Brethren of the Coast

Brett J. Gilbert Brethren of the Coast layers • 30–60 min • Ag to 6 p es 10+ r 3 Fo We were schooner-rigged and rakish With a long and lissom hull, And we flew the pretty colours Of the crossbones and the skull; We’d a big black jolly roger Flapping grimly at the fore, And we sailed the Spanish waters In the happy days of yore. John Masefield, ‘Long John Silver’ Introduction It is the end of the 17th Century, and the buccaneers of the Caribbean — the Brethren of the Coast — work together with the blessing of the colonial powers to attack Spanish shipping and territories. Each player is captain of a fleet of galleons and schooners and must band together with the other buccaneer fleets to capture and share the Spanish gold. The spoils of war will be distributed fairly, as the code of the Brethren dictates, but only the captain who returns to Port Royal with the largest hoard of doubloons will earn the true respect of his piratical peers! 1 Components 1 Port Royal board 6 Spanish boards 18 doubloons (double-sided) (double-sided) 72 ships: 3 large galleons and 9 small schooners, in each of 6 player colours 72 cards Aim of the game The player with the largest hoard of doubloons at the end of the game is the winner. 2 Set-up Cards Assemble the deck, depending on the number of players. The deck contains 3 ‘marked sets’ of 12 cards each. The cards in each set are marked with a different symbol on the corner of the cards: Flag symbol , Skull symbol and Parrot symbol .These sets are identical. When setting up the deck for fewer than 6 players, it doesn’t matter which sets you remove, provided you remove the correct number of complete sets. • 3 players: Use 40 cards. Remove 3 of the marked sets. • 4 players: Use 52 cards. Remove 2 of the marked sets. • 5 players: Use 64 cards. Remove 1 of the marked sets. • 6 players: Use all 79 cards. Shuffle the deck and then remove 4 secret cards at random, without letting the players see them. Put these back in the box and out of play. Deal each player a hand of 4 face-down cards from the game deck, and place the other cards face down beside the play area to form the draw pile. Port Royal Place the Port Royal board in the middle of the play area. The table of numbers on the board tell you how many musket, cannon and treasure chest cards were in the deck before the 4 secret cards were removed. Spanish boards Lay out a number of Spanish boards equal to the number of players in a circle around the Port Royal board, with the side showing the Spanish galleons face up, and with the line of numbered positions closest to Port Royal. One Spanish board should be in line with the ‘North’ compass direction on Port Royal. Put any unused Spanish boards back in the box. Ships Each player takes all 12 ships of one colour: 3 large galleons and 9 small schooners. Put any unused ships back in the box. Doubloons Give each player the following number of doubloons, and then put any remaining doubloons back in the box: • 3 or 4 players: 4 doubloons. • 5 or 6 players: 3 doubloons. You may spend these doubloons during the game to keep secret some of the cards you play, or keep some or all of them until the end and count them as part of your hoard. 3 3 players set-up 4 players set-up 5 players set-up 6 players set-up 4 About the cards Cannons and muskets During a reckoning, before any treasure is shared, the Spanish may attack the buccaneer fleets with cannons or muskets, changing the strengths of the fleets. Marked doubloons During a reckoning, and after any Spanish attack, each pair of marked doubloons is given directly to the player whose fleet is in the position shown on the card. Doubloons and treasure chests During a reckoning, and after the Spanish attack, the doubloons and chests are shared by all the players with a fleet present at the galleon or settlement. The player with the strongest fleet will choose a card first, and so on in fleet order. 5 How to play The players take turns to play ships and cards alongside the Spanish galleons — and, later, alongside the Spanish settlements on the reverse of the boards — until all the players’ ships and all the cards in the deck have been played. Each Spanish galleon or settlement will be ‘reckoned’ — and have its treasure shared by the players — immediately after the first 6 cards have been played alongside it, and again at the end of the game. TAKING A TURN The youngest player goes first. Players then take turns clockwise. On your turn do the following three things in order. 1. Play a ship Play one of your unplayed ships alongside any Spanish board. 8 You must play a new ship each turn and may not move a ship played in an earlier turn. 8 In later turns, when additional ships are played at the same board, group each player’s ships into a fleet, and reposition the fleets so that they are always ordered by strength — see Fleets. 2. Play a card Play one card from your hand alongside a different Spanish board. You may never play a ship and a card at the same Spanish board in a single turn! 8 You must play a new card each turn and may not move a card played in an earlier turn. 8 You may play your card face up or face down. It costs nothing to play the card face up, but if you want to play the card face down, you must place one of the doubloons you received at the start of the game on Port Royal. If you have spent all of the doubloons you received at the start of he game, you can only play your card face up. 8 In later turns, when additional cards are played at the same board, overlap the cards so that all the previously played cards can be seen. 6 8 If the card you play is the 6th card played at a Spanish galleon, then the buccaneer fleets attack and there must be an immediate reckoning so that the treasure can be shared — see Reckoning. After the reckoning, remove all the fleets beside the Spanish galleon and put them back in the box, then flip the board over to show the Spanish settlement. Settlements may have any number of cards played at them, and are only reckoned at the end of the game. 3. Draw a card Take the top card from the draw pile and add it to your hand. When the draw pile is used up skip this step, but continue to take turns playing a ship and a card on your turn, until your ships and cards have all been played. FLEETS A galleon has 3 sails, a schooner only 2 sails. The strength of any fleet is equal to the total number of sails on all its ships. When there are several fleets at a Spanish board keep them ordered by strength, and position them alongside the edge of the Spanish board, with the strongest fleet in position ‘1’. If, after any ship is played, the strengths of two fleets are tied, the fleet already ahead stays ahead, and the current player loses the tie. More than 3 players may place fleets alongside a single Spanish board. If there are more than 3 fleets at a board, position the weakest fleets to the side of the fleet in position ‘3’, keeping all fleets ordered by strength. Five ships and 4 cards have been played at this Spanish board. The blue fleet is the strongest with 5 sails. The green fleet has 4 sails. The yellow fleet is the weakest with 3 sails. 7 RECKONING When a Spanish galleon or settlement is reckoned, pause the game and immediately reveal any face-down cards and lay them face up. If there are any cannons or muskets among the cards then the Spanish attack the fleets before any treasure is shared. If there are both cannon and musket cards at a Spanish galleon or settlement, the cannons always attack the players’ fleets first. After the attack, put any cannon and musket cards back in the box. 1. Cannons If there is a single cannon, the Spanish attack the strongest fleet (the fleet in position ‘1’). This fleet is reduced to its single smallest ship. Put any other ships lost from the fleet back in the box, then reorder the fleets by strength as usual. If the strength of the attacked fleet is now tied with another fleet, the attacked fleet loses the tie and must be positioned behind of the other fleet. If there are 2 or more cannons, the Spanish bungle their attack on the strongest fleet and mistakenly fire at each other. The buccaneers survive the Spanish cannon attack unscathed!! 2. Muskets If there is a single musket, the Spanish attack the weakest fleet (the fleet in the lowest occupied position). This fleet loses its single smallest ship. Put the ship lost from the fleet back in the box. If the fleet only had one ship, the fleet is destroyed. If there are 2 or more muskets the Spanish bungle their -at tack on the weakest fleet and mistakenly fire at each other.

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