IHL Interviews - Dave Coleman

(Rob) After a short hiatus from the blog we're back with an interview with the new Irish Hobbit League Champion for 2020, Dave Coleman.

Welcome to the blog Dave. Could you start by introducing yourself and giving a little bit of background into your time in the hobby?

(Dave) Thanks for having me on Rob. My name is Dave and I've been completely hooked back into the ME:SBG sphere thanks to the new edition. For as long as I can remember I've been collecting and playing Warhammer since about 3rd Ed 40k but as soon as the Lord of the Rings movies came out I was hooked on the franchise. I had collected years ago when the DeAgostini magazines were in production but didn't play any games or collect since about 2005 so it's been great to be back into it!

So, you are the new 2020 Irish Hobbit League Champion, how does that feel?

It feels good, especially to have two Cork winners in back to back years! Even though 2020 has been a bit of a write off of a year we still managed to get quite a decent amount of tournaments going on our little island and I attended the majority of them. It was great to learn there was a competitive scene here in Ireland when a few friends and I restarted and given we were all competitive 40k players it came naturally.

Are there any particular types of armies that have helped you to achieve this League Title?

I suppose the two main armies I am known for bringing is both Barad-Dur and Rohan. Rohan are extremely strong edition and especially so until the recent nerf to Gamlings banner but in my eyes they're still a top tier army. I ran Riders of Theoden nearly exclusively until I turned my eye to a Rohan/Lothlorien alliance with Galadriel which certainly confused some people! I've always loved Rohan as the scene that always gives me goosebumps is the Charge of the Rohirrim on the Pelennor.

Barad-Dur have been another staple for me, consistently able to place highly with them. They're a fantastic army based around the Dark Lord Sauron but require a good bit of finesse to get them running right as you can very easily overstretch your forces allowing either your army to fold around you or getting Sauron bogged down for the game.

Any little tips or tricks to get the most out of these armies?

I think when it comes to the armies I've picked the main takeaway from them is just to practice, practice, practice. When it came to figuring out how an army like Barad-Dur worked it took multiple losses before you may realise where you can and can't engage an enemy and how you should engage them. Oh, take Shelob!

With Rohan, they're an army that can be a bit of a glass hammer (mostly a solid hammer though) due to the fact they generally rely on getting the correct Move-Off's but thankfully they have the Might to keep consistently moving and marching. With Rohan it's hugely important to correctly time when you hit your opponent and where alogn with using tactics like the Yo-Yo against low shoot volume armies where you can just send in your heros, kill 10-12 models and Heroic Combat away from them only to do that again next turn.

Are we likely to see more of the same as you attempt to defend your title next year, or are there any new projects we'll likely see?

I reckon I will definitely still have Barad-Dur and Rohan take to the field but I am currently working on getting my Army of Thror/Iron Hills list finalized along with some playing around with a Easterling/Khand alliance and a Cirith Ungol list.

I am lucky to have such a good regular gaming partner with Ivan Sheehan, last years IHL Champion where we very regularly play games, at least once a week along with rattling off our lists trying to see where the others could be improved.

Finally before you go, what's the one piece of advice you would give to a new player in the game?

I think the main piece of advice I would tell a new player would be to just pick whatever army you like the look of and go with it. With ME:SBG being such a generally balanced game, you wont particularly have any unfun games along with the whole reason we all play this game, the lore, the world, the characters, the stories. That's what it's all about.

Thank you Dave for taking the time to take part in this interview and we'll see if you can defend your new title in the 2021 IHL season.

Thanks again for having me on!