Blood and Valor: A Great War Skirmish Game From Firelock Games

By Mitch Reed

As many of you know I am all about anything dealing with the Great War. I have always felt that the Great War is underrepresented in the gaming community so I am quick to promote any new game that truly captures the war on my gaming table.

Blood and Valor is a new game that will be out later in 2019 that gives the Great War an amazing skirmish level game and since it by the guys from you know it is going to be an amazing game that will be a must for your collection.

Here is my truth in advertising statement, as soon as I heard about the game I begged the developers my services as a playtester. While my statements in this article are based in fact, they are also from helping out the developers. Another caveat to this article I want to bring up is that this article is based on a version of the game that is still in the draft/playtest phase of production, so things may change.

Blood and Valor is the creation of Rufus and Kai Devane who you may have met at any number of conventions promoting Blood and Plunder. The game takes a lot of the mechanics from Blood and Plunder and updates them to fit the Great War perfectly. So what is the same?

The game uses D10s for combat and saves. Miniatures are at the 28mm scale, and players bid for activation, using numbered chips instead of cards (the card system is the method from the Blood and Plunder game). I feel that any Blood and Plunder player will feel very comfortable with the mechanics and will pick up the game in no time.

The game scale is much the same as well, players will pick a leader from a faction and build their lists with squads of anywhere from four to ten models. With the basic squads players can add support units such as Heavy Machine Gun teams, assault squads, trench catapults, snipers,  artillery which is off-table. Some lists even have cavalry.

Right now the points level for a game is being worked on, however much like Blood and Plunder you can play the game on a 3’x3′ table with a low model count if you desire.  The main goal of the Devane’s was to re-create small scale trench raids that are quick, fun and of course bloody.

Let me spoil some of the forces that will be in the game, and remember this may change.

• Germany
• Great Britain and Commonwealth
• United States (with US Marines)
• Turkey
• France (with US Harlem Hell Fighters)
• Germany and British in East Africa (with Kings African Rifles for the British and Askaris, Sailors and Schutztruppe for the Germans)
• British in Mesopotamia (with Arab Irregulars)
• ANZACs from the Dardanelles Campaign (with the Royal Naval Division)

Each of these forces has special characters taken from the pages of the history books that will spice up the game for you. Sometimes these characters are force leaders but they are also NCOs, snipers, and even one is an HMG team leader. So you have a lot of the flavor that you would expect from a Firelock game. The game has a bunch of special rules that are often unique to each nation, so each of the forces in the game has a distinct style of play.

You can also see that with the addition of forces that fought outside of the Western Front that the game covers the wide open warfare of the Middle East and Africa as well as the return to open warfare on the western front.  So I feel this game will not only scratch the itch of die-hard Great War gamers, but it will also appeal to others who want a great “Great War” 28mm skirmish game.

The timeline of when this game will be available on the market is unknown. The goal is to have this game out in 2019, but the more work that goes into the game means a better product for you to game with.

I was so enthused about this game I picked up over 130 East African models for both the Germans and the British. I find this theater very exciting to play.

Stay tuned to NDNG for more updates on Blood and Valor and we will start If you’d like to sign up for our forums, please