Ice Pirates of Harbour Grace
Ice Pirates of Harbour Grace Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Rules of Play
Object
The object of Ice Pirates is to sail through the frozen waters of Conception Bay in order to find and dig up the Pirate Admiral's treasure and stash it somewhere no other pirates (your opponents) can find it.
Be careful. Find the treasure, the other pirates will be hot on your trail! You win by taking the treasure to the pirate safe haven of Harbour Grace or by fleeing out between Bay de Verde and Pouch Cove into the open water of the Atlantic Ocean.
Contents
- 83 Cards
- 30 Bay cards (search for treasure)
- 6 Port cards (upgrade your ship by docking here)
- 1 Bell Island card (cast off from here)
- 21 upgrade cards (all pirates want more stuff)
- 18 map cards (X marks the spot)
- 1 treasure card (buried by the Pirate Admiral)
- 3 wind direction cards (showing available moves)
- 6 ship cards (set sail!)
- 22 crew chips (they're blue!)
- 6 captain chips (they're not!)
- 6 ship stands
- 4 six-sided dice
- 1 large wind card (the direction the wind is coming from)
Set-Up
Game Map: Shuffle the Bay cards and place them and the Port cards in the middle of the playing surface to form Conception Bay as shown in Figure 1.
Starting position: Each player takes a ship stand and captain chip of the same color, a ship card and three blue crew chips. Attach the ship stand to your ship and place it on Bell Island in the middle of the board. Stack your captain and crew in front of you, with the colored captain chip on top.
Place an additional stack of four blue crew chips beside the board. The remaining ship cards, ship stands, crew and captain chips are placed to the side, out of play.
Side decks: Place three matching upgrade cards at each Port. Place the Extra Crew upgrade cards beside the board next to the unused crew chips.
Place the treasure card and the different colored map cards in separate stacks besides the board.
Wind: Roll a die and place the wind card next to the map beside the Port with the rolled number. This is the direction the wind in coming from. Stack the wind direction cards by the side of the board so that the one on top matches the number rolled.
Game Play
The player with the black ship base goes first.
If no one is sailing the black ship, the player wearing the most black clothing goes first. Play proceeds in turns clockwise around the table as the players are seated. On your turn, you must attempt to move your ship.
Moving
Compass directions: For each Bay card you can move in up to six different directions. Each directions has a number shown on the Port at that corner of the board.
Pirates like to sail: On your turn, you must attempt to move; if you try to stay where still your crew will make you walk the plank. You may not choose to sail in a direction forcing you to end your turn where you started. You may not choose a direction that would take you off the map unless you have the treasure (see Ending the Game).
If you have no legal move you miss your turn and roll to change the wind as if ending in a storm (see Storms).
Sailing with the wind: Normally, you can only go one space on your turn.
If you choose to move in a direction away from which the wind is blowing, you are sailing "with the wind." The direction directly opposite the wind card (e.g. towards N when the wind is coming from S) and the directions on either side are going with the wind. See Figure 2.
If your first move is going with the wind you may choose to make a second move in any legal direction except into the wind (see Rowing into the wind below). After the second move, your turn ends even if the second move is with the wind (exception: Main Sail).
A player may not use his last move to return to the space on which his ship began the turn.
Rowing into the wind: It is not possible to sail in the direction from which the wind is blowing. Instead, you must order your crew to "row into the wind." See Figure 2.
Rowing into the wind costs a crew. Place one of your crew chips on Bell Island. If you have no crew left, you may not row. You cannot spend your captain chip.
You may only row on the first move of your turn.
Tacking across the wind: Moving in a direction close to the wind, but not directly into it is called "tacking." See Figure 2. When you are "tacking," and must end your turn without moving further (exception: Jib).
Abandoning Ship: If you really don't like your position on the map you may choose to abandon ship.
As your entire turn, remove your ship from the board and return any upgrades, maps, crew, and treasure you collected to their respective stacks. Play continues as if these were never claimed. On your next turn place your ship on Bell Island and take three crew chips as if you were just starting. This takes up your entire turn again. You may move normally on your next turn.
Discovering the Map
At the start of the game all of the Bay cards are face down and undiscovered. As you explore choose a face down Bay card you are able to move to and flip the card face up. It will have a compass on its face; make sure to place the card so that the north end of the compass is pointing towards N (towards the top of the columns).
Once you flip the Bay card face up, move your ship onto it unless you are blocked (see Icebergs).
Obstacles
Icebergs: Many Bay cards have icebergs on them blocking one or two of the six directions. See Figure 3.
If you flip up a card showing an iceberg blocking your path, you may not move onto the card (exception: Ice Breaker). Instead you ram into it and must choose a different direction. This does not cost you a move.
You may move onto face up Bay cards in the same way as you move onto facedown cards however if there is an iceberg blocking your path in a certain direction, you cannot move in that direction.
Storms: Five of the Bay cards are storms. When you move into a storm, the wind changes and your turn ends.
Roll a die and move the wind card to the Port matching your die roll. The wind is now blowing from this new direction. Rearrange the stack of wind direction cards so that the card matching the new direction is on top. If your die roll is the same number as where the wind card is currently, the wind does not change direction.
Fighting the waves: If you would normally have another move available you may choose to move through a Storm card as if it were open sea by spending a crew (exception: Ice Breaker).
Place the crew chip on Bell Island. You may not use your captain chip to fight the waves. If you do not end your in a Storm you do not roll to change the wind.
Other players: You may not move onto a space occupied by another player unless you can move off the space on the same turn (exception: Grappling Hook). You may attempt to move off an occupied space in an unexplored direction; if you find it is impossible to move to an unoccupied space then you end your turn on the occupied space.
Ports
The six corners of the map are Ports, each containing a different ship upgrade (see Upgrades).
When you reach a Port you can upgrade your ship if you don't already have the upgrade and there is still a card available. To receive an upgrade a player must end his turn in the Port (exception: Telescope).
Upgrades cost crew depending on how many other players have already taken an upgrade of that type.
- First Player: Free!
- Second Player: One Crew
- Third Player: Two Crew
Place the spent crew chips on Bell Island. You may not spend your captain chip to purchase upgrades.
Islands
Five of the cards are Islands.
One of them is Bell Island, which is visible at the start of the game. The other four are discovered as players explore Conception Bay.
Bell Island: You start the game at Bell Island. When you return to Bell Island you may recover your crew, provided that you end your turn here (exception: Telescope).
To recover your crew draw chips from Bell Island up to three crew chips, in addition to your colored captain chip. If you already have three crew, you do not gain any (exception: Extra Crew).
Lost Islands: The Pirate Admiral inscribed part of his treasure map onto rocks on each of the three Lost Islands.
When you reach a Lost Island, you may make a copy of that piece of the map by ending your turn (exception: Telescope). Take a map of the corresponding color then he takes one from the stack beside the board.
Kelly's Island: If you reach Kelly's Island with all three map cards then you can dig up the Pirate Admiral's Treasure, although you must end your turn to (exception: Telescope).
Take the treasure card from beside the board. Now all you have to do is get it safely hidden from the other players either by taking it to Harbour Grace or escaping out into open water (see Ending the Game).
Shipwrecks
When each of the three Shipwreck cards is first flipped up, take an Extra Crew upgrade from beside the board and place it on the Bay card. The first player to end her turn on each particular Shipwreck card takes the Extra Crew upgrade. She also takes a crew chip from beside the board and adds it to the other crew chips in front of her. Extra Crew upgrades do not cost crew to purchase, unlike Upgrades acquired at Ports.
If you have one or more Extra Crew upgrades then you draw up to your new maximum when you replenish your crew from Bell Island (see Upgrades).
Raiding
Whenever you end a turn after moving through a space occupied by another player you may choose to "raid" that player. See Figure 4.
If you end your turn in a Storm or on an Island or Port you resolve the outcome of the raid before rolling to change the direction of the wind or collecting your crew, upgrade, map, or treasure (exception: Telescope).
When one player raids another, each player rolls one die (exception: Cannon). Each player's score is the greater of the number rolled and his current crew (including his captain) up to a maximum score of six.
The highest score wins. The raider wins ties. If the losing player has crew chips left he may choose to go on fighting by "swashbuckling" (see below).
If the raider wins, he takes all the defender's map cards. If this gives him duplicates then he throws the extras overboard, returning them to the piles beside the board.
A raiding player must move his ship past the defending player and end his turn before executing the raid (exception: Grappling Hook).
Swashbuckling: To swashbuckle you must spend a crew chip by placing it on Bell Island. You may not spend your captain chip.
When swashbuckling, you reroll your die in the same manner as before, but your opponent keeps her previous roll. The scores are compared again, with the swashbuckler winning ties.
The new loser may choose to continue swashbuckling provided that he has not run of crew chips.
Raiding Example: (The example is shown in a figure in the original rulebook, which is not included in the source document.)
Enclosed Areas
If a Bay card is flipped up with an iceberg that would completely block off some space or group of spaces from the rest of the board, place an unused crew chip over the iceberg on that bay card and treat the bay card as if it has no iceberg.
Ending the Game
The first player to end her turn on Kelly's Island with all three map pieces finds the Pirate Admiral's treasure.
She takes the treasure card from beside the board and all players discard their now worthless map cards. For the rest of the game, whenever another player raids the player holding the treasure card and wins, the raider takes the treasure card.
The player currently holding the treasure card can win the game by:
- Moving her ship onto the Harbour Grace Port card.
- Moving her ship into open water (the Atlantic Ocean) by moving either N or NE when her ship is on or between Port De Verde and Pouch Cove. See Figure 5.
To move into open water a player must start her turn with the treasure and be able to move off the board under the usual tacking and rowing restrictions.
You may not raid the treasure and move into the Atlantic on the same turn.
Upgrades
Players may gain upgrade cards during the game which grant them special abilities. Once acquired, upgrades can only be lost if a player abandons ship.
Most upgrades are found by visiting different Ports at the edge of the map (see Ports).
- Players may only collect one of each port upgrade.
- Upgrades found at Ports may cost up to two crew depending on how many copies are left.
- If all copies of an upgrade have been taken from a particular Port that upgrade is not available.
Extra Crew upgrades are gained by discovering Shipwrecks while exploring the map (see Shipwrecks).
- Players may collect more than one Extra Crew upgrade, however only one player may gain an Extra Crew upgrade from each Shipwreck.
- Extra Crew upgrades are always free.
Port Upgrades
Cannon (available in Harbour Grace): During raiding you roll two dice and chooses the higher, or your number of crew chips as your score.
Grappling Hook (available at Portugal Cove): A player with a Grappling Hook may end her turn on the same card as another player and may raid that player.
The player with the Grappling Hook is still required to move at least one space on his turn. Beginning a turn on the same space as another player does not give you the opportunity to raid that player.
Ice Breaker (available in Cupid's Harbour): A player with an Ice Breaker may move through some icebergs on the map as if they were not there.
Small icebergs that only block one direction can be bypassed. The player may treat bay cards with five direction arrows as if they are clear in all directions. Large icebergs which leave only four direction arrows cannot be bypassed with an Ice Breaker.
A player with an Ice Breaker may also fight the waves to move through a Storm without paying a crew chip.
Jib (available in Port De Verde): A player with a Jib may tack without ending her turn.
A player with a Jib who tacks on her first move may still move again. If she has a Main Sail she may also tack on her second move and still move again.
Main Sail (available in Harbour Main): A player with a Main Sail may make a third move after his second move as long as he has been sailing with the wind during his first two moves.
If a player with a Main Sail passes through two spaces occupied by other players, he may only raid one of them at the end of his turn.
Telescope (available in Pouch Cove): At the beginning of his turn, a player with a Telescope may reveal all adjacent Bay cards before moving.
A player may choose not to use his Telescope, but he may not pick and choose which to look at (it's either all or nothing). Once he moves (or tries to move) his ship he loses the option to use the Telescope until the beginning of his next turn.
The owner of a Telescope does not need to end his move to acquire upgrades, maps, treasure, or replenish his crew at Bell Island. Instead, he may acquire these upon entering the corresponding space on the map.
The upgrades, map, treasure, or crew may then be used during the latter part of his turn, including raiding.
Extra Crew Upgrades
An Extra Crew upgrade is awarded to the first player to end his turn at each Shipwreck. Unlike port upgrades, you may collect multiple Extra Crew upgrades.
When you collect an Extra Crew upgrade you also take a blue crew chip from beside the board and adds it to the crew chips in front of him.
Each Extra Crew upgrade adds one to the maximum number of crew your ship may hold. When you replenish your crew at Bell Island, take back blue crew chips up to your usual three, plus one extra for each Extra Crew upgrade.
Although it is possible for a player with all three Extra Crew upgrades to have seven crew chips, his maximum score during raids is still only six.