Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames
The Big Pirates Game
Utter mayhem on the high seas!
I recently took part in a mammoth game run by Andrew and Peter Nicholson up in Stonehaven. They were both members of the League of Gentlemen Wargamers, who kindly invited me up to their little shindig. They're a fun group, and it seemed as if everyone appeared with a pirate ship and crew, a merchantman or a warship. In fact Brig. Charles Grant turned up with a massive stone fort - a version of the one in Malta - and everyone else spent the weekend trying to avoid its imposing stone walls! Another participant - Colin Jack - fielded an all woman pirate crew - whose ship I managed to sink on the last turn - which lends a whole new meaning to "picking up survivors".
By the second day everyone had a better idea of where everyone was, where the land masses were, and what hidden pitfalls lay in wait for the pirates when they stepped ashore. Those places called Pygmy Rock, Lion Island and Snake Island were named for a reason...
Don't ask me exactly what happened - everyone blundered around, their movements mapped by Andrew and Peter - and when they stumbled into other ships or pieces they had the chance to attack, trade, explore - or even engage in a piece of skulduggery! for my part I sank an all-female crewed pirate ship, had my captain eaten by a snake, and had my longboat filled with pirates sunk by a stray shot from another friendly ship! In other words I had a wale of a time...
The mechanics were fairly simple. We plotted our moves each turn, and the umpires told us if we'd run into anything. To keep us on our toes we had to dice for chance events or encounters - which ranged from the pleasant (e.g. raising a recruit) to the decidedly nasty (your landing party runs into pygmies, wild animals or spear-wielding natives)! There were rules for buying supplies, guns and more crew, and the umpires were on hand to keep us on the piratical straight and narrow when it came to sea battles or scraps on land. Above all there was plenty of room for deceit, skulduggery and back-stabbing - for sailing under false colours, and for acts of opportunist robbery on the high seas!
What I found really great was that this group of veteran wargamers had all put a lot of effort into their ships and figures, or into the terrain and rules system, and they were all determined to thoroughly enjoy themselves... which they did, with piratical abandon. Thanks for inviting me fellas, and I hope we can play again soon.
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