# Heresy Online's Fiction Competition 2012 - Winners Posted!



## Boc

Greetings my fellow Heretics!

After a year hiatus, it's time to bring back a Heresy tradition! Time to begin the:

Heresy-Online Fiction Competition 2012

This is a great year for the Heresy Fiction Competition. This will be the fourth year we've done the Fiction Competition, the first year I have judged it, and the second year we've got prizes to give away! While I don't have the connections that others may have, I've still got something almost as good as stuff: Gift cards! (But we'll talk about that later...)

As with the last Fiction Competition in 2010, the same guidelines are in place due to prize inclusion:

Warhammer 40k, Warhammer 30K or Warhammer Fantasy short story: you will need to writer a 40k, 30k, or Fantasy based short story. The subject matter of which does not matter. But the overall setting must be in the 40k, 30k, or Fantasy universe. We are a 40k forum after all.

4000-5000 word requirement: The monthly HOES competition is 900-1100 words, but that's only for bragging rights. This competition is a serious 40k/Fantasy short story competition and with the inclusion of prizes will therefor demand a more serious effort on the writers part.

No Public Voting: with some rampant cheating having occurred in past public voting competitions I have decided that there will be no public vote. Instead, voting will be done via PM to me as with the monthly competition, with a first place, second place, and third place recommendation. However, for a user's vote to count, _*they must have at least 50 forum posts.*_ This is to prevent cheating! After the end of the submission window, there will be a 1 month long voting window to allow all the members of Heresy the maximum amount of time to vote on their favourite stories and get these votes to me via PM. In order to maintain my accountability, I will maintain in the moderator forums what users have voted and for whom they have voted. A week after the voting period ends, I will present the top three results and divy out the prizes.

Public Submissions: In previous competitions, there has been a a secret submission policy. Writers posted their stories in the Heretic Ezine/Blog Submission forum. This year, as in 2010, we will not be doing that. On the day the submission window opens, there will be a submission thread posted in the Original Works forum titled: "Fiction Competition 2010 Submission Thread". You will be able to post a link to your story in this submission thread. Your actual entry will need to be posted in its own thread in the Original Works forum using the title "Heresy Fiction Comp 2010: [Insert title here]". Then, you can post the link to your story in the submission thread. I will then compile a list of the submitted stories in the OP of the submission thread, and they will be viewable by the public.

Minimum Post Count: For entrants, there will be a minimum post count of *50* required to be considered for the competition. I will waive this on a *case by case basis* for new members. Why? Because this is our forum, if you're coming, we want you to stay! The post minimum will be in effect at the conclusion of the competition (i.e., must have at least 50 posts on this forum prior to December 31, 2012).

New Works only: do not submit something that has already been posted here on Heresy in the Original Works section or in fiction sections of other websites. In order to increase the fairness of the competition, you will be required to write a new piece of fiction. It can include characters that you have already used in the past, but cannot be a story you have already written. This includes rewrites of old stories, whether it is expanding an idea from a previous 1,000 word story or chopping down a 10,000 word story. Only new works will be permitted. While I will not be searching the entire inter-webs to determine if you've posted the story elsewhere, I do frequent other forums and am likely to notice. If any entrants notice an old story being submitted then please, let me know.

No Staff Submissions: Heresy Staff members will not be allowed to participate in the competition. Let's face it, they all suck anyways!

*Please feel free to PM any questions you have about the guidelines to me. *

Wait Boc, you said prizes, WHAT THE HELL ARE THE PRIZES????

My goodness, you are a greedy bastard aren't you! As I said, I don't have connections to get nifty limited print whatevers, but I do have access to:

CASH-FRIGGIN-MONEY

First Place: $75.00 (that's US dollars, I am American after all) 

Second Place: $50.00

Third Place: $25.00

These prizes will be in the form of Virtual Gift Vouchers to Games-Workshop (which can conveniently also be used for BL books via this link!)

*The votes are in the winners have been finalized! Congratulations to the following entrants, and thank you to everyone that entered for making this competition a huge success!*​

*3rd Place:*
Not Ashamed by Zinegata

*2nd Place:*
The Means to an End by ckcrawford

*1st Place:*
The Tale of Brother Armiel by Lord of the Night
​
Again, thanks to everyone who participated! Look for the 2013 Fiction Competition announcement thread around July!


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## Sangus Bane

''And so it begins...''
*turns around to face the notepad with all my character sheets*
''IT HAS BEGUN!!!''


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## gothik

will be entering this


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## Mossy Toes

I am so in.

Hmmm, 5000 words. Which story should I write—aha, that's the one! 

Though also, a question: what about rewrites of existing stories I've written? What if I want to expand a 1000 word story to 4000 words? What if I want to completely dismantle a 3000 word story and rewrite it in a staggered, more powerful version? Seeing as these are other ideas I've been contemplating writing in any case, would these be acceptable in the competition? I'm fine with a resounding "NO," since I still have that original idea I mentioned.


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## Svartmetall

Ooo...and I actually have an idea or two I've been pondering story-wise, too...


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## Serpion5

Oh, no room for Serpion5? 

Fine! I'll go hold my own competition. With Blackjack. And hookers. In fact, forget the competition! :threaten: 


But seriously, good luck to all. I foresee some good reads inbound. :victory:


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## Dicrel Seijin

Hmm, well, I've got a month to decide if I want to do this or not....


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## Jace of Ultramar

I'm in. No hesitation, I need to force myself back into writing on a regular basis. 

While this setting is in 40K... nevermind, I have this covered.


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## Boc

Mossy Toes said:


> I am so in.
> 
> Hmmm, 5000 words. Which story should I write—aha, that's the one!
> 
> Though also, a question: what about rewrites of existing stories I've written? What if I want to expand a 1000 word story to 4000 words? What if I want to completely dismantle a 3000 word story and rewrite it in a staggered, more powerful version? Seeing as these are other ideas I've been contemplating writing in any case, would these be acceptable in the competition? I'm fine with a resounding "NO," since I still have that original idea I mentioned.


Sorry about taking a couple of days to respond, all communications where I'm at have been turned off the last couple of days >.<

Rewrites are not allowed. This includes expansion of previous works or shortening of previous works. Sorry! I'll edit the original post accordingly to reflect this.

Glad to see the interest so far, and I'm definitely looking forward to what some of your depraved minds can create!


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## Mossy Toes

Good to know, and no big loss on my part. It just means that one of my 3 story ideas has just leapt up to "yeah, this is the one I'm going to do" status while the others have fallen by the wayside.


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## Romero's Own

Ok, will be entering this for sure.


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## Sangus Bane

Quick question:

Is it an issue if I have slightly more than 5000 words? I couldnt find anything on he subject.


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## Mossy Toes

I think the implication is that if it's more than 5,000 words, it's outside the 4,000-5,000 word limit and it's your responsibility to edit it down to at most 5,000 words--which is good practice, since writing is just as much about being able to edit for improvement and being able to meet the guidelines as it is about getting the words on the page.


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## Boc

Mossy Toes is correct, 4,000 to 5,000 words it the absolute lower and upper limits to the word count. Now, that is NOT including title, so that should at least give you an extra few to play with


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## Sangus Bane

Ok, many thanks.


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## HUMYN HYBRID

i have not contributed to the sight as much as i would love to, so i am entering this. ive wanted to write a full on novel, no based on warhammer at all, along the lines of my idol auther, China Meville. so this could very well be my open door to completing it. good luck to all who are participate. 

i got worried i didnt have enough posts to apply... turnes out i got 6 times more than what i thought XD


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## SonofMalice

Sounds like fun to me, I was just starting a project the other day and it should fit well with this. Looking forward to a challenge!


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## Bane_of_Kings

Awesome , I'll be entering this for sure, although I'll have to wait until after NaNoWriMo, so that will only leave me December to do to it in unless I finish my story before the end of NaNoWriMo. And as I'm adding onto an already written 25k wordcount, then it does currently look that way at the moment.


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## Boc

Can't you include this for your NaNaWriMo word requirement? I haven't done that before, so not sure.


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## Mossy Toes

You're supposed to write one 50k word novel, but you're also encouraged to play fast and loose with the guidelines if it's what it takes to help you get to the wordcount within the month.


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## Boc

Ah, fair enough. Good thing I don't try it then, since Skull Reaper's been around the 35k count for... 2 years


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## OMNOMNOMIVORE

nanowrimo is pretty fun, but no cash/plastic spacemen prizes there.
definetly will be entering this competition once I finish the Nano.


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## Bane_of_Kings

Are we allowed to write Horus Heresy stories? Because if so I might be interested in writing one depending on if I can think of any ideas.


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## Boc

Yes, 30K stories are allowed. Editing first post accordingly.


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## Bane_of_Kings

Boc said:


> Yes, 30K stories are allowed. Editing first post accordingly.


Awesome .


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## Boc

So out of curiosity, anyone begin plotting yet or are all of you procrastinators like me?


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## Azkaellon

Boc said:


> So out of curiosity, anyone begin plotting yet or are all of you procrastinators like me?


I was considering entering....Then i remembered i suck at this sort of thing and you would all point and laugh...........However if not i think a comical story of a guardsmen having a bunch of insanely inept chaos worshipers try to kill him would make a good read!


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## Boc

Might as well enter


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## gothik

i was till i read that the Flawless Host were something totally different to what they had originally been listed as out in the wilderness with it at the moment, i had spent weeks building a background and now i am told they are are not what they were originally put down as grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr so not sure what to do about it


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## Boc

CTRL F - "Flawless Host" replace all with "XXXXXX" haha


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## gothik

LOL think i will just go with what i already done....spent too long on em to change it all now just cause someone on Wiki and Lecixanum changed it


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## Lord of the Night

Working on my entry right now. :grin:


LotN


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## Warlord_Winters

I'm going to make a 1st person story of a Tyranid Swarmlord, below is a brief snippet

"GRaaaaaawwwlll RAAAAshhhhhaaaaa!!!" wooo exciting stuff


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## IRkorpus

ive tried my hand at writing a few short stories but 4000-5000 words might be a little out of my depth. maybe if i start now i'll be finished in time for next years comp. good luck peoples


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## Boc

Something that could work is simply making a story can that can be told in 4 1000 word segments. It helps to break things up to make it less daunting of a task.


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## Dicrel Seijin

Boc said:


> So out of curiosity, anyone begin plotting yet or are all of you procrastinators like me?


Plotted and writing. I'm at 1,740 words and counting. 

I'm getting an early start since I finished entries for a couple of other contests early and there are two other contests in December that I want to enter, so I'm doing this one now while I have time.


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## Romero's Own

Out of curiosity, can we use the Heresy Editing Service for our entries?


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## Boc

Not a problem if you do, just don't post it up on the boards prior to the 1st.


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## Romero's Own

OK, thanks Boc


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## andygorn

A vision or two (not sure if they're the same story or not as yet) came to me the other night based on the DE characters I sometimes transcribe about, so I think I might 'put fingers to keyboard' for this one.
As yet, 0 words written, though


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## Mossy Toes

Boc said:


> So out of curiosity, anyone begin plotting yet or are all of you procrastinators like me?


Hmm, totally missed this. I'm about 1k words into mine, though will be returning to and expanding it very soon...


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## Bane_of_Kings

Boc said:


> So out of curiosity, anyone begin plotting yet or are all of you procrastinators like me?


I'm 1760 words into mine, and already know exactly(ish) where this is going to go. A 30K story that's hopefully readable.


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## Boc

I'm sure it'll be readable, _enjoyable_ on the other hand 

I kid, I kid... glad to know you guys are hard at work while I'm sitting on my arse! Looking forward to seeing some great stories, and I know you'll all deliver! Well, except Mossy, we all know he's mediocre at best :grin:


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## Mossy Toes

Yeah, it's my curse.


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## DreadLordRedAxe

I normally just lurk around here so my post count is no so good(maybe if i count all my past forgotten password accounts I might make it), but as it sits I can't start till after the 9th but it will go fast from there.


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## Boc

Won't be too hard to get your post count up there, just need around 1 a day from now until the close of the submission window haha

And Mossy, you know I tease because I care


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## Boc

Won't be too hard to get your post count up there, just need around 1 a day from now until the close of the submission window haha

And Mossy, you know I tease because I care


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## Romero's Own

I have just finished last night. At the moment it stands at 4,200 words, give or take a few. Now i just sit and wait for the submission opening. 

Good luck to everyone else writing their stories. Looking forward to some great reads.


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## Parsifal

I'm going to keep posting and hope I get to 50 before the deadline lol. TALK TO ME


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## Boc

Nice Romero's Own, finishing up ahead of the game  You and I clearly don't share the same work ethic, had I been able to enter, I probably would've waited until Christmas to start writing 

Parsifal, immerse yourself in the community! There are a ton of threads all over the place, it's too easy to either fall into a conversation with your thoughts or to pose more questions to the user base. Some of us tend to be quite chatty :victory:


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## Boc

Fiction competition window is NOW OPEN!


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## Bane_of_Kings

Awesome. I need to get cracking with my fic then. .


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## gothik

posted and can now stop fretting lol


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## Boc

Oh there's always reasons to fret


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## gothik

lol boc


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## Nashnir

Will enter this. 
Hopefully I will finish the story before the deadline


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## Boc

Excellent, glad to have you aboard  Good luck!


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## Nashnir

Hopefully I wont be too late. I completely forgot the release of the book "The Betrayer". So am holding back to see if anything in it can affect my story. Hopefully will get it before the window closes.


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## Boc

Eh if it does, just tell everyone to piss off and that you were first haha


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## walrusninja

Didn't see this until just now, crap. Would've loved to have taken part. I've won a few awards for my writing at my school, and at my local GW store. Bummer.


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## Boc

walrusninja said:


> Didn't see this until just now, crap. Would've loved to have taken part. I've won a few awards for my writing at my school, and at my local GW store. Bummer.


Sorry mate  You're still more than welcome to comment on the stories written and vote for your favorites!


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## Boc

The winners have been added to the first post in the thread. Thanks everyone that participated, both by writing and by voting!


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## Lord of the Night

Shocked that I won. Hehe. Thanks to everyone who voted for me.

Since i'm British I can't use the voucher I won on the UK GW, so i'm asking to see if I can exchange it for a UK pound voucher of equal value which would be about £47. Add on £15 of my own money and i'm getting a copy of Dark Vengeance. :biggrin:


LotN


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## Sangus Bane

Congratz, mate!


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## Zinegata

Cool. I'll likely be spending mine on some e-books from BL.

Thanks to everyone who voted for my piece.


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## ckcrawford

Thanks dudes. Appreciate it!


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## Boc

Lord of the Night said:


> Since i'm British I can't use the voucher I won on the UK GW, so i'm asking to see if I can exchange it for a UK pound voucher of equal value which would be about £47.


What??? It doesn't let you spend a foreign currency? Fuuuck my bad on that >.<


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## Lord of the Night

Boc said:


> What??? It doesn't let you spend a foreign currency? Fuuuck my bad on that >.<


Yeah but it's no problem. Just got an email back from GW, they will let me exchange it for a £50 voucher, which is actually £3 more than it's worth. Definitely getting Dark Vengeance. :biggrin:


LotN


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## Bane_of_Kings

Ah, congratulations LotN, Zinegata, & ckcrawford. I guess there's always December this year for anyone who didn't win this time.


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## Dave T Hobbit

Well done everyone.


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## bitsandkits

well done everyone!


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## gothik

well done to the winners and all that entered all fantastic


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## Boc

Bane_of_Kings said:


> I guess there's always December this year for anyone who didn't win this time


I'll likely aim for a submission window of September for this year, that way October is for voting and the results are out prior to the holiday season. The hacking kind of fucked with my plans for this one, to be honest.


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## ckcrawford

If I remember correctly... it's first the worst,_ second the best_, third the one with the hairy chest. YAY


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## VulkansNodosaurus

Congratulations to the winners!


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## Romero's Own

Well done to all the winners and everyone that entered. It was a great first fiction competition for me and the stories can only improve.


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## Bane_of_Kings

Boc said:


> I'll likely aim for a submission window of September for this year, that way October is for voting and the results are out prior to the holiday season. The hacking kind of fucked with my plans for this one, to be honest.


Awesome. Best thing we can hope for is not to get hacked again. :victory:.


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## Lord of the Night

I've already got an idea for my 2013 submission. Something involving the Death Company I think. Or perhaps a Warpsmith and a flock of Heldrakes. :grin:


LotN


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## Bane_of_Kings

Sounds awesome. A Death Company tale would be great.


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## gothik

will try again next time..not sure what to do though have to do some research i think


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