Gather in Omaha, NE this May for the great battle of our time! A day may come when people stop playing tabletop wargames…but it is NOT THIS DAY! This day we fight! This event will be hosted at the annual Bugeater GT, the largest wargaming event in Nebraska, and is a qualifying Major Event for the Great Plains Hobbit League (GPML). You do not need to be a member of the GPML to participate in league sanctioned events and this tournament is open to all. If you would like your tournament scores to be considered for the League, be sure to notify the TO.
Tournament Registration: This tournament will use Tabletop Admiral. Competitors must register to attend at the following link: https://tournaments.tabletopadmiral.com/event/569
Maximum Players: 30 (8 minimum to be a qualify as a GPML “Major” Event)
Paint Requirement – Each competitor’s army must have at least 3 colors and be based (either painted or with basing materials).
Prizes – Each competitor will receive a prize! Prizes will also be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place tournament finishers, as well as for the Best Painted Army and Best Painted Runner Up.
Painting Contest – During the Lunch Break, competitors may submit their army for a painting competition. Competitors will set up their submission at a gaming table and label their army with its title and the competitor’s name. The judge(s) will rank the submissions over lunch and announce the winner at the end of the competition. The contest will be judged by the TO and/or a guest judge (TBD).
Schedule
8:30am – 9:00am: Event Check-In 2:00pm – 3:45pm: Round 3
9:00am – 10:45am: Round 1 4:00pm – 5:45pm: Round 4
11:00am – 12:45pm: Round 2 6:00pm: Results Announced!
12:45pm – 1:45pm: Lunch – Painting Contest
Tournament Rules
Army Lists
All lists must follow the 2nd Edition MESBG ruleset released by Games Workshop included in either the Armies of the Lord of the Rings, Armies of the Hobbit, Armies of Middle Earth and Legacies of Middle-Earth PDF*.
*To reiterate – Legacy armies and characters can be utilized for this event!
Army List Submission
Submit final army list to the tournament organizer no later than midnight 31 May 2026. Army list submissions after this date (whether for late adds to the tournament or forgetting to submit) will be permitted, but those competitors will not be told the selected scenarios.
Scenarios
Each round of the event will take place over 1 hour and 45 min period with pre-set scenarios.
The “veto system” will not be used for this tournament. The scenarios will be selected by the TO from the 2nd Edition Matched-Play Guide prior to this event. On 4 June 2026, the 4 selected scenarios will be announced, but the order of scenarios will be withheld until the day of the tournament.
Tournament Scoring
Tournament rankings in the event are determined by a player’s tournament point score which are based on victory points earned in each game.
Keep a tally of victory points earned in each round to determine your score – Submit to the TO after each round.
Major Win (Double or More than Opponent’s VPs & 6+ VPs scored) = 6 TPs
Minor Win (More than Opponent’s VPs) = 5 TPs
Draw (Equal VPs) = 2 TPs
Minor Loss (Less than Opponent’s VPs) = 1 TP
Major Loss (If your opponent scored a Major Win, you receive a Major Loss) = 0 TPs
If there is a tie between players with the same number of TP, the total victory points across their games will be used to decide the final place in ranking. If they are also tied for the number of VP, it will be whoever ceded fewer VP to their opponents across their games. If that number is also a tie, the TO will resolve the tie.
Pairings
Pairings for round one will be randomly generated at the start of the event after check-in. Following round one, the pairings will be determined by the number ranking in tournament points earned with ties being broken in the same manner as above.
Proxies, Conversions, and Third-Party Miniatures
Conversions and third-party models are welcome if they are “What you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) to avoid confusion for players throughout the event. WYSIWYG is to be construed as within reason and the spirit of the game with any issues being resolved by the TO.
Miniatures must scale appropriately with models made by Games Workshop and bear a likeness to the model they are standing in for and be easily identifiable.
If you have a proxy, third-party miniature, or conversion that is of concern, please contact the TO for guidance.
