Concept Testing Game
New Ideas Abound!
9/14/2024
Here is a 4 fleet, 60 point game I played to test out new concepts. I used the Restarting Rules and New Master Keyword List. Golden Seas custom game pieces can be seen in the PSMList gallery or at the Customs Database. All of the new stuff is subject to change, and indeed some of the keywords and game pieces changed immediately after the game based on the playtest. None of the ability text listed out in this report should be taken as the official versions – they are simply the version of the ability used for this specific game (before changes were made). This and other playtesting games I plan to play will be more focused on my personal learning about the new game pieces and what to change rather than a compelling narrative, so the reports will likely be sparser on details.
Here’s a preview!
The fleets in play order:
Far East Fleet
Grand River + Li Quin, captain, helmsman, oarsman
Sengoku + helmsman, shipwright, grappleshot specialist, oarsman
Dark Angel + Fists of Fate, captain
Knife’s Edge + explorer
Baroness + explorer
The new ship is an Atakebune from Japan!
Atakebune (keyword): A ship with this keyword printed on its deckplate card has removable flags that are treated exactly the same as masts on a normal ship (they can be replaced by fire masts).
This ship may be given move actions when it has no flags; its printed base move becomes S. When given a move action, this ship can rotate on her bow (the front of the ship) OR stern (the rear of the ship) in any direction as an additional, final movement segment (she cannot rotate on both bow and stern in the same move action).
This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls for every crew assigned to her. If this ship wins a boarding party, she may eliminate a mast from the enemy ship, steal one treasure, and eliminate one crew.
This ship cannot be assigned treasure except for treasure taken via boarding party.
Crew assigned to this ship do not count towards the ship’s point limit.
If this ship has no crew, she cannot be given move actions.
-Not the final version of the keyword
Sengoku
Faction Affiliation: Japan
Type: Ship
Point Value: 6
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 5S-5S-5S
Ability: Atakebune.
Flavor text: With feudal conflicts ongoing, many warlords have joined the naval arms race, seeking to be the ruler with the largest fleet of Atakebune.
Cursed English
Lerna
HMS Blue Whale + captain, helmsman
HMS Immortal + The Claw of Archimedes
HMS Hermes’ Sandals + explorer
Lerna is a hydra – credit to AndrewprintsPirates for the file. This was the initial version of my Hydra keyword, which has since been changed.
Hydra (keyword): A ship with this keyword printed on its deckplate card is a sea creature. Hydras can be given only move, shoot, and repair actions. Measure a hydra’s movement from the middle head slot on its base. Hydras may move and shoot using the same move action. A hydra may repair at sea or at any island.
Hydras cannot tow or be assigned crew.
At the beginning of your turn, decide if the hydra is submerged or on the surface. If submerged, a hydra can only move or repair; it cannot shoot or be shot at, and it cannot dock or touch other ships.
If a hydra is on the surface, it may be given non-explore actions like a normal ship. It may ram opposing ships (the rammed ship becomes pinned instead of the hydra) and it may board. After winning a boarding party the hydra may eliminate a crew or steal a treasure (if cargo space permits), but it cannot capture crew and if it takes a unique treasure that treasure is eliminated.
Lerna
Faction Affiliation: The Cursed
Type: Ship
Point Value: 22
Number of Masts: 6
Cargo Space: 0
Base Move: L
Cannons: 5S-4S-3S-4S-5S-3S (first 5 are the heads left to right, last is the tail)
Ability: Hydra. Fear. Once per turn when this ship hits an enemy ship, also eliminate one crew from that ship.
Flavor text: Leave it to The Cursed to animate horrors so profound that legends have been written about them.
The Claw of Archimedes
Type: Equipment
Point Value: 5
Ability: This equipment can only be used inside forts, never on ships. If the fort this equipment uses is destroyed, eliminate this equipment from the game.
Once per turn when an enemy ship ends a movement segment within range of the Claw or is already in range of the Claw (within 1S perpendicular to a fort wall), you may use this equipment. The first time the Claw is used, place it into one of the 4 fort walls. Move the Claw into contact with the enemy ship (it cannot be a submerged ship); the affected ship must stop moving immediately (any remaining movement segments are lost), and cannot be given move actions until until the Claw is retracted or the fort is destroyed. When the Claw is moved into contact with an enemy ship, roll a d6. On a 6, eliminate three masts from the ship; the ship sinks if it has less than three masts remaining. On a 4-5, eliminate two masts from the ship. On a 2-3, eliminate one mast from the ship.
At any time during one of your turns, you may retract the Claw to break contact with an enemy ship. The Claw cannot be used on the same turn that a fort is built (because that play turn is over). The Claw may be moved from one location in the fort to another – if there are crew in the fort, moving the Claw is a free action; if there are no crew in the fort, moving the Claw requires a full action and the fort cannot shoot or repair that turn.
Dutch
Maas + Captain Berend, Captain Dewitt, Lady Alida, helmsman, oarsman
Hollandia + fire shot
Prinses Maria + explorer
Volle Maan + explorer
Spanish
Nuestra Señora de los Siglos + Contessa Anita Amore, captain, helmsman
Jabutí + Hernán de Orozco, helmsman
Francesca + helmsman
The Claw of Archimedes (on HI)
Giant Turtle (keyword): A ship with this keyword printed on its deckplate is a sea creature.
A giant turtle can ram a sargasso sea as if ramming an iceberg; if it does, remove the sargasso sea from the game.
Two hits during the same player’s turn are required to eliminate one of this sea creature’s segments. When removing segments, remove a fin of the giant turtle. When all four fins are removed, the giant turtle is eliminated. The giant turtle’s cannon (its head) cannot be eliminated.
A giant turtle may move across islands (except enemy home islands and enemy forts) if it does not have a fort on its back. It becomes docked if it ends movement on an island. A giant turtle may shoot and be shot at while on an island (the island does not block lines of fire to and from the giant turtle on the island).
A giant turtle can be assigned crew.
A giant turtle may be given explore actions to load cargo like a normal ship.
A giant turtle may tow other ships (unless it has a fort on its back), it may ram (the rammed ship becomes pinned instead of the giant turtle), and it may board like a normal ship.
When placing a new fort, you can instead place a fort on the back of a giant turtle docked at your home island. If there is a fort on the back of a giant turtle, it cannot move more than S in a single move action; during combat the fort takes damage instead of the turtle. The fort on the back of the turtle is treated like a fort on a wild island and has its own turns. Ships can dock at a giant turtle with a fort. If a ship is docked, the giant turtle cannot move.
Any treasure in a giant turtle’s fort does not take up cargo space. Crew and equipment still take up cargo space. When the fort on a giant turtle is destroyed, the gold is moved into the giant turtle’s cargo. If there is more gold than cargo space available, remove the excess gold from the game.
A fort built on a giant turtle cannot use crew abilities.
Jabutí is from AlgothAybara’s Forgotten Abyss set. Credit to him for the STL files as well!
I was also using a new mysterious island (Oak Island), and new Shallow Water terrain!
Shallow Water
Submerged game pieces cannot move or be moved into shallow water.
If a ship with 3 or more masts (when constructed) touches shallow water, she runs aground. Roll a d6; on a 1-2 eliminate a mast from the ship. When a ship is aground, one full action is required to free the ship; after the action ends, place the ship’s bow at the edge of this terrain; the ship can begin moving normally with her next move action.
If a ship sinks in shallow water, mark the spot where the ship sank with a hull silhouette piece and move the ship’s deckplate and any non-crew cargo to a neutral area; the ship and her non-crew cargo are not eliminated or removed from the game. Ships sunk in shallow water do not block lines of fire or measurement. Ships with 3 or more masts (when constructed) cannot be placed in contact with ships sunk in shallow water, nor can they move or be moved over them.
3 new ship types, a new (physical!) equipment, a new terrain type, a new giant MI, and more. Time to play!
Orozco marks Oak Island explored for the Spanish. The Dutch wanted to send Prinses Maria to the southeast island, but decide against it with Grand River and the atakebune lurking.
What Baroness found there:
The Far East Fleet (FEF) Pirates were raking in the loot:
The English have a disastrous time trying to be the first fleet to fully explore Oak Island. HMS Hermes’ Sandals lost her explorer before it could be used, and then HMS Blue Whale docking eliminated a coin (which almost benefited the Spanish, since it was a low value coin).
Dutch exploration:
Francesca loads gold from the Money Pit on Oak Island, staying in the shallow water of Sellars Cove. Jabuti and Nuestra head northeast together.
With most of the remaining untouched gold in the north, the Spanish looked to have a strong HI position. However, this also meant there was a general northwards surge amongst all fleets in the game.
The atakebune gets in action! Sengoku boards Volle Maan successfully, stealing a coin, killing her explorer, and doing damage! (mast was eliminated on Hollandia per her ability, so Volle Maan would have a better chance of docking home her other 4 on the next Dutch turn)
This picture encapsulates the new age of Pirates CSG we are now in – a new ship type rams a ship of a new faction, with a holographic Super Rare in the background:
Grand River sails over to sink Hollandia!
Volle Maan flips Runes of Loki to prevent Grand River’s last shot from hitting her – alternative would have been to Parley, but that would risk warping her last 4 coin to the FEF home island.
The Dutch flagship goes for revenge! Maas turned around to head back south, blasting off masts and flags from the new Far East warships.
Spanish starting to think about building a fort on the turtle….
Seeing only death if they try to escape, the Far East Fleet presses their attack!
English finally loading some treasure:
Prinses Maria had wanted Maas to escort her home from an island she would warp to with Necklace of the Sky, but time was running out on the unexplored wild islands. She braved the danger herself, and got stuck with Rum!
Maas cleans up in the east, sinking the Atakebune! This was partly motivated by the deterrence provided by the Atakebune keyword, which made mast elimination on Maas a possibility if she lost boarding parties trying to retake the 4.
The Dutch build their Oranje fort from Golden Seas, primarily to protect the Prinses Maria and her 15 total gold! If they hadn’t done this, there’s a good chance the Nuestra would have sped over (now at S+S+S with a full cargo hold) and smashed the little Dutch gold runner.
HMS Hermes’ Sandals finds a nice island in the northwest, but only has cargo for the 7.
An overview, showing that the Spanish have completely shifted gears. Instead of building a fort on the turtle soon, they are using her and Nuestra’s speed to head northwest for more gold first.
HMS Immortal unloads her equipment to the island, as the English build Old Fort Probus!
Maas sinks Grand River!
Some turns later as the endgame approaches. Maas has round earthed to the north to dismast Knife’s Edge. The latter has a 1 coin aboard and is trying to lure the Dutch into conflict with the Spanish. However, the Spanish are content to execute logistics and prepare for fort construction on the turtle. The English are preparing for a large raid on the Dutch fort Oranje, as the available gold dwindles.
The Nuestra doesn’t want to lose her speed boost, so Francesca explores to give her the worst coins they currently have, with Francesca soon unloading the best ones to the Spanish HI.
It’s happening! Jabutí loads up an equipment, ditches her helmsman, and has Fuerte de la Desolación built atop her!
Maas heads off to defend Oranje, allowing the Spanish to capture the Knife’s Edge:
The Hydra starts the attack!
Good thing Lerna went 3/5, since HMS Blue Whale only went 1/4. The Dutch need Maas badly to turn this tide.
Captain Berend was truly a Born Leader in this game, getting SAT a high percentage of the time. However, he did miss it here, allowing the English to destroy Oranje!
However, the Dutch war machine was ready for another major battle. Berend, Captain Dewitt and Lady Alida teamed up for an impressive resistance to the English threat. With nothing to lose, Volle Maan got in on the action, dismasting the Hermes’ Sandals with a ram.
Carnage mounts as Lerna re-surfaces to pin Maas!
A total bloodbath ensues…
HMS Blue Whale is sunk. Like the true vultures they are, the Pirates look to take advantage of the situation, eyeing the former fort gold now on the derelict Prinses Maria.
The giant turtle eats a huge sargasso sea for lunch!! XD
This allowed the Nuestra to get into position to attack Old Fort Probus, but then…
THE CLAW OF ARCHIMEDES!!
The Claw eliminates two masts from the newest Spanish 5 master!
Nuestra connects with all her remaining shots, leaving the fort very weak. To think the Spanish have a Claw of their own on the turtle fort!!
HMS Immortal has left the battlefield with a 4 stolen from Prinses Maria. With no English cause left to fight for in the area, Lerna submerges to avoid being killed by Maas (not before slowing Dark Angel with Fear).
The Spanish finish destroying Old Fort Probus. Orozco S-explores the island from the giant turtle, allowing Francesca to load the 2’s used to build the fort. Knife’s Edge is in hot pursuit of HMS Immortal, who is fleeing for home with likely the last gold the English are possibly going to get. In the northeast, Maas sinks Baroness and tows Hermes’ Sandals to avoid the latter being scuttled.
The captured Knife’s Edge intercepts the Immortal, but the English win the boarding party!
After losing a mast to Dark Angel, Maas finally ends the long struggle in the northeast by dismasting the Dark Angel and killing Lerna! (who had a change of intent, knowing how close to the end of the game it was) A scene of pure carnage.
Maas took the Dark Angel’s coin and sailed home. The Spanish unloaded their last treasures, and the game ended. Technically one could argue that Fuerte’s gold was still available, but the Dutch were very unlikely to get it.
Scores:
- Spanish: 30 gold (6 units in play)
- Far East Fleet: 30 (1 unit in play)
- English: 18
- Dutch: 17
Wow, what a finish! The Pirates were in the lead for pretty much the entire game, until the Spanish matched them in gold at the end with their haul from Old Fort Probus. It looks like the Spanish had the best home island position, and they utilized their assets well to preserve units in play and expand their fleet. The duo of Jabutí and Nuestra traveling together at S+S+S speed was a solid deterrent to getting attacked. They made the right decision to go west instead of east near the middle of the game, snagging a bunch of gold from the northwest. After Francesca’s haul from the corner island, they were able to crush the English fort after the English exhausted themselves battling the Dutch.
The Far East Pirates had a great early run, but lost their power units early and couldn’t affect the endgame much.
Maas and Lerna were notable game pieces to say the least, but ended up mostly neutralizing each other.
Observations: (written on the day of the game)
-I have a few questions about the Giant Turtle keyword I’ll be asking AlgothAybara. The speed slowing to S when a fort is on it really makes you think twice about building a fort on it. The Spanish won the game, so it’s hard to say that the turtle I used is overpriced – might be perfect as-is.
-I think it’s too early to change anything about the Claw. It shined briefly, but is hard to use and might not be worth 5 points. If the roll had been better when the English brought it down on Nuestra a second time, Nuestra could have been dismasted. My notes say “Should you be able to bring the Claw back down on the original ship turn after turn? If so, maybe make the damage less often or less damage (ex: only on 4-6, or eliminates one mast on 2-5, 2 masts on a 6).
Claw tough to use, but good in defense of the fort” However, I think I’ll leave it as-is for now. I think if you can’t keep smashing the same ship with the Claw, it would definitely have to be cheaper, as then it becomes more of a “hold ’em” equipment than something that can be continually dangerous to face.
-Lerna is getting a speed boost from L to S+S. I am wary of the Hydra being able to move and shoot and also repair itself, but Lerna was too slow to affect things much. If I kept the L speed, I think I would decrease the cost from 22 down to ~18.
-Hydra keyword is likely changing. Based on feedback from Woelf, I expect to give hydras the Sea Monster keyword, then use a different Hydra keyword to override the parts of Sea Monster that are different. (such as repairing)
-My notes on Sengoku: “Atakebune – blaze of glory effect on the game. Somewhat of a magnet for attention. Boarding ability of 3x effects is a big deterrent to opponents trying to retake the treasure. Worth the cost, not sure if it should go up in cost. (probably not)” I think these will be hard to price perfectly. For now I think I’ll keep her at 6 points.
-Shallow water terrain was a non-factor. Unsurprising given the history of terrain in this game; I expect to make large versions of it just like some of the other terrain I have.