We’re excited to announce a new contest here at Blood & Pigment!

For this event we’re asking players to design and submit their own custom historical Commanders or Characters. We’re calling this a Design-a-Pirate contest but it covers more than just pirates. We’re looking for fan-made designs for commanders and characters for any and all of the nations and factions in Blood & Plunder.

The contest will run throughout the month of April and the three winners will be awarded a complete set of the eight legendary Commander miniatures currently available for Blood & Plunder.

There is a wealth of interesting commanders and characters already available to Blood & Plunder players but the more you dig into the history, the more interesting personalities appear. This is your chance to put a spotlight on your favorite historical character that the game might not currently include!

The Details:

• The contest will run April 1-30
• 3 entries will be selected as winners. The designer of each winning entry will win a set of the 8 Legendary commanders (shipped anywhere in the world).
• Entries can be either a named Commander, or a named or generic Character (Fighting Man or Advisor).
• Named entries must be historical.
• Entries may not include commanders or characters with the same name as a commander or character already published by Firelock Games or spoiled from Raise the Black.
• Entries must include all standard game stats and be formatted like the examples below.
• Entries must be relevant to the 1620-1730 era and must be available to one or more current or upcoming Blood & Plunder factions.
• New rules and abilities are allowed but generally sticking to the rules and special abilities already published is encouraged.
• Each entry must include a short paragraph of information and history or a link to more information on the character .
• There is no limit on the number entries per person.
• Entries can be submitted via email to bloodandpigment@gmail.com. Please put “Blood & Pigment Commander Contest” in the subject line and include your name in the email.
• Winners will be contacted via email by May 5th.
• A selection of the top entries will be compiled and released on Bloodandpigment.com as a pdf available for (unofficial) use (with each entry credited).

Here is an example of a commander entry (from No Peace Beyond the Line):

Jean Bernard Desjeans – 27

May Lead: French Expeditionary Force
Main Weapon: Brace of Pistols or Buccaneer Gun and Standard Melee Weapon
Sidearm: None or Pistol (Only if armed with a Buccaneer Gun)
Command Range: 16″
Command Points: 3
Special Rules: High Standing, Careful Planning
Mutual Hatred: This Commander cannot give Command Points to Flibustiers, Les Enfants Perdus, and Boucaniers
Unorthodox Force; This force greats all Support units as Core units but may not include Milice Canadienne, Milices a Cheval or Coureur de Bois.

Desjeans was a French Privateer and Naval officer who participated in many notable battles, many of which were in Europe. His main Caribbean adventure was leading the 1697 raid on Cartagena.  More info on Desjeans can be found on Wikipedia here or in Pirates – Predators of the Sea by Angus Konstam.

If you would like to submit a custom character, the format should like like this (from Guy’s Native Characters article):

Man of the Coast – 4

Fighting Man upgrade
Nationality: Native or Black Caribs Only
Unit Restrictions: Command unit only
Command Range: 3”
Command Points: 1 (may only give Grapple as an extra action)
Special Rules: –
Extra Abilities: When a ship in this force moves under paddles within your commander’s command range, the ship may move an additional 1” each time it moves.

Design notes: Most of the Native American special rules “turn off” when in a structure like a boat, and sea battles are a big part of Blood & Plunder. This character boosts the nationality rule of giving all boats Paddles by making paddles as fast as sweeps, while still letting the Spanish Corsairs have the fastest boats.

If a non-historical or more “entertaining” commander were to be submitted, it would not be eligible to win a prize, but it might be featured in a humorous manner sometime in the future. We aren’t above having a little fun

That’s the contest! Have fun and we look forward to seeing your entries!

Feel free to contact us via email or on Facebook with any questions.

5/8 Update: Winner can be found here.