Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've recently been following Blood and Plunder by Firelock games and plan on tossing large amounts of cash at the Kickstarter coming April 19th. Was wondering if anyone else was as super excited about this as I am? For those though that haven't heard of it here's a brief rundown.

It's set in the Caribbean in the 17th century and looks to be going for as much historical accuracy as possible. Firelock games has hired Bennerson Little who is the historical adviser for Black Sails on Starz to not only ensure accuracy in model design but also to ensure that the rules reflect the tactics of the time. So far the miniatures they have shown have been outstandingly beautiful, and they will have both pirates and ships. The games rules will in fact allow for games that take place completely on land, completely at sea, or a mixture of both. The ships too will be fairly priced as well ranging from 35-75 USD. I don't know of any other 28mm ships that have the quality that Blood and Plunders will at that competitive of a price. I've also included some links below for those interested.

Official site

http://www.firelockgames.com/

Beasts of War preview of ships

http://www.beastsofwar.com/blood-plunder/exclusive-firelock-ships/

A nice preview of aspects from the game by Beasts of War

http://www.beastsofwar.com/blood-plunder/firelock-games-blood-plunder/

For those asking about ship combat here is a small snippet from Mike Tunez Lead designer.

"Each ship that is under sail will move 3 times during a turn. Each ship has various "speed" settings (read sail trim). Each time a ship moves, it will move at its current sail setting +/- any weather or damage effects. Point of sail is broken down into 3 points: In Irons (bow closer than 45° to the wind) Sailing Windward (Bow pointed toward wind but not in irons) and Sailing Large (Wind 'abeam or astern). Ships can make no headway if in irons, get a penalty to movement to windward (varies based on ship) and move normally when sailing large.

Units aboard ships are assigned to "sections" of the ship. Ships can vary between 1-4 sections depending on size and type. Units can take move actions to move from one ship section to another and all measurements taken to target units are taken to and from the sections they are in. This eliminates the need for measuring within the ship which lets you add some rigging without it getting in the way of game play and goes a long way in keeping things moving at a good pace. Units on ships use their actions to do typical things like shoot, reload, rally, change sail setting, repair critical damage and attempt sailing maneuvers such as tacking and box hauling.

When firing on a ship, you choose a deck section to target within your firing arc. You can aim at the hull or rigging. Each have a separate damage track and fortitude (defense) value. Fortitude values decrease as the ship takes on damage. Fortitude value is also tied in to critical hits so as your fortitude decreases the amount and severity of damage to your ship increases. Each hit against the ship's hull also carries with it the chance of causing casualties against the units in the struck sections, which in turn brings the chance of units panicking!
One of my favorite things is that even when you fill in all of a ship's damage boxes, it can keep on fighting (provided the captain doesn't strike!) it takes rolling the right critical hit to actually destroy a ship, so most games end in boarding or in striking...as they did historically.
Boarding is done using a "charge" action against an opposing ship within 3". The ship is then pulled into contact. The charging unit can then move a single model (just to mark that the units are engaged) into an adjacent deck section on the opposing ship. And engage a unit in that deck of the defenders choice. If a section is cleared of enemy models, all of models in the victorious unit may immediately move all of its models into that deck to occupy it. Stay tuned for more glimpses of game play."

I understand the shipping issue, I had this same issue when I Kickstarted Warpath. The shipping was 30 bucks and I'm very used to paying free shipping from most everyone here in the U.S., but I have to say for me it comes down to whether or not I truly believe the game is worth it. The how to play videos combined with the render's for the sculpts have definitely put me over the edge to where I could accept heavy shipping cost. Obviously the shipping is a little better for me on Blood and Plunder since I am in the U.S. so I guess you just have to decide if the game plus the exclusives are worth the shipping.