Went to Legends Comix and Games yesterday in search of a birthday present for a friend. Picked up 4 packs of Pirates of the Spanish Main and something else that looked fun.
Went home, wrapped presents, and cooked up a big batch of Crash's vindaloo. Headed off to Framingham for yummy Indian food, gaming, and birthday celebrations. Puck came by for a few hours, but had to run off to work after dinner. So, he missed out on the Pirates.
First impressions of PotSM: The tiny little ships are terribly cute, and not as easy to put together as you might think. Alas, one mast perished during assembly (snapped off at the base); with a little luck and some superglue, it may be repairable. Gameplay: we tried a three-player game first (easy rules), with limited success. It seemed like it was just a race to get to the islands with treasure and get back home again. Also, the rules seem lacking. I don't know if this got play-tested a lot or not, but we seemed to be missing the point on a few key areas (notably, sinking a ship). For our second attempt, we tried a two-player, 30-point game with the more advanced rules. This was a bit more interesting, and we did have a few naval battles. By the end, two ships were derelict and one was limping toward its home island. Overall, I think it has potential, but I'd like to see how it's played in a tournament. That would help me get a feel for how all the rules come together.
Posted by rv at December 5, 2004 05:38 PM to gameYour comment about the lack of playtesting was the same one I heard here at Cryptic HQ. I haven't played, but when the game first came out there it was an epidemic. The boats are just too cool and are very cleverly built. After you build the first one, you learn how they go together and don't break them easily.
We have empirically determined that they float in margaritas, though not very well.
Posted by: poz at December 6, 2004 06:17 PM