Huzzah for a battle report on Trafalgar Day!  Well not quite by the time this is posted, but oh well haha. This has become somewhat of a tradition for me, as I try to honor such an important event each year in my own way through playing this game. I was even able to play through most of the battle time (afternoon), though in EST haha.

The Pirates have purchased another ladder so the Madagascar and Otter can unload textiles from The Flat without adding to the logjam at the kingdom entrances.

The Pirates venture further into the Tunnel:

At the other end you can see that Bonny Peel and Le Requin have nearly taken the Akua Lapu into Cursed waters:

Another batch of Pirate gunships approach the whirlpool:

On the battlefield, carnage mounts as the Jaguar’s Spirit, Chico and Bonny Kate make their entrances.

The Gilded Monkey used an AA to nearly reach the American home island! Her cannons dismasted the Lynx, and the Pirates continue to anger the Americans by hitting them in places they feel safe. First it was Preble’s flagship, and now it’s nearly an HI raid despite so many American gunships in the area.

The Pirates were mostly ineffective on their turn. With the QAR pinned to the James Madison, Blackbeard cannot escape to repair.

A big problem for the Pirates is that their ships simply cannot dismast or sink American ships yet. The battle has quickly turned into an attritional struggle with little damage being done each turn.

The JR’s use the Huginn to sink the captured Sea Crane before she can be towed home by the Needle! The Jades would rather see the ship at the bottom of the ocean than in the skeletal hands of the Cursed.

This shows how effective the Cursed L-movers have been lately. Tsuro and Tabby (McWarren) are throwing JR ships into the wall of fog that blocks the Tunnel. At that point it is quite likely that the ships will roll to move into a different fog bank or emerge on the wrong side of the wall. This delays Jade efforts and may even prevent an attack on the Cursed.

The Cursed spend a bunch of gold to launch the Rook’s Folly, Pestilence, and a set of their native canoes!

On to the English!

The Metal Dragon exits the Caribbean whirlpool at the Sea of Karkuda! Suddenly the ship is in the middle of the second Pirate-American battle!

Very intrigued and also excited by the possibilities this discovery holds, the Metal Dragon uses an AA from CRGO to return to the Caribbean. There the crew tell the English fleet about the battle. After some quick conversations a big decision is made!

The English enter the fray and they’re here to fight!! Four English gunships arrive in the Sea of Karkuda, ready to kill some Pirates. The Resolution, St. George, Ark Royal and Henry VIII represent the first multi-ship English presence in Karkuda, in addition to a continuation of English policy to explore other oceans through the Caribbean whirlpool. Having secured a truce with the Spanish, the English are now free to get revenge on the Pirates, which has been on their minds since the Pirate whirlpool squadron attacked. Blackbeard’s raid has only compounded English hatred of pirates.

The Spanish turn begins and sure enough they follow LaPlante through the northern whirlpool of Karkuda! The Santa Ana gets an EA to move south while the Santo Columba is the second Spanish ship in the sea.

The French try to find a new whirlpool, but LLG rolls a 3 to emerge in the Caribbean, a whirlpool the French are already familiar with.

The Americans take their turn, with the battle area looking even denser. Indeed, in the middle of this picture it’s almost a solid block of ships from the bottom of the frame to the top.

The Lucky Seven is dismasted, and the Georgetown is completely covered and obscured by multiple masts of debris:

The Black Cat also lost a mast, but some Pirate ships are simply out of range since they’re behind other ships.

Incredible destruction. The Minerva joins the Gruesome on the list of Pirate derelicts. The Hudson stopped towing one of the Minuteman flotillas and sailed north since the Silverback is immune to her L-range guns. This allowed the fresh USS Emerald to enter the battle, and Commodore David Porter connected with a Broadsides Attack! This took out 1.5 of the Silverback’s final two masts, and later in the turn the Ghost Walker cancelled her ability to dismast her.

SLAUGHTERFIELD:

The Americans are deploying a stalling and logjam strategy. If they tow Pirate derelicts or eventually sink them with constant cannon fire, the Pirates will have additional room on their next turn that they can use to put fresh ships on the front lines. The current logjam and unexpected English entrance is severely limiting how many new ships can arrive from the whirlpool each turn as well, furthering the American strategy thus far.

With derelict and weakened Pirate ships everywhere they look, some American ships are actually retreating since they’re not needed yet. The Hudson and President hope to repair at the HI, while the Concordia gets out of the way so the Adventurous can continue towing the Xiamen’s Claws. The Kettering, Quigley, Minuteman and others are ready to assist immediately when needed.

The QAR is dismasted!

The Thrud is dismasted as well, though not by the Fly. After that ship missed both her shots, the Swamp Fox came over and shot away both masts in a single die roll via Broadsides Attack.

Predictably, the Americans are able to dismast the Gilded Monkey right after her encroachment of American territory. As the Lynx repairs, 4 ships team up to wreck the schooner, with the Roanoke being given her first shoot action of the game to finish the job.

The Americans are almost there! They have troops on the Castle, and now just need to unload the fort upgrade from the Enterprise!

Total American domination of the Castle, with their numbers growing by the turn:

Things are considerably calmer north of the American HI. The Aaron Burr, Hancock, and Albany actually turn away from the southern battle, hearing that it is a complete mess and that the American ships in reserve will be able to hold off the Pirates for considerably longer than what was anticipated in a worst-case scenario. However, with Pirate-hating abilities, the Flying Fish and Constitution inevitably head towards the battle area. The Franklin may go either way depending on the circumstances. The captured Ranger was finally traded in after being repaired, and USS Lamon comes into play! She’s the second submarine launched outside of the Mercenaries after the French hired Nemo and the Nautilus.

Turn 67 begins! A full, scheduled resource change was necessary! For the first time in the regular changes, a 1 was rolled for value! Every resource was worth its face value, while a 6 is now the only value roll to not appear yet. In addition, the duration was for a whopping 8 turns, tied for the second-longest of the game!

The Pirates hardly manage any damage against the Americans, but put forth 4 new ships from the whirlpool.

Blackbeard’s ship is now dead in the water, but if the Americans and English can’t combine for 6 hits on their turns, El Dorado can warp the ship to the kingdom next turn using her ability. At the upper right, USS Destiny has been sunk! However, the little sloop is not large enough to make a lot of room for the Pirate advance, which is completely stuck. The unexpected entry of English warships has only complicated matters further, as the Pirates now face opposition from all sides.

Finally unable to put forth a large squadron at Dead Man’s Point, the Pirates still manage to launch 5 new gunships at the end of their turn, though the Snipe will not go to Karkuda. With immunity to ships within S, the Sister’s Rage and Black Arrow will be extremely annoying to the Americans, while the Princess and Morte de Yarborough provide additional cheap firepower.

After a brief lull in the new arrivals, many Pirate ships are poised to enter the whirlpool next turn. This includes many larger ships that can pack more of a punch than the Pirate ships currently in Karkuda. However, with such a ludicrously crowded battle area, how many of them will even be able to make the journey anytime soon? This further proves how effective the American strategy has been: if the Pirates fill Karkuda with their own derelicts which prevent them from getting to the Americans, they may be forced to scuttle those ships (thus losing them for the rest of the game, not a fun thought for any faction) just to make room for new arrivals that can continue the fight.

The Pirate squadron nearly reaches the western end of the Tunnel:

Indeed, you can see the Celtic Fury and other ships from the other side. The Victoire and Harbinger are still guarding that entrance, while the Akua Lapu slowly ventures into new territory….

With horrendous timing, the Jades find that their island has changed resources from food to textiles! The new resource change has food at 4 gold apiece and textiles at 2, so the Jades may finally have to look elsewhere for resources in order to continue their gold flow.

O_O With a megalaunch, the Jades reach deep into their pockets and put forth a big new fleet! The Barbary Corsairs are here!!

This picture shows all the new ships. ALL SEVEN BC 4 masted galleys were launched! They are carrying very effective and diverse crew complements, so they’re ready for anything. Aruj Barbarossa will command the Corsairs (under the command of the Jades of course) from the Nubian Prince. The Crescent Moon’s crew give the Jades a second AA crew in addition to a fast, medical barge lite. The right column contains various other ships, nearly all of which are ready for war. Their crew complements are also quite optimized, and all BC named crew are now in play. The massive launch costed the Jades 318 gold of the 525 they had, so they still have 207 left! They had 369 saved up but added 156 to that by cashing in 39 food tokens at 4 gold apiece. They would have spent more but ran out of room to put ships at their HI! To that end, more BC ships are likely coming soon. With only a couple JR and Viking ships left to launch and the independent Mercenaries somewhat having “first dibs” on their own ships, the Jades were almost forced to go to the Corsairs at some point.

The English fire their guns in Karkuda for the first time! They’re not too effective, but the Ark Royal succeeds at a Broadsides Attack to cripple the already derelict Queen Anne’s Revenge!

Wow! Continuing the English policy of exploration through whirlpool travel, HMS Forge takes the Westminster’s route to the northern whirlpool of Karkuda! The English hope to cement an alliance with the French!

England’s most daring and experienced whirlpool explorer, the Metal Dragon, takes the plunge once again. However, the result is awful. A 1 is rolled to emerge from the southeastern whirlpool in the Sea of Allost! The Zephyr also goes for random travel in an attempt to find new seas, but gets the same result.

Oof! Just like the Jades, the English get a nasty resource change considering the new value roll. At Diamond Rock, spices have run out and are replaced by more textiles, the same resource that made the English rich early in the game!

The English are simply in between right now. Between their point advantage and the current truce, they are not worried about the Spanish. However, they want revenge on the Pirates. After the Metal Dragon got lucky last turn by discovering the Pirate-American battle, the English have sent some ships there. However, between the battle area being extremely crowded and it not evidently being the same area where the Pirate HI is, the English are hesitant or unable to send more ships there. Additional ships are ready to take the plunge, and many options exist for combating the Pirates. They can try to force the issue in southwest Karkuda, or go through the northern whirlpool of Karkuda and try to find the Pirates from there, possibly with French help (the English aren’t aware of the Franco-Pirate alliance). Or, with this turn’s result, they can risk the Sea of Allost and send gunships directly into Pirate home waters. Then there’s the issue of the Spanish exodus, which the English have a hunch may result in complicated relations going forward….

O_O The English cash in spices and spend 189 gold on seven ships!! Showing serious interest in a Pirate beat down, the English invest major money in anti-Pirate activity. On the left, Governor Lynch, HMS Raven, and Jun Suong all get +1 to cannon rolls against Pirate ships. We know how much Norrington despised Pirates, and his Dauntless is outfitted with some serious firepower and extra weaponry. On the right, the third 10 master of the game is launched! With Nemo currently blockaded and his Mercs struggling, it’s only natural that the Shui Xian’s crew would go to the highest bidder. The English crew her with some brilliant options, with Owen’s reroll complementing Portland’s SAT. Now that I’m writing this report I realize that CRGO is already in play aboard the Caradoc, so we’ll pretend that it’s his brother. XD (the Pirates will likely do this with Jack Hawkins since the Jades just got the BC version of him) Woodes Rogers is another anti-Pirate Englishman, while the Hibernia is similarly crewed to take whirlpool travel head-on. The Swiftsure filled out the points and will patrol the Caribbean.

Of the 7 new ships, 6 are ready for the War against Piracy! Indeed, it may be called just that if the English declare war on the Pirates. The SX will get a head start with the Mercenary keyword, but the English gunships will follow with major firepower. Between this, the English squadron to the south, and the 6 English gunships already near Pirate ships in two different oceans, a major clash between England and Pirates is looking more and more likely.

In a reversal of fortune, the Spanish find luxuries instead of textiles on Paradise Island! This is incredibly good for the Spanish, who have generally struggled to find consistently valuable resource production from the island, which is their only source of wealth. In addition, this recent resource change would have favored the English over the Spanish, but with both major Caribbean islands changing, the opposite is now true.

Spanish gunships continue to leave the Caribbean! The Asesino de la Nave, Granada, and Corazon Dorado appear at the northern Karkuda whirlpool.

At this point the game is getting very “global”, with many factions in oceans not native to their HI’s. It’s become a complex and intriguing affair, with many more developments still to come.

The French find that their eastern food island has run out of bananas! XD

General French operations, with some gunships headed south and the Possession failing to find the Sea of Allost. LaPlante rolled a 5 to emerge from the southwest Karkuda whirlpool, but since there was no room for the ship to be placed there, the ship simply didn’t go anywhere but still rolled (successfully) for damage. In the middle, the Sunrise Fire S-explored the original French island on the Pirate turn. Off her stern, the French lighthouse island produces luxuries, now the most valuable resource in the game. That island will no doubt see more ships than usual dock at its lone beach in the coming turns.

I purposely left the flash off here, to show the dense forest of masts on the battlefield. From the area south of Luck Island to the American HI to the Castle in the east, it is nearly a solid block of ships. O_O

The Americans shot well on their turn, dealing major damage. The Black Cat and Devil’s Kiss have been dismasted, while one more hit on the Ningpo will do the same to that vessel.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge sank and Blackbeard is dead! Well-placed shots from the James Madison and Minuteman flotilla doomed the QAR after she was hit by a BA from the Ark Royal on the English turn. The other Minuteman flotilla in the area teamed up with the Ghost Walker to dismast the Fuchuan. On the left, the Swamp Fox has gone 2/2 with Broadsides Attacks, her second blast knocking two masts off the Poison Dagger who was then finished off by the Fly.

North of the battle, various maneuvers are carried out despite the logjams. The Lynx captured the Gilded Monkey, while the Adventurous reached home with the Xiamen’s Claws. The President and Hudson are home for repairs, and the Montezuma and Lenox hope to join them soon. Those 4 ships are eagerly replaced on the front line by the Septem Maria, Kettering and Quigley. Three VERY intimidating 5 masters are waiting in reserve, but the Pirates are being soundly defeated at this point. The trend of failed whirlpool attacks has really emerged… the Pirates have had success with a few small Caribbean raids, but Ralph David’s attacks in Allost and both battles at the SW Karkuda whirlpool have gone miserably for the aggressors. In fact, this second Pirate loss may become so embarrassing and one-sided that it may make the Pirates change their policy….

The Enterprise has unloaded the fort upgrade at the Castle!! The Americans will now be able to launch ships from the Castle as if it were a fort. However, some repairs still need to be carried out for the Castle to reach its true potential. The Americans also move their army units S into different positions, further optimizing the defenses. They now have infantry on almost all the ramparts, and the Colonial Trader will eventually arrive with more.

Preble got his AA roll this turn, and the last action of the turn went to the Springfield of all ships. The Springfield is a “cheerleader” ship (she gives friendly ships within S +1 to her cannon rolls) not meant for the front lines of battle. However, the Pirate attack necessitated block ships to stop the Pirate advance early on, and the Americans have done a great job so far despite their occasionally poor shooting. In this case, a very strange thing happened: the Seminole has the same ability of the Springfield, and is within S of the ship. Therefore the Springfield was able to use her own ability from a different source in her two shots against the Satisfaction, a new Pirate arrival. Incredibly both shots were 4’s, which meant they both hit to knock a mast off the Satisfaction but they would not have hit if not for the Seminole being within S! O_O Just a bizarre happening that would only happen in a game of this size, since those ships are hardly EVER worth the points even in large games with 100+ point build totals.

I will conclude this report with some confessions and give an idea of what to expect going forward.

-With this game ballooning to completely unprecedented heights (over 7,000 total points now I would guess, DOUBLE the previous all-time CG high set in VASSAL Campaign Game 1), I have become less motivated to play turns. I love the game more than anyone on earth, but a single turn of play is a very intimidating endeavor. It just takes SO LONG to complete a turn, and launches and resource changes only compound that time.

-The game has had an emotional and physical toll on me. The lack of motivation comes from often starting play as soon as I’m ready to in the morning, and playing nearly non-stop for many hours, sometimes at the rate of 8+ hours a day spent on the game. The longest battle reports have taken me over 2 hours to write, which means that the game has sometimes resembled an overtime job in terms of the time commitment. On the longest days (mostly just Wednesday and Friday) I would estimate that I’ve sometimes spent 12-14 hours in a day on this game alone between playing, planning, thinking strategy, writing the battle reports and posting them on all 3 sites and then putting pictures from the day’s play on Instagram and BGG. I’ve made debatable sacrifices in other areas that I may come to regret if I continue at this current pace.

-The physical toll comes from sitting and kneeling in often cramped positions on the floor for multiple hours a day, as 80+% of the points are concentrated in the Seas of Allost and Karkuda right now. The inevitable tipping things over and setting them back up again is further made annoying by the sheer scale of the game, as I move 250+ ships in a single round of turns. (there may be over 400 ships in the game by now but the Jade, Cursed, and French battle fleets have been largely inactive for the past handful of turns which helps a bit lol) Xerecs is the only one who can even remotely relate to what this game has entailed, but even his CG’s have been non-solo efforts and none of them have gone over 6,000 points to our knowledge lol. Combine that with the game exceeding even my greatest ambitions (I vaguely thought 5,000 could be possible back in September but now at around 7,000 it’s just crazy), and even a player as dedicated as me is now in completely unknown territory.

-The time pressure of trying to finish the game by Thanksgiving has made me worry that I will not be able to reach a satisfying conclusion by then. As a result, there is a POSSIBILITY that the game will continue past Thanksgiving weekend and into December. O_O I would say the odds of this happening are currently about 50/50. Once I make a decision on that I will announce it of course. It all depends on how the next 4 weeks go. I’m also working on Thursdays now at a shift that is not conducive to playing, so Thursdays are nearly out for the next 2 weeks (at least), whereas before I had that day almost completely free. The potential for an extra month of play can also take some stress and pressure off of me and help my life to be a little more balanced compared to going crazy over the game for the next 4 weeks. It could also result in a more satisfying conclusion (last fleet afloat for real this time, but likely still with some artificial resource droughts), which is something I’ve REALLY struggled to achieve in these physical CG’s lol (in fact, not since the RISK game in 2012 has one of my physical CG’s concluded appropriately). So basically, there is a CHANCE that the game could conclude just a few days before Christmas if it gets that far. O_O

Some final notes:

-At 67 turns, this game has exceeded both my Century of the Empires game (62 turns) and Economy Edition (45 turns) for the longest physical campaign game I’ve played. Back in September I thought 100 turns was likely, but the sickeningly massive influx of points since Turn 50 has completely made turns take forever so I have no idea what kind of turn count I’ll end up with.

-I now have over 1,250 pictures for this game, which is more than double the 454 for Economy Edition. (which was my previous high for a CG)

Turn 68 has begun.

The Pirates pounce on the Metal Dragon and Zephyr! After those English ships came through the whirlpool closest to the kingdom, the Pirates predictably tried to take them out. However, the Metal Dragon barely has a mast standing and will likely return to Caribbean waters next turn. This will only serve to make English-Pirate relations even worse than they already were.

In the ridiculously crowded American-Pirate-English battlefield, the Pirates manage to get two 4 masters through the whirlpool and into Karkuda. The Thirty Tyrants and Jape are back! After being defeated and captured by the Americans in the first battle of this whirlpool, they have returned for revenge. What’s left of Pirate cannons in the area actually shot pretty well this turn, with the Springfield, St. George and Resolution losing masts. Two of the three Minuteman flotillas had their flags knocked off. In the first Pirate scuttle attempt in this battle, the Devil’s Kiss failed her roll. However, the Pirates aren’t likely to scuttle their more valuable gunships, since they don’t want to lose them for the rest of the game. It’s such a messy logjam right now that some ships on both sides cannot even be given actions on their turn, whether move OR shoot! O_O

El Dorado returns to Allost, as the Pirates don’t want to lose her ability. Her captain informs the waiting Pirates that the battle is going poorly but sheer numbers may help in the long run. However, with no more room at the whirlpool, these Pirate gunships are stuck here for now.

The Pirates have done it! The Celtic Fury hoists a ladder from one of her main masts and it reaches the ceiling of the Tunnel!!

Didn’t mean for this one to have such a contrast in the foreground vs. background, but the flash made that happen.

The Pirates have the only ship type in the entire game tall enough to reach the top of the Tunnel: a 10 masted junk! O’Brien’s betrayal of Captain Nemo is paying big dividends for Captain Mission, who was stuck in his operations at the Tunnel before she showed up.

I love this picture, since it’s from a rare (and difficult) angle and really shows the scale and size of the Tunnel. It’s a big and imposing natural structure, and this picture does it justice better than most of the others. Imagine being in the crow’s nest on one of these large sailing ships and seeing what you see here! O_O At the left you can also see some of the Pirate ships waiting at the whirlpool.

The Jades spend all of their 231 remaining gold on 14 new Barbary Corsair ships!

Here are the impressive crew setups on the various vessels. At this point the Jades have launched nearly all the Jade Rebellion, Viking, and Barbary Corsair ships in the game.

A VERY impressive fleet, which also makes the western half of Allost more crowded than ever! Perhaps they will soon recommence hostilities against the Cursed?

I actually like this picture better since I find it more impressive. The Jades certainly have the prettiest and most colorful fleet, and this is a great shot that shows what the minor factions are capable of.

If things go as planned I hope to play a bunch on Friday and Saturday! I also hope to do another point count somewhat soon, but I’m trying to catch it on a peak that I’m not sure about yet.

Theme music for this short BR!

The Cursed are up next! A plan is revealed! The romance of the seas has returned!!!!! Davy Jones copies Calypso’s ability!! 

After failing for a couple turns, the roll is finally successful! A whirlpool appears within L of the Guichuan at the Roost!!

Now the main question would be: where will the other whirlpool be placed?? It must be within L of a wild island… with the Eye, the Cursed can see everything on all the oceans!! Therefore they know where to put the whirlpool near any wild island they choose!!

With a frothing swirl of seawater, the second whirlpool is created by Davy Jones/Calypso in the Sea of Karkuda!! It’s near the French food island and almost right at the entrance to the Harbor!! O_O

Shal-Bala is here!! Flying all the way to the Sea of Karkuda, the dragon arrives with a hideous screech!!

Beating its huge wings and launching itself at French ships, Shal-Bala tosses them away from the whirlpool!!

The dragon raises its wings in triumph, with most of the French ships out of the way…

… uh oh… this could only mean one thing…. O_O

THE CURSED ARE HERE!!!!!!!! O_O In an utter shock to the French, the Cursed have arrived in the Sea of Karkuda!! No less than 10 ships come through the whirlpool, not counting the Silver Coffin flotilla. Fantasma himself leads the squadron from the Divine Dragon!

From inside the Harbor walls: the French have a Cursed Invasion right on their doorstep!!

Using the Kraken ability to “chain” between ships, Terrox surrounds the Geographe!

In a flash the kraken is nearly inside the Harbor walls!

Terrox’s advance makes room for more of the Cursed horde! The Leviathan, Nightmare, and Hellfire emerge from Allost, making it a 13-ship squadron that has arrived on this turn.

At Broken Horn Island, the Cursed are elated to find food instead of lumber! With the current resource values (lumber 1 and food 4), this will certainly help their launching efforts. At the upper right, many more gunships and creatures are preparing to take the plunge next turn….

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to play as much as I wanted today and yesterday.

I also forgot to mention last time:
-The Cursed do not have to roll for effect when using whirlpools. (thematically this is due to their somewhat supernatural nature, in addition to the recent influence of Davy Jones, and by extension, Calypso herself)

The English do some damage in Karkuda:

Spending all of their 26 gold, the English launch yet another anti-Pirate ship! HMS Victoria is one of England’s finest warships and carries Myngs’ Marauders, which will help the ship shoot through others with those great L-range guns. That ability is especially helpful in giant campaign games with densely packed battle areas.

In the Caribbean, English warships make their way towards the whirlpool:

The Spanish attack!!! The Santa Ana slips around the northeast corner of the Castle and sets the Gold Eagle on fire!

The Santo Columba shoots at American infantry on the Castle! One of the units is taken out, and the Spanish use S-boarding to eliminate another!!

THE SPANISH CLAIM THAT IT’S THEIR CASTLE!!!! That is the reason for all this!! After the French discovered the Castle, they had a hunch that it was a Spanish Castle abandoned in Karkuda, and they sent Guy LaPlante to the Caribbean (after finding out the Spanish were there from the English) to tell them about it. The Spanish were extremely angry when they found out that a faction had begun any kind of operations at the Castle. Now that they have arrived on the scene, they are going ballistic. The Castle is indeed an old abandoned Spanish castle from long ago. However, the Spanish see it as rightfully theirs forever. They want to take it from the Americans at all costs!! Here you can see three more gunships arriving in the area, with the Acorazado and Serpiente the latest ships coming through the whirlpool.

The Spanish spend all of their 20 gold to launch La Resolucion with a captain, helmsman, and firepot specialist.

The French have recently dropped off some infantry units on their islands in the far east:

But you don’t care about that, do you?! It’s time for BATTLE!! The Geographe starts the French combat phase of their turn with a paltry 1/5 (with reroll) against Terrox:

Other French ships fare better! The Cyclops, Madness, and Demon Gate lose a mast each to the Glaive, Carcajou, and Sabre!

French ships tag team the Bloody Blade! The Corse is given Deleflote’s action to dismast the ship! Shots from the Musarde and Corse also take 2 masts off the Divine Dragon. However, that is about all the French could muster on their turn, as most of their gunships are near the sub hideout or The Flat.

But they’re on the way! Here you can see about 6 French gunships headed north as they hear the emergency shots fired near the Harbor. Gaston is willing to cut the blockading squadron at the hideout in half, but stays on blockade duty since he knows the value of his admiral ability.

Even in this time of emergency, French cargo ships get resources home since it’s the best thing they can do. The French do have some solid army units on the outermost docks, but they’re not in range here. The French will likely try to employ a stalling strategy similar to the Americans in the southwest, setting up block ships while waiting for powerful help to arrive.

Given how few cannons they had available in the area, the French fought well after the surprise Cursed invasion shocked them. The Corse was especially key, as her 8 shots with Deleflote did most of the damage against the Bloody Blade and Divine Dragon.

The French are finally forced to mobilize!! Many of their gunships at The Flat turn around and head for the Harbor!

Lenoir has half of his epic line of 5 masted capital ships turn east. Five 5 masters will head towards the Harbor, with five staying on duty at The Flat. In addition, at the right you’ll notice that the entire 10-gunship “backup” squadron has also turned around. The French must combat the Cursed threat!

With five 5 masters, the Hercule, and a few support ships, the French defensive line is still strong. However, they must now divert their forces to save their home. It will be interesting to see if Spanish ships get in the way of the French (they already have a bit just south of The Flat), and if that worsens the somewhat strong relationship between those two factions.

Lenoir speaks with the captain of HMS Forge, and the French hastily agree to an alliance with the English! I will say that this was a spur of the moment thing, and it’s not exactly a strong bond right now. However, we’ll see how it develops over time.

Making their way towards the battle area are various French gunships. One thing’s for sure: if the Cursed don’t retreat soon, the Harbor entrance is about to get VERY crowded! 

The entirety of French operations:

This was actually a bit of a premature report. The French turn isn’t technically over. Combining some food with lots of saved up gold, the French have 441 gold to spend. O_O This is part of the reason I had to stop here, since I didn’t have time today to launch a lot of stuff. However, clearly the French will launch at the Harbor, and possibly even at The Flat as well. They will be well-prepared to defend their homeland!

Going forward, I must warn that this glacial pace will continue, at least for now. It’s doubtful I’ll be able to play much this week, and possibly not at all next Friday-Monday. However, there is clearly a ton of developments just around the corner! Let me know what you think of the game so far, and possibly who you’re rooting for! (even rank the factions in your winning order preference with reasons why if you want)

This report is for the big American turn of Turn 68!

The Americans’ actions signal a shift in their strategy! The Speedy Return captures the Lucky Seven, who doesn’t get wrecked on the reef. Barring any crazy Pirate moves that interfere, the Philadelphia will warp the Lucky Seven to the American HI next turn. At the left, getting the LS out of the way allowed the James Madison to turn south and begin towing the Georgetown.

This exposes the JM and Georgetown to Pirate cannons without firing on the American turn, but it should be worth the risk since the Pirates only have 2 masts standing on those 3 nearby ships.

More captures as the Shark tows the Poison Dagger! The Swamp Fox missed a Broadsides Attack that would have sunk the Thrud, while the Fly hit 2/2 to take a mast off the Full Moon.

Commodore David Porter gives the BA order, and the Emerald hits! This severely damages the already-derelict Silverback. At the left, the Fuchuan has been hit 3 times as a derelict. The Pirates were already struggling in this battle, and now the Americans are really putting the hurt on them by capturing some derelicts and pulverizing the hulls of others.

The Lenox and Montezuma come home for repairs, while 4 other ships carry out repairs. At the bottom of the frame, the Minerva and Gruesome were also captured!

Check out the new-look middle of the fight! With the Gruesome and Minerva out, both sides will have more room to maneuver and shoot. The Americans immediately take advantage of this, with the Kettering cancelling the Calchas’ ability. The Calchas was sunk by a combination of 4 shots from different ships. In addition, the Ningpo was dismasted by the Minuteman flotilla. Furthering the successful turn, the Quigley and Blackwatch teamed up to dismast the Satisfaction!

This time with the flash, showing the chaotic nature of a battle at sea:

The Americans respond to Spanish aggression! The Gold Eagle used her reverse captain ability to score a hit on the Santa Ana before moving away to the Castle and extinguishing her flames. The York followed up with 2 hits of her own to damage the Spanish flagship. On a rampart of the Castle itself, an artillery unit is moved into position. At the left, the United States lumbers towards the battle area.

With this birds-eye view you can glimpse more army unit movements. The Americans are sending most of their infantry and artillery at the Castle towards the northeastern walls and ramparts to combat the Spanish!

Nearly from the infantry perspective! I will continue to use some enhanced ranges from higher altitude positions with the Castle, though it’s not nearly as tall as Diamond Rock of course. The northeasternmost wall of the Castle is indeed cracked a bit.

A meeting of the minds! The captain of the Pequod speaks with Amiral Stephan Dupuy of the Ville de Paris. Unlike some of the other conversations, I can tell you what they talked about. The American fleet lined up opposite the Spanish line would like to help their comrades in what could become a Battle for the Castle. However, to get around the northern side of the Castle, the French would have to move out of the way. The negotiations were tense and brief, and tensions between the Americans and French are rising a bit. A state of war does exist between the two factions, though they still have an indefinite period of truce after the Second Fight at The Flat.

The French line defending The Flat (and now blocking American access to the east part of the Castle from the northwest) has been severely weakened by the departures heading east to combat the Cursed threat.

Most of the American fleet, with the situation in the southwest continuing to be quite one-sided thus far. The Americans captured a lot of Pirate ships this turn, which may force the Pirates’ hand to either retreat or send more ships to the battlefield now that some space has opened up at the whirlpool.

The Americans spend all 121 gold they have to launch 7 new gunships! You can kind of tell they’re running out of ships, as they dip into one masted sloops for gunship support. However, the ships are very well-crewed and all of them carry firepot specialists! You can probably guess where the Americans launched them from…

The first launch at the Castle! All 7 new ships come into play at the Castle, which had a “fort upgrade” dropped off at it so ships and crew could be launched there. This will inject some life into the American resistance to stop the Spanish from retaking the Castle that once belonged to them. It’s worth noting that there is a limited amount of space at the inner harbor area of the Castle walls, so no more than 10 ships could be launched from the Castle in a turn if it was empty. Here the Gold Eagle, Bartlett, and Atlanta were already in the way in 3 of the areas, but the Americans also ran out of gold anyway. Still, the massive size and powerful position the Castle holds could be an interesting dynamic going forward, especially since nearly all the factions are connected in some way by now…. (Americans vs. Spanish, Americans vs. French, French allied with Pirates, French vs. Cursed, Pirates vs. English, etc etc.)

I will say that the upgraded “forts” (including the Castle) cannot have army units hired there. That rule was not in play earlier when the Pirates brought some units into play at Dead Man’s Point, but I intend to use it for the rest of the game. I want the army units to come from the home base since it makes more sense. Besides, the Americans found the Castle abandoned, so it’s not like random soldiers just started coming out of the woodworks when they got there even with money paid out. XD

This is just a look at how detailed, complex, and intense a single faction turn can be! Imagine a whole round of all eight factions! Now you see why it takes so long! 

Sheer Chaos, the likes of which you have never seen

Get the popcorn ready, get your snacks, and get hyped! XD

Play has resumed in force!! The game has seen an absolute EXPLOSION on this Turn 69 that rivals any other single turn in any campaign game! Prepare yourself for the carnage! The scary part is, it will likely only increase dramatically in the future… O_O

The Jade Rebels are after the Pirates in the turn order, and they start their turn with an attack!! The Wiglaf nearly dismasts the Jikininki!

Broken Horn Island is under attack again!! Eight Jade gunships head west as the area southwest of the Roost descends into chaos once more.

(theme music begins)

Here you can see the damage done to the Death’s Anchor, Pale Moon, Executioner, Hades’ Realm and Sickle:

The Huginn dismasts the captured Brandywine and the Grendel surges forward…

… to capture the ship! The Brandywine has now been owned by 3 different factions in this game. Also notice the other Jade/Viking ships moving north, though that’s almost literally just the tip of the iceberg…

O_O
ATTACK!!!! The entire Jade battle fleet surges forward in an epic display of seamanship and naval power!!

Though some are many turns away, I count over 50 gunships either in battle with the Cursed or headed towards them!! O_O

I wanted to take some extra pictures to show off the color and diversity among the JR and BC sails, and I think this is the best shot I got:

Previously cooped up by territorial boundaries, the Jade Rebellion war fleet has begun heading straight for the Cursed! Jade Rebel troops watch as dozens of beautiful new Corsair galleys depart the home island:

A nice look at the BC 4 masters:

It seems rather likely that an EPIC battle is about to take place!!!

The Jades attacked for a simple reason: the Cursed look as weak as they have in quite some time. From afar, the Jades witnessed the exodus as Calypso allowed a bunch of Cursed gunships to go through the new whirlpool and into the Sea of Karkuda. The Jades don’t know about the Sea of Karkuda, but they assume the Cursed have gone off and may not be back. After coming close to a full-out attack, they have finally decided to carry out plans for one now that the Cursed don’t have as many gunships around the Roost.

A view from the Roost itself, as the Cursed see what’s coming….

A rare view just north of Broken Horn Island, looking east:

A forest of lateen sails in the distance:

A nice and similarly rare shot looking east across the Sea of Allost at a low angle:

And that is it for the Jade turn! Prepare yourself!! XD

El Fantasma, captain of the Divine Dragon and current commander of the Cursed Extermination Force: “… bring up the weapon…”
A historical artifact of great value and mythology is brought to Fantasma’s helm. Fantasma offers a rare smile before his skeletal face turns to a contorted frown of unrivaled malice as he points the “weapon” at the nearby French fleet…
Neptune’s Trident!!!!

With the power of the sea, the Trident unleashes a massive tidal wave that projects from the Divine Dragon!!

OH MY GOD!!! The wave is fired into the Harbor!! Using my L+L+L ruler and the white S straw, I was able to figure out the damage path of the tidal wave.

Before the damage assessment:

These were taken for maximum effect, as I played the Trident normally and didn’t sink anything outright.

From the Cursed view, as the wave crashes into tons of French ships and into the Harbor area itself:

The temporary result of the UT, which is clearly wicked powerful in campaign games with so many ships around….

O_O

DEVASTATION IS UNLEASHED!!!!!!

O_O

Now we can properly assess the damage. The Jeux was not only dismasted, but also thrown into the Harbor wall due to the lower tonnage of the ship.

The Felicite is dismasted and nearly capsizes:

As you probably noticed by now, the wave attack actually split one of the docks in half!!!! O_O Dock destruction!!

Inevitably, various infantry who were preparing to fight the Cursed died in the blast. Somehow an artillery unit survived on the outer side of the dock, but three infantry units and one artillery unit were lost between the dock breaking apart and the splinters and spars flying through the air.

In total, 15 masts were ruined as a result of the wave caused by Fantasma’s wielding of Neptune’s Trident. Eight different ships were damaged.

The dock costed the French 10 gold, and I’m still figuring out the house rule around rebuilding it. They will be able to purchase a new dock for the same standard cost, but I think they will need to clear the wreckage first, which will take at least a turn here even with maximum cleanup efforts deployed. Of course, with hostile Cursed ships basically inside the Harbor itself, the recovery process will likely take a while.

IMMENSE WRECKAGE, with debris strewn everywhere:

Of course, the Divine Dragon couldn’t sustain the damage output of having 8 ships affected. The Cursed knew the risk and decided it was worth it. Looks like they’re right! XD With 8 ships affected, I did 8 “damage” to the DD, with 4 masts eliminated and 4 “hits” to the hull (she would still need 8 more hits on the hull to sink due to the sinking house rule).

With Fantasma’s ship suddenly out of action, the Cursed needed to find a way to extricate the DD and avoid losing her to the French. Never fear, the Hellfire is here! XD The DD is towed, but where did she go? If you’ve read about the Pirate-American battle elsewhere in Karkuda, it should come as no surprise…

… as the Divine Dragon and Bloody Blade are warped back to Allost via “whirlpool towing”! This is now a tactic employed by two factions, and looks to be a true strategy (at least for this game). Here you can also see the Cursed counterattack against the Jades!

Fear worked well here, with the Fenrir and Glorious Treasure being hit by the ability. The Executioner was effective, setting the Glorious Treasure aflame.

It looks as though the JR-Cursed War is back in full swing!!

The Monkey’s Paw goes a pitiful 0/5, but the Asgard takes damage from the icewreck (being moved L into it) and the Sickle. Shal-Bala returns to the Sea of Karkuda in order to guard the latest Cursed launch: Namazu. O_O Namazu is a sea monster from the unreleased Return to Savage Shores set with an ability similar to the Neptune’s Trident UT. After using the Eye to see the incredible devastation wreaked by the Trident, the Cursed are very impressed with its potential for continual warfare use. You know what that means: a less disposable source of tidal wave attacks! O_O Combine that with copiers Behemoth and Davy Jones, and the Cursed have exclusive access to weapons of incredible power right now.

The Cursed turn was actually quite strategic and well-thought-out. They purposely did most of their activities in Karkuda to see what they needed to send there from Allost. The Banshee’s Wail is the ship that came forth to “tow”/send the Bloody Blade back to Allost. The Locker and Pyre have returned to Allost as well, as the Cursed realize they cannot win both fights in two oceans at the same time.

The wave blast was not all the damage sustained by the French! After most of the operations in Allost, the Cursed turned back to Karkuda to finish their assault. Terrox walloped the Geographe for 2 masts on 4/8 shooting, while the Hellfire dismasted the Musarde and Leviathan took a mast off the Dijon. Calim has pinned Le Petit Dauphin, while the Nightmare (at the right) partially makes up for her previous performances, which have been awful. On this turn the Nightmare shot 4/5 to damage 3 different ships! (Petit Dauphin, Marianne, Richelieu)

Looking directly north, here is the last picture from this EPIC Cursed turn. The Silver Coffin shot a mast off Le Lyon, while at the right the Glaive and Baionnette took slight damage.

At the end of their turn, the Cursed let out a bombshell. They told the French something. Fantasma sent a messenger boat over to the French fleet, which was reeling from the wave attack and continual cannon fire/tentacle whipping. The Cursed revealed a HUGE development: the Pirates put them up to it. O_O  This was the deal with the Devil.

The deal was as follows: If the Pirates hire Calypso, the Cursed can use Davy Jones and/or Behemoth to copy her for the rest of the game, on the condition that the Cursed use Calypso’s ability to launch a full-scale attack on the French.

O_O
A huge secret is revealed! Previously known only to the Pirates and the Cursed (the Pirates came up with the idea), the French now know of the deal. Obviously this is extremely important, as the Pirates and the French are allies!!!! However, this is arguably one of the greatest agreements in naval history.

The Pirates see the French as one of their biggest long-term rivals. With whirlpool travel, the Pirates know about the oceans more than any faction other than the Cursed, who have the Eye of course. However, the Pirates are generally aware that there are 4 “mega factions”: Pirates, Cursed, French, and Americans. The Pirates already have a bitter war against the Americans. If they continue that, they may be too weak to take on the French and/or Cursed afterwards. Thus, a “deal with the devil” to pit the other two largest factions against each other!!

From my document where I store the BR’s and faction plans/etc: “The Pirates pull off a huge masterstroke of grand strategy, weakening two huge rival fleets with one deal while simultaneously able to focus on their other rival.”

With that we move to the Caribbean factions, the English and Spanish! The 4 English gunships in the Sea of Karkuda have a great turn, dealing damage to 4 different Pirate ships. (including a successful BA from the Ark Royal to the Thirty Tyrants)

I must say HMS Victoria is a bit of a favorite of mine. She sails out with some other English gunships, while the King John and Westminster take crew replacements aboard. (hired with cashed in spices from the Antelope) In the background, Admiral Thomas Gunn stands guard northeast of Diamond Rock with a squadron of gunships.

The English battle fleet makes their way towards the whirlpool!

The Spanish continue to attack the Americans at the Castle! They will try to reclaim what is rightfully theirs!! Here the Santa Ana, Vaccaro’s flagship of the faction, rakes the Kentucky by the bows and purposely boxes the three American ships in. Although the SA will be exposed to considerable fire from those ships on the American turn, Vaccaro positioned the ship to block those ships from getting out and attacking other Spanish ships as well. Vaccaro now has some good backup too, with the Santo Columba sailing around the northeastern edge of the Castle and going 3/3 to hit with her musketeer and firepot specialist, setting the York ablaze!

Whoa!! The Granada blasts away at the old and weakened northeastern wall of the Castle, and her cannon balls find their mark!! Shots shatter through the old structure, and a huge hole is ripped open! In addition the Granada carries a firepot specialist and the Castle is now on fire!!! O_O

Through the smoke and rubble you can glimpse the Gold Eagle:

However, with all the troops on the Castle, the Americans will likely be able to put the fires out soon.

The Corazon Dorado uses her reroll ability to get Dominick Freda’s SAT, allowing her to speed into the area at S+L+S+S+L+S! She hits twice on each action, knocking a mast off the York and United States.

The Americans are surprised by the speed and ferocity of the Spanish onslaught…

… and there’s more coming!! Six Spanish gunships in Karkuda have yet to reach the battle area, including three fresh from the Caribbean whirlpool.

With that we move to the Sea of Karkuda factions!

The Mercenaries are back! The doors to the submarine hideout open, and five submarines zoom out! The Mercs have launched the Terror and Barracuda since we last saw them. You may notice dice on a few of the French ships. I have amended the no ram damage rule so that submarines can do damage while ramming, but it counts as a “hit” if the roll is successful and therefore follows the 2 hits per mast rule for elimination. However, I may just go back and change it to no ram damage of any kind. XD

THE FRENCH ATTACK!!!! Reigniting their war with the Americans, the French finally break the indefinite period of truce and let loose their line of battle west of The Flat! This attack is the result of a shared interest the French and Spanish have. As you saw earlier, the French line from the northern wall of the Castle to the northern edge of Karkuda is blocking American gunships from assisting against the Spanish on the eastern side of the Castle. The Americans really want to hold the Castle, and since the French and Americans are still at war, the French assumed the Americans would attack the French on their own turn, in an attempt to break the French line and help out their comrades against the Spanish.

As a result, the French felt that they needed to attack! It was a preemptive strike, designed to knock the Americans off their guard and deny American help against the Spanish, who are fast becoming a solid French ally. I told you the game had become very complex, and this turn is really showing it! 

Here the Monaque hits the Sioux and shoots American infantry off the Castle ramparts. The Ville de Paris has set the Pequod ablaze. However, this was just the beginning of French combat operations on their turn….

As you now see more ships get in action! After MANY turns of just sitting within shooting distance of each other, the French and American lines of battle west of The Flat are finally forced into contact with each other. The Hercule dismasted the Buffalo, while the Gaule set the Yankee aflame and the Mont Blanc flotilla damaged the Paul Revere. However, this picture was purposely taken before the devastating Le Superbe was given an action, to show the various ship-to-ship battles starting up.

Blam! The Superbe gets a sac action courtesy of Capitaine Arathiel and a member of his “buffet” (an oarsman of course). She moves south and then north, toppling a handful of masts. The damage she does includes a mast from USS Albany, a ship that is not in range of any other French ship yet but was hit by the Superbe’s L-range guns with the use of her ability to shoot through other ships. The Neptune and Martinique are last to shoot here, with the Paul Revere dismasted by the latter. The Hancock, Peacock, and Aaron Burr all take damage as well.

At long last, some of the powerful French 5 masters show their full strength! This renewal of war has left the American squadron in bad shape, but the Americans have both resiliency and one of the biggest fleets in the game. Here you can see how devastating the attack was:

With new knowledge that the Pirates were behind the Cursed attack at the Harbor, the French break the alliance and attack the Pirates!!!! The 6 Pirate gunships who arrived this very turn to recruit French help against the Americans are viciously attacked by the vengeful French!! The Pride is the only ship lucky enough to escape damage.

Lenoir himself joins the fray! Amiral Louis Cartier and Jordan Dumas of the Delacroix join him for more 5 masted French firepower!! The Delight, Ballista, Centurion and Obago lose two masts each, meaning they’ve each been hit at least 4 times on this turn, showing the accuracy of French gunnery this turn, now driven by anger and vengeance. At the bottom, the Conquerant got her EA to circle around the Spanish ships and double back to unleash her firepower (literally!) at the Obago!!

The flamestrike cannon ignites the Obago!

Total chaos at the Harbor!! O_O

The French begin recovery efforts while fighting the Cursed at the same time. The French had a mixed bag of results in this eastern battle, with most ships going something like 0/4 or 2/2 on the same average cannon ranks. The Nightmare was particularly hard-hit, sustaining two blazes as French ships surrounded the ghostly 4 master. At the upper left, the Grand Vainqueur has moved to an adjacent dock for repairs since the destroyed dock is no longer considered a dock for launching and repairing purposes. The dock is partially sinking, so the Afrique loads the lone artillery unit left on it before it can sink or drift away. At the bottom left, the Republique has begun towing the Musarde and shoots at the Hellfire. Between the catastrophic nature of the Neptune’s Trident attack, the current Cursed ships/kraken in the Harbor itself, and a surplus of ships in general, the French have a near-impossible logjam to sort out. A few ships are heading to the back for repairs, but that leaves the newer gunships with no space to sail out.

Just outside the Harbor walls, the French have some trouble connecting on their shots. The Baionnette and Bonne Chance went a combined 1/6 or 0/6 to leave the Juggernaut with all 4 masts still standing. However, the Demon Gate, Cyclops and Silver Coffin all sustained damage. With the help of some stuck gold runners, the French have surrounded the Cursed at their whirlpool entrance location.

On the other side of the whirlpool, the French do reasonable damage. The Cursed are horribly outnumbered, and with war brewing again near the Roost, it’s unlikely any reinforcements will come as planned.

The whole Harbor situation. The Cursed have dealt a serious blow, but a numbers disadvantage could mean a French victory.

With the flash this time. The Cursed sea creatures are still healthy, so the Cursed have some staying power in this mess of an area if they decide not to retreat.

Try to make sense of it: XD

The French are reeling but have the ships and firepower to pull themselves out of this mess:

At the far left, the Bonifacio in particular is just STUCK as a result of this mess. Her injured crew are laboring to remove huge chunks of the wooden dock off the deck of the ship, which has only one mast remaining. At the top, some of the French gunships launched last turn may take a LONG time to get out of the Harbor.

Chaos and carnage!

The French are flocking to their lighthouse island, as luxuries are currently the most valuable resource. At the right and top, the French have so many gunships available that many will not even be needed to combat the Cursed…

… which is why the French were able to send so many to attack the Pirates.

As the Obago burns, this turn allows us to see the full might of French power. They are now involved in THREE battles at once! One against the Americans west of The Flat, one against the devious Pirates, and one against the Cursed at the Harbor itself.

Here we see a very rare example of combat that somewhat follows the historical line-of-battle strategy. It almost never shows up in Pirates games, but here it was organically produced when two factions lined up gunships to defend their territory.

The French have the upper hand with the first strike, and we’ll see if they can break the American line.

Even with a much-reduced squadron, the French have plenty of firepower to defend The Flat with!

The two cheerleader ships were hardly needed, and the Soleil Royal is not in action yet:

I was sad to see the Paul Revere dismasted, but at least it was at the guns of a worthy opponent: Le Superbe is another of my favorite ships.

Looking from the west at the lines of battle:

The French are beautiful as well as powerful:

The Pequod is surrounded as American masts fall all over the battlefield:

The French situation, showing all three battles:

I thought this shot was particularly good, as you can now see the battle at the Castle as well:

Karkuda is simply a HOTSPOT of activity right now!

Finally, time for the American turn!!

The Americans strike back hard!! The Spanish flagship is nearly dismasted and a fire has broken out! At the right, the Americans can’t really get to the Santo Columba yet, but the loss of the Santa Ana could prove disastrous for the Spanish.

Just to the south, the Corazon Dorado suffers a similar fate! No less than five different American gunships gang up to blast the ship to pieces. 7 hits are scored, with just one more needed to dismast the ship. However, the firepot landed by the Sea Serpent may do that on its own.

The Americans do what they can against the French, and it’s surprisingly effective! THREE French 5 masters have been set on fire! The Neptune, Monaque, and Ville de Paris are all in trouble from the flames.

The Congress used her first action to tow the Buffalo out of her way and knock a mast off the Hercule. She was later given Preble’s AA (a good turn for it!) to knock another mast off. The northern/middle part of the American line was too shattered to put up much of a fight, with the Yankee going 0/2 and the Paul Revere rowing away at S+S. Notice the damage marker on the Superbe’s quarterdeck though – the American artillery cannon stationed at the lumber island shot and hit for the first time!

At the heart of the spirited American resistance! The Hancock and Peacock team up to set the Neptune aflame, while the Sioux and Overton do the same to the Monaque. The Pequod really proved her worth, using a musketeer and cannoneer to hit enough shots to not only get through the Ville de Paris’ defensive ability, but land a firepot as well!

The Albany had the opposite day at the cannons, as her fire shot backfired to set her aflame. 

From the American artillery on top of the Castle looking northwest:

Of course, this view should probably be obscured by the gunsmoke and the smoke rising from the burning ships!

As impressive as the French line of capital ships is, the Americans managed to put a dent in it with their counterattack.

The hottest part of the fight!

The Americans continue their logistics near the long-running southwestern battle. Out of range and with the SCS James Madison proving to be a surprisingly valuable multipurpose ship, the Speedy Return leaves the area. She will head for the Castle to repair, but between the Spanish incursion and the massive width of the Double Catamaran ship type, she may be out of luck for now. Speaking of the Spanish, the Enterprise is headed there since the Pirate battle is too crowded and the Americans will likely win that one. At the lower left, the James Madison dismasts the Freedom with the help of the Hannah being within S. The Vermont has taken up towing duty of the Georgetown, while the Hornet and Mohican are leaving the Castle to assist against the Spanish. The Atlanta and Bartlett have dropped off their army units and now have nothing to do. For now they will guard the southern approach to the Castle (probably a good idea with how crazy the game is getting and how aggressive the French and Spanish are lol) and likely receive captains when the Americans launch again.

The Satisfaction has been dismasted and captured, though many American gunships (especially in the middle of this picture) are unable to be given move or shoot actions as a result of the close-quarters action.

The Americans deal severe damage to the Bruja, Thirty Tyrants and Jaguar’s Spirit. The Bonny Kate was captured but has already been chain-towed nearly out of the picture.

The Fly and Shark team up to dismast the Full Moon, as the Pirates are denied getting a foothold even in the far southwest area by Luck Island.

Here you can see the Bonny Kate along with some other captured Pirate ships.

The Philadelphia warped home the Lucky Seven, while the Lenox, Montezuma, and Springfield finish or start repairs. The Concordia may leave the area to join one of the other battles, either against the French or Spanish. At the top, some American cargo ships head north for metals as their lumber island near The Flat is now not only less valuable, but also in trouble from the French.

But Commodore Preble has something to say about that! He pilots the President east, and is joined by two other nice 4 masted schooners, the Saratoga and Hudson.

The French may have gained the upper hand by striking first, but American reinforcements are on the way!

That is about all for the developments on this epic Turn 69, but I took some more pictures just to fully document the destruction.

To recap:

Two Spanish ships have been set aflame, while the Castle itself has been damaged and burns a bit:

The ultra-powerful squadron of French 5 masters did huge damage to the American line of battle, but American gunnery has made some of those French capital ships finally seem mortal with no less than three separate firepot hits:

The Pirate-American battle is still the largest in the game by the number of ships involved, with carnage stretching from the southwestern tip of the Castle to the southwesternmost point in Karkuda:

The Americans are certainly winning but the Pirates certainly aren’t giving up!

Naturally I did forget to mention something else that happened: the Louisiana succeeded at destroying another reef! This makes passage from the American HI to the Castle (and vice-versa) easier. At the right, notice the Intrepid and Franklin heading towards the battle against the French. The French aren’t the only faction capable of sustaining three separate battles at once….

At the southwestern whirlpool, it just so happens that the masts have been falling on top of each other for many turns now, to the point where that pile in the middle is about 5 masts high. O_O You can almost see the gunners on the decks of the Ark Royal and Thirty Tyrants trading Broadsides Attacks:

Shattered timber, shredded sails, and slain sailors now characterize Command the Oceans:

Total carnage, with dozens of masts littering the battlefield:

The Sea of Karkuda, with all FIVE simultaneous battles visible:

I got these next few shots by sitting back from the game a bit and zooming in. I like that you can see a lot of what’s happening, but it’s at a nice angle in between the closeups and high-altitude shots.

This one gives a nice view of the Mercenary activities and the Spanish battle, with all three French battles still visible in the background:

The southwestern corner of Karkuda, with a forest of chaos in the densest portion. The Chesapeake takes a shortcut through the Castle but the Enterprise must go around. It will be interesting to see if the Americans can hit the French in between The Flat and the Harbor if they defeat the Spanish and go north around the Castle.

However, this might be the most stunning scene of all so far. O_O (even though you can hardly see the dock destruction!)

What on earth could happen next??

Between the possible sinkings that could occur soon and the various crew eliminations, another point count will hopefully happen quite soon, possibly on Thursday. The game is exploding to the point where it could actually decrease in size for once! XD The intense combat erupting all over the place has definitely slowed the launch pace, between trade routes getting interrupted, a Harbor invasion, and a lousy resource roll that will last for quite some time (6 more turns). The French are the only faction sitting on considerable gold reserves, but they almost literally cannot have more ships in the Harbor until they get some ships in for repairs and others out into the ocean. XD

Thanks for reading! This will likely be a rarity going forward, since I’ll be doing more frequent but shorter reports. I prefer to report on events the day they occur, and it gets a little more stressful when I hype or promise a report for one day but can’t finish it until the next. For example, the JR and Cursed faction turns occurred on Saturday (which is when I wrote that part of this report too actually), and of course it was difficult to hold back. However, from a narrative perspective it’s good to have these mega reports of epicness once in a while too. Especially for the longer reports, I may start doing full post or “chapter” titles as I did with this one. They won’t be particularly imaginative, but more for me to look back on. As you clearly know by now, I have a thing for all things epic.  I’ll try to make the titles accurate but of course they will stray the line into madness.

Well then! 18 pages in my Google doc and over 100 pictures later, I hope you enjoyed this monstrosity! What a game! 

Turn 70

(or at least, most of it)

Another round begins with a big development: the Pirates leave the Sea of Karkuda!!

Not just in the southwest, but also up north!

The Sunrise Fire ducks into a fog bank to avoid the French:

Pirate arrivals from Karkuda!

More damaged ships arrive in the southeast! Note that as the Pride returns, her crew and others bring news of the French “betrayal”, which of course was caused by the Pirates’ deal with the Cursed that began the end of the Pirate/French alliance. The news is not entirely surprising to the Pirates, but they are somewhat surprised by how quickly the Cursed betrayed their trust.

This dramatic shift in Pirate strategy has been brewing for a while now. It started with the First Battle of the American whirlpool, which the Pirates lost badly to the Americans. Then came the Second Battle of the American whirlpool, which has mostly concluded in another decisive loss. Finally, the deal with the devil backfired on the Pirates when the Cursed betrayed them a bit by telling the French about the deal. This led to the Pirate ships in northern Karkuda being decimated by nearby French gunships in yet another “whirlpool battle” they would have lost. All in all, three disastrous whirlpool “expeditions” if you will, each of them costly and bloody. With that, the Pirates have had it. They will no longer send attacking squadrons through whirlpools. They have pulled out most of their ships from the Sea of Karkuda, with the ones remaining stuck there due to being trapped or beyond help. This big shift in Pirate strategy and gameplay could have seismic effects for the duration of the game. The Americans bore the full brunt of Pirate aggression, but the English and now the French have felt quite wronged by Pirate activity as well. Captain Mission and his Pirate Admirals are sick of losing so many masts, ships, and lives to whirlpool shenanigans that never seem to have a big payoff. Therefore, they may begin favoring a complete isolationist policy. Let the other factions come to them. They will repair and rebuild, and hunker down for the long haul.

Inside the Tunnel, Pirates and mercenaries are hard at work on the ladder extending from the Celtic Fury’s mast!

Here you can start to make out what they’ve been doing:

DRILLING!! O_O

The above picture and this one were taken after temporarily removing the Tunnel from the ocean, to show it more clearly. This shot is looking at the ceiling of the Tunnel on the western side where the Pirates have begun primitive rock-blasting operations!

At the end of their turn, the Pirates spent 90 gold on 4 new gunships, including a few great ones: the Black Pearl, Diamond Strike, Ranger, and Splinter. At the upper left you can see the new Pirate strategy beginning to take effect, with many damaged ships coming home for repairs as fresh ones prepare to defend the whirlpools at all costs.

Another battle at Broken Horn Island continues! The Jikininki is dismasted, but the Jades lose the Glorious Treasure for good when she succumbs to her fires (courtesy of the Executioner, a fitting name for that Cursed gunship).

A small measure of Jade revenge! Many weeks after she was possessed by the Cursed and turned into an icewreck, the Clear Wind is finished after her iceberg was rammed by a Viking icebreaker! The Jades wanted to recapture the ship, but after seeing her demonic state for multiple battles now, they had to put an end to the weirdness. As the ice is broken, the Clear Wind sinks and many Jade Rebels have heavy hearts on this fine day. The Hrunting knocks a mast off the Sickle as the Grendel tows the Brandywine.

A broader shot showing the Corsairs’ advance and the path they’ve made for the Grendel and Brandywine:

O_O WHOA!! The Jade Rebels attack the Pirates!!!!

After the Pirates backed down from any alliance talk the Jades engaged in earlier, the Jades ignored and nearly forgot about them. However, the Cursed have worked their “magic” once more. With another large-scale JR-Cursed battle beginning, some talk between the sides could be expected. Sammy the Skull (aboard the Monkey’s Paw) has let some information spread throughout the Jade fleet. Most of it true believe it or not! XD

The Cursed have informed the Jades that the whirlpool was created only with Pirate help, which is true since Davy Jones copied Calypso. The Cursed have also told the Jades about how powerful the Pirates are (since they have the Eye), which is also (mostly) true. The Jades have become quite a powerhouse faction with their recent Corsair hires, and the Pirates have been crushed lately in their travels to the Sea of Karkuda. The Cursed did embellish how strong the Pirates currently are, and made sure to emphasize that if the Jades do not concentrate some firepower on the Pirates, the Pirates will be able to defeat a Jade Rebellion faction that will be weakened if they manage to defeat the Cursed in the long term.

Almost all the information was true, and the Jades understood that they needed to correct their tunnel vision (pun intended) and see other big threats besides the hated Cursed.

The big hit landed on the JR turn was an exploding shot by the Grand Mountain, which set the Akua Lapu aflame and killed Bonny Peel’s helmsman.

Still incredibly impressive, the Jades continue to flood the northwestern part of Allost:

The Cursed begin their turn with L-movers! Tsuro throws the Royal Louis against the shattered dock in the French Harbor, knocking another mast off the ship! The force of the movement shoves the slowly sinking dock against the Grand Vainqueur, but that ship escapes further damage.

And now it is time for the new Cursed weapon! Inspired by the success of Neptune’s Trident, the Cursed have unleashed Namazu!!

Namazu’s wave attack was not originally in range of many JR ships, so the Serpent’s Fang got close to the serpent so it could move a bit southeast. Then, Davy Jones showed his power, using the copier ability to copy Capitaine Baudouin Deleflote, the French version of Lord Mycron who is sitting on L’Argus in the French Harbor! The Guichuan’s action was given to Namazu so the monster could essentially move and then shoot as if it had a captain. However, it was no ordinary shoot action, as you can see Namazu charging up for a massive tidal wave blast!!

Previewing the path of destruction!

For the second turn in a row, the Cursed unleash a tidal wave of hatred!!

This time, seven different ships were affected:

I only took one mast off the icebreaker since she only suffered a glancing blow. However, the Jades lost 10 masts as a result of the attack, with the Brandywine nearly sunk as well. Clearly this ability is overpowered in campaign games like this one!! Adding insult to injury, Namazu only loses one segment per wave attack (unlike the Trident, which is based on how many ships are affected), so it’s even more cost-effective for the Cursed here with the ability that can be used multiple times (versus the Trident, which is removed from play after being used). As a result, I think I will house rule that wave attacks do “hit” damage rather than outright mast elimination, in which case a ship would only lose one full mast when affected (since it takes two hits to remove a mast). I may also let the Cursed roll when making a wave attack, and on a 5 or 6 (or just a 6 maybe) they get the full unedited effect like we see here. With two copiers and a reasonably healthy Namazu though, I think something needs to be done to avoid the Cursed turning a defeat into a victory with the help of just one ability that has become OP in a hurry here in CTO.

The Knight’s Errant (one of the worst ships in the game, but almost necessary here when you have borderline-unlimited points to spend) and Strix block the longships from advancing into Cursed trade routes, while the Cursed canoes will try to help out as well.

The northern Cursed wild island now produces lumber instead of textiles! In the far north, those sea monsters are submerged and in no danger from the Pirates or Jades. They will try to combat the Jades and stop their advance.

In a time of reasonable emergency, even the fog hoppers will come out to help! The Cursed value their fog hoppers VERY highly as a specialized teleportation sneak attack force, but here some of them pop out near Broken Horn Island to surprise the Jades from behind. None of the three ships got good fog exit location rolls, so the Wiglaf suffers light damage as the Hangman’s Joke simply ducks back into the fog.

Here you can see the Jades coming as close as they ever have to interrupting Cursed trade. The Fallen Angel and Whydah block the Hrothgar and Grand River, but if this thin line of Cursed defense falls, the Cursed could really be in trouble. However, up north the Nightmare is nearly back with the first haul of food, while the Divine Dragon tows the Bloody Blade.

The Grand River is pulverized by the Whydah and Executioner, suffering many hits and being set aflame! The Hades’ Realm just barely misses out on dooming the annoying Proud Tortoise (immune to L-range guns) with a firepot of her own.

The crew of the Fenrir are once again paralyzed by Fear, and the Flying Dutchman finally gets in action to start dealing some major damage.

The Sickle and Monkey’s Paw team up to dismast the Hrunting! At the right you can see how Namazu’s attack has blasted the broken iceberg into the Jade ships.

Looking east:

From way above, where you can see Shal-Bala’s nest in the lower left corner:

Another unique view, showing the Jade advance crashing into Cursed resistance. Although the actual cannon fire is only intense in the far west right now, the battle now stretches all the way across the JR-Cursed border from Broken Horn Island to the northern Cursed wild island.

The Cursed do what little damage they can in Karkuda, setting the Bonne Chance alight:

The fire aboard the Nightmare spreads as she turns ghostly to escape the chaos:

The Geographe is doomed, but Terrox’s personal victory is a hollow one for the Cursed, who had hoped to do far more damage to the French and their Harbor. As noted in the previous report, reinforcements would have come if the Jades hadn’t attacked.

The beautiful vibrant colors of the two fleets, with plenty of chaos still evident:

Continuing the theme of exiting Karkuda, the Cursed have some ships return to friendlier waters. The Banshee’s Wail and Demon Gate need extensive repairs, while Leviathan was not in range of many targets this turn and could probably be better used against the Jades, who are a far more immediate threat to the Cursed.

We move to the Caribbean factions! True to their launches that foreshadowed this event, the English arrive in the Sea of Karkuda ready to kill some Pirate scum!!!

Eight English gunships are now near the Pirate Kingdom, in an area where the Pirates have not yet been threatened!! O_O Weirdly enough, it comes at a time when the Pirates are having lots of ships come home from the war effort against the Americans. That timing could prove convenient since they should now have more firepower with which to defend their territory against the English.

To be completely honest, the English have been getting slightly bored with how things have turned out. Their old rival, the Spanish, have a fervent desire to retake the Castle, leaving the English without much of a combative enemy in the Caribbean. They have declared war on the Pirates, and will pursue that for now.

The English are sticking around in Karkuda to finish off some Pirate gunships. The Black Cat used smokepot shot to save herself and the Freedom, at least temporarily.

The Spanish pull off what you could call a “miracle turn”! The Corazon Dorado put out her fire, got her SAT and hit a shot before ducking into a fog bank. The Santa Ana did the same with her EA ability and hit a shot as well. The Spanish rolled around five 5’s or 6’s in a row! The Santo Columba didn’t do quite as well, but managed to set the United States on fire.

The Granada was the only Spanish ship to shoot poorly, but the York is doomed and the Asesino hit 2/2. Her second shot set the Kentucky alight and eliminated a cargo!

Overall the Americans are far stronger than the Spanish, but the Spanish are putting up quite a fight in this secluded theater of Karkuda!

As shown last turn, 5 more Spanish gunships head south towards the Castle:

The Cursed named crew Wraith has been possessing crew with his ability for a while now. His latest includes the firepot specialist from the Kentucky, and lately he’s been very successful rolling 6’s. Here you can see the stack of possessed crew, who now number around a dozen I believe. For the next point count I plan to count how many crew there are and include the costs in the Cursed fleet point total. Soul Crusher indeed!

The Karkuda factions!

Taking a calculated risk, Nemo surfaces the Nautilus to load food from the French wild island! Other submarines come to his aid and scatter to distract the French.

However, the French start their turn by attacking! Finally able to shoot at one of the subs, the French try to exact payback for Nemo’s deception earlier in the game. Incredibly, the Bourbon and Voleur team up to hit 5/6! This takes out part of the sub’s hull:

The French clean up against the Cursed:

Courtesy of the Felicite, the Nightmare loses her final mast to fire! A rarity in Pirates CSG, where a large ship is completely aflame. There have probably been others in my games since then, but the only other one I distinctly remember is the Paul Revere from Economy Edition.

The Hellfire and Juggernaut still have masts standing, but the Cursed are facing the last portion of a major defeat. Of course, they caused incredible havoc in the process. XD

Part of the logistics at the Harbor involved just towing and re-towing some ships, in order to start clearing a path at the western edge of the Harbor mouth.

The French fire at the Americans, though it’s not as effective as the first strike:

The Neptune docks at The Flat to extinguish her flames.

The Yankee is doomed, and Le Superbe blasts away the American infantry and artillery units on the lumber island.

The Peacock, Hancock, and Pequod are all dismasted!

The Monaque cannot escape yet since the Aaron Burr is blocking her, but at least her fire doesn’t spread.

The Ville de Paris not only eliminated her fire mast, but set the Hancock alight as well!

Perhaps one of the most realistic shots yet, showing the general French dominance:

Having crushed the Pirates and forced them to go back home, the French now have a bunch of gunships to reinforce their positions with. As if they needed them! XD 4 are headed west towards the northern part of the American battle, while 6 more head south.

Even more interesting: French gunships head for the Castle battle! Now that the Cursed and Pirates have largely been taken care of (both “false emergencies” to some degree, though the effects of the Cursed attack will be felt for many more turns), the French can afford to throw gunships at various tasks they had previously been putting off. This includes the Spanish fight against the Americans. With the French already engaged in another bloody battle against the Americans north of the Castle, it’s only natural that they would also send some of their surplus gunships to help out their Spanish allies on the eastern side. The Montreal, Dame Riante and Marie Antoinette look to be the first French ships on the scene, with the larger La Gaule and Delacroix lurking as well.

Here are a few more shots of the turns in Karkuda, with lower angles that I thought looked great:

At the end of their turn the French spent all of their 176 gold! This netted them 9 additional gunships, with Pierre Aronnax stationed at the Harbor for now. He will await pickup by a large gunship if the Mercenary threat increases. The Rocher Noir also has the sub-hunting ability, so the French are not holding back when it comes to containing the threat posed by Nemo and his goons.

As usual the ships are equipped with generally optimal crew complements, with the cargo holds almost always maxed out. With crazy amounts of points to spend, it’s nice to actually have a lot of high-powered support gunships instead of the usual 5 mast budget warship (and often nothing else) used in a standard game. These ships are ready for war!

All of the ships were launched at The Flat, with 6 at the southern end and the three 3 masters at the northern end. The American faction is usually the faction where I provide the most in-depth strategy analysis and vision, but I’d like to do that with more factions if I have time during the writing of these reports. Here the French are launching at The Flat because the Harbor is still very crowded and does not need more ships. They also launched at The Flat due to the Castle being a current hotspot of activity. The gunships launched at the southern end of The Flat should inject immediate life into the fight against America. The Spanish are overjoyed to have such a powerful ally, though they hope the French will come through on their current promise to help out at the Battle for the Castle, which by now is definitely an appropriate term!

I believe this shows all French ships in play, as the Sea of Karkuda is just teeming with them at this point. XD

I have some (mostly) great news! There is about a 99% chance that the game will be played after the Thanksgiving weekend concludes, allowing me to play into December and likely conclude the game a week or less before Christmas. I say mostly because I didn’t expect or want this game to take so long, but obviously it has ballooned to an unmanageable size and taken on a life of its own. However, at this point it is my greatest creation in the world of Pirates CSG, and certainly needs a proper ending.