Cheapskate Pirate All Stars

Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 21st, 2017

45 Points

This is an idea I had to come up with a new Pirate fleet concept – combining some of their most OP ships from the first few sets with the cheapness of flotilla firepower from the later sets. The result is somewhat nasty – 6 ships, all with decent speed, all with cargo for gold, and all but one with some kind of offensive addition. I understand that there are ways to optimize this fleet’s gold-getting efficiency, but I was going for more of a hybrid fleet than the typical Pirate gold swarm stuff that has been done already.

The Longshanks is the biggest and most expensive ship in the fleet, and is the flagship with a captain and the Hag aboard. Her goal is to subdue enemy gunships, grab gold if possible, and raid the enemy gold runners.

The Longshanks has an assistant, called the Carrion Crow. This ship is the slowest in the fleet and doesn’t have much room for gold, but her 2S cannons pack a punch. She might not be overly effective, but serves as a solid support gunship and a ship that can pick up the treasure scraps.

The Bloody Jewel is a true gold runner, but here she has a captain instead of a helmsman or explorer. With her decent guns, good speed, and capacious hold, she’ll have many duties similar to the Longshanks, but keep her away from enemy gunships until she can get some gold to brag about.

The Banshee’s Cry is to be expected for any Pirate fleet with “cheap” or “all-star” in the name. She’s the best ship in the game even without any crew, but here she has a formidable weapon behind her. The “new” Doombox, shiny and glittery right out of your RotF super rare pack. This flotilla lets the BC scare away opponents and serve as a defensive mechanism.

The Mermaid has a similar role as the BC: get as much gold as possible and use the rotating box of shooting death to scare away and deter all enemies. With lower cargo and worse ranks on the flotilla, this combo is less effective than the BC/Doombox. However, one can mix and match the flotillas however they like to achieve more balance. At this point, the BC’s health is more important than that of the Mermaid, so she gets the improved firepower.

Additionally, since the flotilla-towing ships are the fastest in the fleet, they could run out ahead of the gunships and drop the flotillas off at or near wild islands. This could ensure those islands stay in pirate hands, or give the Longshanks and Carrion Crow some covering fire before they get into action. Not to mention the thought of the LS and CC towing the flotillas themselves to put 13 total mobile cannons in one area at the same time.

The Rover is a final addition to fill out the points and complete the Pirate All-Stars collection. You’d expect to see the Jolly Mon in this type of fleet as well, but I wanted some combat capability and stuck to the theme of early ships and later flotillas.

Thanks for looking!  Comment below what you think of this Pirate All-Stars fleet!