What do festive hats, 1000pts and a brewery have in common? GBHL Update!

The GBHL Finale Brings together the finest Hobbyists, Gamers and Lovely folk together for a festive knees-up

It seems like just yesterday when we were building up with great anticipation to the 2024 GBHL Finale, which happened to coincide with the release of the War of the Rohirrim film, the arrival of the new edition of the game, and the celebration of hobbying and gaming achievement for 2024.

But with demonstrable inevitability, 2025’s GBHL Finale looms. The distant chimes of jingle bells can be heard, the Christmas tree is calling out to be lugged out of the loft, and the annual negotiation of what days to spend at which relatives’ homes begins…

With that in mind, the GBHL Management Committee is proud to say tickets are about to be released (Oct 16) for this annual celebration, gaming event and awards ceremony.

The Finale also hands out awards for Hobby Heroes for Outstanding Contribution to the Community

For the uninitiated, it’s a 1000pt, five game, GBHL100 event with a firm focus on celebrating the season, the players’ successes, and hobbying prowess of so many across the league. We award prizes to the winners of the league’s various different competitions (including those who’ve performed best in Painting and Sportsmanship) as well as having a few final games of MESBG before Christmas. It's also the only event in the calendar without a region, therefore awarding you a final opportunity to increase your chances of winning your Regional Title.

This year’s event is taking place at Northern Alliance Games in Newcastle, marking the first time the League’s Finale has been held in the North England Region. The event has a history of travelling the regions; having been held in Scotland, Nottingham, Bristol and other locations across the UK.

It’s on the 13^th and 14^th of December. Players can bring a 1000pt army, with no other restrictions, so go wild! There will be prizes for Fancy Dress ( Historically, players have been encouraged to wear festive outfits on the Saturday and formalwear on the Sunday) and there’s an evening social at the local Brewery (within a few metres!)

If you’re interested in joining us, head to the event page on the GBHL Facebook Page here, and have a look at the event pack here.

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Considering the Finale is just a few weeks away, it seems only right to have an in-depth look at the state of the league itself... Who better to keep a watchful eye on the rankings than GBHL Rankings Officer Stephen Denbigh? He gives us this update:

"The Top 5 has a new contender! 1st and 2nd seem pretty locked in thanks to the titanic efforts of Mr Dave Farmer & Mr Jakub Krochmal but there is currently only 2.11 points between 3rd and 5th place (out of 600 total) as Alastair King (ancient demon from the old world and previous league winner) rises from the depths of 31st place to 5th place, biting at the heels of myself (4th) and Connor Morris (3rd), bumping the back to back Artisan Of Middle-Earth John Partridge down to 6th place.

Ali’s managed this despite only having played six events this year - a man of true efficiency! (Remember your Top Six Scores in the league combine for your Season Score, for more on how scoring works, read this)

With Connor and I both competing at 7th City’s Teams event this weekend and several GBHL100s lined up for each of those three vying for Thrid, it’s still all to play for! Worth noting that the top 5 will be selected to compete in the Nations Cup 2026 for Team England (they won last year, no big deal).

Rob Keen is still flying far above all his opponents for Best Newcomer – a gap of over 75 points between him and the next best newcomer (Jake Battison) and an additional 20 points above Ash Rhodes. Will anyone be able to knock Flight Commander Keen off his perch where he has nested for the last six months? Will he ever attend a GBHL 100? Will he ever not take eagles? (Ed: Shameless Plug, hear Rob's in-depth guide to The Eagles in the latest Entmoot!)

In the hobbying contest, the race for Artisan of the Year is heating up as well with last year's runner-up Alex Bourdas out in the lead with Eight Best Painted Armies to his name!

Sean Clarke, Johnathan Mack and Dan Thorpe all have at least four each, will Alex's seemingly unassailable lead topple after a string of hobbying achievements? Will one of these creative geniuses take the Artisan Crown?

The most gentlemanly of competitions (Most Sporting) has a 14-way tie for second (ties decided by seasonal ranking) with previous Friend of Middle earth podiumers Mark O’Brien and Elliot Cload showing up in the mix. At the moment however the wonderful Zahir Khares leads the way in first with 3 wins! Though keep your eyes peeled for David Clubley, who could unseat Zahir's top spot with one Most Sporting win (because of his better league performance).

Finlay Stanniforth is still undisputed King in the North (Scotland that is, not that top section of England), holding both the top spot in the Scotland, ROI and NI League and also the title of Master of Scotland from the Scottish Masters held in January. Iain McGregor (host of the Scottish Masters) and Andrew Stone are a few points behind in 2^nd and 3^rd respectively, with less than a point between them.

The South West remains a stalemate between David Farmer, David Clubley and Rob Keen, with almost 25% of the regions events having been won by one of the trio. If Eagles player Rob manages a 90+ score in his region he’ll sneak into 2^nd place… Remember, the GBHL Finale counts towards all Regional Scores too... Could that be the win the Ornithologist needs to cause a major upset??

Another avian sits at the top of the Northern league with Adam Bird defending the North from all invaders (looking at you southerners taking away those GBHL 100 points) but Shen Barnes is not too far behind. Regional veteran Jack Thurlbeck remains in the mix, gunning for his third year of podiuming the north!

In the South East it’s the land of Toms, with Tom Seccombe and Tom McConnell locked in a regional race with 0.35pts separating them. Olly Jackson - host of the incredibly named Ollyphaunt Cup, complete with incredible Mumak trophies - is in 3^rd place but Bert Leach and Richard Spencer are within touching distance! Will hosting Bertacon allow his opposition to stay above him and scupper Bert’s chances of a regional podium? We'll keep our eyes peeled.

Finally, the Central region is still being dominated by Connor Morris, Matthew Light-Barnett and Niall Corrigan (remaining unchanged since May) but with two Central GBHL100s coming soon (Lord of The Imps (25^th-26^th October) and Jack Darlington’s He Eats It By The Block at the start of December) will the region see bnack to back successes cause a shake up? Only time (and dice) will tell.

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Thanks to Stephen for his excellent precis of the State of Play in the League! Any comments or queries regarding rankings? Email him at GBHLresults@outlook.com 

Current GBHL TOP TEN (and other Leaders Eligible for Masters next year)

Eligibility	Name
First	David Farmer
Second	Jakub Krochmal
Third	Connor Morris
Fourth	Stephen Denbigh
Fifth	Alastair King
Sixth	John Partridge
Seventh	Thomas Seccombe
Eighth	Tom McConnell
Ninth	Richard Spencer
Tenth	Thomas Wagg
Southwest Leader	David Farmer
Southeast Leader	Thomas Seccombe
Central Leader	Connor Morris
Northern England Leader	Adam Bird
Scotland/NI/ROI Leader	Finlay Staniforth
Best Newcomer	Rob Keen

GBHL TEAM RANKINGS:

First	Gollum's Gamers
Second	Any Heroics
Third	One Team To Rule Them All

 Don't forget to check out some of the other Blog posts here - including Bert Leach's Impassioned Defence of the Defenders of Helm's Deep, and check out the latest Community Legacy FAQ here.