In the hills outside Cartagena lies the remnants of one of the Inca's Treasure Mines. Through dint of good manners, charm, a sharp sword and a strong arm you have rescued a map showing the location and you have set off with your crew to liberate this fabulous wealth.
The game would suit one or two crews, though more will be playable. One or two crews will still face some challenge from the Inca while more crews won't, but of course only one crew can win, so there will be more pirate/pirate skirmishes. The pirates come armed with what weapons they feel appropriate, and may include for example swivel guns or light cannon transported on mules. However, the points for one of these is prohibitive unless you plan on having multiple crews enter the fight and ally. I assume most crews will bring pistols, muskets, swords, daggers and possibly a few hand grenades and kegs of powder and shot. There will be no resupply by helicopter or overnight express couriers. If you can't find it on the map, or loot it from the dead, your guns will sometime run out of powder or shot. The pirates may indeed be pirates, a merchant expedition or a naval party seeking riches for the empire. Either way they are all treated the same for the game.
The pirate or merchant crew will number about 40 men and consist at least of:
A naval crew will number about 40 men and consist of at least:
The morale for any 'pirate' party is high, as the journey so far has been good and without incident, and the tales of possible loot tempting. You expect some natives, but not many. They are easily frightened by your guns, so you also expect them to run away at first sight of you.
The Inca can be run as a random responce in a solo game, or by an umpire or player in larger games. Inevitably the Inca do not expect to win the encounter if there are more than two crews of pirates coming their way, and simply wish to cause as much harm as possible. If facing one or two crews, the Inca will fight to the bitter end. The Inca have a number of storage depots across the hill containing resupplies of weapons and ammunition for their bows & blowpipes.
Being a place of religious significance, the Inca player has some magic for the game. The local shaman has an apprentice as well, and a pair of trained war jaguars. The shaman is treated as a lieutenant for the purposes of the Inca responce. The leader is the nominal chieftain.
The Incas consist of
The morale is only normal, as the Inca are not expecting trouble. Being near the sacred tunnels does not make any of the warriors particularly fanatical, as they expect the whities to try and steal it eventually, and they also expect them to do it successfully. The Inca are grimly determined to hold out as long as possible though. All spears can be thrown if needed. Warriors emptying their ammunition supply will disappear to restock at one of the resupply spots. The Inca player may send them to resupply any time he chooses, even if their ammunition is not exhausted. The villagers are not meant for combat, the Inca player may use them as carriers or distractions as he sees fit.
The mine is actually a number of tunnels into the slope of a rugged mountain. To the pirates, all tunnels look the same, so they will not know in which tunnels lie the treasure, or whether it lies in one tunnel or several. All tunnels are structurally sound unless some fool goes firing cannon at them. The Inca player will know where the treasure is of course, and he may chose to move any of it at will. His last resort is to move it off the map, but that is an absolute last resort. Some items are so large they cannot be moved, unless the pirates choose to cut it up into manageable pieces. There is a small native village off the map, to which the Inca player can send for reinforcements. There are no pack animals about except for what the pirates may bring in. The pirates will need to find the tunnels, and then search them. He will start near the foot of the mountain and will need to work his way up. In the early morning air he saw several plumes of smoke from the side of the mountain, so he is expecting at least some native resistance. The Inca player will not know the pirate disposition until contact is first made.
The Inca must retain as much treasure as possible. He may find it wiser to leave some treasure lying about so the pirates think they have it and leave. He may move it about at will providing he has the people to move it and they don't get caught. The treasure must be moved to a particular destination on the map, and not simply hidden under a tree in the jungle. The Inca must also consider the villagers on the map. They tend the tunnels and shrines and keep the warriors happy. The Inca player also gets points for keeping them alive. Pirates may or may not harm them or use them as hostages. It may pay the Inca player to kill as many of the pirates mules as possible, as they carry more treasure than the men.
The pirate must collect as much treasure as possible. His score is based upon the amount of loot per man he retrieves. However, that is also modified by how many of his men survive. Purposefully killing your sailors off to improve your coin per man ratio won't work. The mules may need to be unloaded of their current supplies if they are to carry any treasure out. You will need at least 2 days supply of food, so at least one mule must survive to carry that, or enough men to do it. A depleted pirate party may win the gold, but have no one to carry it out.
Loot in coins divided by number of starting crew and then multiplied by ratio of surviving crew divided by starting crew ==> (loot/start crew)x(surviving crew/start crew)
Number of Inca warriors slain
Number of opposing pirates slain
Loot in coins divided by number of starting villagers multiplied by ratio of surviving villagers divided by starting villagers ==>
(loot/start villagers)x(surviving villagers/start villagers)
Number of pirates slain
Number of mules slain or captured
The player with the highest score wins.