Creating a Squadron

To create a Squadron, players must first determine the size of the game that they want to play. There are three game sizes:

• Patrol This type of game is ideal for players wishing to recreate battles between pirates, privateers, and coast guard Squadrons. In these games, Squadrons consist of 2 to 4 ships and each player has a limit of 50 points to build their Squadron. Ships of the Line are not allowed in these games. Patrol games are played on a table of at least 3’x3’.

• Skirmish This type of game is ideal for players wishing to recreate minor battles between small naval Squadrons and/or larger privateer or pirate Squadrons. In these games, Squadrons consist of 3 to 8 ships and each player has a limit of 100 points to build their Squadron. Skirmish games are played on a table of at least 3’x3’.

• Engagement This type of game is ideal for players wishing to recreate more significant battles between naval Squadrons including the largest men of war sailing the seas! In these games, Squadrons consist of 4 to 10 ships and each Player has a limit of 200 points to build their Squadron. Engagement games are played on a table of at least 3’x4’.

• Factions & Ships Once a game size is established, each player begins building their Squadron by choosing a faction card. Each faction card has a nationality symbol and special rules that apply to all of the ships in a player’s Squadron. All other cards chosen for this force must include the symbol of the chosen nationality card or have no symbol. Next, players may begin choosing the ships that will make up their Squadrons and adding the points of each chosen ship to their Squadron’s total. Ships can be customized by adding any of the upgrade or skill improvement options listed on the ship card. If an upgrade is chosen, the associated point cost must be added to the Squadron’s total. Ships may also add upgrade and commander cards to their ships by adding the cost listed on the card to their Squadron’s total. Each ship is limited to a 1 commander card and up to 2 upgrade cards.

• Flagships & Admirals Each Squadron must have 1 ship designated as its Flagship. The Flagship is denoted by an admiral card. The admiral card counts as the commander card on a Flagship and each squadron may only ever have 1. Each admiral card has an admiral value, usually between 0 and 3, that represents the admiral’s experience in battle. Admiral value will be used to determine which player is the attacker or defender in a scenario and to break ties in certain situations.

• Initiative Hand Players will now build a hand of Initiative cards. Each player must choose a number of initiative cards equal to 5 plus their squadron’s admiral value. The initiative hand may not have more than 2 cards with the same initiative value, more than 1 of a card with the same title, and must have at least 3 cards that are not discarded after being played. Remember, all cards chosen for this force must include the symbol of the chosen nationality card or have no symbol. Sometimes, an Upgrade or Commander card will add an additional card to a player’s initiative hand. In this case, the added card (or cards) do not count toward any of the limitations mentioned above.

Designer’s Notes

Command and Upgrade cards both feature the on their reverse side, but they are not the same type of card. Commander cards are always denoted by the word “Captain” or “Commander” in their title.