Blackbeard’s Last Battle, Annapolis Royal, 1800 games played around the world, players vying for the top spots, gamers learning and teaching new games, and $250 in prizes to give away! Welcome to the player and prize update for the 8th and penultimate week of the 2026 Summer of Plunder campaign!
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.
Spainish Commander Update
¡Saludos desde la Habana!
We are nearing the end. I do not need to remind you how hard this war has been. Havanna is now under siege from all sides, and it is not known if the relief will arrive in time to save the garrison. When this conflict started the war was something I read about in correspondence with distant commanders, now it is in my ears day and night through the sound of gun fire.
We will persevere however, I believe this is a last attempt to gain a bargaining chip for peace negotiations. A last convulsion before the beast dies and we are given the victory. Our fleets are a mystery to me. I hear whispers of great battles and victories in the north. I hope they are true.
Spanish Objectives for Week 9
This week we must even the playing field by using stealth and subterfuge. The objectives this week for Blood and Plunder are:
“Ambush”: Use the Lay in Wait rule, OR play the Ambush scenario from RtB or FotF
And for Oak & Iron
“Aggressive”: Use the “Aggression” initiative card at least once during the game
And for Port Royal
“From the Shadows”: Make an attack using a Character that is Concealed or in Cover, OR use the Ambush deployment
Each time you complete the objective during week 9 it will enter you a chance to win your choice of a Spanish 4 miniature blister pack.
The player who submits the best picture of each week 9, judged by me, will also win a Spanish blister pack of their choice.
May God’s blessing… or luck be with you.
Compañeros,
For the last eight weeks, I have stood alongside you as we have weathered the assaults against our lands granted to us by God’s design and our own sweat. I have heard the name of our want more times than I can count, as men have rallied, charged, and rebuilt our battered positions. We must prepare a final time, once more into the breach, and standby to repulse these pernicious attacks. Meetings of armistice are underway in Europe, but until the letters themselves arrive, we can expect no peace beyond the line. Tomar a las armas! This summer of blood and plunder is nearly over.
Firmado,
Teniente Alejandro de Reyes y Moncada
British Commander Update
As the Summer of 2026 draws towards the end, I would like to take a moment to thank each and every Englishman for their contribution to the war effort. We have obtained the majority of the Caribbean and have good stakes in southern territories. With a heavy heart, I would like to request one final push to overtake the Spanish Alliance. With grit, determination, and fortitude, we can take the lead.
We would also like to announce that prizes will begin shipping this week, if you are at the ranking of Commodore, please keep an eye out for a message from Admiral Faulk. Also, we’d love to see photos for this week’s Leftenant Request: Post a photo of you toasting with a beverage of your choice to the other players! These will be included in a collage for the final Summer 2026 update!
Photos from Brooks M and Tanner F
Photos from Marc H and Bryan H
I have been loving the photos the English have been submitting; the boards always look fantastic. The thematic photos are always a nice touch, they give such a good look into what the battle is shaping up to be. Thank you guys for the awesome shots, they make finding photos to use very difficult with how many good ones there are!
British Objectives for Week 9
- Blood & Plunder: “Salt and Peppered”: Fire both grapeshot and chainshot in one game.
- Oak & Iron: “Swab Their Deck”: Target rigging and target crew with a broadside in a single game
- Port Royal: “Blown to Gubbins”: Secure a kill using the “Blast” keyword
French Commander Update
The riches of the world await us! Will we seize our deserved moment? Or will we let it vanish and allow the unworthy alliance to stand tall? In short… that is what’s at stake during this final week of plunder. Let’s break down the week as a summer of fun closes!
Never again will the enemy question our strategic prowess and France’s ability to hit all targets we aim for. We once again snuffed out their strategy, retaining our most important holdings and placing barriers in their once-beloved city of Albany. Allies established a new northern fort – a testament to the community we’ve been building all summer long! Still, the enemies’ hold in southern waters strengthens. The brave citizens of Havana rebuild their once great city after a cowardly attack from all sides by the dark alliance. Our citizens’ strength and resilience are a symbol of our holy alliance’s ability to remain steadfast and vigilant. Havana did not fall, but Britain and her lapdogs have left both of our capitals scarred. Their dominance in the Caribbean is duly noted. I say, let them have their scurvy and sunburn! I’m sure more blades will clash during this final week. I know we will be prepared to meet them on sea, sand, and hardened land!
Jeff W (left) scouts the territory of Albany while Smith L (right) deflects the Dutch’s feeble attempt to take Quebec (hey, who planted those palm trees near Henri’s mansion?!). Tensions are high in our jewel of the north! I’m proud of our efforts to thwart the enemy!
As for prizes, our own Kang Louis came in clutch for players by painting a Montbars! The winner of that prize is Kevin S. Kevin, please message me on Discord (@TheKarp) with your address and I will get it to Dr. D! Congrats again, and a HUGE thank you to Dr. D for volunteering his precious time to make this prize special for French players. As always, you can follow Dr. D’s podcast on Spotify, and you can catch his alter ego Kang Louis sailing the high Discord seas with us during the final week of SoP.
Kang Louis (left) brings extra men to eradicate the scum that attacked Havana. Gareth French guards the last bit of treasure left on the war-torn island.
Okay, we’ve got one final week! Our victory is close BUT not certain. AND… there’s prizes to be given away! If we’re going to be victors, let’s make it glorious and go out with a bang of games! Below are our last week of objectives and ways to claim some sweet French booty:
French Objectives for Week 9
- B&P: Use the Marksmen ability
- O&I: Use Elan to make a partial Fire Attack from one of your ships that has the Buccaneers upgrade.
- PR: Use the Marksmen ability
Weekly miniature prize drawing scenario(s)
Alright… there will be FIVE PRIZE DRAWINGS this week! 4 Montbars and 1 custom Port Royal Custom Commander! Depending on what you do, you can enter in all of them!
Port Royal Custom Commander drawing: play a game using Admiral Arpke or Henri Le Roux as your commander. We’ve LOVED leading the French these last two years… and we’re playing as the French, so we need to bring a bit more arrogance into the summer. Play as us for a chance to, well, build a commander that fits you! When you write your battle report, list which commander you played with in the comments for your chance to win! And here’s a reminder of our command cards and abilities:
Physical Montbars model drawings
- Log a game that fulfills the weekly objective (bonus points if you snipe a British commander).
- Write an epic battle report in the Discord. We prefer a French victory, but regardless, we want to hear of all your fun (especially if it includes pirates ready for the gallows).
- Play at a local store, convention, or public venue (the Dutch deserve some public humiliation at our hands).
- Play a game for the Natives or Spanish! That’s right – this last prize is open to our allies (and French players who decide they want to log a game on behalf of others in our grand alliance).
Pirates Commander Update
Captains, we
Ahoy, pirates! Fortune favors the bold, and no one is bolder than the brethren sailing beneath the black flag.
Last week, we took a glorious gamble and convinced the alliance to pursue an ambitious strategy centered on Havana. Rather than simply trading blows in the north, we sought to strike where the enemy would least expect it. Had fortune favored us, we would have turned Havana neutral, stripping 8 points from the enemy and potentially closing the gap to just 18 points.
It was a daring plan, and it very nearly succeeded. In the end, our assault fell just short. Timely French reinforcements arrived at the last moment, placing Havana just beyond our grasp. We knew those reinforcements were a possibility, and the enemy commanders deserve credit for recognizing the threat to Havana and responding decisively. Such are the fortunes of war.
While the enemy rushed to save Havana, our pirate captains did what pirates do best. We spread across the Caribbean, capturing valuable ports and expanding our influence throughout the region. The black flag now flies over even more islands. Though Havana remains in enemy hands, the Caribbean is becoming a pirate sea. After all, do we really need the North when we have sun and rum?
The campaign is nearing its finale. At this point, we may not be able to claim victory in the war, but there’s still plenty of plunder to be had and battles to be won. Keep your spirits high and hoist the black flag even higher. We came here for plunder and found a treasure of friendship and fun.
Let’s all try to play an extra game or two this week. Remember to complete our national objectives, as there is a Pirate Prize to be randomly chosen from those who do. Pirates, mark your calendars! We will hold our final wrap-up meeting on Wednesday, August 5, at 8:00 p.m. in our Pirate Discord, where we’ll empty the holds, celebrate the campaign, and reveal the winners of our Pirate Prizes.
Fair winds, pirates. Let the Caribbean remember who truly rules these seas!
Pirate Objectives for Week 9
- Blood & Plunder: “Fire!“: Use firepots or torches
- Oak & Iron: “Fireship”: Use a fire ship in your squadron
- Port Royal: “Explosives”: Use grenadoes or stinkpots
Dutch Commander Update
Landgenoten, it has come to the last moments; our trade lines are stretched, the Republic is almost out of funds, and it seems the powder we bought from the lowest bidder is surprisingly low quality. Our attacks at St John’s, Quebec, and Havana have all been repulsed, but there is some good news. Our island hopping campaign is beginning to pay some dividends; let us hope it is enough. Speaking of the desperate situation, I have made a deal with the VOC; in exchange for a small sponsorship message, they have offered to fully resupply our naval forces, and knowing that they almost always give away free booty, I thought it would be a fair trade.
-Hamilton (the VOC also gave me a bunch of spices)
Ahoy all traders and good privateers of the Dutch Republic, we have once again had the opportunity to give out new trading contracts and letters of marque. For those of ye commanding only a small flotilla or a small company on land, we have merchantmen who need escorts; to fulfill your duty ye should include a captured merchant character in your force. For those of ye commanding the mighty fleets of our republic, keep some of your powder and provisions left over for resale. Complete your duty by saving one fortune point until the end of the game. Finally, for those of ye scavenging the ruins of the English cesspit of Port Royal, save some of your encouraging words and charisma for the merchantmen of the VOC. To complete your task ye must end a turn with one fortune point unused. A very lucky random Captain (or Admiral, or Lieutenant) who assists the VOC in their vital mission will be walking away with a new crew of 12 new seasoned Dutch sailors for their crew!
-Hamilton (I also work for the VOC now)
Dutch Objectives for Week 9
- Blood & Plunder: “Empire of Merchants”: Use a Captured Merchant Character in your Force
- Oak & Iron: “Thrifty”: End the game while keeping at least one fortune point
- Port Royal: “Thrifty”: End a turn with at least 1 unused fortune point.
Native Americans Commander Update
Good day my braves,
You have taken the fight to our foe!
I congratulate our forces on the successful defense of our territories, and their triumph securing our traditional lands. However we must prepare for the onslaught our foes will send at us. A cornered wolf will lash out till the very end. So, I call you all to be ready and defend our land once more.
The gods have once again spoken, and they call you to bring down a storm upon our enemy. Use their own weapons against them. Strike them down with their “thundersticks” and bring their time on turtle island to an end.
I will be contacting the prize winners in this final week, once I have drawn the final week’s prize.
The Golden Seal
Native American Objectives for Week 9
- Blood & Plunder: “Hey, These Thundersticks are Pretty Good” – Create a force where every unit uses firearms – only guns and melee weapons.
- Port Royal: “Hey, these thundersticks are pretty good”: Kill (Out of Action) at least 1 enemy Officer or 2 Crew models with a firearm.
- Oak & Iron: “Allies”: Use the ALLY faction ability and include at least one non-Native ship in your Squadron
(see the homebrew Native Faction shared on Timber & Sail )
Faction Report
We’re getting down to the wire here and we have some unplayed Unaligned factions!
Unplayed factions include:
- Black Caribs
- Miskito Zambo
- Portuguese Brazilian Tercios & Militia
- French Canadian Privateers (NPBtL)
That’s the last of them!
The most played Blood & Plunder factions include Golden Age Pirates, and the Flying Gang at the very top. Good job pirates! Next is French Buccaneers (a hot faction at tournaments lately), British Militia, Spanish Militia, Wabanaki and Dutch Caribbean Militia.
The Oak & Iron scene has been heavy on French this year with 69 games! Spanish come in second with 32, then English at 30, then Pirates at 28, Dutch at 26 and fan made Natives at 8.
Port Royal has been dominated by Pirates with the highest overall number of 91 games logged with the Jamaican Pirates!
Player Report
Who has accrued the most points so far in this campaign? We’re getting into the last days!
Our top players going into the last week are Dr. D, Rick S, and Robert M! But the race is still tight with no runaway leader!
We had some outstanding recruiting efforts, lead by Michael H, Robert M, and a three way tie right now 3rd with Dr. D, Garrett S and Paul P all having taught 11 players each.
We have a 3 way tie for the top supporters of their friendly local gaming store as well! Eric H, Peter J and Robert M are all currently at 17.
Rick S has the top spot in overall games played, and the most Port Royal games played. The Native Taylor Team has locked down the two top spots for Blood & Plunder games played! and the Montague dynasty are currently dominating the Oak & Iron leaderboard!
This has been a very “orderly and moderate” year without any power gamers pumping out billions of games. Way to be healthy and balanced guys!
Top points earners for each nation include:
- Dutch – Admiral Smeerlap
- British – Erich H
- French – Dr. D
- Natives – Derek T
- Pirates – Rick S
- Spanish – Montgomery M
- Unaligned – Peter J
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 Travis H, who played for the Spanish!
Weekly Terrain Giveaway
This week’s Terrain Giveaway Prize Winner is Wil D, who played for the Pirates!
This Week’s Additional Terrain prize Winner is Martin S, who played the Danish from Frozen Empires for Spain!
Weekly Scatter Terrain Giveaway
This week’s Scatter Terrain Giveaway Prize Winner is Andy T, who played for the French!
Weekly Objective Prizes
Accessory Pack Prize
This week’s Accessory Pack Giveaway Prize Winner is David C, who played for the Pirates!
Book Prize – Golden Age of Piracy
This week’s Book Prize Winner is Peter J, who played for the Natives!
New Player Giveaway
Part of the goal of this campaign is to bring new players into the game and encourage them to build up their armies and fleets! This is the third new player prize given out by Firelock Games during this year’s campaign.
This New Player prize Giveaway is Joshua V, who played for the pirates! He chose to get a brand new Brigantine to bolster his fleet.
Joshua got a game in on TTS this week.
Charles Vane’s Escape from Nassau Scenario for Week 9
It appears some of the Summer of Plunder booklets have a misprint on the final scenario in the book. This scenario is a large multiplayer game so we put a QR code on the scenario for the all the force lists, but the QR code is not correct on some of the booklets…
We confirmed the QR code is correct on the version of the booklet on the Firelock website.
If you can’t play the scenario this week, you can vicariously experience it through this battle report.
Objectives from Week 8
People did great accomplishing the objectives this week! Of the 170 entries for the week, 136 followed the weekly objectives.
Blood & Plunder – Leaders of Men
The objective for Blood & Plunder was to either play the Blackbeard’s Last Battle scenario, or use a commander that costs more than 20 points.
We saw a lot sloops fighting it out in the Blackbeard’s Last Battle scenario! Players were creative in using the nation they were representing, which is great! Look at all those sloops!
We saw a lot of the heavier hitting Blood & Plunder commanders used and named as well. Commanders mentioned in entries included:
- Oboystabee
- Jean Pinel
- Amaro Pargo
- Oviedo
- Piet Heyn
- Maynard
- Blackbeard
- Edward Morgan
- Woodes Rogers
- Pardal
- James Moore
- Julian Lambert
- Rene Dugay-Trouine
- Peter Brandt
- King Golden Cap
- La Bus
- Francis Nicholson
- King Philip
Oak & Iron – Annapolis Royal 1710
The objective for Oak & Iron players was to play the new Annapolis Royal Relief Convoy scenario from Timber and Sail. It looked like almost all the Oak & Iron games this week utilized this scenario and it looked like people had a good time. Some rave reviews in the entries this week.
Port Royal – Vendetta
- Week 8 – 7/21-27 – “Vendetta”
Play the Vendetta Scenario Variation, choosing the commander of each force, along with the Ambush Deployment setup.
It was harder to see if this was accomplished through pictures, but we got some good pics of Port Royal this week. This game from from Greg P was especially good looking.
More good pics from Port Royal this past week:
Summer of Plunder on Tabletop Simulator
The escalation league is nearly finished! This week the TTS players were running sea games in a variety of ways.
And some land games.
Featured Games
We’d like to spotlight a couple especially cool looking games here.
Dutch vs Natives Multiplayer Hatfield Raid
It looks like the awesome Lethbridge club played an expanded version of the Hatfield Raid. They always have great tables and well painted minis.
It sounds like it went poorly for the Dutch. Multiple entries had something like “u=Unspeakable things were done to the Dutch.”
There must have been a lot of players because there were a lot of pics from a bunch of different entries!
Charles Vane’s Escape from Nassau
This is the scenario for this week but some folks got it in early! I think Kurtis F is gearing up to run this scenario at the Nova Open at the end of summer.
Barbados Campaign from Ret
Every week Ret T has another stunning scenario with great pics!
Port Raid
Another fantastic looking fame from the Lethbridge crew!
Seattle’s Cursed Treasure
Adam, Brad, and Wil and Co all crammed their crews on to a tiny island to pick up some sort of cursed treasure. Looked exciting!
Fleet Battle
Check out this 4 ship sea battle.
Blackbeard’s Last Battle
Greg P always puts on an amazing looking game. Check out his Blackbeard’s Last Battle game.
More Pictures!
And a final photo album of more great looking games this week.
Final Thoughts on Summer of Plunder Week 8
The campaign is winding up to its conclusion! It’s been fun to see each group of players take on their own character in the Discord. Some good conversation, rules discussion, force building advice, and talk on tactics.
This week everyone gets to enjoy their own special objectives set by their commanders. A huge shout out to the two leaders of each nation. They put a lot of work into making this fun for everyone and we appreciate their time and energy!
It’s been really great to see everyone venture into playing more historical scenarios this year! I hope those scenarios have given some extra focus to your gaming this summer and that they have been enjoyable for you all. We still want to see some more of those Summer of Plunder OP Kit Commanders painted up!
We did some massive prize shipments this last week, so if you won something in the past few weeks, it should be showing up on your doorstep soon! We got all the sticker requests out the door along with nearly all the Pigment Shop orders as well. Lots of plunder out the door!
Enjoy the last week of this year’s Summer of Plunder! Keep your dice ready and the wind at your back and we’ll be back with the campaign wrap up early next week!