GA for (semi) historical Pirate games

[SteveBurt]

Has anyone tried using GA for historical(ish) Pirate games?
Does the game still work without the spell casting, or does taking that out remove an essential element?

[Ogrob]

I guess you could call your Heritor "captain" and just have them level up and gain better stats. Maybe give them the "tricks of the trade" from the Frostgrave Captain in Sellsword. Use the Gunpowder rules from Spellcaster for specialists with guns.

It could be done.

[SteveBurt]

Obviously historical pirates didn't use bows and crossbows much, although opponents like Carib Indians certainly did.
I was thinking of just using the crossbow rules for guns.  Would need some rules for pistols, since pirate captains tend to have several.
The reason I ask is I've yet to find a set of rules I'm happy with for pirates.
Of the ones I've tried:
Legends of the High Seas is OK, but a bit bland. Ship rules are poor.
On the Seven Seas just doesn't seem to work.
The Peter Pig pirate rules aren't really for pirate skirmishes.
The 'Pirates!' rules seem over complex, and the ship rules are terrible.
En Garde is OK but a bit slow (no rules for ship combat, either)
Sharp Practice really needs larger numbers of figures than I tend to field for Pirate games.

[Karadek]

What about that new Blood & Plunder game?  I haven't played it yet, but I have a friend who Kickstarted the hell out of it.  Not sure he's actually played it yet though.

[SteveBurt]

It certainly looks interesting - thanks. Will have a look at that.

[Sir_Theo]

What about that new Blood & Plunder game?  I haven't played it yet, but I have a friend who Kickstarted the hell out of it.  Not sure he's actually played it yet though.

I can vouch for Blood and Plunder. Really good.

[pacarat]

I can vouch for Blood and Plunder. Really good.

agree.

[petercooman123]

I plan to use flashing steel by ganesha games. Blood and plunder looked really good, but I really wanted to have individuals. From what I saw blood and plunder is more group/squad based.

[SteveBurt]

I've tried Flashing Steel, and also 'En Garde' (Osprey).
We found the latter better for Pirate games, but it limits you to about half a dozen figures each (and has no rules for boats)
The combat system is fun, though with the attack/defend counters and combat ploys (unlike the one in Flashing Steel which is frankly pretty crude).
I really wanted rules which can do land and sea and amphibious and which can handle larger engagements (say 50 or so figures a side).
Blood & Plunder looks perfect for that.

[Murawski1812]

I find that the LOTR skirmish game works really well with a lot of different eras... remove the magic, keep the might & fate and use the bow rules for guns too... blend them like By Fire & Sword....

[petercooman123]

I've tried Flashing Steel, and also 'En Garde' (Osprey).
We found the latter better for Pirate games, but it limits you to about half a dozen figures each (and has no rules for boats)
The combat system is fun, though with the attack/defend counters and combat ploys (unlike the one in Flashing Steel which is frankly pretty crude).

Yes true, but as a lot of my games are solo, flashing steel is a bit better. The counters don't work when playing solo i would guess!

[SteveBurt]

I find that the LOTR skirmish game works really well with a lot of different eras... remove the magic, keep the might & fate and use the bow rules for guns too... blend them like By Fire & Sword....

There's a Pirate version of LOTR - Legends of the High Seas. Not a bad game at all (we used it for a long time), but a bit bland, and the ship rules are poor (we grafted on the ship stuff from Warhammer Ahoy)