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What a year for MESBG and the GBHL!
1410 players took part in at least one GBHL event in 2024, making it the biggest ever year for the league (AGAIN!) after a rise from the 1328 players in 2023. Those players also attended the MOST EVER events held in a GBHL Season. 148 events were part of the league this year (up from 119 in 2023), with a huge geographical spread too, it's never been a better time to be part of the biggest MESBG league in the world. A big thank you must go to all those Tournament Organisers, and of course players like YOU who've made the league such a varied and fun community to be part of. At this time I'd also like to give warm thanks to Mr Stephen Denbigh, the GBHL's rankings officer, for collating all those 148 events and 1410 players into the league table, it's a gargantuan undertaking, and he deserves our utmost gratitude.
On the rankings front, it's now becoming so big and unwieldy that the digital spreadsheet we've been using since the league began is groaning under the weight of so much data, so the GBHL management committee is looking into ways to make it much simpler. It's hoped the new upgrade will be easier for players wanting to find their results and rankings, and also for Tournament Organisers to report results too, so watch this space!
The 2024 Finale - A Fond Farewell (GBHL100 Event)
Before I crack onto running through some of the results of the year's league, first we must highlight the committee run event which rounded off the year's gaming - and the previous edition of the game!
The GBHL Finale was held at Trowell Village Hall near Nottingham and saw just under 50 players play on an incredibly busy weekend. The event was held in the run up to christmas and on the weekend of the release of the new edition of the game as well as the new film, so it was excellent to have so many hobbits gathered for festive fun and games. Big shout out to Will Champion for being head TO and for 7th City Collectables for making the event run so smoothly once again.
To the event, rounding an off an incredible season of painting was John Partridge who narrowly took home best painted for his Festive Beornings painted especially for the event.
But a special shout out must go to Mr Damian O'Byrne for his beautifully converted hobbit army which had so cunningly sacrificed competitive strength in order to create a thematically joyous "Unexpected Afterparty" to follow on from his Throne of Skulls winning Display Board about Bilbo Baggins' 111th Birthday.
But Damian didn't go away empty handed from the Finale, he also took home the Wooden Spoon! Turns out a Red Alliance Hobbit force with excessive numbers of low quality heroes wasn't that competitively powerful after all. More on him later.
Also a big congratulations to Mark O'Brien who took home the most sporting vote after being selected by over half his opponents as their favourite opponent over the weekend! Terriffic work!
Meanwhile, at the top tables, some hot competitive action was captured live on the Gollum's Gamers Youtube Channel. They streamed top table action for all seven games (though they cruelly omitted my Ents making Table Number 1 early in the event, not that I'm bitter at all), which is a truly admirable effort!
The action they captured included some barnstorming games featuring some notorious names from the podiums across the league, but once the dust had settled there could be only one winner... The Dragon Emperor...
Jake Rawson piloted the Host of the Dragon Emperor for the first time in his top table career, and managed to drag it to success one final time before the new edition. But big shout out to Ben Haslam who managed tremendous success with Helm Hammerhand (thematically chosen for the War of the Rohirrim weekend) and also to James Goble and his Lothlorien/Rivendell Alliance (featuring Haldir, Cirdan and Erestor). They came second and third respectively.
With the event itself complete, it left time only to run through the winners of a Trophy Cabinet's worth of prizes given out to hobbyists from across the regions and disciplines of the game.
First, the GBHL Teams were crowned. In Third Place were The Guardians from Distant Lands with a total of 965pts (as a reminder, scores are calculated from the best 10 scores, with players only allowed to contribute a maximum of 2 each). In Second were Gollum's Gamers with an impressive 987 pts. But in first with a near perfect score of 992pts were The 7th City Crusaders. Tremendous work from their 9 players working together to achieve highs us mere mortals can only dream of (For context, my team The Fellowbellies, scored 778pts for a 20th place finish out of 62 teams).
Elsewhere, the regional awards were gifted after being ferociously fought over across the different corners of the GBHL.
Starting in the South West, an intimidating trio of table top tyrants tremendously took home trophies for performances down south. In third was David Clubley, a league veteran who seems to often find himself in third position but nonetheless well worthy of heralding with some sort of fanfare (perhaps a Bugle?). In Second, it's Mr David Farmer, who made second place for the 2023 league as a whole in dramatic fashion after being pipped to the post in the 2023 finale. Here he only narrowly trailed behind Dewi Evans who took home top spot despite welcoming a new baby into his family and dealing with a toddler... No wonder he wanted to escape to GBHL events at weekends!
In the South East, Miles Sage started a slippery climb to league success with third in the region on his first full year competing in the league. One to watch. Thomas Seccombe, meanwhile, took second place after a strong outing in the GBHL Finale (piloting the Assault on lothlorien for one last time) But in first, after an excellent performance in the League Finale, was Gollum's Gamer James Goble whose performance allowed him to skip over Mr Seccombe to top the SE podium (The Finale counts for all regions!).
Moving north, we arrive at the Central Region where the already mentioned 7th City Crusaders call home. And the top five is chock full of them! In third though is Matthew Light-Barnett (who has also recently welcomed an addition to his family, Congratulations! I wonder whether the 4am feeds will affect his top table performance!?) Second is Jakub Krochmal, the only non 7th City player on the podium, who will no doubt be cursing himself for being in the same region as the top place finisher... Mr Jake Rawson. He's gone from Best Newcomer to League Winner last year and once again topping tables in the Central Region - bravo!
Next, is North England. Sadly a region I know very little about! But Matthew Hare took home third place after some strong performances in GBHL90s (including a win and a Bronze) and some good work at a GBHL100. Jack Thurlbeck managed a second place finish with a Silver medal at the Gathering of the Grey havens (GBHL100) and multiple podiums at smaller GBHL90s and some GBHL80 wins. But on top was the Gollum's Gamer that is Ben Haslam, a true hobbying giant proving himself well worth of his regional win after a strong performance at the Finale with Helm Hammerhand. Congratulations to all three of you!
Last, but by no means least, is the Scotland/NI/ROI region which has been painted Blue and White after some solid representation from the Irish in previous years... Maybe they're preparing their cans of Green paint ready for vengeance next year? Either way, this year in third place is Finlay Staniforth, who's performed extraordinarily well, knocking some regular Scottish favourites out of podium contention this year. Second is Mark Capewell, whose strong performance at The Scouring of Stirlingshire alongside some GBHL90 wins cemented his Silver trophy place. But, in first, it's Mr Scotland himself - Co-TO behind Scotland's biggest event (and the longest running in the GBHL), regional rep and veteran of the game, Mr David Reid. Massive Congratulations to Dave, who's not only a lovely fellow, and an excellent player, he's also a tireless supporter and champion for his region. So much so, that this year his attendance to 23 events (19 of which were in his region) granted him the prize of Wanderer of Middle Earth (awarded to the player attending the most GBHL events in a season).
Elsewhere, we've already mentioned him for his hobbying achievements but it's only right to flag the sheer number of trophies John Partridge has taken home for such a huge number of painting awards across the year. His win at the finale secured him the prize after trailing behind both Alex Bourdas and Richard Croydon in the run up. But we really should congratulate all three for their incredible work achieving 8 Best Painted Awards apiece - only John's gaming prowess gave him the top spot in the end, but all three took home trophies and prizes at the finale. Well done to them all!
Another person taking home a trophy after proving himself at the finale (if that's the right word for Most Sporting) was the delightful Mark O'Brien. He went to the finale with three Most Sporting Votes (no mean feat!) but after winning over the crowd at the event, he took home the coveted 'Friend of Middle Earth' prize. Sadly another one where gaming prowess was the decider, with Douglas Moore also having won 4 Most Sporting trophies. But an incredible achievement to them both for playing the game in the spirit it's intended to be. Also a big shout out to third place Most Sporting finisher - Elliot Cload (on three wins).
These excellent and admirable hobbits have also earned themselves spots in a new Masters format the GBHL is trialling at Warhammer World in 2025. The aim is to reward both hobbying stars, and competitive players at a new kind of event. There'll be more on that event in an upcoming blog.
Before we head to the GBHL podium itself, we need to stop to mark the GBHL's Outstanding Contribution to the League award. These 'Heroes of Middle Earth' have often dedicated hundreds of hours of time to making the league what it is. This year we celebrated a duo who between them have reached the tops of GBHL Podiums, (and threatened the very top spot itself), have co-ordinated the league in its early years, who've produced 17 independent fanzines for SBG (including photography and articles to rival BGIME and White Dwarf) , they've produced hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of Youtube content about MESBG (though there's room for the pair of them to produce at least one more episode of a certain long running series...) and have collectively organised the longest running doubles event in the league (and one which is unparalleled in its ability to attract the greatest hobbying and theme in the whole league).
The pair are, of course, Damian O'Byrne and Thomas Harrison of SBG Magazine, The Palantir, and Seven Stones fame (with a bit of BSIME, and League CoOrdinating thrown in there for good measure!). Damian and Tom are exemplary hobbyists who've not only played the competitive game in excellent spirits over the years but are true examples of "Pillars of the Community". Their work promoting the game - and the hobby side of it in particular - have driven up standards, and arguably helped sustain the game in its 'dark days' when GW looked like it may pull the game completely. As such they are thoroughly deserving of each being called a Hero of Middle Earth.
My most heartfelt congratulations on behalf of the committee and the community as a whole:
"You bow to no one".
Finally then, we come to the GBHL Podium itself.
But there can only be one winner of the competitive aspect of the league. First of all though, in Third Place is last year's Second Place finisher, David Farmer. It's worth noting the supremacy of Mr Farmer. He's the only player in the league who's been on the podium every year for the last three seasons, proving he's at the top of his game consistently, tournament after tournament. He's also taken a huge variety of armies this year and won some of the biggest and most competitive events in the league (Ardacon surely being a highlight), and - something not often noted of Top Table Players - his hobbying skills have come on leaps and bounds. I'm sure he'll be disappointed with a third place finish, after coming so close in previous years - but no one will be surprised if he takes home the top trophy next year.
In Second Place is another player operating on a completely different level to us mere mortals. Jakub Krochmal has been kind enough to share his analysis on my podcast a number of times and I'm constantly blown away by the depth of his knowledge and understanding of the game. He's also a credit to competitive players because he is both magnanimous in defeat and complimentary of those who best him in a fair fight (though there aren't many out there who can say they've beaten Jakub at the tabletop!). My warmest congratulations to Jakub for his success... Though, he will undoubtedly consider it a failure he needs to improve on for next year. Only time will tell. There will be many top table players ravenous in their hunger for the top spot.
But the person satisfying that appetite by winning this year's GBHL is none other than Mr Jake Rawson. Twice in a row he's won the league in years where attendance has been at its zenith (up from around 800 in 2022). Jake's prowess, and penchant for playing in pyjama bottoms, is unmatched. This year he won six GBHL100 events for a perfect score of 600pts towards the league, alongside two wins at GBHL90s and three other GBHL100 podiums. He's also piloted a number of different lists to great success, including Isengard (with bombs and ballista!), Erebor Reclaimed and a plethora of others. He's a tremendous player, and always a pleasure to talk to (if you want to hear my chat to him about his year in the league check out Entmoot Episode 100). Congratulations once again Jake - and it's worth noting, if you're an international reader then Jake is planning on heading on a global tour of SBG tournaments... So watch out at the tabletops!!
The GBHL TOP TEN PLAYERS OF 2024:
Jake Rawson
Jakub Krochmal
David Farmer
Ashley Woolger
Ben Haslam
Edward ball
Matthew Light-Barnett
David Clubley
Jamie Wiggans
Stephen Denbigh
Remember, the Top Players from the 2024 season (Newcomers and Regional Winners Included) are invited to the GBHL Masters, to truly decide a winner... AND team up with Most Sporting and the Best Painters in the league to find the truly greatest hobbying duo... More on that soon.
And with that, I call time on 2024.
It's been a hell of a ride this year, for gaming, for breaking records and for being a thoroughly satisfying end to the edition. But it is not truly the end, because this provides another path... one that we all must take...
White shores and beyond... a far green country under a swift sunrise... the 2025 League...
UPCOMING EVENTS
We'll talk more about the 2025 league soon, but in the meantime check out the calendar of events here, and check where you are in the placings for both gaming and Hobbying here!
Until Next time, may this hobby be a light for you when all other lights go out.
BURARUM - HARRY - GBHL Marketing CoOrdinator
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