Game: Winds Of Plunder

Thread: Re: WPL at WBC

kalevi1999 — 2008-09-01T13:00:37+00:00

cool!

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kalevi1999 — 2008-08-31T22:06:09+00:00

Close look of the yellow ship (original was wooden)

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kalevi1999 — 2008-08-31T22:02:55+00:00

End of 4 players game. 95% of what u see is home made (pieces, board, cards...)

Thread: WPL at WBC

trnardo — 2008-08-29T16:09:31+00:00

Reposted from Consimworld:
*** http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?13@@.1dd0a537/352

Chris LeFevre wrote:
WoP AAR at WBC 2008

2008 WBC Winds of Plunder AAR GMT’s Winds of Plunder made its debut at WBC. A game of the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. Each round, players bid wind cubes to try and manipulate the wind to their best advantage so they can sail to one of twelve ports to acquire VP tiles. These VP tiles add victory points to their score as well increase their ship’s weapons, crew, provisions or provide them a treasure card to help find buried treasure. Players can also score victory points by earning Port Reputation bonuses and in the tradition of being pirates, board opponents. During their turn, players have three Action Points which they can use to draw an Action card, play an Action card, add Wind Cubes to their supply, or draw up a Gust of Wind.

The demo introduced the game to several new players. After the general introduction to the game, the players were allowed to go through a couple of rounds to get actual experience in game play. The write up I completed for the 2008 Event Previews listed that “Demo will be given before the event for people who have not played the game to give them understanding of how to play the game and then be able to participate in the event.” How true this was as three of the four players who reached the finals were new players who learned the game at the demo. An added bonus was to have Tony Nardo, developer for Winds of Plunder, on hand at the demo to answer questions and offer tips on play.

A total of four games with four players each resulted in the need to eliminate a semi-final round. Only the winner of the four games would advance to a four player final.

Stats from the games were: Average point total for win was 63, with two games having max total of 64. Minimum total for win was 61. Average point total for second place was 59.75, with max total of 63 and minimum total of 54. Two games won by difference of only one point between first place and second place. The Tie Breakers were listed on the information sheets, but did not have to be used to determine winner. First place winner was holder of the most weapons advantage marker in three of the four games. This seemed to be the strategy that people were going for. Not only does the holder of the most weapons advantage marker allow them to board any other player, it also stops other players ability to place Reputation markers at the port they are currently located. Those MISFIRE! or BUY WEAPONS action cards are always useful to help out here. James Tyne completed the clean sweep by being holder of all three advantage Markers in his game. One other interesting event in this game was the case of one round where the holder of the Blackbeard tile, holding a modest four wind cubes at the time, intentionally picked a wind direction that would be unfavorable to most of the players. The holder did this in the hope of drawing his opponents into spending some of their wind cubes. Instead, no one bid any cubes. When there is tie, in this case a tie at zero, the Blackbeard tile holder chooses the wind direction. The holder then chose a tied direction other than the one he originally set on his dial, a direction that afforded him the best protection from the current points (and weapons) leader.

Winners of their games were: John Ellsworth, James Tyne, Ryan Myslinsk and Danielle Zack. Fifth and Sixth places were determined by point total of players who came in second place. Fifth place went to Chris LeFevre with score of 63 and Sixth place went to Forrest Speck with score of 62.

The finals had John starting round one as holder of the Blackbeard tile at Turks & Caicos port, James at Santo Domingo, Ryan at the northern most port of San Salvadore, and Danielle at Jamaica. It was a close game through the first eight rounds. Winner was going to be decided on VP tile scoring in the final (ninth) round and end-of-game bonuses. James bid eleven wind cubes in the wind voting phase of the ninth round to guarantee that he got to pick the wind direction, but also that he was the holder of Blackbeard’s tile. He used the advantage of being holder of Blackbeard’s tile to allow him to go last in this final round. Unknown to the other players, this was his strategy as he was in last place after he sailed, then did the perfect play with his actions cards to first use PUT THE CREW TO THE TEST! where he gave up one Crew, but gained three more Action Points. His next card play was HEAVE, YE SCURVY DOGS! where he used the advantage of being in last place to pay one Crew to sail a second time. This moved him from last to first place.

End Game Items for James were: Weapons 7 Crew 3 Provisions 3 Booty 2 Wind Cubes 7

Holder of the Most Weapons Advantage marker was James at 7 Holder of the Largest Crew Advantage marker was John at 4 Holder of the Most Provisions Advantage marker was Danielle at 5 Ryan was the pirate who found the most treasure with his Booty total at 5

Final scores were James at 63, Danielle at 61, Ryan at 59 and John at 50.

Congratulations also go to James as he was the drawer of the “Queen of Spades” out of everyone who played in the tournament, which won him a free Winds of Plunder game donated by GMT.

Thread: Re: Use of "Hey scurvey Dogs" card

kalevi1999 — 2008-08-29T07:19:53+00:00

AllenDoum wrote:
kalevi1999 wrote:
When I play this card can I use my 3 action point if still I have them in order to get a gust of wind and go wherever I want on my second sail?
Yes. The only time you cannot use Action Points is during a Sailing Sequence.

okay!!!!

Thread: Re: Use of "Hey scurvey Dogs" card

AllenDoum — 2008-08-28T10:26:37+00:00

kalevi1999 wrote:
When I play this card can I use my 3 action point if still I have them in order to get a gust of wind and go wherever I want on my second sail?
Yes. The only time you cannot use Action Points is during a Sailing Sequence.

Thread: Re: Winds of Plunder and Fire & Axe: A viking Saga... who's best?

Walsfeo — 2008-08-28T08:52:26+00:00

Fire and Axe: A Viking Saga does a better job of emulating a theme, but Winds Of Plunder is a better balanced game. I like them both, in part because of theme. Fire and Axe has a much more epic feel and has it's presentation more highly polished.

Thread: Use of "Hey scurvey Dogs" card

kalevi1999 — 2008-08-28T08:06:35+00:00

When I play this card can I use my 3 action point if still I have them in order to get a gust of wind and go wherever I want on my second sail?

Thread: Winds of Plunder and Fire & Axe: A viking Saga... who's best?

kalevi1999 — 2008-08-27T13:39:38+00:00

As title say I wonder which one is the best? They look very similar and I played just the first one. I wonder why in the Winds of plunder recommendations Fire and Axe isnt mentioned since they re so similar! Gimme ur opininon pallies!

Thread: Re: How well does this play with three?

kalevi1999 — 2008-08-27T13:35:38+00:00

I played 2 game with 3 ppl and one with 4 and it looks ok in both situation 3 Player game furthermore looks more interesting since weapons become less important (I heard in 5 ppl games guns rule) and u really have to find a way to get more points than ur opponents!

Thread: Re: Question on "put ur crew to the best" card and

trnardo — 2008-08-26T10:40:55+00:00

kalevi1999 wrote:
Okay I got 3 action in my turn. I play the card "put ur crew to the best"so I have 5 actions left: can I use all of them in order to get cubes? 9+5 cubes for 3+2 actions? is it poss or there are limitations for that?
Assuming that you played the "Put the Crew to the Test" card with your first Action Point, you are correct. You may spend the remaining 5 points acquiring 9+5 cubes as you noted.

In theory, you could also have 5 (or 6) Action Points remaining by virtue of using "Put the Crew to the Test" and having the Largest Crew advantage marker. However, the bonus Action Point may not be combined with your regular turn.

kalevi1999 wrote:
one more question: can I sail to a port and then use the gust of wind to sail again??? I think no... only with the scurvey dogs card right?
Also correct. "Put the Crew to the Test" only gives you more Action Points. You need to play "Heave Ye Scurvy Dogs" to sail again.

Thread: Question on "put ur crew to the best" card and

kalevi1999 — 2008-08-26T08:42:35+00:00

Okay I got 3 action in my turn. I play the card "put ur crew to the best"so I have 5 actions left: can I use all of them in order to get cubes? 9+5 cubes for 3+2 actions? is it poss or there are limitations for that?

one more question: can I sail to a port and then use the gust of wind to sail again??? I think no... only with the scurvey dogs card right?

I am awaiting confirmation please...

Thread: WBC Inaugural Trial draws 16 players

trnardo — 2008-08-15T10:01:42+00:00

Thanks again to Chris LeFevre for running the Winds of Plunder event, GMT for sponsoring it, and all who competed! There were 16 players (4 groups of 4) for this game's inaugural trial.

Some brief highlights:

• Each heat played out in less than 2 hours;
• James Tyne won the drawing for a free copy of the game and also took home the plaque;
• At least two of the finalists (including the ultimate winner, James) had not played the game prior to the pre-competition demo; and
• The final win was claimed via control of the Round 9 turn order and a nice followup nice Round 9 Heave Ye Scurvy Dogs/Put the Crew to the Test combo.

Thread: Re: tied for advantage cards

trnardo — 2008-06-13T11:07:01+00:00

The rule on how to handle these ties is in the "Items and Their Advantages" section on p. 7, column 2, paragraph 3:
As soon as a player gains the clear lead in Weapons, Crew, or Provisions (i.e., is not tied for the lead), he immediately takes the corresponding Advantage marker card for that item. He places this Advantage marker face up in front of him. This Advantage remains with the player so long as he remains at least tied for the lead. [emphasis added] Once he falls behind any opponent in that item, he must immediately discard the corresponding marker.
The adjusted rule that your group used is also in the rule book, under the "Variations" section: p. 11, variant (b) (Make Advantage Markers easier to lose).

A game design historical note: the variant was the way the rule originally appeared when Alan handed off his prototype to GMT, back before the advantage marker cards were added. At that time, players simply looked to see if they were in the lead for an item before using its advantage. More of the play testers seemed to prefer the current rule over the original when we tested the marker concept out, especially when the markers were enhanced with end-of-game bonus VPs. However, the variant is certainly a viable alternative.

Thread: tied for advantage cards

Sprydle — 2008-06-12T22:01:06+00:00

Our last game we had a new player and were re-teaching the rules, when they asked what happens if you tie for an advantage marker. Well, we thought we remembered that the original owner retains it until surpassed (which is the actual rule), but, because it's not mentioned in the rules portion about advantage markers (it's at the very beginning of the rulebook), I couldn't find the answer quickly and so we just voted to play that it is returned to "no owner" status--no one gets it again until a majority is attained again.

It actually made for some fun interaction as removing someone's advantage was worthwhile if you could do it fairly painlessly--in particular during the final turn when the last jockeying for position was taking place. We've only tried it once, but it seemed actually quite balanced, and made fighting for that extra action point or extra victory point for having the Advantage marker exciting. The final scores were still just as customarily close as ever.

I think we'll try playing that way a couple more times and see if something breaks, or if it works as well as its first outing.

Thread: Re: How well does this play with three?

dwculp — 2008-05-20T05:17:52+00:00

dcorban wrote:
I played it once with three and it was pretty tame. Wind cubes have little value and there was very little plundering. It was far more exciting in my five player games.

I agree, Ive had a 1/2 dozen sessions of Winds of Plunder and they were all 5 player games. I got involved in a three player game this weekend and it was a different experience. I agree that wind cubes have far less value and there was very little player interaction. It was still a good game but it was missing something.

Thread: And We Would Have Gotten Away with It Too...

raolsson — 2008-05-05T20:19:18+00:00

Fresh from two games of Hey! That's My Fish, Phil, Don, Craig, and I were ready for something a little less fish oriented, so we pulled out Winds of Plunder. Don had the honor of narrating us through the rules of this game, so without much further ado, we dug in.

Our initial card draws placed us in the middle of the board. Don had the most to lose by a vote to move to the north, so the three other players united to drive the wind to the north and put our voting strength in the right place. For me, the game became trying to stay one cannon ahead of my opponents in hopes of strong-arming my way through the Caribbean. By the time I made it to the west side of the board and picked up my first treasure map (naturally in my island of origin) Phil had already locked down the first seven-point score for marking his territory throughout the middle set of islands. Eventually I was able to take the five-point bonus for marking along the east and central islands. And for most of the game I held onto the most cannons bonus card, if not the crew or provisions.

By round eight, things were looking good for my red ship of piracy. I had a ten point lead on the nearest competitor, but I could see stormy clouds ahead as there were no big point islands for me to sail to. Don was in the back of the pack with a lot of supply points coming in the end, and Craig was in the high middle ground. Nevertheless, it was Phil I had to keep my eyes on as the game entered turn 9. By the end of the sailing part of point scoring, he was only six points behind me, and when everything was counted up, he had enough to pull ahead.

This was my first game of Winds of Plunder, and I thought it was an enjoyable game. I will have to keep my eyes open to play it again at a future gaming night.

Thread: Re: "Heave..." questions

Sprydle — 2008-05-02T21:16:32+00:00

I think more the problem with 3 players, is that you're probably playing the same (or mostly the same--2 out of 3) players and group think is very possible. The more players you add the more strategy gets switched up. Similarly, if you play with 2 different people each time you play with 3 you'll find your "winning" strategy is not so winning. Best advice is to really mix up your own strategy--try to play substantially differently so your opponents don't necessarily know what route to victory you're attempting.

Thread: Re: How well does this play with three?

Sprydle — 2008-05-02T20:42:53+00:00

dcorban wrote:
I played it once with three and it was pretty tame. Wind cubes have little value and there was very little plundering. It was far more exciting in my five player games.

Whew peaceful pirates! We've played with 3 twice now, and there is just as much, if not even more boarding action than with 4. Why more than 4? Because pirates gang up on the leader, sometimes smashing him more than once in a turn when possible. Wind cubes are also extremely valuable because controlling the wind if you are in the lead is *very* necessary to keep from getting ganged-up on.

But we're competitive and vicious pirates, yaaahrrrr

Thread: Re: Don't judge it by its cover... (part session report, part review)

trnardo — 2008-04-30T15:45:38+00:00

Prodromoi wrote:
I like the concept of bidding (or voting as the game refers to it) for the prevailing wind direction; while it's an abstract concept I think it's a good mechanism that works well.Immediately apparent during playing was the fact that each player needed some way of hiding their supply of Wind Cubes prior to voting. We used upturned small plastic bowls that we usually use for holding counters during games, which worked fine. The inclusion of privacy screens with the game would have been a nice touch.
A side note: the word "vote" was used since all players give up the cubes committed. We avoided the term "bid" as it carries the connotation that only the winner pays. In hindsight, I almost wish I'd pushed the "spend influence" rationalization in place of voting...

Thread: Re: Don't judge it by its cover... (part session report, part review)

dcorban — 2008-04-29T17:38:36+00:00

denverarch wrote:
Good review for a nice game with some neat ideas and good gameflow. However, my play was really destroyed by the BS 'take that' cards. There is nothing worse than a game that encourages good planning and thinking only to have someone play a card and steal or make you discard half your wind cubes. That card (Intrigue I believe) was enough to set the game back to the "almost will never play" shelf.
The simple solution is to never accumulate excess wind cubes. A little bit of light negotiation or just observation of which direction other players desire cuts down greatly on the number of cubes you "need". I find that I usually have five or less cubes. Frequently, I go the final 3 or 4 rounds with zero wind cubes. You certainly do not need to control the wind direction to be successful at this game. It just takes a little attention and planning.

Thread: Re: Don't judge it by its cover... (part session report, part review)

Malacandra — 2008-04-29T16:55:04+00:00

I don't think attacking other pirates is central to the game. In our games which are usually three or four players, this rarely happens. Players are usually more concerned with hitting the ports they need because they will gain more than taking a little from someone else.

As for the cards, they're fun. And that's exactly why they're fun: they mess up the best laid plans! Or maybe your plans should be more flexible...

Thread: Re: Don't judge it by its cover... (part session report, part review)

denverarch — 2008-04-29T16:45:00+00:00

Good review for a nice game with some neat ideas and good gameflow. However, my play was really destroyed by the BS 'take that' cards. There is nothing worse than a game that encourages good planning and thinking only to have someone play a card and steal or make you discard half your wind cubes. That card (Intrigue I believe) was enough to set the game back to the "almost will never play" shelf.

Perhaps my next play wont be quite as marred by those da#n cards.

Thread: Don't judge it by its cover... (part session report, part review)

Prodromoi — 2008-04-29T15:18:12+00:00

All things pirate-y are very much in vogue at the moment. But not with me. I've never quite got why people love dressing up as pirates at the drop of a big black hat, nor why people will go “Yarrr!” at every possible occasion unless you threaten them with a stick with at least one nail through it... But my better half is into the whole pirate thing, which is why I pointed her in the direction of Winds of Plunder.

First impressions on setting the game up were a bit mixed. The box is of excellent quality; probably the sturdiest game box I've ever seen, and the rest of the components are pretty good. However the artwork on the box and the components is truly dreadful! It looks like GMT threw a random selection of clip-art at the game and kept the stuff that stuck...

So to learn the rules before launching the game on our weekly games group we set up for a two-player game. What a rulebook! Although the rules only take up a few pages they're remarkably hard to read. There's a tendency for rules to be half explained then the reader is referred to another section. The rules of the game aren't actually hard at all, but the rulebook gives the impression that they might be!

Having got our head around the rules off we went. Although the turn procedure seems quite long and involved it's not as bad as first appearances suggest and the turns play very quickly. We sailed around the Caribbean threatening the natives and waving cutlasses at each other, picking up victory points as we went. Our scores remained close throughout the game, leap-frogging each other a couple of times. I indulged myself in some plunder of Kez' ship at an early opportunity, and she returned the favour towards the game end – but mostly we didn't cross paths that often.

Kez ended up winning the game by about four points. I made a mistake when planning for my last turn; I'd let my Wind Cube supply run fairly low, planning on bidding all my remaining cubes in the last turn. Kez outbid me and I ended up windlocked in Belize. Beware the corners of the map! Had I been able to make the final journey I'd wanted to, I think I'd have won.

I like the concept of bidding (or voting as the game refers to it) for the prevailing wind direction; while it's an abstract concept I think it's a good mechanism that works well. Immediately apparent during playing was the fact that each player needed some way of hiding their supply of Wind Cubes prior to voting. We used upturned small plastic bowls that we usually use for holding counters during games, which worked fine. The inclusion of privacy screens with the game would have been a nice touch. So, to remedy this, the next day I got to work on making a set for Kez. They ended up looking like this:

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I've uploaded the plans, should anyone want to print out their own copies, here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo/32141

In conclusion:
It's a fun lightweight game. Although it can be played by two players it's patently intended for more. With only two of you there seems to be very little interaction (unless you deliberately try to chase your opponent down at every opportunity, which might disadvantage your other means of gathering VPs – I'll probably try one day, out of curiosity). The game probably excels when played by four or five players when the seas are pirate-infested!

I'm not convinced that the theme fits perfectly though. Historically pirates very seldom attacked each other, which is a central point of Winds of Plunder. Completely absent is any representation of attacking/capturing merchant vessels or fighting/evading naval ships. Players pick up victory points and provisions/crew/cannon only in ports. If pirates weren't quite so much in fashion currently, I wonder if the game might not have been all about Vikings instead...

I'm looking forward to playing the game again with more players; it could make for a rather chaotic but fun game with more opportunities for being horrible to your fellow pirates. So, until Blackbeard comes along, this should satisfy the pirate itch. (Or maybe it would be better to see the ship's physician about that before it spreads...)

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Prodromoi — 2008-04-29T07:16:58+00:00

Privacy Screens to hide Wind Cubes (plans available in files section)

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Prodromoi — 2008-04-29T07:14:24+00:00

Storage solution - custom made box insert

Thread: WBC Vendor/Sponsor Trial Event 8/8/08

trnardo — 2008-03-15T15:21:33+00:00

The final list of WBC events has been posted, and it's official: Winds of Plunder will appear as a Vendor/Sponsor trial event this year. Chris LeFevre will be the GM.

*** http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/orphans.htm#sponsored

The competition will take place on Friday, August 8th, starting at 4 pm. There will be a demo to teach the game one hour before the event.

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monkeyrobot — 2008-03-14T15:00:01+00:00

Blue pirtate wins!

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monkeyrobot — 2008-03-14T14:54:38+00:00

Blind betting in Winds of Plunder

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DaMilli — 2008-03-02T18:05:39+00:00

Another Close-up of Game Components

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DaMilli — 2008-03-02T18:04:54+00:00

Close-up of Game Components

Thread: Re: Playable in 6 players???

Al Newman — 2008-02-14T12:59:28+00:00

kalevi1999 wrote:
Is it possible, as far as one builds or takes all the materials for the 6th player to play it along with other 5 players?
I like it alot but I had to buy Pirate's Cove which is worse for me (too much luck for my tastes) but still is "playable" with a 6th (with home made components) player. Thanks in advance

6 players are not a realistic option in my view. The board will be too crowded. This is one of those games that definitely has a "sweet spot," and the best contest is for 4. With 5, it begins to get a bit tight (which can actually be perfect depending upon the players) and with 3, it begins to get a bit loose (again, that can actually be perfect depending upon the players).

- Alan

Thread: Re: Playable in 6 players???

kalevi1999 — 2008-02-13T13:24:20+00:00

Ouch. My gamers group sometimes is very slow :S

Thread: Re: Playable in 6 players???

trnardo — 2008-02-13T11:56:45+00:00

The special setup allowed all players to move on Round 1, which is essential. It is a severe disadvantage for one player to start the game in wind lock. (BTW, this is why the players draw from only five starting ports rather than all twelve.)

After Round 1, as with 3-5 players, everyone is on their own to avoid wind lock.

The main problem with six players is the time it takes for all six to take their turns in the plundering phase. In the few trials done locally, no six-player game lasted less than two hours and some went on for over three hours. There are probably groups that can play faster, which would make this more of a viable option for them, but there are also groups which would likely be lucky to finish a six player game in three hours.

There was certainly considerably more boarding taking place in the six player tests. Whether this is viewed as a good thing or a bad thing will vary from gaming group to group.

Thread: Re: Playable in 6 players???

kalevi1999 — 2008-02-13T11:26:10+00:00

Did this special setup go good or bad? So the problem is only at first round... following rounds got no probs? How much time did a 6 players game would take?

Thread: Re: Playable in 6 players???

trnardo — 2008-02-13T11:16:20+00:00

Is it possible, as far as one builds or takes all the materials for the 6th player to play it along with other 5 players?
I like it alot but I had to buy Pirate's Cove which is worse for me (too much luck for my tastes) but still is "playable" with a 6th (with home made components) player. Thanks in advance
Managing six players is tough. Unless you have six people who are very quick at making their moves, the down time between turns would likely be too long for most groups.

Alan and I never formally discussed a six player variant due to the down time issue. However, if you wish to try the game with six players, here are the special setup rules I tried out during local tests:

1) When drawing for starting position, add the Nassau card to the other five starting port Treasure Cards.

2) Instead of giving the Blackbeard tile to "the player who traveled the furthest to play the game", give it to the player who draws the Nassau card.

3) The player who draws the Nassau card does not start in Nassau. Instead, he chooses one of the other five starting ports and places his ship there.

This maintains the ability of all players to move in Round 1 without being subject to wind lock.

Thread: Playable in 6 players???

kalevi1999 — 2008-02-13T10:03:15+00:00

Thread: Re: How well does this play with three?

dcorban — 2008-01-23T20:35:33+00:00

I played it once with three and it was pretty tame. Wind cubes have little value and there was very little plundering. It was far more exciting in my five player games.

Thread: Re: How well does this play with three?

mgringo — 2008-01-23T17:27:10+00:00

Well, we play it with three and though it's likely we are more aggressive than most, there is plenty of action. I like the game. I think it is better with more players but it really depends on who is playing rather than how many, imho.

Thread: Re: How well does this play with three?

ctalbot — 2008-01-23T15:18:58+00:00

I haven't actually played it with three. I played it with two as a trial game to see how it worked and then with four.

With two players, there were no conflicts. There just wasn't a need for them. I should note I was playing with someone who prefers less competitive games.

With four players, it seemed there were conflicts almost every turn. I was playing with more hardcore gamers, and three of us were war gamers, so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise there were a lot of conflicts.

With three players, I would guess it would depend on the players. The game starts all the players fairly close to each other in two of the central areas, and since everyone follows the same wind (unless you use Gust of Wind), conflicts are bound to happen.

It is possible to avoid getting into conflicts if the players just want to visit ports and not fight the other players, but I think with more players, the more likely it would be for conflicts to arise -- no matter what the player preferences are.

I can only imagine it would be a very conflict-heavy game with the full five players.

Chris

Thread: Re: How well does this play with three?

trnardo — 2008-01-23T15:16:48+00:00

This will depend as much on the players than anything else. I've seen some very cutthroat three player games where each person had an eye to tearing each other down, boarding opponents at every opportunity. But I have also seen three player "sail-fests" where the players each stayed in one area and concentrated on Reputation bonuses.

My own view is that a person's first game should be with four players. But when you have players who like to interact in the game, the three player setup can be far from solitaire indeed.

Thread: How well does this play with three?

larryjrice — 2008-01-23T14:46:22+00:00

I know the box says three but is there as much opportunity to "attack" each other in a three player game? It just feels like three player games could almost be solitaire unless you are intentional in going after people.

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Icefyst — 2008-01-20T16:53:06+00:00

Early game

Thread: Re: Full rules anywhere?

Grudunza — 2008-01-16T23:48:23+00:00

Great. Thank you very much, Tony!

Thread: Re: Full rules anywhere?

trnardo — 2008-01-16T23:34:30+00:00

GMT has the full rules on its Living Rules pages. For the English rules, see http://www.gmtgames.com/t-GMTLivingRules.aspx#nnwp and follow the appropriate link; for other languages, see http://www.gmtgames.com/t-GMTLivingRulesNE.aspx#wop .

Note: the process of breaking each language out into its own booklet did not go as cleanly as it could have -- the page numbers in the Table of Contents are off for the French and Italian rule booklets. New versions of those booklets will be uploaded when things settle down a bit at GMT from the post-holiday shipping frenzy.

Thread: Winning: I wonder…

Paul Mackie — 2008-01-16T22:44:18+00:00

Another new one to some of us. I had mixed feelings about the appearance on first impression – the map board and components are quite good, but I thought the card artwork and the box were a bit cheap-looking. That’s the box artwork, not the box itself, which I think must be the thickest/most robust game box I’ve ever bothered to feel!

(Sorry - the pics here are rather lo-res.)
The game concept is simple enough: Travel around the Caribbean, picking up points and crew, provisions or weapons as you go. Land at an island with an opponent’s pirate ship that has lower weapons and you can plunder something from their ship, or just take two of their vps and add them to your score.
The prevailing wind mechanic is kind of neat, if thematically strange. Bid wind cubes in the fist (even losers are discarded) for the privilege of determining the wind direction, thereby restricting everyone’s movement options at the start of each turn. Additional action points can be spent on taking or spending special effect cards or on obtaining more wind cubes, which have the additional benefit of converting into vps at game end at the rate of 3:1.

Pat’s advice at the start of game was that you needed a healthy cache of weapons to succeed in WoP. In fact, I think his words were, “you need to do three things to win; 1 - get lots of cannons, 2 - get lots of cannons, and 3 - (you got it…)”. Overall I tried to heed this advice, and sought high-scoring cannon sites when I could. But I also aimed for the high-scoring ‘reputation’ collections and although I only managed to complete two sets, I did get the maximum of 7 for each set. Pat actually chose a different strategy, which was to optimise points throughout the game without worrying too much about cannons, and to collect as many wind cubes as possible to cash in on the vp conversion at the end.

And it very nearly worked. My combination was just enough, however, to pip him at the post. This combination included significant investment in cannons and plundering (until the last two turns, when Neil F. went hard on these and surpassed everyone’s cannon count significantly, plundering me once), decent ‘reputation’ score (two regions, 14 points as described), three buried treasure maps, and miscellaneous bonuses for about 5 extra points at the end. It worked this time perhaps, but it certainly got me wondering about the range of other strategies that could be effective. Like going for max points on the table, favouring provisions instead for the +1 bonus for each pick-up – if you can get and hold this for most of the game, that’s 7 or 8 points – nice, but perhaps not enough on its own. So, maybe favour crew behind this, since they have a more generous conversion rate to vps at the end. The range of possibilities seems interesting, and I look forward to playing this again soon to try them out.
15 mins rules and setup; 77 mins game time.
Results: Paul (red): 62. Pat (blue): 61. Neil M (green/yellow): 56. Neil F (orange): 52.

(Originally posted in The Mine Shaft Gap.)

Thread: Full rules anywhere?

Grudunza — 2008-01-16T22:24:59+00:00

I can't seem to find the full rules for this game anywhere, just a quick reference sheet... I'm definitely interested in WoP, but I'm not purchasing or trading for games anymore without either playing them or reading the full rules. Does anybody know where I might find them?

Thanks much,
Grudunza

Thread: Re: Which one to get?

wwscrispin — 2007-12-12T12:07:15+00:00

WoP is a good game. I have both but if I had to pick one it would be WoP. It is definitely the heavier game although still not a heavy game.

Thread: Re: Which one to get?

kduke — 2007-12-12T11:23:25+00:00

Agreed. PC is very random, and player interaction limited to stumbling onto and then shooting each other.

You do get to roll dice and "shoot" at the other person-- which you don't get to do in WoP.

However, WoP has lots of intereaction-- bidding, cards that provide for twists and opportunities to mess with/screw other players. No dice and no literal "shooting," but a lot of laughs and some good strategy thinking available.

Thread: Re: Jus pirate-y enough!

trnardo — 2007-12-05T12:32:56+00:00

According to the blind playtest groups, both of you are correct.

Seriously, during development many of the test groups pointed out that the pirate theme fit the game well, but a couple pointed out that the theme felt somewhat disconnected. My guess is that the term "pirate game" evokes different images to different people, depending on which aspects of piracy they're looking to find emphasized in game play. The fit will therefore depend on the players.

Thread: Re: Jus pirate-y enough!

jvdv — 2007-12-05T12:18:37+00:00

Though I certainly don't think Winds of Plunder is a bad game, I thought the pirate theme was rather flimsy. Sure, it has all the trappings of a pirate game, but the mechanics don't really support those trappings very well. It felt a bit abstract and detached, theme-wise.

Thread: Jus pirate-y enough!

rantinronrevue — 2007-12-04T21:11:15+00:00

The theme of piracy has never done much for me in books or movies, so I really had very little interest in any games that feature the theme. So I really wasn’t expecting much when I was roped into playing ‘Winds of Plunder’ at a game store recently. I was pleasantly surprised, I must admit.

Who will like this game? This game will plunder the hearts of those who love themed strategy games of medium complexity, especially those who ‘treasure’ player interaction and aggressive play.

Theme: Sail around the islands of the Carribean plundering crew, provisions, and weaponry while hunting for treasure and amassing victory points at each port. If you have more weapons than another pirate already in port, then board their ship and plunder them, too! The player with the most victory points at the end of nine rounds wins.

Components: As a whole, really nice. The game board is moderately attractive, separating the 12 islands into four areas from east to west, each containing three islands. There are spaces to place tiles next to each island, and a separate area for the tile bank. There are also scoring ladders for keeping track of crew, weapons, provisions, and treasure. A Victory Point track surrounds the board (think Ticket to Ride).

The cards are of an exceptional quality, a bit thicker than most standard cards, nicely coated, and easy to read. A carved wooden silhouette of a pirate ship makes for a very nice playing piece, plus you have standard matching wooden cubes (called wind cubes in this game) and disks. Each player also has a small cardboard compass for determining wind direction, and there are a few other miscellaneous components (Blackbeard’s tile, round marker). Those are OK, not exceptional.

Gameplay: It took just a little while to set this game up, but it seemed a bit long because none of us were familiar with the game. Also, the first couple of turns really crept by because we had to keep referencing the rule book and/or quick start instructions. But by round three, the game sped up noticeably as we became used to the order of play. Some of the more notable mechanics and rules are:

- I’ve never liked the way most board games handle travel at sea, but this game does a good job of combining the elements of movement allowances, action points, and wind direction to take a lot of the ambiguity away from water travel. Plus, you always have a destination, there’s no meandering in the middle of the ocean at the end of your turn.

- Each round starts with an auction to determine which way the wind blows. Bidding is done with your supply of wind cubes. The high bidder receives “Blackbeard’s tile” and determines who will be the first player for that round.

- You can choose to sail with the wind for free, or use 3 action points to sail against the wind to a destination of your choosing.

- Victory points are awarded for developing a reputation at all three ports in a quadrant. (This simply means that you visit the island and have at least as many weapons as any other boats there). The first player to do so gets the most points, and the others get points on a declining scale (7 for first, then 5, 3, 2, and 1).

- Once a player sails into the port of an island, he obtains the item(s) pictured on the tile next to the island along with the specified number of victory points, and the tile is replaced with a new one for the next player who lands there. This really helps to keep the game fresh.

- Certain benefits are given to the person who is the leader in number of crew members, weapons, and provisions. Each of these benefits can assist you in building your strategy.

- Action points can be used to drawck (or use) an action card, restock your wind cube supply, or sail against the wind. You start with three action points per turn, but that number becomes variable during the game.

- There are multiple strategies to getting victory points, and they seem to be pretty well-balanced. This should lead to a lot of close games.

Best points: The game rewards aggressive play, which is fitting for the theme. Rounds go by pretty quickly (once you’re familiar with the game turn). The action cards add a nice element of surprise (which can be described more as ‘unpredictability’ rather than blind luck) to the game. Between the auction, action cards, and ‘boarding’ other boats, there is a good deal of direct and indirect player interaction, which keeps the game lively. Strategically, a cornucopia of possibilities exists – the game never seems ‘scripted’.

Shortcomings: The ‘ladder’ scoring tracks on the sides of the board is easily messed up by shirtsleeves or bumping the table, as is the victory point track. (Unlike Ticket to ride, it’s not always possible to verify your scores). Leadership in the categories of provisions, weapons, and crew can change very quickly and very often, so it’s sometimes gets confusing as to who leads which category. And because treasure is marked on one of the ladder charts instead of collecting doubloons, the piracy theme is not as prominent as it could have been (perhaps this is a good thing?). These are very minor annoyances. One complaint that is a bit more legitimate is that the person with the most weapons can rule the board as he wishes with little opposition. That, however, does not necessarily mean he/she will win.

Final Thoughts: Ahoy, mates! This scurvy dog landlubber has turned in me loafers to sail the seas in quest of treasure. With five of us playing for the first time, we had a bit of confusion here and there, but we all ended up liking the game a lot. The game really pushes all of the right buttons for me – strategically balanced, moderately aggressive and interactive, and nice components, too! It really overcame the prejudice I had against aquatic movement and pirate-themed entertainment and has proved itself to be a wonderful and innovative game. I give it a VERY solid 8 out of 10.

Image

athos — 2007-11-03T16:21:31+00:00

Board-markers for the 5 pirates: the battle flags on back (home-made, courtesy by J.Volpi)

Thread: Re: Final score was all in a row

rayito2702 — 2007-10-26T17:51:42+00:00

And by "Ron" you mean "Don".

Even though I still got last place, it's the best I've ever been able to do in Winds of Plunder.

Thread: Final score was all in a row

hederj — 2007-10-26T15:35:50+00:00

Last night we had a 4 player game with all of us having played - if not for a while for some of us.

I won the opening bid to determine the wind direction and take control of the Blackbeard tile, and I chose to go first.

The destination I chose to go to had a 2 point tile with some guns and some provisions. This gave me the lead in both guns and provisions. Both of which I held for three or four turns.

The tile that replaced my reward also had some guns, and the tile that replaced that one also had some guns, so three of the four of us ended up at that same destination - one of the islands in the right center area.

During the next two rounds, I collected that same guns/provisions tile using a couple of switch tile cards. This gave me a good lead in both provisions and guns and kept me competative in points. I was unable to plunder much and being in the lead with guns also made me a target.

Over the next few rounds, I had some swindles, some rats, the lose 2 points or 2 actions card, and some lose a gun cards played against me. Somehow I was usually in the lead or was near the front for the remainder of the game despite being the target.

In one round (3rd or 4th), Rayito who was wind cube rich for most of the game, had won the Blackbeard tile and had determined which direction the wind was going to blow. He chose south as all of the other players were in positions we could not sail south from without using all of our actions to change wind direction. Thus screwing the three of us.

However, in so doing he also stuck himself in a bit of a bind.

Rayito and I were both in the southeast corner of the board with him being one destination north of me and me in the exact corner (one of those destinations was Trinidad). We both had our reputation cubes in two of the three destinations for the region. Reyito had bid heavily to go south and to go first - not remembering that if he sailed on down to where I was, he wouldn't be able to place his reputation cube as I heavily outgunned him. If he let me go first, I would head to where he was to get that third reputation cube in the region, gaining the 7 point bonus and be able to plunder him. Neither option got him the 7 point region reputation bonus and one of them allowed him to be plundered.

He chose the other one.

The rest of the game consisted with everybody being terribly vocally concerned with my score and me robbed and plundered continually, and yet with me still somehow close to the lead if not in the lead. I had been able to get the 2nd place 5 point region bonus in one other region and had a plan to get a 2 place in a third region which I eventually did on the last turn of the game.

However, all three or my last turns I had to sail against the wind. Which left me card and wind cube light. All four of us were close at the start of the last turn. Rayito came to where I was, plundered some points from me (my guns were badly attacked for the second half of the game - I had also lost my most provisions card too). He then was two points ahead of me.

The second player in the round, Ron, joined us for a 4 or 5 point tile and then plundered Rayito for points - he had counted up bonus points and realized that Rayito was getting at least one more point than he was.

I sailed to the last destination (against the wind!!!) to get 3 points from the tile, and 5 points for the region reputation bonus, and a useless treasure map (the only thing that would have done any good for me would have been a provision, but oh well).

The last player was on the opposite side of the board and did his own thing for a total of 8 points).

When all the bonus point dust had settled we were all lined up in a row from (I believe) 56 to 59 points. I was in second place.

Having no cubes and been plundered so much in the second half of the game took its toll and Ron took the win.

Thread: Re: boarding when wind locked?

Philip Thomas — 2007-10-20T16:59:50+00:00

In general, you do not get to board when someone else arrives in the same port as your pirate ship. Only when your pirate ship sails to the same port as someone else.

Thread: Re: boarding when wind locked?

trnardo — 2007-10-20T16:56:56+00:00

athos wrote:
Thank you, Philip and Tony for the replies.
Well, from a strict rules' point of view it's clear that you cannot, but it seemed a little bit strange to us that a pirate would simply set aside in a port if he has the luck to be visited by a possible booty!
athos
Hey, once those pirates are carousing in the port taverns, you have to get them back on the high seas or threaten their own loot to keep 'em on the ship!

Thread: Re: boarding when wind locked?

athos — 2007-10-20T16:53:09+00:00

Thank you, Philip and Tony for the replies.
Well, from a strict rules' point of view it's clear that you cannot, but it seemed a little bit strange to us that a pirate would simply set aside in a port if he has the luck to be visited by a possible booty!
athos

Thread: Re: boarding when wind locked?

trnardo — 2007-10-20T11:42:09+00:00

Andrea, you and Philip are correct. If you don't sail to a new port, you don't perform any of the steps in the Port Arrival Sequence.

As Alan has put this in the past, "You must sail to score."

Thread: Re: boarding when wind locked?

Philip Thomas — 2007-10-20T07:12:20+00:00

No, he can't board anyone. No Port Arrival Sequence, no boarding.