Pirates of the Broken
Coast reviewed by Stuart Lloyd
Pirates of the Broken Coast
is the first in Privateer Press 'Forces of Warmachine' series,
and as such it's more of a pure army book than a fullblown expansion.
Basically, this book provides all the background, profiles and
tactics you'll need if you want to field a pirate band within
Warmachine. Available as both a softcover and a hardcover, this
book pays testament yet again to the fantastic production values...
review continues below ››
Pirates of the Broken Coast (Softcover)
Item
Code: PIP1013
About this item: The terrors of the high seas are now yours to command! Presented in this 72-page full color book is a rogue's gallery of ruthless sea dogs and notorious personalities drawn from the darkest dens and seediest seaports of the Iron Kingdoms. Prepare to assault your enemies with lightning fast tactics and deadly combos the likes of which they have only heard about in bone-chilling tales. Beware the scourge of the Broken Coast!
Contents:
72pp softcover rulebook
RRP: £15.00 OUR
PRICE: £13.50
...that Privateer devote to their rulebooks. It boast fantastic
cover (and interior) artwork, a nice themed design that really
sets the scene for the content, and it's all printed on great
quality paper. It's finished off with all those whizzy touches
that the PP designers love - spot varnishes, embossing. On looks
alone, it's a thing of beauty!
So does the content live up to the
visuals? Well - it will depend on your desire to don your tricorn
hat, shout out 'a har me hearties' and that sort of thing. If
that floats your boat, then you're definitely going to want a
copy. Things kick off with a 22 page background / fiction section
that introduces all the key characters you're likely to be playing.
It shows how their relationships work, and grounds everything
very firmly in the Warmachine universe. There are some great bits
in this part of the book - a pirate glossary, descriptions of
chains of command and so on - that add a nice dollop of humour
to proceedings.
The meat of the book is the 36 page section that gives details
and stats for all the characters, troops and jacks that make up
a pirate force - here's where you'll find out all you need to
know about Phinneus Shae, First Mate Hawk, Doc Killingsworth and
many more. There's also an invaluable 6 page tactical section
that's a great starting point for playing pirates - without a
battlegroup to get you started, you're pretty much in at the deep
end when it comes to force composition. This part makes for a
very welcome read, giving great pointers on which characters /
troops etc complement each other best.
To round things out there's a 6 page
painted minis section, but all this really does is repeat the
pics we've all seen before, although there are some new close
up shots so you can drool over the skills of the PP brushthralls.
Personally I'd prefer to see a 'proper' painting guide or modelling
section, although I suppose it gives a quick overview of what
figures you can get your hands on.
The only other gripe is the price - £15 for the s/c and
£20 for the h/c. Considering these are about a third as
thick as last year's Prime book which is the same cost, I'm not
sure how this works out - especially when an AT43 army book only
costs £8. Still, enough moaning - if you're inclined towards
Privateer's very own privateers, you're going to want a copy of
this.
