Holy Grail: Battle of the Five Armies by Games Workshop

Aaah, such a sad tale today to tell, as it is one of not missing out once, but twice on this boxed set I have had my eye, and heart, on since the day it was released.

Because it was a "The Hobbit Warmaster" game Games Workshop released back in the day, and Warmaster is still one of their most solid rulesets ever produced.

But when this game came out, it was the beginning of the online shopping "lifestyle", and ordering from Games Workshop was about as hard back then over the internet as denying a Hobbit three meals a day.  And as we didn't yet have a Warhammer store here in Antwerp, the boxed set (not to mention the blister packs) never reached the few small scale independant retailers.  So I saved up my money and planned to grab the box on the annual Canterbury trip that year... only to have the store closed due to a technical infrastructure issue.

As a result, I never came closer that year to the game then glossy pictures in White Dwarf and a locked door of a Warhammer store.

Flash forward to Crisis this year actually.  I was walking over the Bring and Buy, when I saw a "semi trader" there actually sporting a sealed copy of the game for about 90 euro.  I rushed to my table to grab my bills, about 20 metres further, turned back... and saw someone walk by with the box under his arm.  I never leave my stand anymore without the money in the pocket; because I came within an actual 20 metres of owning it at last.

Now I have sworn to myself that next time I do a closet clear out, I'm going to be stuffing the goldsies away in my Paypal account and bite a very, very sour bullet: pay the premium it costs on eBay (we're talking about 200 euro, not to mention the seperate blister packs that beg to be collected like Smaug or the Trolls) to have it in my collection at last.

But yes, this is one of my wargame "Middle-Earth Trinity" from Games Workshop (the other the metal base with footprints only invisible Frodo, and then there is Smaug) to acquire over the years...