Hi all,

Waiting on my first order of 10 packs of cards for my son and I for Christmas, so I've not actually played the game yet. Can't wait!

Wondering how long an average game (if there is such a thing) takes to play?

Also, what does everyone use for a playing surface? I've seen several pictures of a blue surface that I'm assuming is cloth??? Also, how large should the playing surface be?

Thanks for the info! Can't wait for Chistmas!
pillage&plunder

I use a square yard of cloth for my "sea" and I made 3-D islands out of dryfoam. We use a timer for our games, set for 30 minutes.

Welcome ot the game and have fun!

-Q

The game gets quicker with experience. Set-up can take up to 5 minutes but most of have it done in less. The games themselves are between 15-30 minutes at our store. it often depends on where the gold is placed randomly at the beginning. No one in our play group has the power combos of 4xrum so treasure runners are a little slower. in tournaments we are restricted to 30 minutes a game but casual games have been known to go up to 45 minutes in a close match.

Also depends on how many points you play. And if you play by the rules. A lot of people like to shoot people instead of running for gold, even though gold is currently the only way to win officially. Gunship fleets tend to be faster than gold runners, and mixed fleets (those with both gunships and treasure runners) depend on how much you focus on either side. The position of the islands also affects game length--if you play them all no more than the minimum 2L away from one another, the game will be faster.

There's a lot of little factors involved, but what I like best is you can customize the game to be as simple or as complex as you want. Have fun, it's a great little game, and it looks like it's going to get better.

Thanks for the info! The 10 booster packs I ordered for my son arrived today. It's going to be a long 5 days until Christmas! :)

pillage&plunder

Good Luck on you & your son's draws.

last night me and my buddy who play played two games in a 1.5hour period first it takes him 30 minutes for set (hes SLOOOOOOW) up then it took us 30mins for the first game (i won by a large margin) th esecond game was 80 points took another 15mins for set up then the game took 15 mins (i won and i wiped the sea with bits and pieces of his revenant and darkhawk duece, I got Acorazado yesterday ;-)~ ) so it all depends on how many playing and how many points. & if your a slow mofo like him XP

As a newbie, don't let this fool you. MB Zero has the unfortunate problem of living in an area where the current "rules guru" lives.

What this means is that Wizkids has appointed a guy named Pirahna(?) to make rulings on the game. He has then made various references to making an updated FAQ that has yet to come out. He also is prone to make sporadic rulings in the Wizkids forum that contradict with the rules that are on the Pirates web page. As a result, many tournament organizers, who are authorized by Wizkids, opt to run their events by the official tournament rules and the august FAQ that are posted. Keep in mind that one of these "likes to shoot people" judges has been working as a judge for Wizkids since the company was founded and has judged at GENCON.
Now don't get me wrong here. I have on good authority that MBZero is one of the best players on this forum. GoP and others can verify it. One of the things that makes him so great is his adaptability to changes in the environment. (It makes me wonder why he doesn't play L5R). Then again, he has to be that way considering his local environment.

BTW, the errata on the forums policy will kill tyhe game quicker than the vague rules. The only thing that saved L5R from going in the ****per when diamond edition came out was the reduction of a man by the name of Jeff Alexander's power. He just about killed the game and he was in a similar situation that Pirahna is in now. He was forced to fix **** on the fly. The difference is that Pirahna is fixing someone else's mess, while Jeff was fixing his own. Either way, it doesn't work, so many of us will continue to ignore him until he does what he has said he would do. That is update the FAQ. If that doesn't happen then we will wait until Crimson Coast shows up with a new rule book.

Wow, the creative euphamism for the sh word is filtered here. :rolleyes:

Um, thanks, I guess?

I'll clarify before we kill your enthusiasm before it starts. Wizkids does one thing well, and that's make games that are open ended. Wizkids games I've played are all fun. There's a degree of customizability to all their games. But the tournaments (official, Wizkids sponsored ones) are all very linear--they play strictly by the basic rules and FAQ. A standard, tournament style game is played the way the rule book you find in the packs describes it. It's a 30 point, six island, six-pieces-equaling-twelve-gold-per-player, whoever-gets-over-half-the-total-starting-gold-first-wins game. But Wizkids encourages (also in the rulebook) for you to play with different scenarios, point totals, rules, anything to make the game more fun for you. The best games are the ones you make yourself. Enjoy it and familiarize yourself with it before you play tournaments for it. And don't let all this political stuff confuse you right now...

have a piratey Christmas!

Yep, he summed it all up in one sentence. You can go military

Thanks guys...I think :confused:

Seriously, appreciate the info...can't wait until in the morning when my son opens them and WE GET TO PLAY!!!

By the way, was on my way to the airport last night and stopped by a Target about an hour from here and they had a few packs. I picked up 2 and this is what they had in them:

Bonny Kate
Harbinger
Oarsman (Spanish)

Venture
Harbinger
Musketeer (Pirate)

So this is what I'll be bringing against my 12-year old in the morning. I have a feeling I'll get stomped since he'll have 10 packs to open :rolleyes:

Have a very Happy Christmas tomorrow!

pillage&plunder

Nice Pulls good luck on the ones tomorrow. and just because he has more ships doesnyt mean he can automatically woop you LOL.

It depends on the size of the fleet you choose to play, the strategy of those playing, and whethersome one such as myself runs like a coward for 2+ hours(My first and most fun game to date, asides from the multiplayer game I won.)

The formula Is Time = Bloodthirstyness X Greed divided by Cowardice squared!

Note rum and plague use may vary conult a doctor or AA group if symptoms persist.