Are we going to use that rule that blank artifacts give you TG?
Let’s add that to the vote. I’ll put a reminder in the second round of races once I have everyone’s first pick.
I’m open in terms of rules. I’ve never done AoE, so I am curious, but I also like adapting to POs as they show. I’m open on artifact placement. I would rather NOT give any value to blank artifacts (2 TG).
I vote no TG for blanks.
I vote no TGs for blank Artifacts.
Also voting no tg for blanks.
I’m fine with whatever on blank artifacts.
Looks like we won’t be adding any more house rules. Second round of races are out.
Still have an opening in the other game if anyone is interested…
2 people left to pick. I expect I’ll be able to put up the board tonight with a few instructions on starting a Vassal game.
Cool. I think the few instructions will be very helpful for me. 
Zero, I believe you forgot to send me the second round race.
All races are in. I’ll post the map and instructions on how to get started as soon as I can, which might be after work tonight.
Starting the game instructions:
Unfortunately, artifacts are not secure in Vassal – there is a way to peek at them. To remedy this, each of you have been given a marker of a race that is not in the game which will count as artifact markers. They are located near your trade agreement cards. When an artifact is discovered I will place the real token on the planet.
Take note of your player number. (Please note I have changed the order of player numbers to a more logical placement – this is not the same as the Vassal default.)
P1 Jeff
P2 Kid
P3 Shifi
P4 Aweberman
P5 JP
P6 Not2good
Download the most recent file on the forum and open it - not necessarily my most recent post. You will be prompted to join as a side – select your player number. Place your starting units and leaders (pull them from the leaders box) in your home system as well as your command counters (right click to flip them for fleet supply). Save the game and upload the file as an attachment to a forum post.
Once everyone has done that the private areas will be secure. Then I will reveal the first public objective and pass out preliminary objectives and we will move on to the strategy phase.
Some things you should note for playing with Vassal:
For the sake of keeping things uniform, please leave cards on the map where they are. This is so everyone can quickly see who has what and know where to look for it. I’m currently playing in a Vassal game where most of us keep our tech cards in private areas but some don’t and remembering who has what gets a little complicated.
Everyone can look at your private player area. If you leave cards face up there people will know what you have. If they are face down, no one will be able to see them.
Do not use the transfer area (with one exception). This area is not secure. If you leave something there, anyone can see and move the cards. If you need to make a trade with another player tell the GM and leave it to him.
There is one small and annoying bug. Most of the time when the GM places a card in your private area it will still be secured to the GM. You will be able to move the card, but not be able to peek or flip. If this happens move the card to the transfer area and then back to your private area.
During the course of a game round, please submit turns as if in a standard forum game and I’ll keep on top of updates. Every strategy phase I’ll have you submit a save file with your strategy choice. This will be your chance to predominantly fix any AC bugs and make any cosmetic adjustments you would like. (if the AC thing gets out of hand we can work out something more as we go).
All updates will be saved games, with the exception of combat. When there is combat I will post a log file. When you open a log file the “Step Forward” button (just under “Help” in the top left) will be dark. Click on that to see the results of the dice as they are rolled.
And finally, there is a limit to how much storage these forums have. I will periodically delete old save files. If you want to have old files, you are responsible for keeping them for yourself.
Best of luck and let’s have a good game!
This sounds more complicated than it is, I promise!
If you have any questions please post or PM.
OK not sure I got this. A bit of a techno-peasant here. 
Everything looks good to me. It is possible with fighters and ground forces to right click on them and set a quantity rather than place multiple units. However, I wouldn’t sweat it since there’s a decent chance you’ll split them up this round anyway.
Ok, this is my first try at Vassel, so let me know if I messed something up.
I should have been more clear. You need to use the previous player’s save file and add to it.
There is no way to combine info, and for the first go around especially this is very important because in addition to placing units, you are locking your private areas.
OK, hopefully that did it, I added stuff to the one Kid did.
Done correctly. Sorry to ask you to do it twice. Thanks!
Interesting. First time for me, so let me know how it looks.