'I have dipped my hands in muddy water and must be a pirate --- a merry life and a short one shall be my motto.' --Captain Bartholomew Roberts These rules are written with the intention of providing a quick, bloodthirsty and utterly swashbuckling sort of game, with a minimum of fiddling about, doing hard arithmetic or knowing the complexities of navigation. We think you ought to be able to play it under the influence of several tots of grog, those of 'ee what's old enough. You'll need a collection of model figures - at least 10 and up to several hundred, tape measure, lots of six- sided dice- ('D6'),..some blank index cards, pens and paper. For games ashore you'll need some sort of model landscape - a beach, an island, a waterfront tavern. For games afloat you'll need at least one model ship, with assorted small boats etc. PART ONE: TROUBLE ASHORE To start out, let's look at a game ashore, without ships or cannon. Give each player three blank cards, and a handful of miniatures. The player picks one heroic cutthroat as his or her 'Character'; the others serve as minions, sidekicks and generally secondary figures - the 'supporting cast'. We'll refer to them as 'Scurvy Dogs', or collectively as the crew: 6-12 figures would be a good number for the crew of a pirate sloop, or the personal followers of one of the elected officers of a larger vessel. Name the character, and write his/her name on each of the cards - 'Cap'n Ketch and crew' or 'One Leg Bottomley and 'is filthy swabs' or whatever. Place the figures on the board and shuffle all the cards from all the players into a deck. Add another card that says 'joker'. When this is pulled, it's the end of the round and all cards are shuffled back together whether or not everybody's had their cards come up or not. Shuffle well, as index cards aren't designed as playing cards and tend to stick together. Deal them one at a time. Whoever's card comes up gets to move, fight, shoot, carouse, fight, drink, gamble, fight, swing on ropes, fight, or whatever else they might want. They can do these in any order they like. Nobody else gets to do anything except - you guessed! - shoot at, then fight back with the first mob of pirates. MOVEMENT: All Scurvy Dogs must remain within 12" of 'their' Character as far as is possible (they run away a lot!) Each figure or group of figures moves 3 D6" on land. Soldiers in formation with thick woollen uniforms, tight belts and silly hats move 2 D6". Lose the highest die for crossing rough country/ obstacles. Lose another die for any figure that stops to fire a weapon. So a roll of '2% '4' and '6' would add up to '12', and so 12" movement, If there was shooting, or rough terrain in the way, the '6' would be lost. Figures who ran away on a previous turn can do their best to return to the bosom of their comrades. SHOOTING: Each figure is armed exactly as shown on the model. Only those with firearms can shoot, though throwing bottles, stones etc might be allowed in the right circumstances. A figure can stop to shoot while moving, but is then unloaded. A figure who stands still can shoot and reload. Weapons can be reloaded in half a turn standing still. Muskets hit for a roll of 5 or 6 up to 6", 6 up to 15" Pistols hit for a roll of 5 or 6 up to 4", 6 up to 8" Thrown objects hit for a roll of 5 or 6 up to 2", 6 up to 6" For each hit, roll again. 1-3 causes one of the enemy to drop back 6" out of fear/slight wound etc. 4-5 kills or seriously wounds him. 6 hits a Character, him to take a wound chit. Swivel Guns have the range of muskets, but roll 3 dice, and - after hitting - a 3-5 kills (since they are more lethal). Volley guns are the same, are allowed one D6 per barrel, fired all at once, and have a long range of only 12". They take a whole turn to reload. Grenades roll 6 dice, but it two '1's are among them, it goes off in the throwers hand rather than at the target! Stinkpots count the same as grenades, but inflict no kills- all the casualties run away due to the ripeness of the atmosphere! HAND TO HAND FIGHTING: Each figure is armed exactly as shown on the model, and we will assume that each pirate has chosen the weapon he/she is best with. Since we are mainly interested in the Characters, we'll focus on them and let the scurvy dogs have very simple rules. Characters fighting Characters. Pair off the two heroes as everyone else stands aside to let them fight. Roll a D6 for each contestant. If one wins by 2 points, the other is forced to 'step back' 2". If he cannot do that, if if he is beaten by 3 points or more, he must draw from the Character Wound Chits to see what befalleth him. Otherwise, keep fighting. Characters fighting Scurvy Dogs: Our hero takes on one or more scum of the sea. Roll a D6 for each contestant. If the Character wins, the Scurvy Dog falls dead at his feet. If the Scurvy Dog wins by 3 points or more, the Character takes a wound chit. Characters can fight up to 4 Scurvy Dogs at once at no penalty. They each get a D6 against our hero's single die; any who beat him by 3 points inflict a wound chit, but any who score less than the character fall to his blade! Scurvy Dogs fighting Scurvy Dogs. No need to match these fellows up except as a general brawl. Count up how many are on each side. Roll a D6 for each. For each '5', a cowardly wretch retreats from the fight - at least 6", ideally to an obviously safer spot. For each '6', a vile swab goes off to meet Davy Jones. ADVANTAGES: If one side has a significant advantage over the other, it adds 1 to its die roll. Defending a building, or the upper deck of a higher vessel, or something of that kind is an advantage. Likewise, attacking onto a lower deck would be an advantage. Some men are just better fighters than others, be they grenadiers or burly bosun's mates, so we'll give them an advantage, too. However, the best of all advantages is Pirate Fury, since it applies as long as the crew is winning it's fights. To invoke Pirate Fury a player must announce his intention to all present, make a brief speech (less than a minute, please!) and immediately launch his Character figure into hand-to-hand combat. The other players then judge whether or not they would be inspired by this speech (be honest!), voting if necessary. Depending on this, the crew either A) follow their commander, become inflamed with Pirate Fury, screaming into combat at +1, B) Think he's gone a bit mad, but follow him normally - but no Pirate fury - or C) Decide he's had a touch of sun, and watch him go into battle on his own. They may join him next turn if he's still alive. Pirate Fury lasts until either the crew loses a round of melee, or the fight is over. At the end of a round of combat, the side that has lost more killed and, ahem, withdrawn to safety, rolls a D6 for every character present, starting with the most senior (Captain, quartermaster etc). Every man for himself! Panic rush for safety, ideally in another part of the globe. Everyone retreats 3 D6", but may halt if reaching cover/safety, and faces the enemy Character and D6 loyal henchmen hold firm, everyone else retreats 2 D6" Character and crew fight on, but 1 D6 worthless rats scuttle 2 D6" Boldly the men rally and continue the fight Heroically the character launches a counterattack, and an immediate round of combat takes place. Everyone on his side counts 'advantage'this turn for Pirate Fury. A character who rolls after a previous character has rolled a '1' (Panic!!) loses 2 points from his die roll as his crew watches in fear. Likewise, a character who rolls after a previous character has rolled a '6' adds 2 to his own die roll as his men are heartened by the sight of their friends' courage. 'Courage lads, courage!'; While our characters are no doubt bold and fearless seafarers, or too drunk to notice, the Scurvy Dogs are altogether lesser mortals. Should their leader be killed or seriously wounded, roll a D6 to see what they do 1,2 ) Run off 3 d6" in cowardly fashion if they can, otherwise surrender, cringing, to the nearest foe. Abandon the fallen hero to his fate! 3,4) Join nearest friendly group within 12", otherwise wander off 3 D6" in search of grog, loose women, that sort of thing. If the character isn't dead, they'll take him along. 5,6) Immediately the boldest / meanest biggest of the Scurvy Dog elects himself to be a new Character and takes command, sort of --. He might look after his fallen leader, or he might not. WOT ELSE? This game allows for a good deal of making it up as you go along, with each crew being free to talk (brag, lie) with others, and engage in whatever villainy seems promising at the time. We'll get to ships, cannon etc in Part Two: Wickedness Afloat! A NOTIONAL CREW for a small sloop or brigantine. 1 x Character (Captain) 1-3 musketmen 3-6 sailing crew (helmsman, topmen etc) armed with misc. weapons 2-4 gunners, armed with swivels, volleyguns, grenades, pistols. 1-3 bosun and his ugly great brutes with axes, cutlasses, boarding pikes (+1 advantage in hand-to-hand) CHARACTER WOUND CHITS MAKE 23 'PHOTOCOPIES, CUT 'EM OUT, DRAW 'EM FROM A HAT -- KILLED Stabbed in the vittles KILLED That was me 'ead - I was attached to it KILLED Me 'eart, me poor 'eart KILLED They'll never get me -aggghh-- MORTAL WOUND Able to continue to command but die if roll a '1' each turn WOUNDED In the chest. Out of the game but still alive! WOUNDED Out of the game but still alive! WOUNDED In the side. Movement halved,-1 combat WOUNDED In the leg.! Movement halved, -1 combat WOUNDED in the right arm. -2 from combat SLIGHT WOUND To the chest, -1 combat SLIGHT WOUND A blow to the head. Unconscious 1 turn SLIGHT WOUND To the leg, Lose 1 D6 movement SLIGHT WOUND To the right arm. -1 from combat SLIGHT WOUND Blood over my new silk shirt! - +1 combat for 1 turn A MERE SCRATCH It's nothing, me lads A MERE SCRATCH I've done worse shaving A MERE SCRATCH Roll D6; on a 1 it's a mortal wound, die in D6 turns - sorry! A MERE SCRATCH But it's ruined me good looks - +1 combat next turn! MORTAL WOUND Groans a lot; -1 from crew's combat as they hear him DAMNATION! Ruined my new hat. Instant return of fire or round of combat! I'VE BROWNED ME BRITCHES! Retire below for 1 turn to change - ZOUNDS! Saved by my locket of Lady Emmaline! BY G'S TEETH! They've shot away my gold watch! BLOODY 'ELL! Me breeches fell down, -1 combat 1 turn only Back to Dispatch June 2000 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com