Golden Demon 2026 Finalists Part 3: Old World, Blood Bowl, Open

Warhammer Community has revealed the third and final batch of Golden Demon 2026 SPIEL Essen finalists: Warhammer: The Old World, Blood Bowl, Epic Scale, Youngbloods and the Open Competition. That completes the set. Here is every finalist from part three, all 20 of them, category by category.

Published November 13, 2026. Catch up with part one (Warhammer 40,000, Duel and Necromunda) and part two (Age of Sigmar, Middle-earth and Dioramas), and see who took the medals in our winners list.

What is a Golden Demon finalist?

Every Golden Demon category has a shortlist of finalists, picked by the judges from hundreds of entries. Gold, silver and bronze are then awarded from that shortlist, and the gold winners go on to compete for the Slayer Sword. So a finalist badge already means the painter is among the very best entrants that year, medal or not. Some of the painters below won medals too; check our winners list to see who.

Part three also brings back a few familiar names. Lukas Zaba and Charles Dabel were finalists in part one, and Ross McCusker was in part two, so some painters reached the final in more than one category this year. That's a huge achievement on its own.

Warhammer: The Old World

Six finalists, and this category shows just how wide The Old World range is: goblins and trolls, a dragon, a Chaos lord, a Bretonnian-style knight, a dwarf and a winged hunter. Notice how much work went into the plinths here. Two of them aren't really bases at all, they're little sculptures of their own. Zaba's floating staircase and Reverte Exojo's cliff both give the miniature a whole scene to live in, and Pescini's hill has squigs hiding in the gaps between the rocks for anyone who looks closely.

A blue troll with a stone club towering over hooded goblins with a crescent moon banner on a rocky hill — **Marco Pescini:** a big blue troll and a pack of hooded goblins under a moon banner, with tiny red squigs hiding in the rocks. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A rider holding a tall wheel-shaped staff on top of a huge blue and red winged dragon rising from desert sand — **Angelo Di Chello:** a sorcerer on a huge winged dragon bursting out of the sand. The wing colours fade from blue to red. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A knight in blue and silver with an antlered helm walking down floating stone stairs, a horned helmet left on the top step — **Lukas Zaba:** a knight walking down a staircase that floats in mid-air. Zaba was also a finalist in part one. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A Chaos lord in silver armour with horns, a flail, a fur cloak and skulls hanging from chains, on a mossy base with a stream — **Elisabeth Romero:** a Chaos lord dripping with skulls and chains, standing over a little stream. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A dwarf with a huge orange crest of hair, a braided beard and a giant golden double-headed axe, on a grassy rock — **Jakub Morawiński:** a dwarf with a massive orange crest and a golden axe almost as big as he is. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A winged warrior with a whip crouching on top of a tall cliff, with falcons flying around and a nest of eggs below — **Jose Carlos Reverte Exojo:** a winged hunter on a cliff top, with falcons in the air and a nest of eggs further down. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

Blood Bowl

Blood Bowl miniatures are full of personality, and these five finalists lean right into it. Each one looks like it's halfway through a play, and the faces sell it: a snarling vampire, cackling goblins, a roaring bull-man. The bases matter here too: real-looking turf, scattered kit and team colours all make these feel like players from a proper league, not just display pieces.

Three goblin Blood Bowl players in red and black armour with knives, crouching on a rocky stepped base — **Rich Keys:** three goblins in red and black, knives out, clearly not playing by the rules. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A huge horned bull-headed Blood Bowl player in green and brass armour roaring on a grassy base — **Bertrand Bloc'h:** a roaring bull-headed bruiser in green and brass. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A huge plague-ridden Nurgle Blood Bowl player in a green helmet and orange top with a small pink creature on his shoulder — **Robin Villavecchia Betz:** a cheerful, rotting Nurgle player with a little nurgling riding on his shoulder. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A human Blood Bowl player with a white beard, a stag head on his helmet, bells and a shield, running with the ball — **Charles Dabel:** a bearded veteran with a stag on his helmet, running for the end zone. Dabel was also a finalist in part one. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

Epic Scale

Epic Scale is the opposite challenge: the models are tiny, so every highlight has to be perfect. These three finalists show you can still tell a story at this size, from a spider walker swarm to two Knights that look like full-size models in the photos.

Three spider-legged walkers in teal and black crawling over a crashed red and white train-like vehicle — **James Taro:** spider walkers swarming over a wrecked vehicle. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A small cream and red Knight walker with battle damage standing on a cracked grey base — **Natalie Heywood:** a battle-worn Knight in cream and red. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A blue and gold Knight walker with ornate engraved armour, a gun arm and a rocket pod, on a rocky base — **Adam Hałon:** a Knight in blue and gold with engraved armour, at Epic size. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

Youngbloods

Youngbloods is the category for younger painters, and it's always one of the best parts of Golden Demon. Both finalists here would hold their own in the adult categories. Look at the face on David P's Space Marine and the cape on Wojciech P's Rogal Dorn: those are the hardest things to paint at any age.

A red-armoured Space Marine with a winged chest eagle raising a chainsword and holding a bolt rifle — **David P:** a red-armoured Space Marine mid-swing with his chainsword. That face is full of rage. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

Rogal Dorn in his golden armour and white cape, with his chainsword, standing over a fallen blue Space Marine on ruined steps — **Wojciech P:** Rogal Dorn in his golden armour and flowing white cape, standing over a fallen blue Space Marine. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

The Open Competition

The Open has no rules about range or size, so painters bring their biggest ideas. This year's finalists include a whole goblin clock workshop and a Titan hunting a single Space Marine. What links all four is that they tell a story you get in one look: grots at work, a Chaplain at prayer, a beast rider on the hunt and a giant war machine closing in.

A giant red clock reading WAAAGH! with grots fixing it, climbing ladders and working at benches around it — **Baptiste Richebé:** grots repairing a giant clock with WAAAGH! on the dial. Our favourite of the whole batch: every grot is doing something. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A dark green Terminator with a skull helm and a crozius on a stepped base surrounded by red candles — **Ross McCusker:** a Terminator Chaplain in dark green, surrounded by dripping red candles. McCusker was also a finalist in part two. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A horned muscular warrior with an axe riding a green scaly beast on a mossy rock with crows — **Nikolas Rubens Mortensen:** a horned warrior on a scaly green beast, crows circling. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

A yellow and black Titan with flame markings stalking a tiny red Space Marine across a desert base — **Gregor Pilarski:** a yellow and black Titan looming over one tiny red Space Marine. The scale says everything. Photo: Games Workshop / Warhammer Community

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Feeling inspired?

If these make you want to pick up a brush, a painting starter set with paints and brushes is the easiest way in. Blood Bowl players can start with a Blood Bowl starter set, and The Old World rulebook is the place to begin with the Old World. For the fine details, see our magnifying lamps for miniature painting and the Warhammer start-here page.

My take

Three parts, dozens of finalists, and the standard never dropped. What I like about this last batch is the variety: a tiny Epic Knight sits next to a giant goblin clock, and both are world class. The Youngbloods entries are the ones to watch, because those painters will be winning Slayer Swords in a few years. Which finalist from all three parts was your favourite?

WIZY Blog is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Games Workshop. All photos belong to Games Workshop and the painters.

Sources

Warhammer Community: Golden Demon 2026 SPIEL Essen finalists warhammer-community.com

Written by the WIZY creator

A lifelong gamer and Warhammer painter, and the maker of the WIZY RPG game. I write about games, hardware, Warhammer and crypto in plain English, and I check every fact against its source.