GBHL Recognises Hobbyists with new Event Type

Awarding Hobbyists has been enshrined in Great British Hobbit League rules since its inception, but despite the GBHL catering for a growing league by increasing event types (to include GBHL80, GBHL90 and GBHL00) it hasn't yet improved the offer for hobbyists.

Until Now.

Of course many Tournament Organisers put huge amounts of efforts into making their events a space to showcase talented artists' work (as well as often catering to top table players too), but the league has never recognised this effort.

So we're introducing a new accreditation for events where Tournament Organisers go above and beyond to increase focus on the artistic side of the hobby. We're calling it...

Hobby Premium Events

The concept is simple, and utilises the current 'Artisan of the Year' competition to award players who take home the most hotly contested Best Painted awards slightly more 'Artisan Points' than winning an award at 'standard events'.

Each Hobby Premium event would need to award a Best Painted Podium and tick some other eligibility boxes (see below for more detail) and those achieving a podium will be awarded the following towards the Artisan of the Year award:

• 1.4pts for winning Best Painted

• 1.2pts for 2nd Best Painted

• 1pt for 3rd Best Painted

The hope is that this increased level of reward will achieve two main objectives. First and foremost, it should reduce the need for gaming talent to be a tie-breaker for the Artisan of the Year competition (which many painters have long bemoaned), and it will also recognise that winning a Best Painted award (or even coming second) at an event with dozens of incredible entries is worthy of more recognition than winning at a small event with only a few dedicated painters in attendance.

GBHL80 Event Seven Stones is a Hobby Pilgrimage for many talented artisans

Criteria

In order to make Hobby Premium events fair for attendees and Tournament Organisers there will be some criteria to ensure as level a playing field as is possible.

1. It must award a podium to three hobbyists.

2. It must have a dedicated space for players to display their entries in a way for judges or voting attendees to easily see all entries without seeking them out (eg, not just armies left on tables scattered around a large hall).

3. It must make voting or judging painting entries a key part of the experience by allocating time in the schedule for players to display their models and for judges/voting attendees to scrutinise them without impeding gaming time or comfort breaks.

4. It must provide clear rules on how Best Painted should be judged, or voted upon (eg, should display boards be considered, or allowed, is it Best Single Mini/Army? Does the mini have to be a playing piece in the army? Can 3d Printed or Proxy Miniatures be entered?)

5. It must have at least eight entries for Best Painted to be eligible to award a full podium of Artisan Points. All entries must be photographed and shared on the Event Page for easy access by the Management Committee for promotional purposes and eligibility verification.

6. All events, Including GBHL80, GBHL90, OR GBHL100 events are eligible to be Hobby Premium events.

7. A hobbyist who reaches the podium of a Hobby Premium event cannot enter the same entry* in another Hobby Premium event painting competition. 

   
   

*In this context, “Same entry” should be judged with TO or Management Committee Discretion. Similar to queries about 3D printed minis or Proxies being eligible as gaming pieces, hobbyists should contact the TO in advance if there are cases which could be considered contentious. If an entry which wins at a Previous Hobby Premium event (unwittingly or otherwise) wins at another, no Artisan points will be awarded to that entry.

As well as committing to the above criteria, Tournament Organisers will have to prove a track record of going above and beyond to reward Hobby at their events** in order to prevent abuse of the system as a marketing tool.

The first Hobby Premium events will take place in early 2026, so Hobbyists best get started on their painting!

TOs can apply to have their event accredited as a Hobby Premium by filling out the form on this page.

**The committee will consider any TOs whose event awarded prizes for more than the bare minimum of Best Painted, with particular credit going to those who’ve previously given extra time for painting display outside of Lunchbreaks, who’ve given over dedicated space to hobbyists and/or those who’ve had multiple categories of hobby awards or podium places for Best Painted awarded in the past.