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Las Vegas Open 2020 Preview

Las Vegas Open 2020

Hey all, I’m back with my first post for 2020 diving into the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Championships at the Las Vegas Open 2020 (LVO), which is coming up next weekend (24 to 26 January). Scott and his team are again putting on a 8 round! 120+ player ITC event in the heart of Las Vegas at Bally’s Casino. The LVO is the showpiece event for Frontline Gaming and the ITC (Independent Tournament Circuit)

In today’s post, I cover the pack and all its unique features. Later this week, I’ll have all the lists. Make sure to follow along the event on the Best Coast Pairings app and with the live-streaming over the weekend on the Frontline Gaming Twitch channel!

If you are interested you can go back and check out my 2019 LVO coverage:

And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming.  Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive.  Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

Age of Sigmar

Las Vegas Open Pack

The Las Vegas Open 2019 is running a truly unique format for competitive Warhammer Age of Sigmar – eight rounds over three days, with the last three rounds only being contested by the top eight players! Read the full pack for more information, otherwise I’ll take you through the key points below.

  • 2,000 points matched play, General’s Handbook 2019
  • 5 rounds, with a subsequent 3 round shootout for the top 8 to crown the overall champion
  • Realm artifacts and realm spells in play
  • Limited Realms of Battle Rules (see below)
  • Rules cut-off three weeks before the event (so no new KO and Tzeentch), but FAQs in play up to 2 days before.
  • Pre-set terrain by the TOs
  • Bone-Tithe Nexus’ replace one of the large pieces of terrain on the table (more than 1″ from objectives and 6″ from edge of battlefield and cant be placed right in the very centre of the battlefield).

I’d also recommend you check out the Wide World of Wargaming podcast episode which covered the event pack and scoring.

Las Vegas Open Scoring

The event also has an interesting scoring and secondary objectives system.

  • Major Victory – 17 points
  • Minor Victory – 12 points
  • Draw – 8 points
  • Minor Loss – 5 points
  • Major Loss – 0 points

There are additional points for secondary objectives and painting. Favourite opponent votes are collected separately.

Battleplan secondaries

Each round has one secondary mission that is worth 2 points and can only be scored by one player. Some are scored when they are first achieved while others are scored at the end of the game.

  • CENTER GROUND: You complete this Secondary if you control the objective in the center of the battlefield at the end of the battle.  Count a hero as 10 models for controlling the center objective, only for the purpose of scoring this secondary.
  • SEIZE: You complete this Secondary if you control more the objectives at the end of the battle than your opponent.  Count a battleline unit as double for controlling the center objective, only for the purpose of scoring this secondary. (Note this will not stack with the Might Makes Right allegiance ability of Ogor Mawtribes.)
  • BLOODTHIRSTY: You complete this Secondary if you are the first player to destroy a unit.  If neither player destroys a unit by the end of the game then the one that killed the first model scores this secondary.  Barring that roll off.
  • FINAL WORD: You complete this Secondary if you are the last player to destroy a unit.  If neither player destroys a unit by the end of the game then the one that killed the last model scores this secondary.  Barring that roll off.
  • LINEBREAKER: You complete this Secondary if you destroy more battleline units than your opponent.  If you both destroyed the same number then the player that destroyed more points worth of battleline units scores this secondary.  If that is also equal roll off. For the purposes of this secondary a unit is considered destroyed by the opponent once the last model in that unit is slain for the first time (for any reason).

Army missions

Each army must also pick a mission at the time of list submission to achieve over the course of the entire event. Each round you receive 2 points if you achieve your mission and another 1 point if your opponent does not achieve theirs.

  • CONSERVE: You complete this Mission if at least one-third of the units from your starting army (rounding up) have not been destroyed and are on the battlefield at the end of the battle.
  • ATTRITION: You complete this Mission if at least two-thirds of the units from your opponent’s starting army (rounding up) have been destroyed and/or are not on the battlefield at the end of the battle.
  • INVADE: You complete this Mission if a friendly unit with 3 or more models is wholly within your opponent’s territory at the end of the battle.
  • DEFEND: You complete this Mission if there are no enemy units wholly within your territory at the end of the battle.
  • SLAY: You complete this Mission if the Hero with the highest points value from your opponent’s starting army has been slain at the end of the battle. If two or more Heroes are eligible, slay either of them.
  • OVERRUN:  You complete this Mission at the end of any battle round if you have at least one unit wholly within each of the four quarters of the battlefield, and your opponent does not.

Hidden Agendas

After both armies have been set up, each player picks a hidden agenda in secret. Again you get 2 points each round for achieving it and 1 point for depriving your opponent of theirs.

  • ANCIENT HEIRLOOMS: You complete this Hidden Agenda if any friendly Heroes with an artifact of power are on the battlefield at the end of the battle.
  • DOMINATE: You immediately complete this Hidden Agenda if you control two more objectives than your opponent.
  • OBLITERATE: You immediately complete this Hidden Agenda if you destroy 3 or more enemy units in the same turn.
  • ONSLAUGHT: You immediately complete this Hidden Agenda if a friendly unit that is more than 9” from any enemy units attempts to charge and the charge does not fail.
  • RETAKE: You immediately complete this Hidden Agenda if you gain control of an objective that was controlled by your opponent.
  • SACRIFICE: You complete this Hidden Agenda immediately if the Hero with the highest points value from your starting army, and that is not your general is slain by an attack made by an enemy Hero or Monster.
  • SECRET MISSION: You complete this Hidden Agenda in any battleshock phase if a friendly Hero is wholly within an enemy territory, within 1” of the edge of the battle field, and more than 12” from a friendly territory.  You can remove that hero from play to immediately complete this hidden agenda. 
  • SORCERER SUPREME: You immediately complete this Hidden Agenda if an enemy Hero is slain by mortal wounds inflicted by a friendly wizard.
  • TERRIFY: You immediately complete this Hidden Agenda if an enemy unit is destroyed as a result of failing a battleshock test.

Las Vegas Open 2020 Battleplans

The LVO is using the following battleplans for the first 5 rounds, with the following modifications (the changes are in square brackets):

  • R1: Focal Points 2018 in Ghyran
    • Victory: The player with the most victory points at the end of the fifth battle round (or when the amount of time allocated for the battle runs out), wins a [minor victory]. [If one player has at least 4 points more than their opponent that player scores a major victory instead. If victory points are tied the result is a draw.]
    • Battleplan Secondary – Center Ground: You complete Secondary if you control the objective closest to the center of the battlefield at the end of the battle.  Count Heroes as 10 models when determining control of an objective for this secondary.
    • Realmscape Feature – Lifesprings: Before the battle begins, each player picks a Hero from their army. Add 1 to the Wounds characteristic of the heroes that are picked.
  • R2: Duality of Death 2018 in Ghur
    • Victory: The player with the most victory points at the end of the fifth battle round (or when the amount of time allocated for the battle runs out) wins a [minor victory].  [If one player has at least 4 points more than their opponent that player scores a major victory instead. If victory points are tied the result is a draw.]
    • Battleplan Secondary – Bloodthirsty:  You complete this Secondary if you are the first player to destroy a unit.  If neither player destroys a unit by the end of the game then the one that killed the first model scores this secondary.  Barring that roll off.
    • Realmscape Feature – Reckless Aggression:  Any unit that is within 12″ of an enemy unit at the start of their charge phase suffers 1 mortal wound unless they finish that charge phase within 3″ of an enemy model. In addition, you can re-roll hit rolls of 1 for units that have made a charge move in the same turn.
  • R3: Blood and Glory in Aqshy
    • Victory: Starting from the third battle round, one player immediately wins a major victory if they have control of all four objectives [at the end of their turn]. If neither player has won by the end of the fifth battle round, or the amount of time allocated for the battle runs out, then the player that controls the most objectives wins a minor victory. If both players control the same number of objectives at the end the game is a draw.
    • Battleplan Secondary – Final word: You complete this Secondary if you are the last player to destroy a unit.  If neither player destroys a unit by the end of the game then the one that killed the last model scores this secondary.  Barring that roll off.
    • Realmscape Feature – Clouds of Smoke and Steam: A model cannot see another model if a straight line drawn from the centre of its base to the centre of the other model’s base passes across a terrain feature other than open ground and/or hills.
  • R4: Battle for the Pass 2019 in Ulgu
    • Victory: The player with the most victory points at the end of the fifth battle round (or when the amount of time allocated for the battle runs out) wins a [minor victory].  [If one player has at least 3 points more than their opponent that player scores a major victory instead. If victory points are tied the result is a draw.]
    • Battleplan Secondary – Linebreaker: You complete this Secondary if you destroy more battleline units than your opponent.  If you both destroyed the same number then the player that destroyed more points worth of battleline units scores this secondary.  If that is also equal roll off. For the purposes of this secondary a unit is considered destroyed by the opponent once the last model in that unit is slain for the first time (for any reason).
    • Realmscape Feature – Shadow Realm: At the start of your hero phase, pick one friendly unit that has all of its models within 6″ of any edge of the battlefield. You can remove that unit from the battlefield, and then set it up more than 9″ from any enemy units, and with all models within 6″ of a different edge of the battlefield. Then roll a dice for each model you moved; on a 1 the model being rolled for becomes lost in the shadows and is slain. The unit may not move in the subsequent movement phase
  • R5: Starstrike 2019 in Hysh
    • Victory: The player with the most victory points at the end of the fifth battle round (or when the amount of time allocated for the battle runs out) wins a [minor victory].  [If one player has at least 5 points more than their opponent that player scores a major victory instead. If victory points are tied the result is a draw.]
    • Battleplan Secondary – Seize: You complete this Secondary if you control more the objectives at the end of the battle than your opponent. Count a battleline unit as double the number of models for controlling the center objective, only for the purpose of scoring this secondary. (Note this will not stack with the Might Makes Right allegiance ability of Ogor Mawtrimes.)
    • Realmscape Feature – Dazzling Glow: Subtract 1 from hit rolls made for attacks that target units that are in cover.

I’m really excited to see how this pack plays out over the weekend and can’t wait for the final 8 showdown on the Sunday.

As I said at the beginning, I’ll have further posts up this week with all the lists and some exciting news from Best Coast Pairings.

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