The weekend with Swedish Masters of Guild Ball was an absolute success!
Longshanks Event Link
This is the first larger Guild Ball event hosted in Sweden that I know of, since The Revival. When I asked earlied what deliniate a national championship, and if I can use that, someone answered “Basically call it anything that will make people come” – so I did.
And I’m so happy I did.
I mean we could’ve had more attendees, but as a very first comeback I think we did great. I honestly expected a few more – but as always with planning events, eventuallt a date just needs to be set, and some people that want to attend just aren’t able on that date.
But that’s basically the single only drawback on an overall super nice weekend of Guild Ball, with a bunch of really great people.
Thank you all SO much for coming, and for wanting a new one next year. I will absolutely aim for that, and will get info up as soon as I have been able to pick a date and stuff like that.
Friday Casual
Managed do get off a little early from work, so me and my co-host Mattias went to the venue with all the stuff, to setup the tables and everything. Really nice system with projector and speakers to play background music and show the pairings on a big screen.
I had printed the new gameplan cards for all tables (in addition to the decks I bought on release day) and I also made scorecards for whiteboard-pen rewritable sweetness. The tables just looked so great with the brand new guild mats from Deep Cut Studios, and overall it’s a superb local place for hosting a gaming event.
The prize table felt nice and well stocked just as I’d hoped, with lots of different stuff to pick from, and the trophies looked really good in the metallic colors. In the pic below I hadn’t put up the two big hardcase foam bags that were also part of the prize table. You’ll just have to imagine them there behind the trophies 😉
I had promised to pick up the brittish guys from the airport, but Mattias offered to go while I finished setting everything up. So he brought a Kickoff Box to hold as a sign and went (I wish I’d gotten a photo of that!) while I poked around and also got to greet the Finnish delegation.
They were reduced to only one man in the end, after having had hopes of getting at least 4 and maybe even 10 to come. But regardless, I’m super happy that Tini could make it and represent Finland the same way that I represented Sweden back at Finnish Masters in april 😀
When Mattias had dropped the brits off at their hotels we went to get burgers, and both the brits and several others of the players joined up. Really fun to finally get faces to the names that I’ve chatted with on Discord for so long.
After the burgers we got some casual games in at the venue.
Tini (FIN) vs Valerian (ENG)
Simon (ENG) vs Jonny (SWE/FIN)
Daniel (SWE) vs Franky (ENG)
Three great guys from Umeå (two of them went to Wasa in April as well, but to play MCP and not Guild Ball) drove up to Luleå after work, which is around 4 hours drive. So they arrived late, so the rest of us were mid game and Mattias had just went home, but they could still sneak some gaming in amongst themselves before going to sleep at their hotel.
It was a great evening that ended even later than anticipated, which was a nice treat!
Some last minute purchases of candy and sodas to offer at the venue, then I got a few hours sleep.
Saturday – Event Day
Registration 9-10 am
Eleven people made it before ten, and one of the locals Christian had a family logistics issue so he joined after lunch and my awesome co-host Mattias graciously took the first Bye to avoid having any of all the traveling players not getting to play.
With players enrolled, rosters nailed down, and pairings matched, I sat down to play.
Shoutout to Longshanks that is such a super good event management tool!
Fishermen
I played Mono-Shark this event, and I’ve listened to the FCSN podcast episode about Fish – well, let’s just say more than once 😉
My roster:
Shark
Salt
Tentacles
Kraken
oSakana
vSakana
Fathom
vSiren
Hag
Angel
Grayscales
Knuckles
I don’t own Yukai, having sold them off sometime in the between-times before The Revival, and I’ve never gotten around to trying to play Corsair. I adore the pure ballgame power of Shark though, so as a refreshing change from my Masons and Hunters I really like to play Shark Fish.
I know most fishermen cuts Grayscales from their roster, and in the end I didn’t actually field him. But oSiren is an enigma that I haven’t gotten around to either, so I decided to bench her this weekend.
I played Angel in most games, but almost every time I was annoyed about her 1″ melee. Same way that I more than once was in trouble since Fathom basically can’t act unless she’s charging or she’s already got the ball. Luxury problems though obviously, since the overall goal preassure fom a full striker team always goes pretty hard.
I also played oSakana a few games, and Netted on him just isn’t the same threat as it is on Azimuth. Not bad, just seldom worth the time and influence, at least in a Shark lineup.
Round 1
My game one was vs one of the brittish guys, Simon with the Falconers Guild.
We both got to do fun stuff, and Devana is an absolute killing-machine.
My dice started instantly to show how cursed they apparently were, and I rolled four natural 1s, followed by a completely whiffed roll just after as well, with tons of 2s and 3s when needing 4s.
Managed a win in the end tho!
Super fun game and I love that he brought a Sweden Hat that he wore during the whole weekend <3
Jim who runs the Local Firendly Game Store also joined, and played all three rounds of saturday. I’m really happy he enjoys GB as well!
Even though he can’t bring the game to his shelves yet, he’s an enthusiastic wargamer who enjoys skirmish games like GB and Warmachine. GW games are biggest here in Luleå too, just like internationally, but still fun to see GB getting love from the hardcore wargamers. Jim’s shop is physically too small for hosting events inside the shop, but he manages a cellar venue called The Bunker where we play our regular meta nights most weeks.
Round 2
After the first match people spread out in town for a quick lunch of choice, then we all got back onto the pitch.
Next up Franky!
Since I’d played his Navigators on the friday casual I knew it was a really difficult matchup. But with some practise from the night before, and with a nice guy to play against, I enjoyed it despite getting firmly steamrolled. Twice.
Since we finished the game so quickly, we reset and ran another one for fun. To be honest, it’s a pretty nice achievement to have been able to lose TWO games faster than anyone else finished their ONE game haha.
I dunno if Franky counts his corresponding wins against me as equally noteworty, but it still speaks to his experience and skill (and the power of Azimuth ranged knockdown…) that he could cut me down this quickly while I did my honest best to resist him. Look at these clocks.
Being the happy puppy that I am, I still had loads of fun trying to crack this puzzle, despite failing spectacularly. I got an anecdote out of it, and some extra time to get photos of the event in full swing.
My latest convert Christian came to join in time for round two, so Mattias also got to play!
Mattias was paired against Jonny, another local who’s made a deep dive into Guild Ball lately and bought engineers just recently. He rep’s both Finland and Sweden, since he was born on the other side of the sea, but lives in Luleå. He’s my most frequent opponent, and he’s a really great guy.
Christian btw! He deserves an extra honorable mention. He got interested when I talked about GB earlier this summer, so he bought a pitch and some Smiths and other random models (some Falconers and Farmers I think) before he’d even had his first game! Then life and family logistics continued to get in the way for both of us, so his very first game of Guild Ball was here at round 2 of Swedish Masters.
It was perfect that he got paired against Niclas from Umeå, as a super friendly teacher.
Round 3
Now I got to face Mattias! He is the one who got me into Guild Ball years and years ago, when we split a Kick Off box between us.
Due to discgolf season where he’s part of the local nobility, it’s already been a little while since we played GB now, and even longer since it was more than once a longtime. He is usually very self-critical, but he’s still a fairly strong player underneath. I know he disagrees, but that’s my honest opinion.
When we split the kickoff he took Brewers and I took Masons, but he’s been main’ing Alchemists for years now. So naturally that’s what he brought for the event.
During the day, several other friends came by to watch and cheer for us!
I did manage to scrounge up a win against Mattias, after I got yet another missed shot on goal, and also made a big mistake forgetting when and how to use vSakana Fancy Footwork. The classic real-time smooth-brain thinking evaded me there, that’s for sure.
Franky stood beside the table and said “I know what you should’ve done Daniel, but I’ll tell you later”. When later came and I was guessing, it still took me a few tries…
But in hindsight i might agree that hitting a KD’d Heat with a croudout and using Fancy Footwork would’ve been more effective thaaan just attacking the ballholder and whiffing the whole thing. xD
I have no idea how I never even thought of it ingame, haha.
Dinner and drinks!
After the third round was concluded we strolled for a bit, and ended up at a nice resturant close to the venue. Varied menu with something for everyone, including beers and Simons screwdriver. Cheers!
Quality time with great people, I’m so greatful for this weekend, and happy to be part of the GB community in general.
Saturday night casual
I got a game against Valerians “Snotling Miners” that were made back when Miners were a lot harder to come by. One of our locals play Miners, and was away on a business trip this weekend unfortunately, so he lent his beautifully painted team to Valerian. But look at them, who can resist tiny green guys like those snotlings? At least I couldn’t 😉
I got two goals, but missed at least one shot in this game too.
The snotlings did minery things and scored 3 goals for the win.
Marcus P from Umeå played against Franky, and the mood wasn’t as competitive as it looks, honest! xD
Tini wanted a game as well, but only got to play watchmachine unfortunately.
We finished the evening with playing a really nice cardgame though, that Tini had brought with him, called Scout. I can absolutely recommend it. Simple rules centered on numbers, but with a few really interesting twists – I liked it!
I got in last each round haha, but thats my usual spot in many games to be honest, and I’m happy just to get to hang out with friends and play games. Also shows how smart friends I tend to have 😉
Sunday – Final rounds
Long sunrise walk with my dog, then got to the venue around 9:30 and refilled the candy bowls. Then with the coffee machine puffing away, we started day two.
Round 4
I got to play against Niclas from Umeå. He was one of the more active swedish GB players back in the days, as far as I know. They hosted GB events down in Umeå back then, and twice me and Mattias drove the 4 hours to attend there.
I feel like I made a good effort in this match, but in the end the wonderfully painted Brewers were too difficult for me.
At one point I tried a snapshot that missed, largely due to me not having momentum to bonus time with Fathom, so even the rerolls failed me. Afterwards we concluded that I probably should’ve just dodged her away with the ball and spent her activation to score more securely later. Lesson for another day, for sure. It’s easy to get greedy, or stressed (or both) even when having a great time playing.
Here in round four, the Langton brothers faced off in a quick goalscoring pinball match. Didn’t manage to snag a picture of their epic battle this time though.
Round 5
In the last match for the weekend I played Marcus E, also from Umeå.
My game against blacksmiths was quick and rutheless, where I wasn’t really prepared of the speed a ballfocused smiths team can bring. I did manage to get two goals, but a missed shot on goal gave Iron an easy activation to get the killing blow on my goalpost.
After our game while waiting for the other matches to finish, I had a discussion with Marcus E about Guild Ball’s unforgiving nature in comparison to many other games. Turn one really matters, and wether its a missed goalshot or a tactical misplay, crashing T1 can set you back a LOT. FCSN talked about that recently, so check that out if you haven’t already.
Personally I disagree that there’s barely anything to be done if T1 goes badly, since the opponent is playing a dicegame too in equal measures.
But there’s room for feelbads originating in turn one, and there are no strong catch-up mechanics apart from goal-inf and stuff like that. I can agree with that, even though I don’t think it’s a problem overall for the gamedesign of GB.
Personally I think the speed and get-go action already in turn1 is one of the things I really like about the game.
I’m enjoying synnergies as much as anyone, but I like that decisions matter and that actions are relevant from the statt, rather than getting easier reset-turns where either/both players dont get to do much.
My missed goal basically gave smiths the win in this round, and to not be able to do anything about that, thats obviously a feelbad in terms of game design.
But it also doooes reflect my draft choices, and the fact that I haven’t played against football-Smiths basically since covid.
I still had a fun game, I’m not easily phased by losses 😉
Here in round 5, Marcus P was beaten by Franky but he still came out as 3rd in final scoring.
Well done man!
I earlier mentioned the very honorable achievement of a double loss in the space of less than an hour. I made another achievement as well:
Over the whole weekend, in 8 games played I missed 7 shots on goal. SEVEN. My dice were just cursed throught the whole event it seems.
But I tried to adopt the same mindset that the FCSN guys have mentioned, that “all goalshots not attempted are sure to not score” and at the end of the day it is a dice game after all.
Prizes!
Dive into the full statistics on Longshanks here!
The prize structure included all of these:
- 1st place
- 2nd place
- 3rd place
- Sportsmanship (vote)
- Best Painted (vote)
- Most takeouts and/or goals per model
- The Wooden Spoon
- One extra pick from the prize table for all attendees!
Giftcards from ALPHASPEL in Stockholm were awarded to places 1-3 and the painted and and sportsmanship, as well as the takeouts and goals.
Huge thank you to Alphaspel for the generous contribution!
Hopefully everyone gets to use their giftcards, I know they have some old days guild ball stuff still in stock for example, and obviously tons of other things as well. Link –> https://www.alphaspel.se/
Best painted was a fight between Niclas and Marcus E from Umeå. Both teams were really amazing! Marcus won by a few votes margin.
If our locals Tommy or David (who both were unable to attend unfortunately) would’ve been there, I know they would’ve been strong contenders for best painted as well, but Marcus obviously might’ve still been on top. His smiths were superb, so very well earned prize!
Sportsmanship was awarded to Tini by popular vote, which is also really well earned obviously. Really great guy, I’ll say it again that I’m so happy he could make it. Humbly, I take pride in the several votes that I got as well.
The prize for most Takeouts by a single model over the whole event, became a battle between Falconers captain Devana (piloted by Simon from UK) and Shepherds captain Herder (piloted by Marcus P from Umeå) and they finished on 12 each. TWELVE. Well played.
Simon graciously gave the giftcard prize to Marcus, as long as he could keep the paper slip as a memento.
Most Goals Scored by a single model was won by a landslide, and not by Shark since he missed so many goals haha, but by the engineers captain Pin Vice (piloted by by Jonny) with 8 goals scored over the five rounds.
Christian took the spoon, despite Simons awesome yellow shirt saying “Wooden Spoon Lover”.
After all special prizes were awarded, everyone got another pick from the prizes. We had planned top-to-bottom, but by popular opinion we swapped it to bottom-to-top pick order.
Jonny got a brand new Pitch mat. Christian got the biggest hardcase box with foam pick-n-pluck for his new guildball hobby. Tini got a Seenah that he was missing for his Hunters.
All in all it seemed everyone got one or more things they appreciated from the prize table, so that was a huge success. As a TO I’m super happy about that organisational detail.
Personally I got sweet special dice from both Franky and Simon! And a strawberry GB ball!
After prizes were awarded and everyone had packed up, Mattias drove the Langtons back to the airport.
Another one who deserves a huge shoutout is Mattias. He’s rock solid, and quite obviously I couldn’t have done this as good without him.
Thanks again to everyone involved and everyone who came by. I really hope to be able to make another even around the same time next year, and help grow the game, and bring a great gaming experience to even more people.
Next up is trying to get a Guild Ball game in at the Warmachine WTC in swedish Ronneby in October, and after that who knows where I’ll poke my head in for a game. I’m really hoping to be able to go to Warmanchester next year for example.
Thanks for reading!
See you on the pitch everyone!
