A Pirate's Life!

So I got this game about a year ago and managed to play only two games. Lost in a sea of gaming awesomeness I couldn't manage to find more time for this very awesome game, that and the fact that I've been missing a regular dedicated gaming group of reliable gamers for this kind of game.

 Lately though I got the expension called Seas of Glory and I got back into the project of painting all the ships, including the new ones, and play the game on a more regular basis. 

First thing you guys and gals have to know is that I'm a huge fan of anything maritime, spending a good chunk of my childhood on a sailboat. Piracy, contraband, seafaring and such have always populated my imagination since then and some 30 years later I'm still fond of the sea and its many mysteries. I'm also a huge fan of Blacksails and if you haven't seen it yet, what are you doing matee?

No need to tell you this game was meant for me; in a market where good pirate games are scarce and few, the reviews on this one got me purchasing it in no time. So what's it like you ask? Well let me sum up the game for you.

An overall view of the table

You start as the humble captain of a humble ship; captains are determined randomly from a deck and you can end up with a french, english, spanish or dutch skipper. All of them have different stats and a unique special ability. You also get to choose your first ship out of two models, which is strongly influenced by the stats and special ability of your captain. If you tend more on the pirate side of things, a sloop is preconized for its speed and manoeuvrabiliy where if you lean more towards the merchant side, a big-hulled flute is all indicated. 

Painted ships!

This choice is not definitive in any way; later in the game, your fedup merchant can angrily raise the black flag or your pirate can try to get the pardon of the nation(s) he offended and get back to an honest living of trading around the caribeans. 

There is no better choice between the two, although many reviews will recommand new players to stick as merchants if not for the whole game at least for a while. Being a pirate is more of a high reward / high risk style of play and the slightest mistake can see you hanged in front of the governor's house after that english admiral has tracked and hunted you down. 

Now the game can seem a bit heavy at first, with all the sailing, trades, missions, rumors, NPC merchant ships raiding/pillaging and warship naval battles, not to mention the seas of glory expension including crew morale (...and mutiny), new gears for your ship, contrabancy rules an much, much more. A good thing about seas of glory is that every new module is optional, so you can play with what suits you the most. 

Now the ultimate goal of the game is to be the first to  rack up 10 glory points, and there are many ways to get those; stashing your gold in your hidden treasure chest, trading prized cargo, contraband, combat, completing missions, successfully investigating rumors and much, much more.

Stashin' up that spanish gold!

We had a 4-players game recently and we had a blast; a bit lost at first in that sea of options and rules, but in the end we got the hang of it and had a very enjoyable experience. This is a game I want to play more of and if like me you are a fan of anything piraty, this is a game I strongly recommend.