Points in Play + Gold at 3 Players, 50 points – April 11th, 2020

Posted on April 11, 2020April 11, 2020 by Ben

We played again! (previously on April 9th) We decided to up the ante, using a 50 point build total along with one of my favorite house rules – at the end of the game, we would add up our points in play AND ending gold totals for a final score.

The American player rolled to go first, but we allowed him to defer and go last, therefore being able to choose his home island first. This led to me going first again, but this time with a French fleet. (all game pieces found in the Master Spreadsheet)

La Bonne Chance + captain
Le Triton + helmsman, explorer
Le Courageux + captain, helmsman
La Belle Poule + helmsman

Spain went second:
El Neptuno + captain, helmsman, cannoneer, explorer
El Duque + captain, helmsman
La Cazadora + captain, helmsman, oarsman

The Americans chose to have their home island right in the middle.
Bonhomme Richard + captain, helmsman, explorer, oarsman
Jarvis + captain, helmsman
USS Sea Tiger

I wanted to introduce terrain, and we went ahead and strung some of it together and had it touching islands. Only 2 wild islands would likely make combat inevitable, with 8 coins on each.

With a relatively tight setup, it was somewhat surprising to see no shots fired on the first turn. The Americans were the only fleet to not split their forces, mostly due to the terrain.

The Courageux shot 2/2 to smash the Duque, who was then seen fleeing for home. The Bonne Chance sort of failed at her escort duty, as the Neptuno got a pair of 6’s with her sniping ability to sink the Belle Poule! This eliminated 17 total points from play, as the BP was carrying 8 gold. The Triton picked up some awesome coins and headed for home.

Major conflict erupts between the Americans and Spanish!! This was taken before the Bonhomme Richard even shot, as the Jarvis went 3/3 against the Neptuno.

Bloodbath at the contested wild island! The Bonhomme Richard sinks the Neptuno, but the French sink the Sea Tiger with the Bonne Chance! A total of 29 points sinks to the bottom.

The Americans get revenge, dismasting the Bonne Chance! The Courageux and Triton have unloaded a total of 5 coins on the French HI.

The Spanish looked to regroup and repair, with the Cazadora somewhat lucky to return home with a coin fully intact. As the French I was disappointed to have lost 2 ships already, but the Triton headed out to “her” wild island for a second trip.

The Americans capture the Bonne Chance as the Duque finishes repairing:

I maneuvered the Courageux around the HI – although the Courageux likely could have sunk the captured Bonne Chance, she might have been sunk or captured herself soon afterwards by the Bonhomme Richard. The Spanish arrived through a whirlpool to block the Triton’s path home, but she whirled to the other side of the French HI. The Jarvis loaded the last coin from the bloody island.

The French convinced the Spanish to sail the Duque towards the Bonhomme Richard (to block her path home) instead of shooting at the Triton, but the Duque struggled, getting stuck in a sargasso sea! The Cazadora went for it but was soon dismasted by the Courageux. The BR docked home the captured Bonne Chance as the Triton unloaded her final haul.

The BR made room for the Jarvis to end the game by unloading the final coin!

It turned out to be an awesome “banger” of a game, with the final scores almost too close to be believed!
French: 64 total points in play (36 from gold alone)
Americans: 63 (54 from ships and crew)
Spanish: 31

O_O The French win a 64-63-31 victory! We all had a lot of fun and will likely use the points in play house rule in the future! 😀 Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more of this, or CG4! 🙂

2 New Pirates Players! April 9th, 2020

Posted on April 10, 2020April 10, 2020 by Ben

Today I taught 2 new Pirates players! They took to the game extremely well and we all enjoyed it. For now I just have a small traveling collection that fits in one of the small tins, which doesn’t include my blue fabrics or regular camera. However, it was fun to play a physical game again!

It was a basic 40 point introductory game, using my Basic Rules as the default for now. Here were the fleets in play order: (you can find all the game pieces in the Master Spreadsheet)

English (A7XfanBen)
HMS Goliath + captain, helmsman
HMS Durham + captain, helmsman, explorer, oarsman

Spanish
El Neptuno + captain, helmsman
El Duque + captain, helmsman
El Picador + helmsman

Americans
Bonhomme Richard + captain, helmsman, explorer
Julius Caesar + captain, helmsman

We used 6 islands total with 4 coins on each of the 3 wild islands. Partway through the first round:

The Durham got home with a couple coins as each fleet looked to snag some treasure. El Neptuno went 0/5 with her sniping ability against the Goliath.

The Neptuno closes the gap and hits 2/5 to smash the English!

My retaliation was swift but not entirely effective – although the Durham went 4/4 and killed the Neptuno’s helmsman in a boarding party, the Goliath shot 0/3 on her way home.

The Spanish continued to be aggressive, with the Duque sailing over to support the Neptuno despite having 2 coins aboard. She shot 2/2 against the Durham, with the Neptuno trying to escape but missing her only shot.

All fleets gold all their gold home successfully, with the English dismasting the Neptuno in the process of docking at home to repair.

In the end the Spanish were victorious by a narrow margin by a score of 12-10-10!
Spain: 12 gold
English and Americans: 10 gold each

Thanks for reading! We hope to play again soon, possibly even instituting some house rules already. 😀

Defense of St. Helens deathmatch scenario on VASSAL with Xerecs!

Posted on April 8, 2020April 8, 2020 by Ben

Get VASSAL here: https://pirateswithben.com/vassal/

Get the Defense of St. Helens map I made here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mk2jmgri9pb079h/Defense%20of%20St.%20Helens.vsav?dl=0

Here is the Defense of St. Helens scenario, created by Gustawicyryl: https://www.deviantart.com/gustawicyryl/art/Map-St-Helens-Island-92117099

Another EPIC Campaign Game Attack!! (April 7th 2020 in CG4)

Posted on April 8, 2020April 8, 2020 by Ben

Wow!! What a fun day of play for me in VASSAL Campaign Game 4! After PirateAJ14 and Xerecs completed their latest turns, my four factions were up.

As always the Pirates led things off for me, with a bunch of their new ships scattering west of their home island. The canoes are headed home, while the Zeus is in the process of “round earthing” to the northern half of the map.

Speaking of the northern half of their home island… the Selkie gets in action! She was finally able to land a sniping hit on one of the Corsair galleys, lighting the Sphinx aflame with exploding shot! This put a small dent in the Corsairs’ plans and killed a Corsair oarsman.

The Pirate strategy was one of deterrence. The Selkie was out front taking potshots at the Barbaries, but she was soon joined by numerous fleetmates. The Agnis Crystalis (5 master at bottom center) and Splinter have been following the Selkie southwards. To augment that 3-ship line, the Pirates began to bring their hybrids to bear. The Darkhawk II and Akua Lapu headed southeast to up the Pirate numbers, while the Widowmaker flotilla and Rover (latter designated as a tugboat, mostly for derelict rescue) helped to plug the gap between the Agnis Crystalis and the much slower Splinter. The captain of the Agnis Crystalis shouted a warning to the captain of the Sphinx… “we are prepared to use our WMD!” The Corsairs weren’t entirely sure of what that meant….

The Eagle stayed on the west side of the textiles island, both because she couldn’t maneuver towards the Corsairs very effectively this turn and to protect the other side of the island from potential Viking attack in the near future. At the top of the picture you can see 2 of the 3 new Pirate ships – they took in textiles and metals this turn and spent all 79 gold it amounted to. The Black Pearl and Harbinger are decked out with action generators, while the Sapphire Sea (one of my custom schooners) was launched from the southern half of the HI but plans to join the others and head south.

However, the northeast wasn’t the only area with tension. Multiple American ships are bearing down on the Cursed home island – 3 of their classic schooners, with a couple 5 masters coming behind out of frame. The Cursed have loaded up the Grand Misfortune with a bevy of UT’s. Three small Cursed ships are clustered in a fog bank as most of the other Cursed ships head southeast to get textiles (quite the popular resource these days). The Wisp is off in the southeast having serious difficulty getting through the ring of fog that surrounds an island in the Turbulence area.

The Vikings had a little awkward moving to do but have a bunch of ships headed home with lumber, currently worth 4 gold apiece. Then it was time for the Barbary Corsairs….

The Corsairs had been waiting many MONTHS for this moment. A moment in time where they could finally get back at the Pirates. The Pirates claimed the textiles island for themselves, and now had a town on it to prevent the other factions from loading any resources from it (both the Corsairs and Vikings had explored the island previously). With careful planning, optimal UT placement, and some powerful custom warships, the Corsairs were finally both ready and able to make a calculated strike!

However, at this point in time, it could be argued that an attack on the Pirates looked like a bad idea. The Pirates had not only launched the custom Stormcloud 10 master in recent turns, but also the Zeus last turn. They had many more ships in their fleet than the Corsairs, including more gunships and various hybrids being used to escort resource carriers to and from the textiles island. However, the Corsairs wanted to make a move NOW, and since the Pirates have super-valuable metals readily available, they would likely only get stronger and stronger as time went on. The Corsairs were afraid that the Pirates would beef up their defenses even more in the coming turns, and decided it was essentially “now or never”.

From a few pictures above, you can see the quartet of custom 4 masted galleys the Corsairs had sailing west: Osiris (the flagship), Red Star, Sphinx, and Giza. The Corsair turn started with great luck, getting an AA from Kheir-ed-din aboard the Crescent Moon and the Osiris getting an SAT from Danvian Arrestelos. With that, it was decided. The Corsairs would carry out their sudden attack as planned!

The Sphinx got things started!! Sailing up to the Selkie, she connected on 2 of her 3 shots to set the Pirate sniper aflame with a newly revealed fire shot! Paying no heed to the flames on their own deck, the Corsairs showed they meant business and would use their war galleys as needed!

THEN IT WAS TIME. For the ultimate attack!! The Red Star moved S+L+S into position, carefully maneuvering to get close to enemy Pirate vessels while maintaining a strong line of sight on many of them… she was then given an AA to shoot!

NEPTUNE’S TRIDENT!!!!!

O_O

In a HUGE move, the Corsairs knock out 14 Pirate masts, with SEVEN ships in the path of the tidal wave! From west to east, the Eagle, Hades’ Flame, Akua Lapu, Dragon, Darkhawk II, Agnis Crystalis, and Selkie all lost 2 masts. (Woelf’s recent answer to a different question confirms that the wave blast should eliminate masts as normal despite the 2 hits per mast house rule we’re using in this game) The Red Star lost all of her masts, but the Corsairs have a brilliant plan to scuttle her – with the Resurrection Codex! XD Their luck continued, with the ship rolling a 5 on the successful scuttle attempt. As long as the Red Star isn’t towed before the Corsairs’ next turn, she’ll get a “super-Eternal” effect and show up fully repaired at the BC home island! This had been the Corsairs’ plan for the Red Star all along – essentially sacrifice the ship at the opportune moment to cause maximum damage with the Trident, then scuttle the ship and get her back to the battle as a “normal” ship as fast as possible via the Codex. 😀

The Corsairs weren’t done yet!! The Osiris used her SAT to move 6S and broadside the Agnis Crystalis, hitting 3/4 to take out a mast (and a half). Then it was the Giza’s turn. Continuing the amazing Corsair luck throughout the turn, she got her built-in EA and was able to move S+L+S x2 to dock at the Pirate textiles town! Shooting next, she revealed yet another Corsair UT – Fireworks! However, it didn’t help, as the Giza only shot 1/3 with improved cannons to partially damage the Darkhawk II.

The Giza still had an important final role to play – attempting to capture the town! She rolled a 6 and the textiles island has changed hands from Pirate to Corsair!! This was the Corsairs’ main goal all along – claim the important island as their own!! To put the final icing on a delicious cake filled with great combos and tactical prowess, a new custom crew appeared on the Giza’s deck – Ibrahan Vosely, who prevents the ship from being shot at while docked! Now the Giza can sit at the island and protect it if needed, possibly providing a useful buffer against the likes of the Eagle, who has a captain on the west side of the island.

Look at the Carnage!!

(the white pennants represent partial damage, or the first of two hits required to eliminate each mast)

You can also witness footage of the entire attack!

For now at least, the overall theater is in favor of the Barbary Corsairs as the first major conflict of the game has erupted in rather dramatic fashion. The Pirates still have considerable firepower in the area, but perhaps most important is the firepower that will be arriving in the coming turns. The Pirates have a pair of 10 masters in addition to the four gunships headed south from the east side of their home island, not to mention any launches in the coming turns as valuable metals continue to pour into Pirate coffers. The battle for the coveted textiles island has just begun, and it looks like like another faction may even get involved – notice the Viking ships Diversion and Muninn sailing southeast….

The Algiers and Crescent Moon have headed west from the Corsair HI for as many as three reasons: provide firepower backup for the main gunships; gather textiles from the island now that they are able to once more; if the Corsairs lose the battle quickly, tow home any potential derelicts they can salvage.

After last turn the Corsairs reached out to the English about sharing in the valuable spoils of this textiles island that the English have been going to. The English are fine if the Corsairs explore and load the resource, and so they have done so with the Queen of Sheba and Marrakesh. Additional galleys are on their way, but the Corsairs hope they can make the shorter trip west (instead of south) if they can retain control of the contested textiles island.

A shot of the whole ocean shows the fleets growing at various rates, and the first real hotspot of hostile activity! (right click and open in a new tab to see full size!)

PS: The post has “another” in the title due to all the grand campaign game attacks I’ve done in the past (though this is the first “big one” of CG4).

Tensions Rising – April 1st 2020

Posted on April 1, 2020April 1, 2020 by Ben

Before this turn, we amended the fort rules slightly. Unlike before, forts shut down their island’s production of resources AND gold (instead of just resources). However, gold stored in an upgraded fort can be used to launch ships and crew, not only gold from the home island.

The first play of April saw some interesting developments! Here you can see some of the newest Pirate ships scattering away from the home island as they take sail for the first time. The Warring Tribes got her SAT and took off at a whopping 8S, one of the fastest single-turn speeds ever seen on a 5 master. The Zephyr was close by after receiving an AA, of which the Pirates had 2 at the beginning of their turn (Jean Laffite and Captain Elizabeth Swann launched at the end of their last turn), and 3 by the end of their turn! O_O The Hai Peng was off and running at her rather typical L+S+L+S speed. The new native canoes redocked to load metals as 4 cargo ships docked home a total of 12 metal tokens for 72 gold. Combining that with 30 gold from textiles in the north and 12 saved up gold, the Pirates spent lavishly once again, blowing through all 114 gold for 4 new ships! You can see two of them at the bottom – the Zeus is loose! She comes into play with Lord Henry McLean aboard, usually known as Captain Mysion. My custom version of him has AA and World Hater, giving the Pirates 3 AA crew, all with Reroll on their ships. Just north of the Zeus is the newly launched Deliverance from Crimson Coast.

Shifting gears to the northwest, you can see various American ships sailing towards the Cursed! The Cursed have been preparing the best they can in the case of an American attack – the Grand Misfortune carries numerous UT’s, while the Dark Pact’s load of lumber helped them put two new ships in the water this turn. The Devil’s Storm and Devil’s Sneer, both custom ships from my Epic Seas set. The Americans also have metal readily available, so they don’t look like they’ll be suffering anytime soon.

Here is the entire Viking fleet in the north. Sigurd Andersen has moved his flag from the Donar to the Polaris, where he is more likely to be successful rolling for his AA ability.

Now THIS is where it is interesting right now. The Selkie took another potshot at the Corsairs from 4L range, this time missing with Chain Shot on a 4. The Corsairs have 4 of my best 4 masted galleys sailing west with plenty of crew aboard. The Corsairs are trying to stay out of range of the Pirates, who are beefing up their defenses of their textiles island. The Selkie, Agnis Crystalis and Splinter have formed a small line of battle, while the Mermaid let go of the Widowmaker flotilla on her way home to avoid taking extra firepower out of the area. In addition, two new Pirate ships were launched from the northern half of their home island – the #300 (11 point) Flying Dutchman with a full complement of basic weaponry, and the Coral with a helmsman and oarsman. In addition, the Pirates have been using armed merchants as a deterrence force, with the Akua Lapu, Darkhawk II and Eagle all carrying captains on their textiles trips. At the upper right, a long journey is nearly complete – the Agha’s Whip has round earthed and is nearly home with her long-awaited haul of foreign resources!

The Pirates’ claim to their textiles island (with a town upgrade) has forced the Corsairs to spread out their fleet. Three ships arrive home with spices from the northeast, while three more make the same trip they are returning from. Three more galleys head south towards a textiles island where the English have an encampment. Two Corsair ships have just docked there, with a letter from the unknown Corsair leader explaining to the English that the Corsairs would like to trade freely with the English and cause them no difficulties.

Note that the English have also spread their resource gatherers lately. I intend to report more on factions that are not my own in the future, but right now my fleets seem to have the most going on and are feeling some rising tension. Not to mention, Xerecs has been doing a great job with his video reports that concern the general goings-on across the sea.

HUGE Resource Change and Big Pirate Launch – March 2020

Posted on March 31, 2020March 31, 2020 by Ben

CG4 has resumed at last! After 3 and a half months of inactivity, the grand campaign is back.

On the previous turn, the Corsairs spent their windfall on a bunch of grand custom warships! This included the Osiris, their flagship from Pirates of the Epic Seas, my fantasy custom set. I would love to say more but not quite yet! 🙂

We just had a momentous resource change, with a 4 being rolled for value and a max turn duration of 12! O_O This meant that metals were the new “king resource” at 6 gold apiece, with textiles worth 5. With both resources readily available, the Pirates looked to epitomize the rich getting richer with this change. Given the somewhat substantial distances between islands, the duration of the resource change also gives factions an opportunity to head for new islands or make long trips to valuable islands, knowing that the values will hold long enough for them to get all the way back home before the next resource change occurs.

The Pirates ended their play turn with 39 metal tokens, which they cashed in for a windfall of 234 gold! They combined this with 10 saved gold for a total of 244, of which they spent 232 to launch 11 new ships! You can see all but one of them at the southern half of their home island, with various customs making it into play. The Warring Tribes with Rastarius Cain makes an entrance, with the latter being a Chieftain for the Gravedigger’s Death Sentence native canoe set. The Pirates also launched some additional cargo ships to optimize their resource system, as they plan to send extra ships north to maximize their metal production.

The Agnis Crystalis and Splinter head south from the northern half of the Pirates’ home island (right of the reefs jutting south). The Pirates have also launched the Branwen, a custom fog hopping 3 master by Xerecs. All 7 Corsair galleys that were home last turn sailed out, with the quartet of 4 masted galleys heading west.

Stay tuned for more developments!

More Turns of VASSAL Campaign Game 4 – Late 2019

Posted on December 8, 2019December 8, 2019 by Ben

CG4 has continued with some interesting developments, especially regarding my own factions.

The situation in the far north continues to slowly escalate. At the left near the fog, the Eagle pursued the Diversion for a turn, hitting once to slightly damage the ship but not take a mast off. We have ruled that partial hits (hits that are considered damage but do not remove a mast due to the 2 hits/mast rule) can be repaired as normal to get a ship up to full health.

The Pirates considered using Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight to give the Eagle an EA to do a hit and run strike on the Diversion, but felt it wasn’t really worth angering the Vikings even more. Plus, they wanted to maximize profit at the end of this resource duration. The Eagle and Mermaid (towing the Widowmaker flotilla) would soon turn around, as the Vikings launched the dangerous Muninn with plenty of fighting-style cargo. The Pirates used one of their spyers to see the equipment on the Muninn, which may convince them to stay away for now. However, check out the long range ruler I created to test the Selkie’s maximum cannon range – at 4L range she is nearly able to start firing potshots at the Corsairs already! O_O The 4 masted galley docked at the textiles island is the Akua Lapu, a Pirate (and not Corsair) ship.

Here is the northwest, where the Cursed and Americans reside. The Dutch ship Prins Willem came through a whirlpool to pass Plague to the Cursed! Although slightly annoyed, it happened at a somewhat convenient time for the Cursed, as nearly all of their ships are arriving home at the same time after being largely scattered for a while. The Opal Shrine plans to pass the Plague to the Sea Duck so she can eventually unload and transfer some of her cargo. The Americans have launched some gunships, after which their controller admitted “the newly assembled strike force is looking for a target…” An interesting thing to announce! 🙂

CG4 northwest corner

The Pirates consolidate their forces and continue to get as many valuable textiles as possible. The Selkie missed her chain shot against the Winds of Vengeance with a 2. The Osiris sailed out to escort the Corsair galleys coming home with textiles, forgetting that it would expose her to a potshot on the Pirate turn. The Pirates have launched the Rover with a helmsman to be a designated tugboat – assigned to tow home derelicts, both friendlies and prizes. The captured Sleipnir doesn’t need any help with that, having S+S speed while derelict between her Longship rowing capability and +S with no cargo.

With the Pirates establishing a stronger and more militant presence around “their” textiles island, the Corsairs are beginning to focus more on alternatives for their gold runners. They have about 6 ships making trips to the spice island in the northeast, while at the bottom of this picture you can see 2 galleys headed south, off to explore new waters for the fleet. The Vikings have a decent but slower operation going to the west, but they are very dependent on lumber staying valuable.

The Pirates continue to show that they are the biggest fleet currently in the game, making big strides on a great turn! The Raven unloaded the town upgrade, meaning their textiles island is upgraded on the following turn. This prevents other factions (namely the Corsairs and Vikings!) from loading resources from the island. The Selkie missed an “exploding potshot” against the Osiris, who quickly returned to the safety of the home island.

At the end of their turn the Pirates spent their gold to launch the first “WMD” (weapon of mass destruction) of the game. The Stormcloud is a custom 10 master from my Epic Seas set: 47 points with fog hopping built in!! O_O She carries numerous crew, many of which are face down. The Pirates also launched the Splinter with a captain and helmsman, likely as a defensive hybrid to further increase protection for the resource fleet while also helping them (albeit slowly) gather textiles or other resources.

CG4

For the other factions in the area: the Diversion is fully repaired, while the Corsairs are about to dock home their galleys for a decent windfall.

Also check out the BR’s for CG4 done by Xerecs!

100 Point Game of Water World with Wind and Customs between A7XfanBen and Xerecs – December 2nd, 2019

Posted on December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 by Ben

November Finale – 4 Players, 40 Points on November 30th, 2019

Posted on December 1, 2019December 1, 2019 by Ben

November Finale – 11/30/2019

Likely my last physical game of Pirates CSG for quite some time!

This is a report for a nice family game played with relatives near the end of the Thanksgiving weekend. We set up for a game with 4 players at a 40 point build total. It ended up being rather long and complex for a game featuring relatively basic fleets and no UT’s or terrain. Round Earth was the main house rule.

We used Ross’ 5 beach island as the sole wild island, with 3 coins per beach. As usual, each beach had to be explored individually.

November finale game 2019

-All game pieces can be found in the Master Spreadsheet.

Here are the fleets, in the order of play:
French Pirates
Bruja + captain, helmsman
Musarde + captain, helmsman, explorer, oarsman

Franco-Spanish (FS)
L’Epee de L’Ange (Epee for short) + captain, helmsman
San Pedro + helmsman, explorer

Americans
USS Atlanta + Master CPO Charles Richard (OE version)
Dark Fox
USS Plymouth Rock + shipwright

Cursed Pirates (Ben’s fleet)
Flying Dutchman (PotC 001 version) + captain, helmsman, oarsman
Lechim Namod

And they’re off!

Could I wreak havoc with my nasty beast?
Lechim Namod

The Bruja round earthed while many ships looked for gold early. Lechim Namod (LN) is submerged, hoping to feast on the Americans shortly.

The squid surfaces! The Dark Fox loses a mast, while the Flying Dutchman empties a nearby beach of treasure.

The Bruja shot 0/4 on the FS, allowing the Epee to return fire on her way home, hitting once.

Already facing some tough decisions, the American commander got an incredible clutch roll of Fear. Getting a 5 on it with the Dark Fox, Fear cancelled the abilities of LN, disabling the Sea Monster keyword to unpin the Dark Fox, allowing her to escape with a coin! The Atlanta shot 1/2 to knock a tentacle off LN, after which the Plymouth Rock was essentially sacrificed to give the Atlanta more time. Her shipwright was transferred to the Atlanta, which became important later. LN flailed away and took off the Plymouth Rock’s only mast, with the FD coming over to capture the sloop.

Here come the Cursed Pirates! Love the colors in this picture and that you can make out the ship names.
Pirates CSG game in action

The Bruja found her mark, hitting twice on the Epee to eliminate two masts and two cargo. The crew were eliminated, allowing the Epee to unload a coin on the next turn. The San Pedro went out for more gold, having already deposited 2 coins along with her +2 bonus.

LN moved out of the way to allow the FD to capture the Plymouth Rock.

A deal was briefly discussed between myself and the Americans, with the Atlanta potentially allowed to get home with 2 coins if the Americans didn’t contest the capturing of the Plymouth Rock. Nothing was really agreed upon, and I decided to do what a pirate would and attack anyway. The FD shot 1/2 to eliminate another mast from the Atlanta.

It soon became apparent that the Bruja might finish the job for me, as the dangerous Pirate ship lumbers towards the Americans!

The Flying Dutchman was still carrying 3 coins, so I wanted to get her and the prize home and let LN potentially interfere in the looming Atlanta-Bruja battle. At the upper left you can see that the Musarde has round earthed after getting some coins home for the French Pirates.

The Atlanta managed to evade cannon fire and fled for home, taking a mast off the Bruja as well! The Dark Fox moved to block the Bruja, but was rammed by Lechim Namod, who resurfaced but had trouble maneuvering past the rocks.

I started to realize that capturing the Plymouth Rock was largely pointless, as the FD barely got home at L+S after dropping the tow.

The Bruja moved to block the Atlanta from docking, dismasting her and eliminating a coin with cargo-wrecking in the process. However, on the American turn, the Dark Fox rolled a 6 for Fear on both the Bruja and LN! O_O This was a strange game where Fear was quite successful, even the dominant ability in the game.

The Atlanta repaired with the shipwright she acquired from the Plymouth Rock, and the Dark Fox landed a 6 to hit the Bruja and take her down to 1 mast! Between Fear and her 5L shots, the Dark Fox went 3/4 on 6’s this turn, proving she may not be one of the worst speedy ships in the game. There are 3 coins between two of the “northern” beaches, which are likely to be contested by the Epee, San Pedro, Musarde, and Flying Dutchman. LN has submerged and slowly creeps towards the French ships.

The Bruja dismasts the Atlanta again, with the mast falling on Master CPO Charles Richard. 🙁

LN surfaces to ram and pin the Musarde, who now carries 2 coins.

Another coin will certainly be contested:

LN dismasts the Musarde! However, the Dark Fox is back, ready to scare the big squid for perhaps the 3rd time in the game?

With her explorer the San Pedro managed to load the coin out from under the Flying Dutchman. However, then it was the FD’s time to shine! She did her job well, dismasting the San Pedro easily. Both players declined to board, myself especially because I wanted to be able to use the San Pedro’s crew. (I was thinking that Massacre would override my house rule of letting me as the potential winner choose what option to use, but either way I wanted to capture the ship with all her cargo intact, as she could be valuable in the late endgame coming up.)

The Bruja used round earth to return home, allowing the Atlanta to do the same. The Atlanta unloaded her remaining coin after one of the most harrowing and impressive journeys I’ve ever seen a ship go through in a relatively short and small game. I’ve always thought of her as a bit underrated, and here she was both resilient and lucky.

The Atlanta repairs, the Bruja prepares to do the same; LN knocks a mast off the Dark Fox, and the FD captures the San Pedro. I wanted LN to keep the Musarde pinned until the FD could capture her somehow or steal her gold, but that was looking somewhat unlikely due to how long it would take for the FD to get home with the San Pedro and sail back out again.

The Dark Fox moved to position herself in L range of the LN but out of the LN’s S tentacle range. However, I decided to break the pin on the Musarde, with LN ramming the Dark Fox derelict. The Musarde was now free to row at S+S; I was hoping she might actually get into a better position for the FD to track her down as she approached her home island, especially given round earth making my home island close to that of the French Pirates.

The Dark Fox hit with Fear yet again before being sunk by LN, getting a 5 to stop the Musarde for an additional turn. The Bruja and Epee repair, and it looks like it will be a final showdown in a chase towards the French Pirate HI.

The FD finally docked home the San Pedro, netting my fleet an extra 3 gold total. This brought my fleet to 4 ships total, but I was worried I didn’t have enough gold to win.

The Atlanta prepares to round earth as LN submerges, not wanting to pin the Musarde just to get blasted by the Bruja and/or Epee.

The chase was… anticlimactic! The Atlanta, FD, Epee, and LN all couldn’t reach the Musarde in time. The partially repaired San Pedro used round earth to ram, but didn’t even win the boarding party. XD The Bruja played bodyguard, but barely needed to block the Atlanta, let alone fight her or the FD.

The Atlanta rammed the Bruja for fun, but it killed the hardworking shipwright who kept the Americans in the game to some degree.

The Final Standings:
Franco-Spanish: 18 gold
Cursed Pirates (me): 12 gold
French Pirates: 11 gold
Americans: 6 gold

The Musarde only brought back 3 gold, so her changing hands would not have affected the victor. (ex: Cursed Pirates with 15 and French Pirates with 8)

Thanks for reading! 😀

Quick Game with 2 Players, 50 Points – November 24th, 2019

Posted on November 24, 2019November 24, 2019 by Ben

Quick Game with 2 Players at 50 Points

I rolled to go first with this English fleet:

My opponent rolled a 1 to go second, with one of the new skull dice I received as a gift from Captain Randy when we played in Las Vegas.

My opponent went with:
Poor Adams + helmsman
L’Epee de L’Ange + helmsman
San Pedro + explorer
+explorer on HI

My ships were chosen somewhat randomly, though I like the red-green-blue contrast among them.

An intimidating sight: a square rigged fleet heads out!

I got to the beaches first, with the Merlin and Lord Kettering looking to cut off the beach that was most likely to be contested.

After the San Pedro grabbed some gold and the Poor Adams headed towards the rocky area, the Epee was left wide open. Percival Blake gave the order for a Broadsides Attack, and surprisingly it hit! The Lord Kettering needed 4 shots to sink the Frenchman, but she did go down.

The attention then shift back to the other side of the big island, where the Poor Adams was about to load the final coin from the first beach to be landed on.

HMS Lord Kettering:

With the St. George, San Pedro, and Lord Kettering all docking home their gold, it was a race for the final two coins in play (both 1’s). The Merlin pursued the Poor Adams, but missed both shots as the PA maneuvered among the rocks.

The Merlin managed a few hits in the chase back to the mixed fleet home island, but both the Poor Adams and San Pedro got home safely. I won the game 12-11! The San Pedro increased the losing score by +4, so if one of my coins had been worth a little less, the outcome would have been a tie or victory for the mixed fleet.

Thanks for reading about this quick game! Feel free to post about your own games in the Battle Reports thread! 😀