The Dark Age of Sigmar

MONSTER COMPETITION Results

The RUnners UP

Rising from the Fen

There are places in the mortal realms that do not take the coming of Sigmar with joy in their hearts. Folk who would rather see the old ways continue. Folk who still holds the old gods close to their hearts. In these lands, all sorts of dark creatures remain since the time of Chaos. 

Blood Sacrifices were common at these places souls innumerable were drained of blood and lowered into the fens. A practice that still continues today outside of the light brought by the eternal hosts.

A classic fen beast – but it is the extremely moody photograph that caught my eye here. 

The Death Of Birds

Sometimes it appears during moots, at shrines, or by travellers’ fires. You know it is coming when you hear quiet thumps of sparrows and finches dropping lifeless on the ground.

The locals offer it sacrifices and do its will without dissent. In a land forsaken by human gods, you worship an avian deity by necessity.

One day, by a dark twist of fate or by the malice of the Changer of Ways, you may start finding bird carcasses on your path. And then, you may find yourself on a glade, with dead birds strewing it like dry leaves.

Then run.

The Death of Birds – such an evocative name and a miniature that – although it uses familar parts – has a lot of character.

Helge's Monstrosity

It came with no description – perhaps it is indescribable? Reminiscent of the Behelit from Berserk, and beautifully painted as always from Wilhelm.

Third Place

 

 

Varghulf Courtier

Arpad the Depraved, Prince of Folda; Queen Ligia’s vicious feral child. A monster, feared both by his enemies and his mother’s pathetic ghoul subjects.

A beautiful miniature from Ana. It’s full of character and entirely unique: created with incredible skill and attention to detail. I love that it uses parts from Warhammer 40k in a fantasy miniature – something that is rarely done. The sculpting makes the parts fit entirely seamlessly.

Second Place

Ghorgirav

”Who sucks the skin from your bones? Ghorgirav! Ghorgirav! Ghorgirav! Ghorgirav!”

”Who haunts the woods with mewls and moans? Ghorgirav! Ghrogirav! Ghorgirav!”

”Who swallows men, soul and all? Ghorgirav! Ghorgirav!”

”Who tricked the owl and had to fall? Ghorgirav, he had to fall.”

– Nursery rhyme from Zontaberg.

Ghorgirav manages to be entirely disgusting in a way that few miniatures manage – the stomach is particularly horrific. The Mourngul is almost unrecognisable under some fantastic sculpting.

First Place

“See the wrathful ones fighting on the surface of the river, damned in flaming graves to eternity.”

Surtep was once a ferryman, who carried souls of the newly deceased across the rivers into eternity. Usually an obolus for passage was payed and placed in or on the mouth of the dead.

He brought some virtuous souls into enlightenment and punished those who did not reward him by sinking them in the midst of a river of boiling blood and fire.

You can hear the ringing of the coins on his wings over the desperate gurgle of the lost under the surface of the water.

But even a being like Surtep could not escape the decline of the world as it once was. After the destruction of the old world he drifted on, for eons of time, through the vastness of the void, until he was thrown into the mortal realms by the cry of the caught Chaos God Slaa`neth – The lord of fleshly pleasures and desires.

Through the mystical portals called Realmgates, Surtep traveled the eight realms. Always very carefully and hidden in the shadows he discovered some other survivors of the great Schism of the Worlds including the motherless, desperate Children Of Delight…

In fear of the hordes of Slaanesh he found a new home in Ulgu, the Realm of Shadows. Stranded in the Tattered Lands, he’s lost in a dark forest of transformed trees and bushes that are fed by harpies.

There he’s lurking in the shadows, luring his victims with the sounding coins of the enlightened, waiting to deliver new hosts to the self-proclaimed god of death…

Jan’s hideous, skull-faced Surtep manages to look both terrifying and somewhat tragic – a creature that is no longer at the height of his powers. I love the use of unusual parts like the tail from a Cockatrice, and they all go together very coherently. I am also very fond of the texture created with static grass, and the exceptional photography. This creature really epitomises A0S28.

3 Comments on “Monster Competition Results

  1. Absolutely love them all! The Death Of Birds being a personal favourite.
    Missed seeing posts on here, so this was a wonderful surprise

  2. Well done to all the entries. Very inspiring work. Great competition Jake.

  3. Some absolutely stunning and evocative monsters here! And beautifully presented on the website too.

    Hats off to all of you :)

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