The Spanish Mission Garrison is a unique faction in Blood & Plunder, offering interesting options for force building and tactics on the table. Read on for some historical context and a full review of the Spanish Mission Garrison Faction, found in the Raise the Black expansion for Blood & Plunder.
“The first mission town attacked was the village of La Concepcion de Ayubale. At approximately seven o’ clock on the morning of January 25, 1704, the attackers began advancing through the village. The Apalachees and Fray Angel de Miranda took refuge in the church, where they were able to maintain an effective arrow counter-fire. By mid-afternoon, however, their supply of arrows was exhausted, and when Moore’ s soldiers set the thatched roof of the church afire, the friar and his twenty six men and fifty-eight women and children surrendered.”
–Apalachee Indians, 1704-1763 by James W. Covington.
In Blood and Plunder the Spanish Mission Garrison represents the Native farmers, and Spanish soldados living under the Spanish Mission system in the early 18th century. Many times they would be called upon as the reluctant defenders of their frontier homes. The combination of play-ability and historical flavor is on another level here. Let’s break down why this is one of my staple factions for Spanish forces.
Historical Background
In the mid-17th to early 16th century, the mission system was the way of life for the natives under Spanish rule in the southeastern United States. These communities were set up for the purpose of converting the local population to Roman Catholicism with the “side benefit” of providing manual labor for food production for St Augustine and serving as military outposts on the frontier.
During Queen Anne’s War The Spanish Missions in Florida and the Appalachee provence, saw some of the most action in the southeastern theater. The Spanish government did not allow their native american subjects to own firearms, consequently this was a huge disadvantage against the musket trained English allied natives.
In 1704 after his failure to capture St Augustine, disgraced ex-governor of Charlestown James Moore, was determined to attack the Spanish missions in Appalachee. After his campaign, known today as the Appalachee Massacre, the area was essentially depopulated. Most of the native population either abandoned the area, were killed, or were captured and sold into slavery.
Spanish Mission Garrison Faction Rules
One of the many reasons that someone may choose to play this faction is because of the Faction Rules. First we have, “If this Force’s Command unit includes a Spiritual Leader or Mission Priest Character, the Commander gains an additional Command Point (to a maximum of 3).” In my opinion, a priest, of some kind, should be automatically included in this Force. In a faction that encourages taking Inexperienced units and bows, the extra Command Points cannot be left behind.
The second Faction Rule we have is, “All units armed with Bows in this Force gain the Rain of Arrows Special Rule.” Rain of Arrows allows you to spend 2 actions to make a shoot test and reroll any failures. This really helps the Milicianos Indios de la Florida hit a little above their weight. Get them into a good position and start feeding them Diamonds and Clubs and watch the enemy wither away.
The final Faction Rule is, “Soldados de Avanzada in this Force gain the Support: Milicianos Indios de la Florida Special Rule.” This means for every unit of Soldados de Avanzada in the Force a unit of Milicianos Indios de la Florida must be taken. This rule makes the Soldados de Avanzada almost partially a Support Unit. Ignoring the Mission Natives in force building is not an option. Utilizing the Milicianos Indios de la Florida effectively is a key to success for this faction.
Core Units for the Spanish Mission Garrison
Milicianos Indios de la Florida
Fight stat for this unit is 7 / 8. Melee is bad. Melee for this unit is a last resort. Shoot numbers are way better, in comparison at 7/6. The Shoot Save combined with the point cost of this model is why I think it is a very solid Core option. Resolve is a 6, and what you would expect from a Native American auxiliary.
The only available “upgrade” to this unit is: “Unit may exchange Bows for Firelock Muskets and gain the Slow Reload Special Rule at no cost.” I don’t think this is a great competitive option. The strength of this unit is the rate of fire and survivability. This greatly reduces the rate of fire. Only take this option for historical flavor.
Special Rules start out with Elusive allowing a unit to add a -1 to its Shoot Save while all models are in cover and not in a structure. These guys already had a really good save so this keeps everyone healthy while in cover on a 5+.
The other two rules for this unit are Scouts and Ruthless. Scouts allows the unit to ignore the rough terrain movement penalty. Scouts is always nice on any unit and it pairs well with Elusive. Spanish players will know the last rule well. Ruthless adds a -1 to fight and shoot skills while the target unit has more Fatigue. This is a staple of the Spanish nation and a welcome buff to this unit as normal Milicianos Indios are not Ruthless.
Soldados de Avanzada
The Soldado de Avanzada fight stats are 5 / 6. This excellent Fight score is what you will be reliant on to clear enemy units effectively. Combine their Fight skill with Ruthless and you will be hitting on 4s. One of the unit options that is available to this unit is Socket Bayonets for 4 points. This option is decent if you have the points, as it allows you to make a defensive attack with your Fight skill rather than your Shoot skill.
The Shoot stats are 7 / 7. Pretty run-of-the-mill for a musket unit. This unit is definitely not going to be lighting people up with musketry. But the first unit option helps with this somewhat. The Special Rules in this unit are Ruthless, Drilled, and Poorly Equipped.
Ruthless is no surprise on this unit. Poorly Equipped is a negative rule that gives you an extra Reload when taking a shoot action while activating on a Club. Try to work around Poorly Equipped by avoiding shooting while this unit activates with a Club. A Commander with the Well-Equipped Special Rule attached to this unit can mitigate Poorly Equipped.
Finally Drilled allows this unit to take a shoot as a Dedicated action. I rarely do drilled shots because I think rate of fire is more important in games. It is sometimes nice to have the option though.
Unit Options
The first unit option is “This unit may exchange the Drilled Special Rule for the Elusive Special Rule.” Because I frequently run this unit as Inexperienced my opinion of Drilled is pretty “meh.” I always trade it for Elusive.
Next is “This unit may exchange Matchlock Muskets for Firelock Muskets and lose the Poorly Equipped Special Rule for 3 points (not per model)”. This is a good option to take if you have the points for it, if not, it isn’t necessary.
The Unit may add Socket Bayonets for 4 points (not per model). Again a good option if the points allow, but not at all an auto-include.
Support Units for the Spanish Mission Garrison
Milicianos Indios
A good option for a melee Quick strike/finisher unit. Using Quick, and the ability to increase training level to Veteran this unit can Charge from 12 inches away using a Spade. Then it can jump away before you get hit back using “Skirmishers“.
Caballeria Lancero
This unit is also a great “hit and run” option. They also have a threat area of 12” on any suite to 16 on a Spade without taking Fatigue. They are however a little more fragile than the Milicianos Indios option and cost 1 extra point. Which is a little more risk, a little more reward.
Hostigadores
A fantastic option at 4 points for a Spanish musket unit. A good Shoot Save of 6 and access to Scouts makes this unit like to hide and shoot from cover.
Milicainos Negros
This is a similar type of unit to the Hostigadores with better fight stats. What really sets them apart though is the ability to drop muskets for lances. Drop Drilled for Elusive and you have a nice cheap Lancero-ish unit.
Warrior Archers
For leaning heavy into bows, Warrior Archers have the best Shoot skill in the Faction at 5. For bow units, I think the versatility of the Milicianos Indios is better, but it is nice to have the option of a better Shoot skill.
Milicianos Artilleros
This is where you go if you want a Field Gun… that’s all.
Commanders
The Spanish Mission Garrison has access to the standard customizable Spanish Commanders and 2 Historical Commanders.
Father Angel Miranda
Coming in at 10 points, is probably the most popular commander, Father Angel Miranda. He has some fantastic rules like Inspiring, God’s Blessing, Resilient, and Indomitable. Indomitable is the real star here. The rule says “If this unit begins an activation with any amount of Fatigue, it immediately removes a point of Fatigue. If it was Shaken, and this would leave it with 2 points of Fatigue or less, it is no longer Shaken and may take actions normally.” The only thing I don’t like is the 1 Command Point (boo), adding a Mission Priest gets you an additional Command Point and the “Santiago” ability. If the list has fewer units than average, then this Commander is the clear choice.
Standard commanders
All the normal Standard Commanders come with this Faction. I like to take the 10 point Experienced Commander, because he will have 3 Command Points after adding a Priest. He gets Inspiring and Santiago from the Priest and one rule from the Spanish Commander rule list (in addition to the free Ruthless Spanish rule).
Francisco Romo de Uriza
At 25 points he won’t break the bank but he isn’t bringing a whole lot to the table. Most units in this faction can get Elusive. Mission Priest adds Inspiring, additionally, Father Miranda has a better version of Tough. Give him a look in other factions, but he is a lame duck in this faction.
Tactics
The way I like to build this faction is to start with lots of units of the Milicianos Indios de la Florida, usually 4 in a 150 point game. I typically take units of 4-6 models each. Fire as many times as possible so that the enemy rolls a lot of Fatigue tests. I make them a juicy target to shoot at, and a distraction to what my other units are doing. Don’t offer them up in melee. They do not fight well nor defend well in melee. I like to keep other units available to counter-charge if needed.
Typically my lists have one unit of Soldados de Avanzada. This should be the Command Unit. I know that 5 Fight skill is tempting to throw around, however, I wouldn’t get too aggressive with this unit. other cheaper options are available to push objectives and be aggressive. The Command Points that you get from this unit are very important. An opponent might try to focus fire on this unit if they determine how important it is, so don’t serve it up on a platter to them. “Santiago” is a potentially game-flipping rule so don’t forget it exists (like I do many Special Rules) and try to use it when it would be most effective.
A unit that I like to have in my Mission Garrison forces is a quick striker unit. Usually, a unit with Quick, that I can attach a Hidalgo fighting man to, and that has a good fight value. Great units for this style are the Caballeria Lancero as well as the Milicianos Indios; they both have excellent fight values and can cover a good distance on a Spade. Use this unit for board control, in addition to hit and run tactics.
Force lists
100 point land force
This is a more gun-focused list for this Faction. 3 command points to keep the Milicianos Indios de la Florida shooting so that the muskets can be Ruthless.
150 point land force
This is the style of list I like to play from this force. lots of inexperienced units along with a fast-moving, hit and run unit. The Hidalgo should go with the Caballeria Lancero as they will make good use of the extra charge and fight command points.
200 point sea force
In this list, the Balandra sloop is filled with cheap Artillery crew to man swivels, accompanied by Soldados for musket fire. all of these units are inexperienced so using the command points effectively is important. the Milicianos Indios de la Florida in the list are in the Canoas. They should be effective at laying fatigue on the enemy.
Buying into the Spanish Mission Garrison
If you already play the Spanish in Blood & Plunder, you probably have most of what you need and will just need to supplement your existing army with more Native models. You’ll need a good number of the Milicianos Indios de la Florida unit.
This unit can be well represented with the Milicianos Indios set of models, or you can use the Warrior Archers unit for a less Westernized look, or you can create some more unique models of your own using pieces from the Militia Unit Box, the Sailor Unit Box and the Native American Unit Box of hard plastics. With elements of two or all three of these kits, you can make some really interesting miniatures if you like kitbashing.
If you’re just jumping into Blood & Plunder and you’re looking at this faction, or don’t have any other Spanish Minis, the main thing you’ll need is a solid core unit or two of Soldados de Avanzada. You can use a variety of Firelock Games miniatures to represent this unit as well, depending on how scruffy you want them to look. The hard plastic Militia Unit Box would be very appropriate if you like assembling and customizing minis and want them looking pretty scruffy. The Soldiers Unit Box would be great if you want them to look a little more uniformed and put together. The Milicianos miniatures have extra Spanish flair. The Soldiers (with Matchlock Muskets) or Provincials (with Firelock Muskets & Plug Bayonets) would represent them in a more uniformed manner.
Once you have models for the Soldados de Avanzada and the Indios de la Florida, you can customize your army with either some cavalry, some additional Native models, or whatever unit strikes your fancy from the Support Unit list.
Supplemental Model Recommendations for the Garrison
If you want to play defensively as the Spanish Mission Garrison, some Fortifications would be very appropriate. The Palisade Fort from Firelock Games is a very historically accurate option for the Mission Garrison, modeled after the Palisade Fort in Mission San Luis. A Blockhouse would also be historically accurate, and there are a variety of models out there right now. There are rules for the Blockhouse in the Fire on the Frontier expansion, but there is not yet an official Firelock model.
Unfortunately, the Firelock Blockhouse modeled after the Mission San Luis Blockhouse never went into production. But the design is unique and simple enough to craft yourself if you like that kind of thing!
A Watchtower (rules included in the Blood & Plunder Core rules) is another fun little appropriate fortification model. You can find a great STL for a 28mm Watchtower here.
Spanish Militia Garrison Leader Model Recommendations
And last of all but not least, you’ll need some sort of Priest model! Either for your Mission Priest or Spiritual Leader, or your Father Angel Miranda Commander, you’ll need a monk miniature! The Monk model on the Firelock Games “Box of Plunder Sprue” is perfect (especially since you can easily give him a weapon or two), but can be difficult to get since it was exclusive to the Raise the Black Kickstarter. But there are several other mini manufacturers that make models that would represent a Franciscan Friar. Be sure to check out some of our recommended Spiritual leader model options.
Conclusion
When I first started playing Blood and Plunder, Spain was known as a horde-style nation. I never really thought Spain did horde forces any better than any other nation’s militias. With the addition of this faction though, I think Spain can lay claim to the best horde force in the game. Spanish Mission Garrison is a fantastic addition to the faction list under the Spanish Nation, and likewise should be on any player’s list of factions to try.
Article by Garrett Swader
Additional Recommended Reading
- Spanish Militia Faction Overview
- Spanish Nationality Overview
- Sources for Spiritual Leader Models
- Tour of Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, Florida
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