Ben

Cornelis Tromp
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 077
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 8
Ability: Hostile: England. Captain. Once per turn, you may eliminate one of this ship’s masts to give her an extra action. If this ship does not have all of her masts, she gets +1 to her c…[Read more]

if you rolled successfully with Crimson Angel, you would not be able to use the SAC part of Blackheart’s ability

Just to make sure Scott has maximum clarity, you could in theory still use Sac for the ship’s second action that turn instead of Crimson Angel’s SAT (perhaps if a non-same action became a better option during the turn, or if e…[Read more]

her ability states “an island” as opposed to a wild island. With that wording you could get the +S from home islands, is this intentional?

Definitely intentional

Postillon
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 076
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 4
Masts: 1
Cargo: 1
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 5L
Ability: This ship gets +S to her base move if she begins that move action within S of an island.
Flavor text: This pinnace from De Hoop is serving un…[Read more]

Castel del Rey
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 074
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 9
Masts: 2
Cargo: 5
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3S-2L
Ability: Pirate crew can use their abilities on this ship.
Link: Adrian Claver, Otto van Tuyl

Flavor text: The Dutch privateer Adrian Claver u…[Read more]

Are Smokepot Specialist and Smokepot Shot different enough to be stackable on the same ship?

Smokepot Specialist: Once per turn when this ship is given a shoot action, you may declare that one of her cannons is shooting a smokepot instead of a cannon; you do not need to target a ship. Simply place the center of a fog bank within S of this ship;…[Read more]

Halve Maen
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 074
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 10
Masts: 3
Cargo: 4
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 4S-4L-4S
Ability: Once per turn, if this ship is within S of a wild island, you can mark it as explored without docking at it. The island becomes u…[Read more]

Zeelandia
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 073
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 12
Masts: 3
Cargo: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3L-3L-3L
Ability: You may double the range of any of this ship’s cannons each action, but if you do, that cannon must roll a 6 to hit.
Link: Joris van der…[Read more]

If the rest of the mega pack is similar to this, then the Dutch are going to get a missive firepower boost.

It’s not all based on the Anglo-Dutch Wars since I wanted some variety, but there are a couple other ships in it with solid cannons.

Exactly, the ability is nasty since it’s not limited to once per turn. That contributed heavily to the…[Read more]

The first preview for the May Mega Pack!

Gouden Leeuw
Collector’s Number: 072
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 18
Masts: 4
Cargo: 4
Base Move: L
Cannons: 2S-2L-2L-2S
Ability: When this ship hits an enemy ship, also eliminate one crew from that ship. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against…[Read more]

New month means a new Mega Pack!  Return to South China Seas 2 is now generally available: https://pirateswithben.com/product/return-to-south-china-seas-part-2/

Black Totem v.2

This ship may begin the game as a member of the Cursed nation instead of its own. If it does, change its flag to Cursed during set-up; it is now a member of the Cursed nation (any crew aboard the ship retain their original nationalities). If Cursed, the point limit for cargo on this ship is reduced by 1.

Added this under your…[Read more]

If Calico Cat OE 038 and Captain SM 008 are both aboard Cat’s Claw OE 032 and shoot at a non-Pirate ship, will the ship’s cannon rolls be at +2?

Yes, those stack because the abilities are different

Code page 16:

I am hyped to announce the next Pirates CSG release!

Dutch Golden Age

Featuring a variety of important historical ships and crew from the 1600s, with both warships and exploratory vessels. There are some big names among the crew, including a Dutch legend (not de Ruyter, he might come later) and someone who had a lot of things named after him! …[Read more]

That’s just one example (Bruce Grey + Accused, and Emperor Blackheart + Zeus being other examples) of how the flavor text is not reflected in the rules.

Flavor text has nothing to do with any gameplay elements whatsoever.

From the Complete Game Rules: (might not be in all pack variants)

Flavor text (fiction found on the backs of cards) has no b…

[Read more]

Calico Cat OE038 does not have the “captain keyword” or text form of the ability.  So she is not a “captain” in any way shape or form?  Is that correct?

Yes

Does that also mean that if I wanted to benefit from the Cat’s Claw OE032 ability, I would need to include a 3 point generic Captain instead?

Yes

I haven’t played in 21 years, so this may seem like a silly question… but when is a Captain a Captain?

This one is in The Pirate Code. From page 20:

-If an ability refers to the “Captain keyword” it may be triggered by any crew with the Captain keyword or the text form of the ability. It is not triggered by crew with “Captain” in their name or tit…

[Read more]

The new Grenades equipment!

Grenades

Point Cost: 1

Ability: 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.

If you just want 36 packs of RV, HWG usually has the lowest prices.