The Armati UK League Championship

[1AncientBrit]

The Armati UK League Championship

Just back from the Glasgow Armati event (the Phil Rodgers Trophy supported by the Phoenix Wargames club) last weekend where I won 2 and lost 3 and finished 12th of 18 players!! And had a good time. (An event part sponsored by the SoA since the inception of the Glasgow weekend.) Hopefully Phil Steele will be able to add some of his photos elsewhere on this website.

The Glasgow event is now "official" start of the League year, consisting of 5 counting tournaments for League year points - your average score from your best 3 events you attended determines your League position.  Glasgow now starts this count so the  League can award the annual champions trophy at Glasgow for the previous year (or count).  This competitive aspect is only part of the League's story as it is also a very successful environment for games played within a friendly atmosphere which continues into 'bon ami' social spirit of an evening gathering of players at the weekends. 

2012 in retrospect:

There was the traditional discussion "parlement" at the end of the Glasgow 2012 presentations. We heard that 35 different players had participated at one or more of the 5 weekends during last 12 months. Bournemouth was the most popular event in terms of participation with 20 players then came Glasgow 2012, with 18, and then Derby with 14. Britcon and London had 8 each. Players suggested various reasons for swings in participation: players tightening belts in face of redundancy or rising prices and falling wages / salaries; clashes with other commitments like Scottish schools re-starting after summer holidays in second week of August, as well as fashions in rules and Armati being seen as a 'dead' set of rules as out of print and rarely promoted. There are various ideas about how to encourage new players to take up Armati UK games weekends, eg rewarding new players for participating - like the army of figures donated by Mark Fry to best newcomer at Bournemouth.  There was a discussion about changing the League scoring system to reward both adventurous play and also those novices who inflict unit breakpoints on opponents armies during games. There is also talk of returning to the experiment of players having a PLAN A and a PLAN B list at Bring Your Own Army events like Britcon and London (West) so novices may be choose which list gives them a better games option once they know whom they are playing and their army.

2013 GAMES CALENDAR

We put in place plans for games weekends as follows; (no trade show unless noted and all UK events bar Paris, France):

BOURNEMOUTH - ARMATI BY THE SEA - 2 day event, 2nd & 3rd March 2013{scenario based, 5 games, with 2 matched armies per game, from biblical to medieval, randomly drawn, no need to bring an army}. Organisers / umpires: Peter Barham, Roy Boss, Mark Fry. Great atmosphere. Usually held in hotel conference suite and Peter obtains discounted accommodation for us too. Shared meal on Saturday evening for those wanting to share Armati "bon accord" - to borrow a catch phrase from a Glasgow pub name.

LONDON (WEST)- 2 day event 18th & 19th May, 2013. In its 2nd year. Bring your own army, from Antiquity / Age of Empires or in historical terms from "classical Greek" to "Republican Rome" and their contemporaries.  John Bradley, organiser / umpire, has some plans to add an extra twist by thinking of 2 of the 5 rounds being played with an opponents army!! Nice idea. Again 5 games.

PARIS event ?8th June 2013 - doesn't count towards Armati UK League title points as scored differently, but has attracted participation from a number of British players (and their wives), including me! Organiser / umpire is Vincent Auger. See this website and Armati yahoo group website for details of next year's event or previous events.

BRITCON in Manchester (BHGS event with small trade show)- a two day Armati event - over 17th & 18th AUGUST - but we need to (a) confirm BHGS dates; and (b) confirm how many Armati players are participating in this bring your own army event, probably based on Triumph of Cavalry Armies.  The prospective players need to determine armies, as Mark Fry is standing down as umpire for this event due to a clash with other commitments - well done Mark for trying to keep us in order and developing Umpire role over a number of years. Regular Britcon participants / players: Craig Tannock, Steve Metheringham, Vincent Auger, Bill Wilson and Karsten Gould have been volunteered to organise and promote this bring your own army event so it doesn't fail due to low numbers participating.  5 games planned starting Saturday morning and NOT Friday evening.

DERBY 5th & 6th October (at World Championships with a LARGE and INTERESTING TRADE SHOW all in one hall) - a two day event with 4 games being played from either Biblical with Triumph of Cavalry (I think, as in discussion Antiquity / Age of Empires seemed popular choice alongside Biblical!) - so time to shop too or take in the demo games - with pre-set armies chosen randomly, (yes we need you to volunteer armies but those travelling a distance or without armies can enter event without bringing an army for others to use). Many players arrive Friday evening for a meal and drink but thats simply a social extra you can simply turn up to play Saturday! Organiser / umpire is Steve Metheringham.

GLASGOW 2013 Phil Rodgers Trophy event: 2 day event, to be held on 23rd and 24th November 2013. 5 games, scenario based, from Bibilical to medieval, matched armies. Randomly chosen armies from those loaned by Phoenix club players principally.

If you are interested in participating in one or more of our games weekends then contact me through this website and I will add you to our mailing list.

Carl Luxford

[Mark G]

Its worth adding, that all three of the big UK Armati competitions are designed for travelling players and those who are new to ancients.

Bournmouth, Derby and Glasgow all work on a format which means that new players need not bring any figures themselves.  I think only one player even bothered to bring their rules to Glasgow this year.

All three are also highy social - Bornmouth and Glasgow arrange evening meals together and coordinate hotels, and Derby players try to organise accomodation to ensure a similar social event is arranged in the evening too.

If you fancy a weekend playing ancients, these three are always worth considering.

[Martin Smith]

Sorry to revive very old threads, but how many Armati tournaments are there in the UK now? A comment was made on the DBA Fanaticus forum about the proportion of Armati and DBA games which have appeared so far in the 2017 SoA Championship.

[Mark G]

Bournemouth in March.
London in June
Derby in October
Glasgow in November

They are regular.  Occasionally another pops up from time to time.

And Paris gets a few brits most years too.

[Martin Smith]

Many thanks.