Elaine suggested another game of
Merchants and Marauders; she is clearly hooked! This time Elaine got Nicolas
Jaures (French) as her character, again clearly a merchant type and therefore
sailed a flute. I drew Machiel van Riebleek (Dutch), a very strong marauder who
sailed a sloop. My life of piracy focussed on raiding French merchants and I
soon gathered 4 French bounties! My raids generated enough gold for me to
purchase a frigate and 3 Glory points. Now French merchantmen were scarce, so I
turned my attention to the English to gain another Glory point and I
successfully completed a Rumour. The Glory cards I had gained included a couple
of Pardons, so I spent much of my gold clearly my name. I was on 5 Glory and
had 20 gold stashed away.
Meanwhile Elaine clearly demonstrated her understanding of
the trading rules. She completed a number of successful ‘In Demand’ trades for
plenty of gold. She upgraded to a frigate (which was surprising because I
thought a Galleon would be her choice). She skilfully avoided marauding NPC
pirates and had success with one rumour. Suddenly she was back in her home port
with 6 Glory, plus over 80 gold pieces, which was more than enough to take her
to (and beyond) the 10 Glory winning post.
Another good, enjoyable game. Elaine has yet to try piracy
but it seems to be working for her! My life of crime was better in this game
but I did fail on a couple of merchant raids, which was disappointing. Again there
was no ship-to-ship combat, and I think this will only become a factor in
larger games with more players. NPC ships really act as blockers; a nuisance
rather than a threat.
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