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Merchants & Marauders: Broadsides

Expansion of: Merchants and Marauders

XVII century, Caribbean Sea. At the helm of your mighty vessel, revisit the golden age of piracy with Merchants & Marauders: Broadsides, a game in which you and your opponent are engaged in a deadly battle hoping to sink each other’s ship.


45m

2 - 4 Players

Ages 13+
In Action Point (AP) Allowance System games, each player is allotted a certain amount of points per round. These points can be spent on available actions, until the player does not have enough remaining to "purchase" any more actions.
Action Point Allowance System
Dice rolling in a game can be used for many things, randomness being the most obvious. Dice can also be used as counters. The dice themselves can be unique and different sizes, shapes and colors to represent different things.
Dice Rolling
Hand management games are games with cards in them that reward players for playing the cards in certain sequences or groups. The optimal sequence/grouping may vary, depending on board position, cards held and cards played by opponents. Managing your hand means gaining the most value out of available cards under given circumstances. Cards often have multiple uses in the game, further obfuscating an "optimal" sequence.
Hand Management
This mechanic usually requires players to pick up an item or good at one location on the playing board and bring it to another location on the playing board. Initial placement of the item can be either predetermined or random. The delivery of the good usually gives the player money to do more actions with. In most cases, there is a game rule or another mechanic that determines where the item needs to go.
Pick-up and Deliver
Variable Player Powers is a mechanic that grants different abilities and/or paths to victory to the players.
Variable Player Powers

Versus

Nautical

40.00€

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Board Game Geek Reviews


  1. 7.5 out of 10

    Played a couple of times with long stretches in between. This can be a very fun game if you play it often enough with the same person/people. Always checking what card hands do what actions if you are unfamiliar. Plays within an hour which is a bonus.

  2. 1 out of 10

    Love the theme, love much of the core mechanics, but the damage system just did not work for me. Damage is capped to start with by the number of potential targets and then (with the exception of carronades) it is only modified down. So if you have a -1 cannon penalty and aren't using a carronade, you can never destroy your target, no matter how well you shoot. Meanwhile, the carronade is clearly overpowered because with the right ammunition it can push 2 damage all the time, no matter how poorly it is aimed or crewed. Our game dragged on about 30 minutes longer than needed because of these mechanics. Fixed damage on the guns (3/shot) might be enough to save it for me, but my rating is a reaction to what I see as an ill-designed game.

  3. 6 out of 10

    Boy I really wanted to like this game and gave it the good old college try but without some rule modifications I found it frustrating and disappointing. The game has a unique battle mechanic that I like. The graphics are ok, a little too cartoony to be taken too seriously. The rules are well laid out and easy to understand. There is lots of things that you can do and many ways to win. You start out fine and start battling down the ships. But with only 2 actions, you find you can't do much and have to make too hard of choices. I found adding one action or making the hold action mandatory works a lot better. This mechanic of 2 actions, slows things down too much and drags out the game. Plus, when you get down to just a few whatever (planks, men, or sails) it becomes really hard to shoot them down. Now I don't mean hard in the sense it is difficult, no hard in the sense you have to be perfect on the shot or you will lose 1 fire capability and with only 1 unit left, you automatically lose. Any other situation and why waste your time. So you end up drawing cards and drawing cards and drawing cards waiting for that 1 perfect card, and if your opponent doesn't play an evade, and you still have the men left, you can finally get that one last item off the opponent's ship. Sheesh. What a hassle. I felt like I was always in a catch 22 and got really frustrated trying to finish the game. A 6 is being nice.

Be the first to review “Merchants & Marauders: Broadsides”

Set in the Merchants & Marauders universe, Broadsides is a standalone game in which the two opposing players command pirate ships engaged in a fierce battle over a profitable sea lane. Sinking the enemy or taking out their Captain and First Mate are the only ways to seize victory and survive the day!

The card-driven game system allows players a wide variety of actions, triggered by playing cards in a variety of combinations.

Aim: zero in your cannons using an innovative targeting system
Hold: Draw more cards to increase your versatility
Reload: Load a variety of ammunition types (chain shot for rigging, canister for crew, solid shot for hull) into a variety of cannons (reliable 18-Pounders, thunderous Carronades, deadly Long Nines)
Broadside: Blast all your cannons at once in a fierce but costly salvo
Sheer Off: Correct your course just enough to disrupt your foe’s plans
Repair: Send sailors where they are needed to man the guns, patch the hull, or replace ruined sails

Additionally, your Captain’s unique Reputation and a handful of drafted Dirty Tricks means that every matchup will be different from the last. Multiple tactical approaches to either of the win conditions means that you can tailor your gameplay to your strengths and your foe’s weaknesses. Outthink, outplay, outgun, and sail away the winner!

Ages

13+, 14+
Designer

Josh Cappel, Christian Marcussen, Kasper Aagaard
Theme

Nautical, Pirates, Adventure, Exploration, Pirate
Publisher

Filosofia Éditions, Z-Man Games, Inc., Z-Man Games
Players

2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players
Play Time

45m
Mechanics

Action Point Allowance System, Area Movement, Dice Rolling, Hand Management, Pick-up and Deliver, Variable Player Powers, Versus
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