7/8/2017 – Fun Unique Treasures and a weird Viking fleet!

Another game with Repkosai! This was my first game with my commentary alone, and I explain my fleet choices and general strategy as things progressed.

50 points, 8 islands, 4 coins per island, and some grouped terrain.

Vikings: (a7xfanben)
Freya + Olof Linstrom, captain, helmsman, musketeer
Elsinore + Tia Dalma, helmsman

French: (Repkosai)
L’Hercule + Madame LaFontaine, captain, helmsman
Carcajou + captain, firepot specialist
Arrogant + shipwright

The French headed north, and the Vikings west. The Elsinore picked up some fun stuff, including Potions and Brews. The Hercule took a mast off the not-careful-enough Freya, who was barely saved by Potions and Brews causing a lucky miss at the end of the broadside. This allowed the Freya to return fire with FOUR shots from just one mast, which has to be close to a potential record heh. Two of the shots hit, and the ram roll was successful to take the Hercule down to one mast as well.

The Hercule was dismasted and the Freya managed to escape through some convenient fog banks! Indeed, the setup benefited the Vikings here as the Freya used the fog banks as a chain to move safely back to her home island to repair. The Elsinore headed southwest, but the Arrogant was waiting for her.

I managed to flip Tia Dalma to help the Elsinore survive getting attacked by the Carcajou, but the Elsinore was eventually sunk. However, this happened only after the latest UT shenanigans! The ever-helpful Woelf answered my question about the timing and interaction, which could have worked out well for the Vikings either way. In a funky circumstance, Tia Dalma and the Elsinore’s helmsman were thrown in jail back at the Viking HI after Manawa was linked to the helmsman, which therefore eliminated Manawa! Whew! XD

This worked out fine for me, as I was tentatively planning to leave the Elsinore’s crew on the wild island for the Freya to pick up later in case the Elsinore was sunk (at this point I suddenly realized my fleet had good synergy since both ships had the same ability – Tia Dalma could use her cancelling on the Freya!). However, Jail put them right back at the HI, where the Freya was already repairing, and indeed the Elsinore was sunk!

The Arrogant returned home with a coin, while the Carcajou began towing the Hercule. The Freya managed to sink the derelict Hercule, netting the Vikings 1 gold from LaFontaine’s Ransom keyword. I did indeed swap out Olof Linstrom for Tia Dalma, figuring the canceller would be more useful than yet another cannon. (the Freya still having 5 shots in 2 masts even after Olof’s departure from active duty)

A somewhat predictable endgame saw the Carcajou corner the slow Freya after the latter loaded a valuable coin, and the French finished off the inaccurate Viking ship! The French had won a 7-3 victory!

This was a game that saw a fun Unique Treasures interaction, some interesting combat, and a rather strange but fun Viking fleet. More games have already been scheduled, so stay tuned! 

2 VASSAL Games – 2 players, 60 points

7/7/2017

Just faced repkosai on the module for 2 VASSAL Games!

I went first in the first game, with an old fleet challenge entry, Clone: American schooners.

Repkosai followed with a Pirate fleet:

Black Pearl + Captain Blackheart, Gentleman Jocard, Marty, helmsman, oarsman

Smiling Jim + Hammersmith

Star of Siam + Coconut

Banshee’s Cry + explorer

The Carolina headed east, while the American gunships stuck together.  My strategy was to shield the Julius Caesar with the Jarvis, whose ability made her immune to the Black Pearl’s powerful L-range guns.

With some careful maneuvering, Jonathan Haraden took the Julius Caesar into range off the Black Pearl’s starboard quarter, and opened fire with fire shot and stinkpot shot!  (Miniature Trading wasn’t working when I created my fleet, so I had forgotten about Ralph David and the oarsman, swapping in stinkpot shot and an explorer)  The Jarvis followed up with a volley of her own, and the Black Pearl was reduced to one mast and her crew lazy with stinkyness!  The Jarvis also popped the lone mast off the Smiling Jim, and you can see the BC has explored the island at the right.

Repkosai had an unlucky fire mast roll that doomed the Black Pearl.  The two American gunships captured the Smiling Jim and Banshee’s Cry, while the Carolina returned home with a big hold full o’ gold.  As you can probably tell, it was all but over, and a quick endgame resulted in a 24-3 American victory!  This also marked my 100th game on the VASSAL module!

Between the shortness of the first game and MT still being down, we decided to play a second game with the same fleets.  This time repkosai rolled to go first, and the home islands were nearly reversed.

Once again the Americans get the first shot, with the Julius Caesar hitting with both her equipment pieces once again.  I used a different strategy in this game, splitting the gunships and having the Jarvis attack the Star of Siam (she went 1/3 including a reroll from Nolan).

I couldn’t resist this picture; during the game I commented that it looked like a fireship attack!  The Black Pearl had almost no other option other than ramming to fight back, as the stinkpot shot really compromised her capabilities.  Since rediscovering that the equipment does take effect on the opponent’s turn (the MT database had an error until recently), I am on a mission to prove how effective stinkpot shot is.  I used it more back in 2011/2012, before thinking that it was only on the shooter’s turn due to the database error.  Now it will be back in vogue in my fleets!  🙂

The Smiling Jim took a mast off the Jarvis before being dismasted, temporarily saving the Star of Siam.  The Julius Caesar finished off the Black Pearl with another fire shot hit, while the Banshee’s Cry ran home.

The Pirates experience a windfall in gold, while the Americans prepare to set up Thompson’s Island.

The Pirates headed out for more gold, with the Star of Siam looking to nab some American loot with the awesome Wine UT.  The Julius Caesar was ready for her, or so Haraden thought!  The ram and board failed, with the JC losing her explorer.  In the meantime, the Jarvis and Smiling Jim repair at the new fort.

Repkosai had the right tactic, hugging the fort island with the Wine-laden Star of Siam.  Unfortunately the UT doesn’t protect against ramming, and the Smiling Jim and Jarvis teamed up to capture the SoS.  In this picture she is repairing at the fort, while the BC hides in the fog.

With Wine now in American hands, the Star of Siam raided the home island of her former allies, toasting the citizens of the town!  Here the Americans faced a decision: end the game before the BC docks, hoping they have more gold, or let the BC dock and try to let the Carolina and SoS get their gold to safety as well.  The choice was pretty clear though, especially given the amount of gold on the Carolina at this point.  Her haul included even more alcohol, but this time in the form of Rum!

The Americans lifted their blockade, with the BC docking home and the SoS unloading a former Pirate 4 coin into Thompson’s Island.  The Carolina reached home and the Julius Caesar dismasted the BC to end the game and give me victories in these 2 VASSAL Games!  The Americans won 25-7, but in reality the game was closer than that score makes it appear.

First VASSAL game for repkosai

6/25/2017

Just played a quick 30 point game with repkosai.

He went first:

Concord + captain

Philadelphia + helmsman

My SM-only old school Pirate fleet:

Shadow + captain, helmsman

El Ballista + captain

I used the Ballista as a suicide attack ship, similar to how I’ve seen her described before.  The Concord and Philadelphia broke from the wild island and sailed away.  The Ballista caught the Concord and hit once in three tries.

The Concord and Philadelphia turned to fight, but the Ballista was already charging forward once more!  She mashed masts off of both ships before losing one of her own to the Concord’s accurate cannons.  The Philadelphia rammed the Ballista to give her the Plague, which eliminated her captain.  By this point the Shadow had unloaded an island worth of gold, and the Ballista was able to finish off the Americans.  The Pirates of 2004 had won a 5-0 victory!

This was a very short and simple game, but it was repkosai’s first game on VASSAL and we hope to play more soon!

Indian Player – First game for Karan R – June 12th, 2017

Just played a game with Karan R in India!

In their first game of Pirates, Karan went first with Barbary Untouchables V 2.0.

I followed with:

Augusta + captain, helmsman

Iberia + captain, helmsman

Angel de Guarda

After a turn and a half, the Corsairs stick together while the Augusta prepares an island for the Angel.

The Angel, Iberia, and Tiger’s Eye all grabbed gold, while the Augusta and Nubian Prince eyed each other near the Iberia.

The Augusta blocked the Nubian Prince to ensure the Iberia got home safely, and both fleets unloaded considerable hauls of gold.  The NP dumped a crew to make room for a coin, while the Augusta sped off to intercept the Tiger’s Eye.

The gunships of each fleet started attacking the gold runners!  The Iberia was dismasted, soon followed by the Tiger’s Eye and Angel.

The Augusta sank the Tiger’s Eye while the Nubian Prince sank the Angel and Iberia, leaving just the two gunships.  The Augusta knew she couldn’t win a fight with her S range guns against the NP’s ability, and decided to drop both crew and load coins from the southeastern island.

A chase ensued, where the NP caught the Augusta and sunk her!  Divers was flipped by the Corsairs to receive both coins (using standard treasure rules unlike in most of my other games).

1. Barbary Corsairs: 16 gold
2. Spanish: 13 gold

Karan R has their first victory in Pirates CSG, and another player has been introduced to the module!  Also, another country is added to the list of locations where people have played Pirates remotely!  (joining England, Spain, and Singapore, likely among others in the past)

Two new players taught

5/28/2017

Taught two relatives how to play today!  It was a very simple 20 point introductory game using the simple rules.  Didn’t have my camera or phone with me but here’s a quick summary:

I went first with the Templar and Lucy’s Luck, followed by a player with the Enfant Terrible and Felicite.  The other player fielded the Lord Cauldwell and Scorpion.  The Lucy’s Luck and Scorpion were able to bring home 3 coins apiece in their first trips.  The Templar shot 2/2 to dismast the Felicite, who was later towed home by the Enfant Terrible, but not before the Templar stole 2 of her 3 coins.  Those coins were fought over for the rest of the game, with lots of ramming and boarding between the Lord Cauldwell, Templar, Scorpion, and Enfant.  In the end, I tied with the LC/Scorpion player with 13 gold apiece (they won the masts remaining tiebreaker), while the French had 4.

Played another game on VASSAL with pirateaj14, this time a 60 Point Game.

pirateaj14:
San Cristobal + captain, helmsman
La Resolucion + captain, helmsman
El Alquimista
La Monarca + explorer

I used an English Caribbean fleet to celebrate the new movie coming out in a few weeks!
a7xfanben:
HMS Dauntless + captain, helmsman, Murtog
HMS Interceptor + Admiral James Norrington + helmsman
Edinburgh Trader + helmsman

The SC lost three masts to a reef, while the Dauntless prepared to shield the Interceptor from the oncoming Spaniards.

Much gold was loaded, with the Edinburgh Trader finding Holy Water and Rum, providing an eclectic concoction for her helmsman to consume…

The San Cristobal was unsuccessful in her assault on the Dauntless, who promptly sank her.

The Resolucion outdueled the Dauntless, prompting the Englishman to flee into a fog bank. The crew of the Edinburgh Trader sobered up for the journey home, where they were passed by Norrington in his speedy Interceptor. The Alquimista and Monarca have unloaded gold for the Spanish.

I noticed how much gold was left in play, and decided to send the Dauntless back into action. However, she was ineffective against the Resolucion and Murtog sadly died in the fiasco. The Edinburgh Trader unloaded some nice coins, while the Interceptor had no choice but to enter a fog bank on her way east.

The Interceptor intercepted the Monarca and sank her! Soon afterwards, pirateaj14 had to leave, so we counted gold. The initial count was 33-32 in favor of the Spaniards! However, there were two caveats. The real score was 35-32 because the Alquimista would have given the Spanish 2 more gold with her ability. In addition, there was some gold left in play (a 6 and a 2), which likely would have been English by the end of the 60 point game. Therefore, a win with an asterisk for the Spanish, but a win nonetheless!

Just played 2 games on VASSAL with pirateaj14!

The first game was at 45 points, and featured these fleets.

a7xfanben:
Large Fry – Spanish Swarm (due to the higher build total I swapped in a regular captain and put an explorer on the Morning Star)

pirateaj14:
Enterprise + captain
La Vengeance + captain
La Monarca

5 wild islands with 4 coins each:

The San Cristobal managed to get the first shot against the Enterprise, dismasting her after a brief battle. Though, she was lucky that the Enterprise didn’t get an extra action on the allies’ turn. The Vengeance has set upon the Neptuno, but fares poorly. This game featured above-average luck for me, as I rolled to go first and experienced accurate gunnery with the San Cristobal’s average cannons.

The Vengeance hit 3/3 to take the Neptuno down to one mast, but with the help of the SC, the Spanish teamed up to dismast the Vengeance. Both her and the Enterprise were captured, leaving the allies with just La Monarca.

In the end the Spanish won 47-30!

Game 2

pirateaj14:
USS Kettering + captain
HMS Apollo + captain
Bloody Jewel

a7xfanben:
Cyclops + captain, fire shot
Dark Pact + El Fantasma (SCS) + helmsman
Nightmare + fire shot

This was a somewhat unique 41 point game, to accommodate the extra stuff we wanted in our fleets. (the treasure distribution was the same but with different coins)

The allied gunships were content to run gold, so the Cyclops had an easy escort duty protecting the Dark Pact.

This is where things got interesting – all 4 larger ships meet near the middle, with El Fantasma looking to use a ghostly surprise and somehow evade the powerful gunships in the opposing fleet. The Kettering’s canceller and the Cyclops as a potential sacrificial/blocking ship loomed large.

The Kettering hits the Cyclops, but the Cyclops returns the favor by hitting with fire shot! The longship is set aflame while the Dark Pact uses Ghost Ship (a tiny bit lol, tough to maneuver at S+S speed) to make a break around the quiet northern side of the island.

The Kettering and Apollo dismast the Cyclops, but that lets the Nightmare get her 2L cannon in range of the Apollo. However, her fire shot misses.

In a small miracle, the Kettering’s fire spread, she missed her shots against the Nightmare, and the Nightmare set her final mast aflame before sinking her for good! The Cyclops also sank, but the Dark Pact gave the Cursed hope – she made it to the allied home island!

The Dark Pact grabbed a coin with El Fantasma before being blasted by the Bloody Jewel and Apollo. The Ghost Ship keyword came in handy here, giving the Dark Pact a better chance at survival than if she had simply turned around. (she went through the allied home island)

Here we ruled that the Bloody Jewel could shoot at the Dark Pact because she had a clear line of fire between the two islands that made up the larger allied HI. The Apollo later dismasted the Dark Pact to end the game!

The gold was counted and the allies had won a 29-23 victory! (32-23 if the Dark Pact and her stolen coin was recaptured) The Cursed nearly pulled off an upset, but their slow speeds and English gunnery made it impossible. This was also the first games where I’ve used the snipping tool to take pictures rather than just using the picture function within the module (taking screenshots rather than editing pictures of the whole ocean). It definitely saved time and is very useful for anyone who looks to take pictures on VASSAL in the future.

This was a fun day of piracy that saw a new player on VASSAL. Welcome him into the community and we hope to play again soon! Join us on VASSAL!

2 fleets, 50 points

4/21/2017

A quick 50 point game between these two fleets.  There would be no damage due to ramming.

The Fool’s Hope, one of my favorite ships for aesthetics and intimidation factor.

The allied fleet was in a very close formation early:

Both of the smaller Pirate ships were heading for the middle island, but the Nox cut them off!  The Congress also approached the Ningpo, but the allies went a predictable 1/6 in a dismal attack.

A tale of two ships: the Ningpo utterly fails against the Congress, but the Fool’s Hope makes up for it by going 4/5 against the Nox and setting the Frenchman ablaze!  The Plague of the East docks home to repair, letting the captained Pirate ships do the damage.

With one salvo, the beautiful Nox is ravaged within minutes of the game’s start.

As the Nox burns to the waterline, the remaining allied ships break off the engagement.  However, the Fool’s Hope aggressively pursues them and the Ningpo takes extra-long-range shots at the Congress.

Hawkins (did he steal another of Blackheart’s ships?) sailed too far, allowing the Montenez and Congress to blast his ship apart!

The Congress carries an impressive broadside, but now her crew must tend to a dangerous fire on the main deck.

The Fool’s Hope also won a boarding party to take out the Montenez’s captain, but the Ningpo was ineffective once again.

The allies have a decisively fantastic turn!  The Montenez hits twice to dismast the Fool’s Hope, while the Congress dismasts the Ningpo despite her fire spreading.

The allies capture the Fool’s Hope, while the Plague of the East arrives on the scene to tow the Ningpo and attempt to block the Montenez, now moving at S speed.

The Plague of the East misses a shot, and the Montenez may be able to slip by!

As the Plague of the East trained all of her cannons on the Montenez, I realized that the Montenez should have been missing a mast after the FH’s boarding party, since Hawkins’ ability would have killed the captain via pinning and the FH’s ability would have eliminated a mast via boarding (meaning the FH wouldn’t have been dismasted).  As a result the PotE got an extra shot, but couldn’t hit worth gunpowder anyway.  The Congress arrived to sink the Ningpo and dismast the Plague of the East.

The Americans had won a combat-heavy victory, though it was slightly marred by the rules gaffe.  However, it’s likely the repaired Congress would have been able to defeat the Pirates anyway.  It was a bit odd to see no islands explored, but the setup and HI placement (along with 5/6 ships having captains) was a factor in that.  The fleets definitely missed out on some interesting coins, including two 5’s, a 7, and a 0.