Warmachine & Hordes EU Masters Championship 2016 Live Blog!

It's Friday night and we're just here for a quick update so you can meet some of the people behind this event here at Black Oil in the Czech Republic.

Look out for more photographs later tonight as the rest of the competitors from the EU arrive and of course everything kicks off tomorrow for real!

While Justin is busy working on the videos for the Live Blog folks play some games...

As well as Warmachine & Hordes folks are playing some board games and other miniatures games like Frostgrave for example at Black Oil. It's a proper little haven for those who like their gaming.

We took some time to chat with the awesome Doug Hamilton from Privateer Press about the work he's been doing on the new sculpts for MK III of Warmachine & Hordes.

As a bonus to those of you on Beasts of War we also have some images of the sculpts below in their component parts. Check back over the weekend to see them assembled and (maybe) painted...

Vladimir, who owns Black Oil, allowed us to have a look through his cabinet of miniatures from his own collection and take a few snaps of his armies.

He has some interesting paint schemes but the one that caught by attention was for Retribution with the black rimmed by light blue to make it look as if they're glowing.

We'll see if we can get a look at some of his bigger miniatures soon.

...we just keep on with the teasers don't we? Justin sits down with Doug to ask about what's going to be coming up in the Q&A Sessions that he will be holding over the next couple of days.

As always we try and find out what might be getting discussed for MK III and of course the future too.

A quick one guys so we can get stuck into a day full of Warmachine & Hordes. There's some fantastic stuff on the cards and the place has plenty of excited players ready to defend their honour!

While the place gets set up the competitors who will be taking place in a few relaxed games today get set to writing lists and getting their models ready.

You can meet the Champions, who have got their orders now, and learn more about them in the bios below…

Who do you think will come out on top tomorrow?

The Marcus' Miniatures are here at Black Oil showing off their painting talent and soon you'll get a look at some assembled and painted versions of the Warcasters and Warlocks that you saw yesterday.

We think the paint jobs on these Trollbloods is insane!

We talk with the Head Judge for this weekend, Jason, about the plan today including the Last Chance Qualifiers and the Champions Arena.

We'll come back to Jason today to see how it's been going!

People are now getting stuck into their games and seeing if they can not only prove themselves against each other but maybe even beat a Champion...

The guys from Templates & Widgets and The Marcus' Miniatures have now built the new Warcasters and Warlocks for MK III.

We catch up with them to find out which were their favourites...

Doug sits down with Justin to have another chat about what's coming next for Warmachine & Hordes.

In this video we're talking about the new Warp Wolf that is on the way soon(ish) after MK III launches. It's freckin' ace!

You can take a look at the model in more detail in the gallery below. Don't forget to share this one with your friends.

While the view of most armies in Warmachine & Hordes is that they're not painted when they hit the table - it seems like most of the folks here have taken the time to get stuck in and paint some nice models.

See what you think from the battlefields of today...

We caught up with the EU Champion from Finland, Tatu, and asked him about his faction of choice and what his tactics are for this weekend.

Some of the neat terrain that you see here on the tables has been produced by Templates & Widgets who have been working on a range of MDF terrain which also contains magnets...

They have also shown off some of the Base Inserts that they have been using for the likes of your Warmhordes miniatures.

As you can see some more games are underway as folks try and get themselves into the big leagues.

We'll hopefully have more interviews with the players for you soon as we pick the brains of the Masters.

It's interesting how the games ebb and flow in Warmachine & Hordes. Here you can see two rather immense looking armies with Colossus at their command facing off.

One thing that is missing from many a Warmahordes table though is terrain - but I reckon that that's made up for by the larger than life creatures you play with.

We got to talk to Alessandro who is the Italian Champion about which factions he likes playing, some of his tactics and what he fears on the tabletop...

You can also check out some of his painted Circle Orboros models below as they make up his army for the weekend.

See what you think of how the Warcasters are looking right now as one of them is completed and the other is slowly but surely getting finished.

We also have a look at some models from Doug Hamilton's collection and a rather fine looking bust.

We talked to another of the champions from Slovakia who actually won the Irish Masters and secured a place here.

He has a real thing for Skorne and so shares some of his tactics and tips for using the faction.

Vladimir has put on some good grub with a very nice BBQ!

Got to love the hospitality here at Black Oil. This place is a really nice venue and if you end up in Brno I suggest coming to check it out. Even if you don’t play miniatures games the board game selection is great too.

Cygnar Vs Legion of Everblight becomes the finale for today as these two battle it out to try and get a place in the Masters tomorrow.

It looks like it's going to be an interesting fight.

Doug Hamilton from Privateer Press talks through some of the decisions that go into his sculpting for models within the Warmachine & Hordes range and gives us a taste of what it's like within the studio.

If you have any questions you might want to get answered by Doug we'll ask him tomorrow!

Both Cygnar and Legion are having some tough fights on the tabletop as the game closes in towards its final moments.

As you can see the board state is quite fragile but it could go either way depending on those inch by inch moves.

So, the big day has come. Here we have a full day of EU Masters for you to enjoy as the big cheeses from around Europe have convened for a big clash today.

We'll have a chat about more of what's going on today soon!

Jason, the Head Judge here at the competition gives us the lowdown on exactly how the day is going to run. The Champions have their competitors and it should be a challenge today...

You can find the Rules For Masters over on the Privateer Press website.

...we'll catch up with Jason throughout the day and find out how his picks are doing and who has come out on top.

The Champions have now got stuck into their games and we have some interesting match ups with some neat armies too.

We'll post up the army lists for each player later on today so you can have a look at what they're bringing to the tabletop.

The guys are now getting stuck into their games and the board is set, the pieces are moving! There are some interesting tactics at work here and we'll be catching up with some of the champions we followed yesterday to find out more.

Tatu is one of the EU Masters Champions (from Finland) that we followed yesterday to ask him his tactics and we spent some time delving into how his first game went.

Will the Butcher see glory by the end of today?

You asked for it and so we took some snaps of the Army Lists for the various players here at the tournament.

Have a look at them and see what you think of their army composition...

We're back with Doug to talk about some new models for Warmachine & Hordes. This time around we're looking at this Retribution Solo, the Lys Healer...

...don't panic. A new Legion Warbeast is coming soon.

Check out this utterly epic new sculpt from Doug Hamilton as he shows off the new Legion of Everblight Character Warbeast that he has been working on.

Now comes the guessing game. Whose Warbeast is this and what kind of abilities do you think it will have?

Right HERE you can go and join in with the Headhunter Contest from Privateer Press which could net you a rather fantastic looking trophy from the battlefield...

...would you prefer the Trollblood or the Cygnar Warjack?

We break for lunch and will soon be catching up with what's going on for Round Two.

I got to say, the folks here at Black Oil make some great grub and serve some wonderful drinks...

With Round One over we talk to Jason about how his predictions worked out.

As for the underdog from yesterday unfortunately he lost! We'll catch up with some more of the Champions soon.

The players have their match-ups and things are closing in towards the chance to become a full on Champion of Europe.

See how things are progressing...

This next scenario has a dangerous Kill Box meaning that you're Warcaster or Warlock has to get close to the action or you'll end up giving up victory points to the opponent.

It will make for some hairy moments for sure!

We talk with Bob Watts about the weekend so far and what he thinks of the event.

There's still plenty more games to come so keep an eye out.

Now we didn't get to cover the Drink & Paint Challenge last night as it was a little hectic BUT we do get to see the results in the light of day.

Leading the pack we have Vladimir's attempt but the others could pass muster...maybe? I don't think drinking and painting goes hand in hand.

We have been having a look for some more goodies for those of you who have been following the Live Blog throughout the weekend.

By commenting on THIS post here on the Live Blog you could win a signed Wraith Witch Deneghra by Doug Hamilton, a signed Program by all of the organiser's here AND some Limited Edition Pins + Badges thanks to Privateer Press.

See Final Video For The Winner

Comment below and let us know what you think of the Blog so far.

While Doug Hamilton has been answering a lot of questions over the weekend he has also got some time to play a game.

He's squaring up against Trollbloods with his Legion of Everblight.

As well as the big Legion Character Warbeast and a new Solo for Retribution Doug also showed off this fun sneak peek at what's ahead for the Legion at a smaller scale than 'big bloomin' beastie!'

Here we have the Nyss Warlord with some very sharp blades.

We catch up with Kevin from France who battled through the Last Chancer games yesterday to get a place in the skirmishes today.

He talks us through his choices of faction and leader as well as some tactics for the tabletop.

Some of you asked for a close up of the armies that are being played today. So, we took some time to take a look at a few of them below...

Let us know which one you'd like to see in more detail.

We talk more with Alessandro about his games that he's played today and find out where the games went and what went wrong/what went right...

It's interesting hearing about the trials and tribulations from the days gaming.

We talk to Jason about the end of the last round and what the stakes are as we move towards what could be a Championship game.

It comes down to a few important faces here so see what you think.

The battles that we're seeing here are pretty intense as they are getting to that point where one slip up could end the competition for players.

The competition will be decided soon.

Mathieu is taking on Christoffer and this will decide the final standings for this competition here in Brno. As things stand if Mathieu (in green) loses then Sascha will win - one of the other Masters!

We'll have a winner soon so keep an eye out.

In this second Q&A session from Doug we got some of your questions answered and learned a bit more about the process behind building miniatures for Warmachine & Hordes.

Find out more below...

Mathieu ended up losing which means that Sascha, who won his game, has ended up winning the EU Championship and coming out on top as the master of masters.

We have a little celebratory chat with him...

Bob Watts runs through the positions at the end of the day and Sascha gets his trophy!

Justin sits down with Doug, Bob, Jason and Vladimir to talk about their final thoughts on the event...

With that in mind we have to give out a HUGE thank you to Black Oil for hosting the event. They have been superb and supplied us with a great venue and a wonderful welcome.

We hope to be back again next year for more fun and more Privateer Press events.