Hi guys,
I don't frequent the forums much so apologies for the delay in spotting this (I posted originally just to advertise the event). I'm easiler to get ahold of on BGG (Chriz007) or FB (Chris Brett).
Unfortantly the event was cancelled by UKGE due to lack of booking, tournament must have a minimum of 12 players or UKGE will not allow the event to go ahead. Those who did book should have received a refund from the UKGE team.
I think one of the issues we have is that it takes 1.5 hours per round for tournament play, which means we are looking at an 8 hour tournament which will clash will a lot of the more-popular tournaments.
Speaking for the UK player base, we do have some big pockets of players; Scotland, Cardiff, Telford, Bristol and London are the main ones I'm aware of. Personally, I became an ambassador to help grow the game I love; I believe this is happening - not as fast as German or the USA - we just need to keep introducing new people to the game.
As for UKGE '18 - I'm looking to run a MW Academy beginners tournament, where people don't need to own a copy of the game to partake; so hopefully that encourage more people to give it ago.