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Borgnine

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Jun 15, 2013
2,036
Pruszkow, Poland
And we're going again with the competition!

The Theme: Duel / Confrontation

Okay, let's do it Golden Demon style!

This time it's about a conflict between at least two models. It should be obvious that some kind of confrontation is taking place/is about to commence. It can be undead vs. undead or undead vs. alive. The barest minimum would be to place two models facing each other and call it a day, but we encourage to give them at least some background. Even cooler would be building some creative dioramas modelled for them, even if they're small and simple. Of course, actually modelling two models with blades/claws locked together would be the best ;)

There needs to be at least two models, one for each side of the conflict. There's no upper limit, if someone wants to make a battle scenery, why not? And to keep it Carpe Noctem-themed, at least one of the sides needs to be undead. Original models and conversions allowed, of all unit types.

Golden Demon examples to show the spirit of the competition xD

The Prize: The winner earns the glory and a place in the Hall of Infamy thread. The winner also gets to select the theme of the next painting challenge (note that the winner only has a weekend to present the decision, so please be prepared and available).

The Rules:
  • All models entered should not have been painted more than a year ago from the date the entry thread is closed. This will not be enforced but violators will politely be asked to retract their entry.
  • All miniatures presented must have been painted by the entrant.
  • Max one entry per person.
  • Max 3 images per entry (including pictures in collages), of reasonable size.
  • No voting for your own entry.
  • No model can be entered into several challenges.
  • For every started set of 5 entries, each member gets a single vote (for example: with 7 entries everyone would get 2 votes).
  • Open entries and open voting. Everyone can see who painted what.
  • Models can be of any manufacture and conversion, but must fulfil all the criteria of the given theme.
  • If no decision on the next theme is made within a week of the winner announcement, the decision falls to the competition organizer.

The Schedule:
Week 1, Monday: Theme announcement and entry thread created
Week 7, Sunday: Entry thread closed. Voting thread opened.
Week 8, Friday: Voting thread closed. Result announced. Winner asked about next theme.

This thread is now open for people to post their entries. Please state a name of the miniature along with the pictures (ex: Vampire Lord or Countess Squigmachine). The thread closes on the 1st of October at (roughly) 23:59 CET.
 
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Theerteen

Cheerful Cranium
True Blood
Aug 20, 2012
1,503
Germany
Dammit, great topic, and I hate to have my Varghulf vs imperial soldier finished for too long xD
Let's see what else I can come up with....ouuuh I see gorestrings coming:perv:
 
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robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
I agree, great choice of topic :thumbsup:

As luck would have it I had today off with the flu and despite feeling a bit befuddled I have managed to pretty much finish converting my entry, except for perhaps a few small touches. Now for the tricky bit, the painting. That may take some time.
 

Farmer7574

Vampire Count
True Blood
Dec 10, 2013
1,587
England
I'll probably be too occupied getting other undead stuff done during this competition but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's entries - great topic choice. Let the games begin!
 

Adam_Barrow

Sleepless Knight
True Blood
Dec 25, 2010
3,068
Nashville, TN
@Alabaster427 I built some Cult of Morr themed Witch Hunters for Mordheim a summer or two ago. I'd link my plog, but photobucket has made that useless. I've got a couple undead-killing Hexenjaegers in there that I think will fit the bill. Now to find the time..
 
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robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
Title: “Out of my way wretch”!
Miniature: The Arrogant Countess
(Varghulf or Mounted Vampire Lord/Abyssal Terror)

Acknowledged at court for her sophistication and discriminating taste, the vampire lord widely known as ‘The Arrogant Countess’ gladly cultivates a reputation for cruelty. A creature of pure narcissism and vanity, in times of war she casts aside her extravagant gowns to reveal a flawless physique, basking in the stares of envy and desire from the vampiric nobility.

Strutting through the undead ranks, she mocks and laughs with unbridled scorn at those cowering behind armour and shield. Her own obvious contempt and lack of fear for the enemy only serves to add credence to her derision. Even the elite Blood Knights are not immune to her disdain, as she sneers that no mere Nightmare is fit to serve as her mount.

Riding into battle atop an undead behemoth she surveys the carnage of the battlefield from an elevated position, unassailable in her own superiority. Having been deemed unworthy to gaze upon it’s mistress, her mount’s eyes have been plucked from it’s head, and it charges into battle swinging wildly and crushing friend and foe alike, much to the delight of it’s spiteful master.
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Unas the slayer

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 1, 2017
1,863
Northern Italy
Interesting idea, and great first entry!

I've got TWO possible entries for this one.
The first one is more focused on the scenario, with just a brief background behind it.
The second one is basically a true (cool) short story, with the fighting models that have more a supporting role

No one of them is perfect, but who cares? I "just" must decide which one...
 
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Theerteen

Cheerful Cranium
True Blood
Aug 20, 2012
1,503
Germany
Oh boy, it's a challenge for itself to find a topic and a proper execution...I don't have many undead models left, especially not for what I always wanted to to, but I have an idea with a single Black Knight which ist left over from his unit. Maybe, hopefully, I will find time and a way to join
 

Mioum

Crypt Horror
Jul 3, 2010
572
I have some ideas for this, I'll try to find time between other projects to convert the models needed and paint them! But I'm out of greenstuff right now (some on order) so can't really start right away anyway.

Hopefully I get get in, but it'll definitely be interesting to see what the others do for this one!
 

Unas the slayer

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 1, 2017
1,863
Northern Italy
we encourage to give them at least some background.

Robtion's work is already better than what I could propose, so I've decided to give emphasis to this.
Do you want background? You'll have it.
My entry is a whole short story, with 2 different pictures of the confrontation between Nekaph and Grinnorarcen (our protagonists), just before the final clash, modelled as if it were a "real" battle during a warhammer tournament.



Title: “Blood for the Blood God”
Miniatures:
Grinnorarcen (classic Bloothirster of Khorne) with bloodletters
Nekaph (kitbashed - torso of a necron, heand and legs from Tomb Guard, the banner using the bladed tail of a sphinx, the axe of a necroknight) with Tomb Guards

Enjoy the reading!


_____________________________________________


The massive axe opened a large hole through the ranks of the skeleton warriors, then Grinnorarcen closed in and delivered another swing, taking down more opponents.

The dead of the desert were a so unsatisfying enemy… yes, plenty of offerings for the Skull Throne, but no blood for the Blood God, no screams for pain, fear or mercy, just ranks upon ranks of silent puppets.

A worthless foe, that spoils the fun of battling and killing.

The red Daemon roared with fury and the champion of the next regiment took the challenge. It didn’t last the blink of an eye. How was it possible that there was not a single worthy opponent?
He was full with frustration, and Khorne’s endless thirst for blood was like a blade into Grinnorarcen’s entrails, a searing pain that the Daemon could not quench… “STOP SENDING FRAIL CORPSES! I WANT TO FIGHT!!!”
In this conditions, Grinnorarcen was not able to be fully embraced by the blind fury of the sheer battle, so he took a moment to see how the fight was going.
His army was advancing as expected, crushing all resistance, except…

On the right wing, something had halted the run of the Bloodcrushers.

Grinnorarcen focused on the distant fight and he saw a legion of chariots, arrow shaped, that just cut in two the front line, halting the Juggernauts’ momentum and turning them into prey for the falchions of the following armored statues.
They were led by a chariot, bearing the insigna of their weak God-King… so the current leader of this army must be his Herald.

Grinnorarcen growled with satisfaction. At least, there would have been one real opponent.
The Daemon turned to the mechanical work of cutting down chaffs upon chaffs… the task was so unexciting that he decided to keep an eye on the enemy on his right. But the charge had raised a large cloud of dust, that even his enhanced sight could not pierce.
And when the dust cleared, it wasn’t there.
How was that possible? The right wing was the only place where the combat was going bad for the followers of Khorne. The Herald should have been there, to support the fight and enjoy the massacre.

Grinnorarcen was still looking for his foe, when a cry of alarm called his attention… something was happening on the left wing. Grinnorarcen recognized the banner, and the chariot with its gore-splattered scythed wheels.
Fast as the desert wind, the chariots must have moved behind the frontline, and now they were turning the combat on the other side of the battlefield. As wheeled sharks, the chariots were slipping between the blocks of the Bloodletters, taking the toll with volley after volley of arrows, too fast to be chased by the daemonic infantries… and the standards of the Tomb Guards, were now approaching the disrupted ranks.

Grinnorarcen grinned. “you are a smart guy, aren’t you? You stopped our wings, so only our center will advance, and your army will close upon us as a pincer. The problem is: are you sure this morsel isn’t too hard to swallow?”.

The bulky Daemon now was confident that his enemy would have come for him, so he continued his personal one-way fight; the massive muscles were covered by sweat, mixed with sand and grinded bones… the blood of the enemies normally would have washed away his body, triggering the Fury, but against skeletons it was not possible; Grinnorarcen could not rage, and so he studied the approaching Herald, that was now afoot.

In combat, Grinnorarcen was pure fury, and every one of his blows carried an excessive amount of sheer power. Grinnorarcen’s style was not the killing, but the onslaught.

The Herald was elegance incarnate.

He was armed with a flail, made of gilded skulls… an enemy attacks, the Herald feints, the flail comes down. An enemy attacks, the Herald parries, the flail comes down. And so on.
Each time with a different manoveur, each time with the minimal effort to cut down the opponent. No one was able to stop him, it was like watching a deadly dance, a disciplined warhound between sheep.

To see his enemy approaching, covered by blood and swirling a weapon made by grinning skulls, was definitely a strange sight for Grinnorarcen. “it should be the opposite. This is wrong, and I will stop it right now.”

With a crack of the whip and a mighty roar, Grinnorarcen announced the challenge, and the lesser Daemons created a circle, to watch the fight of the two Champions.
Both were slowly advancing, with the Herald being cautious, knowing the large Daemon would have gained the first strike, thanks to its superior reach.

And Grinnorarcen knew what he was going to do. Against that kind of opponent, a tactic that never failed him, was to sweep the field with the whip, forcing the opponent to be entangled by the lash, or jump to avoid it… meeting the battleaxe at mid air, with no chance to dodge.
And so he did, when the herald rushed forward.
As planned, the fool jumped to avoid the whip… but he deliberately left a leg down. The coiled leg slowed down the jump, and the axe swung just above the curled up target, missing it by few inches.
Grinnorarcen was out of guard, and the flail came down.

Time almost froze… as in slow motion, an amazed Grinnorarcen contemplated the skulls of the flail, aiming for his head. The syllables of the spell that would have diverted the blow were rolling upon the Daemon’s tongue.
The skulls of the flail were nearer, their eyes fixed upon him.
The urge to cast the defensive spell was almost overwhelming.
Time flew again. The flail crushed into Grinnorarcen’s head, felling the Daemon to the ground.

Grinnorarcen’s brain was bleeding. The Daemon looked at the opponend, standing in front of him.
In more than a thousand years of battle you were the first… you truly please Khorne. Wipe my army, take blood for the Blood God. May this day be a magnificent offering.

Nekaph raised the flail for the final blow. The jaw did not moved, but a deep voice echoed in Grinnorarcen’s head, the last thing he heard: “I don’t need your permission, and you all will kneel before the might of Settra the Imperishable”.



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Alabaster427

Minister of Thriftiness
Dec 9, 2013
1,315
I was really excited for this but I won't be finished in time. :( Zombie Dragons take a long time to paint and I've only completed his "opponents" which are really sweet, but none of them are undead. Oh well. Maybe next time. If there aren't enough entries, I can still submit my WIP with what I have painted.
 

Alabaster427

Minister of Thriftiness
Dec 9, 2013
1,315
I burnt through several midnight oils and I got it finished in time, just to accidentally use a gloss coat instead of a matte coat... oh well. Here's the story:

A lone chaos warrior wandering through Shyish, seeking either a portal home or at least a "friendly" warband to join. He never tires during battle but it's been months since his last conflict and he now hungers for flesh as much as he does blood for his insatiable patron. Nearby, he notices a lone white gryph hound.

He leaps from behind a rock to get a sneak attack and hopefully kill it in one blow. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to sneak up on a gryph hound and it all but dodges the the fatal blow. He severs its foot and it let's out a shrill cry. The wounded hound is easy enough to finish off, but by the time he does, a whole pack of gryph hounds has surrounded him. Normally, they might not engage the warrior as their sixth member is already dead. However, he killed their only female and these gryph hounds must have spent some time with dwarves because they can't let this go. The chaos warrior knows his hunger for blood must trump his hunger for food as he swings his axe around and raises it to fell the first gryph hound that tests him.

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Meanwhile, a ghoul king is scouring the skies, looking for some bodies to add to his horde. Atop his trusty (not like it could betray him, anyways) zombie dragon he peers far and wide. Suddenly his dragon goes into steep dive, having noticed the shrill cry of death directly below. The ghoul king hangs on for dear unlife. As looks forward [down] he sees a host of gryph hounds about to slaughter a chaos warrior.

He knows that he could be patient for the battle to resolve and clean up the bodies, but he is not called the Awaiting Ghoul King. He tightens his grip and allows his dragon to continue on his descent. Besides, who would expect a zombie to attack from the skies?

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Unas the slayer

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 1, 2017
1,863
Northern Italy
I burnt through several midnight oils and I got it finished in time, just to accidentally use a gloss coat instead of a matte coat... oh well.

Thanks!
with such an excellent topic, it woud have been a pity to have just 2 entries.
Hopefully, someone else will join the challenge.... there's still some time, after all!
 

Nagash Worshiper

Black Knight
Dec 24, 2014
309
@Alabaster427
Oh that is so cool! Nice story and with so much stuff going on!

Well, I also made it in time for an entry :)

Title:
"A chance meeting on the old road to Praag".

Miniatures:
Kislev Gryphon Legion and Black Knight.

Story:
(I apologize if I've butchered any Kislev fluff with my story. I intended to read up a bit more on Kislev in the Ambassador Chronicles and Riders of the Dead but time ran out).

The full moon lit the country road, illuminating the surrounding farms and a lone man clad in furs with a sturdy axe hefted at his side.

Vladic was on his way home from the local inn, a bit unsteady but nothing he wouldn't sleep of. Shoika, his wife, would smack him on the head if he ever complained about a headache in the morning.

Up ahead the main road turned into the old Praag road. The doomed city was still many miles away but even so people said the road was somehow cursed and generally used other paths instead. Last year someone had even found a dead Kossar by the side of the road.

He didn't care much about it. Death was part of everyday life in the north. "The blood of Kislev was civilizations shield" went an old saying and Vladic couldn't agree more.

Suddenly a knight on horseback appeared on the road as if conjured from the shadows. Vladic blinked as his drunken mind took in more details. Man and horse was in fact not man and horse at all. Not alive at least. Ghostly lights flashed from the riders empty eye sockets as it caught sight of him and spurred it's mount to charge.

Vladic was a Kossar. He'd fought nightmares more than once. He also knew his chances of surviving this night. Sobered by the moment he unhefted his axe and sent a last thought of love for Shoika and chuckled. The woman would find a way to haunt him in the afterlife, not the other way around.

From behind, as if appearing out of a story, a gospodar knight calmly rode up beside him.
"You better leave this one to me Kossar", the riders eyes never left the approaching dark knight, "run and wake your neighbouring comrades. With a bit of luck you'll gather enough men for us to handle this".

Vladic turned and ran to the nearest farm as if Ursun himself was chasing him.

Behind him the riders of the dead charged at full speed towards each other.

(The difference in the ground is supposed to represent the road getting "darker" the closer it gets to Praag).
(Seems some kind person dedicated a small shrine for the dead Kossar that Vladic was thinking about. Hopefully his soul found it's way to Ursuns halls).

Now we have 4 entries! :) Still time for more ;)
 
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Borgnine

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Jun 15, 2013
2,036
Pruszkow, Poland
2 hours before the deadline!

Just like Alabaster, I had several problems with matte varnish suddenly turning out to be quite glossy - and fighting that problems brought next problems... Thankfully, I managed to make it look okay. Also, I wanted to make a proper diorama out of it, with trees and all, but I forgot to take the parts I needed while I was in Poland. So, in the end, some basing flock will have to suffice ;)

Title:
"Sir Baranowski with his men"

Also, some backstory, because everyone wrote something:

Sir Baranowski was running for his life.

That was supposed to be a small mission with a scouting party to check on one village in Varsavia. He knew that this accursed land was a treacherous place, he expected some troubles... but certainly not a large force of undead with vampires leading them.

Bloodsuckers looked as surprised as the Kislevites led by Sir Baranowski, but they were quick to attack. His men fought bravely, but they were still slaughtered. Thankfully the ensuing chaos was enough for the nobleman to turn tail and run. He'd rather be an alive coward than a brave, dead man. Baranowski jumped into the thick Varsavian forest, hoping to lose his adversaries amongst the trees.

He surely wasn't hearing or seeing any pursuers - that was good - but he managed to get himself lost too. The nobleman heard some of the stories those silly peasants were telling about this land, how the forest can disorient anyone and make them easier prey for the strange beasts roaming those woods. As most Kislevites living outside Varsavia, he dismissed it as silly superstition and exaggeration but wasn't so sure of it anyway.

Finally, tired with all the running, he stopped in a small clearing. Here, he hoped to see the sun and get some sense of direction, but thick clouds made that impossible. While he was thinking about what he should do, he noticed some silhouettes closing in between the trees. Baranowski readied his ax, but as his pursuers moved closer he saw the blue uniforms and the typical plumed hats - those were his men! Some managed to run away too!

But as they came even closer, his relief turned into horror. People he knew were shambling towards him as undead zombies. The marks of last battle were still on them, still bleeding wounds on their faces and bodies, missing limbs, sickly-green, pale faces.

What an accursed irony, he thought. Those bloodsuckers surely had some sense of humor. Baranowski was way to tired and angry to run away anymore. He will kill those undead and run into Kislev. He has to, because Hetman Gorski needs to know about those vampires hiding in Varsavia...

-----------------------

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Theerteen

Cheerful Cranium
True Blood
Aug 20, 2012
1,503
Germany
Aaaaaand it's me who's late... sorry guys, and thanks a lot for the expanding! I speedpainted the whole day today, and am extremely unpleased with the results, even more with the scuffing spots that I created because of too short drying times. But anyway, I wanted to enter something, here it is.

King of the Hill (no Fluff, because no time :D)

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