Yo Ho Mates,

This is an updated version of the Rules for Merchant Ship that can be found in the Rules Help forum that you are looking at. Many people have contributed to this project by making suggesting changes to the document, recommending resources to look at, and play testing the the rules. Many thanks go to those people. I hope that this is a final draft and we can put this to bed, the final play test is on Monday, June 15, 2015 at 7pm. If you're in the area of Columbia or Laurel, Maryland we are playing in The Savage Mill Mall, in the Family Game Store. We have the ships, we need the players.


Here is my 2nd (last?) draft. Now would be the time to suggest changes.


Merchantmen Rules (purposed)

Ships
1. Choose any warship with a burden of three or less.
2. Cover half of the boxes on both the hull and crew damage rows, round up, never down. This represents the space taken up with cargo. If you decide to take on more cargo then just cover more boxes. The more boxes you fill with cargo increases the point value your ship is worth at the end of the game.
3. The hull and crew damage boxes that are left are treated like any other ship in the game.
4. A merchant ship must reduce her veer by two. Their crews are just not as good as the crews of fighting ships.
5. Merchantmen take 2 turns to load a broadside. Their crews are just not as good as the crews of fighting ships.
6. Merchant ships may not initiate an attack on another ship. The captain does not have to wait to be fired on. If an enemy ship makes threatening moves that makes the ships commander think he may be under attack, the merchant may fire.


Capturing a Merchant Ship:
1. The safest way to capture a merchant ship is to sail within half a ruler length from his side and telling him to surrender. He will often do as you ask.
2. If he doesn’t surrender then send him a broadside to let him know whose boss.
3. You may have to fight the merchant in order to capture the ship. Be careful, if you sink it, you loose the cargo

You can control your prize by:
1. Putting a prize crew on board the prize. She is yours and will stay yours unless she is recaptured be the enemy.
a. Move your ship and make base contact.
b. Remove all movement cards from both Ships’ Mats.
c. You may plan a movement that will not happen until later.
d. On the next turn you may plan a 2nd move and move the first card as normal.
e. Sails are not set and the ship must raise sails 1 level at a time
2. If a ship has to be towed:
a. Ships under tow follow the towing ship by 1 ruler width.
b. The towing ship’s acceleration occurs with a -1 on movement.
i. Struck sails there is no movement.
ii. Backing sails act like struck sails, no movement.
iii. Battle sails act like backing sails, use the shortest arrow on movement.
iv. Full sails act like battle sails; use the middle arrow.
Or by . . .

3. Keeping all other ships from coming between you and the prize ship.
a. If an intervening ship is your friend he can take over control of the captured ship for you.
b. An enemy will steal your prize from you.
4. Not getting involved in fights that will distract you from your prize.
5. By issuing clear and precise directions to the captive ship. They must follow them or get blown out of the water.
6. Do not let the prize ship get more than half a ruler away from you. If you can’t shoot them you don’t control them.

Prize Crews
1. The only way to control the captured ship is to put a prize crew on board.
2. Your ship must stay in base contact with the captured vessel for one extra turn for the prize crew to transfer to the captured ship and get things ready for the long voyage to the nearest port controlled by your allies.
3. The prize crew can be part of a boarding party or part of your crew that is put on the captured ship after the fight is over.
a. You cover at least one crew damage box representing the prize crew that has been left on the captured ship.
b. The prize ship uncovers the same number of crew damage boxes, again, representing the prize crew’s presents.
4. If you cannot afford to send a prize crew, then you have to hope that the stricken ship will stick around until the game is over. If a captured ship tries to leave, then any other warship can capture it or sink it.

Scoring
1. A merchant ship that is captured is worth one point for each point of burden, plus points for each box devoted to cargo. The cargo can be doubled or tripled if the part of the hold (box} carries gold (3x), silver (3x), other metals (2x) furs (2x) the normal value of that box. The cargo must be determined, using tokens, or by writing on a piece of paper.
2. If the merchant is sunk, then it is worth only one point for each point of burden.
3. The merchant that survives gets points for each box of cargo as above and 1 point for each point of burden.

Let me know your thoughts,

Bob