Community Content: Why you should go to an MESBG Tournament

In a very laborious and roundabout way Harry Parkhill (of the Entmoot podcast, and Battle Games in Middle Earth Youtube channel) discusses why you should join him at a tournament when the Great British Hobbit League restarts later this year.

I always had this preconceived notion about wargaming tournaments; that they were full of the kind of nerds you never like to think of yourself as. You know the ones, they’re a little too into the game, they know just a little too much about the profiles and they’re perhaps a little bit more touchy about how long 6 inches is.

“That’s a long Six inches”, they’d say.

I had this notion because it had been inherited from ‘groupthink’ at the gaming club in my hometown. When I told them I was heading off to Warhammer World for a 40k school league event, they said they hated tournaments. It was all “too competitive”; people were unwelcoming and often downright rude they claimed. Even though that tournament was great fun (we actually won!), I never made the effort to go to one again. I guess I was young, I didn’t have access to a car, and my mum has always been the first to laugh at my ‘nerdiness’ when I mention Warhammer so it’s fair to say I wasn’t keen on the idea of convincing her for a lift to spend the weekend doing it.

So I didn’t.

That tournament was consigned to history. History became Legend. Legend became myth. And for six-and-a-half years (roughly) that memory passed out of all knowledge.

Then the unlikeliest thing happened. I picked out one of my oldest and favourite plastic models (a Minas Tirith Warrior) from the Middle Earth range and put paint and brush to it. The reason was that in 2016 rumours had circulated that Games Workshop weren’t going to renew their license to make Middle Earth models (don’t trust rumours). I was horrified. This was my childhood; the reason I got into wargaming. I began pouring through eBay (back when it had a Capital B in the middle – aah, those were the days). I bought pretty much anything – but particularly the old metal sculpts I assumed would be first to go. It was a furious and addictive spending spree. My quizzical girlfriend was confused as to why I was buying so much and painting so little, but what does she know of such necessities!? They’re mine, I didn’t feel like parting with them, they came to me (in the post).

Then as luck would have it, I stumbled on the unlikeliest of videos. Whilst searching for painting tutorials, I stumbled across a battle report. What’s this? A ring… of people still playing the game?

I had never really played the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, I’d only played a bit on my own, and maybe with some of my friends when I was at primary school. But it was never the ‘actual’ game, using the official rules, just some weird quasi-dice-rolling-army-man game. Here were people actually doing it, and not all that long ago (I watched it, according to my Youtube watch history, in April 2016 and it had been released in November 2014).

From there I discovered the GBHL Facebook page, and the league itself. “What must I do?” I thought. I couldn’t live vicariously through these videos when the world was on my doorstep. So I bundled my sleeping roll together, grabbed my walking staff and headed to a tournament in Nottinghamshire. I met a few people who made a fantastic impression (Dan Entwistle, as the welcoming organiser particularly stood out) They helped shepherd me into a world which was simultaneously challenging and exhilarating. It’s never easy making new friends, but I tried with gusto to ingratiate myself into the groups of people who clearly knew one another (hopefully I wasn’t “that guy” who was a bit too friendly). I was taught valuable lessons about the game (mainly how to play it… but also about putting heroes behind your troops so crossbows don’t cut them down) but I also found there was passion and heart in the Middle Earth Scene.

These weren’t the finicky, unpleasant nerds I’d worried about – these were warm-hearted people I shared a great passion with. Not just the gaming and the models, but the worlds of Tolkien too. I was joining an exciting adventure, a new phase in my life with friendships that were no longer defined by school, university, work, or even where I lived, but by a fierce passion. These people were willing to travel to Nottinghamshire from around the country (and I’d been willing to travel on the gamble that I’d enjoy it), we had been united by that cause.

 From there, came more tournaments, including meeting and/or playing against various members of the Middle Earth team at Throne of Skulls, but also seeing familiar faces and building on those early games, slowly adding people to the list of people I could feel comfortable wandering over to for a chat between games.

This feeling of belonging is something difficult to find in adult life – and is something which I think most of us probably search for. We connect with people for a number of reasons, but common interests are probably top of that lists.

So think about it; SBG tournaments combine so many niche passions – reading, painting, modeling, the worlds of Tolkien, the films of Peter Jackson, the pleasure of pulling together the puzzle pieces in an army list, the delight of challenging someone to a game of wits, the spirit of adventure that comes by travelling to another part of the country (or world), and of course the social interaction that comes from spending time in the company of strangers who share all these interests. That’s a long list, and if you think any of those sounds like fun then you’d fit right in.

So why should you go to an MESBG tournament? Ultimately, you’re already interested, because you’re reading this. There’s already a box of tinder, and pyramid of wood waiting, all you need is the spark which roars into all consuming fire that this hobby can be. You can be the next companion in this Fellowship of tournament goers.

Great… When are we going?

Dan Slob: Thanks so much Harry! Check out the excellent Entmoot Podcast here!