Force Overview

Faction:
Commander:
Points:
Theater:
Creator:

The Flying Gang (Raise the Black)
Experienced Standard Pirate Commander
200
Sea
Jason Klotz

Force List

Here is a screenshot of the force I used along with a link to the force on the Blood & Plunder Force Builder. It’s important to note that this force was made BEFORE the revisions to “No Peace Beyond the Line” which included several points increases, including two of the Characters in the force so it is over the 200 pt limit. if you attempt to use this force in future events. I would likely drop the Cook and 1 pirate or the Musician to bring it to 200 pts.

https://forcebuilder.bloodandplunder.com/index.php?builder&forceid=98406f28

Faction Rules

This force relies on maximizing the number of firepots that you can get for 200pts. The best option for that is to maximize the most pirate minis you can get in your force. For that, you have two primary faction options: “Golden Age Pirates” or “The Flying Game”.

Golden Age Pirates

This force option is very tempting and possibly very powerful, but it also very risky. The force features the “False Colors” ability which lets you close on your enemy by deceptively flying a friendly flag and then surprising your enemy at close range. For a build where your optimal attack range is 5″ that is a HUGE advantage. However, the force also has a 40% chance (7+) of starting the game Drunk. Drunk takes your already high 8+ success on a Shoot to a 9+ which is rough. The other benefit of this force is that it has no restriction on the size ship you field. You could opt to take a similar force with a 4 Deck 6th Rate or Galleon allowing you more safety and survivability should you set your own ship on fire. The 6th Rate would give you faster speed (5″ Top Speed) and the Galleon gives elevated firing positions against most targets (-1 on Shoot Saves when hit by firepots).

The Flying Gang

I went with The Flying Gang for the safety in avoiding the effects of being Drunk. The faction abilities you gain are:

• This Force may not include size 3 or larger ships.
• If this Force is the attacker in a scenario, once per game the controlling player may discard all the Activation Cards in their hand and replace them with the same number of new cards without spending a Fortune Point.
• All units in this Force gain the Ruthless Special Rule

Being limited to ships with fewer than 3 Decks, I initially toyed with running multiple Piraguas or Canoas for extra maneuverability, but after playtesting I tried Bermudas for the extra speed. In the end I opted for the dual Balandras with Heavily Built for the Hard Cover bonus on my models

Commander – “Experienced Standard Pirate Commander”

To me, there are two schools of thought on this force for commanders. The generic Untested Commander is 0 points so he allows you to take 3 more Pirates which is enough to give you an extra Firepot, but only offering a single command point and a 4″ command range, meaning your flagship is likely the only force that can get command points. This gives you more dice per activation across multiple units.

The alternative, that I selected was the Experienced Standard Pirate Commander which has two Command Points and an 8″ range that lets you yell orders to the the second boat. For the two optional special abilities, I took Lucky and Brawlers. If you opt to throw firepots unsafely, having Lucky to get a 4th Fortune Point and reroll failures is a plus. Brawlers is useful for boarding(or anti-boarding in this case) which we’ll discuss in the tactics section later.

Force Unit Makeup

This is a very straightforward army.  It’s just 5 units of basic Pirates with a few Characters to supplement the Crew.

Pirates

Despite the game being 7+ years old, the standard “pirate” unit didn’t happen until the release of the Raise the Black expansion. Before that “pirates” was just a term applied to any sailor-type model that engaged in piracy. The Pirate unit is dirt cheap at 3pts per model and offers the option of adding Firepots to 1 in 4 models. I pushed that to the max and took 11 firepots.

I “thought” I had selected the option of swapping Brace of Pistols for Buccanneer Guns instead of the two 8-man units. However, when I looked at my printed sheet at game time for the first round I realized I didn’t hit Save after checking that option. This left me completely without long-range weaponry — ACK!

Characters

I used 3 Characters in my force: a Carpenter, a Cook, and a Musician. Post-tournament and with more experience on how the games played out, I would probably drop the Cook and likely the Musician to take more pirates.

Carpenter

The Carpenter is one of the Fighting Men I typically only take in 300pt+ games. But with this force, it was a must-have model. Throwing explosives unsafely gives you a 10% chance of them going off early and exploding on your ship. Fighting fires requires a Repair action to remove the Fire Token. The Carpenter gives you a -1 to the success of your Repair Tests helping your ships stay alive as long as possible. In this list, he serves as a firefighter more than a carpenter.

Cook

My initial reason for selecting the Cook was to help manage Fatigue. The Pirates have a Resolve of 6.    While not awful, a 6 is a 50/50 chance of Fatigue on Resolve Checks, so a Cook was a quick fix.  

In order to throw firepots safely you need to take two actions.  Using a Push to take a Fatigue in exchange for a bonus action also meant the units would rack up Fatigue.  For 2 pts the Cook is a solid option to get a command point Rally.  Just keep in mind his range limits him to a single ship for the most part.

Musician

Most of the time I take a Musician it’s just because I have a 2 pt gap and can’t cram anything else in my force and a Cook doesn’t make sense for the build. He is limited to Standard Melee Weapons only so on many units he’s potentially a penalty and limits your firepower.

For this specific build, I took a Musician for two reasons:

1. Terror – It’s a gamble and with the number of new factions that have it, it’s much more common than it used to be. But the chance to inflict Fatigue early was worth the risk. In my 3rd game, it was useless as my opponent also had Terror.
2. Inspiring – This gives the commander Inspiring which allows all Units in the Command Range to get a free re-roll on any failed Rally test results when the commander is active.
   
   This comes in handy when you need to use Command Points to Rally multiple units in a single round as they will all get free re-rolls. While expected to need it, this only came up one time at AdeptiCon.

My Ships – 2 Balandras

This was a 200pt Sea tournament. At that point value that typically means players will field a single ship. This year, the majority of the players fielded the 18th Century Bermuda Sloop as it comes in the 2 Player Starter box.  If i recall correctly, there was a single galleon a single 6th Rate and 3 Light Frigates, with the rest of the field being 2 deck ships. 

Why Use Two Ships Instead of One Larger Ship?

There were 4 primary reasons I went with the 2 Ship configuration

• First and foremost was the ability to corral my opponent.  With a single ship, it can be easier for opponents to run away or maneuver in a way to keep you at bay.  This build focuses on getting within 5″ of a target to throw firepots.  So you need to keep the enemy boxed in and in range
• Secondly, two ships give you a total of 4 decks compared to a Brig or Light Frigate at 3 so you can take more fire criticals yourself if things go south. The 6th Rate (26pts) and Galleon (25pts) are about the same price as two Balandras with Reinforced Bulkheads (10+3 = 13 each; 26 total).  The two ships are much more maneuverable than the Size 4 ships.
• The third reason I like 2 ships over one is to mitigate damage.  If facing a large heavily armed ship, smaller cannot stand up to sustained gunfire.  While such an opponent may be able to drop one ship, it would be unable to get both in the 90-minute time allotment per round.  Against a large gunship, it also causes stress and fear, because if they focus on one ship the other can approach unhindered.
• Finally, the two-ship model helps defend against the best counter to this list: fast boarding builds.  Grappled ships are treated as a single structure, so when Fire spreads at the end of the round, it can jump between grappled ships.  If you have two ships, it is almost impossible for an enemy to grapple them both.  That leaves you one ship to keep firebombing the target while the second ship tries to break free.

Unit Placement

I tried to place my bigger units as far forward as possible to shorten the throwing distance.

• Command Ship
  • Deck 1:
    • The Command unit of 12 pirates with the Musician on the front deck. 3 models have Firepots.
    • Place a unit of 5 Pirates with 1 Firepot also on the front deck.
  • Deck 2:
    • Place 8 pirates with 2 Firepots and the Carpenter on the rear deck. I opted for 8 over 5 so opponents wouldn’t target a small 5 man unit and Fatigue or break it too early.
• 2nd Ship
  • Deck 1:
    • 12 Pirates w/3 firepots and a Cook
    • 8 Pirates w/two firepots
  • Make sure it’s also within 8” of the flagship for command points.

Force Tactics

Following my own advice for tournament prep, I built a cheat sheet for my force to reference and remember my strategies at game time. However, here is a fuller version of my thoughts for this force.

Deployment Strategies

Deployment is important for this build as your primary focus is to close on your enemy and get within 5″. 

Here are the deployment strategies I used for deploying my force:

• Regardless of whether you are Attacker or Defender deploy as far forward as the scenario will possibly allow.  Leave just the edge of your rudders/top deck in the deployment zone.
• Set your sail settings to max speed.
• Deploy your crew as 100% Prone, this will keep your forces alive as you approach and minimize the strike points you will take.
• Align the flagship 6-9” in front of the target ship at a 45°angle toward the enemy ship’s heading.  Move further forward, the faster the target ship is.
• Make sure your ships start within 8″ of each other so you can use your COmmander’s Command Points between ships.

Activation Cards

• Round 1 before in Range to throw
  • Throw 1-2 cards away and stay Prone as long as possible
  • Depending on how many units the enemy has, try to throw a Club 1st or 3rd to push them to go early and close on you so you know how to react.
  • 4th card = stand an 8-man squad 
  • 5th card = Commander Unit goes, base action Stand and Rally if needed.  Use a Command Point Stand on the 12 and next largest surviving unit in range. 
• Once Combat Begins
  • First attack Throw safe on all units with 2 actions. Push to get the action needed to throw safely if needed.
  • If at all possible target the command unit to minimize enemy Command Point usage.  Alternatively, attack the deck with the largest number of ranged units. Decks with on fire cannot use Shoot Actions.
  • Use Command Points to throw unsafe if no existing fires on your ships. Fortune if you fail.
  • ♣ Throw twice and Rally Or Throw, Rally, Throw. Either way, take the Fatigue for the second Shoot.
  • ♦/♥ = PUSH if zero Fatigue to throw safe; if no fires exist, throw twice and take the Fatigue.
  • ♠ = Rally or Throw twice.
  • Throw unsafe if you still have at least 2 Fortune.
  • Save 1 Fortune for Cheat Death.

Movement Suggestions

• Do your best to avoid cannon rakes.
• Depending on the wind direction, sail in a serpentine pattern for max speed to close the gap
• Avoid Windward/Wind’s Eye if at all possible. Don’t try an advanced Maneuver unless the enemy is outrunning you.
• Avoid getting boarded at all costs. If it’s inevitable, present the tail of your ship to the opponent so your large units don’t get locked in Melee. That way you can charge with your largest units to gain the benefits of Brace of Pistols in melee and Brawlers.

Blood & Plunder Sea Tournament Results

Here is a quick breakdown of my results in the Blood & Plunder Sea Tournament. The tourney is a three, 90-minute round event where Wins and inflicting Strike Points while taking as few as possible are the keys to victory.

Round 1 – Fernando Artega & Spanish 18th Century Guarda Costa in a Barco Luengo

For my first round, I drew Fernando Artega, the winner of the Land Tournament this year. Fernando has a reputation as a tough opponent who is often a very aggressive player. I got a couple of disparaging comments like “Sorry bro. maybe you can get second.” and a sarcastic, “Good luck…”.

Fernando deployed roughly in the center of the table and blazed away with his medium cannon grapeshot and muskets as he closed. Deploying my units as 100% Prone paid off, weathering the hail of incoming shot with minimal casualties. Near the end of the first round, I popped up my command unit and a couple of other units and threw firepots. Both enemy decks were on fire, but Fernando managed to put out one fire and survive the round.

Knowing the risks of the fire, Fernando attempted to board my flagship and successfully grappled me, pushing to charge aboard my rear deck. He nearly wiped my unit of 8 models and forced them to be Shaken and go Prone. I countered his board with a salvo from my brace of pistols and a charge of my own. It was enough to break his morale and drive him off my ship. I took a Fatigue to Pushed and immediately cut grapples. I commanded my other units to throw unsafely and lit myself on fire, but also lit his second deck on fire again.

The End of Round 1

Fernando won initiative but his units were heavily Fatigued and Shaken and he was unable to reboard. Another hail of firepots and his ship was fully engulfed in flames. I had 10 casualties, just 1 short of taking a Strike Point. Fernando unfortunately lost his entire force due to the destruction of his ship so he took 4 for the units and 5th for the ship. He played a great game, but unfortunately, the cheesiness of my force was too much to handle. I want a rematch with a legit force next year.

Final Result: Klotz 0, Artega 5.

Round 2 – Erich Goebel with Light Frigate and British Royal Navy

Erich and I had tussled the night before in the Oak & Iron tournament. Like Fernando, he’s a sharp dude and a strategic thinker. He had a +4 to the role of Attacker and a Sharp-eyed Lookout which easily secured him the win on deployment.

The scenario was a Breakthrough where the Defender attempts to get upwind of the Attacker to gain a strike Point. Deploying a little over halfway down the board, I angled at 45° on the verge of Windward hoping for the best. I was afraid of a repeat of the Oak & Iron tournament the night before where wind, deployment, and the scenario objective won the day for Erich.

The Game Plays Out and the Carnage Begins

Erich’s Light Frigate was outfitted with 3 Medium Guns and 2 Swivels, 26 Sea Dogs, and a unit of 5 Able seamen. Erich played a flawless game. I chased him as best I could to get in range while he peppered me with his muskets, swivels, and mediums as I closed. He inflicted a Steerage and Sheets & Shrouds rigging crit and I was in danger of losing my secondary Balandra.

Erich had me on edge the entire scenario. I was afraid he was going to outrun me or sink 1 of my ships. I don’t know that I would have played any differently if I were Erich. He did everything right. The only point that may have changed the outcome was a turn he could have gone for a rake on my command ship rather than keeping his distance. He “might” have been able to sink the flagship and then run and hit my 2nd ship from range. However, if he had tried and didn’t sink or disable me, I would have pounced on him with BOTH ships and it would have been ugly. Again it was a great match, and I hope we get a rematch with legit forces next year.

Final Result: Klotz 2, Goebel 5.

Round 3 – Christian Busch Golden Age Ghost Pirates

The top table in the final round of the Sea Tournament was a double cheese, flame-broiled burger. Christian Busch and I BOTH took absurd firepot lists. Both of us wanted to bring the issues of the fire rules to the forefront and spark a conversation.

Christain brought a GORGEOUS ship with tattered sails and eerie green LEDS. His units were stylized ghost pirates with multiple creative custom minis, including a recently “hung Stede Bonnett” and i think a couple of his Fighting Men.

Since both of our forces were focused on closing to 5″ and burning each other down it didn’t take long for our ships to close and start throwing. Our command units traded flame. On the second move, I wasn’t going to make it close enough to throw so I tried to bid low to get him to move closer first, but lost. Instead of approaching, I intentionally banked hard to starboard (right) risking a collision with my flagship and hoping to draw his ship closer to my flagship. My goal was to try to stay out of range of Chris’ firepots, but I came up a fraction of an inch short. Chris was able to move close enough to ignite my second ship. I got one fire out but was too fatigued to do much. He burned me on the next unit activation.

The Final Round

Before the game began I said, “This game is going to come down to initiative. Whoever gets to throw first is going to win.” The prediction came true. In the final, I drew cards and got zero spades. Opting to use a fortune to throw away my hand, I drew again (forgetting my free faction ability). I drew the King of Spades and Christian played the Queen of Spades. I banked my ship to get closer, activating my Commander to throw firepots, I commanded my other units to do an unsafe throw. The ghostly frigate went up in flames and I emerged victorious. I took 1 Strike point for my lost ship and 1 for the 20 casualties (2 short of a second).

Final Result: Klotz 2, Busch 5.

Conclusion

I have to be honest in saying that list is both extremely powerful and extremely “icky” at the same time. In a non-competitive setting, I would never take it, because it is broken. While I built the list and I played it, I DO NOT recommend using this list … So why build it? Right or wrong in some folks’ eyes, it was ultimately to point out a super minor issue in the game that has bugged me for years. As it hasn’t yet been addressed in the errata, I opted to to min/max the rules in hopes of highlighting the area needing a change, this list accomplished its goal. It also highlights an issue with the new 3pt Pirate unit that can take firepots on 1 in 4 models instead of 1 in 8 like most units.

Blood & Plunder is a GREAT game, and shockingly well-balanced as a whole. Especially given its longevity and depth of content. Few games can continue to grow without suffering the ill effects of scope creep and introducing balancing issues to the game. It’s one of the things I LOVE about the game and applaud Firelock Games for being able to maintain it. This list and the tactics used are an exploit of a very minor, fringe case loophole in the game, and in no way indicative of the overall scope of of the game.

Parting Thoughts on the AdeptiCon Sea Tournament

Even with the cheesy shenanigan lists, the AdeptiCon Sea Tournament was an excellent event! Thanks to Garrett Swader for stepping in and filling in for Joseph as the Tournament Organizer. For me, this event is always the highlight of any Blood & Plunder convention. It’s great to see all the beautifully painted ships and models that highlight the visuals of this game. I look forward to the Adepticon 2025 Sea Tournament and an opportunity to play a “normal” build and meet more great members of this awesome community.

written by Jason Klotz

Additional Content Suggestions

• Read more about firepots in our Ultimate Guide to Explosives for Blood & Plunder
• The Flying Gang: A Blood and Plunder Faction Overview
• Golden Age Pirates – Blood & Plunder Faction Review

Related Products

• Blood & Plunder 18th Century Ship Model by Firelock Games
• The 2 Player Starter set contains two ships and enough sailors to build half your force.
• Blood & Plunder: Raise the Black contains the Flying Gang Faction