What are these contests?
Community events where your creativity can be let loose! With prizes as bait. 
The competitions are always announced in the Website News section. We officially announce the contest, with a deadline. After this has closed we start a thread with the entries and a request for people to vote, then after the voting has closed we start a third thread announcing the winners.
Previous contest winners are displayed in galleries.
What can I enter?
Each contest will have a specific theme. An entry that bears absolutely no relation to the theme (unless it is called an ‘open contest’) will not be allowed; though please note that we tend to leave unclear cases up to the voters to decide. Models have to be fully painted and by the person entering them. Note that you can have someone else convert the model that you then paint.
The Golden Hat and Artisan’s Contests are always Chaos Dwarf related, you cannot enter only models that are obviously from other armies (like a high elf for instance).
All manner of scales are welcome.
When can I enter?
The deadline will always be clear in the announcement thread. It is based on Eastern Standard Time. So regardless of where in the world you are you need to look up how far ahead or behind this time you are to make sure you get your entry in on time.
If someone has made a valid attempt to enter before the deadline but have had technical issues (such as links being invalid), they will normally be allowed.
How do I enter?
To enter a CDO competition, you send personal message to our @GoldenHat account, with pictures, text or files for your entry.
What happens after I have entered?
The personal messages all sit in the @GoldenHat inbox until after the deadline has passed. After this time one of us will look through them all and start to save all the entries to our computer. If you need to do something specific, like saying which photos you want to be used, the staff member will send you a pm. It is expected that people will answer any and all questions about their entry (and do what is required) within 48 hours of the competition closing. If they don’t, perhaps because they have not logged in since, the staff member will either make a decision themselves or potentially disallow the entry.
Once we have all the entries, the staff member will do some editing to make them look pretty for the site, and to make sure they all have a similar formatting to make things fair.
How do I vote
Send a pm to the @GoldenHat account with the 3 entries you consider are best, whatever that means to you. You don’t need to rank them, or give reasons why. You must place three votes, don’t know who deserves your last vote? Choose one at random. We may reduce votes to 2 or 1 entries if number of entrants are low.
You are not allowed to vote on your own entry in competitions.
We will not instruct people what to consider when judging. Other than this it is entirely up to them to judge on whatever grounds they want to determine the winner(s). We may give suggestions to help people.
Entry Rules
The model must be painted to a reasonable standard, certainly more than just an undercoat. The model must be painted by the person entering it.
Each person can enter only once. Any member of CDO can enter.
No model that has already been entered in an online painting contest can be entered.
If the model breaks forum rules by its appearance it will not be allowed.
Photos cannot be replaced after the deadline, unless by specific instruction.
Anonymity Rules
The entry photos cannot contain any writing that isn’t on the model or base. I.e. you cannot put your username on each photo. If this can be cropped out the entry will be allowed, if it cannot it won’t be.
The competition is supposed to be anonymous, so please do not post pictures of your entry online until after the voting has ended. Do not start a WIP blog of your entry (after the contest has been announced) as you make it, we may not allow it to be entered. Having posted old WIP pictures from before a contest was announced is no problem: Enter away! The rules here concern posting new WIP pictures after a contest is announced.
If you have just finished a model that is ideal for the competition, but have already posted it in the forum just ask one of the staff if it is ok to enter it still. Preferably people will not say which entry is theirs until voting is over, but this is not ‘rule breaking’.
Artistic interpretation
We encourage creativity, so when we say (for example) ‘the theme is a black orc/ slave’, this means people are free to interpret this however they want, preferably as long as it still looks Chaos Dwarf themed.
Bear in mind that people will be considering how well your entry fits the theme when they are voting.
If you are in doubt please ask a member of staff, otherwise you risk having your entry disqualified if it is too far from the theme.
Basing
Basing is up to your discretion.
Finally… If you have a specific rules question about something you are unsure about please ask in the announcement thread so that others can benefit from the answer. Be welcome to PM the contest organizing staff member as well.
Original Digital 3D-Sculpts & Unpainted Handsculpts Allowed in Artisan’s Contest
You are allowed to enter your own original 3D-sculpts as still image digital files in Artisan’s Contests, as well as your unpainted handsculpts. Note that this will put you at a disadvantage in the voting, compared to printing and painting your 3D-sculpts, and painting your handsculpts.
Only painted physical models (cast, printed, sculpted) are allowed in Golden Hat, due to its focus on painting.
Art challenge Artisan’s Contests
There is no size limit or limit to the number of drawings/paintings/sketches you include in your single picture file, the only limit is your imagination.
This is an illustration contest, so we will not accept artwork in any other medium than drawn/rendered (i.e. no sculptures/ videos/ stories/ photography whatever else classes as art these days).
It does not have to be drawn/ painted by hand, it can be drawn on a computer. HOWEVER, every part of the image has to be produced by you, you cannot merge/ edit existing artwork done by someone else.
If you put a decorative border on, or some text etc, you have to produce this yourself.
Each member may only enter something they have produced.
Use of Entries for CDO Publications
By entering our contests you automatically allow us to use the pictures of your entry for Word of Hashut, the Brazen Bulletin and all manner of other publications, yearly reviews, CDO propaganda posters, videos and webzines which might emerge in the future. Due credit will always be given, and members will be referred to with their account names, unless they wish otherwise by contacting Staff members about it on their own initiative.
FAQ
Where did I come in the ranking? How many votes did I get?
Both of these are done by private message for whoever asks. We don’t list where people come publically, unless they are in the top three. Occasionally we say who came 4th/5th.
Why doesn’t CDO have a judging panel?
This is something that has been asked a few times. CDO is a community for the many, not for the few. Because of this, we think it is vital that the community decide what entries are best by a majority vote and it’s not done subjectively by a small panel of people (who cannot obviously have entered themselves).
Why doesn’t CDO have multiple categories depending on skill?
This is more work than it’s worth really to be honest and the current system of voting doesn’t always favour the same people over and over. Having a category that only one person wanted to enter would be stupid and people would resent being moved into that category if they knew they would lose. At the end of the day even an ‘eavy metal painter could only enter one model, leaving the other medals up for grabs.
I never seem to win
Not a question as such… We may not all be great painters, but the taking part is what counts and not only do you get to improve your skills but you also get a painted model at the end of it (or a story, terrain etc). You may eventually get a Veteran Medal for your troubles. So all the effort is not wasted and it can be all you need to motivate you to actually paint something!