2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai – July 7th, 2017

2 VASSAL Games – 2 players, 60 points

7/7/2017

Just faced repkosai on the module for 2 VASSAL Games!

I went first in the first game, with an old fleet challenge entry, Clone: American schooners.

Repkosai followed with a Pirate fleet:

Black Pearl + Captain Blackheart, Gentleman Jocard, Marty, helmsman, oarsman

Smiling Jim + Hammersmith

Star of Siam + Coconut

Banshee’s Cry + explorer

The Carolina headed east, while the American gunships stuck together.  My strategy was to shield the Julius Caesar with the Jarvis, whose ability made her immune to the Black Pearl’s powerful L-range guns.

With some careful maneuvering, Jonathan Haraden took the Julius Caesar into range off the Black Pearl’s starboard quarter, and opened fire with fire shot and stinkpot shot!  (Miniature Trading wasn’t working when I created my fleet, so I had forgotten about Ralph David and the oarsman, swapping in stinkpot shot and an explorer)  The Jarvis followed up with a volley of her own, and the Black Pearl was reduced to one mast and her crew lazy with stinkyness!  The Jarvis also popped the lone mast off the Smiling Jim, and you can see the BC has explored the island at the right.

2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai - July 7th, 2017

Repkosai had an unlucky fire mast roll that doomed the Black Pearl.  The two American gunships captured the Smiling Jim and Banshee’s Cry, while the Carolina returned home with a big hold full o’ gold.  As you can probably tell, it was all but over, and a quick endgame resulted in a 24-3 American victory!  This also marked my 100th game on the VASSAL module!

2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai - July 7th, 2017

Between the shortness of the first game and MT still being down, we decided to play a second game with the same fleets.  This time repkosai rolled to go first, and the home islands were nearly reversed.

2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai - July 7th, 2017

Once again the Americans get the first shot, with the Julius Caesar hitting with both her equipment pieces once again.  I used a different strategy in this game, splitting the gunships and having the Jarvis attack the Star of Siam (she went 1/3 including a reroll from Nolan).

naval combat on the VASSAL module with Pirates CSG game

I couldn’t resist this picture; during the game I commented that it looked like a fireship attack!  The Black Pearl had almost no other option other than ramming to fight back, as the stinkpot shot really compromised her capabilities.  Since rediscovering that the equipment does take effect on the opponent’s turn (the MT database had an error until recently), I am on a mission to prove how effective stinkpot shot is.  I used it more back in 2011/2012, before thinking that it was only on the shooter’s turn due to the database error.  Now it will be back in vogue in my fleets!  🙂

VASSAL Pirates CSG

The Smiling Jim took a mast off the Jarvis before being dismasted, temporarily saving the Star of Siam.  The Julius Caesar finished off the Black Pearl with another fire shot hit, while the Banshee’s Cry ran home.

2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai - July 7th, 2017

The Pirates experience a windfall in gold, while the Americans prepare to set up Thompson’s Island.

2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai - July 7th, 2017

The Pirates headed out for more gold, with the Star of Siam looking to nab some American loot with the awesome Wine UT.  The Julius Caesar was ready for her, or so Haraden thought!  The ram and board failed, with the JC losing her explorer.  In the meantime, the Jarvis and Smiling Jim repair at the new fort.

2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai - July 7th, 2017

Repkosai had the right tactic, hugging the fort island with the Wine-laden Star of Siam.  Unfortunately the UT doesn’t protect against ramming, and the Smiling Jim and Jarvis teamed up to capture the SoS.  In this picture she is repairing at the fort, while the BC hides in the fog.

2 VASSAL Games Against Repkosai - July 7th, 2017

With Wine now in American hands, the Star of Siam raided the home island of her former allies, toasting the citizens of the town!  Here the Americans faced a decision: end the game before the BC docks, hoping they have more gold, or let the BC dock and try to let the Carolina and SoS get their gold to safety as well.  The choice was pretty clear though, especially given the amount of gold on the Carolina at this point.  Her haul included even more alcohol, but this time in the form of Rum!

closeup of naval game on the VASSAL module - Wizkids Pirates

The Americans lifted their blockade, with the BC docking home and the SoS unloading a former Pirate 4 coin into Thompson’s Island.  The Carolina reached home and the Julius Caesar dismasted the BC to end the game and give me victories in these 2 VASSAL Games!  The Americans won 25-7, but in reality the game was closer than that score makes it appear.

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents – July 6th, 2017

3 VASSAL games, 3 different opponents: July 6th, 2017

What a day!! arrrh

2 players, 60 points
7/6/2017

Here’s a 60 point game that was played between myself and wantkrakens, which was live streamed on my YouTube channel.

He went first with a mixed fleet:
Naegling + captain
Grand Wind + helmsman
USS Constitution

I followed with on of my favorite fleets I’ve created, Triple Pirate Barrage.

The setup featured some terrain, including an island surrounded by reefs.

The Greed’s Hammer used Coconut the monkey to avoid rolling badly on the reefs, while the Grand Wind and Madagascar looked for gold elsewhere. The Accused got the first shot against the Constitution, sinking her after a brief battle with the help of her firepot specialist.

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents - July 6th, 2017

The Naegling went 1/2 to knock a mast off the Accused, who hurried home for repairs. The GH docked home gold while the GW and Madagascar loaded some of their own.

The game tilts in favor of the Pirates! The Naegling lurks too close to the Pirate HI, and the Accused punishes her with a furious and fiery broadside that dooms the longship.

The Greed’s Hammer lost a mast to a reef on her second gold trip, but it would have been two masts if not for another of Coconut’s successful rerolls. On her way back home, the GH helped the Accused to fight the Grand Wind, who didn’t stand much of a chance against the accurate Pirate gunships.

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents - July 6th, 2017

The Grand Wind was sunk and the game ended with a 35-10 Pirate victory! This game further proved the effectiveness of crew, as my crew setups were far superior to the mast advantage (14-9) that wantkrakens had. Speed also played a big role, which isn’t surprising. It was great to see wantkrakens (krakens on VASSAL) on the module again, and we hope to play again soon!

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Second game of July 6th (2 players, 60 points)
7/6/2017

Played my second VASSAL game of the day, this time with pirateaj14, which was also live streamed on my Youtube channel.

I rolled to go first with my Clones of the Barbary Coast fleet, and pirateaj14 followed with captain_vendari’s Jacks-of-All-Trades fleet.

My Corsair fleet swarms toward the archipelago of 7 islands, each brimming with 4 coins of precious loot!

https://pirateswithben.com/clones-of-the-barbary-coast/

The Morocco uses her ability to scout the center island for the Agha’s Whip, looking for the dreaded Blood Money. Expecting the UT, I purposely put all 6’s for my standard coins to help avoid the effect since the Corsairs were only using low-value crew. I swapped in a firepot specialist for Divers and Raft, since I try to play with no events unless it’s for a tournament like T2. The Gallows was going to escort the Morocco to the southern island.

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents - July 6th, 2017

Seeing Relics on the center island, the Queen of Sheba decided to not escort the Agha’s Whip, thinking the latter ship could handle the Algeciras with the help of the UT. 4 Corsair ships have gold aboard in this picture, while the Santa Isabel takes an entire island aboard for the Spaniards. The Gallows opens the combat phase, knocking two masts off the dangerous Resolucion.

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents - July 6th, 2017

The Griffin gets Wet Gunpowder and Wine, while the Dervish sails home at S+S speed with a cargo hold full of valuable gold. The Agha’s Whip loses a mast to a reef on a 1, but Relics does indeed save her from the Algeciras. The Resolucion dismasts the Gallows, while the Virtuous Wind pursues and attacks the Morocco. The QoS grabs some great gold from the northern island, where in hindsight I should have built a fort.

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents - July 6th, 2017

Continuing my bad luck with rolling 1’s, the Queen of Sheba manages to roll two 1’s in a row against the Algeciras to dismast herself and end any hopes the Corsairs had of being successful in combat! A truly revolting result, that shoot action exemplifies my typical bad luck during shoot actions. The QoS, Gallows, and Morocco were all sunk, leaving the Corsairs with just half of their original fleet. The Agha’s Whip and Dervish returned home with a ton of gold though, giving the Corsairs a big lead in the gold race. With the Spanish sailing straight for them, the Corsairs headed out to meet the Virtuous Wind.

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents - July 6th, 2017

The VW and Algeciras made short work of the last Barbary “clones”, ending the game!

1. Barbary Corsairs: 34 gold
2. Spanish: 18 gold

The Spanish likely would have prevailed if they had left a Corsair ship alone to row around aimlessly, but alas it was a fun time nonetheless! The end of the game was extra fun, as the creator of the Spanish fleet, captain_vendari, joined us after seeing part of the game on Youtube! Both fleets seem pretty effective for 60 point fleets, and it was a good test for them.

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Third game of July 6th
7/6/2017

Played my third game of the day for July 6th against a third opponent, which sets a new record for me. This time I faced captain_vendari, and we were live on Youtube with Skype commentary and discussion! This also marks my first game/battle report with commentary.

Vendari:
Coalition of Nations 2.0

a7xfanben:
Ben’s favorite Pirates

The Bloody Jewel, Hound, and Lightning went looking for gold. The Maryland took a mast off the Selkie (not quite able to ram and get pinned on purpose), before being captured by the Cursed Blade and then chain towed a tiny bit by the Carrion Crow to move her out of harm’s way. The Arrogant and Algeciras approached, but between my mast and named crew advantage, I figured I could prevail. As is typical, my dice luck proved me wrong…

3 VASSAL Games, 3 different opponents - July 6th, 2017

The Arrogant rams the Cursed Blade, taking off a mast, while the Algeciras dismasts the Selkie! The Cursed Blade hit 1/2 on her turn, while the Carrion Crow failed to ram the lone mast off the Arrogant.

The Bloody Jewel brought home a bunch of gold with the help of the Jade UT, and the Hound eventually brought back a bunch more.

The Lightning came over to ram the Arrogant derelict, and the Crow captured her. However, at this point the game had been decided, as the Coalition of Nations had an insurmountable lead in gold. They won a blowout 30-0 victory!

Although disappointed with the game itself, I thought this was a great step towards a new kind of battle report with the live commentary. I’d like to try various other combinations, such as my personal commentary with low-level music in the background. Ideas are welcome!