Hi all! As we do every year, it’s time to talk to some of the amazing people who make the LVO Tick. Today we are chatting with Reed who is heading up the Horus Heresy Narrative at the LVO!
1. Tell me a bit about you and the other organizers, what armies do you play? How long have you been playing and what are some past events you have organized?
My name is Reed Cothron and I am living in Los Angeles where I work in the film industry. I have been playing for a little over 10 years now; my assistant EO is Brewer Corbin who introduced me to it freshman year of college. We have been playing non-stop ever since! I have played a whole host of armies with my primary being my beloved Salamanders with Blood Angels, Talons of the Emperor, Mechanicum & (new) Night Lords.
I have put on a few events over the years but definitely nothing to this scale! I am excited and a little daunted by how much I want it to be great but I am hopeful for a successful year!
2. How do you structure your events? How do you try to involve players in the story?Character creation has always been a huge hit at LVO events and this year I am working to expand it further. I want players to be able to take on the mantle of a great champion of their various armies that allow them to play in an extremely unique way. I am thankful for all the hard work of past EOs and trying to continue this tradition.
What I believe I bring personally is my love for the narrative. When I play, concern over who is winning is very low priority in why I battle and make the trek to set up. It is about the stories we create and the epic moments that define the weekend and leave you talking about it with all of your friends.
I have been creating a ton of terrain to help augment what we are provided by FLG and to make themed pieces that speak to the point in the Warhammer lore in which we fight. Last year I brought a siege wall that was around 8ft long but this year it will be 18ft and much much more!
3. How do you develop your ideas for these events? Do you have the stories build on past events or start fresh every year? What is the latest narrative hook?I did my research into the narrative points from our years past and every few years we move from planet to planet within our group created system in the galaxy. This year we are confirming where it is on the galactic map and how it will play into years to come.
Looking at terrain that we normally receive, I placed this year’s narrative on a forgeworld of great importance to the Warmaster’s side to help play into what terrain we have.
4. Are you using any Campaign army rules or other special mechanics? Are you allowing the fan supplements like Panopticon?
Unfortunately, Panoptica seems to be less widely accepted by the 2.0 community as the Mournival rules were accepted for 1.0. With that in mind, we may adopt them in coming years; this is just a transition year as I get my bearings for how to run such a large event.
We are using many bespoke rules for this event that will be available in our event supplement which includes our missions, special rules, event characters, terrain rules and much more.
5. Are there any ways you try to balance armies or units?I want to look into this more in the coming years. I initially planned on doing many more unique event characters but with this being my first year, I told myself to concentrate on the immediate and look towards balance in future years. I want the terrain rules & missions to be fun for all and limiting one army artificially seems to be a lot of power for a new EO.
We are using the SN Battle Report special rules (thanks to these guys!!!) where we have balanced a few core rules.
These are:
1. Artificer Armor Saving
2. Combat Spill Over
3. Deep Strikes/Reserves
6. Why should players attend this event compared to the many other options at the LVO?
As I mentioned above, the story matters above all for me. With that, I have busted my butt this year in painting terrain and recruiting others from the (relatively) nearby community to bring theirs as well.
If we can create the most beautiful battlefields with amazing missions that you can only receive at LVO events, we will continue to grow and become even bigger parts of LVO. Come out and support the galaxy burning!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
