I played the new Doom game in 2017 and enjoyed it tremendously. After this great experience, I simply had to buy the corresponding boardgame. A quick journey to a nearby city was in order for this endeavour because no game store in my home town had this boardgame available. So I grabbed the last english copy of this beautiful game in a hurry and then strolled relieved through this game store which I never visited before.
As I looked around what other kind of merchandise was displayed on the shelves, a particular set of minis caught my attention:
Freebooter´s Fate. Pirate miniatures for a tabletop game!
Jesus, I have never seen such great stuff before because I was living up to this point in a sort of GW bubble and was therefore blind for what other companies had to offer. Pirates! Memories instantly flooded my brain of my younger self playing avidly Sid Meier´s Pirates on the Commodore 64 with my buddy in 1987. It was such a blast. Shooting up enemy vessels, boarding them and fencing with enemy captains. Selling the loot in nearby towns and searching for hidden treasures. Epic adventuring, indeed. In addition, the Monkey Island games also came to mind with their wacky puzzles that had to be solved. Three headed monkeys, rubber chickens and ghost pirates. Great times.
So here was the opportunity to relive the awesome pirate fun in a new exciting manner. I had no clue whatsoever about the rules but I liked the look of the figures so much that I decided to buy some of them. In the evening, I searched on youtube for people who would present battle reports for this game:
After watching this tutorial I was hooked but also intimidated by the awesome city buildings and cobblestone structures displayed on the board. As of now I only built a few easy buildings namely two wooden shacks (see album link) but fortunately my catachan death world jungle terrain collection can add to the caribbean flair.
What has this game to offer? There are several factions who duke it out in the caribbean islands:
Basic Rulebook:
- Pirates
- Imperial Armada (spanish guys/gals)
- Goblins (former slaves of Imperials)
- Brotherhood (assassins with a venice based masque ball-vibe)
Mystic Spirits Book:
- Cult (voodoo guys/gals)
Deep Jungles Book:
- Amazons
Further supplements include rules for mercenaries (Corporate Piracy) and rowing boats (Raging Rivers). Even a french faction (Debonn) can now be played complete with musketeers.
What else is there to say? The game doesn´t use any dice at all. You draw cards and add/subtract the number of the cards to determine the results of various tests (e.g. attacks, voodoo witchcraft, etc.). All characters are predetermined and come along with their very own cards and cannot be modified though you can add a certain amount of equipment cards to each mini. Campaign play is possible but no mini will earn XP. The rules are solid and complex. You can run, jump, swim, attack, charge, invoke spirits and even cripple limbs of your opponents. There are lots of skills, nice scenarios and a decent morale system. Special mention goes to the amazonian scenario Man Hunt in which the femme fatales need to capture NPC males.
And what about humour? Is this game funny or grimdark like 40K? It doesn´t take itself too seriously would be the best answer. The goblins in particular remind of the wacky Blood Bowl greenskins with their assortment of illegal special weapons. You have goblins hiding in barrels which cannot be targeted by the opponent. Explosives are a thing and there is even a goblin in a diving suit.
Are there any references of famous characters from other franchises? Yes, there are a lot. Here are a few examples and their affiliation in the game:
WWE Legend Undertaker = El Enterrador (Pirate/Cult)
Alice - Residence Evil = Alicija Degollara (Imperial Armada/Brotherhood)
Master Yoda - Star Wars = Yogo Yogo (Goblins)
James Bond 007 = Jamon Borodino (Imperial Armada)
Hybrid of Papa Shango (WWE Legend) & Baron Samedi (Villain from James Bond) = Jeudi (Cult)
Juliet Starling (Lollipop Chainsaw Massacre) = Carly Wench (Mercenary)
There are also random event cards which spice up the game. I will end this post with a link to my album showing all of my painted minis from this game so far. As of now, I have collected Pirates, Imperial Armada, Cult & Mercenaries.
Album:
https://ibb.co/album/mg910a
As I looked around what other kind of merchandise was displayed on the shelves, a particular set of minis caught my attention:
Freebooter´s Fate. Pirate miniatures for a tabletop game!
Jesus, I have never seen such great stuff before because I was living up to this point in a sort of GW bubble and was therefore blind for what other companies had to offer. Pirates! Memories instantly flooded my brain of my younger self playing avidly Sid Meier´s Pirates on the Commodore 64 with my buddy in 1987. It was such a blast. Shooting up enemy vessels, boarding them and fencing with enemy captains. Selling the loot in nearby towns and searching for hidden treasures. Epic adventuring, indeed. In addition, the Monkey Island games also came to mind with their wacky puzzles that had to be solved. Three headed monkeys, rubber chickens and ghost pirates. Great times.
So here was the opportunity to relive the awesome pirate fun in a new exciting manner. I had no clue whatsoever about the rules but I liked the look of the figures so much that I decided to buy some of them. In the evening, I searched on youtube for people who would present battle reports for this game:
After watching this tutorial I was hooked but also intimidated by the awesome city buildings and cobblestone structures displayed on the board. As of now I only built a few easy buildings namely two wooden shacks (see album link) but fortunately my catachan death world jungle terrain collection can add to the caribbean flair.
What has this game to offer? There are several factions who duke it out in the caribbean islands:
Basic Rulebook:
- Pirates
- Imperial Armada (spanish guys/gals)
- Goblins (former slaves of Imperials)
- Brotherhood (assassins with a venice based masque ball-vibe)
Mystic Spirits Book:
- Cult (voodoo guys/gals)
Deep Jungles Book:
- Amazons
Further supplements include rules for mercenaries (Corporate Piracy) and rowing boats (Raging Rivers). Even a french faction (Debonn) can now be played complete with musketeers.
What else is there to say? The game doesn´t use any dice at all. You draw cards and add/subtract the number of the cards to determine the results of various tests (e.g. attacks, voodoo witchcraft, etc.). All characters are predetermined and come along with their very own cards and cannot be modified though you can add a certain amount of equipment cards to each mini. Campaign play is possible but no mini will earn XP. The rules are solid and complex. You can run, jump, swim, attack, charge, invoke spirits and even cripple limbs of your opponents. There are lots of skills, nice scenarios and a decent morale system. Special mention goes to the amazonian scenario Man Hunt in which the femme fatales need to capture NPC males.
And what about humour? Is this game funny or grimdark like 40K? It doesn´t take itself too seriously would be the best answer. The goblins in particular remind of the wacky Blood Bowl greenskins with their assortment of illegal special weapons. You have goblins hiding in barrels which cannot be targeted by the opponent. Explosives are a thing and there is even a goblin in a diving suit.
Are there any references of famous characters from other franchises? Yes, there are a lot. Here are a few examples and their affiliation in the game:
WWE Legend Undertaker = El Enterrador (Pirate/Cult)
Alice - Residence Evil = Alicija Degollara (Imperial Armada/Brotherhood)
Master Yoda - Star Wars = Yogo Yogo (Goblins)
James Bond 007 = Jamon Borodino (Imperial Armada)
Hybrid of Papa Shango (WWE Legend) & Baron Samedi (Villain from James Bond) = Jeudi (Cult)
Juliet Starling (Lollipop Chainsaw Massacre) = Carly Wench (Mercenary)
There are also random event cards which spice up the game. I will end this post with a link to my album showing all of my painted minis from this game so far. As of now, I have collected Pirates, Imperial Armada, Cult & Mercenaries.
Album:
https://ibb.co/album/mg910a
