So, I've recently bought the new Cutlass! rulebook by Black Scorpion Miniatures and was wondering if anyone else has yet?



For those who don't know, Cutlass! is a 'gang' based game similar to GW's Mordheim and Necromunda games, but set on the high seas of good ol' Earth. Well...islands more than the high seas, and last I checked Earth didn't have Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, Goblins and Undead. Think Pirates of the Carribean and you won't go far wrong

Like the aforementioned GW games, it's best played as a campaign, although that's not to say that one off's aren't viable - campaigns are just more fun with your crew expanding/shrinking as you gain recruits or they fall in battle, and those crewmen who survive gain experience and can grow. There are seven 'factions' to choose from - Royal Navy, Pirates, Privateers, Orcs & Goblins, Dwarf Pirates, Elf Pirates and Undead Pirates - and when starting a crew you can choose to be 'good' or 'evil' (or rather Famous or Infamous as the games terminology puts it; which is more acurate than the generic good and evil you usually get as through the campaign your fame/infamy can grow and diminish with each battle, and you can even end up switiching to the other under the right circumstances).

Unlike the aforementioned GW games, this isn't a D6 system; it uses D4s, D6s, D8s, D10s, D12s and D20s. Further, instead of having stats like in a GW game, in Cutlass! a model's stats are given as a specific die - e.g. instead of say BS4 like in WH, you have things like Accuracy D10. What this means is that when you have to make a test on a characteristic, you roll the relevant die to see what happens (in the above example, when shooting, you'd roll a D10 and use its score to work out the result). You can also get modifiers to the dice when taking a test and these come in two varieties, extra dice (which means you roll the stated number of extra dice in addition to the basic one and pick the highers result) and level modifiers (e.g. in the shooting example, that D10 could be boosted to a D12 or lowered to a D8). Further, dice rolls are 'open ended', which means if you roll the maximum, you get to roll an additional die and add it to the score (e.g. with Acc D10, if you roll a 10, you get to roll again and add 10 and the result of the second die. And if that rolled a 10, you get another die on top of that and so on until you stopped rolling 10).

Cutlass! also differs from tthe aforementioned GW games in its turn system. Instead of the "I do everything, you do everything, I do everything..." of WH, 40k, etc or the "I move, you move, I shoot, you shoot,..." of LotR, in Cutlass! each player has a randomly determined number of activation points. One player is 'active' and the other 'inactive'; the active player declares a type of action (move, shoot, combat) and then he can pick as many minis as he has points to engage in this action (e.g. having seven activation points and declaring 'shoot', up to seven minis may make a shooting attack). When these have been resolved, the active player's activation points drop by one and then he may declare another action and as many minis as the remaining points may take that action (continuing the above example, after all the shooting, the player's points would drop to 6 and he could then delcare, say, move, and move up to six minis). This generally carries on until the player either passes or runs out of points. However, under cirtain circumstances, the inactive player can 'react' to the active players actions and become active (e.g. with the above example, the inactive player could react to the active player's shooting attacks, meaning that they swap roles and the previously inactive player gets to start declaring actions). Play continues until both player's pools reach zero.

Campaign games are scenario based and after a quick read of them, the scenarios lok like they could be quite fun.




All in all, it looks like a really fun game, and hopefully, when my exams are over I'll be able to get some games in to give a diffinitive opinion. If anyone's played it themselves, I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.

Wow, that looks like I pretty decent game. I'm quite tempted to get it. Only issue is that I don't have all the other types of dice (though I imagine they're findable). I'm really keen to hear more about how it plays.

You can buy those dice from the same site that sells the rules and the minis. Alternatively, I'd expect most game shops which sell RPGs would also sell various dice considering you need them to play some RPGs.

Hmm, this is true (they sell a dice pack on their site). I've just spent a while looking up opinions on the game (not found much in the way of post-game reports). I have quite a few friends that like Pirates of the Caribbean, and I'm going through a pirate phase at the moment so I may end up getting this. Royal Navy would be my choice of crew (if only I could find Cutler Beckett and Norrington figures). What group are you looking at Dinadan?

Though that said, they don't seem to sell that many models for the game. It looks like you'd be getting a few repeating poses by the time you've gathered a large force...

I'm not 100% sure which force I'll go for but I've got two ideas:

1) A Privateer list, but convert minis into anthro canids (inspired by early [and possibly abandoned by now] ideas LordFenrir had for SotDL).
or
2) An Undead force, but using/kit bashing a Mind Flayer esque mini as the Captain (e.g. http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/tentacles/latest/03135 )


As for repeating poses, that's what conversions are for, plus you're free to use other manufacturers minis if you want - I believe that quite a few historical manufacturers carry a pirate range. Plus, even though some are labeled as 'pirates' and others as 'privateers', there's nothing stopping you using them in a privateer or pirate army respectively - afterall, a Privateer is just a pirate with a fancy bit of paper saying Government X supports him And in the navy, similar poses may not be all that bad as they'd add to the regimented look. And forces probably wont be all that big. I think I read somewhere that generally crews will only come in at 10-30men each.

Hmm, interesting ideas, I'm looking forward to see how it turns out.

In terms of miniatures, I know you can buy models from other companies, it's just that Black Scorpion are so nice! I've been searching around for other models to use for RN, and they're either not quite right (continental troops) or lacking in detail and dynamics. And I'm only talking about large size as it looks like RN, Pirates, Privateers and Orcs have enough models to build a decent force, and Undead is ok as well (they're probably easier to buy from other companies). I'm assuming there'll be more Elves/Dwarves in the future.
I'm really tempted to buy a small RN and Pirate force (or even Privateers).

And that Giant is a whopping model. Expensive but massive. How does it fit on a pirate ship?

Gotta agree with you on the look of the BS minis I agree the choice for Elves and Dwarfs is a little narrow, but I think the range is slowly expanding over time. Plus for Dwarfs, you could always use the GW Dwarf pirates. And with the undead, you could just take any of the other BS pirates and zombify them (the undead have a special rule which potentiallly lets them convert anyine they kill into a new undead pirate ).

As for the giant, I don't think it does - it just wanders arround the islands beating things up

Haha, fair enough. The undead rule sounds rather fun. Does each faction have it's own speciality or are they only there to add character and differentiate between players?

Each faction is pretty similar and statwise they seem fairly evenly matched (if I recall, stats for each faction's version of Captain, Officer, Crewman and Lesser Crewman are identical to those of another faction except in a differnt order [eg. say Faction A's Officer equivalent has Com D8 and Acc D6, then Faction B's Officer equivalent has Com D6 and Acc D8]), and to add flavour, most factions have a special rule (e.g. Dwarfs have a movement based rule that slows them down, Navy crews who are 'famous' don't have leadership challenges) and each faction has four special abilities that can be gained via leveling up (although Captains and Officers start with one or two naturally [e.g. Privateer's Officer equivalent start with the Grenadeer ability])

So if I was to start with 2 small forces, what would you recommend? I'm going to go Royal Navy, and probably either Pirates or Privateers, though Undead is an outside option. I have a mate who grudgingly says he might try it (though he prefers LotR). So what should I get to start? 4 Marines and a Captain, and similar for a Pirate/Privateer force? (I figure Privateers models can work as either?)

On another note, would it be possible to use elements of the game for LotR? I'm just wondering at the potential for small Corsair raiding actions. Of course the rule book already has some scenarios designed around coastal attacks, but I was wondering on a smaller scale...

I think you'll probably need more than 5 models aside. Instead of playing points games like in LotR or WH, you start with $500 to spend on your crew and expand as you play more games. I've tried writing a couple of test list to give me an idea of what to buy (one Privateer, one Undead) and both came in at 9 men strong, so you'll probbaly want to get a Captain and 8 lesser crewmen plus a few more reading for when you expand your forces.



I don't think it could be adaptead for LotR games unless you decided to scrap the LotR system and develop profiles for the Cutlass rules as they are very different. That said, there are scenarios in the Cutlass book which shouldn't be too hard to adapt if you wanted to.

Hmm, I thought a game could be played with as little as 4 models? Really I was just thinking of getting the book and a couple of models in one order (to reduce postage) to see what it's like and then build up from there once I know the rules and lists and what I want to get.

What are the scenarios and terrain like? I think I read something about there being some terrain in the book. A board they made or something. I'd been planning to make my own coastal board before I even heard of this, just thought it might provide some inspiration.

I think you may be able to do it with 4 minis, but you'd have to take the most expensive choices available and kit them out with lots of stuff (in the lists I wrote I only gave people one or two weapons each).


As for terrain, it's just basically late medieval/early rennassance style. They did make a board, but in the book they say it was more of a display board than a gamming board (has steep slopes).

Hmm, what style of board do they recommend then?

If it's not to much hassle, may I trouble you for 2 basic lists which would allow me to explore the game without spending too much initially but would provide a good core to expand on later?

A flat board with terrain is sufficient.


I'll have a look and post some lists later.

Two lists for you Cal:

Royal Navy
Captain + brace of dueling pistols + cutlass + spyglass + powder monkey + lucky charm
Officer + blunderbuss + cutlass
3 x Marines with musket + bayonet + cutlass
2 x Marines with musket + cutlass

Buy Marines 1, Marines 2, and Navy Captain. (Use the second from the left in Marines 2 as the officer)



Undead Pirates
Captain + 2xCutlass
Wraith + 2xCutlass
Wraith + dueling pistol + cutlass
5x Undead Pirate + cutlass+ ship's pistol

Buy Undead Pirates 1, Undead Pirates 2, and Undead Captain (use the leftmost two on Undead Pirates 2 as wraiths)

Cheers Dinadan. Are you possibly able to give me a pirates/privateers list? The models seem like they'd be interchangeable between the two.

Cal585 wrote:

Cheers Dinadan. Are you possibly able to give me a pirates/privateers list? The models seem like they'd be interchangeable between the two.

Sure - I'll take a look and post later.

Thanks! Another quick question, what scale are Cutlass' models? Just been eyeing off Front Rank who do some lovely 7YW (also been checking out their medieval ranges for fiefdom standins) in 28mm scale. Even if not for the mainstay, they could be useful for some nice Officers.

28mm I believe.

On the lists - haven't had chance to tot any up yet, but you could 'use' the two above with pirates or privatiers - that is all Captains cost the same, all 'officer' level equivalents cost the same and so on (they just all have different stats). So going by the above two lists you'd need something to be a captain, something slightly fancy for the officer/wraith equivalent and the basic pirates in place of the marines/undeadpirates.

The guy on the left could make an ok Privateer Captain: http://www.frontrank.com/big_pictures.asp?prod=610&pn=2
Or give the guy on the left here a sword: http://www.frontrank.com/big_pictures.asp?prod=610&pn=1

Anyway, cheers. But the Undead List has an extra member. I'm assuming this would be the same for Pirates/Privateers? It seems like a fun game. I'm rather looking forward to getting into it, though that may be a while.
Have you played a game?

Cal585 wrote:

Anyway, cheers. But the Undead List has an extra member. I'm assuming this would be the same for Pirates/Privateers? It seems like a fun game. I'm rather looking forward to getting into it, though that may be a while.
Have you played a game?

What do you mean an extra member?

Haven't played it yet. As soon as I get some money I plan on buying some minis so I can get games in.

I just meant that your Undead list has 1 Captain, 2 Wraiths, 5 Undead (8) while the Royal Navy has 1 Captain, 1 Officer, 5 Marines (7)

Ah right - that's because of the different equipment. If you notice, the captain in the navy list is decked out with lots of bling and the marines carry muskets and bayonettes whereas the Undead list is more barebones (no pun intended).

Yeah, so will Pirates/Privateers have as much equipment on their Captain?