🚀 go-pugleaf

	                    ---- BLACKBEARD (review) ----

	Avalon Hill Game Company -- $35.00

	(I have not played this game, but I have skimmed the rules, maps,
	and counters.  What follows is a general impression of the game,
	rather than a play-tested critique.)

	The players of this game (1-4) each become one (or more) historical
	pirates, by luck of the draw.  The object of the game is to raise
	your "Notoriety" score to 100 before the other players.  You increase
	notoriety by successfully capturing merchant ships (which you search
	for by drawing search cards).

	From the rule book: CAPTURE RESOLUTION
	"To capture a Merchant, the Pirate totals the Combat and Speed ratings
	of his Ship plus his Ability Rating.  From that total he subtracts
	the Defense Rating of the Merchant to arrive at the Attack Number.
	The player then makes a 2d6 roll.  If the roll is less than the
	Attack Number, the Pirate has captured the Merchant.  Captured
	Merchants are removed from the board and returned to the Draw Cup."

	Forget those glorius battles, the smell of powder, the boarding pikes,
	and swinging over the rail yelling "It's cutlasses now, men!"  Just
	roll two dice and compare the numbers.

	The game features Governers, Merchant vessels, and King's
	Commissioners.  In essense, you sail around the map, recovering in
	the ports of friendly Governers, searching for Merchant ships while
	avoiding roving Commissioners.  The mechanics are all very abstract,
	involving drawing Action Cards and rolling dice against numbers.
	Some items on the Action Cards are: "Event" (Scurvy, Hull Damage,
	Peace Declared), "Search" (No Sighting, 1 Merchant, Storm), "Cargo"
	(60, 110, 85 Doubloons), and "Injury" (Superficial, Healable Wound, Lost
	an Eye).  There seems to be little room for strategy or decision
	making.

	In summary, I feel that the game is a historical and sterile
	representation of a period that should be treated with romance and
	adventure.  For the contents of the game (16 page rule book, 64
	action cards, 2 maps, 200 counters), I find the $35 price tag a
	bit high.  $20 would seem more appropriate to me.  I would 
	recommend this game only to serious collectors interested in the
	age of piracy.

	To anyone interested in playing a more romantic and adventurous game,
	I might recommend "Pirates!", the computer game by MicroProse.
	It captures much more of the historical situation, as well as
	including fictional adventure such as buried treasure, romantic
	liasons, and kidnapped family members.


	-- "Calico" Scott    P)