Even with the ships that have Ram, the damage inflicted back to the Orc ship is often tremendous. It’s quite a gamble since it’s a flat D10 damage (plus 5 if going full speed) - both times I have played it, the Orc player has rolled low and the enemy has rolled high, leaving the Orc ship more damaged than the ship it rammed. 
Sure the Ram adds +2 but it doesnt stop the blowback, and doesnt stop a really unlucky roll.
Thoughts?
Is the real value added when proceeding to the boarding step?
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Yes, it really the precursor to boarding - or make sure you are a lot bigger than the thing you are hitting!
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I actually made an entire article just about this topic. It seems that RAM being listed under some Orc Ships is being a bit counter intuitive, unconsciously positioning itself as a main strategy, whereas it definitely is not and it shouldn’t be treated as an opening gambit. Unless you like to gamble that is. Anyhow, here’s the article. Let me know if it helps. KoW Armada: RAMming for Dummies - Scarhandpainting.com
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Great article, thanks!
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Ramming was a very tricky rule to incorporate and we went back and forth on it a lot.
Black Seas is all about avoiding collisions, so bringing it into the game as a deliberate mechanic was difficult. I think one of the main ideas behind it is that the orcs really enjoy it, but that doesn’t mean it’s a sensible idea all the time. Smashing wooden ships together on purpose is still very risky, which I think is appropriate.
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