The Pirate Republic: Africa Gambit Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Game Overview
• Objective
• Game Components
• Setup
  • Game Setup
  • Prepare the Board
  • Prepare the Common Decks
  • Select Level Reward Tiles
  • Prepare Mission Specific Tokens
  • Player Setup
  • Last Steps
• Major Concepts
  • The Environment
  • Cards and Deck Building
  • Treasure Cards
  • Personal Mission Cards
  • Global Mission Cards
  • Tidings Cards
  • Tokens, Markers, and Miniatures
  • Card, Token & Pirate Board Anatomy
  • Reward Effects
  • Pirate Board
  • Captain Stats
  • Accomplishments
• Round Structure & Gameplay
  • Round Overview
  • Round Sequence
    • The Tidings Phase
    • Non-Player Characters (NPC) Tokens Take Their Turns (Global Mission only)
    • The Action Phase
    • The Action Phase in Detail
    • Player Actions
  • Playing Cards
  • Acquiring Cards
    • Move
    • Movement Costs
    • Scout
• Detailed Rules
  • Level and Swagger
  • Combat Resolution
    • Initiative
    • Combat Against Tokens with the Combat Modifier Effect
    • Attacking
    • Generating an Attack (you have Initiative)
    • Defending (you do not have Initiative)
    • Combat Results
    • Combat Against Multiple Tokens in the Same Territory Space
  • Resolving Defeated Tokens
    • Enemies of the Pirate Republic
• Campaign Mode
  • Global Mission Sequence
  • Campaign Details
• Solo Mode
  • Solo Setup
  • Scoring
  • Playing the Dummy Player's Turn
• Frequently Asked/Anticipated Questions
  • Solo Scoring Example

Introduction

It's 1713, the Golden Age of Piracy. After a decade of war, a rare peace comes to the Spanish Main. With thousands of demobilized sailors, piracy reemerges in the West Indies and across the Atlantic into West Africa.

One group of pirate captains, calling themselves the Flying Gang, seeks fame, fortune, and self-governance by building their republic free from the constraints of monarchies and imperialism. Will you work together to build the Pirate Republic, or will you betray your brethren in pursuit of legendary riches? The sea is your territory, and anyone on or near it…is your prey.

Game Overview

The Pirate Republic: Africa Gambit is a thematic deck-building, sandbox adventure game for 1-5 players. Set in the early 18th century, each player is a historical pirate captain weaving their tale by performing daring feats and plundering on the high seas. This new game is based on our original The Pirate Republic (2017). It adds West Africa adventures, new Pirates, the Portuguese, and a 10-game campaign module into your pirating experience!

It's a time of conquest and the lure of riches, indomitable spirit and fat treasure galleons, pirate utopias and watery graves.

Are you ready for some swashbuckling glory?

Objective

Each player's goal is to achieve the greatest amount of Swagger (victory points) by the end of the game, which represents the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. You decide when that will be. Gain Swagger from immersive combat against imperialist powers and completing missions on the high seas!

The game is played over multiple rounds until triggering an end-of-game condition.

Ages: 14+. Players: 1-5. Time: 120-180 min.

Game Components

• 1 Game Board
• 82 Ship Tokens: 22 Pirates, 8 Slave Ships, 8 Pirate Hunters, 8 Treasure Fleets, 14 Merchants, and 22 Naval Ships (5 Spanish, 5 British, 4 French, 3 Dutch, 1 Danish, 4 Portuguese)
• 42 Land Tokens: 14 Ports, 20 Forts, and 8 Main Forts (double-sided: 1 Spanish, 2 British, 2 Portuguese, 1 Dutch, 1 Danish, 1 French)
• 87 Miscellaneous Tokens: 10 Angry Sea, 6 NPC Tokens, 1 Oceana, 10 Bloodshed, 50 Reputation, and 10 Objective
• 1 Enemy Stacks Tray
• 6 Pirate Hunter Miniatures
• 3 Slave Ship Miniatures
• 3 Treasure Fleet Miniatures
• 45 Tidings Cards
• 16 Global Mission Cards + 2 Spoiler Cards
• 38 Personal Mission Cards
• 25 Treasure Cards
• 78 Captain Cards (13 card decks x 6 Pirates)
• 30 Crew Cards
• 32 Elite Cards
• 60 Pirate Markers (ten for each player: Blackbeard, Olivier LaBuse, Calico Jack, Black Bart, Mary Read, and Black Caesar)
• 6 Ship Miniatures and Stickers (one for each player)
• 5 Reference Sheets, called Player Aids (one for each player)
• 1 Tidings Die
• 10 Level Reward Tiles
• 5 Player Boards (one for each player)
• 60 Black Cubes
• 1 Commander (first player) Token

Setup

Game Setup

Place the Game Board. Place the board in the middle of the table. Ensure the table has ample space around the board for players' boards and play areas, various card decks, the Crew's Den and Elite's Den, and token supplies.

Select a Mission and a Commander.

• If this is the start of a new campaign, draw Global Mission #1 (The Plate Fleet) from the Global Mission deck and place it in the mission area of the board. Don't peek at any other Mission cards in the deck!
• If this is not a new campaign, use the card you drew from the mission deck at the end of the previous session.
• If playing a single ("one-off") adventure, you may play it one of two ways:
  • Play with the standard Global Mission which is simply a set number of Swagger points, either 60 for a short game or 120 for the normal game. (There is no card for the standard Global Mission.)
  • Freely choose any mission from the Global Mission deck. This mission will set the game's parameters and end-game trigger.

Note: If you intend to play a campaign in the near future, to avoid spoiling the cards, we suggest playing either with mission one, a mission you've already seen, or randomly draw a mission without looking at the cards.

Certain mission cards may alter setup instructions. Follow the instructions on the mission card before proceeding to anything below.

Give the Commander (first player) token to the player who most recently enjoyed a pirate movie or book. The Commander token will pass to the player with the least amount of Swagger at the end of the round.

Prepare Enemy Stacks. Place the Enemy Stacks tray on the board over the Enemies of the Pirate Republic area. Then:

• Collect all 22 Naval Ship tokens face down and shuffle. Randomly draw and place two face-down stacks of seven each in the two wells of the tray situated on top of their matching images. Place the remaining eight Naval tokens off to the side.
• Collect all 8 of the Pirate Hunter tokens face down and shuffle. Randomly draw and place two stacks of four each in the same manner as above.
• Separate and shuffle the Treasure Fleets and Slave Ship tokens face down, then stack them face-down in the tray over their matching images.

Form Token Supplies.

• Place Bloodshed and Reputation tokens beside the board.
• Gather the remaining Pirate, Merchant, and eight Navy Ship tokens. Shuffle them face-down to form the Ship token supply near the board.
• Separate out the eight Main Forts. Shuffle all the remaining Land tokens face down into a Land token supply beside the board.

Prepare the Board

Place Forts. Place the eight Main Fort tokens (French, British (x2), Dutch, Danish, Spanish, and Portuguese (x2)) showing the side with the LOWER stats on their matching Land spaces of Martinique, Port Royal, Cape Coast Castle, St. Croix, Curaçao, Havana, Sao Tome, and Ribeira Grande respectively. For the British and Portuguese tokens, place them randomly.

Fortified Forts: If you want to make the Main Forts more difficult to defeat, place them on their sides with the higher numbers. This variant is helpful if you are playing with experienced players or with five players.

Place Ship Tokens. Draw a Tidings card. Place a random Ship token (drawn from the Ship token supply) face down in the Seaway of the drawn territory and those of any adjacent territories. Continue drawing Tidings cards and placing tokens in this manner until you have placed 22 Ship tokens. Do not place any Ship Tokens in the Nassau Territory.

If you reach the limit of 22 tokens but not all territories adjacent to each of the drawn Territories has a Ship token (likely), then fill the remaining adjacent territories with additional randomly drawn Ship tokens, face down.

Shuffle the drawn Tidings cards back into their deck.

IMPORTANT: Each Territory may not have more than one enemy token in it to start the game.

Prepare the Common Decks

• Shuffle each card deck separately: Treasure, Crew, Elite, and Personal Mission cards. Then, place each deck face-down near the board.
• Shuffle and place the Tidings deck face-down in its space on the board.
• For the Crew and Elite decks, draw three cards from each and reveal them face up next to their deck. The three revealed cards are now referred to as the Crew's Den and the Elite's Den.
• For the Personal Mission cards, deal two face down to each player. Each player chooses one to keep. The other is shuffled back into the deck.
• Captain decks should be sorted by named Captain and placed face up to the side for now. You will select one later.

Select Level Reward Tiles

Have the Commander select the Reward Tile for each level as desired or place them randomly. Either way, be sure that a tile doesn't match a reward already provided for that level. Return the unused tiles to the game box.

If this is your first game, place the Level Reward Tiles as shown.

For a description of each tile, see "Level and Swagger" on page 29.

Prepare Mission Specific Tokens

If playing with a Global Mission, read the Global Mission card, and add the corresponding mission-specific tokens to the face-down pile. (Or place them on the board as instructed in the Mission Setup.)

Player Setup

Pirate Setup. Each player chooses a Pirate and takes the corresponding deck of 13 Captain cards and Pirate board. Place the Pirate's flag card into the corresponding slot on the Pirate board. Shuffle the remaining deck of 12 cards and place it face-down next to the Pirate board, leaving space for a discard pile. Also, each player:

• Takes the Ship miniature matching their Pirate. (It will be placed at the end of Player Setup.)
• Takes a matching set of ten Pirate markers. Places as follows:
  • Place one marker on each of the three player board stats on the left side (Ship, Crew, and Command).
  • One marker on the Movement track (the "3" space).
  • One marker on the "0" space of Swagger track on the gameboard (these are your victory points earned throughout the game).
  • Place the remaining five Pirate markers next to your Player board.
• Each player takes one Reputation token.
• Each player places 12 black cubes next to their Player board.

Place Ship miniatures. Starting with the Commander and proceeding clockwise, each player places their Ship miniature on any neutral Land Site (skull & crossbones) or on Nassau. For your first game, we recommend Nassau. Note that some missions will instead specify a starting location.

Last Steps

The Commander (first player) chooses an unclaimed Captain deck to be the Captain's Den, removes the Pirate's flag from the deck, and places the deck of 12 cards face down near the board, next to the Elite's Den and Crew Den.

Place the Pirate Hunter, Treasure Fleet, and Slave Ship miniatures in a pool near the board. Return all unused Pirate boards, cards, and markers to the box.

The Commander (first player) flips any Ship tokens in their starting territory and adjacent territories face up (for first time players, this is Nassau's adjacent territories). Note: Only the Commander performs this action.

Major Concepts

The Environment

Player and Pirate. These rules use the terms "Pirate" and "Player" interchangeably. All uses of these terms refer to the players and the Pirates they choose during setup. Of course, given the generic nature of the word "pirate," sometimes its use is not referring to a player, so its context must be considered.

Game Board.

• Swagger Track: Runs around the board's edge to keep track of your Swagger (victory points). The players will move their Pirate marker along this track whenever they earn Swagger, the key to victory in the game.
• Enemy Stacks: Throughout gameplay, players will provoke the enemies of the Pirate Republic! These token stacks are the supply for whenever an enemy is drawn into the game (spawns) in response to pirate activity.
• Level I - VI Legend: Shows rewards for increasing your Pirate's level. "Leveling up" your Pirate increases their abilities. Also, five tile slots reward random benefits, which will vary in each game.
• Game Map: The map shows the West Indies and West Africa, upon which you will move from Territory to Territory during the game.

Territories. The map separates into 45 Territory spaces, each bound by a black line. All Territory spaces include water (colored blue). The water area of a Territory is called a Seaway — where your Ship will move throughout the game. Most Territory spaces also include land, which is the non-blue area of a Territory space.

Named locations shown on land are called Land Sites. These can be explored (i.e., move your Ship miniature onto). There are three types of Land Sites:

• Imperialist held: Indicated by the flag of one of the six nations as printed on the map.
• Pirate held: Indicated by a Pirate's flag, as placed with a Pirate Marker whenever a Pirate Haven is established or when a Land token is defeated.
• Neutral: Not held by anyone, as indicated by the "Skull and Crossbones" symbol. These sites are essential for establishing your Pirate Haven, as explained later (see "Establish Pirate Haven" on page 26).

Note: Nassau is a unique Pirate-held Land Site. Its black flag designates that it's open to all players.

West African Territories. Some cards specify the "West African Territories," or "Territories in West Africa." The two terms are interchangeable and are all the Territories on the map north and east of the artistic "torn paper" effect. They're also a different shade of blue from the main map.

Routes. Some Seaways contain a portion of a Treasure Fleet Route or a Slave Ship Route. There are two Treasure Fleet routes, "Silver" and "Gold," originating from Cartagena and Havana, respectively. There's one Slave Ship route which originates at Cape Coast Castle and ends at Port Royal.

Various game effects may spawn Treasure Fleets or Slave Ships on these routes. The spawned ships will then move along their respective routes as directed by the game. (See "The Action Phase in Detail" on page 23).

Adjacency. Territory spaces are adjacent if their borders share a bounded black line. For example, the territories of Santiago and Tortuga are adjacent. An adjacent player is any player who has their Ship miniature in an adjacent Territory. Territories bounded by a "torn" border are not adjacent to each other. Note, this means the Ribeira Grande and Cape Coast Castle Territories are not adjacent.

Ownership. Players will have opportunities to attack imperialist-held Land Sites to make the area player held. The more Territories a player holds, the more powerful effects a player will have during the game. By default, a Territory space with land is held by the imperialist nation whose flag is on the building structure. In the example, the Bath Territory space is held by the British. A player shows having control of a Territory by placing their Pirate Marker in the land portion of the space.

Cards and Deck Building

The Pirate Deck. You begin the game with a Captain deck belonging to one of six historic pirates. Throughout the game, you'll draw cards from your Pirate deck into your hand each turn, and then play those cards to perform various actions. As the game progresses, you will add more powerful cards to your Pirate deck, enabling you to perform more powerful actions. Adding to and changing your Pirate deck is key to improving your abilities as a pirate.

Your Pirate deck comprises three card types: Captain cards, Crew cards, and Elite cards. These cards benefit you in a variety of ways. Each card in your deck represents your abilities as a pirate, such as sailing on the seas, combating ships and sacking forts, plundering, and captaining your Ship and others.

Hands and Hand Size. Your hand is comprised of the cards drawn from your Pirate deck whenever required or allowed to do so. It's public information, so lay your hand cards face up in front of you, keeping them separate from your play area.

You start with a hand size limit of four cards. Your limit will grow as your pirate improves. Some game effects may cause it to temporarily decrease.

Other effects will add cards to your hand. When this happens, it's permissible to exceed your hand size limit unless the effect specifies otherwise. If you are at or exceed your limit and are instructed to draw "up to your limit", then you cannot draw any cards.

Captain Cards. As the most common cards in your Pirate deck, these cards represent your captaining skills. Of these cards, 1-10 are identical for every Pirate player, while cards 11-12 are unique to your Pirate. You will play these cards to fight in Combat, gain special abilities, and move around the gameboard. You'll place them in your discard pile once played.

• BASIC EFFECT: This is the normal effect of the card when played. The numbers next to an icon are explained in more detail. (See "Playing Cards" on page 24).
  • Example: 1 Strike Fear or 2 Broadside attack and 2 Close Quarters attack.
• IMPROVED EFFECT: This is a more powerful effect which may be used by spending 1 Reputation token.
  • Example shown: Spend 1 Reputation token for 4 Broadside attack or 4 Close Quarters attack or 2 Movement.

Crew Cards. These cards represent your growing crew. They're added to your Pirate deck as your fame grows. Unlike Elite and Captain cards, Crew cards serve you mostly in Combat and for generating Movement, along with two unique uses:

1. Once played, they remain in effect for your entire turn, able to be used multiple times in Combat for both their defense and attack abilities. This includes multi-token Combat and even multiple Combats in one turn. This rule remains true even if a card is used for a "once per turn" effect or used to enable an Elite card's improved effect as discussed below.
   • Exception: If you use a Crew card for Movement outside of Combat, then the card is considered spent for the remainder of the turn. To clarify, Movement can be used as both a Combat and non-Combat effect. When used as a Combat effect, the card remains in play. But once used as a non-Combat effect, then the card is spent, unable to be used for the remainder of the turn.
2. Played Crew cards can additionally be used once per turn to enable an Elite card's improved effect without paying a Reputation token. This special ability is available even if the Crew card is spent. See "Elite Cards" below for additional detail.

Elite Cards. An even more powerful Pirate card! These cards represent your Pirate improving their captaincy. Add these cards to your Pirate deck either through special game events or by taking the Declare Infamy action (see page 27). If the number of Elite cards you've gained ever exceeds your Command stat, tuck the excess cards under your player board until allowed to keep them.

Like the Captain cards, Elite cards have Basic and Improved effects. Their Basic Effects are played and resolved the same as a Captain card. However, improved effects are free when you have a Crew card in your play area. This card combination is an alternative to spending Reputation, making Crew and Elite cards a very powerful tandem!

To clarify, when you play an Elite card, if you currently have a Crew card in your play area, you may use the Elite card's improved effect without paying the normal Reputation. Each Crew card can be used in this manner only once per turn. Turn the Crew card sideways to indicate this. Note that you can still use the Crew card for its printed effects even after being turned sideways!

Treasure Cards

These are the most powerful cards in the game, but are for one-time use only! They're often acquired by defeating Treasure Fleets. They're never part of your Pirate deck. Instead, place Treasure cards in your play area when acquired. You may use the card's effect as you would with any other card, but Treasure cards are removed from the game after their effect has been used. These are the only cards removed from the game once played.

Personal Mission Cards

Every Pirate boasts about their abilities, but can your words match your deeds? These cards act like individual missions available only to you. Complete them, and you will earn Swagger. But choose these missions carefully! If you don't complete them, you will lose Swagger at the end of the game!

When you complete a Personal Mission card, you declare your success and immediately gain the rewards listed. Keep track of completing these Personal Missions on your own. For most, you don't need a separate method to track them; you can monitor them yourself.

Global Mission Cards

Chosen during setup, the Global Mission card establishes the campaign mode of the game. These cards give all players an objective to complete during the game, helping to define the tale you tell.

Some Global Mission cards include additional setup instructions. These can include specific Hostile NPC (Non-Player Character) Ship tokens which will attack players that meet a specific condition.

The example Global Mission card shown is The Plate Fleet, with the following printed text:

• Setup/Rules: Place a Treasure Fleet miniature on its side and 2 Objective tokens per player in Andros Territory, on the "X" marked on the map off the coast of the Americas. End your turn here to pick up a token. You can only carry 1 token at a time. All tokens in Caracas Territory are passive.
• Objective/Outcome: The mission is completed once all players have returned exactly 2 Objective tokens. Both tokens must be returned to the same location. Players that return them to Caracas receive 1 Crew card for the next mission. Players that return them to Nassau gain 5 Reputation for the next mission. The winner also begins the next mission with 1 Treasure card. If the winner returned the tokens to Caracas, go to Mission 2, "The Pirate Hunters". Otherwise, go to Mission 3, "Letters of Marque".

Tidings Cards

Tidings cards serve several purposes:

• Round Events: When revealed at the start of a Round (see "Round Overview" on page 20), the Tidings card presents a unique event which may change the normal rules for that Round. For example, for Rains Down in Africa, players in West African territories start by discarding a card from their hand each turn. Unless specified, the event circumstances are in effect for the entire Round.
• Letter of Marque: All Sea and Land tokens belonging to the imperialist nation represented by the flag on the revealed card are passive (neutral) for the current Round only. All players become commissioned privateers of that nation, able to sail freely among any space showing the indicated flag. This Letter of Marque is renounced for a player attacking any of that imperialist nation's Land or Ship tokens. For example, the Tidings card, Indomitable Spirit, grants all players Letters of Marque with the British this round.
• Territory Randomizer: Whenever required to interact with, or to determine, a random Territory space, draw a Tidings card to learn the name of the random Territory. When doing so, ignore the rest of the card. When asked to draw a Territory of a specific type, draw one card at a time, revealing each until you reveal a card matching the given requirements. Resolve that card as instructed by the game effect. Shuffle the unused cards back into the deck.
• Combat Modifier: No plan survives first contact with the enemy! During Combat with enemy tokens that show the Combat modifier effect (Infamy), you will draw a Tidings card and modify the Combat using the Combat modifier shown on the bottom the Tidings card. They can improve your chances of winning or improve the chances of the enemy winning! For example, Indomitable Spirit would give you initiative and +1 Strike Fear in Combat against the enemy. (For details, see "Combat Against Tokens with the Combat Modifier Effect" on page 31.)

Tokens, Markers, and Miniatures

Ship Tokens. Various Ships sail the seas. Ships fall into two categories: Aggressive and Passive. Treasure Fleets, Slave ships, and Naval ships with the Letter of Marque are Passive. All other tokens are Aggressive.

Encountering or being in the same location as an Aggressive enemy token results in immediate Combat, which is covered in further detail on "Combat Resolution" on page 30.

Note: Other than Treasure Fleets and Slave Ships, all facedown Ship tokens on the map are considered aggressive for all gameplay purposes. The left side of Ship tokens shows combat effects; the right side shows rewards.

All Passive ships may share your same territory space without having to engage in Combat. However, despite their passive stance, you're still free to attack a Treasure Fleet or rescue a Slave Ship as you desire!

Special Non-Player Character (NPC) Ship tokens represent historical Pirates or Captains which are part of Global mission storylines.

Land Tokens. Land tokens represent the settlements of the imperialist powers. Each represents either a Port, a Fort, or a Main Fort. Ports are the least powerful enemies, Forts are more powerful than Ports, and Main Forts are the most powerful in the game. Main Forts are denoted by showing an imperialist nation flag on the token.

Land Tokens are considered to be Aggressive, but they cannot initiate Combat with a player in a Seaway. Combat with a Land Token begins only when a player chooses to attack it (i.e. the player moves their ship onto the Land Site).

Ship Miniatures. Ship tokens of Pirate Hunters, Treasure Fleets, and Slave Ships have corresponding miniatures. Place the miniature on top of the Ship token when spawned.

Players are represented by their Ship miniature. If this is your first time playing the game, take the stickers corresponding with your pirate flag and place them on each side of the mainsail of your Ship.

Pirate Markers. Use these to mark your Pirate Havens and the Territory spaces you control. They also track Swagger and the stats on your Pirate board.

Reputation Tokens. As the game's currency, Reputation Tokens are a valuable resource! Spend Reputation to reroll the Tidings Die, Rest, Combat, Scout, and Strike Fear into your enemies! They're also used to enable the improved effect of Captain and Elite cards. If you run out of tokens, use a suitable substitute.

Bloodshed Markers. Bloodshed markers represent your accrued wounds from Combat. Receiving two Bloodshed markers will get you captured! Bad tidings indeed.

Angry Sea Tokens. These are introduced in certain missions when playing in Campaign mode. The stats shown on the token are for certain game effects which call for their use. Otherwise ignore them.

Objective Tokens. Used in Global missions and for some Personal missions.

Card, Token & Pirate Board Anatomy

Most cards and all tokens use a common set of effects (shown as icons) to ease gameplay and readability. The number showing next to an effect is that effect's strength.

Combat Effect. During Combat, you will generate an attack or defense by playing cards, spending Movement, or activating tokens that show one or a combination of the following Combat effects:

• Broadside: A long range naval artillery attack performed by firing all of the cannons on one side of a Ship at a target.
• Close Quarters: Firearm, grenade, and sword attacks performed by the Ship's crew.
• Strike Fear: A psychological attack used to subdue the enemy without firing a shot! Designer Note: The mere sight of hoisting the Jolly Roger (i.e., pirate flag) was enough for many a foe to surrender!
• Initiative: Having Initiative means you attack first in Combat.

Round Up. Whenever a rule or effect refers to losing, paying, or being rewarded half of a component, always round up.

Other Effects and Effect Text. When played, each card may enable one or any of the following effects:

• Draw: Draw a card from your Pirate deck.
• Rest: When you play a card for its Rest effect, you get to Rest on any space, including a Seaway. Do not spend Reputation for Resting this way. See "Rest" on page 27.
• Move: Gain an amount of Movement equal to the effect's strength.
• Card Text: Special exception effects which don't have an icon.
• Discard: When required to discard a card from your Pirate Deck, take the top card. When required to discard a card from your hand, choose a card. In both cases, place the card on top of your discard pile, face up.
• Bloodshed: Represents a wound suffered by your Pirate. When you collect two Bloodshed, you are Captured!
• Combat Modifier: Combatting a token with this symbol indicates a modifier which will improve yours or the enemy's chances of winning! (see page 31).

Reward Effects

Leveling up your Pirate, completing a mission, and defeating tokens can yield any of the following rewards:

• Elite Card. Select one of the three cards displayed in the Elite's Den and gain it either to the top of your Pirate deck or tuck under your mat as your Command stat dictates (see "Command," pg 19, and 5th item of the FAQ, pg 41). As soon as a card is selected, replenish it from the Elite Card deck.
• Treasure Card. Draw two cards and select one, placing the selected card into your play area. Shuffle the remaining card back into the Treasure deck.
• Crew Card. Select one of the three cards displayed in the Crew's Den and gain it either to the top of your Pirate deck or tuck under your mat as your Crew stat dictates (see "Crew", pg 19, and 5th item of the FAQ, pg 41). As soon as a card is selected, replenish it from the Crew Card deck.
• Captain Card. These are earned from the Captain's Den when reaching Levels III and IV. Depending on the Level reached, you will either draw two cards and select one, or draw four cards and select two. Place the selected card(s) on top of your Pirate deck. Shuffle the unselected cards back into the Captain's Den.
• Swagger. Gain the listed amount of Swagger (these are the game's victory points).
• Reputation. Gain the number of Reputation tokens indicated by the number next to the effect icon. Reputation is a primary resource in the world of the Pirate Republic.
• Increase Hand Size. This reward will increase your hand size limit for the rest of the game.
• Combat Modifier Tokens. In addition to their impact on combat, all Combat Modifier tokens also serve double duty as Infamy tokens! (Keeping defeated tokens is explained on page 35).

Infamy grants you two lucrative benefits. Keep up to three defeated tokens (at any one time) for later use:

• Declare your Infamy to purchase more powerful Elite cards to add to your Pirate deck.
• Declare your Infamy to gain Reputation!

Declaring Infamy is explained in greater detail during the Actions Phase. See "Declare Infamy (gain an Elite Card or Reputation)" on page 27.

Pirate Board

Each player gets a Pirate board to store their Pirate deck and keep track of resources, stats, and upgrades.

At the top of the board are your Captain Stats. They track three areas which determine your capacity to be an effective Pirate. They are: "Ship" (move / sail further, plus gain a Ship), "Crew" (lead more crews), and "Command" (improve yourself). Each new increment will provide an upgrade as discussed below.

In the middle of your Pirate board is your Movement Tracker. Use your Pirate marker on this track to indicate how much Movement you begin your turn with, how much you gain or lose, and how much you have remaining. Ten is the maximum Movement you may have at any given time except for while resolving Combat.

At the bottom are the Accomplishments you can earn as you achieve various milestones during the game. These Accomplishments represent many famous pirate deeds from the Golden Age. When you achieve an Accomplishment, you'll mark it with a cube and gain a variety of rewards for completing it, including additional Movement, more cards, Combat bonuses, and even a larger fleet of ships! See "Accomplishments" on page 19.

Captain Stats

As the game progresses, you'll have opportunities to upgrade each of your Pirate's three stats. Whenever one of your stats upgrades by one increment, move the marker on the appropriate track one space to the right. If you upgrade all three stats to their fifth slot (i.e., to the far right), you'll acquire even more power!

1. Ship: Each increment of the Ship stat provides the indicated additional Movement immediately, and also increases your Movement at the start of each of your turns for the remainder of the game. Upon reaching the far right spot, acquire a Merchant Ship token to join your fleet! (See "Growing Your Fleet and Using Friendly Ship Tokens" on page 37.)
2. Crew: Each increment of the Crew stat increases the number of Crew cards you can have in your Pirate deck at any one time, by the number indicated. Upon reaching the far right spot, acquire a Crew card for free!
3. Command: Each increment of the Command stat increases the number of Elite cards you can have in your Pirate deck at any one time, by the number indicated. Upon reaching the far right spot, acquire an Elite card for free!

Upon maximizing all three stats, gain a friendly Pirate Ship token and a permanent +3 Strike Fear. (See "Growing Your Fleet and Using Friendly Ship Tokens" on page 37.)

Strategy tip: Game conditions can reward you with an Elite or Crew card earlier than expected. Plan early and often to improve these stats as soon as possible!

NOTE: When gaining a new Crew or Elite card, you may exchange it with a same type card (Crew or Elite) from your discard pile as part of the gain action. The newly gained card goes on top of your Pirate deck. The old card is shuffled back into its corresponding supply deck. You may also exchange a tucked card with a same type card from your discard pile in the same fashion (see FAQ, pg 41).

Accomplishments

At the bottom of the Pirate Board are twelve accomplishments to achieve during the course of the game. Each is tracked by placing a black cube next to it. Upon achieving each accomplishment, increase any one of your Pirate's three stats: Ship, Command, or Crew one increment. If playing a campaign, the Accomplishment tracker will reset at the end of each game.

Bonuses: Achieve any eight accomplishments to earn Initiative against multiple tokens in Combat (per your Pirate level). Accomplish all twelve to gain Initiative against the most powerful enemies in the game, the imperial nations' 8 Main Forts!

Most accomplishments are self-explanatory. Though for added clarity, for the "Defeat 2 Forts" accomplishment, both types of Forts count (regular and Main). Also, "Circumnavigate the seas" is accomplished by starting in any of the three regions (West Africa, Cape Verde, or the Americas), then traveling through the other two regions in either direction to return to the start region. NOTE: If captured, any progress made for this achievement is lost! Movement used to accomplish the achievement must be started over after resolving the capture.

Round Structure & Gameplay

Round Overview

The Pirate Republic: Africa Gambit plays over a series of rounds until the end of the game is triggered (see "Ending the Game"). Each round consists of three phases played in the order shown here and as detailed below under "Round Sequence." Complete each phase before moving to the next phase.

1. Tidings Phase: Draw player cards, play Tidings card, and non-playable characters (NPCs) take their actions.
2. Action Phase: Players individually take their actions in turn order.
3. Cleanup Phase: Player areas reset, and end-of-round tasks are accomplished.

The end of the game triggers differently depending on the game mode. Refer to "Ending the Game" on page 28 for details.

Round Sequence

The Tidings Phase

Resolve each of these steps in order, and as detailed below:

• All players draw cards into their hand
• A Tidings card is put into play for the round
• NPC tokens take their turns (Global Mission only)

All Players Draw Their Cards. Simultaneously, each player draws cards from their own Pirate deck, placing them into their hand until the number of cards in their hand matches their current hand size limit. This is public information and laid out in front of their Pirate board.

As a reminder, at the beginning of the game, the hand size limit is four cards for all players. Various effects throughout gameplay will change this limit for each player individually.

Tidings Card is Put into Play for the Round. Each round begins with the Commander revealing a new Tidings card from the top of the Tidings deck and reading the Event text out loud. The Event remains in effect for the rest of the Round and applies to ALL players. The card is kept face up for all to see, until the Clean-Up Phase.

Tidings card events and effects can occur either once a turn, once a round, or triggered by a player's actions. Other than Global Mission effects, Tidings card effects have the highest priority in the game. See page 38 for more detail on effect hierarchy.

Example: A Tidings effect may grant a Crew card for your turn, but your Pirate's player board stats don't allow an additional Crew card. The Tidings card would break the standard rule in this case.

The Commander decides if there are multiple potential outcomes.

The nation flag shown on the top corners of each Tidings card indicates that a Letter of Marque has been granted by that nation to all players, allowing all to sail freely among that imperial nation's spaces. As such, all players are neutral toward that nation for the Round, as the nation is now considered passive for as long as the Letter of Marque is in effect. This Letter of Marque is rescinded for any player who attacks a Land or Ship token of the matching imperialist nation. (See "Letter of Marque" on page 15.)

Example: The Tidings card, Pyrate Rendezvous, grants all players Letters of Marque with the French this round.

The example Tidings card Pyrate Rendezvous reads: "Once this round, if a player ends their turn at sea in the same or adjacent Territory as other players, that player gains 1 Reputation. (Solo: Gain 1 Reputation when you engage in Company Combat.)"

If the Tidings deck is depleted when required to draw a card, shuffle the discarded Tidings cards to form a new Tidings card deck, then continue drawing from the new deck.

Non-Player Characters (NPC) Tokens Take Their Turns (Global Mission only)

Note: Non-Player Characters are brought into play and active only when playing with certain Global Missions. Otherwise, ignore this NPC step.

Beginning with the second Round and on all following Rounds, all Hostile Non-Player Character (NPC) tokens will move at this time. Each token will move three Territory spaces toward the nearest player and then initiate Combat if able. If two or more players are equally close, the NPC moves toward the player with the most Swagger. If still tied, the Commander chooses. NPC tokens always move in a direct path to their target following the same movement rules as player ships, except they ignore special movement costs. If an NPC token has its movement halted due to reaching the edge of the map or some other boundary obstacle, and if there are no other legal paths for it to pursue its target, then it stops its movement for this Round.

When an NPC reaches a player, it will stop moving upon entering that player's space. At the start of that player's next turn, they must Combat the NPC token. Unless you meet the level requirement displayed on the token, the NPC has initiative. (See "Defending (you do not have Initiative)" on page 33.)

After all Hostile NPCs have moved, or if not playing with NPCs, the Tidings phase ends.

Designer's Note: To enhance your immersive experience, consider placing Pirate Hunter miniatures atop NPC tokens.

The example on page 21 shows the NPC token's level indicator: the corresponding level of the NPC to gain Initiative in combat.

Example: NPC (A) begins turn at Annamaboe. Blackbeard (B1) is at St. Thomas and Calico Jack (B2) is at Bermuda. The NPC is closest to Blackbeard and moves three spaces to attack Blackbeard.

Note: Remember that NPCs follow the same movement paths as players, except they don't pay Special Movement costs (see page 25). Their movement cost is always one.

The Action Phase

This phase is the heart of the game and is where most of the game is played. Starting with the Commander and proceeding clockwise in turn order, each player takes a turn by first resolving a roll of the Tidings Die, then resolving their chosen actions. The available actions are detailed under "Player Actions" on page 24.

When the player's turn ends, they immediately draw cards to bring their hand up to their current hand limit. Reminder: Your hand is kept face up in front of you. It's public information. Play then continues with the next player in turn order (clockwise), and continues in this fashion until the Commander (first player), at any time during their turn, must draw a card from their Pirate deck and it is empty. The Round's end is triggered, and each remaining player takes one more turn. Then all players proceed to the Cleanup Phase.

Note: If you have no cards in your hand at the start of your turn, and if you are not the Commander, your turn consists only of resolving the Treasure Fleet/Slave Ship/Reputation face of the Tidings Die. You don't actually roll the die. It's been rolled for you and that's the result. After resolving (see next page, right column), your turn ends.

On their turn, each player may take up to as many actions as they wish until the player either:

• Chooses to Rest: The turn ends upon fully resolving the Rest.
• Chooses or is forced to Pass: The turn ends without further actions.
• Is Captured: See "Bloodshed and Capture" on page 36.

The example on page 22 shows the hand of the Blackbeard player a few turns into the game.

The Action Phase in Detail

Roll and Resolve the Tidings Die. The first step of each player's turn is to roll the Tidings Die and resolve the resulting effect. It can increase or decrease movement, trigger Combat, or move Treasure fleets and Slave ships. The Tidings effect represents whether or not the winds favor the player's movement, or if hostile ships come in their sights! After resolving the Tidings Die, begin taking your actions.

Rerolling the Tidings Die: If you have enough Reputation to spend, you may reroll the Tidings die result up to as many times as you can afford. For each reroll, pay a number of Reputation tokens equal to your Pirate level (1 for Level 1, 2 for Level 2, etc).

The various Tidings effects applicable to this phase are:

• Movement: Add or subtract the indicated amount to your starting Movement allowance. Note that at the start of the game, each player starts with a Movement allowance of three. For example, if the Tidings die result at the start of your turn shows a "+2," you would add it to your Movement for a total of 5 Movement, placing your Pirate Marker on the 5 space of your Pirate board.
• White Lookout: Draw a random Ship token from either the Ship token supply or any Enemies of the Pirate Republic stack and add it to your Territory's Seaway, face up. If you are at Level VI, draw two tokens instead. (see "Level and Swagger" on page 29)
  • Note: If this results in more than two Ship tokens in your space, choose one token and place it in the nearest Territory space of your choice without violating stacking limits (see "Stacking Limits" on page 36), and as long as it's unoccupied by other players.
  • Then, you may either:
    • Immediately engage in Combat with the Ship token which was just placed in your space. Note that it will always have initiative regardless of your Pirate's level.
    • OR
    • Spend one Movement to move into an adjacent Territory space.
  • If a Treasure Fleet or Slave Ship was selected, it remains in the Territory in which it was placed for the remainder of the current round. (Consider these ships blown off course.)
• Red Lookout: This has the same effect as the White Lookout, except you cannot move to avoid this combat! The player chooses to either draw and place a Pirate Hunter from the Enemies of the Pirate Republic stack or move the closest Pirate Hunter token on the map into their Territory's space, face up. If you are at Level VI, also draw a Ship token from either the Ship token supply or any Enemies of the Pirate Republic stack.

Player Actions

The seven actions listed here are available to choose from during your turn and are detailed in the following pages. Do any actions in any order you wish and repeating each as you desire (and are able to)! See pages 25-27 for detailed explanations of each action.

• Move: Sail your Ship miniature from one territory space to another
• Scout: Reveal a face down Land or Ship token
• Boast: Select Personal Missions to gain Swagger and possibly other rewards by completing the card's objectives
• Combat: Attack a Land token or Ship token(s)
• Establish a Pirate Haven: Turn a neutral Land Site into your Pirate Haven
• Rest: Remove Bloodshed tokens, reset friendly Ship token or add a card to your hand from your discard pile
• Declare Infamy: Use defeated Land and Ship tokens with the Combat modifier to acquire either Elite cards or Reputation

Most actions will usually require the playing of cards in order to use the effects found at the bottom of each card. Here's how to play cards for their effects:

Playing Cards

Cards are played from your hand into your play area (an area set aside in front of you for playing cards for their effects. Keep this area separate from your hand.)

When playing a card, you gain the benefits denoted by EITHER the card's BASIC effects OR its IMPROVED effects as follows:

• BASIC EFFECTS are those shown on the top row of effects. Normally, if you choose to play a card's Basic effects, you can't also play its Improved effects.
• IMPROVED EFFECTS are those shown on the bottom row. You must pay one Reputation to use an Improved effect. Normally, if you choose to play a card's Improved effects, you can't also play its Basic effects.
• The slash symbol ("/") means "or". Multiple effects on a row separated by one or more slash symbols indicate that you must choose to gain the benefits of only ONE of the effects shown.
• Multiple effects on a row linked with a plus symbol ("+") indicate that all of those effects may be used when playing the card. Among these, you may choose which effects to play, if not all.
• When BOTH "/" and "+" appear on the same row, any effects separated by a "+" should be combined before considering them against any effects on the other side of the "/".
• You also gain the benefits of any text effects on the card.
• You can play cards from your hand at any time during your turn. I.e., you may wait to see how your turn unfolds before deciding to play a card for its effect, or not.
• A played card is normally usable for a single effect or action only, then discarded. For instance, if you play a card for its Movement effect, you cannot use the same card for its Combat effect. It would be discarded after taking the Movement action. Crew cards are an exception as their combat and text effects can be reused for multiple Combats per turn. (See "Crew Cards" on page 13.)

Example: The Captain card, Grog Before the Fog, is to be read as 1 Strike Fear or (1 Move + 1 Close Quarters). It is NOT read as (1 Strike Fear or 1 Move) + 1 Close Quarters.

Acquiring Cards

You will acquire various cards throughout the game. When acquiring a card, you always place it face down on top of your Pirate deck.

Move

Use your Movement to sail your Ship miniature around the map by spending the Movement cost specified below. From a Seaway, move your Pirate ship miniature to an adjacent Seaway or to a Land Site in your current Territory. From a Land Site, move to that Territory's Seaway.

You begin the game with three Movement for each turn. Each turn, your movement resets to the starting amount (or as modified by your Ship Stat). For each Movement you spend or gain, slide your Movement token left or right on your Movement Track accordingly. You may also play cards from your hand to add more Movement to your current turn via the Movement effect.

Ten Movement is the maximum amount a player can have at any given time. Certain card effects may temporarily increase your Movement beyond 10 while in Combat, but you can never have more than 10 Movement available to you during the Movement player action. Outside of Combat, any gained movement which would result in more than 10 is lost.

Anytime you move into a Territory with a Ship token, flip it face up if it isn't already. Then, if it is a:

• Aggressive Token: You must Combat it immediately. (See "Combat Resolution" on page 30)
• Passive Token: If it is a Treasure Fleet, Slave Ship, or Letter of Marque nation, you may Combat it.

Anytime you move onto an imperialist-held Land Site without Scouting it first (see next page), flip the Land token face up and immediately begin Combat similar to Aggressive Ship tokens. (See "Combat Resolution" on page 30)

STACKING LIMITS: Two aggressive enemy Ship tokens is the most that can occupy a Seaway along with any number of passive enemy and/or player Ship tokens. Also, each Land Site can hold only one Land token plus any number of Players. See "Stacking Limits" on page 36 for more details.

Drawing Cards and Tokens. You'll be instructed to draw various cards and tokens during game play. Here's how to do it:

• Drawing Cards: Draw the top Tidings, Elite, Crew, or Treasure card from their matching deck. If the deck is empty when required to draw a card, then reshuffle the associated discard pile to form a new deck and continue drawing. If your Pirate deck is empty, do NOT reshuffle the deck until the Clean-up phase.
• Drawing Tokens: When you are prompted to draw a random Ship token or Land token, randomly draw it from the matching token supply. When prompted to draw a Treasure Fleet, Pirate Hunter, Naval Ship, or Slave Ship, draw it from the top of its matching Enemies stack.

Movement Costs

• Moving from the Seaway of a Territory space into the Seaway of an adjacent Territory space costs one Movement.
• Exploring (moving onto) Land Sites from a Seaway of the same Territory space, or vice versa, is free.
• There is no additional Movement cost to Combat Land tokens or Move to neutral Land sites/Pirate Havens in the same Territory as your Ship miniature.
• Special Movement Costs: Sailing from the Americas (New World) to Cape Verde, or Cape Verde to West Africa, or West Africa to the Caribbean costs an additional two Movement (as shown at right). Moving in the opposite direction costs double (+4) movement! Moving between these areas can only be done via the arrows. Moving across a "torn" border is prohibited.

Scout

The Scout action allows you to reveal a nearby Land token or Ship token without having to Combat it.

Scout a Land Token: While in any Territory, you can spend one Reputation or three Movement to Scout a Land Site in your Territory. To do so, randomly draw a Land token from the Land Token supply and place it face up in the scouted Land area.

• Cost: x1 Reputation, or x3 Movement.
• You cannot Scout neutral spaces, Nassau, or spaces with a face up Land token.

Scout a Ship Token: While in any Territory, you can spend one Reputation or three Movement to Scout a Ship token already present in an adjacent Territory. To do so, choose one face-down Ship token in the scouted adjacent Seaway and flip it face up. (Remember, Territories bounded by a "torn" border are not adjacent to each other.)

Boast (gain Personal Mission Cards)

To take the Boast action, you must be in a Pirate-held territory or any Pirate Haven. Spend one Reputation token to draw two Personal Mission cards. Keep one of the two and return the other to the bottom of the deck.

You can hold any number of Personal Mission cards and must keep them secret. Completed Personal Mission cards earn you Swagger. Not completing these missions results in a Swagger penalty at the end of the game equal to the printed Swagger reward shown on the card.

Reminder: Completing a Personal Mission may trigger the end of the game! (See page 28.)

Combat

While you'll get a chance to partake in various swashbuckling Pirate actions as the game progresses, much of your play time will be here, in strategic, immersive combat against enemies!

Combat is initiated in three ways:

• As a player action.
• Combat immediately starts when at any time during your turn, you occupy the same Seaway with one or more Aggressive enemy tokens.
• Combat also initiates when moving onto a Land Site that is imperialist held.

To engage in or resolve Combat, go to "Combat Resolution" on page 30.

Establish Pirate Haven

If you are in a Territory space with a neutral Land Site (indicated by the skull and crossbones symbol), spend one Reputation to place one of your Pirate markers on that site, thereby establishing your Pirate Haven!

You can perform this action only once per turn, and can only have one Pirate Haven at a time. If you establish a Pirate Haven while already having one on the map, move your Pirate Marker from your old Pirate Haven to your new Haven.

IMPORTANT: When you take this action, you immediately Rest (see below) and end your turn.

Note: The Nassau site is a permanently occupied Pirate Haven open to all Players.

Strategy tip: As your fame grows and you sack more imperialist territories, consider not having a Pirate Haven. Instead, allocate your five Pirate Markers toward Pirate-held territories.

Rest

To Rest, you must either:

• Play a card with the Rest effect, which lets you Rest on any space, including any Seaway.
• – or –
• Spend a Reputation token, which lets you rest on any Pirate Haven (even those of other players) or other pirate-held territories (indicated by having any Pirate Marker). You do not need permission to rest on other players' Pirate Havens or Pirate-held territories. (You are a pirate, and pirates do what they please.)

Note: Pirate-held territories are immediately established after winning combat with an imperialist nation's Land token.

Note: If you are Resting due to establishing a Pirate Haven, you do not pay another Reputation token for the rest itself.

When you Rest, resolve the following benefits:

• Discard one Bloodshed token if you have any.
• Then either:
  • Flip any face-down, friendly Ship tokens in your play area back face up.
  • Or you may take one random card from your Discard pile and add it to your hand (up to your hand limit).

Declare Infamy (gain an Elite Card or Reputation)

Use the Declare Infamy action to acquire Elite cards or Reputation. Players' exploits travel far and wide across the seven seas. If you are in any Pirate Haven, or a Land Site with any player's Pirate Marker, you may use this action to acquire one of the three cards on display in the Elite's Den, or to trade-in your Infamy for Reputation.

To perform this action, discard any enemy tokens showing a Combat modifier from your play area (see "Resolving Defeated Tokens" on page 35) in order to gain an Infamy value of one for each. This is your total available Infamy points. Then you may either use your Infamy points to purchase an Elite card (see below) or to trade-in 1, 2, or 3 of your points to gain an equal number of Reputation.

From the Elite's Den, the cost to acquire a card is always 3 Infamy points. Choose one of the three cards in the Elite's Den and immediately place it on the top of your Pirate deck. However, if the number of Elite cards you have gained for any reason ever exceeds your Command stat limit, tuck the excess card(s) under your Player board until your Command stat allows you to keep them.

Note: Just like acquiring Crew cards, when gaining an Elite card, you're always free to exchange it with an Elite card already in your discard pile. This may be an option in some edge cases.

Each Elite card taken from the Elite's Den replenishes instantly. Draw a new card and add it to the Elite's Den to bring the total back to three cards.

All tokens used to provide your Infamy are returned to either the Enemies Stacks or to the token supply (player's choice) unless instructed otherwise.

End of Turn

Your turn ends after you Rest, are Captured, or are unable or choose not to perform any more actions (i.e., "Pass"). You may Pass with cards still in your hand. However, if you Pass and did not take any actions during your turn, discard one card from your hand. Then, check if the game end has been triggered (See "Ending the Game" below).

Close out your turn with these four steps:

1. If you are not the Commander, you may voluntarily discard any number of cards from your hand.
2. Discard any cards in your play area, then draw cards from your Pirate deck into your hand, up to your hand limit. Your hand limit is the number shown on the right side of the level up rewards graphic (4 cards at the start of the game) or as otherwise established by certain game effects.
3. Discard any temporary friendly ship tokens.
4. Reset your Movement track to your current Movement allowance (3 at the start of the game).

Finally, as a reminder, if you are not the Commander and your hand is empty at the end of this step, your next turn this round will consist of only resolving the TF/Slave/Rep face of the Tidings Die. (See note, pg 22)

Gameplay passes to the next clockwise player, or proceed to the Cleanup Phase if it's the end of the round.

End of Round

The end of the round triggers when the Commander (first player), at any time during their turn, must draw a card from their Pirate deck and it is empty. The Round's end is declared, the Commander finishes their turn, and each player (including the Commander) takes one more turn. Then all players proceed to the Cleanup Phase.

The Cleanup Phase

After all players have completed their Action Phases, conduct the following tasks:

1. Each player resets their play area: Place any remaining cards from your hand into your Discard pile (Crew cards, etc), reset your Movement track to your current allowance, flip friendly Ship tokens (if any) face up, and replenish your Pirate Deck by shuffling your discard pile back into it.
2. Discard the current Tidings card into the Tidings card discard pile. Remove from the map any Treasure Fleets / Slave Ships which are not on a marked Treasure Fleet / Slave route.
3. Spawn Ship tokens: If there are five or less aggressive Ship tokens on the map (not including Global Mission directed Ships), OR if Level IV has been reached for the first time, then spawn 22 Ship tokens (or as many as available up to 22) using the same method described for game setup.
   • Also:
     • If Level IV has been reached by any player, then spawn TWO Ship tokens per Territory instead.
     • For a 5-player game, additionally, resolve this spawn step if Level VI has been reached for the first time.
4. Discard the cards in the Crew's Den and Elite's Den by putting them at the bottom of the Crew deck and Elite deck. Then, draw 3 new cards from both decks to refill their respective dens.
5. Pass the Commander marker to the player with the lowest Swagger (in case of ties, the current Commander decides), and begin a new round. If the Commander has the lowest Swagger, they keep the marker.

Ending the Game

The game end is triggered once the Global Mission is achieved and at least one player has completed a Personal Mission.

In the standard Global Mission (see page 6), this requires at least one player to have reached either 60 or 120 Swagger, as determined during setup.

When the end game is triggered, the current player finishes their turn. Then only the players who did not get a turn (i.e., any players not declaring end of game) get an extra turn.

After all turns are completed, and after subtracting the printed Swagger reward shown on any uncompleted Personal Mission cards, whoever has the most Swagger is declared the winner!

If there is a tie, the victory goes to the player with the highest number of accomplishments, followed by the player with the most completed Personal Missions. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.

In a campaign setting, the winning player becomes the Commander (or first player) for the next game. This player also selects the next Global Mission based on the results of the current mission.

Detailed Rules

Level and Swagger

You start the game at Level 1 with zero Swagger. Various actions (mainly Combat) award Swagger. Whenever you earn enough Swagger as indicated on the Swagger track, you "level up" (in other words, improve your Pirate). Leveling up allows you to immediately obtain permanent benefits as follows:

• Level I (0 Swagger): You start here with Initiative against Merchant ships and a hand size of four cards.
• Level II (8 Swagger): Gain Initiative against Pirate ships. Plus, acquire a Crew card from the Crew's Den. Plus the reward tile.
• Level III (20 Swagger): Gain Initiative against ports. Plus, draw two Captain cards from the Captain's Den. Choose one and place it on top of your Pirate deck. Shuffle the unchosen card back into its deck. Plus, increase your hand size to five. Plus, the reward tile.
• Level IV (38 Swagger): Gain Initiative against Navy ships. Plus, draw four cards from the Captain's Den. Choose two and place them on top of your Pirate deck. Shuffle the unchosen cards back into their deck. Note: In a 5-player game, follow the Level III instructions instead (draw two, keep one). Plus, acquire an Elite card from the Elite's Den without paying Infamy. Plus, the reward tile!
• Level V (60 Swagger): Gain Initiative against Slave ships and regular forts. Plus, upgrade two Captain Stats of your choice (Ship, Crew, Command) by one increment. Plus, acquire a Crew card from the Crew's Den and an Elite card from the Elite's Den without paying Infamy. Plus, the reward tile!
• Level VI (87 Swagger): Gain Initiative against Treasure Fleets & Pirate Hunters. Plus, increase your hand size to six. Plus gain six Reputation. Plus the reward tile!

Also, whenever you resolve a Lookout Tidings die result, spawn two enemy tokens instead of one. (See page 23). The red background on the legend serves to remind you of this special rule.

In addition to the permanent benefits listed above, whenever you level up, you also receive the benefit from the Level reward tile in that row. The possible reward tiles are:

• Elite card: acquire an Elite card from the Elite's Den without paying Infamy.
• Increase Elite Card Capacity: upon reaching the "3" Command space, you may hold four Elite cards instead of three.
• 6 Reputation tokens: take 6 Reputation tokens from the supply.
• Free Scout Action: Once per turn, Scouting costs zero Movement instead of three.
• Company Combat with 2 cards: provide up to 2 cards when forming a company.
• Treasure card: draw two Treasure cards, keep one. (See "Reward Effects" on page 18 for full description.)
• Crew card + Movement increase: acquire a Crew card from the Crew's Den and permanently increase your Ship's Movement by 1.
• Crew card + Stat increase: acquire a Crew card from the Crew's Den and upgrade one Captain stat of your choice on your Pirate board.
• Rest for free at Pirate Havens and Pirate Markers: do not pay Reputation tokens to Rest.
• Stat increase x2: on your Pirate board, upgrade one Captain stat twice, or upgrade 2 Captain Stats once each.

Combat Resolution

The printed Combat Resolution page is a flowchart. It is transcribed here as a sequence of checks.

Combat begins by determining who has Initiative (Attacking First) or No Initiative (Defending First).

If you have Initiative (Attacking First):

1. Strike Fear: If your Strike Fear is equal to or more than the enemy's Close Quarters attack, Yes, you win!
2. Broadside: If your Broadside is equal to or more than the enemy's Broadside attack, Yes, you win!
   • No. If your Broadside attack is less than half of the enemy's Broadside attack, you are captured.
   • No. If your Broadside attack is equal to at least half of the enemy's Broadside attack, take a Bloodshed. Next, flee or proceed to Close Quarters and add remaining Broadside attack to the enemy's Close Quarters.
3. Close Quarters: If your Close Quarters is equal to or more than the enemy's attack, yes, you win! Otherwise, no, you are captured.

If you do not have Initiative (Defending First):

1. Movement: If your Movement is equal to or more than the enemy's Broadside attack, yes, flee or proceed to Close Quarters combat.
   • No. If your Movement is less than half of the enemy's Broadside attack, you are captured.
   • No. If your Movement is equal to at least half of the enemy's Broadside attack, take a Bloodshed. Next, flee or proceed to Close Quarters and add remaining Broadside attack to the enemy's Close Quarters.
2. Close Quarters: If your Close Quarters is equal to or more than the enemy's attack, yes, you win! Otherwise, no, you are captured.

Initiative

Initiative, which can be considered as having Combat advantage, is the greatest weapon of any seafaring pirate! Various game effects will grant initiative. Having initiative allows you to strike first in combat, forcing your opponent to respond when they're not fully prepared. (See "Attacking" below). Without the initiative, you must endure an enemy's initial attack and defend against it. (See "Defending (you do not have Initiative)" on page 33.)

Combat Against Tokens with the Combat Modifier Effect

When you combat a token showing a Combat Modifier effect icon, immediately draw a Tidings card and implement the Combat modifier as it applies to either you or the enemy token. A green flag on the bottom left of the card designates a modification which the player must heed, while a red flag on the bottom right of the card is a modification to the enemy token. Discard the Tidings card after applying the Combat modifier.

In the example on page 31, Blackbeard spends 3 Movement to Scout Barbados, drawing a Land token and flipping it face up. Blackbeard decides to Combat. Because the Land token has a Combat Modifier effect, Blackbeard draws a Tidings card. In this example, Blackbeard loses initiative against the enemy token.

Attacking

When attacking in Combat, you will play cards from your hand and/or your friendly Ship token to generate a certain type of attack. The types of attack can be Strike Fear, Broadsides, or Close Quarters. All are discussed in detail below and on the following two pages. When generating an attack, you will compare the played effects which match the type of attack you are generating to the enemy's defense. There are three possible outcomes as follows:

• Generate an attack or movement equal to or more (≥) than the enemy's attack → you win or can flee.
• Generate an attack or movement at least half but not all of the enemy's attack → take a Bloodshed. Then continue combat or flee.
• Generate an attack or movement of less than half (<) of the enemy's attack → you're captured.

Generating an Attack (you have Initiative)

There are three types of attack: Strike Fear, Broadside, and Close Quarters. Each type of attack is generated by using matching card effects played from your hand or other game effects (see "Playing Cards" on page 24 for details of card play).

When you have initiative, you engage the enemy token by generating either a Strike Fear or a Broadside attack as follows:

• Strike Fear: Play cards and/or Reputation tokens to generate a Strike Fear attack by using Strike Fear effects and/or Reputation tokens in any combination. Each Reputation token you spend generates one Strike Fear. If the strength of your Strike Fear attack is equal to or more than (≥) your enemy's Close Quarters strength, you win Combat immediately! Go to "Combat Results" below.

  – or –

• Broadside: Play cards to generate a Broadside attack. Compare to the enemy token's Broadside strength. There are three possible outcomes:

  • If your Broadside attack strength is equal to or more than (≥) the enemy's Broadside strength, you win! Go to "Combat Results" below.
  • If your Broadside attack strength is equal to half or more than the enemy's Broadside strength, but not all, take a Bloodshed token. Then either flee or proceed to the Close Quarters step, making sure to note how much Broadside value was generated here!
  • If your Broadside attack strength is less than half of the enemy's Broadside strength, you are captured. (See "Bloodshed and Capture" on page 36.)

• Close Quarters: Play cards to generate a Close Quarters attack. If it is equal to or more than (≥) the enemy's Close Quarters strength + remaining Broadside strength you win! Go to "Combat Results" below. Otherwise, you lose combat and are Captured (see "Bloodshed and Capture" on page 36).

Strategy Tip: No enemy token has a greater Close Quarters attack than a Broadside attack. Using Strike Fear will likely use less of your cards/tokens attack if you can win this combat type.

Example (Attacking First): Mary Read, a Level I Pirate, begins her turn in Curaçao and moves one territory space to St. Domingo, triggering combat with an Aggressive Merchant Ship. As a level I Pirate, she has the initiative. Next, she plays Strike Your Colors for +2 Strike Fear (remember that having initiative allows for a Strike Fear attack). Since her Strike Fear is equal to or more than the Merchant's Close Quarters attack, she wins the combat.

Strategy Tip: If she had one Reputation token, she could have also won combat with Strike Fear and not used the card from her hand, Strike Your Colors.

Defending (you do not have Initiative)

The enemy has launched a Broadside attack! Note that your maneuverability—taking evasive movement— and not your guns, is your first line of defense. To defend against an enemy attack, proceed with the following stages in sequence:

• Broadside Stage: Avoid the enemy's broadsides by spending Movement. (You may play cards or a friendly ship to gain Movement for this purpose). Compare the total Movement spent to the enemy's Broadside strength. Then:

  • If you spend Movement equal to or more than enemy's Broadside strength (≥), you receive no Bloodshed and may flee or proceed to the Close Quarters Stage (see below).
  • If you spend Movement equal to half or more than the enemy's Broadside strength, but not all, you receive one Bloodshed. Next, you may flee or proceed to Close Quarters Stage (see below).
  • If you spend Movement which is less than half the enemy's Broadside strength, you are captured! (See "Bloodshed and Capture" on page 36.)

  Example: The enemy token has a 6 Broadside attack. Thus, if the player spends 3 Movement, they've reduced the effect of the enemy's Broadside from 6 to now 3. Next, they would take a Bloodshed token and then decide to either flee or proceed to Close Quarters with the remaining +3 added to the enemy's Close Quarters (see below).

• Close Quarters Stage: Reduce the enemy's Broadside strength by the amount of Movement you used above. Now, add that reduced Broadside strength to the enemy's Close Quarters strength. The result is the enemy's enhanced Close Quarters strength.

  Then, you may generate a Close Quarters defense by playing cards, a Ship token, and other effects in order to counter the enemy's enhanced Close Quarters strength, one for one. You reduce the enemy's enhanced Close Quarters strength by one for each Close Quarters strength you generate. After generating all the Close Quarters you're able or are willing to generate, if the enemy has any enhanced Close Quarters remaining, you lose and are Captured. Otherwise, you win!

Example (Defending first): Blackbeard, a Level III Pirate, begins his turn with 6 Movement and moves one territory space from Barbados to Martinique, triggering combat with a French Navy Ship. The French Ship has the initiative and attacks first. The French Ship launches a +8 Broadside attack. Blackbeard uses his remaining +5 Movement to counter at least half of the Navy Ship's Broadside attack (Navy Ship's 8 - Blackbeard's 5 = 3 remaining point). Blackbeard receives a Bloodshed token and rather than flee, decides to proceed to Close Quarters attack. The Navy Ship carries over +3 Broadside for a Close Quarters value of 10 (+3 + 7). Blackbeard uses Cut 'Em to Pieces for +3 Close Quarters, Blow the Man Down for +2 Close Quarters, Red Jolly for +2 Close Quarters, and Strike Your Colors for +3 Close Quarters for a total +10 attack and defeats the Navy Ship's +10 attack.

Combat Results

• If you win the Combat, you gain the rewards shown on each defeated token.

  Note: If the defeated token(s) show the Combat Modifier symbol, keep the token in your play area. Be sure to check if this victory also completed any Global or Personal Missions!

• If you lose the Combat, you are immediately captured (see "Bloodshed and Capture" on page 36).

  Reminder: Whenever a rule or effect refers to losing, paying, or being rewarded half of a component, always round up.

• If you defeated a Ship or Land token, see "Resolve Defeated Tokens" on the next page. Also, if you defeated a Land token (aka "sacking"), place your Pirate marker on top of the nation's flag to show that it has been sacked. Congrats, it is now Pirate-held territory! While establishing a Pirate Haven requires paying a Reputation token to place your Pirate Marker, sacking a Land token immediately grants you claim to the Territory space.

• If you fled from Combat against a Ship token, move to the Seaway of an adjacent Territory of your choice which doesn't have any aggressive Ship tokens.

• If you fled Combat against a Land token, move to the Seaway of that same Territory space.

• Finally, if Combat resulted in completing one of the twelve Accomplishments (see "Accomplishments" on page 19), select the stat(s) to upgrade and any benefit received.

Note: Fleeing never costs Movement. In instances where fleeing forces you to move to a Territory space with Aggressive enemy tokens, combat immediately begins.

Combat Against Multiple Tokens in the Same Territory Space

If more than one Aggressive Ship token is in your Seaway, choose a token to Combat. If, after combat with an enemy token, there's another Aggressive Ship token remaining in your Seaway, you must now engage that remaining token in Combat! The new target token always has the initiative unless a special effect is in play that grants you multi-token initiative.

Note: No Combat values carry over from one enemy token to another.

If you flee from the new enemy token as a result of combating it, you get to keep any reward from the first (defeated) token. Multiple token combat counts as a single combat for the purpose of gaining rewards. This means that you receive your reward from defeated tokens only after defeating or fleeing the second enemy token. Treat as two separate combats for all other game effects.

Note: You will rarely encounter a Land token and Ship token in combat at the same time unless a special rule or mission designates it. Land tokens never initiate Combat against you.

Example: Blackbeard, a Level V player, moves into Martinique and combat begins. With initiative, he defeats the enemy Pirate Ship. The enemy Merchant Ship attacks next (with the initiative) because of multiple token combat regardless of Blackbeard's Level Up benefits (Initiative against Merchant ships).

Resolving Defeated Tokens

First, keep Combat Modifier tokens as desired for later use as Infamy. Then add any remaining tokens you defeated to the Enemies stacks in the "Enemies of the Pirate Republic" area as described below.

Note: Some tokens have Combat Modifiers on them. Add these tokens to your play area. Once spent, place them in their respective Enemies' stack or Ship token supply. You may possess up to only three Combat Modifier tokens in your play area at any one time. Any more than three must be disposed of as described below.

• Merchant ships & Land tokens: Place face down on its matching image.
• Pirate Hunters, Treasure Fleets, Slave ships, and Naval ships: Place at the bottom of their respective stacks, face down. For Pirate Hunters and Navy, place at the bottom of the smaller stack. If tied, you decide.
• Pirate ships: Shuffle into the Ship token supply.

Then, check if you trigger any effects of the Enemy stacks, as described below.

Enemies of the Pirate Republic

When the pirate scourge becomes too much for the imperialists to deal with, it becomes necessary to deploy powerful naval vessels to wipe you and all other pirates from the seas! As such, defeating a certain number of tokens will result in these special events:

• [PLAYERS +1] MERCHANTS SUNK: The imperialist Navy arrives! Draw one Tidings card per player and place a random Navy Ship token face down on the Seaway of the indicated Territory. Then, shuffle the defeated Merchant tokens face down into the Ship token supply. Discard the Tidings card.
• [PLAYERS +1] LAND TOKENS SACKED: Pirate Hunters have been alerted to your whereabouts! Draw one Tidings card and place one Pirate Hunter token face down on the Seaway of the drawn Territory. If the active player is at Level V or VI, instead place two Pirate Hunter tokens in two random territories. Then, shuffle the sacked Land tokens face down into the Land token supply. Discard the Tidings card.
• 1 TREASURE FLEET SUNK: Havana sends word for reinforcements! Draw one Tidings card and place one Pirate Hunter token face down on the Seaway of the drawn Territory. If the active player is at Level V or VI, instead place two Pirate Hunter tokens in two random territories. Then, put the Treasure Fleet on the bottom of its token stack in the "Enemies of the Pirate Republic" area.
• 1 SLAVE SHIP RESCUED: The Imperial Powers are after you despite your good deeds! Draw one Tidings card and place 2 Navy tokens face down on the Seaway of the drawn Territory. Then, put the rescued Slave Ship token(s) face down into its stack in the "Enemies of the Pirate Republic" area.

Note: If an Aggressive Ship token is placed into a Territory containing one or more players, but not the currently active player, the token attacks when one of those players starts their next turn.

Note: When you are prompted to draw a random Ship token or Land token, draw it from the matching token supply. When you are prompted to draw a Treasure Fleet, Pirate Hunter, or Naval Ship, draw it from its matching Enemies stack in the "Enemies of the Pirate Republic" response area.

Also, see "Stacking Limits" on the next page.

Stacking Limits

Two aggressive enemy Ship tokens is the most that can occupy a Seaway along with any number of passive enemy and/or player Ship tokens. If ever there are more than two Ship Tokens in a Seaway, place the Ship Token that caused the over-stacking into an adjacent Seaway of the player's choice. If an NPC Ship causes an overstack, then it stays. Move a different non-player Ship instead to alleviate the overstack condition. If all adjacent Seaways are full, then the token is returned to the supply. Remember, other than Treasure Fleets and Slave Ships, all facedown Ship tokens are considered aggressive for all gameplay purposes.

Playing as a Company

When engaging in Combat, you can ask one player to join you to form a Company before resolving the first step of Combat. You may do this only once per turn.

The player joining your Company must be in your Territory space or adjacent Territory. You must agree on an amount of Swagger and rewards to give the assisting player if you win. This deal is binding! The assisting player can provide one card of their choice from their hand (Crew, Elite, Captain), or a Treasure card they hold, or a friendly Ship token to the Combat. After Combat:

• Return the assisting player's card to their discard pile or flip their used Ship token face down.
  • For their next turn, the assisting player will have a hand size of one less card and can't use their face down friendly Ship token until it's turned face up.
• The assisting player does NOT receive Bloodshed tokens due to this Company Combat. Only the player who formed the Company is eligible to receive Bloodshed.
• Along with the player who formed the Company, the assisting player can also claim any accomplishment(s) earned as a result of the combat. Otherwise, divide up the plunder and spoils as previously agreed!

Note: To be clear, you must form a Company before Combat starts. Example: If a Red or White lookout triggers combat during your turn, you can't try to form a Company as combat has already started.

Bloodshed and Capture

Bloodshed tokens represent the wounds suffered in combat and sometimes received by special events. Whenever you take a Bloodshed token, place it near your Pirate Board.

Whenever you take a 2nd Bloodshed token, you are Captured! There are also other game effects which result in Capture without having to take a second Bloodshed token.

When Captured, follow this procedure, in order:

1. End combat as normal. You earn no rewards.
2. Move to the closest (by travel distance) of either your Pirate Haven, a neutral site without a Pirate marker, or to the Land Site of Nassau and that does not have an aggressive enemy ship in its Territory. Place your Ship miniature on its side to indicate you are captured.
3. Discard all of your Bloodshed tokens.
4. Move your Swagger marker to the start of your current level plus one space. However, if you're at the start of your current level, then your Swagger marker doesn't move. Or if at level 1, move to one half your Swagger rounded up. For example, if your Swagger at the time of Capture is 28 (Level III), move your marker to 21. If it's at 7 (Level I), move it to 4. NOTE: You are always guaranteed to never go any lower than your current level, no matter the game effect.
5. End your Action Phase immediately.
6. You may not participate in any actions while Captured, such as group actions or join a Company, until the start of your next turn.
7. Draw your cards as normal at the end of your current turn. At the start of your next turn, place your Ship upright and resume as usual.

Growing Your Fleet and Using Friendly Ship Tokens

As you improve your Pirate abilities by maxing your Ship Stat and then all three stats, you gain command of a Merchant or Pirate Ship as follows:

• +4 Ship stat: Acquire a Merchant Ship token. Draw 1 Ship token at a time from the Ship token supply until you draw a Merchant Ship, and place it in front of you. Return and shuffle any revealed Naval and Pirate Ship tokens back into the Ship token supply.
• All Pirate Board stats are maximized: Use the same procedure as above, except until you draw a Pirate Ship token, and place it in front of you. You must replace your Merchant Ship with the Pirate Ship token. You may only ever have one friendly Ship token unless a game effect grants an additional token for temporary use.

Note: In the unlikely circumstance that your Merchant Ship's Broadside and Close Quarters strength totals are more than your Pirate Ship, draw another Pirate Ship. Continue doing this until the Pirate Ship's summed attributes exceed your Merchant ship's summed attributes.

You can activate a friendly Ship token in your possession (as you would play a card) in order to generate an attack or defense.

• When a game effect grants you a temporary friendly Ship token, and if you already possess a friendly Ship, you may use either token during your turn, but not both. Be sure to discard the temporary Ship token at the end of your turn regardless if you used it or not.
• If you have Initiative and generated an attack (Broadside or Close Quarters) or defense with the friendly Ship token, play the token in front of you and flip it face-down after using it, to show that it cannot be activated again this turn. It will be flipped-up either when you Rest or at the end of the Round. (See "Rest" on page 27 and "End of Round" on page 28.)
• If you do NOT have Initiative, for defense, you can generate +2 Movement with a friendly Merchant Ship or +4 Movement with a friendly Pirate Ship.

Example: Black Caesar, a level 2 Pirate with +5 Movement has a friendly Merchant Ship token as part of his fleet. After rolling the Tidings die to start the turn, a "White Lookout" leaves Black Caesar to select a Navy Ship from the Enemies of the Pirate Republic stack, which he chooses to combat immediately. Black Caesar has no Reputation tokens, and so cannot reroll the Tidings die.

The enemy has the initiative, so Black Caesar must defend first. Black Caesar uses +5 Movement to defend against the enemy Ship's +8 Broadside, taking a Bloodshed token. Black Caesar decides to not flee and continue on with Close Quarters combat. Note: Black Caesar did not use his Merchant to generate a +2 Movement in the Broadside phase because that would not have resulted in Combat victory.

The Dutch Navy Ship has a +7 Close Quarters (3 carried over from Broadside combat plus original 4). Black Caesar generates Close Quarters from friendly Ship token (+3), and No Quarter Given's Ability (+4) for +7 and defeats the Dutch Navy Ship. Black Caesar receives the enemy token's reward of 5 Swagger and 2 Reputation tokens.

Black Caesar uses one of the two Reputation tokens to establish a Pirate Haven at Boa Vista and Rest. Black Caesar removes the Bloodshed and flips over the friendly Ship token face up, making it available for use on the next turn.

Rules Hierarchy

Some abilities and cards contradict this rule book in various ways. If an ability, card, or event text contradicts the rule book, follow this priority:

1. Global Missions
2. Tidings cards
3. Personal Missions
4. Treasure cards
5. Pirate Deck cards (Captain/Crew/Elite)
6. Tidings Die Result
7. Pirate I-VI ALL level benefits

Example: Blackbeard, a level 5 Pirate, has initiative against Naval ships. He attacks a Navy Ship with a combat modifier. He draws the Tidings card, Menacing Fear, giving the Navy token initiative. He has no initiative since the Tidings card is a priority over his basic level modifier.

Campaign Mode

The Campaign Mode allows players to experience connected storylines by completing Global Missions. Some missions are fictional, while most are historically based. These "micro endings" after each mission lead to an overall goal you and the other players are trying to achieve.

The Campaign Mode is optional. If you choose to play a Campaign, do not examine the Global Mission deck ahead of time. You will be instructed which cards to choose by their number and when to choose them.

The Pirate Republic: Africa Gambit core game has 16 Global Missions. Players start the campaign with Mission 1 (The Plate Fleet) and must successfully complete a series of ten missions, culminating in Mission 16. This is not a legacy game, so the campaign is fully replayable and resettable!

By nature of the Global missions selected, each campaign will have six missions that go unused. You may complete the unused missions as you desire or combine them as a six game, modular campaign mode instead. Completing the unused missions is not required to trigger the end of the campaign (final mission 16).

Global Mission Sequence

[Figure: Global Mission sequence diagram, printed on page 39. Not reproduced.]

After completing Mission 1, choose a branch: Either the Mission 2 branch, or the Mission 3 branch. If the former, upon completing Mission 12 or 13, resume the campaign with Mission 3. If you take the Mission 3 branch first, then upon completing Mission 14 or 15, resume the campaign with Mission 2.

Note: Upon choosing the next Global Mission for your campaign, draw its card from the Global Mission deck by looking at the mission number printed on the bottom right corner of the card only! Do not peek at the other cards!

Upon completing the last game of the 2nd campaign branch (9 games total), complete the final Mission 16. Good luck!

Campaign Details

Each Global mission includes a storyline, set-up, special rules, and objective. The ideal experience is to play with the same players throughout the entire Campaign, though it is not required. When a new Global Mission starts, players carry over only special rewards for their last completed mission unless specified otherwise.

Setup for the campaign missions overrides any existing tokens in those Territory spaces. When rewarded cards from the previous mission to use on the next mission, either select from those awarded OR choose a new card from the Captain/Crew/Elite Den (as appropriate) at the start of the next mission. Unless otherwise specified, none of these rewards extend beyond the next mission.

Solo Mode

To play the game solo, modify the normal rules as follows.

Solo Setup

Randomly choose another pirate to be the dummy player. This dummy player will influence when the round ends, but it won't do anything else. It only needs the Pirate deck of the chosen pirate. There's no need to shuffle it. Draw four cards from its deck to form its starting hand and the dummy player is ready to go.

As the Commander would do for a multiplayer game, flip any Ship tokens in your starting territory and adjacent territories face up.

The solo game uses the same end-game triggers as the multiplayer game, but the game also ends immediately when the number of rounds has been completed as determined by the table below.

Standard Global Mission Short Game (60 Swagger)	All Other "One-off" games
Easy: 4 rounds	Easy: 5 rounds
Medium: 3 rounds	Medium: 4 rounds
Hard: 2 rounds	Hard: 3 rounds

Once you choose the number of rounds (Easy/Medium/Hard), place a corresponding number of spare cubes nearby to keep track of the rounds played. Remove one cube for every round played.

Only the dummy player can declare the end of the round. If you ever acquire a Captain, Crew, Elite, or Treasure card, add a similar card (taken from the top of its deck) to the dummy player's deck. This also applies for starting bonuses earned while in Campaign Mode.

To simulate Playing as a Company, once a round, you may draw a card from the Captain's Den to use normally during Combat as if it was part of your hand. Though, if you win the Combat, you receive only one-half of each reward, rounded up.

Scoring

For "one-off" games, use the solo scoring rankings found as the last item of the FAQ (page 41) to see how well you did. It's one thing to beat the mission, it's another to do so in a way that earns the respect of other pirates!

When playing a solo campaign, use this scoring system to evaluate your swashbuckling prowess!

For each campaign mission, upon fully resolving the end-game scoring, record your Swagger and the number of rounds you played. At the end of the full 10-mission campaign, sum your total Swagger and divide that by the total number of rounds played (rounding down). This is your Efficiency Value. Finally, subtract the total number of rounds from your Efficiency Value to find your rating on the Campaign Profession table.

SCORE (Total Swagger / Total Rounds) - Total Rounds	RANK
25+	Pirate King or Queen
20-24	Fleet Admiral
15-19	Captain
10-14	Sailing Master
5-9	Lieutenant
1-4	Swab
≤0	Landlubber

Playing the Dummy Player's Turn

The dummy player always takes the first turn of each round. Immediately before the Dummy Player's turn, check if its Pirate deck is empty. If it is, it declares the end of round and it does not take a turn. You take one more turn, and then the round ends. See note, below.

For each of its turns, follow these two steps:

1. Replenish the Dummy Player's hand by drawing from its Pirate Deck until the number of cards in its hand matches your current hand size limit. Place them face up nearby.
2. Roll the Tidings die and resolve the result as follows:
   • -1: Discard 1 card from the dummy player's hand.
   • +2: Discard 2 cards from the dummy player's hand.
   • +3: Discard 3 cards from the dummy player's hand.
   • WHITE LOOKOUT: Discard 3 cards from the dummy player's hand.
   • RED LOOKOUT: Discard 4 cards from the dummy player's hand.
   • TREASURE FLEET/SLAVE SHIP/REPUTATION: Discard a number of cards from the dummy player's hand equal to your player level (e.g., level 1 discards 1 card; level 6 discards 6 cards). Also, move an existing Treasure Fleet / Slave Ship or spawn new ones as normal.

Note: If you run out of cards, continue to play, as only the Dummy player can end the round.

Frequently Asked/Anticipated Questions

Solo Scoring Example

In this example, a player completed a campaign after 33 total rounds and 1,469 total Swagger, resulting in an Efficiency Value of 44 (1469 / 33 = 44.52 rounded down). Then, subtracting the total number of rounds from the Efficiency Value results in a rating score of 11 (44 - 33 = 11). This is cross-checked on the table to learn the player finished the campaign as a "Sailing Master"!

Mission	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Totals
Rounds	2	2	4	2	6	4	4	3	2	4	33
Swagger	47	78	144	127	220	181	142

Crew cards are used my entire turn? Yes, but only the combat-specific icons can be used multiple times and only in combat.

If a Letter of Marque applies to me and I resolve a White or Red Lookout which results in engaging a Navy ship of the same nation, does immediate Combat occur? No, the token is passive for you.

Can I ever start my turn with more than 10 movement? No, but during your turn you can increase it as you move using card effects.

Can I complete the Circumnavigate the Seas accomplishment counterclockwise? Yes. Choose a direction and continue in that direction.

If I gain a Crew/Elite card due to accomplishing a Tidings event or campaign mission, but have no Crew/Elite capacity on my player board, what happens? Keep the Crew/Elite card and use it for the one-time event, then tuck it under your player mat until allowed to keep it. You cannot use it until your Captain Stat grants you the ability. Place the card on top of your Pirate deck when you gain the requisite Captain Stat. You may also add a tucked card to your Pirate deck anytime by removing a same type card from your discard pile and shuffling the removed card back into its supply deck. (See Note, pg 19).

What's the difference with Pirate Haven and Pirate-held territories? Pirate Havens are only established on Neutral Land Sites. Pirate-held Territories are imperialist Land Sites that have been sacked.

What's the advantage of using Strike Fear when a token's Close Quarters value is already so high? Although the Close Quarters token value may be high, it will never be more than the Broadside value of the token. Strike Fear is always more advantageous if you have the initiative and Strike Fear values, as you are spending less attack in combat.

Are Letter of Marque nation Land tokens revealed if I move into their territory? No, you must Scout Letter of Marque Land Sites normally.

I have the reward tile: "Company combat with 2 cards." Can I provide a card and my Ship token to the player? Yes.

I rolled a "White Lookout," at the start of my turn but do not have enough movement to avoid combat. Can I use my cards to try and avoid combat? Yes. For example, you could play the card "Well-Behaved Woman" which gives you +2 movement against enemies you do not have initiative against.

I assisted in a player's Company combat during their turn and won. Can I still form a Company on my turn, and did that count as one of my twelve accomplishments of winning company combat? Yes.

Can I use my friendly Ship twice in multiple token combat? No. Once the token is used, it cannot be used again until you Rest or until the next Round.

How do I keep track of my completed Personal Missions? Keep track of completing these Personal Missions by any method which suits you. For most, you don't need a separate method to track them; you can monitor them yourself.

I drew a Tidings Card / Personal Mission that instructed me to place a Land token and/or sack an Imperialist-Held Land Site. What should I do if that location is already Pirate-held? If the location is a specific, named Land site, discard the card without resolving any effects and draw a new one. If the location was randomly determined, draw new Tidings cards until you find a Territory with an Imperialist-Held Land Site.

How do I determine my title after scoring a "one-off" solo game? 20 Swagger = Landlubber; 38 = Swab; 55 = Lieutenant; 70 = Sailing Master; 85 = Ship's Captain; 100 = Fleet Admiral; and 120+ Swagger earns you the title of Pirate King or Queen!