How it works
Learn in detail how the process will play out, and how the tournament will run.
I Enlist
Four hundred names, then the call goes out.
Join the roster. No cost, no commitment, simply register an email address to add your name to the roster. UK addresses only, one entry per person.
Four hundred, or nothing. If we haven't reached 400, Season One doesn't run. You'll hear from us either way.
Entries open. When the roster target is reached, all competitors will be contacted. Pay £20 to claim your place and receive two randomly chosen miniatures in the post.
Take your designation. You're assigned a number from X001 to X400. It's the only name fellow competitors will see, until you win or are eliminated.
- Joining the roster
- Free No payment until entries open.
- You pay
- £20 all in: two miniatures, postage out, and prepaid, tracked packaging to post both back.
II Paint
Two miniatures you didn't choose, and two weeks to make them yours.
Two miniatures arrive, randomly issued. Every one is 28mm power-armoured infantry or one of a handful of heavier-armoured veterans, assembled and on its base. Some models are primed and most are bare. Yours may come pristine, glued, already painted or seen some action.
Two weeks to paint. Paint both to the best of your ability then post both back in the included prepaid, tracked packaging. Any submissions that miss the deadline will be eliminated.
Conversions. Cleaning, stripping and re-positioning of the model is perfectly acceptable. Minor conversions are also acceptable, however it must fundamentally be the same model.
The models stay with Xenithal. All models belong to Xenithal, and will be retained at the end of the competition. Keep them, miss the submission deadline and you will be eliminated from the tournament.
Lost in the post. With so many parcels, some will go missing. Xenithal provides a tracked service, and for the later rounds a signed and tracked service. We recommend competitor returns take the same care. If there is time, and if there is stock, we will try to issue a replacement model, but there is no guarantee.
- You supply
- Paint, brushes, passion and two weeks. We supply the miniatures and the packaging.
- You pay
- Nothing more. Return postage is already paid.
III Placement
Your first model dictates your position in the Skill Pyramid.
Every model comes to us by post. We view, photograph and catalogue each one ourselves. No photo submissions, no trickery, no foul play.
Your first model is judged by randomly assigned peers, voting on our photographs of each model, and you're placed within the Skill Pyramid alongside competitors of similar standard and ability.
Eight tiers. The 400 are split into eight tiers, from the eight painters of Xenithal down to the hundred of Legion, and every tier crowns its own champion.
- Who votes
- Randomly assigned peers, voting on our photographs of each model.
- If it's tied
- The three judges decide.
- Rather not vote?
- Skip it, and the judges vote in your place.
The eight tiers, and how many painters each holds
- IXenithal8 painters
- IIExalted16 painters
- IIINotorious32 painters
- IVIllustrious40 painters
- VTitan52 painters
- VIHonoured64 painters
- VIIAdept88 painters
- VIIILegion100 painters
IV Qualifying
Your second model, against the rest of your tier.
Every second model is judged against the rest of its tier, by competitors from the other tiers. The best 16 in each tier go through to the knockouts, ranked.
The top two tiers. Xenithal holds only eight painters and Exalted sixteen, so everyone in both goes through. Their qualifying model sets the seeding.
- Who votes
- Competitors from the other tiers. Nobody votes on their own tier.
- If it's tied
- The three judges decide.
- Rather not vote?
- Skip it, and the judges vote in your place.
V Knockouts
One on one, an additional model each round, judged in person.
One on one, seeded. Qualifying rank sets the pairings: 1 v 16, 4 v 13, 2 v 15, 3 v 14, and so on. The top two seeds can only meet in the final.
An additional model every round. Survivors are posted additional miniatures each round, at our expense. You pay the return postage: tracked, and signed for the finals.
Judged in person. The three judges examine each model; so photography, lighting, and popularity count for nothing.
- Who votes
- The three judges, assessing the model in person, plus one cumulative vote cast by competitors from the other brackets.
- If it's tied
- In a two-two split, the community vote is counted.
- You pay
- Return postage, each round you survive.
How many painters reach each round, tier by tier
| Tier | Through | Last 16 | Quarter-final | Semi-final | Final | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Xenithal | All 8 | Bye | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| II Exalted | All 16 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| III Notorious | 16 of 32 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| IV Illustrious | 16 of 40 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| V Titan | 16 of 52 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| VI Honoured | 16 of 64 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| VII Adept | 16 of 88 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| VIII Legion | 16 of 100 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
The Xenithal tier skips the last 16 and starts at the quarter-final. Every other tier plays four rounds to crown its champion.
VI Champions
Every tier crowns its own. One of them is Xenithal Prime.
Each tier has its own champion. The champion of the top tier is the overall winner of Season One, UK champion, and will be declared Xenithal Prime.
Historic county and national honours run alongside the eight tier titles. Your historic county is set by your postal address.
Every entry kept. Every submitted miniature is photographed and catalogued. Whether you become a champion or fall at the first hurdle, your work becomes part of the Xenithal archive.
- Prizes
- £1,000 in cash or prizes of equal value, expected to be shared among the champions. See the prizes
A thousand models. Four hundred painters. One story.
Free, with no commitment. We'll email you when entries open.