G’day gamers! There’s been a bit of discussion over in the PC Discord about display boards, their value and how tournaments should approach them.

There are conversations to be had around whether and how display boards should impact on tournament scores – for example how it can disadvantage people travelling longer distances. But for today I want to spend some time focusing on the creative side of display boards: giving a quick rundown on what I believe makes a good display, and what TOs can do to make them work well at events.

What makes a good display

First and foremost the purpose of a display board is to complement your miniatures, just as rosemary complements lamb, Sotek Green complements Wildrider Red and Scottie Pippen complemented Michael Jordan in the Chicago Bulls’ run of dominance in the 90s. The number one question you need to ask yourself when planning and designing a display board is: “Does the board display my models in the best possible way?”. You’re displaying the models, not the board, after all. 

There are a couple of important guidelines you can follow in order to achieve a good, complementary board. The first is composition. That is the position of elements on the display. What miniatures need to be where so they are all visible at their best angles? Are the display elements overshadowing the minis or enhancing them? Are you using levels for an express purpose, or just to make the display more impressive? Let’s look at this display board by Reddit user Cronman. It really complements the army in its theme, and it’s quite technically proficient, but I believe there are a couple of things that could make it even better.

Image and model credit: Cronman

I love the concept of the trench that the models are charging down, but in practice it hides a bunch of really nice models from view. There’s also a few models tucked away in corners or bunched tightly together when there is so much space that they could be using to let each model have a clear presence on the board. 

This brings me to the second way of complementing minis on a board and that’s the use of balanced space. A good display avoids wide open spaces, but provides room for each model to shine. This is a fine balance, so let’s look at a few more examples.

Image and model credit: SpinDancer

There is so much to like here – It’s a beautiful army, the scenery complements the colours of the army really well, and for the most part, the models are arranged nicely on the board. I can’t help but wonder, though, if the board was a squidge bigger, each unit could have a little more space to stand out against the rest of the army. 

This extraordinarily impressive display by Anthony Rowe might suffer from the opposite problem, though:

Model Credit: Anthony Rowe. Photo credit: Bradley Baker

Again, so much to love about this display – I love the Bad Moon faces carved into the rock, the levels are really interesting and obviously a huge amount of love and effort went into it. It just feels way too big for my tastes: the vast majority of this is display, not army, so there’s a risk that the army gets lost in it. I actually didn’t see Kragnos on the top at first.

By contrast this amazing display from the 2023 Armies on Parade competition by James Taro uses the space really well, as does Sean Benson’s award winning Waaghranrok display:

Model credit: James Taro. Photo Credit: Games Workshop

Model and Photo credit: Sean Benson

On both displays, the models are laid out across the board, there’s little to no wasted space and each model is clearly visible. These boards are also themed really well to the army, which is the third way to use a board to complement your minis.

Making a board that fits the theme of your army will go a long way to making your models stand out. It doesn’t need to be anything dramatic, but a little bit of storytelling adds context and visual interest to a display. 

If I may use one of my own displays as an example, this was my CanCon 2020 army that got runner-up coolest army to Danny Carrol’s Cyberpunk KO, which I’m not at all bitter about. 

Model and photo credit: Tim Barklay

The pirate army is on a pirate ship inside a pirate treasure chest. That’s pretty thematic! I thought about thematic placing of models as well. The trolls lurk in the storage areas below deck, so I put them in a draw at the bottom of the chest, and the Merwyrm swims alongside the ship, so he has a special spot at the right there.

Orky pirates swing from ship to ship! Credit: Tim Barklay

You can also use atmosphere to create theme, like this moody display by Celestin Morier, Which won Silver in 2023’s Armies on Parade:

Model credit: Celestin Morier. Photo Credit: Games Workshop

Note how simple the display is – a few trees, some snow and a beautifully painted backdrop – but it is so effective because of the mood it creates. The board complements the minis so well because it provides not just physical context, but atmospheric context as well. 

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Bringing it together: Some closing thoughts

A note on size

It’s no secret that I love big displays, but as we’ve seen, bigger is not always better. You can create really interesting, thematic and well balanced displays with limited space. I really like this simple but effective display from Thomas Oliver that nabbed him Best Painted and runner-up Coolest Army at CanCon 2024:

Model Credit: Thomas Oliver. Photo Credit: Pat Nevin

This display is not large, but it’s super effective in showing off the amazingly painted army sitting on top if it.

This next one, by Reddit user Guns_and_Dank is even smaller, and won second for players’ choice at Adepticon this year. Aside from the insane conversion work, the display shows that size isn’t everything:

Model credit: Guns_and_Dank. Photo credit: Xander Bennett

Just a wonderful showcase of hobby ability without the need for excessive size. 

A Proposal for Tournament Organisers

I love display boards and absolutely think they should be encouraged at tournaments and events. They showcase excellent hobby and can really elevate an army. There are, however, some issues with them that I believe need to be addressed.

I think the main problem with player-voted awards at tournaments, such as Coolest Army, is that they are so loosely defined. I’m not saying that the award isn’t valuable – I’ve been chasing Coolest Army trophies since 2018 – rather the words “Coolest Army” don’t actually have any defined meaning.

What is cool? What am I voting for? Vibes? Flashiness? My mate’s display? So here’s a simple proposal for TOs to provide some much-needed direction for voters:

1. Enforce a size restriction. This could be volumetric (a cubic 600cm is all anyone needs for a single army) or fall in line with Armies on Parade¹. This allows the big display people like me to still have space to play with, but would ensure it doesn’t get out of hand.
2. Include rough voting guidelines in the player pack. This doesn’t have to be “You need to vote for this”, rather “Here’s some things to consider when you vote”. This will help players to see the displays a whole – painting, conversions, display board – everything that goes into making a unique army.
3. Consider changing the name of the award. “Coolest Army” is just so broad. I like “Best Presented”, but consider what you want the award to celebrate and name it accordingly.

This discussion comes up on the PC Discord server fairly regularly, so it’s clear that it’s something we need to address in the hobby because we’re not all on the same page currently.

Having said that, I maintain that the overall standards of hobby in AOS are better than just about any other miniatures game out there, so keep it up legends, and I look forward to seeing your amazing displays!

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1. Armies on Parade itself changes over time, but the 2024 criteria for the Display Board category were  2’x2’ (61cm x 61cm) or 22×30 inches (76cm x 56cm). ↩︎