By Garrett Swader
Intro
We are being crushed under a pile of Blood & Plunder preview minis at Blood & Pigment studios! They are for the upcoming Rise of the Buccaneers expansion in April 2026. Firelock Games has been really knocking it out of the park with the new sculpts they are designing. Recently I was able to paint the new Boucaniers unit. This unit in Blood & Plunder allows you to field the famous dead-eyed cattle and hog hunters from the island of Hispaniola.
New Boucanier Sculpts
Often these rugged men would join buccaneering expeditions to hunt for Spanish silver instead of Spanish cattle or hogs. These sculpts really show that these men were on the fringes of society with the way they are dressed living off the land while on long hunting expeditions. These men were extremely well armed for hunting game or killing Spaniards. Let’s look at the sculpts one by one for a closer look.
Details on the Minis
Mini #1 The Run & Stab
He is dressed in a short workman’s jacket, and short baggy breeches open at the bottom. He runs holding a knife that would almost certainly have the primary function of butchering a cow or hog. His main melee weapon is a machete for hacking through the wilderness. Finally like all the minis in this set he carries a long fusil boucanier with a small cartouche(Cartridge) box on his right side, which is the correct side.
Mini #2 Stand & Shoot
This Boucanier is in the process of putting hot lead on target, donning just a plain shirt and breeches. He has a cartouche (cartridge) box near the left, not where I like mine. Maybe that is his personal preference. He carries a powder flask made from a horn, possibly for priming or just for extra powder. A musket tool hangs around his neck for on the go adjustments and cleaning the vent hole. Around his chest is mosquito netting for protection against bugs in the wilderness. This is a common miss-identification as a sash.
Mini #3 The Runner
Much the same as the last guy’s shirt, loose baggy breeches open at the bottom. This mini has one big difference though, the cropped hat. Below is an example of this oddity for the 17th century hat design. A thing I can point out about this mini are the crude shoes. A detail shared by all the miniatures in this set. He also wears a cropped hat as well to quote a Little article “The hat is clearly the cropped hat described by Exquemelin (Dampier also notes a “crop’t hat”): the brim left long in the front but cut short the rest of the way around, akin to a modern baseball cap, the difference being that it appears that a small amount of brim was left at the back and sides.”
Mini #4 Strike a Pose
This guy is in a lighter short sleeve jacket with the same rudimentary breeches. They would have maintained and repaired their clothes in the field. So they would have been simple. He also wears a cropped hat (see details from Dampier/Little above). Can you imagine how bad these guys smelled? He also carries a sheath with multiple knives for field dressing kills. Below is an eyewitness drawing example.
Here is a link to the Benerson Little article I reference discussing the eyewitness drawings of boucaniers
Painting the New Boucaniers
As with all my recent paint jobs I used Monument hobbies paints with a mix of Vallejo metal and citadel shades. I tried to stay very earthy with these paint jobs and keep all the colors very plain. I think these minis should stay very plain in look because they would have been out far from society for long periods and far from anyone who would care about fashion.
Dr. D’s Boucaniers
Comments from Dr. D:
I was given the opportunity to paint one of the most well known units in Blood and Plunder. The humble boucaniers love to find a place to set up in nature and tell the Spanish people what they think of them from really far away. Since they are boar hunters, it presents an opportunity to paint more natural tones for their clothes. The khaki and bone colored theme of their tanned leather can be very distinct in a setting dominated by bright blues and reds. It was a lot of fun to make them stand out with their more neutral colors. The new sculpts are more dynamic and the clothes are much more detailed just like everything else in the new wave of models. I think their poses will blend in well with the previous sculpts well.
I admit that the man holding the knife made me think of the guy running Jurassic Park in the very first movie of the same name. I had a good long giggle when I couldn’t get that image out of my head.
The New Boucaniers with Original Boucaniers
Here is a side by side comparison of the new Boucanier models with the old Boucanier models. I think they fit in with the old set quite nicely and I will have no qualms about putting these on the table alongside one another.
Final Thoughts
Firelock games have really captured the essence of what these men would have probably looked like. I think these are superb sculpts that will be a joy for the community at large to paint. Whether you are a buccaneer recruiter or employing these hunters in your local militias you will find these marksmen right at home.
