Z-Man Games ZMG7062 Merchants and Marauders Board Game,Gold

Product Information

In Merchants & Marauders, players draw captain cards to determine their skill at naval combat, scouting, leadership, and influence. Captains also have their nationality, home port, and special abilities. Special Weapons can be bought in any port for the price of 3 Gold per token. You can only have one token of each Special Weapon, but all three if you wish.

A cry went up from the lookout post today. A ship has been spotted! It is a Dutch merchantman, riding low in the water. We cannot know what booty it contains, but we do know that it is heavy with potential plunder. My helmsman is Dutch, and begged me to permit the ship to leave unmolested. He entreated me in front of the crew – such dissent I cannot permit to go unpunished.

Retirement

The first action of the game should always be a port action (unless you're playing Bruce Nicholson obviously). A naked ship isn't profitable.

With 2.5 to 4 hour-long sessions, Merchants & Marauders is far from a short game, but it gets better once the group becomes more experienced. It does not have a solo mode and is limited to only 2– 4 players. Winds are steady. The weather is fair. I have taken on a crew of roughs and toughs, ready to seek my fortune in the sun-dappled waters of the Caribbean. There has never been a better time to be a pirate – the seas are empty of naval forces, and there is little competition for the rich merchant vessels that sail all around. My heart pounds at the thought of the riches and treasures that their holds may contain. What was once briefly theirs will soon be mine. Most Sea-Zones have a unique advantage or disadvantage which is written in each Sea-Zone. This Sea-Zone information can also be found on the Player Aids.

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Once a player reaches 10 Glory Points (including the secret points for stashed Gold - see "Stash"), he declares so and the game ends after everyone has had their turn.

Combat can occur between Non-player Captains and players or between two players. The process consists of three stages: declaration, seamanship contents, and action. Combat relies on captain skills and dice rolls. Why, it’s all I can do when looking at it not to completely lose myself in the myth, mystery, violence and romance of the golden age of piracy… This can give Merchants & Marauders a slightly overwhelming feel to begin with, but the counter to this is to teach the game as a storytelling experience rather than an optimisation puzzle. Merchants & Marauders is not a game in which a player can plot every move perfectly and expect everything to go their way – it’s a game that offers a structure in which the players can operate as they almost roleplay the character that best suits them at the time. If you want to start the game as a harmless trader, then flip to a life of piracy once you can afford to buy and upgrade a frigate, then you can. Similarly, some captain skillsets help them focus on either missions or rumours because they are fast and have a higher chance of rolling the right outcomes on the lovely custom dice.Merchants and Marauders is an incredible open-world adventure. Every game feels unique. The core rules are straight-forward, but there are some intricacies that might put off anyone looking for a simple game. The multiple ways to win are all great, and all have their own difficulties. The game has a large element of PvP, that rewards the bold and can be an issue for any players who don’t want that element to the game, but those who don’t mind will have an incredible experience and plenty of stories to tell. Get This Game If:

Extra Cannon Port: Adds +1 to the ship's "Cannons" value. Move the "Cannons" hit-location cube up one step. "Cannons" can never exceed 5.

You can buy all the Nautical Tabletop Month products from our tabletop sponsor, Firestorm Games. The Merchants and Marauders map populates throughout the game. The component quality meets a high production standard, from punch-out cardboard tokens to rulebooks and reference sheets. Player and NPC ships look great, as do the treasure chests for stashing coins.