The Barco Luengo is a small, light vessel larger than a Bark, but smaller than a Bermuda Sloop. This article is an overview and analysis of the stats, its capabilities, along with the strengths and weaknesses of the ship model by Firelock Games. Also included are some pre-built force lists using the model and some suggested tactics and strategies for using in your next game of Blood & Plunder

Ship’s Product Description: “A traditional shallow draft vessel for coastal defense among European countries, the Barco Luengo (Spanish for “Long Boat”) is a flexible craft that is popular among many colonial militias, pirates, and privateers alike. Usually armed with only swivels, larger versions mounted bows chasers, and often a few deck guns in the quarterdeck. This flexible armament combined with its excellent performance under oar or sail makes this a serious coastal threat.”

The Barco Luengo is Firelock’s newest addition (as of this writing in May 2024) to their fleet of ships, and while it may look like “another 4/4 with malicious intent,” this ship fills a niche for oar-powered vessels! It was used in the 2024 AdeptiCon Tournament to great effect and is a fantastic little ship that packs a wallop!

Barco Luengo Ship Stat Card

It is important to note that with a Sweeps 4 trait, this ship appears to be perfect for the Spanish Corsairs faction as it grants an additional 1″ to each move under Sweeps. However, since the ship’s Top Speed is 4″, the Spanish Corsairs bonus won’t help. You can increase the Top Speed with the Improved Rig Ship Upgrade found in Raise the Black. Technically, that would do the trick, but it feels a little sketchy to have your Improved Rig help out with your rowing… The intention of the upgrade involves changes to your sail plan, but the rules as written simply up your Top Speed by 1″. Errata may change this so keep that in mind.

Additionally, using a Commander or Character with the Sailing Master ability to use an Advanced Maneuver for a speed boost does not work when moving with Sweeps. While the wording on the Sailing Master ability doesn’t specifically specify moving under sail power, Firelock Games has already ruled that the Sailing Master cannot increase your ship’s Sweeps speed. Again, expect official errata to correct this issue Soon™.

Durability

Sporting a 4/4 Fortitude and Integrity rating, this ship is fairly fragile, and will not survive very long against a dedicated cannon list without some creative maneuvering.

Be very mindful of your movement when you take guns in the Bow Chasers! When charging at an enemy ship to line up your own shot, it’s easy to put yourself in a position to be raked from stem to stern. With low durability, you must avoid this if at all possible! You may stand up to a salvo from light guns but if you are facing a deck of 3 or more medium guns, you may be in serious danger of critical hits and catastrophic damage.

The rigging durability is pretty standard for a smaller ship. It’s on par with the Bermuda Sloop, Bark, and Tartana. This will only be an issue if your enemy decides to test out Chain Shot or dump Swivel guns or musket dice into your rigging. This is a rare occurrence, and even less likely considering you have Sweeps and can potentially ignore the effects of rigging critical damage.

Maneuverability

With a 4″ turn, this ship is just as maneuverable as the Sloop! This gives you solid options for maneuvering around the board under sail or under Sweeps! It can “snake” its way upwind and then turn right back around to bring those guns to bear!

An additional tactic, if you want to be especially cheeky, is to use the Sweeps to move backward up 3″. This can frustrate your opponent by potentially forcing them into another range bracket for their muskets for cannons. And if you have the wind advantage, their windward penalty may prevent them from being able to keep up with you are you back away. If you have bow chasers, this is a great way to pummel your opponent at range while they attempt to close. Further, they will have difficulty lining up a rake unless they forfeit closing on your ship.

While the Barco Luengo has a solid Turn stat of 4, it lacks the maneuverability of the Sloop in both its Windward penalty and sail configuration. The -2″ penalty for sailing windward is pretty hefty. Again it pushes pushes you to use the Sweeps instead of relying on sails alone. With the Galley rule, you can just Assign a unit to the Sweeps as soon as you need to go upwind AND you don’t need to even need to lower your Sail Setting.

Without the Fore and Aft Rigging special ability, this ship also lacks the Tacking advantage a Sloop enjoys. But if you rely on Sweeps, both that Windward penalty and the lack of Fore-and-Aft Rigging is not a hinderence at all

Ship Model Capacity

The main deck of the Barco Luengo can hold 25 models. Once the Medium Guns at the bow are equipped, you can fit 23 models on the front deck. On the rear deck, 15 models can be placed without the two pair of light cannons. With the light cannons equipped, it drops to 12 models on the rear deck.

With this configuration it allows you to place a unit of 11 models on the main deck’s medium guns. This leaves you space for another unit of 12 models that can use muskets and or Swivels. Or use a stout boarding party. Corsareos are a perfect fit to operate the sweeps as you close and then unassign and be ready for close combat.

Firepower & Ship Armament

One solid strategy for this ship’s artillery is to take the mediums in the front with grapeshot paired with the 4 Swivels on the rear deck. This gives you sustained artillery as you approach. It may be tempting to use Light Guns on the chaser to save points, but they are quite effective enough to do much damage. Most other ships in the game can mount far more cannons than you and sailing into their broadsides is risky. With your low hull Integrity will find yourself on fire, leaking, and possibly sinking very quickly.

Ship Upgrades

There is only 1 Ship Upgrade available to the Barco Luengo’s card, Reinforced Bulkheads. This option gives models onboard the Hard Cover bonus. This is essential to competitive and casual play and worth purchasing every time. Not having Hard Cover leaves sailors saving on 7’s. If running a demo for a first-time player, it is okay to leave this off for simplicity’s sake. But in competitive play, this is a mandatory upgrade!

A Light Frigate and Barco Leungo sail side-by-side at Adepticon 2024

The Barco Luengo in Blood and Plunder

In Blood & Plunder the Barco Luengo is the only ship (not a boat) that can move 4″ under Sweeps without a faction rule or upgrade to be purchased! This fact, combined with the ship’s 4″ turn speed, makes it ridiculously maneuverable. The ability to maneuver effectively against the wind used to be the province of boats like the Canoa and Piragua. This ship excels in mid to close-range combat! It is possible to dump 8 dice of Grape Shot into a deck, sowing chaos on its victims! Follow up by turning away and have your Swivels and/or muskets empty into that same deck!

The Medium Gun Chasers are the unique feature of this ship. Previously, only the Piragua, 6th Rate, and Galleon had bow chasers. The piragua is limited to only 1 Light Gun. Meanwhile, the 6th Rate can bring Light or Medium guns as chasers, while the Galleon can mount Heavy Cannons as their chasers. However, this ship has better firepower than the Piragua and is more maneuverable than the 6th Rate and Galleon. This makes its Chasers seem better on the tabletop. and it can do this despite being Lightly Built!

Barco Luengo Force Lists

Heavily Veteran Barco (250pts)

This list is Similar to the Flying Barco, but comes with its own cheese. As the Dutch Navy, you can make your Barco Heavily Built for free! Also, all your troops are Veteran! You may only be drawing 3 cards, but each unit will never be wanting for Actions! The Master Gunner will keep your cannons firing! Meanwhile your Kapers and European Soldiers reach out and touch your opponent with accurate musket fire. Don’t forget to use Expertly Drilled to dish out Fatigue!

Jayden’s Perfect British Boys Who Can Do No Wrong (200pts)

This was the 2nd Place winning List at Adepticon 2024. We have an entire article about it here by the list’s creator, Jayden King, who covers how it works.
“The Barco Luengo offers unique abilities that mitigate its fragility and relatively poor armament” – Jayden King

Dos Barcos (250pts)

This is the pinnacle of Barco play. Not 1, but two Barcos armed with both round and grapeshot, and a commander with Braodside! to help dump 16 dice of grape at a problem deck. The two smaller units of lance-armed Marineros will keep the ship going under sweeps, while the Zeelieden and naked (no pistols) Marineros keep the cannons going!

Final Thoughts

The Barco Luengo is a welcome addition to the Firelock Fleet for its no-nonsense commitment to maneuverability and unorthodox armament. In some ways, it’s the perfect buccaneering vessel while at the same time allowing professional navies the chance to challenge said buccaneers at sea. If you choose to add a Barco Luengo to your personal fleet just in time for the 2024 Summer of Plunder, you can snag one here!

Additional Recommended Reading

• Read Jayden King’s write-up on using the Barco Luengo at the 2024 AdeptiCon Sea Tournament
• Painted Barco Luengo
• Article about using Sweeps on in Blood & Plunder
• Hobby guide on crafting simple sweeps for your Blood & Plunder ships
• Ultimate Blood & Plunder Ship Guide page

Related Products

• Barco Luengo from Firelock Games