So last weekend I went to the Redesolation of Stockport UK Independent Hobbit Tournament. The largest event of its kind with almost 80 players attending. After getting off the nightshift at 9am on the Friday I quickly packed then left for London around 10.40am. There I hung out with GBHL Damian for a few hours, before picking up Larry Miller and heading off to collect GBHL Tom on our way through to Stockports Brittania Hotel. This journey was vastly more enjoyable and entertaining than my previous venture in April 2014 when I drove the 7 hours alone. A feat I pledged never to do again for the sake of my own sanity. It was night time already by the time we arrived, and after a hasty check in it was off for a curry at Mister Ali's where we stumbled upon host GBHL James leading a warband of hungry gamers. Then it was over to the North West Gaming Centre to catch up with many of the other players and a few drinks.
Saturday morning started fresh and the early atmosphere at the gaming hall was buzzing as each and everyone registered their presence and rummaged about to see what delights had been provided by James in their complimentary goodie bags.
Unlike my previous trip to Stockport, I was not playing this time around. Instead I set up a make shift stall where I could show off some previous work, whilst working on some current commissions to try at least to catch up on the ridiculous amount of back orders I have to do. Staying in one place was also easier for people to come up and ask for tips and general advice, which I'm pleased to say several people took advantage of over the weekend. It was also my first encounter with Matt Davies of Generation Shift who set up a stall next to me selling his resin bases, cuing some mutual appreciation of each others work.
So on the Saturday, I spent the whole day cutting dwarves in half and sticking them onto the Travelling Dwarf ponies from Shadow and Flame. . . .
I was very pleased that I had managed to get all 13 dwarves of Thorins Company mounted up in a single day, but then the pony was designed to speed things up massively and so it proved. Okay so each mount looks the same, but with different paint schemes and unique riders I think they will look great once all painted up. I plan to upload a tutorial to youtube soon showing how simple it is.
So after the awards ceremony of day 1, it was over to Amici's for a 3 course dinner, followed by much drinking and dancing and general merriment. A great time was had by all. I enjoyed meeting new people. It was another alcohol heavy late night but entirely worth it.
Sunday morning saw some weary looking faces, obviously suffering from the night before's antics, but as the gamers continued to battle it out on the tabletops of Middle-earth, my attention turned to a commission piece for Crucium Giger, who was after a BotFA Azog from the battle on the ice scene with Thorin. He had supplied me with the latest Azog mini, which I chopped up and reposed before adding in sculpted armour. The armour is quite intricate in places, and was slow going at times, but in the end it came out quite well I think. Luckily (for me), some technical hitches with the scoring in the tournament had stretched the event out slightly longer than scheduled, but this had indirectly resulted in me being able to complete the mini, which from my perspective was a big win.
After the day 2 awards ceremony, everyone said their sad farewells which reminded me of the Grey Havens scene. I headed back South with The Palantir team, who made the journey a very interesting and enjoyable one once again. I finally got home around 2am after an exhausting but utterly awesome weekend, and I look forward to the next time. Thanks to GBHL James for organising such a great event. My only regret is that my pal DMS was unable to enjoy it with me.
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