We are halfway through the first month of The 2026 Great Pirate Paint Off and it’s off to a great start! We already have over 100 entries covering nearly every category! But the focus for the month of January is the Commanders and Characters for Blood & Plunder. In this post we will give away the two mid-month prizes of a Red Grass Games Everlasting Wet Palette and a set of 2 Winsor & Newton Series 7 paint brushes, feature some of the recent entries, and look forward to the prizes coming up at the end of January.
Mid-Month Prize Winners
At the mid point of each month during this contest, we will be holding drawings from entrants in each category to award some of our prizes. Anyone who has entered anything in the given category will get one chance in the drawing, regardless of number of entries.
Mid Month Prize for Commanders – 2 Winsor & Newton Series 7 Brushes
If you’re going to paint, you need a good brush. These Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes are the best. We had 33 entries from 22 different painters entered in the Commander category during the first 2 weeks of January.
And the winner, drawn from those 22 entrants is Jacob Z!
Jacob entered a sharp looking French Commander that he said has been waiting for paint for 6 years!
Here are some more of the recent Commander entries:
Mid Month Prize for Characters – Redgrass Games Everlasting Wet Palette
With all the interesting Character models Firelock Games has put out this last year, this category has been flooded! We’ve had 53 entries from 17 different painters in the first two weeks of this contest.
Drawn at random from these 18 contestants, our winner is Peter S!
Peter has entered a beautiful L’Olonnais Commander, and a Howard Pyle Buccaneer as a Character model. Congratulations Peter and enjoy the wet palette!
Here are some more of the recent entries in the Character category:
End of Month Prizes
At the end of January, we are going to award another big batch of prizes! First, we are going to give away two copies of the Monument Hobbies Blood & Plunder Paint Set. Garrett has been using this set almost exclusively for his recent Blood & Plunder minis with great results. You can read his review of the set here, and see some of his minis painted up with these excellent paints here.
Monument Hobbies has generously sponsored this contest and provided this prize for us!
We will draw a random participant from both the Character and Commander categories (all participants get one chance in the drawing. Only restriction is one person can’t win both copies.)
Bonus Prizes at the End of January
We In addition to these two large prizes, we will be randomly awarding two more prizes, drawn at random from all entries submitted in January. These are small but quality prizes from our Blood & Pigment Shop.
Blood & Pigment d6 Turn Counter
First, we are proud to announce a new custom game accessory: the Blood & Pigment Turn Counter Die! Check out this genuine bone, 20mm d6 to help you track your turns.
We had these custom made and we just got them into stock! We will be giving one away at the end of each month of this contest. You really just can’t wait, you can order one through our shop!
St. Augustine Mint 1 Reale Cob Fortune Coin
We love our fancy Fortune Coins and there’s no cooler coin for the job than the St. Augustine Mint reproductions! These are hand stamped cob coins, each unique and carefully made with the same techniques as the Spanish used in the 16-18th centuries.
We will be giving out one of these deluxe Fortune Token coins at the end of each month of this contest.
People’s Choice Contest
At the end of the month, you will have a chance to vote on your favorite entries in both the Commander and Character categories, and the winners will receive award medals! A panel of judges will vote on the top 5 entries and we will make a gallery of the top entries for you to vote on. The only restriction is that only one entry per contestant will make it into the final selections for voting.
Watch for a chance to vote for your favorite in the first week of February.
Final Thoughts
The contest is off to a great start! Thanks everyone who has already participated. You have 15 more days to enter Blood & Plunder Commanders and Characters for a chance to win the prizes above!
As a reminder, you can enter any category right now, but the Character and Commander categories will be judged and awarded prizes at the end of January. You can still enter Characters and Commanders after January, but they will not have a chance to win as many prizes (they would still be eligible to win a “best of nation,” or a “random entry from the month” prize).
