From Tau to Chaos Daemons, don’t miss our latest breakdown of the top ranking Warhammer 40k lists from the 2019 Las Vegas Open!
If you were wondering what some of the most “meta-intensive” army lists look like, you’re about to find out.
The 2019 Las Vegas Open hosted players from all over the world competing to win the event. With that said, technically 12 went undefeated day one. After that, they got whittled down by four in a runoff round, which seeded a full undefeated top 8 going into the top championships for day two.
To come out in the top group of players at LVO means that you have to bring a list that’s capable of crushing things like Castellans, Mortarions, Robbie G Gunlines, etc. There’s no mercy at events like the LVO.
With that said, let’s check the last of the top 8 ranking overall lists and 9th place Daemons- just for good measure!
The Las Vegas Open is a premiere Tabletop Gaming Convention set in fabulous Las Vegas. It takes place at Bally’s Casino from February 8th through the 10th, 2019. This event is brought to you by the Frontline Gaming team.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can look back at all of the lists! These lists are all unique and require a bit of finesse!
9th Place: Joshua Death- Chaos Daemons
Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh joined forces to take down lists at the LVO. Breaking it all down, two blobs of Plaguebearers made it nearly impossible to scoop them off the board. Don’t forget about the Gnarlmaw, Spoilpox Scrivener, and Sloppity Bilepiper support! This is really just a tarpit from hell.
The real “damage dealing” came from the Daemon Princes and Ahriman that slapped around whatever the Plaguebearers were dogpiling.
This list works like a nifty little one-two punch combo. Plus, the new Infernal Enrapturess model from Wrath & Rapture was even used!
8th Place: Aaron Towler- Space Marines
Looking at number three on our list, we’ve got Space Marine soup backed by Robbie G. Starting things off with the HQs, there are some interesting choices. Captains and Lieutenants weren’t exactly needed because of Robbie G’s built-in rerolls. However, we didn’t expect to see a Techmarine in the list. (Can you think back to how may Techmarines you’ve seen in competitive play!).
Moving onto troops, one beefy squad of nine Intercessors was taken to either ride inside the Repulsors or to use the Vigilus Formation and maximize their efficiency with Rapid Fire weapons.
This could all depend on what he was up against.
As for the Heavy Support section, three Predators with Autocannons got taken for the Kill Shot stratagem. If you’ve got three of these bad boys on the field, they can work together to bring down just about anything they look at. The only drawback is that you have to have three Predators on the field. (it’s really fragile). Luckily, if Robbie G walks close enough to them, they’ll basically get all the rerolls they could ever need.
And lastly, to round things up, two Repulsors loaded with dakka and a handful of Scouts were thrown in to really flesh things out. This list has a good body count ratio (especially for Space Marines), but still has enough points put into the important stuff like a Smash Captain, Robbie G, the Predators, etc. to get the job done.
7th Place: Scott Horras- Imperial Guard
Moving onto the second list, this player made the most of his allotted number of detachments and filled all three. For the Guard, two Battalions were taken of what you’d pretty much expect if you’ve been following the meta. One Battalion is just full of bodies to really act like screen. The second, however, has three Tank Commanders (one being Pask) and three squads of three mortars. That’s 9D6 mortar shots so help clear screens and flush out people hiding in buildings.
Thanks to the two Battalions, he had plenty of CP to dump into a Super Heavy Detachment full of Knights. He decided to take two Armiger Warglaives over the shooty-counterpart. And even opted for the Forge World Lancer Knight! The trio here really acted like Knight hunters and other light vehicle bullies. Great list!
6th Place: William Abilez- Tau
Coming in sixth place, Tau brought along two Battalions and a Vanguard detachment. The first Battalion was little more than meatshield spam. Kroot and Drones stood around solely to screen the three Riptides in the Vanguard detachment.
The other Battalion was full of slightly-more expensive meat shields to fend off the enemy attacking the first line of defense. To finish everything off, a Coldstar Battlesuit with frag launchers was taken to zip around the board and finish off stragglers/hit key targets that were on their own.
Great job to the pilots of these lists as they knew exactly what to do against some of the top meta lists out there! Extra props for making unique armies and showing us that there’s no such thing as a “bad” unit! Ultimately, it comes down to how you use it!
2019 Las Vegas Open
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
