This article is an analysis of the Oak & Iron Pirates faction. Learn more about the faction initiative cards, admirals, and strengths & weaknesses. The Pirates are one of the 5 Factions contained in the Oak & Iron Core Rules Boxed Set.
Historical Background
Ranging from late 17th century buccaneers and flibustiers who often have the official or tacit approval to attack Spanish properties at sea and ashore, to the common pirates of the early 18th century who prey almost exclusively on weak merchantmen, these sea rovers do not fight sea actions at the fleet or even squadron level, except the latter very rarely. Even when sailing in flotillas of a dozen or more vessels, pirates of every sort will run rather than fight an enemy fleet, in part because pirate ships are usually small and unable to stand against the larger ships of most fleets.
Most commonly, combined pirate actions at sea consist of two or three buccaneers or flibustiers attacking a Spanish merchant ship and its patache, or a pirate ship and one or two sloops chasing and engaging a merchantman. Occasionally buccaneers and flibustiers are attached as privateers to naval fleets or flotillas where they serve primarily as auxiliaries at sea or to be later used in attacks ashore. Buccaneers and flibustiers are not afraid of engaging English, French, and Dutch naval men-of-war if the ships, men, and guns are roughly equal, although they would prefer not to. Common pirates, however, will invariably run away if they can, and fight only when cornered—and will almost always lose. To profit by plunder is the goal; to fight for honor and duty, if ever, is never foremost in the mind of a pirate.
Why should you play the Pirates Faction?
- Cause they are pirates, and everyone knows pirates are the best… duh!
- Because you like the “jack of all trades” options
- You like boarding builds
- You like swarming builds
- You prefer speed and maneuverability over heavier ships
- You like finesse over firepower
- They have the best average Admirals in the game
Pirate Faction Abilities
ROGUES: This Squadron cannot include Ships of the Line.
MULTINATIONAL: This Squadron may choose initiative cards from the Pirates faction and 1 other faction.
SHALLOW DRAFT: Roll 1 fewer dice (to a minimum of 1) when testing to Run Aground.
MANPOWER: Reduce the cost of the Additional Crew upgrade by half (round down).
- Rogues reflect the lack of formal military backing and financing needed to field the heavy Ships of the Line.
- Multinational is one of the most flexible and powerful faction bonuses in the game. If you know your opponent’s faction and tactics preferences you can select cards to help you counter their advantages. This also is an attribute that gives the pirate faction it’s unique flare as it subtly lets you change your faction to fit several historical aspects of piracy. It is a brilliant design element for the game that reflects the variety of pirates forces and their true multinational makeup.
- Shallow Draft is a good option if you are taking the larger ships available to the faction, but not of much use to the smallest ships like the Sloop, Corvette, Brigantine or Fluyt) as they can’t go lower than 1 Die. (Hey Mike, if you are reading this, it would be nice to change this in the Errata to a free re-roll instead of a negative -1 Die)
- Manpower allows you to get Additional Crew for half price and is a perfect option for a Boarding focused squadron. This should definitely be taken advantage of if you intend to engage in Close Combat.
Pirate Initiative Cards
| Card | Initiative Value | Description |
| Deception | 2 | Ships in this Squadron may not be Attacked at Cannon Shot. Discard this Initiative Card instead of returning it to your hand during the end phase. |
| Raise the Black | 3 | All opposing ships within Musket Shot of a ship in this Squadron must immediately roll a Skill Test with 3 fewer dice. Each ship that fails this test takes 1 point of Fatigue. Discard this Initiative Card instead of returning it to your hand during the end phase. |
- Both Initiative cards available to the Pirates are absolute must-haves in EVERY game in my opinion. There are no builds where they aren’t useful and they both have excellent uses in the game, even though they are both Discarded after use.
- Since the first round of the game is usually just positioning and closing with your enemy, Deception is an excellent card to use in rounds 2-3 when you are actually in cannon range with your enemy. This essentially gives you a free round to close with an enemy without fear of damage or loss of Fatigue.
- Raise the Black it is extremely tempting to use on this card just before you board or as soon as you engage at Musket range or closer. If however, you wait until a round or two after you engage with an enemy, you can force the enemy to make their Skill Test with only a single die per ship, increasing their odds of failure.
- I would take Reload , Down, and Take Courage
- As for Initiative cards that you can take via Multinational, the options are vast, but these are the top recommendations by Faction:
Dutch
- Expert Boarding
- Seize the Opportunity
English
- Long Range Gunnery
- Adjust Formation
- Engage More Closely
French
- Elan
- Swift Vessels
- Superior Firepower
Spanish
- Aggression
- Repel Boarders
- Resilient
Admirals of the Pirate Faction
The Pirates don’t have access to a Level 3 Admiral, but they have 4 Admiral choices where most factions only have 3 AND they have an option for a Unique Captain – Stede Bonnet.
Henry Jennings
| Admiral Level: | 1 |
| Point Cost: | 4 |
| Abilities: | ROGUE: This Squadron may not include Ships of the Line. RAIDER: Roll 1 more dice during Close Combat Attacks with this ship. When using a Landing Party, treat (musket) results as hits. BRILLIANT: Increase this ship’s skill rating by 1 (to a maximum of 3) |
Henry Jennings is a solid choice for the faction. He is inexpensive and with Raider he makes an EXCELLENT boarding build commander. Brilliant is like having a mini Fortune Token every round of the game for that ship.
Jean Hamlin
| Admiral Level: | 1 |
| Point Cost: | 4 |
| Abilities: | ROGUE: This Squadron may not include Ships of the Line. TACTICIAN: After revealing an initiative card, you may spend a Fortune Point to replace it with another card in your hand with the same initiative value or 1 value lower. LUCKY: You may spend a Fortune Point to force your opponent to re-roll an Attack made against this ship. |
Admiral Ability Breakdown
Jean Hamlin’s Tactician ability is nicely paried with the Lucky ability. It essentially gives you the option to keep your standard 3 Fortune Tokens for normal game play and still have an optional token to take advantage of the Tactician ability at least once in the game.
Edward “Blackbeard” Teach
| Admiral Level: | 1 |
| Point Cost: | 5 |
| Abilities: | ROGUE: This Squadron may not include Ships of the Line. BRUTAL: Add 1 Hit to every Close Combat Attack made by this ship. DOGGED: This ship counts as 2 ships when checking for Withdrawl. |
Admiral Ability Breakdown
Edward “Blackbeard” Teach is the most iconic pirate in history. Aside from his low Admiral Level, he is a solid leader. Brutal is fitting for a boarding build, it’s an automatic Hit, no roll needed. Dogged is great if you have a smaller force in a 50-100pt game. Blackbeard is also currently the only character in the game to have a unique ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, with a bonus ability tied to him being assigned to it as the flagship. This ability is like Daring except it removes two fatigue instead of 1 per Rally action. If you are playing a 100 or 200 pt game, he is definitely a strong choice, especially when paired with his flagship.
Stede Bonnet
| Admiral Level: | Captain |
| Point Cost: | 3 |
| Abilities: | BOLD: After making an Attack or Skill Test, you may re-roll up to 3 dice. If any of the re-rolled dice fail to score a hit during the Attack or if the Skill test is failed, this ship takes 1 Point of Fatigue PERSISTENT This ship may remove 1 point of Fatigue each time its Squadron earns 1 or more Strike Points |
Captain Ability Breakdown
Stede Bonnet, “The Gentleman Pirate” and a famous cohort of Blackbeard, is a unique card. He is currently the only named Captain character in the game. As z captain he can be assigned a ship, to offer integrated upgrades to the ship, but doesn’t offer any bonuses to select additional Initiative Cards and doesn’t affect Initiative as an Admiral would. His Bold and Persistent attributes are both good abilities because they are passive, meaning you don’t have to use your Crew Actions or make Skill Tests to get them to work.
Other Factions in Oak & Iron
Select one of the factions below to see our breakdown of the playstyle and pros & cons of each Oak & Iron nation, their admirals, and initiative cards. Each guide comes with our recommendations for how to take advantage of the features in building your Oak & Iron Squadron. Select another faction to learn about it.
