Even at the most competitive tournament in the ITC, the hobby side of Warhammer is still alive! In fact, the hobby side of 40k seems to be thriving more than ever before! At the Las Vegas Open this past weekend, no gray plastic was found on any of the countless tables. Yes, the new paint standards were in full effect, so “battle ready” was the bare minimum…but this was far from the most common quality of paint job. After wandering down aisle after aisle of tables topped with gorgeous armies, it became clear that the norm at the LVO was to go the extra mile when it came to making each model look as damn good as possible.
From conversions and kitbashing, to cool paint effects and badass display boards, there was a lot to take in at the worlds largest Warhammer 40k event. Here are some of the things that caught my eye as my butt was getting kicked by the very tough (but extremely friendly) competition.
Impressive display boards topped by equally impressive armies, stop a lot of people in their tracks at LVO. It was like a beauty pageant dedicated to the Grim Dark. Each detail scrutinized for perfection. This Space Wolf player’s army paint job was great, but the dynamic action scene on his board is really what made me stop and pay attention. And the carefully cut out wolf head in the cliff was just icing on the cake.
Several Astra Militarum (can’t we just go back to calling them Guard) displays, were epic in nature even if they felt like they took up too much damn space!
Colin Sherman of the Best in Faction podcast had an immersive display thanks to a backboard (that could light up), and had a pretty awesome octopus-riding HQ choice. And yep, each model was beautifully painted.
Previous Hobby Track winner Lou Rollins brought his Deathwatch display. A crowd pleaser that was a literal mountain of a display!
And look at that free-hand paint job:
A single conversion is cool. An entire army of conversions gets exponentially cooler. This Super Mario themed Imperial Knight army was super creative.
A few 3rd party bits can really make a generic knight stand out, like on these Anubis Knights.
Ork armies always seem to have have some awesome customization going on and this one featured light-up jets on the flyers.
The full army. 
Kick ass lights.
Camo is in fashion right now judging by the numerous camouflage prints spotted during the weekend.
Blood splatter paint effects seemed to be trendy, and several armies pulled it off extremely well without going overboard.
Blood on the wings 
Blood on the sword
This particular golden army and display stood out. From afar it looks amazing. But up close is just as impressive!
Such attention to details!
And something new, custom logos on those popular army carrying trays that all the cool kids use.
There you have it folks! A little taste of the amazing armies on display at LVO 2020. Even if you are not uber into the competitive scene, I still recommend getting to LVO if at all possible to simply see all the cool stuff that people have spent countless hours on!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
Where’s Karl Payne Borderlands themed Drukhari! That shit was bonkers.
There were so many impressive armies!!! That Drukhari one was especially awesome! Just unable to get a decent photo of it — to many people in the way!
Great to see a much higher standard and no-one mentioning 3-colours !!
Not sure about the 3rd Party accessories for a GW-televised event.
Hey Rob! YES! It was a pleasure to see hundreds of beautifully painted armies all in the same room. Seeing a tournament of this size where each table had great, thematic terrain, and fully painted armies battling it out was just epic!
Awesome article, Kicker, and great to meet you in person!
Thanks Reecius! Good getting to meet the FLG crew! Looking forward to the next one!
Woooo the orks made it
Yeah Shaun! Orks gotta get a bit of love. There were several awesome Ork armies out there—even one that was just PUERLY BUGGIES!!!
I was ecstatic to see my orcs show up in this. Thank you very much for the mention. I agree there were a lot of great paint jobs and it was nice to see everyone have painted armies on the tables.
The Custodes pictured above belong to my brother Joseph Workman
Shaun, There is some serious hobby skill that flows in your blood!!! Both you and your bother are very talented!