Yorkshire Open Warhammer Tournament

I’m not a big player of tourneys, though I am committed to one later in the spring. Still I do like the fact that they generally insist on painted miniatures, and this is often the only way to see well painted Games Workshop armies facing off against one another.

A couple of weekends ago it was the Warhammer leg of the Yorkshire open in Leeds, one of several regional qualifiers for the finals. I rolled up in time for the army displays and snapped the pretty armies. Apologies to those that didn’t make the cut, but the standard was as can be seen high.

First up is one of our own, Steve, with a classic Dwarf army. Not in the same league as the other work on show, but still well finished and made of some of the best figures GW ever manufactured. Their classic 80’s and early 90’s dwarves are still the ones to beat in my opinion.

Next up is Dan’s filthy Lizardmen, with four Stegadons no less. Dan is a true artist and a real specialist at conversions. He is also a master of the beardy list and won the cheese award as a result!

Adam Turner, not one of our club players brought a spectacular Daemon army, with many fantastic conversions. The painting was great too. But alas the decision to display them on a garish box top detracts from the pictures. I understand this army won the comp on the battlefield.

Another Adam, this time Adam Padley, another ‘outsider’ presented an impressive mass of Skaven. The new plastic Skaven warmachines are mighty impressive, and look all of the thirty quid they cost to buy when finished this well.

But lastly we come to the winner of the best painted army; Justin Read’s Brettonians. Ok not as heavily converted as Dan’s Lizards or Adam’s Chaos, but the sheer labour involved in doing all the heraldry, and the vibrancy of the results won people over.

As for the gaming, well who knows, I went shopping instead. But some inspiring models made for a pleasant hour or so of just looking…