My name is Jayden King but most people call me Jay. I grew up in coastal North Carolina learning about the pirates that cruised the waters that I was blessed with the opportunity to swim and fish in. After dropping out to bartend for a few years, I went to school in my hometown and finished my Bachelor’s degree last year. For my undergraduate, I studied History and minored in Pre-Law. I recently moved with my fiancé to pursue my Juris Doctorate and a career in law but I return home as often as I can, and I will never stop engaging with my real passion, History.

I’ve led friends in glorious battles against enemies imagined and otherwise since I was old enough to swing a toy sword or fan a cap gun. I got my wargaming start watching Lindybeige play Crossfire and eventually buying into Bolt Action. As many of you may be able to relate to, I found Bolt Action supremely disappointing. However, our local Historicals group introduced my friends and me to Blood & Plunder and we were hooked. Several of us have attended an assortment of tournaments and events; we pride ourselves on honoring our local heritage by claiming top placements and prizes whenever possible. I hope to bring that fanciful fighting spirit to my command of the English/British this year in the Summer of Plunder 2024.

Jayden “Jay” King

In Science, the playing field of the game is the universe itself…

Hail! I (Erich Goebel) have been an avid gamer since I could roll a die. I’ve spent far too many hours exploring Azeroth, Hyrule, the Sea of Thieves, DM’ing Pathfinder, and now, wargaming. Competitive tabletop gaming has always been a priority for me starting with my attendance at Pokemon TCG tournaments, Star Wars Miniatures, and a huge foray into the Game of Thrones LCG 2.0 tournament network. Firelock brought me into the community with Oak & Iron, which was a grown up version of the old Wizkids Pirates of the Spanish Main and during Covid and the online campaign – I fell in love. Raise the Black and the plastic models finally convinced me to begin playing Blood and Plunder and the recent remake of the movie: All Quiet on the Western Front, Blood and Valor. I cannot wait to get more Port Royal on the table and grow the community there. Games have always been a key part of my life as they offer simple frameworks and rules to which things “work”; little puzzles.

In my personal life, I have a PhD in Biochemistry and Structural Biology, where all I do is solve puzzles and elucidate the rules of biology. I am currently expanding my toolkit into Cryo-Electron Microscopy, which allows for the characterization of more flexible and solution-state proteins over more traditional techniques, such as X-ray Protein Crystallization. I am also the father to a spirited 2.5-year-old who already likes to play with daddy’s models and who I hope to one day share my passions of both gaming and science with.
I am very much looking forward to helping Jayden lead the English this year in the Summer of Plunder and having a dandy time.