New Keywords and Assembly Diagrams
My recent Pirates CSG Relaunch that went public in 2024 has featured many new ship types and sometimes keywords for those new types. This post consolidates all of them into one reference. I also have a video playlist where I build each new ship type. To print out a copy of all the new keywords associated with the game’s rebirth, use this file. The New Master Keyword List has all of the keywords, both old and new.
Directory:
- Red Seal Ship
- Atakebune
- Giant Turtle
- 3 Mast Frigate
- 2 Mast Historical Snow-Brig
- Bomb Vessel
- Hydra
- 7 Masted Junk
- Carrack
- Grand Xebec
- Caravel
- Dragonwing Cutter
- Trireme
- Sea Chariot
- 5 Mast Fluyt
- Crew and Equipment Keywords (Merchant, Archer, Grenades)
Red Seal Ship (no ship type keyword)
A ship with this keyword printed on its deckplate card has removable flags that are treated exactly the same as masts on a normal ship (they can be replaced by fire masts).
This ship may be given move actions when it has no flags; its printed base move becomes S. When given a move action, this ship can rotate on her bow (the front of the ship) OR stern (the rear of the ship) in any direction as an additional, final movement segment (she cannot rotate on both bow and stern in the same move action). This ship cannot pin or be pinned.
This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls for every crew assigned to her. If this ship wins a boarding party, she may steal one treasure from the enemy ship (winner’s choice), and eliminate one crew (loser’s choice).
This ship cannot be assigned treasure except for treasure taken via boarding party.
Crew assigned to this ship do not count towards the ship’s point limit.
If this ship has no crew, she cannot be given move actions.
A ship with this keyword printed on its deckplate is a sea creature.
A giant turtle can ram a sargasso sea as if ramming an iceberg; if it does, remove the sargasso sea from the game.
Two hits during the same player’s turn are required to eliminate one of this sea creature’s segments. When removing segments, remove a fin of the giant turtle. When all four fins are removed, the giant turtle is eliminated. The giant turtle’s cannon (its head) cannot be eliminated.
A giant turtle may move across islands (except enemy home islands and enemy forts) if it does not have a fort on its back. It becomes docked if it ends movement on an island. A giant turtle may shoot and be shot at while on an island (the island does not block lines of fire to and from the giant turtle on the island).
A giant turtle can be assigned crew.
A giant turtle may be given explore actions to load cargo like a normal ship.
A giant turtle may tow other ships (unless it has a fort on its back), it may ram (the rammed ship becomes pinned instead of the giant turtle), and it may board like a normal ship.
When building a fort, you may build it on the back of this giant turtle while it is docked at either the wild island or your home island. If there is a fort on the back of a giant turtle, it cannot move more than S in a single move action; during combat the fort takes damage instead of the turtle. The fort on the back of the turtle is treated like a fort on a wild island and has its own actions. Friendly ships can dock at a giant turtle with a fort and be given repair actions while there. If a ship is docked, the giant turtle cannot move.
Any treasure in a giant turtle’s fort does not take up cargo space. Crew and equipment still take up cargo space. When the fort on a giant turtle is destroyed, the treasure is moved into the giant turtle’s cargo. If there is more treasure than cargo space available, remove the excess treasure from the game instead of removing crew/equipment to make room for the treasure.
A fort built on a giant turtle cannot use crew abilities.
This one builds similar to the original 3 Mast B, but with jib and gaff parts that slot into the foremast and mizzenmast (the slots are spaced differently so it’s obvious which goes with each). Recommend attaching the extra sails before inserting the masts into the deck (ideally the masts into deck will be the final phase of the build). Assembly instruction video
2 Mast Historical Snow-Brig (2MB) (no ship type keyword)
Ramming cannot eliminate this ship’s masts. This ship has an additional rank-4 mortar cannon assigned to each of its first two masts. These mortars can only shoot once per turn each, and can only hit targets more than L away but not more than L+L away. These shots are not blocked by other ships, and get +1 to their rolls when targeting a fort. If a mortar shot hits, replace a mast on the enemy ship with a fire mast instead of eliminating it; if the mortar roll is a 1, replace that mast on this ship with a fire mast. The following cannot be applied to these mortar shots: specialists, grape shot, chain shot, smokepot shot, other abilities that improve cannon accuracy.
No assembly diagram, but very similar to the 2MB model:
Hydra (original model by PirateCaptainAndrew)
A hydra is a type of sea monster. The following abilities are specific to hydras and override the Sea Monster keyword: Measure a hydra’s movement from the middle head slot on its base. Hydras may move and shoot using the same move action. A hydra may be given repair actions at sea or at any island, including while it is submerged.
No diagram, but quite straightforward:
7 Masted Junk
Regular Junk keyword; build is very similar to the 6 masted junks but with an extra mast on the aftmost deck:
The quarterdeck is the smallest deck and goes at the stern. I recommend “pre-slotting” (slightly widening) the hull slots before building the ship in full so the deck goes into them snugly.
This ship’s masts do not block her lines of fire. This ship cannot pin or be pinned. This ship may be given move actions when she has no masts; her printed base move becomes S.
This ship’s rearmost mast requires two hits from the same shoot action to eliminate, and can shoot twice when this ship shoots. If this ship is hit once during a shoot action, her owner must eliminate one of the first 3 masts if able.
This ship’s masts do not block her lines of fire. This ship cannot be pinned. When given a move action, this ship can rotate on her stern (the rear of the ship) in any direction as an additional, final movement segment.
Dragonwing Cutter (Vindaga Games)
This ship gets +S to her base move if she has all of her masts. When given a move action, this ship can rotate on her stern (the rear of the ship) in any direction as an additional, final movement segment.
A ship with this keyword cannot pin or be pinned, and cannot be assigned crew with the Helmsman ability. If this ship has a crew with the Oarsman ability, she gets +S to her base move; with no masts her printed base move becomes L (instead of S), and she can always ram enemy ships. When this ship rams an opposing ship, the roll automatically succeeds regardless of the number of masts.
I recommend inserting the mizzenmast into the quarterdeck before attaching the quarterdeck to the hull pieces via the open slide-in slots.
A Sea Chariot is treated like a ship with the following exceptions:
It can only move if towed by a Sea Monster. Any Sea Monster may tow a Sea Chariot when any part of its base touches any part of the Sea Chariot; you may move the Sea Chariot into a towed position as a free action. A Sea Monster may stop towing a Sea Chariot at any time, where it remains until towed again or sunk. Sea Chariots can submerge with the towing Sea Monster, but cannot shoot while submerged.
When towing a Sea Chariot, a Sea Monster on the surface may dock at islands, be given explore actions, and load treasure into the Sea Chariot’s cargo space. If the towing Sea Monster docks, the Sea Chariot may remain towed instead of docking it at the island.
Abilities of crew assigned to the Sea Chariot cannot be used by the towing Sea Monster, unless specifically stated otherwise.
If a Sea Monster towing a Sea Chariot wins a boarding party, you may assign any stolen treasure to the Sea Monster or the Sea Chariot; if a Unique Treasure is taken you must assign it to the Sea Chariot or eliminate it as normal.
A Sea Chariot has no masts. Instead it has a flag which can be eliminated only if the Sea Chariot is hit twice during a single shoot action; when it has no flag, any hit will sink it. If the flag has been eliminated, the Sea Chariot may be given a repair action (even if it’s at sea) to replace it.
A Sea Chariot’s cannons are measured from the d6 markings on its hull, not from the flag.
5 Mast Fluyt (no ship type keyword) (Vulkan)
Crew and Equipment Keywords
Merchant: Once per turn if this crew or ship is within S of any ships, home islands, or forts, the controllers of each game piece may agree to trade any number of cargo between the game pieces as a free action (if applicable, up to their available cargo space). If the trade is between friendly game pieces, all friendly game pieces involved must unload at least one non-identical cargo; you cannot trade between friendly ships and your own home island.
Forum post with clarifications. Subject to change in the future.
Archer: This ship gains one 3S cannon that can shoot from any mast (even an eliminated mast), but eliminates crew instead of masts when it hits. If this ship carries cargo with “firepot” or “fire shot” in the name, you may assign it to this cannon instead of a regular cannon. When assigned to a ship of the same nationality, this crew is not subject to the No-Stacking Rule.
Grenades: If this ship has any crew, once during each of your turns you may choose an enemy ship touching this ship. Roll a d6; on a 5-6, the target’s controller replaces one mast with a fire mast and eliminates a crew; if the roll is a 1, eliminate a crew from this ship.
Firepot Specialist: (original ability, new as a keyword) Once per turn when this ship is given a shoot action, one of her cannons may shoot a firepot at a target within S of her. Declare which cannon will shoot the firepot before rolling the d6. If it hits, the target’s controller replaces one of her masts with a fire mast. If a ship has a fire mast, before she is given an action roll a d6 for each fire mast on her. On a result of 5 or 6, remove the fire mast; on a 1 or 2, replace another of her masts with a fire mast. When a ship has only fire masts, she must be scuttled on her next turn. When a ship docks at her home island or a fort, remove all of her fire masts as a free action.
Other keywords:
Hidden Gold (Xerecs): This ship has 2 extra cargo spaces that may only be assigned treasure.
Lighthouse (The9ofSpades)
Building lighthouses follows the conditions for building forts. Gold used to build the lighthouse is placed face-up next to the lighthouse and still counts towards a player’s total for victory conditions. A lighthouse cannot use its abilities on the same turn that it is built. The effects of Mysterious Islands (including Great Turtles) are ignored if a lighthouse is present on the island.
If the Lighthouse has its light, a friendly ship within L+L of the Lighthouse gets +S to its base move once per turn (a yellow L+L tool can be used to indicate the range of this effect, or a light yellow plastic can be placed under the lighthouse).
Two hits from the same shoot action are required to eliminate the lighthouse light; when it is eliminated, remove it and the lighthouse top (if applicable). Once a lighthouse loses its light, it loses the L+L effect but retains its other abilities. When a lighthouse has no light, one additional hit destroys the lighthouse and it is eliminated; the gold used to build the lighthouse remains on the island (face down).
Enemy ships may dock, load treasure, and drop off crew or equipment from islands with lighthouses built on them. Enemy ships cannot load crew or equipment from this island that belong to the lighthouse controller as long as the lighthouse has its light. If the lighthouse has cannons, their ranges are measured from any part of the lighthouse base.
If a friendly ship is docked at the island, it can give up its turn and conduct a repair action on the lighthouse. If an enemy ship is docked at the island and no ship friendly to the current lighthouse controller is within L+L of the lighthouse, that ship can give up its turn to simultaneously capture and repair the lighthouse.
If a lighthouse has cargo space available, shipwrights and musketeers can use their abilities inside a lighthouse.