I attended the Renegade Open held in Plymouth, MN on 19 November. I walked through most of the events with friends over about an hour. I saw the 40K Friendly, the Barbicon Front (Horus Heresy) event, and Operation :cuss: (Bolt Action). Here's some photos and commentary from my visit.

 

• Part One: The GW stuff
• Part Two: The Boards/Hobby stuff
• Part Three: Swag and conclusion

 

Part One: The GW Stuff

 

The Renegade Open is one of the larger local tournaments for GW events including 40K, Fantasy/Age of Sigmar, and now Horus Heresy. It definitely has a "Minnesota Nice" vibe, and while I don't do competitive events, it is clear that fun is the goal and the organizers do a great job of logistics, fundraising and other sundry things required for a successful 3 day event.

 

Given our host, let's proceed to some photos.

 

While I don't play competitively, I have attended the totally anti-con Waaaghfest a few times. Some of that crew attended the Renegade Open. You can get a sense of their attutide by their board and scenario designs. I am unfamiliar with this scenario's details, but it involves candy and pint glasses.

 

A Nurgle themed board

 

This board reminds me of the original Lost and the Damned book illustrations. Yes, that is a giant ambull offboard. It is difficult to tell, but those "pestilent balls" are covered in flies. I didn't get a close up. :( Leave a request in the comments, and I'll post some pics of boards from Waaaghfest '21 that include chibi berserkers, a candyland board, and MN's own Prince.
 

 

Some Heresy Pics

 

Several of the boards used for the Heresy event really tried to drive home the scale of that setting.
 

 

A closeup of that Dark Angels unit to give a sense of building scale.

 

 

Some shots of another board that reminds me of Rogue Trader aesthetics.

 

 

In parting, it was cool to see two Thousand Sons players. Both were running resin Magnus. Nice to see that model IRL.

 

The 40K Friendly

 

The tables were packed a bit tight to let me get pictures without potentially interfering with the players. These are far from all the factions or talent levels present.

 

Some Aeldari Scouts

 

Is it too late for me to use this scheme?  I've already got the purple helms and brown leathers.

 

 

Some Custodes

 

I actually am quite drawn to the NMM models. The owner really got a good purple, which is something I struggle with.

 

 

Some Knights/Armigers
 

 

Some Necrons

 

This is the first time I've seen that flagship monolith. I'm glad I don't need to transport these models!

 

 

Some Orks
 

 

Some Tyranids