Blackbeard
A Few New Options
by Alan Arvold
from THE BOARDGAMER, 6, #1 pp 15-19
BLACKBEARD is a game that deals with the Golden Age of Piracy. In the game a player assumes the roles of historical pirates who attempt to either retire as the wealthiest pirate in the game or finish the game as the most notorious. In the process the player is trying to prevent his opponents from doing the same thing. The game is well designed, having gone through ten years worth of play testing and revision. I found the game to be very enjoyable especially in the solitaire form. But I found a few things missing in the game, events which while they were rare did historically happen. These events were:
1. A pirate ship deliberately engaging a warship in combat;
2. A squadron of pirate ships under the direct control of one pirate; and
3. A pirate blockading a port.
Yes these were all indeed rare events during the Golden Age of Piracy (though they were more common during the Buccaneering Era of Piracy which immediately preceded the Golden Age). I looked for examples of all three events during the Golden Age. While I found examples of the last two events I had a hard time finding examples of the first. I finally found an example of the first event which I will recount in the next paragraph.
While cruising in the Caribbean Sea in 1717, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, chanced upon a large ship one moonlit night, one almost as big as his own the Queen Anne's Revenge. His luck thus far on this voyage had been very good as he had already taken several prizes and his ship was crammed full of loot. But he did not want to let another prize get away just because he had no more room in his holds. He closed with it and by daybreak was ready to commence his attack upon it. However the ship turned out to be the 30 gun British frigate H.M.S. Scarborough. Upon realizing this Blackbeard should of turned away and tried to escape like any other sensible pirate would. But instead of running he offered battle to the British frigate. For several hours the two ships pounded each other with gunfire. The Queen Anne's Revenge had 40 guns and thus had superior fire power over the Scarborough but the Scarborough had a larger crew and was trying to close with the pirate ship in order to board her where her superior numbers in crewmen would prevail. Finally Blackbeard's gunners hit the Scarborough at the waterline creating a large hole which put the frigate in a sinking condition. The Scarborough broke off and maneuvered away in order to conduct repairs on the hole. Blackbeard could have finished off the crippled frigate but as his ship too was heavily damaged he let her go in order to effect his own repairs. The Scarborough's crew was able to plug the hole and make it to the island of Barbados where they patched it up. But the Royal Navy was stunned by the fact that one of her warships was defeated by a pirate ship and resolved to hunt Blackbeard to the ends of the earth in order to avenge their defeat. Blackbeard's fame rose to new heights with this victory making him the most feared pirate of his time. Blackbeard was a very versatile pirate. Besides doing battle with a British warship he also blockaded the port of Charleston in South Carolina and had a small pirate squadron which consisted of a three masted square rigger, the Queen Anne's Revenge, and two sloops. Bartholomew Roberts at the end of his pirate career had a pirate fleet of four ships. Frederick Misson at the very beginning of his pirate career did battle with and blew up the British frigate H.M.S. Winchelsea. He later did battle with five Portuguese warships which attacked his Libertatia of which he sank three of them, though in this battle he fought from fixed shore batteries. There are other pirates who did at least one of these three things listed above but space precludes me listing them. The point of the matter is that now you the player will have these options to use in your climb to become the game's most notorious and/or wealthiest pirate.
In this article I will present optional rules for these three additional possibilities listed above. These can be added to the game of BLACKBEARD at a player's discretion without seriously altering the game. It should be noted that with each of these options comes a high degree of risk for in a pirate's life nothing is a sure thing, therefore some players will use them cautiously. On the other hand these rules may encourage some players to play more in the vein of fictional pirates such as Captain Blood thus their moves will be more reckless. Either way they should add some more fun to the game.
24. Engaging Warships in Combat
24.1 Overview: In the normal rules Warships take no damage when engaging Pirate ships while they do inflict damage on the same said Pirates. What this represents in real life is the fact that a Pirate ship who is trying to get away from the Warship is firing its guns high so as to hit the Warship's sails and rigging in an effort to slow the Warship down in order to effect their escape. The Warship on the other hand is not only firing at the Pirate ship's sail and rigging to slow it down but is also firing at the Pirate ship's hull in order to destroy its firepower so the Warship can close in for the kill. The following rules deal with those rare situations where a Pirate would fight a full pitched battle with a Warship.
24.2 Movement: There are no changes to the rules dealing with the movement or placement of Warships. Historically while Warships would not go out of their way to hunt Pirates unless that was their mission, if they chanced upon a Pirate ship they would pursue it in order to either sink or capture it. On the other hand if a Pirate ship moves into a hex with a Warship in it, it is the Warship which must attempt interception, not the Pirate ship.
24.3 Combat: When a Warship makes an intercept dr6 it must turn its counter over to a face up position if it has not already done that so the Pirate may see its combat rating. If the Warship wins the intercept roll it will engage the Pirate ship. The Pirate then has the choice to either try to run away from the Warship (the normal rules applying) or to engage the Warship (these rules applying). If the Pirate wins the intercept roll he may either avoid combat or join in it. If he does join in combat with the Warship he must engage it (use the rules in this section).
24.31 Resolution: The Warship's combat strength equals its Combat Rating plus a dr6 which represents the ability of the Warship's captain. As in the normal rules both ships make a DR12 and add it to their respective Combat strengths. The difference (if any) between the modified dice rolls is the number of damage points suffered by the ship with the lesser amount. The winner of each round of battle takes one point of damage.
24.32 Continuation: If the Pirate rolls higher in the battle round he may decide whether to continue combat for another round or end the combat. If he continues the combat he must fight the Warship using these rules. If the rolls are equal or the Warship rolls higher the combat will continue using these rules.
24.33 Surrender: If the Pirate is engaging a Warship using these rules and has a Letter of Marque of the same Nationality as the Warship, he may not surrender and his Letter of Marque is revoked.
24.34 Notoriety Gain: As in the normal rules a Pirate in combat with a Warship who breaks off combat and gets away gains five Notoriety points. A Pirate who sinks a Warship gains Notoriety equal to the Warship's Combat strength and receives an Attack History marker for the Nationality of the Warship if he does not have one already.
24.35 Booty: A Pirate does not receive any Booty for sinking a Warship and does not have to declare D&R for it either. A Pirate may want to voluntarily declare D&R to improve his crew's Unrest Level which may well have been lowered by the battle with the Warship though.
24.4 Damage: When a Warship receives Combat damage, the damage points are subtracted from the Warship's Combat Rating. In subsequent combat rounds the reduced Combat Rating is used for the Warship's new Combat strength. When the total damage points equals the Warship's Combat Rating the Warship is sunk and removed from play.
24.41 Injury: For each point of damage sustained by the Warship from combat the Warship must make an immediate injury dr6 to determine whether the captain of the Warship is injured. Like with a Pirate/KC a result of "1" means an Action card must be drawn from the Action deck and the bottom line must be consulted to determine the effects of the injury.
24.42 Wounds: Superficial, Minor and Crippling Wounds reduce the Warship's ca ptain's ability by 1, 2, and 3 respectively. If the Warship's captain is killed the captain's ability is reduced by 4. A Warship captain's ability rating can not be reduced below the original rating rolled at the beginning of the battle. Any remaining ability rating after the death of a captain represents some other officer on the Warship taking charge and this can also be reduced by Injury.
24.43 Ship Effects: Due to the higher discipline of crews aboard Warships the incapacity of the Warship's captain does not reduce the Combat Rating of the Warship as it does on a Pirate/KC. Warships do not suffer from Scurvy or Crew Unrest. After the battle is over, assuming the Warship has survived, the Combat Rating is restored to its printed capacity on the counter and in any future battle a new captain's ability rating must be rolled for.
24.5 Pirate Alliances and Fleets: When a Warship intercepts a group of Pirates in alliance the normal rules apply. However the Combat Strength of the non-attacked Pirate's ship is added to the attacked Pirate's DR12. When a Warship intercepts a Pirate Fleet (Section 25.0) the Pirate may add the Combat Strengths of his non-attacked ships in his DR12. He may elect not to use some non-attacked ships but once he chooses this option he can not bring those non-attacked ships into later rounds of the battle.
24.6 Warship Squadrons: While a Pirate who is intercepted by several Warships may engage them following the rules in Section 14.2, this is not a very healthy move to make. Multiple Warships of the Nationality intercept the same Pirate and that Pirate chooses to engage, after all the Combat Factors of the attacking Warships are totalled, add a dr6 to account for the ability of the Squadron Commander. This total is then added to the Warship Squadron's DR12 in each combat round.
24.7 Ship Types: For those who wonder what type of Warship the counters represent given their values I offer the following explanation: the 7-5 Warship is a Schooner equivalent vessel, the 8-5 Warship is a Sloop equivalent vessel, the 9-4 and 10-4 are Brigantine equivalent vessels (better known as "Brigs" in the navy), and the 11-3 and 12-2 are 3-Masted Square Rigger equivalent vessels (better known as Frigates). It should be noted that naval vessels were always more heavily armed then their pirate equivalent vessels. For those who may wonder why I do not add a captain's ability dr6 to a KC's combat rating the reason is that the Combat Rating of a KC already includes both the ship's value and the captain's ability. These are constant values in a KC but not in a Warship.
25. Pirate Fleets
25.1 Overview: Most Pirates usually operated from a single ship. However a few Pirates did have Pirate Fleets which were usually composed of three to four ships. The "flagship" of the Fleet was always the largest vessel, either a Brigantine or a Three Masted Square Rigger, with the rest of the fleet being Schooners or Sloops. (Some Fleets had a second big ship in them though.) While the Pirate captain commanded the flagship, the other ships were commanded by his trusted lieutenants (whose positions were confirmed by a majority vote of the crew). These Fleets (which were really the size of a squadron) would always stay together with each ship having specific functions as defined by the captain. While some of these Fleets were indeed powerful they were not as cohesive as a squadron of Warships. If the captain was voted down by the crews of the whole Fleet, the Fleet would break up with each ship going its own way. Sometimes one ship would break off from the Fleet to go its own way if that ship's crew was dissatisfied with the Pirate captain.
25.2 Forming a Fleet: A Pirate may form a Pirate Fleet by capturing Merchant ships following the rules set forth in Section 9.64. The only difference is that instead of discarding the old ship, the Pirate keeps it. He makes the decision on whether to keep it or not at the moment of capture.
25.21 Fleet Size: A Pirate may have under his control a maximum of four ships. Of these up to two may be either Brigantines or Three Masted Square Riggers. A Pirate is not required to have large ships in his Fleet. If the Pirate does not have a large ship in his Fleet he may use any ship as his flagship.
25.22 Ship's Logs: A Ship's Log will be maintained for each ship in the Pirate Fleet. On these logs the player will maintain markers for the ship's Speed and Combat Ratings, the amount of Booty in the Holds of that ship, and any hostages being kept on that ship. Only on the ship which the Pirate is on will the player also physically maintain that Pirate's Cunning, Notoriety, and Net Worth. Extra ship's and markers will have to be made. Ship's Logs for the ships in the Fleet are kept with the Pirate who owns them separate from any other Pirate that the player may have in the game.
25.3 Movement: A Pirate Fleet is represented on the mapboard by the Pirate's marker. The ships in the Fleet always stay together and do not separate while under the command of the Pirate captain except as noted in these rules. A Pirate Fleet which docks at Port is considered to have all of its ships docked. The Fleet moves at the rate of the slowest ship in the Fleet (usually the largest or most damaged). All other rules for movement (Section 8.0) apply.
25.4 Operations: A Pirate Fleet may perform the same operations as a single Pirate ship. There are a few differences between fleet operations and single ship operations as listed below.
25.41 Search: When a player conducts a search with a Pirate Fleet he draws one Action card for each ship in his Fleet from the deck. If a Storm results each ship in the Pirate Fleet must be rolled for individually but a Storm is only in effect if it is the first card that is drawn. Warships that are drawn will each attempt interception of the Pirate Fleet.
25.42 Taking a Prize: A Pirate Fleet may only attempt to take one Prize per operation no matter how many Merchant ships are in the same hex as the Fleet. The rules in section 9.6 are used. The Pirate uses one of his ships, preferably his best, to make the attempt and subtracts two from the Capture DR12 for each additional ship in his Fleet. Any damage suffered by the Pirate is applied to each ship individually. If a Pirate declares D&R at the end of the turn, whether voluntarily or mandatory, it applies to every ship in the Fleet.
25.43 Selling Booty: If a Pirate sells Booty in a Port he sells all the Booty that is in the Holds of every ship in his Fleet.
25.44 Refitting, Recovery, and Careening: A Pirate who is performing these operations in Port with his Fleet is considered to have all of his ships doing the same operation. A Pirate who is performing a Careening operation with his Fleet in a non Port Coastal Hex is considered to have only his ships with Speed damage careening. The ships with no Speed damage are considered to be at sea. If a Warship or a KC intercept a Pirate Fleet during a Careening operation the ships of the Pirate Fleet which are at sea may either engage the Warship/KC in combat using the rules in Section 24.0 or they may attempt to escape. If the Pirate defeats the Warship/KC in battle, careening ships are unaffected. If the Pirate successfully escapes from the Warship/KC, the careening ships are automatically destroyed along with any Booty on them. If the Pirate is killed his marker is removed from the board and the whole Fleet is destroyed.
25.45 Attacking and Sacking a Port: When a Pirate Fleet attempts to either attack or sack a Port, the Combat Strength of each of his ships are combined into one Fleet Combat Strength which is then added to the Pirate's ability rating and the dr6/DR12 when resolving these operations. Any damage suffered by the Pirate is applied to each individual ship in the Fleet.
25.46 Reorganization: At the end of his turn a Pirate may transfer his Booty around among the different ships as he sees fit. He may not combine different amounts of Booty in different Holds into One Hold. He may also change his flagship by transferring his Notoriety, Cunning, and Net Worth Markers to another Ship Log in his Fleet. Hostages may also be transferred to different ships within the Fleet. A Pirate may also discard a ship from his fleet at this time. However if he has no room in the Hold of his other ships for the Booty on the ship he is discarding, that Booty is considered lost.
25.5 Mutiny: The Crew Unrest Track for a Pirate Fleet represents the morale of all the crews in the fleet, not just the flagship. Thus if a Pirate is faced with a Mutiny attempt he may lose more then just his life and career. There were times when a minority of the crew in the fleet was dissatisfied with the Pirate captain and just simply sailed away with one of the ships in the fleet taking whatever loot was on the vessel.
25.51 Pirate Survives Mutiny: If a Pirate captain passes the Mutiny Outcome dr6 he keeps his flagship. However he must make a dr6 against his Leadership Rating for every other vessel in his fleet. If the result is less than or equal to his Leadership Rating that ship remains in the Fleet. If the result is more than his Leadership Rating that ship is removed from the Fleet and the game along with any Booty that was on it.
25.52 Pirate Retires or is Marooned: When the Pirate fails his Mutiny Outcome dr6 the Fleet breaks up with each ship except the flagship being removed from the game with any Booty that is on them. The new Pirate that the player activates inherits the flagship and whatever Booty is on it. Note that this result also applies if the Pirate is lost due to a duel, to illness, or to Voluntary retirement.
25.53 Pirate Dies in Battle: When a Pirate dies in battle either of wounds or being sunk, the Fleet breaks up and the replacement Pirate must start anew with a Sloop or Schooner with no Booty inside in a different hex.
25.54 Pirate Activations: When ever a new Pirate is activated in the game and there are Pirate Fleets on the board at that time, the activating player may choose one of them from which he would like his new Pirate's ship to come from. The player owning the Pirate Fleet must then roll a dr6 against his Pirate's Leadership Rating for each Sloop or Schooner in his Fleet as described in Section 25.51 above. The first roll that exceeds the Pirate's Leadership Rating causes the ship rolled for to be removed from the Pirate Fleet and given to the activating Pirate with all the Booty on it and any damage points that ship may have. The activating Pirate's marker is then put in a hex adjacent to the one the Pirate Fleet is in. If the Pirate Fleet is docked in a Port then the activating Pirate is placed in the same hex as the Pirate Fleet but with its counter front side up to indicate it being at sea. If the activating Pirate does not get a ship from the Pirate Fleet he chose, he must then pick a new Schooner or Sloop from the Ship Logs and start anywhere on the board.
25.6 Random Events: As a Pirate Fleet has all its ships together in the hex and in Port, any Random Events which effect the Fleet will effect all the ships in the Fleet equally. Thus an entire Pirate Fleet could be destroyed by Earthquake or Plague. It can also be effected by Scurvy, Storms at Sea, Hull Damage, and Native Uprisings.
25.7 Combat: While a Pirate Fleet had a lot of firepower with which to engage KCs and Warships Pirate captains were usually very cautious about such a venture, preferring to evade and run away from such ships if only to preserve their vast amounts of Booty in the Holds of their ships. Thus battles with Pirate Fleets were a rare but not unheard of event. Historically in such a battle one side usually caught the other side at a disadvantage thus enabling that first side to win.
25.71 Combat with a KC/Warship: When making the Intercept dr6 the Pirate must use the Speed of the slowest ship in the Pirate Fleet. If the Pirate wins the Intercept dr6 he may avoid combat which means his whole fleet gets away or he may join combat with the KC//Warship. A Pirate's Combat Strength equals the sum of all Combat Ratings of the ships in his fleet plus the Pirate's Ability Rating. A Pirate can leave any of the ships in his fleet out of the battle which means he can not use their Combat Ratings in the current round of combat nor may he use their Combat Ratings in future rounds of the same battle. A Pirate may give up a ship in his fleet to a pursuing KC/ Warship in which case that ship is lost and all Booty on it, but the remainder of the Pirate Fleet is presumed to have avoided combat. That ship may not be the flagship for obvious reasons. A Pirate's Crew Unrest Level suffers a -1 on the Crew Unrest Track for every ship he gives up from his fleet in this manner.
25.72 Combat with a Warship Squadron: The rules for interception by a squadron of Warships as listed in Section 14.2 apply here. Note that when dealing with Warships of different Nationalities, the Pirate Fleet may be caught in a series of running battles which will wear it down. Damage incurred by the Pirate Fleet in one battle carries over into all succeeding ones. When forced into a battle with several warships of the same Nationality a Pirate can of course give a ship from his fleet for each warship but if left with just his flagship, he will have to use the regular rules for avoiding battle or engaging in battle.
26. Blockade of a Port by a Pirate
26.1 Overview: From time to time during the Golden Age of Piracy a Pirate would park his ship or fleet just outside a Port and proclaim a Blockade on that Port. While these Blockades were in effect the Pirate would intercept all shipping coming to and leaving the Port, thus seriously disrupting the Port's economy. The Pirate would not leave until the Port authorities meet his ransom demands, he was driven away by a Warship, or circumstances beyond his control forced him to leave. The following rules recreate this tactic that was used by a few pirates, yet was used very successfully.
26.2 Blockades: Blockading a Port is considered to be an Operation which a Pirate may perform in his turn. He may not perform any other Operation during the turns in which he is Blockading a Port.
26.21 Proclaiming a Blockade: A Pirate may proclaim the Blockade of a Port at the beginning of his turn by starting the turn in the same hex as the Port but at Sea. He may not move to or from the Port hex during the turns he proclaims or maintains a Blockade. A Pirate Haven may not be Blockaded.
26.22 Maintaining the Blockade: A Pirate maintains a Blockade by continuing this Operation on consecutive turns to the exclusion of all other operations.
26.23 Lifting the Blockade: A Blockade of a Port by a Pirate is lifted when one of the following conditions are met:
1. A Warship/KC intercepts the blockading Pirate.
2. The Port authorities pay a ransom to the Blockading Pirates.
3. The Pirate is struck by a storm.
4. The Pirate performs some other Operation.
5. The player controlling the blockading Pirate performs an Operation with another Pirate/KC.
A Pirate which has had his Blockade of a Port lifted may not blockade that Port again until he has landed at some other Port.
26.3 Searching: While a Pirate is blockading a Port he may check to see if he intercepts any shipping arriving at or leaving from the Port. At the beginning of a turn in which he is blockading a Port, the player draws a card from the Action deck and checks the Search line.
26.31 No Sighting: As in the normal rules there is no effect and the turn ends.
26.32 #Merchant: The indicated number of Merchants are drawn from the cup and placed face up in the same hex as the Blockading Pirate. The Pirate may then choose which Merchant (if there is more than one) he will attempt to take as a Prize. All unchosen Merchants are returned to the cup. The Pirate may then follow the rules in Section 9.6 in order to resolve the capture attempt. The Blockade is not lifted regardless of the result of the capture attempt. The Nationality of the Merchant(s) are that of the Blockaded Port regardless of the identifying color and initial on the counter(s).
26.33 Warship: The rules in section 9.32 are followed here. The Blockade is considered to be lifted when this result occurs. Note that the normal movement of a Warship/KC into the hex of the Blockaded Port also lifts the Blockade. The Nationality of the Warship is that of the Blockaded Port regardless of the identifying color and initial on the counter.
26.34 Storm: The rules in Section 9.31 are used with the Pirate ship being considered to be in a Coastal hex. The Blockade is considered to be lifted when this result occurs.
26.4 Ransom: At the end of each turn that a Pirate is blockading a Port, which includes turns of proclaiming and maintaining blockades, the Pirate determines if his demands for ransom from the Port have been met. The player makes a dr6 with a 1-5 meaning no ransom is given and a 6 meaning that the ransom demands are met. If the ransom demands are met the player then makes a dr6 and multiplies the result by 100 to determine the amount gained. This amount is added to the Pirate's Net Worth.
26.5 Notoriety: A Pirate's Notoriety increases by the Port Value of the Port at the end of each turn that he Blockades the Port. He does not receive any Notoriety Points for the turn the Blockade is lifted though he may receive some for other reasons.
26.51 Attack History: The Pirate receives an Attack History for the Nationality of the Port he is Blockading.
26.52 Port Status: Each time a Port is blockaded by a Pirate the player who controls the blockading Pirate will check on the Port's future status. A Port with a Pro-Pirate Governor becomes a Neutral Port with the Pro Pirate Governor being removed from the game. A Neutral Port which is Blockaded by a Pirate must have a Governor counter drawn from the cup. If the resulting Governor is Pro-Pirate the marker is returned to the cup and the Port remains neutral. If the resulting Governor is Anti-Pirate the Governor remains in the Port and the Port becomes Anti-Pirate. A Port with an Anti-Pirate Governor remains Anti-Pirate.
26.6 Random Events: If a Blockaded Port suffers an Earthquake or a Plague the Blockading Pirate is not affected by them as he is at Sea. If a Blockaded Port is destroyed by an Earthquake on the Blockading Pirate's turn the Blockade is automatically lifted and the Pirate must perform some other Operation.
26.7 Pirate Alliances: If a Pirate Alliance is Blockading a Port the normal rules (Section 20) apply with the following exceptions:
26.71 Search: Only one card is drawn from the Action deck when checking for incoming or outgoing shipping.
26.72 Ransom: Any ransom received by the Pirates is split in half between the two Pirates unless a prior agreement alters this.
26.73 Notoriety: Each Pirate receives the full amount of Notoriety Points for each turn they Blockade the Port while in alliance.
26.8 Pirate Fleets: If a Pirate Fleet is Blockading a Port the rules listed in Section 25 apply with the following exception:
26.81 Search: Only one card is drawn from the Action deck when checking for incoming or outgoing shipping.
Commentary: As I have said before all of these rules are based on actual historical events and thus have a place in the game. But being optional rules a player can include or exclude them at his own discretion. Each optional rules deserves comment which I will explain below.
Deliberately engaging a Warship in straight foward combat is not the healthiest move that a Pirate can do. Running from a Warship is by far the better thing to do. So why fight a Warship? Well some players prefer to win the game by Notoriety Points and sinking an occasional Warship will definitely add some Notoriety. However higher notoriety means that Warships will be seeking you out more often and not all of them will be the weak 7-5 and 8-5 Warships. However there will probably be some times where a Pirate is caught by a Warship with only a very small chance of getting away and therefore might as well fight the Warship in hopes killing the Warship's captain and damaging it in order to make the chance of escape in future battle rounds more favorable.
A Pirate Fleet is a nice thing to have but is hard to keep. While its combat power is much better then a single Pirate ship, sometimes so much that a Pirate Fleet can take on the strongest Warship in the game, it is also susceptible to desertions of ships in the Fleet. Only Pirates with high leadership ratings of 4 and 5 should attempt to form and maintain a Pirate Fleet. Pirates with lower leadership ratings will be losing ships to desertions as fast as they get them. Pirate Fleets can carry more Booty and thus stay at sea longer taking more Prizes then would one Pirate ship. Pirate Fleets also make it easier for a Pirate to attack and sack a strong Port such as those on the North American coast.
Blockading a Port is an easy way for a Pirate to get some Notoriety Points on strong Ports that he wouldn't want to try to attack and sack due Combat Strength. There chance of intercepting some Merchants as well. But the longer one stays on a Blockade the greater the chance of being intercepted by a Warship or caught in coastal waters by a Storm. A Blockade is best limited to three turns, after that the chances of some adverse event happening to the Blockading Pirate start to increase.
Conclusion: It is my hope that players of the game BLACKBEARD find these optional rules enjoyable. Players in this game have a hard enough time trying the beat the game system as well as each other, just like their real life Pirate counterparts of three hundred years ago did trying to succeed in piracy and live to tell about it. Few of those Pirates tried the options which I have now brought into the game. But then those few that did really made a name for themselves in history.
Updated 22 Jan 08.
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