INTRODUCTION
Ahoy mateys, Rivals & Renegades, a new expansion for Ahoy, the asymmetrical game of exploration and conflict on the high seas by Leder Games is on the horizon. This expansion introduces two new factions along with a gameplay variant to make your Ahoy experiences as unpredictable as the high seas themselves.
AHOY BASICS
For those unfamiliar with Ahoy, it’s a naval game of exploration and area control for half the players (the Bluefin Squadron and Mollusk Union players), while up to two more players take the role of Smugglers. The Blufins play like a conventional navy (think the Marquise faction in Root, another great asymmetrical game by Leder) , the Mollusks spread by deviously recruiting new Comrades and shuffling them around the board, and the Smugglers transport their illicit goods from island to island. The Smugglers may operate the same but ultimately it’s each player (or fish) for themselves as there can only be one winner. The base game has tons of player interaction, such as Smugglers increasing the wealth of islands they deliver to which makes them likely targets for the area control factions (and an ill timed delivery can even shift the balance of power, which is not necessarily beneficial for the Smugglers!). Players can fight each other and block smuggling routes, all made possible with a very cool dice round robin dice assignment mechanic and shifting first player which allows for clean up actions for each player in different turns of the game. For more information on the base game, read the excellent review here.
NEW FACTIONS
Rivals & Renegades presents a new spin on Ahoy while retaining a lot of the basics, allowing for less experienced Ahoy players to enjoy new play styles that don’t differ too dramatically from what they are familiar with. The expansion introduces two new factions: the Black fish Brigade, which takes the place of the Bluefin Squadron, and the Shellfire Rebellion, the stand-in for the Mollusk Union. Both new factions share some common actions on their player boards, such as taking the Sail action to move, arming Cannons to fight and Repairing damaged ships.
INTRODUCTION
Ahoy mateys, Rivals & Renegades, a new expansion for Ahoy, the asymmetrical game of exploration and conflict on the high seas by Leder Games is on the horizon. This expansion introduces two new factions along with a gameplay variant to make your Ahoy experiences as unpredictable as the high seas themselves.
AHOY BASICS
For those unfamiliar with Ahoy, it’s a naval game of exploration and area control for half the players (the Bluefin Squadron and Mollusk Union players), while up to two more players take the role of Smugglers. The Blufins play like a conventional navy (think the Marquise faction in Root, another great asymmetrical game by Leder) , the Mollusks spread by deviously recruiting new Comrades and shuffling them around the board, and the Smugglers transport their illicit goods from island to island. The Smugglers may operate the same but ultimately it’s each player (or fish) for themselves as there can only be one winner. The base game has tons of player interaction, such as Smugglers increasing the wealth of islands they deliver to which makes them likely targets for the area control factions (and an ill timed delivery can even shift the balance of power, which is not necessarily beneficial for the Smugglers!). Players can fight each other and block smuggling routes, all made possible with a very cool dice round robin dice assignment mechanic and shifting first player which allows for clean up actions for each player in different turns of the game. For more information on the base game, read the excellent review here.
NEW FACTIONS
Rivals & Renegades presents a new spin on Ahoy while retaining a lot of the basics, allowing for less experienced Ahoy players to enjoy new play styles that don’t differ too dramatically from what they are familiar with. The expansion introduces two new factions: the Black fish Brigade, which takes the place of the Bluefin Squadron, and the Shellfire Rebellion, the stand-in for the Mollusk Union. Both new factions share some common actions on their player boards, such as taking the Sail action to move, arming Cannons to fight and Repairing damaged ships.
Instead of the sharks of the Bluefin Squadron, players of Rivals & Renegades players will control the mighty orca whales of the Blackfish Brigade. The two factions goals are similar, with an emphasis on area control, but the Blackfish Brigade substitutes fortresses for a migrating Whale Pod which spawns new patrols and dominates islands, barring opponents from recruiting crew at the market there and denying the Smugglers the opportunity to deliver cargo as long as the Pod remains.
Similarly, the Shellfire Rebellion play a lot like their cousins in the Mollusk Union. These turtles also focus on area control and use a deck of cunning Plans to take out enemies, redeploy ships and recruit new rebels and crew, but unlike the Mollusks the Shellfire Rebellion utilizes Launchers to chuck their comrades on to islands where they are needed to swing the balance of control.
Players can even substitute only one of the two new factions into a game (for example, using the Blackfish Brigade instead of the Bluefins, while utilizing the Smugglers and Mollusk Union from the base game).
NEW GAME VARIATION
While the new factions similarities to the ones they replace will make previous players of Ahoy transition to Rivals & Renegades pretty seamless, it also introduces a new way to play. Gone is the free for all aspect of the base game with Rivals & Renegades‘ Team Game, 2 on 2 mode. In team games, the Bluefin Squadron and the Blackfish Brigade join forces against the Mollusk Union and Shellfire Rebellion in a clash for complete supremacy of the high seas. Teammates combine their resources when determining control in the end phase of each turn and can utilize their counterpart’s Patrols and Comrades, even sharing gold and crew between flagships in the same region. This promises to add a fun wrinkle to the standard way to play Ahoy and could even work well as a teaching tool for new players as it’s not a complete free-for all like the base game. The only possible issue is the replacement meeples for the Bluefins and Union in Rivals & Renegades are either very similar (Navy blue and black for the sharks/orcas and both yellow for the mollusks and turtles but with different stickers etc), that it could be confusing as to which pieces belong to whom, although it’s mitigated somewhat by the ability to control your teammates pieces as well.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Just like their other games, Leder does a great job both with the Ahoy base game and the Rivals & Renegades expansion. They have gained a reputation for making fun, fast asymmetrical games that appear simpler than most but with a surprising amount of depth (pun intended). The components are great with screened meeples, heavy cardboard player boards with indentations for the dice placement so they don’t get knocked around and color coded dice for each faction, packaged in a nice compact box with gorgeous cover art. In fact, major thing that contributes to Rivals & Renegades sense of whimsy is Kyle Ferrin’s consistently amazing artwork across the Leder Games lines (in fact, the artwork was what first caught my eye about Root). Players of Ahoy should love Rivals & Renegades which only increases the replayability of a game that already has a ton of that with a map that changes every game and different crew availability, with a minimum of adjustment as the new factions just tweak the base game experience.
