Pirates CCG - 20 June

The first outing of the Pirates collectable card game which both James and Adrian had bought in the last few weeks - part of a series starting with Pirates of the Spanish Main, and most recently (to tie in the latest Pirates film) Pirates at Ocean's Edge. Wonderfully illustrated pirate ships are pressed out of the cards, and constructed in 3D to make really nice-looking models. Players control a group of ships to explore islands, discover treasure and fight each other.



The rules are quite simple but have some neat mechanisms, with all the info you need about your ship on its card. Notable exceptions in the rules are Wind (ships move the same distance in any direction), moving or shooting each turn (and not both) and initiative (which we introduced as rolls at the beginning of each turn). So further rules tweaking is needed or we might try using versions of Wooden Ships & Iron Men or similar rulesets which have been adapted for use with these ships.



The game started with mad rushes towards islands and we all starting stocking up with gold to return to our home bases. When the gold was more scarce, battles commenced - and masts were rapidly blasted off many of the ships - see devastation above. The number of treasures collected were roughly the same but their values meant Adrian was well ahead, with James second and Kieron cursing his paltry collection of 1 and 2 gold pieces.


A fun, good-looking game... but one not to be taken too seriously.