10 Novels that Feature Pirates

The listed ten novels take you on voyages around the world with some dashing and notorious pirate captains and characters. Out of the ten, the only title that I know of that has been adapted into a miniatures game is Treasure Island.

Some of the stories in Pyle's Book of Pirates would make great game scenarios. Ghost Pirates, as well as other of William Hope Hodgson’s work would make great game plots. In addition, I believe Captain Blood and the Pirate would make great adaptations for slash-buckling game play.

1. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
2. The Missing Merchantmen, Harry Collingwood
3. Captain Blood, Rafael Sabatini
4. The Sea-Hawk, Rafael Sabatini
5. The Coral Island, R.M. Ballantyne
6. Ghost Pirates, William Hope Hodgson
7. Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
8. The Pirate, Frederick Marryat
9. The Pirate Island, Harry Collingwood
10. The Red Rover, James Fenimore Cooper

Treasure Islands

Painting my Dreadfleet Leviathan Island got me thinking about my Pirates at Ocean's Edge’s game and its rules. The standard way to distribute treasure is to distribute treasure pieces evenly to all the islands. In real life, who knows for sure, unless you had some kind of lead or you were in procession of a treasure map, whether the island you were visiting contained any treasure at all?  Might you be stopping at island just for water and or provisions? So looking for treasure would not normally be on one’s mind.

House Rule ##?

Before performing a explore action the player must roll a die. On a roll of a 1 or 6 the player will pick one treasure if they roll a 1 or may pick up to 3 treasure pieces if they roll a 6. Players may overload their ships holds, but will be acceptable to storms and from running aground on reefs. Any other die roll would exclude the player from “finding” gold on that island. This die roll would be in addition to the die roll to that was cast for an Explore situation card. Players may revisit islands to “search” for gold after discharging their gold at their home island. 

Treasure Island a 25mm Miniatures Game

Warrior Miniatures is offering the Pirates of the Spanish Main and the Quest for Treasure Game. As you can see from the ad the game comes with a set of miniatures and rules. To put you in the correct mood you might want to read Stevenson’s book by the same name before playing the game. The miniatures can also be purchased separately.