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A flurry of hooves, a hurried dismount and armour clod feet stamp to your door bringing more news of gatherings of SBG players across the UK. There'll be run downs of the medal winners at events in London in a second, but first NORTH.
As mentioned in my last Blog Post, The Great British Hobbit League is doing a pretty fine job of being GREAT (well, we think so anyway), it's also good at including Hobbits and of keeping track of the ups and downs of the league, but it can always do more work to be more British. I don't mean in a flag waving, God Save the Queen way, but by hosting more events in as many corners of these British isles. Last week I put out an appeal for people interested in hosting events in a bit of a DMZ (De-MiddleEarthed Zone) for GBHL events - the North East of England and South of Scotland.
Send forth all Legions...of Northern SBG Fans
You answered in droves.
I'm working behind the scenes, alongside other members of the GBHL Management Committee, to see if we can help arrange an Event to bring together the community in Northumberland, Cumbria, Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Durham & Tyne and Wear. We've got a few people keen to host, and an army of Hobbits excited to attend... More on that in future Outrider Blogs.
Now to London!
First to the Battle of Borough Dur, a one day escalation tournament at Bad Moon Cafe near Borough Market. Players had to bring a force which did well in two games at 500pts and then add 200pts to the first army for an epic final battle. An interesting concept, which no doubt provided a head scratcher for competitive gamers but also allows for some super themey forces.
First let's admire the hobbying on offer, with Jonathan Mainwaring's fantastic Khandish horde which took home the Best Army Award.
The distinctive white and blue scheme gives the force a taste of purity & purpose (despite them being gold grabbing mercenaries!), it's a stark contrast to the usual Reds of the Eastern Horde. It's easy to see why Jonathan took the painting award home.
Elsewhere, Jake Robson took home Most Sporting, certainly a consolation for coming third from Bottom! But spare a thought for Tom Parry who came second from bottom, and went home empty handed unlike Stuart Rowan, who was at least marked with the glory of Wooden Spoon winner.
Get your oxygen cans ready as we ascend rapidly to the top tables where Zahir Khares took home Bronze with his winning combination of Bolg, Goblin Mercenaries and Hunter Orcs. A big hitter, and decent numbers at 500pts (29) were supplemented with additional bodies and another Hunter Orc hero for 700pts. The tournament format (read more on that here) was all about maximising VPs and denying your opponent any, but despite this the tournament still resulted in an incredibly tight finish on the podium. All of the top three scored exactly the same number of tournament points, so it came down to who scored the most victory points in total. Narrowly missing out on that crown is Tom Pattison whose filthy combination of Goblins and the Spider Queen performed admirably. Clearly, the mass of goblins (with the King and Gollum!) which came in his 500pts list was enough that all he needed to do was add the Queen of Spiders, a couple of bats and a spider to make his 700pt list capable of handling almost any threat.
But there can be only one winner, and that gold trophy landed in the lap of Bert Leach, who (if my memory serves me correclty) only made his first appearance at my tournament Lord of the Imps last July (an announcement on this year's will be due soon!). Clearly he caught the bug, because after a string of tournamets in the tail end of last year he's taken his first ever Gold in the GBHL. The day saw his Assault on Helm's Deep Legion grow into, well... a bigger Assault on Helm's Deep in its final game. Proving sometimes all you need to win a tournament is a butt tonne of F4 S4 troops and a massive Crossbow...
But, these Londoners, they were all of them deceived, for another event was held in Covent Garden at the weekend, and into it was poured cruelty, malice and a will to dominate all other events... Ok, perhaps not, but it did have an amusing name.
I Can't Believe it's Not Borough Dur saw a full crowd of 24 SBGers do battle in 4 games of 400pts (Good Vs Evil) with scenarios pre-determined... All the better to tailor your list to!
Let's start with Zahir Khares, who took Bronze home the following day (see above), but started his weekend off in true style with a most sporting award. Clearly not just a scholar of the game (he came 6th here) he's proved himself a gentleman too.
Despite planning a tournament of his own for the following day, Sam Palmer clearly had his calendar planned out carefully to avoid any last minute painting - and it shows in the standard of his Best Army winning paint job. The frozen wastes of Angmar were carried through in the bases of his force, but also in the pale skin tones of Burhdur
Onto the gaming awards and George Downing took home bronze, with Just a Dragon and a bat swarm! Again he narrowly missed a spot on the podium the following day, but certainly proved his worth with his unusually small force. But at 400pts, let's face it, what can stand up to a beast like that - if played well. The scenarios weren't impossible for him and the pilot must have done a tremendous job to secure third. Well done George!
Tom Pattison was once again the Bridesmaid (but not the Bride) by missing out on two First places over the weekend, but coming home with two silvers is certainly not to be sniffed at - consistency is key! His Lake Town force clearly proved it's a solid force at low points (an absolute revelation...).
But finally is Rhys Tong Jones, who took home glory with his Minas Tirith force. Again, the following day he proved his worth with a top ten performance, but his weekend peaked on Saturday with Hurin and Madril wrecking face in mixed warbands of rangers, knights and citadel guard plus a cheeky anborn the ranger thrown in for good measure. It's a fascinating list - no banner but plenty of fire power, F4 and a high defence frontline with some hitting power capable of flanking. A solid Hammer, with tough anvil - I'd have loved to see this one in action. Excellent work from Rhys.
And that rounds out another week of dispatches, the Outriders will return with reports from the Warhamemr World GT next week and the Gathering of the Grey Havens in Preston the week afterwards. And do keep an eye out here on the blog for tactica and articles from GBHL Champ Ali King. Also, if you're interested in writing about how you painted your favourite army or showing off your tactical acumen, consider writing a blog post! Send it to me and I'll whack it in the system - we want this place to be by the community and for it, so get your thinking caps on and your typewriter ready - everyone has a tale to tell!
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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