The Spanish Nationality and Factions in Blood & Plunder

/ josephforster86

Last Updated on October 4, 2024

In Blood & Plunder, each nationality has certain distinctive attributes that make them interesting and unique. Within each Nation, there are various Factions that let you play very different styles of armies, all historically based. In this article, we will look at what makes the Spanish Nation unique in Blood & Plunder, and then give a quick summary of each of the several Spanish Factions. We are constantly adding new detailed Spanish Faction Overview articles as well if you’re looking for more information.

When you start Blood & Plunder, one of the first things you will need to decide is which nationality (or nationalities) you want to play. Hopefully, these articles will give you an idea of what makes each nation special, the available options, and which factions would be the most fun for you to play.

This article was originally written in 2020 but has been revised in early 2024 to cover all Factions from the Core Rule Book, No Peace Beyond the Line and Raise the Black.

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What Makes the Spanish Unique?

In Blood & Plunder, the Spanish units are generally cheaper in terms of point cost. Typically this means you can field a larger number of models in an average force. While not quite a “horde army” like Orks in 40k or other games, you will likely have 20-50% more models than other Nations.

Historically, the Spanish were in decline in this era so they were often under-supplied with weapons, powder, and equipment. This is reflected in the game as many units aren’t as effective or dangerous. They may have disadvantages like Poorly Equipped or having a less effective Shoot ability. They also have more options for units with pikes, lances, or polearms rather than muskets.

Poorly Equipped – If this unit is activated by a CLUB, it gains one additional Reload marker to Small Arms if it gains any during that activation.

The other really interesting part of the Spanish in this game is their Ruthless bonuses. If they hurt their enemy early and start to get the upper hand, all their troops start to fight better.

The Spanish are an extremely diverse nationality and have many different styles of units and forces. along with options to deploy more Native units than the other European factions in the Caribbean. There are also a lot of fun historical commanders available to the Spanish player.

Among the unit options available to the Spanish, there are a couple that have no equivalent in the other nationalities. Both the skirmish-y Native Militia (Milicianos Indios) and Lanceros are unique units in the game only available to the Spanish. The Spanish also have the most options for Cavalry in the game.

The Spanish have some very specialized units that can take some experience to learn to utilize to their full potential. This, combined with their less-than-excellent equipment, makes them require some experience and skill to play really well.

Spanish Factions

The Spanish currently have 15 different factions. Each “Faction” has its own set of units and commanders to draw from and some special rules that make the faction unique. Of these 15 factions, several (like the Guarda Costas below) have more than one version available, representing how things change as history progresses. The descriptions below will briefly touch on each of the variations.

The original (and newly “Revised” edition) rule book contained 3 Spanish factions: one for land, one for sea, and one “Legendary” Faction. The Legendary Faction can only be used while using 1 specific, high-powered historical commander. Each of these factions gets fleshed out a little more fully in No Peace Beyond the Line and that is the version that will be available to build on the Force Builder.

If you have the softcover rulebook from the Blackbeard vs. Maynard expansion, it doesn’t contain any Spanish factions. However, you can find them all on the free online Blood & Plunder Force Builder website.

Guarda Costas

This Faction represents the Spanish ships and crews employed to defend the coast against smugglers, pirates, and interlopers. They are often no better than pirates themselves. They lack the weapons, skill, and sometimes even the motivation that their French and English opponents display.

This is one of the more poorly equipped naval forces in the game, but you can sure put a lot of units in your ships! You can also pay a little more to upgrade some troops and their weapons. You have a limited variety of units to choose from when playing this force, but there are some unusual Support Units for added variety.

Guarda Costas from No Peace Beyond the Line

This expansion adds a lot of unit options and additional historical commanders appropriate to the 17th century. With 6 different possible Historical Commanders available, this faction has lots of fun leadership options. It still has limited options for Core Units.

Watch a quick review of the Guarda Costas faction on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Guarda Costas from Raise the Black

As the Guarda Costas move into the 18th century it opens up a whole new “Foreign Service” option. This lets you play crews made up entirely of English, Dutch, or French under the Spanish flag. These Guarda Costas gets access to better equipment like explosives and Brace of Pistols which puts them on a more “even playing field” with some of the other naval factions in the game.

Spanish Caribbean Militia

The Spanish Caribbean Militia in the Core Rulebook is your basic “land faction” for Spain. Again, your equipment and training isn’t the best, but you get to play with some interesting units with a variety of weapons. You have options for making your troops more woods-savvy at the expense of losing their ability to perform “drilled” volleys.

Spanish Militia from No Peace Beyond the Line

The Spanish Militia in No Peace Beyond the Line is a big faction with lots and lots of options! It gains an overarching ability to deploy one unit outside of your normal deployment zone in a sort of ambush which can be really fun. It also has 3 possible “Force Options” that change things considerably. You can opt to focus on either cavalry, guerilla tactics, or a high concentration of Native allies. These options, combined with a rich selection of commanders mean there’s lots of variation and depth possible in this faction.

Watch a quick review of the Spanish Militia faction on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Reformed Spanish Militia from Raise the Black

This version of the Spanish Militia represents basic Spanish land forces from the early 18th century. This version of the faction has a lot of variety, including a fun and highly entertaining “Far Flung Outpost” Force Option. Overall the equipment options are better for the Spanish in the 18th century.

I personally like playing the sneaky guerrilla-style Spanish Militia force with some Native support.

Armada de Barlovento

This sea-focused Faction is similar to the Guarda Costas but instead of low-quality Militia units, it has access to skilled professional soldiers. This faction isn’t as cheap, but the skill levels are more on par with the other nations’ seagoing Factions, plus you get the Spanish Ruthlessness which makes them fun.

This Faction has access to some really deadly Dutch units which can really improve their potential to board enemy ships. The Armada de Barlovento has extremely good firepower as far as Spanish armies go. I would consider it among the strongest naval factions in the game.

The Armada de Barlovento Faction is found in the No Peace Beyond the Line expansion.

Watch a quick review of the Armada de Barlovento faction on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Spanish Corsairs

This sea-focused faction is the closest the Spanish get to the other Buccaneer factions. Faction Special Rules give you bonuses for using more than one smaller ship or boat which you can move quickly with sweeps and board enemies’ ships with hard-hitting units.

This is one of the best factions for playing several ships (large or small) in one force as their commanders are uniquely able to coordinate a fleet.

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The Spanish Corsiars faction is found in the No Peace Beyond the Line expansion.

Watch a quick review of the Spanish Corsairs on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Tercios

The Spanish Tercios are the best-equipped Spanish land force. They don’t have the wide variety that the Spanish Militia have, but they have access to the Spanish “Soldados” and better equipment for their troops. This is solidly a land faction as it can’t even take ships.

The Spanish Tercios Faction is found in the No Peace Beyond the Line expansion.

Watch a quick review of the Tercios faction on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Ostend Privateers

This is a very different Spanish sea Faction in that half of the models available to this force are Dutch. It’s a strong naval faction that mixes the Ruthless Spanish special ability with the skill and equipment of the Dutch.

You will have access to many types of sailor units equipped with anything from muskets, pikes, explosives, pistols, and blunderbusses! The one drawback to the faction is they don’t have access to any historical commanders. Their generic commanders are good, but they lack some of the flair that some historical commanders provide.

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The Ostend Privateers Faction is found in the No Peace Beyond the Lineexpansion.

Watch a quick review of the Ostend Privateers faction on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Spanish Army

Moving into the 18th century, this Faction focuses on better-trained professional soldiers moving and fighting in coordinated ways. French influence and trade have given the Spanish better equipment, but their “Regular Soldiers” (Soldados Reformados) are still a cut below comparable French, Dutch, and English troops.

Niguel Vega’s Spanish Soldiers painted by Rufus DeVane

The Spanish Army Faction can be found in the Raise the Black expansion.

Spanish Armada

This is your most professional option for a Spanish sea Faction. With options to upgrade units to higher skill levels and access to better weaponry, this can be a very cruel and ruthless sea faction in Blood & Plunder! The special Faction rules really shine while playing larger games with some of the bigger ships, but it’s very playable at smaller point levels as well.

Spanish models on the ship's gallery

The Spanish Armada Faction is found in the Raise the Black expansion.

Spanish Mission Garrison

This is one of the more unique factions in the game, representing unskilled militia groups raised from Native missions, specifically in the Spanish Florida holdings. Your Priest character is really important in this faction, and there is one specific historical Commander who is a lot of fun in this faction. You have to take mostly unskilled Christianized Native bowmen, but you need that core of Spanish soldiers to hold everything together. Fortifications are a good (and historical) option for this land-focused Faction.

The Spanish Mission Garrison Faction is found in the Raise the Black expansion.

Franco-Spanish Expeditionary Forces

In this Faction, you can both Spanish and French troops, but at the cost of some potential chaos on the table from difficulty in communications! A very flexible land Faction if you want to dabble in both Spanish and French units in Blood & Plunder.

Image by Brendan D

The Franco-Spanish Expeditionary Forces Faction is found in the Raise the Black expansion.

Spanish “Legendary” Factions

The Legendary Factions are linked to unique and powerful commanders. Usually, these factions have “spicier” faction rules, but fewer options for customization as they represent one specific crew under one specific commander.

Los Corsarios de Pardal

This is one of the special factions linked to a “Legendary Commander,” in this case Manuel Rivero de Pardal, a very colorful and bold “but maybe not very experienced” character.

Pardal painted by Wayne Burgon

In a lot of ways this force is very similar to the Guarda Costas faction: lots of inexperienced and poorly equipped troops but with a bold and crazy commander at their head this time! Sea Orks! I wouldn’t recommend this faction for a first army, mostly because you need a ton of models, but it can be a lot of fun.

This faction really focuses on Pardal himself, letting him issue a personal challenge to an enemy unit which gives the faction a bonus vs that unit until either Pardal or the challenged unit is destroyed.

This faction can be found in both the Core Rule Book and again, in a slightly expanded form, in the No Peace Beyond the Line expansion.

Watch a quick review of this faction on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Juan Corso’s Corsairs

This is the personal force of Juan Corso and it is awesome. It’s basically a souped-up Spanish Corsairs force. You have good equipment, bonuses for all musketry, bonuses for fighting the Dutch, English, and French, upgraded speedy boats, and options to surprise attack your enemy at night!

Corso Painted by Twan van Tilborg

There’s a lot going on in this faction, so again, it’s probably not the easiest force to start with but it is a very unique faction.

This is a naval faction designed to use a fleet of smaller vessels to harass your enemy. Ideally, you would want one or two Piraguas and possibly some smaller crafts like a Longboat or Canoa. A Tartana or Corvette could be a fun ship for this faction as well. This force has access to excellent ranged and solid melee units.

Watch a quick review of Juan Corso’s Corsairs on the Victorum Gaming YouTube channel.

Pargo’s Marineros

This final Legendary Spanish faction gives you some solid bonuses for grappling and boarding enemy ships, but it also gives you access to larger than usual cannons. Very fun faction and a strong choice if you’re OK spending a lot of your army points on Amaro “Pargo” Rodriguez.

The Pargo’s Marineros Faction is found in the Raise the Black expansion.

Buying Into the Spanish

The Spanish Starter Box is clearly a great place to start. Depending on your intended play style, your next purchase could go several different ways;

Final Thoughts

Entry # 2 - Spanish Army Force
Spanish Soldiers painted by Fernando Arteaga

The Spanish are a very diverse group of Factions in Blood & Plunder with several play styles available to them. They have a high quantity of unit types with many of them being fairly specialized (compared to a nation like England who tends to have more well-rounded units).

Since they are a diverse lot and have a lot of specialized units, I think they reward repeated plays so you can figure out how to use each unit in your army to its full potential. They aren’t the easiest to play, but they reward players who stick with them and figure out how they work. There’s lots to explore in the Spanish Factions!