Adepticon 2025 is shaping up to be one of the largest Blood & Plunder events ever! With over 25 events scheduled and 200 participants registered, it should be an epic convention for Plunder players! One of the premier events of the con is the Tournament at sea. Players from around the country (and world!) will face off against each other on the high seas. Who will lead their crew to victory this year?
Here are two very important pieces of information for you: please read the 2025 Adepticon Sea Tournament Packet, AND please submit your tournament force for validation to streamline the event.
2025 Adepticon Sea Tournament Packet
This packet contains all the details for this year’s tournament, including the complete rules for all potential scenarios.
Sea Tournament Force Validation
Please drop your info and your Force Builder link below and we’ll make sure your list is all legal and set to go for the big tournament!
Sea Tournament Details
The Sea Tournament will be one of the final Blood & Plunder events of the gaming convention, starting at 2 pm on Saturday, March 29 and running till 8pm.
If you’ve participated before, the primary change you need to keep in mind is that the point level is a little higher this year at 250pts. This should allow either a mini fleet of two small ships or let you explore outfitting a larger 3 deck ship like a Light Frigate or Brigantine. The other important item is the Errata 1.4 will be in use, which is notable for its change in how both Swivel Guns and Firepots work.
Basic rules will be pretty standard:
- 3 round Swiss format
- 4×4 boards
- Any published force is available
- Bring all your own minis, ships, and accessories
- 100 minute rounds
- Prizes for 1-3rd place and best-painted army
- Scenarios for the 3 rounds to be drawn from a pool of 5 scenarios
Tournament Scenarios
With five possible scenarios, you’ll need to build a force that can rise to meet any challenge! The five possible scenarios include:
- Control the Field
- Take & Hold
- Encounter
- Escort
- Chase’s End
All these scenarios are included in the full 2025 Adepticon Sea Tournament Packet!
Control the Field
This scenario recently received an update on how players deploy, making it more competitive and dynamic in the tournament setting. Players must deploy their ships to windward, which gives them some hard choices at the beginning of the game. The Attacker enjoys a slight advantage in the wind gauge, but it’s any man’s game.
Ships with good maneuverability and a low windward penalty will be a good choice for this scenario.
Take & Hold
This is a brutal scenario with an instant death ending! The objective favors a boarding list, but the deployment favors cannons!
This scenario will reward skilled gunnery or a quick boarding party.
Encounter
This scenario received a slight update in deployment in Errata 1.4 as well, granting players a bit more choice on ship placement during deployment.
This scenario leaves all possibilities open!
Escort
This is a spicy new addition to the tournament lineup! In this scenario, the Defender is carrying a Dignitary and the Attacker is attempting to capture or kill this character. If the Defender is a crafty enough sailor and Fortune smiles on them they can escape and win. Firelock Games will be providing a free model for all participants to use as the Dignitary character in this game!
This scenario rewards speed and a skilled sailor crew.
Chase’s End
The final possible scenario for the sea tournament is Chase’s End from the Raise the Black expansion. This scenario has a unique deployment, and it starts far into a chase when the crew is already weary.
This scenario encourages good Fatigue management but also has some possible punishments for bringing too many Characters into your crew as their deaths award benefits to your opponent.
Proxies for Ships and Minis
Here’s the skinny on what models are and aren’t legal for the 2025 Adepticon Sea Tournament…
Ships allowed in the Tournament
Per standard Blood & Plunder tournament rules, minis may be proxied but you MUST use authentic Firelock Games’ ship models. Third-party 3d Printed or proxied ships are NOT ALLOWED and you will be disqualified from entry. While they may look great and you’ve likely put a lot of work into them, you must use official models for fairness and balance, please leave them at home or limit them to the Open Play events (if your opponent agrees).
The design of a ship is important for many elements of the game including deck capacity, cannon placement, geometry of turns etc. As such, it is important that all players use Firelock Games’ own ships so people know what they are going up against and there is an even playing field. You are welcome to make visual modifications to your official Firelock Games Ship as long as all basic elements can be played per the rules (e.g. you cannot add guns beyond the official limit, add capacity, etc).
Miniatures and Character Models Allowed
When it comes to individual units and character models, you are free to use alternate models as long as they are reasonably easy for all players to understand and differentiate. You may use proxies within Firelock’s line as well, as long as units are armed appropriately (we will not be sticklers about sailors holding pistols even if your force has removed them as a weapon option). However, it is important that all models be mounted on 20mm round bases to properly determine unit positions and legal ship capacity.
Tournament Point Limit
Players will be working with 250 points this year! This is moving up a bit from the long established 200pts and we are excited to see what that opens up for players! It’s still possible to fit 250 into a plastic sloop model, but you can also start to beneficially explore some of the 3 deck ships at this point limit! We hope to see some new and fresh forces out on the table this year!
With a few more points to work with, maybe some of the bigger-named commanders will make an appearance as well!
Tournament Prizes
For Plunder and Glory! In addition to the everlasting glory of winning. you will receive if you place within the top 3, you will receive a Firelock Games gift card of $100, $50 or $25 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, respectively. There will also be a prize for the best-painted army at the event. First place should also receive an official Adepticon medal.
Does my Force Need to be Painted?
Per Adepticon’s convention rules, all minis should be painted for all tournaments. It’s a good goal to get your painting, but we see that as more like a “guideline.” But there’s a painting contest going on right now and you should get to painting! Lots of fun and prizes to be had preparing for your Plunder events this year! Plus, everyone knows that painted minis shoot more accurately and die more slowly.
Loaner Forces
We are happy to help with loaner forces for players who need them. But you MUST submit the request at least 2 weeks in advance prior to Adepticon (the request deadline is March 12th). You may use the form at the top of this page and either request a specific force (we may or may not be able to fulfill), or ask for a certain nation or style of force and we will assemble something for you. We will NOT have extra loaner forces to hand out to walk-ups on the day of the event.
Experience Level Required
Blood & Plunder is a great game at all experience levels and the community welcomes new players. But you do need to know at least the basics of the rules to play in the tournament. If you’ve never played before and you’re interested in participating in the tournament, come to a demo session earlier in the week or some of the narrative/open play sessions and get the rules basics under your belt!
If you come with no knowledge of the rules, you are putting an unfair burden on your opponent. Your opponent will end up having to teach and do a demo session for you instead of playing a real game and you’ll likely feel overwhelmed. You will also likely run out of time in your! Which isn’t fair for you as a new player or your opponent! Please be mindful of that issue so as to not ruin their chances of winning the overall event.
Strike Points, Tournament Points etc.
All that technical stuff is in the 2025 Adepticon Sea Tournament Packet!
Tournament Scheduled
Here is the intended schedule. Rounds are plenty long, so hopefully we can keep to them! We also are set to start earlier slot this year so we won’t be going so late!
2:00 – All players registered
2:15 – Begin first round
3:55 – End first round
4:10 – Begin Second Round
5:50 – End second round
6:05 – Begin third round
7:45 – End third round
7:55 Prizes awarded
Preparing for the Tournament
Last year Jason wrote up this great article on preparing for your first wargaming tournament, but it’s good reading even for veteran players!
Building Your Force
Play your favorite! Play something you’re reasonably familiar with or something you have time and opportunity to get familiar with.
If you want to read up on sea tactics, we have a meaty series of articles looking at several main ways to approach building and playing a sea force.
These articles have not been updated since errata 1.4, so some small numbers may be off and the Swivel Mania tactic has been taking down a few notches, but the articles are still helpful.
Expected Tournament Size
The ADEPTICON tournament has been hovering around 20-25 players for the last two years, but with the continued growth of the game and early registrations, we expect more this year!
Final Thoughts
Tournaments are a great way to get a focused set of games in at an event. Even if you don’t win, you get to play your force 3 times and get to know it well. You get to play against 3 serious players and pick up some good tips, tactics, and maybe even a couple of rules. And you get to see 3 other forces and maybe take some inspiration from other community members!
The Sea Tournament will be the final event for Blood & Plunder at Adepticon this year and we hope to see you there with your crew!
