Intro
We’ve completed the first 3 weeks of the 2024 Summer of Plunder Campaign and the plundering continues! We had a record week again for a number of entries. Each nation had its own objective this week and we had a special Shipwrecked event so lots was going on! The combat on the campaign map really ramped up this week and you can read all about that here in the Map and Objective Update for Week 3. But now it’s time for the Week 3 Player Update & prize winner announcements!
Numbers and Stats
There were 237 entries this week with each major nation getting between 28-60 entries logged. Let’s look at some numbers on games played, nations and factions represented, and player leaders.
Nation Report
Who’s winning? The Dutch maintained the lead they established last week, but just barely!
Week 3 Campaign Map Update
In case you missed it, we’ve also put out an update for the campaign map and the battles that occurred at that level. Check out all the action on the campaign map in Part 1 of the weekly update.
National Player Points
The English have logged the most games so far and generated the most points with the Pirates coming in second. The French and Dutch are very close in the middle and the Natives and Spanish are a bit behind. But the overall player distribution is better this year! The leading English still have 2x the trailing Natives, but that’s better than the 5x ratio from last year!
Faction Report
There are a LOT of factions to enjoy in Blood & Plunder. Between the Oak & Iron factions and all the Blood & Plunder factions, there are a few more than 100 factions people can use in this campaign and it’s always a goal to have all of them used by the end of the event! After 3 weeks of play, 88 have already been played! There are 25 unplayed factions left to check off the list!
The most played factions so far include:
- French Buccaneers – 43 games
- The Flying Gang – 30 games
- Brethren of the Coast – 28 games
- Golden Age Pirates – 25 games
- British Army – 24 games
- Dutch Caribbean Militia – 23 games
- Spanish Militia & Dutch Privateers – 21 games
Individual Player Report
The individual front-runner has changed every week so far!
The current points leader is Jakub Karaś who logged at least 10 games for the Pirates this week!
Top point earners include:
- Jakub Karaś (Pirate player)
- Conner Fix (English player)
- 963yug_taht (Pirate player)
- Michael Paul ( Dutch player)
- Jason Klotz (Mercenary player)
Week 3 Player Report for Oak & Iron
Oak & Iron might be a smaller scale but it’s an important part of this campaign! This was a big week for Oak & Iron with almost 30 games logged. with Spanish and Dutch leading the way!
We had some shipwrecks and even a giant Elmo join the fun. Not sure what’s going on there…
Week 3 Objectives – Nation-Specific Objectives!
This week was complex as far as objectives go with each nation having its own objective. Here’s a quick review of their objectives and some photos of people fulfilling those objectives. You can see more on nations’ objectives in the Commander updates below.
Pirates’ Objective – Pirate Drinks
The pirates are having too much fun in this campaign! Their objective this week was to share a “pirate-inspired drink” and there was a lot of participation! Check out the Pirate Commander update below for more shots of tasty pirate drinks!
Spanish Objective – Trivia and Holy Things
The Spanish are much more devout than the Pirates! While the Pirates are rewarded for drinking and carousing, the Spanish are studying history and thinking of holy things. This week’s Spanish objective had two parts: answering a historical trivia question and sharing a shot of either a priest or religious iconography on a flag or stern of a ship.
SANTIAGO!
English Objective – Fix Bayonets!
The English players were commissioned to accomplish the “fire and bayonet charge” maneuver. We saw a lot of British Army faction action this week and those Regulars with bayonets are nasty!
The Oak & Iron objective was to “Defend the Homefront” using the Merchant Crew Upgrade on at least half the ships in your Force.
French Objective – Go Big!
The French objective was to post a battle report of game where you used either a big ship (3+ decks) or a big commander (20+ points) in Blood & Plunder or use Additional Guns in Oak & Iron.
Dutch Objective – Cannons!
The Dutch were all about cannons. For this week’s objective you could:
- Play a sea game with grapeshot equipped.
- Play a land battle with field artillery
- Play an amphibious game with either grapeshot OR field artillery
Or for Oak & Iron you could:
- Upgrade at least one ship with extra guns and dismantling shot
Native American Objective – Noble Command
The Native’s Blood & Plunder objective was to use either one of this year’s custom Campaign Commanders or legendary King Philip as your force’s commander.
Since not a lot of these special campaign promo commander cards have been shipped out yet, we saw a lot of King Philip on the board!
You could also fulfill the Native objective by using the fan-made Native American faction for Oak & Iron found on Timber & Sail.
Week 4 Objective – Dangerous Waters!
Week 4 of the Summer of Plunder runs from June 23rd (Sun) -29th (Sat). Your objective this week is:
Week 4 Objective: Play a Sea game with 2 or more shoals on the board.
Stede Bonnett had no fear of shallows and neither should you! True, he was beached, caught, tried, and hanged, but I’m sure it will work out fine for you…
It’s time to break out those shoal terrain pieces that come in your big Blackbeard vs. Maynard 2-Player Starter Set! Having obstacles on your Sea board changes the game and forces you to sail more carefully and choose to avoid or embrace risk in your sea games. Check out the Week 3 Map & Objectives update for some great ideas and suggestions for enjoying your shallow water during Week 4 of the campaign!
The Oak & Iron objective is the same. Use 2 or more of those Shoals!
If you want to make some shoal terrain, check out our hobby guide for making cheap and easy shoal overlays for your sea mats.
Weekly Campaign Prizes!
OK, it’s time to start handing out plunder! This is one of the best parts of the community event and what helps make the event so great. Don’t forget to check out the full list of prizes for the Summer of Plunder campaign.
Best Photo of the Week
Part of the fun of the Summer of Plunder campaign is sharing pictures of every one’s games. Blood & Plunder players do an amazing job of creating immersive gaming experiences through beautiful gaming tables and painted miniatures. We hope the photos we are able to share from around the community and enjoyable and inspiring (or Very Inspiring). Each week we’re giving away a set of our Blood & Plunder Activated Tokens from our Pigment Shop to the player who submitted the best photo during the week (judged by the Pigment team).
This week’s prize goes out to Leon Mason for this shot of his Spanish Mission Garrison forces advancing through the jungle. Excellent shot!
Leon will receive a set of 6 Spanish Activated Tokens as a prize this week.
Random Player who Accomplished the Weekly Objective – Fortune Coin
Each week a random player who accomplishes the weekly objective will be selected at random among qualifying entries. The winner will receive a fancy metal Fortune Coin.
This week was unusual because each nation had its own objectives. Each Commander was able to choose a fun objective unique to their Nation for their players. These objectives varied widely! Of the 248 entries, 174 entries did play to the objective while the remaining ~70 did not. Some nations are sending out prizes or special recognitions so check the Commander updates below. But we’re still giving out a free coin here as well!
This week’s random winner is Eebazil, playing for the French! Looks like we got the Shipwrecked scenario going in this photo!
Eebazil will be receiving a deluxe Fortune Coin in the form of an 8 reale coin. These historically accurate reproductions are made by the St. Augustine Mint in Eugene, OR.
Random Entry for Week 3 – Free Minis!
Every week we do at least one random draw from the entire week’s worth of entries to receive some free minis! The winner has a choice of either a pack of 4 Blood & Plunder minis of the nationality they are playing, or an Oak & Iron Ship.
This week’s random winner goes to ….
… Greg Flynn! Looks like Greg has a head start on next week’s objective with the shoals already on the table!
Random Unique Prize of the Week 3 – Sea Rover’s Practice
In addition to our recurring prizes each week, we have a unique prize for each week. This week we’re giving away https://amzn.to/4c9ePcq, an excellent book by Benerson Little. This book has been foundational in the historical research and design behind Blood & Plunder and Benerson Little is “on staff” as Firelock’s go-to pirate historian. Benerson is one of the leading authorities on pirate history with several great books published and a rich and in-depth blog.
Benerson has been a generous supporter of the Summer of Plunder campaign in the past several years and has been signing the books we’ve been giving away so this title should come signed by the author!
This prize goes out to Larry McIver, playing for the English this year!
If you’ve not yet stopped by Benerson’s blog “Swordplay & Swashbuckler’s” you should! It’s full of great historically satisfying content!
New Player in 2024 Prize Giveaway!
Each year we give out a few packages of gaming goodness to new players getting into the game. At the end of weeks 3, 6 and 9, Firelock Games is giving away progressively larger packages of Blood & Plunder or Oak & Iron products to a random player who has recently started playing Blood & Plunder or Oak & Iron in 2024.
This first giveaway contains a resin Bark, and 4 blisters of resin minis. Valued at around $110, this should provide some substantial reinforcements to a new player’s collection!
This first big new player prize goes out to BattleBrotherGuy, playing for the Pirates! Congrats and enjoy your extra plunder this summer!
Shipwrecked Special Event
So many players participated in the special Shipwrecked event this week. It was awesome to see so many players playing a fun amphibious scenario, fighting over the wrecked ship on the beach. Watch for a special post announcing the winner of this special narrative event from week 3 tomorrow!
Commander Reports
Now, here are some important messages from your beloved commanders. Each week our 6 volunteers will donate a bit of time to add some narrative flavor to the game and pass on some information regarding their nation’s goals. If you haven’t yet joined, the best way to interact with the commanders and players in your nation is to join our Summer of Plunder Discord server. This is different than the main Firelock Games Discord server. It’s a fun community to hang out with and there is a lot of plotting and planning going on in secret channels that only players of a nation can see.
Spain – Week 3 Player Update
¡Saludos desde la Habana!
God was with us this week. Our Soldados and Corsarios fought bravely as true Spaniards and true men of God. We were able to recover some of the ground that was lost last week and we will continue to push forward to ultimate victory!
This week I asked you to play with a Priest character or have some sort of religious connection on the board. With everything tallied up Daniel Broaddus has won the most games played prize at 4, congratulations. The Monty Python Spanish Inquisition models are his prize.
The best picture/model award goes to Daniel Wray. A blister of Corsarios is headed his way You can see the winning model and picture below, congratulations to both players.
I had the best response to a trivia question this week that I’ve ever had. A total of 10 correct answers. Thanks to all who participated. The correct answer was Bernardino de Meneses!
I will be sending out emails soon to the winners. Spaniards, you must stay ruthless to the end and drive the heretic invaders from our lands!
-Gerardo de Guale
England – Week 3 Player Update
Foulest Heathenn Incursionns
West Indies Trade Fleurishes
Privatte Raides Yieald Little
Ye hostyle savages have overrun ye settlement of New York in dayes moste recent. Ye suffering and lamentationes of ye christiean peoples be profound at ye handes of ye barbarouse heathen. Ye innocent women and children were put to ye indian blade and much of ye towne was burned. Those vessels of ye Admiralteys red fleete that were in harboure carryed off scores of refugees to ye Englishe settlementes in ye Caribbean. Ye puritanical American colonistes pray that reliefe be delivered unto them by God and Crown.
Trade by ye Hudsonn Bay Companny seems to have dwindlled in face of ye warrfare in ye region and loss of English power centers. However, trade in ye indies hath promulgated under ye newly founded West India Companey. Ye sharehoulderes boaste exceptionale profits in ye first quarter. Vessels under commande of ye Leuftenant Serrano hathe acted as ye convoy and escorte for many English vessels in ye caribbean watters. Trade in ye caribbean is as profitabble as hath yet been seen by English interestes in ye Americas.
Numerous privatte incursions againste ye hostiles hath been made in days not longe pastt. Ye greate portione of ye Admiralttye vessels keep close to ye Navy statione in Port Royal on ye Island of Jamaica. Many of his majestyes seamen and officers have snuck off on private expeditions but with little returne in moneys. Ye Admiral MacKing hath denounced these pirates openly but has not made any discernible efforte to curtail their operations. Privateeres continue to move aboute Jamaica for repair and refit and resupply for ye next operatione.
Master Dougal Lovatt, ye loyal Scot in his Majesty’s service, reported ye recent stormes have shifted sands of depthes in ye Americane shallowes. Ye Admiraltey encourages all English captainns to be cautiouus. Ye waters cann be expected to be rife with shoals and new formmations of sandbars. Master Lovatt advised thatt young captain ought to navigate at leaste two shoals at sea affore beginning to think himself competent to ye hazardouse nature.
France – Week 3 Player Update
Mes Camarades,
We have established a strong foothold in the new world.
We have driven our king’s enemies fleeing before his majesty’s flag and dug ourselves in deep. Now we will hold these positions and fortify our holdings.
Keep in mind the weekly objectives and always be ready to peer pressure friends to join the French campaign. We need to draft more forces to secure our victory and must always keep our eyes forward on the mission at hand each week.
~Chevalier Tanwyn
The Netherlands – Week 3 Player Update
Landgenoten,
I bring concerning news!
It seems our recent successes have made us the envy of the Caribbean. Our enemies tried to take for themselves what we worked so hard to gain!
The criminals of the black flag, enraged by their humiliation at Tortuga, took to raiding our shipping. However, our brave sailors and soldiers saw them off. But this was the high point for us. Despite our efforts to pacify the citizenry of Tortuga, their desire for debauchery and chaos led them to forcing our outnumbered garrison from the island and once again declaring themselves Pirates most foul!
Even our attempt to liberate Rhode Island from the influence of these wretched heathens was stymied by a staunch defense mounted by its inhabitants.
To make matters worse, the Natives and English, who we’ve long been at an uneasy peace with, raided our frontiers, stealing goods and livestock!
Such treachery and backstabbing will not go unpunished!
All is not gloomy, however, as our valiant navy intercepted and destroyed several pirate vessels around the Bahamas. Their freed cargo easily replacing our lost revenues.
The war council has been summoned. And our vengeance will be swift!
- Matthew “Salty” Doerr
Commander of the Nederlands West Indies
The Native Americans – Week 3 Player Update
They said they wanted to trade, and a little land they could trade from. They begged for help when they struggled to survive in the wilderness. With our support they could grow healthy, and when they felt strong enough… They came in large numbers. They made us sign treaties that made no sense to us. As we became weary, they kept assuring us of their goodwill, just to strike and murder when we were out hunting. There is no pride in this… Our opposition is stronger than ever. But we are also strong. Our cause is just. Our only aim is our survival. Survival that is impossible with European powers roaming around…
Photo from Joseph Forster
Photo from Brent Devos
The Pirates – Week 3 Player Update
A word from the Boyar
Captains, we were viciously attacked this week by the filthy, sneaky, cowardly Dutch, and the inept Spanish! As a result, we will be keelhauling the latest batch of prisoners taken from the Dutch and Spanish prizes from the last week! Please report the Devilfish at 6 bells for the keelhaulin! Refreshments will be provided!
Now, I shall pass you off to Cap’n Padilla for the rest of the week’s report! I need to make sure the bodies can careen my vessel…
Captain Padilla’s Comments
Avast…we’re holding strong for second place just behind those English dogs! Our point leader for the week is none other than Pirate Captain, “Jakub Karaś” with a demanding 60 points! It’s amazing in the amount of games we all played this past week in comparison to the past two years this time in the campaign. Fear not as we all contribute to the cause by playing games ourselves, even if it’s just one. Our life schedules demand a lot of us, and I’m proud you’re able to squeeze in a game or two. So keep ‘em coming!
Speaking of “refreshments”, this week’s national objective from our good captain “Boyar of the Brethren”, was to “Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho!” We wanted y’all to send us pictures of your piracy-inspired drinks! They can be non-alcoholic, and must come with an ingredient list! We will choose the winner and they will get a special prize! We’ve seen some pretty standard mixes but none other than the one from “Musofox”…check out the pic above!
This week’s Summer of Plunder campaign added a bonus Prize event called, “Shipwrecked!” using the “Beached Ship” scenario out of the Raise the Black expansion book. How well did you fare in this scenario? I played out a couple of games with my youngest son with a win-a-piece. That defense with medium cannon could be deadly, but not a match for the ship’s guns. I know it was a bit of a challenge to launch a small boat to grab the different prizes, but not impossible.
Keep those lines of communication open and flowing as our Captain Dan aka “Boyar of the Brethren,” posts updates and additional information in the Discord Pirate chat channel.
More Pictures! So Many Pictures!
The pictures this week were awesome! There were lots of shots of amphibious tables which are always striking. We pull pictures from all entries into a file for use in updates and this week we had nearly 300 great images! This update is already “not short” but we wish we could share more of the fun pictures of great gaming!
Here’s another batch! If you submitted pictures and they didn’t get featured, we’ll try hard to get them front and center next week!
Final Thoughts on Summer of Plunder Week 3 Player Update
The campaign is warming up! Diplomacy is getting more complex between the various nations as they vie for power in the New World! Best of luck to all the players and commanders as they plot and battle this week.
Games and tables are looking awesome! The photos submitted this week were a cut above! You guys are really a fantastic gaming community! Keep it up!
Port Royal Kickstarter
Check out the Port Royal Kickstarter! Firelock Games is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for their smaller-scale pirate game: Port Royal. The game looks great and should be released before next year’s Summer of Plunder! Look for an upcoming article here on Blood & Pigment looking at Port Royal in detail. In the meantime, go check it out on Kickstarter and back it because it’s going to be awesome!
Mike Tuñez just did an interview with the folks over at OnTableTop and not only do they have a great conversation about Port Royal, but they talk about the Summer of Plunder campaign near the end of the video. Check it out!
Your Support is Appreciated!
We’d like to invite you to support the Blood & Pigment website and our amazing gaming community! Your contributions help us provide top-notch prize support and event promotion, ensuring our community thrives. Each year, we ship over $3,000 in prizes, which comes with considerable costs.
By making a one-time or monthly donation on our Patreon, you can make a big difference. Your support enables us to keep growing and enhancing this fantastic community we all love. If you can’t afford a financial gift, how about a free “Like”, comment or share of our posts to help us reach other players.
Thank you for your generosity. Let’s make this summer of plundering unforgettable!
