Overview of traders and predators
Overview of traders and predators
The Caribbean was a center of maritime trade, as well as a sea marked by frequent wars, conflicts and piracy. You get a small boat and a handful of coins and the freedom to carve your way forward.
Will you be honest merchants or turn to other ships and evoke the wrath of the colonial powers? Find your way in this race against the title of the most famous sailor of the Caribbean!
A brief overview of traders and predators
Merchants & Marauders combines elements of several genres of board games to create one of the few pirate-themed games that have it all - trading, colonial powers, piracy, ship upgrades, quests and rumors. Calling Sid Meier’s version of the board game Pirates is probably the best way I can describe it.
The relatively high complexity of the game stems from the amount of information that new players have to take over. Once the initial hurdle in learning all the mechanics is overcome, Dealers & Marauders will become more accessible.
Merchants & Marauders is a short game away with 2.5 to 4 hour sessions , but it gets better as the group becomes more experienced. It does not have an independent mode and is limited to 2 - 4 players .
Merchants & Marauders may not be an ideal pirate-themed game, but it deserves a spot at the very top of the subgenre. If you are a fan of theme and adventure , then Merchants & Marauders is a game you should not skip.
Unpacking traders and predators
The box contains the following components:
- 1 game board
- 4 game boards
- 100 Coins
- 26 plastic ships
- 24 tokens demand
- 17 trading tokens
- 16 tokens for changing ships
- 12 tokens of special weapons
- 20 Bounty tokens
- Cards 254
- 29 Wooden cubes
- 4 naval tokens
- 10 Custom Dice
- 4 treasure chests
- 2-player help sheets
- 1 Rules
I think there are two main ways to address the pirate topic. One includes maps of antique looks, sandy and worn colors, and a generally serious approach to this violent and grim profession.
Most people enjoy romanticized pirates, seekers of freedom who answer to no one, fight corrupt nations and steal their treasures. I am glad that the designers of Merchants & Marauders chose the latter option and gave their game a bright color palette that perfectly matches this tone.
The game board is huge and takes up a lot of space on the table, otherwise it is fairly cluttered. The text written below the locations is important, so such a large board is not a bad idea as it allows players to sit comfortably so that no one has an inverted view of the board.
The quality of the components meets high production standards, from cardboard tokens to regulations and reference sheets. Players ’ships and NPCs look great, as do treasure chests.
The only real criticism of the components are the wrinkles that can form on the board over time, but even that is a minor inconvenience. Overall, the quality components used to make the Merchants & Marauders board game are more than satisfactory.
How to play Merchants & Marauders
To properly explain how the game is played, you will need to read the 16-page policy and play at least one game. In this section, I will give you a brief overview of how the game is played and what you can generally expect from the experience.
Captains and ships
In Merchants & Marauders, players draw a captain's card to determine their skills in naval combat , scouting, leadership and influence. Captains also have their own nationality, home port and special abilities.
Then we have ships: sloops, flutes, frigates, galleys and military wars. These ships have different levels of strength, cargo capacity, number of crew, cannon firepower and maneuverability.
Although you can take any path you want, the novice captain has certain skills that make him better at piracy or trading. With this in mind, you can choose your starting ship - a cargo flute or a maneuvering rod.
Captains who are not players
NPCs in Merchants & Marauders represent naval or pirate ships controlled by games that will come into play through a card event . Ships will chase players who have a prize on their head or are simply associated with one of the conflicting nations.
Pirates, on the other hand, will not target other pirates and instead encroach on gold or cargo dealers on board.
fight
A fight can take place between non-player captains and players or between them two players . The procedure consists of three stages: declaration, seafarer content and action. The fight depends on the ability of the captain and the dice .
The statement sets out the intent of the attacker and defender. Possible choices include shooting with cannon fire, boarding a ship, or fleeing battle.
The naval competition has both fighters test their captain's naval skills. The winning player may perform the action previously declared. If another player declares a shot, he can still take action if he has called or lost the match.
The action involves attacking the enemy with cannon fire, boarding his ship, or fleeing combat.
The combat is explained in great detail in the rules, but the point is that cannon fire has a higher level of performance and can damage parts of an enemy ship, while boarding depends on bounce leadership skills.
The winner of the crew battle can capture another ship for one of his cards, gold or even his own ship. Death is not the end in Merchants & Marauders, as players can return with a new captain and retain their fame and hidden gold.
Deserve fame
Earning 10 points of fame will guarantee you victory and there are several ways to earn it:
- Gold warehouse in the home port.
- Defeat NPCs and players in battle.
- Completion of missions.
- To find out that the rumor is true.
- Upgrade to galley or frigate.
- Plundering enough gold from a merchant ship.
- Sales of goods in demand.
Exchange and actions
The round begins with drawing and activating the event card, followed by the actions of the players in order. Players can perform three actions in a row and combine them in any number and order.
Move action can be used to move between sea areas, to land in or out of port. Since all three actions can be spent moving, this will allow players to leave one port and land in the one located in the adjacent sea area.
the scout action allows the attacker to locate the ship in his sea area. The player must state whether he is looking for a player, NPC or dealer, and then pass a scout skills test.
the port action is separate from the port connection via the move action. Once you perform an action in the port, you can carry out any number of activities, including buying or selling goods, requesting a rumor, storing gold, upgrading your ship, or recruiting.
He wins the game
When the player declares that he has accumulated 10 points of fame by revealing the secret points collected by storing gold, the game ends when it is everyone's turn.
Players can tie 10 points of glory, in which case the player with the most points on the tracker wins (excluding counting hidden coins). Further ties are resolved by counting the amount of gold in stock. All players who are still tied after this point are declared the winners.
Your first game Merchants & Marauders
This section should start with the fact that if everyone is playing Merchants & Marauders at the table for the first time, set aside at least 5 hours for the game. The rules are well organized and there are no edges, so reading them all would help you play faster.
The captain you draw will have pros and cons, so do your best to work with what he is good at. Merchants & Marauders is not a game you will find in the first, second or even fifth game. However, when things finally click, you will be able to take advantage of your building and the situation you find yourself in.
The only real advice you need to follow is to hide your gold. I don’t think you should put it in your pocket, but keep the amount of gold on your ship as a secret by covering it with cargo tickets as they share the same space on the game board.
If you hide the amount of gold you carry, and especially the amount of gold you have saved, you are not setting yourself a big target that other players could take advantage of. You also need to monitor what other players are doing, and try to estimate how much gold they have collected to find the right moment to attack and loot.
Advantages disadvantages
Advantages:
- An exceptional experience
- A balanced and flexible set of rules
We often see board games that use the theme as a coating of paint to disguise otherwise general play. Merchants & Marauders handles their topic perfectly to the point that everything related to the game makes sense.
There are no workers to put at resource collection points, no pointless resources and mechanics. Instead, you sail the Caribbean on your ship and do what you want, legally or otherwise.
I also noticed a lot of criticism at the expense of the balance of the gameplay, but I just didn’t notice it. Yes, a trading galley may be better than a pirate frigate, but the risk matches the reward, and correct me if I’m wrong, but the pirates decided to take the risks until they were calculated.
Even if you find problems with the rules and requirements for certain achievements, such as obtaining the said galleys, you can rule the house as much as you want. Merchants & Marauders has a very flexible set of rules that allows this.
Weaknesses:
- A remarkable first experience
- Failure between turns
First-time players will have trouble with Merchants & Marauders, in part because of the complexity of the game and how long the game session will last. Expecting someone to pay attention for four or five hours is unreasonable, so this game will require more gameplay to figure it out.
Love or hate part of Merchants & Marauders is a time of downtime. Since each player gets 3 actions per turn, you will have to wait a while for your turn again. I haven’t had much of a problem with this, as it gives you an advantage if you focus on what the other players are doing.
Overview of traders and predators (TL; DR)
Merchants & Marauders is one of the best pirate experiences you will find in the board game format. Start as a dealer, turn into a pirate, switch sides and betray your country - there are many opportunities to create a unique experience while still playing a competitive game.
Long play and an outage between turns will bother some, but Merchants & Marauders offers a lot to make playing worthwhile. If you are a fan of the golden age of piracy, you must play this game!
Variations and extensions
A sea of glory
- This comprehensive extension offers a modular experience with 11 new ...
- Introduces new game mechanics, such as changing winds, smuggling, ...
- For 2-4 players
Broadsides!
- Fast strategy game for manual control.
- Quality wooden components for building your ship with ... and your ...
- Defend your ship first or sink the enemy quickly? every decision ...
Conclusion: a verdict?
The pirate theme will always have a special place in my heart, not because of romanticized pirates, Pirates of the Caribbean movies, or Blackbeard himself. It certainly helps, but the main reason I like the theme is Pirates by Sid Meier, the best video game in the genre.
The only problem is that this game came out 17 years ago and nothing has come close since. Tracking rumors and treasures, ship battles, boarding, defeating famous pirates and some trading are some that no video game has been able to replicate.
And yet Merchants & Marauders, a board game, did it all. I’d usually go into more detail about why I liked the game or didn’t like it, but I think that’s more than enough to sum it up. Those who have hunted the same type of rush will be more than happy with Merchants & Marauders.
- Pirate theme
- For 2-4 players
- Playing takes about 3 hours
We hope you enjoyed our review of Merchants & Marauders! Have you ever tried this epic pirate-themed game? We’d love to hear what you think about it or if you prefer other similar games. Drop a comment below and let us know!
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