International Tabletop Day

3 Players, 80 Points in Bellevue, Washington

June 4th, 2022

Dan, Kyle and I met up at Mox Boarding House Bellevue to play a 3 player game!  Thanks to my friend Captain Randy I had been alerted earlier in the day that it was International Tabletop Day, so it was fitting that we were already planning to meet up to play!

I went first with a “Windcatcher Triple Threat” fleet:
HMS Mirage + RotF Hermione Gold, canceller Bratley, First Mate Ismail
Mystic + Tia Dalma, captain, helmsman, oarsman
Ghost Walker + Jonathan Haraden, Gus Schultz, helmsman, oarsman, exploding shot

Dan (Witch) went second with a mostly Spanish American fleet consisting of the Neptuno, Providence, President (proxied with a square rigged 4 master) and Mermaid.

Kyle went third with a French fleet, sailing out the Superbe, Dauphin Royal, Possession, Pique and Coeur du Lion.

We used 4 wild islands with 4 coins on each of them, and all terrain ended up touching islands or other terrain.  Dan provided the tokens courtesy of Tilorfire27 (affiliate link).

This was my first time using HMS Mirage, a cool looking ship that has solid all-around stats.  I decided to go all windcatchers, with the Mystic providing some HI raiding capability and additional cargo, while the Ghost Walker would be the only pure gunship and capable of both powerful offense (2L exploding shot with reroll) and defense via cancelling and Eternal.  I like the way their looks contrast against each other!

Dan’s fleet was also mixed; the 4 master on the right is the President proxy.

I though Kyle’s fleet looked the most intimidating out of the three, with a trio of good French gunships all at 4 masts or larger.

I knew I wanted to keep my cancelling cluster together in order to have any chance against the French 5’s nearby.  It was nice to see a setup reminiscent of a tropical island chain instead of the typical square or circle setup that often becomes the default when placing islands.

The Mirage reached an island but would have to wait to take any coins.  I purposely put the “public” canceller (the Ghost Walker) away from the French gunships in order to try and draw them in a bit so I could cancel their crew with the face down cancellers on the other windcatchers.

Dan’s Providence has round earthed all the way to the east, but poor d6 luck with Commodore Stern’s EA prevents him from striking the French before they get gold.  The Mermaid is docked at the southwestern island.

With 3 coins aboard, the Mirage charges the Superbe and shoots a mast off. I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid conflict on the journey home so I decided to instigate it, with the Mystic right beside the Mirage. I purposely kept the Ghost Walker away to try and appear less threatening, hoping the Superbe would turn to port and pull up broadside to the Mirage, upon which I would cancel her captain and get away soon afterwards.

It worked until it didn’t!  I was successful in getting the French to play into my plans, but I didn’t account for BOTH French 5’s having Sac Captains! (Arazure and Arathiel)  This was especially surprising given that CC Gaston de St. Croix was on the Superbe, with the ship already having him as an action generator.  The Superbe had her source of Captain cancelled by Bratley, but Kyle was able to sac a crew to get an extra action and shoot anyway, hitting the Mirage twice.  The Dauphin sacced as well and dismasted the Mystic despite Tia Dalma cancelling her captain!  In the case of the Superbe, this was a rare case where it was well worth it to bring multiple action generators on a single ship despite the 2-action limit, since Gaston’s SAT was not going to get the Superbe a single shot in against the Mirage (since Kyle chose to move the ship before I revealed Bratley, and the Superbe would have to move twice).

The Mirage sailed for home, hitting the Superbe on her way by.  Then it was time for the Ghost Walker to shine, hitting 3/4 (successfully using Haraden’s Reroll) and setting the Superbe aflame!  The Mystic revealed an oarsman to row towards home at S+S.

Dan got in on the action next!  The President came flying in from the south, lighting up the Dauphin Royal!  Both of his 4 masters had action generators onboard, with Commodore Stern and Montana Mays eager for some cannonades.  However, the Dauphin did sac to move twice on Kyle’s turn, hitting 2/2 on the President without the fire spreading.  The rest of the French fleet is near their HI.

Stern and his crew hear the battle from afar, but their view is mostly blocked by two fog banks:

Knowing I had Gus Schultz’s Eternal in my back pocket, I felt comfortable sending the Ghost Walker out for more blood, this time setting the President on fire.  The Mirage and Mystic would take time to repair, but I was ready to play the long game.

The President escaped into a fog bank, letting the Possession take over in the fight against the Ghost Walker.  The Possession stayed out of cancelling range to knock a mast off the GW, but the GW retaliated by setting up off the Possession’s stern (to minimize how much return fire I would face) and setting yet another ship on fire with exploding shot.

Dan and Kyle agreed to team up and sink the Ghost Walker, with the President emerging from the fog to knock a mast off.  The Possession finished off the GW with some nice shooting.  However, this was the day they almost caught Jonathan Haraden!  But Gus Schultz was there to save the GW, warping her home to join the other windcatchers undergoing extensive repairs.  He thus acquired the nickname “Ghost Gus” – like a shadow in the night, always there.

Despite their recent agreement Kyle couldn’t help but shoot at Dan’s President with the Dauphin as the latter returned home, dismasting the American.  With that we were left to survey the carnage, as the battlefield was strewn with debris across a somewhat wide area.  Alas, with the Possession burning wildly and the Mirage already headed out to stop the French from getting more gold, it was not over!

The Pique explores but is quickly slammed by the Mirage, who exchanges successful shots with the Possession and rams the Pique derelict.  First Mate Ismail is lost in the boarding party, but I still had HGold and Bratley aboard.

The Possession’s fire finally spread and overcame her crew.  The Mirage towed the Pique, who explored the Mirage to transfer two coins.  My other windcatchers sailed out fully repaired.  Seeing the endgame, I was prepared to build a fort to extend the game since Dan looked to be in the lead from getting a good amount of +2 gold bonuses via LE Dominic Freda.  The Dauphin Royal is almost finished repairing, possibly signifying another battle on the horizon.

Dan was coming home with more gold, including the last 2 from the southwestern island that would end the game since the Mirage had already docked hers home.  Figuring Dan was winning I built Fort Brompton on the center island, hoping to use the 3 windcatchers to knock the French off balance and for the Mystic to steadily steal some gold that I might be able to keep at the fort in the short term.

Dan regroups, repairs, and gets gold bonuses.  Kyle tows the Pique with the Coeur, but I have my eyes on both ships – partly as a numbers game if I could capture them, and also as a slight distraction away from the fort that I don’t want the Dauphin messing with.  The Mystic goes from one fog bank to another, trying to get into optimal position for HI raiding. The Dauphin has lost a bunch of crew but still has bite from pure firepower.

Making a play at the French sloops could also give me distractions and ramming options in the potential fight against my opponents.  However, Dan was trying to end the game as fast as possible….

The cat and mouse game in the fog bank continued, allowing the Ghost Walker to stop the Coeur from getting the Pique home.

I did capture both ships…

… but then we did a count!  It was revealed that even if I successfully stole ALL of Kyle’s gold, I still wouldn’t have enough to beat Dan. So I would have to steal some of Dan’s to win, which seemed unlikely between the Dauphin at full strength, the fort getting attacked by both players or at least Dan’s fully repaired fleet of 4 ships, and getting the Mystic to survive all these HI raids after many many turns of it.  So I agreed that we should call it there.

1. Dan: 30 gold
2. Ben: 14
3. Kyle: 11

Congratulations to Dan on a nice win!  This was a fun game that gave us a lot of what we wanted: combat, lots of abilities used (all named crew from all fleets featuring prominently), cool plays made and a solid ending.  There was plenty of fun bargaining throughout.  All in good fun!  Thanks for reading and let us know if you want to play near Seattle!

Games with Witch – 60 Points and a Sealed Pack Game!

April 9th, 2022

I played some additional games with Witch/Dan (current Discord username: The Witch King) at Zulu’s Board Game Cafe (highly recommended!) in Bothell Washington!  We had agreed on a 60 point build total for the first game, using my Basic Rules and round earth.  The ban list included all events, the DJC Le Bonaparte, Nubian Prince, Blood Money and Cursed Natives.  Proxies were allowed.

He went first with a fleet consisting of the Black Pearl, Greed’s Hammer, Mermaid, and Bilge (proxied by a 1 masted sloop).  I followed with an English fleet:
HMS Interceptor + HGold (RotF version), Sir Christopher Myngs, CRGO (BC version), Sir Watkins Defoe, smokepot specialist
HMS Lady Provost + helmsman, explorer, oarsman
HMS Lord Kenyon + captain, helmsman

I had been inspired by a recent discussion at the ever-active Discord server, where Infin8Ouroboros and others were discussing a tactic where you combine the Ghost Ship keyword or the ability to ignore terrain with a bit of a loophole in the overlap rules. First you move to attack a target, shooting a smokepot with one of the cannons.  The ship then gets a second action, moving to overlap the smokebank while still shooting at targets (since it ignores terrain when given a move action).  Then since the terrain effects are applied once the move action ends and the piece is overlapping the terrain, the ship gets sucked into the fog bank and therefore into safety!!  O_O   Once I read about this combo I knew I had to try it, and nicely enough our game was scheduled for only around a week later.  It was time to try something different!  The Lady P (LP) would serve as my main gold runner with a side of HI raiding, while HMS Lord Kenyon was the final addition but would hopefully provide strong backup to either ship that needed it, a durable little hybrid capable of various tasks.

Both fleets had fog banks conveniently close to their HI’s, which would play a large role in the positioning aspect of the game.  The LP has loaded gold, while the Greed’s Hammer has already unloaded 2 coins +2 via Mycron’s wizardry (on the proxied Bilge).

The LP needs to stay safe in the fog on the way home, while a potential duel between flagships looms….

Alas, the dance continued, with the Lord Kenyon hiding in fog while my other ships docked at the home island.  The LP and Greed’s Hammer are making both fleets richer but Witch and I knew that the standoff would have to explode in order for the game to ever end.

I was able to pull off the combo!  However, I didn’t even need the smokepot specialist, as the Interceptor already had a fog bank to “stumble” into on her way to sinking the Greed’s Hammer!  She got Myngs’ SAT to zoom over and hit the GH, using her second action to sink the ship while overlapping fog, becoming safe at the end of her second move action!  The LP enters the same fog bank as the Black Pearl, eyeing the riches on Witch’s home island.

There was a bit of position reversal, with the Black Pearl and my English ships in opposite positions from earlier in the game.

The Interceptor sank the Mermaid. The Black Pearl returned near home.  After weighing some different options, I decided it would be prudent to build a fort.  The westernmost island was close to Witch’s HI due to round earth, and a fort would allow for the LP to drop off gold on her route home. In addition, I wanted to see if I could get Witch to overplay the BP and risk her against my massed fleet all in one spot. Not to mention that forts can be really good for home island raiders because the available gold keeps the game alive for more raids to potentially occur.  😀   All three ships docked at the island west of my HI, with the LP surrounded as Ramsgate was constructed.

Soon afterwards, I was able to do a little fancy maneuvering with the smokepot combo, having the Interceptor speed out ahead of the LP and drop a smokebank. The LP sailed into it for safety (on her way west towards the final unexplored wild island), with the Interceptor right behind her with SAT.

Although the Mycron-boosted Black Pearl was looming via round earth, I wanted to make a play at the final wild island. The LP and Interceptor docked there, with the Interceptor spewing smoke to block one of the BP’s routes of attack.

Sure enough the BP came around the other side of the island, dismasting the LP but crucially missing two shots that kept the HI raider afloat!

The LP ducked through a whirlpool, with the Lord Kenyon waiting to protect her in home waters on the other side.  The Interceptor took on the Black Pearl in a 2003 movie-showdown redux!  However, Witch flipped Tia Dalma to cancel Hermione Gold’s Captain ability, meaning the Interceptor was powerless to attack!

Finally a very predictable round was played, with the LP docking home her 4 additional coins as the Black Pearl sank the Interceptor! (true to form)

The LP repairs both her masts as the Black Pearl returns home as well.  Both fleets set up in fog banks and another dance has begun!  XD

Now we did a count for gold, to make sure it was even relevant for me to try and raid Witch’s home island.  Incredibly, we both had 22 gold (including 4 in my Ramsgate).  We would play on, with the Lady Provost and Lord Kenyon moving north to the fog bank next to Witch’s HI.  From there they emerged, with the LP stealing a 3 and the LK trying to block the BP a bit (LK revealed her captain to shoot but was cancelled).

The Black Pearl got two actions via Mycron, dismasting the LP and stealing the 3 back, while also taking a mast off the Lord Kenyon.  In a split second of excitement I realized I had a quick and easy path to potential victory – with the 3 coin on the Black Pearl, if I could end the game now with a suicide of the Lord Kenyon, I would win 22-19 because the 3 was not back on Witch’s home island yet!  I immediately sent the LK through a whirlpool hoping for a bad roll, but a 4 (under my Basic Rules) meant she was safe!

The BP unloaded the 3, meaning I was basically playing for a “tie” at this point with the score back at 22-22.  It took a couple more attempts, but eventually the Lord Kenyon lost her final mast to a whirlpool roll, ending the game.  Though the gold score was knotted at 22 apiece, Witch won the game based on the tiebreaker of most points in play!  (and would have also won based on any other tiebreaker such as most units in play/masts standing/etc.)

This was a really incredible game that saw the introduction (for me) of a new fog bank smoke attack combo, lots of maneuvering as is typical when strategists like Witch and I meet up, and a close and dramatic finish that could not have been closer!!  😀

Sealed Pack Game

We had also agreed to play a sealed pack game, with me supplying the packs for a nominal fee of about $1/pack.  We each opened 1 pack of SM, RV and OE.  It would be a 40 point game.  If either of us didn’t like our pulls enough, we would each receive one more pack of OE for 4 total, but we ended up being content with what the 3 gave us.  The only exception was the first pack I opened – the first SM pack was a mispack with a pair of Le Duque card 2/2’s with no deckplate, so I exchanged it for a new pack of SM.

Witch went first with:
Black Swan + helmsman, explorer, oarsman
HMS Birkenhead + shipwright
Treachery + Genny’s Red Rampage

From my packs I selected:
El Leon + captain, helmsman, firepot specialist
Saratoga + musketeer
Royal Fortune

We only used the terrain from the packs, so 2 reefs and 2 whirlpools were placed.

Going first didn’t prove to be very helpful for Witch, as I pounced at the end of round 1.  The Leon set the Black Swan ablaze!

Indeed, I had a plan for the Saratoga as well.  She looked like she was going to explore, but once two enemy ships were within range of her broadside, a musketeer emerged from belowdecks and helped eliminate masts from the Birkenhead!  The latter was dismasted, but got her mainmast back up via the shipwright.

However, I had won the battle, with the Leon re-dismasting the Birkenhead to allow the Saratoga to capture her, while also setting the Treachery alight!  Meanwhile the Royal Fortune loads 2 coins.

The Black Swan managed to extinguish her flames when docking home some gold, and the Treachery managed to put out her blazes as well.  However, I had established some board control, with a centrally located HI frequented by the Saratoga (about to repair) and Royal Fortune while the Leon pursued intimidation tactics in the east where the Treachery had fled to temporary safety.  The Birkenhead was busy repairing with her shipwright.  I now had 4 ships to Witch’s 2, forcing him to play down in numbers again like last game.

The Black Swan loaded 2 coins from the southwestern island while the Royal Fortune emptied the southeastern one.  Although I’ve seen it dismantled in the past, a blockade strategy by my own fleet was beginning to take shape….

However, a full blockade became unnecessary, with the Black Swan attempting some kind of run towards home without round earthing.  The Birkenhead got out of the Leon’s way, allowing the latter to bombard the Black Swan with another firepot!  The Royal Fortune stole a coin and Witch’s Pirates were looking rough.

The Saratoga came over to observe the slaughter, with the game becoming more lopsided by the turn now.

The Black Swan was sunk by the Leon, with the Treachery not enough to overcome the combat capabilities of my fleet.

Scores:

1. A7XfanBen: 24 gold
2. Witch: 6

Though not as good as the first game, it was nice to return to sealed pack play and change things up a bit.  Thanks to Witch for being an awesome opponent and player!  We are the perfect match for playing each other since we’re both so strategic and deliberate.  Many turns took far longer than they might for other people, but it’s because we care about considering all the options and making sure we’re playing as optimally as possible.  It’s awesome!

In addition, we did a little real-time trading and purchasing, as I FINALLY got the Tasmanian Devil (Mysterious Islands SE ship) for $30 and gave Witch an RV Executioner that he wanted!  My luck was better than usual tonight, and I’d like to attribute it to my HMS Victory gun deck shirt I was wearing.  XD  These games with Witch were really fun. Thanks for reading!

100 Point Game vs. Witch

December 21st, 2021

I met up with Witch of the Discord server at Around the Table in Lynnwood WA!  We played a 100 point game using round earth rules, 5 coins per island, and a custom Queen Anne’s Revenge in his fleet.  The custom QAR is 18 points, 5 masts, 5 cargo, S+S speed, all 2S cannons, and has abilities of Fear and “If this ship wins a boarding party, she may be given an extra action”.

I rolled to go first, and we placed 6 total islands with no terrain.  I went with a Spanish American fleet consisting of the Independence (my first time using her!), Frontier, Buscador, San Leandro and Diablo.  He chose all Pirate with the QAR, SCS Lady’s Scorn, Minerva, Raven and Coral.

On the first turn I split my hoists to load as much gold as possible.

With the help of Bruce Grey, the Calico Cat’s Lady’s Scorn blasted the Frontier, dismasting her!

Check out Tilorfire27’s Etsy store if you want the tokens he makes! (affiliate link)

Knowing I had a pretty solid defensive setup on the Independence (OE Montana Mays for SAT and Crew Protect, Eternal Ralph David, and an oarsman), I sailed her out to combat the Pirate threat.  She dismasted the Lady’s Scorn but the QAR was left intact.  Unable to reach home at her rowing speed of S+S, the Frontier heads north to dock at the island she already explored with her hoist crane.  The Buscador can’t dock at home either, but touches the island with her crane to unload her gold.

At the end of my turn I built Thompson’s Island at the island the Frontier was docked at.

The carnage continues!  The QAR dismasts the Independence!  She also rams and boards, with Blackbeard capturing Montana Mays for a potential 7 gold payout!  To the right of them you can see the Lady’s Scorn has boarded the Frontier to steal a coin.

Off the southern coast of my HI, the Minerva has been spoiled by Nemesio Diaz, whose reveal cancels the Minerva’s captain and protects the Buscador from harm!

At the right, the San Leandro has docked at the most remote wild island; the Coral has round earthed to an area even further east but is hesitant to approach due to the Diablo flotilla.  At the upper left, the Raven has unloaded 3 coins at Witch’s home island.

My next turn saw the salvage work begin.  The Independence ran for the safety of the home island, hoping to not get boarded by Blackbeard again.  The fort did its part to help out, hitting 3/5 to smash up the QAR.  The Frontier had a rather unique turn.  I flipped Nikos Chelios (!?) to steal a coin back from the Lady’s Scorn (in hindsight, the Frontier has Secret Hold so this wouldn’t have happened. I also forgot to have the Frontier start the game S away from her home island, but it likely wouldn’t have mattered).  Then the hoist used her crane to unload ALL the island’s gold BACK to the island!  This was to protect it in the fort, since the Frontier might sink any turn now.  However, she finally was able to use her actual action for the turn to repair a mast.

The Buscador has repositioned to dock at my HI for safety and prepare to help the San Leandro secure some eastern loot.

Now it was Witch’s turn to repair and regroup, with the early game conflict severely weakening both fleets.  The Minerva and Lady’s Scorn round earthed to switch places, with the Minerva sinking the Frontier!  The fort shot her mizzenmast off as slight payback.  The QAR leaves the bloody waters behind, sailing west towards the Raven who has taken the last two coins off the southwestern island.  At right, the Coral has explored the eastern island.  She cannot be shot at while docked, but the San Leandro rammed her derelict.  With that situation under control, the Buscador has again repositioned, with Nemesio’s sights now on the Lady’s Scorn – if he could cancel her oarsman, I could capture the ship.

The Independence and QAR will take considerable time to repair to adequate strength, potentially leaving the mid-phase part of the game up to the other ships.  The Buscador is primed and ready, getting into position to cancel the LS’s oarsman two turns in a row so she can stop her and then capture her.  At the right, the Coral exchanged her explorer for an extra coin but is then captured by the San Leandro.

The Buscador captured the Lady’s Scorn.  With the Minerva lurking I wanted to protect the prize.  Thinking about the odds I decided to sail the Independence out half-repaired, taking the Minerva down to one mast.

I had a slight conundrum in the east, where the San Leandro was towing the captured Coral at just S speed.  Diablo could provide decent cover fire against the Raven, but I really didn’t want the Raven stealing any gold from either of the ships.

Big developments!  The Lady’s Scorn returned to my home island on oar power, freeing the Buscador to sail south and construct Fortaleza Dorada on the southern island!  I agonized over whether to build the fort there or in the east to try and secure the San Leandro and Coral’s gold.  In the end the San Leandro broke for home, knowing that the Coral didn’t have very high value coins and there was 8 total on the San Leandro.  The Independence has bested the Minerva, setting me up for my third prize of the game.  However, the dangerous QAR has sailed out….

Aagh!  Frustration for both players as plans are foiled.  The QAR slams into the Buscador, but Witch’s luck fails him with the ship going 1/4 between shooting and ramming!  However, Blackbeard was looming, and I had decided to have Nemesio Diaz cancel his gold capture ability instead of the Captain ability.  I believe the Buscador won the boarding party, resulting in Genny’s Red Rampage being eliminated from the QAR.  Witch did maneuver the QAR to be out of the fort’s cannon ranges.  My frustration simply came from realizing that at this point I was very unlikey to be able to use a combo I really wanted to pull off this game.

Witch also maneuvered smartly in the east, with the Raven ramming the Coral to steal a coin while remaining out of Diablo’s range.

Desperate to escape the QAR, Nemesio sails the Buscador around the earth to dock at Thompson’s Island.  At my home island, the LS repairs, the Independence captures the Minerva, and the San Leandro unloads her treasure.

At this point the Buscador’s other face down named crew was obvious because I had to disclose a link on the ship earlier in the game to Witch when the Buscador first loaded gold.  Once Nemesio Diaz was flipped, it was easy to figure out that Fernando Sanchez was the linked crew.  I was really hoping to steal a coin from Witch’s home island, one of many “sneaky” combos or face down crew I had purposely included in my fleet this game.

Both players were deliberating on many of their actions by now.  It was turning into a classic chess match of a game, with things quite possibly coming down to the wire, or final coin(s).  Knowing that Diaz would likely cancel Blackbeard’s gold capturing efforts on every turn, Witch had the QAR sink the Buscador!  I was sad not to use Fernando Sanchez, but also since both hoists were now in the locker.  However, I had new ships to play with – both the Lady’s Scorn and Minerva are repairing at my home island.  The Raven sprints for home with a stolen coin, while the San Leandro heads back out to resume towing duties – either of the Diablo flotilla or the Coral.

With the Raven docking home, the Coral now contained the only non-fort available gold in play.  Both players looked to repair their forces to full strength.  We were entering the endgame.

Some turns later and all ships have been fully repaired.  I believe Witch’s strategy was generally to use Blackbeard to capture Calico Cat (6 point crew aboard the Lady’s Scorn and now the most valuable in my fleet), then use the QAR’s “extra action after winning a boarding party” ability to inflict enough damage on any ships in the vicinity to be able to return home safely, hoping that gold would turn the tide.  I would mainly be looking to get the Coral’s final gold home safely and use my numbers advantage to protect both forts.

This is when the cat and mouse “chess match” really amped up.  Seeing the QAR move even a partial action towards Thompson’s Island prompted me to surge my forces northwest, ready to protect the 3 gold in the fort at almost all costs.

This is when capturing the Lady’s Scorn came in very handy.  With Calico Cat’s link and only a helmsman and oarsman for other crew, the LS had 4 open cargo spaces.  Under protection from the rest of my many cannons, she docked at Thompson’s Island and loaded all but one coin that the Frontier had re-deposited there earlier in the game.  Lots of premeasuring was now taking place pretty much every round, with Witch ensuring that I couldn’t get the jump with any of my ships and me making sure the Lady’s Scorn stayed out of the QAR’s total range (which was close to 4S since she still had grapple shot aboard which paired nicely with Blackbeard’s gold capture).

With her impressive escort force the LS gets the coins home, leaving the Minerva to load the final coin I could take from Thompson’s Island.  The Raven round earths back to the east where the Coral is, making me wonder if I should have split my forces slightly.

We added Fortaleza’s fort base to it since Witch was premeasuring a potential attack on the fort, and the base is considered part of the fort for drawing lines of fire to it.  Even though now it looks like the fort is on a glacier sliding off the island.

The Raven got away with stealing another coin from the Coral!  It was a 1 and I was just hoping it wouldn’t make a difference.  I still surged my ships east to make sure she didn’t take the Coral’s final coin, and because I knew I wanted every cannon I could get in a potential fort battle climax, and the Coral has a 2L and the ability to not be shot at while docked. (making her truly perfect to use at Thompson’s Island, which gets a +1 cannon bonus when a friendly ship is docked there)

The premeasuring and maneuvering metagame continued, while I got the Coral home and repaired her.  At this point 3 out of my 5 sailing ships were from Witch’s fleet.  The Raven docked home her stolen coin, leaving the gold in forts the last available.

The chess game was grinding along.  Even if the QAR didn’t make a feint towards Fortaleza Dorada, I pointed some ships there since it had 5 gold in it compared to the 3 in Thompson’s Island.

It was clear neither player was willing to budge.  Witch told me he wasn’t going to botch any opportunity I gave him to capture crew with Blackbeard or give him an opening.  I said I was going to do everything possible to win, which at this point mainly meant keeping all the gold in both forts in my possession.  I knew I had an overall firepower advantage and that he had to make a move to try something. We admitted that things would likely continue, with ungodly amounts of premeasuring and jockeying for position happening over potentially another hour or more. (the game lasted around 3 hours total)  However, I said we could at least pre-count and reveal what gold we had on our home islands, especially to make sure that the fort gold even mattered to fight over in the first place.

We totaled it up, and sure enough Witch was winning 23-21 based on home islands alone.  This meant I could win 29-23 as long as I kept all the fort gold.  In hindsight, theoretically we could have tied 26-26 in a crazy scenario if he got TI’s 3 gold and I held on to Fortaleza Dorada.

I wasn’t going to split my fleet or give him an opening to take advantage of Blackbeard, so Witch went for the attack on Thompson’s Island.  The QAR hit 4/5 to cripple the fort, but then my fleet was inevitably on her.  After the Coral docked to give the fort +1 to cannon rolls, Thompson’s Island, the Minerva and Diablo blasted away some masts while I finally revealed the San Leandro’s crew to be a captain.  The Lady’s Scorn and Independence were headed to the fight when it ended.  Although the QAR shot back with her remaining two masts, the final blows were dealt and she sank.  Witch had decided to keep the Raven out of the scene and conceded, as I would have sank her in her attempts to smash either fort.

With that it was over! The count was simple as it was identical to how we counted just before the final battle.

1. Ben: 29 gold
2. Witch: 23

What an awesome game!  Witch is a GREAT person to play against, and I really love and respect his style of not giving in and continuing to strategize every round.  Rarely do I meet someone who will engage in the kind of tactical and strategic “chess match” on the same level and to the same degree as I do.  This is why I love Pirates!  😀

Here is my entire fleet.  I really wanted to try new setups and use fun named crew.  Chelios on the Frontier is almost bizarre but could potentially work pretty well. The Buscador benefited from Diaz though I really wanted to pull off a raid with Sanchez.  I used the Independence for the first time, and she has just enough cargo and point cap space to add the crew required for a nasty Eternal setup.  I never got to reveal Ralph David!  However, she was ready to fight, with SAT+Reroll, Crew Protect to force an opponent to sink her or cancel something, Eternal, and oarsman to prevent dereliction and therefore capture.  The San Leandro and Diablo filled out the points, gave me some additional firepower, and evened out the Spanish American alliance numbers in the fleet.

12/21 100 point fleet
(25) Frontier + Nikos Chelios, helmsman, oarsman
(27) Buscador + Nemesio Diaz, Fernando Sanchez (link), helmsman, oarsman
(28) Independence + OE Montana Mays, Wayne Nolan, Ralph David (RotF), captain, helmsman, oarsman
(20) San Leandro + captain, towing Diablo

Thanks for reading!

4 Player 100 Point Game at Mox Boarding House Bellevue!

December 19th, 2021

This was a 4 Player 100 Point Game at Mox Boarding House Bellevue with FOUR members of the Pirates CSG online community!  I met up with Witch, Luke and BuffBabyBandit for a memorable time!

Scores:

1. Ben: 36 gold
2. Luke: 6
3. Cutty: 0
(5 on Dan’s home island from earlier in the game)

With forts included:
1. Ben: 70 gold
2. Luke: 13

If Luke managed to destroy both forts and get all their gold while retaining his own fort, he would have won 47-36.

A Pair of Games in Tacoma Washington

December 11th, 2021

I met up with Luke (for the second time) and Cutty (for the first time) at Terracrux Games in Tacoma Washington!  It was convenient to “dress for the occasion”, as I wore my Pirates with Ben hoodie and a shirt that has a picture of one of HMS Victory’s gun decks on it.

The first game would use a 40 point build total, round earth rules and Luke’s gorgeous custom islands! Cutty opted for a fleet using the Soleil Royal, HMS Nautilus and Banshee’s Cry.

I was excited to use my newest ship, which arrived in the mail during a port visit in Pearl Harbor Hawaii!  The Gale Force Nine is mine!

Luke went with the Spanish, using the Santo Columba and Valeroso.

This aquarium decoration would only allow smaller/shorter ships to pass through safely:

This gives me a new idea… perhaps large ships can go through, but lose any masts that would normally prevent passage?  Imagine the carnage during an escape attempt!

I quickly revealed my plan, with Calypso being flipped on turn 1!  She was aboard the Gale Force Nine (GF9) along with OE Griffin to help reroll her ability, but alas I somehow had no whirlpools in my traveling collection tin.  Luckily Luke bailed me out with some SM islands, which are blank white on the backside and we proxied them for whirlpools.  The flaw in my small-scale Calypso fleet design became immediately evident, with the Lightning losing her only mast to the whirlpool. With the GF9 setup coming in at 30 points total (she also had a helmsman and oarsman), I had 10 points for gold runners and chose to run the Lightning and Rattlesnake without any crew.

The rest of my fleet arrives on the scene!  The Rattlesnake lost a mast, with the GF9 coming into the area in order to protect the runners from the Santo Columba.

In the meantime, the Soleil Royal round earthed and the Banshee’s Cry found land.

Combat erupts!  The Santo Columba docked within striking distance of the GF9, and I couldn’t resist.  Likely with a bit of help from Griffin, the pirate gunners shot well, blasting away 3 masts from the Spaniard.  The wounded Rattlesnake docked at Luke’s picturesque island.

The pennant used as an explored marker shows that the Rattlesnake’s American explorers found no presence of the Pelegostos here….

The Rattlesnake found Neptune’s Figurehead among the loot:

The Santo Columba ducked into a fog bank for safety.  The Soleil explored the island she found, loading up all 4 coins from it.  The Rattlesnake took the whirlpool home while the GF9 started towing the Lightning.  However, a newcomer has arrived via round earth…

… but without a captain, HMS Nautilus cannot be effective! The GF9 drops the Lightning and pounces, dismasting the schooner.

On the other side of the map, the Banshee’s Cry has unloaded gold for Cutty but is shadowed by the Valeroso.

Playing this game brings me so much joy!

The Rattlesnake warped through the same whirlpools in search of more treasure. The GF9 captured the Nautilus.  Soon she would drop that tow as well to shoot at the Valeroso!  Once more I was unusually lucky with shooting, dismasting another 3 master!

Soon afterwards the Rattlesnake loaded the final coins in play, which led to Cutty sailing his ships towards my home island in a likely blockade attempt.

Indeed, the Rattlesnake was now the center of attention!  Her slow speed would likely be an issue, with three enemy ships now converging on her location.

The Banshee’s Cry successfully rammed and boarded the Rattlesnake, eliminating her final mast and allowing Cutty to steal Neptune’s Figurehead!  However, this left the Rattlesnake’s abandoned oarsman safe in the brig, with his rowing expertise paying off next turn as he rowed the ship through a whirlpool and into home waters!  The GF9 escorted her back.  This was effectively game over since no extra actions would be available to Cutty or Luke’s ships to be able to do anything about the Rattlesnake rowing home on my next turn.

With that, we totaled up the treasure:

1. Cutty: 24 gold
2. Ben: 17
3. Luke: 0

Congrats to Cutty on the victory!

Game 2

For the second game, we agreed to use more competitive fleets, a 50 point build total, and flat earth rules.  No terrain was placed, and the islands were placed at the standard 3L-6L distances.  We used the Spanish Main GF9 islands I had brought along to make things slightly more “official”.  They ended up being rather far apart, which I was quietly happy about.

I kept the Rattlesnake, but swapped the GF9 for the OE Deliverance and the Lightning for Enfant Terrible.

Cutty’s fleet was similar but added the Executioner from RV:

Luke turned pirate and sailed out with the RotF Lady’s Scorn along with the Panda and Bloody Jewel from RV.  On the first turn I flipped Calypso to create a pair of whirlpools!  She was now aboard the Deliverance and up to her old tricks.  Alas, the Rattlesnake once again lost her mainmast while in transit to a wild island.

In a fleet building decision I nearly didn’t make, I had decided to forego a helmsman on the Deliverance in favor of Le Requin for some potential SAT shenanigans.  He came through at the perfect time, allowing the Deliverance to move through Calypso’s first whirlpool, then use a second action to move from the second whirlpool and dismast the Lady’s Scorn!  Based on Luke’s crew setup aboard the Scorn, I decided not to try and sink the Eternal ship, thinking there actually wasn’t an oarsman aboard.  The Deliverance docked to protect the Rattlesnake, whose crew of helmsman and explorer were busy exploring the island.

The Enfant Terrible docked at and explored another island, and my strategy was working – use Calypso to essentially bypass the wide distances between islands, and cut off the other player’s advantages of going before me in the turn order.

My hunch was correct: no oarsman was aboard the Lady’s Scorn, allowing Griffin’s Deliverance to capture the mighty prize on my next turn. The Rattlesnake has just escaped to home waters via the whirlpool, while the Enfant can’t quite make it.  However, the latter was quite fine with me, as I purposely put the whirlpool within L of the wild island closer to the other player’s fleets, knowing I would need to get that gold home quicker than the island further away. In addition, the Enfant has L-immunity, which could help her survive any potential attacks that resulted from her being near the center of the map for longer.

In the meantime, an extremely ugly development was occurring: Luke played the mermaids event against Cutty’s Soleil Royal, freezing the 5 master for 3 turns!  It’s been so many years since I played a game with mermaids available that I forgot to even mention it as a potential ban list item despite the “competitive” agreement we came to before building fleets for this one.  I would try not to let it sour my mood; I was grateful (and surprised) it wasn’t played against me.  Cutty’s gold runners continued towards the lone unexplored wild island, but HMS Nautilus hung back as Luke’s 2 masters luffed up to the port side of Le Soleil Royal.

At this point I was starting to get comfortable in the “driver’s seat” with the other two players likely squabbling over pittances. ?  The Enfant arrived in home waters with additional gold, while a successful scuttle attempt on the Lady’s Scorn allowed her to warp home via Eternal and quickly start repairs.

The mermaids situation turned into a chain-ramming melee, with three of four ships pinned at left in this picture.  Various shots and boarding parties were exchanged with mixed results.  The Deliverance was free to terrorize as Griffin, Calypso, and Le Requin saw fit.

Receiving Le Requin’s SAT, the Deliverance could have tried to dismast the Soleil or corner the Banshee’s Cry (now getting gold). However, Luke’s Panda was headed towards the island the Rattlesnake had explored, with the latter en route to her old haunt.  In the end I had to shoot at the mermaiding player, and so the Deliverance sunk the Panda!  Cutty dismasted the Bloody Jewel with HMS Nautilus, eliminating Luke from the game.

The remaining fleets regroup:

The Lady’s Scorn (with 3 masts repaired) got Crimson Angel’s SAT to warp into the center and broadside the Soleil. The Deliverance finished her off but needed all her cannons to do so, leaving HMS Nautilus with 2 masts.

The Pirates finished off HMS Nautilus on the next turn. Soon after the game was called because it was apparent that the last two coins in play wouldn’t affect the outcome.

Scores:

1. Ben: 34 gold
2. Cutty: 8
3. Luke: 0

This was a neat game where I benefited greatly from island placement and good dice luck (both with Calypso and shooting).  Indeed, overall I had one of my best days at the cannons in physical games in quite some time.

I had a great time with Cutty and Luke and look forward to playing with both of them again!  Thanks for reading and please let us know if you’re in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) area!  😀