8 January 2018

Deadcember 2017 - a champion is crowned



It has been both an absolute pleasure, and a cause for mounting panic, for me throughout December as excellent entry after excellent entry arrived in my inbox for the Deadcember competition (sponsored this year by Ral Partha Europe - thanks chaps!). The pleasure came from the well-planned conversions, clever colour combinations, nostalgia-made-lead model choices, and the evident satisfaction from both completing a figure(s) and from taking part that came across in the submission emails.

But the panic.

Oh yes, the panic. How on Earth was I supposed to pick a winner from this array? Should productivity be rewarded - Alex painted a whole army, and there were other multiple-entrants. Should keeping it hardcore Oldhammer miniatures be a guide? That only leads to the rabbit-hole of "what is Oldhammer?" all over again, and gnomes have only just saved us from that!

It's a cliché of any competition to say that any contributor could have won, but I genuinely mean it when I say I'd have been happy to reward any one of them. In the end I listed them all and picked between two at a time, like in a knock-out competition, using some excel jiggery-pokery to randomise the list. I did it several times and the same winner came out each time, although the final choice was really, really, really hard each time.


So, assuming you've had a look through the gallery of entries, I can finally announce the prize winners. Yes, that's a plural - winnerS.

The "damn that's so Oldhammer I had to check it wasn't in Heroes for Wargames" prize goes to Stuart Bannister for his ghostly plague cart. There's a small skeletal package shortly on its way to you from Ral Partha Europe. Congratuations!


But the overall prize for Deadcember 2017 goes to Ivan Prentice for his delightfully resurrected (seems apt, no?) Citadel C17 skeleton. The clever repair/conversion, the choice and execution of colours, and the evocation of character in a miniature of an unfeeling animated set of bones was what clinched it over some exrtremely tough competition. Look out for a zombie dragon from Ral Partha Europe infesting your postbox in the near future, Ivan.


I'm not sure I can take judging such a close field again! Maybe next year I'll sort out some sort of voting scheme so I can duck responsibility...

I would be proud to have any one of those entries grace my tabletop, and only hope I'll get the chance to see some of them in the lead at some point.

Thank you and well done to all entrants.

I hope you'll be back for Deadcember 2018!

13 comments:

  1. Congratulations Ivan well deserved

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  2. There were some great entries and I don't envy you having to choose from them! Hearty congratulations to Ivan and Stuart and well done to all the other competitors!

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  3. Both well deserving winners!

    Well done!!

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  4. Both great pieces I wouldn't like to choose between them congratulations to both.

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  5. Wow, thank you for the honour, especially alongside so many wonderful entries and an excellent choice for the overall winner too. Congratulations Ivan!

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    1. It WAS hard to choose, but it was well-deserved, Stuart!

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  6. Excellent choice! A Zombie Dragon well deserved methinks! Congratulations to the winners 👍

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  7. Wow, I'm completely bowled over by this! Its a privilege to be judged alongside so many excellent entries, all of which were deserving of winning and an honour to share the prize with Stuart, congratulations Sir.
    Many thanks also to Rab, for not only organising and judging Deadcember, but also inspiring and motivating us all into picking up our brushes.

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    1. The fact that it was such a difficult decision takes nothing away from what an excellent entry yours was, Ivan, and I'm totally happy with my choice. I hope you'll enter again next year.

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  8. Awesome stuff Ivan. Now test for instability before he crumbles to dust!

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  9. Congratulations, Ivan! Definitely outstanding work and a beautiful (in a decaying corpse kind of way) model.

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