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 Blood & Plunder events at the con with be the Land Tournament. Players from around the country (and world!) will direct their forces against each other on the tabletop. Who will lead their crew to victory this year?
Here are two very important pieces of information for you: please read the 2025 Adepticon Land Tournament Packet, AND please submit your tournament force for validation to streamline the event.
2025 Adepticon Land Tournament Packet
This packet contains all the details for this year’s B&P Land tournament.
Land 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!
Land Tournament Details
The Land Tournament will be in the middle of the convention, at 2pm on Friday, March 28th. The event will run until around 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 200pts. This will open up options for a wider range of army builds, all the way from hordes of low point models to more substantial professional army lists than the 150pt limit allowed. . The other important item is the Errata 1.4 will be in use, which is notable for its change in how Shoot Save tests work when not in cover.
Basic rules will be pretty standard:
- 3 round Swiss format
- 3×3 & 3×4 boards
- Any published force is available
- Bring all your own minis 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:
- Take & Hold (Core)
- Breakthrough (Core)
- Encounter (Core)
- Rescue (NPBtL)
- A Wanted Man (RtB)
These scenarios will be included in a physical copy of the packet that will be available to each player at the event.
TAke & Hold
This is a classic and simple scenario that rewards players for controlling the center of the board.
Breakthrough
This is another Tournament standby where the Attacker has to push across the board into the Defender’s deployment zone. This scenario rewards lists with good mobility.
This scenario will reward skilled gunnery or a quick boarding party.
Encounter
One of the simplest scenarios, Encounter lets players start in opposing corners of the board and battle with no fancy objectives. Win by taking down your enemy and preserving your troops.
This scenario leaves all possibilities open!
Rescue
This is the most unique of the possible scenarios in this tournament. The deployment of all Defenders in the center of the board shakes things up.
Firelock will be providing a free Captured Merchant model for all players participating in the Land Tournament at Adepticon, and you may need that model for this scenario!
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.
A Wanted Man
Another new scenario on the tournament scene! From Raise the Black, this scenario puts more importance on your force’s Commander. Scenario rules will require you to be be careful how you use your Commander as consequences for losing that commander are even more dire than usual!
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.
Rules for Proxies
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 (except cavalry) be mounted on 20mm round bases to properly determine unit positions and cohesion.
Tournament Point Limit
Players will be working with 200 points this year! This is moving up a bit from the long established 150pts and we are excited to see what that opens up for players! An extra 50 opens up some more options, especially for factions that rely on higher cost models.
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 Land 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.
We have a series of articles here on Blood & Pigment that look at the different factors involved in building a solid Force.
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 Land Tournament will be the final event for Blood & Plunder at Adepticon this year and we hope to see you there with your crew!
I have a themed Spanish Army that I only use in land games. I have them on scenic 25mm bases for extra room. Do I need to rebase them on 20mm for the event? My sea list is on 20mm bases already. I am one of those guys who builds separate sea and land themed forces. lol
It should be OK IF you can keep all your units within the cohesion circles. Shouldn’t be a problem if your units aren’t overly large (11+ models). If you get really large units with larger bases, you start to take up huge portions of the board and not follow the cohesion rules.
I will keep my units small. Thank you for the reply!