Iron Painter Strategy Question

[vincegamer]

So I find myself today with a feeling of lack of direction.
I don't know what I will paint next. Having finished this round, I begin to wonder what the next theme will be, but I have to wait.
Then I wondered:
Do I?
Would it be possible to have round2 start the day after round3?
Well, on the one hand you might not be progressing and it would sort of suck to start something and be told you needn't have bothered.
On the other hand, it takes real iron! Of course, we're all going on this round so maybe that's what made me think this.

So the question that emerged from this musing is this:
Does your IP strategy change based on who your opponent is?

If not, we could all start something in theme and learn the match-ups later.
But if it does, then obviously I'm just doing something in the wind I shouldn't be doing in the wind.

[supervike]

I can't imagine someone's strategy changing depending on opponent. It seems to be one always tries their best...

But, as to starting without know if you progressed or not....that would be tough. (of course, it wouldn't matter much in this round, would it....)

I do, however, like the drama that seems to unfold, with folks waiting for the theme and the matchups to be announced. It makes it kind of fun for me.

But, if you want to go ahead on Round Three, I'm not stopping you....of course, I'm not telling you the theme either....

[vincegamer]

I joked last round about having started my next mini already.

I hadn't really thought about the drama of wondering what the next match-up would be. That's a good element and I'm not seriously suggesting we run ahead with round 3.

I am curious about the strategy thing though.
In the past I have looked up my opponent's on-line presence to get a feel for what he or she may produce. It didn't really help me though, and may have hurt me.
Still, I aim to create difference from my opponent, so it's something I think about.

Of course I try to make my minis different from everyone's minis so maybe it's a waste of my time.

Reminds me of a story Penn Jillette told:
He had been doing magic for 30 years and had a list of characteristics about a person that he would use to determine which patsy to pull out of the crowd for a trick (body language, clothing etc.). He thought he'd worked out quite a science of picking the perfect subject.
Then he and Teller did a trick that required the audience to be convinced without a doubt that the person was selected randomly - in fact they selected the audience member randomly.
Turned out not to make a whit of difference. Penn tossed his list in the trash.

[Mosch]

I simply did the best I could. I might cut myself some slack on non-competition minis ("Well... I forgot a moldline, but it's under the loincloth and not really visible...") but in IP I did everything I could. I even resculpted part of Boris' hand - usually I would not have bothered if the axe hovered a milimeter or two over his shoulder.

I like the announcements as they are now. The whole thing has a soap opera or maybe wrestling feel to it. Or a comic book. Or a mixture of it all! You know: "That concludes paint it black. 8 Iron Painters, rock-hard determination and will to overcome their foe, await their next match. Who wil be utterly destroyed? How will Vince interpret the theme? Who will outnice his enemy? This and more in the next issue of IRON PAINTER!!!!"

I claim the hero alias "Metal Heart", by the way. Yeah. That's badass. Gotta make myself a costume now....

[orkydave]

Seeing as this is my first venture into iron painter, I may not be the best person to give my opinion, but my entry, certainly for this round was tactical, simply because I know that TAB is technically a much more competent and gifted painter than me. Thats a fact, and one I am certainly not ashamed to admit. In my Humble opinionTABS round 1 entry was the best in show. With the greatest of respect to Wren I had her down as out in Round 1 and I for one was very suprised that Tab only advanced with the 'give me another chance' rule.

My first effort for paint it black was to try and attempt a Black templars emperors champion using zenithal highlighting, but that went tits up. so I went back, re thought the theme and tried to box clever. I tried to be witty and took the theme as literally as I could in the hope to do a different and original entry that people would appreciate. The way I see it, theme interpretation is vitally important In Iron Painter (even more so now as it will be used to determine who goes through on a tie.) I figured if I can do well on the theme then at least I will stand a fighting chance against a superior opponent.

[callumrice]

For me it would be a complete waste of time to start my round 2 entry as Ive never made it past round 1! So there you go.

[Xenon_Wulf]

Strategy #1: Don't get translation contracts with a heavy deadline during the contest.

Strategy #2: Don't lend your camera to a friend going to a concert and expect it to come back in one piece.

Strategy #3: If push comes to shove, join in the IP defeated painters gallery, but once camera mentioned in strategy #2 is fixed again.

[Wren]

No offense taken Orky! I had figured TAB's entry for one of the best in show, nevermind winner of our particular match-up. Let it never be said that IP doesn't provide surprises to all involved now and again!

I'm trying to think back last round to answer vince's question. This is made more difficult by my completely pathetic memory.

I think for the most part I just take the 'do your best' tack regardless of theme or opponent for a given round. I do put thought into the theme intepretation, though. Seems like the ideal is to have something that exemplifies the theme, maybe gets a little creative, but doesn't go so out of the box you risk one or more of the judges declaring it not in theme. Last IP I also had a personal goal of trying something new to me every round, which was a useful tool for narrowing decisions when I was having trouble choosing a figure or a technique or whatever.

For the last round of the last IP, I would say I did consider my opponent in deciding what to do. I knew StupidCow had regularly scored several points higher than myself in the previous rounds. So I figured it was important to push my entry as far as possible both in terms of the theme and subject. I don't think I would ever have tried something as ambitious (for me, at any rate) as a dragon in two weeks if I hadn't really felt like I needed to pull out all the stops to even have a shot.