Oath Season 13 - Lucky for some - The Something Awful Forums

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Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

SA Oath Thread Season 13
Welcome to the Oath Thread, a place where we can all get together and paint our stuff!

Useful Links:

Galleries

So, What�s this oathing thing about?
Simply put, each month participants will post an oath stating what they�re going to paint, and hopefully by the end of the month it�ll get done and we�ll all get to see a bunch of nifty painted minis! We�ve found it�s a great way to get motivated, regardless of whether you�re a veteran painter sitting on piles of unused plastic and metal, or a newbie just getting started with the hobby.
As we go along there are bonus monthly challenges designed to get people to experiment with new techniques or paint something you otherwise wouldn�t have gotten around to, plus a set of overall achievements which can be earned any time.

How does oathing work?
Oathing is pretty simple. You just need a digital camera (ones built into modern phones are generally fine), a place to upload your pictures (like Imgur or similar), a computer screen showing the date (more on that later) and of course your models. You�ll then make an Oath post - this should be made during the current Oath month (e.g. for May's oath, post it during May):

Set up your screen of choice to show the Current Time in American Samoa.
Lay out your chosen miniatures around / in front of the screen. Miniatures may be assembled and undercoated (including zenithal priming) but otherwise painting must not have started on them. See the FAQs below for more details.
Take a picture of the lot! Make sure the screen is clearly visible (the important parts are the Date, Time and the American Samoa title) and that the miniatures are countable (it�s fine if they are a bit out of focus so long as we can match them with your oath). If you�re oathing a lot of stuff it�s fine to take multiple pictures.
Your oath does not have to be fully assembled, so it's fine to post a pic of minis on sprue or still in their blister etc. However the minis themselves should be visible, don't just take a picture of the box they come in.
Post in this thread with your picture, the contents of your Oath and a sentence akin to �I, <username>, Oath to paint the following for <month>�. This post should be made within 3 days of the picture being taken, ideally on the same day.
Optionally, let us know the manufacturer(s) and scale(s) of the miniatures you are painting. It's not needed but it can be interesting to see trends

That�s it! You�ve now made your oath, and can start painting. Usually within a few days to a week one of the management team will notice your Oath, add it to the Spreadsheet and post to approve your Oath, but you don�t need to wait for approval to get painting.

Once you�ve finished painting your Oath, you�ll need to make a Completion post:

Take a picture of your completed miniatures. It�s fine to take multiple pictures if you�re painting a bunch of stuff or just want to show it off from several angles.
Optional: Make sure your forum name is clearly visible on the pictures - either you can include this when taking the picture (e.g. on a bit of paper or a screen in the background) or you can edit it onto the picture afterwards.
Post in this thread with your picture(s), the words �Oath Complete�, and any Achievements or Challenges you are claiming (see later). Make sure this post is made before the end of the month in American Samoa.
It�s that simple!

Earning Points
Completing oaths will earn you points! In previous seasons this meant prizes, but in this season they�re mostly for bragging rights. You can earn points in the following ways:

A successfully completed Oath will get you 3 Points.
If you have remembered to add your name to at least one of your completion pictures you get 1 point and that picture will be submitted to the gallery for judging.
If you complete the month�s Challenge you get 1 point.
For each Achievement you complete you get 1 point.
Extra points are available for impressing our celebrity Judges!

You still get credit for your completion if you miss out your name, however these pictures will not be submitted to the Gallery and therefore cannot earn bonus Judge points.

Challenges
Each month will feature one or more themed challenges. Simply paint up something to match a challenge, claim it in your completion post, and earn a bonus point! Note that in order to get this point you must state which miniatures match it - e.g. if you painted up a bunch of wizards, one of whom is throwing a fireball, you might write something like �Fire mage for the OSL challenge�. It�s best to make your claims bold so they�re easy to spot!

If a month has multiple challenge options and you complete several of them this is still only 1 point for 'completing at least one challenge'. When claiming the challenge state which option you have picked.

This season�s monthly challenges are:

May: Multiverse of Madness - Paint a model that somehow references another setting or character - e.g. a proud knight dressed in full plate in the colours of Iron Man's suit, a fantasy football team in the colours of a baseball team, a wizard with a strange technological wand (aka sonic screwdriver), some urban graffiti with the hand of Saruman.
June: Smoothly Does It - Add a smooth blend between two or more colours/shades on your model.
July: A Real Scorcher - Your model should feature flames or a heat source of some kind. This could a soldier firing a flamethrower, a dragon roasting some unfortunate adventurers, a spaceship at full thrust or an overcharged plasma cannon. OSL isn't necessary but may help get the point across.
August: The Chop Shop - Your model should be customised or customisable in some way. e.g. Sculpt it yourself, a kitbash or headswap, changable weapons or fun with magnets / LEDs!
September: Raise Your Flag - Your model should feature a large banner or flag. This could be held proudly or draped against the side of a vehicle or wall. For settings where a large banner is inappropriate, nose art or similar mural art can be used.
October: Send Shivers Down Your Spine - Paint up something creepy or spooky. Could be a ghost, or some classic undead or hammer horror inspired figures. Could be a more modern take on horror ala The Ring or something unsettling or wrong about an otherwise ordinary scene.
November: Shine on Crazy Diamond - Add something shiny to your model. This could be using chrome metallics, NMM, glossy scales, or similar
December: Lay on the Texture - Paint a figure featuring heavy fur or other texture. This doesn't necessarily have to be modelled on, you could paint a fake texture such as marble.
January: Obligatory WIP Month - Take at least three Work in Progress pictures of your oath, if you take more please link to an external gallery of them.
February: Making a Splash - Your model should look wet or feature water effects. Maybe they're a slimy toad, are fighting in the rain or even just standing over a puddle.
March: Shades of Grey - Use a limited colour palette on your model, e.g. everything is different shades of blue. Optionally throw in a single accent colour, Sin-City style.
April: University of Hard Knocks - Your model should feature weathering, e.g. rust, mud or heat staining. Alternately they could be under the effects of heavy weather such as a storm, blizzard or hurricane.

Goals / Achievements
In addition to challenges, you can also earn Achievements to gain points. Unlike challenges, these can be earned at any time in the season. Achievements are split into two categories: Automatic and Manual. Unless otherwise stated they are all worth 1 point.

Manual Achievements
These require claiming in a similar fashion the Challenges (e.g. Claiming �Need 4 Speed for the Inquisitor). Some require a bit of extra set up or additional work - check the descriptions carefully!

Stay awhile and listen: Write a story about one or more of the figures you have painted. How did they get those scars? Why are they wielding a variety of golf clubs? What makes them get up in the morning? Post your story alongside your completed pics in addition to your claim.
Need 4 Speed: Paint up one or more of your figures in 24 hours! To do this you need a before and after picture with timestamps (use the American Samoa time as usual; your before pic can be the same as your oath picture). You�re free to post the after picture as soon as it�s ready but make sure to link to it in your completion post so it's not missed.
A faithful replica: Paint one of your miniatures to match the manufacturer�s �official� scheme. When you post your completion, include a picture of the original you�re copying. This also includes painting something to mimic a real life person or object, e.g. if you paint up a historically accurate tank or a tribute to a TV show character.
Get the Crystal: Paint up some game aids as part of your Oath. These could be objectives, status markers (like a vehicle wreck explosion), loot counters or even a customised blast template! State in your completion post what they�ll be used for (e.g. Get the Crystal: Treasure counters for Frostgrave).
Spic and Span: Tidy up your painting space. Post a before picture of the terrible mess your painting area is (this can be with your Oath in the month) and an after picture with everything neat and tidy with all your paints and tools back in their places.
The Daily Double: Paint a figure that matches the challenges from two different months other than the current month. State which challenges you�re doing in your completion post (e.g. Claiming The Daily Double for the helicopter using April and December�s challenges). Alternately if a month has multiple challenges, paint a figure (or figures) which match all of them.
Take one for the team: Paint up a group of at least four related miniatures, such as a Frostgrave Warband, a squad of Space Marines, a Guildball Team, a Dropfleet, and so on. There should be a unifying theme behind the minis such as a logo or colour scheme so they don�t just look like a bunch of random guys.
A recipe for success: Include a list of the colours and techniques you used to paint your figure. If you�ve done a fancy base, include the materials used for it. Basically anything to help other people copy your masterpiece!
Rescue Ranger: Finish painting an already-started model (could be a failed oath from a previous month). Alternately rescue a 2nd hand mini and freshen it up - in this case post a picture of the original paint job before stripping & re-undercoating.
All together now: This can only be claimed during April. Post a picture of everything you have painted for the current Oath season - you may be surprised at how much that is! Optionally, summarise what you�ve painted in the post (e.g. this season I have painted 127 infantry and 3 tanks). In the case of people who aren�t painting anything during April you can still claim this achievement by making a Season Complete post with the picture and description as above.

Automatic Achievements
These are granted automatically upon the completion of the stated goals. You don�t need to claim them as the magic of our Spreadsheet does it automatically!

Getting Started: Complete your first Oath.
Apprentice: Complete your third Oath.
Journeyman: Complete your sixth Oath.
Expert: Complete your ninth Oath.
Master: Complete all twelve Oaths this season!

The Gallery & Judging
Each month�s pictures will be entered into the Gallery for that month.
Only pictures with your name on them will be submitted to the gallery. Additionally, WIP shots and initial Oath pictures will be excluded, what should end up here are the final pics of your oathed miniatures.
The gallery will then be submitted to our panel of celebrity judges who will award bonus points to their favourite 3 oaths (3 points for 1st place, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd), plus an additional point to the one they feel best exemplifies the monthly challenge (this can be one of the above).
Once again we are invoking the Bachtere Clause - anyone who receives 1st or 2nd place in a month can only earn a maximum of 3rd place in the next month from that Judge. This has no effect on the �Best Challenge� points.
Unlike previous seasons, Judges are allowed to participate in Oathing. However they may not choose their own oaths when performing judgement!
This season's judges are TBC

Competitions
From time to time Goons may post their own competitions in the Oath thread - usually these will be extra challenges or require painting specific types of model. These competitions are entirely separate to the main Challenges and Achievements and don�t affect your points, although it may be there�s an overlap between them anyway.
It is up to the individual Goons running the competitions to specify the rules and requirements of their competition along with any prizes, although we do ask that at least a month�s notice is given before any such competition is started.

Other Important Info & FAQs
Terrain
Pieces of Terrain may be oathed, pretty much everything that applies to miniatures also applies here.

Bases
As not all miniatures and gaming systems use bases, they are an optional part of the Oath. If you wish to make a fancy base your Oath, that�s fine so long as you state this! Otherwise it�s fine to use pre-painted bases, or even no bases at all, so long as the miniature that will be going on the base is fine.

Coloured Primers
It is fine to use a coloured primer (e.g. red) when submitting your Oath pictures. What�s not OK is pre-shading using an ink wash or similar, with the exception of basic Zenithal priming and shading.

What happens if I fail an Oath?
Not much, you won�t get any points for that month and won�t go into the Gallery. It�s possible that someone could feel bothered enough by this to buy you an Oathbreaker avatar but it�s pretty rare unless you make a habit of it!

Can I make more than one Oath in a month?
Yes, it�s perfectly fine to do this so long as you follow the same rules as the initial Oath. They are usually labelled as �Oath Additions�. However, you need to make sure that all your oaths get completed and are included in a single Completion post, otherwise it counts as failure! Oath additions made after a Completion Post for a month will be rejected.

I forgot to post my Oath picture before starting to paint!
We understand that sometimes life gets in the way and people will get distracted between taking pics and posting their Oath. If you have a valid (date stamped, unpainted) �before� picture it�s OK to post it outside of the 3 day window. However, participants who abuse this leniency frequently may have their Oaths rejected, especially towards the end of the month (i.e. don�t take the picture at the start of the month, then post it just before your completion at the end of the month once you�ve done the painting! This is against the spirit of Oathing and will not be looked upon favourably).

Zark the Damned fucked around with this message at 17:13 on May 14, 2023

# ¿ Apr 27, 2022 21:35

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 21, 2024 10:04

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

I, Zark the Damned, oath the below for May 2022:

One Mega Gargant, GW
Two Mimics, Archon Studios
One Mimic, TTCombat,
One Servitor, Brass Monkey Games
All 28mm

# ¿ May 15, 2022 16:49

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

Dr. Gargunza posted:

Just reporting in to announce my availability for judging this round! Looking forward to seeing everyone's contributions.

Glad to hear it, cheers!

Zark the Damned posted:

I, Zark the Damned, oath the below for May 2022:

One Mega Gargant, GW
Two Mimics, Archon Studios
One Mimic, TTCombat,
One Servitor, Brass Monkey Games
All 28mm

Galaspar posted:

For May I, Galaspar, oath 2 land train locomotives and an Orlock quadbike

Ashcans posted:

Late to the party this month because work is kicking my rear end, but I don't want to start off the new season with completely missing it.

I, Ashcans, oath these two Marvel Crisis Protocol cars for May

Under 15 posted:

Posting in this thread after eight years. Maybe I've improved?? I have a lot of stuff to paint this year.

I, Under 15, oath a Swiss Guard from Corvus Belli for May.

Destrado posted:

I, Destrado, in my first oath for like a decade, oath 10 Ork Kommandos for May

I have not learned a single thing in that timeframe.

TotalHell posted:

It's really exciting to see new folks coming into the Oath thread. Especially with such ambitious projects!

Mine's much lighter this month:

I, TotalHell, oath for the month of May one Chaos Lord in Terminator Armor by GW

Ugleb posted:

I Ugleb hereby oath for the month of May, 4x Elhoi, 2x Gur Panther and 2x Gun Brigs for Armada by Mantic Games.

The eagle-eyed will notice that they are half-done, so I will be claiming Rescue Ranger after failing to get these done last month!

Lawlicaust posted:

Hi Oath Thread! I�ve never done this but let�s give it a shot and make a big one. I got this in recently:

I need a break from my painting projects of the last month so I�m going to paint the whole core box this month.

Here they are still packaged. Starting with yellow, Im going to paint the whole box. And im going to try my hardest to use a speed paint starter set for the entire job (except probably the metals). 4 armies of 24 figures each. If I manage to finish that early, I�ll knock out the 5th army stretch goal box:

I oath that I will paint the four core armies from Great Wall, a total of 96 minis in May 2022.

Let�s go!

Mikey Purp posted:

I assume it's ok to start oathing? I haven't participated in this since season 9 or something, looking forward to getting back into it! As the first oath of the new season, I'm going to go big.

I, Mikey Purp, oath to paint for the month of May 1500 points of Adeptus Custodes.

1 Trajann Valoris

1 Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike

1 Inquisitor Coteaz

3 custodian guardians

6 saggitarum

5 sisters of silence

1 vexilus praetor (banner bearer)

1 achillus dreadnought (unassembled in the bag)

1 telemon dreadnought (unassembled in the bag)

Apologies for already starting on the bases before snapping the picture. This is for my first tournament at the end of the month, and if I don't finish I'll have to bring my necrons instead, so the stakes are very high.

All approved! Welcome / Welcome back to Oathing

# ¿ May 21, 2022 18:32

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

Oath Complete!

A mega gargant employed by my Vampire Counts to smash through the wards protecting crypts and mausoleums so they can get at the bodies inside. Being so close to necromantic magic for so long has taken it's toll on him!

A handful of happy little mimics giving free surprise hugs to treasure seekers.

Repair Servitor 0R-K0 drifts around the ruins awaiting fresh orders from its long-dead masters. Claiming Multiverse of Madness.

# ¿ May 30, 2022 17:39

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

Lord Hypnostache posted:

I, Lord Hypnostache, oath four pieces of unit filler for the month of May. I believe the tinier fillers are from GW and the bigger ruins are from THMiniatures.

with a rebel yell she QQd posted:

I, with a rebel yell she QQd, Oath to paint this canon with its crew (GW) and an Empire hero (GW) in May!

moths posted:

I moths oath for May 2022 this Warhammer ruin:

Approved!

# ¿ May 30, 2022 17:44

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

Righty ho, May is over, onto June:

quote:

June: Smoothly Does It - Add a smooth blend between two or more colours/shades on your model.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2022 13:49

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

gameraMan posted:

I, gameraMan, Oath one drinking person for May!

One wizkids dude:

Super busy month, almost didn't oath, but had to get just one in...

Approved (for May)

# ¿ Jun 3, 2022 12:01

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

I, Zark the Damned, Oath the following for June:

1 Bone Giant, MOM Miniatures
1 Adventurer and animal companion, Stonehaven
1 Sorceress, Hasslefree
1 Flagellant, GW
1 Priest, Heresy (formerly Spyglass iirc)
1 Explorer, Oathsworn
All 28mm

# ¿ Jun 10, 2022 14:11

Zark the Damned: Mar 9, 2013

Ugleb posted:

I Ugleb hereby oath for the month of June, (Star Wars Legion) Stap Riders, Super Tactical Droid, Separatists Specialists & B1 upgrade pack.