Another game of Waterworld was played. This time, the setup featured a single fog bank in the middle of the sea, which each fleet would emerge from on the first turn. Two arches made for some nice pictures, and the original arch from Economy Edition made a surprise appearance. Each of the four wild islands had 4 regular treasures and 1 unique treasure.
There were seven 15 point fleets this time, with 0LR’s again not being permitted. They went in this order:
Sea Phoenix + captain, helmsman, oarsman
Silent Death + captain
Calypsos
Black Bear + helmsman
USS Destiny
Rum Runner + helmsman
Matthias Vospero + captain
L’Eroica + captain, helmsman
The Sea Phoenix took the first action and reached the arch made famous by Economy Edition.
The Silent Death is visible through an archway:
This one’s not the best quality, but you can see the Jade Rebellion flag to the left as the Americans approach the arch from the other side.
After the Sea Phoenix explored, the Black Bear planned to ram the ship and use her ability to steal gold!
The Black Bear also won the boarding party, and stole both coins from the Sea Phoenix!
From the mizzen top of the Matthias Vospero:
The arch has returned!
The Vospero soon joined in on the action, taking a mast off the Sea Phoenix:
The Destiny has docked on the other side of the arch, but a monster approaches…
The Eroica managed to maneuver to the far side of the southern island, denying Calypsos the chance to easily ram the ship and steal her gold.
The Rum Runner and Silent Death peacefully loaded gold, but the game was still in its early stages…
For a small measure of revenge, the Sea Phoenix rounded the arch’s lowest point where the gold sat and dismasted the Destiny, who was promptly rammed by Calypsos, who stole both her coins!
The Black Bear ran for safety as the Vospero turned around and eyed the Silent Death. The Rum Runner wanted to run away as well. The French Eroica had the misfortune to find Barrel o’ Monkeys.
As ships ran away from other ships, it became evident that more conflict was approaching. The Black Bear ducked into the single fog bank, which would immediately disappear as soon as a ship rolled a 1 to emerge from it. The Rum Runner turned around, knowing that she had a large load of gold, potentially enough to win the game.
After taking a mast off the Silent Death, the Matthias Vospero turned around to attack the Black Bear, who had emerged from the fog to chase the Sea Phoenix. The Vospero now appeared to be in control up north, while major trouble was brewing in the south.
The Eroica used an SAT to fire off 6 shots at the Rum Runner in addition to a ram, which left the schooner with 1 mast standing. This was a nightmare for the Pirates, who didn’t want to use Parley and give up their gold. To make things worse for the combatants, Calypsos eagerly swam towards the battle.
The Eroica dismasted the Rum Runner and captured her, with the Barrel o’ Monkeys changing hands inconsequently several times in the process. The French were happy to have won the battle, but as soon as they had, Calypsos was staring them in the face ready to fight!
Up north, the Matthias Vospero dominated both ships, capturing the Black Bear. She illegally captured the Sea Phoenix, who had an oarsman on board. A turn later the Sea Phoenix was removed from the game and the coin she had loaded was put back on the island you see her docked at.
The Silent Death had rolled a 1 to eliminate the fog bank, and after a brief trip to the eastern island, she returned to the center where the Vospero began chasing her.
Calypsos pinned the Eroica and knocked off a mast, and the Eroica fought back gallantly, blasting the sea monster!
After a furious fight and yet another SAT from the Eroica, Calypsos lay in pieces over the sea! Even the Eroica’s crew were surprised by their stunning victory, though they lost her helmsman in the engagement. If Calypsos had better luck and the Eroica slightly worse luck, the Cursed would have had a real shot at winning the game with just a single L-speed sea monster, since they could have grabbed the impressive treasure still aboard the Rum Runner! However, it was not to be, and the Cursed would have to settle for losing once again (so close!).
After a brief game of cat and mouse, the Matthias Vospero cornered the Silent Death and knocked the Corsairs out of contention. The Eroica had no choice but to confront the Vospero, since the Vospero could easily catch her now that the Eroica’s helmsman was gone.
The Vospero captured the Silent Death and explored the nearby island for a sudden influx of gold! The Eroica arrived to knock a mast off, but it was too late. The Vospero took out the Eroica, and the game was over.
In the end, the Spanish captured 12 gold (three 4’s) through the Silent Death, and when combined with the gold from the Black Bear and Matthias Vospero, they won by a large margin:
Spanish: 23 gold
French: 11 gold
Everyone else: 0
The French played a good game but were hampered by Barrel o’ Monkeys and Calypsos. The Spanish played a good game and showed how useful and important it is to capture enemy gold ships in Waterworld, but I’ll probably remember this game as the game that almost saw the Cursed win single-handedly with nothing but a sea monster moving L the whole game.