What changed
What each rulebook update changed, newest first.
v0.7 2026-10-05
- One island per player. Each player places one island at setup: 2 islands with two players, 4 with four (in Group mode, up to 12). With fewer islands to go round, fleets have to go further to get them and meet sooner, and with four or more players the fleets across the table end up fighting too. In the web game, every new game uses the new count.
- Cracked stone. Stone Hulls only work on an undamaged ship. Once a Stone Fleet ship has lost a fitting, it takes every hit until it is repaired. Land two hits on the same barge in one turn to crack it. With more fighting, the old Stone Hulls let the Stone Fleet win almost every two-player game.
- Islanders get a second fitting. Each catamaran now has two fittings, so it takes two hits to leave one dead in the water. One-hit catamarans won far too rarely once fleets started meeting sooner. The catamaran hull now has a cargo pocket at the bow for it, and the coin slot has moved aft.
- Favoured coins. Each fleet starts holding some of its own favoured coin, kept back from its 20 before the bag is filled: Treasure Fleet 3 Repair, Shadow Fleet 2 Boarding, Queen's Fleet 1 Gunner, Corsairs 1 Full Sail, Islanders 1 Evasive. The Stone Fleet and The Industry have none. It is on each faction card.
- Stack coins on one ship. Several of the same coin can go on one ship in a turn: three Full Sails steer and sail four times, two Gunners fire three times. Brace is the exception, one per ship. Saving coins up for one big turn is a real plan now.
v0.6 2026-09-24
- Parking at islands no longer wins. Surviving ships don't score any more, and a coin is worth a quarter of what it was. Points are 8 per island, 4 per prize fitting, 8 per prize hull, 1 per coin and +8 each for most ships and most islands, and you can declare victory at 60. Only points you hold when your turn begins count, so everyone gets a round to answer.
- Trade Winds. An optional one-page rule. Spin the Wind Dial at the start of each round, and ships sailing with the wind get +1 Move Count while ships sailing into it get -1 (they still click at least once). The dial prints from the base set, and a steel M8 washer helps it spin. In the web game, turn it on at setup or when you create an online game.
- Prizes. Keep every fitting you knock off an enemy ship, and the hull of every ship you sink or capture. A fitting is worth 4 points and a hull 8. When a ship is repaired, captured or raised, whoever holds the piece gives it back.
- Collect from a distance. Each turn, your ship nearest each of your islands can collect a coin there, touching it or not. A ship out at sea still sails forward after collecting.
- Treasure Fleet gets a third junk. Two ships were too few to hold their own at the table.
- Stone Hulls only work at sea. A Stone Fleet ship touching an island takes every hit.
- Real tables, and where to sit. A 6 ft round or a 6 or 8 ft folding table works well. Two players sit a quarter of the way round a round table, or diagonally across a folding one, so the fighting starts sooner. With three or more, put a rock just past each end of every fleet's line. On a narrow table, islands run down the middle.
- Full Sail replaces Signal Flags. It lets one ship steer and sail twice in a turn, but that ship can't fire. The 20-coin set is now 5 Brace, 2 Full Sail, 2 Evasive, 5 Gunner, 4 Repair, 2 Boarding.
- Spend coins between ships. You can spend coins before any of your ships takes its turn, as well as at the start of yours.
- Cannons in the web game now shoot like the printed ones. Two elevations (straight out or tipped up), no power control, a few degrees of spread, and a tapered ball that skids and curls to a stop.
v0.5 2026-09-19
- Always Underway is the standard game now. Every ship takes one action, then sails forward. You can steer or fire, but not both.
- Islands are the only place to hold still. A ship that takes an island action skips its forward click.
- Move Count is a ceiling. Click at least once, and up to your full count.
- Run out of table and you sink. A ship forced off the edge with no room left is scuttled.
- Signal Flags reworked. One of your ships gives up its action, and another takes two full turns.
- Full Sail is gone. Signal Flags pretty much covered it. The coin bag now leans toward guns and boarding: 4 Brace, 2 Signal, 2 Evasive, 4 Gunner, 4 Repair, 4 Boarding.
v0.4 2026-05-18
- Faster fleets. Every faction except the Islanders gains a click of movement. Shadow Fleet now matches Queen's Fleet.
- Corsairs down to three sloops. Four was a lot to keep track of each turn. Three sloops at Move Count 4 can still flank just fine.
- Islanders down to one fitting. One hit leaves a catamaran dead in the water, which is pretty much the point.
- Deploy at the table edge. Ships now start touching the table edge. The old 3-inch gap just wasted space.
- Ricochets. The first ship a cannonball touches takes the hit. Anything it bounces into after that is fine.
- Cannons need a crew. To fire any cannon, a ship of yours must be touching it and spend its action. Islands no longer fire on their own.
- Always Underway. An optional mode where ships have to move forward every turn, and can steer or fire but not both.