Golden Seas Playtest Game #9
2/8/2024: Pirates vs. Spanish (Restarting Rules test)
This was the ninth in a series of playtesting games for the new set, Pirates of the Golden Seas. Some game pieces back then were different, and have undergone revisions since then. We also used the Restarting Rules, though they were also in a somewhat different form back then – the earliest form of that alternate ruleset was finished in July 2021, but the “final” version released with the set in August 2024 more closely resembles the original rules (various rule changes were taken back out, such as the elimination of ram damage). We used the Points in Play + Gold win condition, with gold values to match (all coin values multiplied by 4). 60 point fleets with 60 gold contributed per player for 240 “total points” available at the start of the game. We also used an additional house rule with 30 minutes per player via a timer.
-Only one Golden Seas game piece was required per fleet. Other than that, Restarting Rules used with the exception that RtSS was also available. No events.
Pirates: (A7XfanBen)
Harbinger + Captain Blackheart, helmsman, oarsmen x4 (28)
Grand Barnacle + helmsman, explorer, oarsman, RotF Gus Schultz (19)
Knife’s Edge + Captain Fletcher, The Hag of Tortuga, oarsman (10)
Shamrock
Coins: Abandoned Captain, Abandoned Oarsman, Abandoned Musketeer, Castaway, Pandora’s Box, 3 5’s (20’s)
Spanish: (Xerecs)
Nuestra Señora de los Siglos + Inquisitor Sebastián Blanco, Horacio Linares, Dragon Eyes, Castro’s Loyalists, helmsman, oarsman, grapple shot
Patagonia + Administrator Scott Bratley (CC), Robinson, Lord Mycron
El Antiguo + helmsman, oarsman
La Rosario + Roberto Santana
Coins: Wolves, Rotting Hull, Blood Money, Fruit, Aztec Medallion, 3 5’s (20’s)
Game video:
Scores:
- Pirates: 113 (100 gold, 13 from Grand Barnacle)
- Spanish: 75
*Spanish would very likely have won without 30 minute per player timer. (just the destruction of the fort alone would have knocked Pirate score to 53)
Conclusions:
Not a bad enough experience to do away with Points in Play just yet.