Decades of Golden Demon - A COMPENDIUM Volume One Review

 

The Miniatures Compendium

Golden Demon has long been a major institution of the Warhammer hobby, a miniature painting competition first held at the 1987 Games Day, Games Workshop's premier convention in ages past. It was eventually untethered from the trademark event, which disappeared in the warp around 2014. Golden Demon lived on, though COVID has given us a 2 year hiatus.

The Miniatures Compendium/David de Blas

It's hard to described the importance of Games Day, both personally and otherwise. It's especially hard perhaps because I've never been a particularly good painter. Golden Demon winning miniatures have been intimidating just as often as they've been inspiring. But I suppose that's part of the mystique.

Games Workshop injected plenty of pomp and ceremony into Golden Demon without making it too daunting for hobbyists: the titular leering demonic trophies became a symbol of a truly accomplished painter, with the best in show awarded the Slayer Sword, a steel replica weapon.

I certainly never imagined myself winning a Golden Demon, much less triumphantly holding the Slayer Sword aloft. Even so, trawling through the Golden Demon galleries as a neophyte hobbyist a decade ago is a memory I treasure dearly.