Strike The Colors unlocks the instant you board a Lead Convoy ship during open-world naval play — the trophy pops as the boarding begins, not when the fight ends.
Strike The Colors is one of the naval trophies in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, and it is far simpler than it looks once you know the trigger. You do not need to reach a specific story memory or finish a boarding objective — you just need to sail out, find a convoy, and start boarding the Lead Convoy ship. Everything below is about spotting the right target and getting the Board prompt to appear.
Strike The Colors trophy requirement
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Trophy / achievement | Strike The Colors |
| Requirement | Board a Lead Convoy ship |
| Game mode | Single-player, open-world naval |
| Target ship | The Lead Convoy vessel, not its escorts |
| Availability | Offline, any difficulty, not missable |
| Gamerscore | 10 |
KEY!
The unlock condition is exactly what the in-game description says: board a Lead Convoy ship. This is an open-world naval trophy tied to free-roam sailing, not to any mission or story beat, so any qualifying convoy encounter counts. The important detail is that the target has to be the ship the game flags as the Lead Convoy vessel — the escorts sailing alongside it do not trigger anything.
For achievement hunters, this one is worth 10 Gamerscore, and it sits in the group of Resynced achievements that are available offline, at any difficulty setting, and cannot be missed. There is no window to catch it in and no hard mode requirement — you can grab it whenever you happen to be out on the water.
Finding the right convoy target
Take the Jackdaw out into open waters and just sail until a convoy shows up. A convoy is a cluster of ships traveling together, and you can spot one two ways: pull out the Spyglass to scan the horizon, or simply watch the mini-map, where the group registers as you close in. You do not strictly need the Spyglass — the mini-map is enough to steer toward the pack.
Once you are near, the job is to pick out the Lead Convoy ship itself. Convoys travel with escort ships around them, and only the lead vessel satisfies the trophy, so line up on that one specifically rather than blasting whatever crosses your bow. The sources do not pin down a guaranteed spawn coordinate, a story unlock point, or a minimum Jackdaw upgrade for these convoys, so treat this as free-roam hunting — sail the shipping lanes and one will appear rather than fast-traveling to a fixed spot.
How to unlock Strike The Colors in Black Flag Resynced
Spot a convoy, wear down the lead ship, and trigger the boarding prompt — the trophy fires the moment that boarding starts.
STEP 1/6
Spot the convoy
Scan the horizon with the Spyglass or watch the mini-map until a convoy group appears out in the distance.
STEP 2/6
Target the Lead Convoy ship
Steer toward the group and lock onto the vessel marked as the Lead Convoy, not the escorts around it.
STEP 3/6
Damage it until boarding unlocks
Hammer the Lead Convoy with cannon fire until its hull health drops enough to make boarding available.
STEP 4/6
Pull alongside
Bring the Jackdaw right up beside the ship once the boarding option lights up so your crew can grapple across.
STEP 5/6
Select Board
Choose the Board prompt — this is the action that matters, and the trophy is already yours from here.
STEP 6/6
Let the boarding begin
As Edward Kenway and the crew launch the assault, Strike The Colors pops even before you clear the objectives.
Board the Lead Convoy, never sink it. The trophy triggers on the boarding action, so stop firing the moment the Board prompt appears instead of pounding the hull to zero.
Video help
Mistakes that stop the trophy popping
By far the most common miss is sinking the Lead Convoy instead of boarding it. It is easy to keep firing and destroy the ship past the boarding threshold — but a sunk vessel cannot be boarded, so ease off once the Board prompt shows up and close the distance instead. The other easy trap is boarding an escort: convoys come packed with extra ships, and grappling onto a brig or a random escort does nothing here. Confirm you are on the ship tagged as the Lead Convoy before you commit.
Two mindset errors also cost people time. Some players hunt for a specific story memory and assume the trophy is mission-locked, but any open-world convoy works. Others overthink the boarding itself and try to finish every objective — and that is exactly where this one surprises you. The trophy registers as soon as the boarding begins, so the single decisive input is choosing Board; whatever happens in the assault afterward is a bonus, not a requirement.
Since you are already out on the water, several nearby goals pair well with this one. Fully upgrading the Jackdaw makes convoy and Legendary ship fights faster and safer, and it feeds into fleet-focused trophies like Collective Madness for adding one of each ship class to Kenway’s fleet, plus All Hands On Deck and Ship This. On the combat side, look at surviving a Rogue wave, dash-ramming a Ramming Brig, Pirate Hunter, and taking down all the Legendary ships — all natural follow-ups on the same seas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have to finish the boarding objectives for Strike The Colors?
No. The trophy fires as the boarding sequence starts, so you do not need to clear every objective in the assault — choosing Board on the Lead Convoy ship is the moment that counts.
Can you unlock Strike The Colors in any convoy encounter?
Yes. It is not tied to a story mission — any qualifying open-world convoy that has a Lead Convoy ship will work, so you can grab it during ordinary free-roam sailing.
Does the trophy count if you board an escort ship?
No. Convoys travel with escorts, but only the ship identified as the Lead Convoy satisfies the requirement. Boarding a brig or other escort will not unlock it.
What should you do if the Lead Convoy ship sinks before boarding?
You have to board it, not destroy it, so if it sinks you will need to find another convoy and try again. Whether a failed or interrupted boarding after the prompt appears can ever block the unlock is not clearly documented, so the safe play is to secure the Board action cleanly on an intact ship.
Is Strike The Colors missable or tied to a difficulty setting?
Neither. It is available offline, at any difficulty, and it cannot be missed, so there is no urgency and no hard-mode requirement to worry about.
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