Golden Demon 2015

[nels0nmac]

So there I was browsing the Forgeworld web site to see what tasty new things they have on offer, and I discovered a link to the new Warhammer World website. Seems that Warhammer world is getting an upgrade with a fancy new website to go with it. In previous years there has been speculation that the UK Golden Demon competition was at some point going to be moved to Warhammer World and this year it is going to happen - sort of!!

It would seem that with all the new space they now have, they still don't have enough room to host the full usual Golden Demon competition. So what they are doing is hosting a series of 'Themed' mini Demons. The first to be announced is 'Tanks' - so you can enter anything as long as it is a tank from GW or FW. Rules have yet to be specified but the winners will get a Golden Demon Trophy. Oh and by the way it's planned to be in August so anyone thinking of entering better get a move on - price has yet to be set. Anyone interested can follow the link below :-
http://warhammerworld.games-workshop.com/events-hall/hobby-events/golden-demon/

I am not sure how breaking up the competition is going to help the popularity of the event. I can't imagine many people wanting to travel to Nottingham, especially from overseas, just to compete in a single event, especially since they are not the usual GD catagories and god knows how many of these mini events they are planning on running - that'll probably depend on how popular the first ones are?

Personally I will not be attending - it was expensive enough going to the previous GD's but at least it was just one day and you could enter all the catagories you like with the hope of finding success in something. Now - well I'm not chancing the cost of a weekeknd trip to Nottingham from the south coast on the off chance that I am one of the best 3 that turn up on the day for a particular catagory.

 

[ischa]

This is silly as hell and I won't be entering any of these competitions. The whole thing that made GD good was that it drew people from all over to a huge event. This feels like it will be a local competition style thing. Meaning that the painting community looses out in part the prestige of maybe winning at a huge event, and in part meeting loads of new and old friends.

I love painting competitions, but I´m not happy to see them depersonalized and fragmentized. The fang in scandinavia is a great example, so are internet based contests. Shame to see the once great golden demon go this way...

 

[MAXXxxx]

GD is dead basically.
Ohh well there are quite a few other famous ones to compete with our painted toys (euromil just coming up, hussar, duke of brav?)

 

[crystella333]

That just has bad idea all over it
so sad to see it go this way :sad:

 

[MrJim]

Looks like another cost cutting move. Soon they will just have people email pictures.

 

[Avelorn]

I had hopes, I attended last year for the first time since 2008 and liked that format a lot. Much more relaxed.

This is just... well. crap.

 

[ten ball]

This is an EPIC cock up
Ive got multiple GD projects started / purchased and now it looks like I've got to pick one or not go at all, my God GW all I want to do is enter a quality painting competition and your fighting me all the way. Last year (with the exception of no finalist pins) was a real turn around, I really thought 2015 was going to be a winner but ......
I carnt be bothered to type anymore.

 

[AndyG]

Well I was going to go I'd started painting a squad bought a forge world special etc etc. Well that's me out.

Oh shit has anyone told Sprocket?!?

 

[Dragonsreach]

What a monumental cock up indeed!

5 years since I did a golden daemon, looks like I made the right decision back then.

 

[SkelettetS]

Chill mates, wh fest with regular gd is still happening. According to second hand sources hope I don't have to eat up these words later. Anyway, while you guys keep on crying I'll keep painting my duel, pretending that nothing has happened heh

 

[nels0nmac]

Chill mates, wh fest with regular gd is still happening. According to second hand sources hope I don't have to eat up these words later.

If that is the case then it would be a bit strange to run a series of mini Demons alongside the main event and have the same weighting - by that I mean trophys. So you can go to the main GD and compete against the great and good from the UK, Europe and possibly further afield or you can go to a 'GD Lite' enter one catagory where you are more likely to compete against a more local field - and possibly those who are scared off the big event- and you get the same trophy regardless ?!? OK with the main event someone will get a shot at the Slayer sword but still.

 

[BloodASmedium]

Can anyone fill me in on wy all my lads are super pest what with gd

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

I saw this yesterday, and its GW all over, no information and a 'surprise'.

I have spent over £90 on my squad entry stuff (Centurions) and a new skitari walker. We have to assume its going ahead or we wouldnt do anything, but to now throw doubt into the event actually happening (Skellet's update notwithstanding) we are now in confusion with less than 4 months to go till usual GD time.

GW need to clarify this ASAP

 

[ischa]

raw speculation here. but my guess is that they´re taking steps toward moving the demons away from games day (WF) and toward a cheap and cheerful GD event at warhammer world. wouldn't mind that at all, as long as it is one singular event where the painting community can get together and compete.

 

[Pictish Mini Painting]

I believe that was always the plan to have GD at WW. However this hal way house approach sounds very poor, though i believe WF is still happening??

 

[ischa]

Can anyone fill me in on wy all my lads are super pest what with gd

Most of us have been for years. Skelettets keeps calling me a fan boy, but fact is that their products, their events and their hobby attention has taken a horrid turn. White dwarf has turned to a crappy catalogue, events have focused on selling products. Warhammer visions has about 5 pages of text, with 100 pages+ of pictures of horribly painted new products. The eavy metal team doesn´t aim to paint pretty anymore, but fast. No painting or hobby articles on the webpage any more, just a huge online store. GW these days aim at selling huge armies to young people, with skirmish games such as necromunda, mordheim, inquisitor and blood bowl gone.

Even the stores are dread. The local store in gothenburg doesn't allow anyone but beginners to paint at the painting tables, there are only one or two game nights a week, etc. Staff prefer to have an empty store at most times, especially when people are there to use their products rather than buy them. 5-6 years ago they had a gaming den with painting tables for anyone. Not only is this horrid for veteran fans, but probably bad for business. As i see it GW is all about business, not at all interested in the hobby as they once were.

As for the events, I can't say much about warhammer fest last year. Some people seem to really have liked it. But the tendency is to remove the events bit by bit. just a few years ago, we had GD in Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Poland and the US. Quickly, it just became the UK, and now just a row of small category-specific events at WW. Seems like a shame. Considering the success of salute, euromili, monte and others, I don´t see why GW is giving up.

Also considering the multitude of companies out there, GW is lagging behind hugely in product quality, and in some ways even, prices. Their books are ridiculously pricy, and compared to origen, all the kickstarters, guild of harmony and others, the miniatures often luck clumsy and dumb. if it wasn't for the popularity of their game worlds and the accessibility of their stores, i doubt that the minis would be as popular any more. I like some of them, sure. And paint them often as well. But they often get my money mainly because I can jump on the bike and buy some minis, rather than having to wait for two weeks for an order.

 

[MAXXxxx]

yep, I agree on what ischa said.
With the extra, that those who worked on multiple entries for at least a UK-GD now have to decide on:
- just one category. With flight to the UK and the possibility of not meeting others.
- go to each of these events, which would take a ridicolous time and money for anyone not being near the WWorld store.

so basically unless they'll have a fullGD besides these WW weekends (that I highly doubt now) we can say that there is no more GD and the months of work is kinda wasted (not totally as you can enter them in other shows too).

 

[fluisterwoud]

If that is the case then it would be a bit strange to run a series of mini Demons alongside the main event and have the same weighting - by that I mean trophys.

Maybe they'll just hand out actual mini Demon trophies?

I never got to experience a GD because I didn't get in to the hobby until GW killed off all the GDs around the world, but I was hoping to go to the UK for one some day. Hopefully this is just a temporary step toward a larger GD at WW.

 

[SkelettetS]

what i was told - by a gd regular that was at ww great opening and talked to gw staff - was that this tank event is splitting up the tank category into sub categories, like 'super heavy', light tanks' etc but that these smaller gd events are just extra competitions and that wh fest is still happening. (latest rumors, somewhere outside ww as its too small (?)). but yeah my hopes are that it rewards "mini-demons" for such single category gd's, not to drain the value of getting/having an actual demon. i guess not though as it require cheap @ss gw to make new moulds for demon statues. lol. anyway, ill continue my work until further notice.

 

[Dragonsreach]

The eavy metal team doesn´t aim to paint pretty anymore, but fast.

Or as I've heard in discussion are not given the time to paint well anymore.
What I overheard was the expectation that what is left of the 'Eavy Metal team have a very limited timescale for "characters", something like 3-4hours.