List build Like a Pirate: Making your Blood and Plunder Force

Avast ye mateys, once again Talk Like a Pirate Day is upon us; this buccaneer is going to tell you how to take the first steps in playing the game which commemorates this day every day, Blood and Plunder. I was shanghaied onto the B&P sloop for well over a year now, and I have shared some grog with the swashbucklers at .

Many of you have read about the game and some of you have even played it. I know a lot of folks are like scurvy dogs who see the names like Sea Dogs, Les Enfants Perdue, and Freebooter and get confused on how to actually buy a force for this game. To be honest is easier than walking the plank. With this article, you will learn the ropes of this game and be able to tell a mizzen mast from the poop deck.

When I first started playing this game I was able to use to build my force, however, the folks from Firelock starter their own that includes all of the new forces, including those from No Peace Beyond the Line. I will take you through this excellent force builder and talk a bit on how to build a list.

Pick a faction
This first part is pretty simple; so far the game has the French, English, Spanish and the Dutch as the major nations and the unaligned and peripheral nations (which represent everything from pirates to the indigenous population of the Spanish Main.) Within each faction, you have a lot of forces to pick from which.

Each force has its own strengths and weaknesses; some are “shooty” like the English or “stabby” like the Spanish. My recommendation is to figure out what gaming style suits you best and go with that force. You can also do what I decided to do and pick more than one force to play.

However if you only wish to dip your toe in the water with B&P, just look over the factions and one will stand out to you as being the right one for you to play.

Choose a Force
Each faction has a very wide scope when it comes to what you can pick. While this is not in any of the books, each faction’s forces are either land or nautical based. You have local militia’s or troops who have come to fight from Europe to pick from as well as forces headed by a naval officer.

The major difference is the skills of the leader and what special abilities they have. However, in a fight, the forces in the game are balanced enough to have a fair fight no matter what domain you fight on. Land forces tend to favour the long gun and naval forces mostly pistols and hand to hand weapons.

All of the forces are really a mix of the two types. When it comes to the unaligned and indigenous forces, they are either pirates of some ilk, which are nautically themed, or the natives who are land-based. One thing you will note is how many of the forces tend to use troops from some of the other nations. I assume this is the result of just how wild this era of history was.

When you choose your force, you have two types of units to select from. Your main units, which are historically what your commander led back in Pirate Days. You’ll also be able to select support units, which add different capabilities to your force. You need to have twice as many main force units as support forces for a legal list.

The smallest size a unit can be is three models, however, you can increase that up to eight per unit. You can also upgrade the level of training and weapons of most of the units. In some cases, you may even degrade these factors to make the cost per model lower.

The types of commanders you can select is based on which forces you to plan to run. This can be an unnamed commander with one of three skill levels, or your commander can be a named historical character from the period. These historical commanders come at a hefty price. Since the recommended land-based game is 100 points, you may need to consider taking one of the anonymous commanders.

Things I would really take note of are the special abilities of each force. My new “main force” are the Scotts who pick up the Brawler and Quick special rules. These are two excellent rules that make my force faster and deadlier in close combat.

Force Balance

You should make sure you have troops who can shoot well to keep the “stabby” forces away, and if they close in have at least one unit that can hold its own in hand to hand combat. My French Buccaneer force has the ability to shoot and melee well, however, it is an expensive force and will be a bit smaller than many other lists.

What do you notice about these forces? Well, the model count is low, so it’s easy to collect a force to play with. Right now 100-points is the standard size for land battles. If you add ships this slips to 200 points, so your force will get bigger. But you will sink a ton of points into your ships. The starting price for a ship is cheap, but that is stripped. In addition to the vessel, you need to spend points for the cannons to mount on the ship.

If you’re preparing a seaborne force, make sure you take a naval commander. You’ll also need and make sure you have enough troops to man the guns. A lot of units have special rules which makes them re-load the guns at a faster rate, or they can repair damage quicker, or even perform movement orders easier. If you plan to play with ships (you do not have to but you should), make sure you get those sailor models to make things run smoother on the high seas.

Pick Up Your Plunder
If you read , you’ll know that buying the forces of one nation does not lock you into only playing that one. Many of the forces use the same models under different names and most of the nations use forces from other factions. All of the ships can be used by any of the factions as well, so if you want the Galleon you do not have to be Spanish.

The various nations’ starter boxes give you all you need to play the basic land-version of the game. If you want to play this game casually, one box will do. You may add an a blister-pack here and there, but you can wrap up your initial model investment around $52-$70 dollars US.

If you plan to add ships, your investment will increase. Remember to add more sailors to man your ship. Should you desire the ability to have a dedicated force for a domain I would recommend the Pirates and Privateer and any of the European themed starter boxes. This will give you the perfect forces to fight under multiple flags on both land and sea.

As for the ships, it was my intent at first to only play on the land. However, the ships are so much fun, and are such great models. Picking up one of the smaller ships, such as the sloop, may be good enough. Unless your friend purchases a Galleon to harass you [like Triple-G, Glenn Goddard, recently did to Mitch.]

My Force

Right now I have one hell of a force. I have the English starter box from the first wave. I also purchased most of the French first wave forces. From the second wave, I purchased the Pirates and Privateers, two blisters of Musketeers, land cannons, and the civilians.

I also have and entire ship flotilla, with a Frigate, Sloop, and three longs boats. These sets do come with the small and medium deck cannons as well as the swivel cannons. I didn’t go overboard here, I just wanted to have the ability to play a bunch of different factions. This also allows me to provide a second force for a new player to try out the game.

Pirates need accessories

I recommend you purchase both an action deck and status markers.

The game was originally designed to use regular playing cards, but the activation decks are very well done and you won’t have to look up their value (how many activations they will provide you, nor their initiative order).

The status markers track levels of stress, reloading status and specific damage to your ships, you will need them however you can create your own with different coloured dice or chits. You can pick both of these accessories up for less than $40. So a landlubber can get all they need for this game for less than $100.

Ideas on Lists
From playing this game a bunch of times I have arrived at the assumption that for the most part the units in this game are balanced and it is important to make sure your force contains the right mix of “shooty” and “stabby” forces, you do not want to be reloading when the enemy closes in on you for close combat.

A lot of folks also wonder if they should take cannons for a land battle. While they are very deadly, they have to be supported because they are vulnerable while reloading (like musket armed units). They also pull in a crew of at least three models which lowers the models you have to manoeuvre around the table.

Experience level of your troops is another decision you have to consider when building a force. In this game, you really do pay a premium for veterans. I have found that trained units work pretty well and because they are cheaper you can get more models for your force. Mixing units will also work, having an untrained militia to fire three shots then run works if you use them correctly. This leaves the heavy lifting to more capable and experienced units.

Selecting a good commander is also very important. As I said above, make sure your commander has the special rules that work well with your force. Land commanders have a longer command radius than sea commanders, so a sea commander in a land fight assures that your units will have to be bunched together to gain the benefits of the leader. The extra actions a commander gives you can really change things around for your force.

Force special rules are also important things to consider. What is great about them is that you do not pay extra points for them. I mentioned before that the Scottish list I plan to run gives all my forces the quick and brawlers special rule, but it costs the same per unit as they would on any other list.

Casting Off

I hope this article will help you build that first force for Blood and Plunder, I know from experience that all of the options and choices are confusing at first. One thing that spices up the game is to talk like a pirate when you play so here are some links to spice up your buccaneer jargon.