NEHL August Round-Up
Peterbowl - August
200 points (no named heroes) - 3 Games
1st: Joseph Lythgoe - Defenders of the Pelennor
2nd: Morgan Allen - The Black Gate
3rd: Ryan Mayo - Lothlorien
Most Sporting: David Millar - Kingdom of Rohan
Peterbowl is back for its eighth iteration, and there are a couple of firsts to cover: All three of this month’s podiuming armies have never podiumed a previous Peterbowl! This is also the first Peterbowl that has 2 podiuming good armies (apart from double Greenfields in Jan) - truly the tide seems to be turning!
The region’s newly founded team, the Reclamation of Bob Rossgiliath, are making their presence known as Ryan Mayo takes third place with his Lothlorien. This list has a lot of potential for tricks, but a solid line of Galadhrim can be just as effective. With a good mix of bows, shields, and spears, this force can threaten at range and then finish the job when the lines clash. Playing against Khazad Dum at low points is tough, but elves with hand-and-a-half weapons can get the job done (even if it was against his teammate).
To drift into second place, Morgan Allen adopts a simple strategy: Troll Chieftain. Morgan faced down back-to-back Assault on Helm’s Deep lists - historic scourge of Peterbowls past! - but came out victorious in both matches. Uruk captains and berserkers are certainly big fish of the 200-point meta, but a Troll Chieftain is a megalodon shark with an unassailable fight value.
Taking top spot is Joe Lythgoe with the Defenders of the Pelennor! This is a soupy list, and a couple of free heroic combats can really swing a low-points game. Joe has podiumed Peterbowl in the past, but this event marks his first event win.
Finally, David Millar has proven himself once again as a very pleasant sort by claiming the award for Most Sporting Player! He also just missed out on a podium finish, with 2 wins and a loss for the Kingdom of Rohan.
Hope Remains
250 points* - 5 Games
1st: Daniel Nicholls - Khazad Dum and Minas Morgul
2nd: Alex Temple - Lothlorien and Assault on Helms Deep
3rd: John Maccorquodale - Khazad Dum and Grand Army of the South
Best Painted: Johnathan Mack, Connor Young, Matthew North, David Millar and Alex Temple
Most Sporting: Kevin Gibson
*no heroes costing more than 85 points
Hope Remains returns for its third year. Players from across the UK arrived in Whitburn for 5 games of 250-point chaos! This was a Good vs Evil tournament with custom scenarios, mysterious Battlescrolls, and a heap of hobby awards!
Starting with the podium places, our third place finisher is amongst the funniest MESBG creators out there and proved himself to be the superior J-Mac (much to my disappointment) - it’s John Maccorquodale! Opting for Khazad Dum and a pure Khand build of Grand Army, JMacc gave his opponents the choice between a rock and a hard place. More accurately he gave them the choice between a solid wall of 4 Vault Warden teams or a Warband of crazed two-handing warriors. With 4 wins, John only lost out to the tournament winner - a noble record for a 3rd place finish.
Reaching 2nd place is Alex Temple - Battle Camper himself! Alex opted for 2 armies with tonal variation: The serene efficiency of Rumil and his elite band of warriors, and the chaotic mess of a demolition bomb backed up by a frightening line of berserkers. Both lists lean heavily into the established fun of the tournament and denote a certain do-or-die attitude. Luckily for Alex, his armies were do-ers rather than die-ers, bagging him a cool 5 wins (though I’m sure his lieutenant, Kiwi, was in charge of much of the strategy).
Taking the top spot, and proving that the Fellowship of Steel supremacy continues in the North East, is Dan Nicholls! Khazad Dum graces the podium again, while Dan opted for Minas Morgul as his evil list. Both Dan’s lists had a second hero, so maybe those extra heroic resources were the secret to his success. 25 models is scary at 250 points, but with 2 of them being captains and all models having Blades of the Dead make that an even more challenging match for opponents. So total was Dan’s dominance that he didn’t concede a single VP across all 5 of his games - truly exceptional stuff.
Hope Remains has always been a goldmine for hobby awards, and this year’s event was no different. Johnathan Mack and Connor Young took home awards for Best Painted Leader, while Matthew North, David Millar and Alex Temple all received nods for Best Painted Army! For his sporting nature, Kev Gibson received the award for Most Sporting Player - a real achievement for so themey an event!
If you’d like a more in-depth look at the event, Andrew Wood - of Woody Rec fame - has already published his account of the day, so go and check that out!
Thursday Night Throwdown - August
350 points - 3 Games
1st: Andy Mee - Road to Rivendell
2nd: Simon Rose - Ugluk’s Scouts
3rd: Luke Bilton - Far Harad
Thursday Night Throwdown returns with some updated rules: no heroes over 85 points (alla Hope Remains), and no Legolas (just to be absolutely sure)!
Luke Bilton takes third place with his usual flavour of Far Harad. Camels are scary, but what can trump a line of 7 Half Trolls? Certainly, these two-wound warriors are a boon for slowing down the enemy in Contest of Champions. On the flip side, these guys can hunt their Fog of War target with impunity. Naturally, Luke won in these scenarios.
Moving up to second place, Simon Rose shows how impactful a high model-count army can be using Ugluk’s Scouts. Every model counts at this level, and this is doubly true when you’ve got animosity in your list. Commanding 28 models at low points means you can push for traps and +1 to wound where it matters. Even Khazad Dum can feel the burn into this list.
Fighting to 1st place - and proving his flexibility with armies - Andy Mee has turned his hand to Herohammer with Road to Rivendell. Double caster at 350 is a rarity, and having a mounted, Fight 6, 3 Might, 3 Attack caster is even better! Arwen is certainly a Champion to be feared in Contest of Champions, and Frodo can be a sneaky choice to protect for Fog of War. Still, a squeaky 8-5 win in Destroy the Supplies was what got Andy over the line, with some fast-moving elves no doubt being pivotal for outfoxing those Half Trolls.
Dice, Dice in the Deep
500 points - 3 Games
1st: Callum Brownson-Smith - Shadows of Angmar
2nd: Brad Defty - Barad Dur
3rd: Dave Lal - Variags of Khand
Best Painted Army: Alan Smith - Muster of Isengard
Most Thematic Army: Alan Smith - Muster of Isengard
Most Sporting: Callum Brownson-Smith - Shadows of Angmar
Element Games Newcastle hosted its inaugural event this month with 3 summer-themed scenarios in their Gaming Vault. Billed as a beginner-friendly event, let's see what absolute jank made its way onto the podium.
Starting with Third place, it is half of Middlesbrough’s Dynamic Duo (the other being Luke Bilton, of course): Dave Lal! Not one to shy away from the more boggling aspects of the game, Dave opted for a chariot-heavy build of Variags of Khand. New players might have missed the chariot section of the rulebook, so Dave has made sure they get a baptism by fire, wheeling to a cool 2-1 finish with a 20-0 victory for good measure.
In second place, Brad Defty led the Dark Lord Sauron into battle! At 500 points, it’s a risky play to bring such a massive point sink to an event, but clearly Sauron was worth his salt this time. WIth only models, it’s impressive for Brad to maintain an undefeated record when those 16 orcs can bite the dust very easily. If the scenarios were hold ground or Contest, this would be a no brainer, but you’ve got to respect Brad for bringing Sauron to an event with Treasure Hoard - and he won!
Taking top spot for the day was Callum Brownson-Smith with an intimidating swarm of Werewolves led by the mighty Gulavhar. With a shaky 11 models, and only 2 able to interact with Light Objects, Callum certainly chose a list designed to overwhelm opponents before playing the scenario. To the Death and Fog of War suit this playstyle but, similar to Brad, Treasure Hoard proved to be a narrower victory.
Moving onto hobby awards, Callum proved that his cheesy werewolf list was all bark and no bite by being awarded Most Sporting player. And for Best Painted Army and Most Thematic Army, Alan Smith took home both awards with his Christmas Candy Cane-themed Isengard. Even in the height of summer, this army really was a treat.