This game was played on 8/15/2015. The fleets went in the order of play as follows:
Fleet 1:
Napolitana + captain, oarsman
San Pedro + explorer, oarsman
USS Buffalo + helmsman, oarsman
Fleet 2:
Carcajou + captain
Freedom’s Hand + captain, oarsman
Algiers + helmsman, oarsman
Fleet 3:
USS Shark + captain, helmsman, oarsman
Splinter + helmsman, oarsman
Voleur + helmsman
Barbary Corsairs:
Jackal’s Teeth + Aruj Barbarossa, helmsman, oarsman
Winds of Vengeance + helmsman
Whisper
The setup featured the huge island with 5 beaches functioning as 5 separate wild islands, with plenty of obstacles and terrain in a ring around it. The HI’s were placed outside the terrain ring, with Fleet 1 just out of the frame to the left. Fleet 2 is at the top left, while Fleet 3 is at the right and the BC fleet is at the lower right.
Gold has been placed and turn 1 is over! The Algiers is fogged out already, while the Corsairs are almost completely under the arch.
The Corsairs set sail in search of plunder and crew:
Gold starts disappearing quickly as the first 2 fleets make it to the beaches.
The Barbary runners dock as the Jackal’s Teeth finds her first victim. Preying on the smaller Napolitana, Barbarossa blasts off a mast and steals the valuable Spanish captain.
A different angle on the action, with Fleet 3 approaching the final beach.
Fleet 1 has returned some gold, including Smuggled Goods and the San Pedro’s +2 bonus. However, their other ship, the Napolitana, has been attacked again by the Jackal’s Teeth, stripping her of her oarsman as well and making her derelict. The Corsairs have taken gold from the other two beaches while the Napolitana (who had already docked) emptied the left one.
Fleets 2 and 3 have grabbed all available gold nearest them, while the Jackal’s Teeth has captured the poor Napolitana.
A fantastic shot of the center area, with the two Corsair runners off to the right under the arch. The Whisper is in the light but the Winds of Vengeance is under the shadows.
To the left, the Jackal’s Teeth released the Napolitana to spring for the last two coins left on the island. The Buffalo recaptured her comrade, sad to see that Aruj had stolen the ship’s entire complement of crew. Gold runners are returning to their home islands. On the other side of the big island, a 1-on-1 battle is raging between the Freedom’s Hand and USS Shark, who are fighting over a single coin.
The Algiers of Fleet 2 is trying to use round earth rules to launch a sneak attack on the loaded Jackal’s Teeth…
The Algiers lies in wait:
… But Aruj isn’t done yet! Moving the Jackal S+L+S to ram and board the Algiers, Barbarossa splinters two masts and takes the Algiers’ helmsman. The Winds of Vengeance provides cheerleader support, hoping to sail south and use round earth to get revenge on Fleet 2’s Freedom’s Hand.
Fleet 3 sends the Splinter around the world to try and intercept the slowed Buffalo (towing the gold-laden Napolitana), but the Splinter was too slow and the San Pedro blocked her path.
Aruj gets greedy, taking the Algiers’ oarsman as the damaged galley tries to flee through the narrower part of the double archway.
A perfect shot of the chase, with the Algiers left mastless and crewless.
This shows a good view of the narrow but tall arch, just wide enough for the oars of a galley to pass through.
The Jackal’s Teeth emerges from the ominous and huge shadows of the arch to come into the light:
As the Shark and Freedom’s Hand continue to duel over one coin, the Winds of Vengeance, Whisper, and Voleur have all joined the area in hopes of winning or ending the fight.
Now Aruj got even greedier. With a cargo hold full of gold and captured crew, the intimidating galley raced off after the Splinter, but finally failed a boarding party! (though it was a tie) The Splinter rammed the Teeth in hopes of stealing a coin, but the Teeth won this second boarding party to steal yet another crew, the Splinter’s helmsman. Fleet 1 sent the San Pedro and Buffalo via round earth to try and intercept the Corsairs, but the galleys were too fast and were able to get home on their turn (this shows the action partway through the final turn, before the Corsairs took their turn).
The Winds of Vengeance rolled a 5 to sink the Freedom’s Hand, ending that battle abruptly after all the efforts of the Shark and Hand. The Jackal’s Teeth zipped home to unload her full cargo hold, ending the game!
The final treasure count:
1. Barbary Corsairs: 32 gold (9 from Aruj Barbarossa through 5 crew!)
2. Fleet 1: 20 gold
3. Fleet 3: 14 gold
4. Fleet 2: 12 gold
A great game that featured some fun battles and an interesting ocean. Thanks for reading!