Welcome to the 7th player and prize update for the 2026 Summer of Plunder! Summer is reaching it’s gaming zenith with some great gaming at Historicon this past week and some summer tournaments, and then we have GenCon just around the corner! We had more than 200 entries this past week, including a lot of tournament games.
Let’s check in with each nation’s commanders, give away some prizes and highlight some of the awesome Blood & Plunder, Oak & Iron, and Port Royal games from the past week.
Commander Reports
Now, here are some important messages from your brave commanders. Each week our 12 volunteers will donate a bit of time to add some narrative flavor to the game and pass on some information regarding their nation’s goals. If you haven’t yet joined, the best way to interact with the commanders and players in your nation is to join our Summer of Plunder Discord server. This is different than the main Firelock Games Discord server. It’s a fun community to hang out with and there is a lot of plotting and planning going on in secret channels that only players of a nation can see.
British Commander Update
British commanders, thank you for sharing your creative photos of your troops cheering for the English in the World Cup and for your pictures and stories of your men fighting alongside our Dutch and Pirate allies. As we draw near the close of our journey together this summer let us look back at our favorite moments and stories from the past 7 weeks. Share a photo or battle report from your favorite game so far this summer. Also, we have our first batch of promotions to Commodore for the British infamy system. Be sure to check to discord for the latest standings.
French Commander Update
Bonjour mes amis, it is once again moi, Henri Le Roux. This has been une semaine magnifique! I congratulate all of you, as well as our Spanish and Native allies. Merci, you have done le roi proud. A large force sieged the great walled city of Québec, but with assistance from our allies the walls once again held. The had another army march on Albany, mes forces lead under command of Kirk B arrived in time to reinforce. Additional raids on St. Johns were likewise sent repulsed.
Dans le Sud, the ever brave Brad H lead a brilliant raid on Antigua. Probing their defenses, and providing le gouveneur important intelligence for future maneuvers. Meanwhile Nomadic oversaw the construction of improved defenses in Puerto Rico.
Our brilliant admiral of the grand fleet, Nicodème Belrose, was able to secure all of the Caribbean sea lanes. The admiral showed great skill and knowledge of how best to employ people by employing the well intentioned, but blatantly promoted through Nepotism Kang Louis, as a distraction in the St. Lawrence.
Due to Nomadic’s expert skills setting up defenses, Daniel Montbar the Exterminator has taken notice, and shall be sailing to join your efforts (congratulations winning this week’s 3D printed Montbar).
Vive la France! Vive le roi!
This week we have another painted Montbar give away, courtesy of the great Dr. D.
Dutch Commander Update
Landgenoten,
I am proud to see that in my absence the assaults along every front and every French and Spanish soldier on garrison duty fears the Dutch expeditionary forces. Quebec and Albany have once again borne the brunt of our combined forces, but take heart; the siege guns will arrive, and our experience in siege warfare so long taught to us in gaining our independence from the Spanish will be put to use. Let us be honest, the Caribbean was a sideshow this week; however, a sideshow where we look well poised to strike from. The last weeks are coming, and you know what that means! No more profiteering! Yes, I know it is an unfortunate prospect, but we cannot carry on selling our weaponry, supplies, and battle strategy to the highest bidder. I am as disappointed as you are.
Remember comrades, we fight for the republic and modern capitalism. Long live the Republic and long live money!
-Hamilton The Tulip seller (currently facing 1874 separate charges of profiteering and predatory lending practices)
Native Americans Commander Update
Great Warriors of Turtle Island
Your bravery knows no bounds.
Our warriors from the Mohawk, Abenaki and Algonquin defended the traditional lands of Kebec and Pempotowwutht-Muhhcanneuw with such tenacity that the invaders will think twice before attacking again.
We will protect the sacred lands of the north so that our people may flourish as was told by the great spirt.
In the lands of the Taino people, we sent raiding parties to test their steel. The enemy held us at bay, but we have made certain that they will fear leaving the walls of the great city Xaymaca.
And in the lands of the Arawak people, our war bands prepared to further strike out from the Aloi. The wrath of the sun god must be brought down upon the invaders.
Braves we are few in number, but your deadly coordination has proven that we are not to be trifled with.
This week we must call on our great leaders to help overcome our enemies, (use a commander worth 21 or more points) they will show us the ways to defeat our enemies.
Hunt well my braves.
Walking Eagle
Spainish Commander Update
¡Saludos desde la Habana!
Brave soldados and marineros, our struggle is nearing its end as the capitulation of the lutherans and pirates is fast approaching. Our Armadas were spread thin this week as even I was left to tend to political matters in Habana. I have received good tidings from the dispatches of our Armadas in the north helping our Catholic brothers.
Armada de Aragon traveled from the recently acquired Montreal to reinforce Albany. They were able to repulse the counterattack by a band of cutthroats and scoundrels(and I’m not even talking about the pirates). Aragon is resupplying now and is awaiting orders.
Armada de Buscaye also saw much action this week. After being the leading force to capture Albany they were quickly marched north to reinforce Quebec. Suffering the bombardment of the city the French forces were under siege but our ships were able to turn the tide and break the siege before it was too late.
Armada de Castille was to protect the fleet at Habana but instead one morning I found that half the fleet had sailed away to Jamaica! Evidently influenced by a native plot to sow discord on the Island. Nevertheless the attack was nearly fruitless and was defeated without much cost.
Finally Armada de Domingo was at anchor at St. Johns, the week was relatively quiet for them. One night however a sentry was found dead and the alarm was raised. Apparently a pirate plot to fire the magazine was foiled by diligent lookouts, thanks be to God!
Now here are some words from my second in command and Master of Strategy, Teniente Ash Reyes Moncada.
Compatriotas valientes, I have the pride and privilege of congratulating you all, once again, on another week of superb efforts. We had suspected an English plot in the North, and our suspicions were confirmed. Due to the planning of leadership and the diligent execution of our Armadas, we were able to thwart the opposing alliance in their assault against Quebec, though the fighting took a significant toll.
Spain had the extra fun this week of holding a photo contest for prizes. To enter, our Spanish players had to submit a picture of their artillery in action to win a Firelock Field Gun pair or Heavy Cannon pair. A second category was also available, to submit a picture of troops using cover that was not a fortification to win crafted tobacco and sugarcane rows. Both of these were selected to tie in to Week 7’s objective of using cannons or heavy weapons. The winners were selected by a random drawing from entries.
Despite the entries being a raffle style, one player went above and beyond in photography and story telling. Due to his excellent creative vision and execution of the same, Montgomery Montague III has won a wooden ship turning gauge!
I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the photos. They added some Spanish pride into the week, along with allowing some artistic vision to shine just as bright as the Plunder.
Soldados, marineros, caballeros… this campaign has been long. I encourage you to resolve yourselves, shake the fatigue from your bones and load your musket, sharpen your blades, and set forth again. I have heard that Blackbeard, that English pirate, has been patrolling our waters again. I urge you to end his reign of terror. You will need a strong commander, a Man of Renown, to secure victory. Bring a commander worth 21 points or more to meet this week’s objective (or play Blackbeard’s Last Battle from the Organized Play Kit, substituting a Spanish force, of course), and show our dominance over the New World. Buene suerte, amigos. You will need it.
Firmado,
Teniente Alejandro de Reyes y Moncada
Pirates Commander Update
Greetings my Brethren. The battle rages on…
This week, our fleets joined the alliance’s great push to reclaim North America. Pirate crews threw themselves into the assaults on Quebec and Albany, fighting with their usual courage and determination. Despite our best efforts, neither battle ended in victory, and enemy flags continue to fly over both strongholds. The fight for the north is far from over.
One of our fleets was dispatched to reinforce Curaçao, expecting the enemy to test our defenses. Instead, the enemy wisely stayed away, leaving our sailors with the difficult task of drinking Dutch rum, soaking up the Caribbean sun, and wondering whether this was, in fact, military service.
Of course, no pirate campaign would be complete without at least one captain deciding that orders were merely friendly suggestions. Once again, one of our fleets ignored the battle plan. They sailed into St. John’s where they found themselves outnumbered and outgunned more than five to one. While their courage cannot be questioned, their grasp of strategic planning remains… open to debate.
The final weeks of the campaign are upon us. Every decision carries greater weight than ever before. Stay the course, follow the plan, and together we will achieve victory.
Fair winds, pirates. Our time is nigh!
Faction Report
We still have 1 French and several Unaligned factions to knock out before the end of the campaign!
- Black Caribs
- Brandenburg Privateers
- Miskito Zambo
- Portuguese Brazilian Tercios & Militia
- Swedish Militia
- NPBTL French Canadian Privateers
French Buccaneers are a hot faction this year!The flagship pirate factions like Flying Gang and Golden Age Pirates have also logged big numbers, in addition to flagship factions like British Militia, Spanish Militia. The top Dutch faction is Dutch Marine from RtB and the 18th century Wabanaki faction has taken the top spot in the Native American column (for good reason).
Week 7 Objectives
The objectives were kind of all over the place this week! 129 of the 208 entries this week participated in the weekly objectives.
Oak & Iron Objective – Battle of Vigo Bay
This week’s special scenario was The Battle of Vigo Bay for Oak & Iron. We had nearly 20 entries with this scenario, and it looks like people really enjoyed it!
Josiah Huss designed this scenario for the OP Kit this year, so make sure to send him your thanks if you enjoyed it.
Blood & Plunder Objective – Use Cannons (or Heavy Melee Weapons)
This was an easy objective for sea games, and harder for land games. But we saw a lot of cannons on the table!
Check out this tasty game from Marc H featuring a large field gun.
Lots of cannons and field guns!
And some Heavy Melee Weapons for the Natives.
Next Week Objective – Men of Renown
It’s time to pull out the big historic commanders! This coming week’s Blood & Plunder objective is to use a commander that costs more than 20 points. There’s a lot of interesting historical commanders to explore in Blood & Plunder and the expensive heavy hitting commanders can really ramp up your game. This is a good opportunity to try some of the “Legendary Commanders’ in the game.
Here are a few great choices for each nation:
- Pirates
- Blackbeard
- Benjamin Hornigold
- Black Ceasar
- Bartholomew Roberts
- Spanish
- Don Andrews de Arriola y Guzman
- Mateo Perez de Garay
- Juan Corso
- Amaro Pargo
- Manuel Rivero de Pardal
- Gaspar de Oviedo
- English
- Henry Morgan
- William Kidd
- Robert Maynard
- Benjamin Church
- Woodes Rogers
- French
- Daniel d’Augur de Subercase
- Louis de Buade de Frontenac
- Pierre Lemoyne d’Iberville
- Renee Duguay-Trouin
- Monbars the Exterminator
- Laurens De Graff
- Francois L’Olonnais
- Dutch
- Pieter Stool
- Piet Heyn
- Diego the Mulatto
- Abraham “Admiral Crimson” Crijnsen
- Jeremias Van Collen
- Native American
- Emperor Brim
- Modockawando
- Assacumbuit
- Captain Tabary
- King Philip (Metacomet
- Unaligned
- Queen Nanny
- “Colonel” Cudjoe
- Jean Hamlyn
- William Dunlop
There are some factions that don’t have a commander that costs more than 20 points. But every nation has plenty of options.
Make sure you get a good picture of your big commander and put it in your entry!
The weekly scenario in the OP kit is Blackbeard’s last battle that features Blackbeard and Maynard, that both qualify for this objective.
Dan Carlson contributed this scenario to the OP Kit this year, so drop him a line if you enjoy this scenario this week.
Oak & Iron Objective
The Oak & Iron objective is to play “1710 Annapolis Royal Relief Convoy” scenario from TimberAndSail.com. Jason has a great write up for this scenario.
Port Royal Objective
Play the Vendetta Scenario Variation, choosing the commander of each force, along with the Ambush Deployment setup.
Weekly Campaign Prizes!
OK, it’s time to start handing out plunder! This is one of the best parts of the community event and what helps make the event so great. Don’t forget to check out the full list of prizes for the Summer of Plunder campaign.
Weekly Mini Giveaway
This week’s winner for a blister of minis is Robert M who played for the French. Robert participated in a tournament this week and walked away with the trophy! Congratulations to Robert for a tournament win!
Weekly Terrain Giveaway
This week’s Terrain Giveaway Prize Winner is Josh S, who played for the Spanish!
Josh had his double-Barco list on the table this week.
Weekly Scatter Terrain Giveaway
This week’s Scatter Terrain Giveaway Prize Winner is Derek T, who played for the Natives.
Derek had his Natives skirmishing around on Helm’s Deep this week!
Weekly Objective Prizes
Accessory Pack Prize
This week’s Accessory Pack Giveaway Prize Winner is Gareth, who played for the French!
Gareth has been helping Kyle lead up the French team this year and has been doing a great job in the French Commander report every week.
Book Prize – Spanish Treasure Fleets
This week’s Book Prize Winner is Jason C, who played for the Pirates!
Ship Prize Giveaway
This Week’s Ship prize Giveaway is Howard H, who played for the natives! He will have his choice of a resin Tartana or 3 Canoas!
Howard was the tournament winner at Historicon this year, running an Iroquois list!
Summer of Plunder on Tabletop Simulator
The TTS Escalation is nearing it’s culmination! A big thanks to Dred for facilitating this part of the campaign.
Port Royal Games
Featured Games & Events
Check out some of the organized events and notable games that happened over the past week.
Historicon Land Tournament
Historicon is one of the premier historical gaming conventions in the country. Tyler Stone organized a tournament and it sounded like it was a great, competitive time!
Pacific Northwest Land Tournament
Geeks & Games in Oregon City has been a great host store for historical games for years. Joseph hosted a 200pt land tournament in Oregon City and it was a great event with 10 players with some great competition. People even got some practice games in the evening before!
Congrats to Robert M, Adam H and Brad H for taking the top spots!
Ret’s Barbados Campaign Game
Ret T has been running a narrative campaign set on Barbados. He does such a great job with his photography!
English Raid from Tanner F
Tanner took some great pics of his British soldiers raiding a farm estate.
Wide Decks from David C
David C had an interesting using a couple huge hulls run side by side.
Another Cool Game from Marc C
More Pictures!
And a few more pictures from the week.
Final Thoughts on Summer of Plunder Week 7
A lot of great gaming happening this summer! We’re heading into the last couple weeks of the campaign! We’re hoping we will break 2000 entries this year.
If you haven’t seen the map update yet, you can see it here. The two teams really dug into their positions this week, countering each other at every turn! The pro Bourbon team has a good lead and we’ll see if the British/Dutch/Pirate team can break their tough defenses this week!
PRIZE UPDATE: Joseph was running a tournament this week so didn’t get the normal batch of prizes/stickers/orders out but the plan is for both Joseph and Dan to get a lot of the weekly prizes shipped this coming Saturday.
Thanks for participating in this year’s campaign! Have a great week of gaming!
LOTS of great pictures this week!