Firelock Games are going to be on Kickstarter later this year with their Piratical Historical game, Blood & Plunder, that is steeped in detail from the period when pirates took to the seas and nations were making their grand voyages to new lands. So, we thought we'd take a look at some of their awesome models and learn more about the game...

So what's the game all about? Well, they recently shared some more information about the gameplay behind Blood & Plunder

The Game

Here's a little bit about what they had to say on gameplay and their ideas going forward with the game.

"One of our chief goals while designing Blood and Plunder was to create a game that captures the essence of both land and naval combat respectively while being able to seamlessly transition between the two. This is exactly what we did, and the results are more exciting than we had even realized.

Imagine this: you can play one game in a jungle environment with your guerrilla fighters, the next with your six guns sloop on the open ocean and the next on the coast, exchanging canon fire with a fortress while you undergo your amphibious assault, all using the same simple and intuitive rule set! Needless to say, the campaign and scenario possibilities that accompany this are virtually endless.

Blood and Plunder uses a card driven, player controlled, unit based activation system. What does that mean? Here is the gist: each player starts the game with a traditional 52 card deck. At the beginning of each round players draw a hand based on the number of units under their control (e.g., 4 units = 4 cards). To activate their units, each player chooses a card from their hand and reveals it simultaneously.

The cards will then determine two things: which player’s unit activates first and the amount of actions the units receive based on their experience rating. It is important to note that the more priority your card gives in turn order, the less actions your unit is likely to receive.

The result is an initiative system which gives the game a natural flow and greater strategic depth. Units are rated for experience and such things as fighting and shooting ability as well as their resolve to stay in combat. Many rules unique to the units also add a layer of historical accuracy."

This all sounds very exciting and we can't wait to see more on the game through gameplay videos and the like. The fact that we're getting a game where the same mechanics can apply to both the ship-to-ship combat and the land battles between warring crews makes for some interesting thinking when it comes to how to sort out campaigns and narrative play - two things we really like.

The Models

Another big thing about the world of Blood & Plunder is that all of the miniatures and the game itself has been designed to be Historically accurate and reflect the period. There's no romantic notion of piracy and the open seas here. With that in mind Firelock Games shared some of the renders for miniatures they haven't showed off with us...

Here's a little more from them on just what they were aiming for with the miniatures in this game.

"We are proud to say that our team has produced the highest quality miniatures in the genre. The aesthetic quality of our product speaks for itself, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

The historical accuracy of our models is unparalleled. Everything from the types of weapons that each nation used to the floppiness of the hats has been deeply scrutinized by world renown historian Benerson Little (Black Sails, History Channel) to make sure that the illusion of a 17th century battle happening on your table top is never broken."

"We currently have miniatures for troops and ships and are working on various types of terrain, including fortifications."

All of the miniatures you see here will be in 28mm scale, standing a little taller than their True comparatives with more of a Heroic quality to them. The models themselves are going to be made of metal, pewter to be specific, and the ships that they've designed will come in lightweight resin.

The models really are looking fantastic and it seems like they've paid incredible attention to detail when it comes to the outfits of the big characters as well as the regular crewmen that will be taking a shot or two for their captains.

We've seen a lot from the Spanish at the moment but I've no doubt that we'll be seeing a lot of other countries weighing in with their own crews soon enough.

Q&A Time

Now it's time for some questions from the community after the interview we had in last weeks Weekender show...

coxjul: This behaviour (piracy) went on for over a hundred years or more. Is there a particular time frame you’re starting with?

Yes, we are starting at the early stages of what most people would agree is the "Golden Age of Piracy". Specifically, our timeframe for the first set is roughly between 1660-1690. This is the age of the Buccaneer. We choose this setting as a starting point specifically because the pirates and privateers of this period where just as keen if not more so on attacking on land as they where attacking at sea.

This is the perfect setting for the game we have designed, a great mix of land and sea battles! But fear not Blackbeard fans, we will continue to steadily move the timeframe forward as we have big long term plans for this game.

sunabe: So what’s coming for the Dutch in Blood and Plunder?

Well, first off you can expect some Dutch Buccaneer leaders such as Bart Speirdyke, the popular captain who was killed by Captain Rivero de Pardal. An event which ended up leading to Morgan's raid on Panama. The Dutch will get some of their factions of course. You can expect factions like Dutch Colonial Militia, Dutch West India Company and the Dutch Navy.

donlou: What I’m very interested in are the ships, will there be 28mm scale plastic kits for them? And if so I bet there are going to be historically correct what makes it even more amazing.

We will have a full ever growing line of 28mm scale ships and boats. The ships are made from a very durable white resin and will include guns and rigging. You can rest assured the image of a period Sloop or Brigantine will be accurately portrayed on the table top!

Will You Be Taking To The High Seas?

I guess the only question left to ask now is whether or not this all sounds appealing to you? To whet your appetite all the more we have some more of the amazing scenery shots from the folks at Firelock Games where they've shown the game in action in all manner of settings.

One of the things that has really grabbed my attention has been the thought of just what kind of tables we could create for this game. The wealth of opportunity to work on bright and colour landscapes plus the addition of deep and shallow sea boards mean vast landscapes are crying out for attention.

Warren in particular has been grabbed by the way that these fellows have gone about creating this game. It's easy to see why with their amazing work behind the scenes to bring the game to life and give you an idea of the possibilities in terms of gameplay and more.

What do you think of Blood & Plunder so far?