English Call to Arms!
Smoke on the water, shots ringing out, flashes of steel… these are the telltale signs of an English army marching to victory. It’s that time of the year, when His Majesty’s troops gather to claim victory for the unending empire. So gather your arms and provisions, the time is now! Raise anchors, let loose your sails, and fly high your mighty flags, for now is the time! We shall bring forth honor and courage, earning us the blood and plunder of our enemies! For Britannia!
English Commander – Erich Goebel
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.
More recently I have spearheaded the fansite, Thieves Harbor to cover Firelock’s newest skirmish game, Port Royal. 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 I 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 3.5-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 leading the English this year in the Summer of Plunder and having a dandy time.
English Second-in-Command – Riley Faulk
I, Riley “Newt” Faulk, submit my sword and firearm to His Majesty’s service, and will strive to spread the wealth of the English Empire.
I currently work in shipping and receiving at a ceramic production facility, so Blood & Plunder has been a welcome break after a long day. I have been playing for the past two years, and have gotten the opportunity to make many connections in a very welcoming community. When I am not working or gaming, I can be found rocking out and painting minis. As for games, I have previously played Warhammer 40k, as well as Star Wars: Armada and Star Trek: Attack Wing. I played a few RPG systems, but find skirmish wargames to be more appealing.
I am looking forward to communicating with my fellow English players in the Painting Nights and I hope to assist Erich Goebel’s leadership and will strive to propel the English to a victory in Summer of Plunder 2025!
Perks of Playing for the English This Year
- Exclusive Paint Nights in Discord every Monday Night at 10pm EST during SoP
- Progress through an Infamy System with Roleplaying Discord-based Titles (details to be pinned in the English section of Summer of Plunder Discord)
- Great Prizes, including custom 2025 activation tokens for reaching high enough Distinction within the Infamy System (Participating)!
- Points for games played
- Points for paint nights attended
- Points for small weekly objectives to take fun photos of your games!
- Other prizes include Reload tokens, Custom Commander Cards, and various other game goodies!
English National Objectives
This year, the weekly objectives for Week 3 & Week 9 are unique to the Nation you play. Our objectives are listed below
Week 3 Objective – “Blood on the Homefront”:
- Blood & Plunder: Play a game of any point size using the New England Village Garrison. (Note: you can use any mini to proxy as civilian villagers)
- Oak & Iron: Play a game with half your force (rounding down) with the Merchant Crew Upgrade Card and the Escort Scenario.
- Port Royal: Play a game where at the start of each turn, spawn an Armed Citizen on a random Plunder Token. (Use rules for Angry Old Pirate Event Table #3).
Week 9 Objective – “Blood and Bombs”
- Blood & Plunder: Play a game where you have each of the three explosives types fielded.
- Oak & Iron: Play a game where a ship within your squadron takes the Buccaneer Crew Upgrade Card and another ship is a Fire Ship.
- Port Royal: Play a game where each player get 3x grenadoes to distribute in their company for free before the game starts.
Get to know your officers and see early proofs of the promo commander cards you can earn by playing for the English this year:
English Commander Cards
Custom printed Commander Cards are being created for all commanders in the Summer of Plunder. These cards are fully legal for standard Blood & Plunder games, being fancied up version of the “Standard English/British Commanders” present in Raise the Black. These are one of the many prizes you may be eligible to win during this year’s Summer of Plunder!
Additional Recommended Reading
- English Nation & Faction Overview
- 2025 Summer of Plunder Rules and Info
- Summer of Plunder 2025 Discord
- 2025 Summer of Plunder Prize List