Friendly Battle Event Guide

A Gundam Assemble friendly battle is the easiest way to get a starter box off the shelf and onto a table with other players. It is the casual, recurring store event level built for people who already know the basics and want a standing reason to play every week. If you have been assembling Mobile Suits and wondering when you will actually put them through a real game, a Gundam Assemble friendly battle gives you a fixed night, a light rules load, and no elimination bracket hanging over your head.

The short version: you bring a small squad, you play short games, and results exist only to set up the next pairing. Store-level Friendly Battle activity is rolling out from November 14, 2026, alongside beginner sessions and a competitive cup tier that is still to come.

Friendly Battle Formats: Standard vs. Duel Night

Every Gundam Assemble friendly battle runs in one of two shapes, and stores pick whichever fits their tables and their player count. Standard Friendly Battle is the flagship version: a three-round casual event for four or more players. Duel Night is the fallback and the entry point — a single best-of-three match for exactly two players.

A few practical notes that matter more than they look:

• Results have no competitive weight. Match results are entered so the next round's pairings can be generated. There is no final standing, no elimination, and no cut.
• The organizer can play. If it does not interfere with running the night, the person organizing may sit down as a player.
• Three players is not a dead night. If a fourth player is available on staff, that person should join. Otherwise the rotating sit-out procedure keeps everyone involved.
• Consistency beats variety. Stores are encouraged to lock in one night per week and keep it there. A predictable schedule is what turns a one-off visit into a habit.
• Duel Night is a stepping stone. As a local group grows, two-player matches naturally give way to full Standard events.

If you are brand new to the game itself, start with a Learn to Play session before your first event night — those sessions exist specifically so nobody has to learn the rules mid-match.

How to Build and Adjust Your Squad

The Standard Casual Format is deliberately compact: three Mobile Suits and nine Tactics Cards. That is the whole list. You are not building a collection-wide army, and you do not need one to be competitive at this level.

The most underrated rule here is the freedom to change. You may rebuild your squad between rounds in a Standard event, and between individual games in a Duel Night match. Nothing locks you into the list you registered with.

That changes how you should think about a night:

1. Round one is information gathering. Bring the squad you know, then watch what your opponents field.
2. Reweight between rounds. If a particular Tactics Card never had a good moment, cut it for something that answers what you actually faced.
3. Keep a second configuration ready. Three Mobile Suits is a small enough pool that you can plan a swap in advance without hauling a case of plastic.
4. Try the Starter-Only track early. Restricting both players to Starter Set pieces levels the field and teaches you what each card is really for.

Squad changes are part of the three-round event structure, so treat your list as a living thing rather than a commitment.

Choosing Scenarios for Each Round

A Gundam Assemble friendly battle scenario decides the mission framing you play under, and the recommendation for new groups is simple: stay on the starter scenario until everyone knows the flow.

For a Standard event, the organizer has three legitimate ways to assign scenarios:

• One scenario for all three rounds. Cleanest for a group still learning, and it makes results easy to compare.
• A different scenario each round. Good once players are comfortable, since it forces fresh decisions.
• Random approved scenarios across tables. Adds variety but requires players who can read a mission card quickly.

Duel Night is looser. The two players may agree on any approved scenario for each game, and they can reuse one or rotate. If they cannot agree, the organizer picks randomly from the approved pool. Settle that before sleeves come off — it saves five minutes of polite standoff.

Timing, Draws, and End-of-Game Procedure

Sixty minutes per round is the recommended limit for Standard play, with short setup and transition windows so the whole night fits inside a 3–4 hour store booking. Duel Night uses the same 60-minute recommendation per individual game, and stores can adjust match scheduling around opening hours and table availability.

Chess clocks are not required in either format. That is a real relief for newcomers, but it also means you should manage your own pace: know roughly how many activations you have left and do not start a long chain you cannot finish.

That end-of-game sequence is worth memorizing. "Finish the activation, stabilize, then score" prevents the most common bad feeling at casual events — a game decided by an argument about whether an action was mid-resolution. Because there are no standings, a draw costs you nothing but bragging rights.

Prizes, Participation Packs, and the Hobby Award

Everyone who plays leaves with something, and the painting side of the hobby gets its own spotlight.

The Players' Choice Hobby Award is the part most players underestimate. Entry is voluntary, and the rule set is tighter than it looks:

• Three eligible Mobile Suit miniatures, painted by the entrant. Commission-painted models are not allowed.
• Organizers and anyone administering or counting the vote cannot enter. Casting an ordinary player vote does not disqualify you.
• One vote per participating player, and you may not vote for your own entry.
• Ties go to the organizer, judged on visual impact, painting quality, consistency, theme, creativity, and basing and modelling.
• A sole eligible entrant still wins the bonus packs. Showing up with painted models is never wasted effort.

Full eligibility details live in the Hobby Award and Best Painted Force Standards. If you plan to enter, paint three units as a matched force rather than three unrelated singles — consistency is one of the stated tiebreak criteria, and it reads well on a table.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is a Gundam Assemble friendly battle? It is the casual, recurring store event tier for the game — three best-of-one rounds for four to sixteen players, or a two-player best-of-three Duel Night. Results only generate pairings; there are no standings or elimination rounds.

Do I need a finished, painted squad to attend? No. Three Mobile Suits and nine Tactics Cards are all the Standard Casual Format asks for, and the Starter-Only track lets you play using just Starter Set pieces. Paint is only relevant if you choose to enter the Hobby Award.

Can I change my squad during the night? Yes. You may swap Mobile Suits and Tactics Cards between rounds in a Standard event and between games in a Duel Night match. Nothing requires you to keep the same list throughout.

How long does a typical night run? Plan for three to four hours for a Standard event, with roughly 60 minutes per round plus setup and transitions. Each Duel Night game carries the same 60-minute recommendation.

Your first Gundam Assemble friendly battle does not require a perfect list, a painted army, or a deep rules memory. Bring three Mobile Suits, nine Tactics Cards, and a willingness to rebuild between rounds — the format does the rest of the work for you.