Review

Pirates of the Crimson Coast is the next release in WizKids' Pirates constructible strategy game line. For the last six months, players around the world have enjoyed building their own ships from plastic cards, sailing the high seas, and blowing each other out of the water! Pirates of the Crimson Coast adds some new twists, but the game remains fast, easy, and fun to play.

Pirates of the Crimson Coast expands the existing game environment by adding two new nationalities.

The first, France, receives many ships and forts, which provide the French player with a solid foundation of pieces to draw from. The second new nationality is a secret that will appear as a super-rare game piece. This new nation is a sneak peek at the next Pirates release!

Another of the new wrinkles that Pirates of the Crimson Coast adds to the environment is terrain. One of three terrain types is printed on the back of each island (one in every Game Pack). A fog bank, for example, allows ships to hide in its swirling shroud, but any ship that enters must exit in a random direction.

Schooners are a new ship type to enter the race for gold! When a schooner ends its movement, it can rotate on its stern as a free action to face in any direction. All schooners have this common ability outside of their own specific special abilities.

Forts also debut in Pirates of the Crimson Coast. Hinted at in Pirates of the Spanish Main, forts add a new strategic element to the game. Players "purchase" forts by using gold they discover on wild islands. Like ships, forts have cannons to attack with, and they may be used to stockpile gold that the player has discovered.

More special abilities make their way into the game as well, such as Broadsides Attack. A ship with this ability may reduce the range of all of her cannons to short range and then make one attack roll. If the result exceeds the rank of each of the ship's cannons, then the ship hits and also gets an extra hit!

Of course, what would a new Pirates set be without new, flavorful characters! Some of the set's characters were actually named by players who participated in the Blackheart's Wager auction that was held last year at Gen Con Indy. Four ships were also named by players.

Kevin Goddard is a Brand Manager at WizKids