How to Play Merchants & Marauders: Seas of Glory

Objective of the Game

The Seas of Glory expansion is designed for veteran players of Merchants & Marauders. It introduces a modular system, allowing players to customize their game experience by choosing which modules and variants to include. The overall goal remains to enhance the base game, with new elements like Captains, Rumors, Missions, and Events integrating seamlessly. Players are encouraged to gradually introduce new modules to familiarize themselves with their rules, aiming for an epic experience when playing with all modules.

Preparation (Setup)

To set up Merchants & Marauders: Seas of Glory, follow these steps, integrating the expansion components:

• Place the Weather Spinner on the table.
• Place the 4 Main Expansion Boards, 4 Favor Boards, 4 Loyalty Boards, and the Treasure Galleon Board on the table.
• Place the Treasure Galleon (gold miniature) and the Pirate Man-o-War (black miniature) on the board.
• Place the 5 Brigs (black and one in each player color) on the board.
• Shuffle the 32 Contraband Cards into the Cargo Deck.
• Shuffle the 16 Event Cards with the base game's Event Cards.
• Shuffle the 25 Rumor Cards with the base game's Rumor Cards, or use them as a separate deck.
• Shuffle the 25 Mission Cards with the base game's Mission Cards, or use them as a separate deck.
• Shuffle the 17 Captain Cards with the base game's Captain Cards, or use them as a separate deck.
• Include the 4 Replacement Cards, specifically the "A Myriad of Goods" rumor card if using the Contraband module.
• Place the 17 NPC Upgrade Tokens face down next to the board to form a reserve pool. If not using the New Ship Mods or Special Weapons modules, remove their matching NPC Upgrade Tokens from the pool.
• Add the new Ship Mods (Carved Hull, Crow's Nest, Smuggler's Hold, The Plank) to the original 16 Ship Mod tokens before distributing them. Place remaining tokens face down to form a reserve pool.
• Place the Treasure Galleon miniature (gold colored Galleon) in the Cartagena Sea-Zone. Place the Treasure Galleon Board face up, where its Captain sits and gold is placed.
• Place the Storm Token on the transparent pin, and put it in The Caribbean Sea Sea-Zone at the beginning of the game (if using the Wind and Weather module).
• Place the 16 Location Tokens randomly (face up) in all Sea Zones except The Caribbean Sea. Ensure the two Trade Stations are not in adjacent Sea-Zones.
• Use Mission Tokens: Place active missions next to the board. Put a Mission Token in the Sea-Zone where the mission can be claimed, and place the matching numbered Mission Token on the Mission Card. The third pair of Mission Tokens is for the "Employers Calling" Event Card.
• Use Home-Port Tokens: Place a flag token in each player's color on their home-port for easier identification.
• Use NPC Spawn Tokens: The brown flag is for Naval Ships and the black flag is for NPC Pirates, to mark where new NPCs will appear.

Fluxo do Jogo

The game progresses in turns, with specific phases and events:

Beginning of the Turn

• Wind Direction: If using the Wind and Weather module, spin the Weather Spinner. The direction it lands on is the wind direction until the next spin.
• Storm Token Movement: If using the Storm Token, it moves in the direction determined by the Wind Spinner immediately after spinning it. If the direction is unavailable, move it to the next possible Sea-Zone in a clockwise direction (like NPCs).
• Event Card Draw: Draw an Event Card.

NPC Upgrades

• Every time an NPC Event Card is drawn, draw a random NPC Upgrade Token and place it on the card. The NPC ship gains the abilities matching the token.
• If a "0" token is drawn, the NPC has no upgrade; return it to the pool.
• If a "2" token is drawn, the NPC has two upgrades; draw two new tokens and return the "2" token to the pool. (Redraw a "0" token if drawn when drawing two upgrades).
• When a new NPC of the same nation/type is drawn (covering an existing NPC Card), the token on the old card is returned, and a new token is drawn for the new card.
• When an NPC with other NPC Cards beneath it is defeated, a new token is drawn for the new active NPC.

Treasure Galleon Movement

• The Treasure Galleon moves like other NPCs, in the direction of the first move icon (upper left) of any Event Card featuring move icons.
• When the Treasure Galleon moves, place 50 Gold on the Treasure Galleon Board.

Player Turn

Players take actions during their turn. Moving against the wind costs two actions for the first move in a turn, while moving with the wind is a free action once per turn.

End of the Turn

• New NPCs may appear based on NPC Event Cards drawn, marked by NPC Spawn Tokens.
• If a Dutch Man-o-War Event Card is drawn, place the Dutch Man-o-War in the Sea-Zone of St. Maarten. If a Dutch Naval ship card is already in play, place this card on top of it.
• If a Pirate Brig William Kidd Event Card is drawn, place the Pirate Brig in the Sea-Zone of St. Maarten. If the Pirate Sloop/Brig is already in play, place this card on top of it.

Ações e Como Jogar

Players can perform various actions during their turn, including interacting with Locations and engaging in combat.

Movement

• A free Move action can be taken in the wind direction once per turn.
• Moving against the wind takes two actions the first time in a turn. Subsequent moves against the wind take one action as normal.

Port Activities

When in a port, players can perform various activities. Some Locations also offer port-like activities.

• Missionary:
  • Visit (Anyone): Pay 3 Gold per Bounty reduced (from one nation only per visit).
  • Raid: Defense: 3 cards (ignoring Hit Icons). Bounties: 1 for attacking, 1 if successful. Bounties match the Port.
• Naval Fort:
  • Visit (Non-Pirates): Move a Naval ship matching the nation of the Fort's Sea-Zone to an adjacent Sea-Zone. If no such ship exists, draw one from the deck to enter at the end of the turn.
  • Raid: Defense: 6 cards. Bounties: 1 for attacking, 1 if successful. Bounties match the Port.
• Prison:
  • Visit (Anyone): Pay 5 Gold. Draw the first Specialist from the Glory Deck and employ them. Discard and redraw if you already have that type of Specialist. Reshuffle the deck.
  • Raid: Defense: 4 cards. Bounties: 1 for attacking, 1 if successful. Bounties match the Port. Bonus: If successful, you get to do the "Visit" part of the prison and employ the Specialist for free.
• Pirate Haven:
  • Visit (Pirates Only): Free Recruiting (no roll). May draw a Rumor Card (no gold cost, no roll).
  • Raid: Defense: 4 cards. Bounties: None.
• Natives:
  • Visit (Anyone): Pay 1 Cargo Card for full Ship Repairs (does not include Crew).
  • Raid: Defense: 4 cards. Bounties: 1 for attacking, 1 if successful. Bounties match the Port.
• Trade Station:
  • Visit (Non-Pirates): Either Sell Goods or Buy Goods (not both). Draw 6 cards for sale (or 3 if you bought here last turn). Shares the Good in Demand with the port in the Location's Sea-Zone. Redraw Contraband Cards meant to be sold in the port in the Location's Sea-Zone when buying.
  • Raid: Defense: 5 cards. Bounties: 1 for attacking, 1 if successful. Bounties match the Port.
• Reef:
  • Visit (Anyone): Roll Scouting. For each success, you may either: Draw 1 Cargo Card, Pick a Special Weapon, Draw a Rumor, or Get one "Crew". Receive 1 hit to Hull for each item picked up, minus 1 per Seamanship success.
  • Raid: Not possible.
• Town:
  • Visit (Anyone): Do 1 port activity (4 cards for sale if 'buying', or 3 if bought last turn). Shares the local port's Good in Demand. Activities include: Sell Goods, Buy Goods, Visit Shipyard, Recruit, Acquire a Rumor, Buy Favors, Increase Loyalty.
  • Raid: Defense: 5 cards. Bounties: 1 for attacking, 1 if successful. Bounties match the Port.

Notes on Towns: You cannot use a Town to complete a rumor requiring a specific port, recruit a specialist from a specific port, claim a port's mission, sell Contraband, buy Ship Mods, or use a Town as your home-port for "Stashing". You also cannot use Sea-Zone powers in a Town.

Location Actions (at sea)

• Visit a Location: Spend an action to Visit a Location in your Sea-Zone (once per turn, per Location). You do not have to "Move" to the Location first. Perform activities offered by the Location. Locations are not ports and you can still be scouted for and attacked.
• Location Raid: Spend an action to Raid a Location in the same Sea-Zone (no scouting roll required), even if visited that turn. Only possible if your ship has no destroyed hit-locations.
  1. Draw the indicated number of Cargo Cards. Hit Icons represent cannon-fire, Escape Icons represent land combatants.
  2. Bombardment: Roll 1 die for each of your Cannons. Discard a card of your choice for each success. Stop bombardment anytime. Special Weapons do not affect bombardment.
  3. Receive hits: Each remaining Hit Icon inflicts 1 hit to your ship at the indicated hit-location, or 2 hits if Escape Icons match or beat your ship's Maneuverability. If Hull is destroyed, you sink and die. Other destroyed hit-locations mean the raid fails. You may retreat.
  4. Ground Assault: Roll Leadership. Receive 1 hit to Crew for each remaining Escape Icon minus 1 per Leadership success. If Crew is reduced to "0", you are killed. If you survive, get gold matching plunder value and take remaining Cargo Cards. Remove the Location Token from the board. Gain Bounties as noted on the Location Token.

Attacking the Treasure Galleon

• Player Captains can "scout" for and attack the Treasure Galleon when in the same Sea-Zone.
• If successful, a Naval battle begins, and you receive 1 Spanish Bounty.
• If you defeat the Galleon, you get: 1 Glory Point, 1 additional Spanish Bounty for every 10 Gold on the Treasure Galleon Board (rounded down).
• Plunder: If you won through Crew Combat, you may claim the Galleon as your ship and/or all the gold on its board. There is no Cargo to plunder.
• The Treasure Galleon is fully repaired between battles. If defeated, it is out for the rest of the game.

Contraband

• Getting Contraband: When drawing Cargo Cards, some may feature the Contraband option.
  1. Redraws: Redraw cards showing the Good in Demand, and Contraband meant to be sold in your current port.
  2. Buy Contraband: Buy Contraband Cards for 30 Gold each. Place them on the Contraband space on the Main Expansion Player Board.
  3. Buy regular Cargo: Any cards not bought as Contraband work as normal Cargo Cards. Place on the regular Cargo space.
• When getting Cargo Cards from Merchant Raids, Rumor/Mission rewards, etc., you may place Contraband cards on either your regular Cargo space or your Contraband space.
• Selling Contraband: Can only be sold in the port listed on the card during the "Sell Goods" port activity for 10 Gold.
• Traveling with Contraband: Naval ships will scout for non-pirate players with Contraband (but not hunt). If found, the non-pirate Captain may either resist and attack (getting a Bounty) or discard all Contraband Cards to avoid battle.
• Taking Damage to Cargo: When forced to discard cards, choose to discard from regular Cargo space or Contraband space. The card is randomly selected from the chosen space.

Special Weapons

A ship can hold up to six Special Weapons (one of each type). They can be spent in Merchant Raids to convert a failed die, and have unique effects in Naval Combat.

• Heated Shot: Spend after rolling hit-locations and at least one "Skull". "Skulls" do no damage, but the enemy ship catches fire (place token on ship card). Prior to every new Naval combat round, the targeted ship receives 1 damage to a location of the target Captain's choice. Remove token when Crew Combat begins or battle ends.
• Double Shot: Spend after rolling hit-locations to make up to two "Skull" hits do one extra hit each. Apply non-"Skull" hits first. Then evenly apply all "Skull" hits to as many different non-empty hit-locations as possible (target Captain's choice). Cannot be combined with other Special Weapons.
• Caltrops: Spend after a seamanship contest where you chose to "board" (regardless of who won). On the following combat round, the enemy Captain has a -1 penalty (min. 1) on his/her next seamanship or