Here are the American and French turns of Turn 56.

The French utterly dominate the Americans at The Flat!

The Cleveland, Saratoga, and Delaware are finished, while the Minuteman has one mast left but is burning. The Dauphin Royal got an AA from Gaston to shoot twice, using Lenoir to cancel the L-immunity of the Jarvis.

Paradis was very ineffective, but one shot hit to take out an American infantry unit, the first land-to-land combat of this game. The Hercule and Bonaparte join the Delacroix in extinguishing their flames at the fort, with the Hercule also dismasting the Seattle.

From the previous pictures you may have noticed a few new ships at The Flat! That’s right, the French were saving gold in order to launch from their newly upgraded fort! However, between the battle, the Americans having staked out the northern end of the island, and the handful of ships docking at The Flat for repairs, they only had room to launch two ships there this first time. However, those two ships are two more French capital ships – the 5 masters Neptune and Monaque.

Now we see the extent of the French spending spree – they didn’t come close to spending all of their gold, but they still spent a bunch! The Aube, Tepant, Epee, Orient, Aquilon, Cleopatre, Heros and Atalante come into play, all with fighting crew aboard.

Here is most of the French deckplate area, with new launches joining the other existing ships.

Cleaning up their victory, the Americans deal damage to the remaining Pirate ships near their HI, which at this point are only the Ranger, Thirty Tyrants, and Rickets. Much towing and awkward turning logistics ensue.

Definitely one of the most wreckage-filled battles I’ve had in a game of Pirates CSG. In many spots there are simply masts on top of masts, so it’s like a dense layer of wreckage, with ships sailing over it with some difficulty. O_O

The Americans retreat, and the French have won the Second Fight at The Flat!! This may seem premature and even lame from a reader’s point of view, but there were various reasons behind the decision. First off, the French still don’t want war with the Americans, and were not the ones to initiate this conflict. The French senior officers talked down to the American captains on the attacking ships, telling them that not only have they launched two brand-new powerful warships at The Flat, but they have more on the way very soon. The French then threatened to spend even more gold next turn on more new ships, as they still have 204 gold! Compounding matters further, the host of American ships have been absolutely stopped by the French line, with not a single French 5 master dismasted or sunk thus far and various American ships dismasted or fleeing with 1 mast standing. The Turn 50 megalaunches saw the Americans purchase more ships, but the French got the best of their best, with various top-of-the-line 5 masters defending The Flat and some (like the Charlemagne) not even getting in action yet. Notice the troop transports loading up the army units, taking them off The Flat.

And thus, the Truce of The Flat is now in effect! Indeed, this is the first official truce or treaty in this game, and a concept that has been underutilized by me in my past campaign games. This is not a full peace treaty, but a truce that the Americans and French agreed to. The terms dictate that the Americans can retreat from the area in peace if the derelict American ships strike their colors. The Americans considered this a fine deal, as their long-term plans have been severely hampered by the French and they will have to re-evaluate their strategy going forward.

The Americans retreat west, but they are already formulating grand plans for the future, though that future is more distant than they hoped or anticipated it to be. Various possibilities exist: with two powerful foes (Pirates and French), the Americans may look for an ally to aid in their war efforts. Since the Americans know their way around the whirlpools pretty well at this point, reaching out to other factions is a possibility, though the Americans assume the Spanish are as weak as they were earlier in the game and they don’t have any idea about the Jades and Cursed. In addition, with a possible peace with France suddenly materializing, the Americans may be able to throw their full might against the Pirates. An extended whirlpool trip could be costly, but with two large-scale battles just recently going on simultaneously, the Americans have shown the financial power needed for such an endeavor.

With the battle against the French over, a few healthy gunships try to find a shortcut home, going along the side of the large structure that will be officially revealed when it is fully explored.

From the mainmast of USS Mercury:

The Americans spend big as well! In fact, they cash in ALL of their luxuries and combine it with some gold and cashed in lumber to spend a whopping 228 gold! A full dozen ships are purchased, among them the Congress and Concord, which are relaunched in the same round that the French traded them in. There is a thing happening: The Mobilization of the American Navy. Preble coined the phrase after learning of the Truce of The Flat, and it represents a period of change for the Americans. They have won their first battle, a serious effort against the Pirates. However, the French are far stronger and defensive than they anticipated, leading to a major loss that would likely be far worse if not for the sudden truce and retreat. At this point, the Americans need to repair, regroup, and mobilize. Many plans are being considered in addition to the possibilities above.

Clearly I’m going a little overboard with the thematics with the Americans in this game, possibly since they go last in the turn order and therefore usually last in the reports. However, I think it’s fun to give a full insight into the mind of one of the factions, as the reader doesn’t know all the strategies being considered by the other factions. That’s not to say that each faction has strategic thinking as deep as the Americans lately – for example, the Jades and Cursed have been in pure war mode for a while and are simply concerned with eliminating the other. However, it’s fun to give you the full breakdown for at least one of the factions’ thoughts, and hopefully I can expand on more of the others.

The super-accurate Blackwatch highlights the additions, while that ship, the Paul Revere, and the Julius Caesar are some of my favorite American ships.

With that, I look forward to some amount of action tomorrow, and a point count within the next 2 or 3 days. However, Saturday-Tuesday will see considerably less action so I will likely just play “faction turns” when I’m able to on those days. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!

Turn 57! The day’s action begins with Pirate activities at the Tunnel, where Mission is returning to Pirate waters. Bartholomew Roberts is exploring the Tunnel, amazed at both the height and length of it.

With a VERY rare shot looking from north to south in the Sea of Allost, here is a view of the Golden Medusa checking out the outside north wall of the huge Tunnel.

The Pirate whirlpool squadron emerges back in the Sea of Karkuda! After repairing from their sneak attack on the English in the Caribbean, the squadron has headed back to Karkuda after getting wind of the American/French “dispute” XD. The Feathered Hat, generally the flagship of the squadron when Havana Black and the Deliverance aren’t around, was given an AA to approach the French ships near The Flat. The other ships of the squadron followed the FH through when the FH didn’t return to Pirate waters, as she would have if the situation didn’t look good. The captain of the Feathered Hat speaks with various Frenchmen, including Michael Bordeaux and Guy LaPlante. Finding a commonality in their anti-American sentiments, the Pirates and French agree to an alliance!!

Spending time for the Jades! They buy some very expensive and very fragile firepower, since they’re running out of ships to purchase. Many of the Viking 1 masters are launched, along with the Donar and Sea Crane. At this point I have even run out of the paper crew chips for new players, so I’ve been writing “C 3” (for captains) and whatnot on index cards which are then cut into little bits so I can fit as many deckplates in the deckplate areas as possible.

The VERY busy Jade HI, which is also looking like a fortress due to their slow but steady accumulation of army units.

The large and powerful JR squadron on patrol duty has set a clear boundary against the Cursed.

The Cursed answer with launches of their own! The first kraken is now in play: Terrox is here!

The Executioner and Poor Adams are two more additions, while the Jikininki has finished repairing. The Demon Gate and Sea Rat are also launched.

After the surprise Spanish attack to open the Second Battle of Diamond Rock, the English strike back with very accurate gunnery! The Tower flotilla and the Burma do most of the damage, as the Ebro and Acorazado lose two masts each.

But the Spanish have a numerical advantage in that area right now! The Santa Catalina, Profeta, Asesino, and Habana enter the fray to back up their fleetmates! However, their shooting percentage is far lower than the English on this turn, though the sheer number of shots taken mean that the Burma and Duke of York lose additional masts.

Similar to the English at the First Battle of Paradise Island, the Spanish break the English “line” to advance their squadron. However, the farther the Spanish advance, the more English ships they will encounter, not to mention the cannons on the shore of Diamond Rock’s only beach.

With the resources going back to normal and food and textiles becoming valuable again, the Mercenaries are able to cash in!! They spend all 38 gold from their first haul and launch the first 10 master of the game!!

The Celtic Fury is here!!

You may have noticed those giant guns protruding from the bow of the CF. They are extra bombardier cannon pieces that I can use as a physical representation of Bow Chasers, a custom equipment of mine partially inspired by PotC.

Bow Chasers

Faction Affiliation: Neutral
Type: Equipment
Point Value: 5

This ship gains two additional cannons that can only shoot from the foremost mast of the ship. The cannons have 4L rank/range and the Extended Range keyword. The cannons can only fire in a straight line directly forward of the ship’s bow. Other pieces of equipment cannot be used with Bow Chasers, and Bow Chasers cannot have their range or rank improved.

Especially when viewed from deck or land level, the Celtic Fury suddenly becomes the most imposing ship on the seas:

Nemo’s Mercenary Submarine Hideout can only accommodate submarines, but the Mercenaries can still launch ships S away from the hideout. I’m inclined to allow their sailing ships to dock at the hideout, but for now they can only unload resources and gold when they surface inside the hideout.

Check out the crew setup on the CF. Ms. O’Brien has left the Mobilis to command the largest ship currently in play. The Bow Chasers and the crew fill out the 13 points the Mercs spent.

And so this begins an interesting period of international Mercenary relations. That is clear….

Continuing the theme of major launches (the third faction in the turn to spend 100+ gold), the French spend ALL of their 246 gold to get a dozen new ships!! Those three ships at the top are currently troop transports, while the Conquerant represents a slight change of policy for France in this game. As they cement their (very) strong position in the Sea of Karkuda and gold continues to flow in from their various islands, the French are able to experiment a little bit. The first “flamethrower” of the game shows up with some hesitancy and anticipation.

O_O Whoa… intrigued by Nemo’s desertion and change of heart, Gaston himself pays the Mercenaries a visit! However, the French go after the Mercenaries, so the Bourbon is blocked from seeing the submerged Nautilus by the giant new junk! O’Brien and Gaston have a very amicable conversation, with O’Brien following orders from Nemo to lie about Nemo’s true intentions. O’Brien tells Gaston that Nemo is doing all of this in the employ of France, and that the Celtic Fury will be joining the French fleet defending The Flat! Gaston eats it up, and everything is going according to plan for Nemo. He glimpsed the Bourbon on the horizon last turn, and the resources changing back was the perfect time to get a pro-France ally out there to talk up Gaston. O’Brien has long been the favorite Mercenary of France, serving them well over the years. She also speaks fluent French, something most other Mercs struggle mightily with. After the pleasant conversation, Gaston heads back to his cabin, impressed with Nemo’s direction. Nemo is playing things perfectly, using O’Brien to delay French knowledge of the Mercenaries being their own independent faction.

Nearly the entire French situation:

The ships launched last turn are barely getting out of the Harbor when another batch of new ships arrives! At the left, notice the Westminster has entered the Harbor! The French have agreed to help the English a little: the Westminster can use the French Harbor to repair, but no alliance has been agreed to. At the right, the Conquerant is using the “flamestrike” cannon but I think I’ll leave the flame part off when it’s not being used, to make things more realistic and make it easier to move the ship around.

The Americans continue to explore the structure they recently found!

The Brandywine uses her ability and an AA from Preble to look at the entire south side of the structure!

Introducing: The Castle!

Hidden on all sides by a variety of reefs, fog, and sargasso seas, the Castle is an abandoned castle built long ago in the Sea of Karkuda. The enormous structure has been decaying for quite some time, but it could make a decent location for a faction if they were inclined to restore it to its former glory….

The next three pictures show the massive American fleet in sections.

The Americans have disabled the last of the Pirate ships in the southwest corner of Karkuda, officially sealing their commanding victory!

The first Pirate captures have been docked at the home island, while some new American ships head out, sailing northeast.

Here you can see 5 American ships heading home for repairs after the Second Fight at The Flat. At the top, a few gunships and the 4 troop transports have been laid up “in reserve” west of The Flat. They are guarding against French intrusion in addition to awaiting further orders. With a huge fleet and very complex logistics, in addition to some newfound uncertainty as to their long-term strategy, there are some American captains that don’t know what to do right now.

O_O With the Castle officially revealed at last, you can finally see nearly ALL of the Sea of Karkuda!! Here you can really get an idea of just how MASSIVE my custom stuff is. The Harbor is so large that it utterly dominates the entire northeast quadrant of this ocean, which is about 5 feet by 3 feet. The Castle has been an obstacle to my picture-taking until now, and you can notice how I purposely left any clip of it out of pictures near The Flat. I also didn’t want the sub hideout so close to the other stuff, but I couldn’t realistically have a bigger ocean. In addition, you can see just how crowded Karkuda has become, with GIANT French and American fleets being joined by Pirates and Mercenaries of late. Formerly a mostly dormant ocean when the Sea of Allost had the majority of the points in play and when we witnessed the First Battle of Diamond Rock, the Sea of Karkuda is now incredibly busy and HOT! XD

The most epic and shocking point count of all time

After anticipating a major ship and point count since the big launches on Turn 50, the time has finally come!! It took a little over a full hour just to tally up all the points and ships in play. As with the previous counts, only deckplate areas were considered for this. Forts, army units, and existing caches of gold are not counted at all.

Without further ado, here are the numbers.

10/6/2017 point and ship count as of the end of Turn 57:

Pirates: 64 ships, 1,052 points
Jade Rebellion: 34 ships, 650 points
Cursed: 45 ships, 802 points
English: 34 ships, 518 points
Spanish: 21 ships, 317 points
Mercenaries: 4 ships, 100 points
French: 63 ships, 1,133 points
Americans: 77 ships, 1,361 points

Total: 342 ships, 5,933 points

O_O

Unsurprising at this point, but Command the Oceans has officially become the biggest game in the history of Pirates CSG!!!!

In much more shocking news, this game has completely obliterated any and ALL point and ship records in any Pirates CSG game you can imagine. It is almost incomprehensible to think about. Most people only play games with a total of 80, or 120, or 200. This game is about to exceed SIX THOUSAND TOTAL POINTS. O_O After it reached around 4,600 after Turn 50, I realized that it would not only be the first game to reach the 4,000 point level, but also the first ever to hit 5,000 points! However, things have kept ballooning to the point of total insanity, with 6,000 points within reach less than 10 turns later. O_O Just for reference, the previous record for a game was 3,516 total points for VASSAL Campaign Game 1. This game has exceeded that game by nearly an additional 2,500 points, which by itself would make a HUGE game!! Finally, the record for a physical game was 2,846 total points for Economy Edition. That record has now been more than doubled. O_O In the past, my biggest games have sometimes featured the winning fleet peaking at over 1,000 points. In this game, there are THREE fleets at 1,000+ points, with no end in sight!!

I will admit that a handful of factors have contributed to the astronomical point total. First off, three oceans is quite a lot, and it means I have more square footage on which to play than any other CG I’ve played outside of the 2011 cumulative game, where I used my whole room in a setting I would not repeat today. Secondly, the mast elimination and sinking house rules have resulted in many less sunken ships than EE or CG1. Finally, there has still not been extremely long and drawn-out combat between two factions outside of the Jades and Cursed, who do have lower ship and point totals as a result of that war.

More stats and figures:
Points per ship:
Pirates: 16.4 points/ship
Jade Rebellion: 19.1
Cursed: 17.8
English: 15.2
Spanish: 15.1
Mercenaries: 25 (Celtic Fury is one of four Merc ships XD)
French: 18
Americans: 17.7
Overall: 17.35 points/ship (almost the same as my 17.46 number from EE’s near-peak, so this is a very good gauge for CG’s)

Here you can see the difference between a fleet of 6 masted junks and Viking longships, two of the most expensive ship types in the game, as the JR fleet has the same number of ships as the English but 132 more points.

By ocean: (with some give or take necessary due to whirlpool traveling)
Sea of Allost: 143 ships, 2,504 points
Caribbean: 55 ships, 835 points
Sea of Karkuda: 144 ships, 2,594 points
-Almost the same numbers in Allost and Karkuda!

Percentage of points in play:
Pirates: 17.7% (1,052/5,933)
JR: 10.9%
Cursed: 13.5%
English: 8.7%
Spanish: 5.3%
French: 19.1%
Americans: 22.9%

From that you can see that if the Pirate/French alliance is very fruitful, they could combine to control around 37% of the total points in play… however, the current strongest faction is at war with both of them haha. You can also crunch the numbers various ways in an attempt to come up with a majority alliance….

Now for an extended look at the considerable area in the two rooms that I have dedicated to deckplate areas.

With three columns for the Pirates and Cursed, this is the main deckplate area for the Sea of Allost. However, the Pirates have grown out of this area and have spilled over into the other room, with the Cursed threatening to do the same soon.

Wall of text? How about a wall of deckplates and crew! XD

At the upper right, Wraith has been repossessing crew for a while now aboard the Soul Crusher.

A few more Pirate deckplates left of their main area, also previewing the JR area…

… which are partially under the Caribbean table.

The rest of the JR section, which are pretty difficult to get to at this point.

The English and the Spanish are near the Caribbean:

The small primary Spanish area is next to the coin tin and the resources bag.

But similar to the other factions, the Spanish have now spilled over into a new area underneath the Caribbean. (underwater lol)

Here we see extra Pirate and English stuff (their more recent launches) along with the new Mercenary faction.

Here is the huge French area, which is basically full at this point. This is the same area where the huge Franco-Spanish fleet from Economy Edition was.

Finally, the Americans with the biggest fleet of them all. Note that without the 7 recently captured Pirate ships, the Pirates would have a narrow lead in ships at 71-70. Alas, with a decisive American victory the Americans have the largest fleet.

I also started Turn 58 with the Pirates!

Another random resource change! For this turn only, metals would be the most valuable resource, with the fish market crashing temporarily.

Using an EA from Calico Cat to travel through most of the Tunnel, the Revenant approaches Pirate waters. The Silver Dagger is given an AA to get close to the Revenant, and an exchange will take place next turn.

The Pirates buy another ladder in order to give two oarsmen to the Deliverance. Havana Black has restocked his supply of sacrificial crew.

The Pirates spent 95 total gold on their turn, launching 5 additional gunships.

With 88 additional points of ships and crew in play, this game reaches 6,021 total points!!! O_O

Two faction turns were played today.

This shows the entire Jade fleet, with their battle squadron becoming stronger by the turn.

The JR wild island had run out of resources briefly, but then began producing food again! This marked the second time the island has had food, which was the main source of Jade wealth in the early part of the game.

The Cursed fleet, with more cargo ships than ever running resources to support the war effort against the Jades.

Looking up at the imposing Roost and the giant dragon:

Shal-Bala is ready to take flight again!!

But this won’t be a raid! It will be a reconnaissance flyover!

Here you “become the dragon” and get Shal-Bala’s view of things. A treat indeed! XD The beast flies higher and higher above the sea….

Shal-Bala picks up speed and heads east!

Flying over the Tunnel!

Those two “moving shots” were fun to get, but here’s a more static shot of the top of the Tunnel! At first glance it looks to be somewhat barren but covered with some grass and rocks. Also, both ends and both sides of the Tunnel’s top are different than the other.

Shal-Bala flies all the way over to Mission’s Pirate Kingdom! This gives the Cursed full knowledge of the piratical activities being carried out! XD However, the Pirates spot the dragon flying above! At this point the Pirates are aware of the Cursed beast, and certainly assume the Cursed are a powerful faction as a result.

The experiments have been completed, and Devereaux has succeeded!!! Originally a French privateer, Devereaux has lost his sanity to his obsession with finding the Dragon’s Eye, a gem that legend says grants the owner immortality. Devereaux found his great obsession, the Eye of the Dragon. It’s power was everything he hoped it was – and more: Its power condemned him to a living death under its control. But not only that, it inspired him to combine two amazing UT’s into one bizarre and hideous creation!!

THE EYE!!!!

O_O

After finding both the Eye of Insanity (considered to be the same as the Eye of the Dragon for this game) and the Cursed Conch early in the game, Devereaux left his ship (the Boneyard at the time) to focus his efforts on some “experiments”. After MANY turns (almost the whole game so far lol), he finally succeeded in planting the Eye inside the Cursed Conch! The freakish creation has resulted in a Cursed gimmick that could alter how they play the game.

Rules for The Eye: The Cursed can use the Eye on their turns to see anything and everything on ALL oceans.

O_O

I know there are some parallels between this and the Eye of Sauron, but between the Cursed finding those two UT’s on the northern island that used to produce gold and Devereaux’s flavor text, it was too good to pass up. It is an “all-knowing” or omniscient Eye that can see everyone at all times! O_O

With that, here we go! Since you can see what the factions see and the Cursed now have the Eye, the entirety of all three oceans will finally be revealed!

The Sea of Allost:

The Caribbean, looking from southeast to northwest:

Looking from southwest to northeast:

The Sea of Karkuda:

I did still leave something out of the picture to the southeast… it’s not a big deal and nothing to get super excited about, but it seems like there should be at least one more “reveal” when the stuff there is found.

With that, I move to the Caribbean next, and hope to play more Wednesday-Friday this week than I did these past few days.

Finished up Turn 58 and started Turn 59.

The game is about as peaceful as it’s been for quite some time, but not in the Caribbean! The English strike back hard against the Spanish, getting some quality shots in with firepots from the Guy Fawkes and Durham setting the Ebro and Santa Catalina ablaze. The Duke of York and Burma are trying to leave the battlefield to repair at home, while the Meresman, Platagenet and Metal Dragon are coming up from the south to replace them. So far the accuracy of the English cannons has negated the Spanish numbers advantage, which is dwindling as a result.

Back at the English HI, many repairs are being carried out. The Resolution, Ark Royal, Lord Kettering and Extremadura are all being operated on. The Granville, Resistance, and Corazon del Mar will join them shortly. The Wycliffe has finished repairing and speeds out to assist in the war effort against Spain.

The Spanish take their turn in the combat zone, doing solid damage. The Ebro burns to a crisp, and the Santa Catalina will next turn since she rolled poorly for her fire. However, the Burma and King John are dismasted, with the KJ losing both her crew to the Asesino’s cargo-wrecking ability. The Serpiente hits 2/2 to down the mainmast of the Guy Fawkes.

A view from above showing the slow but steady Spanish advance. The battle isn’t as loud or crowded as the First Battle of Diamond Rock, but the engagement is important to keep Spanish morale high after their (debatable) victory at Paradise Island not long ago.

Cashing in textiles, the Spanish launch one of their best ships, the Santo Columba! This ship was my original Spanish flagship, as it was the largest Spanish ship I owned in my original collection of 49 ships “back in the day”. She is well-equipped for war and will likely sail straight to the ongoing battle.

Just like the Santa Ana, the ship is bristling with a powerful broadside. You can see the fine layer of dust just forward of the mainmast – this ship has been in a LOT of battles over the years!

On the Merc turn the Celtic Fury moved west. The French had an easy turn without combat or launches, but it still took me almost 15 minutes to move all of their 60+ ships. The Conquerant succeeded at her first EA roll to move towards the front of the pack. Remember that the French launched considerable amounts of firepower the last two turns and now it is departing from the Harbor.

The French discover the Castle!! This occurred when the fog bank the Ville de Paris was in lifted as the ship rolled to come out of the fog right into the outer wall of the castle! The ship’s durability prevented the loss of any masts.

Similar but less complicated than the American situation in the southwest, the French face a towing and repairing dilemma at The Flat. The Dauphin Royal goes to the other end to repair, with the Superbe guarding her against any American foolishness. Other ships dock or attempt to dock at the southern end of the island. The Seattle is captured now that the Hercule has been repaired.

With the biggest fleet in the game almost entirely confined to the western 1/3 of Karkuda following that line of reefs, the Americans continue to face logistical difficulties. At the scene of their battle they are towing derelicts and captures around to get them home. More damaged ships have begun arriving from the fight at The Flat. Preble has finally set sail again, and for now he is guarding the whirlpool with the help of a flotilla. His long-term plans have been put on hold by the big battles and the logistics of the cleanup effort. At the far right, the Brandywine and other ships continue to scout the Castle.

Turn 59 begins with the Pirate whirlpool squadron advancing! With an alliance with the French secured, the Pirates now feel confident about exploring the Sea of Karkuda. The Sunrise Fire uses her ability to explore The Flat, where the Madagascar and Otter may dock next turn to load textiles.

The French inform the captain of the Feathered Hat about their Mercenary ties, a faction the Pirates didn’t previously know about. The FH sails south to greet O’Brien on the Celtic Fury.

Potential problems for the English in the Caribbean! Blackbeard is here! Returning to one of his old real-life stomping grounds, the feared pirate arrives in the Caribbean.

Using Lady Baptiste’s reroll for Sean Gallows’ EA, the Queen Anne’s Revenge rams HMS Apollo! Shots are fired into the hull of the poor English ship, with two finding their mark to fell a mast.Blackbeard commands a boarding party and wins to capture the English captain!!

Back to the Sea of Allost!

The transfer is complete!! The Silver Dagger gave a ladder to the Revenant, and Calico Cat used an EA to hoist it up high in the air from the mainmast! The Pirates are experimenting with the Tunnel, trying to reach the ceiling of it with ladders. Now it becomes obvious why the Silver Dagger was launched with 3 ladders aboard: Mission intends to carry out some operations at the Tunnel. The Revenant was chosen since her mainmast reaches higher in the air than the masts of smaller ships like the Silver Dagger and Mission’s own Crusher. However, the height is still not enough to reach the ceiling of the Tunnel.

The Silver Dagger tries the same thing with one of her ladders. Men clamber up to the top, but are unable to do anything with the steep and curved sides of the Tunnel. It may be possible to hang from the top if a hook is affixed to the ceiling in the middle, but the curved sides leading there are too difficult to use, while the men on the ladder from the Revenant cannot reach the wide ceiling part. Much to the Pirates’ dismay, it seems that neither option will work.

Bartholomew Roberts and Captain Mission watch from their shorter ships as Calico Cat and Griffin aboard the Revenant become frustrated.

Here you can see that it really is a high Tunnel, with the height exceeding the height of two main masts of a 5 master stacked on top of each other.

Long shadows in the Tunnel, where the Pirates have been stopped by nature:

The Pirates don’t know it yet, but thanks to Shal-Bala and the Eye, we know what lies above! XD

The Pirates continue to get metals from Pistol Island, with their southern whirlpool looking as deserted as ever. The Deliverance may join back up with the whirlpool squadron now that Havana Black has replenished his stores of sacrificial oarsmen.

Up north, Captain Villanueva was puzzled why the Pirates hadn’t explored the Sultan shipwreck near the other whirlpool. Taking his ship over the reef, he quickly discovers why, with the Rum Runner losing a mast. The 5 Pirate gunships launched last turn will join the HI raiders at the whirlpool where they await further orders. The Pirates are considering another assault on the Americans, but they are understandably nervous that it will go as badly as the last attack. In addition, the Feathered Hat was going to come back through a whirlpool to inform the Pirates at home of the new alliance with the French, but the FH’s captain is off to meet O’Brien instead. With no ships from the whirlpool squadron returning yet, Mission himself and the other Pirates in the Sea of Allost are unaware of the alliance, which could prove very helpful if the Pirates combine a squadron with the French ships near The Flat, or coordinate a pincer strike from both Karkuda whirlpools.

The Pirates also launch three ships from Dead Man’s Point: the Kirbac and Venture are cheap gunships for home defense, while the Revenge will be the first ship to load lumber from that island! The Revenge is a nice option for cheap firepower as well, but with three cargo spaces open with a helmsman aboard, the Pirates are looking to use her ability (move S after unloading cargo) to help in their resource efforts. That ability will allow the ship to get a bit of a jump back out of the kingdom, which may help to not clog the entrances as much.

The Jades and Cursed had uneventful turns, with both sides continuing to wait and wait until their next battle erupts. However, although the Jades still have “tunnel vision” (pun intended) on the Cursed, the Cursed are now more indecisive and hesitant than ever. Seeing everything in play with the Eye has led them to become scattered in their thoughts, as they have so many more options. With three factions currently larger than them (Pirates, Americans, French), the Cursed are worried that continual war with the Jade Rebellion will wear away and diminish any chance of them winning the game overall. It does appear that some Cursed gunships are headed east around the fog banks instead of gathering at the entrance to the Roost. At the far right, the Sea Crane and Naegling are in fog banks due to Tsuro and Tabby (McWarren), as the Cursed L-movers have been pretty effective the last few turns. Unfortunately for the Cursed there aren’t many reefs nearby to toss ships onto. Also, somehow I haven’t even mentioned this yet, but I’m using the version of flat earth where ships cannot be moved off the ocean and removed from play. This is partly because thematically there is “more out there” beyond the boundaries (recall the Jades and Americans arriving in the oceans rather than starting at a HI), and because with so many HI’s right next to the edges, I don’t want the Cursed to have another advantage by moving newly launched ships straight out of play. Plus the Cursed already have house rules working in their favor, and now they have the Eye as well.

The Jades launched the Yggdrasil at the end of their turn and the Cursed cashed in a few textiles to complete the crew complement of the Executioner.

Things are a bit dormant right now, but who knows what will happen next? Stay tuned!

Finished up Turn 59.

The Second Battle of Diamond Rock in the Caribbean, showing an effective English turn:

Both the Serpiente and Asesino de la Nave were set on fire, while the Profeta was dismasted.

Off to the right, the Burma has been chain towed out of the area by a trio of English ships, while the Duke of York heads home for repairs.

At last, the Lord Algernon and Orkney have docked home the towed ships.

A truce has been agreed to!! It is a lengthy 10 turn truce, with neither side firing at opposing ships for 10 turns total. This happened after some negotiations between the English and Spanish. Both sides are utterly exhausted by the war effort, and both have seen many gunships sunk or captured. They are on the verge of losing points in their fleet instead of gaining them long-term with how things have been going. Both fleets are also among the weakest in the game right now (in fact they are the two smallest by point count of the starting factions), and although they don’t know that, they do know that continual warfare will likely result in neither of them winning much of anything. In addition, the goal of commanding Diamond Rock has seemed overly ambitious and not even that beneficial to the Spanish, who have been doing alright running gold and resources from Paradise Island. Meanwhile, the English vastly underestimated the Spanish and find it hard to believe the Spaniards nearly won a battle and have put up a great fight in the latest one. The English are eager to retire, though here it was the Spanish who opened the negotiations as they likely would have lost the battle if they had continued fighting.

The French sail out of their Harbor in force!

Preble gives his AA to the USS Mercury, who explores the Castle for the first time!! However, exploring the Castle and what it has to offer fully may take a few turns, similar to Diamond Rock. At the right, the Brandywine continues to scout the eastern side of the Castle, nearly glimpsing the Celtic Fury through the fog.

The huge American fleet continues to operate, though with less defined objectives than they’ve had for around 20+ turns now. They finally moved their artillery unit on the lumber island to the east, and it points directly at The Flat. Just west of that island, notice the American troop transports rounding the island and beginning to head south. At the bottom, a small “super squadron” heads northeast, led by the Blackwatch and Concordia. At the left, a full half-dozen American gunships simply wait out the logjam and await further orders. Those ships are simply getting out of the way at this point – the Americans have so many ships that they don’t know what to do with them all! However, with declarations of war against the other two strongest factions in the game (Pirates and French), they will surely need them eventually.

The United States, Appalachian, and Vermont join Preble’s President on whirlpool guard duty. The towing and repairing efforts are mostly sorted out by now, and you can see that Ruby Island is finally being visited by cargo ships once more.

The American home island, crowded as usual. The James Madison and Louisiana are not on fire; I’m using those flames to represent exploding shot. The Americans used 15 gold to purchase 5 of them, which they intend to use against the reefs. With significant logjams still present near the lumber island, and the big discovery of the Castle just recently, the Americans will once again try to clear a path for ships. In the long term, one could argue that the reefs could serve as a defensive line if a faction tries to eliminate the Americans at their HI. However, the Americans are quite ambitious in this game and would like to do the opposite – drive opponents away from their own home islands, so they don’t have to play defense in the first place! Plus, with a major Pirate incursion via the whirlpool, there is a way to hit the Americans near home without passing over the reefs.

No less than 11 ships are repairing at the American HI, 5 of them Pirate captures and more ships joining them soon. As is typical for me in these types of games, once a battle ends I will sometimes gather a ship’s masts and place them on the deck once the ship begins repairing, rather than finding each one individually among the wreckage on the turns it repairs.

With a Caribbean Truce in effect, the two most recently active wars have been put on hold. However, the wars between the JR/Cursed and Americans/Pirates could erupt again at any time. Possibly even more interesting, Turn 60 will see the resources finally change again! The most recent change was for 5 turns but was extended to 7 through two random changes when I rolled 1’s. Many factions are sitting on large stockpiles of spices, so if those happen to skyrocket in value it could change things big-time.

Finally everything came together for the first time in quite a while for a BIG day of play! 😀 Not counting the Pirate turn played yesterday, I essentially played a whopping THREE turns even as the game size approaches 7,000 points!

With the Pirate turn of Turn 61 over, I started the day with the Jade Rebels. In a strange move that displayed a new strategy, the Jades sent the Grendel as “bait” in an attempt to get the Cursed to attack. The Grendel missed both her shots against the Juggernaut, the first ship in the Cursed squadron still pointed at the Tunnel. By the end of their turn, the Grendel was given an AA by Sigurd Andersen to return to the Jade defensive position.

Continuing the tiny-scale attack, the Wiglaf and Wodin team up to knock masts off the Spilled Salt, a ship that is damaged for I think the third time in this game. The Wodin captured the Cursed musketeer with a boarding party, but this was the extent of the Jade strike.

With a large war fleet ready to go, it’s a bit puzzling why the Jades didn’t launch a full attack. Quite frankly, they are scared. They are afraid that the Pirates and Cursed agreed to an alliance on the Pirate turn (which they didn’t, but merely struck a deal), and are wondering if a huge Pirate fleet will suddenly emerge from the foggy Tunnel….

Cashing in a whopping 81 spices for 405 gold, the Jades save most of it but launch the Hlidskjalf and Grand River, the latter of which is a custom Jade 6 master I created way back in late 2011. The GR will be proxied by the Grand Dynasty, which was sunk earlier in the game.

Grand River
Jade Rebellion, 16 points, 6 masts, 5 cargo, S+S speed, Guns: 3S,3S,3L,3L,3S,3S
Junk. This ship’s base move becomes S when she reaches her cargo limit.

After snagging the Brandywine in a brilliant fog raid against an isolated ship, the Sea Hag and Hangman’s Joke take their prize back to the safety of the fog:

Another fog attack! This time the Needle and Behemoth (who has been copying the fog hopper ability) use the Eye to catch the Sea Crane in between the Tunnel and the Jade HI! Behemoth pins the ship, which is likely doomed.

With a rare view looking out of the west, the Cursed strike back! The Jikininki and Fallen Angel are ineffective, but the Death’s Anchor and Executioner team up to doom the Wodin with fire!

However, the Cursed don’t take the bait! They are showing some great patience as of late and seem to be biding their time. However, they are certainly preparing for something….

After agreeing with the Pirates to not invade the Tunnel and the eastern half of Allost, the Cursed turn their ships around. Suddenly almost all Cursed gunships are heading west.

In the Caribbean, an appearance by the Dragon’s Breath has the English on edge and ready for anything. However, the Pirates assure the English they mean no harm unlike Blackbeard and Havana Black. The captain of the Dragon’s Breath says another ship will soon be arriving through the whirlpool, though not a Pirate one….

Cashing in 43 spices for 215 gold, the English launch 9 ships! Most of them are for a squadron that may do whirlpool expeditions. With a 10 turn truce with the Spanish secured, the English are hoping to expand into the other oceans they know about but haven’t been to. (outside of the Westminster who has been presumed lost at sea by the English command)

The first big English launch in quite some time! If not for the truce the Spanish would likely be in big trouble.

Speaking of the Spanish, here are 4 of their ships repairing along with most of their operations.

The French go about their business. With excess ships, the French can afford to have multiple squadrons for different purposes. Currently, the bulk of their battle fleet is stationed around The Flat.

The line of troop transports advances with the help of the lighthouse towards The Flat, which the French plan to turn into a stronghold.

As Pirate ships finally take textiles, the French have a massive concentration of firepower on all sides of the island:

The French arrive in the Caribbean for the first time!! Using directions from the DB’s crew, Guy LaPlante was able to find the Caribbean without having to roll for whirlpool location. Playing a hunch in addition to general orders from Lenoir, LaPlante is in the Caribbean not for the English but for the Spanish. Deleflote’s action allowed the Possession to move towards the Spanish fleet right after exiting the whirlpool, as LaPlante’s mission is one of some urgency.

The crew aboard the York have their worst fears confirmed: the Brandywine has disappeared! Between the gunshots and the Sea Hag giving them the slip, the Americans assume the ship was captured and taken by the Cursed.

Beyond the Brandywine’s masts, you can see a cracked wall of the Castle.

The American venture further east into the Castle area, impressed by its size and height. The crew of the Saratoga moor their ship inside, but will find repairs impossible until more assistance and supplies arrives.

Looking from directly above the west wall of the Castle, American operations on Turn 61. The Louisiana and James Madison are carrying exploding shot into position for attempts at clearing reefs. The American assembly line of ships continues to round the reefs and fog to the north, with the troop transports slowly approaching the Castle.

Cashing in some spices and adding it to their reserves of gold, the Americans spend a whopping 291 gold! However, 250 of it is spent on the third fort upgrade purchased in this game! You can see it on a new American capital ship, the Enterprise! The Enterprise was my second 5 master EVER and is such a veteran of HFS battles and various games that her masts are somewhat loose simply from being taken out and repaired dozens of times.

You’ll also notice the new infantry troops aboard the Nene-nui and Colonial Trader, in addition to even more infantry on the home island.

With Turn 61 in the books, Turn 62 saw a return to the resource value roll of 2, meaning spices would be back down to 4 with lumber king once again.

After speaking with O’Brien, the crew of the Feathered Hat take a little time to explore their surroundings, finding the Castle! However, having only seen the north face of it, the Pirates aren’t fully aware of the Castle’s size or potential.

With a VERY successful trip, some of the Pirate whirlpool squadron returns home! Havana Black is disappointed he missed out but is excited to learn about the developments. The captain of the Dragon’s Breath informs him of the new alliance with the French, in addition to LaPlante’s recent excursion to the Caribbean, where the English look ready for a potential Pirate attack. The Madagascar and Otter will eventually unload their small quantities of textiles at the kingdom, which will be the first time the Pirates have that resource since the DMP island stopped producing it.

With a great view from above, here is the Pirate Kingdom!

The western half of Allost is much more tense, but neither side engages. Hearing shots beyond the fog, the Grand Temple and a Viking 1 master enter the fog west of the Tunnel. The Wiglaf flees from the Cursed, but the Wodin burns to the waterline and is eliminated from the game.

The Cursed continue to move west:

The new English squadron sets sail! In addition, the Ark Royal has been repaired and crewed with a captain, helmsman, and oarsman once more.

Even as one of the smaller fleets in the game, the English are still capable of a “forest of masts” if the picture is taken at the right angle:

Sighting the French tricolor speeding towards them from the Possession’s mainmast, the Santo Columba surges forward to greet the new faction! (new to the Spanish, that is) LaPlante is able to row over in a boat and immediately engages in conversation with the SC’s captain. By the time he climbs back into the boat, the Spanish are furious.

With a line of signals exchanged, Marcus Vaccaro (the current Spanish admiral) becomes knowledgeable of the development. He sails over and hails Admiral Thomas Gunn aboard HMS Lord Algernon. In a surprisingly cordial meeting of the flagships, a deal is struck – the Spanish and English have PEACE! O_O

Clearly something has changed Spanish minds, and the Spanish have lost interest with the War on England. The truce has been abandoned for a full, indefinite period of peace between the two factions. A milestone in the Caribbean for sure!

The Mercenaries take their turn, and Eileen Brigid O’Brien pilots the Celtic Fury towards the whirlpool! She then takes the 10 master through it!! O_O THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN!!

Following instructions laid out by the captain of the Feathered Hat, O’Brien brings her huge ship to the Sea of Allost! Suddenly the Celtic Fury is in Pirate waters! What could this mean??

The French go immediately after the Mercs in the turn order, and L’Heros meets with the Sunrise Fire. The crews exchange many words, with the captain of the Sunrise Fire somewhat puzzled but mostly playing dumb, knowing the sly nature of the Feathered Hat’s captain….

The plan was for the Celtic Fury to reinforce the French squadron at The Flat, making that area by far the most stable in the entire game with nearly a dozen French 5 masters and now a 10 master right around the island. However, the CF has disappeared from Karkuda entirely. Now, we know that the Mercenaries are playing on their own and have duped the French. However, it’s unclear if Nemo ordered O’Brien to do this or something else entirely. Perplexed but calm, the French use their southern squadron of 6 gunships to approach the submerged Mercenaries running resources to their sub hideout. Also, it’s worth noting that although they heard gunshots beyond the north wall of the Castle, the French don’t know about the Cursed.

At The Flat, L’Afrique drops off 4 infantry units. The Geographe approaches with more as the Felicite speeds off on her own business as a fast support gunship that has been given autonomy by Lenoir. At this point, due to the considerable distances involved, Lenoir is acting commander of the French battle fleet, while Gaston oversees operations closer to home. Gaston is still the main French admiral, but Lenoir is currently in command of far more firepower.

Again similar to that old game I played, I can’t get enough of this massive display of firepower the French have. Between the beauty of their ships, my love of 5 masters, and how similar their 5 masters are for gameplay, it’s just a perfect fleet!

Gaston himself turns around to sail towards the sub hideout, having got wind of the recent development. Since you see what the faction sees, check out what is visible to the Bourbon and Ange – shipwrecks in the distance!

Not wanting to believe the French, the captain of the Santo Columba calls Guy LaPlante (Diplomat of France! lol) over for an extended visit. The more the Spanish hear, the more they believe. The Spanish are outraged.

The York and Gold Eagle meet up and word is passed on about the Brandywine’s likely fate. The Americans have a bit of a morale loss, as the Brandywine had been an accurate vessel during the battle against the Pirates, setting at least one Pirate ship aflame while taking no damage. She was also one of the first ships to explore the Castle and the only ship to scout the eastern side until now. At the bottom, the Speedy Return loses a mast to the reef barrier, which the Americans are getting more confident with.

The Americans are in operating mode. With both wars somewhat on hold, the Americans are devoting major efforts to the Castle. The Louisiana was successful at blowing up a reef! This will help clear the way for American ships to access the eastern 2/3 of Karkuda more easily. In addition, note the impressive spending headed towards the Castle, with a fort upgrade, army units, and various ships sailing there.

With a view of the American HI from the west this time, many of the captured Pirate ships are finishing repairs. However, the Americans plan to trade them all in at once for a big influx of points to spend that turn. The Americans also rearrange their army units and resources to point their cannons and muskets more to the east.

This gives a small idea of the scope of this huge game. American logistics are slowly being optimized, but more reefs will need to be cleared before Preble is satisfied. The American-French truce is becoming a little more tense, as both sides have lines of battle set up within shooting distance of each other. The French line guards The Flat while the American line guards troop transports and fragile ships heading south towards the Castle. It remains to be seen what interest the French have in the Castle, if any.

Turn 63!

Mission uses his own EA to sail over and greet O’Brien! Eileen is extremely impressed with the Pirate operation and has agreed to join the Pirates!! It started with Nemo giving her some autonomy over how to handle certain situations, but it was mostly the Feathered Hat’s captain that persuaded O’Brien to take the CF into Pirate waters to at least check out their activities. O’Brien chose the Pirates after being disappointed by how tiny the Mercenary fleet is and seeing how controlling the French could be. With the Pirates she hopes to find her own way and not answer to the whims of Nemo or Gaston. In addition, the Pirates have offered higher pay than Nemo did. XD However, Mission already has a mission (lol) for the Celtic Fury….

Calico Cat takes the Revenant near the kingdom for the first time, while the Pirates now have quite the force near their southern whirlpool. The Deliverance and Fool’s Hope may join up with the Pirate whirlpool squadron. At the right, Calypso is in play aboard the Stoneheart, a ship the Pirates will want to keep safe.

Using a ladder she later takes aboard, the Ranger loads infantry units. A ship launched solely for ferrying random cargo (shipwrights, army units, ladders, etc), this is her first mission of the sort after sailing around aimlessly after being launched. In the background are some colorful sails, namely the Bloody Jewel and Rum Runner.

The Pirates still have good support around the eastern end of the Tunnel. The various 2 masted gunships have been patrolling for many turns now. On the contrary, recent launches sail south on a mission. Bonny Peel aboard the Akua Lapu and Will Turner aboard the Fleur de la Mort hope to capture enemy crew and turn them into gold! The question remains: which faction might they go after? The Jades and Cursed aren’t far away, but both have massed fleets full of warships. The whirlpool opens up any of the other factions as potential prey, and of course the Pirates could always split up as well. You can also just see the outline of the Royal Rover not even halfway in the Tunnel.

The most recently launched Pirate squadron meets with even more gunships at the northern whirlpool!

I count 22 ships ready to sail through the whirlpool on the next turn or two, and I believe all but the Thrud have captains and helmsmen.

Not satisfied with their infantry numbers, the Pirates cash in lumber from the Hades’ Flame to launch the Panama Sun with a helmsman and three infantry units aboard. You can also see the gold waterfall, the Pandora, and the Darkhawk II. The Pirates continue to source metals from Pistol Island, which may result in another big windfall eventually.

The Sea Crane predictably loses her fight against Behemoth and the Needle!

The Behemoth prepares to hop home while the Needle takes the Jade ship under tow just like the Hangman’s Joke did with the Brandywine.

Speaking of the Brandywine, the Cursed got her home quickly with another fog hop to the Roost!

Halls of Valhalla? Cursed sea monsters head west along with the regular gunships.

The Cursed are sailing towards the edge of the ocean, while 4 cargo ships dock at Broken Horn Island to load valuable lumber.

The English take in 9 spices while their new gunships head west:

The Santo Columba speeds southeast towards the English and the only Caribbean whirlpool.

Puzzled by the Aube, Voleur, and Bourbon trying to get his attention, Nemo actually surfaces the Nautilus! However, he keeps up the lie that the Mercs are actually helping the French and still under their command. Part of the reason he came to the surface is that he himself doesn’t understand why O’Brien took off, and he’s truthful about that to the French. The French are being fooled by Nemo, but both factions are left in the dust by Ms. O’Brien.

The French discover Fish Island but the Mobilis and Devil Ray refuse to surface.

At the eastern food island, the crew of La Dijon finds that metals have replaced food as the island’s resource! French cargo ships are always coming and going, but the Harbor is more deserted than it’s been in a while.

The Geographe drops off army units, and the French continue to fortify The Flat. At the left, you can see the French line of battle, full of capital ships. There are eight 5 masters in the staggered line with two more and the Hercule up north. At the right, another 10 gunships are sailing slowly along the west wall of the Harbor.

The French-American situation in Karkuda. The Americans have a very impressive line of their own, which now stretches just about the entire distance from the south to north. The Georgetown is at the southern edge of the ocean near the Castle, with the Paul Revere and Yankee the northernmost ships above the lumber island. At the bottom right, the Vermont and Speedy Return could discover Nemo’s Submarine Hideout and the French on the next turn. You can also see the Carolina ducking under a Castle arch.

Part of the reason I was able to play nearly 3 full turns was due to the lack of combat, which will likely change soon. Throw in less time overall to play, and things will slow back down again in terms of how many turns can be played in the short term. However, the game is getting more exciting and it’s basically a convoluted mess at this point between all the possibilities, alliances, and lies going around! Stay tuned!

The Cursed had an uneventful Turn 64, but are saving up.

In the Caribbean, English ships go to and from the home island. New gunships are departing while old ones come in for repairs. At the left, a long-awaited sight: HMS Westminster returns! The English on the other hand are shocked to see the ship, who spent a long journey in Karkuda repairing at the French Harbor. Her remaining crew tell the English fleet about how massive and impressive the French Harbor and fleet is. The English and French are probably the factions closest to having an alliance without actually having one right now…

… although the potential for a Franco-Spanish alliance continues to grow! Vaccaro has a personal meeting with Guy LaPlante, incredulous at the topics that came up. LaPlante has now spoken with the Spanish admiral in addition to the Santo Columba’s captain.

Speaking of the Santo Columba, she went through the Caribbean whirlpool! However, she rolled a 2 to emerge in the Sea of Allost! This is not what the Spanish had hoped for, but the captain was too eager to wait for LaPlante’s guidance through the whirlpool. Not only is this the first time a Spanish ship has traveled via whirlpool, but it’s also the first direct Pirate-Spanish contact of the game! The Pirates ready their guns, but ask what business the Spanish have. The captain of the SC quickly responds that they are on a mission after an unfortunate conversation with a French diplomat. The Pirates perk up and welcome the Spanish, as they’re allies of France.

The Santa Ana’s extra action propels her towards the whirlpool following Vaccaro’s conversation with LaPlante. Other French gunships head southeast, and the Spanish put forth 3 more after cashing in some textiles and combining it with gold: the Corazon Dorado, Monte Cristo, and Lepanto can be seen at the Spanish HI.

Hoping to play more consistently after this brief little hiatus! It’s just a combination of being busier on certain days of the week, and almost all non-Pirates stuff (well, Pirates stuff too actually XD) taking far longer than I ever anticipate.

Nemo continues to speak with Gaston and the French captain of the Aube.

However, he grows frustrated, as even he cannot explain the mysterious disappearance of Eileen Brigid O’Brien and the Celtic Fury. Mid-conversation, he abruptly goes below into the Nautilus and orders the submarine to dive!!

The Nautilus speeds into the Mercenary sub hideout, and the doors close for the first time since they were opened! Nemo is gone!

Over on the south side of the hideout, the Devil Ray and Mobilis have also gone into the hideout, with the doors closing behind them! The Mercenaries surface inside, unloading some food and cashing in textiles for gold.

The French begin their turn. Finally coming to terms with the likelihood that the Mercenaries are no longer under their employ, Gaston orders the Aube to open fire! The big warship shoots at the sub hideout but the cannonballs simply bounce off the thick metal doors!!

The French surround the sub hideout and blast away! However, the other ships can’t dent it or get at the subs either. Gaston plans to run a close blockade to contain the Mercs and punish them.

The French spend just over 200 of their 300+ gold to get 12 new ships! Le Loup-Garou is tasked with exploring other potential oceans, while most of the others are launched for war. Some may head to The Flat, while others might defend local islands or the Harbor itself. The Favori is meant as a dual-purpose cargo ship: she will carry resources, but will also be a priority ship for army units. (S2=shipwright, etc… I’m having to use tiny crew chips instead of any existing ones (though I’ve mostly run out of those too) just because of space constraints… with the tiny ones I can fit many more deckplates in those areas than if I had the big square chips for all the crew)

6 of the ships are launched in the Harbor, with the other 6 launched at The Flat.

The Americans open fire on the Pirates! They also attempted to surround them, but don’t have quite enough gunships in the area to fully contain them. The Americans concentrated on stopping the Pirates from going due north on their next turn, which would be problematic with many cargo ships and the American HI nearby. At the right, the James Madison has knocked out a reef, giving the Americans easier access to the Castle!

Under Preble’s urgent command, the President scored some hits on the Xiamen’s Claws, the most offensive invader thus far. The Americans are furious a Pirate ship was able to invade and strike Preble’s ship directly. In a rare sight, the canoes are given a shoot action, and they respond with 2 hits in 3 attempts. At the right, the Nene-nui and Enterprise head to the Castle with army units and an important fort upgrade. Above the President, the Colonial Trader simply sailed in the opposite direction she had been heading, in order to make room for the Concordia. That ship and others will try to enter the fray next turn.

However, in the actual battle area, the Americans had an abysmal turn at the guns. I can honestly say it was one of the worst single-turn offensive efforts in the history of my games. An absolutely pitiful performance, it left the Pirates in good position for a counterattack for their turn, and may signal a momentum shift compared to the first Pirate-American battle. At its worst, the turn saw the Americans not just missing, but missing badly. One string of six shots saw five of them miss with a 1! O_O

At the bottom, numerous American gunships turn around after hearing the commotion to the west. The Mercury will guard the southeastern approach to the Castle against the French and/or Mercenaries. In the middle, the Carolina has unloaded the first American troops to enter the Castle! The Jackson will unload more next turn, with 3+ additional ships headed there as well.

Going on a big launch, the Americans put forth 10 new ships! This was a direct response to the Pirates’ second invasion through the whirlpool. The fully repaired Pirate gunships were traded in for their point values, combining with their crew to make up 105 of the ~200 gold the Americans spent. Notice some of the best American ships (Kettering and Ghost Walker) and some of the worst (Oregon, Shark, Superior, etc). It was a bit of an odd launch, but for a good reason: the Americans are running out of ships. That’s right, this game has gotten to be so big that some factions may even run out of ships to launch! O_O In that case, there are still minor faction ships out there in addition to various customs, so it’s not like a faction will lose the game due to lack of quantity. However, as more and more factions approach the point at which they exhaust themselves, the biggest factions in the game by overall ship count (Big 4 of English, French, Spanish, and Pirates) do gain somewhat of an advantage long-term.

The repairing Ranger is the only Pirate capture not traded in yet, as 10 new American gunships prepare to take on the Pirates. At the upper right, an ominous sight for any opponent: the newly repaired Albany and Constitution have headed out, bringing their 9 combined rank-2 cannons back into play.

Darkness falls on the Sea of Allost as Turn 65 begins. I didn’t roll a 1 for a random resource change, so lumber is worth 6 again, though the roll of 2 will only hold for 2 more turns. The Tunnel is becoming quite crowded, with the Akua Lapu (not visible), Celtic Fury, Crusher, and Fleur de la Mort all entering.

Up north, the newest Pirate squadron sets sail for the whirlpool!

Back to Karkuda! The Pirates attack! Attempting to push the Americans back in order to make room for new gunships arriving via whirlpool, the Pirates suffer almost as bad a turn as the Americans. They fail to do major damage, although the Lenox is set on fire.

The Gruesome, Minerva and Devil’s Kiss all rammed. This battle could see more ramming and boarding than others, since even though no ram damage makes it less of an offensive move, the battle may be even more crowded and close-fought than the previous one between these factions. In this case the Pirates are literally just trying to surge forward and push the Americans back towards their HI. The more room there is around the whirlpool, the more Pirate gunships can flood the area and make a victory more likely.

My personal favorite of the battle so far. The Devil’s Kiss and Georgetown are burning, while fallen Pirate masts threaten to cover up the whirlpool entirely. The Lucky Seven has been the luckiest Pirate ship in the battle so far, hitting 3/4 (with a musketeer) against the Georgetown. However, the Freedom, Black Cat and Ningpo were not nearly as effective.

Four more mediocre Pirate gunships come through the whirlpool! However, the final ship to emerge is a surprise: the Queen Anne’s Revenge! Blackbeard himself enters the fray, using an EA from Sean Gallows to ram the OE James Madison. However, the QAR missed, and the JM managed to tie the boarding roll with a 6 (9 total with the boarding bonus) to avoid having a crew captured! At the bottom left, two Pirate HI raiders go through the opening south of Luck Island, and El Dorado follows them. Having suffered heavy damage without even shooting, the Mystic has returned to Pirate waters where she can repair at Dead Man’s Point.

Showing they mean serious business, the Pirates spend 230 gold on a megalaunch! A full dozen ships are launched at Dead Man’s Point, and ALL of them are launched for the war against the Americans. The Pirates bought back the 7 ships the Americans had traded in, so they will get another chance at glory. The Mocha, Cacao, and Pillage are all pretty basic gunships that follow the trend the Pirates have set in recent launches. However, the Pride is one of their fastest warships, while the Belladonna adds another HI raider to the mix. Notice that they are extremely well-crewed, with every ship having at least one extra crew in addition to the standard captain and helmsman. Those oarsmen and shipwrights will come in handy to combat whirlpool travel damage, while the firepot specialists may mean a permanent end for some American vessels.

Yet again Dead Man’s Point is extremely crowded. The Pirates have an amazingly balanced and effective resource system, and they continue to put out squadron after squadron of new ships. They continue their strategy against the Americans: throw huge amounts of points at the American fleet and they will have to retreat or be worn down into surrender. Some Pirate ships will reach the whirlpool next turn, with more coming after that. Then, another big wave will arrive. All told, the Pirates may throw over 30 ships at the Americans in this multi-layered battle. It will be interesting to see if the Americans can hold up over time, and if they will be able to continue their Castle operations or cease them altogether. The French aren’t fully aware of the Pirate attack, but an alliance exists between those two. If the Pirates can convince the French to break their truce with the Americans, the Americans will be in big trouble, with two of the strongest factions in the game hammering them from two angles.

An overhead look at the fort, with 12 new Pirate ships in play. At the upper right, the Fancy and Smiling Jim have been running resources all game (literally, since they were in the starting Pirate fleet!), but now they have been given captains and will be on patrol duty. The logjams at the kingdom entrances are not worth 2 ships having just 3 cargo spaces between them, as recent Pirate launches have seen more effective cargo ships launched.

These events took quite a while to play out, with the three largest factions in the game (France, America, Pirates) becoming even larger with about 10 new ships each! Some faction turns alone can take over an hour with launchings, so a full turn can take more time than I have available for this game in a day. The game keeps ballooning to higher and higher point levels, which will likely result in another point count within a week or so. However, keeping in mind the general deadline of Thanksgiving, I may have to enforce artificial endgame rules to avoid suddenly stopping the game when there is still thousands of points sailing around. This is because I know from past experience that playing an “endgame” with a game of this size could easily take over a month alone, not to mention if it gets bigger. The most likely solution would be to have islands gradually stop producing resources. I feel that this actually makes sense too, since factions have really been taking a lot of stuff from these wild islands lol, to produce such astronomically large fleets. XD