Introductory 3×40 Game
12/17/2024
This was a 3 player, 40 point game at Syn Shop in Las Vegas. One of the players hadn’t played since probably 2004, while the other had never played. Therefore, we kept things simple with no terrain/UT’s/forts/named crew/etc.
The fleets in play order – I went first as the Dutch from Pirates of the Golden Seas (game pieces visible on PSMList).
Dutch
Christiansvaern + captain, helmsman, shipwright (19)
Maarten de Hollander + helmsman, explorer (8)
Prinses Maria + captain, musketeer (13)
Spanish
La Resolucion + captain, helmsman (18)
Concepcion + helmsman, explorer (15)
Le Bon Marin +oarsman (7)
Pirates
Gilded Monkey + captain, helmsman (16)
Cursed Blade + helmsman, explorer, oarsman (15)
Shamrock + explorer (9)
Islands about 2L apart, with home islands (HIs) chosen in reverse turn order.
Cursed Blade looked to threaten the Dutch early, but Christiansvaern connected for two hits:
It looked like the Spanish were getting out to a lead, so I decided to be aggressive and let Christiansvaern take on La Resolucion. To my surprise, she won that fight between the first strike and her abilities. However, the Pirates were still after Dutch gold, with Cursed Blade repairing and teaming with Gilded Monkey for a potential strike on the Dutch HI. Prinses Maria smashed up Gilded Monkey, but it wouldn’t be enough to stem the tide.
Prinses Maria was captured as the Pirates began their looting. At the right, Shamrock has executed a second island treasure trade, which would help the Pirates’ final gold score. Concepcion takes over the Spanish-Dutch battle, with Christiansvaern exhausted fighting two galleons consecutively.
Christiansvaern managed to sink Resolucion and then dismast Le Bon Marin with a 2/2 shoot action, but was then sunk by Concepcion. Le Bon Marin rowed home on oar power for an additional 4 coins. The Pirates finished off the Dutch, with Cursed Blade stealing some coins from the Maarten de Hollander. At this point we agreed to a pre-emptive count, which was for the best because the Pirates were already ahead! (playing it out would have just extended their lead due to HI raiding with a numbers advantage)
Scores:
- Pirates: 21 gold
- Spanish: 16
- Dutch: 7
About 5 free packs were also distributed to get their collections up and running – great to see new players enjoying the game!
