Spring League, Pairings, and a New Spearhead Plan
Five rounds, not everyone-vs-everyone
We had one of those very familiar post-event hobby chats: half results talk, half future plans, and half figuring out what to paint next. Yes, that is three halves, but that is exactly how Warhammer conversations usually work.
This time the topic was the league format and why some dream matchups simply did not happen. Andrzej was hoping for a clash against Kharadron Overlords, but with the event capped at five rounds, there was no full everyone-plays-everyone structure. So unfortunately, no KO duel this time.
Michał mentioned that the pairings were handled through Champions Hub, which apparently uses its own algorithm. The original idea was supposedly to run the league all the way to the end of June, but the calendar got in the way a bit — long weekends, May holiday travel, Corpus Christi, all the usual real-life boss fights. In the end, the organizers went with a five-round format instead.
That is honestly very relatable. Sometimes the biggest enemy of a campaign is not another army — it is scheduling.
No mirror match? “Luckily not”
Another fun bit from the chat was the topic of Skaven pairings. Andrzej asked Michał whether he had played against other Skaven during the league.
The answer was short and perfect:
“Luckily not.”
Anyone who has played a few events knows that mirror matches can be either glorious chaos or absolute suffering, often both at once.
Autumn already looks busy
The good news is that this was not the end of the story. Michał mentioned that the autumn league is planned for September, and on top of that there is also talk of an autumn Spearhead league.
And honestly? That sounds great.
We really like seeing this kind of smaller-format momentum around Age of Sigmar. Spearhead is becoming a very natural way to get games in, try new armies, and most importantly, create a dangerous amount of motivation to start “just one more project.”
Michał is already considering joining the Spearhead league as well, which immediately turned the conversation toward the most important topic of all: enabling other people.
The KO deadline has been set
Since Andrzej was sad about missing the Kharadron matchup, Michał offered a very reasonable hobby challenge: there is time until September to get the Kharadron Overlords painted.
The terms were simple and beautiful. If Andrzej paints at least one unit, Michał will print him a gyrocopter.
That is exactly the kind of local hobby economy we fully support.
So now the plan exists, which in hobby terms means the dangerous part has already happened.
Spearhead news for the undead side too
The second half of the conversation shifted toward another army project. Michał dropped a link to the rules for a new Spearhead force and pointed out to Staś that there is now a battletome setup for his army.
That immediately raised the practical question every Spearhead player asks sooner or later:
Is this a separate fixed set, or can we mix units?
The answer, as expected, was that this is a different Spearhead list, so no mixing. But it was not all bad news. Michał quickly went through the collection and pointed out that some of the needed pieces are already there: skeletons, some cavalry, and then the missing piece to track down would be Barrow Guard.
In other words: this is not one of those impossible hobby plans. This is one of the dangerous “you are actually quite close” hobby plans.
And to make it even better, Michał also mentioned he has an old undead model available if needed:
There is something very fitting about a conversation that starts with league pairings and ends with rummaging through undead options for a new Spearhead force.
Our favorite kind of event aftermath
What we like most about this exchange is that it captures the best part of local events. The games themselves matter, sure — pairings, missed matchups, mirror match relief, all of that. But the real afterglow is in the hobby fallout:
- planning the next league,
- talking ourselves into September goals,
- bribing each other with prints,
- checking whether an army is one unit away from being playable,
- and generally turning one event into two new projects.
So the spring league may have ended after five rounds, but the next steps are already obvious:
- paint some KO,
- prepare for the autumn league,
- keep an eye on Spearhead,
- and maybe find those Barrow Guard.
Which, to be fair, sounds like a pretty good hobby roadmap.