Plunder - a game for 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and upwards that plays
within an hour.
The objective of Plunder is to be the first to gain 60 pieces of silver by
trading with natives and at the different ports and through acts of piracy.
Components
108 Playing Cards
Rules sheet
4 Captain's Mats
2 Bags
4 Ship Tokens
Counters for Gold and Silver
Flags (British, Dutch, French and Spanish)
Spice, Cloth and Wood Commodities
Setting Up
Find the starting cards, the port of Tortuga and four random Open Sea cards,
Tortuga is placed centrally and one Open Sea card is placed on each of the
North, West, East and South sides.
Each player places their Mat in front of them and places their ship on
Tortuga. Each players also takes 5 Silver Coins.
Shuffle the deck of remaining cards, then each player randomly turns one
over, the player with the highest number as shown in the top left corner
starts. The deck is reshuffled and each player takes 6 cards.
Now you are ready to start.
The Cards
Samples of the cards are shown below:
Top left Card Strength, top right the cargo type.
Ports showing commodities and buy and sale prices.
French Merchantman showing Speed, Cannon and Crew.
Game Play
The phases of play are:
1. Resolve Encounter
2. Pay Yer Crew
3. Scout, Move and Draw
4. Act
5. Play Encounter
1. Resolve Encounter
The previous player will, if they are able, have played an encounter on
you which you need to resolve before you start. This might be a card such
as a Ship which will you need to choose to fight or run away from, it might
be taxation or it could be innoccuous and have no effect.
2. Pay Yer Crew
Both Ships and First Mates may require payment, forget this and you will
likely hear the cry of 'Mutiny!' and you will find yourself without a ship
or the First Mate will be gone.
3. Scout, Move and Draw
This set of actions may be performed a number of times equal to the movement
allowance of your ship.
Scout involves laying an Open Sea, Coastline or Port Card orthogonally
adjacent to the card on which your ship is currently placed.
Movement allows you to move to the next card, provided you have 6 or fewer
cards in hand. You are allowed only 1 change of direction a turn and you
may only turn 90 degrees at a time. Also you cannot move straight through
a Port or Coastline card but must stop there and perform an action.
Draw a new Card
4. Act
Now you get to perform your own action, you can choose 1 of the following:
a) Obtain a Letter of Marque from a Foreign Power.
b) Trade which allows you to Buy or Sell Cargo and Ships.
c) Play a Card, these might include hiring a First Mate, enabling you to
attack a Ship, starting or ending a War etc.
d) Attack a Port, you must do this if you are in an enemy port and have
no cards to allow you to be there.
e) Attack another Captain to try and steal his cargo.
5. Play Encounter
Here is where you get to play a Card on the player to your left, this is
the first action they will have to do so save your nasty cards for this
point.
Combat
Combat comprises 3 parts, the chase to catch the opposing boat, cannons
and then the boarding party. Movement decides if you can catch or escape
from the other Boat, Cannon decide if you can Outgun them, Crew levels decide
if you can successfully Board. You can add a Card from your hand for each
of these but if you are opposing a Pirate Captain then so can they! Pick
your battles wisely.
Your Tactics
How can I get more Silver ?
Piracy: other ships contain cargo, by boarding them you can take their cargo,
take the ship as a Prize and sell them at Tortuga, or at another port where
you have a letter of Marque.
Trading: buy goods from natives or one of the ports and then sail to another
port and trade them for a profit.
Treasure Fleets: sailing along the Western edge of your board you may meet
a Treasure Fleet, these are plundered for cash and not trade goods. These
fleets are always Spanish.
Buried Treasure: this can be found is some of the coastal locations.
Why collect a Letter of Marque ?
You want a letter of Marque so that you can trade plundered goods and ships
at that countries port where you get a better return than at Tortuga. You
can't apply for one until the country is at war, this automatically makes
the other country your enemy. A Letter of Marque is lost if you attack a Ship
or a Port of that Countries nationality.
Are there any dangers to attacking an Enemy Ship ?
Attacking an enemy ship will give you access to cargo, provided you can
catch and overcome it's defences which you can do by playing cards. Failure
may mean your ship is sunk which would lose you any existing cargo and put
you back in Tortuga. Winning gives you the spoils.
However, attacking a ship as your Action leaves you vulnerable as you can
no longer move. That means other Pirate Captains can try the same tactics
as you and come and raid your ship. You may have less cards than them and
therefore less chance of winning combat.
Have I lost the game if my ship gets sunk ?
No, what happens is that you lose your ship, your crew and any cargo you
are carrying, you discard all your cards and your turn ends. However, on your
next turn you start from Tortuga in your default Pinnace with 6 cards in your
hand.
Conclusion
This game is very portable and comes in a delightful shaped box with nice
components. The flags, commodities and money are all good quality. The players
mats fold up and fit back into the box. The only disappointment for me is
the pirate ships, however, this is easily got round with a couple of packs
from Wiz Kids miniatures Pirates game, these are shown on the picture above.
This is a quick game to pick up and learn, it's not a heavy strategic game
but it does have a fun theme, game play progresses quickly and you do have
plenty of ways to hit the opposition.
A good way to start or end a game session, lots of tension and a game in
which a small amount of fortune will allow you to catch up and beat an early
leader.
Additional Reviews
Details
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