After a long afternoon of nail-biting I was very pleased to have my Kaptin Badrukk model win gold in the Warhammer 40k small category.  This is kind of ironic since I was undecided about whether to bother entering it at all - there are so many great local 40K players and painters, I didn't think I stood a chance.

It was a good day all around for my Sunday night gaming group: Jordan Nykolaishen won gold in the 40K large category with his awesomely painted Ork Deff Dread, and Garth Bowman took Silver in the Lord of the Rings category with his Erkenbrand miniature.  It's another strong argument in favour of using miniatures in your game, when most of your players are award-winning painters who contribute to a visually stunning game table.

I was also really impressed with the models entered in the Youngbloods Division for painters 14 years old and younger.  These guys had some very impressive paint-jobs for their age - head and shoulders above my skill level when I was that age.  Its great to see so many young kids interested in the hobby, too.

With over sixty entries, many of which were absolutely breath-taking, all of the finalists should be very proud of their achievements.  While I heave a sigh of relief now that the pressure is off and I can get back to painting for pleasure, I'm also already thinking about what to enter for next year's competition.