Vassal Con 2026
August 27-30

Unless otherwise stated, I’ll be running each of these events using my handy pairing spreadsheet, in conjunction with the helpful Randomizer App that I’ve recently discovered.

Before Vassal Con begins, please carefully read the Standard Protocols for Vassal Tournaments thread for more information.

For each of these events, please send your registration information via Bloo Mail to the designated T.O. (Tournament Organizer) at least 30 minutes before the event begins, using the format indicated in the Protocols thread (linked above).

For each of the maps being used in the events listed here (for the maps that aren’t on the current Restricted Map List) I’ve included the map number so that it’s easier for you to find them on Vassal.

Time Limits: Unless specifically stated otherwise in the event description, all games will be 75 minutes long. The timer will begin once players have completed their setup. Players are responsible for keeping track of the time during their game.

Game Reporting: When you complete your game, the winner needs to send a Private Message on Vassal to the T.O., listing the following:
---the final score (i.e., 200-132). The software we’re using will automatically apply the Points for the match (ie, 3-1), as long as you provide an accurate score. (Saying that Pete won 3-1 isn’t helpful, but saying that Pete won 200-132 is helpful.)
---the map that you played on.
---if applicable: a precise list of all the characters that each player brought in via Reinforcements/Reserves, etc


Thursday, August 27
10:00 am Eastern (9:00 am Central): 500pt Epic Tournament
We don’t often have a chance to play this Epic format, so this time we’ll have a chance to play it twice! …sort of. For this event, each player will build TWO squads (of different factions and with different Epic characters). At the start of the first few rounds of the tournament, your opponent will select which squad you play (and likewise you for him). In the final round of the tournament, you will get to select which squad you play. Mechanically, here’s how it will work as you set up for each match:
--Both you and your opponent will look at each others’ squads. You will type into the main Vassal chat window the opponent’s squad that you are choosing to play against (but do not press Enter yet). Your opponent will do the same.
--Once you’ve both indicated that you’re ready to reveal your selections, you both press Enter at the same time.
--Set up and play, as normal.
The hope is that this’ll provide you with a chance to play with two Epic squads, rather than just one. Twice the fun!

Special rules for this tournament:
--Your squad must include exactly 1 Epic character (look in the Epic I and Epic II and Epic III sets, here on BM…there are a total of 24 characters to choose from). Gambit is 25 pts in this tournament, and your Epic character is the only piece that can score Gambit for you.
--Your squad may contain a MAXIMUM of 3 characters with active Commander Effects. You may include more than 3 Commanders in your squad, but only 3 of them will be able to use their CEs. This will help to keep the craziness a little bit less crazy. When you submit your squad, please indicate which 3 Commanders will have active CEs for the tournament; the rest of the CEs in your squad will be permanently disrupted, even though those characters will still be considered Commanders (not Followers).
--Your squad may contain no more than 16 characters (including Reinforcements etc).
--Advanced Battle Meditation works for this tournament, but it turns off at the end of each round.
--Yuuzhan Vong are BANNED from this event. Evading on a 7, and doing 300 damage on the move…nope. No fun.
--Epic Boba Fett’s CE (“Mando Allies gain Twin Attack”) is changed: “Mando FOLLOWERS gain Twin Attack.”

Time limit: 100 minutes, rather than the usual 75. [If after the first round this seems like not enough time, then we might agree to lengthen the time limit for subsequent rounds of the tournament.]
Map List: Restricted Map List: Cloud City, Frigid Outpost, Gangster’s Vault, Jungle Tomb, Warrior’s Enclave
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]


7:00 pm Eastern (6:00 pm Central): 200pt Team Tournament: Random Mysteries
This is a team event, but you will sign up as an individual. At the start of the event, we will randomly group people into teams. Additionally, we will assign a random map from the list (see below) for both players on each team. So the players from Team A will have a certain map, and the players from Team B will have a different map, etc, etc. Think of it as a random team event with a bit of Mystery Map spice thrown in!
Your squads can be from any faction, following normal squad building rules. Because of how this event is laid out, it is possible that two players on a team might be playing very similar (potentially even identical!) squads. That’s just the nature of this event; we’re designing it to be less competitive and more fun and unpredictable than in recent years.

Please note: The match pairing process for this team tournament will be the same as the process we used for the team events at GenCon this summer:
1. Two teams will be paired against each other, as usual. Two players per team. All 4 players from these two teams will enter a single Vassal room together.
2. A single representative from both teams will roll off to determine the matchups. Whoever wins the roll will decide the matchups. For example, perhaps I win the matchup roll and see that my opponent's Vong squad would thrash my Sith squad, so I might decide to pair up that Vong squad vs my teammate's shooter-heavy squad, which allows my Sith to tackle the other team's Ewok swarm.
3. Both players who are on the team that did NOT win the matchup roll then automatically win the Map Rolls and ALSO get to decide who sets up first or second in their matches. Continuing the prior example, my Sith squad would be facing my opponent's Ewok swarm, but now my opponent would automatically get to choose whichever map he preferred (between mine and his, as per normal), and he would ALSO get to decide whether he wants to choose his side and set up first or defer to me and let me set up first. (Same thing for my teammate and his opponent.)
---So the initial roll-off (described in step #2, above) will be significant because it will allow you choose the matchups, which could potentially be a big deal. However, if you do choose the matchups then you could very well end up starting on the harder side of the map you don't want. So we'll see how this affects things. You'll probably want to bring a balanced squad so that you don't need to worry about too many lopsided matchups, and you'll probably also want to bring a squad that isn't completely hamstrung by starting on the "bad" side of any of the maps. And you’ll want to hope that your randomly selected teammate has done a good job of considering the options, too.

Map list: Peaceful City (061), Spynet HQ (067), Outlaw City (081), Sinkhole (082), Simulation Deck (097), Pirate’s Moon NE (124), Desert Marketplace (166), Wildspace Outpost 1: Townhall (000)
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]



Friday, August 28 – Jedi Challenge
Note: Each of the Jedi Challenge events will be 3 rounds. At the end of the day, results for each event will be tallied to determine the supreme winner for the entire Jedi Challenge!


10:00 am Eastern (9:00 am Central): 100pt Jedi Challenge: unique Non-Uniques
Build a 100pt squad, following normal squad building rules, with these restrictions:
--You cannot use any character with the Unique descriptor. Every character must be non-Unique.
--You cannot use duplicates of any character (ie, a maximum of 1 Ugnaught Demolitionist, 1 Mouse Droid, 1 Bith Black Sun Vigo, etc.). So each non-Unique piece is at least a little bit more unique…it gives them a taste of what it feels like to be Unique, and it hopefully boosts their self-esteem and makes them feel a little more special and important for this event.

Time limit: 60 minutes, rather than the usual 75.
Map list: Offworld Shipping Center (069), Smuggler’s Base (078), Sinkhole (082), Cantina (086), Anchorhead (088), Knight’s Enclave (130)
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]


2:00 pm Eastern (2:00 pm Central): 150pt Jedi Challenge: Terrific Trio – Sideways
Using normal faction rules, build a 150pt squad using exactly 3 characters. People were talking about a Fantastic Four event, but you can think of this as its younger brother.
This tournament will be played Sideways: players will not set up on the ends of the map, but rather along the sides.

Time limit: 60 minutes, rather than the usual 75.
Map list: Muun Grand Plaza (005), Freight Transit Station (029), Spicemines of Kessel (062), Outlaw City (081), Great Library (103), Pirate’s Moon NW (122)
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]


7:00 pm Eastern (6:00 pm Central): 200pt It’s HUUGE!!
All normal squadbuilding rules apply. However, every squad must contain at least 1 Huge character. The map list is huge-friendly to accommodate this.
---all Huge characters gain Stable Footing for the duration of this tournament
---three specific V-Set 30 pieces will be legal and available for this event: Sith Engineer (2/18), Dathomiri Beast Handler (12/18), and Domain Paath Shaper (18/18). Each of these pieces synergizes well with various Huge characters, so it’ll be fun to include them in this event.

Map list: Death Star (001), Power Regulation Chamber (Hardboard) (009), Throne Room (010), Ravaged Base (016), Taris Undercity (026), Theed Palace (077)
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]



Saturday, August 29
10:00 am Eastern (9:00 am Central): 200pt Epic Duos
Build a squad with exactly 2 characters; 1 of them must be an Epic piece (from the Epic I, Epic II, or Epic III sets). Normal faction rules apply. This is a quick, light event before the main event, later in the day.

Time limit: 45 minutes, rather than the usual 75.
Map list: Power Regulation Chamber (Hardboard) (009), Sinkhole (082), Modular Base (087), Tomb of the Acolytes (108), Rock Fortress (149), Wildspace Outpost 2: Saloon (000)
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]


4:00 pm Eastern (3:00 pm Central): 200pt Vassal Con Championship
The main event! Test your most competitive 200-point squad against players from down the street and around the world. We’re starting late in the afternoon (North America time) to allow for our friends in New Zealand to join us. Expect the event to run until approximately 11:00pm or midnight (in North America). We’ll take a 30 minute break for supper between rounds, at some point.
•Playoffs: Because we are starting in the afternoon, some or all of the playoff rounds will likely need to be scheduled for the following day or even the following week; when we get to that point we will work with everyone involved to find a suitable time for whatever games still need to be played. Perhaps they might even be live-streamed and recorded! The playoff cut will be based on the number of players:
---12 or fewer: Top 4
---13-20: Top 6
---20+: Top 8
•Rules Experts: I will be looking for some rules experts to help adjudicate rules questions during the event. If they need to step out of their current game to answer a question, they will pause the timer in their game while they save the galaxy. (Not all heroes wear capes!) As the T.O. I have the final say when it comes to how things will be handled in any given dispute, though I will obviously defer to the expertise of the experts for difficult rules matters.

Map List: Restricted Map List: Cloud City, Frigid Outpost, Gangster’s Vault, Jungle Tomb, Warrior’s Enclave
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]
 


Sunday, August 30…the first day of V-Set 30!
10:00 am Eastern (9:00 am Central): 200pt V-Set 30 Constructed
Using at least 1 piece from the newly released V-set 30, construct a 200-point competitive squad. 3 rounds of Swiss pairings.

Map List: Restricted Map List: Cloud City, Frigid Outpost, Gangster’s Vault, Jungle Tomb, Warrior’s Enclave
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to ____ via BM.]


3:00 pm Eastern (2:00 pm Central): Royal Rumble
Bring three, 2-activation squads with no faction restrictions, each totaling up to 100 pts. V-Set 30 pieces are legal for this event. Play one squad at a time against your competitors on the Rattatak Arena (034) map. Last piece standing wins!
[At least 30 minutes prior to the start of this event, please submit your squad info to thereisnotry via BM.]



Note: The new characters from V-Set 30 will not be legal until the Sunday events unless specifically stated in the event description. Even though those pieces are already available in the BM squad builder and on Vassal, you’ll have to exercise some self-restraint for just a few more days.

Please post here if you have any questions about any of the events. I’m looking forward to playing with each of you!