In Praise of LVO • Where do we go from here

Hi everybody ! It's your friendly neighborhood Black Blow Fly swinging through your area again to spread some mischief and malcontent !!! Today's timely subject is how to deal with some of the top 8 winning lists from the Los Vegas Open 2016 (LVO). I'll focus on the weaknesses of the selected armies for review and break down your basic counters.

The top 2 armies were both eldar with some other elements sprinkled in for good measure. While I wasn't able to attend the LVO this year I did watch many of the games streamed over Twitch played on the top tables throughout each day of the event.

Let's first look at the top 8 armies:

Alex Harrison 1st Overall - Eldar & Inquisitor (servo skulls)

Eldar CAD
Autarch Sky Runner - Jetbike - Haywire Grenades - Forceshield - The Path of Command
3x Windrider - 3x Scatter Laser
3x Windrider - 3x Scatter Laser
3x Windrider - 2x Scatter Laser

Warhost of the Pale Courts (Forge World Doom of Mymeara)
Farseer - Jetbike
5x Warp Spider - Exarch
5x Warp Spider - Exarch
5x Warp Spider - Exarch

- Disciples of Vaul
Vaul’s Support Battery – Dcannon
Vaul’s Support Battery – DCannon

Wraith Construct
Skatach Wraithknight - Deathshroud Cannon

Aspect Host
5x Warp Spider - Exarch
5x Warp Spider - Exarch
5x Warp Spider - Exarch

Aspect Host
5x Warp Spider - Exarch
5x Warp Spider - Exarch
5x Warp Spider - Exarch

Ordos Xenos Inquisitor (2x servo skulls)

Sean Nayden 2nd Overall - Eldar w. Dark Eldar Corpsethief Claw formation (5x Talos)

Eldar CAD
Autarch
3x Windrider - 3x Scatter Laser
3x Windrider - 3x Scatter Laser
3x Windrider - 3x Scatter Laser
5x Warp Spider - Exarch
Void Shield Generator
Warp Hunter

Aspect Host
8x Swooping Hawk - Exarch
8x Swooping Hawk - Exarch
8x Swooping Hawk - Exarch

Corspethief Claw formation
5x Talos - 5x Splinter Cannon - Ichor Injector

Steve Sisk 3rd Overall - Gladius Strike Force (White Scars)

Alan Bajramovic 4th Overall - Daemons, Flying Circus w. ScreamerStar & Horrors

Alex Fennell 5th Overall - Necrons

Brad Chester 6th Overall - Eldar w. Dark Eldar

Jon Camacho 7th Overall - Necrons

Aaron Aleong 8th Overall (2015 NOVA Champion) - Dark Angels w. Space Wolves

You can find more of these army lists over on the BoK blog if you're really interested:



Interestingly enough the new Tau didn't make the cut but placed well overall and it's important to note they weren't in full force this year which could be due in part to the nerf bat treatment they received - but that's another story for a different day.

I attribute Necron high placement mainly due to their uber resiliency... They are extremely difficult to remove which in turn helps them grab and hold objectives.

Warp Spiders were prevalent throughout many of the Eldar armies listed above. I'm sure we will be seeing more Warp Spider spam in upcoming events due to their success last weekend. I also noticed squads of three Windrider jetbikes looks to be the optimal number.

When analyzing the results for the LVO we need to keep in mind that due to their format going second can be pivotal and a modified version of Maelstrom is always in play. Both Swooping Hawks and Warp Spiders are both great units for scoring Maelstrom points.

It just seems apparent that army list construction is one of the top aspects for being successful in a competitive environment. Of course tactics are important too but if you don't bring the right list it doesn't really matter. The army list must be constructed to excel in the mission format and also counter top opponents. The semi final match between Alex Harrison and Alan Bajramovic really brings this point home. Alex took the lead in the first three turns inflicting heavy damage then ride it out the final turns and still counter Alan's plays to overtake him. The daemon army is very strong and has won its share of events but fell a little short in the semi final match.

Another very interesting game was the quarter final match between Steve Sisk and Aaron Aleong. Aaron was the grand champion at NOVA last year winning both the Invitational and Open with his deathstar army which I noticed he had tweaked for the LVO. In the end he just couldn't counter all of Steve's objective secured units which again is so important for objective grabbing such as Maelstrom.

One of the things for which I give high praise to the LVO format is that two top armies from previous major events were successfully countered and eliminated - that tells me this format provides good balance and keeps things interesting ! That's so important too. It could just be me but my final impression was that the psychic phase did not dominate at LVO as it has in the past at other events and I think this is a good thing for the game in general.

So how do you counter these armies ? Partly the equation for success is to fight fire with fire - highly mobile armies that can lay down blistering levels of fire power each turn and progressively score is key. Of course some of us would like to counter these armies with an army that's not a mirror list. An important question is what do we do about eldar ? One approach would be to go back and implement more bans and nerfs but me being a tactician I'd rather address it on the table in terms of what I can bring as an effective counter.

Even though Tau did not place in the top 8 I still see lots of potential here and there's plenty of time to sort it all out. There are many new things being introduced to the game or revamped such as the new Wulfen. So keep it fresh - think outside the box - be willing to try new things. In the end it all comes down to the time invested and true dedication to the game - these will always serve you well. I'd much rather do well based upon my own creativity rather than copy someone else's army.