The 2023 Las Vegas Open is over for me. I finished with a disappointing record of 2-3-1 and placed 576th with 473 points. My tie and two of the losses were very close and I scored well in all but two of my games so I feel a little better about my performance. There's a lot to love in giant events like the LVO. You can meet a lot of famous players, see new games, get great tips from pro painters and hobbyists, make new friends, play out of your usual pool of gamers, and generally have a great time. I got to meet a couple of people I follow on YouTube and Instagram and I made a few new friends too. That's really the best part of the tournament. However, there are a few downsides too and areas that could be improved. First, Frontline puts on a great show. They obviously do a ton of work to pull something this large off. However, I am disappointed that it's being run in Warzone Nephilim and not Arks of Omen. I think AoO is a much more level playing field and the balance patches...

My bags are packed. My army is painted, based, and battle ready. My hotel reservation is confirmed. My flight is currently on time. I’m ready for the Warhammer 40k Championships at the Las Vegas Open! This will mark my third trip to Sin City to play in the LVO, although one trip was cancelled due to Covid, and I think this may be my best shot to finish in the top 100. My main goal was to finish the weekend, including the 40k Championship and the Sunday RTT, with a winning record – so Top 100 may be optimistic, but a boy can dream. My Dark Angels Deathwing army is very finely tuned and I feel really comfortable with commanding it to victory. I’ve faced all of the boogey-man lists and I have a game plan for most of the them. The biggest hurdle is that my army can’t score 100 points and that’s a big problem. With Space Marine secondaries being so hard to score, I usually cap out around 85-90 points, with an occasional 90+ point game, so I need a bit of luck of the draw to avoid these thre...

My heart broke when the Old World was destroyed and my 6-7 Warhammer Fantasy Battles armies haven't seen the tabletop since. Early Sigmar rules (like having a big mustache or doing a silly dance) and skirmish games didn't interest me. However, a few members of my gaming club want a break from 40k, so we might play AoS. To that end, I put a goblin on a round base. Orks and Goblins are one of the few WHFB armies that didn't get Squatted and I can repurpose them into a Sigmar faction.

I just read that the crew from Catalyst Games will be at the Las Vegas Open!  I've been playing Mechwarrior 5 and reading a couple of old novels from the 90s and its really fueled my urge to play the tabletop version.  I might skip the Sunday 40k RTT for a few games of this if they have any time for pickup games. I haven't had much luck getting my local guys to try it (except for a few, "that sounds cool" responses.)  Also, I hope they bring lots of merch, I missed out on the last Kickstarter, and if Catalyst is listening, I need a Wolf Clan t-shirt, size medium. Link to Fronline Gaming article

Unification Wars era Praetor of the 5th Legion, "the Star Hunters," precursors of the White Scars.

I'm playing in the inaugural Topeka Open Warhammer 40k Grand Tournament. It's a 25-person GT hosted in a nice event space by Away Games.  Away Games always has the best terrain and if you have a chance to play in one of their events, I highly recommend them. They've always had great prize support and Eli has a great sense of humor running his events.  I was lucky enough to be selected for an interview on the wonderful Wargames Live stream (and I played my the second game on the stream as well!) During the interview, we talked about my army, strengths and weaknesses, and the hype for Arcs of Omen. Wargames Live viewers voted for my game to be streamed in the second round and I got to play Mitchell and his TSons lead by Ahriman himself. It was a fantastic game that ended in a 74-point tie! It came down to the wire and I don't think I would have done anything differently. Great game, great opponent.  Link to YouTube I'm at the 4 hour mark. I can't say enough nice t...

Games Workshop has released the Balance Data Slate ahead of the Arcs of Omen release. I crunched the numbers and my Dark Angles are going to get about 500 more points. I started making a mental list on what I was going to add for the LVO... then Frontline announced they weren't going to use the balance dataslate or the Arcs of Omen rules. Ffffffffffff! I'm might cancel my trip.  Model points are great - BUT - I hoped that the mission secondaries were going to  balanced and in use for the LVO.  This has really taken the steam out of my sails and I'm just so disappointed.