by Dan Carlson

Frozen Empires is a Homebrew Blood and Plunder Expansion aimed at allowing players to fight land, amphibious, and sea battles set during the Great Northern War! This project has been three years of research, writing, playtesting, and rewriting and we are glad to offer it on the blog! If the Great Northern War is something you’re unfamiliar with, fear not! With this announcement, anyone who is interested will be able to know exactly what it is and who was involved before choosing to purchase this fan made expansion.

Disclaimer

All the nations and factions contained within Frozen Empires are for casual play only and are not tournament-legal at official Firelock Games events due to this being an unofficial Module. Players will need a copy of the Blood and Plunder Core Rulebook and the No Peace Beyond the Line and Fire on the Frontier expansions. Fire on the Frontier will not be needed if you don’t plan on using Fortifications.

While this is an unofficial expansion, it has been produced with the blessings of Firelock Games and they are on board, supportive and have approved of our plans to offer it here on Blood & Pigment.

What was the Great Northern War?

The Great Northern War happened at the same time as the War of Spanish Succession. Russia, Denmark-Norway, and the Electorate of Saxony (which included the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) went to war against Sweden. The conflict lasted from 1700-1721, with the anti-Swedish coalition being the victor. This cost Sweden much of its prestige, and catapulted Russia onto the World Stage as a major player.

This Module allows players to not only recreate some of its most riveting moments within Blood and Plunder, but will allow them to play with new nations and factions alongside their existing Plunder collection!

What’s in the Doc?

The Frozen Empires document is 111 pages long and contains:

• Short history of The Great Northern War
• 4 new Nationalities
• 1 new Unaligned Power
• 15 new Factions
• 18 new Historical commanders
• 48 new units
• 1 new fortification
• 4 new historical scenarios
• 2 new “Standard” scenarios!

Frozen Empires adds some new Special Rules and Equipment as well, the highlights being Hand Mortars and Dragoon Muskets!

The Question of Miniatures

Since this is unofficial, there will be no miniatures made specifically for this Module. However, the majority of the units can be made using the Plastic Kits from Firelock games! The Sailors, Soldiers, Militia, and Cavalry Boxes can be used to represent each respective units.

The only miniatures Firelock does not make will be for units liked the Winged Hussars, Cossacks, and some of the Polish -Lithuanian Troops. For those minis, I highly recommend the STLs sculpted by Kozak Miniatures!

After acquiring miniatures, paint schemes for each nation can be found at tacitus.nu. This website is a fantastic resource for miniature painting and was recommended by various groups who game the conflict at much larger scales.

Can I Play Against Existing Factions?

Yes! These lists were tested against their counterparts in Raise the Black and have had no issues against other nations and Factions! Do keep in mind though that the majority of the land-based factions are professional armies, so they will function just like the Army lists found in Raise the Black. The biggest difference is the introduction of professional cavalry, which are more expensive but are of better quality than the typical Militia cavalry found in No Peace Beyond the Line. At Sea, the new factions match up against existing factions fairly well while still maintaining an identity of their own.

Joseph has confirmed with me that Summer of Plunder Integration is also possible! More than likely these Nations will be put under Unaligned. More info to come as Summer of Plunder 2026 gets closer!

Where Can I Acquire This Module?

Frozen Empires is available in the Pigment Shop and will be there for the foreseeable future! Hosting rule sets isn’t a new thing for us, but this is certainly the largest chunk of content on offer from us. The cost is currently $15 for a full PDF of the project.

Force Builder

A Force Builder was created for this expansion by Jonathan Wastring! No more needing to build equivalent forces using the Official Force Builder!

Conclusion

This project is a labor of love and has been a passion project of mine for 3 years. I can’t wait to see what the community does with my work and I hope it has achieved the quality the Plunder Community looks for and adds new ways for players to square off against each other!

I want to thank Joseph for agreeing to host Frozen Empires in the Shop, as well as Tyler Stone, Martin Sheaffer, Erich Goebel, Tyler Cherrison, and Kit La Touche for their help and feedback!

You can purchase Frozen Empires here in our Pigment Shop for $15.

Additional Products

• Firelock Games Miniatures
• Firelock Games Ships
• The Pigment Shop for Frozen Empires, as well as activation tokens, dice, and other accessories!