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!

Gaming Update!

So I've been a wee slack with actual games lately, but theres this and another couple of updates due to come in the next day or so. This game however was from Monday night, and played against Andrew's Death Guard.

I recently found out two things that helped me choose my force. Vindicators can move 6" and shoot, and Legion of the Damned are relentless. Score. Taking both! 1800 pts a side! My basic list was Chaplain, termies, land raider, vindicator, two tactical squads in rhino's, devastator squad with 2 plasma cannon, dread, and a land speeder.

It was an objective based game so only two troops for four objectives, was going to make it tough against the hard to shift DG, but my opponent also only had two troops choices too so this was about grabbing one or two and contesting the rest!

First couple of turns, and to be fair the whole game went well for me. If it was kill points it would have been a slaughter! Our vindicators were pretty useless, although mine did finish off a DG squad later in the game. I was able to pretty much kill all of Andrews Termies, and there were 19 plus Typhus, who I also killed. My Land Speeder deep striked close to his land raider and took that out in one turn, which was lovely to see! My Legion of the Damned also showed up and caused a nuisance to his havocs and the aforementioned DG squad.

This game however, was not all about killing. My one TS were able to capture an objective, but my other weakened squad were just unable to hold one of the other objectives which Andrew did claim... so we ended with a draw when the game ended on turn 5. Damn! 

Had the game lasted one more turn I'd have got a win as I had enough there within range to contest the DG's objective, including my Land Raider. But it was not to be. I am however claiming it as a huge moral win as I killed quite a lot of Andrews troops and one of the Imperiums most hated advesaries, Typhus!

It was a great game though and we both enjoyed it immensely. I've only played Andrew twice, and both games now have been objective based and both games a draw! We shall be battling again, and we're both sat next to each other on our club table, Andrew just above me. I will take his spot by beating him!