‘Warhammer: The Old World’- How To Go Undefeated At LVO 2025 With Blue Ford
Today we sit down with LVO 2025 best general Blue from SquareHammer and chat about his Warhammer: The Old World wins.
The other week saw LVO (the Las Vegas Open) 2025 take place. LVO is one of the top wargaming events in the world. The 40K Grand Tournament had over a thousand players, making it (I’m pretty sure) the largest in the world. But LVO isn’t just 40K, there are a lot of other events there as well. There was of course a large Warhammer: The Old World event there. With 70 players this was one of the larger events we’ve seen for Old World and a true GT. When the dust had settled on six epic rounds of The Old World, only one list remained undefeated. Blue Ford, of Squarehammer, with his Bretonnian Exiles managed to go 6-0 and clinch Best General. Meanwhile Myles ONeill (That two Ls) took best overall after going 4-2. A great showing for both. We sat down with Blue to talk about his LVO experience and what he’s doing with the game. Lets take a look at what he had to say.
The LVO 2025 List
(note, Blue’s display board has extra models on it for aesthetics that are not in the list)
We’ve already done a deep dive into the list it’s which you can see here, but for a refresher, here is what he ran:
++ Characters [986 pts] ++
Valiant Guardian Alistair de Vienne [294 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Lance
– Heavy armour
– The Exile’s Vow (replaces the Knight’s Vow)
– Royal Pegasus
– 2x Lucky Heirloom
– Ironspike Shield
– Virtue of Heroism
Lord Morien le Bruyant [262 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Heavy armour
– Shield
– The Exile’s Vow (replaces the Knight’s Vow)
– General
– Royal Pegasus
– Frontier Axe
– Virtue of Knightly Temper
Sir Tancred de Bastonne [155 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Heavy armour
– The Exile’s Vow (replaces the Knight’s Vow)
– Battle Standard Bearer [Banner Of Honourable Warfare]
– Barded Pegasus
– Falcon-horn of Fredemund
Gilles le Breton [275 pts]
– The Dolorous Blade
– Heavy armour
– Shield
– Barding
++ Core Units [500 pts] ++
11 Knights of the Bretonnian Realm [308 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Lances
– Shields
– Heavy armour
– The Exile’s Vow (replaces the Knight’s Vow)
– First Knight (champion) [Gauntlet of the Duel]
– Standard bearer [War Banner]
5 Knights of the Bretonnian Realm [132 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Lances
– Shields
– Heavy armour
– The Exile’s Vow (replaces the Knight’s Vow)
– First Knight (champion) [Gauntlet of the Duel]
11 Artois Peasant Bowmen [60 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Longbows
– No armour
– Skirmishers
– Musician
++ Special Units [314 pts] ++
5 Pegasus Knights of Parravon [314 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Lances
– Shields
– Heavy armour
– The Exile’s Vow (replaces the Knight’s Vow)
– First Knight (champion)
– Standard bearer [Banner Of The Zealous Knight]
++ Rare Units [200 pts] ++
Peacemaker Bombard [100 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Light armour
‘Ol Reliable Bombard [100 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Light armour
Blue’s Thoughts On The List
Having seen the list we asked Blue a few questions about how it ran and what he faced.
-We’ve seen your list, but if you want to share any thoughts/notes you have on it and games you played at LVO?
I had several groups of friends help with advice; you, Shayne, The Spicy Dice Boys, Luna, Jonzey, and Christian. Several suggested to decrease their offense and bolster the characters defense with Charmed Shields and/or take an outcast wizard…but I expected to face at least one nasty gunline (TK/Dwarfs/Empire) and lose a game or two so I just wanted to bring the most well painted army I have and aim for overall + all gas no brakes.
-What are the big challenges the army faces? Its light on magic, has that been an issue?
Magic missile spam and gunlines. If fighting a gunline and on the SBOT terrain you all but auto lose if they get to shoot your unit for 2 turns.
– For those who don’t know- what is SBOT terrain?
It’s the first attempt for a tournament terrain pack to generate set terrain placement, think how GW does 40k terrain now. It’s great for competitive play so each side is even with a building, forest, and hill. I do like the “whoever rolls lower vetoes one of the selections to allow the other to choose the layout.” For narrative play, or if you want more diverse boards and immersion, then I suggest not using it.
On Who He Faced
-Any armies you were scared of facing, and did you face them?
Mort Cult arrow-line, Vamp LD scream list, and Empire gun-line. I somehow was able to dodge ALL of those, which is nuts. If I faced just one of those I likely lose since after killing one pegasus knight I would need to start allocating hits to characters.
-What armies did you face and in what order?
Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen, Beastmen, Bretonnia Grand Army, Bretonnia Grand Army, and last was High Elves
-What was your hardest game?
Two of my games overall came down to one roll on turn 1; meaning they set up the rest of the game for a win (rounds 3rd & 6th). My hardest opponents were probably one of the Bretonnian players rounds 4 & 5 since we each had a ton of movement to calculate and plan for so it was more challenging.
-How important was going first in your games?
How often did you get to go first? I informed all my opponents of what the Green Knight could do, some had already experienced its insanity, so he wasn’t super big in the games. Versus everyone else except the High Elves wasn’t a big deal (don’t recall who went first but it is on YouTube) since no one else was a gunline and the Pegasus Unit is extremely fast to react to fast flankers.
On LVO and the Future of the List
-Any overall thoughts on LVO? Any issues there?
Overall the event was run very well with timing etc. I think pairings should be worked on a little and judge calls should allow both sides to discuss their PoV before a decision is made. Other than that, it was an awesome event and can’t wait till next year!
-Are you planning on going to LVO next year?
100% going next year. Have to defend the title! Haha, but more so getting to hangout with all the new friends and well…gambling is a big pull.
-Going forward would you change anything in this list?
Probably not since it wasn’t meant to be a 6-0 list, but if I had to change something to be more balanced it’d be to drop the MS/KB Baron for an outcast wizard.
Thoughts On Bretonnians and Exiles
Bretonians,and Exiles in particular have proven to be very powerful in The Old World. Both me and Blue have done well at major event with them. Given that I thought I’d pick his mind a little on the state of them.
-Thought on Brets/Exiles and if they need to be nerfed at all?
Not accounting for list builds and general ability, Brets and TK are without a doubt two of top four strongest armies in the game. I would appreciate it if Pegasus Knights were forced to Open Order formation instead of Skirmish. I also think nerfing the Vanguard Banner for Exiles would be good for the game. Being able to charge turn one with them is ridiculous and in my opinion should not be in Warhammer Fantasy.
-Any tips for players struggling to beat Bret armies like yours?
Get gud…just kidding. Truthfully, re-read through the Bret books to completely understand what they are capable of. Knowledge is power. Playtest vs friends, Warhall, run scenarios in your head, and even use them yourself to test their power. Can’t do much vs the Exile cannon (but at least now with the new FAQ you can hide behind hills). Pegasus knights can only charge one unit at a time so don’t shove out too far so that you can’t charge them and don’t give them a unit to overrun into. You want them to be closer to your lines after killing a throw away unit so you can them blast them with shooting.
-If you could change ONE thing in ToW- what would it be?
Give ALL the legacy factions Arcane Journals, have rules writers contact dedicated players looking to clean up the grey area rules….oh sorry, you said ONE.
Blue’s Events
Blue isn’t just a great player, he’s also a great TO. He runs a number of north-east events, including NOVA. He’s also working on getting a masters events set up.
-Anything you’d like to share about upcoming events you are running?
On February 22nd and 23rd, I’ll be running the MIGA (Make Infantry Great Again) event with comp to TRY and make infantry more competitive where they get +1 max rank bonus so regular infantry can get up to +3 and hordes up to +4 PLUS infantry in open/closed order are given fight in extra ranks so think supporting attacks from 8th ed. Trying to give them some extra help vs all the super fast cav and monster mash lists people are taking. You can find a link to the event here.
-Tell me a little about the Master Events you are working on.
I’m giving it a shot an truly hopeful it can work so PLEASE spread the word 😀 Basically, anyone that has gotten top 3 at a GT or won an RTT with at least 20ish people would be welcomed to apply to Masters at The NOVA Open. In terms of comp I’m still working on that, but if GW releases their “tournament packet” we might go with that. I’m hoping it will happen, but it is difficult trying to have the best players in the world all travel to a Con for the first Masters Event. If it does break down then that day will be a Doubles event, which is also just a blast! (Want to be part of this? You can find more info and an application here).
Thanks again to Blue from SquareHammer for speaking with us, and congrats on Best General!
