This is the smallest of the basic ships and is tied for slowest by the basic rules. However, it should not be underrated as a group of three Renegade Runners are quite capable of sinking most other stock ship models. The Renegade Runner becomes extremely deadly if you add the extra sail and cannon shown in the optional rules.

The first of the pirate ships, the Black Seas Barracuda is also the only one to come furnished with permanent cannons on both sides of the ship. The Barracuda is best suited to situations where there are targets on both sides of the ship.

The Skulls Eye Schooner is unquestionably the pinnacle of the pirate fleet with four swiveling cannons that can be moved side to side. This gives the big ship the flexibility to play multiple roles which is enhanced by her high Move.

The latest in the pirate line, Red Beards Runner is quite deceptive at first. The ship is the fastest stock model with a speed of 70 and has three cannons that can slide from side to side. This ship is a close match for the Black Seas Barracuda even though she is smaller and carries fewer crew.

The Imperial Ships

The Carribean Clipper was the first of the imperial ships. This ship is tied for slowest with the Renegade Runner. The model only comes with two cannons, however, the ship is played with four, two out each side. This combined with the 8 marines on board and extra cargo space makes this ship an excellent treasure carrier (read as "Target").

The Imperial Flag Ship is by far the best performer of the stock models. The ship is fast, maneuverable, and well armed. The eight marines on board give this relatively little ship an even chance against the much larger Black Seas Barracuda.

The Imperial Armada Flag Ship is similar to the Carribean Clipper in performance except that it lacks the extra cargo space for treasure. I have not played this ship in a game yet so I can't truly evaluate its performance, but the model meets the usual high standards of the LEGO Group. By the way, it is massively underarmed with only one cannon.

Custom Designs

These ships were custom designs built by Stephen W. Gabriel. I've included the links to his photos for reference purposes.

The Man-O-War is a Skulls Eye Schooner converted to imperial use. The ship sports eight cannons, four out each side, and four extra sailors. The Man-O-War is excellent in ship to ship combat, however, she fairs poorly when boarded because she has no marines.

The first real water up ship that I built, the Admiral's Avenger has one more center hull section than the Skulls Eye Schooner. The Avenger is fast, but turns slowly due to her length. She has four cannons on each broadside, two stern chasers out the rear, and a turreted cannon on the fore deck. The Admirals Avenger shares the same strengths and weaknesses as the Man-O-War.

The Black Swan is the largest ship I've built with a total length of 72 dots. She sports two stern chasers and a six cannon broadside, enough to sink a Skulls Eye Schooner in one pass. The Swan is quite fast, moving at 78, but is cumbersome in maneuvering. The Black Swan has an impressive crew of 44 men including Captain and First Mate. I added a little detail to the stern castle like gull wing sides and a lifting cabin to reach the stern chasers. The Black Swan performed well until boarded, although a group of three Renegade Runners almost sunk her by tacking in her blind spot.

Legopellego is the home of the mysterious Captain Nemo and the port for his famous submarine the Nautilus. The Nautilus is an all iron ship which makes it nearly impervious to cannon fire. The first success of any ball hit is dropped, the remainder are applied to the damage chart. The Nautilus is not affected by shot, muskets, pistols, deck guns, or ramming. The Nautilus is only visible in the round that it rams a target and may only be fired on at this time.

The Nautilus loses one Power Factor every time she loses a Hull Factor because she uses a nuclear reactor and propellor instead of sails. The Nautilus follows all rules for normal movement except that she is exempt from heading and wind directions and the Nautilus may change speed at will. The Nautilus is unaffected by reefs, however, she must skirt around islands. The Nautilus does not stop after ramming, she simply travels through the other ship.

The crew cannot repair the Nautilus within the course of a game. The Nautilus has no cannons, its only attack is to ram. The Nautilus does one point of HF to any target it rams for each point of PF available. In addition, any time it does three or more points, the target ship must make an additional roll on the critical hit chart.

Once the Nautilus has taken all four HF in damage, it is removed from play. The Nautilus never surfaces for treasure or boarding, if they want treasure, they sink the ship and pick it up off the bottom.

The Professor and Timmy time cruised into the Legopellego and accidently accepted an invitation to dinner on Head Hunter Island. A couple of opportunistic pirates got their hands on the time cruiser and figured out how to make an iron sided paddle wheeler with advanced weapons. The ship has a centralized boiler, two mid-ship paddle wheels, a gatling gun over each paddle wheel, and an advanced cannon on a turret on the fore deck.

The ship moves per normal rules except that she may change speed at will and is not restricted by the direction of the wind. The paddle wheeler has four hull factor and loses 24 points of Move for every hull factor lost. These cannot be repaired within the course of the game. Because she is made of iron, the first success of any cannon round using ball is dropped, however, a critical hit (all 3 dice are 1's) still does three hull factor in damage and rolls on the critical hit chart. The paddle wheeler is unaffected by cannons firing shot. The paddle wheeler does one point of hull damage for every point of hull it has when it rams and only loses one point of hull if the target ship has more remaining HF than the paddle wheeler. The paddle wheeler only takes damage from a ram if the ramming ship has more remaining HF than the paddle wheeler and then the damage is reduced by one.

The gatling guns require one crew to fire and may fire six shots every Action phase. The target number is 3, the range is 96 dots, and it only affects figures. The cannon is a breach loader and does not require one round to reload so it may fire every round. In addition, it has a targeting device giving it a +1 to the target number on all attacks.

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