Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: Sir_Theo on February 24, 2017, 11:19:14 AM
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Last year I took part in the Kickstarter project for Blood and Plunder by a new company called Firelock Games. The Kickstarter was a email excellent example of how a project should run, lots of updates and very satisfied with the finished project.
The intriguing thing with this game was that it sold MN itself as a historical pirate game with a Historian (Benerson Little) attached to the project. This initial stage of the game was based in the 17th centuryand has rules for Spanish coasta Garda and colonial milita, English buccaners and militia, French Buccaneers and unaffiliated Brethren if the coast.The game also included rules for ship combat and can apparently handle naval and land fights in the same game. Not only have they made the game but they are also producing a line of miniatures and some beautiful looking resin ships (that I stupidly did not pick up)
Initial reports of the game seem positive. It used a card activation (they sell decks but it uses a standard card deck with jokers for Events) and D10s. There is a new Kickstarter scheduled soon called No peace beyond the line 1630-1700 whicb I believe covers the wars against the Spanish and the Dutch will make an appearance.
At present there doesn't seem to be a UK or European distributor but hopefully this will change!
(http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f390/sirtheo/DSC_0431.jpg)
(http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f390/sirtheo/DSC_0432.jpg)
(http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f390/sirtheo/DSC_0436.jpg)
(http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f390/sirtheo/DSC_0435.jpg)
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I was very pleased with the loot I received from supporting the Kickstarter. I have not played a game yet, but I can attest that the rulebook is very pretty!
-Michael
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I too was very pleased with my kickstarter backing as well until yesterday....I received a bill from Fed-Ex for nearly $60 for import fees, taxes, holding fees, etc. I was going to order some more factions, but not at the after kickstarter price and additional fees laid out by the courier company...VERY UNIMPRESSED NOW!!!
Hitman
>:(
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Yikes!
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Must be nice to be those courier companies who can arbitrarily charge you guys an arm and a leg... :`
At some point in the future I will be buying into this game (even if just to have it, it's so pretty). I think it's a great looking game and I'm sad I was out of funds when the Kickstarter rolled around.
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Firelock is actually attempting to do something about the Fedex issue for Canadian backers.
Email Alex (alex@firelockgames.com) about your issue if you haven't already talked to their support team.
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I sent Firelock Games an e-mail today and they responded (on a Sunday no less). They stated that they are getting rid of Fed Ex from their website and looking into a better courier company. I was very impressed with their professionalism as they stated a number of Canadian backers got screwed over by Fed Ex and that they (Firelock Games) were unaware of their (Fed Ex) exorbitant and ridiculous price gouging. I am back-on board with them and am looking into future purchases due to their professionalism and quick response. Their product line was never an issue or their stated shipping fees. It was the courier company that ruined my enthusiasm, however, Firelock Games have stepped up and are rectifying the situation by getting rid of Fed Ex(cess)!! Sorry folks, I couldn't resist that little dig.
Regards,
Hitman
8)
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It's great to see that Firelock are setting up stockists worldwide for their range. I noticed Caliber have everything in their website which is good for when I splash out on the ship's!
It also makes me more likely to back their future kickstarters. Looks like a game with a future.
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I noticed Caliber have everything in their website which is good for when I splash out on the ship's!
I assume you mean Caliver Books:
http://www.caliverbooks.com/figures/catviewer.php?&producer=189&range=Blood%20and%20Plunder&menu=2
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I assume you mean Caliver Books:
http://www.caliverbooks.com/figures/catviewer.php?&producer=189&range=Blood%20and%20Plunder&menu=2
I did, thanks.
The curse of autocorrect knowing best!
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The book and minis look very nice
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Is the main rule book only available as part of the £69 starter set. Have to say the prices seem very high, the ships especially so.
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Gents,
Would any of these figures do for King Philip's War colonists in your opinion?? Ie 1675-ish New Englanders?
Regards
Happy W
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I'm painting a bunch right now.
I would think any of the English Militia, painted properly, would be fine for KPW.
They have good pics of each group on their website, and let me know what you think.
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Thanks Hunter,
What size are they ...heroic 28s? ...Perry size 28mm? Any size comparison info or pic would be appreciated.
Cheers
HW
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Hello Happy Wanderer,
I got some of the new Blood&Plunder-Minis. They are much greater than for example the ECW-Minis from the Perry-Twins and slightly bigger than the ECW-Plastic-Range from Warlord-Games. Is this heroic 28s? Hope, this will help. Perhaps I can make some pics to show the next days.
Cheers Hannibal
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They don't quite fit into either category, but scale up better with heroic figures.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, the rules will work very well for King Williams war. In our next expansion we are going to include Native Caribbean factions. If I get my way we will do Native North Americans next and will cover King Philips war in earnest :)
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"If I get my way we will do Native North Americans next and will cover King Philips war in earnest"
Wow! Is that likely to be a kickstarter in the 'near' future??
I think a good number of existing figures already work but a more 'Northern settler' clothed look would really be spot on. Should I hold off getting any KPW figures if Firelock are going to step up to the plate on this?? Your figures are superb.
This sounds very promising for Colonial American conflicts 👏👏👏
Happ-ier Wanderer ;)
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Thanks Hunter,
What size are they ...heroic 28s? ...Perry size 28mm? Any size comparison info or pic would be appreciated.
Cheers
HW
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=88297.msg1091560#msg1091560 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=88297.msg1091560#msg1091560)
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Perfect!
Well done that man ;)
HW
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I believe calling this just a "Pirate system" really does not do the ruleset justice.
My daughter, who does a lot of painting for me because she's very good at it, asked me what I like so much about the rules. I had to think about it a bit, but it struck me that this is kind of a 17th C toolbox for almost any kind of skirmish warfare that I've been looking for for about 20 years.
The built in system for melee and shooting are very satisfying, and there are a good number of special abilities that each unit may have one or more of that allows you to tailor the skills to the unit you're looking to recreate.
We had a little skirmish back during the ECW here in MD in Annapolis MD, and I could easily see using these rules for that.
I have had a number of hobbies during my life, including black powder shooting, fencing, and sailing, and it's nice to see little nuances in the "real life" versions of these activities reflected in the game. I have a genuine sense that knowing how to sail really gives one a bit of an advantage in the game. More weatherly and more handy ships can make up for having fewer guns onboard.
Making decisions like firing all of a unit's guns in a volley vs. using a ranked type fire system is great, and is handled in a quick and logical way.
To put it mildly, I'm a fan.
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@Hunter776: Would you be up for writing a review of the game?
Or, if thats too much to ask, answer a few specific questions? :)
What size board does ship on ship battles require?
How big are the ships, in terms of ship class or number cannons?
Are there rules for boarding actions?
If so, how many miniatures do they recommend for boarding actions?
Also, does anyone know if there's a european distributer/dealer?
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Also, does anyone know if there's a european distributer/dealer?
Caliver Books: https://www.caliverbooks.com/figures/catviewer.php?pt1oj7une7uba784kqut10luu7&producer=189&range=Blood%20and%20Plunder&menu=2
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@Hunter776: Would you be up for writing a review of the game?
Or, if thats too much to ask, answer a few specific questions? :)
What size board does ship on ship battles require?
How big are the ships, in terms of ship class or number cannons?
Are there rules for boarding actions?
If so, how many miniatures do they recommend for boarding actions?
Also, does anyone know if there's a european distributer/dealer?
I want to play a few more times before I did anything like a review, but I've become fairly familiar with the rules and have played two full games. Allow me to attempt to answer your questions.
Troops have a points cost in this system, and they have recommended sizes of board depending on the points. 3'x3' is recommended for a 100 point game, and the typical 4'x6' is recommended for 300-400 point games. You should also understand that they have approximately ten scenarios in the game (and of course the option for dozens of home-made scenarios), and each scenario has set-up and victory recommendations for all-land, land and sea (amphibious), and all-sea versions.
Cannon are purchased individually on top of the cost of ships, and three are initially described in the rules, a sloop, a brigantine , and a light frigate. The ships alone with cannon would run anywhere from 20-100 points, depending on how outfitted they are. There is no minimum for the amount of swivel guns and cannon on board, but there are maximums.
I think 3x3 is a little tight to really do the fantastic naval rules justice. Pretty much anything over that works well. I call the ship rules fantastic because I have found that actually having sailing knowledge, and even more so historical knowledge, definitely will lead to better results. They've done a great job capturing the decisions that need to be made while not being overly complicated. You can tell a sailor was giving advice on the game from time to time.
There are definitely rules for boarding actions, which are completely integrated into the melee/combat rules, so you learn one combat system, not two.
To be a little more specific on the miniature count, we're doing an all land scenario this Saturday, and there are about 16 or so figures on each side at 100 points. So, say at 200 points with a ship, you're probably going to somewhere around 25 figures each, on average.
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Thanks for the information, its very helpful :)
I've ordered a copy (from Caliver Books, thanks Manatic), a couple of 3D puzzleships from Weico and researched how to build an ocean board!
Its a pirates life for me :)
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Thanks Hunter,
What size are they ...heroic 28s? ...Perry size 28mm? Any size comparison info or pic would be appreciated.
Cheers
HW
In the event that previous responses have not entirely answered this to your satisfaction, I can give a more precise answer based on both measurement and comparison with other figures in my collection. I have only one figure from the range, a "Howard Pyle-inspired pirate" from the Kickstarter, which measures 33 mm from the base to the crown of the head. It is notably larger than North Star's pirates, and just slightly taller than Black Scorpion's, which are described as 32 mm.
I don't know who the sculptor is, but the figure is very realistic and elegant in style to my eye, and very well detailed, with no exaggerated features.
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(http://)
This is the figure in question, which may be of interest, though it doesn't give any clues as to its size.
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They don't quite fit into either category, but scale up better with heroic figures.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, the rules will work very well for King Williams war. In our next expansion we are going to include Native Caribbean factions. If I get my way we will do Native North Americans next and will cover King Philips war in earnest :)
Hey Mike, are there any plans for having a Canadian retailer/distributor?
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(http://)
This is the figure in question, which may be of interest, though it doesn't give any cues as to its size.
The figures are on integral 20mm round bases...
I'll be replacing these with 25mm round plastics, as the 5mm difference isn't going to make much of a difference on ships, unless one were to position the figures in perfect rows.
Cannons are pointed individually, but purchased in pairs for ships...