So far I have only gone to a couple of 400 point Combat Patrol tournaments at my local game store but I've never gone to an actual large event. I've decided that its time to leave my comfort zone and take a risk! I just signed up for the 1,750 point Warhammer 40k Championships at the Las Vegas Open in February! I'm pretty excited. I'm also worried.

I'm not a complete fluff bunny but I have never been comfortable with using spam lists, bringing triple Helldrakes, or having Space Marines with Xenos allies. Come to think of it maybe that does make me a fluff bunny. Either way, I can't bring myself to use the latest netlist since I'm not a WAAC player. I play to have fun but I don't consider getting tabled in turn two to be fun so I try to be at least semi-competitive.

Now my concern is just how competitive is the Las Vegas Open? Just how cut throat is this crowd? Should I screw my principles and bring the most competitive hardcore list I can think of? Am I being stupid for not min-maxing and spamming the most efficient choice. What do you guys think? What has been your experience at these events?