A LONG Turn – Including 2 Attacks and 57 New Ships Launched!

Two Attacks and Tons of New Ships Launched

October 2020 in VASSAL Campaign Game 4

This was quite a long turn for me in CG4 – I tracked the time spent and including this battle report and everything else, the turn took over 30 hours to complete.  O_O

New Rules:

-Forts can be given repair actions if they have a shipwright in them. They cannot repair and shoot on the same turn unless they have an extra action available.

-Relaunching Rule: Non Big-6 factions (Big 6 being England, France, Spain, Pirate, America, Cursed) can relaunch Wizkids AND custom game pieces without restrictions other than the No-Duplicates rule being applied to their own fleet. (this is to give the minor factions more of a chance if their best ships are captured and not traded in)

The Master Spreadsheet has information on all the Wizkids game pieces mentioned in this report, while the Customs Database has the custom ones.

PirateAJ14 and Xerecs Factions

PirateAJ14’s Americans cashed in metals to launch the Franklin and Ghost Walker.

Xerecs’ turn marked the start of a new round, and it would be the final round for this LONG duration of resource values!

The Spanish launched the Viento Enfermo, while the Jade Rebellion launched the Sea Fang and Tycoon, both from the_grandmaster’s Back to War set.

It was a huge turn for the Conglomerate!  Mata-Nui copied the Arcane, and with the help of Helyrex’s reroll ability, got the 6!!  Hidden Trove was brought in to give the Conglomerate over 500 gold!!!   O_O

The Conglomerate got busy spending and launching, putting 10 new ships into the water.  Among these were a pair of 10 masters, the Outbound Flight and Okoto!  Among other ability hightlights, the Outbound Flight is a 40 point 10 master with L-immunity moving S+S+S (!), while the Okoto has Treasure Ship and a base cargo hold of 9!  Suddenly the Conglomerate look like a real threat, especially in the western half of the sea, which has been a bit less populous and active thus far in the game.

The English launched HMS Howell, a high-quality unreleased ship.

One of the Longest Turns of All Time

First, I was able to resolve the Pandora’s Box chaos from the previous round.

A review of what they demanded to receive:
The Cursed: Nemo’s Plans (done)
Vikings: Antikythera Mechanism (done)
Barbary Corsairs: Mask of Concealment (not complied with-Skull Spiders instead)
Dutch: Runes of Thor (FN)
Americans: Aegis Shield (The Vengeance of the Cadet Captain)
Mercenaries: Nightmare’s Knot (Fiends of the Blood Islands)
French: Garai (Pirates of Spherus Magna)
Spanish: Mask of Valor (Pirates of Spherus Magna)
Jade Rebellion: The Ring (Seas of Doom)
The Conglomerate: Mask of Wisdom (Spherus Magna)
English: Neptune’s Figurehead (CC)

Here are the UT’s the Pirates actually received from the other players:
Dutch: Runes of Magic
Americans: Plague
Mercenaries: Dead Man’s Chest (OE version)
French: Runes of the Serpent
Spanish: Forged Papers
Jade Rebellion: Abandoned Oarsman
The Conglomerate: Nemo’s Charts
English: Bad Plans

THIS MADE THE PIRATES EXTREMELY ANGRY!!!!

Using the Bomb Box, the Pirates threw out Plague and Bad Plans. The Pirates were irked that the Americans and English gave them negative UT’s. However, almost NONE of the factions in the game gave the Pirates what they wanted! We’ll see how that turns out!

 

With Studding Sails the Gale Force Nine and Blackleaf took off from the home island at L+L+S+S, as fast as the Hai Peng!  Some resource gatherers got home with valuable metals, while a lot of ships seem to be making a beeline for that fogpool….

Some ships at the metals island deferred docking for now to allow room for inevitable Pirate launches coming at the end of the turn.  Between Hidden Trove, Evenstar, Silverback John, and a likely change in resource values, the Pirates aren’t too concerned anymore with maximizing their metals production.

First the Hera arrived!  She sacced an oarsman to broadside the Diablo flotilla and the ship towing it, El Algeciras!  She hit 8/10 to sink the flotilla and nearly dismast the 2 master!  The Deceit came through next, providing a canceller in the area for the Pirates.  She was also using Phineas Bunce’s ability on the Zeus, giving the latter an extra cannon bonus on top of Lord Henry McLean’s regular bonus.  This basically made the Zeus have all 1S cannons for this turn!  She blasted away at the Joya del Sol and Castigue, shooting 6/9, causing considerable damage.

The Slave Revolt was next, saccing an oarsman to get a move and shoot after arriving through the whirlpool.  Her cannon barrage was disappointing, not coming close to dismasting the Castigue as she was supposed to.  However, with Capitaine Chevalle’s Cargo Wrecking ability, her 2 hits on the Castigue still took out 2 of her 3 crew.

The Howler was the next ship through the whirlpools, revealing both Grim the Savage (F&S version) and Richard Berry!  With a pair of Marines, this submarine was able to shoot a pair of 2S shots while still submerged!  One of them connected, causing further damage to the Castigue.

The Pirates were growing frustrated that their incredible firepower couldn’t even take out this relatively simple Spanish squadron, and so they surprised even themselves by sending the Tempest into the fray with an extra action via Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight (EPoE) on the Jolly Mon.  She hit 3/5 to beat up on the Castigue, who was now nearly dismasted.  The Leviathan warped into the area, using Edmund Cooke’s +1 cannon bonus against the Spanish to help eliminate 2 canoes and dismast the Algeciras.  The Harbinger arrived and took a second action via Sac, but my poor dice luck would not stop, with the Harbinger rolling four 1’s and only hitting once to eliminate a single canoe.

All in all the Pirates were very disappointed with the final result of their sudden, brutal surprise attack.  Still, they had managed to dismast 2 ships, nearly dismasted another, and eliminated 3 native canoes.  This shows a couple interesting things – for one, whirlpool attacks can be limited in scope because ships can only be given one extra action after arriving via the whirlpool on the same turn, so the immediate damage output of a surprise attack is somewhat limited (for example, imagine if the Zeus had 18 shots instead of 9).  In addition, the game is still in the very early stages of combat, and this attack showed how huge the 2 hits per mast rule is.  If not for that, the Pirates would have had an easier time taking care of business.

At the end of their turn, the Pirates declared war on the Spanish!

This shot shows the battle area in what is being called The Battle of Whirlpool Island.  You can see the Spanish home island where most of their masts and firepower is concentrated.  It will be interesting to see if the Spanish try to retaliate in the short term.

The Archipelago was rather quiet overall this turn, with the Deliverance docking at Skull Valley to replenish an oarsman.  The Stormcloud uses her shipwright to repair a mast.  The Black Pearl was the ship to get the Arcane roll this turn… placing Runes of Odin on the Zeus!!  O_O

What a sight!  Over a dozen Pirate ships strive to reach the whirlpool created earlier in the game by the Tempest.  The Pirates show their strength, as many of these ships will be able to support and back up the Pirate 10 master squadron against the Spanish if things go wrong.  Ships launched last turn from the textiles military port (MP) simply scatter, with orders to get as far from the island as their turn’s action(s) will allow.  This is because the Pirates still have a MASSIVE amount of gold, and they certainly plan to use it….

The Pirates are not quite as concerned with the Barbary Corsairs as you might think.  Although the Corsairs have their own super squadron ready to set sail this round, the Pirates have a lot of firepower still in the area, not to mention another megalaunch from the MP after their play turn ends.  However, the Splinter and Flying Dutchman (both just east of the whirlpool) are moving into a defensive position to potentially be the first Pirate ships on the front lines if the Corsairs charge and try to block the whirlpool/attack the military port/etc.

At the home island, various small ships (two with flotillas) swarm off the Arcane’s stern.  The Osiris got SAT this turn, so she is off and running at 6S speed towards the possible confrontation with the Corsairs.  The Corsairs are certainly close enough to see her heading towards them – what a horrible sight it must be, to see your former flagship heading out to fight you while in Pirate hands.  🙁

You might have noticed something abnormal compared to the last few turns – Pirate resource runners docking at the home island!  It is the last round for this resource value, so the Pirates wanted to get some extra textiles home.  They had been delayed for a while due to all the megalaunches from Hidden Trove windfalls.  However, now the Pirates have 4 launch points instead of 2 (starting this turn), and it actually felt really good as a player to just dock them home normally.  This is a more normal way of playing campaign games, instead of holding off because of all these crazy massive windfalls brought in by custom game piece combos.  It was also nice to dock some of them home because the Akua Lapu and Hades’ Flame have needed repairs ever since the short but intense battle with the Corsair squadron of 4 masters. (which was back in April)

 

The Pirates wanted to end their turn with a statement.  Something so epic and powerful that it would scare the hell out of every other fleet.  Something truly god-like.  They knew they had the pieces put together to pull it off….

 

 

ZEUS IS HERE!!

(these are not my pictures)

THE GODS ARE IN THE SKIES NOW.  THEY HAVE BEEN CALLED BY THE PIRATES!

The Zeus has a certain UT aboard from earlier in the turn…

 

Runes of Odin!!

Load this treasure face down. When revealed, place an iceberg from outside the game anywhere in the play area not within S of an island. If the iceberg touches any ship, remove the ship (and any crew and treasure aboard her) from the game. Then remove Runes of Odin from the game.

 

ZEUS THROWS ODIN’S ICEBERG DOWN INTO THE SEA!!

 

The Pirates placed the iceberg just off the Conglomerate home island!!

Then it was time for… Runes of Magic!!  Given to the Shadow’s Hand by the Dutch via Pandora’s Box, this UT would prove decisive!

Load this treasure face down. When revealed, move any iceberg L in any direction. Then remove Runes of Magic from the game.

 

The iceberg was moved directly into the Outbound Flight, the Conglomerate’s brand-new custom 40 point 10 masted junk!!!!!

O_O

With that, the Outbound Flight and all her crew were removed from the game!!

 

Introducing: The Odin Missile

It’s almost as if the Pirates have direct control over the gods now.  It started with Thor last turn, with Runes of Thor being used on the Cursed turn with the custom Flying Dutchman’s ability so the Cursed could place Nemo’s Plans on the Zeus… Zeus!  The Pirates got Runes of Odin to Zeus this turn, playing it in conjunction with Runes of Magic to complete one of the most powerful combos in the entire game.  The best part is, the “Odin Missile” is reusable.  Both Runes are on ships with Nemo’s Plans, so the Pirates retain both elements of this absurdly nasty combo.  This means that once per turn, the Pirates can essentially just pick any ship in play (that isn’t in a fog bank), and just remove it from the game.  O_O

The order was given.  Zeus and Odin eyed the tiny ships below from up in the clouds.  Odin creates a massive iceberg and hands it to Zeus, who will throw it in lieu of his trademark lightning bolts.  Zeus winds up and hurls the iceberg at high speed down towards the water… thousands of sailors from across the fleets look up towards the sky, noticing what looks like a meteor, something from the heavens coming down upon them.  The large new fleet of The Conglomerate navy is peacefully docked at their home island.  Many new sailors are excited to set sail for the first time, having only recently joined the service.  With horror they look to the sky at a massive iceberg plummeting towards their new fleet.

In a flash it is upon them.  With a massive sudden impact, the iceberg comes crashing down amidships on the Outbound Flight, the newly launched 10 masted junk.  The ship is split in half, with the bow and stern rising out of the water as the iceberg plummets through the ship and blows up the powder magazine, sending a vast explosion full of wood, ice, fire and body parts flying in all directions.  A new Weapon of Mass Destruction is now in the hands of the Pirates.

With that, the Pirates have an auto-hitting precision strike missile WMD capable of knocking out a ship every turn.  This brings them one step closer to having a full scale GMS….

The Pirates have been planning to introduce the Odin Missile for some time now.  However, recent events accelerated the development of their WMD program.  Even if it was a total accident, by giving the Pirates Runes of Magic, the Dutch helped the Pirates eliminate a Conglomerate ship! We’ll see if that leads to any tension between the Conglomerate and Dutch….

Pirate Launch Period

The Pirates raked in 139 gold from resources, adding it to their existing 1596 for a total of 1735 gold!  O_O  With 4 locations available for new ships to be launched at, it was inevitable that the Pirates would get busy spending big!  😀 The Pirates don’t have a lot to hide with their quadruple megalaunch (!), and so I will provide more detail than usual regarding what each ship has on board. Naturally, some things should start face down. 🙂 (these are from my notes so some things may be overly abbreviated)
CHO=Captain, Helmsman, and Oarsman (C+H=Captain and Helmsman) | WH=World Hater | FPS=Firepot Specialist | CSS=Chainshot Specialist

From Skull Valley: 9 Ships, 308 Points
The Pirates launched my version of the “movie” Queen Anne’s Revenge (from On Stranger Tides) with a big crew setup: Evan Stern (Captain+SAT), Jean Hamlin (Helmsman+World Hater except against the French), Nidiki (transferred from the Branwen), Coconut (Reroll+Explorer), Dinghy (+1 cargo), oarsman. She will be resupplied by Cadet-Captain Mike’s Quedagh Merchant, who is the QAR’s personal support and supply ship.
The Arbiter was launched to provide a new place for Nuva to copy Vesok/Arcane to so the Black Pearl can get back to her regular gunship duties.
Cor’dahk + The Mastermind (EA), Hernán Sanchez (C+WH), helmsman, oarsman.
Freedom Fighter + Captain Archer Rook (Sac+Gold Capture), One-Eyed Bennett (C+H), 4 oarsmen.
Fiasco + Roger Hawkins (C+H), The Headhunter (Sac+World Hater), Volting Junipau (FPS, CSS, crew kill on 6’s), Streamlined Hull, 4 oarsmen.
Victoire + Howard Hook (Sac Captain + spying), helmsman, 4 oarsmen
Albino and Destiny’s Bounty, each with CH, Dinghy and 5 oarsmen.

From the textiles military port: 13 Ships, 397 Points
Toruk + Chen Tianbao (C+H), Trainer (SAT+Dark Hunter), Bessho Kai (used as World Hater), oarsman.
Kingpin + Christopher Condent (Captain+WH+Filching Gold), Cai Qian (EA), Iron-Plated Hull, helmsman, and Streamlined Hull.
Crescent Rose + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Lilac + CHO, Ballista.
Fool’s Hope (LE) + CHO, equipment
Misfortune’s Keep + Le Requin (SAT), El Mulato Grillo (WH+Spanish Massacre), CHO, shipwright.
Red Sky at Morning + Emanuel Wynn (Captain, +S w/in S of enemy ship, +1 to boards against English), helmsman, shipwright, oarsman.
Dead Man’s Revenge + CHO.
Screecher + CHO, shipwright.
Shadow Stalker + stuff
Eclector + helmsman, shipwright, 5 oarsmen, Dinghy, Streamlined Hull.
Pandora (Seas of Doom) + helmsman, shipwright, 4 oarsmen, Dinghy, Streamlined Hull.
Oyster + helmsman, 2 shipwrights, 3 oarsmen, Dinghy

From the metals military port: 12 Ships, 260 Points

Introducing: The Anti-Spanish Squadron!
With their declaration of war against Spain, the Pirates have invested a considerable chunk of points into a new anti-Spanish squadron. Every ship in the squadron gets at least +1 to their cannon rolls against Spanish ships, and some get +1 to all their d6 rolls against Spain. The Fame’s Revenge is the flagship of the squadron, which the Pirates hope to expand to at least 10 ships (7 for now) in the near future.
Fame’s Revenge + Daniel Montbars (arguably the most anti-Spanish pirate to ever live), CHO, FPS.
Muerta de la Corona + CHO, FPS.
Claudia + Guilder (Captain+S-Board), Vincenzo Alessandri (Musketeer, +1 boards), helmsman.
Ranger + Michiel Andrieszoon (Captain, +1 to d6 rolls against Spanish), Jan Willems (+1 to boards against Spanish), helmsman, +more.
Broken Key + John Cooke (Captain, +1 to cannon rolls against Spanish), David Marteen (+1 to d6 rolls against Spanish), helmsman, oarsman, equipment.
La Morte de Yarborough: Jean Thomas Dulaien (Captain, +1 to d6 rolls against Spanish), helmsman, +more.
Batavian Bat + Michel de Grammont (Captain, +1 to cannon rolls against Spanish, +1 to boards against Dutch), helmsman, oarsman.

These will likely be patrol gunships – the first 4 all rather similar and all some of my favorite classics from the original sets.
Executioner + C+H, others
Panda + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Royal James + CHO, FPS
Cutlass + CHO, crew
Zui Quan + Mo Guanfu (Captain+Cannoneer), helmsman, oarsman, Ballista
-Once in a while the Pirates like to just throw something out there in full view to show some might. The Zui Quan can shoot 5 cannons as a 2 master, hitting at L+L range on 6’s to eliminate 2 masts per hit. 🙂

Home Island: 7 Ships, 246 Points
Dark Aster + Lars Gathenhielm (Captain, global +1 to cannons like Roberto Santana), Richard Noland (Crew Protect+reducer), helmsman, musketeer, oarsman, Streamlined Hull
Wicked Wench + Crew, helmsman, oarsman, Dinghy
Belladonna + Crew, helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull
Bombay + Iolkos (Captain, S-Board, Crew Killing), helmsman, oarsman, Ballista, equipment
Draconum (my custom version) + Hendrick Lucifer (Captain, Smokepot Specialist, +1 to boards), helmsman, oarsman, FPS, shipwright, Dinghy
Sea Devil + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Apocryphia + CH, Dinghy, Ballista, equipment

Some of these are… very scary.

You may notice a trend developing between this and the previous recent Pirate launches… perhaps an “assembly” of sorts….

This Pirate Turn By the Numbers
Ships Launched: 41
Gold Spent: 1,211
Gold Remaining: 524
New Fleet Totals: 148 Ships, ~3,740 Points

O_O

The Pirate fleet was already #1 all-time with their point total from last round, and now they have become the largest fleet of all time by ship count!!  😀

O_O

Just bonkers crazy numbers!!!

A 41 ship fleet for 1211 total points is a nice total for any fleet to reach in a campaign game.  The Pirates just added it in one turn!  In addition, their fleet size by point total is now larger than almost all other recorded huge games ever played.  Their long term vision and plans are rapidly coming to fruition!!

The Cursed Play Turn

The Cursed rolled successfully on both the custom Flying Dutchman’s ability and Davy Jones copying the Arcane!  With the FD they brought in Runes of Thor, giving it to the Pirates!!  It was placed on the Zeus, who already carries Nemo’s Plans.  This meant the Pirates now have two ships that carry reusable versions of Runes of Thor, due to Nemo’s Plans.  O_O

The successful Arcane roll was used to bring in Hidden Trove, placed on the Maman Brigitte!  The custom ship The Rock copied Davy Jones (and through him, the Arcane) via the Eye of Insanity UT.  After failing the roll and reroll, the Pirates intervened!  They used their original Runes of Thor (on the Noble Swan) to force a 6!  This allowed the Cursed to bring in Evenstar, placing it on the Maman Brigitte!!  The Maman Brigitte was given an explore action targeting the home island, unloading both UT’s for a supermassive windfall!!!!!  The God of Thunder has spoken. By Thor’s decree, The Cursed will be FILTHY RICH, OVERNIGHT!!!

307 ships in play at the beginning of the Cursed turn means Hidden Trove is worth 614 for The Cursed. Evenstar triples it to 1842 gold!! Add in their existing 617 and they have 2459 total gold!!  O_O

The Pirates use their second RoT on a failed Cursed AA! It is used to propel the Chimeratron Legacy towards the Americans!  She speeds out from the home island at an absolutely sickening speed of S+S+L+S+L(Python bonus)+S(trade current)(first action)+S+S+L+S+L(Python bonus)!!!!  O_O

Video footage of the Legacy’s first turn of actions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6jouv6GPow

Here comes the superweapon!!  Isaiah van Tyne L-boards the Kettering!  Between her crew and bonuses, the CL has a base boarding score of 21!  O_O   This made rolling a non-issue; there was no way this supermassively overloaded maxed out 10 master was going to lose this boarding party!  The CL wins and Captain Shamshere captures ALL four of the Kettering’s crew!!  O_O   How’s that for an entrance!

Then it was time to start shooting.  The CL used Bow Chasers to slightly damage the Bonhomme Richard, then shot a grapple shot at S+S range to board the Richard.  The CL won and stole all the crew from the BR!!  O_O  Both American gunships were suddenly devoid of crew, with all 7 now residing on the CL.  The CL then managed to finish shooting a mast off the Kettering.

Then the Devil’s Storm turned around and shot up the stern of the Bonhomme Richard, eliminating 2 masts!  In more bad news for the Americans: Chimera, Divine Beast of the Apocalypse is on her way.  And the same for the Python and Devil’s Frenzy!  This shows the Cursed-American situation in the northwest.  At the far right, you can see that on their turn, the Pirates got the Stormy Night’s ability and used it to move the Rattlesnake onto the sargasso sea where the Harlequin is still stuck.

Indeed, ships were departing the Cursed HI en masse. Ships generally scattered, all going off on different missions.  At the bottom of the frame, the Solenostomus has upgraded Figlar Castle!!  O_O  The Cursed used Barst (just like Lord Mycron; on the Tomb of Lucifer) to give the Opal Shrine an extra action, which she used to enter the whirlpool and arrive in the northwest corner (you can see her at the top left).  There she used her gold to build another copy of Figlar Castle!!  O_O    This should seem… far more than ominous….

Cursed Launch Period

With a decent amount of room at their home island and over 2400 gold, The Cursed did a megalaunch!  For the second turn in a row, they placed as many ships as they possible could at their home island.

Tridax + 3 Crew, Ballista
Call of the Sea + 3 Crew, helmsman, shipwright, oarsman, Dinghy
Royal Feces takes over for The Rock on Eye of Insanity (Davy Jones proxy) duties.
Spiral Chaos + The Sister of Tortuga (Shipwright+can’t be pinned), helmsman, oarsman, Gilded Figurehead
Sargasso Nightmare + Duogoth Vonnagos (Captain+Grapeshot Specialist), Ole Gregory, equipment specialist, helmsman, oarsman, Dinghy, Ballista
Ganon’s Phantom + CHO, Dinghy, equipment
Sea Hag + Crew, CHO.
Cerberus + CHO, equipment
Apparition + CHO, equipment
Hangman’s Joke + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Ghost Wind + CHO, Ballista
Needle + CHO, Streamlined Hull
Alligator + Captain, Streamlined Hull, smokepot shot

The Cursed spent 363 gold on 13 new ships! They completed their fog hopping squadron, in addition to adding some more ships for specific purposes.

The new Cursed totals: (last time at 24 ships, 961 points)

37 ships, 1324 points

The Cursed are expanding rapidly, increasing the size of their fleet (by ship total) by just over 50% in one turn.

 

Vikings and Corsairs

The Vikings once again couldn’t get Jord’s copied Arcane roll to work even with Shayna Deux’s reroll to help out.  However, the Hrothgar returned home with three lumber tokens, allowing them to cash in for 12 gold to get the Timperswayd (from Pirates of the Kraken Sea) with a helmsman.  This brings their fleet to 14 ships and 239 points.

The Corsairs sent some of their newest ships (the super squadron launched last turn) west, appearing to aim them straight at the Pirates. It seems unlikely they would actually try to attack the Pirates at such a numbers disadvantage, as a more foolish idea can hardly be imagined.  The Corsairs brought home enough resources to launch a bit, but they didn’t get any Arcane rolls to work (all on the Nephila, but 4 total tries between Gilded Figurehead, a 2d6 ability, and Reroll).

The Corsairs launched:
HMB Sayyida + helmsman, 3 other crew and 1 equipment
Great Desert + C+H, Ballista

2 ships launched for 53 points.  This brings their totals to 26 ships and 477 points.

Here is a wide view of the northeast, showing (from left to right) the home islands of the Vikings, Pirates, Corsairs, and English.  With massive megalaunches happening every turn, the Pirate deckplate areas have been overflowing in all directions lately.  At the upper right, notice that a huge percentage of recently hired Corsair crew are face down.

With that, my turn was over!  There are now 323 ships in play, with my factions adding 57 this round!  Throwing some numbers together, I can also come up with a new point estimate.  My factions spent a total of 1644 gold this round (1211+363+12+58).  The Conglomerate spent most of their Hidden Trove, which we can estimate at 500 gold now at around 2144 new points in play this round).  Some other factions launched but some crew were lost in combat, so we’ll be conservative and not assume a point gain from that.

Using last turn’s point count of 5297 and adding 2144…

~7,441 Total Points In Play

O_O   This means that CG4 could be the second biggest game of all time behind only Command the Oceans!!  O_O

Here is the massive ocean!!

References: First Zeus picture, second Zeus picture