Battle Report: Sortie from Castillo San Marcos

Sortie from Castillo San Marcos

Summer of Plunder 2026 Week 1

This week, I played the Sortie from Castillo San Marcos scenario from the 2026 Organized Play Kit. As a French player who also has a decent amount of Spanish models, I opted to fight the Spanish Force from the scenario.

I brought a French Caribbean Militia force consisting of:

8 Milices des Caraïbes with an Untested Standard French Commander
6 Flibustiers with a Cook Fighting Man
8 Engagés

Deployment

The Spanish Milicianos Reformados with Jose de Zuniga Y La Cerda deployed in the center of attacker's deployment zone in hopes to deploy the other forces on the wings and still be in command range.

I deployed my unit of Engagés first in an area where they would be able to move to cover while keeping my Trained units in reserve who would benefit from having more actions and could move and respond to the Spanish as the battle progressed.

The French Engagés see the Spanish approach

Turn I

The Engagés move toward cover and push to arrive safely at the crates/barrels. Jose de Zuniga Y La Cerda responds by commanding the Lanceros and Milicianos Indios to each move. His own unit follows suit with two move actions. The Lanceros and Milicianos Indios each follow with two move actions attempting to get close enough to buildings to set them ablaze.

The Spanish on the move

The Lanceros reach the first building.

Turn II

With two succesfull rolls, both of my reserve units enter the battlefield. I deploy them on the field opposite the Lanceros since the Milicianos Indios was only a four man unit.

The French reserves enter the fray

The Engagés move forward and fire upon the Milicianos Indios causing one casualty and two fatigue.

Engagés shooting Milicianos Indios

Jose de Zuniga Y La Cerda commands his Lanceoros to light the Church on fire, but even after spending a fortune, it doesn't catch. He orders the Milicianos Indios to keep moving toward their target building. His own unit moves up to give fire to the Engagés.

Milicianos Reformados line up shots on Engagés

The shoot attack takes down two Engagés. The Lanceros continue to attempt to light the church on fire and succeed after spending another fortune.

The Church ablaze

The Flibustiers take three move actions to attempt to join the fight. On the other side of the battlefield, the Milicianos Indios shake off some fatigue behind the safety of a building. The French Commander moves his unit in behind the Flibustiers and then commands them to move forward again. Thankfully for the French, the fire does not spread to the rest of the church.

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The French react to the burning church

The board at the end of Turn II

Turn III

The Lanceros turn their attention to the Flibustiers and start a charge. The Flibustier get off a few reactionary shots, dropping one Lancero, but take two casaualties of their own from the charge.

The charge of the Lanceros

The Cook rallies his unit and they fire their pistols into the ensuing melee. The Flibustiers fight again and cause the Lanceros to route thanks to some well spent fortune

The Flibustiers counterattack

The Milicianos Indios are adept skirmishers and step out from their cover to rain arrows upon the Engagés who suffer a casualty, become shaken, and are force to retreat to cover.

Three Indios shake the Engagés

The French commander pushes his unit to move into the central building and commands the Flibustiers to move up on the Spanish as well, but the Spanish respond with a charge that routes the Flibustiers with their overwhelming numbers after the defensive fire from the Flibustiers misses its mark.

The Flibustiers are routed

The Milicianos Reformados turn their attention toward the Milices des Caraïbes and charge. The Milices des Caraïbes make defensive fire and inflict five casualties, but the charge continues. The attack results in two Milices des Caraïbes casualties who are shaken and forced to retreat. Meanwhile the fire in the church spreads to the rest of the building.

The board state at the end of Turn III

Turn IV

The Milicianos Reformados get the initiative, shake off some fatigue, and charge into the shaken Milices des Caraïbes causing an additional casualty and some additional fatigue. The French spend the entire turn managing fatigue. The Milices des Caraïbes shake off three fatigue while the Engagés shake off two.

Milices des Caraïbes engaged with Milicianos Reformados

The Milicianos Indios take this opportunity to move in, push and loose some more arrows. The French originally take two casualties, but spend a fortune and end up taking three instead resulting in being shaken again.

These Engagés have seen better days

At the end of the turn, the Church has successfully been destroyed, but this fight seems it will go to the last man.

The destroyed church

Turn V

The French are forced to spend the entire turn managing fatigue again with both units shaken. The Milicianos Reformados rally and attack causing two casualties against the Milices des Caraïbes even after spending their last fortune. The Milicianos Indios charge into the Engagés but the attack is inconclusive.

The grey blob of Milicianos Indios close the gap

Turn VI

Jose de Zuniga Y La Cerda orders his unit to fight, causing a casualty and routing the French Commander's unit. He then commands the Milicianos Indios to fight who successfully route the last French unit.

Santiago!

BLUNDER: I reviewed the solo play rules for Blood & Plunder, but promised myself that I would be impartial in my activations and tactics while controlling both factions. I drew a card off the top of the deck for each force, but didn't actively choose when to play which card from my hand.

PERIL: Removing player agency of allowing you to play certain cards hoping to activate first left my French at a disadvantage. The Spanish luckily activated first during crucial points in the game which help secure their victory.