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The Outrider wakes to the sounds of horns blaring, the crash of armour and weaponry being collected and the shouts of confused warriors. He knew he'd not be able to escape action - but it had caught him unawares. Safe in the knowledge his warnings of war will make it to the Kings of Middle Earth, the Outrider Draws his sword ready for battle one last time... Meanwhile his update passes from captain to steward, it reads:
Just a few weeks remain in the Great British Hobbit League and with a last minute flurry of events competitors are jostling for their final position in the league. Ahead of us are just two GBHL100 Events, which could decide the winner of the League; The GBHL Finale (tickets still available!) & The Scouring of Stirlingshire (sold out!).But first let's look back at a busy October and November.
It started in October with The Lord of the Imps - a Lincoln based tournament which sees competitors field an army where the Leader is replaced after day 1, leaving a tricky challenge for Day 2's scenarios (which begin with Contest of Champions). The higher than usual 900pt limit meant a plethora of massive heroes across the weekend.
But first Dan Stuarts incredible Easterling force took home the Democratically chosen Best Painted at the event - and it's no surprise. The standard of painting was insane and the diorama/display board impressed in a very impressive field.
Matt Akrill took home Most Sporting and Jack Woolger the Wooden Spoon with his Troll filled Mordor list.
But on the podium the players showed real skill on both the tabletop and in list craft with their choices. Jake Rawson celebrated his meteoric rise to GBHL stardom by gaining another podium position with his Lothlorien Rivendell Alliance (Led by Galadriel Day 1 and Rumil Day 2). He's now well in the lead to becoming Best Newcomer in the league this year. In second place though was Alexis Dufrasne, who's now travelled from Belgium to take part in two GBHL events and Podiummed at them both. If he took part in two more there's a strong chance he'd be in with a chance at winning th whole thing.
But in first was Tom Wagg, who's been an able performer at GBHL events for some time now, but never won a GBHL100 before. Congratulations to him! Both Tom and Alexis used Angmar to great effect but in the final round it was the Wagg which won.
Down to Basingstoke, for Bastions of Middle Earth, an escalation event (where each game includes progressively more points!) in which Imogen Lidbetter's Survivors of Laketown came out on top, it puts her into a comfortable top 20 position in the league. An admirable performance also from second and third place finishers Tom Parrish (Riders of Theoden) and Patrick Divers (Pits of Dol Guldur) though. Shout outs also for the winners of Sporting and Painting awards though: *JAMES RICHARDSON AND DAN GILBERT*. That seems adequately shouty.
Next to Staffordshire for "All Things Good in Staffordshire" and it's undeniable that the hobby talent is far more than simply good. At Least if Tristan Helmsley's Mirkwood Rangers are anything to go by:
In the gaming, Joe Perry took home Most Sporting. And finding himself atop another podium was Ryan Gregory. Joining him there were Paddy Farrell & Niall Corrigan.
Next, one of the longest running events in the GBHL Calendar, The Battle for Unnumbered Tears.
Owen Wright's event (ably assisted by Mr Edward ball) saw dozens of folk descend on Sutton in Ashfield for a 1000pt event requiring a Hero of Legend in each army.
Despite the format clearly being designed to restrict armies like Assault on Helm's Deep, it didn't stop Jasmine Tetley taking a Siege Ballistae, Two Bomb teams (along with a Serpent Horde force) into third place (more list info here). Joining her on the Podium was Will Champion with Mega Bozza, Saruman the White and a Fountain court heavy list. His impressive run at another GBHL100 puts him in line to potentially win the whole league again, if he can improve on his score. But in first place was Jake Rawson, fresh from his podium at Lord of the Imps he clearly had a taste for blood with his fearsome Elven alliance once again. Most Sporting was Erik Siembab, and Clayton White's fantastic Legion of the Dragon Emperor and Julian Hammond's Rohan scored exactly the same number of Best painted votes giving them both bragging rights (and crucially, keeps Julian in contention for Artisan of Middle Earth this year).
Next, another classic GBHL Tourney - The Strider Cup, a knock out Doubles Tournament encouraging fun and theme above all else. Some of the boards looked absolutely incredible, and by all accounts it's a must attend for those in the London area (I hope to visit one day!). The Winner was Larry Miller who went to a doubles tournament designed for fun with a friend on his own... Clearly it worked! In Second and third were duos George Downing & Archie Cable and Harry Peel & Sam Devenish.
Next we head to the North East, and to a new Tourney on the Block... To the Anarchy Brew Co for the Great North Rhun (could this be the best tourney name of the Season?). This was an event the GBHL specifically asked for earlier this year (read about it here) and Jake Robson delivered for the underserved MESBG players of the North East. More on that in a separate Blog.
The standard of painting at this relatively small event was Out of this World. The gallery below encompasses just a few of the amazing entries, but it was James Crawford's colourful, yet somehow realistic, Beornings which took home top prize.
The gaming was similarly tight. With all of the top three players scoring exactly the same number of Tournament Points it came down to the wire - but it was David Nixon's Hobbit and Eagle alliance which took top prize. Narrowly followed by David Reid and Connor Kerr.
Next, to White City where the eyes of the GBHL were focused for The Great Battle of Our Time ( technically it was Shepherd's Bush, but that's only one stop along on the tube...).
The two day 750pt event saw London's finest compete in one of the first GBHL100 events in the capital for some time. Congratulations to one of the finest gentleman on the whole of island of Ireland, Micheal Bradford,who took home Most Sporting, and to Alek Makucewicz whose jaw dropping Dragon Emperor Legion took home Best Painted:
Topping the podium was a different Dragon Emperor Legion, led by the fearsome Jakub Krochmal. A regular on top tables, and a technically brilliant player, if Jakub is running a list you KNOW it's worth paying attention to. Kudos as well to Imogen Lidbetter (Survivors of Laketown) and David Farmer (Mordor + Isengard) who took home bronze and silver respectively.
Now, to return to an incredible charity event which the guys over at the Drawn Combat Blog run called Valourbowl. It was originally designed as a way of seeing which Hero of Valour could be crowned best but this year there was a "Fortudious Twist", which intended to decide the Best Hero of Fortitude in the game. Despite the presence of six Shagrats and five Tauriels, it was perhaps unsurprising the hero with the most Kills was none other than Beechbone the Ent, piloted by Stephen MacDonald. In the tournament though, Dan Stuart took the prize as Champion, proving he's not just an amazing painter - but an adept player too. Props also to Jonny Wright (3rd) and Louis Aplin (2nd) as well as Scott Blandford (Sporting) and Mike Robinson (painting).
But most importantly, over £1500 was raised for Cancer Research by the event - a true testament to the power of the community.
To Eastbourne now, where 24 players duked it out for the Battle for Middle Earth 2022, a regular 500pt event on the coast in the South East. After some incredibly close final rounds, once the dust settled it was Sam Freeman in 3rd, Florian Cassar-Choules in 2nd and Chris Dann in pole positio. It's the second time he's won this event; proving he's a man to be reckoned in that part of the country.Meanwhile Ben Wood proved himself the Most Sporting player at the event and Lee Hiscock came away with the best painted award for his Assault on Lothlorien force
It's his third Best Painting win of the year, putting him in third position in the Artisan of the Year rankings, and word on the street is he's a manager at the Warhammer shop in Portsmouth so if you're after painting tips, that's the place to be!
From the South Coast, to the north Coast of the UK and the War in the North in Elgin, Scotland. The Pop Shop there is becoming something of a hub for MESBG games in Northern Scotland and unsurprisingly this event saw a strong turnout from Scottish players.
The format required an 800pt list of both Good and Evil, with players playing three games as one and two as the other. Also, unusually, the scenarios were pre-determined allowing for optimimum list building.
Ben Jones proved himself Most Sporting at the event - while Sean (Zen!) Sproule picked up his SIXTH Best Painted award of the season, an incredible feat, especially considering the variety of armies he's taken to events this year. It puts him on an even keel with Julian Hammond currently... With only one Prize, will either take home Artisan of the Year by winning another Best Painted this year?
In the gaming, it was Jamie Moore who took home a Bronze medal, while Sean Sproule proved himself as adept with a sword as with a paintbrush by securing Silver after losing his final game to Marty Sanderson who took home Gold.
The final two events couldn't be contrasted more - A King's Call to Arms is a small event in Nottingham based around tiny Battle Companies and W.A.R of the Ring is one of the biggest events in the South, set at a gaming convention, attracting hundreds of hobbiests of all kinds.
The King's Call to Arms at 7th City Collectables in Nottingham sees players build up a battle company over the course of 5 games on Day 1 - only to see them join a full force on Day 2 to points matched games. It's an ingenious system which gets over the imbalances in Battle Companies without losing any of the fun elements of naming characters and rewarding their heroic deeds etc.
Nathan Talbot (yes, that one) took home Most Sporting once again, mostly proving that people will vote for anyone for Most Sporting as long as they have an amusing novelty t-shirt on...But it does leave him with 2 Most Sporting Votes, opening up the Possibility of him being Crowned 'Friend of Middle Earth' if he were to win Most Sporting again before the end of the year. For Painting, it was Darren Dickinson who took home the award for his Men of the West company.
But in the gaming, it was Aaron Pullen, with his mighty Mahud that took home the crown, narrowly followed by Ryan Gregory & Jake Bankes. Aaron's been doing some solid work with the Mahud force, indicating its return to stock on the GW site was well timed (who knew, F5 Half-Trolls and impaling camel riders are good!?).
Finally, to the Biggest event of the Southern region,W.A.R of The Ring, with a whopping 88 attendees (four more than its closest rival 'Into the West').
First, to the hobbying, and to Louis Vanhecke who took best painted for his majestic soup armies! They look like the most unusual mixes of troops and heroes possible - perhaps Louis simply wanted to show off his insanely good painting skills - which he most certainly did:
It was Rowan Williams was voted most sporting opponent of the event - a worthy crown considering his solid placing in the top 20 gamers.
But the podium was filled by two podium regulars, and a newcomer to the league whose meteoric rise at such a huge event is likely to cause shockwaves in the competitive scene. First, Callum Edens took Bronze, and cemented his 2nd place position in the Southern Rankings with his Army of Laketown and Fell Beings of Mirkwood forces (the tourney format is 500pts of Good and Evil). In Silver is Will Champion who similarly took Fell Beings of Mirkwood and an Army of Laketown with a White Council ally... No prizes for guessing who...
But it was Christian Lewis, who's never once been to a GBHL tournament, who was crowned victor with Minas Tirith and Assault on Helm's Deep armies. He will have had to beat off (ooh err) some tough opponents to finish top here... So make note of the name, for fear you're caught unaware when he tells you "this is only my second tournament!"
With that, there's just a few events left to crown the league Victor. Remember your GBHL Score is made up of your top 4 performances in the league (or three in the regional competitions), so at this stage for many players the objective is improving their 4th highest score enough to help them climb the greasy pole to Ultra Nerd Status.
Currently Will Champion sits top of the leadeerboard with a First, and two Second place finishes at GBHL100 events. But with two GBHL100 events left to go, that prize could be snatched away in the last few weeks by one of a few players. Dave Farmer (currently second) needs a win or two other podiums to improve enough to leapfrog him (Interestingly a second place would leave him just 0.4 pts behind Will in his Season Total, though would leave him a couple points below him on scores!). Similarly Jay Clare (3rd place, but with the Highest Average score per event) needs to podium twice to be in conention for the top spot.
Jake Rawson (4th) is mathematically guaranteed Best Newcome award... and if he continues his Podium streak he could see himself taking second in the league too (or a tourney win will crown him League Champion!).
Of course much of this depends on the performance of each of the other players in the top few spots, but it illustrates how narrow it is in the overall League rankings.
The regional competitions are more easy to predict. At first glance, the Northern region looks to be tied up in Iain McGregor's favour, with wins at a GBHL100 and two GBHL80s. Chris Murfitt (2nd) COULD catch him, but sadly the only tournament left in the North is The Scouring of Stirlingshire - his own event! No one else can unseat Iain from his position... EXCEPT, Micheal Bradford whose gaming has largely been out of his own region this season. With Just two Northern events under his belt (one GBHL 100 win!) he COULD overtake Iain if he performs well at Scouring of Stirlingshire... And when I say well it would have to be a win... Could he do it? Only a fools' hope!
Because the Southern and Central League winners are guaranteed, I'll save them for another day...
With that, we say farewell... There will - as ever - be an Outrider's Post confirming final results in the not too distant future. And look out for Live coverage of the GBHL Finale and Awards Ceremony in December which I hope to bring DIRECTLY to the GBHL Facebook Group.
Remember, if you want to improve your scores, there are still 2 events on the horizon.
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!
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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