- Faction: Brethren of the Coast
- Commander: Untested French Buccaneer Commander
- Points: 150
- Theater: Land
- Source: NPBtL and The Buccaneer’s Companion
- By Tyler Stone
Sharp Shooters
This 150pt list started with the idea of being able to proc Ruthless and Marksmen on a unit of Boucaniers. There are only 3 ways to do this: either a French Buccaneer force led by Monbars, or adding Bartholomew Sharp in his Fighting Man guise to either English Buccaneers or a Brethren force.
Choosing Monbars is a 25pt Commander, with 2 Command Points. Unless I upgrade the Boucaniers to Veteran, one of those Command Points has to go towards activating the Marksmen ability on a Spade.
By contrast, Sharp is a 6pt upgrade to one of my Boucaniers. Like Monbars, he grants Ruthless and can bring the unit above max size. He also brings his own Command Point to put towards activating Marksmen. Think of it as “poor man’s Veteran.”
Whether I take Brethren or Buccaneers, the real struggle is getting models onto the table, as neither force had great options for cheap filler. Monbars would have brought 4pt Engagés, and the English could take Sea Dogs with Muskets at a hair more than 4pts. But Brethren have the Varied Experience faction rule, allowing me to downgrade a core unit by 1 level of training. Kapers are shoot 6. Inexperienced Kapers are shoot 6 and only cost 4 points!
Looking to commanders, I know that I want 2 Command Points and a decent range. Keeping with the South Seas theme, I could take Richard Sawkins at 10pts. He’s got 2 command and a 12″ range, which you’d normally expect from a 25pt Brethren commander. The drawback is that he’s Impulsive. The other option is the old standby of a 0pt commander, and an 8pt Officer. Two command points between them, a 4″ and 8″ command range, and I can put them in separate units to command themselves.
The list is definitely elite with a nice unit of Boucaniers + Sharp coming in at 69 points already. Looking to Strike Points, 24 models is possible, with 28 being a bit of a stretch. I round out the list with some Flibustiers, and finagle the unit sizes until I have 24 models on the dot. The Captain will be joining the Flibustiers as a cheap, 0pt combatant. I can’t wait for ‘Raise the Black,’ when captains are always equipped as their units.
On the table, the list performs well. As a gunline, it was more exciting to put together than to play, but I think it’s a good example of a tight list with some neat tricks up it’s sleeve.
You can find more Blood & Plunder force lists by members of the community here and you can read a full review of the Brethren of the Coast Faction here.