Introduction
Welcome to a full faction review article looking at the New France Garrison Faction from the Blood & Plunder expansion, Fire on the Frontier. This is a woodsy French Faction in Blood & Plunder, adept at moving through rough terrain, maximizing cover, and working closely with Indian allies.
Firelock Games recently released a set of 3 starter boxes specifically for Fire on the Frontier. So we wanted to make sure we had faction review articles for each of those factions! You can now purchase a starter box for the New France Garrison. The set comes with 25 resin models perfect for this faction.
This is more of a “colonial Faction” and less of a “piratey Faction” in Blood & Plunder. It will be best suited to land games, but it can be used in pretty much any context.
The Canadian Militia Faction in the No Peace Beyond the Line expansion is the predecessor to this Faction. While very similar, the differences are meaningful enough to make it worth focusing on just one version in this article.
The “Canadian Militia” faction in the Raise the Black expansion book brings this style of force into the 18th century.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Historical Context for the New France Garrison
- Unit Selection
Historical Context for the New France Garrison
New France was much more of an economic and military venture than the mass settling of families and communities seen in New England. Troops were regularly raised in France and sent to New France as garrisons to defend trading posts and population centers. These troops would also be called upon to join important raids and campaigns against the English and their Iroquois allies.
New France Garrison Faction Description from Fire on the Frontier
The hard core of the garrison of New France was the Compagnies Franches de La Marine – Regular Infantry in Colonial Service. These Independent Companies (usually around 30 men strong, but sometimes much weaker) were initially raised in France specifically for service overseas, and as such were organized and trained in European style – firing by rank and equipped with bayonets for defense. Once deployed to Canada however, they rapidly adapted to fighting on the frontier; experienced militiamen and voyageurs were intentionally attached to each Compagnie to assist them in learning to move and skirmish in the woods, and local dress was adopted (winter hats and capote style coats), and they often replaced their bayonets with knives and tomahawks.
Several of their officers became important figures in New France, and many settled in Canada after their terms of service ended. By 1689 there were 28 Compagnies Franches de La Marine serving in Canada, and they were not only deployed to various defensive posts on the frontier. They also participated in nearly all of the major French expeditions of the period, providing a level of rugged professionalism to French forces that their enemies struggled to emulate.
The Origins and Formation of the Canadian Militia
Before 1669, the Canadian militia did not officially exist, as local civilians were only expected to fight in extreme situations. Instead, Louis XIV had deployed regular troops from the Carignan-Salieres regiment as a garrison in 1664. Although the regiment was gradually disbanded, many of its soldiers remained as settlers, creating an experienced base around which the militia would later form—a trend that continued among soldiers of the Compagnies Franches de La Marine once their enlistments expired. By Royal edict in 1669, all free males of military age were required to serve, training with arms at least once a month.
The militia system was organized by local parishes, with men forming companies of around 50 when called upon. Each parish was assigned to one of three districts: Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, or Quebec. Over time, rivalry developed between these districts, each competing to provide the most effective troops. The men of Montreal were generally regarded as the best, drawing on frontier skills learned from living near the wilderness and the constant threat of Indian raids. When an expedition was called, Montreal’s men were often the most enthusiastic—though they had a reputation for being insolent and undisciplined. Volunteers filled the ranks for specific missions, and the remaining militia would tend the fields of those serving.
Since militia members were not paid, receiving only food and ammunition allowances, the system was highly cost-effective given the quality of troops it could produce. Under these conditions, the Canadian militia earned a reputation for toughness and competence.
The French were generally better trained and more used to rough woodland life than their English counterparts, but they constantly struggled with a much lower population to draw men from.
Faction Special Rules
The only Faction Rule for the New France Garrison focuses on unexpected movement.
Once per turn, a single unit in this Force that is not Mounted or Assigned may take a free Move Action at the end of its activation. This action may not be used to initiate or move away from a Melee combat.
A rule that can be used once a turn makes for really great gameplay choices throughout your game session. This might seem like a simple rule, but it opens up a lot of interesting options, both for scenario board control and, if used carefully, for striking an enemy unit when he’s not expecting it.
Using the French Free Move
This faction rule is used by other French Factions in Blood & Plunder and could be considered the “signature French Rule” in the game. Here are some tips and tricks for using this Faction ability.
The fun thing about this faction ability is it will constantly take your opponent off guard. Every time you get this free move, it feels like you’re breaking the rules! It’s easy to throw your opponent off balance. In the New France Garrison faction, most of your units have high mobility through other Special Rules as well, and that makes this Move action even more potent than in something like the French Caribbean Militia faction. Nearly all your units in this Faction have the Scouts Special Rule which will let you use the full 4″ of the Free Move and make it more potent with any other Moves combined with the free action.
First, be careful of the timing of the free move. It must be used at the end of a unit’s activation after all other actions, movements, and decisions have been made. Since it is a Free Action, there will be no penalties for the distance moved (no Fatigue gained if you end up moving more than 8″ during the activation). It can also be used even if you performed 3 full actions with your units.
Using the Free Move Defensively
In a defensive context, the easiest use for this move is pulling back out of melee danger from enemy units. The free move lets you possibly shoot, then retreat out of line of sight, range, or at least out of serious danger from any units retaliating. This can be combined with the Skirmishers Special Rule (available through the French Standard Commanders) making it even more potent! You can shoot or strike with a charge, then use Skirmishers to withdraw and then fall back again at the end of the activation. You can be awfully slippery with this action!
Using the Free Move Offensively
On offense, there are some clever tactics to exploit. One of the best is to push a strong unit forward to threaten a target, use your faction’s extra move, and immediately follow up with your Commander’s activation. This can launch the unit into melee or set up a point-blank ranged attack. For maximum effect, you could execute 3 full moves with a Club activation card (gaining 1 Fatigue), then use your faction’s free move to end up 16″ from your starting point. Afterward, activate your Commander with a high Spade to command the unit to either Shoot or Charge, hitting your opponent unexpectedly and giving them no time to react.
If your opponent catches on to these tactics, you can turn that to your advantage. By holding off on using the ability each round, you can keep them wary and force them to play more cautiously or miss opportunities they would otherwise exploit.
You can also throw a wrench in this by spending that free move on the very last activation of the turn, setting up dangerous situations at the opening of the following turn. That can backfire for you as well. This can be really strong in scenarios or situations where you simply need to cover ground. In a scenario like Escort from the No Peace Beyond the Line book, you need to get a model across the board. If you wait until the last activation to use your ability, you can move a full 16″ on that last activation of the turn, and then if you activate that unit first on the following turn and use that ability again, you can move a full 32″ without any Command Points or Quick tricks in back to back activations.
This is one of my favorite Faction Rules in Blood & Plunder and it can be used in so many ways! It does take some creativity, but that’s where the game gets fun!
Unit Selection
The unit options for this faction are straightforward but give you some real choices for how you want to form your force. The New France Garrison Faction has 2 Core Units, 4 Support units, and no other Force Options or additional unit options from Commanders or any other source.
Core Units
The New France Garrison has the 4pt Milice Canadienne unit and the 6pt Compagnies Franches de la Marine unit as its only Core Unit options.
Milice Canadienne
The Milice Canadienne, or Canadian Militia, is one of the game’s very best militia units! It has its weaknesses, but overall, it’s an amazing unit and you will want to lean on its strengths. At 4pts, it’s a little more expensive than your usual Militia unit in Blood & Plunder, but since it is Trained instead of Inexperienced, it’s more than fair.
The Milice Canadienne melee stats are poor with 7’s for both their Fight and the Fight Save. But where they really shine is their 6 Shoot skill! It’s a rare Militia unit that can shoot straight! Their Shoot Save of 7 is also better than most Militia units. Their Resolve of 6 is standard for Militia units, a weakness of Militia units.
The Shoot Skill and Save are excellent on the French Canadian Militia, but their Special Rules make those strengths even stronger! Marksmen allows them to spend two actions to make a Ranged attack with a -1 bonus. This brings them down to a 5 Shoot Skill! Most Militia units have the Drilled rule, providing a better bonus. The Marksmen rule is much more flexible since it doesn’t have to be performed as a Dedicated action.
On defense, the Milice Canadienne have the Elusive Special Rule which gives them a bonus on their Shoot Saves when they are hiding in Cover. Again, with a better-than-average base Shoot Save of 7, combined with a bonus from Elusive, these lowly French militia will manage to save considerably more models when fired upon than most other Militia units in Blood & Plunder.
Their final unit rule is Scouts, allowing them to move through difficult terrain without a -1″ penalty.
Using the Milice Canadienne
When it comes to Melee combat, the Milice Canadienne are not good with 7’s on both stats. You can give them a bit of a melee boost by using their only unit option and purchasing Thrown Weapons for 3pts for the unit. This allows you to reroll all failed dice on a Charge action which helps a lot on offense! If you’re leaning heavily on this unit in your New France Garrison list, you may want to purchase Thrown Weapons for a unit or two, but often you just want to lean into their strengths which are shooting and not getting shot!
The 6 Resolve is a liability as it is in most Militia units in Blood & Plunder, so be ready to spend some actions rallying throughout the game, or invest in a Grizzled Veteran, Standard Bearer Character, or a Commander with strong Fatigue management options.
Compagnies Franches de la Marine (17th c)
Where the Milice Canadianne are weak, the Compagnies Franches de la Marine are strong.
Where the Milice Canadianne are strong, the Compagnies Franches de la Marine are… also strong.
These professional soldiers have adapted to woodland terrain and warfare and in Blood & Plunder, the Compagnies Franches de la Marine have a unique combination of the Expertly Drilled rule and the Scouts rule. They can both sneak through the wooded terrain and deliver crack volleys and shatter their opponent’s morale.
While the Milice Canadianne lacks flexibility, the Compagnies can be heavily modified to serve in several capacities. This is a bit of a complex unit so we will look at its various elements in turn.
Compangies Franches de la Marine Stats
As far as base stats go, this unit is substantially better than the Milice with a savage 5 Fight Skill and a solid 5 Resolve. Their only weak point as far as stats go is their 7 Fight Save.
The solid Shoot Skill of 6 is standard for a quality soldier and you can use the Expertly Drilled rule to make that number even more deadly, along with other French Commander rules like Cold Blooded and Deadeye. The Shoot Save Skill of 7 isn’t great, but the unit has easy access to the Elusive Special Rule either through Commanders or unit options.
Compagnies Franches de la Marine Special Rules & Options
This unit has the Expertly Drilled and Scouts special rules along with options for trading those rules up a little bit.
Their Expertly Drilled Special Rule allows them to deliver accurate Dedicated volleys and force their target to roll an extra die on their Fatigue Test after the attack (only while activated on a Spade or Heart). This isn’t a rule you use every turn in a game, but it is a great tool to pull up when you want to drop a truly devastating volley.
The Scouts Special Rule allows this unit to move through rough terrain without the customary -1″ penalty. The benefit from this rule can really vary depending on what kind of board you’re playing on, but it can make a big difference, especially when going up against forces like English Militia which tends to struggle in woodland terrain with poor saves and poor mobility.
This rule also combos well with the free move Faction Rule rule. Get a full 4″ move out of that free action!
The Compagnies Franches de la Marine have the option of trading their Expertly Drilled rule for the Elusive Special Rule. This can be a tricky choice but it lets you fine-tune your unit to your intended purpose. If you know you’ll be defending from Cover, Elusive is a considerable bonus! But if you need more punch with your firepower, Expertly Drilled could be a better choice. Since it’s free, you can just choose whatever is best for your favorite playstyle.
Compagnies Franches de la Marine Weapons & Options
The Compaganies Franches de la Marine are equipped with a standard Firelock Musket as the primary ranged weapon. They also get Thrown Weapons as standard equipment. This is usually an add-on for 3 points, but this helps make that hefty 6pts per model more worth it.
Thrown Weapons are devastating on Charges, allowing you to reroll all misses on the free Fight Test. This is a great setup for running the Compagnies as an aggressive unit.
The unit also has the option of trading out Thrown Weapons for Plug Bayonets for no cost. Using Plug Bayonets can be tricky since you can’t shoot once you fix them. However, they have the advantage of being useful on offense (Fight Save penalty when you charge), or on defense (Defensive Melee Attack if charged).
Both options are solid and it may be smart to have one unit with Bayonets and another unit with Thrown Weapons. French are all about having specialized units, and these weapon options play into that theme.
Compagnies Franches de le Marine Veteran Upgrade
Finally, you can upgrade this unit to Veteran for 1pt per model. With a base cost of 6pts, these are already pretty expensive models, and bringing them up to 7 can be difficult to fit into a list! But since you have the solid core option of Milice Canadianne, you can easily bring a single unit of Compagnies and upgrade them to Veteran and a solid Character like a Local Guide to give them the Quick rule.
If you like running a “super unit” as a part of your force, this veteran upgrade is a great power up!
Support Units
The New France Garrison has 4 options for Support Units, 2 French and 2 Native American.
Coureur de Bois
De Bois are de Bomb. At 5pts per model, the Coureur de Bois are an excellent value. They are basically an upgraded Milice Canadienne. With a stat line of 6/7 Fight, 6/6 Shoot, and 5 Resolve, they have a full 3 better stat numbers than the Canadian Militia. They have the same 3 excellent Special Rules: Scouts, Elusive, and Marksman. This is one of the best woodsmen units in the game! With that 6 Shoot Save + Elusive being one of their very best traits.
They can add Thrown Weapons for 3pts and upgrade to Veterans for 1pt per model, both very tempting upgrades. The only weakness here is you can’t use the Bois as the Command unit since they are Support.
Miliciens Artilleurs
This unit is really here for running artillery if you’re defending Fortifications. The Fire on Frontier expansion book has some great options for frontier fortifications, and some of those structures can have artillery installed them. The Milicien Artilleurs unit is a very cheap way to man those guns and they have that Artillery Crew rule to help load the cannons a bit faster.
Their stats are pretty bad at 7/7/-/7/6, but at 2pts per model, you don’t expect a lot. You can upgrade them to Trained for 1pt per model, but that’s not always worth it if you plan to activate them on Spades (for the free Reload action) anyway. If you really want to power up your cannons, you can upgrade them to Trained and add a Master Gunner which makes them super efficient when activated with a Heart card.
You can also have some fun with Field Guns in your New France Garrison force with this unit! Field Guns can be entertaining and create interesting scenarios. With all these strong unit options, a Field Gun is a hard sell in this faction.
A Light Cannon would be 10pts, 1pt for the Grapeshot (prudent to bring along), and 8pts for a unit of 4 models to man it. That’s 19pts for either one solid shot die or 3 Grapeshot dice hitting on 4 + Range. Factor ingin the low mobility and the slow reload times, it starts to make the Milice Canadienne look pretty good again.
The do have the advantage of being one of the cheapest unit in the game, so if you really need bodies to pad out your army, adding a big unit of these guys can boost those numbers!
Braves
The French worked closely with many Native tribes and the New France Garrison has two options for Native American units in the force.
Braves are an excellent unit, but they have some tough competition in this force. At 5pts, they fall right between the Milice Canadienne and the Compagnies Franches de la Marine for cost, and they compete with the Coureur to Bois for the Support Unit spot.
In fact, they share the same 4 major stats with the Coureur de Bois, but their Special Rules give them a different feel. Instead of Elusive, they have Hidden, making them nearly impossible to target outside of 12″. Instead of Marksmen they have the Ball & Shot rule. This gives their close-range musketry a little extra punch with exploding 10s when fired within 12″.
They tend to hit harder in melee with the Hard Chargers rule, and have an option for purchasing Thrown Weapons. They have plenty of options for customization including a a Veterancy upgrade. Equipment options include trading muskets for bows, adding bows, adding pistol sidearms, and the aforementioned Thrown Weapons. Their only real weakness is their 6 Resolve.
Young Braves
If you want a cheaper unit that can help you control the board with Fatigue, the Young Braves can fill that role. They can also be and be customized for some additional utility. While an Inexperienced training level slows them considerably, they don’t need Reloads on bows, keeping them firing throughout the game. Their solid Resolve of 5 helps keep them from getting Fatigue.
They have a good list of possible unit upgrades as well with the Musket Sidearm being a solid choice that can provide you with a deadly volley once per game.
The New France Garrison is really spoiled for choice with all these solid units! Most of these units share some basic traits and characteristics, but the possible variety lets you fine-tune within the main theme of excellent musketry, and solid ability to use terrain as cover and stay mobile.
This can be a great option for laying down Fatigue on your enemy for an affordable cost. Bows don’t kill too many models, but they are a really fun tool to play with.
Commanders for the New France Garrison
The New France Garrison Faction in Fire on the Frontier has options for 3 French Militia Commanders and 2 Historical Commanders in addition to the 3 possible “Standard French Commanders” that were released in the Raise the Black expansion which can command any regular French faction.
Generic Commanders
The New France Garrison has two sets of Generic Commanders available: the “old style” French Militia Commanders, costing 0, 15, and 25 points, and the newer “Standard French Commanders” costing 0, 10, and 20 points.
French Militia Commanders
The trio of Militia Commander included in Fire on the Frontier (and No Peace Beyond the Line) runs a little more expensive than the newer “Standard Commanders” included in Raise the Black, but they do have some advantages that may make them worthwhile.
The main draw to this set of Commanders is their superior Command Range. The 0pt Militia Commander has 1 Command Point and no Special rules, but he can be armed with either a Brace of Pistols or a Firelock Musket and he has a full 8″ Command Range (which is better than the 0pt Standard Commander with only 4″). The 15pt Experienced Commander has the solid Inspiring Special Rule and a larger 12″ Command Range (also better than the 10pt Standard Commander with 8″ range). The 25pt Seasoned Militia Commander retains Inspiring and adds Elusive and gets that huge 16″ Command Range.
Standard French Militia Commanders
The 0pt option is really great for this faction if you want to go low-cost. You get no rules, but you have that wider area of control.
The Experienced Militia Commander has pretty much the optimal rule if you’re only going to have 1 rule! Inspiring is really useful, and with a 12″ range, he can usually rally whatever unit needs help.
The 25pt Seasoned Commander is an interesting option and can be a good choice, but if you’re getting into this range, Frontenac (see below) starts looking really attractive for only 7 more points. You still get the invaluable Inspiring rule, and you gain Elusive, making your command unit harder to score kills against when in cover. The Milice Canadienne already has Elusive and your other core unit, the Compagnies Franches de la Marine, has the option to trade away Expertly Drilled to gain Elusive, but with this Commander, you could retain the drilled rule and have the boost to Ranged Saves with Elusive.
The expanded Command Range can be a real help on land, and the 0pt commander is a great deal. The 15pt Experienced version is a little harder sell since you can get an Inspiring “Standard Commander” for only 10pts but that extra 4″ of Command Range might prove valuable! The Seasoned Commander at 25pts seems a little expensive to me, especially when you can either use a Historical Commander or a more customizable Standard Commander for only 20pts. But the 16″ Command Range is pretty impressive. If you like to spread your units out, or don’t want to invest in any Characters to provide extra Command Points for your units on the far flanks, he might be worth it.
Standard French Commander
The Raise the Black expansion books contain “Standard Commanders” for every nation which are customizable. These Commanders, available to all French Factions in Blood & Plunder, are slightly different because they automatically come equipped as the unit they are attached to and you can choose Special Rules for them from a list of abilities unique to each nation.
As mentioned above, these Commanders have a shorter Command Range than the 3 Militia Commanders in Fire on the Frontier, but have customizable advantages.
The Untested option is inferior to the Untested Militia Commander since they both have no abilities but the Militia Commander has twice the Command Range. If you’re going cheap, choose the Militia Commander!
It’s a harder call on the Experienced and Seasoned Standard Commanders. It really depends on how you want to run your army. Some of these rules can be more or less written off when picking a Commander for this Force since they are only useful at sea (Broadside!, Commodore, and to a lesser extent, Elan). Most of the rest of the rules on this list can be great choices for the New France Garrison Commander!
Standard Commander Ability Recommendations
Inspiring is always valuable for keeping your army in the fight, but remember higher-grade Militia Commanders also have this rule, so check for the best value. Cold Blooded is a popular choice for French Commanders, granting bonuses to crucial Shoot and Fight tests when targeting units with more Fatigue than your own. Stacking the Ruthless bonus with a Marksman or Expertly Drilled shot can be devastating!
Lead by Example is less reliable than Inspiring for managing Fatigue, but if you can trigger it, it’s more efficient, allowing you to remove Fatigue for free rather than spending actions to Rally. If you’re building a powerful unit with Cold Blooded and Expertly Drilled/Marksmen, you increase your chances of activating Lead by Example, which removes 1 Fatigue from all units in your Force after your Commander’s unit destroys an enemy unit.
If you’re focusing on melee combat with New France Garrison, Guerilla Commander and Expert Ambushers are excellent choices. Guerilla Commander gives nearby units the Skirmishers rule, allowing a free retreat after a Charge or Move/Shoot combo. This pairs perfectly with the faction rule that grants a free action at the end of activation, letting you hit and run effectively.
Expert Ambushers allows units to move while prone, though it’s not particularly useful here due to the lack of the Lay in Wait rule. However, it also gives all nearby units the Hard Chargers rule, giving a -1 bonus to Charges. This can boost weaker units like Milice Canadienne or unleash the melee power of Compagnies Franches de la Marine, especially with Thrown Weapons—making 100% hit rates on a Charge possible with rerolls!
My Personal Favorite combos
Here are two great combos for a Seasoned Standard French Commander for the New France Garrison:
- Cold Blooded + Inspiring – Keep Fatigue off your units, and punish your enemy for having Fatigue. Especially great for a focus on musketry and marksmanship.
- Guerilla Commander + Expert Ambushers + Fast and Deadly! Extra moves and punishing charges! This is great for a melee-focused list, especially if you upgrade a unit or two to Veterans.
Unique Commanders for the New France Garrison
The New France Garrison faction has two options for Historical Commander, Fresniere, a mid-level commander, and Frontenac, and heavy-duty 32pt commander.
Joseph-Francois Hertel de la Fresniere
At 18pts, Joseph-Francois Hertel de la Fresniere is easy to fit into forces as small as 100pts. Fresniere’s rules really focus on aggressive play.
His Expert Ambushers rule grants units within his Command Range the Hard Chargers Special Rule. The cheap Milice Canadienne really needs this boost to be any good at all in melee so this goes a long way in making up for their primary weakness. If you apply Hard Chargers to the Compagnies, they become even more deadly, bringing their Charge Fight action down to a 4+ which is about as good as it gets without crazy combos.
His Vanguard rule lets his Command Unit take a free Move action before the game begins, which can give some crucial tactical advantage, especially in scenarios with objectives that need to be seized early in the game.
Finally, his Tough rule also helps cover the Canadian Militia’s weakness of 6 Resolve and is super solid on the Compagnies as well. Tough is always welcome on any unit as Fatigue piling up will quickly rob you of important actions later in the game.
This Commander’s main weakness is his short Command Range of 8″. You’ll have to keep your force fairly compact to get good use from his Command Points and the Expert Ambushers/Hard Chargers abilities he grants his men.
Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau is a great Commander for your larger games, on offense or defense.
At 32pts, he’s not cheap, but he brings a lot to the table! With a massive 16″ Command Range and the full complement of 3 Command Points, De Buade can manage your entire army even on the largest scale.
The Very Inspiring ability is one of the best in the game, allowing you to reroll any failed dice on Rally tests within the Commander’s Command Range, even when the Commander isn’t active. With that huge 16″ Command Range, you’ll get that benefit nearly all the time!
Tips & Tactics for Playing the New France Garrison
With strong options for shooting, melee, and even some options for manning fortifications, the New France Garrison is surprisingly flexible. (NOTE: While it is possible to play the New France Garrison at sea, it would be much better to use a faction like the French Canadian Privateers so I will ignore that half of the game here and focus on land tactics.)
Here are four basic Tactics that can easily be employed by the New France Garrison in games of Blood & Plunder.
Shoot Everything
You have excellent ranged firepower with the 4pt Milice Canadienne. Lean into that and field as many Trained models with that 6 Shoot & Marksmen. Find good places to park your units and shoot everything off the board. Boost with a Commander with lots of Command Points, and rules like Inspiring, Cold Blooded, and Elusive.
Punch everything
With your movement bonuses, zip around the board and hit enemy targets hard with melee attacks. You’ll have to rely on the Compagnies Franches de la Marine units as your core and support with Braves with Thrown Weapons. Add a Local Guide Character to add Quick to your Command Unit. Support with Commanders with Expert Ambushers, Guerilla Commander or even the Historical Commander Joseph-Francois Hertel de la Fresniere with Vanguard.
Hammer and Tongs
Shoot and punch! Set up a couple of strong shooting units in protected positions and run a super melee unit to go cause havoc after your ranged firepower softens up your target. In this case, you’ll probably want to make your Command Unit your melee Hammer since that Command Point during its activation can be huge when Fighting or Moving.
Garrison to the Walls!
Use some fortifications! The Fire on the Frontier book includes some great frontier fortifications and they can provide a completely different play experience! Assemble a Palisade Fort or deploy a Wooden Blockhouse to control the field. Your unit’s musketry and strong Shoot Saves will serve them well in a fortification and you can keep one or two units outside the walls to keep the enemy on their toes and exploit any weakness shown.
The Milice Artilleurs unit can man cannons in a Blockhouse or Bastion (fortifications with the Bastion trait allow extra units with that Artillery Crew ability to be included as Core units so you don’t have to burn up that Support slot with your gun crews).
For some more in-depth reviews of some of the Fortifications available in Blood & Plunder, check out the last portion of the New England Village Garrison faction review here on Blood & Pigment.
Good Characters for the New France Garrison
Certain Characters, either Hostage/Advisors or Fighting Men Upgrades, can be especially helpful to certain Factions. Let’s look at a couple of Characters that you might want to consider including in your New France Garrison Force.
Father Thury
A deadly combination of the Officer and Spiritual Leader, Father Thury’s Jesuit fervor is a huge boon to any French force from the Fire on the Frontier book.
He gives you an extra Fortune Point at the beginning of the game and he has a Command Point that can be used for any action. He’s limited to being attached to a Native American unit, but that’s no issue here. Add him to a unit of Braves or Young Braves and his Command Point will help them move fast, shoot more, and melee harder in addition to adding cash to your Fortune pool.
As a Fighting Man, he upgrades an existing model and he isn’t cheap, but Father Thury can win games for you!
Local Guide
The Local Guide Character from the No Peace Beyond the Line expansion is a great addition to this Force. While this Faction has some great bonuses to their mobility, they don’t have the Quick rule on any units and this is an easy way to put it on your Command Unit (and any units close by). You can go completely crazy with mobility by creating a Veteran unit with Quick, Skirmishers, and the free move granted by the Faction Rule. If you play your cards right, you can make a unit move up to ….24″ in on activation! Or even 28″ if you count the Vanguard rule on Fresniere.
Master Gunner
If you want to run your New France Garrison in Fortifications, adding a Master Gunner to your gun crew can be a real boon. His extra Reload action plus that upgrade to Expert Artillery Crew can double the value of that unit.
New France Garrison Force List Examples
Here are some fairly simple examples of New France Garrison forces built with what’s in the New France Garrison Faction Set as the core.
100pt New France Garrison from the Faction Box
The New France Garrison gives you plenty of models to make a couple different armies. This basic army, using lowest cost commander and models possible, will be pretty impressive at the 100pt mark.
The Milice Canadienne and Coureru des Bois are excellent shots for low cost, and that unit of Compagnies Franches de la Marine can run around and do the dirty work in melee.
150pt New France Garrison Faction Set
At 150 points you can include nearly all the models in the box along with a Historical Commander, a veterancy upgrade, and a Local Guide to turn those Compagnies into a quick fighting machine! This is a super aggressive list and would do well in a tournament setting at 150pts.
200pt Faction Box + Soldier Box + 2 Young Braves Blisters
This is a larger force in 4 big units that capitalizes on the Lead by Example rule. Attack the Cold Blooded/Lead by Example Commander to the unit of 12 Compagnies Franches de la Marine (made from a Soldier Unit Box), use the Young Braves to drop Fatigue on an enemy unit, then use a Drilled/Ruthless 13 dice volley to wipe it off the board!
200pt Guns of New France
40 trained muskets with a 6 Shoot and Marksmen, Elusive and Scouts Commanded by Frontenac! This gun line list will put up an insane amount of firepower and the Commander’s Very Inspiring ability keeps the engine running smoothly.
New France Garrison Palisade Force
This is a totally different style of play where the New France Garrison is strictly defending. With a full Palisade Fort with two Bastions, manned by some upgraded Miliciens Artilleurs, this force actually has some impressive artillery!
Buying into the New France Garrison
Buying into the New France Garrison is easy! Firelock Games has a faction box set just for you!
Containing 8 Compagnies, Franches de la Marine, 8 Milice Canadienne, and 8 Coureur des Bois, this box is a really easy way to get into the faction. At $99, it’s not the cheapest way, but these one-piece models let you start playing immediately and don’t require any work to assemble (except maybe glue on to the base). See above for some effective lists built with models in this box.
If you want to save some money and/or customize your figures, the multi-part unit boxes can be used to put together a solid force. One Soldier Unit Box and 1 Militia Unit Box along with a French Commander can get your 25 appropriate models for $68 + elbow grease. While cheaper and more flexible in posing and weaponry, the multi-part plastic minis are more generic and lack some of the French flavor that the resin/metal French sculpts have.
When it comes to Native allies, the resin/metal line of North American Native models will serve you better than the Native American Unit Box (which is more Caribbean-focused). The Braves and Young Braves models are both great options for the New France Garrison and the Pnieses sculpts could be used as a variety for the Braves unit if you want.
Great Products for the New France Garrison
- New France Garrison Faction Set
- Soldiers Unit Box can be used for Compagnies Franches de la Marine (they often wore tricorns)
- Militia Unit Box can be used for Milice Canadienne
- Compagnies Franches de la Marine
- Milice Canadienne
- French Commander
- Coureur des Bois
- Braves
- Young Braves
- Artillery Crew
- Pierre Lemoye d’Iberville (not legal in the list, but the model can serve as a generic French Commander)
Final Thoughts on the New France Garrison
The New France Garrison is a very French Faction in Blood & Plunder. It has specialized units units that provide high value and high mobility making it fun and reasonably versatile in land games. Their free move Faction ability appears in several other French factions, so if you master using it in this faction, you can try the French Caribbean Militia with that same rule but new units.
The main factor limiting the New France Garrison is their low number of Core Units. You’re locked into using mostly Canadian Militia and the Compagnies. But that also simplifies and makes it easier to decide on building!
If you pick up this faction, it’s easy to move sideways into the Canadian Militia factions from No Peace Beyond the Line and Raise the Black, and if you want to lean more into the Native American units, you can try the more aggressive French Raiders faction!
How do you like to play the New France Garrison faction?
Additional Recommended Reading
- Read more about the French nation and Factions in this French Nationality Overview
- Check out one of the original French factions in this review of the French Caribbean Militia
- Read up on the French Raiders from Fire On the Frontier
- Watch this video on The French in Blood & Plunder
- Watch this video on the French as presented in the Raise the Black expansion.