LVO 2023 Recap: From a first-time tourney goer

[brother_b]

LVO 2023 Recap:

 

 

Well, I went to my first tournament, and it was a doozy. Thousands of gamers hanging at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas for 3 days of gaming fun. I'd like to take a moment here to put out some feelings and observations, both on the Tournament Scene in general, and specifics of the LVO. I'll repost this to Admech as well as I'd also like to dive into playing Admech in a tournament setting. I'll add some more specific info re: my actual games played.

 

Venue, travel, non-game related issues and observations:

 

The Rio is dilapidated and showing it's age, for sure. I remember going to the Rio years ago when it was new and (like everything new) vibrant and fun; there were performers, music, it was packed, and everything felt exciting. Flash to 2023 and the Rio was a shadow of its former self. The crowd was different, a little older, and not many children at all. Like most "Strip" and "Off Strip" motels Kid-friendly stuff is hard to find. The Rio, in my opinion, was more catered to people wanting to spend less money, sit and gamble, as opposed to people who want to go to Vegas for the night life and scene. A different crowd. 

 

Also smoke, smokers everywhere. I've smoked a pack or two in my lifetime but I'd forgotten how almost impossible it was to escape the fumes when it's everywhere.

 

The hotel staff were amazing, and the FLG staff were also very nice.

 

Travel for me was from California and the only thing of note (besides the long car drive) was the snow on the way out of town after the LVO ended.

 

Food for the event goers was "ok", nothing spectacular, nothing horrible. Typical conference fare. The special motel restaurants were also "ok", nothing that really stood out. Take an Uber to the strip or off the strip for places with a good "Yelp" review.

 

Venue rating: C  (USA grading system); 3 out of 5 stars.

 

LVO Event

 

The LVO was ran very professionally, and all things (for me) went smoothly. The check-in was easy, they had food set up for purchase, a vendor area, and I could tell the high level of logistics needed to run such an event including pallets of battle mats, all of the tables, terrain, and even streaming areas for the competitive tournament.

 

I even got to meet (just briefly) Don't-be-haten from the Blood Angels Forum! Cool!

 

Also they had pallets of water available, the water bottles were free. This was HUGE and speaks to their level of expertise running these conventions.

 

It was so amazing to be surrounded by so many like-minded people, dare I say wargamer nerds? The venue was huge as the gaming halls encompassed many different rooms. I was amazed at the shear number of players in the main hall for the "40K Competitive". Our "friendly" competitive tournament had about 80ish to start. There were also tournaments for numerous different games; AOS, Bolt Action, Battle Tech, Malifaux, Flames of War, etc, etc. Each of those areas seemed to have dedicated groups of players involved in some amazing looking games.

 

To me it seemed 40K (to include 30K) reigned supreme. There was the competitive, the friendly, and a narrative campaign for 40K. There was an amazing looking tournament for 30K with a giant grand finale style game where some players were in a ship above a planet, battling for control. The players who took control could then fire massive salvos onto the games being played on the "planet". All in all it looked amazing. It really had me considering more seriously 30K.

 

Nerd Famous:

 

Nerd famous is still famous, as you were. I was happy to see many of the "content creators" I follow on YouTube present at the convention. Obviously Duncan Rhodes, who was doing some sort of class, I believe, was present. I didn't see him but my buddy did. I did see the Artis Opus painter guy (very nice fellows all around at Artis Opus), Ninjon, the Play on Tabletop bros, Tabletop Titans (they had a booth too), and some other faces I remembered but couldn't quite place. My friend also said that he saw Miniac, and I'm sure there were many others.

 

Neat.

 

Loot: 

 

There was a nice vendor area. Frontline Gaming had a huge assortment of items for sale, at a 25% discount. GW was there, as well as Artis Opus, and a handful of other vendors such as Tabletop Titans terrain, the guys from Kill Wager and In Country, Warlord Games, and the bros from Privateer Press.

 

I picked up the Artis Opus dry brush set, as well as a number 3 (? I think) regular brush. Great dudes all around, I did enjoy chatting with them. I also picked up some In Country figures (mordern day or near future tactical combat), and some objective markers. I won some cash playing penny slots (hint, they aren't really penny bets when you max out the wager!) so got to eat and buy a little bit for "free", kinda.

 

Outings:

 

We went out to the strip on two nights and ended up finding a wonderful area for food and brews. It was, in fact, almost a hidden gem, being recently opened. They had great American-style food consisting of sandwiches, Mac and Cheese, Burgers, and Pizza (Americano style my Italian friends). All of the food was delicious, and they also offered their own beer, which was on point. Great find, great fun, and a nice way to wind down after a whole day gaming!

 

Convention rating: A++; 5 out of 5 stars. The convention was professionally run and I had no complaints.

 

Friendly Tournament

 

 

So I signed up for the Friendly Tournament and am very glad I did so. One of our buddies did the competitive, and he was drained! The competitive looked grueling, basically three days straight of gaming, probably 9-12 hours per day. Sounds like work to me! As a side note, my buddy's back started hurting day two, game 5 or so. He decided to drop.

 

I entered the hall and the game started without much drama at all. We were all using the Best Coast Pairings app, and opponents were  assigned. Prior to the start I had a walk around and saw just a staggering amount of well painted armies, some complete with amazing display boards. I believe I saw only one "unpainted" army.

 

The tournament rules were four (4) games played over two days. There were some Nephilim missions pre-chosen with pre-set terrain. Initially, there was an interesting scoring rubric where players would rate their opponents, their theme, their army, etc. The points won would be included in the final score.

 

Upon review of the scoring rubric it appeared that the initial scoring/rating of armies, themes, etc, had gone away. There was also only one TO/Judge (the same person) for the entire tournament. Something had changed, and this would be my only knock on the tournament. Some people had gone out of their way to come up with a themed army, including display boards, lore pages about their army, etc. This would have been great had the old scoring rubric remained. Instead, the scoring would be points earned in competition and a vote for "favorite" opponent.

 

I feel they dropped the ball in the scoring/focus aspect of the game. Those people who spent such a long time trying to theme their army and lists should have been rewarded. Instead, it felt more like competitive tournament "light". It should be no secret that the eventual winner of the tournament had a heavily competitive list, although not of a typical army we see in most tournament reports.

 

 

(Above) My army, a Stygies VIII Archaeo-xenarite Expedition

 

The games themselves? Fun, exhausting. Playing games for 6-8 hours a day is... tough. I ended up going 1-3 against Chaos Knights (I got curbstomped), Ultramarines (win), Abbadon CSM (loss), and Dark Angels (loss). I can say my opponents were all wonderful, out to have a good time. The Chaos Knight player was the most "competitive" and tournament oriented, everybody else had fairly fluffy lists or played them as such.

 

All of the opponents I played were great, approachable, and down to have fun in game. I heard there were some of "those guys/gals" from my friends who were also playing, but for the most it seemed like everybody was there to have a great, nerdy time!

 

I don't recall who won the specific awards, but some of my favorite things:

 

All five of my Kastelan Robots getting punted by some insane close combat Knight; All of my Kastelan Robots getting punted by Abaddon; my Transuranic Arquebus sniper taking out a demon prince; my Kataphron breachers crushing chaos possessed in their claws; the swingy elation and despair of Neutron Onagers; the player dressed as a Praetorian Lieutenant (leftenant?); Curl for Cadia; the amazing Sisters of Battle spear army; the list goes on...

 

Tournament Rating: B; 4 out of 5 stars. The original scoring rubric would have netted this an A rating.

 

Conclusion

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I arrived on Friday, and likely next year will arrive on Thursday for the "full" LVO experience. It did feel frenetic all week long, but in the end I got to tip some beers with the boys, roll some dice, catch some Nerd-famous peeps, and speak and hang with many like-minded individuals from all walks of life.

Edited February 27, 2023 by brother_b

[Ahzek451]

Glad it was mostly positive! I regret not going just for the sake of meeting Duncan.
It has definately gotten a lot better in recent years. Back before 2018, my first experience, they had a lot of logistical issues with BCP and matching people up, it was (at the time) a record amount of people around 300. I think its up to 1000 now? Overall not too bad of an experience besides the BCP issues. Out of 6 games, only half of them had any issues. The other 3 were pleasant. I think the competative crowd is much the same as far as being competative but the attitudes seem to be better. 

I'll never forget the issues though....
Round 1. 
Played against someone running "Space wolves" but his entire army was made up of sigmar stormcast( no conversions, just straight up playing a fantasy army as a 40k one). For obvious reasons this confused the heck out of me and the army was approved by frontline apparently. 

Game 3. 
Just being a newbie to the hardcore scene myself and not identifying when my opponent was slow playing on purpose. Asking too many simple questions and then having the nerv to admit at the end he slow-played me on purpose to win. Lesson learned. 

Game 5. 
Tau player, seemed like an alright guy at first. I pointed out a rule he was breaking and he argued against it even though it was clear cut. He buddy on the next table over told me I was wrong as well, judge had to come over and verify the ruling. But before this, my opponent raised a fist at me and was very aggressive about it. He was wrong on the ruling. 

[Dont-Be-Haten]

I saw Artic Geek, Miniac, Duncan, and a few others I recognized through YouTube. It was a fun time. 

 

It was great getting to meet you, if only for a brief moment in between games lol.

[Orange Knight]

Sounds wonderful and intense.

 

I really want to make the pilgrimage but it's a long way for me over the Atlantic, and my savings have been servery depleted over the last year.

 

One day I will make the effort, however. It's definitely on the list.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

2 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

Sounds wonderful and intense.

 

I really want to make the pilgrimage but it's a long way for me over the Atlantic, and my savings have been servery depleted over the last year.

 

One day I will make the effort, however. It's definitely on the list.

Make the trip. It's worth it. 

[brother_b]

4 hours ago, Ahzek451 said:
Game 5. 
Tau player, seemed like an alright guy at first. I pointed out a rule he was breaking and he argued against it even though it was clear cut. He buddy on the next table over told me I was wrong as well, judge had to come over and verify the ruling. But before this, my opponent raised a fist at me and was very aggressive about it. He was wrong on the ruling. 

That’s not ok at all. When it gets angry or people get emotional it’s time to take a step back. All three of your examples were unfortunate, I saw nothing like that this time.

 

That would have soured me for sure.

[Ahzek451]

20 minutes ago, brother_b said:

That’s not ok at all. When it gets angry or people get emotional it’s time to take a step back. All three of your examples were unfortunate, I saw nothing like that this time.

 

That would have soured me for sure.

I was used to seeing similar shenanigans at scenes like feast of blades before it ended, so I wasnt too ruffled. Annoying at the time for sure, but reports after that year showed that the lvo experience was getting better year after year, and when I finally tried my first tournament at a US open after being out of the hobby for a few years, I didnt come across any bad eggs, nothing like that first vegas experience. 

[brother_b]

4 hours ago, Ahzek451 said:

That’s not ok at all. When it gets angry or people get emotional it’s time to take a step back. All three of your examples were unfortunate, I saw nothing like that this time.

 

That would have soured me for sure.

 

that being said, I think it would be worth a revisit.

[Emperor Ming]

12 hours ago, Ahzek451 said:

Game 3. 
Just being a newbie to the hardcore scene myself and not identifying when my opponent was slow playing on purpose. Asking too many simple questions and then having the nerv to admit at the end he slow-played me on purpose to win. Lesson learned. 

 

After loosing twice to slow play, I always use a chess clock now

[Dont-Be-Haten]

I always check my watch after more than 15 minutes on a turn I say something.

[Ahzek451]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought LVO introduced timing or chess clocks now or no?

[brother_b]

They may have had that at the main tournament championship but not for our tournament.

 

I’m not sure about 30K or the Narrative tournament.