I have been looking to diversify my Blood and Plunder miniatures for some time. I have tons of sailors and lots of militia, and I’ve mainly bounced between Pirates and Dutch for most of my gaming “career”. After watching the movie Prey (There is a Halloween Scenario here that I encourage you to check out if you haven’t already!) I gravitated towards one of the factions that is featured in both Fire on the Frontier and Raise the Black: French Raiders. So, after some historical research ( I like to know the “lore” of any Faction I play, an antique holdover from my 40k days) I decided to play a few games and quickly fell in love with the Faction.
French Raiders Historical Overview
The French Raiders represent a different approach to what we think of when we think of European colonization of the Americas. These early English colonists had left make settlements to get away from life in the old country and religious persecution. The English then moved to sending people over to make colonies and start making parts of North America a “New England” (get it?). However, as with all things, eventually powerful people saw that there was money to be made in the New World.
As a result, these frontier settlements eventually became colonies meant to harvest wealth and send it back to England. While this was also the purpose of New France (who was mainly after beaver skins to be sent back to Europe for felting), the French had sent young boys to live with the Native Americans in order for them to become translators. They were quite surprised when the boys had assimilated into the Natives’ culture and even married into their communities.
At the time of Fire on the Frontier, New England had some 65,000 colonists while New France had only 7800. This size difference meant that the French had to learn to adapt to “Indian-Style” fighting with hit-and-run style tactics that most Europeans would find odd and difficult to adapt to.
Faction Rules
The Faction Rules for Raise the Black (left) and Fire on the Frontier (right)
French Raiders are unique in that they can be played in two different time periods! They can be played in the 17th Century (1675-1700 in their entry) and in the 18th Century (1700-1730 per their entry). They have very similar Core and Support Units and the same Faction Rules, save for one. For the 17th Century lists, all Native Americans gain the Poorly Equipped Special Rule (when activated on a club, if they fire any weapons that gain reload markers, they gain 1 additional Reload marker. Not great, not terrible).
The other Factions rules are nothing but benefits: both Factions get a +2 to their roll to be the attacker, and if you have at least as many Native American units as French Units, the entire force gains Quick, which is a huge deal. This makes the French Raiders very mobile and able to move around the table quickly and more efficiently. Quick, combined with most of their units having a Shoot value of 6, makes them very tricky to fight against.
Core Units
Milice Canadienne
For a Core unit, the Milice Canadienne are fantastic! These hardy Frenchmen weigh in at 4 points per model and are armed with Firelock Muskets and Standard Melee Weapons. They come with the Elusive, Scouts, and Marksmen Special Rules, making them more at home sitting in cover and fighting from a distance. Their 7/7 Fight means they are only really good for aiding other units in melee and aren’t the unit you want to charge in unless their target is fatigued. Even if you pay the 3 extra points for Thrown Weapons, 7s with re-rolls is sub-optimal for good hits.
Where they really shine is their 6/7 Shoot. Being able to use Marksmen to shoot at a base of 5 is awesome, and will easily outgun traditional Militia units. While that 7 Shoot Save may seem like a deal breaker, Elusive will drop that save to a 6, which makes them much more survivable when in cover that isn’t a structure. Scouts allows them to move through terrain with impunity which will aid in positioning for some good shooting. Their main drawback is the sub-par resolve of 6, which can really bite you if you aren’t careful or your dice decide that a 50/50 chance of gaining fatigue is too good for you.
Braves
The Native American Braves are a solid offering as a Core unit, and are quite versatile. They come Trained and for 5 points a model, they aren’t cheap, but aren’t too expensive. The Braves come with the Scouts, Ball and Shot, Hard Chargers, and Hidden Special Rules (If you play this Faction from the Fire on the Frontier rulebook, they will also have the Poorly Equipped Special rule). Additionally, they have a 6/7 Fight, a 6/6 Shoot, and a Resolve value of 6. They come armed with Firelock Muskets, Standard Melee Weapons, and can take Thrown Weapons for 3 points for the entire unit.
Braves have a respectable 6 Shoot, making them good candidates to lay down suppressive fire on problem units. However, where they really shine is on the charge, where that 6 Fight will drop to a 5 thanks to the Hard Chargers Special Rule, and getting re-rolls if equipped with Thrown Weapons. The unit options are useful, but a little points heavy for me. They are able to be made Veteran for 1 point per model, mad add bows for 1 point per model or exchange their firelocks for bows at no cost, and may add Pistol Sidearms for 4 points but not per model (I mentioned Thrown weapons above). I just add thrown weapons since its multi-use and cheaper than pistols.
Young Braves
Young Braves are just like the regular Braves, only Younger. This makes them slightly suicidal like the Les Enfant Perdue. They cost 4 points per model, are Inexperienced, have a 6/8 Fight, a 6/6 Shoot, and a Resolve upgrade from the Braves at a 5. Young Braves are armed with Bows and Standard Melee Weapons, standard for a Native unit. They come with the Scouts, Hard Chargers, and Hidden Special Rules. Bows are a new toy for me since I usually only have access to units armed with muskets.
Bows are excellent for stacking Fatigue on models as opposed to killing them outright. This makes them ideal candidates for bum-rushing the enemy after using those bows to put them at that crucial 2 fatigue. Like the Braves, they can take Pistol Sidearms for 4 points and take Thrown Weapons for 3 points. Where they differ is that they can only be upgraded to Trained for 1 point per model, and may add Musket Sidearms for 4 points (not per model).
I prefer to pay the 1 point to bring them up to the trained level. Getting 2 actions on 3 of the 4 suits is crucial in my opinion. If you don’t want to pay the extra points, stick your commander with the unit to make them more efficient. Their job is to add fatigue to units that survived a volley from their brethren. The kicker here is that Young Braves’ Resolve is a vast improvement over Braves’ Resolve of a 6. They are less likely to break and more likely to reduce their Fatigue on Rally tests. If your commander has the Cold Blooded Special Rule, he can make those bows even more effective if the target unit has more fatigue then the young Braves.
Coureur de Bois
Coureurs De Bois are officially my second favorite unit in Blood and Plunder. While their 6/7 Fight is pretty unremarkable, their 6/6 shoot and 5 Resolves makes them a solid Support Unit. They have the Elusive, Scouts, and Marksmen Special Rules. This makes them solid shooters able to slink around terrain while dropping militia bodies with every shot. The key feature here isn’t their amazing shooting skills though, its their Resolve. That 5 Resolve makes them very hard to Fatigue, especially if you bring a commander with Inspiring.
They only have two options available for purchase. They can be upgraded to veteran for 1 point per model and to take Thrown Weapons for 3 points. While Thrown Weapons is useful if you plan on getting close, upgrading them to Veteran makes them shooting machines! If you really want to cause some mayhem, stick the Sharpshooter Fighting Man with them so they gain Deadeye. Then watch your opponent cry as their militia are saving on 8s or 9s. While Thrown Weapons may be tempting, I only every bring these if one of my other units needs help in Melee.
COMPAGNIES FRANCHES DE LA MARINE
The Compagnies Franches De La Marine (La Marine is what I will be referring to them as) are the equivalent to English Provincials. They are a mix of professional soldier and frontier trooper. They have the Expertly Drilled Special Rule, which is fantastic for laying on Fatigue while providing devastating volleys of musket fire. Socket Bayonets are great for close combat, but they can be traded for thrown weapons, which offers a better likelihood of hitting your opponent. Trading Expertly Drilled for Elusive will have your La Marine saving on 6s in area cover, which adds to their survivability.
La Marine are cost 6 point each, making them 1 point more than Provincials. The difference is that the la Marine are adept in both shooting and melee combat, where the Provincials are more at home shooting from cover, even when equipped with thrown weapons or bayonets. It is best to equip them for the task at hand. if you know your buddy at the game store LOVES to use natural terrain, swap Expertly Drilled for Elusive and drop a Sharpshooter Fighting man with them and wreck havoc from afar.
Scouts will make sure these bloodthirsty Frenchmen are not hindered by terrain and will be able to keep pace with everybody else in your Force. Alternatively, if your friend loves to litter the table with structures, keep Expertly Drilled and keep them in step with your Braves and/or Young Braves as they can provide both deadly musketry and will skewer most units up close.
Pnieses
Pnieses are the scariest Native American unit to date. Sporting Firelock Muskets, Heavy Melee Weapons, Hard Chargers, Hidden, Scouts, and Ball & Shot, Pnieses are great shooters, and heavy duty close-combat corpse-makers. At 7 points apiece they are pricey but will get the job done regardless of who is on the end of their war clubs. Their unit options make them even more deadly, but start to inflate their cost immensely. The best of these options is Brace of Pistols, as always getting to re-roll in combat is big deal for a unit as deadly as this.
The best use for Pnieses is to threaten and charge problem units. They are your elite melee unit and should be treated as such. They can keep up their shooting accuracy with everybody else, but they really should be hitting heads and shaking units. Their heavy weapons do bestow a +1 penalty to their melee saves, so make sure whatever unit you are charging is weakened. Don’t give them a chance to fight back. Always charge from cover and always have a plan to get them back into cover or out of sight after a Charge.
French Raider Commanders
The Standard Commanders
The Standard Commanders introduced in Raise the Black allow the player to kit out their commander for the task at hand. For the French Raiders, I recommend always bringing an Experienced Commander and choosing Inspiring for his Special Rule. This will make it so any unit he commands to Rally will get to re-roll failed results! This is crucial since the majority of the units available to you have a swingy resolve of 6. If the Seasoned variant is more to your liking, Inspiring and Cold-Blooded is a great offensive and defensive combo. For those wanting to focus on pure offense, Cold Blooded and Deadeye (make sure the unit he joins is trained minimum!) will make those muskets hit harder and drop more bodies.
The “Old Style” Commanders
Before Raise the Black was released, there were “Standard” Commanders that came with pre-existing rules already baked into their profile. While they have fallen out of favor for the improved design, they are still legal and offer some benefits, but are more expensive. These commanders have larger command ranges but still cap out at 2 command points for the Experienced and Seasoned variants. The 15 point Experienced Commander is solid since he has a 12″ Command Range and Inspiring! The 25 point variant is great for putting with a group of Young Braves. This is to take advantage of their 5 Resolve in case you need to take a Strike Test.
Joseph-Francois Hertel de la Fresniere (FotF)
For 18 points, La Fresniere is a solid commander if you want to play aggressively. Make sure you bring thrown weapons for all your units you plan on using for melee! Keep those within 8″ of La Fresniere! Tough will be sure to keep his command unit in the fight. This is very much so a “lead from the front” kind of guy and this encourages that aggressive playstyle!
Jean-Vincent D’Abbadie de Saint Castin (Fotf)
Jean-Vinvent D’abbadie de Saint Castin costs 20 points and is the master of hit-and-run tactics. All friendly units within his Command Range gain the Skirmishers Special Rule. This combat mobility will make your opponent cry those sweet tears of defeat. Since he has Elusive he also should be placed with a group of Young Braves (don’t forget the thrown weapons, as he comes with one!). This will increase their survavability and to maintain that Resolve 5 with Tough. Where La Fresniere is more of the aggressive, tomahawk to the face and/or groin type commander, D’abbadie prefers to move and shoot from cover.
Joseph “Saint-Ovide” de Monbeton (RtB)
Saint-Ovide is the most expensive commander available to the French Raiders, and specializes in Fatigue Management and his opponent guessing. Inspiring is always a great rule, and will help keep your units refreshed and (mostly) Fatigue free. Careful Planning forces your opponent to deploy half of their Force before any unit of his own Force is deployed. This will allow you to see any weak spots in your foe’s defense right at the beginning of the game. Meanwhile, your opponent will only have half their force to try and plan for whatever dastardly deed you are planning!
Tactician offers an additional way to mess with your opponent! Whenever activation cards are drawn at the beginning of a turn, you can give Saint-Ovide’s unit a Fatigue in order to discard 1 card and draw a new one from the Activation Deck. If you want even more shenanigans, drop a Grizzled Veteran with his unit. Watch that Fatigue fall off at the end of their activation and laugh at it. Blood and Pigment is not responsible for the amount of tears shed by your opponent.
Bernard-Anselme d’Abbadie de Saint Castin (rtb)
For 20 points, Bernard-Anselme D’abbidie de Saint Castin is not worth taking for the French Raiders. Local Knowledge offers no benefit because all your units already have Scouts. Your units should already have Quick if you paid attention to the Faction Rules. Inspiring is good, but not 20 points good. All of these things, coupled with an 8″ Command Range and 2 Command Points make Bernard a poor choice.
Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville
Like Bernard, De Rouville isn’t great as a commander. 20 points gets you a 10 point commander’s Command Range and Command Points, Quick (which you should already be getting), Cold Blooded, and Vendetta: English. If you know your opponent is playing English, he is sort-of worth taking. In most cases however, the 20 point Standard Commander or the 15pt Experienced Commander will serve you better.
Tactics
The tactics for French Raiders are pretty simple, but can be executed in a number of ways. The core strategy is to advance and shoot. When the enemy has been reduced and fatigued, close in and mop up the rest. The main crutch of the Raiders is that cover is a MUST. For all forces, cover is needed to not save on 9+ in the open. Since nearly all the your units have Scouts, you’ll be able to move the full 4″. Most other units are stuck footslogging at 3″.
For objective games, the main trick is to get onto the objective quickly. Then, use accurate musketry to drive off your foe and charging if they get too close. If the objective is inside a structure, prioritize units with grenades and pesky units of sailors. Don’t charge unless the target unit is weakened! None of your units, save for the La Marine, will last in prolonged combat.
Force Lists
This is a pretty basic list. It has great unit variety, and the entire force will gain Quick. It can be used for accurate shooting and great charging ability. Use the La Marine to aid with shooting or melee as needed.
Shoot n’ Scoot is all about firing and maneuvering. Bring as many muskets as you can to bear and focus on problem units. Once the stronger units are weakened, mop them up in melee. Shoot from cover and move around to focus that fire!
Melee is your friend with this list. The Canadienne provide some range and everybody else has Thrown Weapons to stomp in melee. Charge in, and retreat to cover. Don’t give your opponent breathing room and sue cover to your advantage!
conclusion
if you’re a sea player looking to start gaming on land, look no further! If you are Militia player looking to for a new Force, the French Raiders are a solid place to start. The flavorful Special Rules, almost-too-god-for-their-points-value units, and great Commanders make for an interesting and rewarding faction to play. Also, in a world full of players who tend to stick to the British/English and Spain, why not be the fabulous French?
Article by Dan Carlson
Additional Recommended REading
- Preview article for the French Raiders from Raise the Black
- Painted Braves showcase
- French Nationality Overview
- The Doubloon Lagoon blog.
- French Canadian Militia Painting Guide Video
Related Products
- Coureurs des Bois Unit from Firelock Games
- Compagnies Franches de la Marine Unit from Firelock Games
- Milice Canadienne Unit from Firelock Games
- Braves Unit from Firelock Games
- Young Braves Unit from Firelock Games
- Raise the Black expansion book containing the best version of the French Raiders Faction
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