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Every year in the Great British Hobbit League we celebrate those whose achievements in tournaments belies the short time they've been playing the game. Often they've found success in other games but sometimes they've just taken to the world of MESBG like a duck to water. In this Best Newcomers race, the players challenge (and sometimes beat) established top table players, but rarely crack into the League's podium by the end of the year... But the taste of success often leads to bigger wins in the following league season. So, to mark that rising ambition I asked the three Best Newcomers for the 2023 league to summarise their performance last year, see what lessons they've learned and what they'll be doing differently in 2024 to reach the top spots... ~ Harry P GBHL Marketing CoOrdinator.
John Partridge - Third Best Newcomer 2023
2023 was a whirlwind... it was the year I learnt how to actually play the game! I started with the Lord of the Rings models in primary school, but predominantly played other games growing up, focussing on competitive 40K whilst at university. This meant I had some transferable skills, but had to actually learn the game whilst attending my first lot of events. MESBG is fairly easy to learn the basics of, but I’ve got a long way to go to get to the level of the top players, such as Dave Farmer or Jakub Krochmal, which is my (very) aspirational goal.
I think I’ve got a far better grasp of the rules of the game compared to this time last year, so I want to now improve my details - the small margins in games, not making the little errors top players will capitalise on against you in those close game. Outside of gaming, I want to be a bit better at updating my painting Instagram and also get a bit better at video editing so the new Heroic Stats podcast isn’t so clunky!
Kyle Bate - Second Best Newcomer 2023
The first thing that comes to mind about my 2023 in the GBHL is how fickle dice can be! No, I jest, my main memory is how great the community is in general, it just makes for a brilliant playing experience as you end up playing with friends. Even the most competitive games are enjoyable as the person across the table 95% of the time is there to win but also to have fun while doing so! You learn so much playing against better players than you, how they manage resources, where they deploy, the list goes on!
I also love how much it has changed since I played all those years ago, it's so much more competitive and the variation of armies is brilliant.
Also how the "META" varies throughout the year, depending on what GW release (if anything) or what the top players have compiled together and start winning GBHL100s with. I like that as it keeps the game interesting! The main thing I learnt for my army is how much of a beast Elendil is, my god that guy is a BEAT STICK with so much versatility with the fortify spirit, the free heroic combat, master forged weapon and strength 5! What more do you need from your main guy? Just a shame you are limited with what you can bring with him as the Numenor and Rivendell catalogue is very out dated now! Bring on that Last Alliance release!
All in all what a great first year I've had in the community! I wish I could have gone to more events, and actually competed for the best newcomer properly but I just didn't have the time or annual leave to allow it! That's something else I learnt, working shifts sucks when you want to play in tournaments as they are always on the weekend you're working!
This season my plan is to get to more events! If I can compete properly this coming year I know I would like to cut down on the little mistakes. For example using the wrong caster first when you have multiple casters, there were many more but that was the first that came to mind. Another thing is to really try and minimise where the roll-offs matter, I know it's a dice game and there will always be a huge element of luck but if played correctly you can minimise those events. You see it on the top tables all the time where they grind out wins because of tactical genius where they have been playing 3-4 turns ahead in their mind. That's what I'd love to work on next year, reading the game better than I do now and plan for those turns ahead better.
Christian Lewis - 2023's Best Newcomer
I started MESBG when I was growing up, and took a very long break. Only coming back to MESBG through 7th City's battle companies, narrative scenarios and beginner friendly weekly league games. Getting to play there weekly was awesome because I had amazing players teaching me how to play the game (7th City is home ground for 2023 League winner Jake Rawson, and two times league winner Will Champion) Something must have stuck as I won my first event I went to too! (War in Reading).
In my first year in the league I picked up so many key lessons, but a couple come to mind straight away. First is easy to say, but it's quite hard to keep focused on during the game: Always play to the objective. Make sure you read, at the start every single game, the mission scenario, its end conditions and VP scoring conditions.
Before a game starts I will write down who I am playing, the mission, mine and my opponent's heroes and their stats (M,W,F,Wo). Aswell as the model count for both armies, break point and 25% number (and I'll circle whichever one is the end conditions - random on break or 25%). Then I'll keep a running tally, to always remember how many I'm off from either myself or my opponent breaking.
Another would be to remember special strikes! If you're in a favourable position to win and need to get to 25% asap, use stabs as much as possible because you don't care if your model dies or not. That being said if you're not in a favourable position, shield everywhere or don't support the fights with spears, to stop killing your opponents army whilst they're on the winning objective - allowing you to get more time to move to a more favourable position
But crucially, I learnt something else from my first year in the league. At the start of 2023 Michael Bradford recruited me into Guardians From Distant Lands GBHL Team with some other great players. So to answer the question 'what did I learn?' directly, I learned that there's a massive welcoming community to meet. I travelled all over the UK to events hosted by loads of different TOs and got to play MESBG in some great venues. I have made great friends through it, people who I would only have ever met at these events, and I'm so glad I have met them.
What I want to improve on for next year is to move towards the army painting and display board side of the hobby. I'm currently working on a NMM kazad dwarf army (Pure), NMM Moria (No LL and pure) and a 100% heavily converted Minas tirith army (pure no LL) in where the theme is the English side of the battle of Agincourt - I am most excited by this one, which I hope to have ready for Ali Kings City of Steel event! Hopefully see you there!
Thanks so much to these three champions for sharing their experience and tips... Who knows, they may be the best newcomers last year but could they be the Top Three players overall in 2024? Watch this space! ~ Harry
CURRENT GBHL PODIUM:
Dewi Evans
Ben Haslam
Jamie Wiggans
And to get the latest results and pictures from events head over to "the insta" where we're regularly posting about the best MESBG players and Painters! Tap here to follow the official GBHL Account @gbhl_official .
UPCOMING EVENTS*
We'll talk more about the 2024 league soon, but in the meantime check out the calendar of events here, read winning army lists 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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