The Cranky Old Gamer Relates his LVO Experience!

Hey everyone – back from LVO 2016 and boy did I take a crapton of pictures. I had a great time even though my plans for the trip had to get altered slightly (details inside). Nonetheless I had a blast and met old friends, made some new ones, saw and met some internet famous people and overall had a great time and am inspired to get there again next year. This year was even bigger than last year and I can’t wait to get back there again next year – particularly to play 30k! Details inside…

So this year I intended to play Dropzone Commander at LVO. I had my army purchased, assembled, and painted and ready to go. I got the base game at LVO last year and was really pumped to com back and play this year. As luck and fortune would have it, I threw my back out pretty badly late December. Which was a total bummer. I was hoping it would get better in time for LVO, but it was not to be. I’m doing much better now, but by the time we were 2 weeks out to LVO I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be able to lean over a gaming table for multiple hours a day and still be on the road to recovery. But I still wanted to go. So, I decided to go, but just volunteer to do odd jobs and run around and take pictures.

So off I went to Las Vegas to LVO, sad thtat I wouldn’t be gaming but glad I still had the opportunity and still felt well enough to travel. As of this writing, my back is much better and I’ve even gotten a few games in since LVO.

I can also say I’ve really set my focus for next year’s LVO for both the Narrative gaming and the 30k tournament. The 30k armies were so incredible and so much fun with laid back and less-competitive mindset really appeals to me. I’ve started my AdMech army for 30k back in November of last year and it’s coming along nicely – pics soon (and on my Facebook page)!

One thing I can say with absolute certainty is that the Frontline Gaming crew is an exceptional group of professionals that are passionate about their craft of hosting fun, and friendly conventions. I was priveledged to be a small part of the fun and helping out in small ways by taking pictures and getting updates. Thank you to Mariana, Pablo, Frankie, and Reece for giving me the opportunity to volunteer and support.

So step on through these pictures and I hope you enjoy!

Well here’s me and my goofy mug,at the airport and getting ready for the trip to Vegas on Wednesday afternoon

Landed!

Here’s a shot of the Event Center at Ballys’ where the event was held. The room was ginormous. This was on Wednesday afternoon, before any of the setup started.

Lots of gaming tables in the big hall. The picture doesn’t really do it justice. The events hall was really spacious.

Look at all those tables!

Did some walk-about on the strip…

Guess I need to kill some time, so I’ll just go ahead and play the tables. Broke even. I went a day early thinking I ‘d get some “Vegas time” in – but turns out I didn’t really need to and I wasn’t into it. Played a bit of craps at a few tables, pretty much broke even, then called it an evening.

Thursday morning – things seem to be getting set up! Said hello to some of the team members starting to set up.

Loved the table area banners. Nice touch!

Dropzone area getting set up.

So I walked by these tables and was blown away! Turned out these were the Narrative Guy’s Narrative event games tables. So cool!

Another shot of the Daemon world table

All the many, many 40k tables getting set up . So much terrain and all the terrain was quite good. Kudos guys!

40k tables…

… 40k tables as far as the eyes can see…

Dropzone tables all set up

The Hawk team getting their booth set up

And the Privateer Press booth – Grolar is REAL!!!!

Hawk and Dropzone Commander toys were there! WOOT!

The Frontline Gaming store is getting set up for business! I didn’t have much to do in the evenings there, so I ended up buying a hobby knife, glue, and an Imperial Knight to work on …. but more on that later…

Eldar represent!

Another 40k table…

One of the many 40k tables that were at LVO. All the tables had a pretty loose but specific amount of terrain features on it to keep it as fair as possible across games and opponents.

Famous game board for Warmachine / Hordes. Seen this at Lock & Load several times!

Some cool lava terrain features all around…

I like the bilboards and the cargo crates. They were on sale at LVO. Should have picked some up!

40k table. This one was pretty interesting as it looked different than most in terms of aesthetic.

More 40k tables….

The Narrative Guys getting one of their amazing tables set up..

Another shot of the Narrative guys tables. This one was for a base with landing pads and a mountain scene where the bad guys came flowing in…

This was another Narrative Guys table, this time a really slick city-fight scene. So cool.

This was a Narrative Guys table, this one a jungle with a bridge crossing a river. The table separated and allowed gamers to get inside and move models. I think this table had Necrons and Chaos on it during gaming time.

Another shot of Jungle Table!

This was a Narrative Guys table that was patterned after a World War II villiage and the Bocage Theatre I believe. Very slick and different. Eldar were on this table vs. Marines I think….

Another Narrative Guys table. This one was a very dense urban combat with skyscrapers scene. I think this one had Space Marines and Tau on it later in the day.

Another angle on that dense urban table.

This table was awesome. Ash wastes with blood rivers and Chaos iconography all over it. Guess what faction played on this table…

Another shot of this gorgeous table.

This table was great. It was of a ruined factory and the outlying areas. Such a big and amazingly detailed terrain piece. Insipring!

Another awesome Narrative Guys table!

Convergence of Cyriss Warmachine table! This one was awesome and built by the TO for the WM tournament. It had moving parts and lights and everything. Pretty epic!

My “High Roller Loot bag” I got as part of the convention. Some pretty nice stuff in there! Glad I got it.

Do you wanna go to Vay-guss….

Next day – armies on parade and painting competition starts! I walked around and got some great shots of armies that showed up.

Some Infinity tables getting set up

More 40k armies on parade! So many cool armies here. So much effort and talent on display.

One of the cool tables set up for streamed games. Was able to help out on the Video team for LVO this year as a volunteer, so I got a little bit insight into some of the tables and the set-up. These guys work so hard to make sure so many people have fun. Hats off to them!

Zone Mortalis represents at LVO!

Custom Chain Sword that was built by the LVO guys – everyone got to sign it!

Dropzone represent! So bummed I couldn’t play but had fun watching the action.

Games are getting underway…

Love this hobby. People making it their own!

Some awesome Warmachine action at LVO!

Back to the Narrative tables… awesome!

Friday night – had to get some hobby on after seeing so many cool models. Broke down and bought a Knight and some hobby supplies and got most of a night put together that night!

Next day – full swing into Narrative Guys games and may other games going on all over the Event Center!

Well alrighty then!

Fantasy Battles represent! The guys and gals in this area I would say by far were having the most fun.

Saw some guys playing “Lion Rampant” – how cool is that?

Met some really cool guys in there. Super awesome.

Saturday night met the host of the It Will Not Die podcast and watched a game he was having. So cool to see 30k on the table.

Met the famous members of The Independent Characters podcast as well – what an incredible crew of folks there.

Carl’s Word Bearers vs. Jason’s Space Wolves – got to watch this game on Saturday night. So many fun toys!

Carl’s Gal Vorbak. Amazing miniatures.

Awesome Wolf Lord conversion for 30k from Jason of the Overlords. So cool how he made this army out of 30k and 40k parts.

What a fun group of guys and gals and amazing and talented hobbyists. This is what I love about this hobby – like-minded individuals who are there to have fun and share a love of the lore and the pursuit of their craft as excellent hobbyists, there to have fun and tell stories. This keeps me coming back!

Got to have some dinner with a great crew of folks at Haufbrauhaus

Sunday morning. The 30k armies are starting to come out and I’m getting excited to see them!

Wow! Iron Warriors for the WIN!

So inspiring – this Admech army was incredible

Incredible looking army and what a display board! WOW!

One thing that struck me about the 30k armies is that they were all cleary a labor of love and devotion. The painting level and care and attention to detail was clearly a cut above and it showed. So impressed with every single entry into this 30k tournament.

Great looking Emperor’s Children army, painted by Scatter Shot Painting.

A Mechanicum book box gifted to Carl by a fan of the show and expert craftsman – amazing!

30k Tournament about to get underway…

Break down of the 30k forces represented at LVO 2016

All that 30k goodness but now it must come to an end. At the airport ready for my chariot to take me home…

Over Seattle and home.

Overall another incredible experience. I had a great time, even though I wasn’t able to game. Met so many friends from last time, and made a lot of new friends. So very inspired to work on my 30k army and have it ready for this summer to get some practice games in, ready for next year’s 30k tournament at LVO.

Well I hope you enjoyed looking at all these pictures I took. So much to cover here but hopefully you saw something you liked and consider going to LVO if you haven’t before – there’s something there for everyone and it is so incredible being there with all the positive energy and enthusiasm for the hobby.

See you there next year!