Thanks to everyone who participated in the photo contest hosted here on Blood & Pigment over May and June. I got a lot of great entries and it was very difficult narrowing it down to just a few winners! 25 people participated by sending a total of 131 entries! I selected a first, second and … Continue reading 2020 Blood & Plunder Photo Contest Results
By Guy Rheuark In Blood & Plunder each nationality has certain distinctives that make it interesting and unique. Joseph Forester has been writing a series of articles that look at distinctives of individual factions (there are several factions within each nationality i.e Spanish Militia are very different from Spanish Corsairs) and those articles get into … Continue reading The French Nationality and Factions
It's been a full three months since I got a play a game with a real live opponent! My local game store was able to open up a few of their gaming tables recently and I met up with my friend Guy to play his 200 point game. Both of us had fresh forces to … Continue reading Battle Report: Amphibious Escort – Black Caribs vs French Caribbean Troupe à Cheval
In Blood & Plunder each nationality has certain distinctives that make it interesting and unique. I’ve been writing a series of articles that look at distinctives of individual factions (there are several factions within each nationality i.e Spanish Militia are very different than Spanish Corsairs) and those articles get into the nitty-gritty details of units, abilities, and strategies. This … Continue reading The Peripheral Powers Factions
The 2020 Photo Contest is nearing a close here on June 30. It's been great so far! I've got a lot of good submissions but I would still happy to get more! You have a chance to win some awesome historical coins that were being used during this Golden Age of Piracy. If you're still … Continue reading Blood & Plunder Photo Contest Update – Ends June 30th
I've been doing a few games with the Palisade Fort recently and in this solitaire game, I test it in an amphibious scenario where it has to go up against a ship that can bring more cannons to bear on it. I increased the game size to 250 and used a much larger version of … Continue reading Solitaire Battle Report – English Buccaneers vs Spanish Miltia
I'm back with another COVID solo game. Firelock Games sent me some fort bastions to run through some play test games and here's my first game using them. These bastions are basically enlarged and fortified corners for the Palisade Fort and give platforms and clear fields of fire for artillery inside the fort. As it … Continue reading Solitaire Battle Report – English Buccaneers vs Portuguese-Brazilian Tercios
New Proposed Native Characters for Blood & PlunderBy Guy Rheuark I recently started playing the native nationality in Blood & Plunder and found that they offer a very different and fun way to play. As a historical gamer, playing the natives also inclined me to research the natives of the period, how they lived, dressed … Continue reading The Need for New Characters for Natives
It's been hard to get games in over the past couple months. It's been good to see people get a lot more painting done while being locked away at home but I still hunger for that that occasional dose of real gaming! Firelock Games has quickly put together an excellent set of solitaire rules to … Continue reading Solitaire Battle Report – Westo Natives vs Dutch Navy
By Dan Carlson & Joseph Forster Are you sick and tired of playing with English or French Units? Does you nemesis at you local game store play the Spanish so well it infuriates you? Those Advanced Maneuvers chipping away your rigging like shots at a Tortuga Tavern? If any of theses apply to you, I … Continue reading Faction Overview – Dutch Privateers
How to Make Piers for Blood & Plunder the Easy (Slow) Way By Guy Rheuark With a full third of the game scenarios being amphibious, it is important to have places ships can dock. While you might think your sloop can just belly up to a sandbar, drop anchor, and throw grapples, it cannot. Any … Continue reading Terrain Building: How to Make 28mm Piers
I haven't been able to actually play a real game of Blood & Plunder for several weeks now so I set up a solo game using the Palisade Fort for a second time. Last game was 100 points but I upped it to 200 for this game. At 200 points the fort takes up a … Continue reading Solo Battle Report – Caribbean Tribes vs English Caribbean Militia
I picked up another piece of terrain from Gale Force Nine's Battlefield in a Box series. This piece isn't as good of value at a MSRP of $35, but it's a very nice piece that gives you some instant interest on your battlefield. It's nice to have some variation in elevation and for some reason … Continue reading Easy Terrain – Large Rocky Hill
The Palisade Fort popped up on the Firelock Games website a while back and I just finished getting it painted. The official rules for this fort haven't been released yet but they're in beta testing and should be out soon! The Palisade Fort set comes with 4 corners, 3 straight sections and one gate (it … Continue reading Completed Palisade Fort & Test Battle Report
How do you store and transport your miniatures? Many Blood & Plunder players have been in war gaming way longer than I have but I've noticed there's a good number of players (including myself) that don't have much if any miniature game experience. One of the things I've noticed veteran miniature gamers always have is … Continue reading Miniature Storage and Transport
My friend Guy recently finished up his Galleon so we decided to get crazy and try a 1000 point game using the Army Scale rules. Each of us built a force consisting of 3 companies totaling 1000 points. The last game I played with the Galleon was at 300 points and it was not nearly … Continue reading Battle Report – 1000 Point Galleon Duel
By Dan Carlson Ahoy there mateys! Cap’n Dan is back for another article! Here, I will be going over the newest ship in the Firelock Lineup (as of March 2020): The 6th Rate Frigate! As Blood and Plunder’s very first Rated Ship, its quite a doozy! SpeedThe 6th Rate is essentially an upgraded Light Frigate. … Continue reading Ship Overview – 6th Rate Frigate
This was my first game with the Galleon! At 300 points, the Galleon wasn't maxed out by any means, but it gave me a good feel for how to use it in standard sized sea games. The Forces At 300 points, both my friend Bryan and I were able to take some powerful commanders in … Continue reading Battle Report – Armada de Barlovento vs Flibustiers de Graff
Characters are a fun part of Blood & Plunder and it's always good to find a miniature to play the part. Firelock made a nice pack of minis to cover several of the special characters made available in No Peace Beyond the Line but it only has minis for 4 of the many characters you … Continue reading Spiritual Leader Models
Terrain is an important part of Blood & Plunder and it's something I can't manage to stop collecting! A nice variety of terrain options makes your games interesting and fresh. You can make a lot of your terrain and making something yourself makes your gaming table unique. You can often save some money making it … Continue reading Easy Terrain – Large Pine Wood
Firelock Games has recently released several pieces of resin terrain and I'm starting to get some painted up. This is a quick review and painting tutorial for the Farmed Field piece that sells for $10.00. The painted example on the website looks fine. It looks like they primed and then brushed on a coat of … Continue reading Firelock Terrain – Farmed Field
In Blood & Plunder each nationality has certain distinctives that make it interesting and unique. I’ve been writing a series of articles that look at distinctives of individual factions (there are several factions within each nationality i.e Spanish Militia are very different than Spanish Corsairs) and those articles get into the nitty-gritty details of units, abilities, and strategies. This … Continue reading The Unaligned “Nationality” and Factions
I've been meaning to get some of these elite English soldiers painted up for a long time. I finally finished a set! This English unit uses the French Milice de Caraibes models since they have the same set of equipment. As an English player the fact that a 4 point French Militia model has the … Continue reading Completed Veteran Freebooters
In Blood & Plunder each nationality has certain distinctives that make it interesting and unique. I’ve been writing a series of articles that look at distinctives of individual factions (there are several factions within each nationality i.e Spanish Militia are very different than Spanish Corsairs) and those articles get into the nitty-gritty details of units, abilities, and strategies. This … Continue reading The Native American Nationality and Factions
In Blood & Plunder each nationality has certain distinctives that make it interesting and unique. I've been writing a series of articles that look at distinctives of individual factions (there are several factions within each nationality i.e Spanish Militia are very different than Spanish Corsairs) and those articles get into the nitty-gritty details of units, abilities, and strategies. … Continue reading The Spanish Nationality and Factions
In Blood & Plunder each nationality has certain distinctives that make it interesting and unique. I've been writing a series of articles that look at distinctives of individual factions (there are several factions within each nationality i.e English Buccaneers are very different than English Caribbean Militia) and those get into the nitty-gritty details of units, abilities, and strategies. … Continue reading The English Nationality and Factions
I had a chance to fight another battle with my Logwood Cutters force. This was my experiment using them at sea and it turned out to be a very entertaining game with my friend Kevin. The Forces I used basically the same set of troops I used on land in my last battle report, merely … Continue reading Battle Report – Logwood Cutters vs Pirate Hunters
I just finished up another set of Dutch Zeelieden. I don't have a full Dutch faction painted yet but these sailors are some of the best in the game and they can be used in so many seagoing factions. I haven't done a lot of painting over the last month but I did manage to … Continue reading Completed Zeelieden
I've been wanting to get some more experience with some of the Unaligned factions and I recently got to play this land game using the Logwood Cutters faction vs my friend Kevin playing the English Caribbean Militia for the first time. My local game store, Geeks & Games in Oregon City hosted us for this … Continue reading Battle Report – Logwood Cutters vs English Caribbean Militia
The Logwood Cutters faction is basically the land-based "piratey" unaligned faction in Blood & Plunder. This faction is primarily a shooting faction with strong ranged models with Buccaneer Guns as core units and a variety of sailor and elite marksmen as support units. Firelock's website description of the Logwood Cutters reads: Logwood cutters were rough … Continue reading Faction Overview – Logwood Cutters
Wargamers are always on the lookout for terrain! I recently discovered a couple products from Wizkids that impressed me and I thought I would share them here. Wizkids has been producing massive amounts of miniatures over the past few years and they've recently started releasing some fun terrain elements as well. I've bought some of … Continue reading Easy Terrain – Wizkids Homestead
By Guy Rheuark Based on Saint-Domingue and a smattering of other islands, France controlled some of the most wealthy sugar plantations in the Caribbean. The people who lived in these towns were well acquainted with defending themselves from the Spanish. It is in these towns the Boucaniers retired and thrived, lured by the French crown … Continue reading Faction Overview – French Caribbean Militia
A couple people asked me for some details on the the paints I used on my Galleon so I'm putting together a "rough guide" for painting this big ship. This isn't a super detailed guide since I didn't take notes or appropriate pictures as I worked on it over the last few months but I … Continue reading Galleon Painting Guide
This game was a test game for a new scenario coming out in the next rule book that will be covering more 18th century forces and scenarios. This was a casual 200 point land game with my friend Guy. The Forces I've been playing English in our current campaign so I took this chance to … Continue reading Battle a Report – Spanish Tercios vs. French Caribbean Militia
At long last I've finished the massive galleon! I've had it since I got my NPBtL Kickstarter package 15 months ago and I've been working on it here and there for a long time. It was a big project that kind of intimidated me and took up my entire painting desk so I ended up … Continue reading Finished Galleon
Historically it appears the Pirate Hunters were a diverse lot, ranging from Militia volunteers, Royal Navy veteran to Boucaniers who were likely nearly as lawless as the pirates they hunted. In Blood & Plunder, this faction is represented by a mix of seamen, Militia and Buccaneers. Their faction ability improves their melee ability which makes … Continue reading Faction Overview – English Pirate Hunters
The Sloop is the fastest, the Galleon is the biggest, the Light Frigate is the toughest and the Brigantine is the "mediumist". It can sail reasonably fast, turn reasonably well, it's reasonably tough and it can deliver a reasonable broadside. It's a flexible mid-sized ship that doesn't particularly specialize but does decently in all areas. … Continue reading Ship Overview – The Brigantine
The Fluyt isn't the most fearsome or powerful in Blood & Plunder, but it's an impressive and eye-catching ship that can be effectively used in a variety of ways. The Fluyt is a large 3 deck ship that's moderately armed, can hold a lot of men, but is fairly slow and doesn't like going upwind. … Continue reading Ship Overview – The Fluyt
My current local campaign has progressed to round 5. This is a non-standard campaign with Guy Rhueark, our "Campaign Master," playing NPC Spanish that players encounter if they fail to bump into another player's ship in our campaign map of the Caribbean. This round, my Pirate Hunters commanded by Thomas Clarke had the task of … Continue reading Battle Report: Campaign Game 5 – Pirate Hunters vs Spanish Militia
This isn't the typical Redcoat English militia color scheme but I've painted a bunch of these militia in red and I wanted to do something different. This is a quick guide using my standard approach of Base/Wash/Highlight. Step 1 - Prep and Prime Standard practice for metal minis. I detail the model with a knife, … Continue reading English Militia Painting Guide
I've had a couple gun emplacements hanging around my painting desk for months now and it's time to get them painted! This is a resin terrain miniature piece from Firelock Games and it costs $20. I bought two of these terrain pieces and they are fine quality. They didn't take any cleanup but I did … Continue reading Gun Emplacement Painting Guide
Firelock has a wide range of vessels available for Blood & Plunder now and I hope this can be a helpful summary and guide for which ships you may want to add to your fleet and how to use them. I'm still working on compiling in-depth articles on each ship but this will be more … Continue reading Blood & Plunder Ship Guide
My local custom campaign has proceeded to round 4 where my English Pirate Hunters encountered a Spanish Corsair Corvette. This is 200 point naval game again featured my custom commander vs Guy, who is running our campaign and playing NPC ships which the players might encounter The ForcesThe Corsair corvette was much different than any … Continue reading Battle Report – Campaign Game 4: Pirate Hunters vs Spanish Corsairs
I just finished a second pair of Heavy Cannons and I thought I'd post up a couple pictures. These cannons are impressively large. The Medium Cannons seemed pretty big before but these heavies dwarf the them. It's a good thing too because two heavies cost as much as six medium cannons! I have to say … Continue reading Completed Heavy Cannons
This was an interesting campaign game. It was planned as a 2v2 naval encounter but coordinating 4 players can be difficult! The first 2 turns were just 1v1 and the 3rd and 4th ships can onto the board on turn 3 as reinforcements. It made for an interesting (and somewhat chaotic game)! The Forces I … Continue reading Battle Report – 2v2 Campaign Naval Encounter
By Guy Rheuark The Firelock Games longboat is a great way to add inexpensive and easy to paint terrain to any Blood & Plunder game you might play. Whether you place it next to a building and load it up with crates and barrels, to tell a story with your scatter terrain, or have a … Continue reading Ship Overview – The Longboat
After clashing with the English Buccaneers Commander Thomas Clarke sailed North hunting the Spanish treasure ship. Instead of finding a helpless merchant ship full of plunder my English Pirate Hunters came head to head with a patrolling Spanish warship! This second encounter in this campaign was fought against Guy, who is running the campaign and … Continue reading Battle Report – Campaign Game 2, Pirate Hunters vs Armada de Barlovento
By Guy Rheuark The Light Frigate is the best warship in Blood & Plunder. I have seen it out gun smaller vessels, and out maneuver larger ones. I plan to describe why this ship is effective as a warship, and outline the pitfalls that you might have building a list for it. First though, let’s … Continue reading Ship Overview – The Light Frigate
This 200 point land game was a "make up" campaign game for Nick, another player in my local group. Nick is playing the Spanish Armada faction through the campaign and his trajectory through the Caribbean didn't cross with any other ships on this first turn of the campaign. Instead of fighting a sea battle like … Continue reading Battle Report – Armada Landing Force vs French Buccaneers
My local group has just started up a new custom campaign and this was my first game. We played this game at Oregon City Geeks & Games, a great store that fully supports Blood & Plunder. The campaign in No Peace Beyond the Line is excellent and I encourage anyone with a local group to … Continue reading Campaign Battle Report 1 – Pirate Hunters vs English Buccaneers
