Blood & Plunder is a 28mm historical Pirate miniatures game with a lot of content. If you’re confused about what ships, minis, or rulebooks you need to buy, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into what you ACTUALLY need to get into the game and give you some answers to what to buy.

Article Contents

1. What is Blood & Plunder?
2. How Much Does It Cost Play?
3. What Do You Need to Get Started?
4. What is Raise the Black?
5. What Nation or Force Should You Play?
6. Buying-In To Blood & Plunder
7. What Rulebooks Do You Need?
8. Learning How to Play Blood & Plunder
9. The Community & Resources

What is Blood & Plunder?

Blood & Plunder is a fast-paced 28mm skirmish miniatures game set in the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean and surrounding Americas made by Firelock Games. Players can play pirate, colonial, or even Native American forces in sea, land, and even amphibious engagements.

Blood & Plunder is a historically based game set in the timeframe of 1620-1730. The ruleset is a flexible system where you can fight epic naval engagements with the likes of Black Bart Roberts, Henry Morgan, and Blackbeard. You can defend Spanish a port city from raiding Buccaneers or spring a perfect night raid with your Native American braves against an unsuspecting New England village. You can play one of dozens of factions under Pirate, Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Native American, and the flags of many minor nations (e.g. Scotland, Portugal, Sweden, etc).

How Does Blood & Plunder Play?

Blood & Plunder is ideal for small-scale pirate raids and skirmishes typical of 17th–18th century conflicts in the Americas. Players build forces of 10–40 miniatures led by a commander, organized into distinct units with unique historical flavor and gameplay roles.

Games run 45–120 minutes and can range from competitive scenarios to story-driven or historical missions. Units vary in experience and can gain special rules, while an innovative card-based activation system creates tense, tactical play that’s easy to learn. Most games last up to 6 turns, with 1–1.5 hours being the norm.

Additional features of Blood & Plunder include realistic and intuitive ship movement, an excellent fatigue mechanic, and dynamic force-building options.

Blood & Plunder Game Styles

Using all the same rules, Blood & Plunder can be played:

• At Sea – Powerful Frigates, massive Galleons, and quick Sloops can face off in deep or coastal waters
• On Land – Militia, armies, and raiding parties can fight through forests, towns or the beaches of New England, Florida, Caribbean Isles or the Spanish Main
• Amphibious – Asymmetric forces can vie for control of a port town, a beached ship, or a pile of booty on the beach.

The Blood & Plunder system is flexible, making all three settings enjoyable.

How Much Does It Cost To Get Started with Blood & Plunder?

Realistically, getting started in Blood & Plunder is going to cost around $150-200. This will get you a starter army of minis, the core rules, and a basic ship. We’ll cover that and some specific recommendations of what to buy below.

What Do You Need to Get Started with Blood & Plunder?

There are a few options for getting started with the game. The first and probably the best option is to purchase the new 2-player Raise the Black Starter set. We’ll discuss option for buying into the game later.

Getting Started with Raise the Black

Raise the Black is both an expansion and an update to Blood & Plunder. It includes lots of great improvements to the game, particularly for new players. The best element is the new Blackbeard vs. Maynard 2-player starter box. This makes jumping into the game super easy and simple!

This 2-player starter box includes:

• 26 Multi-Part Plastic Minis (including Blackbeard and Maynard)
• 2 Customizable Plastic Sloops
• Double-sided Paper Game Mat
• Softcover Rulebook
• 2 Activation Decks
• Ship, Unit, and Commander Stat Cards
• Turning Gauge, Wind Gauge, and Stinkpot Smoke Marker
• Double-sided Cardboard Terrain Pieces
• 6x d10 dice
• Marker Tokens for Fatigue, Movement, Reloads, etc
• Ranger Ruler

This massive box is currently $145, which is incredible savings when compared to buying everything individually for $200+ dollars. With just this box, you can assemble your models and ships, lay out your game mat, and start gaming with no additional product at all!

But in the meantime, if you want to dive into the game now (which is understandable), here’s what you need:

• Miniatures
• Rulebook
• Dice
• Some Terrain
• Deck of Cards
• Measuring Device
• Game Mat (optional)
• Fortune Tokens (optional)

What Nation or Force Should You Play?

Blood & Plunder features 7 major Nations, representing the key powers of the era. Each Nation includes multiple Factions, which reflect specific historical forces with distinct unit options and playstyles. Some focus on naval combat, others on land, and some emphasize unique tactics. For example, the French Royal Navy excels at sea, while the Spanish Mission Garrison is built for land-based defense.

When starting out, choose a Nation you’re interested in. Factions often share many unit options, so you don’t need to worry too much—unless your group plays exclusively land or sea battles.

Playstyle and Basics Info on the NATIONS in Blood & Plunder

You can currently play Blood & Plunder as the following 7 Nations:

Pirates

Pirates are a sea-focused force known for aggressive tactics and strong melee combat. While skilled sailors, they often lack discipline and are vulnerable to Fatigue and low Resolve. Pirate forces typically rely on numbers, fielding larger groups of less elite troops to overwhelm the enemy. They also have access to a wide range of Legendary commanders, each offering powerful abilities to boost their effectiveness.

English

The English are a well-rounded, jack-of-all-trades Nation with solid capabilities on both land and sea. Their troops are disciplined with strong Resolve, making them resilient to Fatigue. Their ranks include everything from sailors and militia to uniformed soldiers and cavalry. The English are a great starting choice thanks to their flexibility and balanced playstyle.

French

The French have a very aggressive play style. They tend to have the best musketry and small arms weapons in the game. This allows them to hit hard on offense, but they can be a bit fragile on defense. They also have several specialized and elite units, making them a more finessed style of play. You will typically have fewer models on the table, but they will be more effective than average troops.

Dutch

The Dutch are expert sailors and among the most dominant sea powers in the game. They excel in Melee and boarding actions, making them deadly in naval engagements. While they have fewer unit options than other factions, their elite troops are powerful and highly effective—though expensive (in terms of points) to field.

Native Americans

The Natives are fierce land-based warriors who trade large ships for swift canoas and piraguas. They rely on speed, terrain, and hit-and-run tactics, excelling in Melee and mobility. Their playstyle rewards finesse and strategic positioning. While less common than European factions, their unique strengths and unfamiliar tactics can offer a competitive edge.

Spanish

The Spanish are the “horde” faction of Blood & Plunder, often fielding 20–40% more troops than other forces. Though their units are generally less equipped and use lower-quality weapons, they excel in attrition warfare. Their strength lies in ruthless tactics and Fatigue-based abilities that wear down and demoralize opponents.

Unaligned & Peripheral Nations

This catch-all category represents the minor powers of the era—such as the Scottish, Swedish, Black Caribs, Portuguese, Maroons, and others. These factions offer a wide range of playstyles and often borrow units from the six core Nations. While many don’t yet have dedicated models, they provide unique and flavorful options for experienced and new players alike.

Unaligned Nations are a great secondary choice, especially since many models from your primary faction can be used to field them with little extra investment.

Each Nation includes several distinct factions that offer unique special rules, commander options, and unit compositions. For example, the English Caribbean Militia focuses on inexperienced militia troops, while the English Buccaneers field more seasoned sailors. These faction choices let you tailor your force to match specific tactics or themes.

You can start with any Nation, but the core rulebook doesn’t really expand on the Nations and armies. Y ou’ll want to pick up the No Peace Beyond the Line or Raise the Black expansion books. Be aware that the Native American factions are generally the most challenging for new players—they include more special rules and require a deeper understanding of the game’s mechanics. The English are a well-rounded, beginner-friendly choice, while Pirates are a great entry point for players interested in naval battles. For those wanting a full pirate experience, Raise the Black is a must-have expansion.

For more information on the topic check out our Ultimate Guide to Blood & Plunder Nations & Factions

Blood & Plunder Miniatures

You need some minis to play a miniatures game! Firelock Games has created a fantastic (and authentic) line of 28mm miniatures for their game. The Firelock Games miniature line is one that has seen updates over the years and includes a few different types of minis:

• Metal Minis. Blood & Plunder started with metal minis. These are the tried and true pewter minis, typically single-piece models. They are solid and heavy but tend to be a little more expensive. While unpainted, these models are typically usable straight out of the box with no assembly (a couple of models and cavalry minis require minimal assembly).
• Plastic Minis. The Raise the Black Kickstarter led to Firelock Games moving to a low-cost, , injection mold style of mini. These are kits that require you to cut pieces off of sprues and assemble your units like Game Workshop minis or airplane models. These kits all come with multiple heads, arms and weapons so you can customize your units (more details on the Plastic model kits).
• Resin Minis. In late 2023, Firelock Games began changing all of their old metal minis and all new minis to high-definition resin models. These are also typically one-piece models and ready to play out of the box.

We have a deeper dive article that goes into the transitions of the minis where you learn more about the types of materials in the minis.

How Many Models Do You Need?

Forces typically include 20–40 miniatures, and Starter Boxes are designed to get you straight into the action. If you prefer naval combat, you may want extra Sailors to man guns and handle sails. Smaller sea battles work with any starter, but typical games use 30–50 models (starters usually have about 25).

Plastic models are more generic and highly customizable, with different heads and equipment for national flavor. Currently, five plastic boxes cover Sailors, Militia, Soldiers, Cavalry, and Native Americans—enough to build about 60% of the game’s units.

What Ship(s) Do You Need?

In addition to the 28mm figures, you’ll need a ship (or two) to play games at sea. Firelock Games makes a good selection of resin ships for the game. They also offer an 18th Century plastic Sloop model. It is a great place to start and is the ship of choice for new players!s featured in bot h the 1 and 2 player started kits.

Buying-In To Blood & Plunder

Getting Started with the Raise the Black 2-Player Starter Box

The best way to get started with Blood & Plunder is to pick up the Blackbeard vs Maynard Two Player Starter Box. This is a mammoth of a box with everything you need to play the game bundled together at a great price. You can get this box now on the Firelock Games website for $145. It says it is 2-player starter, but it’s still our top recommendation for a single-player.

We highly recommend you add at least 1 box of plastic Militia (12pk of minis) to your initial purchase to help flesh out your army.

In addition to this boxed set, Firelock Games offers several different bundles at a discount. Each Nation has its own specific starter set that contains options for plastic, metal or resin minis. A single nation start in resin runs about $99.

For additional suggestions on Raise the Black miniature expansion packs check out our Complete Guide to Raise the Black Plastic Miniature Sprues.

Nation Starter Bundles

This bundle contains a starter box of 25 plastic minis (12 Sailors + 12 Militia + 1 commander), a deck of activation cards AND the 18th Century Sloop as your ship! At the low cost of $99 and saves you $60 over buying these items individually! This also includes the basic rulebook and a set of dice as well!

Crew Bundle

This is a great way to get a supplemental boost a sea force, with 2 boxes of multipart plastic sailors you’ll get 24 more models to build your crew. It also includes a  Reformado Commander which is a good “generic” model that can represent a commander, officer, grizzled vet, or master gunner character. This may not be a first purchase (unless you are sold on the game and ready to take the plunge), but at nearly a 30% discount, it’s definitely a good add-on option.

Buying in “Manually”

If you want to construct your own collection outside of the 2-Player Starter Box or Nationality Bundles, it is possible to buy into Blood and Plunder “Manually”. There are 3 main ways of buying into the game manually: Plastics for Land, Plastics, for Sea, and Metals for Land. Please note, this is for players who have played miniature wargames before, and have played around on the online Force Builder enough to know which Nationality and Faction they wish to play, or simply have their heart set on starting with a Nationality or Faction and want to assemble their Force from scratch. These are valid ways to approach buying in! However, if you are new to miniature wargames, you should stick to the 2-Player Starter Box or a Nationality Bundle.

If you choose to just dive head first into the plastic kits for land battles, I would buy at least 3 boxes of plastic models and a metal commander (this can be omitted if you want to kitbash a commander from your boxes, but the metal commanders look amazing). Adding in the core Blood and Plunder Rulebook gets you what you need for $140 before shipping. This will give you a total of 37 models.

Buying in “Manually” for Sea Battles

For the aspiring sailor, buying for a sea battles is very similar. You will need to buy two boxes of plastic models (I recommend two boxes of sailors or a box of sailors and a box of militia depending on your chosen Nationality and Faction), a plastic 18th Century Sloop Kit, a metal commander (less optional than the land battle buy-in because you’ll want all 24 models to be units and not lose a model making a commander, but its possible), and a Core Rulebook. This will give you 25 models (the same amount in a metal Nationality Starter Box!), a solid ship, and a rulebook for $150 before shipping.

One final point on buying in manually: These all fall within that lower end of the rough $150 minimum to get into the game. If your budget for buying in is bigger, you can always add more plastic boxes or metal packages, expansion rulebooks, more or bigger ships, and accessories like fancy dice and activation decks.

What Blood & Plunder Rulebooks Do You Need?

As a wargame, there is a lot of content available for Blood & Plunder. It can be confusing to know which books are which and what they include. Let’s look at what each book includes and why you may or may not want to get each of them.

The current selection of books available for Blood & Plunder includes:

• Blood & Plunder Core Rulebook
• No Peace Beyond the Line Expansion
• Fire on the Frontier Expansion
• Raise the Black Expansion
• Blood & Plunder Rulebook from the Two-Player Starter Box

This book should DEFINITELY be at the top of your “to buy list”. If you don’t have a copy, here is the link to No Peace Beyond the Line on Firelock Games.

Blood & Plunder Rulebook & Expansion Book Overview

Here is a quick rundown of all available books and our recommendations on which items to consider when getting started.

Blood & Plunder Core Rulebook

The core Blood & Plunder rulebook is a nice hardcover book of 156 pages. It contains all the rules you need to play along with forces lists for 7 different factions and 15 scenarios. The hard copy costs $40 and you can get a pdf version for only $15.

Once the Raise the Black content ships in 2023, you will want to get the latest version of the rules. This will include all of the errata released for the game as well as the new Artillery Rules.

If you buy the 2-Player Starter Box, you don’t need this book as it’s already included. If you have the older dark color rulebook, it is still valid, but you will need to get the errata and new cannon rules from Firelock Games’ DLC page.

No Peace Beyond the Line Expansion

No Peace Beyond the Line is a huge expansion that offers a massive number of new forces and commander options. The Dutch, Native Americans, and many minor colonial European powers are added, along with new factions for the Pirates, English, Spanish and French. It also includes additional ships, some more advanced ship and cannon rules, a campaign system and several new scenarios.

This book is useful for learning the units and forces available to each Nation/Faction. It’s very helpful for building your forces before you play a game. While the units are in the online force builder tool, it doesn’t have all the details.

Fire on the Frontier Expansion

Fire on the Frontier is a smaller softcover expansion that specifically covers some of the colonial wars of the late 17th century in North America. It is crammed full of historical content so it’s a great experience for both wargaming and learning.

It includes:

• new force-building lists for England, France, and the Native Americans
  • 7 Native American tribes and Alliances
  • 5 English factions including New England Milita and Villiage Garrisons)
  • 4 French factions including Iberville’s Expeditionary Force
• 22 Commanders
• 5 New Characters & Fighting Men
• Rules for Fortifications and stats for new fortifications like Palisades and Blockhouses
• Historical scenarios, including King Philip’s War and King William’s War.
• Rules and stats for an Unaligned Unit of Civilians

This book is an excellent option if you want to extend the game from the Caribbean into the North American, Colonial America theater. However, if you are in the game purely for the pirate genre, this doesn’t have much content for you other than the Fortifications rules. If you play Natives or have any interest in colonial, pre-American Revolutionary war content, this is highly recommended addition to the game.

NOTE: You need to get the No Peace Beyond the Line expansion to fully use this book.

Raise the Black Expansion

This fresh expansion brings Blood & Plunder into the early 18th century and introduces all the household names like Blackbeard, Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Black Bart Roberts, Charles Vane, and the entire pirate crew into the game. In addition to the Pirate forces, the book contains the pirate hunters, navies from various nations, the army and militia forces and even the native American factions that were warring against each during the first third of the 18th century.

This is very similar concept to the No Peace Beyond the Line Expansion, but focuses on the 18th Century instead of the 17th Century. This is a MUST HAVE book if you want to fully explore the full pirate part of this game.

Blood & Plunder Rulebook from the Two-Player Starter Box

This is a slightly slimmer and updated version of the core rulebook. In a softcover format, this rulebook contains the complete ruleset but doesn’t include as many force lists as the hardcover rulebook.

Deluxe 17th Century Rulebook

This beautiful book combines the core rulebook with No Peace Beyond the Line in an awesome leatherette binding with metal corner guards on the cover. The pages are made of a thick cottony type material with rough cut edges to give it a historical feel.

It’s not a must-have as it doesn’t actually release new content, and more of a luxury, collector’s, but a very useful and eye-catching book. However, it’s one you may want to add to your collection at some point.

Deluxe 18th Century Rulebook

This leatherette-bound edition combines the updated Blood & Plunder core rulebook and the Raise the Black expansion in one single book. Like the 17th Century version, its pages are of a different material and frayed a bit at the edges to give it a historical feel rather than the typical high gloss print style of the other rule books.

This book is more for collectability purposes than heavy use as a reference tool.

Recommendations Summary for Blood & Plunder Rulebooks

You need the Core Rulebook, No Peace Beyond the Line is a wonderful supplement that fleshes out the game in a huge way, Fire on the Frontier is a little more focused (and you need No Peace Beyond the Line to use it) and Raise the Black focuses more on the true Pirates. Buy the Core Rulebook now and put No Peace Beyond the Line and/or Raise the Black on your Christmas list. Snag Fire on the Frontier if you are interested in the French/Native/English conflicts of the late 17th century.

Blood & Plunder Dice

The Blood & Plunder system is built around tests using d10’s so you’ll need 6-12 d10’s. Firelock Games sells some beautiful dice, but you can use any standard d10! During the game, you’ll need to track various conditions including Fatigue and Reloads on your units, and effects like critical damage on ships etc. Firelock Games offers a set of dice to help with that, but you can use generic d6’s for this if you want to save some money.

Firelock Dice:

• Red Plunder Dice (d10)
• Bone Plunder Dice (d10)
• Spanish/English/French/Pirate Nation Dice (d10)
• Fatigue Dice (d6)
• Reload Dice (d6)
• Critical Damage Dice (d6)
• Status Dice (d6)

Suitable Generic Dice

• Any standard d10’s for attacks and tests
• Small red d6’s for Fatigue markers
• Small black d6’s for Reload markers

Blood & Plunder Terrain

You can go simple or dive deep into collecting terrain for a game like Blood & Plunder, but you will want some sort of terrain on your board when you play. On the cheap side of things, you can put together simple structures out of cardboard and cutout paper templates of area terrain like forests. As you continue to play, you can pick up a few buildings in mdf, resin or 3D printed and get some trees and scatter terrain. With some work and care, you can make some really great terrain pieces on the cheap. Check out The Plunder Den YouTube channel for an amazing series of videos on making your terrain specifically for Blood & Plunder.

If you are looking for more specific recommendations on terrain, check out our Wargaming Terrain recommendations and reviews section of the blog.

Blood & Plunder Activation Deck

Blood & Plunder uses a standard decks of playing cards to determine activation. Each player in a game of Blood & Plunder will need a standard 52 (+2) card deck to play the game. Each turn, playesr draw a hand of cards from this deck and use the cards to determine player initiative order and how many actions each unit will take.

You can use a standard deck of cards you already have or you can purchase one of the nice Activation Decks Firelock Games produces that has some helpful information printed on the card, along with beautiful layout and graphics. These have prompts printed on the decks to help you keep track of how many actions you get on your turn based on the unit’s Experience level.

If you get the 2-Player Raise the Black Starter Set it will come with 2 Activation Decks (British & Pirates). But there are Activation Decks with a unique back for each faction in the game.

Measuring Devices

You’ll need a standard tape measurer to determine distances and calculate range while playing the game. Any tape measurer will do.

If playing at sea, you’ll want the ship movement template as well. You can purchase the turning template from Firelock Games as part of the full template set or you can buy a nice double sided turning gauge from Laser Dreamworks. If you’re crafty, you can create your own template using the pattern in the back of the Blood & Plunder rulebook.

Optional Additional Accessories

With miniatures, dice, an activation deck, and some terrain, you have everything you need to play a game of Blood & Plunder. Once you have these basics, you may want to add a couple optional items that will make your games that much more enjoyable.

Game Mat

You can play on a bare tabletop, but a mat with some ground or sea texture takes your game to the next level.

Tablewar makes a great selection of mats for Blood & Plunder. They have several sea mats, amphibious mats and Caribbean land mats. They even have a set of overlays that includes shoals and islands that allow for a lot of customization in your sea and amphibious games. Frontline also produces a great selection of land and sea gaming mats.

\For land games, a 3×4′ mat is the “standard size” although a 3×3′ is suitable for smaller games as well. For sea games, 4×4′ is standard but if you know the tables you’ll be playing on allow it, a 4×6′ is very convenient since it gives you more space for your ships to sail around (and most scenarios allow you to “scroll the board”.

Fortune Tokens

One of the mechanics in the game requires 3 (or more) tokens to use as “Fortune Points.” These are usually represented with coins. They can be spent one of several ways during the game. You can use anything to represent these tokens, but blinging your game out with some fun pirate coins is a really fun way to go. Every force starts with 3 Fortune and some commanders (like Henry Morgan) get additional Fortune tokens.

Unit & Commander Stat Cards

While not necessary, stats cards can be a nice accessory and quick reference tool during games. You can get the core set of 17th century commanders and units here, the No Peace Beyond the Line set here, and the Raise the Black set here. The rulebooks contains all the stats for your commanders and units, and you can can print out full stats for everything in your force using the free online Force Builder website, but some people enjoy using physical stat cards.

Learning How to Play Blood & Plunder

You’ll want to read the rulebook to get a good grasp of the full ruleset. But there are a few great video options for learning the rules as well.

• Firelock Games YouTube Learn to Play Playlist
• OnTableTop (formerly Beasts of War) Learn to Play Video
• Blood & Pigment Quick Start Video

These videos can get you going a little faster and help with some visual examples for learning to play Blood & Plunder. The game system isn’t difficult, so it’s easy to pick up, but it’s pretty comprehensive as far as war gaming rulesets go, so there’s a good bit to mine out of the rulebook.

Learning from a real, live person is always the best so check around and see if there is a local group you can plug in to or another player in your area you can learn from. You can find players in your area using the Firelock Games Players Locator Map (please add yourself as well!).

Blood & Plunder Community & Resources

Connecting with the online community can be a great way to learn more about Blood & Plunder, meet active players. It can also help inspire painting your ships and forces and get your questions answered.

You can join Blood & Plunder players on Facebook and Discord where there are discussions and content posted daily. You can find Facebook groups for players in different locations as well.

No Dice No Glory has a great podcast dedicated to Blood & Plunder: Tales of the Sail. You can find them on Facebook, or on the No Dice No Glory blog or join their online community on Discord.

You can find many more helpful resources on our Blood & Plunder Links page.

Welcome to the Game!

Blood & Plunder is a fantastic skirmish miniatures game with a vibrant and growing base of players. Jump on in! The water is fine! Blood & Plunder is about 5 years old and is just receiving its second major expansion in Raise the Black and there’s more expansions in development. With the new, more affordable plastic miniatures & ships, and a fantastic starter box on its way, there has never been a better time to jump into Blood & Plunder!

By Joseph Forster

Additional Content Suggestions

• Quick Start Video for learning to play Blood & Plunder
• Blood & Plunder Quick Reference and Glossary
• Introduction to the Blood & Plunder 2-Player Starter Set
• Buying Guide for after you’ve purchased the 2-Player Starter Set
• Learn how to make a Blood & Plunder force in our 4-part series:
  • Force Building I – Basics and Universal Guidelines
  • Force Building II: Building for Land Games
  • Force Building III: Building for Sea Games
  • Force Building IV: Building for Amphibious Games
• Ultimate Guide to Blood & Plunder Ships – Get the stats, reviews, assembly & painting guides for every Blood & Plunder ship produced by Firelock Games.
• Ultimate Guide to Blood & Plunder Nations & Factions
• Strategy & Tactics article: Deciding What to Bring to War and Making a List.  It covers multiple suggestions on choosing the right units and how to prep for a fight before the start of the battle.