Pirates! - Miniature Battles on the High Seas (3rd Edition)

We are proud to announce the release of the third edition of our most popular game, Pirates! We have been working on this edition for several years now, and we know that all you Pirates! fans out there are going to really enjoy what we've done.

For those of you unfamiliar with Pirates!, the rules allow you to recreate quick and exciting (and sometimes hilarious) naval battles using 25mm scale ships and miniature figures. Besides these rules, we also manufacturer a large range of 25mm resin cast ships, both historical and fantastic, to go with our game. There is nothing to keep you from using ships by other manufacturers, or even scratch building your own!

Many of our ship designs are based on Elizabethan era ships, prominent during the time of Sir Francis Drake and the Treasure Ships of Spain. This allows us to utilize both sailed and oared vessels. Our ancient ship designs are the result of painstaking research. These 25mm ships are (very) roughly 10:1 scale to their historical counterparts as far as crew sizes, firepower and tonnages are concerned.

For those of you who appreciate fantasy wargaming, an entire section of this book has been packed with rules for fantasy races, magic, scrolls, sea monsters, etc. We also make a range of fantasy submersibles, airships and Jules Verne-esque ironclads. And, as if that weren't enough, we included construct rules so that you could build your own!

What's new in this version of Pirates!? Most of the changes involve streamlining game play. We got rid of rules that were seldom (if ever) used. The crit charts have been reworked, and the old ramming rules have been completely scraped in favor of a newer, easier to use system. The same can be said for the boarding and morale rules. Some minor changes have been made to the weapon and crew stats.

The biggest change, however, is our inclusion of the Pirates! Ancients rules! That's right, now you can have battles between ancient galleys! We are working hard on releasing a range of ancient galleys, and the first model, the liburnium, should be available very soon. We are really excited about this part, and hope you will be too!

What's Included?

The Pirates! 3rd Edition rules include...

Fourteen historical ship designs.

Seven fantasy ship designs.

Seventeen types of ordnance.

Rules for designing/using fortifications.

Rules for creating your own creatures and constructs.

Eleven historical races.

Twelve fantasy races.

Dozens of spells and magic items.

The rules for PIRATES! ANCIENTS!

Pirates! 3rd Edition has the historical accuracy to recreate epic historical events such as the Armada Campaign or the Battle of Lepanto, while having the flexibility to let you wargame in your favorite fantasy universe.

Game Play

The basic game play of Pirates! hasn't changed since first edition. Before each turn, every captain writes orders for his ship(s). This is done on our handy-dandy orders sheet, and is very quick easy to do. Orders are written for speed and general direction of movement, for changing sail settings, raising or lowering anchor, and moving crew and ordnance. If you are playing a fantasy game, then you write orders for which spell your navigator will cast, if any. You do not write orders for ordnance or small arms fire, since that is all done as the opportunity presents itself.

After all orders are written, the wind is checked for, to see if it changes direction or speed, or if something more... dramatic happens! Movement takes place immediately afterwards, with the fastest ship going first, followed by the second fastest, etc.

Ordnance fire is the next phase, and every captain places a splash marker for each ordnance fired to indicate his desired target. Ranges are guessed, shots adjusted and all results worked out simultaneously. The same is then done for small arms.

Crew are then allowed to move about, and boarding actions and other melee takes place. The turn ends with the repairs phase, where crew may attempt to repair damage to their ships, put out fires, etc.

One of the things that has made Pirates! such a huge success throughout its various editions is the fact that play is simultaneous, so all players are getting to do something all the time! This makes it ideal for game clubs, conventions or friends who want to play a game as a group. An interesting "side effect" if this is that you can easily play a game where it's every man for himself! We have run games with up to 30 players at once, and everyone gets to have a good time!