Firelock Games released an organized play kit for this year’s Summer of Plunder campaign with 6 brand new sculpts for commander profiles in the Raise the Black expansion. Daniel and Emily really did a great job on these sculpts and we’d like to showcase the Dutch Commander, Pieter Stool in this post.
Pieter Stool Model
Who Was Pieter Stool?
Pieter Stool was a Dutch Privateer that worked closely with the English, sailing primarily out of New York. In spite of having very powerful rules in Blood & Plunder, he is very difficult to find information on. His bio in Raise the Black contains more info than you will find in most history books.
He seemed highly motivated by wealthy prize ships, but also ready to serve when the cause was important but the prize might be less rich. He was heavily involved in repulsing the Franco-Spanish expedition that attempted to land in South Carolina in 1706. He provided intelligence to the English after bumping into hostile ships, and then aided in the battle with the French and Spanish later.
Benerson Little dug up some history on him from an period account of Lefebvre’s Charles Town expedition in 1706.
Near the conclusion of this account it says:
“To conclude, Capt. Stool, Commander of the Privateer Sloop, whose good fortune it was to discover and fight the enemy, has largely contributed to our preservation , who thereby not only gave us time for our defence but for want of that ship which he engaged and disabled, broke the design and measures of the Enemye.”
He is listed among the ships engaged in the battle:
“5thly. The Sloop flying horse, Capt. Peter Stool Comandr. mounted with eight gunns and eighty men.”
Stool is also mentioned in passing on Privateer Ships and Sailors: The first Century of American Colonial Privateering, 1625-1725 by Howard M. Chapman, and he is mentioned specifically in relation to the 1706 attack on Charles Town in Michael Laramie’s Queen Anne’s War (the book giveaway for this week!).
Depictions of Pieter Stool
There are no period depictions of Pieter Stool that I am aware of. The Firelock sculptors used this interesting 17th century painting of a Dutch soldier as a guide for this Pieter Stool depiction.
This art was found in a fascinating book on the popular Dutch sport of knife fighting: Stavast – Knife Fighting in the Netherlands – The forbidden art of Bekkensnijden: Knife Fighting in the Netherlands The forbidden art of Bekkensnijden.
This is admittedly a humorous portrait. The Dutch were not afraid to poke fun at themselves. Emily did a great job copying his intricate coat and some of the humorous element of the face without directly copying.
One of the main things mentioned about Stool in the Charles Town account is his valuable intelligence, spotting enemy ships down by St. Augustine and around Charles Town. Emily did a good job representing this with the spyglass.
Pieter Stool in Blood & Plunder
Pieter Stool is expensive but he brings some crazy efficiency to the table. His main claim to fame is the Motivated Special Rule which can bend the game in unique ways. Motivated lets the Commander give a unit two actions with a single Command Points once during his activation (at the cost of one Fatigue on Commander’s unit).
MOTIVATED: Once per turn, when this Commander uses a Command Point to give a unit an action, this Commander’s unit may
take a point of Fatigue to give that unit an additional action. This may be two Standard actions or one legal Dedicated
action with the normal -1 bonus to the associated Test from the additional action.”
NOTE: This Special Rule was slightly altered in Errata 1.4.
The Motivated rule gives the Commander’s unit Fatigue, but with Inspiring, you’re well equipped to deal with that Fatigue.
Stool can only command the Dutch Marine faction from Raise the Black expansion. But it has a couple good options for changing up the force. You can read Dan’s Dutch Marine faction review here.
The Dutch have several heavy hitting Commanders with 3 Command Points, but Pieter Stool is really unique among all their commanders.
Painting Pieter Stool
I pretty much completely ripped off the color scheme from the Jacob van der Sluys painting.
I thought the color scheme was fresh and interesting, although I’m not happy with my reds. Cuffs and sash should be a lot more orange.
Again, after I finished the mini and got my macro lens up close, I noticed a lot of little messy spots! Might go back and touch up more.
I used a mix of Citadel, Monument and Vallejo paints on the model.
I attempted a bit of five o’clock shadow on his chin and cheeks, but the wash pooled and mostly looks messy. Like he enjoyed
I pushed myself to paint his coat with no washes at all, just layering several colors of gray.
I threw a tiny reflective dot on the end of the spyglass.
Dr. D’s Pieter Stool
Dr. D has been painting up these commanders from the Organized Play Kit and has donated an entire set to be given away during the Summer of Plunder! Check out his paint job on Stool.
More Painted Pieter Stool Models
Models painted by Dan Carlson, Admiral Smeerlap and LordDave0312.
Pieter Stool Scenario in The Summer of Plunder
Each of the 6 Commanders from the Organized Play Kit gets featured in one of the scenarios in the kit. Stool’s scenario is an ambitious game that is layed out for 6 players. The theme is a multiplayer team trying to balance success on land and on sea. Pieter Stool is in command of a strong Sloop, allied with British Militia at land and sea. The French and Spanish have equal points, but more land troops and only one significant ship to fight off the two sloops.
The way the scenario is designed, Stool can get a lot of value out of his Medium Cannons with Grapeshot, using his Motivated rule. The water portion of the board is fairly narrow so maneuvering is difficult but Stool can choose to either try to attack the large French frigate, take out troops in longboats before they read land, or support the land troops by blasting grapeshot into the attacking land troops.
Below are pictures from different players playing Stool’s scenario during the 2026 Summer of Plunder campaign.
You can find the 2026 Summer of Plunder scenario book that includes that Attack on Charles Town on the Firelock Games Download page.
Gallery of Pictures of Pieter Stool
Here are some more pics of Stool in the light box.
And some shots of Stool on the job.
Article written and mini painted by Joseph Forster.
I’ve finished 4 of the six minis! René Duguay-Trouin, Chief Gray Lock, Pieter Stool and Zuniga. Still have Benjamin Hornigold and Woodes Rogers to go!
Special thanks to Dr D, Dan, Dave, and Admiral Smeerlap. for sharing photos of their Pieter Stool minis as well.
Additional Recommended Reading
- Dutch Marine Faction Review
- English account of Lefebvre’s Charles Town expedition in 1706
- Wikipedia entry on Lefebvre’s Charles Town 1706 expedition
- Dr. D’s Summer of Plunder Commander Mini Prizes
- 2026 Organized Play Kit that includes the Stool Model
- Raise the Black expansion book that includes Stool and his Faction
- Gallery of Dutch Commanders from Community Painters