With the Summer of Plunder in full swing, local game stores are also looking to get in on the action. The event is a great time for demos, open-play days, scenario gaming – maybe even a tournament or two. When Matt from Critical Hit Games reached out about getting some Plunder going in the shop, we were glad to host some open play.
Critical Hit Games in Abingdon is an awesome game store with loads of dedicated table-space for wargames. It’s a welcome change, in an era where most FLGSs are leaning harder and harder into TCGs in order to keep the lights on. Critical Hit also has a well-stocked horde of Firelock goodies, and even some rare stuff that you just can’t get anywhere else any more. Not only that, but Critical Hit is central to a very good Firelock community. After quarantine in 2021, the shop played host to one of the largest Blood & Plunder tournaments ever – with numbers to rival the recent battles at Adepticon!
Dangerous Territory
Week 2’s objective was to play a game using either Shoals at sea, or Fortifications on land. Being a Quartermaster, I set up a sea demo with some simple shoals, and then set up an amphibious table for the Raid scenario with a trio of gun emplacements – and a land table with the Stone Tower Fort.
It was Father’s Day weekend, and lots of dads were busy with family – one was even installing new home appliances! Always “fun”. Still, we had half-a-dozen players show up and throw in some games for the Summer of Plunder. The event has really been great for getting people out to the game table to dust off their rulebooks and ply their cutlasses. I was able to play in 3 games while I was there.
Game 1 – Encounter
My first game, I went up against Kurtis and Jim. Those on the Discord have seen Jim’s gorgeous resin Sloop model, and I was eager to put a face to the name. His sloop is just as awesome in person, with the slightly miscast mast socket giving it a really cool raked-back mast that has me thinking about intentionally drilling out the hole in my own sloop!
The two of them had just played a small, 100pt sea game against each other, so I grabbed my 200pt Demo force just to get on the table in a hurry. My poor Brigantine went up against a duo of fast, gunned-up Sloops. For the briefest moment, it looked like I might make a daring escape when I had one of their ships on the other side of some shoals, and offered them a double-broadside from my guns.
For my trouble, I was quickly boarded amidships, while the second sloop shot my quarterdeck to pieces. My French fought valiantly, but alas, they were defeated.
Game 2 – Control the Field
For game 2, I played against Ray. He was finishing a game, so I put together a “proper” 200pt list with the French that I had available. I ended up with the ‘Last Buccaneers’ – a list that I’ve been playing around with for a while now. The idea is to “out efficiency” the swivel-guns by being far more accurate than them.
The Sharpshooter joins the Flibustiers with the Captain, who has ‘Strict’. Together, this lets them drop the unit down to hitting on a 4+, but also allows him to command a unit of Swivels or the Kapers to shoot on 5+.
Control the Field isn’t the best scenario for this list, but it’s still very good. You can give up the Strike Point for getting up wind, and just “kite” your opponent by fleeing away off your own board edge.
Ray was running a Light Frigate with 5 Light Guns, swivels, and assorted small-arms. I was able to keep him at range for quite a while, blazing away with my accurate shooting, forcing his troops to keep their heads down and nearly clearing his foredeck entirely.
Eventually, he caught up to me and it became a game of cat-and-mouse to dodge his boarding attempts. His cannons were turning my ship into match-sticks, though. With the new Cannon rules, even Light Guns can be a real threat. The battle went all the way to Turn 6, with both of us fighting just to force a draw. We ended 2:2 on Strikes, but I beat him on casualties – having killed off half his crew.
Game 3 – Breakthrough
For my last game, I played against Matt. Matt is “the guy” for Historicals at Critical Hit, and has a growing collection of Plunder gear. I recycled my list, pitting it against his English Navy on a Tartana full of Swivel Guns.
I don’t have pictures of this game. Matt’s Tartana came straight at me, and ate full volleys of very accurate gunfire for his trouble. We traded shots back and forth – until eventually we got into a boarding fight. By that time however, his forces were too drastically depleted to have much chance slogging through a shipload of angry Frenchmen.
It’s a Hit!
Critical Hit still remains one of the very best options for events and casual gaming in the region. Summer of Plunder has players showing up for regular weekly games of B&P, and they’re hoping to start running monthly scenarios and open days after Historicon. Blood Bowl enjoys some very serious league play in the shop, which goes to show that the store is filled with friendly gamers who prefer a good time to “winning.” It also indicates that it might be worthwhile to run an in-store campaign, once Summer of Plunder wraps. So, stay tuned for that!
