Pirates of the Caribbean is the Adam Ant of the ‘00s, or whatever this stupid decade is called. No, bear with me. The shops are full of skull and crossbones tat, otherwise dull people are using the word "arr" in everyday conversation, and stripy clothes are selling on eBay for enormous amounts. Pirates are fashionable again. Avast, ye.
The bandwagon’s latest passenger is games company Wizkids, with their suspiciously-titled venture
Pirates of the Spanish Main. It looks not dissimilar to a collectible card game, but these cards are made of plastic, and are full of wee bits that punch out. A bit of folding and some pushing of tabs into slots turns those wee bits of plastic into
gorgeous scale models of sailing ships, resplendent with detail. These are between one and two inches long, yet each ship has her name painted on the hull, amid gun decks with tiny cannon, each with its own hatch. Individual baulks of timber are discernable, and decks are adorned with barrels and other such minute details. Every millimetre screams: "
Own me, for I am beautiful."
Splendid miniatures aren’t all that PotSM has going for it, however. The associated game is very quick to learn, and hugely enjoyable. Players place islands, distribute treasure, construct fleets up to an agreed point value, and get to it. Victory is claimed by the first player to collect more than half of the treasure on the table, or the last to have any ships left. Simple.
The rules are very straightforward, too. Ships can be given one action per player turn, these being ‘move’, ‘shoot’, ‘repair’ or ‘explore’. Unlike other games of this ilk, there is no wind direction to take account of, nor is there a need to measure cannon arcs. Ships can fire unless they would be doing so through their own sails. Most ships have their own special abilities, which are explained on the ship cards. Ships can have crew placed upon them, giving them further special abilities. With a Captain on board, for example, a ship may move and fire in the same turn. Cannon ranges and ship movement are all measured in terms of ‘S’ and ‘L’, where ‘S’ refers to the short side of a ship card, and ‘L’ the long. It’s gloriously self-contained.
Ships currently come in three flavours: English (excellent cannon, costly ships), Spanish (very resilient, good cargo haulers) and Pirate (cheap ships, fast as all hell). As well as basic crew types common to all nationalities (Captains, Helmsmen, Oarsmen and so forth) there are unique crew which can only be placed on ships of their nationality. Pirates easily win here, as they get not only a pirate monkey (!) but also undead crew. Very much like a certain film, in fact. An expansion set due for release in February will introduce the French, and also fortifications which can be placed on islands.
Each booster pack contains two ships, one island, a
fantastically tiny die, some treasure, the rules of play, and (usually) crew. Not bad for three quid. If you’re at all interested in pirates, and want a quick, fun game without overly complex rules, you’ll love PotSM.
In Glasgow, packs are currently available from Static Games in the Argyle Market on Argyle Street. They are also available for purchase online.
Get more information on Pirates of the Spanish Main at the
Wizkids official site.
Collectible strategy game review: Pirates of the Spanish Main 
