This was our eight BFB tournament
and the seventh held face to face. We meet every year during November at The
Headlands Hotel, Blackpool, UK.
Great to see a much higher
attendance this year with the hotel fully booked! As well as the many regulars
at the event, it was pleasing to see a number of new and returning faces. I
hope they enjoyed the gaming / social atmosphere and will join us again in 2026.
Of the 41 attendees, 28 entered the
main tournament across the Heroic and Fanatic Divisions, up from 20 last year.
Early arrivals were there on Tuesday
for free play. A few years ago there were just 2 of us on the Tuesday, this
year it was 10. As the event becomes more popular, it seems players like to arrive
early and grab a table.
The organised gaming got underway on
Thursday. These were the Minis, again sponsored by our friends at Hazardous
Movement with scenario choices by Andy Bagley. There was the usual choice of
ETO or PTO with 20 players participating in groups of 4. The winners were Ian
Ainsworth, Mark Blackmore and Matt Ellis (ETO) along with Alex Ashton and Paul
Legg (PTO). Well played all.
The main tournament got underway on
Friday with play across 4 rounds over 2 days, finishing Saturday evening . As
always the scenarios are blind, the majority unpublished (3 of the 4 rounds
this year), and all from our main tournament sponsor, Bounding Fire Productions.
The format was the same as the last 2 years (if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it!)
being a four round, random draw, straight knock out competition. There were both
an “Heroic” Division of 16 players and also a “Fanatic” Division of the remaining
12 players who wished to play in the main tournament.
Whilst a knock out format, any
losing players went into a repechage and / or BFP Special Mini secondary
tournament thus ensuring that all entrants generally played at least 3
tournament games. Prizes were awarded to half of the starting players in both
Divisions.
This year the unpublished scenarios
were all from the next BFP product, Gathering Storm 1, featuring actions involving
the Allied Minor nations. Belgium, Holland and Norway were all represented this
year.
Congratulations and well played to all
the winners:-
BFP Special Mini winners:-
David Blackwood, Scott Cowie, James
Hirst, Andrew Kennedy and Ray Porter.
Repechage Tournament Winner:- Tony
Gibson
The final and 3rd / 4th
place play offs featured a tourney size action with Norwegian infantry
defending a village against a German attack supported by early war armour with
Ground Snow in effect. A balanced scenario with 2 wins for both the Allies and
Axis, the Heroic final appropriately coming down to the final CC phase.
In the “Fanatic” Division:-
4th place Stuart Brant
3rd place Frazer Greenshields
Runner Up Paul Legg
Winner Matt Ellis
In the “Heroic” Division:-
4th place Neil Brunger
3rd place Mark Blackmore
Runner Up Craig Benn
Winner Martin Vicca
Other winners of the various
tournament prizes on offer over the weekend included Andy Cochrane, Eric
Gerstenberg, David Lincoln, Martin Mayers, John Robinson and Richard Webb.
None of this would have been
possible without the generous support of our sponsors and supporters - Bounding
Fire Productions (main tournament), Hazardous Movement (Minis), Advancing Fire,
Dispatches From The Bunker, Ken Smith Fine Art, Lone Canuck Publishing, Second
Chance Games, Mario Aceto dice towers and Ian Willey for his superb dioramas.
Thank you.
Bounding Fire Blackpool will reconvene at the
same location, 18th-22nd November 2026, for more friendly, intense ASL action -
keep your eyes on the Blog (https://boundingfireblackpool.blogspot.com/)
for updates.
Many thanks to all those who attended and I look
forward to seeing you again next year.
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