A bit OT here, but what are your opinions of Pirates of the Spanish Main. I mean a really detailed opinion. I'm thinking about adopting a new game (both my SFB and MechWarrior groups have passed into history) that will be both easy to teach and fairly cheap to play.
I like it a lot.
It comes in packs, like a pack of collectable cards. The stock is very thick and hard, and you punch out the pieces to quickly form a convincing tall ship. The ships look pretty good. Each pack comes with two ships, an island, a rulebook, crew members, treasure markers, and a (very small) die, so you can play at once. However, don't even kid yourself into thinking this will be a balanced game. It serves as a great introduction, but you'll need more packs to form small fleets on both sides to get a balanced game.
The object is to get the treasure off of a "wild" island and back to your home island. Each ship has a movement allowance, a cargo allowance, and a certain number of guns. You can concentrate on trying to gather more treasure than your opponent, sinking him so he can't gather anymore treasure, or -- inevitably -- both.
All distances in the game are measured using the cards that the ships are punched out of. The have a long side and a short side and all distances are measured in increments of L (for long side) and S (for short side.) For example, some guns can only shoot to short range, and others can shoot to long range. Each gun also has a number required to hit the enemy. The range and "to hit" number are shown by the color and number of the little die printed on the ship.
A ship's movement allowance is given as a combination of distances. For example, if a ship has a movement allowance of L+S, then it can move one long distance and one short distance each turn. Ships are allowed to change their heading before every movement, so a ship with an allowance of S+S is much more maneuverable than a ship with an allowance of L.
A ship has one gun and one damage point for each sail. Each time you take a hit, you remove a sail. Each time you take a turn at your home island to repair, you get to replace a sail. When you lose a sail you also lose that gun. When you run out of sails, you are a derelict. If you take another hit, then you are headed to the bottom.
This is one thing to worry about with the game. If you think about what you are doing then you will have no problems whatsoever. However, if you are careless you can snap the sails as you take them off and put them on. So be careful!
Each ship comes with a little history which gives it a special ability. I'm not sure how historic these histories are, but they add to the atmosphere. One ship, for example, was "historically" crewed by a mad captain and crew who had lost everything to pirates. They get +1 to hit pirates. Another pirate ship was famed for being maneuverable and is immune to long range fire.
Crew members can also give you special abilities. A musketeer gives you an extra gun. A shipwright lets you repair at sea. An explorer lets you land and gather treasure on the same turn. But my favorite is the guy who lets you move and shoot on the same turn.
However, taking on these crew members uses up your cargo space.
Ramming and boarding are also possible, so be as bloodthirsty as you like.
Give it a try. Two bucks will get you a pack, and you'll be able to play the intro game to get yoru feet wet.
-S'Cipio
Topic: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!! (Read 7013 times)