Tell me a little about yourself. How did your hobby journey begin and what drew you to MESBG?
*batista entrance music playing* *pyrotechnics*
*Crowd cheers*
Where to start, firstly I’d like to thank Rob for giving me the chance to share my experience this year and just my general knattering on
well my first experience with wargames was actually in school, we had a gaming club where I played and won a shadespire tournament, that was my first real experience with wargames and the hobby in general.
My first look as mesbg also came here as the teacher who ran the club did a balins tomb game to show everyone in the club, but the main reason I got into the game for real was due to my friend Ben. He got into the game as Covid happened and for a while he couldn’t really play, we were both 15 or 16 at the time so travelling to clubs to play wasn’t really an option for us. So playing Ben was mainly my first way of getting into the game, so if anyone is to blame for me terrorising the ihl and greater sbg community in the many ways I do… it’s Ben
What kind of armies have you been playing during your championship run?
This year I really had no intention of playing for the championship as I’m a full time university student with my weekends being taken up with work so it was really difficult to find a chance to make it to events at the start of the year (shout out to my loving partner who definitely was super ok with me using all my holidays to go to events) but because I’m talking to you now I guess you can say I made it work.
As for the sort of lists I played this year I’d describe them as fun and fluffy but if you asked my opponents they’d probably say I’m a liar. Because I was limited to 4 events the minimum needed to have a chance at winning the league I looked to play some pretty strong lists, due to joining the league 8 months late I had the chance to let the edition play out for a few months and the strong lists became quite obvious so I had an idea of the sort of lists I wanted to play #metachaser4life .i played 5 lists this year including- Moria double dragon, men of the west, army of the white hand/ defenders of the pelenorr (gve event) and finally at the league final I took the mighty balrog in the depths of Moria. I’ve always been a fan of playing strong lists and even though we have a small league compared to a lot of countries the skill level of a lot of players is very high so really if you want a chance at doing well at these events you need to play lists that are going to aid in winning.
What factors draw you to a particular army list? Are you more prone to chasing a competitive edge, or more driven by more thematic considerations, for example?
As many know last edition I was a huge fan of soup lists and really pushing the boat out of what ever the lads from cork at the time were playing haha, but with Ivan and Dave on a sabbatical I was left to make my own lists, I definitely do prefer a high power level army, I play the game to win and that’s how I have fun. I have nothing against people who play the game for fun and I’m honestly jealous of those who can play a not so strong list and still have a blast at events.
I have found myself at the top tables of many high calibre events, I was an unfortunate dice roll away from a 3rd place at the largest Irish event with 60+ players last year with many great players from around the world, I’ve played on the top tables at scotlands biggest event until I was eventually told I had to play Ivan on the top table and he showed me there was still levels to this game haha. This year I managed to go 3 event wins and 1 second place, doing 4-2, 5-1, 4-2 and 6-0 respectively ending the year with just under an 80% win ratio. My lists definitely played a strong part in this but between my last event of the last edition in November 2024 and my first event coming in late July this year I had probably played 3 proper games of the new edition. Putting all these factors together I am more than thrilled with my performance this year, dropping 8 months of events to everyone else was definitely a struggle to come back and win, somehow managing to pull it off has definitely been the highlight of my time playing in the ihl so far. A huge thank you has to go out to all my opponents for many delightful games, Oli and Damian for the lifts to events, Damian also gave me a lend of my army for the final so blame him for everyone being wrecked by the balrog and of course Nicky who was an amazing host for two of my trips to the north and making my trophy collection look a whole lot cooler with probably the best trophies in the game. All the amazing TOs who ran 4 fantastic events and most importantly my microwave who cooked all my dice to absolute perfection.
What advice would you give to a new player who was thinking about diving into the hobby?
Rob has also asked me to give a little advice to the newer players looking to further their skills or start their hobby journey. The best advice I can offer is pick an army you think looks cool and would enjoy playing and master it, our resident boromir player Che has taken this to absolutely terrifying heights. As the saying goes do as I say not as I do as I think the most events I’ve ever played the same list at is two so grain of salt and that. If you want to up your skill just playing games and getting that experience is the best way you’re goi...
Hmm, we seem to have had some technical issues there, just as Alex was about to impart his tactical brilliance. I'm sure it's just coincidence. But many thanks to Alex for taking time out of his busy Champion's schedule to talk to me, and best of luck in your title defence.
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| Alex asked me specifically to include this photo, no idea why... |
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