Let’s take a deeper dive into the Week 7 results and see who emerged as the new leader.

Campaign Announcements

We have three announcements this week:

#1) Bonus Prize Event 2 – “REBELLION!” – Winner Selected

The “REBELLION” bonus prize event has come to a close. We had 56 unique people enter the contest. The randomly selected winner was Connor W., who submitted an entry for SPAIN.

Conner selected set of Spanish Baron of Dice dice and a strategic advantage of a +3 to a RAID for his nation that is included in the turn resolution below!

#2) Baron of Dice Now in the Blood & Pigment Store

We have partnered with the Baron of Dice to carry their premium quality dice in Blood & Pigment shop. We are proud to help distribute such an excellent product! You can order them straight from Baron of Dice, or include them in an order from Firelock Games, or pick them up here in our shop.

#3) Blood & Pigment T-shirts and Hats are Now on Sale in the Pigment Store

At long last, we have added our “Blood & Pigment” logo T-shirt to the store.  The front of the T-shirt features the Blood & Pigment logo.  The back features a hardy “YARR HARR!” and the site’s URL.  Perfect for proud, plunder-pigment-loving gamers and fans of the site!

Pickup your Blood & Pigment shirt or baseball cap today!

Please be aware that all of our shirts and hats are “print on demand” so it’s a 5-14 day turnaround time for them to ship. All clothing items will be shipped separately from other items ordered.

Order a new Blood & Pigment shirt or baseball cap and share your love of Pigment and Plunder!

Week 7 Weekly Objectives – “Coastal Conflicts“

This week’s bonus objectives vary a fair amount by game system, so be sure to plan your sessions accordingly.

• Blood & Plunder: Play an amphibious game, OR specifically play the Escape by Sea scenario in the Orginezed Play kit
• Oak & Iron: Play the “Escape from Nassau” scenario in the Organized Play kit or the “Raze” Scenario from TimberAndSail.com.
• Port Royal: Both companies gain the Treasure Map ability on pg.75.

Campaign Map Combat Results

Here are the outcomes for the week:

• Aruba: The English hold over Aruba grows tenuous as the French return in force, undeterred by the recent repulse. What had been a bold defense by the English now feels like borrowed time. The weakened English squadrons stood outnumbered four to one, their resolve frayed and powder stores low.
  French ships crowd the southern approaches, their flags unmistakable in the morning haze. Locals brace, and shutter their homes. The commanding officers opt for retreat rather than face the slim chance of turning back a second wave. Aruba has fallen to the French. ( English 1 – French 4)
• Boston: The French made a move on Boston, confident that the harbor—under pirate control—was ripe for the taking. Large squadrons bore inland in a continuous wave of longboats disembarking with practiced precision, their intentions clear from the first sails on the horizon. But the pirates were ready.
  
  As the French pressed ashore, their ships sat exposed and thinly crewed. From behind the eastern peninsula, a squadron of pirate piraguas burst forth, swift and silent. In a daring maneuver, they overran the stern of a French 6th rate, seizing control before the alarm could spread. Within moments, the captured vessel turned its guns back on the fleet it once served, raining fire on the remaining French ships while their crews scrambled to return from shore. The assault collapsed into confusion, and Boston remained in pirate hands—its defense as cunning winning the day. ( French 4 – Pirates 4 )
• Campeche: Spanish warships anchored off Campeche under the cover of overcast skies, their landing craft ready for swift deployment. Within hours, coordinated war parties surged ashore.
  
  By midday, the plaza had been converted to a makeshift holding ground. Families were torn from their dwellings, herded toward the holding pens for inspection. Those who resisted with any strength were marched under guard to the goleta waiting near the southern quay. The insurgents’ wills would soon be broken in the silver mines. By dusk, Campeche’s defenses had fallen, replaced by regimented control and the quiet reshuffling of power. The port fell quiet as ancestral voices faded behind heavy doors sailed west. Campeche now stands under Spanish control. ( Natives 1 – Spanish 3 )
• Cartegena: Native fighters launched a coordinated assault on Spanish-held Cartagena, advancing through mangrove-lined channels and striking key positions and fading before solid resistence could be mounted. Their objective was clear: to disrupt the stronghold’s grip and challenge the city’s colonial dominance.
  But from atop the Hill of San Lázaro, the walls of Castillo San Felipe stirred. Reinforcements emerged from the fortress gates in measured ranks. Proud Spaniards descended into the city and launched patrols to counter the incursion. Spanish troops pushed back the attackers in grim, methodical engagements. The Native strike was repelled. ( Natives 3 – Spanish 3 )
• Costa de Mosquitos: Native warriors swept through the Costa de Mosquitos with unrelenting purpose, dismantling Spanish authority before resistance could take root. Amid the turmoil, a captured mission priest brokered a ceasefire—negotiating the peaceful withdrawal of Spanish forces on condition that local citizens remain undisturbed in their homes. The region is now under the control of the Natives ( Natives 2 – Spanish 1 )
• Missisquoi: English forces advanced through the forests of Missisquoi, targeting not the town center, but its vital lumber mill—a lifeline for French construction and trade in the region. Striking quickly, the English seized the mill’s elevated position and cut off the surrounding access roads, trapping defenders within the timber piles and scaffolding.
  French troops rallied among the log stacks, trading musket fire across sawdust-choked air, but the English pressed forward with bayonets. After a fierce exchange, the mill fell silent. An English flag rose above splintered beam. Missiquoi is now English.” ( English 2 – French 1 )
• Natchez: The Dutch acquisition of Natchez seemed like routine diplomacy—French officials, eager to shed a costly and underperforming territory, agreed in exchange for favorable trade terms and cultural concessions. But behind the offer lay a deeper motive.
  
  Dutch cartographers had long studied the floodplain’s unusual convergence of currents and magnetic anomalies—perfect for developing advanced navigational instruments. Once the deal was signed, Dutch workshops emerged discreetly, crafting tools that would steer ships across oceans. Natches has become a domain of the Dutch. ( Dutch 4 – French 2 )

• New York: After seasons of relentless conflict, New York—scarred by raids, skirmishes, and shifting banners—finally changed hands once more. This time, it was the Dutch who struck, exploiting fractured French defenses and local fatigue. New York returns to its New Amsterdam roots and now belongs to the Dutch. ( Dutch 4 – French 1 )
• Onondaga: The recent occupation of the Spanish has led to unrest simmering beneath the surface in Onondaga. Spanish patrols marched the longhouse paths, and colonial flags hung where clan symbols once stood. But the attempts at assimilation failed. An uprising began. Native warriors struck with precision from the woods and waterways, backed by the elders of multiple tribes a coalition was formed. Spanish watchposts crumbled under sudden strikes; a supply depot was torched. The resolve of the locals was too much for it’s occupying force, who chose to withdraw and leave the region for its Native occupants.. ( Natives 2 – Spanish 1 )
• Port Royal: French Compagnies Franches de la Marine in Port Royal began their patrol inspired by whispers that a British naval officer had slipped ashore to visit his brother. The rumor proved true—they seized the officer without resistance, then made haste for the harbor, aiming to escape aboard a waiting sloop.
  But Port Royal was stirring. Trumpets of the local militia rose from the hills, and from the opposite quarter came Georgia’s mercenaries, advancing to the tune of her violinist. Clad in regal hues of all colors that enhanced her commanding presence, she drove her forces with cunning, denying the French a clean retreat. Leftenant Gavin led his British irregulars into the fray, clashing with French soldiers in brutal street combat. Skirmishers dueled in the nearby groves, and after a fierce charge by bayonet-fixed militia, the French commander fell with his men. Survivors vanished into the jungle, their prize lost. This was just the first incursion of the British as they pressed into Port Royal, claiming the region. ( English 2 – French 1 )
• Rhode Island: After months of repeated conflict, Rhode Island faces its breaking point. Dutch and French forces have clashed multiple times over the region. French forces, determined to reclaim the region, launched a coordinated assault—striking from sea and land with precision honed by weeks of reconnaissance and local spies.
  Dutch defenses, worn thin by skirmishes and dwindling local support, crumbled under the pressure. French troops, overwhelming key fortifications and cutting off escape routes. By week’s end, the Dutch banner was lowered. Rhode Island, long a battleground, now stands once again under French control. ( Dutch 1 – French 2 )
• Vera Cruz: The cathedral stands unfinished, its stones whispering prayers to a contested sky. Spanish clergy aboard the Spanish galleon in the harbor chant prayers and blessings over the kneeling men before them, beseeching God for victory in liberating the region once again.
  The mornings that followed brought reports of skirmishes in the cane fields and and battle plans of Spanish Tercios attempting to retake the city. The natives, knowing the terrain and emboldened by victory, fortified key chokepoints with broken masonry and salvaged wagons. Along the coast, bonfires lit warning signals in the fog. Unable to shell the city they wished to liberate, the Spanish made probing advances—swift strikes meant to test rather than claim. Each was met with harsh retaliation. Vera Cruz, once a symbol of healing, now struck back like a wounded dog. Gnashing its teeth and biting anything that approached. Despite Spanish efforts, the region held firm under Native control, ( Natives 2 – Spanish 2 )

Battles for Capital Cities

There was not one, but two battles for control of capital cities this week!

• Curaçao: Undeterred by their defeat, the pirates returned to Curaçao, sails full and ambitions high, intent on cracking the defenses of the Dutch capital. Landing under scattered fire near Willemstad’s piers, they once again pushed quickly toward the heart of the settlement, seeking to unsettle its command structure.
  But the Dutch were waiting. With disciplined fury, militia lines held firm along narrow streets. Having bolstered their defensive positions from the previous assault, they had staged several well-reinforced barricades. By nightfall, the pirates withdrew, licking wounds and tallying losses—once again denied by the unshaken resolve of a city that refuses to yield. Curaçao remains in the control of the Dutch.” ( Dutch 5 – Pirates 4 )
• Havana: After weeks of relentless French aggression, British command turned its gaze southward—away from New France, to its ally–Spain. Havana, jewel of the Spanish Caribbean, has become more than a port; it was a lifeline of economic wealth. Intelligence confirmed what whispers had long suggested: Spanish gold and goods were fueling the French war machine, quietly sustaining the enemy’s reach across the sea.
  Rather than face the cannon-lined mouth of Havana Bay, the fleet anchored east of the city under cover of heavy weather, deploying landing parties at Cojímar and further inland where the terrain thinned. Troops marched westward through groves and ridgelines, bypassing the formidable batteries at El Morro and La Punta. Their target wasn’t the harbor—it was the alliance itself.
  Within hours, British forces reached the outskirts of Havana and struck hard, igniting supply depots and blockading key roads. But Spain had prepared. Reinforcements poured from La Cabaña Fortress, moving swiftly to intercept the attackers before they could entrench. The counteroffensive was fierce: volleys rang out from behind stone walls, and mounted cavalry swept in from flanking positions with brutal efficiency. The constant harassing attacks begin to inflict insurmountable levels of attrition.
  A window opened for negotiations and a British envoy was sent to discuss terms—Spain refused. Havana would not yield. After just a few days of fighting, the British retreat began, bloodied and burdened. The eastern beaches now bore the deep ruts of spent artillery and broken plans.
  Though Havana remained unconquered, the assault spoke volumes. The British had refused to sit idle or be quietly choked by economic warfare. Their retreat may have been tactical, but it was not timid. Spain, for its part, had shown exactly why Havana was not just a port—it was a fortress, a capital, and a cornerstone of empire that would not bend.” ( English 5 – Spanish 7 )

Campaign Map Update At the End of Week 7

The updated map following the fighting:

Current Location Ownership by Nation

Here are the tables of the ownership from the start of Week 7 and the incoming state for Week 8 below.

Bonus Event 1 Strategic Advantage – Spanish RAID + 3

Captain Don Connor of the Oeste Armada had been given a singular directive from his Commander Josué Shivak: break the will of Vera Cruz. His mission was not to reclaim territory, but to unravel its spirit. Intelligence from coastal traders spoke of a hidden ceremonial village in the interior—once Totonac land, imporatnt to the heritage of its people. There, was said, lay a temple built of ancient foundations, housing relics that bound the clans together in ritual and resolve.

Connor’s crew landed on the riverbank under cover of night, threading through the jungle. Guided by moonlight and a crude maps etched from an elderly missionary. They trekked for hours behind a reluctant guide,promised the release of his sister from the mines if they were successful. Dawn turn too noonday sun and still they pressed on. Hours of sweat soaked his clothes. Salt and stench clung like armor. His skin bristled with red welts, constellation painted by swarms of mosquitos. At last their target was found. nestled in a misted hollow, near a small waterfall and babbling stream no doubt cenote. It’s magestic beauty was breathtaking. But the still awe was soon shattered by the report of musket fire.

The assault was swift and ruthless. Shouts of “¡SANTIAGO!” echoes through the trees. Spanish blades cut through the inhabitants, most barely offering token defense. The houses and temple were looted. Captain Connor could scarely hide his pride as his men presented the spoils. Three items stood out above the rest: a jade figurine of Ehecatl, the wind god. The second the Codex of Winds, a collect of bound bark-carved manuscripts record seasonal rites and clan histories. The third , he knew held immeasurable, intangible value. He demanded an explanation from one of the locals. The broken Spanish of his guide’s translation, confirming his suspicions…

The Black Palm Standard was unlike any war banner he’d seen. Woven from the fibers of the black palm tree revered across the region, its texture shimmered with a natural luster—dark quill-like streaks against a tan backdrop. It was like storm clouds stitched into fabric. Threads as black as obsidian ran through the weave, catching light like stars in a moonless sky. At its center, a spiral motif echoed the wind god Ehecatl’s breath, flanked by glyphs representing the four founding clans of the region.

A sacred symbol of unity and blessing. Raised during solstice rites and war councils, it marked the moment when scattered villages became one voice. Its presence was said to calm tempests and embolden warriors.

Connor winced as he swatted a mosiquito from his neck. But the small nuicance was no match for the quiet exhilaration coursing through him—the thrill of conquest, the weight of victory, and the knowledge that he’d stolen more than relics. He’d stolen momentum from the Natives cause.

Conne W of the Spanish, the winner of Bonus Event 2, selected to take a +3 to a Raid result for his Strategic Advantage.

Raid Actions During Week 7

Raids are a unique dynamic available to National commanders. While they pose some risk of danger to the attacker, they have a different benefit from a standard attack. Rather than transfer ownership of a territory, they transfer victory points between nations. While conquering a region gains 1 VP it leaves the location at risk for attack. A Raid can net a positive return, but it also reduces the current VP of the target nation. This results in a typical result of a 2 point swing in position between the target and attacker.

Raid Results for Week 7

There were EIGHT Raids this week – everyone but the French and Pirates engaged in a raid! We had two disastrous raids and two that had the result of a critical success (one thanks to the Strategic Bonus from Bonus Event 2).

	Nation	Target Nation	Location	Outcome
	Dutch	French	Missisquoi Norridgewock	Roll 8 = +1 Dutch, -1 French Roll 3 = no change
	English	French	Missisquoi New York	Roll 10 = +2 English, -2 French Roll 5 = +1 English, -1 French
	French	None	–	–
	Natives	None	Onondaga Cartegena	Roll 6 = +1 Natives, -1 Spain Roll 3 -2 for Defense = Result of 1; -1 Natives, +1 Spanish
	Pirates	None	–	–
	Spanish	Natives	Campeche Vera Cruz	Roll 1 = -1 Spanish, +1 Natives Roll 9+ 3 Bonus Event = +2 Spanish, -2 Natives

Raid Outcome Table

Trade Actions During Week 7

For the first time since the start of the campaign, there has been a break in the outcome of trades. Accepting their fate at being unable to win, the Dutch and English have redirected their trade efforts. Instead, both nations have issued a number of letters of marque to many of their merchant vessels, turning them into privateers against the French. (Both nations focused Raiding the French twice this week.)

The remaining 4 Nations have chosen to maintain their current Trade arrangements. Each nation earns 2 Victory Points.

Trading Partners

• French – Spanish
• Natives – Pirates

Cede Actions During Week 7

We’ve had our 3rd CEDE action of the campaign. I have to say this makes me subtly happy as an organizer. We added the action last year (maybe even 2023?), and it was never used. When we added it, I had hopes for it to have diplomatic flare, and maybe spark some intrigue, and this year it has finally come to fruition.

In the fading light of day, a motley array of pirates stood on the harbor of St. Thomas without weapons or flags. Their ships—once symbols of defiance—lay quiet as Captain Rum Runner Wray formally ceded control or the region to Chief Walking Eagle and his delegation. With a solemn exchange of a carved obsidian token, the island was handed back—not through treaty or conquest, but through recognition of deeper, older claims.

The ceremony was calm, marked by respect rather than fanfare. native elders raised their voices in songs of praise as the pirates observed silently, heads bowed. That evening, the harbor filled with firelight, not from battle, but from shared meals. St. Thomas had returned to its original stewards, and the pirates, for once, left without a fight

The Pirates CEDE St. Thomas to the Natives.

Current Standings at the End of Week 7

• The Dutch had a solid week, gaining 1 location and raiding France – twice!.
• The English have continued to claw their way back upward. They stole 3 VP from the French in two successful raids and captured a location.
• The French have suffered one of the most painful weeks of any nation in the entire campaign. They were utterly ravaged by raids from the Dutch and English and lost 2 locations.
• The Natives had a mixed bag of results. They tied for first for the weekly score and netted two locations, but they suffered heavily from raids from the Spanish and had a disastrous raid of thier own.
• The Pirates have continued to navigate troubled waters fairly well. They have avoided raiding or being raided. They ceded a location, and gained no regions, but have held their own.
• The Spanish Lost some ground and now have only 3 territories, but they have had a week of both disaster and successful raids. They staged an impressive defense in Cartegena that successfully repelled a raid and an attack.!

Week 8 Weekly Objectives – “Masters of the Sea“

With only two weeks left, now is the time to cram in those last-minute points for your games. Here are the bonus objective events for Week 8:

• Blood & Plunder: Perform an Advanced Maneuver at Sea or play the Fickle Sea scenario in the Orginezed Play kit
• Oak & Iron: This mimics the concept of the Fickle Sea scenario from Blood & Plunder. Roll a die at the start of each round and apply the corresponding Event Card based on the result.
  • Cannon = Wind Increases
  • Musket = Wind Direction Change
  • Pistol = Gusts
  • Skull = Wind Decreases
  • Sail = Wind Increases
  • Cutlass = Calm
• Port Royal: Players agree to designate one plunder token as being Morgan’s Sword (on pg.77). Also, all companies may immediately recruit an Expert Seaman (Dutch) into each company for free.

Conclusion for the Week 7 Campaign Update

Is it just me, or is this campaign both speeding by and dragging out at the same time? I can’t believe it’s nearly over. This is the bittersweet phase of the campaign. There are days I honestly just want it to be done due to exhaustion, but then I know I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

It’s time to buckle down and make the most of the final days! I hope you and your crews have some special ideas and plans for the final two weeks.

Happy Plundering!

Article by Jason Klotz

Additional Recommended Reading

• 2025 Summer of Plunder Updates Hub – all of the updates from previous weeks.
• Rules and Info for the 2025 Summer of Plunder Event
• 2025 Summer of Plunder Entry Form
• 2025 Summer of Plunder – Campaign Map
• Weekly Objective List for 2025 Summer of Plunder
• Prize List for 2025 Summer of Plunder
• Newly announced Objectives and Prizes for Unaligned players