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Wargame Rules / Misc
- Review |
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| Pirates (3rd edition) |
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| By: Flagship Games |
| Info: A naval wargame using 25/28mm miniatures. |
| Rulebook: Spiral bound, A4, softcover. |
| Content: 82pp. Color cover, b/w and photo illustrations. |
| Price: $28.00US |
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Displaying Reviews: 1 - 1
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Average Reviewer Rating:
 
Number of Reviews:
1
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Looking for a fun day on the high seas?
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Reviewer
Rating:
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Reviewed by Witterquick (deaconreb@yahoo.com) April 10, 2005
Pirates! is a naval wargame using 25/28mm miniatures. The rules are built for two or more players, using any number of ships and crew.
Pirates! is played by having each player fill out orders sheets for each of his ships at the beginning of the turn. Each order consists of ship speed and heading, as well as other details such as crew movement and repairs. Once the forms are filled out, each player moves his ships according to the orders (this can result in ships colliding, if orders conflict). Following movement, there is an (optional) magic phase, then ordinance. Finally, if possible, crew combat. Once all the results have been resolved, then the next turn begins.
Gameplay is fairly quick, although with more than two players it can sometimes get confusing. The focus is on ship-to-ship combat, with detailed results for hit locations and critical damage. Melee between crews is handled through fairly simplistic stats.
There are statistics given for a wide range of historical ships and ordinance, as well several fantasy options like flying ships and ironclads. Side note: there are no size descriptions for the ships, but the resin ships that Flagship Games are all on the small side (6-14 for 25mm scale). There are crew stats for several different countries and fantasy races. The fantasy races are all recognizable from their counterparts in Warhammer (which the writer freely admits was the spawning ground of this game). Speaking of fantasy, theres also a fairly basic (and naval-oriented) spell and magic item list.
Pirates! is a fast, fun game thats pretty easy to learn (I taught it within an hour to five different players). There are enough options for ships, etc. already drawn up, but if your imagination goes beyond whats available theres rules for coming up with your own constructs.
Where the game hits its bumps is in what makes it fun. The entire game has a lighthearted, cinematic feel thats fun for those of us who favor the fantasy side of naval combat. Part of this is the use of critical hit tables that add certain bonuses, or even penalties, when high damage is done. Or rather, when damage is done, period. You roll on the critical hit table whenever you do 2 or more points of damage. With bolt throwers doing d3 damage, cannons d4, and great cannons d6, youre rolling on the tables almost every turn. Not only is that a lot of table rolling, but the games can become almost too random in the process. Id make it 3 or more instead, just to cut it down just a little bit.
While that seems to random, hitting ships is almost too easy. All you need to do is guess distance, which for most experienced players wont be too hard. As long as your guess lands somewhere on the ship, its a hit.
Also, theres a few odd and annoying editorial problems. For example, during the description of the hit location tables the rules say that a splash result means the ordinance misses. Only theres no splash result on the tables. Nothing major, just stuff that was probably held over from the previous edition.
Finally, the game could stand both an index and a collection of all the relevant tables, but thats true of a lot of games.
It sounds like a lot of criticism, but in actuality those are pretty minor grievances for what is a really fun game, and much more streamlined than the naval battle rules outlined in Warhammers Generals Compendium. The rules support many players easily, and make for a great game for conventions. Looking for a fun day on the high seas, or to reenact your favorite pirate movie? This is the game for you.
Witterquick
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7
out of
7
people found this review helpful
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