Greetings! It has taken much longer than I had intended, but the judging for the 2018 Man Battlestations Painting Contest is finally complete! Before we get to the winners, I’d just like to say that this was the best year yet for the painting contest, both in terms of quantity and quality of the submissions. There were a grand total of 28 submissions, a significant increase from last year’s number. In addition, many of these entries were very detailed diorama-style presentations, which is an exciting trend. Of course, the downside of having so many excellent entries is that the voting and judging process was even more competitive that it was in previous years; please do not be discouraged if you were not one of our winners this year!

One final thing to mention is that a there was some additional prize support this year that was added during the contest. Mr. Mal Wright is generously providing copies of some of his excellent books on WWII warship camouflage to some of our historical themed winners. One of his books will go to the Historical category winner, while the others have enabled me to add a couple of additional award categories: “WWII Best in Show” and “Historical Honorable Mention.”

Now, without further ado, here are the winners! We’ll start with the Member’s Choice Awards, followed by the WWII Best in Show and Historical Honorable Mention, then the Commander’s Choice award, and finally the Admiralty Award.

Member’s Choice Awards

These are the various awards that were selected through forum polls on the MBS forums across four categories (Historical, Space, Steampunk, and Fantasy/other). Each of these winners will be receiving $15 gift certificates to The War Store. In addition, the winner for the Historical category will be receiving a physical copy of one of Mal Wright’s books.

Historical Category Winner: Dan’s USS Nimitz

The Historical field was very crowded this year, Dan’s impressive USS Nimitz was up to the challenge!

Space Category Winner: Gary’s PHR Fleet (Dropfleet Commander)

The Space Category was dominated by Dropfleet Commander (DFC) entries this year. In the end, it was Gary’s impressive PHR fleet that rose to the top!

Steampunk Category Winner:

Whyarecarrots’ Asgard-Class Carrier (Dystopian Wars)

This year’s Steampunk winner was Whyarecarrots’ beautiful Asgard carrier from Dystopian Wars.

Fantasy/Other Category Winner: Dagreg’s Hunter-Killer Biomech (Deep Wars)

Dagreg captured the Fantasy/Other category award with his incredible underwater terror from the game Deep Wars!

WWII Best In Show: Randy’s Roma

Italian warships from the WWII era are famed for their graceful appearance, and Randy definitely did his subject matter justice with his rendition of the Italian battleship Roma! He will be receiving two of Mal Wright’s books in e-book form.

Historical Honorable Mention:

Scott’s Sub Attack Diorama

Scott’s rendition of a submarine attacking a WWII convoy was one of several diorama-style entries this year, and I felt it deserved special recognition. My professional background as a submainer had nothing to do with it, I swear! Scott will be reciving one of Mal Wright’s books in e-book form.

Commander’s Choice Award:

KazadHarri’s Raking the French

KazadHarri’s beautiful depiction of a Napoleonic naval engagement placed very high in both the People’s Choice and the Admiralty rankings. Given the incredible detail and artistry packed into the minis (look at that rigging!), I felt I couldn’t let this one go by without getting some recognition. Kazadharri will be receiving a $20 gift certificate to the War Store.

Admiralty Award:

Gary Connell’s PHR Fleet

For the first time ever in the MBS Painting Contest, one of the People’s Choice awards was also selected by the panel of judges for the Admiralty Award! Gary’s impressive PHR fleet takes this year’s top spot, winning a $40 gift certificate to the War Store.

Conclusion

This was a heck of a year for the painting contest! Congratulations to our winners, and thank you very much to all who participated. This contest will definitely be making a return for 2019, so keep those brushes ready! Below you can find a full gallery of all the entries for this year. Until next time!