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The Outrider clutches his information tightly, and fights through the crowd of bedraggled soldiers. He vaguely hears the echo of a speech being shouted from a high tower in the ruined city, but his focus is on delivering the information to someone of importance. He turns a corner and bumps into a middle aged Ranger of Gondor, with long grey hair.
"A man of Rohan?! What are you here for?" He asks.
"I have important news, it must be passed to those in command."
"I report directly to the Steward's Son, I can make sure it's delivered."
"Thank you sir," relieved, the Outrider hands over his news, which reads:
With the summer over, The Great British Hobbit League's about to enter its busiest time - the Battle for the majority of events may well be over... but the Battle for the GBHL is truly about to begin.
The previous summary took us to the end of July; so we rejoin action in Worcester where 34 took to the field for the Battle Of Five Shires. First we celebrate James Goble's conduct at the tournament, as he walked away with Best Sporting. The Best Painted winners were Harry West, whose Outstanding Lothlorien army impressed as the Best Good Army, meanwhile Alexander Pardoe-Davies' Evil force took Best Evil Painted.
We don't often celebrate Wooden Spoon in these posts, but Morgan Morris was lucky enough to take home this incredible spoon for his 'efforts'...
Top work to TO Lian Smith for curating such a delightful prize to Last Place:
Podium Positions went to Luke Price, with a Rivendell Arnor alliance, which at 700pts provided a big hitter in Glorfindel, magical support with Cirdan, and numbers from the arnorians (and a hobbit named Jimmy).
Silver went to Ashley Woolger who took Good and Evil forces; a Boromir Led Gondor force & a Witchking led Mordor force, with support from Suladan and some Serpent riders. First though was Lee Robbins' Assault on Helm's Deep - with two ballistae and a bomb. Boom, Lee wins.
A fortnight later Scotland welcomed another event in its blossoming scene this year. In what looks to be an amusing, punny, name for a Tournament (even if the local references pass me by!) Ambush at Ayr Mon Then saw players compete in an escalation event starting at 350pts, working through 550 and ending at 750.
Hamish Gentles took away most sporting, and befitting his name, he clearly went easy on his opponents too as he came home with a bruised pride and Wooden Spoon too. Lewis Moore and Tom Parkin both came home with Bronze and Silver respectively, but winner of most of the tournament's Silverware was Sean Sproule. Winning not only Best Painted army for his all hero force, but also winning the event outright. The unusual mix consisted of Radagast on Sleigh (affectionally nicknamed Crabagast) and Gwaihir for 350, and adding Treebeard and Beorn for each of the additional 200pts.
To see more of Sean's fine work, check out his Facebook Page or Instagram Subtle Asian Wargamer.
Next, over the Bank Holiday weekend in August, 65 people descended on Swindon for a weirdly specific points limited event (631 pts 🤷🏻).
Such a variety of armies attended Contest of Champions, a GBHL100 (awarding 100 league points to the winner ), including Sharkey's Rogues and Men of the west, which both had a respectable mid table finish. Taking the Spoon (with Two Troll Chieftains) was Felix Andrews. Best painted, meanwhile, went to Jason Tovey's Iron Hills force.
Once podium positions were settled after some issues, Jamie Wiggans came in Third with The Dragon Emperor's Legion; his variant included a Cave Drake... and axe weilding black dragons! In second was Sam Gratton, with two bears and a smattering of Beornings, proving once again the bear folk have what it takes to win tourneys (even if they haven't made it quite yet). In first though is tournament veteran David Farmer who took the Cirith Ungol legion to great success once again. Dave has proven over again he's a more than capable Shagrat wrangler and here he does it again at premium event, with a fearsome list of competitors. Bravo!
As Autumn began rearing its head, players representing Yorkshire and Lancashire once again duelled it out in the War of the Roses...
Despite the podium being dominated by the White Rose of Yorkshire (Nicky Myland, Ryan Gregory and Joe Grocutt taking First, Second and Third respectively) the event was divided in two, with an equal number fighting for each county. But despite the Yorks dominating key positions, history repeated itself with the House of Lancashire taking the overal victory... It also means the Lancastrians take the lead in the historical tally - but there's always next year for the home of fine Tea and Ale to reign victorious once again. Julian Hammond's delightful Rohan once again took home Best Painted (pic below) and Reece Taylor took home most sporting.
After 9 months of serious competing sometimes gamers just need to let their hair down, and that's exactly what folk at the Rings of Men are encouraged to do. The Nottingham event has carved out a nice niche of people who bring bonkers lists, meaning you're never quite sure if your odd concoction may accidentally be in some way overpowered against someone else's fluff! It's an 850pt delight.
Pete North won Most Sporting after taking what is now universally regarded as one of the worst legions in the game (Eomer's Riders), and only very narrowly beating 2 dragons and a cave drake to second last (Jack Render piloted the monsters into Spoon position).
The podium though was made up by...well, not "power lists" but comparatively standard fare compared with the rest. In third, Stephen McDonald had Durburz riding a Khandish Chariot (don't ask...) and some monsters of Moria, in Second Aaron Pullen had a fearsome Suladan, Mahud alliance (turns out half trolls are SOLID!), and taking top spot was Jake Rawson whose penchant for elves helped secure top spot in spite of some criticism of Lothlorien's latest profile. His force, which included Haldir, Rumil and Orophin stormed to victory in a top table clash which relegated a Road to Rivendell force to 4th (Strider, Hobbits, Bill, Gildor, Elves and Tom Bombadil).
But the true winner here was everyone who got to see Aidan Lummer's fantastic work in person, winning best painted really does it no justice at all. The army was created for this tournament alone (it's normally an illegal list) but for thematic purposes was allowed. It's a Fairy Tale force, including Three Billy Goats Gruff (Goat Riders), Red Riding Hood (Galadriel), GoldberryLocks, Three Bears (well, 2 & a Beorning) all surrounded by woodland creatures and other themed objectives. It is a true piece of art:
Next, we encounter Sneaky Little Hobbitses, a 700pt event in Bristol where the Alliance Matrix was removed, allowing for crazy army combinations! In Third, Nat Sinclair took a Goblin Town & Watcher in the Water combination, second was Chris Ryder's Ugluk's Scouts legion, and in First Jamie Wiggans' Dragon Emperor legion... So despite the cool sounding ease of Alliance restrictions, it appears Legendary Legions ruled the roost! If only someone had the wisdom of allying Gil Galad and his F6 troopers with Elessar and fountain court... Maybe next time!
Special mention must go to Ryan Beattie for his sportsmanship though, and to Mike Arnold who took home prize for Best Painted (if you have pictures please send them over!!).
Next, to Suffolk; home of fine Windmills and even finer SBG players, including Mitch Head, who took home the Most sporting player, and Kyle Bates who won Best Painted.
On the podium at the end were Ryan Carrington in third, Charles Sims was second, But taking top spot was Imogen Lidbetter.
Next, over the Irish Sea to Bangor for another GBHL100 on the Island of Ireland. This 'Journey to the Emerald Isle' saw competitors take a good and evil list of 700pts each, which meant more models to scrutinise for Best Painted awards. The winner though was Nicholas Forsythe, whose Defenders of Helms Deep & Dark Denizens of Mirkwood took home the prize:
In the gaming side, Dan Ahern took third with the dreaded Angmar (Unusually with double Fell Beasts; Mounted by the Witch King and by the Tainted) & a Rivendell Knight heavy list led by Elrond and Erestor, accompanied by Legolas from the Fellowship. In second was Michael Bunting whose good list took an unusual combo of a King of Men (General) leading warriors and rangers of Minas Tirith, alongside Pyjama Haldir, Wood Elves with bows and Galadhrim Warriors (one Pike) and his parents from the White Council contingent to round it off. Michael's evil list was similarly... unconventional... Led by a Mordor contingent including the shadow lord leading normal orcs, a task master and the Great Beast... With an ally of none other than the Terror of Arnor! Michael's odd lists not only won him a silver (and 95 league points!) but also clearly entertained his opposition who voted him Most Sporting player. On top though was Micheal Bradford, all round gentleman and clearly a talented player too. Taking no prisoners, he took the Assault on Lothlorien (Druzhag, Muzghur, Ashrak and a Shaman) and a Laketown mashup for his good force (Gandalf, Bomber, Bard, his girls, Master and Alfrid). I speak from experience when I say it's well worth crossing the sea to play against any of these guys - they are so very welcoming... but don't expect an easy ride in the games!
Staying in the Northern League, and we head to Bathgate (halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh) for another in Scotland's growing scene. Hosted at Knightly Gaming, it saw a spread of the Scotsmen of yesteryear tutoring newbies to the scene and some new names doing very well in this 800pt event.
First though, Tom Pickard, an Englishman, managed to persuade the Scots we're not all bad, and took home Most Sporting - if ever the English need an ambassador North of the Border to convert hearts and minds how nice we've become, he's the man to do it!
In the gaming, Kyle Williamson's timeline bending Numenor Rivendell alliance came third (Isildur, Arwen, Erestor & an Elf Captain), while tournament veterans David Reid and Iain McGregor duelled it out for top spot. David's Smaug (and Dol Guldur Witchking) though, played second fiddle to Iain's Iron Hills Hero mashup (including Dain, a Chariot, Captain, Banner, Dwalin and Fili).
Gordon Forsythe took home best painted with his Gondor Force (pics will be added at a later date!).
Finally, rounding off September's GBHL action was The Ruin of Cheshire, at Rebel Base Gaming.
The one day shark tank saw some fearsome competitors and regular top table players compete over a few games at 500pts. But we start once again with a familiar name and army taking Best Painting. Julian Hammond has taken a long time to paint his Rohan force but his dedication has swept the board at numerous events - putting him very definitely in contention for Best Painter of the year in the League. (More on that in a future Blog Post).
Sportsmanship was awarded to Gethin Watkins, whose absence from competitive play has clearly been felt keenly by players at one of his most local tourneys. It helps that he's a lovely chap!
The event used a veto system to choose scenarios, which is fast becoming a well respected method of balancing match ups (players randomly select three, and each vetoes one of them). So winners can no longer be accused of getting a lucky scenario for their force. So in third place at the Ruin was Ste Thorley whose Ugluk Scouts proved once again how fearsome they can be at almost any points level - though 500 is certainly a nice spot for them. In Second, was GBHL legend Harry Moore who, despite having a brand new family life, turns up to one or two tournaments in a season and always seems to claim some silverware. He ran the Fell Beings of Mirkwood Legion, proving that under capable hands the list can perform very well at low points (Will Champion captained the list to success at GBHL100 Into the West at 450 earlier in the year). But in first place was Ryan Gregory, last year's Runner Up in the Best Newcomer competition, with a Helm Hammerhand Legion. Some great players taking top spots here, but based on the way things have developed so far this year none of their lists are that surprising to see at the top of a 500pt event, perhaps folk heading to small point events need to cook up some nonsense to counter those forces...
AND with that, we're up to date for September - news of events in October will come forthwith (including the exciting conclusion of Ali King's blog series, taking a Sons of Eorl List to a 900pt Tourney) including those in Staffordshire and Basingstoke this weekend; one of the longest running SBG events of the calendar The Battle of Unnumbered Tears (click here to get a last minute ticket!) which is not only excellently well run, but also has an intriguing format this year, requiring 1000pts and a Hero of Legend (denying some powerful legendary legions). Also on the Horizon is London regular, the Strider Cup, the delightfully named Newcastle event The Great North Rhun, and The Great Battle of Our Time rounds off the month's main GBHL events. Also on the horizon is Warfare's MESBG tourney, which has just one spot free!
Keep an eye out for some top analysis of the people to watch out for (and therefore the people to beat at events on the horizon)... If you beat them at an upcoming event you could make or break someone's GBHL Season...
We'll look back at more events in the next outriders post, but in the meantime if you want to get involved, check out the calendar of events here, and check where you are in the placings for both gaming and Hobbying here!
"Break out the ale, these men are thirsty!" Shouted a bearded man.
The Outrider saw a stream of Amber nectar trickle into a tankard, and thought to himself, "why shoudn't I, I've earned it..."
Little did he know, he'd need a clear head tomorrow..
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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