Week 5 Summer of Plunder Campaign Update

Last Updated on June 27, 2022

We’ve already finished week 4 of the Summer of Plunder! So far we’ve have 109 players participate in the campaign, logging well over 500 games. Let’s look at the shakeup for the national standings, check out some pictures of some games that have played over the past week, hand out some prizes, then look forward to week 5 with a new objective.

Photo by Jim Welch

National Report

We had a big shakeup this week! England took the lead in the early weeks, then the scurvy pirates took the lead, but this week, Spain has made a huge effort and has gained a substantial lead, pulling a full 30 points ahead of pirates! Scoring 88 points in a single week, it was truly an amazing effort on the part of the Spanish players. Viva España! England and the Pirates are very close at 197 and 202 points, respectively.The Dutch pulled ahead this week as well, scoring 68 points (bringing their total to 183), surpassing the French to pull into 4th place. The French scored 38 points, bringing their total to 167, but still in no danger of falling to last place which the Native Americans currently hold with a total of 73 points. Native players really need to step up!

The underdog Scottish logged several more games for a total of 20 games so far.

Individual Report

Jason Klotz from the Timber & Sail blog has pulled into first place with a total of 77 points! The top 30 players now all have 11+ points and the top 15 players all have 20+ points.

Week 4 Objective – Damn the Shoals!

The images submitted with entries this week featured lots of shoals and lots of sloops to get over those shoals! I hope people enjoyed adding shoals to their sea games. Adding obstacles to a sea board can really add some interest.

Photo by Daniel Padilla

Week 5 Objective – Employ the Locals

This week’s objective should be easier to accomplish as it’s possible on land and sea. All you have to do is include one of the Hostage/Advisor characters in your force. No Peace Beyond the Line introduced Characters to Blood & Plunder. The Hostage/Advisors are the more expensive and powerful characters that must be attached for your command unit. They tend to have a fairly large impact on your game and can really define your force.

The Hostages and Advisors included in No Peace Beyond the Line include:

Captured Merchant
Spy
Local Guide
Ship’s Pilot
Spiritual Leader

Fire on the Frontier adds a specialized French Jesuit Priest that is also an Advisor. You can find some analysis of all the characters in this article if you’re interested in reading up on them a little.

The Spiritual Leader is a favorite of mine and can pretty much be useful in any force!

While using these characters, don’t forget that if you get to the end of round 6 (for most games) and you still control that character, the opposing player gains a Strike Point. And if you can manage to capture an opposing Hostage/Advisor, you give the enemy a Strike as well. Very valuable characters that must be protected!

For Oak & Iron players, this objective requires you to take the Extra Crew upgrade on at least two ships on your fleet.

Weekly Photo Prize Winner

This week’s photo prize goes to Dexter Heide. We all know and love Dexter and his awesome work in the Blood & Plunder group and on his YouTube Channel. He’s been submitting awesome pics every week but this one really deserves the prize! A bird’s eye view of two ships on shoals with one firing off a point blank broadside! Good luck with that, Frenchies!

The pictures have all been awesome. Scroll to the bottom of this update to see a bunch more!

Upcoming New Player Prize!

The entry form for campaign submissions asks if you started playing Blood & Plunder (or Oak & Iron) in 2022 and there’s a reason for that! At the end of every month (June, July, August), we’re giving away a big prize to one of you new players! In the next update, we’ll be giving away a ship/starter box/activation card set to one of you new players! So if you are a new players and you’ve been neglecting to check that box, make sure to make note of it this week!

New Upcoming Loot!

We’ve got some awesome, custom loot in the works! This is both custom to the Summer of Plunder campaign and a little preview of some of the new leaders from Raise the Black! In the upcoming Raise the Black expansion, there is a new style of commander which can be customized. Instead of the 0-15-25 point commanders which have specific special rules, there are 0-10-20 point commanders that you can create by choosing 0 (lol), 1 or 2 Special Rules from a list of Special Rules available to your nation. This is really cool because each nation maintains their strengths and flavor, but you can create a commander that will lead your force to fit your play style!

So, we’ve use these rules and, with Firelock’s blessing, created commander cards to represent each of your national commanders in the campaign! These are legal commander cards that will be specially printed for this campaign!

Tyler Stone, our French Campaign Commander, has Frenchified his name, selected Special Rules from those available to the French Commanders and this is his representation:

Tyler stone custom commander card page 1

Tyler stone custom commander card page 2

These are “generic commanders” all gussied up to look like Historical Commanders.

We’re wrapping up the last of the commander cards and we’ll be printing them and using them as prizes through the rest of the campaign!

Commander Reports

Now, here are the important messages from your beloved commanders.

Spain

¡Buenas Tardes!

Spain triumphant! We have conquered everything, twice, and now almost the winners of the Summer of Plunder!

Now is the time to come together! Hire local guides or a pilot! Press unemployed Marineros into your tiny armadillos. Our lead will be lost if we do not bring everything we can to every fight. WE must overwhelm them with our solidarity.

With that I need to also say that the silver and gold production from our southern mines has not been as fruitful as I had wished. Some of the loss is from thieves and pirates, but most of it is that I fear the people that our Tercio protects are not working hard enough in the mines.

These and other things trouble me lately. I want to thank those that have played as the Spanish, and engaged in Melee. It was nice to see so many Spanish, especially Robert Guyton, and his Lanceros with a Standard Bearer.

Un placer

“Buen Tipo”

Photo by Robert G

Current Spanish Objectives

Most Spanish points at end of campaign- Painted Spanish commander
Most O&I games played in June- 2 core set ships
Most units in Melee (b&p) for June- Spanish blister

England

English commanders,

English commanders We have fallen into Third! Behind the Spanish and Pirates! We are going to need all the power you can muster! There is still plenty of time to win this entire Campaign we only need to keep them at arm length before Inflicting the killer blow! For England! for home! and for the Prize!

Current English Objectives

Most English points at end of campaign- Painted English commander
Best painted army at end of campaign – spike defenses
Most games at end of campaign – wigwam
Most games played as an English commander during week 7 “Frontier Wars” – painted Benjamin Church model.
Most games played as an English commander during week 10 “Upgrade the Flagship”- painted Bark rigged with sails and a flag.
Most games played as an English commander as well as answering the flash question correctly, details will be on week 3 episode of my YouTube channel the Plunder Den. There will be a first and second prize. First place 4ground Colonial Port Shed and second place will get wild beast shipping crates.
Best English Spirit- Will win 4ground Ports of Plunder Medium Dock Bundle! This commander has to complete most of their matches as the English faction. I am also looking for pics of your matches, videos of sea shanties dressing up in your best English attire etc. Have a lot of fun and be creative! When you post something just tag me in it! I will be picking a winner at the end of the second last week of campaign week 13

France

Soldiers of France, we must really! We are not to be counted out of this fight.

Our war against the Natives – meant to provoke them to action – while noble, was ill considered. Their numbers proved too few, and their blood too thin, to quench our blades. Still, in this last week of June, I will be rewarding the captain who records the most games played against the Native factions.

As always, monthly prizes are available for the captain who completes the most weekly objectives. This week, we are to employ the locals. Hostages, advisors – call them what you will. Many of our factions make good use of Local Guides, their quickness and scouting abilities hasten the time ’til our enemies taste the cold steel of French bayonets.

I have been abroad seeking allies for our fight. Next month, we shall see what has become of my efforts.

Nous résistons!

Photo by Andy R

Current French Objectives

Most French points at end of campaign- Painted French commander of your choice (please vote for favorite French commander model)
Most games against Native factions by end of June – painted & converted standard bearer

Netherlands

Hoi en goedemorgen Kapiteins!

I trust that you are well and that your crews are in good health. I have heard tales of our vessels outsailing our enemies, using our sailing prowess to lure many a fool aground on the shoals. Yet another testament to our ingenuity and our great nation’s skill as shipwrights and sailors. But enough with the formalities, let us get down to business. I have been reviewing our ledgers and double-checking the numbers. While shipments are up in the recent weeks, it would seem that our financials are not where they should be. At this time we are stretched thin in our colonization efforts to the East and can spare little more resources to the Caribes. As we are already pushing our expansion to its max, I suggest we seek a new source of revenue and funding for our westerly ventures. There is an opportunity to earn quick profits if we increase our efforts in raiding the wealth-laden Spanish ships. I am dispatching additional reinforcements to assist in this effort. Furthermore, in addition to seizing the Spanish goods, we should make effort to capture their officers and any nobles that may be aboard the vessels. Whereby we may be able to offer these hapless souls for a ransom to further line our coffers. Favor and fortune will follow and soon we will be the most dominant force in not just the Caribbean, but all the world!

Photo by Chuck G

Current Dutch Objectives

Most Dutch points at end of campaign- Painted Dutch commander
Sink or capture Spanish ship this week – reinforcement models

Native American

Black Kettle frowned as he looked upon the settlement below, watching the strange settlers erect several new homes. He’d heard a great deal of these Spaniards from the tribes of the South, and from what he’d heard it was their mounting victories over their competitors that had allowed them to expand further northward.

He’d personally faced them more than once, and his own experiences had not left him overly impressed…

They had proven themselves to be determined, if not particularly skilled… or even successful. Nevertheless, numbers mattered, and the steady occupation of the land by the foreigners continued irrespective of their losses in battle.

Word had reached him of Canonchet’s success against the British, though the cost was great. Gravely wounded in the battle, it remained to be seen if the great chief’s victory came at the expense of his own life, but if, in death, he claimed Church’s demise, then it was a worthy sacrifice.

However, the British were not the greatest threat they faced. The French continued to raid trade routes, disrupting their supply of powder and shot. He himself had failed to bring the Frenchmen to battle, forcing him to consider a risky attack on one of their fortified settlements.

His expression darkened as his thoughts turned inward. For all his efforts and those of the Southern and Caribbean tribes, the Europeans continued to prosecute their wars at a pace they couldn’t hope to match. If the people didn’t take up arms in earnest soon, all would be lost..

Photo from Joseph Forster

**Reminder! – One random participant who submits a game as the natives and mentions the French as his opponent in the comments will win a bonus prize! This includes any Unaligned factions who play against the French and choose to score for the Natives. You can only win one bonus prize, so if you haven’t won one yet your chances to win remain high!**

Current Native American Objectives

Most Native points at end of campaign- Painted Native commander
A random player who logs games against the French (noted in the comments section of the submission form) will win a bonus prize (each participant can only qualify once)

Pirates

Hello there my contrary corsairs! We have done well this week! Lots of going over shoalswhile forcing the perfidious english and incompetent Spanish to run aground, leaving them open for clorious baording actions and grape shot volleys! This week, we need to do the unthinkable and take prisoners! We are required to include a Hostage/Advisor in our forces! So sneak into town, grab that merchant, and force the enemy to give chase! On sea, land, or both if needed! Do this and we will take the lead back from the Spanish! We can’t let those worshippers of an inbred king win!

Your humble leader

-The Boyar

Current Pirate Objectives

Most Pirate points at end of campaign- Painted Pirate commander
At the end of each month, the pirate with the most played games will receive a 4 man blister

Photo by Dan Carlson

Scottish

The Scottish are falling behind, get those games in! Quests are still active, and more will come as soon as the current ones are completed!

Let’s rally the support of the natives and claim a Scottish victory! Each week, the player who plays the most unaligned games (Scottish included, of course) that choose natives to receive the points will receive a natives blister to aid them! That means that if you don’t have native models but are interested, you have an opportunity to get some while playing some of the really cool unaligned factions!

Current Scottish Objectives

Most Scottish points at end of campaign- Painted Scottish commander customized and with choice of clan colours
Use both a standard bearer and a musician at the same time
Play a game as Scottish and take a picture with cool Scottish miniatures/ship flags (or other Scottish gameplay components) and win a prize (max 3)