Originally published to Miniature Trading on May 6th, 2012
40 Point Spanish – Mathias01 Fleet Challenge
This fleet is designed for a regular 40 point game-a combination of fighting and gold-running. I almost made a simple 4-ship Corsair fleet built specially for gold-running, but I decided it was too simple. I have chosen Spanish Main as the set (it is my favourite) and the Spanish are the faction.
The Ships
The first ship is La Resolucion, and she is equipped with the necessary captain and helmsman, because she is the primary ‘gunship’, though that is not all she will do. The Spanish were lucky enough to be the first faction to receive a canceller, Nemesio Diaz, and he is aboard the Spanish ship. La Resolucion will go around harassing enemy treasure runners, and, if possible, steal the highest gold value with her ability by utilizing the UT Shipping Charts.
La Resolucion is set up so that she can move, shoot (weakening the enemy ship), ram, and then steal. If all goes well, she will leave the enemy gold runner derelict or sunk as she makes off with her best treasure coin. Additionally she could tow the ship home at only a small reduction in speed. When an enemy gunship gets too close or tries to attack La Resolucion, Diaz will cancel the opponents’ captain and therefore La Resolucion will be able to strike first.
The second ship is the main treasure runner, the Cazador del Pirata. She has four crew aboard, but still has five cargo spaces available, so she will take the best treasures from two different islands. The helmsman and explorer are predictable, but she also has Master Bianco aboard to help out in the gold department. The oarsman is along to protect her more valuable crew and possibly get her home in an emergency (although he could be placed on La Resolucion to protect her crew instead). Her decent durability (at least for a treasure runner), respectable guns, and pirate-hating ability may make opponents think twice about going after her. Indeed, if you are playing the pirates, she could be used as a hybrid, since she would effectively have nice 2L guns against them.
UT’s and Potential Problems
Shipping Charts has been explained; it fits nicely into the contest (since it’s from SM) and fleet as it will assist La Resolucion in her quest to find and acquire the decisive treasure coin. Homemade Flag is in there to spice things up, and make La Resolucion harder to hit by enemy gunships (the idea was that the UT would make enemy gunships have to come within S of her, therefore inducing the cancellation).
Problems with this fleet include a relatively weak core, since the canceller is the only thing that stands in the way of a big, fast gunship swooping in and severely damaging/sinking both ships. A fellow canceller would of course be problematic as well, but this fleet has some nice parts. A lack of speed would be exposed as well, however.
Once I get my ships out again I will be able to test this fleet against others, since I have all of the pieces except for Homemade Flag. Thanks for reading and voting!
| Section: Ship #1 (4 miniatures) | ||||||
| Miniature | Set | Number | Type | Rarity | ||
| 1 | x | Captain | PofSM | SC-CA | Crew | U |
| 1 | x | Helmsman | PofSM | SC-HM | Crew | U |
| 1 | x | La Resolucion | PofSMU | 077 | Ship | U |
| 1 | x | Nemesio Diaz | PofSMU | 094 | Crew | C |
| Section: Ship #2 (5 miniatures) | ||||||
| Miniature | Set | Number | Type | Rarity | ||
| 1 | x | Cazador del Pirata | PofSMU | 076 | Ship | U |
| 1 | x | Explorer | PofSM | SC-EX | Crew | C |
| 1 | x | Helmsman | PofSM | SC-HM | Crew | U |
| 1 | x | Master Bianco | PofSMU | 088 | Crew | C |
| 1 | x | Oarsman | PofSM | SC-OA | Crew | C |
| Section: Unique Treasures (2 miniatures) | ||||||
| Miniature | Set | Number | Type | Rarity | ||
| 1 | x | Homemade Flag | PofSMU | 100 | Unique Treasure | R |
| 1 | x | Shipping Charts | PofSMU | 097 | Unique Treasure | R |
Fleet page at Miniature Trading