Hoist the Mainsail
A 'Blood and Plunder' Tournament
It was an amazing day yesterday.
I took part in the ‘House the Mainsail’ tournament at the Entoyment Store in Poole. Three hours drive on Sunday morning to be there for 10 am.
It was a long time coming. In April 2023 I wrote this message to Bob Emmerson, the tournament organiser:
Hiya buddy, I am from the Blood and Plunder Players UK group. I am looking for players, as I haven't had a chance to play a single game yet. Interested in playing and owning stuff for a couple of years now. You seem to be quite active in painting and so on, so I thought I'd check with you. I live near Cardiff in Wales, How far away are you? Do you know anyone near me who plays? It's a small world in the end, so I thought I'd ask. Have a nice day, Bartosz
Bob replied that he is based in Poole and that he will be organising events in the future. Poole is a bit too far from Caerphilly, to have a pickup game, but I was willing to travel for an event!
A few months later I was in the car, ready to go!
Here is a picture of the force I mentioned in the video. I really like events as they are good deadlines to work towards. The last unit of Pnieses I finished in the last week of September, with the final miniature painted on Saturday, a day before the tournament.
I arrived safely a few minutes before 10 am and I was able to take a look at the shop, and the tables and say hello to Bob, who was still setting some stuff up.
The Entoyment store is heaven for a historical Wargamer. All games I play (Barons War, Blood and Plunder, Bolt Action, Legion), hope to play (Test of Honour), or considered buying into (By Fire and the Sword) are well stocked there. It took a lot of willpower to not buy anything on impulse!
Game 1
Soon after the time has come for the first game! I was placed to play against Mark, who told me this was his 6th game of Blood and Plunder. We played the Breakthrough scenario. I have won the attacker/defender roll-off thanks to the force-specific rule that gives a +2 bonus to my Iroquois for said roll-off.
I have played this scenario recently as a defender and did quite well not allowing my opponent to intrude on my defensive zone, so I thought it would be interesting to have a go as the attacker this time. I used my ‘Lay in Wait’ rule to get one of my units deployed after all other units were placed on the table. I could place it anywhere I wanted as long as they were 9 inches away from the opponent's force and prone.
I placed my Pnieses - the strongest, hard-hitting, veteran unit on the right side of my deployment zone, and my experienced units of Braves (who had a commander with them) and Warriors (whom I equipped with bows for 1 point per model) on the left. The thinking behind it was to hopefully occupy two of 4 units of Mark’s Caribbean Militia with Pnieses, while I try to get the scenario objective on the left flank - entering the opponent's deployment zone by the end of round 3.
I started by reducing the numbers of the closest enemy group by a range fire from Warriors and Braves. While being lucky not to get casualties on my side. I helped Mark with figuring out how the command points work in the game and he used the rules to his advantage ever since.
My Pnieses started to move forward and soon enough they encountered a musket fire from one of Mark’s units, which moved closer towards my veterans. I suffered a casualty. In the next round Pnises engaged with the other enemy unit on the right flank. They were quite successful in melee, but soon after Mark’s musketeers charged the Pnieses and wiped them out in another round.
Still, my two units on the left were now faced by an equal number of units. I was no longer outnumbered on that side of the table.
Mark may not have played many Blood and Plunder games, but he is a fluent wargamer. The game was very close, we both suffered two strike points through casualties and the only thing that flipped the game my way was that I managed to complete the scenario objective. It was a 2:3 win for me and a lot of fun was had.
Game 2
In the next game, I faced Philippo. Earlier, before the competition started we realised that not only did we both play Iroquois, but we both played the Mohawk faction!
Mohawk vs. Mohawk! You couldn’t make it up. Our lists were totally different though. Phillipo ran two units of Braves one unit of Warriors (no bows) and a 3 men's unit of Young Braves, he also played a character, who allowed a unit to rally as a free action.
This game was a highlight for me as I was able to learn a few tricks and I’ve learned a rule or two I wasn’t applying to my games previously. The most important of which was that if a unit engaged in melee (but didn’t charge) could use excess of its actions to gain a rolling bonus for its fight tests! A game changer!
We played the Control the Field scenario where the opponent would gain a strike point as soon as you control two (of three) objective markers. The game was brutal from the beginning. We were charging each other as and when we could. I managed to control two markers at the end of round 1 and either at the end of this or the second round I managed to inflict the second strike point through casualties. At this stage, I thought the game was over. It was due to what happened to me in the last gaming session I had before the tournament, where my friend Ken managed to do the same to me. Equally quick. The game finished then. Basically, the rules state that as soon as a player gains a two strike points difference over the opponent, the opponent has to roll for a strike test, UNLESS his commander is dead, as in this case, the game is over immediately. In the session with Ken, I lost as my commander was dead, hence my confusion. Philippo’s commander was alive and he rolled 8 for the strike test. He passed, the game continued and it was a lot of fun! I have learned a few tricks about my force, and it opened my eyes to using characters in games.
The game was intense and there were some cinematic moments. For example, a unit of 3 Phillipo’s Young Braves charged a unit of 5 of my Pnieses and managed to shake them, or at the end of the game, Philippo’s commander singlehandedly killed my Warrior with musket and then charged my Braves.
It was a close game again. I managed to win by one strike point 3:4.
I was so busy with playing that I only took a few pics with my phone and only took my camera out when I saw this happening at the table next to us!
Although I didn’t face calvary in my games, thanks to it being present I finally got to know how it works!
Game 3
In the last game of the tournament, I faced Phil’s Spanish force! It was the first time I faced this Nationality so it was another bonus added to quite a big bag of new experiences/scenarios I encountered at the tournament.
One thing I was worried about was the number of miniatures Phil had. It was either 24 or 26 to my 18.
The scenario we played was Take and Hold where an opponent gets a strike point if at the end of round 3, you managed to stay within 4 inches from the objective marker and your opponent had no unit within that distance.
I went aggressively shooting at and shaking rather quickly the only unit with muskets. I had some incredibly lucky rolls in this game, that definitely helped me. Phil was quite aggressive too. While I thought he was aiming to claim an objective he charged my Pnieses instead.
I am quite pleased how I played it tactically, but as I mentioned some very lucky rolls were a factor that gave me a 1:4 win.
Here is the final action of the game. My Iroquois control the centre of the table.
Sea Games
I think the biggest eye opener to me was how well the Natives can do in sea battles. Philippo played two with his Iroquois force and they both were very close. He only used canoes and boats!
It got me very inspired. I promised that if (I’d rather say when) I come for the next tournament I will come with a list for a sea battle! In fact, today morning I took out, cleaned, and washed three Northern Native American canoes. They are next in my painting queue!
With three successes I’ve managed to win the tournament! I am very chuffed. As a prize I received a £20 voucher to spend in the store and I did that straight away! I used it to get a Piragua, which was the only Native American kit from Firelock games I didn’t own previously! Well maybe excluding the King Phillip mini that is currently out of stock everywhere…
Final Thoughts
What can I say… I am very happy I took the opportunity and set for a trek to Poole. I was very pleased meeting other Blood and Plunder players in the UK and linking with them for possible future games. I’ve learned so much about the game and got very excited about the possibility of playing sea battles. I was more than amazed by the Entoyment store, which showed me that if someone really cares, they can stock a relatively small systems on a large scale.
I want to say a big thank you to Bob for organising the tournament and through it making my experience possible. I will do my best to come to the next one! I want to say thank you to all my opponents for having fun games, teaching me a lot, and being patient with me when it was needed LOL.
I had a blast and I can’t wait for more!
