We just finished the fifth full week of the 2026 Summer of Plunder Campaign and Queen Anne’s War is raging across the new world. After being outplayed by the French, Natives and Spanish during the first couple weeks of the Campaign, the English, Pirates and Dutch have been making a comeback. Will it be enough?
There was some remarkable victories, defeats, and even ties on the campaign map this week!
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. With all three theaters open, choices were overwhelming, but both teams are learning to predict the other’s movements as this campaign progresses.
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 5 of Summer of Plunder 2026
Here is the new updated map after all actions were accounted for. While the British alliance made solid gains, the French alliance managed to deny them any domination bonuses while picking one up themselves. Great play from both teams.
Map Changes
Here are details of the attacks and defenses in the various theaters of the campaign map.
Final Outcomes of the Campaign Map for Week 5 of Summer of Plunder 2026
Another Exciting week in the Summer of Plunder! Things continue to heat up in the Caribbean, as both alliances battle for strategic ports. In the Northern Theatre, key strategic maneuvering by both sides was seen, leading to some very interesting results.
NE – New England & New France
Only 3 of the 36 British-Alliance army points were driven into the North this week, as a pause was taken by the Alliance on its assault of Quebec. The Piratical Admiral of the alliance stayed active however – transferring reinforcements from Port Royal to the frontlines in Placentia, and bringing an additional 2 reinforcements from Europe. Their opponents were not idle however, using the break in the action to simultaneously rebuild defenses in Quebec, and launch a daring assault on Albany. Fierce fighting throughout Albany has led to a stalemate in the region, with neither side able to claim control. Montreal- while currently in British-Alliance hands, is an isolated island- and potentially a ripe target for future Bourbon attack.
The loss of Albany resulted in the British-Dutch-Pirate alliance losing their domination bonus for the week, but they still managed to claim 18 points this week.
The French-Native-Spanish Alliance were anything but idle in the Northern Theatre! 24 of the 34 force points this week were driven into the North, entirely concentrated in Quebec and Albany. All three members of the Alliance sent heavy reinforcements into Quebec, with a second – equally strong – coalition force striking into Albany! Heavy fighting in Albany did not result in Bourbon control, but left it a contested battleground. With neither side controlling it, the French-led alliance was able to deny their opponents the Domination Bonus this week, and earned 15 points this week from the theatre.
SE – Carolinas & La Florida
As we approach the end of this theatres involvement, both sides have left it as an idle theatre this week, with no reports of fighting- perhaps signaling the close of bloodshed for its inhabitants. Will the South East Theatre end in a Whimper, or a Bang! The British-Dutch-Pirate alliance earned 10 points in this theatre.
The French Admiral continues to withdraw troops from the sleepy garrisons in the Southron theatre, this week ferrying troops from quiet forts in Hollatchatroe to a significantly less quite locale in Antigua…. Maintenance of their holdings earned the French-Spanish-Native Alliance 14 points this week.
Caribbean
The second week of the Caribbean theatre saw significant fighting, as battles and skirmishes raged across its ports and seas.
For the British Alliance – 33 of their 36 troop points went to the Caribbean this week. The Pirates and British focused on reinforcing Curacao, the British and Dutch led an assault on Monteserat, and all three nations joined fleets for a raid on Antigua. Monteserat was stiffly defended by the Bourbon Alliance, and fortuitously timed French reinforcements to Antigua fought valiantly – but both cities were left a smoldering ruin. While the British-Dutch-Pirate fleets were unable to seize these ports, they’ve pushed their enemies presence from here as well. A Dutch force was able to seize Laguna de Terminos uncontested, but not all worked in their alliances favor in the Caribbean this week….
The French-Spanish-Native Alliance put 10 of their 34 army points to the Caribbean this week, focusing on smaller strategic opportunities as they presented. Spanish and French Fleets sailed on Puerto Rico, successfully seizing the island despite Privateer reinforcements flocking to her. Native War Canoes were spotted in the Lesser Antilles, a small but determined raiding party taking the lightly defended Saint Eustatius – providing a safe harbor to the refugees of Monteserat and Antigua. Spanish Corsairs sailed on Portobelo, but were quickly repulsed. Native Chiefs sent an emissary to Cape Canaveral, trading with the locals and seizing an alliance without bloodshed. Though the loss of Monteserat and Antigua are sure to hinder future ventures in the Caribbean, the French Alliance was able to control more territory than before, and with minimal investment….
As another week closes in the Caribbean – neither side was able to claim a domination bonus. The British-Dutch-Pirate Alliance earning 21 points, and the French-Spanish-Native Alliance earning 15 points.
Campaign Victory Points for Week 5
The French-Native-Spanish alliance took the fight back to their opponents in the North, pushing back and holding onto precious Quebec. They continued to funnel troops out of the quiet southern theatre before its close at the end of next week, and used impressive maneuvering to take more territory in the Caribbean with minimal forces. This week they earned 44 points in the 5th week of the campaign, for a total of exactly 200 points to date. They hold a lead, but the British Alliance continues to catch up.
The British-Pirate-Dutch alliance made major assaults in the Caribbean, but were unable to snuff out Bourbon resistance in the Lesser Antilles. The war heats back up in the North, and despite not controlling a single domination bonus, they were the point leaders for the week. They earned 49 points during this week of the campaign – for a total of 184 points to date – continuing to gain ground on their opponent.
Details of Team & Commander Votes
If you’re interested in how all the votes played out, here’s the data from this week’s 198 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.)
- The French Focused their efforts this week defending Quebec, attacking Albany, and Attacking Puerto Rico.
- The Spanish followed suit – with the top votes defending Quebec, attacking Albany, and Attacking Puerto Rico – along with a small raid on Portobello
- The Natives maintained this unity in defending Quebec, attacking Albany, and Attacking Puerto Rico – along with an assault on St. Eustacius
- The French Minor Powers jumped in on the assault of Albany.
- The British Led a major assault on Montserat and Antigua, and defended Curacao
- The Dutch joined in on the Attacks on Montserat and Antigua, while snagging Laguna de Terminos, and reinforcing Placentia
- The Pirates Joined their allies in the Assault Antigua, but were otherwise defensively minded – sending reinforcements to Curacao, Nassau, and Puerto Rico.
- The British Minor Powers reinforced Curacao this week.
Above, you can see each of the locations voted highest by each national team. Remarkable unity and teamwork from both alliances this week.
Here we see the Commander and Admiral Actions – The Pirate Admiral was able to drive a large amount of reinforcements into Placentia, and the French Admiral – while unable to save Antigua, kept it out of his enemies hands for another week.
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.
In a remarkable stroke of luck – there was no naval fighting this week! Both Navies managed to avoid eachother on the high seas, and both managed to secure one Sea-lane in each of the three theatres!
With one final week of the Southeast theatre open, will the Admirals pit their wits against one another for control of potential evacuation?
Final Thoughts for Week 5 Summer of Plunder 2026
With 5 weeks behind us, the contest is really tightening. It feels like the team leaders have really studied the map, the troops movements, and the tactics of the enemies and the conflict is getting more tense and competitive!
The SE theater closes this week, which likely means teams will be vying for the Sea Lanes to ferry troops out of that theater. The Oak & Iron games might be especially key this week. Both the Caribbean and NE theaters have vacant spaces again this week after battles were fought to a standstill in Antigua, Montserrat, and Albany this week. There’s lots of valuable territory up for grabs, along with increasingly valuable domination bonuses.
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 6. 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?
In spite of the holiday weekend in USA, players logged more than 200 games this week, bringing the total to around 1250 so far.
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.