We just finished the second full week of the 2026 Summer of Plunder Campaign. In this update we’ll look at the campaign map where players on two grand alliances have made choices on where to deploy troops in an effort to control the New World. The French Alliance, including the French, Native and Spanish players put themselves in a good position last week. Let’s see how things played out this week.
This update will only look at the movements on the Campaign Map. A follow up post will feature more pictures, messages from commanders, and prize winners.
Updated Campaign Map – End of Week 2 of Summer of Plunder 2026
Here is the new updated map after all actions were accounted for. The French, Native, and Spanish alliance made a marginal gains, but enough to earn the Domination Bonus in both theaters this week.
Map Changes
Here are details of the attacks and defenses in the various theaters of the campaign map.
Florida & Carolinas – SE Theater
In Southeast, the British alliance made a bit of a comeback. A major contingent of reinforcements was sent from the British stronghold in Charles Town to the Native fort at Chicacas. A sizable Dutch expedition launched from Charles Town to seize Mission San Luis, adding to their alliance’s holdings in the theater.
The French, Natives and Spanish all poured troops into Pensacola, and Hollatchatroe apparently expecting unwanted visitors.
Some ambitious Apalachee natives warbands scouted around Mission San Luis, but were beaten back by heavy enemy presence.
New France & New England – NE Theater
In the Northeast, the British Alliance launched some major expeditions, but were foiled by perfectly placed enemy reinforcements.
Both the British and Pirates sent their largest forces, supposed by a smaller contingent of Dutch forces, to take back St. John’s but they came up just a little short against newly arrived Spanish reinforcements.
The Dutch & Pirates hit Norridgewock hard, but the Natives countered with just enough men to deprive the raiders of their prize.
The Native Commander used the single commander point to snap up neutral Fort St. Anne at the base of the Hudson Bay, and a coalition force was sent out to regain Placentia, but the rest of the French Alliance’s efforts were spent shoring up defenses.
Final Outcomes of the Campaign Map for Week 2 of Summer of Plunder 2026
The British -Dutch-Pirate alliance moved 28 of their 34 army points into the Northeastern theater but were unable to gain any territory in the theater despite hard fights in Placentia, Norridgewock, and St. John’s. Again, they netted 14 campaign victory points this week from the North. Despite significantly less fighting in the South, British troops were able to sneak in and take Mission St. Louis uncontested!
The French-Native-Spanish alliance only devoted 13 of their 34 points to the NE, but they increased their holdings from 4 to 5 locations – though sparsely held. They were able to add Placentia and Fort St. Anne to their holdings, but Norridgewock turned neutral this week. This Week, their alliance were able to take the Domination Bonus for the Northern Theatre, and netted 25 points from the North! In the Southern Theater, the French-Native-Spanish alliance primarily focused on shoring up their holdings in Pensacola and Hollatchatroe, and maintained the Domination Bonus another week.
Campaign Victory Points for Week 2
The French-Native-Spanish alliance was able to sneak out some close fought wins in the North, and reinforced their Southern Strongholds, which ultimately earned a whopping 42 campaign points in the 2nd week of the campaign, for a total of 76 points to date.
The British-Pirate-Dutch alliance continue to reinforce their holdings in the NE, and despite tough fighting, were unable to significantly change the current situation. They do however continue to take territory in the SE, and have left the French-Spanish-Natives targets with numerous places to try to defend. They earned a total of 24 points during this week of the campaign – for a total of 46 points to date.
Details of Team and Commander Votes
If you’re interested in how all the votes played out, here’s the data from this week’s nearly 250 logged games. (In some of these tables, you see negative numbers. Our spreadsheets use negative numbers for British team control and positive numbers for French team control.)
Above, you can see each of the locations voted highest by each national team. The French-Spanish-Native Alliance did a good job of shoring up defenses in the SE, while the British-Dutch-Pirate Alliance focused on assaults in the NE.
Here we see the Commander and Admiral Actions – Both Alliances used them to good effect for strategic maneuvering, particularly impressive was the French Naval Reinforcements saving St. John’s!
And you can see the starting control of each location, the armies sent out from each alliance, and the control results in the tables above.
Oak & Iron Sea Routes
The Oak & Iron games in this campaign influence several sea lanes on the campaign map that grant alliances flexibility in redeploying troops and might even bring new troops in from Europe. The votes were very close in this contest, exactly canceling each other out in a couple of cases.
The British attempted to take more targets this week, and denied the French control of the Bay of St. Lawrence, and Maintained their control of Charleston Harbor. The British-Pirates-Dutch logged 15 Oak & Iron games this week, another good showing!
The French fleet made a concentrated effort in the North, and used heavy force to take the New England Coast. The French Alliance contributed 16 games Oak & Iron in this past week, a great showing!
Both sides pushed for the Bay of St. Lawrence, but neither gained control of it. Again, the French Navy was able to control a Sea-lane in the North, and the British Navy controlling a Sea-Lane in the South.
Final Thoughts for Week 2 Summer of Plunder 2026
The French alliance has taken an early lead! But the British alliance has solid defenses it is a “target rich environment” for them this week. As the campaign progresses, we will see the entire Caribbean Theater open up and the SE theater fade in importance. How will the two teams adjust to a changing map in the coming weeks?
There will be another campaign update including prize winners, more pictures, and messages from National Commanders coming out in the next day or two.
But the entry form has been updated to reflect to the new possible targets for each alliance, the map has been updated, and we’re ready to roll for week 3! Check in with your commanders, or better yet, start a conversation with your team and commanders in your Discord channel. Where should your team deploy their troops this week?
We had great participation in these first weeks of the campaign with a 601 games logged from around 240 different players!
A big thanks to Daniel Wray and Jason Klotz for making the magic math happen with some super fancy spreadsheets!
Bonus Campaign Rules Summary
If this whole campaign map system is still kind of mysterious/opaque to you, you can read the campaign system rules system here, or you can read Jason’s excellent short summary below:
Blood & Plunder and Port Royal Games
- Each point you earn from an entry includes the option to count as votes on the map.Votes determine where your Nation attacks or defends on the campaign map each week.They are the mechanism that converts player activity into map movement.Everyone in your faction is dropping votes all week long. Your Commander might say: “Everyone hit Charles Town this week!” or “We need to defend the Albany!”
If lots of players follow that plan, those locations rise to the top.Each Nation gets exactly 10 “Army Points” to spend each week, regardless of whether players logged 5 games or 500 games, but where the 10 Army Points are distributed is based on how the players voted. At the end of the week, the top 4 most popular locations determine the outcomes. - It’s a popularity-driven tier system. So for instance, the Dutch are awarding their 10 points as follows:
- 1st place – 4pts
- 2nd place – 3pts
- 3rd place – 2pts
- 4th place – 1pts
- There are 32 locations on the map at the start of the game (I think), but there are only 15 locations to possibly attack/defend out of the gate…
- To make votes effective, players must coordinate to ensure their chosen location places in the top tier, as votes for low-popularity areas receive no points.
- At the end of the week, new troops are placed by each of the 6 nations based on their top 4 votes (Dutch get 4, 3, 2, 1).
- Locations with troops from both alliances resolve combat (just add the numbers… British 12 troops vs 8 French… Brits win. 4 are left)
- Points are earned by what you control. Most points at the end = winning alliance.
Oak & Iron Games
- There are 2 “shipping lanes” per theater (4 now, 6 later)
- 1st place – 2pts
- 2nd place – 1ptsAlliance Admiral Choice: 1 PointHigh score wins the lane. Ties give nothing.
- Control of Shipping Lanes offers the following benefits
- 1 Lane (In one Theater): The Alliance may move 5 armies within that theater (even if they aren’t directly connected to the ocean)
- 2 Lanes (In one Theater):
- Move 5 armies within the Theater
- gain 2 reinforcement armies from Europe
- It functions as a blockade limiting enemy movement in that theater.
- Own at least 1 lane in 2 Theatres:
- Move 5 armies between the theaters.
Or read his full article on tactics and strategy on the campaign map here.
