WHAT IS THE LAS VEGAS NOPEN
It is safe to say that the global pandemic has really put a weight around the neck of organized play in the 41st millennium. With the cancellations of Adepticon (2 years running now), The Nova Open, and most recently, the Las Vegas Open, a large aspect of what makes this hobby great for so many of us has been pulled away. We all love to come together amongst like-minded individuals to share our joy and passion for wargaming. For some, these large events are about taking in the heights of the hobby; the stellar paint schemes, displays, dioramas, and massive armies on parade. For others, it is the competition that drives them; pitting their minds and mettle against the best of the best. In the end, though, we all just want to get together, to share a drink, and to tell our stories, and that is something that isn’t necessarily safe for most of us right now.
While we cannot fully replicate the experience of attending the aforementioned lauded events, or any of the multitude of other get-togethers our community was looking forward to in the last year, we believe we can provide them with at least a little something to celebrate our hobby in all its forms, the world over.
To that end, we are proposing a special online event, affectionately titled ‘The Last Vegas Nopen’. Running from Friday, January 29th-Sunday, January 31st, we will be hosting a 16 ‘player’ single-elimination tournament, with a twist. The players will all be established Warhammer content creators and competitors from across the globe, and while winning lists will carry over from round-to-round, the players may not.
We are partnering with the likes of Tabletop Titans, The Art of War, Play on Tabletop, The Art of War 40k Down Under, Hellstorm Wargaming, Forge the Narrative, and others to bring forth a viewing experience like no other.
Hosted by Paul Murphy and Adam Camilleri, with production assistance from the guys at 40k Stats Centre, we plan to multi-stream 2-3 games every 4 hours via Twitch while also providing commentary, and interviews of top players, content creators, and hobby enthusiasts from across a broad spectrum of our Warhammer world.
Players will submit army lists that would be reminiscent of what they would have brought to the Las Vegas Open had it transpired this year, and play them on their respective streams for everyone to see. Once the winners of round 1 have been determined, they will forward their lists on to a new set of streamers to ‘carry the torch’ towards the final. The partners we have selected to assist in this endeavor are ‘the cream of the crop’, in our opinion, having consistently brought high-quality 40k content to fans of the hobby for years while also establishing themselves on the tournament scene in one way or another.
To keep everyone in the loop, we have enlisted the help of the amazing minds over at Goonhammer. In the leadup to the event you can expect player bios, list reveals and match analyses from James Grover and their 40k team. The Goonhammer team has proven time and again that they are some of the premier analysts in the game right now and we are very excited to have them add their insights and expertise.
Keep in mind, this isn’t just about competition, it is about so much more. This is about the joy that this game brings us and the indomitable spirit that the best in our community (all of you) have to offer. In that vein, we also plan on offering any and all proceeds made from raffled prizes (yes, there will be prizes), donations, and subscriptions in support of our Frontline workers that have not stopped for a second since all this started.
Expect more information to come, but in the meantime; hold on, hang tight, and stay hydrated.
Thanks,
The Falcon