British vs Pirates: Volume 1

British vs Pirates: Volume 1 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Modes

Annihilation: Build your fleet by assigning Captains to each ship. May your ship be the last one afloat. (see page 4)
Merchant Escort: Escort your merchant ship (Fluyt) to the other edge of the map before the enemy's merchant reaches the edge of the map. (see page 16)

Components

4 Sloops
1 Zebec
5 Frigates
3 Fluyts
3 Galleons
3 Line Ships
1 Wind Vane
19 Ship Cards
10 Captain Cards
58 Skill Cards
36 Six-sided Dice (D6)
3 Twelve-sided Dice (D12)
1 Mission Book
1 Rule Book
9 Sea Tiles

Game Setup

Now that you know how to play, let's setup!

For a 2-player game, place the Wind Sea Tile (the tile with "Wind Vane" text) in the center of the play area. Each player chooses a starting Sea Tile and connects it to the Wind Sea Tile. Note: Add additional Sea Tiles when there are more than two players.
Place the Wind Vane miniature on the hex with the Wind Sea Tile.
Each player chooses two Ship and two Captain cards with each ship having one Captain. When there are more than two players, each player will choose one Ship and one Captain card.
Ship and Captain cards: Using the provided D6, place the dice on top of the corresponding printed die numbers on the Ship card. Place one die on the Captain card in the appropriate area over Crew Morale.
Each faction has a Skill card deck. Shuffle the decks and place them face down. Deal 3 Skill cards to each player of that faction. These cards are to remain concealed from opposing players and are non-tradable during the game. There are 4 different color Skill cards: Green, Red, Blue and Yellow. Note: Yellow cards can only be played when it is not your turn.
Match your Ship card with the miniature ship and place your miniature ship anywhere on your starting Sea Tile.

Sea Tile Setup

2 - 3 Player Annihilation Sea Tile Setup with at least 2 Ship and Captain cards per team

4+ Player Annihilation Sea Tile Setup with at least 4 Ship and Captain cards per team

Use 5 Sea Tiles for medium length ship battles
OR use all 9 Sea Tiles for large epic battles

Start Playing!

At the start of the game, one player from each team rolls a die. The highest roller chooses to go first or picks the direction of wind using the Wind Vane. When it is a team's turn, they can move and attack in any order. When all of their ships have conducted their actions, it is the other team's turn.

Your Turn

At the start of your turn, increase your crew morale by one (rotate the D6) on your Captain card to its printed maximum die number. If your D6 is already maxed out, skip this step.
Draw new Skill cards from your faction's Skill card deck to a maximum of 3 cards in your hand. You may discard Skill cards at any time but only draw new ones at the start of your next turn. If you already have 3 Skill cards, skip this step.
Each ship is allowed two types of actions per turn: movement and attack.

a) A movement action consists of moving your ship on the map. This can be done before or after your attacking action (see page 8).

b) There are two types of attack actions: cannons or boarding. You may only use one of these attack actions per ship per turn (see page 9 through 12).

Ship Card

Ship Name
Class of the Ship
Faction
Type of Cannon
Cannon's performance
Ship Speed given the direction of wind
Pivots allowed per turn
Bow Defense: Place D6 here
Starboard Defense: Place D6 here
Stern Defense: Place D6 here
Port Defense: Place D6 here
Structure Defense: Place D6 here
Ship Size: Small, medium and large

Captain Card

Captain's Name
Faction is also located on the back of the card
Crew Morale: Place D6 here
Grapple bonus
Repel Bonus
The Captain's Ship Size Bonus. (When this Captain is sailing this size ship they receive a bonus.)

Skill Card

Faction (face of the card)
Color of the Skill Card:
- Green = Speed Card
- Yellow = Defense Card
- Red = Attack Card
- Blue = Special Card
Name of the Skill Card
Crew Morale required to use this card
Card rules

Movement Action

Speed - Each ship has six reference points for speeds on the card. These different speeds represent how many spaces your ship can travel in relation to the wind. Consult the Wind Vane to determine which direction the wind is blowing. Ships must travel forward, the direction the bow (front) is pointing.

Pivot - Your ship's maximum allowable pivot is located on the ship card. Each facing change within a hexagon counts as one pivot.

During your movement action, your ship can either pivot then move or move then pivot. If you pivot your ship prior to moving forward, the speed of your ship may change depending on the wind.

Ship's cannot - Move backwards, sideways, over land or through other ships. They may not move, pivot, and then move again.

Example: Using the stats above and example below, the wind is moving toward the stern (rear) of the ship. This allows it to move a maximum of three spaces and pivot a maximum of two.

Attack Actions: Firing Arcs and Line of Sight

Firing arcs are colored green in the example below. Firing arcs are located on both sides of your ship, facing outward. Range is measured from the center of your ship's hexagon counting toward the enemy ship.

If you have targets on both sides of your ship and within the firing arc, you may shoot at both in the same turn. Be mindful of land, other ships and any other obstacles that may block your line of sight.

Line of sight is measured from the center of your ship's hexagon to the center of the target ship's hexagon.

Attack Action: Targeting a Ship

Where damage can be dealt will depend on which side of the target ship is facing the attacking ship. In the examples below, the red area indicates which sides of the target ship may receive damage.

Example A: The target ship's bow is the only side that can receive damage from this angle.

Example B: The target ship has two vulnerable sides, the bow and the starboard. Before the attacking player uses Skill cards or fires their cannons, they must identify which side of the target ship they are targeting. Only one side may be targeted.

Example C: The target ship has one vulnerable side because another ship is partially blocking its port side. The stern is the only side vulnerable to attack.

Attack Actions: Cannons

Cannon stats are located on the Ship card. In the event of the attacker rolling a 1 during either a boarding or cannon action that die roll is a fail/miss. Otherwise, if the die roll is a tie the advantage goes to the attacking player counting it as a success/hit. When attacking a target with cannons follow these steps:

Identify your firing arc and what part of the target ship you are shooting. (see pages 7 and 8)
Determine how many spaces away the target ship is.

18lb Exquisite Cannons 1 space 2 spaces 3 spaces 4 spaces
Number of Dice 2 2 3 X
Cannon Accuracy 0 1 3 X
Roll the appropriate number of D12 based on how many spaces away the target ship is.
Add the appropriate cannon accuracy and any other modifiers (such as Captain abilities or Skill cards) to your D12 roll result. If your modified roll is equal to or greater than the target ship's D6 (located on their Ship card) plus its defense, your attack is a hit.

18lb Exquisite Cannons	1 space	2 spaces	3 spaces	4 spaces
Number of Dice	2	2	3	X
Cannon Accuracy	0	1	3	X

Example: The attacking ship is 2 spaces away from the target ship and is aiming for their port defense. The attacker rolls two D12s at the same time and adds each result to their cannon accuracy. In this case, the target ship only receives 1 damage to the port side. The defending player then rotates their port D6 down one.

(The example graphic is captioned: attacking ship's 18lb Exquisite Cannons at 2 spaces, 2 dice, cannon accuracy 1; a green D12 with "+1 = 12 HIT"; a red D12 captioned "FAIL/MISS"; and the target ship's port defense D6 captioned "+6 = 11".)

Attack Actions: Boarding

Follow the steps below to perform a boarding action:

Both ships must be within 1 hexagon of each other.
Both players may choose to use Skill cards to aid their chances of success prior to dice rolling.
Both players roll a D12 then add it to their Crew Morale D6 and their Grapple or Repel stat. (Attacking = Grapple, Defending = Repel)
Whichever side has a lower total number or rolls a 1, fails and receives 1 Structure Damage and rotates their Crew Morale D6 to 1. The winner of the boarding gains maximum Crew Morale. All ties result in the attacking player's favor.

Example: The attacking player (Captain Valentine) is attempting to board Captain Redne's ship. Both players roll a D12 then add Crew Morale + Grapple or Repel stat + any additional bonuses.

(The example graphic shows: Attacking Player, Captain Valentine, dice roll plus crew morale plus 0 = 17. Defending Player, Captain Redne, dice roll plus crew morale plus 1 = 16. Captain Valentine's card shows Grapple 0, Repel 1, Small = +1 Speed. Captain Redne's card shows Grapple 2, Repel 1, Medium bonus.)

Attack Actions: Receiving Damage

When a ship is attacked and receives damage, rotate the appropriate D6 on the Ship card to the next lower number. When a D6 can no longer rotate any lower remove it and begin rotating the Structure D6 (middle D6).

Structure damage occurs if there are no Bow, Starboard, Stern, or Port D6s to absorb the shot. Structure damage does receive the defense bonus from the side it is being attacked. For example, if the ship's Bow D6 is removed, the structure is exposed to being shot at from the Bow, and, still receives the Bow Defense bonus. When the Structure D6 is removed, the ship is sunk.

Ship penalties are revealed when your ship removes a D6. For example, if the Bow D6 is removed, then the ship's speed is reduced to 1.

(The example graphic shows the Structure D6 at the center with the Port, Starboard, Bow and Stern defense D6s around it, captioned +6 Port Defense, +6 Starboard Defense, +4 Bow Defense and +4 Stern Defense.)

Merchant Escort

Factions will try to protect their Merchant ship as they sail it from one side of the Sea Tiles to the other.

Starting Conditions

Divide the players as evenly as possible amongst the factions. All faction ships start on their own Sea Tile at the edge of the play area, shown in green below. The only time a ship may move on to a half hexagon is at the start of the game or when the Merchant ship successfully reaches its destination.

Note: Two players, each player chooses 2 ships/captains in addition to their faction's Merchant ship (Fluyt).

Note: Three or more players, each player chooses at least 1 ship/captain and the player sailing the Merchant ship must be identified. Turn orders may not be changed once the game starts.
Each faction rolls a D6 and the highest roll goes first or chooses the direction of the wind. The second highest roll does the option not chosen by the high roll.

Sea Tile Setup

2 faction setup
3 faction setup

Victory Conditions

The goal for each faction is for their Merchant ship to reach an opposing edge of the map shown in green above. The first Merchant ship to accomplish this wins. If a Merchant ship is sunk that faction loses. However all ships may still continue attack one another until a faction wins or all Merchant ships are sunk.

Advanced Rules

Do you want to take your ship combat to the next level? We do! Here are some advanced sailing rules to add more immersive strategy.

Minimum Movement

All ships must move a minimum 1 on their turn. Pivots are considered a movement.

Stealing Wind

At the start of your turn, if your ship is within 2 spaces and down wind of another ship that is equal or greater than your Ship Size, your ship Speed and Pivot is reduced to 1 this turn. (See example below.)

Ship sizes: Small ships: Sloop, Zebec. Medium ships: Frigate, Fluyt, Galleon. Large ships: Line Ship.

Example graphic caption (as printed): at the start of their next turn, the maximum ship speed and pivot is 1.