Hello D-sciples! It is Dr.D coming in hot with some list discussion from my Adepticon 2026 land winning list. This list applies the fundamental truth that you should shoot people from varying distances until you turn their brains off and then take their stuff. Even after so many years, Boucaniers remain a potent force in this game and my list proves that they still got some fight in them! Lets get to it!
The 200pt French Caribbean Militia Tournament List
List Discussion
I have to come clean right at the top. I always struggle with list building so I had a little help from my friends. Niguel (Black-ish Caesar on Discord) gave me the main framework of the list that I eventually augmented into what it is now. The main point of contention was the inclusion of Father Jean-Baptiste Labat. The poetic part of this entire Adepticon thing was Niguel and I would meet at top table to decide the winner. It was a true apprentice taking on the master kind of situation. Niguel said he wanted to be my daddy, and told him he would need to seek validation elsewhere! I will go over the games briefly after discussion, but it was a tense game. (They call this burying the lead)
The list is quite simple, but also deceptive in its application at first glance. The entire list relies on the Boucaniers to do the heavy lifting while all the other units are there to facilitate their killing spree. The commander has Guerrilla Commander and Cold Blooded to help with movement and to give out some opportune Ruthless. Cold Blooded is what started my eventual brain-storming for better resolve management in the list and this lead to bringing Father Jean.
The list has a few constants. Everyone has Shoot Save 6 with Elusive to help win the ranged fight, which makes board awareness vital to help keep everyone alive. The Boucainers and their Boucaniere wives have a Shoot value of 5 and the ability to skirmish and use Quick to zip up close, blast ’em real good, and then run back to safety.
The Milicien are there to provide bodies for Strike value and to literally be walls to stop charges going into the Boucaniers. The Local Guide is there to give Quick and Scouts to models as much as possible with good positioning. I think a lot of this is pretty basic and clean Blood & Plundering, but the usual issue of poor French motivation was a factor that I wanted to overcome.
Thankfully….a man of the cloth was there to help me in my time of need.
I attached him to the Boucaniere to help keep the cost down and I knew he would usually be near the Boucaniers unit to get Command Points. Obviously, Artillery Crew was not important in the slightest, but having Very Inspiring with an extra Fortune is quiet a boon, in my opinion, for 12 points. You lose a rifle and he refuses to bonk people that want to stab him with a sword, but the potential benefits of having more reliable rally tests is just too hard to pass up. The Rally Command Point was helpful at times, but it was always eb and flowing with what I needed between Fatigue and shooting. I personally think Father Jean is fantastic and I will include him in most of my French Caribbean lists, but maybe I just got a soft spot for that bald head of his…..he is just so dreamy….
I took some pictures and have some brief overviews of the games I played. The last game was even recorded. It was between Niguel and I, so I caution not having anyone with sensitive ears nearby. We tend to work each other up since we love each other like an old married couple.
Game 1 – Hold the Thing vs Brethren of the Coast
My first game was against Brethern of the Coast (I think). It was one of those Unaligned buccaneer factions that lets you bring all kinds of non-Spanish units. We had an objective in the center we had to hold so we skirmished with each other for a bit before we got to smacking.
He had a unit of Veteran Freebooters in the ruins that would keep shooting at me while a unit of Marin and Indios snuck up the flanks. The game was very close by the end as he got a clutch charge off with his Veteran Freebooters and Indios that tied up my shooting units after my Milicie got killed off. My opponent’s Marins got killed off quickly once they got into proper range since I don’t mess around with brace of pistol wielding Frenchmen. My Boucaniers were able to Fatigue the Freebooters enough to keep them off the object for the last turn which helped me win by a very small margin in regards to dead models and Strike Points.
Very enjoyable game with a very great man!
Game 2 – Wanted Man vs Portuguese
I rolled Attacker and would have to get a commander out of a building in the middle of the board. The commander was surrounded by Grenadiers and Soldiers so I was a little worried about digging him out. He had a unit to the left and to the right of the building waiting for me to deploy off the side of the board. My Boucaniers got set up in the woods for the next turn and proceeded to liquidate an entire unit one turn after another. This was the definition of a boar shoot and the Boucaniers were just popping off.
My opponent saw the writing on the wall and decided he wanted to have a glorious charge out of the building to see if he could turn the tide, but some defensive shooting and unit positioning with Miliciens and Boucaniere made it so he could not put the Boucaniers down. I kept shooting and eventually the only sound was the moaning of the dead and dying in Portuguese.
My opponent took it all in stride and we laughed and had a great time as we went. It was a great game, but the dice were not on the side of the Portuguesethat day.
Game 3 – Encounter vs Caesar’s Men
This was a very tense game all the way up to the end. We deployed and shortly got a weather change for rain event. This was a devastating hit to my moral as I figured my chances of winning were nil with my only real means of defending myself getting suppressed as a huge, angry horde of pirates came running my way. Ironically enough, this is when Father Labat really showed his worth as I was just able to manage my Fatigue slightly better as we fisticuffied in the muddy sowed field we were fighting in. having that rally and Very Inspiring is a great way to reduce the damage from Ruthless.
It was very poetic. I won’t go into much more detail since you can just watch the video here!
I obviously love Niguel and funny enough talked about Adepticon with him on the episode of Arachne. We had a great game and I admit I felt a range of emotions, but I kept trucking along to see how it would end and….the ending surprised even me.
Anyway, there you go. That is my list and I am sticking to it. I have really been enjoying my time with France this year and I can see why people enjoy fighting under the Fleur-De-Lis. I hope you enjoyed this write up and enjoy all the Adepticon coverage coming out of Blood and Pigment.
I will write to you next time and I hope to see you at Adepticon next year!
Pingback: Faction Overview - French Caribbean Militia - Blood & Pigment
Pingback: Cutlass Metrics – Optimization Calculator – Dead Man's Chest