Pirates of the Frozen North

[Silver Moon]

The next edition of the Pirates Collectible Card Game comes out today! Pirates of the Frozen North is the 8th set that began with Pirates of the Spanish Main.

This set introduces the 10th faction of ships, this new one being the vikings. What's interesting is that some of these are viking ships that never actually existed in order to be compatible with the other sets, with some Longships the size and tonage as 18th century gallions and gunships, and these viking craft are armed with cannons! This set also includes floating icebergs as a shipping hazard as well as ice-breaker ships of the other main navies. Should be a fun one.

 

[Steel_Wind]

As it turns out, I have been mildly interested in Pirates of the Spanish Main for some time now after first seeing it on Popular Collections' front page a few years ago.

The game seemed interesting, but the cost appeared a little too high for me to dabble with.

Anyway, fast forward till last weekend and I noticed on ebay that the first PotSM Unlimited series is now being dumped from Wizkids’ inventory at a fire sale price. The packs are selling in bulk through a few retailers on eBay for VERY cheap. $50 for 50 packs (that's 100 ships!) is just the deal I was looking for to get into this game. I jumped on it and picked up the four limited edition PotRevolution boxes and another 18 packs of Crimson Coast to add the event rules and forts to the game. The total damage was about $120 for 164 ships+, 82 packs in all.

While I need to play with what I got before I move on to the later expansions (Davey Jones, The Flying Dutchman, Cthuliod monsters, etc) and the new Frozen North stuff, the beauty of this game is that it is fun to build, fun to collect, and, above all, very accessible for younger players too.

If there is a game you were considering playing with your precocious 10 year old, this would be it. The building of the ships is well within the capabilities of a ten year old as well.

Not an RPG - but still of interest to ENWorlders generally - especially those looking to get into a hobby game with their kids that isn't Yu-Gi-Oh...

Pics of PotSM and discussions on the game are available on BoardGameGeek.com, here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10653

 

[Silver Moon]

I had played it at a gaming weekend two years ago but didn't begin collecting it until November when my son and I were at a collectibles show and he asked about it. He and I are now totally into it.

My father always sends $ for Christmas gifts so I bought us rather large quantities of Spanish Main, Crimson Coast, Revolution and Davy Jones from various different places (with prices under $ 2 a pack). We now have in the neighborhood of around 60-80 ships each. I recently ordered a case of 36-packs of Crimson Coast for a fire-sale price of $ 1.40 a pack which we should have in a few days (I know three other local Pirates collectors who will buy some from me, making the larger quantities more feasilbe). I'm very tempted to order a case of Frozen North but the best price I've seen thus far is $ 2.40 a pack.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Sounds cool. I'm the same. My son is bouncing up and down about this game. Its rather elegant design provides for a reasonably deep area control game (with a Pirates skin, as some have said) which is very accessible to youngsters too. Just the ticket for me and my precocious 8 year old son.

For those wondering what all of this Pirates stuff looks like - well - on a home made playing board, it looks like this:

Which is pretty freakin cool if you ask me.

 

[Kishin]

Which is pretty freakin cool if you ask me.

...Wow.

Your gaming setups are truly amazing. Between this and the projector system you mentioned awhile back, I am thoroughly awed. How did you go about making this?

 

[Steel_Wind]

No no no. That setup is not mine. It's somebody else's. The builder is Dana Gerath. He created another custom board too, (also very cool) which is similar to that piece but is portable with storage space for all his Pirates stuff for cons and shop play, etc. Looks like this:

Though - mind you - I have a version of it in progress

 

[Silver Moon]

Wow! Those setups are amazing. My son and I just toss a blue sheet over the table and put out a few plastic islands that I had left over from D&D!

For carrying cases for the ships we use a plastic box that K-Mart sells for $ 4.99 each made by Plano, utilitiy box #2-3730. http://www.planomolding.com/content...t&lineid=4&groupid=18&sectionid=64&partid=239

The boxes are 3.25" tall which is high enough to hold even the five-masted ships fully assembled. You'll find them in the fishing section near the tackle boxes, although the funny part is that model name of this box is the "StowAway", a Pirate term if there ever was one.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Wow! Those setups are amazing. My son and I just toss a blue sheet over the table and put out a few plastic islands that I had left over from D&D!

Yeah well, if the custom painted boards and islands are bit much for you, there is another alternative.

Gale Force 9 has a special offer on. They create pre-painted resin islands for Pirates thast are sold in 2 sets (6 islands per set). If you buy one, you can send in the UPC and $29 to GF9 for a 36"x36" vinyl Pirates otSM battlemat. It's a pretty cool play mat, which they call the "Ocean Gaming Mat". Link and a pic is here: http://www.gf9.com/pirates/

The islands themselves can be found online at the Warstore.com for $18.99. Lowest price I found for them.

 

[Silver Moon]

Just picked up our first two packs of Frozen North. My son was thrilled as his pack had two of the Viking fleet including a Rare one. Looking forward to playing with the icebergs.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Just picked up our first two packs of Frozen North. My son was thrilled as his pack had two of the Viking fleet including a Rare one. Looking forward to playing with the icebergs.

Have not tried those yet. May not ever do so, except for the Iceberg rules. I prefer the historical feel of the original sets. Davey Jones is ok I guess, but I draw the line there.

Received 18 packs of Crimson Coast yesterday via ebay. Found not just one but two Roanokes in there. (Ultra rare ship goes for $26 a piece. Very nice.)

I'm working on rules, charts, cards and props for a strategy game based around PotSM. Essentially, a Sid Meir's Pirates feel. Brings in ports and trade goods, along with the concept of declaring war and hiring out Privateers on a gold per turn basis with Letters of Marque. Idea is a four player game on a 3x6 surface with the fifth nationality (Pirates) being available to supplement your fleet on an as required basis to the highest bidder.

Islands are essentially all explored. No random treasure. You pick up goods at ports of call, buy em for gold - ship to where you can sell em for more. Can buy ships during the game with your amassed gold (gold == points).

Don't know how good a game it will be - but it's fun designing.

Speaking of ROLEPLAYING (this being ENWorld), Pinnacle is releasing a hardback Pirates of the Spanish Main 256 p RPG book in late April/Early may.

PotSM - the RPG is based on Pinnacle's "Savage Worlds" system but includes rules to use the PotSM minis for during its naval battles.

Paizo has it on pre-order now. Check it out here: http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/s/studio2Publishing/piratesOfTheSpanishMain/v5748btpy7qqe