User Guide

Cannon-Fire
When an enemy ship gets within range, it may begin firing its can-
non at you. This cannon-fire can damage your flagship and the other
ships in your fleet. The pursuer will continue to fire at you until you
sail out of range or into a harbor _ or until you choose to fight back.
Fighting Back
If you wish to fight your pursuer, press the Attack key (number pad
5) or run into the ship. See “Attacking Other Vessels” section, above,
for details.

Book Three Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Warning Notice
As a ship seeking to fight you approaches, it will sometimes announce
its intentions. This gives you the opportunity to try to gain an advan-
tageous position for the upcoming combat, or to turn around and run
to safety!
The warning message will appear once the ship is close enough or
when you roll your mouse cursor over the enemy.

Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Book Three
The Memoirs of Captain Sydney
It must have been in ’65, or maybe ’66, me ‘n’ crusty old Cap’n
Briggs were jawin’ about which ship was best for piratin’ in.
“A Royal sloop,” sez I. “The bugger’s fast in light airs, can turn
on a farthing, and carries enough guns to put the fear o’ heaven in
them fat trade galleons the Dons carry their gold in.”
“Sydney,” sez he, “you’re crazy. A brig o’ war is more like it.
Maybe it isn’t as fast as your sloop, but it carries near’ twice as many
men and cannon. And cargo too,” he added. “What’s the point o’ get-
tin’ plunder if you can’t carry it back home with you?”
“It’s ye who are pig-bitin’ mad,” sez I. “The brig’s a good ship,
I’ll warrant, but what in blazes do you want all them guns fer? The
whole purpose o’ piratin’ is to run yer ship alongside the enemy and
capture her with as little fuss as possible. Oh ye may need to put a cou-
ple o’ balls in her to make her come to her senses, I warrant, but a great
16-gun broadside from yer precious brig is as like to sink her as it is
to make her surrender. Where’s yer profit then, ye daft fool?”
Well, then he called me a senile old son of a farmer and I called
him a grass-eatin’ butterball, and the discussion became sort o’ ani-
mated. We didn’t solve the question then, and we ain’t since, neither.
In the end, I guess a good pirate picks a ship what matches his
strengths: if ye be a good sailor, pick a ship that’s fast and nimble; and
if ye be a strong gunner, pick a ship that carries enough guns to make
‘em count.
Fight or Flight
There is no law that says that you have to fight anybody who wants to take
you on: If your ship is damaged or you’re badly outmanned or outgunned or
you’re carrying a treasure that you don’t want to risk losing, by all means run away!
If you can find a “point of sailing” in which you’re faster than your oppo-
nent, you can simply outdistance him. Once you are well far away he may lose
your trail or simply give up the chase.
Alternatively you can duck into a city: chances are that he’ll be gone when
you next leave port. But then again, he may not be. So it might be a good idea to
repair your ship and recruit extra crew before you leave.
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