Sharing the Spoils: Blood & Plunder at Cyber Wars

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything here. I’ve been busy with the ” podcast, and hanging out with the crew for our bi-weekly ” community painting sessions.

With the Co-pocalypse raging, there hasn’t been much to cover – until decided to put on , that is! Fellow TotS crewman Thomas ‘Chairborne’ Mullane and I interviewed pirate historian Benerson Little. Then we teamed up with Joseph Forster of ” to extract a fresh round of spoilers’ from Firelock’s Mike Tunez. If you want to watch as we raid Mike’s boat and interrogate him for 2 hours of podcasting gold, the video is on . Otherwise, I’ll share the juiciest spoilers here, so read on.

The latest Firestarter, North American ‘Indian Fighters’ would look more at home in the woods, than on the deck of a ship I’m sure

King Philip, and Queen Anne

The biggest bit of news for the coming months is that ‘Blood & Plunder’ is moving North, and moving forward! The scope of ‘Blood & Plunder’ is expanding to cover warfare on the frontiers of New England. The English, French, and native Wabanaki Confederacy dominate this theater of warfare.
The timeline is also shifting. We’ll be moving forward to Queen Anne’s War. The ‘New World’ theater of War of Spanish Succession, it’s also known as ‘The 3rd Indian War’ or ‘The 2nd French & Indian War.’

This war was the “last hurrah” for the privateering buccaneers of the Caribbean; regents back in Europe began deploying professional navies and soldiers to the colonies in greater numbers. It’s this sea-change which gives rise to the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’.

Mike told us to expect a 50-60 page PDF release for the Fall of 2020, and estimates the price to be $25 or less. A hardcover edition of the rules will follow later.

He wasn’t stingy about what we can expect to see from the new expansion:

• New Units, including Grenadiers, Pnieses, and Young Braves, and Late-Era Flibustiers
• New Factions, including many ‘Raider’ factions representing European settlers and their Native allies. We’ll also see continental military detachments. A new faction will cover Bourbon Spain, allowing French and Spanish units to join forces for the first time.
• New Named Characters, including named leaders for North American tribal leaders
• ‘Build Your Own’ Commander Rules. People have been asking for ways to customize your leaders, and now you finally can! Whether to represent a favorite figure from history or to get that competitive edge on the tourney tables, these rules are great.
• New Scenarios emphasizing the ambush warfare of the Northern frontier
• New Firestarter Releases. ‘Firestarters’ are like Kickstarter, where Firelock invites the community to pre-order new units. If there is enough interest, Firelock produces the minis and you get first crack at them. So far, every Firestarter has been a success, and the models have been gorgeous.
• All of these rules will be compatible with the existing ‘Blood & Plunder’ lineup.

The best news is that you can already preview some of these rules! New units and the new Native Commander and Faction are on the free Force Builder!

Raise the Black

Firelock has been a busy company, and the Queen Anne expansion isn’t their only project in the works. Indeed, it’s not even the biggest project in the pipeline! We’ve finally got our first tangible teasers of the next Kickstarter, and boy-howdy, it’s a big one. Firelock has recently hired a wonderful new sculptor whose work will be front-and-center of the new expansion. ‘Raise the Black’ is hitting Kickstarter in September-October of 2020.

The original release and ‘No Peace Beyond the Line’ focus on the Caribbean after the 1655 English invasion of Jamaica. ‘Queen Anne’s War’ will be taking us from 1702-1713. ‘Raise the Black’ will set sail after Henry Jenning’s 1716 raid on La Flota de Indias. This raid marks the beginning of the ‘Golden Age of Piracy.’ It also launches the careers of such infamous scoundrels as Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, and Samuel ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy. Also present on this raid, and the upcoming expansion: Edward Teach, better known as ‘Blackbeard’.

Concept art for the model of Sam Bellamy – that model is gonna be smokin

Again, Mike was free with the details, and told us what to expect from the upcoming expansion to the game:

• Multipart Plastic Figures! As of writing, this includes both Sailors and European Soldiers. Both these kits will share interchangeable parts and plenty of extras. You’ll be able to build earlier style troops with matchlocks and bandoliers, or modern troops with flintlocks and cartridge boxes. Possible stretch goals or 2021 releases might include plastic militia and cavalry units.
  Mike expects the boxes to include 12 figures, and cost around $20. Swappable heads, arms, and weaponry means that you can say goodbye to the curse of repeated poses in your large units. Your current metal minis won’t be going anywhere any time soon. The stated goal is a core of common, plastic units supplemented with the existing metal range. Any new minis going forward will be plastic.
• Multipart Plastic Ships!! Troops aren’t the only thing coming in plastic. Mike has sculptors hard at work bringing us highly detailed, multipart ships. The goal is to create a “universal” ‘Size 2’ ship kit with plastic masts and yards, and even fancy plastic rigging blocks like deadeyes. Once again, potential stretch goals will include alternate rigs and stern decorations to add some diversity. Mike even mentioned bits to make a Corvette to replace the current laser-cut kit.
• A 2 Player Starter!!!  you heard that right, a proper, 2 player starter experience to get you into the game. This will include not only 2 forces of new plastic figures, but also a pair of new plastic ships. The whole set is based on the fateful battle between Blackbeard and Lt. Maynard at Ocracoke Inlet. Best of all, the aimed-for price as of writing is $100! It will be an incredible value if the team can pull it off.
• New Characters Rules for the most terrible rovers to ever reave the seas: ‘Calico’ Jack Rackham and his accomplices Anne Bonny and Mary Reade, as well as the bumbling Stede Bonnet, and hardened criminals like Charles Vane, Bartholomew ‘Black Bart’ Roberts, and ‘Black’ Sam Bellamy, to name a few. The presence of characters like Reade, as well as the teaser of Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet indicates that there will be mechanics for subordinate commanders who have interesting synergies with their historic captains. We’ll also be getting a veritable rogues’ gallery of new miniatures, cast in high-quality metal or resin, to represent this cast of ne’er-do-wells.
• New Factions Have you picked up on a heavy pirate theme? We’ll be seeing new faction lists for 18th century Pirates and Pirate Hunters. It will be interesting to see how the team balances the inept pirates against the elite colonial Royal Navies and marines. Definitely check out the to learn how such “games of chance” usually ended
• All these rules will ALSO be compatible with the existing Blood & Plunder lineup. There will be no need to specify a time period (like Early War / Late War in other games). Mike does suggest playing “modern” battles at a larger points size, owing to the more elite nature of the forces.

No jokes here – these are 3d printed prototypes painted & shared by Rufus Devane. Also, more teasers for the keen eyed Spot the pieces from the prototypes above? These will have refined joins for easy swapping and posing, upon release

4Ground Ports of Plunder Terrain
Those who don’t hound the FirelockGames storefront, or don’t listen to our awesome Tales of the Sail podcast (shame on you) may have missed that Firelock has recently sealed a deal with 4Ground to produce some new Caribbean themed terrain. No bullet list for this one, folks, there’s way too much to cover. Luckily for you, the bulk of it is already on Firelock’s .

This set includes everything from scatter, to large modular dock sections. According to Mike, a single set of the ‘Pirate Cove’ terrain is enough to give you an extraordinary urban warfare game setting, which completely upends the feel of ‘Blood & Plunder’. While the focus is currently on the stereotypical Spanish buildings, Mike says that the 4Ground team are working on some English and Dutch buildings as well.

I won’t go on too much here though – it sounds like fellow TotS host Glen will be doing a more in-depth review of these new kits in the future. That poor guy has so much terrain now…

These kits do come with a warning – the current line of resin buildings will phase out in favor of these new options. If you want to grab a piece of Firelock history, grab them now while you can!

About that fort…
Some of you might be wondering about the fate of the resin palisade fort, and upcoming bastions and blockhouse. The good news is: it’s coming. The bad news is: Firelock had some issues with casting it, and they’re trying to figure out shipping prices.

This means that the fort and its rules, have been delayed for the foreseeable future. Mike did tell us that we’ll likely see it released after the Kickstarter, along with a supplemental PDF that includes rules for fortifications. I’d like to see the Firelock Rules Development group go wild with this one, to be honest.

Not only is the palisade fort a beautiful piece of terrain, but community member Nigel King produces a that the TotS crew would love to use in a big siege game at a future convention. At the rate things are clearing up here in the States, we’ve got about 5 years to paint everything for it.

Other Cool Stuff from Firelock

• A restock of Marker Dice for B&P, this September. Covid knocked out their previous supplier. The new dice will be slightly smaller, black, and will have updated symbols to better represent the mechanics (including some new mechanics from the QAR and RtB expansions)
• A new box for Oak & Iron 3rd Rate ships. The current 3rd Rate has some production issues. A replacement will be coming in 2021. It will likely be part of a boxed set of many ships (mliker to the current ‘Men of War’ box)
• All-new ships for Oak & Iron. Not just the 3rd Rate, but also some other vessels to add to the game. Mike mentioned possibly doing a Tartana and perhaps some Galleys. Xebecs?
• Full, paid support for Oak & Iron on TableTop Simulator. This is a big one since we’ve all be gaming remotely and probably will be until the heat-death of the universe.
• Bringing Blood & Plunder to digital gaming. Mike is attempting to get Blood & Plunder to TTS or Virtual Tabletop, or even a platform like Slitherine Studios’ work. Hopefully, we’ll be able to ride out this apocalypse playing B&P remotely as well.

Final Thoughts from TotS on our Cyber Wars experience and “this mess”
The TotS crew had a blast with Cyber Wars, and would like to thank HMGS for putting on this event in absence of the annual ‘big one,’ Historicon. I can’t speak for my co-hosts, but it’s safe to say that we all miss being able to play games (or lose games, in Tom’s case) with you all in person.

As things back to normal, please continue supporting not only game developers but also your FLGS and local clubs. Local game stores are particularly vulnerable in the current climate. If your local shops are still open, consider ordering your hobby supplies from them. It would be a shame if we come out on the other side of this mess and there aren’t any stores to foster the local community.

Be patient with development schedules, and shipping times. It goes without saying that any quoted release dates are subject to change. Firelock operates out of Florida; while we’re happy to report that everyone on staff has been COVID-free, things are still hectic down there.

We urge everyone to stay safe and to check out Oak & Iron on TTS, or the awesome solo rules for B&P.
As always, the TotS podcast wishes everyone pleasant plundering,
until next time!