Our
regular gaming friends, Val and Chris, visited and I decided to try Merchants
and Marauders and a 4-player game. This is a game I have only previously played
as a 2-player game with my wife, and we both enjoyed the game play, although Elaine always goes for the Merchant
side of things. The game can be long and difficult to explain, with many
variables and rules involved. I think the pre-game explanation went well, and both
Elaine and Chris clearly went for the Merchant role whilst Val and I opted for
a more aggressive, Marauder approach.
On my first turn (as the English character Francis Wright) I
tried to demonstrate how Merchant Raids work; I was too aggressive by pushing
for immediate Glory, and promptly died! I think this showed the others the
wrong side of pirating and maybe put off them taking a similar approach.
Meanwhile Val threw rubbish Spotting dice throughout the entire game and spent
much time failing to seek out victims! Elaine and Chris were both located in
the Eastern Caribbean and were accumulating wealth and Glory by successfully
trading goods that were in demand. A key moment was when Elaine in a Flute was
caught at sea by a NPC Pirate Frigate; apparent certain death for Elaine’s
character. After the opening cannon fire, Elaine successfully boarded and with
a smaller crew (and good dice) managed to capture the pirate vessel! She now
shot ahead in the game, getting both Glory and a larger ship. My new pirate
character, the Frenchman Ch.Marquis, still struggled with failed Merchant
Raids, although he did accumulate a significant Dutch bounty (level 4) on his
head! Elaine was now within touching distance of victory, she just needed to
return to her home port to win. She knew this (as did the rest of us) but she
did not want to end the game early (!) and she had a full cargo of bananas she
wanted to deliver to the port beyond her home port. This meant that she was still
at sea and Chris attacked in a Galleon against her Frigate. This time Chris was
the better sailor, won the gunnery duel and sunk Elaine! Chris then moved
rapidly back to his home port for victory: Chris 12 Glory, Elaine 8 Glory, Val
4 Glory, myself 2 Glory.
Although Chris won, I think Elaine could claim the moral
victory because she could have won 2 turns earlier but carried on for the sake
of the game. I think Elaine needs to toughen up because I don’t think either of
the rest of us would do the same.
Merchants and Marauders is a long game and this game took 4
hours. It is visually very attractive and thematic, but has possibly too much
going on! The specific rules for each sea area frequently get overlooked, and
none of the players really maximised on the advantages these rules could have
delivered. Everyone agreed that sea battles take too long and break the flow of
the game. The results of this game re-enforce the view that Marauding is not
the best route to success, but I remain convinced that if done correctly then pirates
can achieve victory. With hindsight I think a player should not start
aggressively; a Marauder should acquire some wealth by trade before embarking
on a lawless career. He certainly needs to purchase some special weapons, and possibly
ship modifications, before starting any Merchant Raids. I am beginning to think
that a Marauding life should only start once a Frigate is purchased.
To conclude, I hope all players enjoyed the
game. We all got into the theme of the game and took pleasure trying to play adverse
cards on opponents; for example I tried to ‘Frame’ Chris, whilst Elaine
increased the bounty on my head etc. I can see us playing future games of
Merchants and Marauders but not that often as it takes too long and is too
involved.
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