CORSAIRS

A dice and card game for 2-4 corsairs aged 10 and up by Thorsten Lopmann &
Andreas Wetter

Rival corsairs search the seas for galleys loaded with booty, which they will board and
loot. To overtake and loot a galley, the players need sufficient provisions. But a player
needs a strong crew to keep the others from taking his catch from him.

Goal

As corsairs, the players attempt to board as many galleys as possible to earn

the victory points each is worth

Preparation
Before the first game, carefully remove all pieces from their frames. Shuffle the
galleys face down, draw 4, and place them face up on the table. Place the galleys
so there is room on all sides of each for players to place cards next to them. The
remaining galleys form a supply, but not all will be used.

Remove:
14 galleys with 2 players,
11 galleys with 3 players, and
8 galleys with 4 players.

Place the removed galleys back in the box, place the galley supply face down
nearby, and turn the topmost card face up so all can see what the next galley is.

Shuffle the action cards, deal 6 cards face down to each player, and place the
remainder face down as the action card supply.

Each player takes the 2 round markers in his color, places the large one in front of
himself so all will know the color he is playing, and the small one on his galley on the
scoring track.

The starting player is the player whose galley is the top most on the scoring track
(usually yellow).
Playing the Game
The players take turns in clockwise order starting with the starting player. On his turn, a
player is the active player
The following actions are executed in the order shown below. Actions 3-5 may be
repeated if the active player chooses to attempt to board more than one galley.
1. Play action cards (active player)
2. Fire a broadside (active player)
3. Board galleys (active player)
4. Counterattacks (non-active players)
5. Score (any player)
6.Draw Cards (active player)

1. Play action cards

On his turn, the active player must play exactly 3 cards, but has the following options
for playing those cards:

Placing: He plays up to 3 cards from his hand on his side of the galleys. He may play
either provision cards or corsair cards. When a player plays a provision card with a
corsair symbol on it, the card counts as both a corsair and the provision shown on the
card. The cards may be played, on one or more galleys.

Players play provision cards face up beside a galley and. may only play provisions that
are shown on that galley and may not play more provision cards of a kind than are
shown on that galley.

Players play corsair cards (worth 2 - 4) face down. A player may not play more
corsair cards on a galley than he has provision cards on that galley (a provision
card with a corsair symbol counts as both and thus cannot support a second corsair
card).

Trading; The active player discards 2 or 3 cards and then may search through the
discard pile and take 1 or 2 cards, respectively from the discard pile and place them face
up in front of himself.
He may not use these cards on this turn. He may discard without taking cards from the
discard pile.
 Firing a broadside: The active player discards I card from his hand and fires a
broadside. He may only fire one broadside per turn.

2. Fire a broadside
The active player may place any action card from his hand on the discard pile and fire a
broadside at a galley to possibly remove opponents' provision cards from the galley. He
selects a galley where he has one or more provision cards and rolls the 2 color dice. For
each die rolled, the player removes one provision card of that color (if any) from one of
his opponents beside that galley. If he has room beside that galley for a provision card of
the color removed, he may add. that card to his side of the galley. Otherwise, he discards
the provision card. If neither color die matches opponents' provisions beside that galley,
his broadside has no effect.

3. Board galleys
The active player may board all galleys where he has played the necessary provision
cards. He chooses the order and resolves each (including any counterattacks) before
going on to the next.

A player may not board galleys in his first turn of the game

For each galley the player chooses to board, he turns all of his corsair cards beside that
galley face up. He rolls the 2 number dice and adds the corsair cards' values to the roll.

There are two possible outcomes

a) The sum is less than the boarding value of the galley: the attack fails and the player
must now lose provisions. He rolls the color dice. For each die rolled, the player
discards one provision card of that color (if any) from his side of the galley. It is also
possible that he loses corsair cards (if after losing provision cards, he has more corsair
cards than-provision cards). If the colors rolled do not match his provision cards on the
galley, he loses no cards.

b) The sum is equal or higher than the boarding value of the galley

The galley is boarded and the player scores the value of the galley, unless: an opponent
successfully counterattacks (see .below).

4. Counterattack

Starting with the player to the left of the active player and moving clockwise around, the
table once for each non-active player who has played provision cards beside the galley
that the active player attempted to board, may also attempt to board the galley, lf the
player does not have the necessary provisions to board the galley, he may add up to 3
provision cards from his hand to bring his provisions to the necessary number. One or
more of the provision cards may include a corsair symbol, but no new corsair cards
may be added.

He then turns face up any corsair cards he has on that galley, rolls the number dice, and
adds the corsairs' values to the dice. After all players have had the opportunity to
attempt a counterattack, the scores are compared. The player with the best result scores
the galley.

Ties are resolved starting with the active player and moving clockwise around the table.

Players do not replenish their hands after a counter-attack

5. Score

The player, who successfully boarded the galley, takes the galley and places it face up
in front of himself for all to see. He discards all action cards that were played beside
the galley. He moves his scoring marker on the scoring track the number of spaces
represented by the value of the galley. If a player passes 44 points, he records this and
continues with 1 on the scoring track (his final score will be 44 greater than the
number shown. by his scoring marker.

After the active player has completed all of his Boarding attempts and his opponents
have completed their counterattacks. The active player places the next galley in the
space vacated by .the boarded galley and turns over the next galley from the supply. If
more than one galley was boarded, he continues to place new galleys until there are
four available galleys and a next galley.

6. Draw cards

If the active player traded cards and has face up cards before him, he adds them to his
hand. Then he replenishes his hand to 6 cards by drawing cards from the card supply.
When the card supply is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile, place it face down, and use
this as the card supply

Game end and victory

When the last galley is placed on the table, the end of the game is near. As soon as one
more galley is boarded the game ends after the player to the right of the starting player
has taken his turn. The winner is the player with the highest score. If two or more players
tie with the highest score, the player among them who boarded the most galleys is me
winner
Variant rules

The rules above apply except as noted below:

1. Bonus points

If a player has boarded 3 or more galleys of one color, he scores a color bonus equal to
the value of the highest-valued galley he/she boarded in that color. Often the game is
decided by a color bonus so players should try to earn them and work to keep their
opponent from doing the same.

2 Next galley

Increase the number of next galleys from l to 3. Place them face up in a row next to the
galley supply so they will be used in the order they were drawn. This allows the players
to better plan their turns.

3. When he fails a boarding attempt he is not allowed to attempt to board other galleys.

4. When there is a successful counterattack, the active player is not allowed to attempt
to board other galleys that turn.

5. Two player game

In a two player game, play with 3 galleys instead of 4. This will increase the competition
between the 2 players

For their help in testing and their comments and suggestions, the author and publisher
thank Frank Lepperhoff, Gerd Hebbinghaus, Marcel-Andre Casasola Merkle, Carmen
Willeke, Silke Rottlander, Gudrun & Jorg Kortmann, Kerstin Lopmann, Reiner
Kehrmann,
Susanne Schmelz, Marie Wojciak, and all testers in Bodefeld under the direction of
Michael Schrarnm.