Tonight's feast was an Open Unrestricted 200 point battle on the small 1/4 sized (12x12) maps I have created for quicker games. This was ideal as 1/3 of the players were new to Approved Play and this was a nice way to settle them in. On a side note before I begin, Dale bought 4 boosters today and pulled three Uniques (including Warlock) and a Veteran Green Lantern! That's where all my good boosters go then is it? You can buy my boosters next time I play in a sealed event.

Round one pitted Martin Teece against one of the new guys, Dale de Andrade, for his first game. Martin was using a well constructed and balanced team he's named "Here Kitty" ultilising Sabretooth as a strong yet very cost effective hitter, Jean Grey to TK, Destiny for Probability Control and Jennifer Lynn Hayden for some impressive ranged support. Dale, who I believe only starter playing Heroclix earlier today, was using his nice Veteran Green Lantern (Collateral Damage). Dale found out that for only 200 points it can be risky to pile a lot of your build total into one figure with not a lot of support and was taken to the cleaners by the now thoroughly ruthless Mr. "T (eece)", giving Martin a very solid platform on which to build.

Fellow new guy, Simon Swinbank, saw a similar story in his first round game against James Phoenix. Simon's "Cannonfodder Allstars" (LOL) lived up their billing as Umbra, Black Mask and War Machine fell against the might of Sir Pietro Maximoff (probably the most used LE at this venue since his release), Shaman and Psylocke making the "Oh My God These Are 200 Points" team. On the plus side though Simon wasn't whitewashed like Dale had been as he did managed to KO Shaman during the match up, thus avoiding a second round bye.

The third of the new guys faired rather better with his first round match. David Hansell was paired with his friend Paul Atherton and was using the mighty Baron Blood (got love a Vampire in a tragic purple costume), Magdalene, Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man as the "Shadow Jumpers". Paul had once again gone for 'variety' as he mixed 4 experienced Spymasters with Warlock and a Wild Sentinel pog. Early in the game David struggled to hit as the Stealthed Spymasters also shared the 17 Defence of Warlock making them effective for both range and close combat. A mistake from Paul saw him move Warlock to attack hand to hand rather than strike from range against the Bloody Baron which left other team members exposed. In a close match right up to the death, David won through with some good late rolling to beat a previous Champion in his first game. Well played Sir!

Paul Crosby, who was still pretty new, but had now been out 'newed' by three separate players paired with Parry Cooke for his first round game. Paul's "Cheasy Bread" team consisted of Superman Blue, Typhoid Mary (together at last?!?!) and Sir Pietro Maximoff ... oh we were just talking about you Pietro! Meanwhile Parry had X-Men'ed up (Oh dear) and gone with the imaginative "X-Men" name for his Cyclops, Karma, Jean Grey and Wolverine. This was probably the closest game of the night as Paul Crosby got 137 KOs and Parry took 126 whilst parry had 60 points remaining to Paul's 67. Outcome a win to Paul by 204 points to 186. Will the Cooke family never tire of trying to make a sucess of the X-Men?

These match ups left poor 'Captain' James Cook and his "Cook's Wassak" team with a bye, but he didn't seem too disappointed, a win is a win I suppose. Deadpool didn't get to play this round though, which is a shame as he is one of my favourite clix (behind Taskmaster of course).

Martin begins his assault looking for a winners trophey and entry into the Winner's Hall of Fame, ruthless from the outset

New guy David Hansell looks very ponderous as he marches to triumph against Paul Atherton (hair only)

Is poor Simon having to take on two players here or is it just the angle of the camera shot? Hopefully the latter!

David Hansell continued his impressive form, or was it beginner's luck, with another win in his second round match. This time David took on another Paul, this one being of the Crosby flavour and the result was similar but with an even bigger margin of victory this time round. David boasted 619 points from his two matches, not quite up to Martin's score, but very impressive for a new guy none-the-less. Paul Crosby didn't manage to add a single point to his first round score thanks to the mad slashings of Baron Blood!

James Cook, feeling fresh after his first round bye, faced off with Parry's X-Men for his second round. Unfortunately Deadpool, Owl man and Katana had a bad day at the office, maybe they hadn't had time to get match fit. The X-Men turned the corner after their first round defeat and managed to KO all three of James' characters. In retaliation James was only able to KO Cyclops and Wolverine and so Deadpool faced humiliating defeat. Parry was one and one and had a very slim chance of making the final due to the big scores already collected by David and Martin.

Paul Atherton's second game was against another new guy, having suffered at the hands of his friend David Hansell this time he was facing Simon Swinbank (taking a break from Vs and Magic and warmly welcomed into the Wizkids and Heroclix fold). Simon is another player that's taking to Heroclix like a duck to water and he put in a great performace to sink Paul Atherton's "I Can't Think ><". Simon's "Cannonfodder All Stars" truned on the style and showed more of the All Star and less of the Cannonfodder as he picked up his first win at Paul's expense. Two defeats left Paul languishing at the bottom of the scorecard but Simon's win moved him up to mid-table mediocrity ready for the third round.

Poor Dale, after the merciless pasting he was handed out by Martin in his first ever game at an Approved Play Event, had to sit and watch this round as he collected the bye. It was a win, but I am sure Dale would have preferred to play and got some more experience under his belt, but Martin was having none of that (ruthless man that he has become), as he has not only found a game he can play well, but he also had the scent of victory in his nostrils with neither of the Ste's in the event for the first time ever.

Martin looking 'intense' (don't complain Martin I could have been much more insulting if you look closely at the face I have captured

This is either Paul Atherton catching an invisible ball or showing off about the size of the fish he caught, or is he directing the first Heroclix movie?

Closest behind these two clear front runners were Parry Cooke and his "X-Men" trying to prove that the Cooke family can make them work and James Phoenix's "Oh My God These Are 200 Points" (and they were), though neither was in truth that close to the score of Martin or David so they were mostly playing for third place. Well the Cooke family took the bronze (if only to polish it before next week) with a convincing win against the Phoenix (I am sure he'll be back!). Parry scrambled his total up to 761 points with the win and a 2 - 1 record, but was over a hundred points behind David (who had 3 wins anyway) and round 150 points behind Martin's 2 -1 scoreline.

Simon's second round win moved him up to 5th place and handed him a match against James (Jimmy) Cook to try and improve upon that. Tonight though there was something in the water and Jimmy was looking to put in a performance well above his average too. Jim won the game pretty darn convincingly to move to a 2 - 1 record (is that your first winning scorecard James? If so well done) but condemen Simon to a second defeat. This time they really were Cannonfodder again.

The final match up of the round saw Paul Crosby and Dale de Andrade go head to head. Both players were pretty new to competitive play with Paul Crosby having just a little more experience having played in a Mega Day event prior to today's fix. The lack of experience didn't prevent Dale from taking his first win (actual played out win, rather than scored via a bye) and he did it in some style as Green Lantern, Spymaster, Uncle Dudly and Dr. Jeremiah Arkham finally kicked into gear. Alas the poor Doctor could not survive the whole round, but he was the only one of the "Green Jerks" to be KO'ed as they cut slices through the "Cheesy Bread" opposition and left nothing but crumbs, ok they didn't actually even leave any crumbs. Dale moved onto 2 - 1 in his first event too - I should rename this event 'Night of the New Guy'! After such a promising start Paul Crosby only managed to get two points from his last two games. : (

Paul Atherton got the bye this round to collect his only win and jump him to mid table rather than dead last.

Round three in full flow (check out all the non-heroclixers in the background ... all potential New Guys next time round)

Martin this time looks pensive as he plots his next move, that give me an idea for a tournament "The Many Faces of Martin" : )

Congratulations must go to the Winner, Martin Teece and the very deserving Fellowship Award Winner David Hansell who gave me one of the easier decisions to make as he did exceedingly well as a new player but is also a very polite player and all round good bloke (not that everyone else isn't ... just some of them ; ) ). Thanks to MGC for hosting the event and Wizkids for Prize Support. Heroclix in the North East is going from strength to strength!

The final placings after the Swiss Rounds were ...

gap

Martin, saves the best face for last and his winners photo, coincidentally my camera has now stopped working entirely!

Well deserved Fellowship prize for David Hansell, welcome to Heroclix!