Golden Hat XXI - Warmachine Slaves Theme

"By Hashut we will break their backs and crush both will and soul. For the slave there is only horror and torment and toil. Now... Fire!"

We had a great turnout of entries, with submissions spanning whole slave-crewed warmachine parks down to individual slave crew members. It was astounding to see all the excellent results churned out of the Dawi Zharr forges. Undoubtedly the lot of warmachine slaves is a brutal and backbreaking one, as evident in these fantastic entries!

And the winners are:

    <1       <2       <3

1st Place - Golden Hat Winner: Entry #10 - Fuggit Khan
2nd Place - Silver Hat Winner: Entry #7 - BABIS
3rd Place - Bronze Hat Winner: Entry #1 - Abecedar

And a couple of honourable mentions to Entry #8 - Herby and Entry #9 - Bloodbeard, who both were but 2 votes away from bronze!

The entry key!
You can share your love for each entry by donating slaves to the owners of the entries!

01 - Abecedar
02 - Kamphre
03 - TheHoodedMan
04 - Zanko
05 - torn
06 - MadHatter
07 - BABIS
08 - Herby
09 - Bloodbeard
10 - Fuggit Khan
11 - Sticklander

Slaves and medals are coming! torn has now earned his Bronze Veteran medal!

And now for the prizes!

Congratulations to Fuggit Khan, who wins a flayman of his choice! To be sculpted and posted by Admiral.

And congratulations to MadHatter, who wins the randomly drawn 3rd edition Mortar prize! Donated by Fuggit Khan. Perhaps this is the day to win the lottery as well?

A big "thanks" to everyone who participated and voted, as well as a big thanks to Fuggit Khan for his prize donation!

And that's it for this round of Golden Hat. Now let's see the participants' entries in the blogs.

The Staff

This post was last modified: 10-08-2014 04:18 AM by Admiral.

Nicely done everyone and a big congratulations to the 3 winners!!

Thanks also to Admiral for organizing this one!

I echo Nicodemus, lovely Golden Hat!

...And all the entries I voted for got a medal

Congratulations to all the winners! Great work everyone. And congratz on the random price MadHatter - that third ed mortar is the greatest price there is.

And wow Fuggit! That's a hatrick right there - three in a row. Good job man!

Congratulations everyone !!!

Great job everyone and a big thanks to Nicodemus for making the banner and handling the slaves and medals-handouts of the contest!

Next Artisan's Contest or Golden hat will probably have another organizer, because I can't promise anything as of now due to studies, upcoming WoH #13 work and other hobby activities. However, the aim is still to set up a "Scribe's Contest" for a long succession of CD culture stuff contests, complete with miniature prizes to encourage both participation and quality.

That will probably happen next year if I may guess, though it could happen sooner if we had some volunteer donators and one volunteer banner maker. In fact, let's create a thread for that purpose right away.

Congratulations everyone, great entries !

Congrats, at least one of my votes got in!

wow all three of the entries i voted for won!

My reasons for those who want to know, bearing in mind the competition was for the slaves and not the war machine so I completely ignored all the war machines.

fuggit khan - just great composition. The model really captured the theme, and the painting quality was very high.

Babis - I just really liked the idea. I know the minotaur with the rod thing was done also but it didnt really work as well as the ogre. Again the paint job was top notch, the photos could have done with cropping the blank space at the edges.

Abecedar - Once again just great use of slaves. At first I was put off by all of the extras that I was trying to ignore but I took my time voting and the more I looked the more I liked it.

Everyone else - I found voting here really difficult, and seriously considered all entries. I may have voted for bloodbeards entry over abecedars but the focus in the photos seemed to be on the slave masters rather than the slaves and I couldnt see the ogre very well. Congratulations to everybody, it really shows the strength of the CDO community when you get so many entries for a topic that may not be as well represented as other options.

Congrats to the other winners. Mr Fuggit,  Your massive rocket, really tickled my funny bone.

Thanks Torn.  Doing so many sort of shot me in the foot when it came time to take 4 photos.  But I was really pleased with how much I got done. It was a pity the slave ogre couldn't feature more.

This post was last modified: 10-08-2014 05:55 AM by Abecedar.

Besides, Fuggit Khan's entry isn't a doomsday rocket. It's just the bread and butter ammunition of a Thunderfire Battlebarge, or so he says.

What I lack in skill I seem to make up for in luck today also thanks Admiral for organizing the event!

Congratulations to the winners, well deserved!

Congrats to the winners!

Many thanx for Admiral who organizes that great GH!


                    

When I was buying cigarettes just an hour ago my marlboro dragged a bonus package of lucky strike menthols with it, just saying, these are great signs for my upcoming tournament this weekend.

Congrats to all the winners.

Great entries, well done people! Love the comical atmosphere on #1, reminds me on the giant CD rocket which failed...

So I've decided to make a longer Golden Hat post after reading Herby and Torns comments.

I sure would have liked a bronze medal as well. 2 votes from it this time and 1 vote back in Golden Hat XX. But I'll get them eventually.

And you are right about the truth. Not all entries show a super high skill level of painting. My own included - my painting is pretty average and I only have a few tricks.

But writing "great work everyone" does not necessarily refer to the skill level of peoples painting or conversion work. Anyone entering the competion has put work into their entries - possibly the best the could in the given situation. I've worked as hard as I could, sometimes only getting 5-10 brush strokes down a day.

It's great that people take time to make an entry and send it in. No fun in only having 4 entries to look at, even if they were all Golden Demon standard. So I repeat my "great work everyone" statement. And it's not just a "goodie goodie kindergarten participation medal" statement - I mean it.

Reasons and thought behind my voting
I always want to get better at what I do. Torn comment on the focus on my pictures is a great point. Looking at them again, I can see that (even though I tried to do it equally) the overseer is in focus. So here's what I thought when looking a the entries - and I looked and thought a lot.

Abecedar: The insane amount of painting work you have done in a short time is insane. I guessed your entry, because the first post in your blog shows all that unpainted metal. And you got that giant recently.
The best thing about your entry was the troll pulling the juggernaught. Being pulled by a slaver. That's a great little conversion! Had all attention been on that, you would have had my vote. But focus is lost, because there's too much for 4 pictures. And it seems some more work could have gone into details - like the shields and spikes on the juggernaught.

But obviously the shock and awe of such a huge entry has made an impact. Also did on me at first.

Kamphre: Funny details, good for a Orcs and Goblins army. Good painting on the monster, especially on the mouth. I just don't see any CD reference there and don't like monster like that in a CD army. Desn't fit my idea of CDs.

TheHoodedMan: Great giant. And it's a good idea to have him pull a base coated model - because focus is not on the machine. But you have three shots from the front and I couldn't make out his pose. I needed a shot of his back - because I couldn't see what you had done with his arm. And that's a real shame, your photos should show of all your work.

Zanko: I guessed your entry too! Because that cabinet shows in many of your pictures. I don't know if it's you painting in general, just your pictures or a combination. But all your miniatures seem very light. Guess it's the camera (because I made the same comment in the last GH). I would darken up the pictures with some very simple photo magic. The dark skin looks cool and it's a great contrast to the light fur. But the armor is also light and the cannon-clean-thing looks light brown too. I think there should be only one very light contrast.

Torn: The idea for this ogre is pretty good. And thumbs up for massive green stuff work. The arm plates and shoulder pad looks good. But the helmet I find to be way too big (and it's the focal point on the miniature). Is the ogres head underneath? It's of cause a matter of taste. But I would haave liked that helmet to be smaller, perhaps dont without a head on the inside. The green and red colour look good together.

MadHatter: Beautiful entry. Got one of my votes! I like the simplicity of it. the models, colours and techniques used are simple. But they work, they look clean. The arrangement of the miniatures is good too. But it was really the "fluff and story" that gave you a vote from me. This is exactly what our setting tells us about hobgoblins. A nicely dressed hobgoblin overseer, cracking a whip over some other green skins. Perfect!

Babis: You got a vote from me as well. Because that ogre is simply perfect. It's a very small conversion, put that model is one of my favourites. All those old chaos ogres are. And the mustache completely change the feel of him. Great painting and good focus. Too bad about the last photo.

Herby: You got a vote. Your keep focus on your slaves despite the big warmachine. A lot of life goiing one with the miniatures there and you have some clever details. The chains, the use of the spear arms to act as chains and handles for pulling the cart. It's both a model for gaming and a diorama. I like the nice dark colour and the detailing on the goblin clothing - not many people would do clothing details like that. Must remember it.

Fuggit Khan: I guessed your as well. Of cause. The minute I saw it, I thought "That gonna win. Again. I get's a vote from everybody from shock, awe and over the topness." Then I read the theme/rules for the competion and decided not to give you a vote. I simply can't turn focus on the slaves with that giant massive rocket. And if I vote purely on slaves, they are too simple goblins for me. And there's no focus shot on the overseer.

Great model no doubt, goblins should be crushed under the weight of that thing. I would like to suggest you do a bit more work on the golden parts. I find they are too clean, flat. Need either some rivet details or some highlighting washing. Without making them dirty, but the sense of "brand new missile" should remain. The best thing about the model is the large red, completely perfect rune of death. Best thing - despite the goblin hiding in the dumbest possible place.

Sticklander: Insanely wicked model! That must look amazing on a table. I instantly imangine ten of these mammuths pulling all kinds of Dawi Zharr artillery through snowy mountain passes - while legions of armoured dawi zharr march around them. It tells a story. But there's no focus on the slaves. It's a monster and a cannon. A single picture of the whole thing would have been nice. and then three close ups of the ogres riding, the ogre walking and the overseer. To show off your skill level of painting. Surely you would have had a vote by me then.

There you have it
Some advice, thought, ideas and what went through my head while looking at all the cool stuff that has been send in. Hope some off you can use some of it. I would love to win one day, so please share any advice you might have for me in my blog.

Well written, Blood. I like your really constructive and honest criticism.
Regarding my entry (nr.3): I will include back photos in my army blog. I was a little sloppy like usual but you`re absolutely right ;-).

I agree that everyone who puts energy in the contest should enter, the more the better. I knew before entering that I stood no chance winning the contest, all this creative people around here. But it was fun to contest and be part of it. Next time I will put more effort in it.

Thank you everybody! I'm honored (and a bit surprised) to have won...and a bigger shout out of thanks to everybody who participated. I truly think that ALL of the entries were good, just my opinion of course, and naturally people look for and enjoy different details/themes/painting styles/etc, but I really do think that each entry was great on it's own level:

#1 Abecedar: Your entry was my #1 favorite! It's epic! Such a wonderful selection of vintage models and set up in such a way that I can look at it and envisage the story developing about it. A war party heading off to war, a returning victorious army after a battle with enslaved captives and war booty, etc. It's marvelous, and I'm very happy to see that you won a medal.

#2 Kamphre: Another favorite for me, it reminds me of the good ol' days of GW when they made models that were fun, that had character. The chicken drumstick on the pole is hilarious, I laughed and laughed. And to me, that is what this hobby should be about, having fun.

#3 TheHoodedMan: Your entry was good because it made me stop and think...whoa! A giant! For some odd reason I always forget giants are slaves to the Dawi Zharr, I always think of green skin rabble only. Your entry shows what a variety of concepts that there are for our army, variety is the spice of life!

#4 Zanko: A bit of nostalgia for me, my first ever conversion for WHFB was a converted Blood Bowl minotaur, about 20 yrs ago, that looked almost exactly like your entry.
And what you made reminds me of that 'first', a wonderful trip down nostalgia lane

#5 torn: Another favorite of mine...because it reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Master Blaster from Mad Max Thunderdome. And what was Blaster but a slave really? He did all the work, overseen by Master (who was a little guy, just like our Dawi Zharr)...very fitting for a Chaos Dwarf entry!

#6 MadHatter: You had my vote obviously, because there was a Hobgoblin! But it was not just because of that...your entry had something that I think was really needed to get the real theme of this Golden Hat: lots and lots of slaves. An entry with just a single slave can easily be better than an entry with 1000 slaves (if it's done right), but it was a joy to see your entry with a group of slave rabble being whipped by a Hobgoblin Boss.

#7 BABIS: What more needs to be said? You are one of the best painters on CDO! I would even say that between you, Skink and Ravenswood, the three of you are the best painters on the planet! A beautiful entry.

#8 Herby: Another of my favorites. I love the artillery...I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if it is an actual model or a custom scratch build? It's so clean and professional looking...and the vivid colors are an eye catcher. Your entry is another that has a 'story' developing about it as I look at it, it's well laid out, and please share with us how you made the round circular ammo, those are very cool.

#9: Bloodbeard: And yet another of my favorites. What I love about your entry is that it embodies the Dawi Zharr perfectly. Here's this big, brutish, bone breaking thug of a slave...and yet he's not the one I'm scared of. It's the short little incredibly evil looking guy with him that makes me nervous. He just oozes with the evilness factor, clearly anybody who can master such a big slave is someone not to be trifled with!

#10 Giblet!

#11 Sticklander: And again, another favorite entry of mine. Much like Abecedar's , your entry is epic! And its's big! Size matters! (or so they say). I am always happy to see large models displayed like this...it's practically it's own army showcase...very cool sir, Hats off to you

And for all of the reasons I mentioned above (and many more that I did not mention), I am going to donate slaves to each of you guys.
Well done everybody
And again, thank you staff for setting it all up for us!

Gratz Fuggit with the win, and gratz to 2nd and 3rd. A lot of cool stuff, and voting was a nightmare