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 deathstar ready to take fire from a traitor Sisters of Battle force.  The Apothecary is good but didn't pull his weight... Except for the early days of 9th edition, I've been struggling to win games of Warhammer 40k - even with an overpowered Salamanders army.  I've watched a ton of videos, read tips online, played almost weekly, but I still play rather weak-ly. My current group is rather small, but dedicated group of veteran and newbie players and in just not doing well against anyone.  I'm trying to prep for the Las Vegas Open this January. I've been playing the hell out of my Salamanders in preparation but I've also considered my Wolves, my oldhammer Crimson Fists, or a new Custodes list of Allarus Custodians that splinters into individual, 1-man units through the Unleash the Lions stratagem.  The recent Space Marine codex really beat up my favorite build of Salamanders that used scouts in my troop slots and Centurions as my primary damage dealers. The Cen...

The last two months have been kind of crazy. I spent a lot of time building, play testing, rebuilding, and painting various armies in preparation for the 40k Championship of the Las Vegas Open. First, I started off with several iterations of my Salamanders Space Marines. I put together the roaming Aggressor mob backed by an Ancient with banner, Captain, Lieutenant. I also had three devastator squads with heavy bolters and missile launchers for those tasty mortal wounds. I also tried a similar version of the list with Gillymon and Ultramarines but I could never quite get the list to take out the Astra Militarium hoard with Imperial Knights. I tinkered and tinkered. I tried Ad Mech, my Khorne rush, and Dark Eldar but I never really felt good about any of the lists so I decided to build an Eldar list similar to one I've seen online. I gave myself about a month to buy, assemble, paint and play test my army. (Note to self: not a good idea.) Alaitoc Farseer 3 units of 5 Dark Re...

Guess who has tickets to the 2019 LVO? This guy! When I went two years ago I got super sick (it was so bad that I was reported to the CDC for my illness) but still had one of the best times playing mini games ever. I even got to meet Lawrence from Tabletop Tactics, Aceface, and the Warhammer TV gang. It was epic. Now, I need to decide what army to bring. 1. Old hammer Flesh Tearers. 2. Ad Mech Mars army. 3. Imperial Soup with Raven Guard, AM, Ad Mech. 4. Dark Elder 5. Salamander I think my Flesh Tearers would get a lot of notice as a fun, old army, but I don't think they are that competitive. The Imperial Soup list is pretty competitive (in the current meta) but might not do well against a top tier Knights list. I feel like a teenager trying to decide what to wear to prom.

Last weekend I traveled to the glitzy lights of the Las Vegas strip with my Ad Mech army, the Pilgrims of Erudition, to compete in the Warhammer 40k Championships at the Las Vegas Open. It has been said that it was the largest miniature war gaming tournament, ever. I didn't do well. My first night in Vegas, I got sick. Like, really sick. I've had chronic stomach problems most of my life but this was bad - and not like my usual issues. It wasn't pretty. I bought some Pepto from gift shop and soldiered on. I even found a few minutes to slip a few bucks into the one armed bandits and didn't walk away any richer and my luck never got better. The first night I found the main gaming hall. It was huge. I've never seen so many gaming tables since the Texas Wargames Con. Folks were still setting up until the wee hours of the morning but I got see a few Youtube gaming celebrities, like Dave from Miniwargaming.com, Lawrence from Table Top Tactics, and Ace Face f...

Guess who cashed in some frequent flyer miles for airfare, booked a hotel room, and bought tickets to the Las Vegas Open Warhammer 40k Championship Tournament? I couldn't be more excited! Now, to fine tune my army. Here's what I'm considering taking. 1. My Salamanders. Flame Strike formation with a First Company Task Force. In the First Company Task Force, I'm packing three Sternguard units with double heavy flamers (that are S6) and putting them in drop pods. Vulkan is my warlord and giving preferred enemy to all of the other units packing meltas and multimeltas. This list is solid all around and is great against Chaos Daemons but may fall to heavy shooting like Eldar or Tau. I also have to paint about 30 more Sallies. 2. My Astral Claws. This list features lots of bikes, a Centurion Devastator squad with boatloads of grav, a Skyhammer Assault Formation, and using the Ultramarines Chapter tactics. This is actually my first pick and I think it's the strongest ...