Get ready to drive fear into your enemy as you learn to BOARD your enemy’s ship with flare! Boarding actions are quintessential to the Golden Age of Piracy and take a prime role in the game of Oak & Iron. The following is a guide to maximizing the outcome of successfully boarding. We’ll cover advanced combat and sailing tips to board properly. And breakdown some recommendations for ship upgrades, admirals, and initiative cards to make you an absolute terror on the seas.
General Boarding Action Tips
- Close Combat gives you a bonus of 3 dice to your attack (Errata v 1.01 pg 33 – previously 5). This bonus is per attack, per ship, which means that Boarding favors multiple ships over stronger ships. By comparison, 2 Corvettes for 14 points, each with 1 Crew + 3 Bonus, gives you 8 Close Combat dice. Compare that to a 13-point Petite Fregate with 2 Crew + 3 dice for 5 dice. More ships = more Close Combat dice.
- Deploy your ships as far forward toward your enemy as your deployment zone allows. Your goal is to close with the enemy as quickly as possible. If you can shave some inches off the table early it makes it that much easier.
- The Dutch, French, and Pirate factions are the best two factions for building a boarding-focused squadron. If you want to focus on boarding, start with these factions. More on that later.
- Focus on enemy ships that have High or Very High Freeboard. These abilities make ships harder to defeat with cannons/ranged attacks. However, these abilities are completely useless against a Close Combat action. Meaning they are easier to board than shoot with cannons.
- Speed is your ally! Use your early Seamanship Actions to increase your Sail Setting and build speed. If you play with the house rule to start at any sail setting, start at Full Sail.
- If at all possible, try to only grapple ships that have already moved during their turn. This prevents the enemy from using their own Crew Action and Cut Free immediately after you have grappled. Which defeats your board before the Attack Phase.
- Consider targeting the opponent’s rigging rather than their hull. This will slow them down and deny them speed advantages (Targetting Rigging rules pg 25). This will let you close on them and potentially maneuver for a better boarding angle. It also keeps them from being able to run away.
- Be careful of your angle of approach to your enemy. If you sail directly at your opponent you can expose yourself to raking shots. One counter to that is “fishtail” during your approach. This maneuver uses Seamanship Actions and the Yare special ability to help close on your enemy faster and prevent being raked. You can learn how to fishtail in our advanced sailing maneuvers.
- Capture your enemy rather than going for the sink. This deprives the enemy of a ship, but it also joins your fleet which affects Strike Points. If you ever have more Strike Points than ships you are forced to retreat. By taking away your opponent’s ship, it inflicts a Strike Point, AND bolsters your own ship count. The more ships you have, the less likely you will be forced to retreat.
- Ramming can have its advantages when used as a free attempt to Entangle an enemy. Ramming can damage your own ship, but will be able to use your Crew Action for something else like Rally. More strategy tips on Ramming that are useful in boarding.
- When selecting terrain at the beginning, Fog is a good tool to reduce incoming fire from your enemy. Make sure you put fog toward the middle of the board to block Line of Sight during your approach.
Ship Upgrade Recommendations For Boarding Actions
For me, if I’m making a ship maxed out for boarding, the go-to upgrades are Additional Crew, Boarding Party, & Marines. That combination gives the highest number of Close Combat Dice it can get from Ship Upgrades at the lowest cost. If running a mixed build of boarding and cannons, swap to Buccaneers over the Marines. However, running a maxed-out ship for boarding is expensive, so consider how much you want to spend carefully. This combination is best on 5th or 6th Rate frigates.
Top Ship Upgrade Recommendations for Boarding
- Additional Crew (varies) – This upgrade isn’t available to all ships, and varies in cost based on the ship size and cost. It gives your ship +3 more Fatigue and gives you a +1 Die to all Close Combat actions. If running ships geared towards boarding that offers Additional Crew for a +2pts, it is almost always worth the upgrade. The extra 3 Fatigue will keep your ship in the fight longer.
- Boarding Party (1 pt) – The name can’t make it much more obvious that it’s useful for boarding actions. It gives you a +1 Die to all Close Combat actions.
- Marines (2 pt) – “When checking for Critical Hits, if one or more Musket results are rolled, the target ship takes 1 point of fatigue. This ship adds +1 dice to all Close Combat actions.” This is like Boarding Party, but more powerful as it also applies to a 12.5% bonus chance of extra Fatigue on Critical Hit checks. On smaller ships where Additional Crew is 2 points, make sure you take Additional Crew before Marines. Both give a +1 to Close Comat attack, but Additional Crew gives the bonus 3 Fatigue and the bonus on Partial Attacks,
- Buccaneers (2 pt) – “When making an Attack at Musket Shot or closer (including Close Combat), re-roll any (musket) results. If any additional (Musket) results are rolled, the Attacked ship takes 1 Point of Fatigue. May not be taken on Ships of the Line.” This is a good upgrade as it helps in all attacks, not just Close Combat, including Broadsides. This is helpful while closing to get 1-2 Partial shots in at Musket Range before boarding. That lets you inflict Fatigue early so they are less able to hit you back due to Fatigue penalties. It also makes them weaker in a counter-board attack and hopefully leaves them Shaken sooner.
- Corsairs (1 pt) – “After rolling for a Close Combat Attack, this ship may roll 1 more dice for each (sword) result. May not be taken on Ships of the Line“. There is a 1 in 8 chance of rolling a Cutlass, giving a 12.5% chance of getting an extra hit. Not the greatest upgrade but it does save you 1 point over Marines or Buccaneers.
- Swashbucklers (1 pt) – “After rolling for a Close Combat Attack, this ship may roll 1 more dice for each (Skull) result“. You have a 12.5% chance of a Skull on the initial attack and a 50% chance the second die hits. Ultimately that means you only have a 6.25% chance of an additional hit for each Attack Die rolled in Close Combat. Not the greatest.
- Aggressive Crew (2 pt) – “This ship may perform a Free “Boarding” Crew Action if the target ship has more Fatigue than this ship”. This is a one-time use card from the Oak & Iron Expansion Deck Vol 1. By giving a free Boarding action this card gives benefits you may be overlooking.
- It allows you to use your standard Crew Action to Rally or Repair.
- Because Boarding requires you to make a Skill check to succeed, it gives you a chance try again using your standard Crew Action if the card fails.
- At a cost of 2 points, this card may be a little overpriced as it’s a risk & only takes effect if the target has more Fatigue. For me, you are better off taking Marines or one of the other cards before this one. If they update the card with errata to lower it to 1 point or guaranteed a successful Boarding Action, this card would become a must have.
Boarding Action Initiative Card Recommendations
Any Faction
- Boarding Through the Smoke – This is personally one of my favorite cards for boarding. It gives you essentially two attacks in a single round (a Partial and Close Combat). Plus, it has a high 4 Initiative which gives you a good chance of going first.
- Down! – Down is great at keeping your Fatigue high as you close on the enemy. It also does not require you to stay in formation.
- Favorable Wind – If you are taking slower ships, this is a good way to boost your speed and close on your enemy. It is also a reusable Initiative 5 card. This means even if you don’t need the wind bonus, it is useful to try to go first in a round. If sailing large and with Fast or Swift, this card is of little benefit, but that Initiative 5 sure is nice.
- Small Arms – While not boarding-related, it is useful as you will be in Partial Fire range for a turn or 3. This is a FREE Partial Fire action you can use multiple times. It also happens during the opponent’s movement, so it can be used as a counter-boarding defense. Once entangled, there may not be actual movement, but the movement phase still occurs and they move 0. Play this card to inflict Fatigue on them before they attack! This reduces their Close Combat dice in the Attack phase.
- Shoals Ahead – Heavily armed forces like the English or Spanish are going to have larger ships. They are also going to be focusing on sailing in line ahead formation. That means I want to take as many shoals during the initial deployment as possible. And then this card really shines because it lets you guarantee your Skill Check for sailing over a shoal. Check out our Terrain Strategy Guide for additional tips on shoals.
- Intrepid – I’m not a huge fan of this card, as it is an Initiative 1 and discarded. However, it does have its uses in helping boost Fatigue, particularly later in the game. I know players who swear by this card. I would argue since you are going second, the enemy will hit you and take the Fatigue you just recovered.
- Doughty – If you are playing a 100-200 point game this card is one to consider. It has the benefit of being able to play it knowing when the effects are going to come into play. However, since you it has limited playability it can eat a card in your initiative hand.
- Take Courage – Your success in boarding relies on keeping Fatigue low. This gives you the option to restore lost Fatigue while trying to move into Yard Arm distance of your enemy. Once you break formation to start boarding, you will likely never return, so this one is a lower priority.
Dutch Initiative Card Recommendations
Arguably the best boarding faction in the game. They have a nationality bonus that gives them a +1 to all Close Combat actions AND an Admiral with Raider that gives a +1 Die as well. Check out our full Dutch faction review for more helpful info.
- Boat Assault is a good card to play in the round just before you entangle and board the enemy. Slowing your Speed to 2 can be done either by adjusting your sail setting with a Crew Action or a Seamanship Action or both! Alternatively, you can turn to a Weatherly angle the round before to help slow down.
- Expert Boarding is a SUPERB card as it applies to multiple ships AND the effects happen BEFORE the enemy gets to Attack. If you can time it right, you can have your entire fleet board the enemy in a single round and inflict massive fatigue!
- Lured into the Shoals is great to force an enemy to change course or risk running Aground. It becomes even more powerful if the board already contains a lot of terrain. If I know I’m going to be playing a heavily armed enemy like the English or Spanish, I know they are going to be focusing on sailing in line ahead formation. That makes this is an EXCELLENT card to help bust up their formation or force them to turn in a direction different from where they were wanting to go. Throwing a shoal as close as possible in front of the front ship forces them to angle away or roll over the shoal and risk running aground. A Ship with a Fortitude 3 has a 33% chance of running aground and Fortitude 4 has a 41.4% chance. Regardless of it’s success, it can help you close on the enemy and/or avoid incoming cannon fire. Check out our Terrain Strategy Guide for additional tips on shoals.
- Seize the Opportunity is one of THE MOST powerful cards in the game. It affects all attacks (Close Combat, Broadside & Partial) and it is a boost on all ships. Knowing the card is coming next round you need to make sure you break formation.
English Initiative Card Recommendations
Why are you trying to board? Shouldn’t you be passive-aggressively insulting your opponent and smashing them with your cannons?
French Initiative Card Recommendations
The French nationality bonus makes their ships faster and gives a free +1 Die to all Close Combat attacks. This makes them perfectly suited for sailing at your enemy quickly and engaging in close combat boarding.
- Boarder Away – It has “Boarders” in it so it sounds like a good option, but don’t bother with this card unless you want a 5 Initiative. Most targets are probably going to be at Battle Sail or better so it won’t come into play. Unless… you are trying to be historical in your play style and have targeted their rigging to slow them down. Or they have already been Entangled by another ship. Still not the greatest option.
- Elan – This card doesn’t grant a free action, but it does allow you to use your Crew Action to attack sooner rather than later. And the sooner you can inflict more Fatigue on an enemy the fewer dice they get in the Attack phase.
Note that this card was changed in Errata v 1.01 to: “During the Movement Phase, ships in this Squadron may spend a Crew Action to make a Partial Fire Attack, or if Entangled, a Close Combat Attack. Roll 1 more dice to these Attacks.”
- Swift Vessels – Similar to Favorable Wind, this gives you the speed boost to close on your enemy. However, you don’t have to have the wind to use it. And since it’s a Free Move 1, if you are at Speed 5, it’s like getting a Move 6. it’s also an Initiative 5 card, almost guaranteeing you will be going first in the round you play the card.
Pirates Initiative Card Recommendations
The Pirates are also one of the best boarding factions in the game. Especially if you choose to use MultiNational to select Dutch or French initiative cards. You gain the benefits of the pirates AND one of the other boarding-focused factions. Check out our Pirate faction review for more info.
- Deception – This is a superb card to use early in the game to prevent your boarding parties from taking hits at long range.
- Raise the Black – This is also an excellent card. Inflicting Fatigue on your enemy makes them more prone to surrender and less able to counter-board once you are Entangled.
Spanish Initiative Card Recommendations
The Spanish aren’t the best at boarding, but if you play your cards right, they can be tricksy. They are better at defending against boarding, which on larger ships is likely to be necessary.
- Aggression -Boarding is all about bankrupting an enemy ship’s Fatigue. Aggression will give the enemy an additional Fatigue for each attack that core hits. If you have boarded with multiple ships this really stacks up fast.
- Bravado – A well-timed Bravado card allows your squadrons to fight with no negative effects from Fatigue. Late in the game when heavily Fatigued, this is an EXTREMELY POWERFUL surprise attack card. As an Initiative 5 card it also pretty much guarantees you are going first on your attack that round.
- Repel Boarders – This sounds counterintuitive but play it the round you board. If you do board & it doesn’t cause the Enemy to be Shaken/Out of Action, they are likely going to do Close Combat attack back. This card is useful in reducing that attack’s effectiveness. It is extremely powerful and lowers Close Combat dice success to a 1 in 8 (12.5%) chance of success.
Conclusion
I hope this article gives you insight into how to improve your boarding skills and create a better boarding-focused squadron. Check out our Advanced Strategy Guide: “How to Board Ships of the Line”. It focuses on approaching and fighting more powerful enemy ships to pull off-boarding actions that would make Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet proud.
Now get out there and play some more Oak & Iron! … and if you take pictures, we’d love to see them in our Battle Reports section of our Oak & Iron Gallery.