Merchants and Marauders – Playable 3D game board tutorial

The first month of 2019 has almost passed, and we just can’t believe how many awesome games came out in 2018. It has been an awesome year for board games and it raises the bar for the coming years when it comes to new games and reprints of good old classics. Talking about those good old classics, made us wonder. What would our favorite board game classics look like in 2019? For us, the love for board games started with Merchants and Marauders, a game from 2010. We thought it would be the perfect game to add some 2019-spice to. We decided to upgrade the components, make a playable 3D game board and even create some cool house rules to go with all that new swag.

Of course, we didn’t want to leave you with just pretty pictures. Nick created a tutorial on how he build this diorama in case you want to give building a 3D board a shot.

Products and material used and information and images on house rules are listed below.

Board

• 650x560x4 mm MDF underboard
• 650x560x8 mm Plywood top board
• 500x500x30 mm Styrofoam

Painting

• Paint shaker
• Various brushes
• The Army Painter Wizards Orb
• The Army Painter Troglodyte Blue
• The Army Painter Dark Sky
• The Army Painter Hydra Turquois
• The Army Painter Desert Yellow
• Citadel Skrag Brown
• Citadel Rhinox Hide

Basing & Tuft

• The Army Painter Battlefields Basing Glue
• The Army Painter Moss Green, Flock
• The Army Painter Grass Green, Flock
• The Army Painter Brown Battleground – Basing

Token upgrades

• Token protector 18mm (17 pieces)
• 3D STL files for ports

Miscellaneous products

• Resin casting water 700ml
• Bottle of Rum (you’ll know what to do with it if you are a real pirate ;-))

House rules

• Maximum player count 3 players (optional)
• Start the game with 2 NPC Naval and 1 NPC pirate at random
• Take out crap rumors and crap missions, don’t use them in the game
• Don’t use the location benefits this saves a lot of time
• At your home-port, you can transfer ship mods for 1 gold each

Important

• The last player on the track is the first to begin the next round
• Achievements 8 points in 5 different conditions to be victorious
• All players start the game with a rumor and a glory card
• Surrender option: at all times before seamanship rolls (except the first roll) to a Pirate: lose gold, cargo, and all crew. To Naval: lose gold, cargo, and the victor places you in a port of there choice in their nation and you lose 1 action the next turn.
• Make faction decks, take 4 captains of each nation with god stats and give every player a different nationality.
• If you spend your last 2 actions on open water you may take a free move action to another sea zone (winds are in your sails)
• When you visit the shipyard you may take a second ship mod and choose 1 to buy and leave the other one open on the board.
• Raid ports: use the same mechanic as you used to raid the Naval Fort location, but if you win no one can use that port for the rest of the round and you reset the food in demand token en ship mod token at the start of a new event.