For me this past week was dominated by attending Historicon in Lancaster, PA. I got to meet lots of great players, play a lot of games, participate in tournaments, hang out with Mike Tunez, Rufus and the Firelock Crew, and see a ton of awesome wargaming! I was traveling home over Sunday so this update is a bit late this week.

But the campaign continues! At the end of week 8 we are approaching 1000 entries in this campaign! There was a huge bump in entries on Sunday with more than 80 entries coming in over 24 hours. The tournament scene games has shaken things up a bit. Let’s look at the national standings.

Photo by Twan van Tilborg

Nation Report 

Spain is still the top dog but it has slipped to only 25 points ahead of the next nation (it was 46 last week). England has pulled away from the other 3 European nations and solidified it’s grip on second place. The Dutch, French and Pirates are all within a few points. The natives gained a little ground but still languish at the bottom. 

The Scottish need a revival!

Individual Report

Jason Klotz has maintained his lead this week, coming in at 138 points. The top five have 66+ points and you need 16+ points to be in the top 30 players.

Several players added a lot of games after the Historicon tournaments this week!

Week 8 Objective Report – Oak & Iron

Photo from Adam Johnston

Oak & Iron got a big boost this week! We saw some players try the game for the first time, and even some solo players give it a go.  

Photo from Colleen Swader

Of the 124 entries this week, 50 of them were from Oak & Iron which is well above the average ratio for this campaign so far.

Photo from David Dzwonek

Oak and Iron entries came fairly evenly from all 5 factions, with the Dutch leading the way with 13 entries.

Photo from Joseph Forster

Gary Basham and Jason Klotz led the individual numbers with 5 games each.

Photo from Gary Basham

Photo from Tales of the Sail

I played Spanish in the Tournament at Historicon and game in 3rd. I’m going for English gunnery next time.

Week 9 Objective – Play a Game at Your Local Game Store

One of the goals of this campaign is to grow the player base and get the game out in front of more people. This week you get a bonus point if you are able to play a game (Blood & Plunder or Oak & Iron) at your local gaming store.

Photo from Evan Botkin

I find playing sea games in a store draws a lot of attention. If you get a sea mat out and get a couple ships on it, it really draws the eye and people will come over and ask about your game. See if you can give them a demo, or let them run a unit or two in your crew if you’re already in the middle of a game. I find the unit stat cards are nice to hand a new player so they can see some of the stats you’re talking about as your explain what’s going on.

Photo by Jason Klotz

I know not all of us are blessed with having a decent game store within driving distance. If you’re in a location that doesn’t have a great game store, see if you can demo the game for a new player, which also gets you a bonus campaign point.

Get out there! Talk to your game store owner, set up a game day with your group at the store this week!

Photo by Gary Basham

Weekly Photo Prize Winner

This week Peri Jacobi gets the prize for best photo. This shot of some finely painted Oak & Iron ships seemed to represent the week really well. Very nice Galleon!

Peri will win either a set of the B&P organized play minis, or a couple new ships for Oak & Iron if preferred,

Reminder of End Campaign Objectives 

There are lots of great prizes that will be handed out at the end of this campaign! This week I want to highlight a prize that is linked to this week’s objective.

Whoever plays the most games at their local gaming store will receive some great handmade terrain from Dexter Heide himself!

Dexter does amazing work and any prize from his workbench will be awesome. Dexter has given us a preview of this dock in the early stages.

The entry form has a checkbox for when you’ve played a game at your local game store. It can be easy to miss when you’re filling out the form, but don’t skip it if you played at your store!

Some of Dexter’s work on the table.

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

Spain

I am pleased to see that Spain is doing well, so we’ll say that I have spent the last week on a pleasure cruise. The sights of the New Spain coast have mostly made me homesick for Iberia, but I did manage to survey the pair of Islands that I intend to gift at the end of this month.

I hope that all of your loyal subjects of Spain that read this are working towards this month’s goals, as we are almost through July. I can not announce next month’s rewards yet, but I do have something special planned.

Buen Tipo

Photo by David Nye

Current Spanish Objectives

• Most Spanish  points at end of campaign- Painted Spanish commander

England

England is in second place!

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.
• 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

Mon Dieu!

Fifth? We have dropped to fifth? Behind the filthy Dutch no less!

Unacceptable! It is clear we must redouble our efforts and close this gap. And alas, it is late in the month. Our Radiant Sovereign has not seen fit to open the royal coffers so near a cutoff. He shall extend his generosity once more for the month of August.

Captains of France, your mission has been simple: games for France.

The current prize offers remain. Additional rewards shall be extended for August in the next update.

Photo by Andy Hodges

For July, current French Objectives

•  Games for France! Weekly objectives for France! A prize will be sent to the player who records the most points for France.
• There is also a prize (and title!) up for grabs to whichever player claims the most Oak & Iron games for France!
• Most French points at end of campaign- Painted French commander of your choice (please vote for favorite French commander model)

Alons-y, Soldats du Roi! Tout suite!

Netherlands

The latest packet ship arrived today, and I received excellent news! It appears that our fleet actions last week have beaten back not only those enemies of all mankind, the pirates, but may have also propelled us to victory over the French. No doubt both will make a play to regain their lost position from us. We have informants at the most popular ports of call. Meet up with them, and they may be able to send some advisors with you to counter our foes!

Photo by Jason Klotz

Current Dutch Objectives

• Most Dutch points at end of campaign- Painted Dutch commander
• Sink or capture Any Nationality ship this week – reinforcement models
• A prize (civilian characters set) to the Dutch player who completes the weekly objective Support the Merchants (play at an FLGS) the most times – even if you already got a prize for capturing a ship!

Native American

Canonchet ascended the walkway that ran along the wall encircling the village, the braves and villagers who’d occupied the blockhouse accompanying hom. The extent of the carnage sickened him – so many lives lost on both sides.

The English had doggedly marched on the wall despite crippling losses. Canonchet’s contingent had accounted for no small number of the enemy’s casualties, his braves hounding Mosley as he fled, leaving his honor guard to die as he hastily scaled the wall. His efforts proved futile, and his mouth twisted in a grim smile as he recalled the moment when one of his warriors held the English commander’s scalp aloft.

A soft sob brought his attention to the young boy in their company, struggling under the weight of a musket half-again Historicon height. During the battle he’d proved himself a more than capable shot, felling three enemy soldiers. His pride and enthusiasm were now tempered by the realities of war 

The chief placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and sent him below to find his mother; he prayed she was not amongst those villagers who had thrown themselves into the breach during the most desperate moments of the battle. 

Theirs was not the only battle to be waged. Rumor had it that the bloodthirsty Black Kettle had finally met his fate. Some said he’d drowned after his canoe was struck by cannon fire, others that he’d been ridden down by horsemen. Canonchet held no love for the Onondagan chieftain – they’d been on opposite side of conflicts more often than not – but he knew the warrior’s people would suffer for the loss of him. 

Such was the way of things. 

They reached the end of the walkway,. The unfinished section of the wall that barred further travel along the wall was awash with blood and gore. Below, the breach was a charnel pit, bodies piled atop one another irrespective of which side they fought for. A grief-stricken wail reached them from below, and he turned to witness a boy discard a musket and fall to his knees beside the corpse of a woman mangled by bayonet and rifle stock. 

The chief sighed. He pitied not the boy, but the English settlers who would bear the brunt of the boy’s vengeance, for even a small mouse had anger.

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

Ahoy there Pirates!

Ahoy mateys, my time is scarce but, I noticed that none of our pirates have been able to seize a ship of the line! The bounty is still out in the form of 1 oak and iron expansion box set! I know we can do it! I must see one of my most ambitious captains seize one via boarding! 

This week I will be needing everyone to support your local game stores! Show your patronage to the store you are able to play at! 

Photo by Twan van Tilborg 

Also, remember that whomever logs the most games for July will get a 4 man blister!

Your boisterous leader

-The Boyar

PS: Captain David Dzwonek, here is a picture of the bounty you’ve won! My contact says he should be able to ship it soon!

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
• The first to send a report (with pictures) of a Oak and Iron Pirate ship(s) capturing a Ship of the Line will receive a Gentlemen of Fortune or Men of War Box Set

Scottish

Here’s a friendly reminder to keep playing Scottish! Also, a new prize is available for anyone who plays Scottish! This prize is one of the new promo cards (pictured below), and all you have to do is play a game as Scottish (from now until the end of the campaign), so play those bagpipes and wave your flags, because Scotland is still in this campaign! This prize is limited to one per player, but any number of people can get them (unlimited prizes!), so have fun and try out the Scottish if you haven’t yet! These promo cards follow official rules so can be used in standard or tournament play.

This week was plagued by a lack of unaligned games, likely because of the Oak and Iron goal (which lacks official unaligned factions so far). Only one game was reported, a Scottish one by Twan van Tilborg, who will be receiving this week’s native support prize!

Current Scottish Objectives

• Most Scottish points at end of campaign- Painted Scottish commander customized and with choice of clan colours)
• Taunt or bait an opponent into charging you (shut down an opponent’s charge with a defensive attack) – taunting highlander models 
• Play as the Scottish and get a promo card!

Current Unaligned Objectives

• Player with most unaligned (not pirates) games that choose natives for the points each week will receive a blister pack of native reinforcements

Photo from Andy Hodges. Sea Tournament Winners at Historicon. Adam, Fernando, and Andy