Last night (8/26/2019) I played my latest CG4 turn with the Pirates having a grand old time. (previous turn here)
The Pirates have been getting annoyed with how popular their textiles island has been. It’s understandable, as textiles have been the best early-game resource and the recent resource change has resulted in them being worth 6 gold apiece (the maximum value) once again. The Barbary Corsairs and Vikings both have ships near the island, with the Corsairs grabbing a ton of textiles last turn.
The Pirates have had enough! The Eagle attacked! Shooting 2/4, the Eagle dismasted the Viking lonship Sleipnir. Then the Jolly Mon used Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight to sacrifice her action, giving it to the Eagle, who then captured the Sleipnir! Then Calico Cat (aboard the Cassandra, docked at the textiles island right next to the Winds of Vengeance from the Corsair fleet) turned to the captain of the Vengeance and told him “You’re next scum.” Talk about a warning! The Pirates have the guns sailing south to back up such talk. The Akua Lapu with Bartholomew Roberts is about to reach the island, with the Eagle still healthy as well.
Suddenly the area has gone from busy but tranquil to a potential battlefield. The Pirates spent most of their 54 gold to launch 4 new ships along with a town upgrade. The upgrade is on the Raven, making it quite obvious that the Pirates intend to upgrade the textiles island to prevent the Vikings and Corsairs from going there for valuable resources.
Here you can see the footage of the Pirates instigating conflict with the Vikings:
The Pirates also launched another gunship, the Selkie. She is one of my favorite ships. The Pirates intend her to be a super-sniping gunship, as she has the Sniping ability in addition to the Eye of Maru UT (the latter lets you double the range of one of the ship’s cannons each turn). The Selkie is maxed out on cargo (4) and points (9), being assigned captain, helmsman, exploding shot, and chain shot. With all that at her disposal, she could theoretically hit an opponent at L+L+L+L range on a 6 with one of the equipment shots! O_O The Pirates also have the Mermaid towing the Widowmaker flotilla, so it looks like they may try to use ranges above L to counter the nearby fleets.
The Cursed had an uneventful turn, though the Sea Duck returned home from her successful voyage to the Archipelago.
The Vikings turned the Diversion around, knowing they wouldn’t be able to do anything about the capture of the Sleipnir with just one (uncaptained) ship in the area. However, their turn was still a success, as they managed to increase the size of their fleet during the round despite the loss of a ship. They launched two ships for a net gain of +1, with the Hrothgar and Burning Body (the latter a cheap custom) coming into play. The Vikings are due to take in 7 lumber next turn, which they plan to convert to 35 gold for a nice launch. The Vikings are unhappy but somewhat unsurprised by the Pirates’ hostility. The Pirates have the biggest fleet in the game by far and are already showing some combat might in addition to their burgeoning resource system. At 26 ships, the Pirates are far more powerful than the Vikings.
The Corsairs are actually more upset than the Vikings, but it looks like their timing is perfect. The Corsairs sailed away from the textiles island on their turn, but loaded up 4 galleys on the previous turn with very valuable textiles that should net them a decent amount of gold before the next resource change occurs in about 4 turns. They cashed in the textiles on their home island for 48 gold, spending nearly all of it on a GRAND purchase: the Osiris, their “god ship” from Pirates of the Epic Seas. They’ve crewed her up, signalling that things may be shifting dramatically in the north… the Corsairs have a plan.
Here is the situation in the north! Some excitement seems to be brewing!
Also check out the BR’s for CG4 done by Xerecs!