What is the 2023 Summer of Plunder?

The Summer of Plunder is a worldwide community event for all players of the “Blood & Plunder” & “Oak & Iron” games by Firelock Games.  This global campaign is a fun way for players around the world to interact, share pictures and stories from their games, win prizes, promote the game(s), and compete for glory for their chosen nation!

The Summer of Plunder Campaign will begin on June 4th and last 9 weeks, ending on Aug 5th.  

How Do I Participate In the 2023 Summer of Plunder?

• Simply by playing games of Blood & Plunder or Oak & Iron.  
• You can play as few or as many games as you want.  Even one entry can qualify you for a possible prize.
• You can start at any time.
• When you play a game you will need to submit a record of your game using our campaign entry form and that game will be counted as part of the campaign.
• When submitting your entry you will also get the option to vote for 2 Campaign Map Locations to Attack and 1 Campaign Map Locations to Defend (more info below)

Submissions will not be counted until the campaign begins on June 4th, but you can check out the ENTRY SUBMISSION FORM here. 

IMPORTANT:   Each game must be submitted separately and players must each make their own submission (for campaign tracking purposes). For example, if two players get together and play two games, that would generate 4 possible entries, 2 for each player.  

2023 Summer of Plunder Commanders

Each Nation will be led by a Commander and Lt. Commander.  These leaders have been selected from members of the community based on their knowledge, past support, and level of effort to promote the games of Blood & Plunder and Oak & Iron. 

At the start of every week, the Commanders will provide a narrative or video to promote and encourage participation for their nation.   They may also assign special missions or objectives to players for their nation.  Commanders will also be responsible for directing the military operations for their nation.   They will decide where each nation will attack and direct troops to help bolster the defenses of locations already controlled.

Commander List

Below are your doughty commanders! Choose your allegiance (or lack thereof).

	Nation	Commander	Lt. Commander
	Dutch	Maarten de Kruif	Glenn Van Meter
	English	Jayden King	Dexter Heide
	French	Andy Hodges	Tyler Stone
	Natives	David Boern	Liam Smith
	Pirates	Gregory Padilla	Dan Carlson
	Spanish	Garrett Swader	Guy Rheuark

Campaign Directors

Joseph Forster of BloodandPigment.com and Jason Klotz of TimberAndSail.com will be the primary directors for the campaign.   They will be managing campaign entries, updating the campaign map, assisting commanders, and maintaining weekly news updates.

Can I Play Under More Than One Nation?

Yes, you can you filthy mercenary! You may fight for any and all nations.  However, your loyalties will affect your chances at glory (and the various prizes offered).  Some prizes are nation specific and based on loyalty so just be mindful of the bounty you are chasing.

Campaign Setup

This year we are attempting to do a more thematic event that allows players to contribute to a global conflict for control of the western world of the early 1700s.  Each week as players submit entries, their participation will help conquer new locations and/or defend their nation’s regions.

• Each European faction begins with control of 4-5 locations on the map.  
• The Pirates begin with more locations, but these have weaker defenses reflecting their limited resources and lack of political backing.
• The Natives will begin with the largest number of locations as a balancing tool based on campaign data from previous years.
• There are also several locations on the campaign map designated as “Unaligned”.  These areas cannot initiate attacks, but represent areas that can be captured by any nation.

Check out Part 2 of the Campaign Rules to see complete rules and details for this part of the campaign.

How The Campaign Works

The Summer of Plunder Campaign will begin on June 4th and last 9 weeks, ending on August 5th  

• Each week will feature a different “Weekly Campaign Objective”.  
• Players may participate in the Summer of Plunder event by playing games of “Blood & Plunder” or “Oak & Iron”.  Each game played will earn Campaign Points for themselves and Victory Points for their chosen Nation. 
• Every Nation will be represented by a National Commander and a Lt. Commander.  Commanders will issue “National Objective” as opportunities to earn bonuses rewards or special prizes.
• Each Nation will also participate in attacking and defending different locations on a loosely based historical campaign map.  Throughout the course of the campaign, the actions of players and commanders will determine the overall National campaign winner.
• Updates for the campaign’s progress will be posted on BloodandPigment.com as well as the Blood & Plunder and Oak & Iron Facebook Groups regarding:
  • Player Progress
  • Nation Rankings 
  • Updates to the historical map of who controls which Location
  • Reminders of the Overall Weekly and any National Objectives (if they exist)
  • News and rumors from National Commanders

Campaign Points and How to Earn Them

Campaign points represent an individual player score and progress during the campaign.  These scores will be used to help win some prize rewards at the conclusion of the campaign.  But don’t worry, this year we are including a random prize for EVERY nation that simply requires participating!

Campaign points can be earned by players for completing the following:

• 1 point per game of Blood & Plunder or Oak & Iron submitted
• 1 point if the game fulfills the weekly objective
• 1 bonus point if the game occurred at a local game store, convention or public venue (Not a closed local group get-together)
• 2 bonus points for recruiting a player that has NEVER played Blood & Plunder or Oak & Iron in the past (limit one bonus per game system, per player)

Fine Print

In addition to individual campaign points, each game submitted will earn an equal number of Nation Victory Point for the nation played (more info below). Solo games DO qualify for entry, but only for one force, not both. Oak & Iron Tabletop simulator games DO qualify as well.

Entry Scoring Examples

Example 1: Week 1 Mike plays a 100pt game of Blood & Plunder with Rufus at their local gaming store. Mike plays as Spanish Militia and Rufus, who has never played before, plays Brethren of the Coast. Both players can log their game. Mike gains 1 pt for playing a game, 1 pt for playing at a game store, and 2 pts for teaching Rufus how to play.

Mike logs his game at Bloodandpigment.com, uploading a couple pictures and earning 4 points for himself and for Spain.

Rufus gains 1 pt for playing the game and 1 pt for playing at the game store, earning a total of 2 pts for himself and 2 pts for Pirates.

Example 2: Mike & Rufus play a second game at 50 points (which is the objective for week 1).

Mike plays his 50 points Spanish Militia force, earning 1 point for playing, 1 point for being at the game store where he can show off the game, and 1 point for the weekly objective of using a 50 point force. Mike earns 3 more points for himself and for Spain (Mike does NOT earn the 2pts for teaching Rufus again).

Rufus wants to play an new faction so chooses to play French Buccaneers this time. He earns the same 3 points as Mike (1 for playing, 1 for the game store, and 1 for the weekly objective) for himself and the French team.

But you don’t have to worry about all the scoring! Just fill out the 2023 Entry Form after each game and we keep track of points for you!

Check Part 2 of the Campaign Rules to see how Campaign Commanders will be utilizing these Campaign Points.

Weekly Objectives for Summer of Plunder 2023

1. Week 1:  June 4 – June 10 “Scouting Party!”
   • Blood & Plunder:  Play a 50 point game.
   • Oak & Iron:  Play a 50 point Game
2. Week 2:  June 11 – June 17 “Dangerous Territory”
   • Blood & Plunder:  Use either 2 or more shoals, or Fortifications in a game.
   • Oak & Iron:  Use the large island in addition to 2 or more normal terrain pieces in a game.
3. Week 3:  June 18 – June 24 “Keep Your Eyes Peeled!”
   • Blood & Plunder: Play a scenario at Night or using the Caught Unawares scenario rule.
   • Oak & Iron:  Play a scenario that uses 100% of the fog tokens from the Core Box.
4. Week 4:  June 25 – July 1 “Bark Wars!”
   • Blood & Plunder:   Include a Bark in your Force (or a 4/4 ship)
   • Oak & Iron: Play a game with no Ships of the Line
5. Week 5:  July 2 – July 8 “Doldrums”
   • Blood & Plunder:   Play a sea game where the wind starts at -2”.
   • Oak & Iron:  For the entire game, all ships have a -1 to their current Sailing Speed.
6. Week 6:  July 9 – July 15 “Raise the Black!”
   • Blood & Plunder: Play a scenario from the Raise the Black expansion
   • Oak & Iron:  Play the “A Wanted Man” scenario from Timber & Sail 
7. Week 7:  July 16 – July 22 “Fire & Smoke!”
   • Blood & Plunder: Use Fire or Smoke in your game.
   • Oak & Iron:  Use a Fireship
8. Week 8:  July 23 – July 29 “Native Alliance”
   • Blood & Plunder: Include at least 1 Native American unit in your Force
   • Oak & Iron:  Use the Pirates Multinational faction ability or play with the fan-created Natives faction on timberandsail.com (free printable cards and ship tokens available).
9. Week 9:  July 30 – August 5 “Men of Legend”
   • Blood & Plunder: Include a Legendary Commander in your Force
   • Oak & Iron:  Include a Level 3 historical Admiral in your fleet.

Campaign Prizes!

This is a Summer of PLUNDER and you can expect some spectacular prizes during and at the conclusion of the event.

• Grand Prize – Blood & Plunder 6th Rate Frigate
  • Random drawing from the players who logged games for the nation that won the campaign. Each player will earn ONE entry for the drawing for every week they logged games for that nation.
• Most New Players Taught – Your choice of the deluxe red 17th century or black 18th century leather rulebook
• Most Games at FLGS/Convention – Resin Light Frigate model
• Best Battle Report – Benerson Little’s Buccaneer’s Realm
• Most Consistent Oak & Iron Player – Oak & Iron expansion of of players choice
• Best Picture of the Week x9 – Authentic Fortune Coin
• Random New Player x3 – Box of Plastic Minis of Player’s Choice
• Random Player of the week x9 – Objective Marker from Dead Man’s Chest
  • Random entry of the week
• Nation-specific prizes: see below
• More to come!

National Prizes

Each Commander has been shipped $100 of their choice of loot to hand out to their players! Check each nation’s Call to Arms articles and their messages in the weekly updates to see how you can earn prizes from your respective Commander!

Conclusion

We hope you enjoy this years event and the changes made. If you’re interested in how the national competition will look, complete with map, outposts, raids and commanders, check out Part 2 of the Campaign Rules.

If you haven’t selected a nation yet, watch for more calls to action from the commanders and info for national objectives and bonus prize options. Help us make the 2023 Summer of Plunder the best community campaign yet!