Firelock Games’ Blood & Bayonets Kickstarter Now Funded!
January 31, 2025 by brennon
Firelock Games' new Napoleonic wargaming Kickstarter for Blood & Bayonets is now funded unlocking new options for those who want to dive into this period on the tabletop.
Blood & Bayonets Kickstarter // Firelock Games
Blood & Bayonets expands on the well-regarded Blood &... series of games by Firelock which started with Blood & Plunder. With Blood & Bayonets, you're stepping into the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars where you'll be able to command skirmishing forces of British, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
The Game // Blood & Bayonets
You will give into games consisting of between forty and sixty 28mm soldiers. These battles take place on land or sea or a mixture of the two if you prefer! At the core of the game are these smaller clashes which included skirmishes between patrols as well as raids and small ship actions. The Peninsular Campaign was packed with these. Additionally, Blood & Bayonets introduces the use of Formations including Lines and Column. Mastering what formation you need to be in will be important to victory.
You'll be able to play in well-matched scenarios, more narrative/historically based ones and also get stuck into a full campaign system, multiplayer games and solo endeavours if you prefer.
How To Play // Blood & Bayonets
Blood & Bayonets is placed on battlefields that are 3x3 or 3x4 feet meaning that you're going to get into the action quickly. Armies will be made to suit the nations but with thematic lists which focus on the likes of British Naval Landing parties or French forces made up of Swiss and Polish soldiers. This means that you can get into the nitty gritty with each encounter.
Units are activated using activation cards as with other Blood &... games which then evolves into alternate activation gameplay so you're never left out of the action. All of your dice rolls are done using regular d10 which will be familiar to those who have already played past Firelock games like Blood & Plunder.
Much like with other Firelock Games wargames, Blood & Bayonets has been designed to give people a good introduction to the period where Historical accuracy is paramount. However, this isn't done at the expense of fun and dynamic gameplay which gets you engaged from the off.
You can watch Rufus talk you through the basics of Blood & Bayonets here...
Blood & Bayonets Gameplay Basics // Firelock Games
Give the video a watch and see whether or not Blood & Bayonets could be for you. It feels like it sits well alongside games like Chosen Men but with the benefit of Firelock's easy-to-learn mechanics and years of tried and tested adaptation into other periods. Plus, naval battles!
Blood & Bayonets Pledge Options
Firelock Games has a couple of different options for those who want to get into Blood & Bayonets.
Digital Pledge // Blood & Bayonets
If you want to get stuck in and do some printing yourself then you can go for the Digital Only tier which comes with the Rulebook, Activation Deck and the Tokens & Rulers Set. If you want to get your hands on the physical book and tokens then you can go for something like the Captain Pledge which gets you what you see below.
Physical Pledge // Blood & Bayonets
If you prefer, you could also just go in for a particular pledge level and then mix and match what you want to either get more options for a second player or just to fill out your own collection.
Add-Ons // Blood & Bayonets
For example, you could go for the digital pledge and then just add the printed rulebook if you prefer. You can also get a whole bunch of different ships from Firelock Games in both plastic and resin. These are the only miniatures that Firelock are doing as part of this campaign as you can get Napoleonic wargaming figures from pretty much anywhere!
Stretch Goals are adding more upgrades into the mix for the likes of the main rulebook plus reference sheets to help you amid gameplay. Blood & Bayonets seems like it could end up being a great entry point for someone wanting to play the Napoleonic period but without having to worry about massed ranked-up troops by the bucketful!
Do you like the look of Blood & Bayonets?
"Blood & Bayonets seems like it could end up being a great entry point for someone wanting to play the Napoleonic period..."
Down the rabbit hole of Napoleonics we go …
Looks great 👍 reaver’s at sea ?