User Guide

from other nations. It is not unknown for a pirate to turn on his own
nation if he gets a better offer from somebody else!
English
English is one of the easiest nationalities to play in the default era
(The Buccaneer Heroes-1660). You start the game with friendly ports
in highly useful locations, and since England is almost always at war
with Spain, you can usually gain quick English promotions by attack-
ing Spanish vessels and cities.
French
France too has a number of strategic ports - Tortuga is a great place
from which to harass southern Cuba - and she’s often at war with
Spain.
Dutch
This is not the easiest nation to play. The Dutch have far fewer ports
than the other nations (though Curacao makes a fine base for trading
with or attacking Spanish cities on the Spanish Main). Further, the
Dutch are not quite as often at war with their neighbours, so Dutch
promotions can be hard to come by.
Spanish
This may be the toughest nationality to start with. Spain has by far
the most ports on the game, which leaves you fewer targets to attack
(a problem only if you wish to remain loyal to Holy Spain). Likewise,
the juiciest target vessels in the Caribbean are often Spanish: if you
want to remain loyal, you’ll have to make your fortune attacking the
less wealthy English, French, and Dutch ships. On the other hand,
Spain is nearly always at war with somebody - privateering can be
extremely profitable.
Your Name
Type your pirate’s name into the space indicated.
Difficulty
Choose one of five difficulty levels:
• Apprentice (the easiest level)
• Journeyman
• Adventurer
• Rogue
• Swashbuckler

Book Three Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Creating Your Pirate
Game Era
You can choose from several historical game-eras available. For your
first few games we suggest that you choose the default era : The
Buccaneer Heroes —1660 is the only era available on Apprentice
difficulty.
Nationality
There are four nationalities to choose from. You begin with a “Letter
of Marque” from your choosen nation, making you a legitimate priva-
teer in its interest. This is important in the early portion of the game
as all of that nation’s cities are opened and friendly to you. As the
game progresses you can purchase or be given “Letters of Marque”

Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Book Three
The Memoirs of Captain Sydney
There be only three rules that ye must follow if ye
wants to be a pirate.
First, always keep your crew happy. A happy crew
will take on the world, if ye ask ‘em, while an unhappy
crew will fall apart fightin’ a Dutch herring boat.
Second, always hit ‘em from windward. If ye got the
weather gauge you can beat almost anyone - and if ye be
losin’ ye can run away a lot easier.
Third, never trust a man named, “Raymondo.” He’ll
kidnap yer family as soon as look at ye.
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