LVO 40k Championships Day 3 Live Blog

The 40k Championships Top 8 has been revealed! Who will win the ITC championship? Who will win the LVO? Who is Brad Chester? Get in here and find out with my live coverage of day 3. Warmahordes coverage at the bottom.Ok guys! the top 8 is over we are now going to announce the winners at the event as well as the ITC winner and crowning of the LVO champ. Check out my live blogs for more LVO coverage in case you missed anything. I will update all these blogs with pictures so they aren’t so wordy. Also, hang tight for my LVO wrap up article which will probably hit the website before Teusday. Goodbye everyone!

Finals Update Round 9 The Final Game We have our final two players right now. They are deploying, rolling psychic powers, and sizing each other up as I type right now. The mission is ITC scenario 6. Crusade and dawn of war deployment. I’m looking foward to live blogging the entire game.

Alex “The British Duck-Wielder”  Harrison Vs. Sean “The Defending Champ” Nayden

Deployment: It looks like both players reserved a majority of their army and as one of Alex’s earlier opponents said “Eldar beat Eldar if Eldar get to shoot first”. Neither player is going to give up an easy win and both players no their armies play quickly. Alex rolled the infiltrate warlord trait and Sean rolled princeps of deceit. Neither player really utilized their warlord traits, and promptly rolled for deployment which Sean won, and then decided to go second.

Turn 1: Turn 1 was quick with both players only positioning and getting ready for a scary round 2. Secondary points: Sean 1 – Alex 0

Turn 2: Alex rolled a 5/6 for his secondaries which means he will most likely just score linebreaker because 6 is easily stopped by Sean’s mobile deepstriking army. Sean has to kill two units for his secondaries which shouldn’t be too hard. First blood still hasn’t been scored and unless Alex can kill the swooping hawks in Sean’s VSG Sean has a good shot and jumping to an early 3-1 lead with the crucial first blood bonus point in his pocket. Luckily for Alex he just got first blood and is now well on the way to grabbing dominant board position with his Wraithknight still off the board. Sean’s turn 2 had most of his army come in from reserves however he didn’t do a lot of killing, he just blew up one unit of warp spiders and did some positioning getting ready for a busy turn 3. Secondary Points: Sean 2 – Alex 1

Turn 3: Alex’s wraithknight is still not on the board which means that Sean might now have to worry about it because he might now have the tools to handle it, and it might not be in a very great position to help out in certain board states. Both players need to hold an objective 1 and both players got an easy to score point as well. Alex has to kill an enemy unit and Sean needs to have linebreaker. Since Sean has the botoom of the turn both players should get both their maelstorm points and Sean should maintain a slim 1 point lead. Of course Sean still has an edge on the primary due to going second and having a bit more objective secured units but Alex still has that first blood and a pocket wraithknight. So Allex played a little bit of a safe gambit, Sean’s pain engines just walked on last turn and Alex shot 5 units of warp spiders at them Only two Talos died and now with a really lucky charge roll Sean can potentially multi-charge his way into a sure-fire victory.Right now Sean did get the units he needed to come on from reserve however something interesting happnened. Sean decided to not try and get the Talos into combat with the Warp Spiders and instead just shoot them at on unit. I think he is trying to get Alex to devote more firepower to them and use them as a distraction to win the mission. It’s an interesting play from a wily veteran.  I see now Sean was playing for turn 4 and knew the Wraithknight would be no-factor in the game. A lightning fast turn 4 and Secondary Maelstrom rolls are coming up soon. Secondary Points: Sean 4 – Alex 2

Turn 4: So at the top of 4 both players rolled the dreaded “6” on the maelstrom table. Sean also has to kill a unit whereas Alex needs to hold either objective 2. This turn is going to be decided by each player’s ability to keep the other out of his deployment zone. So Alex’s Wraithknight came on the board and wiped out a unit of swooping hawks, then Sean last another unit of swooping hawks to warp spiders as well as a unit of scatbikes to some poor rolling. Sean is in a tight spot he has one last unit of swooping hawks coming in and needs to start getting in position to win primary. Secondary Points: Sean 4 – Alex 3

Turn 5: Sean rolled a 1/5 and Alex rolled a 4/5 for maelstrom. Currently Alex needs warlord and Sean needs to maybe find a way to tie primary. It’s coming down the wire and each player only has 10 minutes to play their turns!

We have our winner! Alex Harrison from Birmingham, England. Alex managed to hang on despite defending champion Sean Nayden’s furious push to win primary and steal a victory. Alex ended up winning the crusade mission, grabbing first blood, and linebreaker to match Sean’s Maelstrom Win, Warlord kill, and Linebreaker point leading the game to a 6 – 6 draw! However the ITC’s tiebreaker protocols did come into effect and the match came down to whoever had the most points left on the board. Not units, not objectives, but raw points. After a long calculating period Alex won the game with 170 points more board presence then Sean Nayden to become the Las Vegas Open’s 2016 champion!

Finals Update Round 8 We have our final 4! it’s going to be Alex Harrison and Alan Bajramovic on the stream http://www.twitch.tv/frontlinegaming_tv and Steve vs. Sean on the alternate table. We have Kill points, Vanguard deployment and 4 really nasty lists heading your way!

Table 1 Alex vs. Alan 

Alan lost his entire screamer star on turn 2 after some really bad rolls. He is now relying on his Flying Circus to psychic power him to victory. Alex still has a lot of units on the board and looks to be in control of this game. So this game was a roller coaster after turn 3. With nothing but his flying monstrous creatures left on the board Alan clawed back into contention and almost stole the secondary objective and the game away from Alex. This game came down to a 1 on 1 battle between Be’Lakor and a Wraithknight for the game! Luckily for Alex the Wraithknight rolled a 6 on the last possible stomp and removed Be’ Lakor from the game.

Alex Wins 5-2

Table 2 Steve vs. Sean

This game is underway Steve Sisk is going second and smartly reserved his entire army except for one lone squad on an objective in the back. He is trying to limit the amount of kill points he gives Sean while at the same time playing for a Maelstrom win. He obviously has practiced this kind of game before. Turn 2 just started for them and Sean jumped up to a predictable 2-0 lead. Bottom of two most of Sisk’s reserve units came on. Sean placed all of his units in a line down the middle to avoid the beta strike from the BC and now none of his units are in a real position to take over the board or threaten a mass amount of Sisk’s models for kill points. If Sean can keep his warp hunter alive for turn 3 from the anti-air defense force shooting he will still have a very real chance at winning, but that’s a lot of strength 7 shots. So Sisk did not end up having a good beta strike due to Sean’s excellent maneuvering and Sean got first blood at the top of 3. It looks like Sean’s units have finally caught up to the rest of Sisk’s army and are now in the process of winning that primary. Both players are tied in the secondary and Sean has that ever so important first blood to fall back on. Steve needs to go to turn 5 to have any chance at winning the secondary or denying Sean linebreaker which is a tall order for a list that historically finishes games on turn 4.

Sean Wins 5-2 Sisk gave up primary and then they both tied on secondary, so even though Sisk denied Sean all but one of his bonus missions he was unable to pull ahead on secondaries and win 6-5

Finals Update: Round 7 The players have been given unweighted fair casino dice, they are all at their tables and everyone is ready to rock! Stay tuned for live on the update turn by turn analysis. Pairings are here.

Table 1 Steve vs. Aaron

Aaron is worried about time and playing quickly Steve is glad he drew this matchup now because kill points is a tough win for him against a deathstar piloted by a player of Aaron’s caliber. Aaron won the roll and chose to go second. So right now they are on the top of 3, Aaron is up on secondary 2-1 and there is a lot of heated rules discussions going on it looks close and Aaron looks like he had to split his deathstar early to deal with Sisk’s multiple threats. Right now it looks like Steve’s volume of fire is starting to wear down Aaron’s deathstar and units. I’m not sure he will have enough models by turn 4-5 to be able to win primary.

Steve Sisk Wins: 10-0 Sisk spread out Aaron’s deathstar and used the entire board to his advantage and showed exactly how strong outflanking razorbacks can be when spread out everywhere and filled with threats.

Table 2 Alex H. vs. Jon

Alex looks calm and happy and Jon looks focused. I don’t think Jon’s odd list is phasing Alex he obviously did his homework.  There turn 1 just ended they are both playing the fastest out of all the players Jon is going first and right now they are tied in Maelstrom 1-1. The living tomb formation just hit the table! Jon is looking to take the middle of the board while most of Alex’s units are still in reserve or hiding. Turn 3 someone is up 3-1 on secondary I couldn’t get a good view but I think it’s Alex. Turn 4 Alex is up 5-3 Jon has a lot of units left on the board but it looks like Alexs warp spiders are starting to work on all the small units.

Alex wins 8-3 Jon was forced to go first in this game and that ultimately costed him against a very mobile lethal Eldar list. Alex knew what he needed to do exactly in order to win on the last turn.

Table 3 Alan vs. Brad

Alan already has a ring of friends and admirers and is joking around and having a great time, Brad looks focused. Just right now Alan rolled three 6’s on a psychic shriek with the casino dice and is loving the way they roll, but hey that’s the game. Brad is going second in that game and he needs some good reserve rolls to get back into it. Brad doesn’t look happy, he is just waiting for the bottom of two so he can get his army into it and get the ball rolling. Brad’s reserves “went really well” according to pajamapants but he looks confident and Brad looks a little deflated, which is interesting because Brad is up 4-1 on the secondary which is by far our biggest lead of the turn. Turn 4 Brad is up on secondaries 4-3. Alan has had some great luck and is leaving Brad with only a little bit of models with which to win the game with.

Alan Wins 10-2 Pajamapants had a lot of luck and a lot of killpower this game, he never let any of Brads models roam the board freely to secure primary objectives or get easy kills. Alan knows how to present his opponent with as little targets as possible and to maximize the kill potential of his deathstars.

Table 4 Alex F. vs. Sean

This is the match I am anticipating the most, both of these players know each other well and are looking to not repeat the tie they had in round 5. Sean is going first and they are in the bottom of 1. They are at the top of 2 and Alex jumped ahead early on secondaries 2-1, it’s still anyone’s game. Turn 3 was much of the same thing, Alex pulled ahead by 2 on the secondary 4-2 and it looks like Seans really needs his corpse-thief to do a lot of work. both players are tied 4-4 and it looks like Alex has a slight board presence lead, which doesn’t mean much against Sean.

Sean wins 7-6 this was easily the closest game in the round, both players know each other so well and play their lists at the highest level. The things that really decided this game was a combat lasting 5 turns between scatbikes and some destroyers as well as a risky gambit from Alex to essentialy give Sean big game hunter in order to empower Orikan (or Zandrekh?) by letting his wraith unit die and then tie up the corpse-thief. formation

Hello guys! We are all here and it is a busy morning. Here are the pairings for round 7 Table 1 Steve Sisk vs Aaron Aelong will be streamed on http://www.twitch.tv/frontlinegaming_tv

The missions are going to be in this order ITC Scenario 4 (Scouring), ITC Scenario 3 (Purge the Alien), ITC scenario 6 (Crusade)

(Left to Right) Steve Sisk, Alex Harrison, Alan Bajramovic, Alex Fennell, Sean Nayden, Jon Camacho, and Aaron Aelong (Brad Chester not pictured)

Over 300 players came to Las Vegas on Thursday evening or Friday morning to compete in the 40k championships and now only 8 remain. These are some of the best 40k players around and they all have a variety of playstyles, armies, play groups and experiences. Currently there are only three people left in the running for the ITC championship and that $3000 big check and they are.

Edit on the ITC scenarios, I was off on my math and also very tired. Steve can actually just win the ITC championship with a first place win at the LVO whereas Aaron Aelong needs a round 2 loss at least from pajamapants and a first place win to take it. 

Steve Sisk: Steve and his battle company are famous for both their cold, calculated effiencency and for being the original competitive Blue Scars list (maybe). He was the only player in the tournament to log in 6 wins and needs a first place win, as well as a possible early Pajamapants loss to make it. He is also the only player left representing the west coast. Go Steve!

Alan Bajramovic: Alan is destroying a lot of his competition with an army many didn’t think would make a top table since 7th edition came out. His mastery of the Deamon codex and the game shows every time he starts rolling dice and he is still the favorite to win the entire tournament. He is a man on a mission and is here to solidify his legendary 2015-16 campaign.

Aaron Aelong: Aaron has been the snake in the grass going into this tournament. Due to the way points scoring worked out he is the only player who can actually take the ITC championship away from Alan absolutely with a win, even if Pajamapants gets second place despite not even being placed in the top 25. The LVO is going to be his 4th credited ITC tournament and right now his deathstar list is looking as dominant as it did at NOVA. Aaron was also the only player in the top 8 to actually lose one game. He survived losing in the early rounds to come all the way back and become the highest scoring 5-1 player in the tournament. (play the tournament out boys and girls! you may come back).

Of course these aren’t the only players in the top 8 We also have two players who have won the Las Vegas Open before. Sean Nayden won last year, and Alex Fennell won in 2014 both of these players have great lists and great attitudes going into this top 8. In round 5 they played each other to a 7-7 draw, and when I talked to Alex Fennell about the match up he said “It is always close playing Sean, it really just matters about who has the luckier dice sometimes” They are both evenly matched and for our viewing entertainment get to have a rematch of their round 5 draw. No matter what only one LVO champion will walk into the semifinals.

We have two more Eldar players in the top 8 in addition to Sean Nayden and those guys are Alex Harrison and Brad Chester. Both of these players have warp spider heavy lists and play a similiar style of game. I think it will be interesting to see how well they do in their first round seeing as Brad Chester has a tough matchup in Alan Bajramovic and Alex Harrison is playing easily the biggest surprise list of the tournament. Jon Camacho’s Necrons.

Jon is the final player in the top 8 I’m going to talk about and instead of talking about how well he knows his list, and how many upsets he pulled in the tournament I’m going to let his list speak for itself. It isn’t easy bringing such a unique list into such a high-profile tournament and doing well with it, but he sure made it look easy. (His list is the 7th one)

Onto the Lists!

Steve Sisk White Scars Gladius Strike Force

Battle Company

Kor’sarro Khan 125

Chaplain 115 (auspex, hunter’s eye)

Command Squad, Meltagun x5, Razorback (Twin-linked Heavy Flamer, Dozer Blade, Extra Armor) 155

Command Squad, Razorback (Twin-linked Heavy Bolter, Dozer Blade) 95

Tactical Squad I, Plasma Gun, Razorback I (Lascannon with Twin-linked Plasma Gun) 105

Tactical Squad II, Flamer, Razorback II (Twin-linked lascannon) 105

Tactical Squad III, Meltagun, Razorback III (Lascannon and Twin-linked Plasma Gun) 110

Tactical Squad IV, Plasma Gun, Razorback IV (Twin-Linked Assault Cannon) 115

Tactical Squad V, Meltagun, Razorback V (Twin-linked Assault Cannon) 110

Tactical Squad VI, Heavy Bolter, Razorback VI (Twin-Linked Assault Cannon) 100

Assault Squad VII, Flamer x2, Razorback VII (Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, Dozer Blade) 85

Assault Squad VIII, Flamer x2, Razorback VIII (Twin-Linked heavy Bolter, Dozer Blade) 85

Devastator Squad IX, Grav-Cannon x1, Razorback IX (Twin-Linked Lascannon) 125

Devastator Squad X, Grav-Cannon x1, Razorback X (Twin-Linked Lascannon) 125

 

Anti-Air Defense Force

Hunter 70

Stalker x3 225

 

Alex Harrison Eldar Warp Spider Spam

Eldar CAD

• Autarch: Skyrunner 85
• 3 Scatbikes 81
• 3 Scatbikes 81
• 3 Scatbikes (Only 2 scatter lasers) 71

Eldar Warhost Core

• Farseer: Skyrunner, 115
• 5 warp spiders, exarch 105
• 5 warp spiders, exarch 105
• 5 warp spiders, exarch 105
• V-wrath Battery, D-cannon 55
• V-wrath Battery, D-cannon 55

Aspect Host Auxiliary

• 5 Warp spiders, exarch 105
• 5 Warp spiders, exarch 105
• 5 Warp spiders, exarch 105

Aspect Host Auxiliary

• 5 Warp spiders, exarch 105
• 5 Warp spiders, exarch 105
• 5 Warp spiders, exarch 105

Wraith Construct Auxiliary

• WK Skathach, 2x deathshrouds, scatter laser 330

INQ detachment

• Inquisitor, 2x servo skulls 31

 

Alan Bajromovic Double Chaos Deamon CAD

CAD

Fateweaver 300

D-Thirster: 2 greater rewards, 1 lesser reward 325

Pink Horrors 99

Pink Horrors 99

8 Screamers 200

CAD

Be’lakor 350

Tzeentch Herald: Disc, Exalted, Lv. 3 150

Tzeentch Herald: Disc, Exalted, Lv. 3, Exalted Locus of Conjuration 175

Nurglings 45

Pink Horrors 99

Alexander Fennell

Decurion Detachment

Reclamation Legion (Core)

Nemesor Zandrekh 150

10 Warriors 130

10 Warriors 130

5 Immortals 85

3 Tomb Blades: shieldvanes, nebuloscopes 66

Canoptek Harvest (Auxiliary)

5 Wraiths: 1 whip coil 203

3 Scarabs 60

1 Tomb Spider: Gloom Prism 60

Destroyer Cult (Auxiliary)

Destroyer Lord: Warscythe, Phase Shifter, Nightmare Shroud 190

4 Destroyers 160

4 Destroyers 160

4 Destroyers 160

Royal Court (Auxiliary)

Overlord: warscythe 110

Lord: Solar Staff 65

Orikan the Diviner 120

 

Sean Nayden’s Eldar w/corpsethief claw

CAD

Autarch; Wings, Banshee Mask, Scorpion Chainsword 93

3 Guardian Jetbikes; 3 Scatter Lasers 81

3 Guardian Jetbikes; 3 Scatter Lasers 81

3 Guardian Jetbikes; 3 Scatter Lasers 81

5 Warp Spyders – exarch (Warlord) 105

5 Swooping Hawks 80

Warp Hunter 185

Void Shield Generator; 3 Shields 100

Aspect Host Formation

8 Swooping Hawks – Exarch 138

8 Swooping Hawks – Exarch 138

8 Swooping Hawks – Exarch 138

Corpse-Thief Claw

5 Talos Engines; 3 Ichor injectors 630

 

Brad Chester’s Eldar and Friends

Autarch: Warp Jump Generator, Scorpion Chainsword, Fusion Gun, Fatey 98

3 Scat Bikes 81

3 Scat Bikes 81

3 Scat Bikes 81

3 Scat Bikes 81

5 Warp Spiders: Exarch 105

5 Warp Spiders: Exarch 105

5 Warp Spiders: Exarch 105

Skathach Wraightknight: 2 deathshrouds, scatter laser 330

Aspect Host

5 Fire Dragons :exarch 120

6 Warp Spiders: Exarch 124

6 Warp Spiders: Exarch 124

DE CAD

Ihamean 10

5 Warriors 40

5 Warriors 40

Raider 55

Venom 55

 

Jon Camacho’s Wraithless Crons

Reclamation Legion (Core)

Nemesor Zandrekh 150

10 Warriors 130

10 Warriors 130

6 Immortals 102

4 Tomb Blades: shieldvanes, nebuloscopes 88

Judicator Battalion

Triarch Stalker – Heat Ray 125

Triarch Praetorians: 6 Rods of Covenant 168

Triarch Praetorians: 6 Voidblade + Particle Caster 168

Living Tomb

Obelisk 300

Monolith 200

 

8 Deathmarks 144

8 Deathmarks 144

 

Aaron Aelong’s Ravenwing Star

CAD

Chaplain: Bike, Melta Bombs 115

Ravenwing Command Squad: 3 Corvex Hammers, 3 Plasma Talons, Apothecary, Champion, Ravenwing Banner 175

Scout Squad 55

Tac Squad: Rhino 105

Tac Squad: Rhino 105

Rhino 35

2 Quad Mortar Support Battery 120

Azrael 215

Company of the Great Wolf

Battle Leader: Runic Armor, Storm Shield, Power Fist, Thunderwolf Mount 165

Iron Priest: 4 Wolves, Runic Armor, Thunder Hammer, Servo-arm Thunderwolf Mount 165

Iron Priest: 3 Wolves, Runic Armor, Thunder Hammer, Servo-arm Thunderwolf Mount 150

Librarius Conclave (White Scars)

Librarian: Force Axe, Wrath of Heavens, Lv. 2 115

Librarian: Force Axe, Bike, The Hunter’s Eye, Lv. 2 130

Librarian: Force Axe, Bike, Lv. 2 110

Librarian: Force Axe, Lv. 2 90

 

Good Luck to all players and I will see you guys when we get our final four!