Freibeuter
Freibeuter Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
On Board
- Game board
- 100 wooden boats: 25 boats in each of 4 colors
- 74 sea cards: each card shows a sea field on the game board
- 1 Flying Dutchman: a red wooden boat
- 14 Dutchman cards: each card shows a row or a column on the game board
- 1 punchboard: 28 ships: 7 each with the values 5/1, 10/2, 15/3 and 20/4; 4 pirate lairs; 4 double values
- 62 cards: the treasure chests
- Rules
Before Setting Sail
Each player takes the 25 boats of one color, as well as treasure chests to the value of 20, and puts them all in front of him. The 88 cards are separated into the 74 sea cards and the 14 Dutchman cards. Each pile is shuffled, and each player is dealt 4 sea cards and 1 Dutchman card face down. The remaining sea and Dutchman cards are placed face down next to the game board.
The treasure chests and the Flying Dutchman are likewise placed next to the game board. One player should manage the treasure chests (the bank). All 36 tiles (ships, pirate lairs and double values) are shuffled face down (best by stirring them vigorously on the table). Then, starting in a corner, every intersection on the game board is covered with one tile. The tiles are laid face up.
The youngest player begins.
How Booty Is Made
Pirates want to make booty. That is what they are there for. There is booty whenever a ship has been boarded and is surrounded by boats. If a pirate manages this alone, the whole booty belongs to him. But since the boats are placed with the help of cards, and one does not always have the right ones in hand, this rarely succeeds. Mostly the dear fellow players have to help. And since nothing in the Caribbean comes free, they demand a share of the booty for their help.
So it is a pirate's life. In every turn a decision must be made: board a ship, or place a boat, sometimes also place the Flying Dutchman. Whoever has the best nose for the right action at the right time will end the game as the winner.
On the High Seas
The game is played clockwise. The player whose turn it is must carry out one of three possible actions:
- Board a ship, or
- Place a boat, or
- Place the Flying Dutchman
Boarding a Ship
The player plays no card. He simply places one of his boats on a ship of his choice. With that, he has boarded this ship. Boarding alone does not make anything happen yet. Only when the boarded ship is surrounded in a later turn is the booty distributed. Only one boat may lie on each ship. No boat may be placed on a pirate lair or on a double value. After this action the next player is immediately on turn.
Placing a Boat
The player chooses a sea card from his hand and places it face up on the discard pile that is formed next to the sea cards. On the sea field that the card indicates, he places one of his boats. If the field is empty, he must place his boat. If a boat already lies there, he can place his boat or instead take 2 treasure chests from the bank (see Sea Cards, page 3). Then the player draws a card. He may choose to draw either a sea card or a Dutchman card. However, every player must always have at least one sea card in hand. If there are no Dutchman cards left, only sea cards can be drawn. After that the next player is on turn.
Placing the Flying Dutchman
The player chooses a Dutchman card from his hand and places it face up on the second discard pile that is formed next to the Dutchman cards. On a sea field of his choice in the row or column that the Dutchman card indicates, he places the Flying Dutchman.
The player may carry out this action, however, only if placing the Flying Dutchman surrounds a ship (or a pirate lair or a double value). Otherwise a Dutchman card may not be played!
At the end of the turn the Flying Dutchman is taken off the sea field again and put next to the game board. Then the player draws a sea card or a Dutchman card as he chooses, and the next player is on turn.
When Is a Ship Surrounded?
A ship (or a pirate lair or a double value) is surrounded when each of the four adjacent sea fields is occupied by at least one boat, or by the Flying Dutchman. Both ships that have been boarded and those that have not been boarded can be surrounded.
Now the Caribbean Sea falls into uproar.
A Ship Is Surrounded
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There is no boat on the surrounded ship, i.e. it was not boarded: The ship escapes, nobody receives booty. The ship is taken from the game board and put back in the box.
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There is a boat on the surrounded ship, i.e. it was boarded: Now there is booty. The player to whom the boat on the ship belongs receives the ship. First, however, he must pay out the fellow players who helped him surround the ship. These are all who own at least one boat on one of the adjacent sea fields. Each receives from him, per boat, the lower number of treasure chests noted on the ship.
Example: Birgit has just placed her boat. With it a ship (15/3) is surrounded that was boarded earlier by Volker (his boat lies on the ship). Volker pays out: to Birgit 6 (for 2 boats) and to Dieter 3 treasure chests (for 1 boat). He must take these 9 treasure chests from his own supply. For his own boats he naturally has to pay nothing.
After the payout, Volker puts his boat that lay on the ship back with his other boats in his supply. Then he takes the ship and lays it face down in front of him. At the end of the game it is worth 15 treasure chests.
Only now can Birgit, who was on turn, draw a card and end her turn.
If a ship was surrounded by the Flying Dutchman, the Flying Dutchman does not need to be paid out. He belongs to nobody. The owners of the other boats are paid out as usual.
A Pirate Lair or a Double Value Is Surrounded
Just as around ships, boats are placed on the adjacent sea fields of pirate lairs and double values. And here too: only when a pirate lair or a double value is surrounded does something happen.
If a pirate lair is surrounded, it is taken away and laid face up next to the game board. Every player who has boats on the adjacent sea fields receives two treasure chests from the bank per boat. If a double value is surrounded, it is likewise taken away and laid face up next to the game board. It doubles at the end of the game the value of all ships with the same number. Nothing changes in the payout during the game if a double value is taken from the game board.
By placing a boat, or the Flying Dutchman, several ships, double values or pirate lairs can be surrounded at the same time. If payouts occur in this case, the player who placed the boat or the Flying Dutchman decides the order of the payouts (see Pirate Credit, page 4).
Sea Cards
For the outer fields (A1 - A7, G1 - G7, B1, B7, C1, C7, D1, D7, E1, E7, F1 and F7) there is one sea card each. For all the other fields there are two sea cards each. This means that on the inner sea fields up to two boats can be placed per field. If a player does not want to place a second boat on such a sea field, he lays the sea card on the discard pile as usual. Instead of placing the boat, he takes 2 treasure chests from the bank. He may do this only if a boat already lies on the sea field, no matter whom it belongs to.
Illustration note: for example the field F4: either place his boat there, or do not place the boat and take 2 treasure chests from the bank.
Pirate Credit
Pirates are insistent. If, after surrounding, a player cannot pay out his fellow players completely, he must take credit from the bank. At the end of the game the credit is repaid, and in double amount.
Example: In our previous example Volker had to pay out 9 treasure chests. Assume he has only 2 left. He takes 7 treasure chests from the bank. Now he has 9 and pays out Birgit and Dieter.
Then he takes another 7 treasure chests from the bank and places one of his boats from the supply on them. This boat serves as storage for all of Volker's credits and is no longer available to him during the game. The treasure chests under the boat naturally do not belong to Volker; they only remind him of the amount of his debts. At the end of the game Volker deducts double the number of treasure chests under the boat from his total booty.
The Victory Celebration
The game ends immediately when one of the three following cases occurs:
- The last pirate lair is surrounded and paid out.
- A player wants to draw a sea card and the pile is used up.
- A player has no boat left in front of him at the beginning of his turn.
All players now count their treasure chests. Then they turn their boarded ships face up and add their values to the treasure chests (do not forget double values!). The richest player has won.
Example: The double values 10x2 and 15x2 lie next to the game board. That means all 10/2 ships have the value 20 instead of 10 and all 15/3 ships have the value 30 instead of 15. Birgit has 36 treasure chests as well as 2 ships 5/1, 1 ship 20/4 and 2 ships 15/3 in front of her. Her total booty is 126 treasure chests: 36 treasure chests + (5 + 5 + 20) + (30 + 30) = 126.