A Critical Hit! Blood & Plunder Demos at the FLGS

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of visiting Critical Hit Games in Abingdon Maryland to host some demo games of Blood & Plunder at the invitation of store staff member Matt Maggitti.

The store had only started carrying it a few weeks ago and the community of gamers were just getting into the game. A friend of the Tales of the Sail podcast Preston Jacka met me there to assist in running multiple demos at once.

Critical Hit Games is a great example of a successful Friendly Local Gaming Store. Owner Whit Bottiger started it up 10 years ago, and since has grown the community to the point where the store has had to move twice.

Their current storefront is quite large. When you walk in you immediately find yourself in the retail section, where they stock many of the popular gaming systems like Games Workshop, Battlefront Miniatures, and X-Wing.

Across from those are various RPG systems, myriad board games, and Magic the Gathering. Past that, in the back of the space, there is a large gaming area consisting of 4 rows of tables and chairs suitable for board and card games, and another section consisting of four 4’x8’ tables for miniature gaming with a ton of terrain available for use whichever system you prefer.

When I first arrived I was surprised by the number of players who turned out to try the game. Most already had their own armies in one state of paint or another, but several people did come by for a more traditional demo. In all, we ended up with a total of 14 players and several more individuals who hung around to observe but declined invitations to join.

Naturally, I had my concerns about running a demo event in public given that COVID is on the rise again. I was in contact with Matt concerning both MD state government regulations and the store’s precaution plans right up until the event. The store limited their capacity to 25% and vigorously enforced a mask policy.

Social distancing implemented as best as could be managed given the nature of the hobby by pushing tables together to limit the number of players who could gather around them. In short, I think they did an excellent job balancing the necessary pandemic precautions with the community demand for in-person gaming. The community also did a great job complying with everything, and making sure everyone could have a safe gaming experience.

Preston was kind enough to take a few players under his wing for a demo game of sea combat, while I led four different tables of players who had land armies ready to go. Just about everyone in my groups had reviewed the rules previously so I was able to get them started, explain the basics, and then answer questions as situations on the board came up. Games ranged from Dutch militia fighting Natives to an interesting English vs Swedish game where both sides had cannons. Everyone had a great time and games were completed fairly quickly.

With plenty of time left before closing and several players ready for another go of it, I proposed breaking out the various ships that Preston and I had brought with us for a larger scale naval action. We managed to talk Matt into also joining the battle, and after some on-the-fly list construction we were set to begin. On one side was a mix of a Spanish bark, a French bark, and a French Brethren of the Coast tartana, while the other side was represented by an English sloop, an English Brethren of the Coast sloop, and a Dutch tartana.

All ships were fully loaded with light cannon, except for the English Brethren of the Coast sloop, which had opted for a full complement of swivel guns instead. We elected to play the game in Army Scale, a different way of using the card-based activation system that allows different forces to each activate and move all their models together without bogging the game down.

The first turn the ships maneuvered along, taking a few long-range pot shots with cannons and trying to sort out positioning within the respective squadrons. Turn two saw some more exciting maneuvering, as the English swivel gunship began to head straight for the Spanish bark and the Dutch tartana dropped her sails down to allow the other English sloop to overtake and block her line of sight from the French forces. Meanwhile, the French tartana swept ahead of the rest of their fleet.

Turn three saw some greater shenanigans beginning, as the Spanish bark got off a raking shot on the English swivel sloop, inflicting plenty of damage but only killing a couple of sailors with muskets. In return the swivels began to fire, removing a couple of Spanish Marineros and Marinero Piqueros as casualties. The French bark and other sloop continued to attempt to trade broadside for broadside, while the Dutch tartana managed to contribute a broadside against the French bark as well. The French tartana began to cross the head of the Anglo-Dutch fleet to line up a shot for later.

At the start of turn four, the English swivel sloop again won initiative and closed with the Spanish bark to devastate the crew with swivel gunfire. The Spanish realized their only chance was close action and elected to throw grapples and board the sloop despite being outnumbered. Their gambit paid off initially, eliminating the musket sailors and driving the Sea Dogs manning the forward swivels to the rear of the ship, where a much larger unit of Sea Dogs led by the captain were manning the swivels on the quarter deck.

Mid-table the French bark and English sloop continued to trade broadsides and musket fire, with the more elite french Flibustiers making their shots count. The French tartana kept rounding ahead of the English sloop, using musketry to eliminate a few more English militia. The Dutch tartana sped up again after her crew decided to stop handling the sails like a bunch of landlubbers, and the Kapers and Militie brought their muskets to bear upon the French tartana, removing only a couple of the crew.

The final turn saw decisive action across the board. The English swivel sloop won initiative again and her captain led his Sea Dogs in a charge forward that cleared their main deck, before taking up the still-primed swivel guns and turning them to clear the main deck of the Spanish bark. Meanwhile, the Sea Dog survivors who had retreated grabbed the quarterdeck swivels and eliminated the remaining crew on the bark’s quarterdeck from point-blank range.

In a change of sequence, the French tartana then went, raking the English sloop from almost point-blank and following up with musket fire to completely eliminate the crew on the main deck. The captain of the sloop then led his remaining militia forward to fire the already loaded cannons into the French bark, which then responded by boarding the sloop and fighting the captain and militia to a draw. In the final activation of the game, the Dutch tartana closed with its French counterpart, launching a boarding action with the Kapers and the Militie leaping aboard and reducing the crew to a handful of Frenchmen. In the end, we all agreed that the Anglo-Dutch forces had the advantage.

I’m really looking forward to getting back out to Critical Hit Games in the future to help them continue their Blood & Plunder journey. They have an excellent staff, great stock, a good gaming space, and a community that is excited about the game. I can’t wait to begin the Organized Play series with them, hopefully in the new year.