Under a Black Flag
Briefing
“Anvil Squadron has been hired to escort a freighter convoy delivering humanitarian relief supplies to a colony that, until just recently, was embroiled in a decade-long civil war.
It's vitally important that you protect the convoy and ensure the supplies reach their destination. We've received reports of pirates operating in the area, so keep your head on a swivel. Should you encounter any pirate activity, your orders are to engage defensively, and buy time for the convoy to escape the area.
Best of luck, and good hunting.”
Play Modes
- Solo
- Cooperative
Setup
This scenario follows the rules for Custom Setup on page 25, with the following changes:
1) Build Freighters:
- Construct (or print from the Downloads section) a number of Freighters equaling the number of players plus one.
- Place the Freighters along the player deployment edge. A Freighter cannot be placed within Range 1 of any other edge of the play area, and it must be at Range 1 or farther away from any other Freighter. The Freighters must be oriented to face directly toward the opposite edge of the play area.
2) Determine Escorts:
- Players designate two ships (in total) to serve as escorts. Place an Escort Token on each ship to denote its special status.
3) Determine First Wave:
- Each player rolls a die and refers to the Enemy Ships table, below.
- For each die result, gather the listed AI deck and build the corresponding ship.
Mission Parameters
Objective: Escort the Convoy – Protect the freighter convoy from pirates and ensure the supplies they carry are delivered to their destination.
- If at least half of the Freighters escape off the opposite edge of the play area, all players win.
- If more than half of the Freighters are captured, all players lose.
- If all players are destroyed before the Freighters can escape, all players lose.
Reward: 15,000 cR (per player) plus any Kill credits scored.
- Bonuses: 5,000 cR for each Freighter that successfully escapes.
Destroyed Players: These players earn 50% fewer Reward credits, but receive full Kill credits.
Success
“Excellent work out there! The colony's new coalition government is extremely appreciative of your efforts, and the supplies you helped deliver are already being put to use in rebuilding their devastated world.”
Failure
“With the loss of the convoy, the situation on the colony is rapidly deteriorating. We’ve already received reports of widespread riots and looting, and without adequate medical supplies, it probably won’t be long before we see the outbreak of a global pandemic.”
Enemy Ships
Some ships in the table below have a variable amount of Hull and/or Evasion points. When setting up this ship, alter its starting Hull/Evasion points by the value shown.
| Die Roll | Ship |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pirate Harasser |
| 2 | Pirate Harasser (+1 Hull) |
| 3 | Pirate Harasser (+1 Evasion) |
| 4 | Pirate Marauder |
| 5 | Pirate Marauder (+2 Hull) |
| 6 | Pirate Marauder (+2 Evasion) |
| 7 | Pirate Ravager |
| 8 | Pirate Ravager (+2 Hull) |
| Blank or Critical | Pirate Ravager (+2 Hull, +2 Evasion) |
Enemy Resolve
An optional roll can be made when generating enemy ships to determine the enemy pilot's level of Resolve. An enemy's Resolve determines the damage threshold at which they will attempt to flee. A fleeing enemy will no longer attack, and will only make a Long move towards its initial deployment edge during its turn. Fleeing enemies can still be attacked and destroyed by player ships.
| Die Roll | Resolve Level | Damage Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Blank | Cowardly | Hull < 50% of its starting value |
| 1 – 4 | Average | Hull < 35% of its starting value |
| 5 – 8 | Brave | Hull < 25% of its starting value |
| Critical | Foolhardy | None (Enemy will fight to the death) |
Ending a Wave
When all enemy ships in the current Wave have been destroyed, players finish the current round before each rolling a die to determine the composition of the next Wave. Once all enemy ships for the next Wave are ready, players begin a new round. All player ships will already be in the play area, but the new AI ships deploy normally as they activate.
Special Rules
Moving the Freighters
- At the end of each round, each Freighter executes a Short move toward the opposite edge.
- If a Freighter is within Range 1 of a friendly ship that has an Escort Token, it executes a Long move instead.
- If a Freighter is within Range 1 of two friendly ships, both of which have an Escort Token, it executes 2 Long moves instead.
Pirate Ships
- There is no set number of enemy Waves in this scenario. Waves continue until one of the victory conditions is met.
- Pirate ships will prioritize the Freighters as their target, unless the Freighter is further than Range 1 and there is a player ship they can attack at Range 1 instead.
Stealing Cargo
- Once within Range 1 of a Freighter, instead of performing an Attack action, pirate ships will attempt a Steal action. To perform the Steal action, simultaneously roll three dice for the pirate ship and three dice for the defending Freighter.
- If the pirate ship rolls more Even results than the defending Freighter rolls Odd results, the Freighter is removed from the play area and considered captured.
- If the number of Even results is equal to or less than the number of Odd results, the attempted Steal is considered repelled.
- Critical results count as +2 to the roller's desired result.
- Blank results cancel out one of the roller's desired results.
- Rolling one of the opponent's desired results does not count as +1 for the opponent.
Destroyed Escorts
- If a player ship with an Escort Token is destroyed, players may reassign that token to another ship at the end of the current round. It may not be assigned to a ship that already has an Escort Token.
Friendly Recognition Guide
Side Bets
Side Bet Name
“Side bet text goes here.”
Objective: Mission objective listed here.
- Special rules and/or conditions listed here.
Reward: # cR