Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

A limited release of a game based on the film "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" and the book series by Patrick O'Brien. Basic and Advanced variants allow 2 to 4 players, with up to 8 in a variant for children.

Each player has two ships on a square grid board. The number of moves a ship may make is based on the direction the ship is traveling relative to the wind. Moves can consist of advancing forward one square or turning 90 degrees. Wind changes randomly every time a three minute timer expires before a player's turn.

Each ship begins the game with three magnetic prize disks representing the ship's strength. Ships may fire when their broadside is facing an adjacent or nearby enemy ship. The number of dice rolled depends on each ship's strength (i.e. the number of prize disks). If the attacker's top roll is higher than the defender's top roll, the defender is deprived of a prize disk.

Prize disks can be recovered by spending repair cards. Each player starts with a fixed number of repair cards and they are never refilled. Optional advanced rules include the drawing of random effects cards on each attack, attacking enemy repair ports, boarding damaged ships, mists that provide sanctuary from attack, and ramming.

Home Page: http://www.frontporchclassics.com/games/details.php?id=58 (link broken)