|
|
images:
05.03.99
The snow
|
|
|
|
Saturday morning in the snow!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Davy Sports Club!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Mansfield Warriors!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Hoyland, the main man!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The guys running the show...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Daz and
Rob Laneenjoy a pint
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Martin and Steve together. Awww!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adi and Mick gawp at summat
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Daz loves his beer!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nathan, Sunday morning...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pete judges us all
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Smithy and friends
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The most unusual battle of the event
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amanda Rutter had the best army selection!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trevor Allen was the Best Sportsman!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paul Whittaker painted the best army!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ian Whittaker was fifth!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nathan Hoole was fourth!
|
|
|
Snow and Shouting
|
|
|
|
When I got up on Saturday morning to see that everywhere was covered in snow, I had a terrible thought that the tourney was off and we'd make it up to Sheffield only to find four people, and they would be hoovering up. Still, at least
Paul Scrivens-Smith had managed to skid his way to my house on time, so we piled into the Polo and set off in good cheer hoping that the weather wouldn't affect the Bash. It wasn't to last - within fifteen minutes we'd reached gridlock on the A617 out of Mansfield, just near the junction that would lead us on to the M1. Much to Smithy's disgust it was all down to a load of lorries toiling up the hill from the motorway, their wheels spinning on the ice, and we were stuck in traffic for half an hour before we decided to turn around and go Bolsover way (if any of you don't know Bolsover, it's like an inner-city but out in the country). Smithy then proceeded to stop next to a stranded lorry and shout at the driver who was conversing with another one over the road, and although the reply was short and to the point we felt much better. Once through Bolsover we did a wide circle back onto the A617 from Chesterfield, and eventually got on the M1 about a mile from where we had got stuck. It then took about half an hour to get to Sheffield and the venue, the weather improving all the time (although we did see another lorry slip and slide down a hill, which was scary to say the least).
Once there we made ourselves known to the Sheffield lot, finding out that
Pete Scholey and
John Hoyland were running the show, and after waiting an hour for the Birmingham Troll Slayers and Martin Thornton to turn up with his 'puter (Rob Broom couldn't come as he was busy painting his army for the tournament in Baltimore, Yankland) we found out exactly who we were playing...
|
|
|
|
|
Oh no... not again...
|
|
|
|
After we'd put away all our lovely little miniatures and sorted out our not-so-lovely little bags (especially after a sweaty night out's unclean shirts), it was was time to pack up the tables and give out the prizes. It took a while to take all the tables down because one or two battles were still going, but they eventually finished after Martin screamed at them and
John Hoyland took centre stage.
First of all he read out the Best Army Composition, which turned out to be Amanda Rutter with her High Elves... apparently she had the least beardiest army ever because she only took two magic items! Then the wooden spoon for last place was given out, which was a nice touch; this going to
Trevor Allen with his Dwarfs (see Conrad? It's not just you). Then came Best General, which to my total shock turned out to be me... jeez. What did I do to deserve that? I duly went up and collected my prize and then John told me to sit down on the stage.
From there I watched the prize-giving to the overall placings, which was Ian Whittaker (fifth),
Nathan Hoole (fourth),
Adrian McWalter (third), Pete Renn (second)... and... yes, yes, all right... it was me again. I won the whole thing, but I'd just like to point out that it was all down to sheer luck and I actually have no tactical sense whatsoever, especially after a drinking session (there is a theory that the more beer you drink at tournaments, the luckier you become - I shall be testing this hypothesis out very vigorously at Lenton). For prizes I got the new Oglah Khan's Hobgoblin Wolfboyz and a Goblin Wolf Chariot - jeez, more Dogs of War! Somebody up there definitely wants me to start collecting them!
Mention should be made though that had Smithy played me in the last game, it could have been totally different... I don't fancy my chances against them Woodies!
|
|
|
|
|
Yet Another Hard Weekend's Wargaming!
|
|
|
|
I was wasted after the first game, so it was hardly surprising that the weekend - especially after having such a good night out on Saturday - drained me totally. Once we'd got ourselves sorted and out of Sheffield, Smithy and I agreed it had been a really tough weekend, but we did both enjoy it (although, not surprisingly, he was a tad downbeat after having a twenty-nil defeat inflicted on him by our mate Pete Renn). I was pretty downbeat, too, because I had received a very low sportsmanship score - the second lowest in fact (six out of twenty), which absolutely gutted me.
Adrian McWalter understands how this feels totally; he got the same at the Ribble Rumble, and he is not an unsporting player. When you and your good friends regard you as totally un-beardy, it comes as a shock to receive such a low score for sportsmanship. I was more bothered about this than winning, to be honest.
What really gets to me is that very few people give points for sportsmanship based on the idea behind it. People can abuse it totally; what tended to happen with both Smithy and I was that our opponents would give us low scores because they didn't enjoy the game. They didn't enjoy it because they were beaten comprehensively, but just because you've been hammered is no reason to give low sportsmanship. You've played to the rules, you've been friendly, you've been willing to give and take - and you get low marks because the other person lost and didn't 'enjoy' the game. To my mind that's not what sportsmanship is about - it's about whether your opponent has been following the rules (ie not trying it on), fair and a good laugh. Just because you've been hammered doesn't mean your opponent is unsporting.
Rant over - what were the highlights? The Saturday night at the Sports Club was a fantastic one - we all got rather sloshed and had a great time taking the mickey out of everybody, and the breakfast in the morning was pretty good too (and very welcome on an empty beer-fumigated stomach). The meals provided by the Sports Club were excellent, too - thanks must go to the girls for preparing them!
Big thanks must of couse go to the Sheffield Dragon Slayers who hosted the tournament and the two umpires
John Hoyland and
Pete Scholey, who didn't really have much to do. Thanks must also go to the stalwart Martin Thornton who trekked up to help out with the scores - and all for just beer!
Well, that's another tourney under our belt... catch you all at Lenton!
|
|
|
|
|
|
