Old Salt: Review

About Old Salt, from BoardGameGeek:

A gateway naval strategy game with no reinforcements on the way. Players take the helm of a fleet they construct at the beginning of the game to sail around the map, seize islands, and loose cannons on the enemy. First to control 6 islands or be the last ship sailing is claimed to be the newest Old Salt and is the winner of the game. Players can opt to play with or without faction abilities but will construct a fleet in a draft selection at the start of the game. There are 5 ship types players can choose from with limited coins to purchase ships with. On a player's turn, they have the option to sail, fire cannons, seize islands, and if playing with faction abilities will have access to 3 more unique abilities. Players can do these actions in any order as long as they don't exceed maximum sail distance (3 tiles unless sailing over tradewinds), don't fire more times than their ship's health points and have the gold to pay for what they want to do. Players are allowed to sail up to three ships on their turn a distance of 3 tiles unless assisted by a known trade wind that grants a bonus of 2 tiles of movement. Position your ships carefully as the broadside of a ship and stern/bow impact game play and firing options on and off turn. Players fire at the enemy by counting the tiles to the enemy ship and rolling that amount or more. On the die is a blank side which if rolled, results in an automatic miss. Cannons aren't perfect weapons so sometimes it's best to use faction abilities to finish off an enemy ship. When a player destroys a ship, they will take the mast off the ship they destroyed and use it in a future transaction to seize an island or turn in at the top of their turn for a bounty reward. In order to seize an island, a players ship must be adjacent to the island in question. The transfer of ownership costs 2 gold plus 1 gold for each enemy ship that occupies that island within the area (two tiles of the island). The player must also turn in a mast belonging to the island's current faction owner. If all costs are met and paid for, the transfer of ownership is immediate and the first to 6 islands is pronounced the Old Salt and the winner of the battle. The faction abilities add a new level of replayability and strategy to the game as each faction has 3 abilities that are unique to them and their theme. Players can construct their fleet to offset a particular weakness of the faction or to enhance a strength of theirs. New players are encouraged to play their first 3 rounds without factions in order to gauge their comfortability before adding in the additional abilities and layer of depth this game can reach while still being excellent for those unfamiliar with the wargaming genre. -description from designer