30 point game between the French and the Pirates – November 28th, 2014

Posted on April 26, 2019April 26, 2019 by Ben

I was able to play a game just now! This was the first game since late September, but it doesn’t feel like it’s been two months, probably since the previous hiatus was so much longer.

For this particular game I decided to use Cadet-Captain Mike’s random setup tables. I rolled a 1 (30 point fleets), a 4 (no limits), and a 3 (no crew limits or bonuses). Basically a simple 30 point game (like back in the SM days ) with no restrictions.

French:
La Bonne Chance + captain
La Fureur + helmsman
St. Joan
Marianne

Pirates:
Flying Dutchman + captain, helmsman
Black Heart + explorer

You can see that the French were going for a setup favoring multiple smaller ships while the Pirates set sail with two large ships. The low point limit lent itself well to using the Bonne Chance and the Flying Dutchman, two of the cheaper gunships in the game.

It had to be a quick game, so no terrain and UT’s were used. However, for the first time I was conscious of implementing woelf’s house rules, which I have been interested in for a few months now.

woelf wrote:

1) The build total is randomly determined by rolling 2d6, a d12, or a d20 and multiplying by 10. (We used the d12 this time.)
2) Fleets are built “on the spot”, so we know prior to building which nations are being used. We also make it known if including any “specialty” ships that require unique counters (specifically, submersibles) in a fleet, so the other players can adjust accordingly. (This minimizes unfair advantages and helps avoid wasting points on contingencies that would be useless without their specific targets.)
3) Treasure (including UTs) is completely randomized after building fleets. We make it a point to mix a variety of different colors – light gold, dark gold, silver, and even transparent.
4) Events and Forts are generally not used. (They aren’t explicitly forbidden, but we just never bother with them.)
5) We play until only one player has ships remaining or there is no treasure left to be unloaded at home islands.

For this game all but number 1 was used, because of the random setup table. For the future, there probably won’t be much variety in terms of gold because the extra-light pieces are few and far between in my collection and therefore it’s easy to see which island has a particular treasure value. I hope to use silver explorers in fleets more often. I don’t have any transparent gold. Events aren’t too popular (if you couldn’t already tell ) unless I’m purposely testing out fleets that are supposed to win every game – Norvegia, Hai Peng combos, etc, etc. On the other hand, I very much enjoy using forts, although sadly they don’t see much action in small and fast games.

The Pirates were the first player, and the French picked a home island for them to the east. The Pirates picked the middle island to be the French HI. In addition, although the ships weren’t from the Spanish Main set, I wanted it to be close to an “original” game, so the islands were placed 2L apart. In general, the closer the islands are to each other the better. Also, now that I think about it, there was no terrain in SM, so it’s actually good that there wasn’t terrain in this setup.

The Pirates went first, and the Black Heart headed to an island. The Flying Dutchman followed on her starboard side in order to potentially block the nearby Bonne Chance. The French split up, with each of the three small ships heading to a different wild island. The Bonne Chance circled around her HI, keeping an eye on the Flying Dutchman.

On the next turn, all four ships designed to carry gold docked at their islands. However, only the Pirates could load gold since the Black Heart was the only ship with an explorer. This left the St. Joan a potential sitting duck for the nearby Dutchman.

On the next turn, the Dutchman sailed towards the docked St. Joan, who would explore later that same turn. The Dutchman’s speed of L+S and S-range cannons weren’t enough to reach the St. Joan, but the Pirates sailed straight for her anyway because they needed to make a move before it was too late and the French runners got home. Also, the Bonne Chance has only three masts against the Dutchman’s five, so the Pirates were willing to take a hit or two if they could cripple at least one French runner.

The Marianne and Fureur loaded gold as the Black Heart sailed home with all four coins from the southeast island. However, the Bonne Chance moved to counter the Dutchman just as the Pirates expected, taking out one mast in a rather unsuccessful shoot action.

The Dutchman was only partially blocked and was able to maneuver around the Bonne Chance and get her remaining four guns in range of the St. Joan. The Pirates were thinking their gamble had paid off, until the Dutchman missed all four shots! The French followed by moving the Bonne Chance out of the St. Joan’s way and simultaneously using her captain to take out two more masts on the Dutchman. The Dutchman’s ineffective guns proved to be the turning point in this game. In the meantime, the Black Heart docked home her gold as the Marianne, Fureur, and St. Joan all headed for the French HI.

With the Dutchman in need of help, the Black Heart headed west. The Dutchman, with only two masts remaining, turned to desperate measures and ignored the dangerous Bonne Chance, heading north and finally succeeding at a shoot action by dismasting the Marianne. The French triumphantly dominated on their turn, with the Bonne Chance sinking the Dutchman with the help of her built-in reroll, and the Fureur and St. Joan docking home 5 coins.

With the St. Joan and Fureur docked, the Black Heart surprised the French by suddenly reversing course and heading north towards the island that the Fureur had explored. The Fureur and St. Joan headed west to tow the Marianne and grab the gold from the island that the Marianne couldn’t get on her first trip. The Bonne Chance shadowed the Black Heart, wary of her size and identical built-in reroll ability.

Once again, the Black Heart changed direction. She went after the St. Joan and Fureur, but the Bonne Chance was too quick for her. The Bonne Chance caught up to her and shot and rammed away all four of her masts, ending the game!

The gold was tallied up, with the French receiving much higher values on average than the Pirates.
France: 21 gold
Pirates: 8 gold

Although a bit lopsided, this was an interesting game that marked a return to the old-school 30 point format. Hope you enjoyed it!

Pirates vs. Spanish – September 27th, 2014

Posted on April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 by Ben

Pirates vs. Spanish – September 27th, 2014

Hey everybody, finally was able to play again after an eight month hiatus. It’s been too long. Unfortunately I probably won’t be able to play again for a while, but the game I did play was memorable and fun!

After rereading woelf’s review of El Garante, I was inspired to use her, with none other than the Spanish Native Canoes to provide cheerleaders to complement the Garante’s ability. To round out the Spanish fleet, I went with the Rafael, a four masted schooner from DJC that I hadn’t used before, and HMS Trepassey, which is an English ship that I threw in since I hadn’t used her either, being one of the newer additions to my fleet.

The above fleet went against a Pirate fleet with 3 new ships (I had to punch them and everything!) and El Tejon, a superb support gunship with the sniping ability (double the range of this ship’s cannons, hit only on a 6). The other ships were the Black Pearl (the uncommon version), the Freedom’s Hand (another two masted sniper ship), and the Adventure, a three masted schooner from CC with 5 cargo that would serve as the fleet’s main treasure runner.

The fleets were 60 points, and a standard setup with 6 islands, 6 terrain, and 16 coins worth 30 gold was distributed. With a tip from CC Mike, I’ve found that games are usually more fun when the islands are 2L apart from each other (like in the old days), rather than 3L. This was the case for this game as well. It also helps the game go a little bit faster, which can help if you have limited time in which to play.

The full fleets were as follows:
Spanish
El Garante + Tribal Chieftain, captain, helmsman, firepot specialist
Native Canoes
El Rafael + helmsman, explorer
HMS Trepassey

Pirates
Black Pearl + captain, helmsman, fire shot
El Tejon + captain, helmsman
Freedom’s Hand + captain, helmsman
Adventure + helmsman, explorer

The Spanish were the first player, and the Pirates picked a home island for them in the east. The Spanish went first after picking a western island to be the Pirates’ HI. The native canoes were placed by the Spanish on an island just to the southwest of the Spanish HI.

On the first turn, the Trepassey sailed southeast at L+S+S since her cargo hold was empty, reaching the first island. There she found 5 total gold. The canoes emptied their island, leaving one canoe empty. The Garante set off in the direction of the native canoes, in the hopes that they could unite to make the Garante’s guns more accurate.

For the Pirates, the Adventure sailed northeast to the nearest wild island, escorted for the moment by the Black Pearl. Due to their sniping abilities and the close distances between islands, the Tejon and Freedom’s Hand were able to get their extra-long range guns in range of the Spanish. With one gun in range, the Tejon rolled a 5 (she needed a 6) and missed the Garante. The Freedom’s Hand moved more to the south and sniped a canoe that had loaded a coin from the island, giving the Pirates the gold lead (it was a 1) on the first hit of the game! Her second shot missed, but the Pirates were up 1-0 and the Spanish lost a canoe.

On the next turn, the Trepassey headed back to the Spanish HI, while the Rafael made it to the island she was sailing to in the north. Upon exploring, her crew found just 4 1’s, of which she had room for 3.

In the south, the Garante was looking to avenge the sinking of one of “her” canoes, sailing into range of the Freedom’s Hand. However, there was only one other canoe within S of the Garante when she shot at the Hand, but it helped. The Garante hit 2 times out of 4, dismasting the Hand and ending the threat to the other native canoes. The canoe that was closest to the Garante was the only one without gold, so the other three headed northeast to return to the Spanish HI.

The Freedom’s Hand is a galley, and with a helmsman she was able to move S+S away from the Garante, looking to head home and repair. In the meantime, the Adventure loaded 3 coins from a wild island.

At this moment, the Pirates faced the first dilemma of many that they would encounter in this game. Between the speed of the Black Pearl (L+S+S) and the range of El Tejon’s cannons (2L, or L+L), this Pirate fleet has considerable long range firepower and striking capabilities (plus all four of the Pearl’s guns are long range). However, the speed (L+S) of the Tejon meant that it would be very difficult to get both of her regular guns in range. They measured multiple times, but they determined that they had two options. The Tejon had only one canoe in range of her regular (non-doubled range) cannons, but with the extended range she had 2 canoes in range.

At this point I consulted the Pirate Code to find out if you can double the range of only ONE (or maybe 2 out of 5 if it was a bigger ship like the Neptuno) of the ship’s cannons, and roll regularly on the other one. The Pirate Code didn’t say, so I’m asking in the Rules Thread. However, the ability text reads: “You may double the range of this ship’s cannonS each turn, but you must roll a 6 to hit.” Since it says “cannons”, I ruled that it can’t shoot one cannon at L and the other cannon at L+L on the same turn. Therefore the Pirates were faced with a choice of shooting once at 2L or twice at 5L. They decided to risk shooting twice and rolled a 4 on the first shot. However, the second shot was a 6! As it happened, the shot that hit was on the canoe that was already within L range. In the end, a second native canoe was sent to the bottom, but she had a 2 on her. The sunken treasure was split 50/50, giving the Pirates 2 gold to the Spaniards’ 1.

Edit: Woelf ruled that you actually CAN double the range of only one of the ship’s cannons.

The Black Pearl sailed behind the docked Rafael and promptly shot away all four of her masts in a perfect 4/4 shoot action!

On the next turn, the Trepassey docked home 5 gold, giving the Spanish 6 overall. Next to dock were the two remaining canoes that held gold. Fortunately for the Spanish, these were the two canoes that had the highest value coins of the four original canoes, a 4 and a 3. However, the +1 gold bonus from the ability of the canoes brought the total value of the gold to 9 (4+3+1+1), which left the Spanish at 15 overall, only 1 gold away from winning!

Now it was time for the Garante to move. When she sailed south to attack the Freedom’s Hand on the previous turn, this allowed the Tejon to sink one of the canoes. The Garante still had to turn around and sail northeast to get at the Tejon, which would have taken two turns (there was also a Sargasso Sea in the area to complicate things). In the end, she sailed northwest to pursue the fleeing Freedom’s Hand, and easily sunk her. The canoe without gold continued to follow the Garante to give her +1 to cannon rolls.

With 15 gold, the Spanish could taste victory. Knowing how powerful the Black Pearl and the Tejon were, they looked to the fastest way to win: sinking the Rafael. If the Rafael and the three gold (all 1’s) on her went under, the Spanish would win either way. If the Pirates sank her, they would receive 2 gold and the Spanish would receive 1 gold, giving them 16 gold and the win. If the Spanish could scuttle the Rafael, the 3 gold would be removed from the game, which would only leave 14 gold left in play for the Pirates (30 gold – 13 actual gold on Spanish HI since 2 are “tallies” = 17 – 3 gold from Rafael = 14 gold < 15). The Pirates needed the gold from the Rafael and all but one gold from what was left on the islands in order to win the game.

The Spanish rolled a successful 5 on the scuttle attempt, but the Black Pearl captured the Rafael on the Pirates’ turn, making her a member of the Pirate fleet. The Adventure headed home with gold.

The Tejon had turned around and now went after the Garante, since the canoes had already docked home their gold. The Tejon just barely managed to get both of her guns within L+L range, and hit with one of them, taking out one mast on the Garante.

The Spanish took their turn and sent their remaining treasure runners (the Trepassey and the two canoes docked at their HI) to the southeast island that the Trepassey had already explored, since they knew that the one gold on the island would win them the game if they could get it home. The Spanish sent all three in order to have strength in numbers, hoping that the Trepassey could get the coin home while the canoes ran interference.

In the meantime, the big bad Garante decided she’d had enough of the Tejon’s sniping actions, sailing around the Sargasso and sinking the Tejon with help from the canoe that was still following her. In fact, 2 out of the 3 hits were 3’s, which would have missed if not for the +1 provided by the canoe being within S of the Garante! With that, the Pirates had both of their snipers sunk, leaving them with the Adventure and the Black Pearl.

The Adventure docked home 8 gold, bringing the Pirates to 10 gold total. The Spanish still led 15-10. Since towing the derelict Rafael would slow the Black Pearl down (although not very much, since I believe the Pearl would still be able to go S+S+S with her ability and helmsman), the Pearl decided to drop her and speed after the three Spanish treasure runners to the south.

The one masters head south as the Black Pearl looms:

As planned, the Trepassey grabbed the 1 gold from the southeast island, while the canoes tried to stand between her and the oncoming Black Pearl. The canoes are tiny, and had no time to orient themselves properly before the lightning fast gunship was upon them. The Pearl managed to get in range of one canoe, sinking it, but was out of range of the other one and the Trepassey.

The Garante sailed east towards the action, with her trusty canoe following right behind. The Adventure set out to the east as well, knowing she was probably too slow and too late to help the Black Pearl.

The game was coming to a thrilling conclusion! The Trepassey was desperate to avoid the Black Pearl, sailing around a reef in the south and trying to get home. The Garante headed northeast around a different reef to sink the Rafael, who was now a Pirate ship but also a sitting duck.

Here was another Pirate dilemma: the Black Pearl had to either sink the Trepassey, who had the winning gold aboard, or attack the Garante, who was about to sink the Rafael and therefore force the end of the game. Their decision was made easier due to the fact that the Trepassey had just gotten within L+S of the Spanish HI (L+S is her base move when carrying treasure), so the Black Pearl had no choice but to sink the Trepassey. In addition, the Black Pearl would have needed to hit all four times to guarantee (no pun intended) that the Garante would be dismasted and therefore not able to sink the Rafael.

The Black Pearl sank the Trepassey, giving the Pirates the 1 gold on her (Spanish lead 15-11). It was inconsequential, but the Adventure picked up the 2 that was still lying on her island from earlier in the game.

On the next turn, the Garante sailed into range of the Rafael and tried to sink her to end the game! Although the Spanish had been ahead in the gold race for a while at this point, the Pirates had many opportunities for false hope, even to the very end. The Garante missed on her first three shots, and only on the final shot did she roll a 3, sinking the former Spanish ship to give the Spanish a 17-12 victory! (the Spanish got 2 of the 3 gold on the Rafael, with the Pirates getting the other 1) If that native canoe wasn’t still following the Garante around, the Pirates would have had another shot! So although the strategy of using the native canoes to support the Garante didn’t work as well as planned, with only one canoe providing any cannon bonus, that one canoe made all the difference!

Towards the end of the game the Pirates realized that they could have kept towing the Rafael. The Black Pearl had a captain and helmsman aboard, so even with the Rafael in tow she would have sailed at S+S+S, probably fast enough to sink the Trepassey anyway. In this way, however, the Rafael would have been mobile and farther away from the Garante than she was in the actual game, not to mention that the Garante would have to deal with the Black Pearl if she had wanted to go after the Rafael. It’s likely the Spanish would have won even if the Pearl had towed the Rafael around after she had captured her, but it is interesting to think about nonetheless.

Moonlight Battle reenactment – January 16th, 2014

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by Ben

Warning: This is a historical reenactment, not a normal Battle Report!

234 years ago tonight, the Moonlight Battle was fought off Cape St. Vincent.

The reenactment went great! I managed to get a good bunch of quality shots. I’ve only done one other reenactment (the Battle of the Nile in the summer of 2012) but I didn’t get pictures for it.

The reason these pictures are posted here so late (and that the edit will say it’s on the 17th) is because I actually played things out from about 9-11 pm, in order to actually have the battle at night! (the actual battle took place from about 4pm until 2am) Without further ado, here are the pics! You can read wikipedia’s battle report as you follow along if you don’t know how the battle went.

A battle becomes imminent as the two fleets see each other:

The English bear down upon the Spaniards:

The Spanish begin to form a line of battle as the English sail ahead in roughly line abreast:

HMS Edgar deals the first broadside of the battle to the Santo Domingo:

The Santo Domingo (on fire) is passed by HMS Marlborough as more English ships catch the Spanish as a result of their copper-sheathed hulls:

Yet another fresh English ship (HMS Ajax) fires into the hull of the Santo Domingo:

A nice shot showing the mixed ensigns as the English infiltrate the Spanish formation:

One of three English three deckers at the battle, the Prince George approaches the action.

At this point I tried to recreate a shot that I found in my War at Sea in the Age of Sail (by Andrew Lambert) book that’s similar but not quite identical to this one:

The Santo Domingo meets her fate in a rare moment of sheer awe and horror:

The huge blast illuminates the hull and sails of the 2nd rate HMS Prince George:

The Princessa gallantly fights the Bedford, but she eventually surrenders:

As the sun sets, the Defence engages the Fenix, flagship of Admiral Langara:

Darkness closing in as the battle rages on:

The Prince George in action against the Fenix:

The Montagu fires on the Diligente as the Cumberland duels the San Eugenio:

HMS Culloden and HMS Prince George team up to take out the San Julian:

The Moonlight Battle

After the Apollo harassed the Monarca, the Sandwich (Rodney’s flagship) came on to end the battle:

If there had been a full moon:

Pirates CSG Podcast #42: MIKE SELINKER, Pirates CSG Game Designer!!!!

Posted on April 9, 2019March 26, 2024 by Ben

Pirates CSG Podcast #42: MIKE SELINKER, Pirates CSG Game Designer!!!!

You can listen to the audio via Anchor!

You can also listen on Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/PiratesCSGPodcast42MikeSelinker

Mike Selinker is one of the original game designers of Pirates CSG.

His company, Lone Shark Games: http://lonesharkgames.com/

http://lonesharkgames.com/staff-member/mike-selinker/

https://www.facebook.com/lonesharkgames/

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Selinker

BGG page: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/604/mike-selinker

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeselinker

Question of the Day: Do you wish the Dutch had been a faction from the start in Spanish Main? Would you prefer them as one of the major factions in the game?

The list of questions from the Forum at Pirates with Ben: https://pirateswithben.com/forums/topic/submit-your-questions-for-pirates-designer-mike-selinker/

Take the podcast survey! https://goo.gl/forms/CsnwVmi3qhtqik323

Feel free to rate and review the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pirates-csg-podcast/id1258016060

Pirates packs on eBay: https://ebay.us/S14uSE This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Sign the Petition! https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bring-back-pirates-of-the-cursed-seas

Join the Forum at Pirates with Ben! https://pirateswithben.com/forums/forum/pirates-csg/

The following should eventually be updated from ShoutEngine so they will be available when they get the podcast.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pirates-csg-podcast/id1258016060

Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1258016060/pirates-csg-podcast

Google Play Music: https://play.google.com/music/m/Imxc6vplvkqlmagcvkxvi2er2wu?t=Pirates_CSG_Podcast

Blubrry: https://www.blubrry.com/piratescsgpodcast/

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/a7xfanben/pirates-csg-podcast?refid=stpr

The Hourly Campaign Part 21: Vikings have their best day yet (Turn 22+)

Posted on April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 by Ben

Third and Final 80 Point Game of Series – January 13th, 2014

Posted on April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 by Ben

I’ve played the third and final game of this series. The order of play went: English, Pirates, Americans, French. The big difference between this game and the previous two was that instead of having the islands placed 2L apart from each other, they would be just 1L apart from each other! Also, no terrain was used.

This shows the fleets at their home islands at the start of the game. Clockwise from upper left: Americans, Pirates, English, French. The short distances between islands made for a smaller gaming area (a good thing if you need to play on a table) as well as a good game.

The treasure ships for each fleet were immediately able to grab gold, with the islands being so close together. The Queen Anne’s Revenge sank the Patagonia and the 5 gold she was carrying. The Baionnette set the Royal Rover on fire. The rest of the English fleet headed towards the French, aggressively sailing their four dangerous ships into action. They sunk the Belle Poule and dismasted the Tunis.

The Pirates sent Blackbeard (on the Royal Rover) after the Paladin and her 9 point crew, Peregrine Stern. Getting revenge on the French, the Obago now dismasted the Baionnette, and the Queen Anne’s Revenge sunk her. The Paladin dismasted the Royal Rover before she could attempt to board the American three master, as the Nene Nui came home with three coins for the Americans. The SCS Santa Lucia captured the Royal Rover and set the Paladin on fire. The Triton brought home a coin for the French.

The action as the game stood at this point:

The English were trying a strategy different from the previous two games: concentrate on one opponent rather than dividing forces. They went after the French to begin with, but it quickly fell apart from there. The Algiers got greedy and took off when she rolled for an extra action. On her way up north to attack the Frontier, she dismasted the Paladin as she traveled almost the entire length of the sea with her double move-and-shoot. Her attack on the Frontier was a complete success: both the guns and ram attempt worked, and not only was the Frontier derelict, but the boarding party even eliminated her helmsman! Unfortunately for the English, the rest of the English fleet was too slow to support the efforts of the Algiers, so she was stuck on her own, which wouldn’t work out well since the Frontier had 6 treasure coins on her from the two islands she explored, making her the biggest target in the game.

However, the rest of the English fleet were able to continue their concentrated assault. The Locker surfaced and sank the captured Royal Rover before the French could tow her home. The Pyre rammed a mast off the SCS Santa Lucia, but the Lord Cauldwell predictably missed the Tunis both times in an effort to sink her.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge now stole a coin from the American HI, while also dismasting her fellow Spanish HI-raider in the OE Santa Lucia. Just to the north, the Obago captured the Frontier, giving the Pirates a huge prize if only they could tow her back to their home island. The Nene Nui rammed the Algiers, taking out a mast and her oarsman.

The Mercury finally surfaced, taking two masts off the Queen Anne’s Revenge. To the south, the Tunis brought in gold for the French, while the Triton sailed to an untouched wild island just south of the French HI. The Pyre and Lord Cauldwell pursued the Triton, with the Lord Cauldwell eventually connecting to take out the mizzenmast of the Triton. The Locker submerged and headed east.

In the north, the Frontier is fought over as shots ring out elsewhere:

To the north, the main conflict grew hotter. The Algiers missed her shot to sink the Frontier, and the Obago dismasted her on the following turn. The Obago, looking to clear the sea of obstacles before she could tow the Frontier home (it was such close quarters that the Obago almost couldn’t maneuver), also shot off two masts on the Nene Nui. The Nene Nui rammed the Obago in an attempt to kill her Pirate helmsman, but failed.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge brought back the coin she stole from the Americans, a rare example of a successful home island raid!

The Tunis repaired as the Triton brought back another coin for the French. The Pyre and Lord Cauldwell both failed in their ram attempts to damage the Triton. The SCS Santa Lucia dismasted the Nene Nui, leaving the Americans with just the Mercury and therefore no way to acquire more gold (subs can’t tow).

For the Pirates, the Swift had brought back three coins during two different gold runs. The Queen Anne’s Revenge (with one mast remaining) grabbed a coin to empty an island near the Pirates’ HI. The Mercury, still mad about having her home island robbed, proceeded to set the Revenge on fire as she was dismasted.

The game entering its final stage:

The Locker tried to sink the Frontier, but missed. The Obago sank the Algiers, finally giving her a clear path to re-orient herself in the right direction to start towing the Frontier home. The SCS Santa Lucia took a mast off the Obago, but the Obago was still in good shape with 3 masts left.

In the south, the Triton was blasting away at the Lord Cauldwell as the Tunis grabbed the last two gold coins in play from a southern island. The Pyre surfaced and shot at the Tunis, leaving her to depend on oars once again.

The Obago started towing the Frontier, and sunk the Nene Nui for good measure. The Frontier was moved to a new position when the Obago towed her, placing her out of range of the Mercury, who didn’t want to see the formerly American gold docked at an enemy home island. However, the Locker was a bit closer. She went around an island and had two guns in range of the derelict Frontier. The first one missed, but the second one connected, forcing 13 gold to the bottom of the sea! The Swift managed to transfer the gold from the Queen Anne’s Revenge, but the Mercury sunk the Swift before she could dock it.

One turn before it all ended:

In the south, the game was coming to its conclusion just as the northern events were transpiring. The Pyre missed the Tunis twice, letting the galley dock home the last 2 coins and thus end the game!

The final gold count:
1. French: 12 gold
2. Pirates: 8
3. Americans: 5
4. English: 0

The game would have ended in a 10-10 tie if the Swift had returned with the 2 aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge and the Pyre had sunk the Tunis and the 2 gold that she was carrying.

With their second victory in this multiplayer series, the French have officially won! Their 80 point fleet seems to be the best of the four, winning even in the face of tough odds, as the English dogged them all game long. Their 40 and 60 point versions were soundly beat by the English, so I would say the best 40 point fleet would have to be the Americans, with either the Pirates or English having the best 60 point fleet.

For this 3 game series, the French win two games, the Americans one, and the English and Pirates zero apiece.

I’m looking forward to recreating the Moonlight Battle on Thursday night! Therefore the pics probably won’t be posted on MT until late. Thanks for reading!