Golden Daemon: Retro 2

Welcome to part two of my fresh series looking at some of the older Golden Daemon winners. This post is dedicated to war in all its glory... the Battle Scene. The battle scene should capture a moment in the heat of battle, comprise of interaction between the models and still be of an incredibly high standard.

This first look is at Matthew Parkes Gold entry which also won him the fabled Slayer Sword in 1995. What strkes me with this is how bright and well presented the piece is. The orky wooden outpost looks fatastic, the grots going about their business and the Runtherd starting to shout through a megaphone to get the attention. The Ork being shot by a lasgun shot still looks fantastic to this day, and is a lesson in interactivity. The other little details too, the rag over the missile launcher, little mushrooms dotted about and the grot revealing his derriere on the splattacannon all add to the overall scene that certainly helped it win the Slayer Sword.

This next piece was by Chris Blair in 1996, and depicts a scene froma gang war on Necromunda. Whats nice about this is the Technology versus Nature theme, with the Spyers and the Ratskins fighting it out for survival in the dumps.  The first thing that struck me was the size of the piece, and helps show that Necromunda is played on more than just one level. The models, from what my eyes see, have had little conversion work done, but still interact well. The little bits on the floor look great, especially the sewage coming from the old tank and help convey how gritty and grimy the underhive is, and is highly deserving of its first place.

The third and final piece I've chosen is this little beauty. Nigal Carman decided to depict the chaotic brawling of a Gorkamorka scrap, and promptly took away first place. Its jam packed with models and vehicles, even a deffkopta is flying in on the action. Like the the second entry, this represents what Gorkamorka was all about. Orks fighting, riding around in trukks, looking for scrap and generally being insane. The base is another example of theming, with a really awesome looking 'Gorkamorka' title and the scrap pattern around the rest of the base really sets the piece off and shows the character of the orks really well. 

Hope you enjoyed these, I shall return once again with some more examples of Golden Daemon goodness!

Slayer Sword Winner Speaks.

When news filtered through that Karol Rudyk, winner of this years UK Golden Daemon Slayer Sword, was selling his prize on ebay, a lot of different reactions flooded the internet. Some people were saddened, some indifferent, some hateful, some seemed to understand and said they would do the same if in Karol's shoes. The sword itself sold for $600 on Ebay (approx £375). I decided to look into this and was able to ask the man himself. 

"I tell you why I sold the sword. 6 years ago when I saw the Slayer Sword for first time it looked like this:

This was a beautifull, fully-functional weapon. And this was my dream to win this sword. You should know also I am sword collector and I have several unique swords like:
 

Glamdring museum collection.
Atlantean sword of albion from Connan movie .
Anduril limited edition,
Full-functional japanese katana.

And the next should be the Slayer Sword.

But when I saw the actual version of the Slayer Sword this was a sad time. This sword not look good even on wall. This is a shame that GW give the best artist so cheap shit. My sword look like ship Chinese version. They give me it in a box (shipping from China) and it looks very bed. Blade is a piece of sheet metal and you can see traces of the blade grinder.

So when I saw this I do not want this in my collection. Maybe in future I will try to buy old version. I talked about it with GW manager, but they prizes are more and more low -quality. So big company and so cheap prize. This is sad.

I hope now you understand my reasons. I don't need many but this sword does not fit my exclusive colection.

Regards,
Karol"

Does this change anyone's opinion? I understand with him, trying to win an esteemed prize not only for your painting abilities but for your collection, and after all the hard work it doesn't live up to expectations.

Thank you to Karol who took the time to get back to me, you can see much more of his work here on his facebook page.

Golden Daemon: Retro

I got into the hobby in 1994, a few months before my 14th birthday. My future brother in law introduced me to Space Crusade, and then onto Blood Bowl. I picked up issue 174 of White Dwarf and haven't looked back since. 3 months later I had my first encounter with Golden Daemon. I still remember now eagerly looking through the magazine at what Blood Bowl material it had, and there it was. This.

Roy Scorers 'Hell Fire' Dreadnought. This blew me away like very little else. The paint job screamed out at me pure awesomeness, and I've never forgotten that model since. Today, I looked up online and discovered an image of it along with a few other influential models that I had not forgotten about. I still love the way this Dread looks. The black to red blend, the bright orange highlights, I still think this paint job is ageless, and is testament to how good it is.

Another model from the same White Dwarf, Neil Thomason's Rune Priest won first in the 40k single miniature category. I had seen a little of the Space Wolves, and they held much appeal to me as a chapter. This, made that appeal much more stronger! 

This Dire Avenger Exarch was also by Neil Thomason but won 1st at the 1995 Golden Daemon. The thing that struck me, was the banner and how different it was. Its a very moody peice, and looking back it reminds me of how the Eldar fought the Necrons, like the female character thinking back to those times in a very evocative way. Whether the Necron/Eldar history was developed then I'm unsure, but its a cracking model.

What Roy Scorer's Dread did for me and Space Marines, Ben Jefferson's Wraithlord (although I think then it was a Dreadnought) made me look at the Eldar in a new way. I still love this paint job and it jumps out at me just as much as it did back then. 

Looking back, the models that I loved back then haven't aged much at all today. This isn't far off 20 years ago, which speaks volumes for just how well these guys have done. I'll be doing more of these in the future, not just some of the older models but perhaps some of the more recent ones too. Til next time!

Slayer Sword... for sale?

But theres only one. This years Slayer Sword winner has put the esteemed prized up for sale here on ebay.

Is this acceptable? Does it de-value the prize at all? Hopefully the artist himself will speak out and tell us why he is selling the Slayer Sword.

Games Day 2012: In Pictures

 So Games Day Uk 2012 has come and gone. There were some amazing things to see up there, and instead of waffling on about them all, I'll let these pictures say it all. 

 Thanks to Jason for taking us up, and good to meet Ieuan at last! Hope you enjoy the Dwarf team man=]