Gathering in the Desert Lord of the Rings Independant Grand Tournament

Gathering in the Desert 2012 Results

2012-02-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

Well,

Gathering in the Desert 2012 is in the books and here are the results.

Best Overall: Chris Langland
Best Evil General: Kyle Toth
Best Good General: Anthony Pigati
Best Sportsman (Highest combined Battle & Sports score) Brent Sinclair
Best Appearance: Chris Thomas
My Dice Have Failed Me (Last Place): Pete Barton

Red Dragon Winners:
Kyle Toth Best 25mm miniature
Brent Sinclair Best Cavalry miniature
Robert Brightwell Best Large miniature
Tim Kulinski Best Diorama Battle scene

Thanks to everyone who came out to the event, without you guys, there would be no Gathering in the Desert.

Thanks to Darren Johnson at Imperial Outpost Games for Hosting the event again this year.

Thanks to Games Workshop for the chance to be on the Circuit.

Thanks to my wife, Shannon for helping out and dealing with me while we got this event organized.

Thanks to the GitD staff, Jerry Auteri, Robert Brightwell and Mike Wilster, you guys are the Best!

I will be posting up pictures in the next few days once I go through them (all 450 of them!)

		Total
Name		Battle	Sports	Appearance	Overall
Chris Langland	Evil	90	22	29	152
Kyle Toth	Evil	70	30	34	149
Brent Sinclair	Good	58	31	40	146
Jeremy Williams	Evil	60	29	36	140
Anthony Florez	Good	70	25	31	134
Howard Beam	Good	64	24	35	133
Anthony Pigati	Good	83	20	22	131
Jerry Autieri	Evil	62	25	30	125
Mike Wilster	Evil	50	25	34	124
Chris Thomas	Evil	37	33	40	123
John Curran	Good	67	11	27	120
Robert Brightwell	Good	45	25	28	113
Wade Purcell	Good	51	25	29	113
Jance Nave	Good	43	25	28	111
Andree Cauley	Good	42	26	28	96
John Long	Evil	63	0	24	94
CJ Beam	Good	34	25	27	94
Pete Barton	Evil	41	22	28	91
Brandon Mackey	Evil	42	20	19	87
Tim Kulinski	Evil	20	15	0	35

GitD 2012 Schedule

2012-02-15T07:45:00.001-08:00

Okay folks, GitD 2012 is just in a few days and here is the schedule for the events:

Friday 2/17/2012 March to Mount Doom:
5:00 - 5:30 Check In
5:30 - 6:30 Round 1 "Call to Arms"
6:30 - 7:20 Round 2 "The One Ring"
7:30 - 8:20 Round 3 "Mount Doom"

Saturday 2/18/2012 Gathering in the Desert
9:00 - 9:45 Registration and Check In (Red Drago Submissions taken)
10:00 - 12:30 Game 1
12:30 - 1:30 Catered Lunch and Army Paint Judging
1:30 - 4:00 Game 2
4:00 - 4:45 Break (Paint Judging continued)
4:45 - 7:15 Game 3
7:45 - ??? Group Dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery (7640 West Bell Road Glendale, AZ 85308)

Sunday 2/19/2012 Gathering in the Desert continues
9:00 - 10:00 Check In and Group Picture
10:00 - 12:30 Game 4
12:30 - 1:30 Catered Lunch and Army Paint Judging
1:30 - 4:00 Game 5
4:30 - 5:00 Awards

Looking forward to a great weekend of Lord of the Rings games. If your interested in LotR, come on down and watch a game.

2012-01-30T22:27:00.000-08:00

Red Dragon Painting Competition 2012

Returning for it's 4th year to Gathering in the Desert is the Red Dragon Painting Competition. For the last two years top painters from all across America have entered and sought the coveted Red Dragon Painting trophy for painting. This year the Red Dragons are open to all entrants to Gathering in the Desert as well as the general public. So if you have what it takes with a brush, come on down and see how you do.

This years Red Dragon Painting Competition will once again take place the the Gathering in the Desert 2012. In all cases, the judges will be looking for well painted and well presented models that fit in with the published concept of the Lord of the Rings background.

You may only enter one model for each category and these are listed below:

Category 1 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS SINGLE MINIATURE (25mm) This category is open to any single miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range and the model must be presented on it's standard 25mm gaming base.

Category 2 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS CALVARY MINIATURE (40mm) This category is open to any single Calvary miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range and the model must be presented on it's standard 40mm gaming base.

Category 3 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS LARGE MINIATURE(40mm or larger base) This category is open to any single Large miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range and the model must be presented on it's standard 40mm or larger gaming base.

Category 4 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS BATTLE SCENE(Diorama) This category is open to any single/multiple miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range that depicts some sort of battle scene and it must be presented on a diorama base.

Judges
The judging for this event will be done by the store staff that is hosting the Gathering in the Desert. This allows the GitD organizers to enter the Red Dragon Painting Competition without having a bias towards the judging. In all cases the judges decisions are final. They reserve the right to move entries into a different category if they are entered inappropriately or to disqualify a model if they feel it breaches the rules of the competition. The judges nor the Gathering in the Desert organizers will enter into any discussion about the judges decisions.

Conversions
Conversions that start with a base of 80% Games Workshop, Lord of the Rings product line are acceptable. Overall the judges will be looking for well-painted models that adhere to the imagery of the lands of Middle-earth.

Guidelines for Entries
All entries must be personally handed in by their creators and registered at the Gathering in the Desert check in table on the first day of the event. We will not accept entries on behalf of competitors who are not in attendance at the event. Also all entries will be stored in a display cabinet the whole weekend and you will not be able to use these models during the tournament.

All entries must be collected at the end of the event by the entrant. All models should be the work of a single hobbyist and not a collaborative work with anyone but the entrant. Anyone found violating this rule will be immediately disqualified and forbidden from entering any further Red Dragon Painting Competitions.

All competitors will be fully responsible for the transport of their entries to and from the competition and for storing their own transport and packing materials. Please do not ask us to look after any sort of carrying cases or transport boxes for the entries.

Once entries are registered at the main desk, we will of course undertake the greatest care of handling the entries. However, we can not accept responsibility for any loss or damage to individual entries. Models entered into the competition are done at the competitors own risk. Also the entrants grant full right to Gathering in the Desert to photograph and publish any images of said entries as they see fit.

Finally remember the point of the competition is to showcase the efforts of our hobbyists and to show off their painting and modeling skills. You may not agree with the final results, but please bear in mind that the judges decisions are final and absolute.

Gathering in the Desert 2012 Information

2011-09-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

Gathering in the Desert 2012

The forces of Good and Evil are once again amassing their armies to do battle again in the Phoenix Desert for the 5^th anniversary of the Gathering in the Desert. Are you willing to stand up to do battle and which side will you side with, the decision is yours!

This is the 5^th year of gathering in the Desert and once again this event will be featured on the Games Workshop North American Circuit with two players qualifying to participate in the Throne of Skulls event later in the year:

When: February 17th - 19^th, 2012 President Day Weekend
Where: Imperial Outpost Games, 4920 West Thunderbird Road, Glendale, AZ 85306
Cost: Pre registration $50.00 after November 30th price increases to $60.00
Games: March to Mount Doom on Friday night run by Brent Sinclair, GitD Tournament will have 3 Games on Saturday & 2 Games on Sunday with awards following.
What you Get: Your entry to Gathering in the Desert gets you entry into the March to Mount Doom Event on Friday night, Free admission to the Red Dragon painting Competition as well as the two day tournament. Lunch will be provided for both days.

How to Register: We will accept payments through PayPal or cash if you are local.
PayPal should be sent to Skulinski@cox.net

Pre - registration closes November 30th, 2011
When you send your Paypal information, please indicate if you will be entering the Paint Competition and playing on Friday Night

Tournament Details:
Maximum 600 Points

This Year we will be doing match ups based on Good vs Evil and you will only be playing against other opponents in the opposite forces. So if you choose Evil you will only play against Good Players and vice verse for Good only playing Evil armies.

Forces must be chosen from one of the army lists from the Legions in Middle Earth supplement or from a valid army list in White Dwarf.

Armies Must be fully painted, no unpainted armies or figures will be allowed.

WYSIWYG, Weapons, armor and upgrades chosen from the army list must be shown on the models used. In other words, what you see is what you get!

In addition to your army, you must model on figure on a standard 25mm base to represent an emissary which will be used in one scenario during the event. It must be a model on foot with hand weapon only and not mounted. Also you must be sure that the model is clearly definable from the rest of your army so that your opponent can tell who is the actual emissary.

All army list must be turned into the organizers two weeks before the event (2/04/2012). Also, you must have a copy of your army list at check in as well as throughout the weekend. If your army list does not match what you are playing anytime during the weekend, you will automatically be disqualified and have all your games reported as Major Loss' and you may be asked to leave the event without a refund.

Forces must follow all rules and restrictions on force selection detailed in "Mustering the Legions of Middle Earth" pages 4-8 in the Legions of Middle Earth supplement.

Named characters (Gandalf, Lurtz, the Witch King, Spider Queen, etc) can only be taken once.

A set of Errata and FAQ's for Lord of the Rings source books will be used and these are maintained on the Games Workshop website. We are aware that many issues may come up in a game that are not covered by the Erratas or FAQ's, If you ask for a rules clarification from the organizers their decision will be final on the situation.

Models with stat lines and point values included in the forces section of the following rulebooks, journey books, source books or any White Dwarfs will be used:

The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game rules manual (aka The One Rulebook)
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
Return of the King
A Shadow in the East
The Fall of the Necromancer
The Ruin of Arnor
Khazad -Dum
Gondor in Flames
Harad
Mordor
Any White Dwarf Article lists (such as WD#354).

Evil Forces cannot include Gollum.

Good Forces cannot include Tom Bombadil or Goldberry.

Where the points value differ between a source book and the Legions of Middle Earth supplement, the points value in the source books takes precedence.

We know you guys are reasonable players, and we look to you to make the right decision in the myriad of situations this issue could arise. If you are unable to, please call over the Organizers to make the call for you and their decision will be final

Also if you choose to use any of the new models as detailed in White Dwarf under the Reinforcements section, than you must provide a copy of the article for the event organizers (if they do not have a copy) and as well as your opponents. This is to make it fair for folks that may not be able to get these articles to be able to see the special rules that apply to these new models.

Scoring for the event will be a combination of Battle Points, Sportsmanship and Paint scores for Overall placement. In order to be eligible for Best Painted, you must have painted the army yourself and you must disclose the fact that someone else painted your army.

More Action from GitD 2011

2011-02-27T14:39:00.001-08:00

A Big update today from past weekend, enjoy...

Coverage from GitD 2011

2011-02-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

In years past Gathering in the Desert has had some awesome tables, this year was no exception. So for those who could not be there this year, here are a few shots of the tables for GitD 2011.

Table number one was modeled after the great watchtower of Weathertop. This table first debut at GitD 2010 and is always a fan favorite. The Weathertop model is from Castle Kits and the board is from Games Workshop and is the Realm of Battle board. It was built and painted by Tim Kulinski.

Table number two is a generic board and utilizes another Games Workshop Realm of Battle Board along with GW trees and hills. Robert Brightwell built and painted this board.

Table three is another generic board that uses the GW Realm of Battle Board as well as the hills. The river is from Pegasus Hobbies and the trees were scratch built. Robert Brightwell also built and painted this board.

Table four is to made to look like Mirkwood using GW trees and GW's grass mat for the base. Tim Kulinski built and painted the trees and rough ground pieces. This table debut in GitD 2009.

Table number 5 was built this year and is to represent Isengard. The scaffolding and other accesseries, as well as the board were built and painted by Tim Kulinski.

Table six is Harad and uses Pegasus Hobbies Palm Trees and building by Crescent Root. This board made it's debut ant GitD 2009 and was built by Tim Kulinski.

Table seven is Amon Hen and it first appeared at GitD 2009, it uses GW trees and a Realm of Battle Board. The Amon Hen was scratch built following the GW templates in the Fellowship Journey book. This board was built and painted by Tim Kulinski.

Table eight is Osgilith and is brand new for 2011. In years past Tom Opalka built the Osgilith table and has gone through many changes. Well Tom sold his terrain so it was decided to build another table using the GW Osgilith terrain. Tim Kulinski built and painted this terrain.

Table nine comes from the talented Jeremy Williams and represents the town of Bree, more to the point, the Prancing Pony Inn. Jeremy built and shipped the Prancing Pony this year even though he would not be able to attend due to going to school in Italy! The other buildings were supplied by Imperial Outpost.

Table 10 was Moria and was built this year for Gitd. The rocks were cast from Woodland Scenic molds with dental plaster. The pillars are from GW and the rest of the board was scratch built. Tim Kulinski built and painted.

So we hope to see you next year and as always, there will be new tables to fight over. Also here are a few pictures from throughout the weekend of battles happening on this awesome looking terrain.

TK

Gathering in the Desert 2011 Results

2011-02-21T18:34:00.000-08:00

Well,

Gathering in the Desert 2011 is now in the books, had a great year with 21 folks signed up to play. We had a good turn out from the local crowd as well as folks from all over the country that attended. Battles raged for three days in the Valley of the Sun and everyone seemed to have a great time. There were many familiar faces back again as well as several new faces that stepped up for the challenge, we look forward to seeing you all next year.

So here are the scores from the event below:

Name	Battle	Sports	Appearance	Overall
Kyle Toth	80	24	36	140
Tom Opalka	70	29	29	128
John Long	71	25	31	127
Anthony Pigati	78	24	24	126
Brent Sinclair	56	30	39	125
Frank Brown	68	26	30	124
Robert Brightwell	65	27	30	122
Chris Thomas	53	29	37	119
Chris Langland	58	27	30	115
Mike Wilster	47	27	37	111
Jerry Autieri	52	27	30	109
Howard Beam	44	25	40	109
Jay Ryan	40	29	32	101
Gary Lane	47	27	25	99
CJ Beam	50	20	26	96
Matt Kimball	47	25	24	96
Mike Gingold	30	28	35	93
Jeffery Reske	45	27	19	91
Rob Elhers	45	24	22	91
Andree Cauley	38	25	23	86

So below are pictures of the Heroes from Gathering in the Desert 2011.

Kyle Toth - Best Overall Winner for 2011!

Brent Sinclair - Best Sportsman 2011

Howard Beam - Best Appearance 2011

Anthony Pigati - Best General 2011

Andree Cauley - My Dice Have Failed Me 2011

I would also like to thank a few folks that helped out this year with Gathering in the Desert 2011. First up, My Wife, Shannon Kulinski, she does all the data entry at the event (and supplies M&M's to the players) as well as the other errands that I seem to forget about.

Next up Games Workshop for all the Prize and terrain support throughout the years, with out their help, GitD would not look the way it does.

Thanks go out to Darren Johnston, owner of Imperial Outpost Games were the event was held this year. Darren stepped up to the plate and was more than accommodating in letting us take over his shop for the weekend.

Another shout out of thanks goes to Jerry Autieri (Artist), Robert Brightwell (Terrain builder), Jeremy Williams (Prancing Pony Builder) and Mike Wilster (Terrain Builder). Without the help of these folks, Gathering in the Desert would just be another tournament and not a Grand Tournament.

And Lastly to all the folks that have attended GitD in years past and that have stayed loyal to supporting this event. Without you folks that come to GitD, there would be no GitD, so thank you!

Planning has started for GitD 2012 and we look to have a few surprises to announce in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned for more info.

Also picture coverage will start in the next few days (Have well over 200 photos from the event) and they will be posted here, so stay tuned...

Tim Kulinski

T Minus 25 days and counting...

2011-01-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

Well folks,

We have 25 days left until Gathering in the Desert 2011. There is still time to register for the event although you will not get a free tee shirt, but you will be able to play in the March to Mount Doom on Friday night as well as the tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

Also remember that you must bring one additional figure on a standard 25mm base to represent an emissary which will be used in one scenario during the event. It must be a model on foot with hand weapon only and not mounted.

Army lists must be submitted no later than February 11, 2011 and may be sent to TJKulinski@cox.net

So get ready for another awesome weekend of Lord of the Rings gaming in warm Phoenix Arizona, look forward to seeing you all in 25 days!

Tim Kulinski

Gathering in the Desert 2011

2011-01-20T16:51:00.000-08:00

Gathering in the Desert 2011
Lord of the Rings Independent Grand Tournament

For the last 3 years now a savage battle has ragged on in the desert of Phoenix Arizona for control of this Middle Earth. The forces of Good and Evil are once again amassing forces for another huge climatic battle. Forces from both sides are sending armies to determine the fate of this Gathering, will you be one of these brave commanders to do battle?

This is the fourth year of the Gathering in the Desert and it is looking at having a larger crowd than last year. Once again this event will be featured on the Games Workshop 2011 North American Circuit. Here are the particulars for this event:

When: February 18th - 20th
Where: Imperial Outpost Games, 4920 West Thunderbird Road, Glendale, AZ 85306
Cost: $50.00
Games: March to Mount Doom on Friday night run by Brent Sinclair, GitD Tournament will have 3 Games on Saturday & 2 Games on Sunday with awards following.
What you Get: Your entry to Gathering in the Desert gets you entry into the March to Mount Doom Event on Friday night as well as the two day tournament. You will also receive a commemorative Tee Shirt (If you register by January 14th, 2011) from the event as well as lunch for both days. You may also enter the Red Dragon Painting Competition.
How to Register: We will accept payments through PayPal or cash if you are local.

PayPal should be sent to Skulinski@cox.net

When you send your Paypal information, please indicate your shirt size, quantity and contact information. A Note on Shirt sizes, if you are ordering a shirt larger than 2XL, you will need to include an additional $3.00 for 3XL and $4.00 for 4XL sizes.

Tournament Details:
Maximum 600 Points

Forces must be chosen from one of the army lists from the Legions in Middle Earth supplement or from a valid army list in White Dwarf.

Armies Must be fully painted, no unpainted armies or figures will be allowed.

WYSIWYG, Weapons, armor and upgrades chosen from the army list Must be shown on the models used. In other words What you see is what you get!

In addition to your army, you must model on figure on a standard 25mm base to represent an emissary which will be used in one scenario during the event. It must be a model on foot with hand weapon only and not mounted.

All army list must be turned into the organizers one week before the event (2/11/2011). Also, you must have a copy of your army list at check in as well as throughout the weekend. If your army list does not match what you are playing anytime during the weekend, you will automatically be disqualified and have all your games reported as Major Loss' and you may be asked to leave the event without a refund.

Forces must follow all rules and restrictions on force selection detailed in "Mustering the Legions of Middle Earth" pages 4-8 in the Legions of Middle Earth supplement.

Named characters (Gandalf, Lurtz, the Witch King, Spider Queen, etc) can only be taken once.

A set of Errata and FAQ's for Lord of the Rings source books will be used and these are maintained on the Games Workshop website. We are aware that many issues may come up in a game that are not covered by the Erratas or FAQ's, If you ask for a rules clarification from the organizers their decision will be final on the situation.

Models with stat lines and point values included in the forces section of the following rulebooks, journey books, source books or any White Dwarfs will be used:

The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game rules manual (aka The One Rulebook)
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
Return of the King
A Shadow in the East
The Fall of the Necromancer
The Ruin of Arnor
Khazad -Dum
Gondor in Flames
Harad
Mordor
Any White Dwarf Article lists (such as WD#354).

Evil Forces cannot include Gollum.

Good Forces cannot include Tom Bombadil or Goldberry.

Where the points value differ between a source book and the Legions of Middle Earth supplement, the points value in the source books takes precedence.

Special Rule - Good vs Evil!
The Lord of The Rings is a modern classic of the tale of Good against Evil. As such the Strategy Battle Game is designed for battles between two forces, one Good and one Evil. This causes
a few problems for a format like the GitD where your Evil army of Uruk-hai could conceivably face five other Evil armies over the course of the weekend.

While this may seem like it would not be an issue, there are some problems that arise with the wording of various Special Rules and the effects of various artifacts wielded by powerful Heroes. These rules are typically worded in terms of affecting Good or Evil forces, or affecting a particular race like Orcs or Goblins.

For the purposes of games at the GitD we ask that players determine reasonably who is affected by the rule or item. In almost all cases players can easily determine who is affected by substituting the words Friendly or Enemy models for Good or Evil and when it comes to rules that affect a particular race, that rule will only be applied to one side or the other.

Here are a couple of examples:
• Both players are fielding armies drawn from the Fiefdoms list,
both armies contain Knights of Dol Amroth, and Player A has
Prince Imrahil. While Player B’s Knights of Dol Amroth also
have the Dol Amroth for Gondor! special rule, they would be
unable to take advantage of it, as the Prince Imrahil on the
table is their “enemy” for the purposes of this game.

• Both players are fielding Evil armies. Player A has a
Ringwraith that has the Harbingers of Evil special rule. In
typical play this rule only affects Good models, reducing their
Courage value while the Ringwraith is nearby). For the
purposes of the GT, this rule would affect “enemy” models,
those fielded by Player B.

We know you guys are reasonable players, and we look to you to make the right decision in the myriad of situations this issue could arise. If you are unable to, please call over the Organizers to make the call for you.

Also if you choose to use any of the new models as detailed in White Dwarf under the Reinforcements section, than you must provide a copy of the article for the event organizers (if they do not have a copy) and as well as your opponents. This is to make it fair for folks that may not be able to get these articles to be able to see the special rules that apply to these new models.

Scoring for the event will be a combination of Battle Points, Sportsmanship and Paint scores for Overall placement. In order to be eligible for Best Painted, you must have painted the army yourself and you must disclose the fact that someone else painted your army.

GitD Sign Ups

2011-01-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

Okay,

Here is the Official sign up sheet for GitD2011, you can either sign up through my Paypal acct Skulinski@cox.net or if you are local you can pay me in person. I will also need your shirt size when you sign up and remember that if you are ordering a shirt larger than 2XL, you will need to include an additional $3.00 for 3XL and $4.00 for 4XL sizes.

You can contact me at TJKulinski@cox.net if you have any questions or want to set up a time to meet to pay in person.

1 Brent Sinclair - IL
2 Rob Elhers - AZ
3 Robert Brightwell - AZ
4 Michael Wilster - AZ
5 Chris Langland - CA
6 Howard Beam - AZ
7 Frank Brown - FL
8 Gary Lane - CA
9 Kyle Toth - IL
10 Chris Thomas - IL
11 Dominic Winton - AZ
12 Jay Ryan - IL
13 Jerry Autieri - AZ
14 Anthony Pigatti - AZ
15 Tom Opalka - AZ
16 Mike Gingold - AZ
17 John Long - AZ
18 John Hess - IL
19 Jeffrey Reske - WI
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

March to Mount Doom

2011-01-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

Do you have the will to make the journey all the way to Mount Doom?

Come find out as the Gathering in the Desert is pleased to welcome back for a second year the March to Mount Doom Madness Tournament for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, Organized by Brent Sinclair.

This tournament will feature a unique “bracket-style” pairing system and players will play their way trough a single elimination tournament during the course of the evening. Space will be limited, so if you are planning on participating let us know as soon as possible.

Army Requirements are 500pts following typical Legions of Middle Earth rules with the following exception: MAXIMUM model count is 15. So bring out your heroes for this clash as you fight your way to the top of Mount Doom.

Army lists will be checked for accuracy the day of the event so be prepared with extra copies of your army list.

All models must be painted to a minimum three-color tournament standard. All games will be limited to 50 minutes in length so prompt play is required.

Awards will be given for the top player of the tournament based on the last man standing. We will also do a player vote for Best Themed army.

So if you think you have what it takes, come out on Friday February 17th, 2012 and try your hand at fighting your way to the top of Mount Doom.

Red Dragon Painting Competition 2011

2011-01-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

Returning for it's 3rd year to Gathering in the Desert is the Red Dragon Painting Competition. For the last two years top painters from all across America have entered and sought the coveted Red Dragon Painting trophy for painting. This year the Red Dragons are open to all entrants to Gathering in the Desert as well as the general public. So if you have what it takes with a brush, come on down and see how you do.

This years Red Dragon Painting Competition will once again take place the the Gathering in the Desert 2011. In all cases, the judges will be looking for well painted and well presented models that fit in with the published concept of the Lord of the Rings background.

You may only enter one model for each category and these are listed below:

Category 1 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS SINGLE MINIATURE (25mm) This category is open to any single miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range and the model must be presented on it's standard 25mm gaming base.

Category 2 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS CALVARY MINIATURE (40mm) This category is open to any single Calvary miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range and the model must be presented on it's standard 40mm gaming base.

Category 3 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS LARGE MINIATURE(40mm or larger base) This category is open to any single Large miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range and the model must be presented on it's standard 40mm or larger gaming base.

Category 4 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS BATTLE SCENE(Diorama) This category is open to any single/multiple miniature from the Lord of the Rings model range that depicts some sort of battle scene and it must be presented on a diorama base.

Judges
The judging for this event will be done by the store staff that is hosting the Gathering in the Desert. This allows the GitD organizers to enter the Red Dragon Painting Competition without having a bias towards the judging. In all cases the judges decisions are final. They reserve the right to move entries into a different category if they are entered inappropriately or to disqualify a model if they feel it breaches the rules of the competition. The judges nor the Gathering in the Desert organizers will enter into any discussion about the judges decisions.

Conversions
Conversions that start with a base of 80% Games Workshop, Lord of the Rings product line are acceptable. Overall the judges will be looking for well-painted models that adhere to the imagery of the lands of Middle-earth.

Guidelines for Entries
All entries must be personally handed in by their creators and registered at the Gathering in the Desert check in table on the first day of the event. We will not accept entries on behalf of competitors who are not in attendance at the event. Also all entries will be stored in a display cabinet the whole weekend and you will not be able to use these models during the tournament.

All entries must be collected at the end of the event by the entrant. All models should be the work of a single hobbyist and not a collaborative work with anyone but the entrant. Anyone found violating this rule will be immediately disqualified and forbidden from entering any further Red Dragon Painting Competitions.

All competitors will be fully responsible for the transport of their entries to and from the competition and for storing their own transport and packing materials. Please do not ask us to look after any sort of carrying cases or transport boxes for the entries.

Once entries are registered at the main desk, we will of course undertake the greatest care of handling the entries. However, we can not accept responsibility for any loss or damage to individual entries. Models entered into the competition are done at the competitors own risk. Also the entrants grant full right to Gathering in the Desert to photograph and publish any images of said entries as they see fit.

Finally remember the point of the competition is to showcase the efforts of our hobbyists and to show off their painting and modeling skills. You may not agree with the final results, but please bear in mind that the judges decisions are final and absolute.