Armies on Parade
Today we decided to take a look at Armies on Parade. With our first Games Day of 2012 (Games Day Spain) now less than four weeks away, we thought this was as good a time as any to show off some of the inspirational displays from last year's competition plus a few work in progress shots that we've had sent in.
This would also be a good time to remind all of you in Spain that Saturday 9th June is the date for your Armies on Parade store heats. That means that you've only got a couple of days (if that!) to finish your display. And, even if you haven't made a display for this year's competition, make sure you are in your Games Workshop Hobby Centre to place your votes for the store winner (and get a few cheeky ideas for next year).
Last year at Games Day Chicago in the US, we spent several hours taking pictures of all the Armies on Parade entries that were on show. The range and diversity of the displays was just incredible, ranging from vast Lizardmen temples to Blood Angels marching through a war-torn city. Some of these entries were shown on the blog just after the event, but many of the others weren't. Today they get their place in the sun.
This Blood Angels display was painted by Keith Hardy - we especially liked the transition of the display base from snow-covered ruins to muddy river. The Shrine of the Aquila also provided some extra height to the display - something that really helps to get it noticed. In fact, on the topic of height, if you scroll to the end of the gallery you can see the landing pad that J.D Fako built for his display board. By combining the Skyshield Landing Pad with parts from the Manufactorum and Basilica kits he has created a large and impressive piece of terrain for his Stormraven to land on.
In this gallery the Slaanesh Warriors of Chaos were painted by Dennis Gunia, the Khornate Warriors of Chaos were painted by Brian Papciak and the Tomb Kings were painted by Tom Ferrante. Dennis' army is, without a doubt, a crazy riot of dark colours and every unit features a host of conversions. If you check out the close-up shot you'll see just how much detail he put into every miniature. Brian's display featured a superb piece of terrain - the Temple of Skulls, which is covered in blood, which really draws the eye to his gory-covered board. Tom's Tomb Kings are another army that really benefitted from a great display board as the temple at the back adds a great backdrop to the piece.
Sam Freeman is the man behind this Ork Army on Parade - a crazy combination of kits from many years of collecting. Our close-up shot shows some intense Orky madness going on, and you'd be hard-pressed to put a name to all the components that Sam has used to convert the models in his army. If you think you can name all the pieces, why not tell us what they all are on Facebook?
The Nazgûl are one of the most terrifying units to fight in The Lord of the Rings, so to come up against all nine of them and the Mouth of Sauron is truly terrifying. Chris Balke is the creator of this Armies on Parade entry, which shows the Ringwraiths descending upon Minas Tirith. Again, clever use of scenery has added a lot of height to this piece, particulalry where Sam has used the Ruins of Osgiliath set to base many of his models.
And in other news:
A couple of weeks ago we mentioned that we'd like to show work-in-progress shots of your Armies on Parade entries for this year. Well Philip Rowlands and Adam Dews were the men to answer the call.
Philip is currently hard at work on an Ogre encampment, which is mostly constructed from pink insulation foam with parts from the Arcane Ruins kit. At the centre of the board there will be a ceremonial pit into which the tribe's Butcher chucks all manner of meaty offerings in to appease the Great Maw. Meanwhile, Adam Dews is working on a frontline Imperial Guard depot, which has been constructed using parts from the Shrine of the Aquila, the Basilica Administratum and the Garden of Morr. They are both looking good, guys. Make sure you send us some more pictures when they're completed.
