by Woelf
As for the "War" card, the effects are stated clearly on the card, and some of it still applies even if there are no NPC ships of those nations on the board - in particular, player captains of the nations at war cannot enter ports of the opposing nation.If there were any NPC ships of the two nations on the board, they would get the immediate upgrade to the larger (Man O War) ship miniature.
(Player ships do not get any free upgrades if their nation goes to war.)