In its fourth year, the Great Pirate Paint Off broke records of both quantity and quality in 2026! With 562 entries of Commanders, Units, Terrain, Oak & Iron ships, Characters, Blood & Plunder ships, & Port Royal minis, Firelock Games painting community outdid itself!
We have concluded all the People’s Choice categories and we have some final prizes and awards to hand out.
End of April Prizes
We have 5 prizes “end of month” prizes to give away, then several “end of contest” prizes to give away.
Final Ship Entry Prize – Resin Sloop
Drawn at random from all the participants to entered a Blood & Plunder ship, Greg P has won a new copy of the Firelock Games Resin Sloop! Which is funny because he entered a resin Sloop (as well as a 6th Rate Frigate).
Final Force Entry Prize – TABLEWAR Amphibious Game Mat
Donated by our friends at Tablewar, we have a 4×4 amphibious game mat to give away. Drawn at random from all participants who entered a Force, our winner is Peter J! Peter entered a fun Maroon force for Port Royal, made from the different plastic unit kits.
1 Reale Cob Coin from St. Augustine Mint
We have 3 prizes we give out each month: a handmade Spanish Cob Coin, a Blood & Pigment d6 turn counter, and a set of our new custom Blood & Pigment d10’s from Baron of Dice. These prizes are awarded through a drawing from all the entries during April.
The 1 Reale Coin prize goes to Kurtis F. His Force entry was in the top 8 and his Ship entry this year was both clever and expertly done! Kurtis is no quack of a painter (let the reader understand)!
Blood & Pigment d6 Turn Counter
Our winner for the final turn counter die is Dave B. Dave entered a lot of stuff and he won a lot of prizes! The pictures below only represent a portion of his 38 entries (across all categories) this year.
Set of Blood & Pigment d10’s
Our final set of custom Blood & Pigment d10’s goes out to Christoph D. Christoph went big with both his entries! A Galleon and a 6th Rate Frigate.
Best of Nation Prizes
We’re gearing up for the Summer of Plunder campaign (starts May 28th) and part of how we link The Great Pirate Paint Off to the Summer of Plunder Campaign is letting each Commander in the campaign select their favorite from the entries of their nationality. Each winner will win their choice of a Activation Deck from Firelock Games or a set of Dice from Baron of Dice.
Best Pirate Entry
Chosen by Commanders Anton and Ted, the pirate prize goes out to Brent D with his Pirate Fiddler entry.
Best Spanish Entry
Chosen by Commanders Garrett and Ash, the Best Spanish prize goes out to Michael P with his beautiful Spanish Oak & Iron fleet.
Best English/British Entry
Chosen by Commander Riley and Kyle, the Best English/British prize goes out to Julian N with this amazing Henry Morgan entry.
Best French Entry
Chosen by Commanders Kyle and Gareth, the Best French Prize goes out to Dylan D for his unit of Boucaniere.
Best Dutch Entry
Chosen by Commanders Zac and Charlton, the Best Dutch Prize goes out to Carlos Moral Gonzalez.
Best Native Entry
Chosen by Commanders Ethan and Derek, the Best Native Prize goes out to Carlos Moral Gonzalez!
Best Entry from a “New Painter”
Painting is a hefty hobby to get in to and takes a good bit of time and resources. We want to encourage new painters so we have a special prize for “best entry from a new painter,” with “new painter” defined as just starting to paint in 2025 or 2026. For this prize, we are giving away a pre painted Spanish House from Miniature Building Authority. This piece comes ready for the table without any need to prep!
We had more than 60 entries from New Painters this year, and there were some great submissions. I wouldn’t know some of these were new to the hobby!
New Painters we want to recognize include:
- Fernando B
- Taylor C
- Ben F
- Amanda F
- Nate H
- Kit T
- Michael N
- Ben P
- Christ C
- Jackson P
- Ret T
Check out some of their great work below!
This prize goes out to Nate H for this Sloop of War model. A ship is a big project, and this is well done! This is an alternate rig, so you can’t just follow the stock instructions. And we have solid rigging, shrouds, beautiful sails, flags, and anchors and accessories. It’s a finely painted and finished ship! Impressive work for a painter new to the hobby.
Most Entries
If you’re painting up a lot of new miniatures you need storage! We’re giving away a 200 miniature case from Feldherr this year to the participant to submitted the most entries.
This prize goes out to Greg P, with an incredible total of 69 entries! Greg entered:
- 5 units
- 14 terrain pieces
- 22 Port Royal models
- 5 Forces
- 8 Commanders
- 13 Characters
- 2 Ships
Runners up in this category includes Carlos (50). Dave B (39), Brendan K (35) and Lliam B (32).
Grand Participation Prize
And we have one big juicy prize from Firelock Games: a 6th Rate Frigate. This prize is given away to one lucky winner, drawing from the entire pool of 562 entries this year.
This is a big hobby project, but one of the most impressive ships in Blood & Plunder.
And this prize goes out to Richard C! Richard submitted 10 entries, including units, terrain, a force, and a ship. Congrats to Richard on great work and a great prize here at the end of the contest!
Thanks to Sponsors and Judges
A huge thanks to all the sponsors who helped with prize support this year!
Sponsors this year include:
- Firelock Games
- The Plunder Den
- Things from the Basement
- Timber & Sail
- TABLEWAR
- Feldherr
- Miniature Building Authority
- Monument Hobbies
- St. Augustine Mint
- Baron of Dice
- Blood & Pigment
And another huge thanks to our panel of judges that helped out this year. It’s really hard work looking through 100+ entries and choosing the top pieces! Our judges this year were:
- Dexter Heide
- Liam Taylor
- Garrett Swader
- Jason Klotz
Final Thoughts
That’s a wrap! Great contest everyone! I hope you enjoyed the last four months of painting. It’s always great to see the community doing such great work and this year was the best yet! Quality is increasing and quantity is the highest its ever been! Onwards and upwards!
Emails have not been sent out to winners as of publishing this, but they will go out asap!
Watch for the return of the Great Pirate Paint Off next January! And until then, it’s time to game! Check out the upcoming Summer of Plunder campaign.