How to Play Black Fleet | Official Rules

You command a flotilla of ships on behalf of a nation in a far off corner of the Caribbean. Each turn, you will move your merchant ship, your pirate ship, and a navy ship to try and win doubloons.

These riches will allow you to improve your ships and when your fleet is fully developed, you may pay the ransom of the governor's daughter to win the game.

Components

• 1 board
• 44 movement cards
• 44 fortune cards
• 10 ships
• 24 development cards
• 65 goods cubes
• 4 player identification cards
• 8 victory cards
• 10 doubloons of value 5 (gold),
• 20 doubloons of value 1 (silver):
• Rulebook

Setup

Place the board in the middle of the table. Place the two navy ships in their starting areas and the goods in the appropriate ports.

• Separate the development cards into 4 decks of cards, each with the same number on their backs.

  Shuffle each deck and deal each player a card of each of the following values: 5, 8, 11, and 14. The extra cards are returned to the box. The players place the development cards in front of them,

  face-down, in increasing value from left to right. Players can look at their own development cards at any time. Players then place their victory card (the one with a value of 10 for the first game) to the right of their development cards.

• 1st player selection cards (which complete the display) are then dealt to each player and. revealed.

  Each player takes the ships matching the color of their card, (a merchant able to hold. 3 goods, and. a pirate which can only hold one) and put these ships in front of them.

• Shuffle the fortune cards and. form a deck next to the board. Then each player draw one card.

• Shuffle the movement cards and deal 2 to each player. The other movement cards are shuffled into a deck next to the board.

• The first player is always the one who has the black ships. Everyone will play the same number of turns (see end. of the game).

  The first player places his merchant ship on one of the three spaces adjacent to the port of his choice and. loads 3 goods matching the port in question. The other players do the same going clockwise.

  Once all the merchants are in play, the game can begin.

  Pirate ships begin the game empty and out of the board. On their turn, each player moves their pirate ship into the board, starting from one of the distant sea zones.