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The Horn of Gondor rings out in the Woods in Amon Hen, the Three Hunters answer, and run to Boromir's Aid. The Beacons are lit, and Rohan will answer. The Great British Hobbit League calls for help establishing a tournament in the North... At first light on the 22nd day, look to the North East...
A few outrider posts ago I appealed for help filling a gap in the Great British Hobbit League's geography. The Management comittee were aware that there were few tournaments in Northern England or Southern Scotland, to cater for growing numbers of MESBG enthusiasts in that glorious part of our realm. I put out an appeal; and was inundated with support for the idea. In the intervening weeks GBHL Calendar King Matt has been in negotiations with Jake Robson from the Newcastle area and has now established the City's very first GBHL event. In October we shall finally unite those in the region so belly laughs can be had, and dice can be rolled in celebration of this hobby. This is the power of this community, just like Bilbo and his adventure to the Lonely Mountain, all it took was a little nudge out of the door and suddenly we have an event which will bring people together. What a wonderful thing that is. We will of course follow updates on this special event over the year - but what's this?! An Outrider, bearing news of the last few weeks of tournaments.
We start at the home of the hobby, Warhammer World, for the Middle Earth Grand Tournament. You can read more detail on the armies and tactica on the Warhammer Community site but in the meantime, congratulations to Alastair King who took home Bronze, Ale Sganzerla who took home Silver and Jay Clare who went away with another Gold trophy for his bustling trophy cabinet.
Also boasting more silverware to add to their collections were Tom Thorpe and Scott Whitefoot who both took home major hobbying awards.
A week later, war descended on a small room of jokers in Preston for one of the Great British Hobbit League's longest standing events - at Harlequins Gaming. Because he likes to be awkward, TO Charles Sims imposed a 678pt limit on his players who took to the field with a huge variety of different forces.
But let's start with the hobbying, because the caress of bristle on metal was as careful as ever, across the board.
But the players chose to elevate Sean Sproule's work above the rest as Best Painted army across the weekend (he also made it into the top ten in games; no mean feat when playing 78pts down!). The choice of army will always play some part - but Sean's work bringing the Breaking of the Fellowship to life is truly inspiring. You can see more pictures on his Subtle Asian Wargamer Facebook Page but in the meantime, marvel at these glorious samples:
In the gaming, the contest was hard fought, with a number of top players jostling for position at the top of an event awarding 100 league points to the winner.
In third, running a Thranduil's Halls list was Harry Moore. Just two heroes, but when your two heroes are the King and Prince of Mirkwood, you're not often too alarmed... Thranduil had all his kit - so did Legolas - and they were accompanied by 6 Palace Guard, 4 Cavalry, a sentinel and a smattering of Mirkwood Elves. 29 Models at 678pts seems a solid number in my eyes - especially considering the hefty heroes, Cav and Sentinel. This puts Harry in the top 5 of Average Score per tournament in the league already.
In Second place, it's David Nixon and his Sharku's Riders legendary legion. Yes, you read that right. David may well be one of the first people to even use this legion in a major tournament but has shown with a confident pilot it can power through, despite its weaknesses. His army includes Sharku (of course), 2 Captains and a Shaman on Wargs, as well as a whopping 35 wargs (a couple of which lacked riders). 39 Cavalry models, 13 throwing spears and a banner... Negating the cavalry bonus of heroes cuts down on their killing power and the Warg passing courage checks occasionally will be a Heroic Combat buster occasionally too, you can soon see how despite the lack of Heroic Strike can be made up for in sheer numbers and killing power.
But coming in first was Jake Bankes, with his Pure Rivendell force led by Glorfindel. In the latest episode of Entmoot, Jake discusses how this points limit is very nearly perfect for his elven combination. Glorfindel, a mounted Captain, and Cirdan lead 32 high elves, allowing room only for a few spare warband slots. All the auras you could need from Cirdan, Killing Power from the Mounted heroes, and the staying power of an elven line. What more could you want!? Well done to Jake for taking home gold on this one, his first tournament was just a year or two ago at Lord of the Imps in Lincoln - soon it could be you taking home a trophy not long after your first tournament, come along to the next one to see!*
The scores are still being Counted from the battle of Elysium Fields in Wakefield this weekend gone, but a one dayer in Bangor, Northern Ireland, catapulted a few people onto the leaderboards too...
The Belligerence of Bangor saw players take 500 pts of toys to the table and, perhaps unsurprisingly, bowfire played a major part in the winning lists...
Michael Bradford leant heavily on the crutch of the finest archers in the game for his list, by taking 495pts of Rangers of Mirkwood. Legolas and Tauriel led 21 bow toting elves, including a sentinel, to victory. It's been pointed out that with an incredibly low defence, the army could suffer. But if your leader's horse and face is pumped full of arrows, there's not much left in a 500pt force which can overwhelm elves...
In Second, another fearsome combination at low points, was a Corsair force led my Dalamyr, Delgamar and a captain. The captain of this particularly full pirate ship was Patrick McCormick. Packing every hold with corsairs, and managing to fit 36 in, it would be a fearsome sight on the table top, especially with 10 Crossbow shots sailing towards your force every turn.
But taking top spot, and taking a trophy back over the Irish Sea to Scotland, was Chris Murfitt.
He managed to find room for both Gwaihir and over 40 Laketown models in his suitcase!! 13 Bows, silly amounts of might, and a massive bird smashing into stuff... Yeah, I can see how that could work.
And last, but not least, we must mention the two Connors who took home the other awards. Connor Glover was crowned Most Sporting, while Connor Whitla's incredible Raddy on Sleigh (helping distract wargs from his Thorin's Company) took home Best Painting. It's not hard to see why, a beautiful paint job supporting a well chosen thematic moment is always a crowd pleaser.
Bravo to all in Bangor!
That's all for now, but we'll have more news of Upcoming events in the blog soon. Coming this weekend is The Shadow in the East in Norwich, two spaces remain for that, so if you have a hankering for Toys this weekend, give it a shot!
Coming at the End of March, we've got two one day events - a Doubles Event in Cardiff and another in Bicester. Sadly Bicester's event (postponed since 2020!!) is full, though things do change, so always pop yourself on the reserves list if you're keen! There's still room for a couple of couples (or even someone searching for a partner) in Cardiff though, check it out!
After that, Ireland hosts its premiere GBHL and IHL event in Dublin, there are a few spots left, so why not hop on a plane and join me. I'll be taking an army I can fit into one foam tray to avoid paying Ryan Air any more than I already have - but what will it be?! Come along and find out!
Until Next time, may this hobby be a light for you when all other lights go out.
BURARUM - HARRY - GBHL Marketing CoOrdinator
* In case you thought I was deliberately or accidentally snubbing the Most Sporting player at the Grey Havens... It was, erm, me. Thanks to those who voted for me!
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