly they did not look to be the favorites at the onset of the event. But boy, did they show discipline and drive! Not only they started declaring completions early, they started to re-vow and thus achieving a multiplying effect. The re-vowing rate (second or subsequent vows over first vows) of the Blood Angels reached 80%! If that is not a drive, I don’t know what is!

To cut a long story short, at the end of the event, before penalties of CR adjustments, they have managed to complete 41.6k points, some 9k points more than the Space Marines, the Adeptus Astartes Faction favorite. And the penalties of unfinished second or subsequent vows, although severe, were mitigated by the enormous completion rate of 87% leading them to a final ETL score of 35.3k.

Opposite them were the Chaos Space Marines. Chaos Space Marines is an ETL super power, winning the previous 3 consecutive events. There is a huge commitment and enthusiasm for the event, a lot of discipline (uncharacteristic for Chaos, I know) and fantastic artistic output. They were a favorite from the get-go but their participation, although strong for ETL VI standards, was not as strong as in previous ETLs. Still that was not that much of a limiting factor as they were still second in participation levels only to the Loyalist Space Marines.

And they did have a very strong performance! Fast-forward to the end of the event, they had completed, in absolute terms and before penalties and adjustments, more points than any other faction! They have achieved that in somewhat peculiar manner, as their completion rate among first vows was not that impressive at 67% (at least compared to the Blood Angels where completion rate among first vows stood at 88%) but their re-vowing rate at 91% sure was. Did you get that? 91% re-vowing rate... That means that relatively fewer participants carried most of the weight through frantic re-vowing. As such, their completion rate settled at a fairly high 77%.

And then the penalties struck! The Chaos Space Marines suffered 1,285 pts of penalties and Blood Angels suffered "only" 925 pts. That proved to be crucial as it meant that the completion rate (that is measured after penalties) retreated by two percentage points for both teams but ended up with Chaos Marines having a score of just 343 pts less than the Blood Angels! That’s 0.16% of the total ETL VI score! 0.16%!!!!! And just to demonstrate how close this was, if both teams had zero penalties, the Chaos team would have won by 28 pts!!!

This demonstrates that there is no such thing as a “small” vow and that it is extremely important to complete your pledge – especially if by failing to do so your previous completed vows will be also nullified!

Now that was the narrowest victory ever in an ETL, but a victory it is, so again congratulations to the Blood Angels that showed that perseverance and commitment can work wonders – even if the initial resources are not that high.

Here I also need to mention the AoD-L for its tremendous effort in the final stages of the ETL. Although the score is significantly lower than the two leading Forums, it is admirable how much they achieved with such limited resources. A completion rate of 74% - almost 5 percentage points higher than the ETL average and zero penalties meant that every completion counted. Furthermore, a big re-vowing rate of 69% came to the aid of a mediocre first vow completion rate of just 55% but that was enough to guarantee them third position. It goes without saying that the major reason they came ahead of the AoD-T and the reason why AoD-T came in 6^thposition was the latter’s penalties – the highest of any Forum in ETL VI! Penalties cost a lot – even if they are optically small numbers vs. the total amounts pledged or completed…

Dark Angels came in 4^th– yay! Not a bad performance – and it could be much better if the last-minute completions were done a bit earlier allowing for a better re-vowing rate, which at 46% was less than impressive. Hopefully next year the First will be first! And of course, the Space Marines came in 5^th. If only their completion rate was higher… Their completion rate among first vows of 58% is what really kept them back.

All participants that vowed for the Blood Angels Forum are eligible to wear the ETL VI Dominus Exercitus badge in their signature:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_Dominus_Exercitus_Blood_Angels.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_06_Dominus_Exercitus.gif

Well that was the situation of the collective achievements. Now let’s move on to the individual achievements:

[Captain Semper]

Section 5 - Custos Fidei and Oath breakers

 

The ETL does not only reward collective effort but individual effort as well! It doesn’t matter if your Forum / Faction did not perform well, as long as you have delivered on your promise, no matter the size of your vow, you will receive the fabled Custos Fidei – that most prestigious award, a proof that you successfully participated in ETL VI!

 

The Custos Fidei is available to all participants who completed all their vows during the lifetime of the event and even distinguishes the amount of vows that each participant made. If on the other hand, you have failed to complete even one of your vows, then the Oathbreaker Badge is for you, and you are required to wear until the year-end. Truth is, the Oathbreaker badge is quite nice, and many people wear it long after the required period! 

 

So, with no further ado let’s award the Custos Fidei and the Oathbreaker badge (participants are presented with alphabetical order):

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: IF you think your name is in the wrong place, feel free to take the badge you deserve and notify me to change the location of your name

 

Participants with 5 vows completed:

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_03_Custos_Fidei_05_.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_01_Custos_Fidei_05.gif

 

Augustus b'Raass

Celtic_Cauldron

Chaeron

Dragonlover

Freakshow 668

gianlucafiorentini123

GreyRavenC

Halandaar

Jam Master Flex

LutherMax

Majkhel

Razblood

Rece Bannon

Semper Fortis

Shas’O R’alai

Vykes

warhead01

Zebulon

Zujara

 

Participants with 4 vows completed:

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_03_Custos_Fidei_04_.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_01_Custos_Fidei_04.gif

 

Commander Dawnstar

Dr_Ruminahui

Dreagher

elmo

Eternal Despair

golfdeltafoxtrot

HighMarshalAmp

Isual

Jud Cottrell

Kizzdougs

Mr Yellow

Snorkle

Spyros

The Saint Ragnar

TheStatusJoe

WarriorFish

 

Participants with 3 vows completed:

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_03_Custos_Fidei_03_.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_01_Custos_Fidei_03.gif

 

Azekai

Burni

bushman101

Closet Skeleton

Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch

Deadman Wade

DuskRaider

Dwarfin87

Eldrick Shadowblade

fisheyedbunny

Focslain

heshman

Jolemai

Lord Blackwood

Mard

Moostick

Noigrim

Pearson73

Reinhard

RolandTHTG

Slothysaur

Spagunk

SwashBucaneer

Tankus Wokus

TrawlingCleaner

Trokair

Waldwolf

 

Participants with 2 vows completed:

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_03_Custos_Fidei_02_.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_01_Custos_Fidei_02.gif

 

Ace Debonair

Adorondak

Almagor

Apocalypton

Balthamal

BitterSilence

BluejayJunior

Brother Abbot

Brother Aether

Brother Argent

Brother Azreal

Brother Christopher

Brother Lemartes

Checkmate

Cordova

derelinqueren

Ebsas

Eddie Orlock

facmanpob

FearPeteySodes

frosteldar

G8Keeper

Gr'Flur

Hyperion

Imperialsquishiness

Insane Psychpath

IronBars

Kaese

Lhorke the First

LilNath

lokkorex

longjohnsilver

Lostrael

mercbat

mjrwaud

Mordian Glory

Ornithologist

Phatsquirre1

Raven1 

Raychu

Redtoof

rgr_maddog

Rogue

Sgt. Blank

Silas7

Skorp

sneakybamsen

Studio Silvernale

Tallarn Commander

The4thHorseman

Thoridon

Threadcutter

THUNDERFISTS

UniWolf

Vay

Viridia

Vogon

 

Participants with 1 vow completed:

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_03_Custos_Fidei_01_.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_01_Custos_Fidei_01.gif

 

40kChris

40kcollector

Aias

Angel of Solitude

AnnieGreenGable

Archidamus

Arkaniss

Ashmantle

BadSanta

Black_Knight:

Boyadventurer

Bronze Beast in the Dark

Brother Callidan

Brother Cambrius

Brother Carn

Brother Casman

Brother Dallo

Brother Karael

Brother Quixote

brother_b

Burias- Drak`shal

Calibos

Calyptra

CaptainHelion

CaptnRussia

CausticCossack

Chaplain Gunzhard

Charlo

Chris521

Colonel Bindoff

Company Master Holden

Daemonifugue

Darmor

Der H

Disruptor_fe404

Dont-Be-Haten

duz_

Ekfud

Falcongek

Fierce Bear

Filkarion

Freya

Galloway

Galthan Ironsturm

Gemini

Grazcruzk

Greymane

Hellhunter

Hellstrike

Henimann

Honda

Indefragable

Interrogator Stobz

Iron Father Ferrum

Jackman

JAG Templar

james71989

JaqTaar

Jarl Kjaran Coldheart

Jarl of Wulfen

JeffJedi

JJD

Joukernaut

Kevlarshark

Kierdale

KrautScientist

LameBeard

Large and Moving Torb

Leif Bearclaw

Leonite

lhg033

lionofjudah

Lord Commander Eidolon

Lord Rust

Lynnean

MajorNese

malarki

MaliGn

Malus Trux

marine7312000

Mechanist

Melete

Metzombie

Midlight

Midnight Runner

Morovir

Nemac Vradon

Nemerax

NTaW

Obsidian Quacker

okonomiyakimarine

oldschoolsoviet

OnboardG1

our_baz

Paladin777

plasmaspam

Private Jenkins

Punk possum

Rabidweasel

Ravening Harlot:

Rednekkboss

Rikev

Skinomyteeth

Soulhunter1995

Spaced Hulk

Spaz

StruManChu

stuka06

Sviar

Tdemayo

Teetengee

The Blood Raven

The Shadow Guard

TheOneTrueZon

TiguriusX

toaae

tremblant

tvih

Tygwyn

Ulrik Ironfist

Ultra kblock

undeadsoldier

Valaas

Vel'Cona

Venerable Jazzman

Verux

walter h

Xenith

xenomortis

 

Oathbreakers

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Banner_02_Oathbraker_.jpg http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_2018_Medal_02_Oath_Breaker.gif

 

_Saracen

1000 Sons

Aasfresser

Acebaur

Aegir_Einarsson

Ahrimanjjb

Akylas

Altis

Andrew Christlieb

Angarox

Aothaine

Aqui

Arkhanist

Atrus

Azaiel

Baldhere

Bishoujo

Blackheart1223

BlueBelly1863

Bluflash

bmseifer

Boytoy

Brother Captain Ed

Brother Chaplain Kage

Brother Dimetrius

Brother Haim

Brother Krysos

Brother Syddraf

Brother Worsey

Brother_Bethor

Bryan Blaire

Callium

Captain Lazarus

Captain Titus

Ch@oZ

Chaplain Dosjetka

Chaz Sexington

Chmur

Civsmitty

Clunk

Cobb Erikson

Coffee Grunt

coldfyre

Combat_Vet

Copycat Copycat

Danny Cyanide

Dantay_VI

Darnarth Lysander

Decimus Felix

dicebod

Dizzyeye

Duke Danse Macabre

El_duderino

Elzender

Excessus

Fangbanger

Father Mehman

Feirros

Firepower

FirstSonOfHorus

Fr33Dom

Gederas

gezabutla

gnalbel

Goreshed

Grand_master85

Greenz

Grieux

Grifftofer

Grotsmasha

HackedDuck

Hawklynn

Hellrender

Inquisitor Dracos

Iron Skull Mask

Isinfier

Jarl Caldersson

jbickb

KhorneHunter57x

Kinstryfe

Kisada

KnightBringer

Komodo

Kora'tau

Korbakai

Kordhal

Lachdannan

Larkyn

LetsYouDown

Lord Asvaldir

Lord Marshal

Lord Ranulf

m_r_parker

Macabre Slaaneshi Prince

Mactire

Mandaloriano

MARKOSIAN

Marshal van Trapp

Marshal Wolfhart

Master Avoghai

Micahwc

Mightykin

MindOfMetal

mithriforge

MJ

mooftak

Mr4Minutes

MrZakalwe

MysticTemplar

Naaman10th

NiceGuyAdi

Nicodemus Doloroso

NovemberIX

Omnissiahs Fury

Papewaio

Qkhitai

Raeho

Rayray

redmapa

RikuEru

Rizara

robofish7591

Rune_Priest_Rhapsody

Sabadin

Sagentus

sarabando

Schwills

Scourged

Scribe

sfPanzer

Shard of Magnus

Shield-Captain MacGucci

Slave to Darkness

Slips

SM1981

Sol_Invictus

Soldier of Dorn

Son of Carnelian

Spafe

Stray

Supe robot gangster #1

SW1

SystemSyn

Tamilka

The Observer

The Traitor

TheBlackPumpkin

TheDevourer

Thrall_Love

Torbenos

Torin

Trask

Triszin

Tyriks

Uprising

Valhalla130

Vazzy

War009

Warsmith Aznable

wilks_

Zeller

[Captain Semper]

Section 6 - Badges of Excellence: Forum Champions and Collegia Titanica

 

Awarding the Custos Fidei is not the only distinction the ETL bestows on the participants. Some have delivered above and beyond the call of duty and therefore are eligible for badges of excellence.

 

The Forum Champion:

Each Forum has a Champion, i.e. the individual with the most points completed. Of course, those individuals must have completed ALL their vows, so participants that have outstanding vows at the end of the event are not considered (the order of the Champions mirrors the order the Forums are stacked in the main B&C page). 

 

Space Marines Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Astartes_SM.jpg

Halandaar – 6,391

 

Blood Angels Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Astartes_BA.jpg

Mr. Yellow - 4,336

 

Dark Angels Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Astartes_DA.jpg

Zujara – 5,394

 

Space Wolves Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Astartes_SW.jpg

Jarl Kjaran Coldheart – 7,229

 

Sisters of Battle Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Imperium_SOB.jpg

Mard – 1,199

 

Adeptus Mechanicus Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Imperium_Mechanicum.jpg

Focslain – 2,840

 

Astra Militarum Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Imperium_Militarum.jpg

Snorkle – 6,310

 

Agents of the Imperium Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Imperium_IA.jpg

Malus Trux – 3,152

 

Deathwatch Champion: 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Imperium_DW.jpg

Moostick – 2,663

 

Grey Knights Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Imperium_GK.jpg

Joukernaut – 2,238

 

Chaos Space Marines Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Chaos_SM.jpg

Augustus b’ Raass – 4,092

 

Chaos Daemons Champion: 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Chaos_Demons.jpg

Raven1 – 1,432

 

The Lost and the Damned Champion: 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Chaos_LATD.jpg

Azekai – 2,616

 

Aeldari Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Xenos_Drukari.jpg

Calyptra – 140

 

Necrons Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Xenos_Necrons.jpg

Ebsas – 2,518

 

Ork Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Xenos_Orks.jpg

warhead01 – 2,806

 

T’au Empire Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Xenos_Tau.jpg

Shas’O R’alai – 4,274

 

Tyranids Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_Xenos_Tyranids.jpg

Filkarion – 1,705 

 

Age of Darkness – Loyalists Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_AOD_Loyal.jpg

Eternal Despair – 6,045

 

Age of Darkness – Traitors Champion:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Forum_Champion_AOD_Traitor.jpg

Vykes – 11,553

 

Collegia Titanica

Lastly, for all those who complete a Titan (of any size or affiliation) are eligible to the Collegia Titanica badge below:

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Titanicus.jpg

[Captain Semper]

Section 7 - Badges of Excellence: Faction Masters and ETL VI Martyr

 

The Master of the Faction:

From among the Forum Champions of each Faction, the one with the most points completed is proclaimed the Master of the Faction! So five Factions, therefore five Masters. These are (the order of the Masters mirrors the order the Factions are stacked in the main B&C page):

 

Master of the Adeptus Astartes

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Faction_Master_Astartes.jpg

Jarl Kjaran Coldheart – 7,229

 

Master of the Forces of the Imperium (IFOR)

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Faction_Master_Imperium.jpg

Snorkle – 6,310

 

Master of the Realm of Chaos

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Faction_Master_Chaos.jpg

Augustus b'Raass – 4,092

 

Master of the Xenos

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Faction_Master_Xenos.jpg

Shas’O R’alai – 4,274

 

Master of the Age of Darkness (AoD)

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Faction_Master_AOD.jpg

Vykes – 11,553

 

 

The single individual with the most points completed in the event, the Champion of Champions, the Master of Masters will be awarded the Badge of the Martyr of ETL VI – the highest award of Excellence based on points! And here it is: 

 

MARTYR OF ETL VI

 

VYKES of the Age of Darkness – Traitor Outpost with the amazing total of 11,553pts

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Martyr.jpg

 

Congratulations Vykes, you can wear your badge with honor and pride!

[Captain Semper]

Section 8 - Badges of Excellence: Artificer

This is the badge that is awarded for impressive painting and modelling. Whereas all previous Badges of Excellence related to the quantity of the output of the participants, the Badge of the Artificer rewards quality. Unfortunately, this is subjective and there are no committees or joint bodies of decision-making. It’s effectively just me and the Shadow Guard. The only objective criterion, as you might have guessed is that the miniatures must be complete with basing an’ all and that the participant must have completed all his vows.

As such the Badge of the Artificer will be awarded to quite a few individuals, representing different styles of painting. There is no bias on larger or smaller models and no bias or whether it was part of a big or a small vow. The only criterion is whether it has a wow! factor – again based on subjective criteria.

However, only one Artificer will be awarded the title of Master Artificer. This will happen as a result of voting in a poll that I will set-up in the WIP Forum, allowing the B&C community at large to decide – not just the ETL participants – which is the participant that deserves the title of Master Artificer.

With no further ado, you can find below the names of the participants that will be awarded to the Badge of the Artificer:

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_VI_Badge_Artisan.jpg

Luthermax (SM)

Tankus Wokus (SM)

TheOneTru Zon (SM)

Spagunk (BA)

Interrogator Stobz (DA)

FearPeteySodes (SW)

Jam Master Flex (Astra Mil)

http://i.imgur.com/HQVZE8b.jpg

Augustus b'Raass (CSM)

KrautScientist

Oldschoolsoviet (CSM)

http://i.imgur.com/aDTKVWp.jpg

Calyptra (Aeldari)

Shas’O R’alai (Tau)

Vey (Tau)

Kizzdougs (AoD-T)

Vykes (AoD-T)

All the above are entitled to the Badge of the Artificer. Congratulations gentlemen!

Now you all have three days to provide me with the best pics you can take of your vows (make them large-ish) so I can set up the poll for all the B&C members to vote. They do not have to be pics of the entire vow - it could be a select few models or even one model that you are most proud of! In fact I'd rather you do that, and get a clear image of your best work in the ETL VI than try to cram everything in a pic and lose focus. Just make sure it's work you did during the ETL!

In case you do not provide me with any pics, then I'll use the ones you posted in the completion declarations of your vows. But please make the effort - it'll be fun and your work will presented closer to your liking.

[Captain Semper]

Section 9 - Captain Semper's Notes 

 

Well, the ETL VI is over. This was an effective re-launch of the event in a new edition of 40k and in a new B&C structure, that among other things it welcomed the Xenos in its hallowed halls. It is also a fact the the previous format was starting to look a bit tired - although the core mechanics were still very much functional and worked quite well.

 

As such I wanted to make a new ETL that will both acknowledge the new edition and at the same time integrate the Xenos as smoothly as possible. Frankly the Xenos was an unknown quantity - I had no idea of what sort of participation levels I should expect, or what sort of vows... As it happened I got all kinds! But the most important thing was to give reasons to forums with generally less traffic to gather their forces and try to fight it out with some sort of legitimate chance to win on at least some level. Thus I decided to create three layers of collective effort in this ETL: 

1. For the Forum with the highest score among forums within the same B&C cluster (called a "Faction" for ETL purposes)
2. For the Faction with the highest score overall as to give the incentive to less popular Forums within a Faction to work hard to support their Faction and obtain the relevant recognition along with their stronger stablemates 
3. For the Forum that ended up with the most points overall in the ETL

Let me give you some insight for those choices:

 

For the first layer, I wanted to give an incentive for Forums with realistically little chance to win the "strongest Forum" award to compete with other Forums within their Faction for top position. They may not be threatening to the traditional ETL superpowers but at least they could trey to increase their presence by becoming first within the limited group of their Faction. I predicted that this would be more relevant for Xenos, possibly IFOR and led me to split the AoD in to two just to keep the consistency across all Factions. I also expected some savage competition within the Astartes despite having an almost certain win on a Faction level! As t happened the AoD had indeed a savage competition s did the Xenos (despite the Tau taking the lead after the successful completion of two key vows) and there was also an interesting situation developing in the IFOR - at least in the beginning between Astra Militarum and the Agents. This intra-forum competition is a new thing and I think it will develop further in the future creating some long standing rivalries.

 

For the second layer, people might (correctly) say what's the point? The Astartes are so overwhelmingly popular in the B&C that if grouped together, well, there is little competition. And that's true. But on the other hand, in case a non-Astartes forum wins the ETL (with Chaos and AoD being good candidates based on previous experience) then the so-called most popular Faction gets no recognition in what is the B&C's most popular event! I really wanted to set the benchmark and say: OK, the Astartes are the dominant Faction here in the B&C and the ETL recognises that. And furthermore, it will be a good measure to see how the Astartes popularity wax and wanes over the coming ETLs - will there be leakage towards Xenos for example? Or to AoD or Chaos? I wouldn't be surprised to see the massive difference of the Astartes vs. all other Factions narrowing in the future, and who knows? Maybe a few years down the road, and with proper support from GW, the other Factions may even challenge the Astartes in a straight fight! 

 

For the third layer, I wanted to preserve the continuity of the ETL and the previous "Primus Inter Pares" award if slightly modified - as Forums and Factions were also modified in the new ETL era. It is still in its core the same challenge but by breaking up the AoD in a big way and Chaos in a smaller one, I think I made it even more challenging for either to get an easy victory. Indeed the Blood Angels emerged to take first position this year, but to do so they had an extraordinary performance! But even that breathtaking performance would not have been enough if all Chaos sub-forums were integrated like in the past or if AoD was not broken down. The encouraging thing though is that it was really close and it could have gone either way, and this to me is a sign that the inter Forum competition actually steepened and became way more involving - and that is a good thing. From now on, participants will be fully aware that EVERY vow matters, no matter its size. And what does matter even more is to complete it. 

 

Another point I would like to make is the Badge of the Artificer and the Master Artificer. As the veterans among you already know, I'm very uncomfortable with awarding trophies on panting quality as I don't see myself qualified to judge other people's work. It is a sensitive issue too as some may even take offence (never happened) and even actively challenge my opinion, which is ultimately subjective. But the bottom line is, the ETL want desperately to promote quality. We are not just aiming to make people paint "three-colour" armies - nor is there a "three-colour" rule for that matter. But we want to encourage people to paint to the best of their ability and even exceed that through fruitful interaction with other members of our community. in short, as put it: ONLY THE BEST FOR ETL. 

 

But my point remains, I'm not qualified to say who's best a painter. As such I will let the community at large decide and enjoy the work done during the ETL and it's up to them to pick the Master Artificer of the event via a poll that I will specifically set up for this purpose. I count on the nominated Artifcers to provide me with the best pictures of their work (work done as part of this ETL's vows obviously) and then our B&C community will vote their preferred choice. So for the first time, the ETL does not end with the Final Report - instead it will drag on for another week or so, until the Master Artificer Poll is completed.

 

Also, continuing the tradition and some of you are following the ETL closely for a number of years, here are some medallions to denote the number of ETLs you have participated in:

 

http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_Medal_01.gif http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_Medal_02.gif http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_Medal_03.gif http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_Medal_04.gif http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_Medal_05.gif http://fortressofunforgiven.homestead.com/ETL_Medal_06.gif

 

At this point, I would also like to thank all members who embrace the event and especially those taking active roles and pushing their Outposts to their limits be they Mods or Frater - it makes no difference in the egalitarian environment of the B&C and the ETL. As ever I welcome any comments you may have, I'll happy to answer any questions and discuss ways that the ETL may improve. 

 

Finally I would like to thank the Shadow Guard that supported me for the preparation and throughout the event, providing a plethora of imagery that makes the event visually pleasing and interesting, as well as being there for me in times of doubt and indecision. Thank you SG, I sure hope people understand that without your commitment there would be no ETL at all. And a commitment that has so much value given your busy and important daily schedule! 

 

So until next time, farewell and keep those brushes in good use!

 

Captain Semper

Member of the Inner Circle

Master of Recruits

[Interrogator Stobz]

Thanks again CS and SG, another epic event done and dusted (well almost :P )

[Spagunk]

Thank you so much Semper for hosting this event for your time and effort. I am humbled to just be nominated among the amazing talent this forum has brought even if I don't feel I deserve it.

 

Congratulations to everyone who put time and effort into this and I hope to see everyone's contributions next year!

 

I shall see the rest of the BA team back again this fall for our next event.

[Brother Argent]

Thanks again Semp for an another amazing even and congrats to all those whom participated and even more kudos to those whom finished.  If I am honest I am disappointed at my own efforts this year.  I went into the event with high motivation but managed to quickly sabotage myself and then the procrastination daemons kicked in.  I am looking forward to next years event and will, for the first time ever, vow for another faction other then the Astartes.  So congrats again to all and look forward to seeing where things go from here.

[Axineton]

Cheers for running this event Semper. Was great seeing all the pictures of everyones vows, I'll do better next year and hopefully complete a vow at least!!

 

Congratulations to the winners and well done everyone who participated your what makes this hobby and forum a fantastic place to be!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Blood Angels won and not Chaos? 

 

[JJD]

Fantastic event thank you Captain Semper.

 

Will you be doing the smaller versions of the vow completion badges to save space in people signatures.

[Captain Semper]

We will try and that ASAP. Unfortunately SG is a VERY busy man, so... *shrugs*

 

Say, if anyone posses the skill, I'll be happy to discuss with him an alleviate some of the burden from SG's shoulders...