Hoist Your Sails – Blood & Plunder Takes Historicals to the High Seas
Often it seems like many of the games in our hobby comes out of the UK, but here is an absolute gem of a game coming right out of America.
The first time that I saw this game in person, I thought that is the prettiest game I had ever seen. The models and miniatures are all absolutely gorgeous and the company that makes them is right out of Florida. The game I am talking about is Blood & Plunder by Firelock Games.
What is Blood & Plunder?
Blood & Plunder is a historical miniatures game concentrating on the Caribbean during the age of piracy (17th century). This is a time in history rich with possibilities. On top of touching on the history of an area many of us have visited, the game also features beautiful tall ships in 32mm scale. Check out this sloop below.
My Blood and Plunder Sloop painted by Jeremy Cada of Forbes Hobbies. If you want to see more about this sloop, I reviewed it on my website earlier. It is a beautiful model!
To me, the tall ships are a big draw to the game, but you can play this game on land, sea or a combination of the two.
The game started with four nations (English, French, Spanish and Unaligned) and they added many more (Dutch, minor nations, privateers and Native Americans) through their latest expansion. Within those nations, you can choose what sort of sub-faction to take (generally forms of Privateers or Militias). That choice will dictate which units (and in which ratios) you can take for your force and also determines your special abilities and bonuses.
They have even added two boxed sets that you can use to expand on the forces you already have. The Pirates and Privateers, and the European Land Forces, starter sets can be used to add on to any nation outside of the Natives boxed set.
Once each player chooses their force, they can begin playing the game. The game comes with a number of scenarios and their latest expansion, No Peace Beyond the Line, adds rules for campaign play.
What’s Required?
To play, you will need a rulebook (already reviewed on Must Contain Minis) and two forces.
A standard game will consist of two 200 point forces. A good place to start would be one of Firelock Games many starter sets. What exactly is 200 points? You can quickly create a sample force using Blood & Plunder’s own Easy Army Page. Generally, a starter set and sloop should get you about 200 points. Smaller sized games are okay too and so are larger games.
Firelock Games recommends a table size of 3′ by 3′ for a land based game and 3′ by 4′ for games involving ships. If the game is at sea, the map is considered “scrolling” and every so often you may pick up your ships and terrain and move them back a matched distance to keep everything on the playing field.
You don’t need ships, but I think they really help with the look and presentation of the game. To buy into the game, you are looking at about $100 (USD) for the rule book and a starter force, or $165 for two (land-based) starter sets and the rules. If you buy direct from Firelock Games, you can get a starter bundle that comes with a ship, rulebook and crew at a good discount (starting at $105 – my sloop starter bundle would run for $129). Compared to other games, this is not too bad of an entry cost – and the game is just so beautiful!
A Simply Stunning Game!
What I love most about Blood & Plunder is its presentation.
Firelock Games made a beautiful game. Whether you are just looking at the rule books, checking out the figures and ships, or playing the game on a table, this is a visually stunning game. The fact that this game is so beautiful makes me want to share it as much as possible. I would love to see a lot of people playing this game all around the world, right down to my local games shops!
Below are some pictures showing off the aesthetics of the game. Simply beautiful!
A Spanish Milicianos Militiaman protecting his home. Figure painted by Bill Kocher of Phoenix Games and Hobbies.
A Spanish Marineros Miniature painted by Bill Kocher of Phoenix Games and Hobbies.
A Spanish Lancero. Image from Must Contain Minis Lancero Unit post and painted by Bill Kocher of Phoenix Games and Hobbies.
Firelock Games Blood & Plunder Sloop with a French Captain. Lots of room for other minis on there and the ship is just beautiful! Sloop painted by Jeremy Cada of Forbes Hobbies.
A sample page from the Blood and Plunder Rulebook. One can tell a lot of effort has gone into making sure the rule book is just as beautiful as their miniatures. This is a visually stunning game. For a review of the rules, feel free to visit Must Contain Minis.
Wrapping it Up…
As you can see, the game and its components are just stunning. If you like beautiful and classy games, this is a game for you!
On top of being fun and gorgeous, it is American made!!! All of the miniatures and ships are cast right in the USA and the rules are American written too! The company has had good success on Kickstarter a couple of times and I have a feeling that we will be seeing more from Firelock Games soon!
If you haven’t checked Firelock Games yet, give them a look. If you buy from them, you will be supporting an American Gaming company, and let’s admit, it is kind of nice when the gaming company is right on our own backyard.
Related Links…
If you like what you see here, check out some of the links below for more related content.
For more articles by me, check out the Blood & Plunder Section of Must Contain Minis.
For an inside look of whats coming from Firelock Games join their Facebook Page. It looks like they have another game in the works and I wouldn’t be surprised if Blood & Plunder gets another expansion with how well the system has been doing.
For beautiful gaming mats, check out Cigar Box Battle’s website. I use them for many of my gaming tables and photographs. All of the minis and ship pictures in this post I used a Cigar Box Battle Mat as the back drop. Keep an eye on this company for a Kickstarter project coming up very soon!
The buildings in the background of the miniatures pictures are by XOLK. Check them out for some excellent MDF terrain made right here in North America.
And of course, don’t forget to visit the Firelock Games website too. I know it is a game that has captured my imagination!
Read more about great Indy and Historical games on my site!
Disclaimer: Firelock Games has given the author of this article a number of review products for Must Contain Minis. That said, the author believes enough in Firelock Games products that he backed their most current Kickstarter and he is really looking forward to seeing what else the company has in store for the public. XOLK and Cigar Box Battle have also sent the author review products and you can see the reviews for those items on Must Contain Minis.
