Fire Ships: Ultimate Guide & Top Strategies for Oak & Iron

Fireships are a risky tactic in the game of Oak & Iron. Learn how to maximize your odds of sinking an enemy with a critical hit & how to defend your own fleet from them with our Fire Ship strategy guide.

What is a Fire Ship?

During the Age of Sail, a fire ship (or fireship), was a vessel that was intentionally filled with combustible materials or gunpowder and intentionally set on fire and sent into the ranks of an enemy fleet. Either by drifting or steering, it was meant to ram enemy ships in order to ignite or destroy them in the process. It was also a great distraction and method to create panic and make the enemy fleets break formation. As they were destroyed in the process, they were often ships no longer fit for combat, retired vessels, merchant/fishing ships, or even recently claimed warship prizes.

Positioning your Fire Ships during the Deployment Phase

• If you have a Fire Ship in your fleet, plan your deployment around it. Aim to be the attacker whenever possible. The defender places ships first, giving you the chance to position your fleet to threaten their most valuable target.
• If you can, take the Corners deployment zone card (Fig. 1). It puts you closer to the enemy and lets you decide whether to split your force. Dividing your fleet forces your opponent to track both the Fire Ship (and its escorts) and your main attack group.
• Terrain is a mixed tool for Fire Ships. You can use it to create lanes and bottlenecks that funnel the enemy into ideal attack positions. But terrain also restricts your own movement and can force your Fire Ship into predictable paths where it’s easier to shoot down.
• During deployment, push your ships as far forward as possible. You want to engage quickly before the enemy disables your Fire Ship at range.
• If your opponent deployed first, identify your primary target and the path they’re most likely to sail. Deploy to shorten that distance. Sailing head‑to‑head is usually best, since it lets you close faster than approaching from behind or alongside.

What ships should you select for Fire Ships?

One may be quick to apply this upgrade card to the Sloop since it’s the cheapest, smallest ship option. However, you should first consider the Corvette or Brigantine, as they both have the Fast attribute, which can give you the ability to close with your intended target. The Brigantine may be a point more in cost, but it offers an additional point of Broadside, which is doubled to two dice for the Fire Ship attack.

In a large 200 pt game, a Fluyt, Petite Frégate, or 6th Rate can be tempting. Like a Brigantine a Fluyt has a 4 Broadside, but it comes with High Freeboard so it’s more durable and can increase your odds of surviving against the largest Ships of the Line. It is also 60% more expensive than a Brigantine. Petite Frégates also give you the 8 Dice attack while allowing you to be fast and maneuverable, getting you in the perfect position to strike your target. The 6th Rate focuses on the Damage output offering one of the highest options of the smaller ships. The new Galley Frigate offers one of the fastest options to deliver the paint, but it is also the most expensive option out there.

If you are playing the Pirates, a particularly bold captain may be willing to take the risk of turning the Revenge into a Fire Ship. This is a bit expensive and risky, but it grants you a potential Critical Attack check with a devastating 10 dice! If successful, it is often enough to take out even the largest Ships of the Line. Such an attack is similar to sacrificing a knight or rook to take a queen in chess.

Fire Ship Damage Comparison Table

Ship	Pts	# of Atk Dice	Dmg to Pt Ratio	% Chance of Success	Perks
Sloop	7	6	0.857 to 1	4.21%	Yare, Small, Fore & Aft Rig
Corvette	7	6	0.857 to 1	4.21%	Fast, Yare, Small
Brigantine	8	8	1 to 1	6.93%	Yare, Small, Fore & Aft Rig
Revenge	10	10	1 to 1	9.87%	Fast, Yare, Small, Fore & Aft Rig
Fluyt	13	8	0.615 to 1	6.93%	High Freeboard
Petite Fregate	13	8	0.615 to 1	6.93%	Yare, Fast
6th Rate	13	10	0.769 to 1	9.87%	Broadside 5 (+1 higher than a Fluyt & Petite Fregate)
Galley Firgate	14	10	0.571 to 1	9.87%	Fast, Improved Sweeps

How We Calculated Success Rate:

A fire ship’s critical hit requires two probability checks that must both succeed.

Stage 1: Initial Attack Roll
On a d8, the chance of rolling a Skull (an 8) is 1 in 8, or 12.5%. You need at least 2 Skulls to proceed.

• 6 dice: 16.65% chance of rolling 2+ Skulls
• 10 dice: 36.11% chance of rolling 2+ Skulls

Stage 2: The Reroll
You reroll all the Skulls you rolled in Stage 1. You only need a single one to come up as a Skull to succeed. The more Skulls you’re rerolling, the better your odds:

• Reroll 2 Skulls: 23.4% chance at least one is a Skull
• Reroll 3 Skulls: 33.0% chance at least one is a Skull

Combining the Probabilities:
Most attacks don’t make it past Stage 1, and even those that do have another hurdle in Stage 2. The final success rates are:

• 6-dice ship: 4.21% overall success rate
• 10-dice ship: 9.87% overall success rate.

How to make sure your Fire Ship hits its target

Speed matters for Fire Ships, especially when you need to close with your target at the last moment. Spending an extra point on Swift for more speed or Sweeps for the Row Crew Action and an extra Move 1 can make the difference.

Secrecy is just as important. If your Fire Ship is revealed too early, your opponent will either steer away or sink it before you can use it effectively.

Fire Ship Attack Strategies

• If your opponent asks about your force makeup, tell them. Otherwise, keep your formation looking routine so you don’t reveal the Fire Ship early.
• Hide the Fire Ship behind another vessel to block line of sight and prevent targeting.
• Charge straight in when you commit. The Fire Ship draws outsized attention, pulling enemy fire and distracting them from your main force.
• Use that distraction to maneuver your other ships. Opponents often break formation to avoid a Collision, losing Broadside bonuses and disrupting initiative card effects.
• A Fire Ship can collide with multiple targets if they stay in formation—capitalize on it and punish clustered ships.
• Save at least one Fortune Point for the Fire Ship’s attack roll. It’s costly, and you want every chance to land it.
• Delay the Fire Ship’s movement until after your target moves so you can adjust to the best intercept course.
• Since Fire Ships can’t make other attacks, don’t worry about staying in formation. It’s often safer to remain outside it to avoid accidental collisions if one of your ships is taken Out of Action.

How to select the best Initiative cards with a Squadron Fire Ship

There are multiple initiative cards that allow for additional mobility or movement that can push the Fire Ship into position to make a collision. If you select them for your force, remember to pick them on the round prior to your attack. Let’s take a deeper look at the initiative cards best paired with Fire Ships.

Fire Ship Initiative Card Recommendations

• Careful Aim – This is THE CARD to take and play at the right time if you can. It lets you reroll any missed Critical Hits. It’s definitely going to give you the best opportunity to hit the enemy’s gunpowder magazine and send them to the depths below!
• Adjust Position – This is useful in multiple ways. You can use it to shift and deny the enemy line of sight, move into position to actually cause a collision, or set yourself up for the next round. Unfortunately, it requires you to be in formation, which isn’t always the best tactic for fire ships.
• Favorable Wind – Helps close on your enemy as quickly as possible.
• Fleet Maneuver  – This allows your ship to get a free turn.
• Seize the Opportunity (Dutch) – this adds 2 more Dice to your attack roll. Upon further review, this is invalid as the bonus. The card explicitly applies during the Attack Phase and a Fire Ship collision happens during the Movement Phase.
• Engage More Closely (English) – All the benefits and uses of Adjust Position above.
• Swift Vessels (French)
• Superior Firepower (French) – “Increase the broadside value of each ship in this squadron by 2 for the rest of this turn. Discard this Initiative Card instead of returning it to your hand during the end phase.” This one is a bit of a loophole. While you aren’t making a Broadside attack, this card increases your Broadside attack by 2 for the round. Thus it is granting your Fire Ship 4… Yes, 4 more dice. If you play Pirates and take this card, you can have the Revenge attack with an INSANE 14 dice Critical Attack. That equates to a 53.7% chance of blowing the target ship(s) magazine crippling it instantly.

How to Maximize the Critical Hit Success with Fire Ship

The goal for your fire ship attack is to get that coveted 2 Skull Critical Hits on your Attack roll and resulting in the target suffering a magazine hit and being immediately Crippled. For a Ship of the Line that can lead to a large number of points of a force disappearing in a hurry.

• Make sure you save a Fortune Point for the attack roll. Nothing is more depressing than losing to a bad dice roll. If at first you don’t succeed, roll, roll again!
• Skill Points. While it may be a little questionable to spend Skill Points on a single attack, they are an option. On an inexpensive ship this gives you 1 or 2 more chances to roll a Skull. Even if you hit and inflict damage, but don’t get a Skull, you may want to use your Skill in hopes of getting a Critical Hit.

Captain Upgrades

By the Fire Ship card rules, you cannot add an upgrade to the ship. However, it has been clarified that Captains DO NOT count as Ship Upgrades. There are two options I’d recommend:

• Strict Captain (1pt). Strict Captains allows you to take 2 points of Fatigue instead of using a Fortune point when making a reroll. This essentially allows you to buy a Fortune Point for 1 pt if you have to re-roll your Fire Ship attack.
• Bold Captain (1pt). This option allows you to re-roll up to 3 Dice AFTER making your attack. If any of the re-rolled dice fail to score a hit you take a point of Fatigue. However, since this is a fire ship, Fatigue doesn’t matter because after the attack you will automatically be Out of Action anyway. The ability to re-roll AFTER the attack is that it lets you keep the Skulls you have rolled and select any misses or non-Skull successes. And, based on order of events, if the Bold Captain rolls fail, you can then use a Fortune Point and try again… and use the Bold captain ability again. (pg. 24 “Re-rolls given by crew skill or other special rules may be used again after spending a Fortune Point.“)

How to Defend Yourself from Fire Ships

A fire ship can be a scary sight in an enemy force. In larger point games, it can be a game-changer if it manages to hit a larger ship. Don’t panic if they show up on the board. Take a second to keep your focus and develop a plan to defeat them. After playing multiple games with fire ships on the board, we’ve come up with a few suggestions to help you keep your cool and defeat an enemy’s incoming fireship.

Deployment Strategies & Tips to Defeat Fire Ships

• Keep your distance. It’s obvious, but it’s the best defense. Start the game at minimal sail or even anchored. Make the Fire Ship come to you, giving yourself maximum time to hit it at range.
• Start on one edge of the board with the wind at your back and your opponent downwind. This forces the Fire Ship to sail windward at slower speed, buying you an extra round or two of ranged fire.
• Deploy as far back in your zone as possible to maximize distance. Every inch matters when you’re trying to keep a Fire Ship away.
• Avoid fog and islands during pregame terrain selection. Both reduce visibility, and you need every chance to shoot the incoming ship.
• Take rocks and shoals. They restrict movement and create clean firing lanes. If you’re lucky, the Fire Ship might run aground or clip a rock.
• Place all terrain in your deployment zone so you can adjust its position. This lets you build a small defensive “wall” or force the Fire Ship into a longer, more predictable approach path. Check out our Terrain strategy guide for tips.

Strategies & Tips to Defeat Fire Ships

• Sacrifice a pawn. Use your smallest, cheapest ship to ram the Fire Ship before it reaches your valuable assets. A Fire Ship’s effect triggers the moment it suffers a Collision, so trading a low‑value ship is far better than losing something expensive. Ideally, your sacrificial ship is equal or fewer points than the Fire Ship, making the trade a wash.
• Don’t rush the ram—just make the Collision inevitable. Forcing your opponent into that slow, stressful march often leads to mistakes.
• If you can’t force a Collision, use a small ship to block or redirect the Fire Ship’s approach. Even a slight push can buy your main fleet the space it needs.
• Focus your fire. If you choose to sink it, commit fully. Concentrated fire is the only reliable way to kill a Fire Ship before it reaches you.
• Ignore it. If you don’t have a high‑value ship worth protecting, consider ignoring the Fire Ship entirely. They’re often used as distractions to pull your attention away from prime targets. Sinking a 7–10 point Fire Ship while the rest of the enemy fleet goes unchecked can put you behind on Strike Points.
  Remember: Fire Ships generate zero Strike Points when destroyed. The only benefit to sinking one is avoiding the risk of taking a Strike Point if your own ship becomes Crippled.
• Shoot the rigging to slow the Fire Ship or force it to Anchored speed (See pg. 25 for rules on TARGETING RIGGING). You don’t have to kill it to reduce its movement to the point that it neutralizes the threat. Even if they use actions to raise sails, they can’t do it instantly, and the results are delayed until the next turn since your speed is determined at the start of the Movement Phase.

Additional Content Suggestions:

• The Revenge Oak & Iron Ship Review
• More Oak & Iron Strategy & Tactics Articles