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Middle-earth™ Strategy Battle Game Grand Tournament 2024 Review

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Welcome back to The Road Goes Ever On and On – the monthly blog covering all things Middle-earth. This month we look at the results from the recent Middle-earth Grand Tournament at Warhammer World, including pictures of the winners of Best Army. There may even be a small teaser at the end…

The Grand Tournament 2024 Winning List

Players from across the globe descended upon Warhammer World to battle it out for the title of Middle-earth Grand Champion. When the dust had settled, after two days of competing with both Good and Evil forces in a series of six thrilling games, it was a veteran of the Middle-earth tournament scene that emerged victorious – Callum Edens! But what armies did Callum bring to conquer all-comers?

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Callum used the Riders of Théoden Legendary Legion for his Good army, featuring iconic characters such as Théoden, Gamling, and Éowyn (in her guise as Dernhelm). This hard-hitting Cavalry army can be devastating on the charge, and Callum used this to great effect over the course of his games.

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For his Evil army, Callum used the fearsome Host of the Dragon Emperor Legendary Legion, dominating the battlefield with a swathe of Black Dragons. Both the Dragon Emperor and Rutabi have the potential to cut through numerous foes over the course of the game, and the high Defence of Easterlings mean they are able to weather the onslaught of many foes and outlast their opponents if the circumstances are right. 

Jay Clare came second using the Beornings and a Far Harad army (with no fewer than 20 Half Trolls!). Ed Ball came third, bringing a very different Riders of Théoden force and the Black Riders. Congratulations to all three!

The Best Army Award

The Middle-earth Grand Tournament has always been a showcase of exceptional hobby talent. To many, entering the Best Army competition is a highlight of the weekend, and some players will spend all year planning and painting an entire display board as well! Here are the top three armies from this year’s event:

Third Place – Kalman Steels-Wright

Kalman took bronze this year for his wonderful display of the Last Alliance – an ever popular choice of army and displays amongst Middle-earth fans! For the good side, Kalman has converted mounted versions of both Elendil and Gil-galad, and has based both of his armies on scenic bases to match the burned, ash-covered lands of Mordor, complete with lava flows to give that extra pop of colour. Of course, you can’t have a Last Alliance display without Sauron himself, and the Dark Lord can be seen watching over his minions.

Second Place – Julian Hammond

Silver this year went to Julian Hammond, a regular amongst the placings for Best Army, for his wonderful Rohan and Dunland armies – each with their own display board. Julian’s Rohan army is themed around the charge of the Rohirrim at Pelennor Fields, and showcases Théoden leading his people into the fray against the hordes of Mordor.

For his Dunland army, Julian has gone with a striking yellow and black colour scheme, painting different segmented patterns on the shields and banners. His display board shows the army on the outskirts of a Dunlending settlement as they begin their march to war against the Rohirrim.  

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First Place – Phil Beale

Taking home gold in this year’s Best Army award was Phil Beale and his simply stunning depiction of Smaug raining fire and death upon the settlement of Lake-town. Not only has Phil converted most of the Lake-town Guard and Lake-town Militia to give as much variety as he can to his army, he also took on the monumental task of converting the mighty Smaug rearing up over a Lake-town house. 

Phil packed his display board full of references to the film (such as a boat with Tauriel and some of the Dwarves riding in it), hidden things to find, and a number of poor Lake-town Guard set ablaze. To top it all off, he even made it so that Smaug’s flames light up with a flick of a switch! A truly remarkable feat of hobby, and a worthy winner!

A look to the future...

But that’s not all for fans of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game, oh no...

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What in Middle-earth could this be? Well, you’ll just have to find out in our next blog! We’ll see you in a month…