Tenth Annual BrikWars Battle Contest
Welcome, BrikWarriors, to the dawn of a glorious new Rekonstruktion! In some places, the streets are swept clean, the fields are lush and green, the sun dappled forests are thickly boughed, and the majestic peaks stand tall and proud. The army regulars are all lined up in neat little rows, their equipment shiny and new, their uniforms starched and absent of explosive debris. Freshly painted starships sit in their docks with weapons systems fully charged while creatures and critters on planets far below scent the air for the coming danger. Because in other places, the battle has always been and always will be. Minifigs stand, blades dripping blood, in piles of corpses as lasers lance overhead and topple the last remnants of once great empires. Realities smash together and collectively reassemble. The whole BrikVerse heaves in a breath of newly minted, grade-a, fresh friggin' air as the New Year rolls in.
Participants
Those wishing to participate in the contest should submit an original battle report via a new thread in the Reports from the Field forum between January 2, 2025 and
Participants may also submit Forum or Chat Battles via the Forum Battles forum with the same identifier tag in the title, provided that those entries are begun and ended within the contest's timeframe. Incomplete Forum or Chat battles may still be considered for judging at the request of the Entrant but it should be kept in mind that the judges may dock the report points in any category for being incomplete.
Participants may submit more than one entry. Contestants can only win one Reward, however, and only their highest scoring piece will count in this regard.
Entries may represent any BrikWars tone, style, etcetera. The BrikVerse is a wildly diverse setting and the purpose of this contest is to encourage more awesome new content. In terms of general theme, keep in mind the New Rekon and its implications. Entrants may feel free to continue older storylines in new ways but should also not feel beholden to any existing Kanon (basic common courtesy and community groundrules notwithstanding).
Judges
Judging of the entries will commence immediately following the contest, beginning February 4, 2025 and will end no later than February 12th, 2025. The final scores will be announced and formalized in this thread on February 13th, 2025.
For the 2025 Contest, the following are Judges:
- Scribonius
- bolicob
- EternityofDeath
- Fun -- Relating to the conceptual gameplay, the inventiveness of the actions taken during the game, the tactics striven for, the general level of amusement and shenanigans, and overall "wow" factor.
- Violence-- Relating to the mechanical gameplay, the clever and creative use of (rather than strict adherence to) the general rules to keep the game fast and fresh, the amount of straight up action movie carnage wrought, the general level of conflict (whether abstract or visceral).
- Photography-- Quality of the build's photography, the use of clean lighting and clear pictures, the capture of the purpose of the piece such that it is clearly conveyed to the audience, the appropriate capture of the action and turmoil of the piece, the overall visual attractiveness of the playing field, the characters and armies involved in the conflict, and the action of that conflict.
- Writing-- Overall quality of the writing, consistency of appropriate tone and pacing, clarity of characters and narration, general level of originality, and accessibility of emotional or cerebral engagement.
- TIEBREAKER CATEGORY--Story-- Every battle tells a story, even if it's a simple one. This tiebreaker category is used to judge the overall quality of that story or concept and how well it was conveyed through the combination of the report's general gameplay, photography, and writing. Secondarily, judges may wish to use this category to judge how well the theme of the New Year was pushed by the story the report told. The THEME this year is "PREPARATION." You're starting to see it now...or maybe you've known all along. The fight isn't over. The fight may never be over. Gird yourself. Prepare, come what may. Please use this opportunity to reimagine, reboot, or otherwise reconfigure stories and characters, connecting them in strange new ways, if it takes your fancy.
Judges may enter the contest as Participants (see above) but may not judge their own entries. Instead, the Secondary Judge will take their place in the scoring of those particular pieces.
Rekon Rekap
As a special Community Event, the Rekon Rekap is held each year in tandem with the Kickoff. The Rekap is an opportunity for the community as a whole to celebrate the spectacles of the previous year that they enjoyed the most and include our builders, gamers, and storytellers who didn't get a chance to contribute to the contests within their time frames.
The Rekap occurs during the Judging Period of the Kickoff. During that time, any BrikWarrior may submit any battle report, forum battle, or chat battle to the Contest Manager via this thread or the Discord. Those submissions are gathered into a large Poll, likely posted in the Discord, and everyone is free to cast their vote for their favorite.
Winners of previous contests are not eligible for submission or reward.
Rewards
The 1st Place Winner will become our BrikWars Monarch of 2,025, join the ranks of BrikWars Royalty, and gain full on bragging rights. They will also earn a unique custom badge, which will be pinned to the winning post and generally used however the winner sees fit (such as its inclusion into their forum signature).
BrikWarriors who aid the Monarch in seizing power, such as by participating in a forum or chat battle, earn the Courtier custom badge and join the Royal Court.
The BrikWarrior who wins the Rekap earns the Knight custom badge and joins the Royal Court.
Previous Monarchs, Royal Courtiers, and Knights
Together, the Monarch, their Courtiers, and their Knight form the year's Royal Court.
- Silent-sigfig, 2016
- bann154
- Valiant
- Kastrenzo
- mgb519
- Colette, 2017
- Scratch
- Quantumsurfer
- Kommander Ken
- Silvadream
- Colette, 2018
- Quantumsurfer
- Lawmaster
- Scratch
- Bookwyrm, 2019
- MadMario, 2020
- Gorvoslov, 2021
- No Winner, 2022
- bertinator, 2023
- Cyberman
- BrickWarrior
- Mr. President
- Vyron
- Dienekes22
- bertinator, 2024
- Bragallot
- Dienekes22
- MadMario
- Nervyr
- Quantumsurfer
Previous Contests
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024
Enjoy the Kickoff and the New Year! Happy BrikWarring and, as always, Have Fun.
2025 Entries and Final Scores