Intro

The campaign is complete! The Pirate team has won a glorious victory on the campaign map! Well done Pirates, again reclaiming the coveted Summer of Plunder winners’ trophy (strictly imaginary) they won in the inaugural 2021 campaign. You can read up on the final campaign resolution in this post. Watch for the upcoming mega-prize post with all the week 9 and end-of-campaign winners coming soon!

In this report we will get final communications from each nation’s commander, and enjoy some of the piratical gaming from around the community through pictures. Also make sure to hit the original sea shanty at the end of the French Commander update.

Commander Reports

A huge thanks to each of of the national Commanders and Seconds. These fellows put in lots of effort, time, creativity and plunder to help everyone have a good time. Thank you to Josh, Daniel, Erich, Riley, Kyle, Gareth, Matthew, Zac, Derek, Brent, Daniel, Greg, and Josiah.

Spain – Final Commander Update

¡Valientes!

It has been a pleasure serving alongside you with the Spanish fleet. On behalf of our noble leader, Josué Shivak, and myself, I want to express our gratitude for sailing with us. 

Our congratulations go out to the Pirates for their victory. Even though the conclusion of this campaign does not see us as the ultimate victors, we fought hard to the very end and closed out the campaign with our dignity still intact. 

All of us played our role in shaping a great narrative for this Summer of Plunder, hopefully making it another fun time for everyone. Speaking of fun, Maciej Machowicz and Daryl Jessie will be winning the small and medium terrain sets respectively. Everyone keep an eye out for correspondence from Josué Shivak for further prizes (he is on a well-earned vacation)!

And remember, never leave home without your priest and roll lots of 10s!

¡Viva España!

Enrique de Andrada,
Espada de la Frontera

England – Final Commander Update

A Notice to the Officers, Sailors, and Gentlemen of the Jamaica Station

By order of the Admiralty, and with the King’s good pleasure, I, Admiral Goebel, do make known that I am to return hence to England, there to render new service as shall be required of me.

These past two years serving the Crown during SoP, amidst tempest and trial, have been the finest of my command. Together we have stood firm beneath the burning sun, watched cannon smoke roll o’er the blue Caribbean, and upheld the honour of His Majesty’s fleet with both grit and good cheer. Alongside you I clawed from Leftenant to Admiral – one request at a time! Through all, the indomitable will of Englishmen has shone bright. And though hardships came—as they are wont to do—still we made our summer campaign a spirited one, full of courage, wit, and the camaraderie that binds true seamen.

It is no small thing to leave such stout-hearted company. Know that I do so with deep gratitude and pride, and not without some melancholy. Whether at sea or ashore, your conduct has ever been a credit to the Crown and to your own good names. I hope our paths cross once again, so that we can drink to the times and good health.

As to when I may return to command at this station—God alone knows. But should that day come, I shall embrace it gladly. Until then, serve well, keep your powder dry, and remember: England’s strength lies not only in her ships, but in the hearts of men such as yourselves.

God save the King.

Signed and delivered at Port Royal, Jamaica, this fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord 1700.

– Admiral Goebel, Commander of His Majesty’s Ships at the Jamaica Station

English Prizes

Our top 18 players in our Infamy System will receive a set of Summer of Plunder 2025 Promo English Activation Tokens! Additionally, those who achieved the title of Captain or higher will receive a physical version of our 2025 English SoP miniature!

Commodore (20 infamy)

• @Commodore Monson 
• @Commodore Schmidtke 
• @Commodore Daffyd Castell (Eric) 
  • Special mention to these three gentlemen above who didn’t miss a single infamy point and capped out at 22! I rolled a d3 and @Commodore Daffyd Castell (Eric) will win a “large terrain bundle” from @The Dandalorian.
• @Commodore MasterOfFragging 
• @Commodore Rowan Piers 

Captain (16 Infamy)

• @Captain Robert Beetlebug (DrD) 
• @Captain Mercer ( Middleboro  MA ) 
• @Captain Capt. Redgrave’s Company 
• @Captain Cloudius Skip
• @Captain Brian 

Commander (11 Infamy)

• @Commander “Bloody” Baird 
• @Commander Newcomb, Maine 
• @Commander Vernon 
• @Commander Derek Serrano
• @Commander Lieutenant Banzai 
• @Commander ProsperoXV (Lowell MA USA) 
• @Commander xRafikki

France – Final Commander Update

Like all respectable nations, when the chips are down and victory is out of reach, there’s only one honorable thing left to do… be open to bribes! The French may not have won the Summer of Plunder, but this final week, our players sure did! Not only did everyone come away with a bunch of STL files, but the Pirates gave us a Plunder Donkey, and the Natives gave us a chance to win some miniatures and a canoe in their prize drawing. Each asked for loyalty. We obliged, and dare I say, we made things pretty interesting for both sides in this final week. Congrats to the Pirates on their victory and to the Natives for the close 2nd place.

Speaking of victories. Some will tell you that we finished as the lowest of the low, but I’m here to tell you otherwise! Quebec is not only in French hands, it is in pristine condition. We didn’t even have to defend it! The Dutch and English may have kept their capitals, but their citizens are left with months of rebuilding after our cannons crushed through their heretical chapels and muskets found the hearts of their best soldiers. By the time they’ve picked up the pieces, it’ll be the year 2026! France will have taken over the seven seas by then! The Sun King will live forever!! Pelts for everyone!

Literally… pelts for EVERYONE! As a thank you to the entire Summer of Plunder community – leadership, friend, foe, and most importantly, Scottish, a literal (digital) token of our appreciation. Gareth and I are proud to be a small part of this event. We thank you all and look forward to more years on the summer seas! This community is amazing! There’s nothing like it in miniature wargaming! 

And now, for some prizes and promotions:

And now, for some prizes:

French Prizes

1. I ended up doing a random drawing for the last Stone Temple Studios terrain pack PLUS physical versions of the French STLs and that winner is Jacky Häuser!
2. The Plunder Donkey we got from the Pirates goes out to Smith Loucas!
3. Our random Oak & Iron player is Foodking! An O&I Galleon is being built for you to take on your next voyage!
4. The person with the most players taught is Kit La Touche! Kit won the Pierre Lemoyne D’Iberville model, but it was a super tight race. Kit had 8, the next person had 7, and two players taught 6 people. Way to build your communities up everyone!
5. Finally – the winner of the coveted Bark is none other than William K Oakley Jr.! 

Congrats to all of this year’s French winners!

Viva la Roi! Viva la SoP!

I leave you with a hopeful, parting message from one of our own and one last shanty from the talented Daniel Perkins:

Governor Arpke,

As I sit to write this, it is with a heavy hand. Our last two engagements were moderate to rounding successes. We dealt justice to those who dared to take advantage of France through treachery and blindside attacks. I’ve also had to come to grips with the reality that has been right in front of me for some time now.  We will not achieve our overall victory.

When this campaign started, we were a small and inexperienced crew. We accepted all orders and carried them out to the best of our abilities. While small, we tried to make up for that with quantity, determination, and at times audacity. I hope we have served you well. 

I, for one, have been honored to serve under your command. I also have an intense pride in what my men have become. They are now a battle-hardened veteran crew! Tempered by the fires of war, thrill of success, and the ache of loss. I could order all of these men into battle on the morrow, and not one would fail to report for duty. But they are tired and worn. They need an extended period of rest. I must ask for our leave to do so. We will rest and recover, and build on what we have become. We will grieve our losses and recruit replacements, and when the time and need of our service arises again, we will gladly answer your call.

Respectfully,

Captain Jacques Leimere

Final Promotion by l’intendant

Kirk Busta, votre vigilance in commerce raiding and taking prizes in the name of the glorious Sun King has seen you raised in rank to grand corsaire.  Félicitations, you have been a glimmer of light in these dark times, and your name has been in many a toast in Paris.  Sail home, and enjoy this time of peace, you have earned it.

French Sea Shanty

The Netherlands – Final Commander Update

Landgenoten, 

Gentlemen and ladies… it’s been tough and it’s been fun.

We started out with a large target on our backs, and we could never seem to get traction. But then… the foolish Sun King decided to stab us in the back! Instead of crippling us, it rallied our forces and we, along with our English allies, launched the MOST devastating assault in the history of the SoP! Never before have I seen a nation reduced to a single holding… much less negative points!

To the French leadership… hope exile serves you well. I’m sure the gibbet is waiting for you, shall you return home!

To the Pirate victors, congratulations. Enjoy your hard-earned spoils.

To our Native friends… our hearts break for you. While a second-place finish is impressive, I know how bittersweet it must feel to fall by one point. Nonetheless, well done on the campaign.

To our friends and allies the English, once again you have proven what real friendship is. We look forward to standing with you again in the future!

And finally, to my fellow Dutch. It’s been a pleasure to once again lead you in this event. Alas, my time is nearing its end. A lovely patch of land has been granted to me to retire on… one from which I can oversee our burgeoning trade relationships with the natives.

It has been a true honor!

• Matthew “Salty” Doerr

Commander Of the Dutch West Indies 

Dutch Prizes

Now the final prizes:

Blood & Plunder

• Painted Commander (top Dutch player)- Martin Collins
• Drunken Pirate- Andrew Narveson

Oak & Iron

• Galleon – Josiah Huss
• Dutch Faction dice – Steven Iseman
• Ships of the line Box (Top Dutch O&I player)- Sebastián Valdés 

Terrain

• Medium bundle – Mark Stigter
• Small bundle -Krysja Najdek
• 3d printed Port Royal buildings- David Brooks

The Native Americans – Final Commander Update

Great Warriors of Turtle Island, we fought bravely, we fought with honour, and we fought together.

We have come a long way from the scattered tribes the Europeans mocked in the first week to a Nation feared.

We could have played with less honour, but we followed the way of the great spirit, as the spoils of a victory earned without honor would not have satisfied our warrior souls.

Sons and daughters of Turtle Island, it was truly a privilege to have fought alongside you all.

Native Prizes

Some final prizes. A unit of 4 Braves goes to Jessica Knap. Use these Braves well in our future wars to protect Turtle Island from the foreign invaders.

We also have a medium terrain bundle donated by Stone Temple Studios.  This bundle includes some beautiful scatter terrain.  Please go and check them out, they really donated some wonderful stuff to this years Summer of Plunder.  The winner of this terrain pack is Josiah Huss.

And finally – the Grand Canoe.  This prize pack was put together by Brent Devos, the Native second in command, who did an outstanding job this year.  He painted up an awesome 13-inch canoe and then donated a fully painted native army to add to it.

To be eligible for this drawing, you had to be a native player, have played games for the natives, or were one of the factions that helped us in the final week.  The winner of the Grand Canoe is Justin B. 

A big thanks goes out to Blood and Pigment – always such an amazing campaign.

Another big thank you goes to the sponsors for providing such great prizing. Grand prize announcements coming soon!

And lastly, to all the competitors, yes, including the pirates – great game guys.

As the sun sets on this Summer of Plunder, Walking Eagle moves among his braves, rest now, warriors, but be prepared, as another war starts in 10 months and there will be no mercy.

The Pirates – Final Commander Update

Well lads and ladies…we made it…to week 9!  Congratulate yourself on a trip well done through this campaign. We fought hard and wide through the Caribbean; won some territories and lost some.  Even made some good trading allies…a first since I’ve been part of the Pirate faction…and of course hits on the top two competitors! 

We finished out really strong…Apparently we won the campaign!!!!  How cool is that!!! A first since the start of the campaign five years ago. Our game update has us playing 285 games to date. As we closed out week 9, our three top point leaders are still holding strong; Christopher Regan holding the lead since the beginning, Greg Flynn hot on Christopher’s heels, and yours truly making a top-3 comeback!  

This past week, I went back to Blood & Plunder and hit dem waves hard! I managed a nice big finale of a game this past Saturday with two new players and with my gaming bud and oldest son. This was the same scenario I ran at the Sand Wars 2025 gaming convention week 1. Did you have a grand finale game for the campaign? What scenario did you play?

Top Pirate Factions of the Campaign

It would appear that throughout the whole campaign, the Port Royal Jamaican Pirates was the top faction to play…doh…it’s the only “Pirate” faction. Same with Oak & Iron, but it’s the Golden Age Pirates that held third most popular faction to play. What was your go-to or favorite faction to play? If you played all three game systems, which one did you play the most?

How did you fare in this week’s Pirate objective? Did you manage to muster up a banner, colors or a symbol for your flag of defiance? But, did you get in on a ship, a standard bearer or had it hanging in the background in your game? I use a mix of flags for my ships, mostly free-bees from Firelocks Games download section. Sometimes Io make my own using MSPaint. I made a Dutch Privateer flag, and come to find out it’s from the city of Amsterdam…cool! Snipping the design from another gaming system…and wasn’t sure of its authenticity or historical background. I know it’s not a “Pirate” flag…but close enough as it was used by the Privateers in my collection.

I know our Captain, Rum Runner Ray will say a few words, but let me say, I really enjoyed the communication in the Discord channels and the commentaries from all the voting going on.

So keep the “Black” flying until we meet again next year…Aaaaargh!!!

From Commander Daniel Wray

Ahoy Captains!  Our Week 9 Challenge was to create a custom Banner, Flag, or Figure to represent your Pirate Crew.  We had some great submissions.  Here are some of our flags – representing Our Pirate Alliance that led us to Victory in this campaign!

Now to Announce Prize Winners for participation in this weeks objective – and we have a lot of them!

• ScarlittWidow won a Reformado Commander
• David Romanin and Avery Daves won a blister of European Sailors
• Fabian Koenen and Dillon Padilla won a blister of European Sailors with Muskets
• Mike Colmen won a blister of Cannon Crew
• Additionally, Niguel Vega and Donovan Rita  – you both won a small Reaper Mini Pirate figure prize
• Christopher Regan – for being the player to submit the most for the Pirates – you’ve won a painted figure of Rum-Runner Wray and his trusty Companion, Willow the dog!  Congratulations!

Keep an eye on your email – as we intend to send out a copy of our Pirate Charter.  We have plenty of copies – if you don’t receive an email by the end of the week – and you’d like to receive one – email me at Dbwray2016@outlook.com, or reach me on Discord in our Pirate Channel Chat to make sure you get your copy!

With that business behind us—Kraken Killer and I raise a hearty toast to each and every one of ye fine Pirates (and to our stalwart Scottish and Portuguese allies) for a glorious campaign.

We’ve proven this New World don’t bend a knee to Crown nor Cross—but to the free and willful folk of the Pirate Republic! We played by our own code—seizin’ ports, celebratin’ our spoils, then passin’ ‘em along to other crews when the weight got heavy. But we weren’t just reckless raiders—only the Pirates can claim to’ve defended more ground than we took. A rare thing in a world ruled by sabers and sails.

The French and Spanish tried to woo us with silver and smooth words, but we showed ‘em we had riches enough—and pride aplenty—without bowin’ to their thrones. Our dealings with the English started in rough waters, but by the campaign’s end, their hatred of the French ran deeper than their fear of a Pirate’s flag.

As for the Dutch—well, they were the only true foes we had, always schemin’, always slippin’, and always landin’ face-first on our blades. A fine comeuppance, after that little trick they pulled stealin’ Bonaire.

The Natives—loyal allies to the end—grew mighty as the final tide rolled in. But this is a cutthroat game, and Pirates are nothin’ if not cutthroat. No hard feelin’s—it’s the way of things.

Every Pirate here played a part in this victory. We’ve shown the Caribbean belongs to free captains, not to any throne in Europe. I hope to see ye all flyin’ the Black once more come next summer. I know I will—for a Pirate I must be. – Rum-Runner Wray

Unaligned – Final Commander Update

One final update for the Unaligned Captains and I’ll keep things short.

Our sails are down, our guns are quiet, and this Summer of Plunder won’t see another chase. We’ve had our time — took prizes, outran navies, and stood shoulder to shoulder when it counted.  We lived fast, fought hard, and earned every coin, scar, and tale.

We’ve made history this summer. Some of you will keep sailing. Some won’t. But wherever you end up — remember what we were, and what we stood for.

Fair winds to you all. You’ve made me proud.

-Unaligned Commander 
 RhiBranyHud (Josiah Huss)

The last logbook entry of Captain Marts:

“The sea was calm and sunny. We were busy with plans to invade Antigua to support the Natives when a shout came from the fore deck. “Ship ahoy! 80 yards to port!” A small Balandra had appeared out of nowhere (more likely the sailor had been napping). The Balandra was flying a Brethren flag, but I could just make out the name that was scratched out, it was my old ship that was seized by the French. Lowering the spyglass, I shouted: “Prepare for battle. No quarter!” 

The first few moments were frantic as we tried to bring the Barco Luengo’s front chasers to bear. Two shots bounced off the enemy ship, as its captain maneuvered into position. Suddenly, before we could act, the Balandra turned course and rammed our Barco Luengo head on. As each ship shuddered from the impact, both crews raced to be the first to board the other ship. A group of sea Dogs charged Captain Mart’s Enter Ploeg, which managed to fight off their attackers. The Kapers shot over their comrades into the Freebooters.

As more Enter Ploeg died they decided retreating was a better part of valor. The Kapers then entered the fray, charging the Sea Dogs, wiping out the unit completely. Unfortunately, this left them in a bad position: between two enemy units, the Kapers were whittled down. The Zeelieden, seeing an opportunity, charged the failing Sea Dogs and wiped them out. Then, with an order from Captain Marts, they charged the Freebooters.

The resulting melee proved bloody indeed. But in the end, Captain Marts stood over the French captain’s body. Not only did he stop a ship aiding the Spanish & aid his Native allies, but he managed to retrieve his old Balandra. Maybe things were beginning to look up.”

And finally! It’s time to divvy up the rewards that we’ve amassed!

• Port Royal Customizable Character Sprue – Ethan Taylor
• Drummer Boy Character – Danny Perkins
• Sharp-Eyed Lookout Character – Dylan Craig
• Pirate d10’s from Baron of Dice – Charles Rodgers
• Pirate d8’s for Oak & Iron from Baron of Dice – Charles David Sherrange
• Oak & Iron Galleon – Tyler Carlson
• 1st set of Scottish Activation Tokens – Bruce
• 2nd set of Scottish Activation Tokens – Katie McCarty
• 4x Deluxe Coin Fortune Tokens – Allison Wray

Week 9 Epic Game Spotlight

Some of you guys just knock it out of the park when it comes to lavish tables, well painted minis, and great photography. Check out these shots from a game between Julian N and Chris W.

Week 9 Epic Game Spotlight II

The Lethbridge gaming club put on a cool game with native canoes launching offshore to ambush a ship at night.

These guys did amazing work leading up the Native team this year.

Week 9 Epic Game Spotlight III

Ret T has been submitting some awesome pictures of some great games. He already won best photo early in the campaign so he can’t win again, but we got to highlight these shots!

Week 9 Epice Game Spotlight IV

Greg Padilla knows how to put together an awesome game. Check out these shots from the Kraken Killer himself.

Pictures of Pirates Having a Piratey Good Time

It’s been a great year! The hobby is about enjoying fun games with other people. Here’s some shots people submitted throughout the campaign of people having a good time!

Boring (or Fun!) Campaign Numbers and Stats

Some find this interesting so we’ll share some of the stats for the campaign this year.

Nation Report 

Popularity changes a little bit every year with changing community and game dynamics. The English team has done some great community building the last couple years and that’s reflected in the huge player base for English in this year’s campaign!

• 432 games logged for English
• 320 games logged for French
• 314 games logged for Dutch
• 285 games logged for Pirates
• 273 games logged for Natives
• 239 games logged for Spanish

The total game count this year was a touch higher than last year at 1,863. The totals above include the Minor powers/Unaligned factions that logged for the major nations. Unaligned factions were heavily weighted towards the Natives, Dutch, and Pirates (in that order). With the Unaligned in a separate column, it looks like this:

• 428 English
• 314 French
• 278 Dutch
• 255 Pirate
• 224 Spanish
• 187 Native American
• 182 Unaligned/Minor Powers

The total number of unique players logging games for each faction largely mirrors these numbers.

• 93 English Players
• 71 Pirate Players
• 62 Dutch Players
• 56 Spanish Players
• 56 French Players
• 50 Native American Players

We did have a little bump in total players participating this year. We had about 295 different people log games this year, up a little from the 261 last year.

Game System Report

Blood & Plunder remained the top played game of the campaign, Port Royal was played a lot (for its first year, and Oak & Iron maintained at about 10%.

• 1,210 Blood & Plunder games
• 465 Port Royal games
• 191 Oak & Iron games

Faction Report

All the factions for all game systems were played over the course of the campaign! Below you can see the total numbers for all factions for all game systems from logged entries.

Port Royal factions are in top place of most of these columns since there is only one faction per nationality. Top Blood & Plunder choices for each nation include:

• Spanish – Spanish Militia, Guarda Costas, and Spanish Army
• English – British Royal Navy, English Buccaneers, and British Privateers
• French – French Buccaneers, French Privateers, and French Army
• Dutch – Dutch Navy, Dutch Caribbean Militia (Rt), and Dutch Privateers
• Natives – Iroquois (RtB), Caribs/Kalinago, and South American Tribes
• Pirates – Brethren of the Coast, Golden Age Pirates, and Flying Gang
• Unaligned – Scottish Militia, Brandenburg Privateers, and Maroons

Oak & Iron Report

With 191 games logged this year, Oak & Iron was up a little from the 161 games in 2024. Top nations in Oak & Iron included:

• 47 Pirates
• 37 English
• 32 French
• 25 Spanish
• 20 Dutch
• 3 Native (fan made)
• hard-to-track-but-substantial-number Scottish fan made Oak & Iron faction

Port Royal Report

Firelock Games’ new title, Port Royal, had its first year as part of the Summer of Plunder campaign, and we saw some big campaigns! There was a total of 465 games logged for Port Royal this year. The most popular factions included:

• 99 French Buccaneers
• 86 Forces of the Crown
• 69 Dutch Kapers
• 55 Jamaican Pirates
• 45 Guarda Costas
• 29 Carib Raiders
• 23 Maroons

Individual Player Report

Overall, we had a more even distribution of games without a lot of standout players logging millions (or billions) of games.

Most Points

Tyler Carlson led the way with a total of 171 points, with the other top 30 players ranging from 127 to 47 points.

Most Games

Total game stats show a nice curve as well, with the top 30 players ranging from 54 (Martin C), to 20 games this summer.

Most New Players Taught

Each year, we give additional player points to folks who share their games with others by teaching new players. This number is always hard to verify, but we had a record number of new players this year! Players reported teaching 527 new players this year(up from 423 last year)!

Top teacher Brad M introduced 50 new players to Blood & Plunder this summer through a massive and beautiful scenario game at Historicon this year.

Most Games Played at FLGS or Public Space

Playing your favorite game in a public space like a game store or a convention is a great way to catch the eyes of gamers and pull people into the hobby. About half the games logged this year (911) were marked as played in a game store or other public space. Way to go people! The top player in this category was Tyler C with 39 games.

More Pictures of People Enjoying Great Gaming

Final Thoughts on Summer of Plunder 2025

The 5th annual Summer of Plunder seemed to fly by! We hope you had a good time. If you were able to connect with some new players locally throughout this event, try to keep that going. The campaign is complete for the year, but that’s no reason to stop enjoying your hobby! Set up another meetup for August or September, or lead an Escalation League at your local store. Make sure to add yourself to the Firelock Games Player Locator map if you want to connect with more players. If you’re interested in some more competitive play after perfecting your skills over the summer, sign up for the tournaments at the NOVA event at the end of the month, or make plans to attend Adepticon 2026 in March.

We still have lots of prizes to ship out, so keep your eyes on your inbox and your mailbox over the next couple of weeks. Prize Czar Dan has been killing it, getting emails fired off every week to winners, and shipping off bucketloads of plunder. I (Joseph) have been less good about getting the prizes I am responsible for sent off during the midst of the campaign, so those will all be going out in short order (all the Fortune coins and Activated Tokens).

We still have all the campaign-end prize winners to announce, so keep an eye out for that post soon! Also, watch for a post-campaign survey to be posted soon. We covet your feedback to help us improve for next year!

Speaking of next year, we have already started workshopping some big ideas for next year! It could look a lot different!

With Summer of Plunder winding down for the year, we should be able to get back to pumping out more regular content for Blood & Plunder. On the short list of projects we have nearly completed is an article about selecting and using terrain well, some more faction articles, a series on Blood & Plunder Characters, and an epic multiplayer sea battle with Charles Vane and his Fireship!

We have plans to run the Great Pirate Paint Off again starting in January. And even though it’s more than 6 months out, we will be starting plans for another epic Adepticon with events for Blood & Plunder, Port Royal, Oak & Iron and more of Firelock Games‘ titles.

Thank You!

This campaign is a major undertaking and a lot of people work hard to make it happen!

Thank you to:

• Huge thanks to Firelock Games with Mike at the helm, for letting us organize this, providing so much prize support, devoting resources to make an organized play kit, and for making awesome games! Thanks to Lily for taking time to make up the Organized Play Booklet and Poster.
• All our supporters and sponsors who have donated or helped provide prize support: Firelock Games, Feldherr, TABLEWAR, Benerson Little, Timber & Sail, Dexter at the Plunder Den, Captain Morrow, Stone Temple Studios, Things from the Basement, and St. Augustine Mint.
• All our Commanders and Seconds: Josh, Daniel, Erich, Riley, Kyle, Gareth, Matthew, Zac, Derek, Brent, Daniel, Greg, and Josiah. These guys took it up a notch this year! All the custom prize support, organization, daily attention, weekly spreadsheet work, and update writing. It all takes time and work and it is appreciated.
• Dr. D and scarlitwidow for promoting the campaign and the game and interviewing the French Commander, Pirate Commander, and English Daddy on their awesome Raise the Black podcast.
• Prize Czar Dan for working hard to get plunder out the door every week to players around the world.
• Garrett Swader for helping out with all the image processing from all the entries. It’s a major job!
• And biggest thanks to Jason Klotz, the man behind the campaign map, spreadsheets and data entry processing that make the campaign work. He put in a lot of hours this year, not only during the campaign, but beforehand, prepping everything to run. He wrote all the entertaining Campaign Map updates and Bonus Event Scenarios as well. That fluff text is work to write! You’d better have read it and enjoyed it! Jason does a great deal for the campaign and the Firelock Games community.
• And finally, thanks to you all for being an awesome gaming community. You’re the best. Thanks for participating in the event this year, and we hope you’ll keep on gaming and join us again for Summer of Plunder 2026: Plunder Harder!

And if you appreciate this event, or any of the other content we put out here on the blog, or YouTube Channel, or Podcast, we are always grateful for support through our Patreon or Blog Shop. Or if you want to help with other people’s money (the pirate way) can put our YouTube channel on continuous repeat all day and night so we get $0.47 a day. All that money (and then some) goes back into the community one way or another!

Update written by Joseph Forster

Additional Recommended Reading

• Week 9 Final Results and Map Update for Summer of Plunder 2025
• 2025 Summer of Plunder Updates Hub – all of the updates from previous weeks.
• Prize List for 2025 Summer of Plunder
• Blood & Pigment Patreon