Wow, what an Underworlds weekend!
Rhys and I decided one tournament on a weekend wasn’t enough, so we went to two! First, there was The Krkur Kurse!! in Sheffield on Saturday (sadly not Sheffield Wednesday), followed by the regular Element Legends tournament at Stockport on Sunday. As the defending champ from last Element Legends, the pressure was on!
Saturday’s games were against a great mix of seasoned vets and eager novices, with both of us enjoying steaming victories and heartbreaking losses. There was even a tie after a rematch for Rhys against the infamous James Waters, who sadly got the upper hand in game 2 to clinch the tournament win.
Both of us were trying new combos of warbands and cards, leading to a fresh experience at what turned out to be a great event. I was play Sigmar’s chosen wizards exploiting exotic poisons and toxins, while Rhys was playing Gloomspite Gitz hiding behind a wall. Trust me, it makes sense in context…Out of 16 competitors, I came 10th, and Rhys came 3rd. Thank you to Crookes & Crosspool Tabletop Gaming for hosting the event, and Martin for doing a great job hosting.
With the thrilling warmup under our belt, James kindly put us up for the night, and we chatted for hours while enjoying some drinks and authentic Italian pizza. It was great crack! We wish James and his teammates the best of luck when they represent England at the World Championships later this year.
Fresh from a good night’s sleep dreaming of strategies, he headed over to Stockport for Element Legends. I chose to try out an old and beloved pairing of Tzeentchian daemons and earth-shattering sorcery, which Rhys kept yesterday’s tried and true combo that nearly brought him his first tournament win.
The day was great fun, as it always is seeing old friends and rivals. I immediately got matched up with James – much to my dismay – but I do maintain that with a little more luck, I would have stood a chance. However, this became an omen for my day, as three of the next four games evaporated around me due to bad dice rolls and tilted decisions on my part.
Rhys, on the other hand, was having a great day! While the tournament was dominated in representation by the passive play of Nagash’s spectral servants, Rhys was able to smash them to pieces with the Gobbo’s great combination of sneaking up and stabbing them to (un)death! While he ended up winning only three games, his play really put his opponents in the slammer. and some less clutch dice by his opponents would have led to a very different outcome.
In the end, out of 24 players, I came 22nd… and Rhys came 6th! It was another great time, and thank you to all our opponents throughout the weekend. Thanks to Element Games and Jamie Eden for hosting the event and establishing such a strong competitive environment for Underworlds in the North West.
Because of a bunch of networking we did over the weekend – meeting new faces and such – we can now tell anyone who’s interested in playing some tournaments that there are several coming up! There are tournaments in Sheffield and Chester on the 27th of October, and the Element Legends Christmas Special will be taking place on the 15th of December.
We encourage anyone who is interested in learning to play to approach myself or Rhys for a practice game. All you would need to bring is the courage to give it a go, and D&B will provide the gorgeous models and cards needed to play. Also, we are currently speaking with the committee to try to organise a tournament of our own in November! Depending on availability of the hall, this may be either a Thursday mini-tournament for D&B members to complete for glorious prizes, or a fully fledged tournament open to the wider public to test their mettle!
We hope to see you all soon across the tabletop!
Will Thwaites
Dice and Bolter 