Avast, ye scallywags! What is that on the horizon (you might call it a new horizon)? Expansions, ho! Shiv– oh, wait, I did this same bit when I reviewed Ahoy. I guess I need new material…
After a lengthy delay from the crowdfunding campaign in 2023, the expansions to Ahoy are here. In my original review, I had some good things to say about the game, and I have always been a fan of asymmetric games, so I was interested to see what the expansions had in store and whether or not they would answer my issues with the base game. The expansions don’t alter the player count. It is still a game for 2-4 players and plays in 60 minutes or less (sometimes, much less). While the best experience in the base game was with 2 players, with these expansions, the ideal player count is less clear (spoilers!).
Expansions Overview:
Originally combined in one box as Ahoy: New Horizons, the expansion content’s final release was split into two. Fang & Fortune includes new factions for players 3 and 4, while Rivals & Renegades has factions for any player count, including 2-player games. Starting with Fang & Fortune, since it is a bit more straightforward, the two new factions (Leviathan and Coral Cap Pirates) can be used in place of one or both of the Smugglers from the base game. They can be used in any combination in 4-player games. Either both of the new factions, or one of the new factions and one of the Smugglers. Your choice!
The second box, Rivals & Renegades, provides additional “yellow” and “blue” factions, the same colors as the Mollusk Union and the Bluefin Squadron from the base game. In most expansion games, the Shellfire Rebellion and the Blackfish Brigade are intended to replace their base set counterparts. In all 2-player games, you are intended to only use one yellow faction and one blue faction, not two of the same color. This is also true for 4-player games, except for the new team variant in which the Shellfire Rebellion and Mollusk Union can face off against their mutual eternal foes, the Bluefin Squadron and Blackfish Brigade. The reason for this would seem to be that while they do have unique mechanics, there’s a degree of overlap with how the factions of the same color function.
Each box comes with all cards, wooden tokens, and player boards for each included faction. Integration of the new factions into the game is as simple as following the new faction’s instructions instead of the old ones when it comes to the player setup step. As you might have guessed from the preceding description, the variety of different matchups you can have is quite a bit higher now. If my math is correct, there are 33 distinct player combinations across all three game sizes.
Game Experience with the Expansions:
The yellow and blue factions from Rivals & Renegades do have a lot of mechanical overlap with their base set counterparts, as I mentioned. The Shellfire Rebellion is still trying to disperse their Comrade tokens around the islands to broaden their control with a more limited naval presence and action cards boosting their ability to proliferate, while the Blackfish Brigade has a large fleet of smaller ships supporting their flagship.
At a basic level, this is similar to their predecessors. But beyond this basic level, they do diverge quite a bit. Rather than devoting dice actions to placing Comrades like the Mollusk Union, many of the Shellfire Rebellion’s Comrades are placed far more hilariously: by being launched across the sea. They have a small secondary player board specifically for their Launchers (a secondary ship they can build). At the start of every round, you roll a range die that has numbers 1, 2, and 3 on it and place the die on this secondary board. Whenever you can launch Comrades that round, they go exactly that number of spaces. This creates some different movement choices. You need to be thinking about how to move your loaded Launchers and Flagship into positions that will be advantageous for launching at the end of that round.
The Blackfish Brigade differs from the Bluefin Squadron in that, instead of building Strongholds on islands to control the market and maintain area control, they have a movable Whale Pod, which fulfills some of the same functions. As your Flagship moves around the board, you place additional Patrols onto a Whale Pod tile. When you move the Whale Pod with Migrate, you can place Patrols from the pod onto the board, letting you spread your area control strategically. Like the Shellfire Rebellion, this causes you to plan things out a bit more to take full advantage of your tokens. The themes of both in comparison to the base game factions are similar, but a bit more complex, rewarding you with a good payoff if you plan well.
While the factions in Rivals & Renegades are an evolution of the ideas of the base game factions, the factions in Fang & Fortune are entirely new. The Leviathan is completely different than anything that’s come before. Your “faction” is essentially one big many-headed serpent spreading itself throughout the ocean. You spend the game attempting to grow more body segments, which get placed after an obligatory movement at the start of the turn. Instead of being concerned with control, your actions disrupt the other factions (sometimes eating them!), improve your speed and attack ability, and gain Evolution cards to gain additional abilities. While your objective is still to gain Fame, you do so by having long contiguous stretches of your body and a high number of Evolutions. Playing the Leviathan was unlike any of the other factions so far. You’re playing the same game, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.
Lastly, the Coral Cap Pirates are all about building a fleet—a fleet of frigates. In addition to their flagship, they have 6 smaller frigates they can “outfit.” Each has their own tarot cards with different jobs—basically, little mini-quests you need to go around to complete, which at the end of the game award hidden amounts of Fame. The frigates interact with the islands and the crew market more than many of the other factions, with Crew being recruitable as each frigate’s captain, and the jobs requiring certain suits of Crew to complete. You have to quickly build up your fleet, and island-hop with them in order to get the jobs done, though, since many jobs increase the region’s wealth die, you do want to be a little careful later in the game where you’re completing jobs.
A couple of years ago, in my review of Ahoy’s base game, I said, “The Smugglers don’t add as much to the game as the other factions, and the game just plays better at 2 players.” It feels like that feedback was heard directly by the designers, as the Fang & Fortune box is the answer. It is a good answer at that. The Smugglers being a let down in 3-4 players was my primary issue with the game previously, and this expansion solves it, and does so in a more fun way than I would have expected. Additionally, Rivals & Renegades does help in that vein as well. The team game of Yellow vs. Blue was a brand new dynamic to 4-player games that was previously not possible. The similarities of the two for both sides allow them to interact and use each other’s pieces. A Comrade on the board is a Comrade when it is mentioned on an ability, regardless of being from the Shellfire Rebellion or the Mollusk Union.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I find that all four of the new factions add something to the game. The Leviathan and the Coral Cap Pirates are really entirely new play styles and let the 3rd and 4th players feel like they are doing something all their own. Even just using the Smugglers and one of the two helps the games asymmetry, as with 4 players before, using two Smugglers was definitely a hit against the game. As for the Shellfire Rebellion and Blackfish Brigade, they have a same-but-different feel to them.
Despite the similarities to the Mollusk Union and Bluefin Squadron, respectively, the differences felt like they were enough to warrant their existence. The Whale Pod for Blackfish was a fun mechanic, and the token’s implementation sitting around each regions’ wealth die was neat. The Leviathan was the one I had the most fun with ultimately, though that’s not to sell the other three short. I was a bit skeptical what room there was for expansion in the game, but the Leviathan in particular really opened up my eyes as to what was possible with the system.
I did really enjoy the base game, particularly at 2 players. In the last couple of years though, I’m not sure we have played it at 3 or 4 players again until now. These sets seem like they are likely to change that. If you are like me and felt the higher player counts were lacking, but loved the game otherwise, Fang & Fortune is a definite pick-up. If you primarily play 2-player games, Rivals & Renegades is worth the time for the additional variety it provides. My love for the Mollusk Union remains unchallenged, but launching turtles with catapults is its own brand of fun—and I think of the blue factions so far, I’ve ended up preferring the Blackfish Brigade. All-in-all, good sets!
Hits:
• The Leviathan and Coral Cap Pirates provide a much-needed boost to 3 and 4 player games.
• Increased variety of faction combinations extends the life of the game, and keeps it from ever getting stale.
• The team variant for 4 player has a very different feel to the basic game, and is a great addition.
Misses:
• Like the base game (and most asymmetric games), there is a learning curve that’s a little unexpected from such a small game.
• The Shellfire Rebellion and Blackfish Brigade are a step up in complexity from their predecessors.
• This is a small thing, but I’d forgotten what a pain putting the stickers on all 20 of the Comrade tokens was!
