THE LAST U.K. GAMES DAY......EVER.....GOOD ONE AND ALL !

[vincenti]

CLARIFICATION ?!?!?!

If you look at my initial post I have said the U.K. show !
I went to Paris this year and found that a much better show all round.The judging was more open and less blinkered ,the crowds were less,the whole ambience was much better, and on top of that you are in my favourite city in all the world !No disrespect to the people of Birmingham but I paid £25 to be stuck for 6 hours in the N.E.C. which is miles away from any where of cultural Interest!:|~
I may in the future try some other countries ,but no more U.k. ones for me .
I will still be posting my stuff here and my love for Space Marines has in no way been tarnished......( Grey Knight next 75 mm )

GOD bless .....................VINCENTI

 

[OrkyDave]

Thanks for all the great entries over the years Adrian, they have truly been inspirational. I didn\'t get a chance to meet you again this year, but we spoke last year and you were really helpful, friendly and approachable.

Hope that you don\'t stop painting your big spacewolves fullstop, as that would be a real shame.

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by vincenti
No disrespect to the people of Birmingham but I paid £25 to be stuck for 6 hours in the N.E.C. which is miles away from any where of cultural Interest!:|~

yeah and you have to pay another bloody £8 for parking - i was robbed!

 

[StarFyre]

hmm

seeing how the only space marines I like are the grey knights (and the custodes) I can\'t wait to see what you (Adrian) do with a large scale grey knight

ps: who did the one at GD that I saw in one of the pics?

Sanjay

 

[matty1001]

Martin Foottit IIRC

 

[SJB]

Mr Footit eh? So that\'s what won the Open. Cool. Can\'t wait to see nice pics

 

[SJB]

And Adie, fair play if you have decided to focus your energies elsewhere. Personally I like the challenge of the top 3 system though it is a cruel one (and often throws up odd results). But I can totally see your point of view.

Maybe I\'ll try out Euro Militaire myself sometime. Would be an interesting challenge to sculpt and paint a figure in such a different field

 

[lono]

It is a shame some of the really excellent models entered into GD end up with no trophy. YB is a good example this year. I overheard the judges saying that the mini they ruled out in about 5th or 6th would have won the same competition last year. Having said that though, it is the nature of this particular competion, it\'s about 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the eyes of 5 judges. There is the final cut badge and certificate for those who don\'t quite make it too.

I know you understand all of this, and if you don\'t like the 1, 2, 3 system, particularly when you are more used to a different kind of judging, I get why you are choosing to head to other comps instead.

As for artistic creativity being reduced because of the need to stick within GW\'s IP to do well, I don\'t actually think that\'s the case.

Yes, your model should epitomise their games\' background and worlds, but I really don\'t think that is a terribly restrictive criterion. There\'s a hell of a lot of creativity and techniques you can work into that in both conversion/sculpting and painting style.

As for the Open winner, I thought Mike was gonna pip him to the post again due to the inclusion of a fighting cock on his model! I mean how can you not love that? But on close inspection, there were some really rushed bits on his Bret, so nice one Martin!

 

[tooshy]

Hear! Hear!

Nice post Adrian, I think you touched on the thoughts of a lot of people. I have been winging about the £25 entry fee - it\'s ridiculous to expect kids to pay that, plus the travel. You spend so much money just getting in the damn place and that\'s before you even buy anything!

Salute costs £8 to get in, plus you get a fantastic free model and there are loads of other manufacturers there!!

With regards to competitions, I went to Crisis in Antwerp a few years ago and I think their voting system was the same as Euromilitaire. They use a scoring system for each category - each judge awards points for style, painting, subject etc and they have break points for bronze, silver and gold. With this system, it\'s entirely feasible to award 2 silvers, 3 bronze and no golds for a category, or by the same token, 3 golds and nothing else!

As a painter, I know that my skill has improved over the years, and I have made the first cut several times at GD but I have absolutely no chance of winning a demon. There are so many awesome pieces of work that just fall by the way-side.

But aside from that, good luck with Euromilitaire and keep in touch! Their fantasy category does sound interesting.....

 

[Modderrhu]

Originally posted by jahminis
and i\'m damn proud of my daemon

Exactly, and bloody well done, you beat a whole bunch of people to get it.

It\'s unlikely that I\'ll ever find myself at a Games Day, and it seems that my thoughts are at odds with the majority here. Anyhow... would not a merit based system, such as used at Euromilitaire, reduce the value of a GD? A slayer sword or GD is, like it or not, the pinnacle of miniature painting awards, where the sword is given to the best of the best, and no-one but the single chosen \'best\' gets it. That\'s prestige and reward indeed.

A merit system seems more like a school system, where everyone has the opportunity to accomplish, and the competition is against the judging, not against the other entries. Lots of people break the 10-second 100m sprint now. Only one person gets the gold medal.

Just a thought.

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by tooshy


Salute costs £8 to get in, plus you get a fantastic free model and there are loads of other manufacturers there!!

i wouldn;t say fantastic but i agree that it\'s a great event and better vfm imo

 

[Roger Bunting]

I\'ll have to ask the guys at my local club whether they\'ve thought about a painting competition for our annual show, Hammerhead. It\'s only been going for two years as that (previously held more locally under the name C.O.G.S. show). At the moment it\'s about the gaming side, with emphasis on participation games as well as the trade stands. Business was up 20% on the first year. That and the fact the fairly poor lighting was one of the things on feedback from the dealers and clubs attending has meant a change of location. Hopefully that won\'t affect things too much despite the 35 mile or so distance from the old location.

 

[Avelorn]

@modderrhu: They do have best of show and best painter and IIRC best scratchbuilt too...

 

[zombiesincorporated]

I sympathize. I enjoy the hobby and I would like to see where I can take it. I don\'t like to stick to IP anymore and I can\'t even say I like too much about GW style. Humans aren\'t so thick and chunky! I promise! This year I was particularly offended. To spend nearly 200 hrs and be summarily dismissed because my work looked foreign is hard to swallow. Then I calmed and realized it is a business. They try to do right, but they still must, always, sell the product. I realized I will have to attend unaffiliated contests, like GenCon. It\'s funny that GW postures themselves as pillars of the hobby, but only if it is their version lol. I do appreciate Golden Demon, but I am realizing there is much more to the hobby. So, no more US GD - though it is such a good excuse to visit Chicago! It\'s not Paris, but there is a Bourgeois Pig and there is no Weiner\'s Circle in Paris!

 

[lono]

Originally posted by zombiesincorporated
This year I was particularly offended. To spend nearly 200 hrs and be summarily dismissed because my work looked foreign is hard to swallow.

Do please explain.

 

[OrkyDave]

Yep, What Iono said. Also do you have any photo\'s? had a look in your gallery but its a bit like old mother hubbards cupboard at the minute!

 

[generulpoleaxe]

@zombiesincorperated, probably best to have a chat with lono via pm mate as he helped just the event and will be able to help explain things far better than any one else.

also, i think it\'s best if we leave i hate gw stuff alone in this thread as adrian did say he didn\'t want it to turn into that.

see you at euro adrian (was great having a little chat at gd with you)

 

[DrEvilmonki]

Personally I am with Modderrhu on this one, I like the format as is.

The Ip of GW is so broad IMO that creativity being constrained is hardly an issue. I have seen plenty of trophy winners that have been completely unique in how they have approached their art.

But of course as with most things in the world it all comes down to opinion.

 

[zombiesincorporated]

My apologies to GW and enthusiasts, I didn\'t intend to put them down :redface: .The Golden Demon is a really great contest that has pushed the level of the hobby higher every year. It is great for the hobby and should stick around in whatever format the company chooses. But, there are other competitions and I hope these will grow and challenge the hobby even more.

 

[OrkyDave]

Hear hear! the more competitions there are out there the better for the whole painting community as a whole!

I hear and understand what people are saying, and to a certain extent agree with them. However, thats the format and rules of the Golden demon competition, and if people disagree with that then no-one is .forcing them to enter.

Adrian has given valid and sensible opinions as to why he disagrees with that, and has also put those opinions across in a professional and mature manner without turning the thread into a slanging match or GW bashing. He has also chose to stand by these beliefs and not enter further UK competitions, so fair play for that.