View manual text
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Eleuthera
Nassau
Andross
St. Augustine
Florida Channel
Havana
Tampico
Vera Cruz
Campeche
10 Sisal
11 Roatan
12 Cayman Islands
13 San Andres
14 Puerto Bello
15 Santiago de la Vega
16 Santiago
17 Puerto Santo
18 Tortuga
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19 Santo Domingo
20 San Juan
21 St. Kitts North
22 St. Kitts South
23 Trinidad
24 Margarita
25 Araya
26 Cumana
27 Caracas
28 Puerto Caballo
29 Curacao
30 Coro
31 Gibraltar
32 Maracaibo
33 Rio de la Hacha
34 Santa Maria
35 Cartegena
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"Come, let us make a hell of our
own and try how long we can
bear it."
Blackbeard
To the memory of Edward Teach, citizen of Bristol
c1680--1718:
wit, raconteur, mass-murderer,
this game is respectfully dedicated.
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Epilepsy warning
Please read before using this video game system or allowing your children to use it. Some people
are susceptible to epileptic seizures or loss of consciousness when exposed to certain flashing
lights or light patterns in everyday life. Such people may have a seizure while watching certain
television images or playing certain video games. This may happen even if the person has no
medical history of epilepsy or has never had any epileptic seizures. If you or anyone in your
family has ever had symptoms related to epilepsy (seizures or loss of consciousness) when
exposed to flashing lights, consult your doctor prior to playing. We advise that parents should
monitor the use of video games by their children. If you or your child experience any of the
following symptoms: dizziness, blurred vision, eye or muscle twitches, loss of consciousness,
disorientation, any involuntary movement or convulsion, while playing a video game,
IMMEDIATELY discontinue use and consult your doctor.
PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE DURING USE
• Do not stand too close to the screen. Sit a good distance away from the television screen,
as far away as the length of the cable allows.
• Preferably play the game on a small television screen.
• Avoid playing if you are tired or have not had much sleep.
• Make sure that the room in which you are playing is well lit.
• Rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes per hour while playing a video game.
5
Contents
Chapter 1 ................9
Chapter 4 ..............37
INTRODUCTION...............................10
Welcome to Cutthroats ....................10
Installing Cutthroats ........................12
Playing Cutthroats ...........................12
THE MAP............................................38
What is this screen for? ....................38
Your ship..........................................39
Map pins..........................................39
Information window ........................39
Town highlight button .....................41
Date .................................................41
World data buttons ..........................42
Zoom buttons ..................................42
Voyage buttons.................................42
Switch view buttons .........................43
Crows nest alert buttons ..................43
Flag to fly buttons............................44
Supplies and crew
death indicators................................44
Things to keep in mind ....................44
How do I plan a voyage? .................46
Chapter 2 ..............13
YOUR FIRST VOYAGE ......................14
Start up ............................................14
Map view .........................................14
Crow’s nest view ..............................15
Battle view .......................................16
Pillage screen....................................17
After the battle .................................18
Safe harbour.....................................19
Preparing to raid a town ..................20
Raiding a town.................................21
Chapter 3 ..............23
THE BASICS........................................24
Aims and objectives..........................24
How to ‘Win’ ...................................24
Starting a new game.........................25
Start up screen..................................26
What is this screen for? ....................27
Your ship..........................................28
The wind..........................................29
Putting stuff on your ship.................30
Cannons ...........................................30
Your crew.........................................30
Supplies ............................................32
Weapons...........................................33
Cargo ...............................................34
The logbook.....................................34
How do I know how well I am doing?...34
Things to keep in mind ....................36
Chapter 5 ..............49
CROW’S NEST ...................................50
What is this screen for? ....................50
Main view window ..........................51
The rim ............................................52
Information box...............................53
Sails indicator...................................53
Wind strength ..................................54
Mini-map .........................................54
Switch views.....................................54
How do I steer my ship? ..................55
Shallow water ..................................55
How do I start a battle with
another ship?....................................56
How do I harbour at a port
or on a beach?..................................56
How do I attack a town? .................57
Communicating with other ships .....57
Things to keep in mind ....................61
Chapter 6 ..............63
SAFE HARBOURS ..............................64
What is this screen for? ....................64
Main window...................................65
Options buttons ...............................66
Town information display ................67
Switch view buttons .........................67
Arriving in a safe harbour ................67
What’s the difference between
a port and a beach?..........................68
Passage of time.................................68
Harbour charges ..............................68
Can I trade and recruit in a
hostile port? .....................................68
Can I attack a port where
I am harboured?...............................68
Things to keep in mind ....................69
A: SHIPWRIGHT: REPAIRS................71
What is this screen for? ....................71
Your ship..........................................72
Time indicator..................................72
Money indicator...............................72
Repair options buttons.....................72
Buy/sell.............................................73
Shipwrights and careening beaches ..73
Things to keep in mind ....................73
B: SHIPWRIGHT: TRADE ..................75
What is this screen for? ....................75
Your wealth......................................75
Shipwright’s wealth ..........................75
Ships in your fleet/ships in your
shipyard ...........................................76
Sale bars...........................................76
Fullness indicator .............................77
What happens to things which I buy? ....77
Things to keep in mind ....................78
C: RECRUITMENT ............................79
What is this screen for? ....................79
Officers ............................................80
Crew ................................................81
What happen to men and officers
who I recruit?...................................81
Things to keep in mind ....................82
D: TALKING TO THE GOVERNOR .83
What is this screen for? ....................84
How to approach the governor? ......84
What will the Governor do?.............88
Things to keep in mind ....................90
E: FLEET .............................................91
What is this screen for? ....................91
The dock ..........................................92
Ship windows...................................93
The ship data window......................94
Officers ............................................95
Moving everything at once...............96
Throwing stuff away ........................96
What happens if there are goods
left on the dock when I leave port? ..96
What happens if some of
my ships cannot sail? .......................96
Things to keep in mind ....................97
F: TRADE............................................99
What is this screen for? ....................99
Fullness indicator ...........................100
Commodity bars ............................100
How to buy and sell goods?...........101
Bill of transaction...........................101
Things to keep in mind ..................102
G: PLUNDER ....................................103
What is this screen for? ..................103
How do I divide the plunder? ........104
What now?.....................................104
H: TREASURE ..................................105
What is this screen for? ..................105
Burying treasure .............................106
Digging up treasure ........................106
Selling treasure maps......................107
Other people’s maps.......................107
Beware! ..........................................107
Dividing the plunder and
buried treasure ...............................107
I: WAIT..............................................108
Chapter 7 ............109
Chapter 9.............157
SEA BATTLES ...................................110
What is this screen for? ..................110
Main battle area.............................111
Information bar..............................111
Buttons...........................................113
Mini-crow’s nest.............................114
Message bar ...................................114
Some basic concepts .......................115
Your ship........................................116
Keep the following in mind ............117
Controlling your ship: Basic...........118
Controlling your ship: Advanced ...120
‘Floaters’ ........................................125
When two ships collide ..................125
Docking actions .............................126
Boarding parties .............................126
If you win a boarding action..........126
Rowing boats .................................128
Landing parties ..............................130
Safe harbours .................................130
What happens after a battle?..........131
Pillaging .........................................131
Infamy............................................133
DESIGNER’S NOTES........................158
What was a pirate? ........................158
A pirate’s life for me.......................158
Recruiting crews and pressing men..159
Pirates charters...............................160
‘Pieces of eight’...............................160
Dividing the plunder ......................160
Reputation .....................................161
Ports of call ....................................161
Sea battles ......................................162
Land battles ...................................163
Lies.................................................163
Drink and the devil had done
for the rest......................................164
Chapter 8 ............135
LAND BATTLES ...............................136
What is this screen for? ..................136
Beginning landing actions...............137
Landing party deplyment screen.....137
Landing party organisation screen ..138
Information bar..............................139
Things to keep in mind ..................140
Some basic concepts .......................141
Your troops ....................................142
Your enemy ....................................144
The town itself ...............................144
Controlling your men: Basics .........146
Orders ............................................147
Doing things to your own men ......150
Buildings and looting .....................151
What can I do with prisoners? .......152
Pillaging .........................................153
Infamy............................................155
Glossary ..............165
Bibliography........171
Credits.................175
Chapter 1
Introduction
“No, a merry life and a short one will be my motto.”
Bartholomew Roberts
Welcome to Cutthroats
You are a novice pirate, with a small ship, a skeleton crew, and very limited supplies of food,
rum and ammunition.
Every day, your men consume food and other supplies, and every battle uses up some of your
precious ammunition. You must set sail and try to waylay passing ships and steal their contents.
Your most pressing concern is, of course, supplies - but in the long term, you want more men,
a bigger ship, valuable cargo, treasure and jewellery.
At the moment, you are a complete unknown; but soon you will develop a reputation in the
Caribbean. As you become richer, and acquire a bigger fleet and a larger band of shipmates,
you will become more famous - but if you commit atrocities, slaughter innocents and torture
captives, you will become more infamous as well.
At the moment, you will be allowed to harbour in most towns; but as you start to attack
ships, some ports of call will become hostile to you. If you pick fights indiscriminately the
whole world will be your foe; it is better to make friends as well as enemies...to pick sides in
the on-going Caribbean war.
You begin by consulting your maps, to plot your route around the Caribbean - paying due
attention to the wind, to what you know of local shipping routes and rumours about ports and
their inhabitants. Sooner or later a sail hoves over the horizon. Is she Spanish or English...a
trader or a warship...an enemy or a fellow pirate? You can try to catch the other ship or run
away from her. If you run up the Jolly Roger, then maybe she’ll surrender - or maybe she’ll turn
and fight; perhaps it would be better to fool her by hoisting national colours and trying to pass
for an honest sea-fairer. Or maybe you’d rather run up the flag o’ truce and try to trade, request
assistance, or just swap sea-stories with the Captain?
Eventually, you’ll catch her (or maybe she’ll catch you) and then let battle
commence. You may haul alongside the enemy and loose a broadside at her, but as
you begin to find your sea-legs, you’ll want to try to give more complex orders aiming your guns at her sails, or trying out specialised ammunition like chainshot
and grapeshot.
10
It’s not too hard to blast a hole in the side of some puny trader and send her to Davey Jones
locker, but it doesn’t make much sense either - the canny pirate has got to launch boarding
actions; looting pieces of eight and jewellery from her hold and disappearing into the sunset. If
she surrenders to you outright, you’ll be able to pillage her at your leisure - unloading tons of
precious tobacco or cocoa; removing her guns; and offering her crew a choice between a career
on your ship and one at the bottom of the briny deep. Maybe you’ll just slaughter the officers
and add the whole ship to your piratical flotilla.
Piracy is just like any other business, with maybe a bit more torture and looting. With
expansion comes increased costs and overheads; if you’ve pinched some cannons, then you’ll
need more gunners to man them; if you’ve liberated a ship, you’ll need sailors to run it; and
you’ll probably be needing officers to make sure everything runs smoothly. So it won’t be long
before you’re visiting some pirate haven or safe harbour.
When you reach a safe harbour, there’s a whole lot of things you can do. You can visit the
Shipwright, who’ll repair your ships and careen them for you. (Careening, as every seaman
knows, is pretty important...if you don’t scrape the barnacles off the bottom of your ship , she
won’t move at top speed, and those gold packed galleons will start to out run you.) You can sell
your stolen cargo to less than honest merchants, or even buy some if you feel like engaging in
some honest trade. You can hang around the dockside taverns and see if any likely lads want to
take articles and join your crew. You might even bury your treasure where thieving hands can’t
get at it, or go and talk to the governor, and see if you can extort - sorry, did I say extort? - I
meant request - some favour from him.
The other thing you might like to do at towns is raid them. You’ll need to have recruited or
pressed a goodly number of marines, to say nothing of some weapons, to make this
worthwhile. Plan your raid carefully: if the landlubbers know you’re coming, they’ll reinforce
the garrison and hide their treasure. If you manage to take them by surprise, you may find the
town more weakly defended. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to land on some secluded beach
and creep into town before they know what’s hit them - if not, you may have to fight a battle
against guard ships before you get near the town. Once you’re on land, you’ll be able to take
gold and jewels from houses...maybe grab some weapons or ammunition from the
garrison...take prisoners...and then run back to the ship and beat a hasty retreat with your illgotten gains. Or, if you have an army the size of Sir Henry Morgan maybe you can make the
town surrender to you.
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Eventually, after months and years of plying the shipping lanes; your men will want to see their
share of the booty. Then it’ll be time to head back to a safe-harbour, and divide the plunder.
Every man gets a share, although the officers get a bigger cut and you get the biggest cut of all.
This money is stashed away in a secret stock-pile back home. You can’t use this money to pay
the costs of day to day pirating...but the more money you have saved up, the more famous a
pirate you will be.
As you complete more and more voyages, your fame, your infamy and your wealth will
increase; you’ll be sent on missions by town governors and maybe even acquire the coveted
Letter of Marque that will turn you from a wanted criminal to a legitimate mercenary.
Eventually, perhaps you’ll be rich enough to go straight and retire. But take care - if you meet
with a lot of defeats, or if you don’t keep your crew happy they may vote you out and appoint
a new commander...and if you are arrested by landlubbers, you will end your days, like so many
of your illustrious forebears, dangling from a rope on gallows point.
Installing Cutthroats
Insert the Cutthroats CD into your CD-ROM drive. If autorun is enabled, Cutthroats will
automatically take you into the Autoplay screen.
• Click on the install button, then follow the on-screen instructions as directed.
• If the Autoplay feature has been disabled, double click on the CD-ROM drive icon from
My Computer and select Setup.
• Once installed, Cutthroats will appear in the Program group in the start menu.
Playing Cutthroats
To play Cutthroats, place this CD into its drive. Once the Autoplay screen has loaded, click on
the button. If Autoplay is disabled, or the computer was turned on with the CD already in its
drive, click on the Start Menu button, then select the Programs group and click on Cutthroats.
Alternatively, open the Hothouse Creations folder, situated in My Computer \C\ Program Files,
and double click on the Cutthroats icon.
12
Chapter 2
Your first voyage
Start Up
• Click on ‘New Game’ in the Main Menu Screen.
• You should now be looking at the Start Up Screen. Your first game will start in 1640 in
Tortuga.
• If you wish, you may choose the name by which you wish to be known; and the name of
your pirate ship. Just type the names in the spaces indicated.
• When you are ready, click ‘Begin’ again to begin playing.
Map View
You are now looking at the Map View. Your ship is docked at Tortuga, towards the middle of
the screen.
Look at the four supplies icons on the bottom right on the right of the screen to see how well
supplied you are with food, fruit, livestock and rum. At present, you have enough food for a
voyage of about a month.
Tortuga is near the Windward Passage (click on the Legend button to see the major local place
names). This is a good place to hunt for merchant ships.
Find the Town Highlight Buttons at the top left of the screen. Right click on the Pirate Flag. This
reveals a drop down menu, showing the flags of all the nations in the game world. Now, left click
on the Spanish flag. The pins on the map representing all the Spanish ports will turn red.
Since you can now see that you are in the middle of Spanish waters, you would be well advised
to fly under a false Spanish flag. To do this, click the Spanish flag on the Flag To Fly Toolbar
at the bottom left of the screen.
Left-click on your ship to select it. Now, set a course for the south of the Windward passage by
left clicking in roughly this area of sea. If you want to choose your destination more accurately,
then use the zoom buttons to display an enlarged view of the map.
You are now all set to begin your first voyage, so click the Start Voyage button on
the right of the screen. Before very long, the Crows Nest lad ought to shout ‘Ship
ahoy!’, as a sail hoves over the horizon.
At this point, you will be asked whether you want to go to crows nest view.
Click ‘Yes’.
14
Crow’s Nest View
You’re now looking at a view of an area of about 10 miles around your ship. You can see an
enlarged map-view of the sea and, if you are near the coast, the land, including the location of
any ports or beaches. If the ship you’ve encountered is within 10 miles of you, it will appear as
a silhouette.
If it is just out of view, then a yellow arrow on the edge of the screen will point to it.
The closer you are to a ship, the more information you’ll see about it. Information is displayed
in the Ship Information Box, on the left. You’ll need to pick your first victim fairly carefully:
there isn’t much point in taking on a heavily armed convoy at this stage in your career. Trading
ships are often fluytes, so if you can find a fluyte out by itself, this might be a good target to
head for.
To steer your ship, either use the left and right keyboard arrows to steer left and right, or simply
left mouse click on the sea, and your ship will sail in that direction. Your sloop is a pretty fast
ship, so if you need to slow down, left click on the Sails Indicator at top right of the screen or
use the ‘page up’, ‘page down’ keys to unfurl and furl your sails.
Keep an eye on the direction of the wind: your ship will sail very much faster with the wind
behind it than if you are trying to sail directly into the wind.
When you have found a suitable target, left click on her. This signifies that you are running out
the guns and thus revealing your hostile intentions. Your ship will sail straight towards her. (If
you don’t like the route your ship is taking then you can, of course, steer manually.) When you
catch up with your target ship, you will be taken to the Battle View of the game.
15
Battle View
You are now looking at a close up view of your ship. If your target ship is not on-screen, then
look at the mini-Crow’s Nest at the bottom right of the screen. Your ship is represented by a
white dot. The enemy is represented by a red dot.
Use the keyboard to steer your ship: left arrow to steer left, right arrow to steer right. Pay
attention to the wind, as on the Crow’s Nest screen: you probably won’t manage to catch up
with your quarry if you are sailing against the wind. On the right of the screen there is an
Information Bar listing information about your ship.
When the enemy ship is on screen, move your cursor over it. A tool-tip will appear, displaying
the ship’s name. If you are quite close to the ship, you’ll be able to see approximately how many
cannons and marines it has on board, as well as roughly how much cargo it is carrying.
When you are alongside your enemy, you are going to loose a cannon broadside at him. To do
this, hit the ‘Space’ key on the keyboard.
After you have fired your cannons, note that one or more of the sections of your ship on the
‘Reload indicator’ has turned from green to red. This indicates that the cannons on this section
of the ship are reloading and cannot fire yet. By keeping an eye on this indicator, you ought to
be able to keep your loaded cannons pointed at the enemy.
Notice also that when you fired your cannons, the amount of ammunition displayed on the
right-screen information bar went down. Every time you fire a cannon, you use a little bit of
ammunition; and when it is used up, you can’t fire any more. The speed at which the cannons
reload is determined by the number of gunners on your ship. At the moment, your cannons
have an average amount of gunners.
If the enemy has not surrendered after taking damage from a few cannon barrages, then it is time
to attempt a boarding action. Steer your ship towards the enemy, and try to collide with it. This
is called ‘fouling’; the two ships will become entangled and stop moving. A window appears to
tell you that your men are trying to separate the two entangled ships. Click on the animation to
tell them to stop trying to un-foul the ships, and instead, to start a boarding action.
As soon as you click on the animation, the boarding action will start. A new window, the
Boarding Window will appear. The number on the left represents the number of marines from
your ship who have leapt across to attack your opponent. The number on the right shows the
number of enemies who are defending the ship. All being well, the enemy will
surrender to your onslaught and raise the white flag. Once this has happened, you
will be asked if you want to go to the Pillage Screen or not. Answer ‘yes’.
16
Pillage Screen
Now the enemy have surrendered to you, you can search through their ship at your leisure, and
steal whatever you can find of value on board. The pillage screen offers you a wide range of
things to do to your captives. We’re only going to consider a few of them for the moment.
You will automatically get any pesos and jewellery on the enemy ship. Money and jewels weigh
practically nothing; there is no limit to the quantity of them you can have on your ship.
Next, requisition any food, fruit, rum or ammunition on the enemy ship. Do this by dragging
the appropriate icon on the slider bar to the right of the screen. All these items are essential to
the running of your ship. You’ll be using a lot of sliders of this kind in the game, and they
always work in the same way: transfer stuff onto your ship by dragging the icon to the RIGHT,
and move it off by dragging the icon to the LEFT. Alternatively, you can click on the arrows.
These items all take up space on your ship. Notice that, as you transfer goods from the captive
to your vessel, the ‘fullness indicator’ begins to fill up. Once the indicator is completely red,
your ship is full, and you cannot put any more goods on board it. The fuller your ship is, the
slower it goes. If you have space left after taking supplies from the enemy then it may be worth
taking whatever cargo you can fit aboard your little ship: tobacco, cocoa, or some other
valuable commodity. You might, on the other hand prefer to take cannons or ammunition.
You can also take men from the captured ship and put them on yours in the same way. This is
called ‘forcing’ or ‘press-ganging’: forcing captives to become pirates whether they like it or not.
This may be a good way of expanding your crew quickly, but a crew of pressed men will not
be as loyal to you as a crew of volunteers, and may not fight as bravely.
17
After the battle
What you have just done has affected your standing in the world. If you look at the top right
hand side of the screen, you’ll see three numbers, representing your fame, your infamy, and
your hoard.
If you have added any men or guns to your ship as a result of the battle, you’ll notice a slight
increase in your fame score. This is because your fleet is slightly stronger and more to be feared
on the seven seas.
If you did anything dastardly then your infamy score will also have slightly increased. Infamy
is a measure of how many bad deeds you have done, how feared and hated you are. For
example, if you pressed men into service, or if you killed them or sunk a ship in cold blood,
then your infamy will have gone up.
Your hoard is simply the amount of ready cash you have in your hold. Only cash which is
available to be spent is included in the ‘hoard’ number. You might have a hold full of valuable
tobacco, or hundreds of precious jewels, but until you have ‘fenced’ it into coin-of-the-realm,
it is no use to you and not included in your ‘Hoard’ figure.
If you let any of your enemies escape, then news of your attack will already be spreading
around the Caribbean. If you just attacked a Spanish ship, then it is likely that Spanish ships
will start to hear about what you did and become increasingly wary of you.
Everything you do has a repercussion: the successful pirate pays attention to the results of his
actions.
Rampage for a few weeks,
then head for a safe harbour
Repeat this process a few times, picking off weak ships, and taking cash, weapons and
ammunition from them.
Keep an eye on your food supply, though: if you run out of food, your men will start dying. If
this looks like happening, your trusty quartermaster will alert you to the fact.
When your hold is full, your ship damaged, or your crew depleted, head for a friendly port.
You can find out which ports are friendly to you by choosing the ‘friendly port’ option on the
Town Highlight buttons. To head for the port of your choice, just click on the map
pin and set sail. When you arrive, you’ll be asked what you want to do. Choose
‘Dock in Port’.
18
Safe Harbour
You are now in a safe harbour, and can begin to reap the rewards of your first weeks of piracy
and mayhem. On the right of the screen is a row of option buttons, listing all the things you
can do while you are in port.
To start with, click ‘Trade’. The ‘Trade’ sub-screen appears. You will see a row of sliders,
representing each commodity which you can buy or sell, along with the buying price and the
selling price. Drag the icon to the left of the slider bar to sell your stolen goods.
Notice that the fullness indicator shows your ship becoming less laiden, and the value of your
hoard goes up.
Next, have a look at ‘Recruitment’. On this screen, you will see a list of all the men (officers,
sailors, gunners and marines) available to be hired.
• officers increase the overall performance of your ship in various ways;
• sailors increase its manoeuvrability;
• gunners increase speeds at which cannons fire; and
• marines are used in boarding actions and landing actions.
To hire men, drag the appropriate slider icon from left-right across the screen. To hire officers,
click on the ‘hire officer’ button.
Keep in mind that the more men you have hired, the more food you will have to take with you
to feed them.
Finally, have a look at the ‘Shipwright’ screen. If your ship was damaged, then it is almost
certainly worth spending some of your hoard to repair it. Click on ‘Repair sails’ or ‘Repair
hull’, as appropriate.
Now, go to the ‘Plunder’ screen. The number at the top of the screen is the total value of your
entire fleet - the amount of cash your would have if you sold everything you currently possess.
The other numbers show how large a share your men would get when you split the hoard
between them. Your men will not regard the voyage as having been a success unless their cut
amounts to about 1000 pesos each. It will probably take you many more daring actions before
you reach this level.
19
Preparing to Raid a Town
A pirate has one other method of obtaining money at his disposal, namely launching raids on
coastal towns. Use the Town Highlight Buttons to find somewhere suitable, and set it as your
destination on the map screen. Select a relatively weak town such as Puerto Santo as your first
target.
When you arrive, choose the ‘land on beach’ option from the destinations menu. You will be
taken to battle screen and you’ll see your ship docked near the beach at your chosen
destination. (You may find that you have to fight your way past one or more coastal guard
ships to get there...) A box appears above your ship to show that you are close enough to the
land to send men ashore. To begin a landing action, click on the picture.
You’ll now be transferred to the Landing Party Deployment screen. On the left of the screen is
a list of everything on your ship which you could send to the boarding action: marines, officers
and weapons. Use the sliders to drag the resources from your fleet to your landing party. Try
sending 20 men and 10 muskets for the time being. Notice that, every time you send a musket
ashore, you expend a small amount of ammunition. When you have finished, click the thumbs
up button at the bottom of the screen.
Now you’re on the Landing Party Organisation screen. Notice that on the left hand side there
is a list of the contents of your landing party: 10 cutlassmen and 10 musket men at the moment.
Otherwise, you don’t need to bother about this screen right now, so click thumbs up again to
start the mayhem
20
Raiding a Town
And now, you’re back on the battle screen, with your men lined up on the beach, ready to
attack.
The information bar on the right of the screen lists the number of men you have on the beach.
The first thing to do is select a likely looking building as your target. Taverns, rich looking
houses, and churches are often good places to start. (Obviously, the best place of all to raid is
the treasury, but you will probably not get that far today.)
When you’ve selected a target, order your men to go towards it. Select your men by using the
mouse to drag a box around them, or simply click the ‘troops’ button, which will select
everything you’ve got. Then click somewhere near the building, and your men will immediately
walk towards it.
The chances are that the building will be guarded; by soldiers or militia or that some of the
town’s defenders will see you coming and run to its defence. Your best bet is to send most of
your men to kill the enemy, while keeping back a handful of cutlass men to actually raid the
building. If you select a group of your men, and then click on an enemy, your men will attack
that enemy, chasing him if necessary. If you do not give your musket-men any further orders,
they will stand their ground, firing at any enemies who come within range.
Now, select two or three of your cutlass men, and right click on the building. A menu will
appear, asking you whether you want to destroy the building, or loot it.
Click on the ‘enter building’ button, and your men will enter the building, and start searching
for and taking any treasure inside. If there are people inside the building, they will have to fight
and kill them before the looting can begin.
Once your men have taken all the treasure in the building, or at any rate as much as they can
carry, they will leave of their own accord. Those of your men who are carrying treasure are
highlighted with gold rings. Those of your men who are carrying as much as they can manage
are marked with solid gold circles.
When you have taken some treasure, tell your men to take it back to the ship. You’ll notice that
there is a treasure chest on the beach near your ship.
Select those of your men who are carrying treasure. (You can do this by clicking on
the ‘with loot’ button on the information bar: all men with loot are selected.) Then,
left click on the treasure chest itself. All the selected men will return to the treasure
chest, and put their treasure in it. Notice that their gold highlight disappears, and
the money they were carrying is transferred to the ship. The figure is recorded in
the ‘cash looted’ and ‘jewels looted’ space on the information bar, and will be
added to your ‘hoard’ after the battle.
21
If you want the men themselves to go back to the ship (instead of just sending their treasure
aboard) then right click on the treasure chest. They will disappear from the beach and return
to your pool of marines on the ship. Take as much treasure as you think you can get away with;
then send your men back to the ship, and set sail. It would be a very bad idea to attack the
governor’s mansion or run into the barracks at this point in your career: a good pirate chooses
his targets wisely.
Bon voyage!
You’ve now learned the basics of piracy: how to recruit men, how to attack other ships, and
how to rob houses. So far, you’ve only begun to scratch the surface of your nefarious career: in
subsequent chapters, you’ll learn what to do when a town surrenders to you; how to configure
your ships to your own requirement; how to launch rowing boats, create fire ships, take and
redeem captives, perform missions, intimidate governors, and other refinements too numerous
to mention.
Happy piracy!
22
Chapter 3
The Basics
“Since I have dipped my hands in muddy water and must be a pirate, it is better being a
commander than a common man.”
Bartholomew Roberts”
Aims and Objectives
You are the newly elected chief of a band of pirates, who you must lead to wealth and success
on the high seas.
Your main objective is to obtain a hoard of money to divide among the pirate band. Money can
be obtained in four ways:
• Raiding towns and robbing buildings
• Looting and capturing ships
• Performing missions
• Engaging in honest trade
You have many other short and medium term goals which will help you achieve this objective,
including:
• Purchasing additional or larger ships for your fleet, and finding the men to run them.
• Acquiring weapons to make your fleet more formidable in battle.
• Obtaining the ammunition, food and rum necessary for the day to day running of a pirate
fleet.
• Developing a reputation, so that you are feared or respected throughout the Caribbean.
• Establishing friendly relations with one or more town governors.
How to ‘Win’
From time to time, you must split the proceeds of your buccaneering with your crew. If each
man’s share amounts to at least 1,000 pieces of eight, the voyage is deemed to have been a
success. After a successful voyage, you may either retire or recruit a new crew and start again.
If you have been sufficiently successful, your name will be added to the Pirates Hall
of Fame. If you do sufficiently well, you may go down in history as more famous
than Bartholemew Roberts; richer than Long Ben Avery, or more infamous than
Blackbeard.
24
Starting a New Game
When you load the game, you will see this screen.
If you want to begin a new game - with a new, inexperienced captain and small ship - click
“New Game”.
To continue to play an existing game, click on “Load Game” and then select the saved game
which you wish to continue.
You can also re-set the audio levels of the game. If you want to do this, click on
“options”.
25
To increase or decrease the level of music, sound-effects and speech in the game, drag the skulls
across the screen. To switch the audio off altogether, click on the “audio on” check box.
Start Up Screen
Your name
Your starting
location
The date
Your ship
Your ship’s
name
Historical
Information
Data about
your ship
26
What is this screen for?
This is where your adventures start. On this screen, you’ll be able to:
• Name your ship
• Choose what year to start you adventures in
• See what resources you begin the game with
1. NAME OF SHIP
You begin the game with one small ship. If you want to change the name of this ship, then click
on the text and type in the name of your choice.
2. YOUR NAME
If you want to give your pirate chief a name, then click on this space and type in the name of
your choice.
3. DATE, START PORT, AND HISTORICAL TEXT
You can start the game in any year from 1625-1700.
Different periods of history provide different challenges for the pirate. The historical text gives
you an idea of what was going on in the year you choose.
Over the years, different ports served as unofficial pirate strongholds. You begin your voyages
in one of these pirate bases: which one depends on which year you chooses. To advance the
year, simply click on the arrows.
4. RESOURCES
This lists some basic details about the ship which you start with.
When you are ready, click “begin”.
27
Your ship
There are 6 types of ship in the game:
Sloop: Small, weak but very
manoeuvrable.
Fluyte: A clumsy, slow
vessel, with lots of cargo
space; the ship most
commonly used by traders
and cargo carriers.
Pinnace: Slightly larger and
more robust.
Frigate: A large warship.
Brig: A larger, two masted
ship; not as fast as a sloop
or a pinnace, but still pretty
manoeuvrable: perhaps the
typical pirate vessel.
Galleon:
The
biggest,
meanest warship on the
seven seas. Very fast with
the wind behind it, but it
can’t sail into the wind and
steers extremely sluggishly.
Ship
Tonnage
Strength
Speed
Steering
Minimum
Sailors
Cost
Sloop
30
Weak
Fast
Good
3
1,500
Pinnace
50
Weak
Fast
Good
6
2,500
Brig
100
Average
Average
Average
11
5,000
Fluyte
100
Average
Slow
Poor
8
3,000
Frigate
150
Strong
Average
Poor
17
7,500
Galleon
250
Very Strong
Fast
Poor
28
12,500
28
The wind
Naturally, one of the most important considerations for the captain of a sailing ship is the wind.
The wind is measured according to the following scale:
Relative Strength
Description
0
Calm
1
Light Air
2
Light Breeze
3
Gentle Breeze
4
Moderate Breeze
5
Fresh Breeze
6
Strong Breeze
7
Near Gale
8
Gale
9
Strong Gale
10
Storm
The stronger the wind; the faster your ship will go. Ships travel much faster with the wind
behind them than when they are trying to sail directly into it. Some ships can sail closer into
the wind than others. This diagram provides a rough guide to the percentage of their top speed
which ship’s can attain; but this varies from ship to ship.
100%
75%
75%
50%
50%
25%
25%
Direction of ship movement
Direction of
wind
5%
29
Putting Stuff on Your Ship
Every single thing that you put on your ship - crewmen, food, cargo, ammunition, passengers,
weapons - has a weight. The more stuff you put on your ship, the slower it will move. The
tonnage of your ship is the total weight of the stuff which it can carry. But if you are hoping to
catch up with fast cargo sloops, or escape from coast-guards, then you would be well advised
not to over-laiden it.
Cannons
Cannons are your main weapon in battles at sea. You can put as many cannons on your ship
as her tonnage can cope with. The more cannons on your ship, the more damage you will do
when you loose a broadside at your enemy. This is discussed further in Chapter 7 “Sea Battles”.
Your crew
Naturally, you need men to run your ship.
Crew can be recruited in safe-harbours; or they can be forced or press-ganged from captured
ships and towns. There are four kinds of men in your crew: officers, sailors, marines and
gunners.
1. OFFICERS
Officers are skilled seamen who take charge of your ships.
The first officer that you put on a ship is referred to as its Captain. A ship MUST have a captain
before it can set sail. He runs the ship on your behalf. If that Captain is a skilled seaman, then
the ship will be a little less likely to collide and get entangled with enemy ships.
If you place extra officers on board, in addition to the Captain, then your ship gets extra
advantages; it moves a little quicker; performs a little better in boarding actions; and fires its
cannons a little more accurately.
Every officer has a profile, which tells you how skilled and reliable a man he is.
30
Officers profile
Seamanship
How good a sailor he is. If you have a Captain with a high seamanship score, your
ship will manoeuvre more efficiently in a battle.
Gunnery
How good he is at controlling the cannons. If you recruit officers with high gunnery
skills, then you cannons will fire more accurately, thus doing more damage in battle.
Land Combat
Officers with high land combat skills improve the ships performance in landing
actions.
Leadership
How good he is at ordering men around. Officers with high leadership scores
improve the performance of men in boarding actions.
Loyalty
How committed he is to your fleet.
2. SAILORS
Sailors are responsible for manoeuvring the ship.
Every ship must have a minimum number of sailors on board in order to run it; this number
varies from ship to ship.
If you don’t have a minimum number of sailors, then the ship can’t set sail.
If you have sailors above this bare minimum, then you’ll start to notice various
improvements in your ships performance will furl and unfurl its sails more
quickly, and its steering (turning circle) will improve.
31
3. GUNNERS
Gunners are responsible for firing the cannons.
The more gunners you have per cannon, the more often your cannons will be able to fire. The
minimum cannon crew is generally 3 men per cannon: less than that and your guns will fire too
slowly to be much use in a battle. Big ships with huge numbers of cannons require an enormous
compliment of gunners.
4. MARINES
You don’t strictly speaking require any marines; your ship will function perfectly well without
them. But marines can be used in boarding actions (when you try to take over another ship),
landing actions (when you try to raid a town) and to fire musket broad-sides in sea battles,
picking off the crewman on any ships at close range.
Supplies
Your first priority will be to replenish your dwindling supplies of the 3 most important
resources in the game: food, rum and ammunition.
1. RATIONS
Men consume rations - food, fruit and livestock - every day. If you run out of rations, your men
will starve to death.
“Food” is the cheapest and most easily available type of rations, and consists of bread, porridge
and ship’s biscuits. Your men can subsist on food for a long time; but they will be healthier and
happier if your have some Fruit and Livestock on your ship to supplement their diet.
2. RUM
Pirates like to drink a bottle of rum every day. The more rum you have on your ship, the more
bravely your men will fight in battles.
3. AMMUNITION
Cannons use ammunition; every cannon shot you fire eats away at your supply of gunpowder.
If you run out of ammunition you cannot fire your ship’s cannons.
32
Weapons
After you’ve replenished your basic supplies, you’ll be looking for weapons to arm your crew
with.
There are 5 main sorts of weapons in the game:
Cannons
Powerful artilliery units. Cannons take four men to move them, and are still very
slow, but the can devastate large groups of enemies with ease.
Cutlasses
All your men have a cutlass of their very own, which they will use if you don’t give
them any better weapons. You never need to buy cutlasses.
Muskets
A long range fire arm.
Pistol
A short range, single shot weapon; devastating at close range.
Grenades
Special glass balls containing ammunition and a wick; they can be almost as
dangerous to the man throwing them as to their target...
Gunpowder
If devastating whole towns is what you are hoping to do, then your
marines can unload barrels of gunpowder from their ammunition store
and turn themselves into improvised demolition teams.
33
Cargo
As you start to capture enemy ships and loot towns - or even get involved in honest trade! - you
will also acquire cargo. The towns of the Caribbean produce and consume many different types
of goods; some they trade with each other, but much of it is shipped back to Europe. There are
many ports which are prepared to buy goods from you without asking too many questions.
The commodities in the game include:
Cacao
Luxuries
Cotton
Rum
Food
Salt
Fruit
Spice
Hides
Sugar
Jewellery
Timber
Livestock
Tobacco
The Logbook
The names of all the ships in your fleet, and a list of all the goods, weapons and crewmen on
board are recorded in your logbook.
To consult your logbook, click on the “Logbook” icon, or hit the “ESC” key.Your logbook also
details useful information about your crew, such as their loyalty to you. You can also use the
Logbook to save or load games or adjust game options.
How do I know how well I am doing?
34
Three numbers appear in the top right hand corner of the screen:
• Your fame
• Your infamy
• Your hoard
1. FAME
“Fame” is a measure of your standing in the world; how big a noise you make; how many
people have heard of you. A noble swashbuckler like Sir Francis Drake had a huge fame score;
but then, so did an out-and-out psychopath like Blackbeard.
Your fame score is based on your Personal Wealth (see below), and also on factors such as the
size and armaments of your fleet.
Famous pirates find that town governors are more willing to talk to them and do them favours;
and that enemies are more likely to surrender without a fight when they run up the Jolly Roger.
On the other hand, they are more likely to be recognised and will therefore find it harder to
travel incognito.
2. INFAMY
Infamy is a measure of how hated and feared you are; how many atrocities your have
committed; your reputation for cruelty and dastardly deeds. Your infamy increases when you
sink defenceless ships; slaughter crews; murder women and children or raze towns to the
ground.
Infamy, once acquired, can never be lost: once you have committed some heinous act, the
people will never forgive you for it.
Ships are less likely to surrender when infamous pirates run the Jolly Roger; infamous pirates
are more likely to be arrested in hostile ports, and much more likely to be hanged when they
are captured.
3. HOARD
One of your aims as a pirate is to acquire cash.
The basic unit of currency in the Caribbean is “pieces of eight” (also known as “pesos”);
Spanish silver pieces which are accepted all round the world. Jewels, tobacco, spice, prisoners,
all are ultimately useful to you only if they can be turned into hard cash and spent.
The figure on the top right of the screen is your HOARD. This is the total amount of piecesof-eight that you have in your fleet right now. Every time you steal some cash or sell some
goods, the value is added to your hoard; every time you buy goods or have cash stolen from
you, your hoard is reduced.
4. DIVIDING THE PLUNDER AND PERSONAL WEALTH
Eventually, you’ll have to Divide the Plunder; split the hoard up among your crew.
If every crewman gets 1,000 pieces of eight out of the split, he’ll reckon the voyage
has gone well. Your own personal cut of the hoard is added to your PERSONAL
WEALTH, your own personal stash hidden away in a secret location, saved up
for your retirement. You can’t use your personal wealth to pay for the day to day
running of your ship, but it does have an important effect on your fame.
35
Things to Keep in Mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
36
Food, fruit, livestock, rum and ammunition are all consumed on your journey.
Pesos and jewellery don’t take up any space on your ship - but valuable cargo like tobacco
does.
If you don’t have sufficient fruit, your men will get sick.
If you don’t have a supply of fresh meat, your men will become unhappy.
If you don’t have sufficient food, your men will die.
If you don’t have sufficient rum, your men will not fight as bravely.
If your ship is manoeuvring sluggishly it may need careening; or be too full.
A Galleon can outrun a Sloop with the wind behind it - but not with the wind against it.
If you fill your ship with ammunition, then it is in great danger from fire and explosions.
Jewels and cargo are only of use to you once they have been turned into cash - you can’t
spend tobacco at the Shipwright.
The longer you leave it before dividing the plunder, the less loyal your men will become.
Your standing with your men is closely related to your fame score; but also affected by
how many battles you have won; how often the plunder is given out; how well they are
fed; how many of them are volunteers, and other factors.
If your standing drops too low, your men may decide to hold an election and choose a new
leader.
The more famous you are, the more likely an enemy is to recognise you at sea (even if you
are travelling under false colours).
The more infamous you are, the less likely enemy ships are to surrender when you run up
the Jolly Roger.
The more famous you are, the more likely enemy ships are to surrender to you in battle.
The more infamous you are, the more likely you are to be hanged if you are captured by
an enemy.
The more famous you are, the easier it will be too recruit new crew members.
If you are very famous; governors tend to treat you well.
If you are very infamous, governors tend to treat you badly.
If you are very infamous, you may be arrested in hostile ports.
Chapter 4
The Map
The doctor opened the seals with great care, and there fell out the map of an island, with
latitude and longitude, soundings, names of hills and bays and inlets and every particular that
would be needed to bring the ship to a safe anchorage upon its shores.
Robert Louis Stevenson, “Treasure Island”
Town highlight
buttons
Date
World data
buttons
Your
adviser
Logbook
Zoom buttons
Voyage buttons
Switch views
Flag to fly buttons
Crows nest alert
buttons
Supply indicators
Crew death
indicator
What is this screen for?
The map screen is a large scale view of the whole Caribbean; your home, your hunting ground,
the site of your adventures. In this section of the game you can:
• Gain an over-view of the world
• Plan your voyage
• Travel over long distances
• Look at information about ports
38
Your ship
This icon shows the current location of your ship. The cross
underneath your ship shows its exact location.
When your ship is selected, the cross will be red. When your ship is
not selected, the cross will be blue.
Map Pins
Each blue pin shows the location of a Town.
If you move your cursor over a pin, the town’s name
appears.
Note that there is a flag by its name which
indicates to which of the five nations it
currently owes its allegiance.
Information Window
If you left mouse click over a pin, an information
window appears. (If your ship is selected, then you
can open this window by right mouse clicking.)
The town’s information window gives you a rundown on information which is known to you about
the town.
39
The town information window tells you:
The population of the town
How many people live there:
Small
Medium
Large
Unknown
Medium
Strong
Unknown
The size of the garrison
How well guarded it is:
Weak
The main import
Which of the trade goods it is short of, and likely to want to buy.
Its main export
Which of the trade goods it has a surplus of, and is likely to want to sell.
The wealth of the town
How much cash there is likely to be there
Poor
Average
Rich
Unknown
Hostile
Unknown
Its attitude to you
How does the town feel about you personally
Friendly
Neutral
The name of the governor
Who is in charge?
When you visit a town, up-to-date information about it is added to the information window. It
is possible to obtain information about towns you have not visited by ‘exchanging information’
with friendly ships, which is discussed in Chapter 5 ‘Crows Nest’. If you have never visited a
town, you will not have much information about it: most, or all, of the categories of
information will be marked ‘unknown’.
40
Town Highlight Buttons
The town highlight buttons enable you to access at a glance information about the game world
as a whole.
If you left mouse click on the pirate flag, then the town pins of every pirate town in the world
will be lit red.
If you right click on the pirate flag, a drop-down tool bar will appear, representing the flags of
each of the five nations.
You can now right click on any of the flags on the drop down, and all the pins of ports of that
nationality will flash red. That nationality’s flag will also appear in the town highlight button
bar, until you change it.
In this way, you can display the following data about ports:
• The population of the town
• The size of the garrison
• The main Import and Export
• The wealth of the town
• Its attitude to you
You may if you wish click several town highligh buttons at once, in order to sort data with
greater precision. (You could, for example, display ‘All small French towns that are friendly to
me’.)
Date
The current date is displayed in this space. You will find that time passes quite quickly on the
map screen; you can easily spend several months making a voyage. Be sure that you
have enough food to last the voyage!
41
World Data Buttons
List of towns
Opens a window, listing every port in the world alphabetically by name. (Note that
from time to time, ports are destroyed and new ones founded, so this list will be
different at different times of the game.) If you click on a town’s name on this list,
that town’s pin will be highlighted in yellow.
Map Legend
Displays the names of the major islands, land masses, seas and geographical features
on the map.
Weather
Displays arrows on the map representing the strength and directions of the
prevailing winds at this time of year.
Treasure
Displays on the map the location of any buried treasure which you know about.
This might be treasure which you have personally buried, or other people’s treasure
for which you have obtained a map.
Zoom Buttons
Use these buttons to toggle between a “zoomed out” map of the whole Caribbean,
and a “zoomed in” map which allows finer route-plotting among mazes of tiny
islands.
Voyage Buttons
The voyage buttons are used to START and STOP a
sea-journey.
42
Switch View Buttons
These buttons enable you to move to different game screens:
Crows Nest
Battle
Safe Harbour
Logbook
Crows Nest Alert Buttons
As you sail around the Caribbean, your ship will certainly encounter ships - that’s what being
a pirate is all about.
You have a look-out stationed in the crows nest of your ship at all times, and he will inform
you when he sees another ship.
These buttons allow you to give him precise orders concerning the type of ship you want to be
informed of. You can tell him to alert you:
When any ship appears within 10 miles,
When any ship appears within five miles,
Only if the other fleet outnumbers your fleet,
Only if your fleet outnumbers the enemy fleet,
Only if they attack you.
43
If the look-out spots a ship, you will be asked if you want to go to Crow’s Nest Screen or not.
If you encounter a hostile ship - one which tries to attack you or otherwise threatens you - you
will automatically be taken to Crow’s Nest Screen, whether you want to or not.
Flag to Fly Buttons
It is not usually a good idea to advertise the fact that you are a pirate to every traveller you
meet. Most pirate sail under false-colours, hoping to disguise their intentions from other ships.
If you are flying the Spanish flag, most Spanish warships will assume that you are on their side,
and leave you alone. (But the more famous you become, the less likely this is to work...)
It is possible to obtain from town governors a legal document called a Letter of Marque, which
sanctions you as a legitimate mercenary of the nation which issued the letter. Holders of Letter’s
of Marque are referred to as Privateers. If you wish to obtain the benefits and protection of
being a Privateer, you have to travel under the colours of the nation who issued your Letter of
Marque. Letter’s of Marque are discussed in more depth in the “Safe Harbour” and “Prize
Courts” sections of this manual.
You can choose to fly under the colours of any of the five nationalities or under no flag at all.
Naturally, the flag you are flying will have an effect on how you are treated by ships you may
meet in your journeys.
Left click on a button to change your flag.
Supplies Indicators, Crew Death Indicator
The supplies indicators show how much food, rum, fruit and livestock you currently have in
your fleet. As the supplies are consumed, the indicators turn from blue to black.
Should your crew begin to die of starvation or disease, you will be able to see the speed at which
they are being lost on the crew death indicator.
44
Things to Keep in Mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
The Caribbean is a volatile place; just because a town was Spanish the last time you visited
it does not mean it will be so the next time.
Governors also change: a friendly governor may be ousted and replaced with one that
hates pirates.
The price of goods is affected by supply and demand. Cacao is cheaper to buy in a town
which produces a surplus; it is more expensive in a town which has a shortage of it.
Trade ships travel from port to port within the Caribbean, or carry shiploads of goods
back to Europe.
Many ports keep fleets of guard ships specifically to defend themselves from pirates.
Like you, other ships require food and ammunition.
The trade winds generally blow clockwise around the Caribbean. If you set sail against the
wind, then your voyage will take many times longer than if you sailed with the wind.
There may be periods of calm or storms when it is impossible for your ship to set sail.
Ports are marked on the map; but uninhabited careening beaches are not. If you are
seeking an uninhabited refuge, then you will have to search it out on the Crows Nest
Screen.
Many small islands and cays do not appear on the map.
If there is more than one ship in your fleet, then you travel at the speed of your slowest
ship: one overlaiden Fluyte will slow down all your streamlined sloops.
If you find a good hunting ground, then it is worth cruising there for a few days or weeks.
...But if you stay in one place for too long, pirate hunters and patrol ships may find you.
45
How do I Plan a Voyage?
1. SETTING YOUR ROUTE
• Left mouse click on your ship. The cross-marker turns from blue to red to show that it has
been activated.
• Left mouse click on a destination on the map.
If you want to visit a port; you must click on the map-pin itself. (The map pin will turn green
to show that you have selected that port as your destination.) Otherwise, just click in the
general vicinity of the bit of sea or coast where you would like to end up.
You will see a red line appear on the screen, showing the proposed route of your voyage.
2. BEGINNING THE VOYAGE
Click on the start voyage button
Your ship sets sail along your chosen route. You are on your way....
Notice that as your ship sails along its planned route, the line changes from red to blue. The
red line always displays the route which you PLAN to take; the blue line always displays the
precise route which you actually took. This will become important if you have to wander off
course for some reason.
3. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I REACH MY DESTINATION?
When you reach your destination, you will be asked what you want to do.
46
a) Land at beach
This option is only available if you chose a port as your destination.
If you choose “land at beach”, then your ship will choose a landing point a small distance away
from the town, and anchor your ship there. You will be taken to the Battle Screen, from where
you may send a landing party ashore and begin an attack on the town as discussed in Chapter 8.
b) Dock in port
This option is only available if you chose a port as your destination.
If you chose “dock in port” then your ship will sail to the town’s harbour and dock there. You
will be taken to the Safe Harbour screen, where you may perform a large number of actions,
as discussed in Chapter 6.
c) Cruise
If you select “cruise” then your ship will stop moving, and start actively searching for other
ships.
Cruising de-activates your current “Alert me...” options: if you are cruising, you are
automatically looking for ships.
Click on the icon beneath your ship to return to the menu, or simply mouse click on
a new destination to resume your voyage.
d) Anchor
If you select “anchor” then your ship will simply stop.
Click on the icon beneath your ship to return to the menu, or simply mouse click on
a new destination to resume your voyage.
.
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4. STOPPING THE VOYAGE ONCE IT IS UNDER WAY
Once your ship has set out, you can stop your voyage at any time by clicking the
stop voyage button.
If you stop your voyage, you will have the same options as if you had arrived at your
destination: to cruise or to anchor.
Click start voyage to resume your voyage, or simply mouse click on a new destination to
resume your voyage automatically.
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Chapter 5
Crow’s Nest
To the mast nail our flag it is dark as the grave,
Or the death which it bears while it sweeps or the wave;
Let our decks clear for action, our guns be prepared;
Be the boarding-axe sharpened the scimitar bared:
Set the canisters ready, and then bring to me,
For the last of my duties, the powder room key.
It shall never be lowered the back flag we bear;
If the sea be denied us, we sweep through the air.
Date
Pirate Song from "The Pirates Own Book"
Wind
Sails
Fleet currently
Ship information
window
Planned route
Other fleet’s
national flags
Your national
flag
Direction of
wind
Your fleet
Your signal flag
Other fleet’s
signal flags
Switch view
Sign post to
nearest town
What is this screen for?
Current route
Mini-map
The Crow’s Nest Screen is a medium scale view of about ten miles around your ship.
In this section of the game you can:
• Do fine manoeuvring
• Chase - or run away from - enemy ships
• Threaten, communicate with - or even surrender to - enemy ships.
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Main View Window
This represents the view of the world which your look-out can see. The window displays such
features as:
Towns.
Beaches.
Land.
Sea of various depths.
Other ships.
Your own ship is sitting in the middle of the screen.
When ships are several miles away from you, your Look-out cannot tell what
type they are, and they are displayed as indistinct silhouettes.
But as they are closer to you, you can determine what type they are, and their
nationality.
If you encounter a fleet - or if, indeed, you are a fleet - then only the flagship of the
fleet is displayed on this screen. The actual number of enemy ships is shown in the
Ship Information window.
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The Rim
1. WIND INDICATOR
The dragon’s head indicates the direction from which the wind is blowing.
2. PLANNED ROUTE ARROW
The BLUE arrow indicates the direction that you PLANNED to sail on the map
screen. If you have deviated from your course, it points in the direction which you
would need to sail in to get back on course.
Left Mouse Click on planned route arrow: Your ship returns to its planned route.
3. CURRENT ROUTE ARROW
The RED arrow indicates the direction that you are CURRENTLY sailing in. (Naturally, if you
are still on course, the red and the blue arrows will be pointing the same way.)
4. SIGN POST ARROWS
The four GREEN arrows point to the four nearest ports.
If you move your cursor over them, a tool tip will tell you
which towns they are, and how far you would have to go
to reach them.
Left Mouse Click on sign post arrow: Your ship’s destination is changed to that town.
5. NEAREST SHIP ARROW
If a ship has just dipped over the horizon, the YELLOW ARROW icon will show
you which direction you need to go to catch up with it.
Left mouse click on nearest ship arrow: Your ship chases the nearest ship.
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Information Box
When you are near to a fleet, information about that fleet is displayed in the information box.
Number of ships
Nationality
Type of ships
Name of flagship
The amount of information displayed here depends on how close you are to the fleet. If there
is more than one enemy ship on the screen, this window will give you information about the
nearest fleet. The nearest fleet will be highlighted with a red circle. If you want information
about one of the more distant fleets, hit the TAB key to cycle through each fleet on the screen
in turn.
When you are near to a town, information about that town is displayed in the information box:
• Name of Town
• Nationality of Town
• Number of ships currently in the harbour
Sails Indicator
The sail’s indicator indicates the level of your sails.
When your sails are fully unfurled, your ship will go at its maximum
possible speed; you may reduce the speed by furling the sails.
Note that this indicator only shows how unfurled your sails are; not
the actual speed of your ship. Even with your sails fully set, you will not go very fast if your
are sailing into the eye of the wind; or if the seas are calm, or if your sails have been badly
damaged by cannon fire.
Click on “Increase sails” button
Unfurl sails, i.e go faster
Click on “Decrease sails” button
Furl sails, i.e go slower
Keyboard, “Page Down”
Furl Sails
Keyboard, “Page Up”
Unfurl Sails
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Wind Strength
The current strength of the wind is displayed in this space.
Mini-map
The mini-map is simply a shrunk down version of the map screen. It shows you your present
location in the world.
Switch Views
As usual, these buttons enable you to move to different game screens:
• Battle
• Safe Harbour
• Map
• Logbook
At various times in the game, some or all of these buttons may be disabled.
• If you are not near to a port, or a beach, you cannot go to “Safe Harbour”, and the Safe
Harbour button will be disabled.
• If there are enemy ships nearby, you cannot go to “Map” screen, and the Map button will
be disabled.
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How do I steer my ship?
There are two ways to control your ship on the Crow’s Nest Screen
1. KEYBOARD CONTROLS
Left Arrow
Your ship turn left
Right Arrow
Your ship turns right
Page-Up
Unfurl sails
Page-Down
Furl Sails
2. MOUSE CONTROLS
Left mouse click in the viewing window
Your ship sails in this direction, and continues
sailing until you tell it to change direction.
Right mouse click in the viewing window Your ship sails to this point and anchors there.
Left mouse click on “sign post” arrow
Your ship sails towards that port. This replaces
the planned route on the map screen; if you return
to the map screen, the new route will be
displayed.
Left mouse click on planned route arrow
Your ship resumes its planned route.
Left mouse click on nearest ship arrow
Your ships runs out its guns, revealing its hostile
intent, and chases the enemy fleet. (It will also
treat it as a target when it catches up with it. See
below.)
Left mouse click on enemy ship
Your ships runs out its guns, revealing its hostile
intent, and chases the enemy fleet. (It will also
treat it as a target when it catches up with it. See
below.)
Shallow water
Ships may take damage to their hull if they sail through shallow water.
Larger ships are more likely to be damaged in shallow water than small ones. The faster
the ship is moving, the more damage it will take. If you intend to take a large ship
through shallows, then you would be well advised to furl your sails and slow down.
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How do I start a battle with another ship?
Left mouse click on another ship or fleet
Your ship or fleet will sail towards it. Once you
catch up with it, you will go to battle screen, and
a battle will start. (If you sail close to another ship
or fleet without having clicked on it, you won’t go
to battle screen.)
Keyboard RTN
You will immediately go to battle screen,
irrespective of where the other ship is.
Click on the “Battle Screen” switch
views button
You will immediately go to battle screen,
irrespective of where the other ship is.
Sometimes, an enemy will chase you; in which case it will start a battle when it catches up with
you whether you want it to or not.
How do I harbour at a port or on beach?
Left mouse click on a port or beach
Your ship or fleet will sail towards that port or
beach. When it arrives there you will be asked
what you want to do: select “Dock at Port” and
you will be taken to the Safe Harbour screen.
Click on “Safe Harbour” switch
views button
If your ship is near enough to a port or beach,
then you will immediately go to the “Safe
Harbour” screen. (If your ship is not near a port
or beach, then this button will be disabled.)
Sometimes, a port will be hostile to you, in which case, it may attempt to stop you landing; for
example, by sending guard ships against you or by firing at you from castle mounted mortars.
In this case, you will not be able to go to the safe harbour, but will be taken to battle screen
instead.
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How do I attack a town?
Left mouse click on a town
Your ship or fleet will sail towards that port or beach. When
it arrives there you will be asked what you want to do: select
“Land at Beach” and you will be taken to the Battle Screen.
Click on “Battle Screen”
switch views buttons
You will immediately go to the Battle view of the game. You
can then sail towards the coast and put down a landing party
where you want to. This is discussed in Chapter 7, Sea Battles.
Communicating With Other Ships
1. FLAG WINDOWS
There are 4 windows on the screen which display the flags which you and the other fleet are
flying:
a) Your national colours
This windows displays the national flag which you are flying, if any.
b) The other ship’s national colours
This window displays the national flag which the other ship is flying, if any.
If there is more than one enemy fleet on the screen, the windows display the flags which the
nearest one is flying. That fleet is highlighted with a red circle. If you want to look at the flags
of other fleets on the screen, then use the tab key to cycle through them.
c) Your communication flag
If you’ve tried to communicate with other ships - whether that means running up the jolly roger
or offering to treat with them - then the last flag you put up will be displayed here.
If there is more than one enemy ship on the screen, then only the one which is highlighted with
a red circle will pay attention to your signal message. This will generally be the nearest fleet to
you. If you want to send a message to a different fleet, simply hit the TAB key to cycle through
all the ships on the screen.
d) The other ship’s communication flag
If the other ship sends a message to you, then its communication flag appears in this space.
If there are two or more fleets on the screen then the flag belonging to the ship which
is highlighted with a red circle will be displayed. This will generally be the ship
which most recently hoisted a signal flag. If you want to see the signal flags of
other fleets then hit tab to cycle through all the ships on the screen.
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2. FLAG BUTTONS
Flag buttons, placed around your flag windows, allow you to decide what flags to fly.
• Left mouse click on a flag button to hoist it up your flag pole.
• Left mouse click on the flag window to lower a flag which you are already flying.
3. NATIONAL COLOURS
Flag buttons
Current flag
It is not usually a good idea to advertise the fact that you are a pirate to every traveller you
meet. Most pirate sail under false-colours, hoping to disguise their intentions from other ships.
If you are flying the Spanish flag, many Spanish warships will assume that you are on their side,
and leave you alone. (But the more famous you become, the less likely this is to work...)
4. SIGNAL FLAGS
Flag buttons
Current flag
If you wish, you may run up a signal flag to send a message (friendly or otherwise) to the
opposing fleet.
There are seven signal flags that you can use:
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a) Battle Flags
Battle flags are ways of signalling your hostility to the enemy fleet: your flag may cause him to
surrender, to run away, or provoke him to attack.
No Quarter! aka The Jolly Roger
If you hoist the Jolly Roger, you are identifying yourself as a pirate, and giving an
unambiguous order: “If you surrender right now, I’ll rob your ship; but no-one
will be killed. If you put up a fight, I will kill every one of you”. Whether or not
the ship surrenders depends on how infamous you are, and whether you have
honoured the surrender in the past.
Surrender
Although this will certainly never happen to you, from time to time, pirates have
been forced to surrender. A pirate who surrenders loses his fleet and his crew, and
is put on trial for his life...
I defy you!
This flag is used to reject any overtures or threats made by the opposition. It
translates as “I refuse to surrender/I reject your truce”. If the enemy wishes to
order YOU to surrender, it may run up the “I defy you”.
59
b) Truce Flags
Truce flags are ways of signalling friendly intentions towards another fleet.
Request Food
The captain indicates that he has run out of food, and asks for help.
Request Escort
The captain asks the other ship to sail with him to ensure his safety.
Offer to Exchange Information
The Captain offers to share any rumours which he has picked up in his travels.
Accept Truce
The Captain agrees to the truce offered by the other ship.
If you want to begin friendly interactions with another fleet, then run up one of the three truce
flags - request food, request escort, offer to exchange information.
Your ship will automatically furl its sails and lower its anchor: if you want to start moving
again, you must lower the flag of truce.
If the other ship wishes to accept your truce, it will raise the “Accept Truce” flag. If not, it will
either ignore you or possibly run up the “I Defy You” flag.
If it accepts your truce, it will sail towards you, and when you are close enough together, the
truce will take effect. (A window will appear on the screen telling you what happens next: how
much food they are prepared to give you; what information they tell you; or what port they are
prepared to escort you to. You’ll be able to accept or reject their offer.)
If another ship offers a truce, it will run up a flag of its own (displayed in the
communication flag window), and come to a halt. If you want to accept the truce,
then run up the “Accept Truce” flag and sail towards that ship. When you are
close enough, the truce will take effect, as above.
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Things to Keep in Mind
1.
Big ships may damage their hulls as they sail through shallow water. The faster they are
moving, the more damage they will take. If you are taking a large ship through shallow
water, you would be well advised to slow down.
2. It is rarely sensible to sail against the wind; you can often gain on your target by following
a zig-zag course.
3. The ships you encounter may be traders, carrying cargo between ports; or ships of war
guarding the coast and patrolling the shipping lanes.
4. Warships are more heavily armed than traders, but don’t become complacent: traders
sometimes travel in convoy with well armed battle ships.
5. There is no point loading a galleon with 200 guns if you are so slow that any Fluyte can
outrun you; but there is no point in being a sloop that can haul alongside any ship in the
Caribbean if you can’t fight your enemy when you catch up with him.
6. If you are very famous, ships tend to know who you are, even if you are travelling under
false colours.
7. Pick your enemies carefully. Word about what pirates have been doing spreads around the
Caribbean. If you pick on French ships, you will find that French ships and French ports
become increasingly hostile to you. Attack randomly, and you may find that you have no
friends or safe harbour when you need them.
8. Dead men tell no tales. If an enemy ship escapes from the field of battle intact, it can
spread word about you all round the world. If you send the whole crew off to Davey
Jones, then no-one will be any the wiser.
9. The “Sign Post” arrows show the distance to the nearest town as the crow flies. The actual
distance which you plot as your routes may turn out to be considerably further.
10. As on the Map Screen, the icon which you see represents your whole fleet.
11. There are many reefs, shallows and small islands which are not shown on the map.
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62
Chapter 6
Safe Harbours
Port Royal is the Sodom of the New World...the majority of its population consists of pirates,
cut-throats, whores and some of the vilest persons in the world.
A clergyman, 1661
Date
Name of
town
Information
and rumours
Safe Harbour
option buttons
Town
information
display
Switch views
What is this screen for?
A Safe Harbour is any place where you can dock your ship. This may be a port or an
uninhabited beach.
In this section of the game, you can:
• Hear the latest news and gossip,
• Sell stolen goods,
• Mend broken ships,
• Sell your ill-gotten gains,
• Recruit new crewmen,
• Bury Treasure,
• Split you hoard among your crewmen,
• Negotiate with regional Governors.
64
You will not be able to take all these actions at every harbour: for example, you can’t trade
goods on an uninhabited beach and you may not be able to trade at ports which are hostile to
you.
Main Window
When you first arrive in town, they’ll be a lot of information printed in this space, bringing you
up to date about the latest news, rumours and gossip which people in the port are talking
about.
Information about the history and geography of the town.
The latest gossip in the town.
The attitude of the local people to you.
When you last visited the port.
Information about world politics - what countries are at war, and what countries
are allied who the European heads of state are, and other important news items.
What other ships are currently in port.
65
Option Buttons
These buttons take you to sub-screens connected with the various actions you can do in port:
Shipwright
Mend your ships; or purchase new ships and weapons for them
Recruit
Take on new crew members
Governor
Engage in politics, diplomacy and intimidation
Fleet
Reconfigure your ship - move guns, men and cargo from one ship
to another to maximise your effectiveness
Trade
Buy and sell cargo
Plunder
Complete your voyage - divide your ill-gotten-gains and start again
Treasure
Bury your treasure away from thieving hands and come back and
bury it later
Wait
Lie low and do nothing for a bit
Just click the button of your choice and you will be taken to the appropriate sub-screen.
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Town Information Display
This is exactly the same as the Town Information Window which you accessed on the Map
Screen: it tells you some information about the port:
• The population of the town
• The size of the garrison
• The main import
• The wealth of the town
• Its attitude to you
• Its main export
• The name of the Governor
Switch View Buttons
As usual, there are three buttons at the bottom of the screen which enable you to go to Map,
Crow’s Nest or Battle view.
Arriving in a Safe Harbour
From Map Screen:
Select a port as your destination. When you arrive there,
choose the “Dock in Port” option. You will automatically be
taken to the main Safe Harbour screen.
From Crows Nest Screen:
Click on a Port or Beach. Your ship will sail to that point, as
usual. When you arrive there, select “Dock in Port” option.
You will automatically be taken to the main Safe Harbour
screen.
From the Battle Screen:
When you are near a harbour, you may click on the “Safe
Harbour” switch views button, and your ships will
automatically dock in the port and you will be taken to the
safe harbour screen. However, if there are hostile ships in the
area, the Safe Harbour button will be disabled.
67
What’s the difference between
a port and a beach?
“Ports” are built up areas - there may be farms, shops, docks or taverns; as well as Governor’s
residences and military installations.
“Careening Beaches”, on the other hand, are just patches of sand with natural harbours nearby.
“Careening Beaches” don’t appear on the map screen; you’ll have to find them for yourself by
sailing around on the Crow’s Nest Screen.
Passage of Time
Actions in safe harbours take time; every action you take will advance the game calendar a
small amount.
Harbour charges
You will be charged a fee by the harbour master for each day you stay in port. This is
automatically deducted from your hoard. If you don’t have the money to pay, the townspeople
will become increasingly hostile to you.
Can I trade and recruit in a hostile port?
Yes, but it isn’t usually a good idea. If a port is hostile to you, then it will often take steps to
prevent you landing there. If you do manage to harbour in the dock, then you may find that
the Shipwright or the Traders will not deal with you - or that they will swindle you horribly.
Finally, if you spend time in a port which is hostile to you, you will be at risk of being arrested.
Can I attack a port where I am harboured?
Just use the navigation button to go to battle screen, and a right click order to dispatch a
landing party, as usual. See Chapter 7 Sea Battles.
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Things to Keep in Mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
If you have attacked ships of the same nationality as a port, it is unlikely that the port will
be friendly to you.
If you have attacked the port itself, it is very unlikely that the port will be friendly to you.
Ports which are unfriendly to you may use battle ships to actively stop you from landing
at them; in which case you may not get as far as the safe harbour screen.
Pay attention to the rumours printed on the main screen. The town’s history may contain
information which will be useful to you in planning a raid; town gossip often directs you
to lucrative missions or suggests the whereabouts of lucrative targets; and the relationships
of the European powers may affect your overall strategy.
If a port is unfriendly towards you, but does not have any ships guarding it, then there is
nothing to stop you harbouring there. However, it is not usually a very good idea, as you
are in danger of being arrested.
If a town is very friendly towards you, you may find that their goods are cheaper; if a town
is very hostile towards you, you may find that you are overcharged.
Ports range in size from tiny villages like Andross to enormous cities like Cartegena.
Life in the Caribbean carries on whether you are in port or at sea. If you spend 3 weeks
mending your ship, then the situation in the world may have changed when you set sail
again.
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70
A: Shipwright: Repairs
And I was going to sea myself; to sea in a schooner, with a piping boatswain, and pigtailed
singing seamen; to sea, bound for an unknown island, and to seek for buried treasures!
Robert Louis Stevenson, “Treasure Island”
Ship selection arrows
Name of current ship
Current ship
Money
indicator
Time
indicator
Ship rotation
arrows
Repair Option
buttons
Go ahead
Buy/Sell button
What is this screen for
The Shipwright is the place where you can repair your ship and buy weapons and
ammunition. Careening is the process of scraping barnacles and weed from the bottom of your
ship. If you don’t do this regularly, the accumulated rubbish slows your ship down
noticeably. (If you go a very long time without careening, the nautical debris
damages your ship beyond repair.)
In this section of the game you can:
• Examine how damaged your ship is
• Repair your hull
• Repair your sails
• Careen your ship
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Your ship
The name of your ship is displayed in this space. If you have more than one ship, you can scroll
through them by clicking on the ship selection arrows. You can also rotate the picture by
clicking on the ship rotation arrows. In this way you can examine each ship in your fleet, and
ascertain how much damage it has taken.
Time Indicator
The amount of time it will take to finish the repairs.
Money Indicator
The amount of money you currently have available. This is the same as your “hoard”.
Repair Options Buttons
Options buttons
Cost
You can choose one of three options:
Repair sails (only)
Your sails are restored to their undamaged state.
Repair hull and careen (only)
Your hull is restored to its undamaged state, and careened.
Repair whole ship
Both sails and hull are repaired (i.e. both of the above).
You can click on each of these buttons in turn to see the cost and time involved. If you want to
go ahead with the repairs, click the go ahead button. Naturally, if you don’t have
enough money, you can’t do the repairs.
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Buy/Sell
Many shipwrights will have ships and weaponry for sale. Click this button to go to the
“Shipwright - Trade” screen, which is described below.
Shipwrights and Careening Beaches
If you have harboured on an uninhabited careening beach, you can undertake your own repairs.
This takes a lot longer than it would take in a shipwright’s but (of course) costs no money.
If your are in a town, you can’t try to do your own repairs. You have got to go to the
Shipwright.
73
Things to keep in mind
1.
2.
3.
74
Pirates careened their ships far more often than merchants, which often gave them the edge
in chases.
It generally takes longer to repair your own ship on a careening beach than to repair it at
the shipwrights, but it costs no money.
The time taken to repair your own ship depends on the size of the ship, the amount of
damage it has taken, and the number of men you have available to work on it
B: Shipwright: Trade
Price of ship
Buy button
Fullness of ship
Sell button
Value of ship
Shipwright’s
money
Your money
Ships in shipyard
Selection arrows
Ships in
your fleet
Trade bars
What is this screen for?
The Shipwright may be willing to trade ships, ammunition and weapons with you.
The goods available, and their cost, depend on the population and wealth of the port, and how
friendly it is to you.
Some shipwrights do not have anything for sale, and some are not prepared to trade with
pirates.
Your wealth
The total amount of cash you have to spend. The same as your Hoard.
Shipwright’s wealth
How much cash the Shipwright has to spend. (This is important, because a poor
Shipwright isn’t going to be able to afford to buy all twelve of your galleons!)
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Ships in Your Fleet/Ships in the Shipyard
Each ship is listed by name, and shown in its present state of repair.
If there is more than one ship in your fleet, or more than one ship for sale, then click on the
selection arrows to cycle through all available ships.
To buy or sell the current ship, click on the buy or sell button, as appropriate.
The cost of a ship varies with the size and wealth of the port, and your own standing. In
general, the Shipwright will buy a ship for you for less than what he would charge you for it.
If you are selling a damaged ship, then the total cost of repairing it is deducted from the buying.
The Shipwright always repairs ships before selling them.
If you buy a ship, it will have no crew, no cannons, no supplies and no cargo on it. Keep in
mind that if you do not have one officer to Captain the ship, and a minimal number of sailors
to crew it, you will not be able to sail your ship and you may have to abandon it in port.
If you sell your flagship, then another ship in your fleet will be temporarily “promoted” to
flagship status. (You are free to change your flagship on the Fleet screen, see Section E, “Fleet”,
below.)
When you purchase a new ship, you may give it a new name. Just mouse click on its name, and
type in the name you want to give it.
If you sell a ship, then the crew, cannons, supplies, rowing boats and cargo are removed from
it and dumped on the dock before the Shipwright takes it off your hands. (See Section E, “Fleet”
below.)
Sale bars
For each commodity, the sale bar lists a buying price, a selling price, and the
number available.
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Each item which the Shipwright has for sale is represented by an icon on the sale bar:
Cannons
Grenades
Muskets
Ammunition
Pistols
To buy goods drag the icon representing the item you wish to buy from the shipwright’s side of
the screen to yours, or click on the slider arrow.
To sell goods, drag the icon representing the item you wish to sell from your side of the screen
to the shipwright’s, or click on the slider arrow.
Fullness Indicator
This shows how much space there is left in your whole fleet. When the
ship is completely red, your fleet is completely full.
What happens to Things Which I Buy?
Everything which you buy from the Shipwright is dumped on the dock, from whence you may
load it onto your ships. See “Fleet”, below.
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Things to keep in Mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Do not rely on being able to buy goods in a Shipwright. Many shipwrights do not have
ships for sale, and may not be prepared to trade them with pirates. You cannot assume
that there will be weapons for sale. The typical pirate relies on theft, not trade, to obtain
new equipment.
The Shipwright will generally buy goods from you for much less than his selling price.
The Shipwright will buy damaged ships from you, but he will deduct the cost of repairs
from the price which he offers you.
You need at least three gunners to operate a cannon efficiently; if you buy more cannons
than you have gunners for, then you may not be able to operate them.
C: Recruitment
A golden chain or a wooden leg, we’ll stand by you!
Pirate oath quoted by Captain Johnson
Total number of
officers
available
Officer skills
Officer selection
arrows
Recruit this
officer
Crew bars
What is this screen for?
Some ports may contain many desperate men who will volunteer to join your pirate crew.
It costs nothing to recruit a crewman - but you will eventually have to divide the profits of your
voyage among the survivors. Big crews also require large amounts of rations to feed. So,
although a very big crew may seem attractive, it may also prevent you from making piracy pay.
The number of men who will volunteer to join your crew depends on the size and wealth of the
town, and on how many ships pass through it. It is also affected by your popularity with your
own crew. If you have a reputation as a good captain, who gives his men a good share of the
profits and keeps his men well fed, then you’ll find it easier to recruit men then if
you are a heartless brute who keeps leading his men into massacres.
It is possible to force unwilling captives to become pirates. This is explained later
on. However, men who volunteer to join your crew are much more loyal to you,
fight better and are less likely to mutiny than pressed men.
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Officers
OFFICER’S NAME AND PICTURE
This depicts the officer(s) who are available to join your ship. If there is more than one officer
available, you can cycle through them by clicking on the officer selection arrows.
OFFICERS SKILLS
These give a numerical value to the skills of the present officer.
Officers skills are rated from 1-10 in the following areas:
Seamanship
How good he is at running the ship.
Gunnery
How good he is at firing cannons.
Land Combat
How good he is at fighting on land.
Leadership
How good he is at inspiring the crew to courage and loyalty.
Loyalty
How committed he is to your cause.
HOW TO HIRE AN OFFICER.
Click on the ‘RECRUIT THIS OFFICER’ button and the officer will be added to your crew.
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Crew
MEN AVAILABLE
There are three types of crew to recruit:
Sailors
Run the ship
Gunners
Fire the cannons
Marines
Fight in land battles and boarding actions
CREW BAR
The crew bar indicates how many of each type you currently have on board your ship, and how
many are available to be hired.
To hire men, drag the icon representing the type of crewman you wish to hire from the town’s
side of the screen to your side of the screen, or click on the red arrows.
What happen to men and officers
who I recruit?
The men who you recruit go to the dock, from where they can be allocated to any ship in your
fleet. See ‘Fleet’ below.
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Things to keep in mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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You can also obtain new recruits for your crew by forcing (press-ganging) captives into
service after a battle. But a wise man once said “a volunteer is worth two pressed men”:
a crew obtained mainly on the recruitment screen will be more loyal to you and therefore
fight better than a crew mainly made up of captives.
The more popular you are with your own crew, the more men there will be to recruit. Your
popularity with your own men is affected by many factors: how long it is since you last
divided the plunder; how big the last share you gave out was; how many battles you have
won and how many casualties you have taken.
Towns with high populations usually have more men available to recruit than small ones.
Towns which many ships pass through usually have more men available to recruit than
towns which few ships ever visit.
The more men you have on your ship, the more food they will consume. There is no point
in filling a small ship with men if there is nowhere to store supplies to feed them with.
The more men you have on your ship, the smaller each man’s share will be when the time
comes to divide the plunder. So, although a large crew may make it easier for you to win
battle, it may make it harder to make piracy pay.
D: Talking to the
Governor
Tomorrow we plan to burn this city to the ground and then set sail with all the guns and
munitions from the castles. With us we will take all our prisoners, and we will show then the
same kindness that English prisoners have received in this place.
Letter from Henry Morgan to Governor of Panama, 14 July 1668
I take you to be a corsair, and I reply that the vassals of the king of Spain do not make
treaties with inferior persons!
Reply from Governor of Panama to Henry Morgan
Option buttons
Governor’s reply
Farewell button
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What is this screen for?
If you are sufficiently important - or if he is sufficiently corrupt - the Town Governor may be
prepared to meet with you.
‘The Governor’ of the town may be a nobleman or diplomat appointed by the king; he may be
the military leader of the garrison; or he may just be a respected townsman who speaks for the
citizens.
This can be to your advantage, as the Governor can give you anything from wealth, titles,
information to the coveted Letter of Marque. Governors may also be looking to recruit pirates
to perform missions on their behalf, which can be a good source of income for a pirate. On the
other hand, it can be a risky business, as some Governors may cast you into jail.
The Governor’s reaction to you will depend on your fame and infamy; how friendly or hostile
his port is to you and his governments current policy towards pirates; and how you have treated
him in the past.
How to approach the Governor?
Decide how you want to approach the Governor, and click one of the four option buttons:
• Talk to him
• Threaten him
• Bribe him
• Give him a gift
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TALK
If you TALK to him, you must indicated HOW you will talk to him:
Aggressive
You go in with your teeth bared and your
cutlass rattling - but you stop short of making
a direct threat.
Swaggering
You show off your pirate wealth and riches
and try to impress him.
Polite
You talk to him as a respectful subject should.
Friendly
You treat him familiarly, like one of your own
shipmates.
Grovel
You pretend to be impressed by his riches and
importance.
Different Governors respond differently to the various types of approach: some like it when
people grovel to them; others might find it rather insulting.
THREATEN
If you THREATEN him, you must indicate WHAT you will threaten:
Life
Threaten to kill the Governor.
Town
Threaten to attack the town.
Family
Threaten to harm the Governor’s family.
Ships
Threaten to damage the ships in the town.
Nation
Threaten to make war against the Governor’s
nations.
Some Governors are more scared of some threats than others; and few will be impressed with
your threats if you do not have the ships and the guns to carry them out
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BRIBE
If you bribe the governor, you must indicate how much cash you will give him. This cash comes
out of your hoard; simply drag the slider to show how much you are giving him.
Some Governors are more susceptible to bribes than others, but nearly every man has his price.
Honest Governors will simply not accept your bribe; very honest ones may even arrest you.
Bribing Governors can be a high risk strategy.
GIFT
If you offer him a gift, you must indicate what gift you give him:
• A ship
• Booty
• Goods
• Cannons
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A ship
If you choose to give the Governor a ship, you
must select which of your ships to give him: do
this by clicking on the ship’s name. The ship itself
is given to the Governor - the contents of the ship
you keep, and they are dumped on the dock (just
as if you had sold the ship to the Shipwright).
Booty
If you offer a Governor a share of your booty; then you are
including him in the next division of the plunder (see section G,
below). You must specify whether to give him a man’s share, and
officer’s share or the same share as you. This will automatically
be taken into account the next time you divide the plunder; you
don’t have to take any further action yourself.
• Your share
• Officer’s Share
• Man’s share
Goods
If you offer a Governor some of your goods, you must
specify how many tons of cargo you give him. Simply drag
the slider to the appropriate number. This is automatically
removed from your fleet, beginning with the most
expensive goods. Food, fruit and livestock are never
offered to the Governor.
Cannons
If you offer a Governor some of your cannons,
you must specify how many cannons you wish
to give him. Simply drag the slider to the
appropriate number. These will automatically
be removed from your ships.
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What will the Governor do?
If the Governor is not impressed with your petition, he will kick you out, and may even have
you thrown in jail.
If the Governor is impressed he may give you a gift or make you an offer. There are many things
which the Governor may give you, including:
TITLES AND POSITIONS
Governors hand out titles and positions as favours to their friends. These jobs earn you a
certain amount of fame or money and require you to do absolutely nothing in return.
MISSIONS
A Governor may ask you to perform a mission on his behalf. If there is a reward involved, you
must return to the Governor after you have completed the task to claim the reward.
FREE PARDON
If the Governor grants you a free pardon, you will be able to get yourself released should you
ever be unfortunate enough to be arrested.
LETTER OF MARQUE
During wars, some governments try to recruit pirates as irregular additions to their navy. They do
this by issuing documents called Letters of Marque. A Letter of Marque gives the holder
permission to attack ships of an enemy nation; it is, in effect, a licence to commit piracy.
In return the Privateer (as pirates who hold Letters of Marque are called) must give a
fraction of his booty - usually one fifth - to the issuing nation.
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The advantages of holding a Letter of Marque include:
• Ships of the nation which issued it will be friendly to you.
• Ports of the nation which issued it will be friendly to you.
• It is easier to recruit men in ports of that nationality.
• You may get better deals in the trade screen and the Shipwright screen in ports of the
issuing nation.
• Harbour charges are waived in ports of the issuing nation.
• If you are captured by an enemy, you will be treated as a prisoner of war, rather than
hanged as a pirate.
THE PRIZE COURT
If you are a Privateer, then you must attend the Prize Court every time you visit a port of the
nationality which issued your Letter of Marque.
The Prize Court is an Admiralty authority which levies tax on Privateer booty. All the goods
which you have acquired since the last time you attended the prize court will be turned to cash,
and the tax will be deducted. The remainder will be placed in your hoard.
If you wish to keep any of the goods which you have acquired - ships or weapons, for example then the prize court will allow you to buy them back once the tax has been paid on them.
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Things to Keep in Mind
1.
2.
3.
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A Governor remembers how you have treated him in the past. If he does not do you any
favours on this visit, he might well remember you and give your something the next time
you pass.
It is sometimes possible for the Governor of a friendly town to dislike you personally; or
for a hostile town to have a Governor who is well disposed to you.
Different things impress different Governors: some Governors may be quite favourably
impressed with pirates who offer them money, but others will have them throne in jail for
bribery.
E: Fleet
I am a free prince, and have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he that
has a hundred sail of ships at sea, and an army of 100,000 men in the field,
and this my conscience tells me!
Captain Bellamy
Scroll bar
Ship windows
Everything to dock
Commodities
The dock
Destroy goods
on dock
Everything to
ships
What is this screen for?
This screen allows you to configure your ships to your own requirements. You can
transfer men, weapons, supplies or cargo from one ship to another.
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The Dock
In this space is a list of everything which you possess but which is not currently loaded onto a
ship. They are divided into the following categories:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cargo
Weapons
Crew
Officers
Hoard
Passengers
Prisoners
Special Items
If you have goods on the dock in a particular category, then that category is highlighted. To see
all the items in a category, then click the category’s name. Click on the “+” button to see all the
goods in all categories.
When you unload goods from a ship, they are placed on the dock.
When you acquire weapons from the Shipwright, cargo from the Trade
Screen, or men the Recruitment Screen, they placed on the dock.
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Ship Windows
Name of ship
Fullness indicator
Move goods to ship
Move goods to
dock
Flagship indicator
Quantity bar
Commodity bar
Each ship in your fleet is depicted in one of these windows. The flagship always appears first,
and is marked with a skull and crossbones flag.
The red shading in the ship window indicates how full the ship is. Remember that, the more
heavily laden a ship is, the slower it will move.
Right click on the ship window to open the Ship Data Window.
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The Ship Data Window
Right click on the ship’s name, and a box will
appear which lists its entire contents.
Click on the Flagship Button to promote the
present ship to the flagship of your fleet. (You can
only have one flagship at a time.)
Click on an officer’s name in order to promote an
officer to the captain of that ship. (Each ship can
only have one Captain at a time.)
MOVING THINGS ON OR OFF YOUR SHIP
Select the commodity which you wish to move by
clicking on its name on the dock.
Note that the name of this commodity appears in
the ‘selected commodity’ bar of all the ship
windows in your fleet, and the amount present
appears in the ‘quantity bar’.
To move a ton of goods on or off the selected ship,
click on the “move goods to dock” or “move
goods to ship” buttons, as appropriate. Hold down
the mouse button to speed up the transfer of goods.
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Officers
Officers are listed by name on the dock. To see their skills of a particular officer, move the
mouse cursor over his name.
When the “officers” category is selected, the name of
the Captain of each ship appears in the “quantity bar”
of your ship windows.
If you have more than one officer on any ship, then you can scroll through their names by
clicking on the scroll arrows on your ship windows.
Scroll arrow
Officer’s name
Click on the ‘move to dock’ button to move the current officer to the dock; click on the “move
to ship button” to move the currently selected officer to the ship.
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Moving Everything At Once
The “everything to dock” button moves the whole contents of all your ships onto the dock.
The “everything to ships” button moves everything from the dock to your ships. (Your
possessions will be distributed fairly evenly between the ships in your fleet. More stuff will be
put onto bigger ships; gunners will be put onto ships with guns on them, and as far as possible
they’ll be enough ammo and food to run the ship.)
Throwing stuff away
Occasionally, you may have more stuff than you want. In this case, you can get rid of it by
clicking the “Destroy” button.
You cannot “destroy” men in this way.
What happens if there are goods left
on the dock when I leave port?
Goods and men which are still on the dock when you leave port are lost for good. You will be
warned before leaving port if you have stuff on the dock.
What happens if some of my ships cannot sail?
If some of your ships cannot sail - because they do not have a Captain, or because they have
too few sailors - then they must be abandoned in the port. You will be warned before leaving
port if you have any ships in this condition.
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Things to keep in mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
You must have a minimum number of sailors on each ship, or the ship cannot sail.
You must have at least one officer on each ship, or the ship’s range of actions will be
severely limited.
You must have at least three gunners for each gun on each ship, or your cannons will be
too slow to be any use. The more gunners you have, the faster your ships’ cannons will
fire.
The more heavily laden your ship is, the slower it will move.
Food and rum supplies can be consumed by the whole fleet - if you want to put food
supplies for the whole fleet onto one ship, you can do that.
However, ammunition can only be used by the ship which the ammo has been placed on.
If a ship has 100 guns and no ammunition, then it can’t fire its cannons.
If you abandon men on the dock and leave them behind, your popularity with the rest of
your crew will deteriorate.
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F: Trade
….and thirdly you must be hanged because I am hungry; for know, Sirrah, that tis a custom
that whenever the judge's dinner is ready before the trial is over the prisoner is to be hanged
of course. There’s law for you, you dog!
A mock trial on Captain Anstis' ship
Market’s wealth
Your wealth
Fullness
indicator
Commodity
bars
What is this screen for?
The trade screen allows you to sell your ill-gotten gains for cash, and buy fresh cargo should
you wish to try the life of an honest trader for a while.
Towns produce commodities - for example, they may grow tobacco or chop down
trees for timber. They also consume them in lesser or greater quantities; naturally,
a larger town needs more food, and a richer town has more use for luxuries and
jewellery.
All these factors affect the availability and cost of goods on the trade screen. Your
own standing in the town also affects the price.
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Fullness indicator
This icon shows the total amount of space remaining in all the
ships in your fleet. As you buy stuff, it fills up.
Commodity Bars
Each bar represents one of the 13 commodities. Each commodity is represented by an icon:
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Cacao
Luxuries
Cotton
Rum
Food
Salt
Fruit
Spice
Hides
Sugar
Jewellery
Timber
Livestock
Tobacco
The bars show:
• The total amount of each commodity in your fleet,
• The total amount of each commodity in the market,
• The selling price (i.e. what the market will pay you for your goods),
• The buying price (i.e. what you will have to pay the market for goods),
• A slider.
How to buy and sell goods
To buy goods, drag the icon across the commodity bar; towards the ‘your fleet’ side, or click
on the arrows.
To sell goods drag the icon across the commodity bar towards the town side, or click on the
arrows.
Bill of transaction
When you leave the trade screen, a “Bill of Transaction” will appear, which summarises what
you have bought and sold on this visit to the market.
If you wish to cancel the entire transaction at this point, then click on the “cancel” button. All
your actions since arriving on the trade screen will be undone.
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Things to keep in mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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If a town is very friendly to you, it may sell goods to you more cheaply, and buy them at
better prices.
Towns produce and consume commodities. The have to purchase those goods which they
consume but cannot produce; and can sell goods which they produce but do not consume.
Some goods are imported from Europe; many goods are exported to Europe.
The cost of goods is affected by supply and demand. Fruit will generally be cheaper in
towns where it is plentiful supply than in towns where there is a shortage of it.
If you sell many tons of goods to a particular town, you may drive down the prices in that
town.
If you have sunk many trade ships which are on their way to a town with a particular
commodity you may create a shortage and drive the price up.
If you have destroyed many warehouses, mills or fields of crops in a town, then you may
reduce the amount of a particular commodity it produces, and drive the price up.
G: Plunder
I came not hither to hear lamentations and cries, but to seek money
Henry Morgan
Grand Total
Crew share
Your share
New hoard
Officer’s share
Divide
What is this screen for?
This screen allows you to divide the profits from your voyage among the members of your crew.
Pirate fleets are experiments in socialism; democratically run workers’ co-ops.
At the end of the voyage, the entire proceeds are divided up among the crew members.
Everything you have won on your voyage - cargo, ships and weapons - is part of the booty, and
must be sold before you divide the plunder.
Fair shares amount to:
Pirate Leader (You)
5 shares
Officers
2 shares
Men
1 share
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In addition 1 share is put back into the Hoard to begin the next voyage.
Your own personal share is added to your Personal Wealth. This is hidden in a very safe
location; you can’t spend it (except under certain rare circumstances such as bribing Judges if
you are sent to trial) but no-one can steal it. The value of your Personal Wealth is added to your
Fame score - so you should find your fame shooting up after a successful division of the booty.
It’s up to you, as Leader of the band when you divide the plunder. If your crew feel that their
pay-out is too small, then few of them will want to re-join you on your next expedition. On the
other hand, if you make them wait too long for the share-out, they may become restless and
start to talk about choosing a new Leader. In general, an ordinary crewman will regard a shareout of 1000 pesos as being a fairly successful voyage.
How do I divide the plunder?
Just push the “divide now” button. Your 5 shares will be added to your personal wealth (watch
your fame shoot up!); and the “ship’s” share will become your starting “hoard” for your next
voyage.
What now?
Once you have divided the plunder, you have two options.
YOU CAN RETIRE FROM PIRACY
If you choose this option, then your name and fame, if it is high enough, is added to the roster
of Greatest Pirates of All Time, and the game ends.
YOU CAN START A NEW VOYAGE
If you choose this option then you start a fresh pirating expedition, with a new ship.
The size of the ship you begin your new voyage with will be determined by your FAME score:
the higher your fame, the bigger the ship.
Depending on how big a pay-out they received, some of your men may offer to re-join your
crew for the new voyage; they will form the initial crew of your new ship.
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H: Treasure
Did you ever know any that were pirates for millions?
They only that work for small things are pirates.
Walter Raleigh
What is this screen for?
Sometimes, you may wish to hide your hoard away from prying eyes by burying it on some
secluded beach...This means that, if the unthinkable happens and you lose some of your ships,
you may be able to come back and retrieve your treasure at a later date.
You can bury your treasure in any Safe Harbour - a port, or a careening beach. You can only
bury treasure - pieces of eight and jewellery. Ammunition and foodstuffs would (of course) be
spoiled if you buried them.
To bury treasure, dig up treasure, or sell your treasure map, click on the
appropriate button.
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Burying Treasure
Use the two sliders to indicate how much cash (pieces of
eight) and jewellery you wish to bury. You can bury as
much as you like - everything on your ship, if you think
that is a good idea. The cash is deducted from your
hoard, and the jewellery from your cargo.
When you have finished, click the “thumbs up” button.
Digging Up Treasure
If you have a treasure map for your present location
then the “dig up treasure” button will appear on the
Treasure Screen. Simply push the “thumbs up” button
to dig up the treasure.
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Selling Treasure Maps
If you are desperate, you may want to sell a treasure
map. Treasure maps can be cashed in for a small fraction
of the value of the treasure which they point to.
You can only sell treasure maps in populated ports:
there is no-one on careening beaches to sell them to.
Indicate which treasure maps you wish to sell by clicking the “sell” check box. Then click
“thumbs up” to complete the transaction. The cash raised will be added to your hoard.
Other People’s Maps
Occasionally, you may acquire a Treasure Map belonging to another pirate. Once the map is in
your possession, it works in exactly the same way as one of your own maps: you can dig up
the treasure or sell the map for a fraction of its value.
Beware!
Pirates are not known to be men of their word. Members of your crew - particularly if the crew
are unhappy with you as a leader - sometimes get drunk and blurt out the location of the
treasure to other crews. There are many sad stories of pirates who return to their secret stashes
and find that someone has got there before them.
Dividing the Plunder and Buried Treasure
You may divide the plunder even though you still have treasure hidden away on some deserted
beach. If you do this, the value of the treasure is not included in the plunder-division, and you
may pick it up on a subsequent voyage. However, this is a good way of making your men very
resentful towards you, and there is a serious danger that your ex-crewmen may club together
and go and pinch your treasure before you get to it.
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I: Wait
Occasionally, you may find that you want to wait in a port without doing anything in
particular. Simply click on the amount of time you want to wait for, and then go and cool your
heels in the local hostelry.
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Chapter 7
Sea Battles
“So each man to the gun,
For the work must be done
With cutlass, sword and pistol
And when we can no longer strike a blow
Then fire the magazine, lad, and up we go!
It’s better to swim in the sea below
Then to swing in the air and feed the crow!”
Says Jolly Ned Teach of Bristol
Ben Franklin, attrib
Buttons
Information
Bar
Main battle
area
Message
Space
Crow’s Nest
What is this screen for?
Ship-to-ship battle are a pirate’s meat and drink. On this screen, you’ll be able to:
• Attack enemy ships
• Launch rowing boats and boarding actions
• Loot and capture enemy vessels
• Send men ashore to begin raids on land locations
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Main Battle Area
This is a an isometric view of an area about 1/4 mile around your ship.
It displays:
• your ship
• enemy ships
• beaches
• towns
• forts
Information Bar
The information bar displays the name of each ship in your fleet. The flagship always appears
first on the list.
The name of the currently selected ship(s) is highlighted.
The icon next to the ship currently being followed (if any) is highlighted.
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1. DAMAGE BAR
The BLUE LINE beneath each ship’s name represents the amount of damage that it has taken.
As the ship takes damage, the line turns from BLUE to RED.
2. SAILS BAR
The WHITE LINE beneath each ship’s name represents how furled or unfurled the sails are. As
the sails are lowered, the line turns from WHITE to BLUE.
3. SHIPS ICON
Along side the name of each ship is an ICON.
This icon changes during the battle to show what each ship is currently doing, including:
Sailing through a point
Attempting to grapple an enemy ship
Circling a point
Anchored
Patrolling between two points
Abandoning ship
Targeting an enemy ship
Docked with a friendly ship
Attempting to ram an enemy ship
Ready to deploy landing parties
The icon will warn you when something significant happens to a ship, including:
The ship is on fire
The ship is about to explode
The ship is fouled with another ship
The ship is about to sink
The ship is engaged in a
boarding action
The ship is disabled due to smoke
The ship is disabled due to loss of crew
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4. RELOAD INDICATOR
This icon shows how long it will be before your ship can
fire. Most ships have 6 sections, although the smaller
sloop has only 4.
Your cannons are divided equally between the sections.
The state of each section’s cannons is colour coded:
Black
No cannons capable of firing
Red
Cannons have just fired
Yellow
Cannons are half-way reloaded
Green
Cannons are ready to fire
a) Details
If you click on the DETAILS BUTTON, the
information bar will display additional information
about the currently selected ship:
Cannons
Total number of cannons on the ship.
Ammunition
Total quantity of ammunition on the ship. Ammo is expended
every time a cannon fires.
Gunners
Number of gunners on the ship.
Sailors
Number of sailors on the ship.
Marines
Number of marines on the ship.
Captain
Name of Captain.
Buttons
1. DETAILS
Shows details of your ship in the information bar (see above).
2. FOLLOW
Shifts the game to ‘follow’ mode (see below).
3. SHIPS
Selects all your ships. (see below).
4. TROOPS
Selects all your land units (see the next chapter).
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Mini-Crow’s Nest
Wind direction
indicator
Ships
This displays the view from your crow’s nest.
The wind strength and direction indicators show the strength and direction of the wind as on
the main Crow’s Nest screen.
Dots represent ships
White
Your ships
Red
Other People’s ships
• Zoom ( ‘+’ and ‘-’) buttons
Enlarges or reduces (zoom in and zoom
out) or the Crow’s Nest view.
• Mouse click anywhere on the mini-crows nest The main viewing window scroll to that
location.
Message Bar
From time to time a text message will scroll across this space, giving you some information
about the current state of your fleet, for example ‘The Queen Anne's Revenge is sinking’ or
‘The Endeavour is on fire’.
• Click on message text
The main viewing window scrolls to the
ship which the message is referring to.
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Some Basic Concepts
1. LOOTING AND PILLAGING
“Looting” means grabbing handfuls of cash and jewels, and then running away. In the thick of
a battle, you don’t have time to unscrew chests or search the hold, let alone unload tons and
tons of valuable cargo. If you manage to board a ship, you can loot it on the spot. These hit
and run attacks are probably the most common sort of pirate action.
If you have more time at your disposal, you may “pillage” the ship - go through its hold for
everything of value; press-gang the crew; whatever you like. This takes several hours or even
days.
Looting is an action which you can perform in the thick of a battle; pillaging only happens after
a battle, when the enemy has been utterly defeated.
2. FOULING
When two ships collide - whether deliberately or by accident - they may become fouled. This
means that their cables and rigging have become entangled; the two ships are stuck together
and cannot manoeuvre. Ships which have become fouled tend to drift in the direction of the
wind. A ship sometimes tries to grapple another, which simply means that it is deliberately
trying to become fouled.
3. SECURING
To “secure” a ship means to add it to your fleet.
Once a ship has been secured it remains yours until it is destroyed, captured or sold.
In order to secure a ship you must have a minimum number of sailors to run it, and at least one
officer to be its Captain. If you don’t have these men, then you can’t secure the ship.
4. PRESSING CREW
To “press” an enemy crew means to force them to become pirates.
Once a crew has been pressed, they are treated as members of your band, exactly as if they had
been recruited in the Safe Harbour: Recruitment screen. However, pressed men are much less
loyal than volunteers. If you fill your ship with pressed men, you will find that your men fight
less well, are more prone to desert, and more inclined to mutiny.
You cannot “press” a crew in the thick of the battle: this option is only available on
the Pillage screen.
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5. BOARDING
A boarding action may begin whenever two ships are fouled together. It ends when one ship is
taken, or when the attackers withdraw.
Only marines may form boarding parties and attempt to board an enemy ship. However, when
a ship is boarded, its whole crew - sailors, gunners and the ship’s cat - try to repel the boarders.
6. LANDING
If you are near a coast, you can form a landing party and begin a raid on a town.
7. DAMAGE
As ships are caught in cannon fire, they take damage. Damage affects your ship in various ways:
• Your crew are gradually killed.
• If your sails are damaged, your ship moves less quickly.
• If your hull is damaged, your cannons will eventually be destroyed.
• If your ship is carrying a great deal of ammunition, there is a chance that your ship may
explode.
• Ships may catch fire; and fire may spread from one ship to another in the fleet.
• If your hull takes a lot of damage, your ship may sink.
8. WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT THE ENEMY SHIP?
You can always find out the name of an enemy ship by moving your cursor over it.
If your flagship is near to an enemy ship, when you move the cursor over it, basic information
about the enemy ship will be displayed:
• Approximately how many cannons.
• Approximately how large a crew.
• Approximately how heavily laiden it is.
Your Ship
Many things affect the performance of your ship in a fight. The way you configure your ship
before a battle can be as crucial as your tactical decisions in the battle itself.
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Keep the following in mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
The number of cannons you have determines the amount of damage you will do to enemy
ships which you fire at.
The number of gunners you have determines the speed at which your cannons fire.
Every time you fire cannons you use up ammunition.
The more ammunition you have, the greater the chance that your ship will blow up.
If you have marines and muskets on board, you can pick off enemy crewmen at close
range.
The number of marines you have affects your ship’s performance in boarding actions.
The more sailors you have on board, the better your ship’s turning circle will be.
The more sailors you have on board, the quicker your ship will unfurl and furl its sails,
A large number of sailors will also be able to extinguish fires more quickly, and slow down
the rate at which a damaged ship sinks.
The better your Captain’s seamanship skill, the better your ship will be at avoiding
obstacles.
Ships with skilled Captains are also less likely to become fouled with ships they collide
with.
The better your officers’ Gunnery skill, the more accurate your cannons will be.
The better your officers’ Leadership skill, the more likely your marines are to win boarding
actions.
If it is many months since your ship has been careened, it will move more slowly.
If your ship is overloaded with equipment, crew and cargo, it will move more slowly.
Big ships may damage their hulls as they sail through shallow water. The quicker they go,
the more damage they take. If you are taking a large ship through shallows, you would be
well advised to slow down.
Ships take damage if they collide with land or other obstacles.
Cannons do more damage at closer range; but they cannot fire at enemy at point blank
range or when fouled.
The range and accuracy of your cannons is affected by the wind (your cannons won’t go
as far if you are aiming into the wind).
Cannons do maximum damage when raking the enemy-firing into its back or its front, not
its sides.
Cannons produce a lot of smoke when they fire. Cannons find it hard to target an enemy
ship through smoke. If smoke is allowed to blow over your ship, then your whole crew
will be put out of action for a few moments. This means that your ship will be unable to
steer, attack, or raise and lower its sails.
Cannons damage the enemy ship, and also do collateral damage to crewmen.
Muskets can only fire at close range; they kill crewmen but do no damage to
the structure of the ship.
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Controlling Your Ship: Basic
1. SELECTING YOUR SHIP
• Left mouse click on ship
Ship selected.
• Left mouse click on ship’s name on the information bar
Ship selected.
The ship which is currently selected is highlighted with a shaded circle.
The name of the currently selected ship is highlighted on the right screen info bar.
2. SELECTING MULTIPLE SHIPS
• Left click and drag a box around the ships
All ships in box are selected.
• Hold down ‘shift’ and left click on ships in sequence
All clicked-on ships selected.
• Hold down ‘shift’ and left click on the ships names (on the information bar) in sequence.
Al ships selected.
• Click on ‘ships’ button
All ships in fleet selected.
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3. FOLLOW MODE
• Click on ‘follow button’
‘Follow’ mode toggled on/off.
• Keyboard "F" key
“Follow” mode toggled on/off.
• Keyboard "Tab" key
Cycles through ships in fleet.
When “follow” mode is on, the game will centre on your ship, and follow it around the world.
If you have more than one ship, “follow” mode will follow the ship under the mouse cursor
when follow mode was switched on. If no object is under the mouse cursor, it will follow the
last object that it followed.
The icon alongside the name of the currently followed ship is highlighted.
If “follow” mode is activated, then you can control your ship’s movement via the keyboard.
This is called “direct control”.
4. ORDERS
There are two main ways in which you can move your ship.
a) Direct Control
If “follow” mode is on, then you may control the currently selected ship directly with
key-strokes, just as you did on the Crow’s Nest Screen.
• Left Arrow
Turn Left
• Right Arrow
Turn Right
• Page Up
Unfurl sails
• Page Down
Furl Sails
The speed at which sails furl and unfurl depends on the number of
sailors you have on board.
• Space
Fire cannons
When you give this order, all the cannons on your ship which are
capable of hitting enemy ships will fire.
b) Mouse Control
You can also give your ship’s orders by means of the mouse.
• Left-click on an area of sea
The currently selected ship will adjust its direction, sail to this point, and then
continue to move on its current bearing.
• Left-click on an enemy ship
The currently selected ship or ships will attempt to sail along side the enemy
ship and fire at it, at about medium range.
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Controlling Your Ship:
More Advanced Options
There are wide range of special orders which you can give, which enable you to engage in more
complex manoeuvres and more sophisticated attacks.
In general, you carry out these special orders with a right mouse click.
1. MOVING
• Right click on an area of sea
The movement options menu appears
Sail through this point
The currently selected ship will adjust its direction, sail to this point, and then
continue to move on its current bearing.
Circle
The currently selected ship will circle this point. Note that very manoeuvrable
ships (like sloops) will describe much tighter circles than very un-manoeuvrable
ones (like galleons) and that this is further affected by the size of their crews.
Patrol between these points
The currently selected ship will adjust its direction, sail to this point, and then
adjust its direction again and return to its starting point. It will continue to do this
until it receives a new order.
Anchor
The currently selected ship will adjust its direction, sail to this point, furl its sails,
put down anchor, and stop. Note that it takes time for the ship to raise anchor and
unfurl its sails; so there will be a time delay before an anchored ship responds to
any further orders which you give it.
A ship MUST be anchored before it can send out or pick up landing parties and before it can
launch or dock with rowing boats. (See below.)
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2. FIRING: KEYBOARD CONTROLS
For more precise attacks, you may wish to specify which part of the ship your gunners
concentrate their fire on - the sails, the deck, or the hull.
• Damage to sails slows the ship down.
• Damage to the deck does not seriously damage the ship, but kills marines, making it easier
to board.
• Damage to the hull may destroy cannons, and eventually causes the ship to sink.
If the follow mode is on, then you can give fire orders to the currently selected ship via the
keyboard, as follows:
Space
Fire at whole ship
Keyboard “Q”
Aim at sails only
Keyboard “A”
Aim at decks only
Keyboard “Z”
Aim at hull only
3. FIRING: MOUSE CONTROLS
• Right click on an enemy ship
The attack option menu appears
After right clicking on an enemy ship, you can use this menu to specify how the currently
selected ship attacks the enemy.
Aim at whole ship
The currently selected ship or ships will attempt to sail along side the enemy ship
and fire at it, at about medium range.
Aim at sails only
The currently selected ship or ships will attempt to sail along side the enemy ship
and fire at its sails only.
Aim at deck only
The currently selected ship or ships will attempt to sail along side the
enemy ship and fire at its deck only.
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Aim at hull only
The currently selected ship or ships will attempt to sail along side the enemy ship
and fire at its hull only.
Ram
The currently selected ship will sail towards its target as fast as it can, with the
intention of smashing into it. This will damage the enemy, but may also (of course)
damage you.
Grapple & Board
The currently selected ship will sail towards its target, try to grapple and then
begin a boarding action.
4. DOING THINGS TO YOUR OWN SHIP
There are a large number of additional orders which you can give to change the status of your
own ship.
• Right Click on One of Your Own Ships
Ship options menu appears
• Right Click on the Name of A Ship on the Info Bar
Ships options menu appears
Abandon ship
Orders the men on the selected ship to leap overboard with rafts, life-boats and
barrels. They may then be rescued by other ships.
Launch Rowing Boat
Allows you to transfer men from the selected ship to your rowing boat, and then
deploys the rowing boat.
This option is only available if your ship is anchored: you can’t launch a rowing
boat from a moving ship.
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Follow the Flagship
Orders the selected ship to stay as close to the flagship as possible.
If it is a long way from the flagship, it will sail towards it by the quickest possible
route.
This order is countermanded as soon as the ship is given a move or fire order of
its own.
Surrender
Orders the selected ship to surrender.
Destroy ship: Puncture
One of three ways to scupper a ship; the selected ship will sink after a few
moments.
Destroy ship: Blow Up
A second, and more dramatic way to scupper your own ship; this order fires the
powder magazine on the selected ship and causes it to explode, possibly taking
other ships in the vicinity with it.
If you do not have any ammunition, your ship cannot be ordered to blow up.
Destroy Ship: Fire-ship
The third way of destroying your own ship: setting fire to it. Although it will
eventually sink, it can cause much confusion and damage as it sails towards the
enemy.
Change Ammo: Round Shot
Changes the type of ammunition which the currently selected ship loads its
cannons with. The ship continues to fire with this type of shot until you change
the order.
Round shot is a ship’s standard ammunition.
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Change Ammo: Chain Shot
Changes the type of ammunition which the currently selected ship loads its
cannons with. The ship continues to fire with this type of shot until you change
the order.
Chain shot does little damage to the hull, but much more damage to sails.
Change Ammo: Grape Shot
Changes the type of ammunition which the currently selected ship loads its
cannons with. The ship continues to fire with this type of shot until you change
the order.
Grape shot does little damage to the ship, but kills many crewmen
Change Ammo: Double Shot
Changes the type of ammunition which the currently selected ship loads its
cannons with. The ship continues to fire with this type of shot until you change
the order.
Double shot uses more ammunition and takes longer to load, but does a lot more
damage to ships which it hits.
Muskets Only
Changes the type of attack which the currently selected ship makes. Until this
order is cancelled, the ship will only fire with its muskets, if any.
Muskets use negligible ammunition. They do no damage to the ship, but kill many
crewmen.
5. DOCKING WITH FRIENDLY SHIPS
Occasionally, you may wish to deliberately foul two friendly ships together, in order to begin a
“docking” action.
• Right click on a friendly ship (while another friendly ship is selected)
The selected ship will sail towards the other ship and attempt to foul with it.
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‘Floaters’
‘Floaters’ are surviving crewmen and salvaged treasure which is left floating in the sea when a
ship goes down.
If you voluntarily give the ‘abandon ship’ order (via a right click “Ship Options Menu” order),
then your whole crew abandons ship. You will save many more of your men and much more
of your treasure in this way than by waiting for the ship to go down.
Floaters cannot be selected or given orders of any kind. However, if you anchor a ship or
rowing boat near to some floaters, they will swim towards your ship and board it.
If they bailed out of one of your ships, then they simply become members of the crew. If they
came off an enemy ship, then they become your prisoners and may be pressed after the battle.
Any treasure which is rescued from the sea is simply added to your hoard.
When Two Ships Collide....
When two ships collide they may become fouled.
When this happens, you will see this icon:
If two ships have become fouled by accident, your crew will immediately set to
work trying to free them. The amount of time this takes depends on the size and
skill of both the ships’ crews and officers.
If you have become fouled with an enemy ship, you may take advantage of the situation and
begin a boarding action.
• Click on picture
Begin boarding action.
If you gave a ‘grapple’ (via the “Attack Options” menu) you do
not have to give a ‘begin boarding action’ order: it happens
automatically.
Similarly, if you have accidentally become fouled with a friendly ship, you may wish to begin a
docking action.
• Click on picture
Begin docking action.
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Docking Actions
When you are docked with a friendly ship, you may transfer
• Sailors,
• Marines,
• Gunners,
• Pesos and
• Jewellery
between them.
Simply drag the slider bar to indicate how many crew and treasure you wish to transfer.
You CANNOT transfer weapons or cargo between ships in the middle of a battle. If you wish
to reconfigure your ships in this way, you MUST go to a friendly port or a careening beach.
Boarding Parties
When two ships are grappled or fouled, then a boarding action can begin.
When a boarding action begins, the special BOARDING
WINDOW appears above the ships which are involved.
The BOARDING WINDOW shows how many there are on
your side and how many there are on the other side.
The fight continues until everyone on one side has been killed or surrendered.
• Click on picture
End boarding action
If you give an ‘end boarding action’ order when you were the
attacker, you retreat back to your own ship; if you give one when
you were the one being boarded, then your men surrender.
If you win a boarding action...
If you win a boarding action, the special VICTORY
WINDOW appears above the ships which were
involved.
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Secure ship
Transfer some of your sailors to the captive vessel, and add it to your fleet.
Loot ship
Grab handfuls of silver and jewels before returning to your own ship.
Sink
Destroys this ship.
Start to Un-foul
If you give your order, your men return to their ship and begin to un-foul from
the enemy.
1. SECURING SHIPS
Sailors
Marines
OK
Gunners
If you secure a ship in the thick of the battle, you must place a prize crew from your own ship
on board of it. Your cannot press men in the middle of a battle. This ‘prize crew’ must consist
of one officer and a minimum number of sailors, but you may send more men if you wish. Once
you have secure the ship, the original crew become your prisoners. After the battle, you will
have the opportunity to force them to become pirates, if you wish.
If you choose the “Secure Ship” option, the Crew Transfer Window appears.
• Drag slider bars
Transfer sailors, marines and gunners to the secured
ship.
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Note that the slider bar is automatically set to transfer the minimum number of sailors to the
enemy ship. If you don’t want to send any additional men, then simply click the “go ahead”
button. It will take a few seconds for your men to transfer to the new ship.
Once a ship has been secured, it is part of your fleet: you can give it orders in exactly the same
way as any other ship you own.
2. LOOTING SHIPS
If you choose to loot a ship, the Looting Window appears.
The Looting window shows how much Cash, Jewels and any Special Items you have stolen
from the enemy ship.
• Click X
Stop Looting
Rowing Boats
Rowing boats are sturdy vessels, weighing about 10 tons.
These may be launched during a battle, as a means of attack, to pick up
floaters, or to ferry men to land.
1. LAUNCHING ROWING BOATS
You may only launch rowing boats when your ship is anchored.
To launch a rowing boat, right click on your ship and choose the ‘launch rowing boat’ option.
This will take you to the Rowing Boat Deployment Screen
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2. DEPLOYING MEN TO ROWING BOATS
This sub-screen enables you to indicate which of your crew you want to put on each rowing
boat.
Contents of
your ship
Rowing boat
windows
You may transfer the following from your ship to the rowing boats:
• Marines
• Sailors
• Gunners
• Cannons
• Muskets
• Pistols
• Grenades
• Ammunition
• Officers
To transfer stuff across, select the item which you wish to transfer from the “contents” side;
and click the “plus” button by the window of the appropriate rowing boat, exactly as on the
Fleet Screen (Safe Harbours).
You may not put more than 10 tons of men and weapons on any one rowing boat.
3. WHAT CAN A ROWING BOAT DO?
A rowing boat may be given orders to move and attack in exactly the same way
as any other ship in your fleet with the following exceptions:
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a) Cannons
You may load cannons onto your rowing boats in order to transport them to land; however,
you can’t fire a cannon from a rowing boat. If you have both marines and rifles on your rowing
boat, you can launch musket broadsides from it.
b) Movement
Rowing boats are, of course, not dependent on the wind; they can move in any direction at the
same speed.
Although they can travel quite quickly for short spaces of time, their crews become tired
quickly. The white line in the Ship Information Bar under a rowing boat’s name indicates the
amount of energy the crew has left. When the crew is exhausted, the boat must slow down for
a few moments. The more men there are on the rowing boat, the less frequently this will
happen.
c) Docking rowing boats
Right click on friendly ship while rowing boat selected.
The rowing boat sails to the friendly ship. When the two vessels come together, the rowing boat
and its crew are taken on board the ship.
Landing Parties
If your ship is anchored near a beach, this window will appear to show that it is
capable of deploying troops.
• Click on the animation
Deploy a landing party
You can now select which of your men and weapons the landing party will be composed of.
This is discussed in the next chapter.
Safe Harbours
If your ship is near a port, and if there are no enemy ships nearby by, then you may go to the
“safe harbour” screen, simply by clicking on the Safe Harbour Switch View button. If there are
enemy ships in the area, then this button is not available to you.
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What happens after a battle?
When every enemy ship in the immediate vicinity has been destroyed, secured, surrendered or
run away, the battle is over.
If there are any floaters in the water, you will automatically be given the opportunity to pick
them up. Friendly floaters will re-join your crew; enemy floaters will become your prisoners.
Any floating treasure will be added to your hoard.
If you have taken prisoners you will now be asked whether you want to kill them, or force them
to become pirates.
At this point, if there are still surrendered enemy ships in the area, you will be given the option
of “pillaging” them.
Pillaging
Laidenness
indicator
Name of ship
Ship selection
arrows
Option
buttons
Rotate arrows
Commodity
Bars
If you choose to “Pillage” surrendered enemy ships, you can search them at your
leisure, taking only the cargo or equipment which you want.
Any treasure in the enemy fleet is automatically transferred to yours ships when
you choose this option: This is achieved on the Pillage screen.
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1. NAME OF SHIP
The name of the ship which is at your mercy. If more than one enemy is available for pillaging,
they you can scroll through their names using the ship selection arrows.
2. SHIP PICTURE
A picture of the ship which is displayed above, in its present state of repair. You can rotate the
picture by clicking on the rotation arrows.
3. OPTION BUTTONS
Click on these buttons to perform your four main options on this screen:
• Prisoners/Items
Opens a window which lists the prisoners, passengers, special
items, and any other noteworthy cargo which the enemy ship is
carrying. You may steal some, all or none of these special items.
• Secure
Adds the captured ship and all its cargo, crew, weapons and
supplies to your fleet.
In order to secure an enemy ship, you must have an officer
available to become the ship’s captain. If you don’t have sufficient
officers, you can’t secure it.
You must also have enough sailors to make a minimum crew for
the ship. These may be sailors of your own; or pressed men on the
captured ship. If you do not have sufficient sailors, you cannot
secure the ship.
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• Kill Crew
Kills the crew of the captured ship.
• Sink
Destroys the captured ship, along with everyone and everything
on board it.
• Single Ship/All ships
Clicking the “All Ships” check box makes the pillage option
buttons refer to every ship which has surrendered to you. (For
example, if you click “all ships” and “secure” then all the enemy
ships will be added to your fleet.)
4. COMMODITY BARS
The commodity bars list the men, cargo, weapons and supplies on the enemy ship; or, if “all
ships” has been selected, in the whole enemy fleet. You may transfer as much of the enemies
stuff to your own fleet as you choose, provided you have space for it.
Stuff pillaged from the enemy will be distributed randomly on the ships in your fleet. You will
not be able to configure it until you go back to a Safe Harbour and access the “Fleet” screen
there.
5. CAPTURING ENEMY CREW
If you drag crew men (gunners ,sailors and marines) to your ship with the commodity bars, then
you are assumed to be pressing them into service.
If you “secure” an enemy ship, you are also assumed to be pressing any crew on board into
service.
Infamy
Pirates are crooks and low-lifes by definition; and nearly everything they do is wicked by the
standard of decent stay-at-home landlubbers.
However, when they commit acts which are reprehensible even by their own low standards,
their “Infamy” score increases. The more dastardly deeds you do, the more your infamy will
increase; and the more infamous you are, the less willing people will be to surrender to you,
and the more likely you are to be hanged should you fall into law-abiding hands.
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1. EXAMPLES OF ACTS WHICH ARE NOT AT ALL INFAMOUS
A pirate encounters a warship, sinks it and slaughters the crew in the heat of the battle.
A pirate captures a trade ship. He takes all the treasure and valuable cargo on board, but lets
the crew go.
A pirate encounters a trade ship. He runs up the Jolly Roger, signifying “You must surrender
now, or I will kill you all.” The ship does not surrender, and when the pirate wins the fight, he
kills them all. (This is not a very kind act, but it is reasonably honourable by pirate standards you gave them a chance and they didn’t take it.)
2. EXAMPLE OF FAIRLY INFAMOUS ACTS
A pirate encounters a warship. It surrenders to him, he boards it, and after pillaging it, sinks it
in cold blood.
A pirate captures a trade ship. He takes all the food, fruit, rum and livestock on board, leaving
the men at risk of starvation.
3. EXAMPLE OF A VERY INFAMOUS ACT
A pirate encounters a trade ship. He runs up the Jolly Roger, signifying “You must surrender
now, or I will kill you all!” The ship surrenders; and the pirate kills them all anyway.
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Chapter 8
Land Battles
Come, friends, who plough the sea
Truce to navigation,
Take another station
Let’s vary piracy
With a little burglary!
Gilbert and Sullivan, “The Pirates of Penzanze”
Main battle
area
Information
bar
Buttons
Message space
Crow’s Nest
What is this screen for?
Town raids can be very profitable exercises for a pirate. On this screen, you’ll be able to:
• Attack towns
• Rob buildings and carry the treasure back to your ship
• Take hostages
• Raze buildings to the ground
• Force whole towns to surrender to you.
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Beginning Landing Actions
From Map Screen:
Select a port as your destination. When you arrive there, chose the
“Land at Beach” option. You will automatically be taken to the
main “Landing Party Deployment Screen”.
From Crows Nest Screen:
Click on a Port or Beach. Your ship will sail to that point, as usual.
When you arrive there, select “Land at Beach” option. You will
automatically be taken to the main “Landing Party Deployment”
screen.
From the Battle Screen:
Sail close to a Beach and anchor you ship there. The “Deployment
Ready” animation will appear above your ship. Click on the
animation, and you will be taken to the “Landing Party
Deployment” screen.
Landing Party Deployment Screen
Ammunition
indicator
Slider bar
Stuff
commited to
the landing
action
Stuff on your
ship(s)
Once you’ve indicated that you want to launch a landing party, you’ll be taken to
this screen. The left hand side of the screen shows the total number of marines and
weapons on your ship; the right hand side show the number committed to the
landing action.
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If you have anchored more than one ship near the beach, than the numbers on the left refer to
the total number of marines and weapons in all the anchored ships.
Indicate how many men and weapons you want to move from your ship to the landing party
by means of the slider-bars or arrows.
The weapons you select will automatically be allocated to your marines. Any marines without
weapons will use their own cutlasses.
If your men are armed with firearms, then they need ammunition. This is handled
automatically: every time you deploy a musket; a pistol; a grenade; a cannon or a barrel of
gunpowder, the supplies of ammunition in your fleet is reduced.
The cannons you deploy to a landing party are removed from your ships. It takes 4 men to
operate a cannon on the ground.
If you want to commit officers to the landing action, then right click on the word “officers” to
see a list of all the officer available. Click on the one you want to send.
For example, if you allocated 100 men, 5 cannons and 20 muskets, your landing party would
consist of:
• 5 cannons each with a 4 man crew,
• 20 musket men,
• The remaining 60 men with cutlasses.
Landing Party Organisation Screen
Forces
commited to
landing party
Landing party
sub-groups
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Once you have deployed your landing party your can (but do not have to) divide it up into
groups. Just click thumbs up if you don’t want to divide the landing party into groups. The
landing party organisation screen allows you to split your party into up to 12 groups,
depending on the size of the beach. The landing party organisation screen works in exactly the
same was as the ‘fleet’ section of the Safe Harbour screen:
• Select a unit type from the list on the left of the screen (the ‘dock’).
• Select the group which you wish to deploy that unit to.
• Click ‘+’ to add him to the group, and ‘-’ to remove him.
Any unallocated units are automatically allocated to group 1.
Once you have finished, you will be returned to the battle. Two things have happened:
• All the ships involved in the landing action are neatly anchored by the beach.
• Your landing party is lined up on the beach in the groups which you allocated it to.
Information Bar
The information bar displays the present contents of your landing party.
• Cutlasses, Muskets, Grenades, Pistols,
Cannons, Gunpowder How many men with this type of weapon you have.
• With Loot
How man of your men are carrying loot.
• Without Loot
How many of your men are not carrying loot.
• With Prisoners
How many of your men have captives.
• Without Prisoners
How many of your men do not have captives.
• Officers
• Cash looted
Total amount of pesos returned to your ship so far.
• Jewels looted
Total amount of jewels returned to your ship so far.
• Prisoners taken
Total number of prisoners returned to your ship so far.
• Numbers from 1-12
Represent the groups which you divided your landing party into
in the Landing Party Deployment Screen.
You can use this bar to select and centre on your men:
• Left click on a category
All men of that category (e.g all men with grenades) will
(e.g “grenades”)
be selected.
• Right click on a category
(e.g grenades)
All men of that category (e.g all men with
grenades) will be selected, and the game will centre on a
single man in that category and follow him.
• Left click on a number from 1-12 All men in that group are selected.
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Things to Keep in Mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
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If you send your only officer ashore with the landing party and he is killed, your ship will
be stranded.
If a town has warning that you are going to attack, then there will be more soldiers on
patrol, and some of its treasure may be hidden.
Towns are likely to be warned that you are going to attack if you have recently performed
raids or sea-battles in the same vicinity.
If there are friendly troops near a grenade when it blows up, then they can be caught in
the blast.
When a man holding a grenade is shot, his grenade may blow up, which may, in turn,
create a chain reaction with men standing next to him.
When grenade-men and pistol-men have used their single-shot weapon, they turn into
cutlass men. If you want them to conserve their shots, then give an “only attack with
cutlasses” order.
When a man is killed, anything he is carrying - his weapon, or looted treasure - is lost and
cannot be retrieved.
You must get cash, jewels and prisoners to the treasure chest in order to add them to your
hoard.
Men operating a cannon will defend themselves at close range with cutlasses.
The more important buildings you have destroyed, the more likely a town is to offer you
terms.
If women and children see you coming, they may raise the alarm.
Turrets in town walls often have mortars attached to them.
Men will move slower over rough ground than on roads; they will get tired more quickly
climbing hills than moving on flat ground.
Gunfire and explosions will often attract the attention of soldiers and militia who might
not otherwise have noticed you.
Some Basic Concepts
1. LOOTING AND PILLAGING
A pirate’s most common motive in attacking a town is simple robbery. Only rarely will you
have enough forces to bring a whole town to its knees...but even the weakest pirate ought to
be able to pinch a few choice baubles from some rich fool’s townhouse.
In a Land Battle, “Looting” means entering a building, grabbing and cash and jewellery that is
in the house, and running away. Each of your men can only carry a limited number of pesos
and jewels.
If you have done sufficient damage to a town to remove its will to fight then the town may
surrender to you. In this case, you may “pillage” the town: explore every building, look for
hidden treasure, take food or crops, interrogate the governor. This takes several hours or
even days.
Looting is an action which you can perform in the thick of a battle; pillaging only happens after
a battle, when the enemy has been utterly defeated.
2. OFFERING TERMS
From time to time, a town which has not been defeated may offer you terms: that is, it may
offer you money or goods in return for your agreeing to leave it in peace. Towns are more likely
to offer terms if you have taken civilian prisoners to your ship.
3. THE TREASURE CHEST
A treasure chest always appears on the beach, near where your ship is anchored. If you want
your men to return to the ship, or to put treasure on the ship, then you must send them to the
treasure chest. If there is no treasure chest present (say, because your ship has been destroyed
or sailed away) then your men cannot go back to the ship.
4. MORALE
Morale is important in battles - if your men are unhappy (because they have not had much food
or rum; because it is a long time since they divided the plunder, or because lots of their shipmates
have been killed recently) - then they will not fight well and may run away from the enemy.
Similarly, your enemy may run away or surrender if it is hopelessly outnumbered or losing.
Your men will be braver, and fight better, if they are close to an officer. If your men are forced
to retreat or run away, they will usually retreat in the direction of the nearest officer.
If there is no nearby officer, they will head for the nearest cannon, otherwise they
will go back to the ship.
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5. TAKING TOWNS BY SURPRISE
Towns do not sit around waiting for pirates to attack them. If they hear that you’ve been
sinking ships and raiding towns in their area, they’ll probably reinforce the garrison, hide their
treasure and generally be much better prepared. The wise pirate plans his attacks carefully.
Your Troops
Your troops consist of marines, who may be armed with:
CANNONS
Powerful, long range weapons which can destroy buildings or large groups of men.
A cannon should have four men operating it. If there are fewer than 4 men, the
cannon moves around the battle field extremely slowly.
CUTLASSES
A standard, hand to hand weapon.
GRENADES
Glass balls containing gunpowder and a wick which explode when they hit their
target...they can be almost as dangerous to the man throwing them as to the enemy
GUNPOWDER
Barrels of gunpowder taken from your ship, which can be used to blow up
buildings or walls.
MUSKETS
A long range fire arm
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PISTOLS
A powerful, short range, single shot weapon
Any unit will draw a cutlass if it is engaged at close range. Units with single-use weapons, like
grenades or pistols, will draw their cutlasses when they have fired their charge.
You may also have one or more officers, who are always armed with cutlasses.
Officers make the units around them fight much better and more bravely than they otherwise
would.
The highlight which appears next to a man gives you various information about him:
Selected Man
Energy bars
Man Carrying Treasure
Yellow ring
Man Carrying his full capacity of treasure
Filled in yellow ring
Man with prisoner
Red ring
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Note that a selected man has two energy bars underneath him:
The top bar shows how tired he is; when the bar reaches zero, he will be exhausted and will
have to rest for a few moments. The more strenuous activity he engages in, the quicker he
becomes exhausted.
The bottom bar shows how injured he is. When the bar reaches zero, he will die.
Your Enemy
The town may contain SOLDIERS, MILITIA, CIVILIANS or GENTRY:
SOLDIERS
The town’s main defenders. They may have any of the weapons that you do.
MILITIA
Simply able-bodied townsmen who have picked up swords to defend
themselves
CIVILIANS
Non combatants - women and children, who may get in your way or raise the
alarm
GENTRY
Rich people in the town. They may fight to defend themselves..
The Town Itself
There are many different types of buildings in a town, each with its own significance and
importance.
Some which you will encounter are:
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Turrets
Large guard towers, which often contain powerful mortars which can fire at
ships or destroy large numbers of troops.
Governor’s Residence
You’ll be able to recognise this by the flagpole outside. Damaging this building has
a big effect on the town’s morale.
Treasury
The is where you’ll probably find the bulk of the town’s money.
Barracks
If you destroy the barracks then the soldiers morale may be reduced. There
may be fewer soldiers defending the town in the future.
Signal Tower
Town’s with signal tower’s can sometimes summons ships from nearby ports to defend
them.
Magazine
You can sometimes steal weapons from magazines.
Prison
You can sometimes obtain re-enforcement’s by freeing the prisoners in the prison.
Church
Town’s people will often use the church bell to sound the alarm
and warn other villagers that pirates are coming.
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Barns, Warehouses, Sheds
If you damage or destroy these buildings, then the stockpile of goods
which the town has for sale in the market will be destroyed.
Farm House, Mills
If you damage or destroy these buildings, then the town will not be able
to grow or make as much stuff, which plays havoc with its economy.
Crops
Destroying crops also damages a towns economy.
Shipwright
If you destroy a towns Shipwright, then it may have fewer guard ships defending
it in the future.
Controlling your men: Basics
1. SELECTING MEN
• Mouse click on a man
2. SELECTING MULTIPLE MEN
• Left click and drag a box around men
• Left click on a weapon in the Information Bar
• Left click on With Loot/Without Loot
• Left Click on a number from 1-12 in Information Bar
• Keyboard Shift F1-F12
• Left Click on “Troops” button
• Right Click on any category
Man selected.
Men selected.
All men with that weapon selected.
All men in that category selected.
All men allocated to that group selected.
All men allocated to that group selected.
All men selected.
Game centres on a single unit of that
category. Repeated right clicks will cycle
through units of that category.
3. FOLLOW MODE
If follow mode is on, the main battle area will centre on the selected group of men
and move with them.
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4. GROUPS
On the landing party organisation screen, you allocated your men to groups number 1-12. If
you want to re-allocated your men to different groups, you may do so.
• Keyboard CTRL +F1-F12
All currently selected men allocated to group of that
number.
Orders
There are a wide range of orders which you can give your men.
1. MOVING YOUR MEN
• Left click anywhere on the map
2. ATTACKING ENEMY UNITS
• Left click on enemy
Currently selected unit or units walks to that point.
Unit makes enemy his target, moves towards him and
attacks him.
Your men will automatically attack any enemy who comes within range of their weapons.You
do not have to give them any additional order to make them do this. However, if you have not
given them an “attack” order, they will stand their ground and will not follow the enemy if it
retreats.
3. ATTACKING BUILDINGS
You may loot buildings (carry away all the pesos and jewels they contain) or attempt to destroy
them
• Left click on building
Selected unit or units enters the building, fights any
hostile unit inside it, and then loots it.
• Right click on building
Accesses the “Buildings Options Menu”.
Buildings Option Menu
Enter building
Selected unit or units enters the building, fights any hostile unit inside it, and then
loots it.
Attack building
Selected unit or units attempt to destroy the building. Men with firearms will attack the building from outside; cutlass men will go inside
the building and attempt to torch it.
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4. TREASURE CHEST
• Left click on treasure chest
• Right click on treasure chest
The currently selected unit or units walk to the
treasure chest and put whatever goods he has into it.
He also dumps any prisoners he currently has in the
treasure chest.
Treasure Chest Options Menu appears.
Treasure Chest Options Menu
Dump booty
The currently selected unit or units walk to the treasure chest and put whatever
goods he has into it. He also dumps any prisoners he currently has in the treasure
chest.
Return to ship
The unit returns to the ship, taking and cash, jewels, special items or prisoners
with him.
5. ENEMIES WHO HAVE SURRENDERED
If an enemy unit is outnumbered, has poor morale or is for some other reason unwilling to fight
you, then it may surrender. You will be able to tell that it has surrendered because it will put
its hands in the air.
• Left click on a surrendered enemy
Selected unit attacks and kills the surrendered enemy
• Right click on surrendered enemy
Surrendered Enemy Options Menu appears
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Surrendered Enemy Options Menu
Kill
Selected unit attacks and kills the surrendered enemy.
Capture
Surrendered enemy becomes a prisoner of the selected unit.
6. PRISONERS
Once you have made an enemy your prisoner, it will follow the unit which captured it until it
is released, killed, or taken back to the ship.
• Left Click on prisoner
Selected unit attacks prisoner and kills it
• Right click on prisoner
Prisoner Options Menu Appears
Prisoner Options Menu
Kill prisoner
Selected unit attacks prisoner and kills it.
Release prisoner
Prisoner is released.
7. CANNONS, BARRELS AND OTHER OBJECTS
Occasionally, you may find a cannon, a powder barrel or some other object on the battle field
with no men attached to it.
• Right click on object
The selected unit “picks up” object . If the object is a cannon,
the selected unit will be attached to it.
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Doing Things to Your Own Men
You may take a number of actions to change the behaviour of your own men.
• Right click on your own men
Troop options menu appears.
Troop Options Menu
Put down gunpowder
If the unit is carrying a powder barrel, then he will put it down without setting
light to it. (The barrel can now be ignited by firing at it with a pistol or musket.)
Light gunpowder
If the unit is carrying a powder barrel, then he will put it down and set light to it.
(Be careful. Powder barrels create a very big explosion, and it is not unheard of
for pirates to be blown to bits by their own powder barrels...)
Hold fire
A unit with a “hold fire” order will never attack any enemy object with his
firearm. If he is attacked at close range by an enemy, he will defend himself with
his cutlass. (If you give a unit an “attack” order, that is to say, click on an enemy
unit, the “hold fire” command is cancelled.)
Resume Fire
If you have given a unit a “hold fire” order, then “Resume Fire” frees it to attack
enemies who come into its range.
Stand Ground
A unit under a “stand ground” order will not leave his present location. He WILL
attack any enemy who comes into range, but he will NEVER chase that enemy or
move to achieve a better firing range. This is the default state which all pirates
enter the battle in.
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Attack Freely
An “attack freely” order simply undoes the “stand ground” command. A unit in
a “attack freely” state may chase enemies who he sees, and will re-position himself
to achieve a better attack position.
Attack With Cutlass Only
An “attack with cutlass” order temporarily turns musket-men, grenade-men and
pistol-men into cutlass-men. This is useful to conserve grenades and pistol shots,
and also to reduce noise in order to take a town by surprise.
Attack with main weapon
Undoes a “cutlass only” command.
Attack All
Remove all "stand ground", "attack with cutlass" and "hold fire" orders.
Rally
OFFICER ONLY: The officer rallies his men. All men stop what they are doing
and move towards the officer.
Buildings and Looting
1. FIGHTS IN BUILDINGS
When your men enter a building, they may find that there are enemies inside it. If this is the
case, they automatically attack the enemy. The Building Window appears above the building.
If you want your men to withdraw from the fight, then click on the animation.
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2. LOOTING
If there is treasure in the building, your men will pick it up.
Treasure consists of “Pesos” and “Jewellery.”
The total amount of pesos and jewels is listed in the “pesos” and “jewels” box in the Building
Window. This counts down as your men steal the goods.
Each man can carry only a limited amount of treasure. Once he has reached his limit, he leaves
the building.
If you want your men to stop looting and leave the building, click on the animation.
3. OTHER THINGS YOU MAY FIND IN BUILDINGS
a) Weapons
Some buildings, especially Magazines and Barracks may contain weapons.
If you men go inside these buildings, then, if they do not have a weapon of their own, they will
automatically pick up the weapons in the building.
b) Captives Pirates
Sometimes, there may be captured pirates in the prison. If so, then when you enter the building,
they are automatically freed and joint your landing party. They will return to the ship with your
crew, and are treated as volunteers.
c) Special Items
Occasionally, you may find a special item, usually related to one of the missions which a
governor has given you. If this happens, you will be informed of it.
What can I do with prisoners?
If enemy units surrender to you, they can be made your prisoners.
If you take prisoners back to your ship (using the treasure chest, as usual) they are transferred
to your ship. They are useful to you in various ways:
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Civilians and gentry
Civilians and gentry on your ship are regarded has hostages. The
more hostages you have, the greater the chance that the town will
offer your terms. After the battle, the town may offer you a cash
sum for the return of the hostage on your ship.
Soldiers and Militia
Soldiers and militia on your ship can be forced to join the crew.
After the battle, you will be asked if you want to press the
captured men.
Pillaging
If you do sufficient damage, the town may surrender to you. In this case, you may go to the
Pillage screen, and decimate the town at your leisure.
Pillaging a town takes time. If you spend too much time ransacking a town, it is possible that
ships from nearby may come to its rescue!
As soon as the town surrenders to you, this screen appears. It tells you how long your men take
ransacking the town, and what goods they obtain.
Goods which are ransacked are automatically placed on the DOCK, from where they can be
distributed to the ships in your fleet, as usual.
The Pillage Option Buttons list further pillaging actions which you can take:
• Occupy
• Torture
• Destroy
• Ship Pillage
• Fleet
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1. OCCUPY
If you wish, when a town has surrendered to you, you can install one of your own officers as
governor.
If you are a Privateer - that is to say, if you carry a Letter of Marque - then the town’s
nationality will change to that of the nation which you are allied with. If not, it will become a
Pirate port. Either way, the town will be very friendly towards you for as long as your man
remains in power.
The length of your officer’s “reign” will depend on whether his skills are suitable for the job.
To install a leader, just click on the officer of your choice. If you do not have any spare officers,
then you cannot occupy the town.
2. TORTURE
Towns sometimes hide some or all of their treasure in secret locations - particularly when they
have reason to believe that they are about to be attacked by pirates. It is sometimes
possible to extract the true location of the treasure from the governor.
Just click on the icon representing the intensity of your interrogation; but be
warned - weak land-lubbers have been known to drop dead under interrogation,
and there may, of course, not be any treasure to tell you about in the first place!
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3. DESTROY
If you wish, you may destroy the town: to prevent its ships attacking you in future, or to
damage the economy of your enemies. Just click on the icon representing your chosen level of
destruction.
4. SHIP PILLAGE
If the town which has surrendered to you has ships in its harbour, then you can pillage them.
This works in exactly the same was as the pillaging of ships which you have surrendered to you
in Sea Battles.
5. FLEET
Goods which you have taken from the town are dumped onto the dock. If you wish, you may
use the “Fleet” screen to allocated them to your ships. This is exactly the same as the “Safe
Harbour” fleet screen.
Infamy
In the course of a land battle, you are likely to commit dastardly, infamous and blood-thirsty
acts, and these - like atrocities committed at sea - cause your infamy score to increase.
1. EXAMPLES OF ACTS WHICH ARE NOT AT ALL INFAMOUS
A pirate attacks a town. In the heat of the battle, some soldiers and armed men are killed.
Having defeated the town’s defenders, the pirate robs some houses and carries of their cash and
jewels.
2. EXAMPLES OF ACTS WHICH ARE FAIRLY INFAMOUS
A pirate attacks a town. Some soldiers and armed men surrender to him, but he
kills them anyway.
Having defeated the soldiers in the town, the pirates sees some unarmed civilians.
He kills them on the spot.
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3. EXAMPLES OF ACTS WHICH ARE VERY INFAMOUS
A pirate attacks a town. Some unarmed citizens surrender to him, but he kills them anyway.
4. EXAMPLES OF ACTS WHICH ARE DIABOLICALLY INFAMOUS
A town is so overwhelmed by the pirate’s attack that it surrenders to him. During the
“Pillaging”, the pirate murders all the surrendered, unarmed citizens in the town.
He is not satisfied with the treasure which he has obtained, so he fiendishly tortures the
governor in order to discover the location of the rest of it.
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Chapter 9
Designer’s Notes
Away to the cheating world go you
Where pirates all are well-to-do
But I’ll stay true to this song I sing
And live and die a pirate king!
Gilbert and Sullivan
What was a pirate?
We all know what pirates are. Comical villains with wooden legs and hooks. Gallant
swashbucklers who swing in the rigging with rapiers and posh accents. Fat jolly cartoon
characters with rude sounding names.
Well, no, not exactly.
Captain Hook may have lived in never-never land, but Blackbeard grew up in Bristol, and set
out to sea from Bristol docks, not a hundred yards from Hothouse’s offices. While we were
working on this game, scuba divers off Virginia discovered the wreck of Blackbeard’s flagship,
where it had lain since it scuppered it in 1717; and British newspapers reported that piracy on
the high seas had finally ceased to be a hanging offence in the UK. Pirates were real - and, as
ever, the reality turns out to have been a good deal more interesting than the Hollywood fiction.
A pirate’s life for me
Cutthroats is not a simulation. We don’t expect you to know your main topsail buntlines from
your spritsail topsail clewlines, and we freely admit that we calculated the cost of a ton of
cotton in Barbados in 1676 according to a very scientific process; namely, we made it up.
However we have tried to create a sense of the way in which these real-life pirates really lived;
to create a game which reflects the flavour of their careers. Captain Johnson (who may or may
not have really been Daniel Defoe, and whose “General History of the Pyrates” has
been at our elbows throughout the project) cites a fragment of Blackbeard’s log.
Where, we wonder, did he get it?
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‘Such a day, rum all out: - Our company somewhat sober: - A dam’d confusion amongst us!
- Rogues a-plotting: - Great talk of separation - so I looked sharp for a prize: such a day took
one, with a great deal of liquor on board, so kept the company hot, damned hot; then all
things went well again.’
We hope that, in playing our game, you will feel yourself in Blackbeard’s shoes.
Here are few examples of the Pirates’ life which we have tried to reflect:
Recruiting Crews and Pressing Men
Although some of their Captains were colourful and romantic figures, most pirates seem to have
been disgruntled, un-employed seaman. The final “golden age” of piracy began in 1713 when
the treaty of Utrecht ended the long war of Spanish succession, putting a large number of English
sailors out of a job. So they carried on making money the only way they knew how - by
plundering Spanish ships. Captain Johnson says that, if the authorities are really worried about
suppressing piracy, the best thing to do would be to establish a big English fishing fleet, so that
sailors would have honest jobs to go to in time of peace.
In Cutthroats, pirate crews are recruited in ports, and you’ll often find more volunteers in poor
towns where there’s a shortage of work than in rich ones. Men who become pirates of their
own choice tend to be fairly loyal crew members.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to crew you ship sufficiently with volunteers, and will have
to resort to pressing men from captured ships. This was common piratical practice: forcing
captives, sometimes under threat of torture, to take articles and join the pirate crew. The great
Bartholomew Roberts himself started his career as a pressed man, but when Captain Davies
was killed in action, the pirate-crew elected him as their leader. This may explain why Roberts
was so unwilling to press men himself.
Pirates who came to trial often tried to use this as a defence - they had not chosen to become
pirates, but had been forced. This rarely impressed the judges. The famous puritan preacher
Cotton Mathar charitably explained to a condemned man that he should have accepted
‘Christian martyrdom’ rather than join a pirate crew...
In Cutthroats, you’ll find that pressing men on the “pillage” screen is an easy way of swelling
your crew; but a ship full of pressed men will not stay loyal to you when the going gets tough...
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Pirates Charters
Surprisingly enough, the pirate ships that these men absconded on were often run on quite
democratic lines. Every crew member signed up to a set of pirate articles which laid down the
rules of the ship. Bartholmew Roberts articles forbad the crew from drinking after lights out,
allowed them a day off on Sunday, and banned them from bringing women (or boys...) on
board. Captain Phiilips rules memorably laid down that:
“If at any time we meet with a prudent woman, that man that offers to meddle with her
without her consernt shall suffer present death.”
The terrible black spot which the mutineers use to signify the deposition of Long John Silver in
“Treasure Island” is, disappointingly, only the product of Robert Louis Stevenson’s
imagination; but it is perfectly true that Captains were appointed by a popular vote. The crew
were free to kick him out if they didn’t think he was doing well enough. The possibility of being
voted out by your crew is ever-present in Cutthroats although this can be offset by keeping your
ships well supplied with food, rum, and fresh meat. You’ll also find that a ship full of pressed
men is more likely to grumble and kick you out than a crew of volunteers.
‘Pieces of Eight’
Pieces of Eight or pesos de ochas - Spanish dollars - were the common currency of the
Caribbean. They were known as “pieces of eight” because they were large coins which could
physically be broken into eight smaller coins. A quarter of a dollar is, of course, referred to as
“two bits” in the United States to this day. (The Spanish coin had a picture of the legendary
pillars of Hercules on the reverse - two pillars with a snake entwining them. This may be the
origin of the modern “$” dollar sign.)
Dividing the Plunder
Very few pirates came home with treasure chests bulging with Spanish doubloons, but they
were entitled to a share of the profits of their voyage. The pirate articles laid down how much
of the plunder each man was entitled to - five shares for the captain, three for officers, a half
for the cabin boy, and so forth. Many ships also operated an insurance policy, where a man
would be paid extra cash for loosing an arm or a leg. (“If any man shall lose a joint in time of
engagement he shall have 400 pieces of eight; if a limb, 800”).
Roberts articles specified that no-one was allowed to talk about ending the voyage until
everyone’s share amounted to at least £1,000. This was several years wages, enough
for an honest seaman to retire on, but pirates often spent it in a few weeks of
eating, drinking and whoring, which created a “gold-rush” economy in some of
the pirate-ports.
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This aspect of pirate life is reflected in the “plunder screen”. There is a fine balance to be struck
with respect to when you divide the plunder - if you do it too soon, you’re men will get such a
small share that it will be impossible to recruit a new one; but if you leave it too long, they’ll
become restless and may vote you out. Clearly, the bigger your crew, the more money you’ll
have to make to give each crewman a decent share.
Reputation
In Cutthroats, we have placed considerable emphasis on fame, infamy and the Jolly Roger.
Men like Sir Henry Morgan were commanders of fairly well-organised buccaneer armies that
could win battles by force of arms; but most of the pirates relied heavily on psychological
warfare. They didn’t go out looking for fights: what they wanted was to find enemy ships
which would surrender to them. They pulled alongside weak merchant vessels and ran up the
Jolly Roger, which was a signal to surrender immediately or face the consequences. Reputation
was everything. Some historians suggest that the notorious Blackbeard actually committed very
few atrocities: having created an image of himself as gibbering psychopath with Satanic
tendencies, ships simply surrendered to him when he asked them too. On the other hand, it was
possible to become a victim of your own success: the careers of both Roberts and Blackbeard
finished when they became too notorious for their own good. The British admiralty
commissioned Captain Maynard to hunt down Blackbeard; and two warships, the Swallow and
the Weymouth, were sent looking for Roberts. Both their careers came to a rapid end when they
started to attract this sort of attention.
Ports of Call
There were many small ports that served as pirate havens - places that would accept pirate
money or buy pirate goods, and not ask too many questions about where it came from. Some
went further: the governor of North Carolina traded quite openly with no less a person than
Blackbeard and even issued him with a pardon, excusing him for his past crimes. In addition a
number of different Caribbean towns served as pirate “capitals”. In the game, you will start
your adventures in one of these “capitals”, and you will be able to rely on it being friendly to
you (unless you are crazy enough to pick a fight with it...).
1625 -1655 Tortuga
From the end of the sixteenth century, there was a community of shipwrecked sailors,
deserters and escaped slaves on Hispaniola. They hunted wild pigs and sold meat and skins
to passing ships. In about 1625, a group of them left the mainland and formed
a community on Tortuga. Since they lived off strips of barbecued pork called
“boucan” and were therefore known as the boucaniers. It was these wild,
smelly men who formed the backbone of the buccaneer armies that harassed
the Spanish under Sir Henry Morgan.
161
1655 - 1692 Port Royal
The city of Port Royal was at the centre of the Caribbean’s trade routes. Huge amounts of
cash flowed through it, and it was full of taverns, brothels and rum-shops. It naturally
became a haunt for pirates, who sometimes spent the whole profits of their voyages in a
single night of partying. People called it “the wickedest city on earth”. In June 1692, there
was a terrible earthquake, and Port Royal sank beneath the waves (taking with it, by the
way, the grave of Sir Henry Morgan.) Priests were therefore able to preach that God had
struck down this latter-day Sodom.
1692 -1724 Nassau
Nassau had been a Spanish and an English colony at various time, but by the turn of the
eighteenth century it was a true pirate republic: a pirate Captain named Thomas Barrow
was the self-appointed leader, and it was said that the population consisted of nothing but
pirates and their camp followers. There were sometimes as many as 500 pirates ships
docked in the port at one time - famous names like Blackbeard and Calico Jack passed
through the place.
In 1718 Woods Rogers, an ex-privateer arrived on Providence with a commission from the
King of England to drive out the pirates, a proclamation of amnesty to encourage them
to surrender and a box of religious tracts intended to teach them the error of their ways...
He had an uphill struggle, but when the pirates of Nassau were suppressed the Golden Age
of Piracy is usually reckoned to have come to an end.
Sea Battles
By 1725, the naval commanders of Europe had turned war a sea into an art form in which vast
fleets executed elegant precision manoeuvres. Pirate battles, on the other hand, were hit and
run skirmishes: dirty, smoky, violent, and more likely to be finished with cutlass and grappling
iron than with a perfectly judged broadside holing a ship below the water-line. Cutthroats
reflects the rough-and-tumble chaos of these piratical skirmishes.
The direction of the wind is crucial in an naval engagement. A ship cannot easily give chase to
an enemy if the wind is against it - although we’ve reflected the fact that a “fore-and-aft” rigged
vessel like a sloop can make better speed into the wind than a “square-rigged” vessel like a
galleon. When the shooting starts, a pirate wants to be on the windward side of his opponent otherwise cannon smoke blows back in his face, and reduces his crew’s efficiency.
A pirate was relatively reluctant to attack an enemy with cannon fire; their motive was robbery,
and a ship was not much use to them after they had blown it out of the water. Warships, on the
other hand were, perfectly willing to sink pirates. For this reason, pirate ships were
often full to bursting point with men, in the hope that they could overwhelm their
targets by force of numbers in any boarding action. They preferred fast ships to
heavily armed ones-and, if you’ve ever seen a doubloon loaded galleon
disappearing over the horizon on the Crows Nest Screen, you’ll probably agree
with them.
162
Before his final, fatal battle with Maynard, Blackbeard told his men that, if they looked like
losing, they should set fire to the powder-keg and blow up the ship. The crewman given this
task chickened out at the last moment, but you’ll be able to use this rather extreme tactic in the
game. On the other hand, there’s always the risk that, if you over-load a ship with ammunition,
it may blow up under enemy fire. In 1669, the powder key of Henry Morgan’s flagship
exploded, rather spoiling his plans to sack Cartegena.
Land Battles
The popular image of pirates is of them attacking ships on the high seas, but raids on ports were
a surprisingly important part of their business.
In 1718, Blackbeard blockaded the port of Charlestown and eventually allowed it to ransom
itself for what was euphemistically described as a “chest of medicine”- opinion is divided as to
whether this was “pills of white mercury” to cure his syphilis, or a supply of opium. In 1720,
Roberts sailed into St Kitts harbour and looted all the ships there while the battery of guns in
the town’s fortress fired on him. And Sir Henry Morgan led full scale armies against Portobello,
Maricaibo and Panama.
But the great majority of piratical attacks must have been simple raids, where a pirate crew
went ashore to rob cash and supplies from unsuspecting townsfolk.
In Cutthroats, it is possible to bring a town to its knees and march off with all the treasure in
the treasury: but it is also possible to find that the townspeople have got wind of your coming
and hidden the treasure. (This happened to Henry Morgan when he arrived at Panama in 1671:
he even missed a solid gold altar piece in the church because the townspeople had had the
foresight to give it a lick of white emulsion.)
Lies
We have to admit that we’ve taken some liberties with history.
The idea that Pirates buried their treasure seems to have been made up by Robert Louis
Stevenson - a real Captain Flint would have spent his £700,000 in couple of weeks - but “if the
fact becomes a legend, print the legend”, and we certainly wanted to stash our loot in sleepy,
palm fringed coves. That said, pirates certainly did hide out on deserted cays and careening
beaches, and Captain Kidd did try to use a story of hidden treasure to save his neck during his
trial - as Cutthroats players are able to do if they are careless enough to get arrested.
It’s unlikely that a real pirate would have got his hands on a battleship - they mainly
used sloops and brigs - but the idea of a liberated Spanish Galleon with a Jolly
Roger flapping in the wind was too much fun to leave out. But you may find that,
like the real pirates, a small fast sloop stuffed to bursting point with marines can
be a match for a clumsy frigate, no matter how overwhelming its fire-power.
163
Drink and the Devil Had Done for the Rest...
There’s no doubt that pirates were thugs, gangsters, psychopaths and sadists. But it’s hard not
to have a sneaking admiration for these nautical anarchists who declared war on the whole
world.
One night in 1717, a wealthy plantation owner named Stede Bonnet quit his job, walked out
on his nagging wife, bought a ship, and started looting and pillaging off Virginia. The
authorities eventually caught up with him, but not before he’d sent a goodly number of honest
seaman to a watery grave. He even cruised with Blackbeard for a while.
Well, haven’t you ever had a bad day?
Avast thee!
Andrew Rilstone
164
Glossary
Glossary
166
Abandoning ship
Jumping overboard when a ship is about to be destroyed.
Adviser
A member of your crew who appears in the top right hand
corner of the screen, from time to time to help you out.
Aiming
Trying to damage a particular part of the enemy ship, for
example, the sails.
Ammunition
Gunpowder, cannon balls, shot and other material which
is required to fire weapons.
Anchor
To furl the sails of a ship, lower the anchor and stop
moving.
Beach
An area near a port where you can land your ship in
preparation for an attack.
Boarding Action
When people from one ship leap onto another ship and
try to take over.
Buccaneer
Strictly, one of the Brotherhood of the Coast, an alliance
of English privateers based at Tortuga. Usually used to
mean any pirate you approve of.
Cacao
Cargo. A bean made into a drink much enjoyed by
decadent Europeans.
Cannons
Large guns, which require several men to operate. May be
mounted on ships or put on wheels and used in land
battles.
Captain
The Officer in charge of a ship. If a ship does not have a
Captain, it cannot sail.
Careening
The act of running your ship aground, turning it on its
side and scraping the barnacles off its bottom. If this isn’t
done regularly, the ship slows down.
Careening Beach
Any uninhabited coastal area where you can harbour your
ship.
Cargo
Anything carried on your ship; especially goods which can
be bought and sold in the market.
Chain Shot
Small cannon balls tied together with chains, intended to
wrap around the enemy mast and destroy his sails. Chain
shot does negligible damage to the hull of a ship.
Civilians
The women, children, priests and other non-combatants
in a town.
Commodity
Anything which you can buy or sell in the Safe Harbour Trade screen.
Cotton
Cargo. Raw cotton ready to be made into fine clothes in
Europe.
Crow’s Nest View
A view of the area 10 miles around your ship where you
may perform fine manoeuvres prior to battle and try to
communicate with other ships.
Crow’s Nest Lad
Your look-out, who warns you when ships appear on the
horizon.
Cruise
To sail around a particular area of sea, hoping to meet
enemies or potential targets.
Cutlasses
Short, curved sword carried by all pirates.
Dock
A part of the ‘fleet’ screen. Anything you buy or otherwise
acquire in port is initially dumped onto the dock.
Double Shot
Very heavy cannon balls, which do much more damage to
ships which they hit than ordinary ones. Double shot uses
more ammunition and takes longer to load than
conventional round shot.
False Colours
To fly ‘false colours’ means to fly the national flag of a
nation you do not belong to, in order to disguise your true
intention.
Fame
A measure of your standing in the world; how big a noise
you have made; how many people have heard of you right
now.
Fire Ship
A ship which has been deliberately set on fire to cause
damage and confusion to the enemy.
Flags, Communication
Flags which send specific message to other ships, such as
“I am in need of food.”
Flags, National
Flags identifying a ship as being English, Spanish, French,
Dutch or Danish.
Flagship
Literally, the ship which flies the communication flags.
The main ship in a fleet, the ship which the other ships
follow.
Fleet Screen
A part of the ‘Safe Harbour’ screen where you
can move cargo, men and weapons on and
off your ships.
167
Floaters
Men and treasure which are salvaged from a ship when it
goes down or who have abandoned ship.
Fluyte
A medium sized three masted ship. Slow, clumsy, but with
a lot of cargo space and cheap to make. The most
common type of trade ship.
Food
Supplies. Bread, porridge, ship’s biscuits, hard-tack: the
most basic subsistence food.
Fouling
When two ships get stuck to each other.
Frigate
A large, three masted warship. Relatively slow and
unmaoneuverable, but large enough to be loaded with
devastating quantities of cannons.
Fruit
Cargo. Bananas, oranges, pineapples and other produce
which fetch high prices in Europe.
Furl Sails
To roll up your sails, in order to slow down.
Fullness
How much cargo your ship is carrying. The fuller it is, the
slower it sails.
Fullness indicator
An icon which appears on many screens of the game
which indicates how laden your ship is.
Galleon
A very large, three masted warship: fast, but very
unmaneuverable.
Gentry
The rich folk in a town. They can be valuable hostages for
a pirate.
Governor
Whoever is in charge of a town. This might be a highranking politician, but it might only be a spokesperson for
the local farmers.
Governor Screen
A part of the ‘Safe Harbour’ screen, where you can
negotiate with the leader of the town.
Grape Shot
Gravel, nails and small cannon balls, loaded into a cannon
in order to cause maximum crew casualties. Grape shot
does little or no damage to the sails or hull of a ship.
Grappling
Deliberately fouling your ship with an enemy, usually in
order to start a boarding action.
Grenades
Gunners
168
Special glass balls containing ammunition and a wick;
they can be almost as dangerous to the man throwing
them as to their target...
Those members of a ship crew who operate the cannons.
Gunnery
A skill which measure how good at controlling the
cannons an officer is.
Gunpowder (aka Powder Barrels) Barrels of ammunition used as makeshift bombs for
blowing up walls and buildings.
Hides
Cargo. Skins of hunted animals.
Hoard
The total amount of cash on your fleet. Your liquid assets,
available to be spent.
Infamy
A measure of how many bad things you have done; how
much you are hated and feared.
Jewellery
Treasure. Precious trinkets for rich fops and their wives;
also loved by pirates.
Jolly Roger
A pirate insignia. When a pirate hoists the Jolly Roger, he
is issuing a threat: ‘Surrender now, and you can live; if you
fight, I will kill every one of you without mercy’.
Land Combat
A skill which measures how good at organising marines
an officer is.
Leadership
A skill which measures how good at ordering men and
inspiring confidence an officer is.
Letter of Marque
A licence issued to pirates. An English governor might
issue a pirate with a Letter of Marque, giving him
permission to sink Spanish Ships on condition he paid a
20% tax on his loot.
Livestock
Cargo. Live pigs or cattle.
Looting
Grabbing gold and jewels on the run during a battle.
Loyalty
A skill which measure how committed to your cause on
officer is.
Luxuries
Cargo. Chocolates, dolls, china, glass and other necessities
not easily obtained in the New World.
Map View
A view of the whole game world, from which you may
plan your voyage.
Marines
Those members of a ship’s crew who participate in
Boarding Actions, Landing Actions and fire
musket broadside.
Men
Members of the crew who are not officers.
Militia
The civilians in a town who have taken up
arms to defend themselves against pirates.
Muskets
Primitive, long range rifle.
169
Occupy
To install a pirate as governor of a captured town.
Officers
Skilled sailors and seasoned warriors who improve the
performance of a ship and improve the morale of landing
and boarding parties.
Personal Wealth
Your personal cut of the pirate band’s treasure.
Piece of Eight
Also called ‘dollars’, ‘pesos de ochas’ or just ‘pesos’, the
piece-of-eight was a silver coin, and the standard unit of
exchange in the Caribbean. A labouring man earns about
a peso a day; a pirate hopes to eventually earn a share
worth a thousand pesos.
Pillage Screen
A screen which appears at the end of Battles and lets you
rob ships or towns which have surrendered to you.
Pillaging
Searching through a town or a ship, after a battle, at your
leisure, to squeeze out everything of value. NOT TO BE
CONFUSED WITH ‘Plunder’.
Pinnace
A small, three masted square rigged ship. Fast and
manoeuvrable, but relatively small and weak.
Pirate
Any person who commits a robbery at sea.
Pirate King
According to legend, Long Ben Avery, greatest of all
pirates, left the Caribbean with a fortune in plundered
gold, and founded a pirate kingdom in Madagascar.
Pistol
A short range, single shot weapon; devastating at close
range.
Plunder Screen
A part of the ‘Safe Harbour’ screen where you can divide
your ill-gotten gains among your crew. NOT TO BE
CONFUSED WITH ‘Pillage Screen’.
Port
Any town where you can harbour your ship.
Prisoners
Enemy units which have surrendered to you. They follow
you around the battle field. If you take them back to your
ship, they can be held to ransom or forced to become
pirates.
Privateer
A licensed pirate or a freelance ocean-going mercenary:
anyone who holds a Letter of Marque.
Prize Court
Prize Crew
170
A pirate with a Letter of Marque has to submit all his
plunder to a Prize Court in order to assess how much tax
he owes the king.
Sailors who are left on an enemy ship which has been
successfully boarded.
Ramming
Deliberately running your ship into an enemy ship, in
order to do it damage.
Round Shot
Ordinary cannon balls.
Rowing Boat
Large, oar powered vessels stored on larger ships. Use as
platforms to launch landing parties and boarding actions.
Rum
Supplies. Drink made from fermented molasses; essential
for the well-being of pirates.
Safe Harbour
Any location where you can ‘park’ your fleet: careening
beaches and ports.
Safe Harbour View
A part of the game where you can buy and sell goods,
repair ships, and do other upkeep tasks.
Sailors
Those members of the ship’s crew who manoeuvre their
ships.
Salt
Cargo. Blocks of locally refined sea salt.
Scuppering
Deliberately sinking your own ship.
Scurvy
A disease which sometimes breaks out on ships, caused by
a lack of fresh food, especially fruit.
Seamanship
A skill which measures how good a sailor an officer is.
Securing
Capturing an enemy ship and adding it to your fleet.
Shipwright Screen
A part of the ‘Safe Harbour’ screen, where you can mend,
buy and sell ships.
Skills
Figures which measure the abilities of your officers:
Gunnery, Land Combat, Leadership, Loyalty and
Seamanship.
Sloop
A small single masted ship. Small, weak, but very fast and
manoeuvrable.
Soldiers
The members of a garrison defending a town.
Spanish Main
The North Coast of South America. Made prosperous by
the Spanish Treasure Fleet, it is a popular hunting ground
for pirates.
Spice
Cargo. Precious local harvest, much sought
after in Europe.
Sugar
Cargo. Raw cane sugar, ready to rot the teeth
of some English fop.
171
172
Supplies
Anything which is consumed by your ship or crew during
a voyage: food, fruit, rum, livestock and ammunition.
The Windward Passage
The strip of sea between Hispaniola and Cuba. It is a
popular hunting ground for pirates.
Timber
Cargo. Wood from Caribbean forests and jungles.
Tobacco
Cargo. Bushels of leaves grown in Havana and elsewhere.
Ton
A measure of weight, equal to 2,000 pounds.
Torture
Pirates sometimes resort to ghoulish barbarity in order to
extract information from captives about the location of
hidden treasure.
Trade Screen
A part of the ‘Safe Harbour’ screen, where you can buy
and sell cargo.
Treasure
Cash and jewellery.
Treasure Screen
A part of the ‘Safe Harbour’ screen where you can bury
and dig up treasure.
Troops
Anyone involved in a land battle.
Unfurl Sails
To unroll your sails, in order to speed up.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Contemporary Books
The Pirate’s Own Book
Charles Elms
A General History of the Robberies
and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates.
Captain Charles Johnson, or Daniel Defoe,
depending who you ask.
Fiction
The Pyrates
George Macdonald Fraser
The Princess Bride
Willaim Goldman
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
History Books
The Pirates (Time Life Seafarers Series)
Douglas Bottin
Pirates and Buccaneers Colouring Book
Peter F Copeland
Life Among the Pirates
David Cordingly
Pirates of the Western Seas
Captain A.G Course
A Ladybird Book About Pirates
L. Du Garde Peach
The Golden Isthmus
David Howarth
Pirates 1660-1730 (Osprey Military
Elite Series)
Angus Konstam., Angus McBride
174
Blackbeard the Pirate: A Reappraisal of his
Life and Times
Robert E Lee
Pirates: Adventurers of the High Sea
David F Marley
Pirates and Privateers of the Caribbean
Jennifer Marx
Eye Witness Guides: Pirate
Richard Platt
Bold in Her Breaches: Women Pirates Across
the Ages
Ed. Jo Stanley
Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail
Brian Tunstall
Pirates and Patriots of the Revolution
C Keith Wilbur
Board Games
and RPGS
Blackbeard
Avalon Hill
Run Out The Guns
Iron Crown Enterprise
GURPS: Swashbucklers
Steve Jackson Games
Skull & Crossbones: Role-play in the Spanish
Main
Fantasy Games Unlimited
Computer Games
Pirates Gold!
Microprose
Age of Sail
Empire Interactive
Wooden Ships and Iron Men
Eidos Interactive
Credits
Credits
Cutthroats is a Hothouse Creations production
in association with Eidos Interactive
and was crewed by
Rob Davies, Andrew Rilstone, James Robertson, Mike Devereux, Bill Barna, Ian Brindle, Pete
Wingham, Paul Jasicki, Alex Barregon, Nathan Hook and Rob Balloch.
Music composed and produced by Dave Punshon and Richard Wells
Casting and Voice Production by Philip Morris/AllintheGame Ltd
Voice artists: Marc Silk, Ben Stephens, Michael Roberts, Robert Ashby
Sound Effects were provided by Allister Brimble
Thanks to everyone else at Hothouse, including Martin Carr for getting the message across,
Pete Moreland and the Gangsters, Steve Goss and the Abominations, Gina Silman, Simon
Vass, Leigh Atley and Sarah McKenna and everyone else offering inspiration, comment,
criticism and help.
We’re also lucky to work in the city of Bristol. It has a history of which we cannot always be
proud, but it makes it the place it is.
Various members of the Crew would like to thank Grant Dean & co for doing stuff above
and beyond the call of duty, Andy Redman for the chance comment, Sid for hours and hours
of entertainment, Thomas Grinstead and Tom Dicken for helping out, Robin Staunton and
all at Lawrence Tucketts, Ian Sopher & Co, Julie Baldwin and anyone else who has helped us
grow up, and our partners, friends and families waiting patiently on the port-side for this
voyage to end.
Eidos has a lot of cool people. So here they are,
Grant Dean, Mike Souto, Tony Bourne, James Featherstone, Allen Elliot, Alex Faulkner,
Steve Dunning, Matthew Richards, Lawrence Day, Flavia Timiani, Holly Andrews,
John Davis, David Burton, Simon Orams, Rebecca West, Jonathan Rosenblatt, Eva Whitlow,
Matthew Carter-Johnson, Rose Montgomery, Mike McHale, Eric Adams,
Nick Davis and Lee Briggs.
There are many more and you know who you are.
176
Eidos Interactive USA/France/Germany
MARKETING AND PR (US)
Marketing Manager (US)
Kelly Zavislak
PR Manager (US)
Karina Kogan
MARKETING AND PR (FRANCE)
Marketing Manager (France)
Olivier Salomon
Localisation (France)
Stéphan Gonizzi
PR Manager (France)
Priscille Demoly
Test (France)
Guillaume Mahouin
MARKETING AND PR (GERMANY)
Marketing Manager (Germany)
Knut-Jochen Bergel
Localisation (Germany)
Lars Wittkuhn
PR Manager (Germany)
Sascha Green-Kaiser
Test (Germany)
Soeren Winterfeld
MANUAL DESIGN
A Creative Experience, London
177
You was a flyer, Morgan
You was the lad to crowd
When you was in your flagship
But now you’re in your shroud
Anon
178
Notes
179
“...AND UNTO US THERE CAME
A PLAGUE OF BIBLICAL
PROPORTIONS”
“SPREADING OCTOBER 99”
Abomination © Hothouse Creations 1998. © and Published by Eidos Interactive Limited 1999. All Rights Reserved.
www.eidos.com
REAL POWER IS
NEVER GIVEN...
ORGANIZED CRIME
...IT’S TAKEN!
Gangsters Organized Crime. © Hothouse Creations 1998.
© and Published by Eidos Interactive Limited 1999. All Rights Reserved.
Locke D’Averam has seen it all before.
Literally. He is the Revenant, a warrior
resurrected by a mysterious warlord to
undertake a terrifying quest. As he begins
his epic journey through the vast caves,
forest and catacombs of the island of
Ahkuilon he is plagued by memories of his
past life, memories that begin to merge
with his current existence leading to
sinister consequences....
“Absolutely Awesome”
• Over 50 non-player characters each with a unique personality and animated style.
• Real-time short and long range combat system featuring multiple attack combinations.
• Spectacular environments created with the aid of fantasy artist Den Bauvais.
• Huge game world including towns, forests, dungeons, caves and more.
• Multi-player support for up to four people in death match mode.
• Over 25 different types of enemy and monsters to do battle with.
• Game Editor Included.
www.eidos.com
Revenant ™. © and Published by Eidos Interactive Ltd 1999. All Rights Reserved.
Important - Eidos Interactive Limited Warranty
Eidos Interactive Ltd reserves the right to make changes and improvements to this
product at any time and without notice. Eidos Interactive Ltd warrants to the original
purchaser of this product that the physical medium on which the software program
in this product is recorded will under normal use and conditions be free from
material defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days from
the date of purchase. The entire liability of Eidos Interactive Ltd under the limited
warranty set out above will be at its sole option either to repair or to replace free of
charge the product provided you return it in its original condition to the point of
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THIS LIMITED WARRANTY DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR STATUTORY RIGHTS.
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