2017)

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Ben

This is a picture-centric report, as I try to take more closeups and my time playing this epic game slowly comes to a close. Again, enjoy it while it lasts haha.

Jade Rebellion vs. the Cursed:

The Nubian Prince manages to eliminate two masts from the Loki’s Revenge and capture the ship’s captain!

Devastation. Desperation.

THE BAOCHUAN!!

At long last, the flagship of the Jade Rebellion is here! The Jades spent all of their 108 gold on what will likely be their final three ships launched.

Almost forced to call upon Mercenary help at this point, the Forward and Revolution give them a rare chance to field regular square-rigged ships.

Ships in various states of disrepair sail out, unable to repair due to the shortage of resources, lumber, and manpower in the area.

The Baochuan has a maxed out complement of crew, while the Forward carries the first canceller the Jades have possessed in this game.

The Cursed use Tsuro to move the Black Pearl onto a reef! This is the first direct Cursed vs. Pirate conflict in this game! Perhaps a sign of things to come?

Cleanup efforts. The Cursed reiterate how dominant they’ve become in the far west around Broken Horn Island, sinking various BC and Jade ships.

A theme we’ll get used to on this turn, with damaged ships sailing out to do battle.

With the change in combat rules, the ocean is becoming less crowded and lively, with a “no man’s land” starting to develop in an area that was hotly contested not long ago.

From the last few pictures you may have noticed additional ships in play…

Yes indeed…

THE DELUSION!!

The Skin Flayer gives the Cursed a very devastating new weapon, while the Crocodile is their other last 4+ masted ship to launch.

The Guinee cancelled the Nubian Prince’s ability, and she was sunk by a trio of Cursed ships.

THE SPAWN OF SHAL-BALA!!!!!!!! ANGELICA IS HERE!!!!!!!!

After regenerating for two turns, Shal-Bala has returned to full health! The creature has mated and now has an offspring! XD Angelica will be Cursed for this game, giving them TWO sea dragons at the Roost!!!

The full Cursed launch, where they spent all of their 297 gold at once.

Did you think that was it?? Not quite!! Unable to carry out further repairs, El Fantasma gave the Divine Dragon his SAT and steered the ship towards the whirlpool created by Calypso. Using the Eye to find his way, Fantasma ended up in the Caribbean!! Words have already been exchanged, and the Cursed are recruiting the English to help fight the Pirates!!!! O_O With Davy Jones still able to copy Calypso (he did this turn but both rolls were 2’s; DJ has temporarily been transferred to the Fiddler’s Green for her reroll), you can immediately get some ideas about what could happen….

The graveyard for these two factions warring against each other on Turn 78. Many ships were sunk, mostly on the JR side.

Command the Oceans – December 6th Part 1 (12/6/2017)

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Ben

The report for the action of December 6th will be split into two or three parts.

The Union Jack is back in the Sea of Allost! The English are here!

After El Fantasma told them the way, the English decided to commit ships to the cause of fighting the Pirate empire in the far east. Only 5 English gunships were able to fit at the other end of the whirlpool, but more will certainly arrive soon.

The English are ready to finally get full-scale revenge on the Pirates!

Almost the entire English fleet is now flocking to the Caribbean whirlpool:

The Spanish are doing the same thing, though for a different reason of course.

At the end of their turn, the English spent all of their 140 gold to get some of their best gunships! The Titan and Endeavour will have access to cancellers and multiple actions. Ducie Chads gives the Endeavour 1L guns against the Pirates, which of course will eliminate two masts with one hit! HMS Apollo has Pirate-hating built-in, and Christopher Myngs could give that ship up to 10 shots in a turn. The Leicester is crewed to her maximum point total and cargo restrictions, ready to dole out some serious damage.

Command the Oceans – Pictures galore (12/6/2017)

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Ben

The Mercenaries have been eliminated! After sinking the Espadon, the Mercs were finished off by the French. Lucky that Nemo was even able to escape and dupe the French, the Mercenaries entered the game too late to realistically have a shot at winning. However, they made some waves by accident. XD Introducing a new custom submarine hideout that I hope to further develop after the game ends, they managed to trick the French into thinking they were still working for them. Of course, Nemo himself was duped in the end, with Eileen Brigid O’Brien taking his prized 10 master (the Celtic Fury) to the Pirates for more money and chances at glory. Shortly after this disaster the Mercs were unable to keep up the farce, and the French attacked them. The Mercs began to run out of food sourced from the nearby island pictured here, and needed to make a desperate attempt to literally stay alive. Naturally it failed against the mighty and flexible power of the French Navy, but the Mercenaries still had some impact on the game.

The Mohican is dismasted, and La Gaule emerges from the fog to go 4/5 and set the Enterprise alight!

New rule: Scuttling can occur on the same turn it is declared, and does not require a roll to be successful. Scuttling can occur even if a ship has an oarsman aboard and would not normally be considered derelict.

This is to clean up the battlefield faster, expedite things as I need to, and get useless ships out of the way so factions can fill in their holes with new ships. Since the derelicts can’t repair, ships like the Concordia and Belle of Exeter are the only dismasted ships worth keeping around.

With the new Castle expansion, the fleets have even less room to maneuver. The battle now resembles two giant floods of ships meeting and duking it out.

The Providence is dismasted:

The Constitution damaged:

Here you can start to see the problem the Americans are having. The French flood of ships is massive and has many layers. Once the Dauphin is sunk, she will be replaced by the Delacroix, Hercule, etc. As has been the case lately, the American line of defense only rests on a few ships, and once they sink, the French advance will inch closer to the American HI before another ship is put in their path.

The Paladin is sunk by the French, but this is one area where the Americans have gained the advantage now that Le Gaule is gone.

Big French gunships are literally just waiting their turn to fire broadsides into American vessels. It has been a little frustrating how crowded this area is with islands and castle structures, since there can only be so many ships involved at one time. The intense bottlenecks have moved slightly away from “the spot” and closer to the American HI.

Just hull-to-hull ships:

The giant Castle complex would be a boon for the Americans, but they do not have the naval or land power to properly support it. Most of the infantry and artillery units have been eliminated by the seemingly endless supply of fresh French firepower that is now complementing the Spanish as well.

You may have noticed the final French launch.

Nine new “gunships”, though only 2 of them could even be classified as that here. (Breton and Danae) This is just about all the French can muster, as they have nearly “completed the fleet”as I call it. This means that they have every French ship from my collection in play! (other than sunken ships and one special ship) O_O

With my collection being quite large as this point, I didn’t think that this would happen in a physical campaign game. However, the French fleet is incredibly impressive in this game and they have pulled off the near-impossible! Smile

(The Flat has run out of textiles, that is my mistake)

What’s impressive to me about this battle is that I almost cannot depict the entire scale of it in one picture. Between how far it stretches and the various islands and structures in the way, it’s tough to even show the full battle at once.

Suddenly the French round the western edge of the big wild island in the northwest corner, with Le Bonaparte sinking the Wasp!

Finally! The Enterprise is fully in action! She had a remarkable entrance to the battle, getting her EA, extinguishing her fire mast, and then going 6/6 to sink La Gaule!!

The Americans do some damage in the main battle area, especially with firepots.

The Toussaint and Auguste are sunk, leaving the Americans in solid control at this bottleneck. However, some French gunships that cannot repair are heading to plug the area back up.

The captured Charlemagne (with all masts standing, as I cannot feasibly get her masts out from underneath the carnage near The Flat) is ready to fight her old allies, setting fire to the Bonaparte!

USS Vermont is one of the little-known ships in this game, and not particularly noteworthy. However, on this turn her firepot specialist and fire shot both connected, turning the Scipion from a relatively healthy ship to a blazing inferno.

The Ghost Walker has set the Courageux aflame, and the French will scuttle her quickly next turn. Clearly the battle is being fought at extremely close quarters.

After Lenoir cancelled the captain of the Grampus, the Xiamen’s Claws set the Dauphin Royal on fire. The Providence has been scuttled, and the Gruesome sank the SCS version of the Coeur de Lion.

Looking between the two castle walls at an unprecedented sight. Ships sail over a dense layer of masts, sails, and debris. The smoke of the guns mixes with the fires that now burn aboard French ships. Hell has been found.

It is clear that whoever manages to survive this mess will be in bad shape.

The French do still have plenty of healthy ships that can eventually enter the battle, while the Americans are struggling to back up their front lines with comparable forces.

However, some American gunships are sailing out from the home island. At the right is an impressive trio that will boost American morale on the battlefield: Preble himself has gotten the President fully repaired, while the Kettering still has EA and cancelling available. The Thomas Jefferson has cancelling as well, with a superb armament to boot. At the left, the Jarvis and Full Moon head north to support the Charlemagne and make sure the French ships coming around the island cannot reach the American HI.

Various ships flock to the battle areas:

The Americans do a final launch with 163 gold. Similar to the French, they are almost out of ships to use! Here you can see the desperation, with even the Dark Fox and Annapolis serving in the line of duty.

Some of the ships were launched at the Castle:

The others at the home island, which was fortified with additional army units.

A turn after expanding the Castle, the Americans have now built a bridge to connect the two areas!!!!

O_O

The Americans spent 10 gold on the wooden bridge, as it shares the same characteristics as the docks of the French Harbor.

The Castle has become a monstrosity and has arguably eclipsed the Harbor as the most noticeable feature in the Sea of Karkuda:

American infantry have another great place from which to fire their muskets, and now the Americans can move things resources and troops from one side of the Castle to the other. (not that they have many of either)

What a scene!

When the game started 3 months ago, it was utterly unthinkable that such a situation could develop. The Castle was undiscovered, having sat uninhabited for many years after the Spanish were forced to abandon it. Now two powerful factions are fighting one of the biggest battles ever!

Someday I would love to play a game where armies battle across castle ramparts….

The Castle extension with bridge will hamper the French advance:

It was tough to get clear shots at some of these difficult angles.

Now for some neat views of Karkuda. I took a LOT of extra pictures at the end of this turn, some of which may be revealed after the game ends.

USS Appalachian:

The full breadth of the engagement, from the Bonaparte in the northwest corner to the Epee in the far south.

There are still French ships leaving the Harbor:

With no way to repair, the crippled Spanish ships simply join the French and head back to the Castle:

Wow… one of my favorite pictures so far. I didn’t even see this one when I did it since I was taking pictures so rapidly, but I love how the color came out. Not just the ships, but the water too. This would be fun to show someone who hasn’t read about this game, since it would lead to so many questions. XD I like how the lighthouse and hideout are just visible enough to be curious about them, while the true size of the Castle is somewhat hidden by the low angle of the shot.

One of my favorite pictures of The Flat, also showing the new Castle bridge and Rossinaz’s nice island in the distance.

The chaotic battle now just resembles a forest of masts, with raging smoke present at intervals.

Truly a war for the ages:

Some rare views out of the north:

The Castle obscures most of the main battle:

Tons of ships went to the depths today. The rule changes have sped the game up to a pace where I may actually be able to end it properly, with the last fleet afloat being declared the winner.

Turn 79 begins

The Pirates continue moving troops and supplies around the Tunnel!

… where could those infantry be going?

The Madagascar and Otter (members of the former whirlpool squadron) carry additional army units to the Tunnel, and artillery cannons are being hoisted to the top!

The Pirates are beginning to fortify not just the top of the Tunnel, but inside it as well….

Unfortunately for the Pirates, the Black Pearl lost two more masts coming back over the reef. They may even transfer Tia Dalma to a new ship since the BP can’t repair.

The Pirates are more than ready to defend their home waters. XD

I forgot to show this off last time.

The troops have a nice view looking southeast towards the gold island.

You can just make out the ladder leading down to the Madagascar:

A long-term plan comes to fruition! The Pirates have thought about building a fort at the edge of the kingdom island itself, and now the Devil’s Maw is constructed.

The fort serves as an ideal place to station a garrison:

If you’ve seen the kingdom at all in this game, you could easily surmise that the ledge would be a perfect fort location.

The Eagle and others sail out and prepare for battle. Fort in the foreground, lighthouse in the background:

The Jade Rebellion sails out to do battle with a faction other than the Cursed!

Incredibly, the Cursed-JR War may be nearly at an end. After 4 full-scale battles and numerous other skirmishes, the Cursed now have a larger fleet than the Jades. The lack of good Corsair gunships, devastating strikes by Namazu, and the regular combat rules leading to a lot of sinkings has combined to doom the Jade fleet for the long term. They have been whittled down for a while, and have seen a LOT of ships sunk in the past couple turns. It is sad to see their once-great fleet reduced to a far more normal level.

The Sea Duck engages the Banshee’s Wail:

The Cursed sea monsters in the north have been eliminated or badly injured. In a perfect example of this attritional struggle, just as the final Cursed defences are falling in the north, the Jades have finally run out of fresh ships to send into the area.

The greatest concentration of firepower the Jades can muster. A shell of their former selves, the Jade Rebels have finally understood why the Cursed have been trying to emphasize the Pirates for so long. If the Jades continue to fight the Cursed, they will grind themselves into oblivion. By trying to take out the best faction in play, the Jades will at least give themselves a chance in case some of their ships can survive. Jade ships are now heading for the Tunnel.

Cursed on the move! New and old Cursed ships sail forward, heading east almost universally.

Terrox surrounds the Sea Duck!

Fantasma got his SAT to come back through the whirlpool and start heading for the Pirates. The Dark Pact picks up the last gold coins from Broken Horn Island, which are the final source of money to be loaded in the game.

A handful of Corsair ships were sunk this turn, with the Cursed firing upon anything in their path.

Sailing over the wreckage of the biggest battle of the JR-Cursed War, healthy ships and derelicts alike move east.

I feel the need to explicitly state that no alliances have been made to fight the Pirates. The Cursed and the Jades are still at war. The English are not allied with either. It is simply the three of them realizing that the Pirates need to be hampered to prevent them from running away with the game.

Despite the rushed ending, I hope you’ve been enjoying the action lately! Feel free to give your thoughts on any of it, or a few questions:

-Have your winner/ranking preferences changed at all?
-Do you think the Pirates can be defeated?

Command the Oceans – Fast and Furious until the end! (12/9/2017)

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Ben

The action continues

As I play the final part of the game, it is mostly just a giant deathmatch at this point. Too many ships and crew are being lost on a per-turn basis for me to have time to keep track and report on all of it. This is just a warning to expect very picture-heavy reports going forward, as strategic explanations are sadly a thing of the past for the most part. However, I am trying to take a lot of pictures to fully document the record-breaking carnage and enormity of the warfare that is currently taking place. In addition, there are some new developments in this report and there will be some in the last handful of reports as well!

More English ships arrive in the Sea of Allost!

Others will arrive soon:

In a cool irony, this shows the Sea of Allost in the distance to the right, with Broken Horn Island and a few English ships visible.

The French blast away at the Americans! The Conquerant and Superbe are back in action.

The Bonaparte and Descharges manage to sink the Charlemagne, getting some measure of vengeance after the Americans captured the French capital ship!

At the main battlefield, the French continue to push and push.

Various French ships are making their way northwest to assist in that area of the battle where the French aren’t as strong. The recently launched ships join the back of the gunship assembly line and will wait their turn to enter combat.

The Speedy Return gets smashed by cannonballs:

The French have some burning issues aboard their ships, and both of these infernos would sink on their next turn.

The Ghost Walker is dismasted, with the Grampus sunk:

The flood of healthy French ships seemingly never ends:

However, a few French ships will not be partaking in the war, at least not yet. The Belle Etoile and Dijon have gathered up some infantry that were stationed on wild islands, and will take them back to the Harbor. The Voleur will join them at home. The French want at least a few ships on guard at the Harbor just in case they have to make a last stand where the bulk of their land-based firepower is.

The situation from far above:

With Deleflote’s action, the Grand Vainqueur managed to sink the Ghost Walker and dismast the Constitution!

Featuring USS Appalachian under the bridge:

The Americans start their turn, sinking the Lepanto and dooming the Acorazado.

Just like the French but in lesser quantities, almost all American ships are headed for the battle.

The Appalachian’s fire shot backfired, but the Xiamen’s Claws set the GV aflame.

Lenoir’s flagship is in serious trouble, burning with just two masts standing:

The Conquerant is sunk and the Superbe crippled:

At the left, the Full Moon and Jarvis have teamed up to sink the Bonaparte.

I’ve been greatly enjoying these views from under the bridge, as it gives a new dynamic to the shots.

Turn 80!

The Pirates didn’t walk all the way to the western end of the Tunnel for nothing!!! They have resumed rock-blasting operations, but this time on TOP of the Tunnel! O_O

First it was to get to the top, and now…. ??

Without such an abundance of units, the Pirates wouldn’t have the manpower to pull off such an endeavor.

The Otter is underneath the long ladder leading up to the eastern edge of the Tunnel, and infantry climb to the top!

You may have noticed that the Celtic Fury turned around! The second 2L ladder is now hung from the opening in the ceiling, and stretches down to sea level!!

It’s truly impressive what the Pirates have accomplished in this game.

There are now 3 artillery units atop the Tunnel, with additional infantry arriving this very turn.

Of course, the land forces pale in comparison to the greatest fleet ever assembled…. O_O

Whom dare enter Mission’s Kingdom?!?

Anyone who tries will be met with certain death.

But not without a good fight first!! The Jade Rebellion declares war on the Pirates!!!!

The Floating Stone and Kalaallit team up to dismast the Executioner:

The Jades are sending what ships they can muster towards the small Pirate force guarding the southern barrier reef.

The other ships are still heading for the Tunnel, which is starting to look like a bottleneck that could rival the Castle in terms of sheer intensity of broadsides.

The East Wind finished off the Poor Adams, but this area looks oddly barren after so many spirited JR-Cursed battles.

The Cursed declare war on the Pirates!!!! The Soul Crusher finally gets into action after guarding the northern Cursed wild island almost exclusively.

I wanted to capture the last moment of the Bey’s Revenge, just due to the mast and tentacle lying on her deck. XD

The dragon is unleashed!! SHAL-BALA USES FLAMETHROWER!!!!

LOL!

More from the dragon’s perspective this time. Davy Jones (now aboard the Fiddler’s Green at the Roost) copied Deleflote to give Shal-Bala an extra action so it could move and then “shoot”.

This is a more realistic take on the actual attack:

The fire attack works similar to Namazu: This ability can only be used once this sea dragon completes a successful swoop attack. Give this sea dragon a shoot action. A blast of fire S wide and 2L long leaves the dragon from the direction the snout is facing. Roll a d6 for every ship in the path of the blaze. The result is the number of fire masts placed on the ship. This ability cannot be used on consecutive turns.

Devastation is unleashed!!

O_O

The Cursed rolled quite well for the attack, with 5’s on the Pandora and Fool’s Gold.

Even a 2 for the Black Heart and 3 for the Foresight has those ships crippled and possibly doomed for good:

Shal-Bala surveys the damage. This was a premeditated attack, planned from much earlier in the game after Devereaux did some research on ancient dragons summoned by Cursed hordes. Shal-Bala’s successful swoop attack on the Sea Tiger made the dragon more confident in its abilities, as well as the human flesh and blood used to mix the fiery concoction in the beast’s belly. O_O

An ominous sight: Angelica has flown out from the nest for the first time! She may be eyeing the Sea Snake for a possible swoop attack!!

Terrox sweeps tentacles across the decks of the Sea Duck, showing that JR-Cursed hostilities will continue despite the massive Pirate threat.

Actually using a kraken in a game! XD

Unlike the French in Karkuda, most of the Cursed firepower is aboard Cursed ships farther from the front lines. This initial Cursed attack against the Pirates is just the beginning!

… there we go… the Cursed are certainly not capable of defeating the Pirates in a straight fight, but between Jade intervention and the eventual arrival of the English at the battlefield, the Pirates will be hard-pressed to resist the triple threat.

Unfortunately, some of the Cursed gunships are so damaged as to be almost irrelevant to the war effort. Unrelenting tension with the Jades will not help that fact.

Without Devereaux and either dragon, the Roost is desolate compared to its normal state.

The Pirates hold a very strong position: they have defensive lines from the south of the sea to the north, and not only control the waters of the Tunnel, but the top of it as well!

Shal-Bala’s sudden strike from behind Pirate lines has given new hope to the Cursed:

An armada is coming to the Pirates, even though it may be a disjointed one….

But of course, the Pirates are ready!

One of my favorite angles so far in the game:

Just awesome! Smile

Here you can see the respective sides entering the opposite ends of the Tunnel:

The rare, occasional, and tough-to-get view from the Cursed perspective:

Three 10 masters are just visible here, with a possibly unprecedented forest of masts to the left.

Total dominance of one of my favorite custom pieces ever!

The English continue to arrive in force!

9 new ships from the Caribbean:

Not quite as many will arrive next turn, but the English have a decided role to play against the Pirates. The Jades and Cursed are severely diminished, not just in terms of their fleet sizes but also with how many of their ships are too damaged to be effective warships. The English fleet may possibly have the highest percentage of fresh ships (no masts gone) in the game as of now. They also hate the Pirates more than the Jades or Cursed do, and will soon present themselves as the Pirates’ main rival (but only after the Jades and Cursed exhaust considerable efforts against the Pirates, which could make it more of a fair fight).

The Neptune wades into the fray:

The Appalachian is doomed:

Ships burn all over the battlefield, with bodies falling off islands and decks of ships:

A unique shot showing the aggressive French flood:

The badly damaged Sioux and Julius Caesar signal the near-end of American resistance coming from between the castle areas.

The Satisfaction and Bartlett are not powerful enough to take down the Tepant and Monaque:

The Enterprise strikes again, and the Americans are beginning to win the battle around Fish Island!

Turn 81

I’ll be taking some pictures with the Tunnel removed so you can see what’s happening more easily.

The Celtic Fury is in action!

The Golden Medusa has an impressive turn, pounding the Soul Crusher. Just like that, and the old ship with some of Wraith’s captures aboard is useless and about to sink.

This area of the battle is developing slowly as Cursed ships sail into the Pirate lines.

This is not something you usually see. The Pirates don’t have just a line of defense, but a large pack of ships on both sides of the reef! In some places both lines are 5 ships deep, with reinforcements arriving in the far north every turn.

The Sea of Allost without the Tunnel:

As with the previous piratical activities in the Tunnel, I wanted to show some of the progress.

The Pirates have made it all the way through!!

The Pirates have blasted their way through the end of the Tunnel!!!!

There they are! Pirate infantry standing tall above the battle below! XD

An incredible sight!!

(I love how the wall actually looks like a sky with clouds here)

A few views from near the Roost:

The Pirates are HERE!

With their giant 10 master below them:

And so, the Pirates have completed another impressive operation at the Tunnel.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! XD

The eastern end of the Tunnel is well-fortified. The scale of the army units is way too small, but some of those rocks don’t look all that big…

The Pirates approach a boulder at the opportune moment…

With enough manpower…

… anything is possible! XD

The Pirates push the boulder over the edge and crashes down to the Sea Wind unknowingly waiting below!!!! O_O

The boulder smashes right through the ship’s hull and splinters her port side!!

The Jades have lost yet another ship, though this time not to cannon fire….

The Pirates on the Tunnel celebrate their nasty handiwork:

The Sea Wind was camped out by the Tunnel in an effort to surprise the Pirates on the other side of the southern reef line, but the Pirates were the ones to get the jump on her!

A Pirates’ View:

The Pirates still have both of their giant ladders set up in the Tunnel, but now concern themselves with sending as many ships to the western end as possible.

Rarely can I get such a nice shot inside the Tunnel itself:

This one is VERY weird. These shots are very difficult to get, as I almost have to maneuver the camera into the Tunnel, trying not to knock over ships at the eastern entrance in the process. Therefore I cannot aim the shot like I can with the other ones, and it’s mostly just luck on how they come out. A lot of them get deleted due to blurriness, not having the flash show in the right spot, or just poor quality in general.

I guess that’s a ladder in the foreground that looks like a spotlight shining on the Celtic Fury. XD O_O Perhaps it’s a sign of divine intervention, that O’Brien and the CF are here to bring the Pirates to the promised land of ultimate victory. XD

The cannons atop the Tunnel are ready to fire, and one finds the range on the Forward! (bad angle to show the actual firing arc) However, it missed.

The Foresight is doomed to burn, but the Black Heart has a chance to escape Shal-Bala’s fiery wrath:

From the main masts of the Neptune’s Hoard:

The Pirates still appear very strong, and even more so now that they’ve fortified the top of the Tunnel and worked their way to create a “tunnel in a Tunnel” from which they may be able to fire down upon the invaders.

Around 46 ships were sunk in the day’s action on December 8th.

Ending this report with a few shots from the infantry perspective as darkness falls on the action:

Dark times indeed….

Setting a new record for pictures in one battle report… (12/12/2017)

Posted on November 21, 2018March 18, 2024 by Ben

Setting a new record for pictures in one battle report…

Command the Oceans – 12/12/2017

The War for Allost is officially underway!! The Pride, Feathered Hat, and Panda lose masts, though the Merc ships lose two masts each to the reefs.

Setting a new record for pictures in one battle report... (12/12/2017)

At the left, various Corsair ships with no chance of affecting the battle are deliberately wrecking themselves on reefs to make it harder for the Pirates to get at the Jade home island. However, this strategy may backfire since the Pirates haven’t shown any inclination to sail out of their home waters.

The combination of Jade ships sinks the Victoire!

The crew of the Grendel hate the Cursed, and the Cursed have damaged the vessel multiple times in this game. Showing the bad blood between these two factions that just won’t dissipate, the Grendel sets fire to the Sickle, essentially sinking her!

Angelica swoops on the Sea Snake!! The attack is successful, which means that Angelica has gained the proper experience and flesh with which to use fire breathing attacks! O_O

Between the Sea Wind and recently wrecked galleys, shipwrecks are beginning to litter this area of the sea.

The Cursed press their attack! The Kirbac is sunk. The Fathom somehow goes 3/3 against the Golden Medusa without even needing her ability!

At the top of this photo you can see some of the more powerful Cursed ships approaching the battlefield. Namazu is submerged but has emerged from the fog.

The general advance. At the bottom right, the Cursed sabotage the Jades by firing upon those ships waiting their turn at the Tunnel battle.

The Cursed surge east, with powerful Royal Navy warships continuing to arrive in the background….

For indeed, the Endeavour and Leicester are here!

The continued exodus from the Caribbean:

It’s mostly French vs. Americans at the eastern part of the Castle. The Enterprise has been sunk!

The French inch closer with their numbers advantage:

One of my favorite pictures yet, showing the carnage near “the spot” from mast level. Ships literally just sailing over piles of masts. XD

The Delacroix and Monaque loom:

The final French gunships have left the Harbor, while the Frontier has dropped off (possibly the last) army units at the Castle.

L’Aube sinks as USS Mercury gets into action:

Almost from the infantry perspective, looking down at the French onslaught:

It’s a Battle of the Heroes! Amiral Louis Cartier and Jordan Dumas fight Commodore Preble himself in an epic clash!!

The Delacroix and President have been two of the most effective ships in their respective fleets, but only one will prevail in this showdown:

The Neptune is sunk and the Superbe is doomed to fire!

At the right you can see the trio of American ships providing a morale boost: the President, Kettering, and Thomas Jefferson are about the best ships they have left.

I think this will become one of my favorite shots from ANY game:

It is interesting that the Zanzibar and Tombstone have turned around; perhaps the Americans have given up that passageway under the bridge?

The ships sunk during the turn:

Turn 82

THE PIRATES HAVE BUILT A PARTIAL FORT ATOP THE TUNNEL!!!!!

This is a modified fort with just one wall of cannons since the Pirates cannot fit more walls facing the ocean. The two cannons are rank-3 but have a range of L+L or even L+L+L, similar to the Diamond Rock situation.

A barrage of musket fire from the top would be cool enough, but now there are actual cannons facing west!!

Tunnel on a Tunnel: XD

There are five infantry units stationed in the fort now, and they now have protection from the fort walls.

An incredible feat of engineering and persistence. Now it’s obvious why the Pirates had brought up some fort supplies from the main ladder.

Truly a Pirate stronghold:

I seem to notice a new absence of ships around the Harbinger…

The Harbinger sacced for a second action, and sank FOUR ships by herself! O_O (9/10 shooting I think, with world hater/sac crew Derrik the Red aboard)

Pirate cannons in the north aren’t nearly as effective, so the Jades took a much harder beating this turn than the Cursed.

Welp, there go the two Merc 4 masters! The Pride (successful BA) and Feathered Hat did most of the damage.

An inevitable clash may be obvious…

… three 10 masters in this picture….

It’s happening!! A 10 master duel!!

The Baochuan goes 6 for 10!

Debris falls upon all the surrounding ships:

In a curious move that only helps the Pirates, the Jades continue to fire upon the Cursed. Not only will it help the Pirates, it just makes it more likely that the Cursed will return the favor on their turn. The Jades are blinded by their hatred.

The Noble Swan misses Angelica, and the Jades appear incapable of sustaining any kind of offensive against the Pirates in the south.

The Cursed take their turn. You may remember that Trees has been on this wild island for ages! I said no repairing in any way, but I think this was worth breaking the rule.

The Guichuan suddenly has all her masts up again! O_O Very Happy

The Cursed continue to advance their numbers towards the Pirate lines:

The Skin Flayer rips into the Thirty Tyrants!

It was tough to get the right angle where the blades would reflect the way I wanted them to.

The Thirty Tyrants is doomed!

Allost is very crowded as tons of ships sail to the battle areas:

The Cursed are trying to match the strength the Pirates have up north with their own strength. Along with the Skin Flayer, some of the better 3 and 4 masters in the Cursed fleet are up north. Namazu is swimming along, and now the Cursed have two healthy 10 masters!!

Throw in the Shui Xian and Baochuan, and the anti-Pirate factions have four 10 masters near the same area! The only Pirate 10 master is already hurting badly.

Didn’t expect to see the Cursed and English sailing together in this game, but the situation certainly calls for it.

Here are some nice shots I really liked. All five 10 masters in my collection.

More English ships have arrived:

Getting an intelligence report from the Cursed, the English are sending their smaller ships to the south where they will likely have to travel over reefs to reach the Pirates. The larger ships are headed to the hot actions at the Tunnel and north of it.

In a sneaky move, the Gibraltar tries to raid the Spanish HI, but there’s nothing left! The Spanish have truly packed up and gone, with the Magdalena being the final ship to leave the Caribbean next turn.

Even at the extreme southern edge of this ocean, there is considerable wreckage accumulating. The Carolina cannot sit flat in the water because of it.

The Mercury goes 2/4 against the San Cristobal in an interesting matchup.

Other than the San Cristobal and Resolucion, it’s worth noting that the Spanish are hardly engaged in the Battle for the Castle anymore. The French have largely taken over against the Americans, and in some cases, French ships have accidentally entered the action right between the Spanish and Americans, forming a wedge to protect the Spanish without intending to.

The rest of the Spanish fleet is arriving turn-by-turn at the Castle, at this point just waiting for more docking areas to open up slightly to the south so they can try to win back the Castle in a combined boarding party.

Not many American flags waving in this area:

On the French turn, the Delacroix shot a pitiful 1/6 in a double shoot action with all rank-2 cannons. O_O (she did FAR better earlier in the game) Preble took advantage by giving the President his own AA, vanquishing the ship and winning the battle! Against all odds Preble is surviving every battle he finds himself in. A true leader and brilliant admiral!

Love the color and brilliance of shots like these, with various damaged ships duking it out:

The Descharges will fall to the Jarvis and Champ, but at least 5 French ships are headed around the big island to come at the Americans from a different angle.

French ships are now free to pass underneath the bridge connecting the two Castles! Finally!

The Monaque was busy sinking the Julius Caesar:

Funny how the Castle can make the battle look so much smaller.

The Concordia sails out to fire her cannons again, with the dust and particles as a testament to how long this game has gone on for. (over 3 months now!)

Turn 83

Some pictures with the Tunnel off so you can see the battle better!

Between the Crusher, Celtic Fury, and an AA to the Revenant, the Baochuan is sunk!!

The Santa Molina is set aflame by the Accused, while the Freedom and Proud Tortoise break from the Pirate line to attack various Cursed ships.

Battles lines become blurred as the battle eventually disintegrates into a pell-mell engagement:

With the first 10 master sunk and another about to sink, this battle will clearly have no special survivors regardless of armament and durability. The cannon fire may sink everything! XD

In a slight break from Pirate policy, the Deliverance ghosts over the reefs to shoot at Jade ships in their own waters!

All the shots missed. Various ships are still entering the Tunnel

Gunners atop the Tunnel are still taking aim:

Almost impossible to keep the infantry standing up properly when I remove the Tunnel from the ocean to play the turn. They have been taking some shots against Cursed ships.

Captain Missions is like Commodore Preble: an active, lead-from-the-front admiral!

Even with their numbers and height advantage, the troops in the fort are intimidated by the Delusion:

And now the Guichuan is healthy again, just in time for the War on Pirates.

Caught in an intense crossfire, Mission cannot survive in the heat of battle!! Ironically, Warlord Cavendish (the Jade Admiral) sends him to his doom! The Grand Wind is finally being used as a warship, and makes up for quality with quantity.

The Crusher and Captain Mission are no more. Clearly a morale loss for the Pirates, but their numbers are so great and their leadership so diverse (the likes of Calico Cat, Bonny Peel, Lafitte, Swann, and others are still alive) that they should be able to carry on as normal. In fact, now the Pirates are determined to finish Mission’s legacy with a grandiose victory in the largest game of all time.

The Cursed have a very strong presence at the Tunnel and north of it, but actually penetrating Pirate territory will be very slow, and quite possibly, impossible. XD

The Grand Temple has sunk the Celtic Fury!!

Unsurprisingly, the Hades’ Realm takes some shots at the Crescent Moon:

The Cursed gang up and send the ship to her doom!

The Cursed take their turn by the Tunnel.

The Centurion falls to the Skin Flayer:

The Cursed sink the Freedom but most of their ships are still reaching the battle.

The Delusion retreats a bit, joining the Guichuan behind Cursed lines. Namazu is also still in play….

Love this view, essentially from the top edge of the Roost:

The English advance:

The two dragons have returned to the Roost as the War for Allost rages below.

Two tunnels in one:

The Royal Navy overruns Cursed territory in their quest for vengeance:

I love how the flash can bring out the sail and hull colors.

The Caribbean is now a “ghost ocean”. The Spanish have left for good, and only a handful of English ships remain.

Diamond Rock may never need to be defended… at least not in this game perhaps….

A few dark pictures as the sun sets on this day’s action. The San Cristobal goes 3/3 against the Mercury!

The final Spanish ship has arrived from the Caribbean, but there is a logjam of ships that cannot enter the battle yet.

A new record 74 ships were sunk on December 9th. O_O This brings the two-day total to 120.

Forgot to mention that the last report got my Google doc with these reports to more than 400 pages… can’t wait to submit that as a single post at BGG once the game ends…. XD O_O

12/11/2017

The Cheyenne is set aflame:

Just to show the carnage in the hottest spot of the Spanish-American battle:

Having punched a hole in the American resistance, the French are finally free to send ships under the Castle bridge and into American waters!!

A scary sight for the American troops on the Castle:

Truly a cool shot that we’ve never really seen in a game:

The Monaque burns but soldiers on:

With almost no American defenses, the French cannot be contained!

The Eagan is finally sunk, allowing the French to make progress in this part of the battle as well.

Champ will soon have some competition in the northwest….

The War for Karkuda! The Hercule has sunk the President, eliminating Commodore Preble from the game!!

USS Thomas Jefferson enters the fray and nearly kills Amiral Gaston himself! The Bourbon is in serious trouble.

However, not many American ships stand in the way of the gradual French advance:

The Danae is sunk by the Kettering, but Preble’s death could mean the end for the Americans. Diamond Nelson Turner (aboard the Thomas Jefferson) becomes their first in command.

The Americans sink the San Cristobal!

Wreckage has accumulated in this area for many turns now:

The Poison Dagger sails atop a pile of masts around 5 high! O_O

Previously their weakest area for a short time, the southern waters of the Castle are now where the American resistance is the strongest.

Curiously enough, the American infantry moved off the bridge this turn instead of shooting.

The troops jump aside despite having the crew of the Tepant at point-blank musket range:

The Americans aren’t giving up though….

THEY HAVE RIGGED THE BRIDGE WITH EXPLOSIVES!!!!

With a huge explosion heard at the French Harbor, the Americans blow up their own bridge!!

The explosion rockets all over the area, raining debris and tons of wood down on the French ships sailing below!!!!

A catastrophic collapse!!

The bridge is no more…

… but what of the ships underneath it?

The force of the blast knocked over both masts on the Martinique, and scattered various debris.

The Monaque and Saber are both dismasted by the falling rubble:

You can just see that the Tepant was also damaged, with her foremast and forecastle coming off the ship’s hull! A crazy scene, showing how desperate the Americans are:

The American troops got out of the way just in time for the blast to go off, taking down the bridge along with 3+ French ships underneath it.

There was already considerable wreckage in this area from the intense fighting…

… and this will only add to it!

The Saber’s masts were snapped off when the eastern half of the bridge swung downwards (at high speed due to the force of the blast) and crushed everything.

The few survivors of the sabotage move will have a difficult time being rescued. If you can imagine the darkness as the smoke of the burning rubble and debris, this shows one of the most devastating moments in the history of naval warfare. Masts litter the seawater, partly from the never-ending battle and partly from the sudden detonation of the bridge. Wreckage is strewn everywhere.

Unfortunately, the explosion only served to amplify the fires still burning aboard the Monaque, as fire and fresh dry wood fill the air and main deck of the ship:

The fire reaches the powder magazine and the ship explodes!!!!

The Monaque is ripped apart by the second blast!! The western half of the bridge that fell near the Monaque is blown to bits, with debris thrown high in the air!!

The force of the blast has produced a shock wave that has moved the Monaque’s shattered masts along the water. A big piece of burning bridge falls near the reef. The Martinique is forced against the base wall of the Castle, and the Versailles is taking on water. The force of the blast has combined with wood splinters and iron shards to disembowel and maim some of the American infantry stationed on a nearby rampart.

Devastation. The western half of the bridge has been completely annihilated by the upward explosion.

The Americans were ready to sink some Frenchmen with their bridge falling into the gap, but they weren’t ready for a chain reaction that went beyond their simple demolition!

From the previous pictures, you could see the Saber listing heavily to starboard. This second explosion has hastened that development, and the ship has nearly capsized. This is a sad day for France, as two of their better gunships still afloat are gone. The Saber also carried valuable sac captain Capitaine Arazure with a full crew complement to support him.

Whoah! The Tepant is knocked around and heeled over to starboard, with a fire starting!

It appears as though the northern chunk of the western half of the bridge was thrown into the Tepant when the Monaque exploded, knocking the ship sideways and setting her aflame. Up top, you can see that more American troops have perished after being knocked backwards and hit with flying debris.

The Monaque has blown up, knocking the bridge mostly off of her but onto everything else nearby. Somehow the Monaque’s mainmast has ended up inside the Castle! O_O

I kept this picture to show the speed at which things happened, but of course it is worth writing about even though this all took place in a short period of time.

The Tepant is likely doomed: water began seeping into the ship when her bow was splintered by the first explosion, and now she is on fire and taking water on her starboard side as well. To make matters worse, the bridge chunk that slammed into her is still on fire too!

Truly unprecedented:

The total damage may be less than what the Cursed did with Neptune’s Trident, but unlike that attack, this one got away from the faction that instigated it. The Americans didn’t bargain for such a mammoth event, and fires are still burning all over the place.

The Martinique will be too badly damaged to continue:

A bizarre and shocking scene:

Here you can see how the eastern half of the bridge was bent and shaped by the Monaque blowing up. That part of the bridge was pushed into the Saber, helping to tip the ship over.

Not quite as impressive from afar, but it still has an impact on the War for Karkuda.

This is where the French have been the strongest so far in this war, but the catastrophic event could put a damper on their hopes. There isn’t a way to clear the wreckage quickly, so the French will likely have to sail around the Castle on either side to continue their advance into American waters.

OH MY GOD!!! As the Monaque was sinking, another explosion ricocheted along the length of the ship and shot towards the Castle extension!! Reaching a secret American gunpowder room, the third blast reaches an immense radius!!!!

This incredible THIRD EXPLOSION blasted through the wall of the Castle, destabilizing the entire structure itself!!!

The Castle wall is ripped apart by the blast, and the falling rubble caused some of the upper portions to fall down in an avalanche of debris!

O_O

Now we know the French definitely won’t be able to pass through the two castle areas again. XD

This shocking development has hurt not just the French but the Americans as well:

The Americans have lost all but one of their 4 infantry stationed at the Castle. They had the right idea with sabotaging their ill-fated bridge, but didn’t anticipate a chain reaction triple explosion that essentially destroyed the entire surrounding area. O_O

Turn 84

Whew! With that we move back to the Sea of Allost. HMS Durham has lost 3 masts… to what?

Havana Black’s Deliverance! The Pirate captain sacced to ghost through some dismasted Jade ships, shooting at the Durham. His second action was used to ghost the Deliverance through the wall of the Tunnel, thus making the ship immune to return fire on the English turn! A true hit and run, Pirates CSG style.

With the Tunnel removed, the War for Allost is evident.

The Grand Wind is sunk, and Jade Admiral Warlord Cavendish is no more!

The Pirates teamed up to sink the Skin Flayer, whose Eternal didn’t activate due to the no repairing rule (not much point in bringing the ship back).

If I could still afford to be using the house rules for combat, these battles would be even more crowded, but now there are dozens of ships sinking every turn.

The right angle can make even the smallest ship look like a giant:

Concentrated fire from the Pirates on the Tunnel take out a mast and 3 crew from the Guinee.

Artillery gunners at the eastern end of the Tunnel blast a panel off the Noble Swan:

Almost the last hope for the Jade Rebellion, the Beowulf knocks two masts off the Revenant!

HMS Gallows:

The Cursed are up next….

Command the Oceans – Almost any faction’s game (12/14/2017)

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Ben

The Cursed finally play one of their secret weapons!

Necklace of the Sky teleports the Delusion to the Pirate gold island, behind Pirate lines!!

The Seref, Empress, and Lady Newport were sunk outright after Davy Jones copied Deleflote to give the Delusion 2 actions and 20 shots. The Revenge is doomed after a firepot hit.

The Revenant is nearly dismasted and the Sea Nymph burns:

Cursed scorpion ships enter the fray, with the Delight and others sunk.

The Guichuan is joined by the Mist Walker, Hangman’s Joke, Pestilence, and Namazu as a sort of “mini super squadron” of concentrated power. The Apollo and Shui Xian only make it even more powerful, though by accident.

The English officially get involved against the Pirates!! Seeking revenge for past losses, the English announce their entrance into the battle just as the Jades were faltering to the point of extinction. The Apollo has sunk El Dorado and the Sister’s Rage.

HMS Victoria gets some cannons in range and sinks the Revenant! With that, Calico Cat and Griffin are dead, and the Pirate trio of “super 5 masters” for this game (Harbinger, Revenant, Victoire) is no more. (though they did incredible damage when they finally saw action)

Unlike the Cursed and Jades, the Cursed and the English are actually working together quite well! Using the Eye to see what the Delusion did in the east, the Cursed informed the English of the rare opening at the southern whirlpool. HMS Lord Kettering was the first English ship on the scene, and the English are ready to get revenge at the site of that horrific loss earlier in the game!

After the LK’s shooting and the emergence of a Gibraltar flotilla towed by the Half Moon, the Dragon’s Breath and Cacao lie derelict! The Cumberland also arrives, but with just one mast and no crew left, she won’t be able to make an impact on the battle.

This strategically brilliant invasion of Pirate home waters has bolstered English morale and shows that the Cursed and English can set aside any differences they might have in order to fight a superior common enemy.

The Tunnel entrance has quite the logjam, while more English ships will gradually arrive at the battlefields for many more turns.

Pirate lines are holding strong, but they have lost a lot of ships.

An English squadron numbering 14 ships has nearly reached the reef barrier in the south, where they will try to overwhelm the Pirates stationed there. 4 damaged Cursed ships will assist them, although lately they’ve been taking aim at the final few Jade ships in the area.

Will the English leave the Caribbean for good? Commodore Owen plans to guard the HI aboard HMS Caradoc and provide AA’s, but most or all of the other English ships will head to Allost.

Progress being made at the Battle for the Castle:

When the Jaguar and Resolucion sink, they will be replaced by other Franco-Spanish ships. The FS are working together pretty well now, though there is some lingering annoyance on the French side after so many Spanish arrivals have blocked the sea routes westward for French gunships traveling that way.

The Americans sink a few French ships on their turn, with wreckage in the foreground and background. This battle is more pell-mell than any of the others right now, but there are still defined areas.

Champ wrecks the St. Denis, but can the two American sea monsters and the Jarvis hold the area against all five French ships?

The few American guns remaining in this area barely manage ANY hits on this turn. The Thomas Jefferson was sunk by a combined effort from the French.

The Kettering is sunk! With the Soleil Royal likely sinking soon, the Hercule would become the French flagship.

One of my favorite shots from this report, with the French trying to expose as much of their broadside to the weakened Americans as possible:

The carnage and horror of the Castle has resulted in most French ships steering clear of the area.

The French ships lost in the dual disaster are mostly sunk, but the Saber has not disappeared entirely yet.

The Adventurous towed the Minuteman over to sink the pesky Vercingetorix, with the southwest Castle area as deserted as it’s been since the start of play.

Finally! For the first time a whirlpool guard squadron pulls off duty. However, this is not a good thing for the Americans, as these ships run home as a “last stand” squadron. O_O

In the background, some of the French ships are askew due to sailing over such dense wreckage:

With just a slight break near the island in the bottom right, there is nearly a solid block of pure debris and wreckage from the Castle “alley” to the big island in the northwest:

The Pirates sink the Lord Kettering and take 5 masts off the Delusion!

The Pirates sink the Cursed scorpions and deal major damage overall! It was an abysmal day at the cannons for the Cursed, though the Pirates and English both shot quite well.

With the top 5 Pirate gunships gone (trio of 5 masters plus the Celtic Fury and Crusher), the Pirates now have to plug the Tunnel entrance with lesser gunships.

On the Cursed turn, Devereaux turned the Delusion ghostly and sailed her through the whirlpool! After receiving an action from Davy Jones/Deleflote, she managed to do some damage on the other side. The Meropis blocks the Accused from getting to the nearby Guichuan on the Pirate turn.

The Cursed have their two 10 masters back in one place again after the Delusion took a short detour to allow the English to invade through the southern whirlpool. However, the Delusion is on half strength, and the Cursed have nearly run out of random gunships to throw at the Pirate lines. The Mystic is set aflame as the Cursed 10 masters reunite!

The Pirates lose masts as the Jades and Cursed begin to enter the Tunnel:

The Shui Xian finally fires her cannons! Sinking two ships, she signals how much of a disadvantage the Pirates will face in the near future: the anti-Pirate factions have three 10 masters between them, while the English now have more 5 masted capital ships than the Pirates.

The Pirates will let the English and Cursed brave the reefs down south. Even though only one of the ships has more than 3 masts, the English have sent a considerable force to this area. My “dark horse” candidate to win will finally be able to flex her full might.

The Apollo takes care of the Proud Tortoise and Coleoptera:

Clearing away Pirate defenders at the Tunnel:

Finally: the Battle for the Tunnel!

Something the Pirates should be scared of. From the top right to the bottom left: HMS Endeavour, Auckland, Gibraltar flotilla, Gallows, Titan, Dauntless, Orkney, Leicester. O_O At the bottom right you can see the opposite, as the Cursed are a shell of their former selves (Flying Dutchman and Divine Dragon limping along with one mast each).

For the first time in ages, the western part of Allost is remarkably empty.

A bit of an awkward situation in the south: the Akua Lapu went from the northern whirlpool to the southern whirlpool with an SAT to shoot at the Delusion, who has now done the opposite. The English would love to strike this area more definitively, but their ships are either headed to battle already or a turn or two away from reaching the Caribbean whirlpool. For now, the Gibraltar flotillas will have to protect the support ships.

Love this view:

Looking down the Pirate line of ships heading through the Tunnel towards the battle. With rumors going around that most of their leaders have been killed in intense combat with the Cursed hordes, confidence among the Pirate sailors has hit a new low. Confirmation that the best English warships ever built are sailing straight for the battle has not helped matters in the slightest. The crews of the ships in this picture have the worst experience of all. They enter the Tunnel to cheering comrades on the nice side of the Sea of Allost, with assurances that the Pirate troops atop the Tunnel are maiming anyone who dare enter Mission’s Kingdom. However, the cheering is quickly drowned out once they get inside the Tunnel, where the sounds of cannon fire, screaming, and death fill the air and reverberate along the entire length of it. The intense and frightening darkness in the middle is currently the last peaceful thing the Pirates experience before suddenly entering one of the biggest battles ever, with ships of not one, not two, but three (at this point) different flags firing at them from all angles in a dreadful scene.

The graveyard for the day, just for the Sea of Allost. O_O

The French and Americans are running out of ships at this area of the battlefield, so the Spanish stand a reasonable chance of retaking their beloved Castle.

Chaos!

Indeed, the Spanish stand to make a tidy profit (in the final standings, not in gold) from this war, which they accidentally reignited by declaring war on the Americans and starting the Battle for the Castle.

The Eroica’s SAT played the key role in Champ’s death, though the Jarvis is surviving the assault due to her ability alone.

The French continue to just blast their way through the Americans, with only a few ships standing in the way of an actual home island attack.

Both sides are utterly exhausted, with the Hercule, Orient, and Minuteman among the only true veteran French gunships in this area. It’s truly incredible that the Soleil Royal and Crete Argentee have survived this long.

The winner of this war is inevitable, but has anybody really won here? I have been surprised by how big a toll this war has taken on the French, who may not have the strength to compete with the winner of the war in Allost even if they prevail here. However, their Spanish allies may have something to say about that….

The debris field is huge, but the actual number of ships engaged now may not number even two dozen.

The full graveyard for the day’s action, with the Pirates and Americans looking like the biggest losers.

With that, only a few days of play remain. The Pirates and French still appear to be the favorites I suppose, but things feel very NOT clear-cut at all. In bizarre fashion, the Spanish actually have a “path to victory”, although that opportunity has officially left the Jades at this point. It will be interesting to see what happens; even if the game has a “lame” victor, the game’s legacy has already been etched by its epicness over time.

Command the Oceans – The end at last

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Ben

THE FINAL REPORT

12/15/2017

Turn 85

The Pirates sink the Beowulf, and the Jade Rebellion has been eliminated!!

The Shui Xian comes under fire from three different Pirate ships:

The Delusion sinks!! Devereaux, the Cursed Admiral, is no more. Command passes to the Headhunter aboard the Guichuan. The Crocodile suffers heavy damage and begins to burn.

The dense Pirate fleet is impressive, but what’s about to hit them is an accidentally combined elite task force bent on their elimination.

The Anglo-Cursed squadron of about 18 ships is almost upon the smaller Pirate squadron in the south!

Love the contrast of sails in this one – you can actually see the skull on the Deliverance’s sails for once, while the Black Swan, Victoria, and SX stand out as usual.

Angelica swoops on the Tunnel and unleashes a torrent of fire!!!

Flying up and over the Pirate stronghold, Angelica blasts the troops below with red-hot flame!

Another flamethrower attack:

The hastily built fortress is set aflame:

Two infantry units of the five stationed there are killed by the fire.

Miraculously, most of the Pirate troops at the other end of the Tunnel survived the attack.

However, they have lost a few infantry units and will have to extinguish the blazes that threaten to take out the small amount of foliage and grass atop the Tunnel:

Seeing the fort go up in smoke, the Pirate infantry on the eastern end of the Tunnel had just enough time to raise their muskets and unleash a volley of their own! Angelica suffered a large wound. Between that and the energy expended during the flamethrower attack (blasting most of the Tunnel’s top with fire, not just in one place – a flying mobile flamethrower! XD), Angelica did not have the strength to fly back to the Roost or somewhere else for safety.

Angelica lands in one of the most calm areas of Mission’s Kingdom, but will still face cannon fire on the Pirate turn.

Now it was Shal-Bala’s turn!!

Following up the flamethrower attack with a “troop drop”, Shal-Bala dumps a ladder with 4 Cursed infantry units on the Tunnel!! If you can’t beat them from the land or sea, beat them from the air!! XD

This dual attack by the dragons threatens Pirate control of the Tunnel itself:

The dragons were the only way any faction could get at the Pirates on the Tunnel without hoisting their own ladders up to the top, so this was a great and innovative move by the Cursed. The aerial bombardment serves as a nice counter to how dominant the Pirates have been at this island.

The Shui Xian sinks the ships attacking her, while the Victoria pulverizes the Deliverance:

The English and Cursed go over the reefs and attack! The Raven and Pride are sunk, while the Splinter takes heavy damage.

Partly due to the Jade wrecks, it will be a slow process to get this squadron into Pirate territory.

My first English 5 master in a scene reminiscent of her glory days!

This game has been a classic that I will reference and link to for the rest of my pirating career. The veteran warship has still got it! XD

With a BANG, the Guichuan, Apollo, and Endeavour show their might on the battlefield!! O_O

Things don’t look good for the Pirates in this area, with the Titan and Namazu lurking behind the colossal giants:

Carnage and chaos all over, from the Tunnel’s top to the waters of Allost:

The Pirates are suffering perhaps more than one could have expected:

Some English ships have sunk here, but they’re replaced by the Granville and Burma. Flotillas enjoy a distinct advantage in whirlpool travel: not only are they immune to damage since they don’t have masts, but their action is given independently of the towing ship, allowing them to shoot as soon as they exit the whirlpool.

The Flying Fish sinks a ship as the Americans prepare for their final stand against the French.

The French may not be nearly as strong as they were at the outset of this war, but the Americans have only a handful of ships left at this point. L’Hercule represents the height of French power now, with 5 cannons (Marine included) firing regardless of how many masts are standing on the ship.

The pitiful beast He’e is no match for mobile French firepower. The Jarvis has stuck around with her L-immunity, but former fleetmate the Pequod will finish her off soon.

I like this perspective: through the rubble and devastation the French tricolor still flies proudly from various warships sailing by the mess.

Indeed, France has more than enough strength to outlast the Americans. However, what about after that? Will they be able to defeat other factions?

The Americans have some fight left in them at the Castle, where continual Spanish reinforcements have augmented the French fleet.

Turn 86

A shocking development!! The Pirates’ Widowmaker flotilla, after sitting in this spot as a guard post for much of the game, hits 3 times with rank-4 accuracy to kill Angelica!!

The Pirates pound away at the Shui Xian and Victoria, taking them down to 4 masts combined.

Down south, the Pirate counterattack leaves the Gargantuan seriously hurting. However, this is just the natural progression of battle at this point – the lead ship will be sunk inevitably, and will be inevitably replaced by others in the group. Whoever has the most cannons and the best gun crews will win the day.

The Pirates concentrate their firepower on the Gibraltar flotilla at this whirlpool, and they do manage to eliminate it. However, the Granville and Burma are unscathed as a result.

Terrible shooting by the Pirates sees the English take almost no damage. The Guichuan should only have one mast here; I thought she would be sunk this turn so I didn’t want to take out the masts for no reason.

LAND COMBAT!!! Finally, after a near-miss on The Flat, we finally see some land warfare!

Army units engage! The Pirates lose a unit to the Cursed, who bring most of their new force atop the Tunnel to bear on the Pirates on the eastern side.

One Cursed unit goes west towards the fort, where they will likely be no match for the Pirate garrison stationed there.

Finally! Something the Cursed have been planning for ages pans out! Behemoth copies Namazu’s ability for a surprise tidal wave attack on the Pirates!!

However, it was a DOUBLE WAVE ATTACK!! That’s right, Davy Jones copied Deleflote to give the action of the Fiddler’s Green to Behemoth, allowing the creature to unleash two huge waves! Three ships are sunk outright, and Beastie’s strength is cut in half!

Scarily enough, that’s not all the Cursed have to offer here either, with Namazu himself lurking behind the Guichuan. Even after this second Cursed 10 master goes to the depths, the Juggernaut and Death’s Anchor will provide an 8-cannon “dreadnought” of sorts as a replacement.

Looking down the path of destruction:

Action at the west Tunnel entrance, where the Cursed and English are duking it out with the Pirates:

The Victoria and Black Swan will not survive this engagement:

Always love these tough shots inside the Tunnel itself. The flash is basically on the fire in a perfect irony, with the Victoria’s main royal sail a weird shade of blue. In the foreground, Pirate ships rush to the scene. In the dense background, various ships wait their turn to fight, with part of the Shui Xian’s broadside visible.

A more realistic perspective, with the horrors of war inside the Tunnel augmented by its darkness:

The English force their way through the Pirates!

Bad news for the Pirates and big news for the English: HMS Lord Algernon is here!! O_O Admiral Thomas Gunn’s flagship from the Caribbean, the Lord Algernon gives the English a morale boost in the area in addition to an obvious firepower upgrade.

What kind of havoc can my favorite ship wreak?

Pure incredible firepower. The Endeavour, Apollo, and Titan mostly got additional actions, and unleashed devastating broadsides that have sunk the remaining Pirate ships west of the reef barrier.

The English 5’s are tearing through the Pirate lines with ease. The flood of Royal Navy vessels is just beginning, and the Pirates may be hard-pressed to beat back them and the Cursed at the same time.

Meanwhile, HMS Caradoc is the only ship left in the Caribbean.

From the American perspective, facing down the French flood that has sunk the Flying Fish:

The Americans are at a severe disadvantage:

The Royal Louis and captured Minuteman are sunk, while the Valley Forge tows another Minuteman flotilla up from the south.

Still fighting strong against the Franco-Spanish:

Turn 87

Some of the big bad Pirate hybrids are getting into action against the English after receiving captain crew at the kingdom.

At the Battle for the Tunnel, both sides lose infantry units. The Cursed lose 2 to the Pirates’ 1. The Cursed unit trying to infiltrate the fort was caught, while Pirate units look to defend the artillery positions.

SHAL-BALA HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT!!

(these pictures all depict things happening very fast, faster than anyone can take in the development)

Shal-Bala swoops on the Tunnel!!

THIS TIME THE PIRATE TROOPS ARE READY!!! Their muskets are pointed to the sky, and a large volley of musket balls goes up!! Some of the shots connect and hit Shal-Bala in the eyes and vital organs!! O_O

The dragon nosedives into the Tunnel and flips!

End over end, scattering troops and knocking soldiers great distances!!

Ailing and unable to take off into the sky, Shal-Bala crashes into the eastern end of the Tunnel!!

Shal-Bala goes off the end of the Tunnel, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake!!

A bizarre sight. The dragon’s momentum into the opening at the eastern end of the Tunnel ripped the wings from its body, leaving them literally hanging off the edge while Shal-Bala hurtled into the Sea of Allost waiting below. O_O

Shal-Bala is no more. Many of the Pirate troops atop the Tunnel died in the attack; you can see some of them got thrown down the same tunnel they climbed up to get to the top!

More of the English horde comes across the reef barrier. The Bonnie Liz and Silver Dagger are trying to head them off, but won’t be able to stem the tide at all.

A tribute to how much faster the pace of combat is with the regular rules. The Guichuan has sunk, in addition to the Pirate ships that had been harassing her. The Titan suffers heavy damage but is quickly replaced by the Leicester.

The change in combat rules has also had a dramatic effect on how much debris accumulates on the oceans:

The Shui Xian battles as the Pirates sink the Victoria:

Shal-Bala’s failed swooping strike evokes recent memories of the rigged bridge in Karkuda. A plan designed to benefit one faction has dramatically hurt both them and their target.

Some Pirate army units actually got knocked off the southern edge of the Tunnel, falling the long distance to the reefs and rocks below. The impact at the eastern end knocked the 2L bridge over, which has fallen into the ocean and will likely not be usable again for the Pirates.

The artillery position at the eastern end opening bore the greatest brunt of the impact:

In the background you can glimpse a chunk of the interior stairway the Pirates built, as well as one of the infantry units that fell down that tunnel after being killed by the rolling dragon.

The Martinette and others clean up against the Americans, sinking the Roanoke and getting close to having an open route to the American HI from the south.

Pitched battle erupts at the American HI! The Hercule is dismasted but takes USS Emerald with her. The Eroica is sunk by artillery fire from the island. Those units will be instrumental if the Americans are to somehow survive. At this point they would need a dramatic intervention from the Sea of Allost to stay alive.

The amount of carnage has now eclipsed the volume of fighting actually going on:

A different view, with the destroyed Castle extension sort of the “last gasp” of American defiance before this inevitable final stand.

American waters have finally been broached by the French:

Turn 88

The English form up and advance! The Grand Barnacle and Darkhawk II are ruined, with the Shadow next.

With the exception of a few stragglers, the English have made it over the reef barrier with mostly minimal damage.

A FINAL STANDOFF!! XD The last surviving infantry units on the Tunnel meet in an epic clash.

The Tunnel has been devastated. Above, ON, inside, below, you name it. Death everywhere.

The Pirates sink the Endeavour and Apollo! However, their numbers are looking inferior to the Anglo-Cursed force headed their way.

The Pirates are using the reefs to their best advantage, trying to goad the English ships into going over them. The smaller Pirate gunships have taken the minimal risk in passing over them but miss the Titan.

The Ranger has finally sunk as the Battle for the Tunnel kind of just peters out here at the end. The top has been just about nullified, while a small handful of severely damaged ships weakly fight each other underneath.

The Pirates have a few more reinforcements, but the Amity and Hades’ Flame aren’t exactly ships you want on the front lines of a battle.

O_O The immense pile of sunken ships grows with every turn.

A mountain of ships that reminds me of Shipwreck Cove from At World’s End:

Taller than the kingdom!

I didn’t actually want to do this at the end, but the finish was so rushed and I ran out of other places to put things that I almost had to.

With the Frontier and others finally sunk, the Franco-Spanish have won the Battle for the Castle!!!!

The French have also sunk the final American ships! Now only William Eaton’s army stands in the way of Franco-Spanish dominance in Karkuda. He has trained his troops well, but they are no match for the armada that now tightens the noose around the island….

The assault has begun:

Moving on from the unspeakable destruction near the Castle, the French are far from home but have maintained guard posts at various key points (whirlpools, Harbor, Flat) within their waters.

This ocean is starting to look decidedly empty compared to a few weeks ago….

This ocean features an impressive graveyard, but nothing on the scale of the War for Allost. (which however has been fought more suddenly with the combat rule changes affecting it nearly from the start)

12/16/2017

Turn 89

The Pirates try to block the English but fail to do much damage:

The Titan and Leicester are sunk, but the upcoming Anglo-Cursed advance is sure to be fast and furious. The Diamond Strike is Calypso’s newest bodyguard to protect the Stoneheart, and they flee the area to return to the kingdom.

As the giant Shui Xian finally slips beneath the waves, the Pirate fort atop the Tunnel is fully engulfed by flames! This marks the official end of Piratical activities on the Tunnel.

OR NOT!!! The lone survivor of the land warfare has defeated the Cursed unit to reclaim sole possession of the Tunnel for Pirates!

However, all of their comrades are dead, and the chances of getting back to the kingdom is slim.

The English blast their way through and advance towards Mission’s Pirate Kingdom itself!! O_O

The English and Cursed armada is confident they can take down the greatest faction in this game and the game overall.

Even the Nancy Nox is fighting now, in a classic shot that I like.

THE SPANISH HAVE RETAKEN THE CASTLE!!!!

The Spanish are busy regrouping and celebrating, but the French have better things to do, hastily sailing west to make sure their comrades are alive and properly supported in the attempt to knock the Americans from the game.

The French in the south needn’t worry, for the French have nearly done it! The Americans are down to their last two army units.

Turn 90

One of my favorite shots from the endgame, showing the English fleet sailing towards the unprotected kingdom belonging to the late Captain Mission.

Once mighty, the Pirates have fallen to this.

Soon Dead Man’s Point will be overrun by the Anglo-Cursed horde. The Pirates have mostly abandoned it in an attempt to save their home island.

The few Spanish troops left in play can now swarm over the Castle ramparts that their ancestors once built:

The French open fire again, and the Americans have been eliminated!!!!

After a valiant effort, the Americans have fallen to the combined strength of France and Spain.

The influx of French ships from the south shows that the Americans had no chance:

The Franco-Spanish have prevailed!! Of course, now the question everybody is wondering: what’s next?

It certainly wasn’t easy, as the unprecedented debris field shows how the Americans took a huge percentage of the French fleet with them to the depths.

Turn 91

The English converge on the Pirates!

Now the Sea of Allost looks decidedly empty, with the east having all of the action.

The Cursed make quick work of Dead Man’s Point, but some Pirate army units remain.

The Coral defiantly resists:

The Coral is a ship from my original collection of 49 ships from 2005-2006, but I built this new version of her to replace the original whose mast broke some years ago. I have to admit she’s an underrated ship, though that’s inevitable considering the competition within her own set.

Depending on who you’re rooting for, a sad scene. The Pirates have lost their fort and the upgrade associated with it that costed them 250 gold (that gold was not going to go on the island even if the game could continue longer and/or if the combat rules hadn’t changed).

The Spanish are now going to fortify and protect their precious Castle from any potential invaders. The French are fine with this, as they want their considerably powerful (at THIS point in the game!) ally to stay in their ocean and wait for enemies to approach them.

The French head home! The French will try to implement a plan similar to that of the Spaniards, regrouping at the Harbor in preparation for the final battle(s?).

Can anyone contest the Franco-Spanish?

Turn 92

The Stoneheart is dismasted and captured by the English!! One of the only ships to be captured in this late stage of the game where repairs are impossible, the English want the Cursed to be able to copy Calypso with Davy Jones, who is still aboard the Fiddler’s Green….

The inevitable. The Pirates are scrubbed off their formerly glorious island, and the Anglo-Cursed are strengthening from acquaintances to actual allies…. !

The Spanish have set up small ships with flotillas along their newly minted eastern border, while some other ships go south to protect that bottleneck. A few ships are protecting the northern approach to the Castle, while others are docked at the walls.

The army units are getting into optimal positions atop the ramparts:

It will take many turns for the French invasion fleet to return home to the Harbor, even more for the ships that have to come up from the south and round the Castle extension in order to go east due to the immense destruction in the “alley of death”.

The French are making all speed towards home:

It will be interesting to see if The Flat plays a role in the upcoming conclusion. The French have stationed a few ships at it, but Paradis de la Mer and the 11 (!) army units on it may be enough to deter any invaders.

The Musarde broke off earlier to be the first ship back home, where 4 other French ships are stationed. Both whirlpools are still heavily guarded by squadrons.

Turn 93

The English formation breaks up, but the Pirates have nearly been eliminated!

The forces converging on the Pirates from the north are about equal between English and Cursed.

The Cursed have won the Battle for the Tunnel!!!!

The Serpent’s Fang will be the first ship to emerge from the darkness, and the Cursed are coming out of this War for Allost a bit stronger than most people could anticipate….

Another head-on shot, with the impressive French ships (Seattle was captured) making their way over the supreme wreckage caused by them and their comrades just north of the Castle areas. Sailors (aboard the Pluton) and soldiers (Spanish infantry) alike salute the arrival of France’s finest!

Turn 94

THE PIRATES HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED!!!!!!!!!! O_O

After assembling the largest fleet of all-time, the Pirates have fallen to a loose coalition of Jade Rebels, Cursed, and Englishmen. Their fall was swift and somewhat shocking, but various factors played a role in their demise.

The Pirates in the fort have already surrendered, knowing they don’t stand a chance against the overwhelming superiority of the invaders.

On the doorstep of Mission’s Kingdom, the Anglo-Cursed have conquered the Pirates:

Cursed reinforcements are coming:

Here come the French!

Turn 95

Under joint command from Davy Jones and Admiral Thomas Gunn, the fort is demolished.

At long last, the Pirates have been ousted! At this point, the most powerful faction in the Sea of Allost may not be one that started the game in the ocean (the English).

It’s less impressive when viewed from this high above, but the sea is now an ocean of debris and death.

The first direct friction between the Cursed and the Franco-Spanish! Tsuro moves the Cristal del Obispo L onto a reef:

The first French ships are nearly home, but it is a long assembly line to refortify the Harbor.

Somehow, someway, the Soleil Royal has survived. She was the first French flagship of the game, before Gaston moved his flag to the Bourbon and Lenoir took over active command of the battle fleet aboard the Dauphin Royal. The ship is nearly mastless, but sails on regardless.

Turn 96 (getting harder to keep count, I lost track eventually… oh well)

Officially acting as allies, the English and Cursed collaborate! Davy Jones copies Calypso again to create a new whirlpool!!! O_O

The Cursed are wasting no time!! The second whirlpool is placed L away from the lighthouse island in the Sea of Karkuda, right in front of the Harbor!!! A submerged Namazu swims through the whirlpool (Cursed stuff doesn’t take damage remember), while the Grinder allows the Death’s Anchor flotilla to sink the Hercule and her 5 functioning cannons!

Losing the Hercule was inevitable with no masts left, but the French certainly did not expect this surprise attack so soon after they finished off the Americans. The Cursed have the Eye, but the Franco-Spanish have no idea what’s been going on in the Sea of Allost. They are surprised that the Pirates may have been completely defeated.

Five Cursed ships appear at the southwestern whirlpool near the former American HI!

Having almost no business in Karkuda so far in the game, the Cursed have now invaded in two different spots on the same turn.

The Sea of Allost is emptying out! But where did some of those ships go?

English ships arrive via DJ/Calypso’s new whirlpool!! The Tower flotilla sinks a French ship guarding the old whirlpool used to invade the Harbor so long ago!

With this new blockage, perhaps the French won’t return to the Harbor after all!

The Dauntless and three other English ships arrive at the southern whirlpool!

The Spanish take their turn, fighting the Cursed for the first time! The Cristal knocks two masts off the Boneyard:

The French fight back! Some English ships are sunk immediately, with most of the ships docked in the Harbor coming out to assist. The Seattle misses the Tower flotilla completely, but the French take out the Grinder and Death’s Anchor. In a cool move of naval “musical chairs”, the French rotate the guard squadron around the old whirlpool to allow the Belle Etoile to join the squadron to seal off the whirlpool once more. The French don’t want more invaders to come through, but it looks like an inevitable development.

The Felicite lights up HMS Forge, but the Hibernia and Tower will provide powerful firepower for the English next turn.

Turn 97

Namazu’s final attack is a dramatic suicide blast!! Literally a “last gasp”, the serpent issues a final tidal wave of destruction before dying. Sinking 4 French ships and taking 6 masts total off the Corse, Lyon, and Lurker Dessous, Namazu and its ability is no more in this game.

Davy Jones copies Deleflote to give the Juggernaut two actions through the whirlpool! This was part of the Cursed strategy to open up a third whirlpool in the Sea of Karkuda. It worked, with the Nox sinking and paving the way for the Nosso Lar and another Death’s Anchor flotilla.

The Cristal is sunk as the Hades’ Realm and Serpent’s Fang arrive:

No English ships remain in the Sea of Allost! They have taken the plunge and gone to Karkuda!

Here some of them are. They will try to provide a jolt to the Anglo-Cursed efforts to halt the French.

HMS Lord Algernon has arrived!

Suddenly the Sea of Karkuda is becoming quite crowded once again:

The Second War for Karkuda is just beginning!

The French rip into the English, sinking the Forge and Gallows!

Various ships come off whirlpool duty to assist the emergency situation at the Harbor.

Turn 98

At this point, it is clear that the Anglo-French alliance was not very strong. The English took it more seriously than the French, but have now broken the pact in order to align with the Cursed against the Franco-Spanish.

With multiple declarations of war occurring recently, it is now the English/Cursed vs. the French/Spanish!!

Terrox surrounds a ship immediately after arriving via the whirlpool, but the English and Cursed are lacking numbers here.

Despite many ships having damage, the French fleet looks strong relative to the others.

The Santa Ana is finally sunk as the Spanish come under attack at the southern part of the Castle.

Cursed reinforcements from the Tunnel finally arrive! The Corse and Musarde are dismasted.

I think what happened here was the Orkney got an AA and went 4/4, with the French electing to scuttle immediately so their next ships could advance to hit the Orkney.

The French are starting to dominate their home waters, but they cannot advance into the Harbor as they had planned.

Turn 99

The Cheshire gets involved, and it will be interesting to see if the Spanish can hold the Castle against the invaders.

In order to provide more immediate support in the southwest, the Spanish defensive line has moved west of Fish Island.

O_O The Fiddler’s Green and Stoneheart are the only ships left in the Sea of Allost!

(The troops on the Jade HI would have starved to death by now, or could be easily picked off by the last faction sailing)

Another Battle for the Castle:

TURN 100

Very happy to get here, as my other campaign games did not have turn counts in the triple digits that I know of (CotE 2013 was 62, EE 2015 was 45, and I didn’t keep count for other games, though CG1 likely reached 100 turns).

Terrox managed to beat Le Lyon and now surrounds the Floating Stone. Even as French strength around the Harbor grows, the Cursed are starting to infiltrate it.

The late stage of the endgame has been a bit of a “flotilla fight”, and this area looks no different. Unlike the first Cursed invasion of the Harbor, there are now almost no French ships inside the Harbor that can protect the French army units and even the docks themselves.

I took these pictures to highlight the Serpent’s Fang, whose devastating gun crews hit 7/8 this turn! (Davy Jones on the FG is now copying Deleflote instead of Calypso to give actions to a Cursed ship each turn that can make the biggest impact on the battle)

Turn 101?

The Bonne Chance is sunk, and the Cursed begin their assault!! The flotillas will be extra valuable here, with their range an asset against the army units on the docks.

Squalo is about to wreak havoc! XD

Two Cursed flotillas are sunk as the French try to defend their home. That whirlpool and Terrox have really been a thorn to the French lately, since it’s right in the path their ships would take to enter the Harbor. The constant arrivals from Allost and the lighthouse island have forced some ships to go around to the south for a better way in.

Turn 102 (just trying to keep track at this point, not likely to be off by more than 1 or 2)

As if on cue, the kraken surrounds another ship!

The Pequod puts an end to Terrox. The French have caught up to the Dark Pact and sunk the Nightmare and its flotilla.

Turn 103
With most of the Cursed ships sunk by the Spanish, the 4 English gunships left in play are ready to rumble! There was a pretty intense bottleneck at the southwestern edge of the Castle for a few turns, but now the English can fight the Spanish once more! Of course, this time it’s in Karkuda instead of the Caribbean. Still, it’s cool to see the game “come full circle”! XD At this point the factions mostly just see each other as obstacles to victory, with less hatred than the previous wars fought recently (French vs. Cursed is the matchup with the most animosity at this point). In fact, we weren’t too far off from seeing an “imperial alliance” of France, Spain, and England, and we likely would have if the Americans had been defeated earlier and the French went off to fight the Pirates.

The Dauntless loses two masts as the Spanish are forced to break formation to combat the threat.

After taking out just 3 army units at the Harbor, the Cursed invasion is over! The French can now concentrate their forces to the south.

The entire French fleet is now headed southwest to fight the English and what remains of the Cursed…

… which isn’t much. Tsuro is being given double actions via the Fiddler’s Green, but the Cursed only have those two ships left. Including the Caradoc in the Caribbean, the English only have 6 ships left. From this picture I see 8 Spanish ships and 22 French ones.

AND THUS THE REASON FOR THE TURN!!!!! The Spanish turn their guns to the north and declare war on the French!!!!

With basically a 30 on 8 fight in terms of pure ship count, it is clear that the Franco-Spanish would win. However, between the French having the most ships in play and the Spanish bearing the brunt of the English assault, the Spanish realized they would not win if they let the French overrun them after the Anglo-Cursed were finished off. Thus, a tipping of the scale. Now it will be a more fair fight, with the English/Cursed/Spanish fleet of 16 total ships against the 22 of France.

Also, despite their bloody past, the English and Spanish have been on relatively cordial terms ever since the revelation (by the French) that the Castle in Karkuda was being taken by the Americans. After a brief and forced renewal of their conflict, they have made up and can now focus their combined efforts against the French.

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!!!!

(That was Turn 104 I believe)

Turn 105
HMS Caradoc arrives from the Caribbean!

In similarly surprising fashion, the Fiddler’s Green appears with Davy Jones himself at the helm! He copied EA to shoot at the Rocher Noir, but only hit once.

The Spanish prepare to defend their Castle from the north this time!

Turn 106
The French attack!! Wasting no time, the French start sinking Spanish ships to get revenge against the betrayers.

Turn 107
The Pluton is sunk, and the Santo Columba sets the Sabre on fire!

The Dauntless is the first English ship to fight the French. The allies have an ace in the hole with the Lord Algernon, which is easily the most powerful ship in play right now. The French have better quantity and their best ship is La Possession. Both sides have 2 flotillas.

Turn 108?
The Santo Columba and Dauntless are sunk, but the French lose a couple 3 masters. The Spanish have been mostly unable to slow the French onslaught.

Turn 109
Tsuro is finished off. Up north, the Rocher Noir and Favori managed to defeat the Fiddler’s Green after a long battle of misses, meaning the Cursed have been eliminated!!!! Only three factions remain, the most imperial factions: England, France, and Spain.

The Magdalena started retowing the Armada flotilla just to flip it into a better firing position. The English are down to their last three ships.

Turn 110
The English make some waves, sinking both French flotillas as the Lord Algernon enters the fray!

Only a handful of ships left in play!!

The Cheshire and Magdalena are sunk, and the French team up to take the Lord Algernon down to one mast!!

Guy LaPlante has been promoted to high Admiral out of necessity! No longer just a diplomat, he is now in command of the French fleet! XD The Possession vs. the Lord Algernon is the final clash of capital ships in this game.

Turn 111
HMS Lord Algernon is sunk! Admiral Thomas Gunn goes down with her, passing command of the English “fleet” to Commodore Owen. The last Armada flotilla is proving to be a tough sink for the French.

Turn 112
The Caradoc is the last hope for the English, and teams with the flotilla to smash the Possession down to a single mast!

The Cleveland sinks the flotilla (eliminating the Spanish from the game!!), while the French gang up on the Caradoc. The Martinette has a great shoot action, and the English are eliminated!!!!

THE FRENCH COMMAND THE OCEANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT IS FINALLY OVER!! After more than 3 months of play and over 100 turns, Command the Oceans has ended!!!!!! Finally. Whew. Huzzah!!

Congratulations to the French!!!! This is their first victory in any of my campaign games, ending the longest drought for any of the “Big 4” factions. It was about time they won a CG of mine, and here they’ve done it on the grandest stage of them all. Easily the most epic physical campaign game ever, and quite possibly the most epic overall.

There is a BIG write-up below concerning my thoughts on the game and how each faction did. But first, to conclude this final report we can look back at the unrivaled, unprecedented level of devastation seen in this game.

The immense mountain of sunken ships in Allost:

You can almost see all the way through both tunnels:

A desolate wasteland:

Even if the Caradoc had stayed in the Caribbean, the French would have taken her out at the English HI and would have just enough firepower to blockade or take out Diamond Rock. (if we even pretend those troops are still alive)

The Sea of Karkuda has a wide swath of debris where one of the bloodiest wars was fought:

Now for some closeups of the carnage, so I can look back on it and see the proof of how insane this game was.

With the Castle complex removed so you can see the entire scope of the destruction:

I am actually saving some of the bigger chunks of wreckage as a memento. I have this fantasy that if Pirates were incredibly popular I could auction off some pieces on eBay lol. XD

The HUGE cleanup commences! These are all the masts from the Sea of Karkuda, in one giant pile. O_O

Thank you so much for reading about this game. Below is a reflection on the game that serves to wrap things up. The French have The Command of the Oceans!

Reflection post

Command the Oceans has finally ended, but the legacy of the game will continue for a long time. It represents my finest effort to date in my long history of playing campaign games going back to 2011. Never before have I done a physical game that lasted this long. Never before had I experienced a game so large it became unmanageable. Never before had I played the same game of Pirates CSG in two different rooms, on three different oceans. It was truly epic.

An analysis of the factions and their gameplay, in the order of play:

Pirates
Captain Mission’s Pirate Kingdom was both a blessing and a curse. It gave the Pirates a supreme defensive lair to hide out in, but it made launching extremely difficult. Purchasing a fort upgrade at Dead Man’s Point allowed them to become the biggest fleet ever seen in a game. After two disastrous whirlpool expeditions against the Americans, the Pirates developed an isolationist policy to not go anywhere. Focusing on home defense and the Tunnel, they set themselves up well for long-term success. Only by the efforts of 3 different factions were they finally defeated. I think the Pirates’ biggest mistake was making enemies. They inevitably were drawn into conflict with the Americans through Ralph David’s anti-Pirate zeal, but wasted a lot of ships in the whirlpool expeditions when it was clear that David could not take down the Pirates with his own expeditions. The Jade Rebels wanted help in their war against the Cursed, but the Pirates shied away from that. The Pirates had a strong alliance with the other top faction in the game, the French. However, the Deal with the Devil undid all that when the Cursed revealed the big secret to the French. The Cursed made themselves an enemy of the Pirates more than vice versa, but overall the Deal did not go remotely as planned. A foolhardy attack on the English by the regular (exploratory) whirlpool squadron earned the Pirates a underestimated enemy, and who proved to be their undoing in the end. With the whole O’Brien/Celtic Fury situation, even the Mercenaries didn’t like the Pirates. The Pirates made themselves the most hated faction in the game, and combined that with looking like a heavy favorite to win which was eventually their undoing. The Pirates wanted to use Calypso to create whirlpools behind Anglo-Cursed lines, but they were losing ships too quickly to devote such a force to that end and also were fearful of whirlpool disasters in general after their failed attacks on the Americans.

Jade Rebellion
Sailing into an ocean filled with Cursed and Pirates, the Jade Rebels didn’t know what they were up against. They had a fantastic early game, perfectly timing the resource changes at their sole wild island to the point of unfairness. Exploring deeper into the Sea of Allost, they discovered the Cursed. These two great rivals became embroiled in a war that completely defined the JR game. Jade hatred of the Cursed and their wretched dragons was so intense it blinded them when they had an opportunity to escape when the Pirate threat became so severe that the Cursed wanted to break off the conflict (albeit temporarily, in a perfect world). The Pirate-Cursed crossfire was far too much for the depleted Jade fleet to handle, and the various privateer help was less helpful than expected. Realistically though, the Jade Rebels did reasonably well in a bloody game where they were outnumbered by superior factions.

Cursed
The Cursed were a secret to the reader for quite a while, though there were some clear hints along the way as the Jades encountered strange things. Once fully revealed, the Cursed were a force to be reckoned with, although they struggled for a WHILE to defeat the Jades decisively in battle. Only at the end of their long war were they finally able to prevail. The Cursed then went after the Pirates, trying to dominate the Sea of Allost with the English. This was accomplished, but attention immediately had to move to the Sea of Karkuda, where the powerful Franco-Spanish alliance was busy entrenching themselves (or trying to) at the Harbor and Castle. Overall the Cursed finished ahead of both the Pirates and Americans, a testament to their generally wise gameplay. They didn’t make as many enemies as they usually do, which made for alliance opportunities and only one fleet (JR’s) coming after them relentlessly. The Cursed saw the Deal for what it was, with the Pirates trying to pit the Cursed and French against each other while the Pirates focused on the Americans. The Cursed turned the tables on the Pirates and didn’t bother losing their entire squadron to the French, indeed saving most of the ships from certain capture. The powerful Jade battle fleet whittled down Cursed numbers significantly, to the point where the Cursed were unable to take on France for very long at the end. The final battle saw the elimination of all but one faction, with the Cursed predictably being the first one out. I will say the Cursed used their advantages to a high degree, launching whirlpool attacks, throwing icewrecks around, copying and exploiting Namazu, and instilling fear and terror with the dragon duo. Overall an incredible game for the Cursed faction, both thematically and in terms of the final result.

English
Dominating the Caribbean via Diamond Rock through the first part of the game, the English suffered the unfortunate distinction of being the top dog of their ocean but paling in comparison to the giants of the larger oceans. Starting a feud with the Spanish, the Caribbean war took up most of their time and resources for quite a while. The English (and Spanish!) caught a break when the Americans unknowingly invaded the former Spanish Castle in Karkuda, which took the Spanish out of the Caribbean entirely and allowed the English to regroup and even relax a bit. However, Havana Black’s whirlpool squadron raid was heavy on the minds of the English, and they eventually sailed their entire fleet into the Sea of Allost to exterminate the Pirates. Improbably, they were successful, with their multi-action capital ships sinking a huge number of Pirate ships north of the Tunnel. With the help of the Cursed (and Jades a tiny bit) they took down the game’s strongest faction and came to dominate their second ocean of the game. However, the Second War for Karkuda saw them come up just short against the French. There is a possibility that if the English had convinced the Spanish to sway over to the Anglo-Cursed side earlier, that the French may have been defeated. However, between the French numerical superiority and the large army reserves at The Flat and Harbor, this is unlikely. Overall the English played a solid game, and the “dark horse” faction that nearly ended up winning. They were pretty much always 5th in the point and ship counts, but wound up finishing 2nd. This keeps their incredible CG track record alive, with low finishes quite rare.

Spanish
Plagued by mediocre exploring efforts and a lack of resource options in the Caribbean, the Spanish never had much of a chance in this game. Arguably the best underdog story of CTO, their position actually improved slightly throughout the game, with the poor getting slightly richer. A turn of the tide resulted in a semi-victory at the Battle of Paradise Island, which was huge for Spanish morale and a surprise to the English. After that, French news of the American conquest of the Castle infuriated the Spanish, who immediately set off to Karkuda to make things right. The Castle WAS eventually retaken with French help, but the Spanish were too weak to fight the French on their own. By the time they realized they needed to betray their ally, it was a little too late.

French
The French played a great game obviously. They established a strong gold system early on, building docks to optimize the Harbor and launching gunships to protect their interests. Their lighthouse helped them gather resources a bit faster, and also helped in the War for Karkuda as ships departing the Harbor reached the front lines faster. Establishing alliances with the Pirates, English, and Spanish, the French set themselves up VERY well for the late stages of the game. However, the dramatic and devastating Cursed attack on the Harbor and nearly simultaneous revelation that the Pirates had betrayed them threw a huge wrench into their plans. The French managed to recover, blasting the Cursed back to Allost and setting up whirlpool blockade squadrons to ensure the Pirates and Cursed could not harm them so easily. Of course, the French were defined in this game by their war against the Americans more than anything else. Starting with a weird alliance fakeout on the American side, The Flat was hotly contested more than once. Once the Battle for the Castle got underway, all hell broke loose in Karkuda. One of the bloodiest conflicts in history, the War for Karkuda saw the Franco-Spanish emerge victorious at the expense of the Americans and Mercenaries. Despite being humbled by the Cursed invasion, the Pirate betrayal, and the Merc drama, the French came out on top. Their final effort saw the elimination of three factions that were teaming up against them. The Harbor was a great “home island” for the French, and they utilized army units more than most other factions. Refusing to get tangled up with drama, they put an end to the factions that opposed them to win the biggest game ever.

Mercenaries
To be blunt, the Mercs were an also-ran from the time they officially broke off from the French as their own faction. By that point in the game some of the factions had massive fleets ready to go to war, and the Mercenaries would not be able to make up the deficit even if they were unhindered for dozens of turns. Nemo’s sub hideout has a coolness factor, but it wasn’t enough against the annoyed French. The betrayal by Eileen Brigid O’Brien was a final slap in the face to Nemo and by extension the French, and only served to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The frustrated and hungry Mercenaries wanted to make a final stand, which was quickly quelled by the French.

Americans
The Americans were hindered by a line of reefs east of their home island for much of the early game, but eventually learned how to destroy them to explore the rest of Karkuda. However, soon after sailing out from their territory, they encountered the French, a powerful rival that would affect them for the rest of the game. Two separate whirlpool expeditions led by Ralph David led to an eventual declaration of war against the Pirates, which ended up going better than expected when the Pirates lost both battles of the American whirlpool. However, by the time the second battle was wrapping up, the French and Americans were engaged in all-out war. The discovery of the Castle was exciting for the Americans, but it turned out to be more bad than good. The Spanish intervention in Karkuda triggered the reopening of conflict between the Americans and French, and a war that would eventually see the demise of the Americans.

The final standings:
1. French
2. English
3. Spanish
4. Cursed
5. Pirates
6. Americans
7. Jade Rebellion
8. Mercenaries

This certainly comes as a surprise, including to myself. I thought the Pirates and Americans would finish higher up in the standings, but facing more than one faction at a time was difficult for them. The Pirates have to be especially disappointed to not even finish in the Top 3, beaten out by the Spanish (lol for this game) and their main late-game adversaries, the French and English.

I am quite proud to have completed the game, between having it set up for 3+ months without a disaster occurring and finishing the biggest game ever by last fleet afloat and not by point count. This game made up for what my other CG’s have lacked. CotE was cut short after 3 weeks, while EE had the same problem but due to a disaster that resulted in a lame ending. CTO will remain my legacy in the world of playing Pirates CSG for a long time… it is the best looking game I’ve played, the longest, the most difficult, the biggest, and quite possibly the best. Only the ease of playing on VASSAL (for CG1) and how obnoxious this game was at times could hold it back in my all-time ranking for best games I’ve ever played.

Notes and miscellaneous

Here are some of the things I wished had happened or things I wished I had done. Also, this section has some notes from my CTO doc that I kept updating throughout the game.

-More home island attacks
I was disappointed that the Harbor was the only home island seriously threatened by a specific attack. Of course some factions were eliminated at home (Pirates and Americans), but I was eager to see more shooting at HI’s. The Harbor specifically could have been even more epic and crazy, but the French established a strong position early on and were able to beat off a pretty solid Cursed attack. On this tack, I can say that the Jades were fully planning to invade the Roost. If the Cursed hadn’t held them back in that final battle of their war before turning the tide with the eventual Pirate entrance, the Jades would have tried very hard to knock the Cursed out of the game with a full-scale invasion of the Roost area and even the structure itself. I also wanted more Castle/Harbor shenanigans in general, but the naval wars took up most of the action and excitement.

-10 masters and dragon effects happened too late
By the time I launched most of the 10 masters, the combat rules had changed to expedite the finish or were about to change. I wish I had prioritized them earlier so they could have fought in more battles and played a bigger role as flagships. The Celtic Fury had the longest stay of them in the game, but she spent a TON of time just sitting in the Tunnel so the Pirates could exploit that island fully with her taller masts. The dragons worked well and I don’t have many regrets with those, but Angelica should have been born earlier so she could get into more action. I did greatly enjoy the flamethrower and swoop attacks. The dragons were clearly overpowered and got by too easily. The infantry volleys were a realistic and fair way of taking them out before they could conceivably dominate the endgame too much. I’m quite happy with how many advantages the Cursed got, though perhaps it was a little too much based on where they finished (but it’s nice to see them not last or second to last for once lol).

And yeah since I haven’t said it yet, this will bear repeating randomly throughout the years:

Charizard+Lord of the Rings+Tunnel=Epicness.
XD

I was thinking about the dragons picking up some JR or even English troops and dump them onto the top of the Tunnel, but Shal-Bala’s rolling death caused more Pirate troops to die than I thought, and by then it was too late.

The English and Cursed were going to collaborate on whirlpools in Allost before they defeated the Pirates. They had a plan to create a whirlpool behind Dead Man’s Point (near the kingdom) and come at the Pirates from the east. However, between the rushed pace of play, Davy Jones needing to copy Deleflote to keep the 10 masters alive as long as possible and to give ships shoot actions to stay alive, and the speed with which the Anglo-Cursed force fought through the Pirate hordes, it was unnecessary.

-Lighthouses: JR’s, Americans?
I had wanted to use more than the two lighthouses, and the Jades and the Americans were the best candidates based on nearby wild islands and general gold systems. Most of the islands weren’t fit for the structures, but the French and Pirates definitely benefited from theirs. Neither came under fire at any point, but it’s certainly an interesting idea that could use further playtesting (especially in more normal games haha).

-Alliances? (American/English? Cursed/English?)
The Cursed/English alliance obviously happened, but the Americans and English may have teamed up against the Pirates if the Americans had lasted longer and they weren’t busy fighting the French every single turn of the endgame.

Deal with the Devil
I can’t get over this, and will probably reference it many more times in the future. XD Here is my original writeup on it from my doc.
Pirates deal with Cursed: Cursed can copy Calypso for entire game if they use DJ to copy her and attack French at the Harbor (Pirates can take out 2 huge factions/rivals at once while denying involvement to the French, and can focus their efforts against the Americans. “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.”)
Very Happy And that’s about as good as it gets folks. For now…. O_O

-Fireships as equipment?
I just keep meaning to try out my fireship idea, but I just keep putting it off and/or forgetting about it. Another CG.

-How to shoot the higher altitude stuff?
I kind of glossed over this, but I had a general thought that ships could hit things at a higher altitude by rolling a 5 or 6 on their guns. Thematically it was tough to explain, with the cannons possibly being tilted at an angle on their carriages to fire almost like a mortar. XD However in that case the accuracy would have to be even worse. Luckily the dragons mostly took care of the Tunnel shenanigans and Diamond Rock didn’t play a role in combat after the English-Spanish war ended. I also had grand thoughts of a faction shooting off part of the ladder that the Pirates had let down from the top of the Tunnel to the bottom (the one going through the hole they blasted to the top). This would cause ladder fragments to be scattered inside the Tunnel battlefield, and possibly the troops on the Tunnel would starve. However, the Pirates were able to hold the western end until all their ships were sunk there, so there was nobody alive on the Tunnel by the time the Cursed sailed through it. Of course, I hope we haven’t seen the last of the Tunnel.

Ideas
Cursed
Custom Devereaux (AA with option of +1 cannon rolls to any ship in your fleet)
Spawn of Shal-Bala!
Dragons gain flamethrowing ability after gaining experience through successful swoops/attacks
Broken horn island defended by Brachyura?

These are mostly obvious at this point, and Angelica being Cursed was planned pretty much from the start. I don’t have Raptor Maw (or Vieil Homme Wink ), and it wouldn’t be much of a Roost without at least one other dragon! Although Angelica showed up pretty late, it was probably for the best since her appearing earlier may have given the Cursed even more of an unfair advantage. Broken Horn Island was going to be Brachyura’s “home” after I slashed the base of that island with a knife to make it look slightly less artificial. However this didn’t pan out which is fine.

I also had the thought of Cursed named crew climbing aboard a dragon and using it as a flying steed! O_O Davy Jones could fly off to Karkuda or the Caribbean to give a message or information to another faction. However, this is an easy house rule that could be used in future games.

-What the heck is going on?!
I only did this once, but it’s a substantial effort to put forth when I could have been playing or finishing the regular report in the first place (aka I didn’t have time to do it as much as I wanted to).

-Harbor can be rented out if faction is needing money (can share)
Man this was something I thought about before the game even began. Once I got the Harbor concept down (modular and reusable/destructible), the possibilities became almost endless (hopefully you’ll see more of it in the future… oh yes). I was thinking that if the French were struggling, they could take a huge payment (200+ gold, maybe some insane amount like 600+ lol) to “rent” or sell the Harbor to another faction in order to stay in the game. The French would have settled a home island somewhere and the Harbor would have multiple “owners” throughout the game. Of course, this was all made incredibly irrelevant when the French did well for themselves and never truly struggled at any point, going on to even win the game overall.

-Factions send big fleets through whirlpools (myths, rumors of gold/etc, helping out a faction in need, desire to explore/expand)
This actually did happen a bit between the Pirates, English, and Cursed. However, whirlpool squadrons were incredibly ineffective, which is one of the lessons and lasting legacies of this game. The Pirates lost big-time against the Americans twice at the same whirlpool, and the Cursed and English were dominated by the French and Pirates when they tried to invade. Even at the end of the game, the factions coming through the whirlpools lost the battle. The French won, and happened to be the faction doing the least whirlpool traveling other than the Jades (and Mercs).

-“Night” turns, Night video?
This is perhaps the biggest thing I should have done since it wouldn’t have taken all that long. I was going to put the Delusion up to the light and take a video of the battlefield with the shadows of the ships against the glow in the dark 10 master, with some close shots and zoomed out as well. As far as an actual turn, I thought about playing a full turn at nighttime without using the flash for any of the pictures. However, the Caribbean was the only ocean really optimized for playing at night (due to the lighting in the rooms), and I didn’t end up doing this, especially since the flash can make the pictures and colors look so good. Along with the Delusion glowing, I was going to put tiny flashlights in the lighthouses since they have little openings in them. Smile However, I couldn’t fit what I had inside the little lighthouses, and didn’t prioritize buying something just for that. Of course, these concepts are all things that can be tried out in future games, campaign or otherwise. I’m thinking a tiny electric candle could work well depending on the size of the custom lighthouse, but a stronger light would be needed to get a good practical effect that shines on the ships sailing by. That’s one thing about these final notes – although I could have done more (sort of, since I was VERY pressed for time when playing and reporting, so extra stuff got pushed aside by necessity), these are things I can look back on and prioritize more for future games.

I was a little disappointed not to say “Mission Accomplished!” as a pun at the end. The Pirates were farther from winning than anyone could have envisioned, but that’s part of what makes CG’s great – the rich often get richer, but that doesn’t mean they always win.

I am glad that I had the resource system change, since the 1’s rolled really mixed things up and led to some fun megalaunches. That is one part of Economy Edition that could possibly use an edit, since the random changes can also simulate sudden and unexpected market crashes that the predictable changes don’t.

Turns/Resources:
5 roll for 8 turns
3 roll for 7 turns
5 roll for 9 turns
3 roll for 6 turns
4 roll for 8 turns
3 roll for 5 turns
3 roll for 5 turns
4 roll for 3 turns (+1 turn random change)
5 roll for 5 turns (+2 1 turn random changes)
2 roll for 5 turns (+2 1 turn random changes)
1 roll for 8 turns
5 roll for 10 turns (didn’t roll after this since launches were done)

Official new records:
BIGGEST GAME EVER
Total points: 9,078
Total ships: 509
Largest recorded single-fleet point total: Pirates at 2,347 points (since broken by the Americans of VASSAL Campaign Game 3)
Largest fleet of any faction: Pirates at 131 ships

Stats
3 oceans, 2 rooms, 42 square feet of ocean, 8 factions, 7+ major NEW custom pieces in play (Kingdom, Tunnel, Roost, Diamond Rock, Harbor, Sub Hideout, Castle, other cool new islands like The Flat)

Unique stuff:
Multiple oceans
Multiple rooms
Kingdom
Roost
Tunnel
Castle
Harbor
Diamond Rock
All custom islands – none regular (!)
Only real icebergs
Breaking icebergs
Ladders
Army units
EE resource rules
House rules
Videos (tours, etc)
Lighthouses

Some final questions you can answer if you want:
What did you think of the ending?
Favorite parts of this last report?
Was it a satisfying conclusion?
What did you think of the game overall?

Thank you for reading, and thank you to those who have commented their thoughts on the game (especially Xerecs). Thanks for having patience with these massive reports and with the game itself. As I said, this is the last physical campaign game of a large size that I will play for a long time. My attention now shifts to other “Piratical activities”. As far as campaign games go, you can find me on VASSAL. Very Happy

VASSAL Campaign Game 4

Posted on November 21, 2018March 10, 2026 by Ben

VASSAL Campaign Game 4

With considerable interest from various players, the fourth grand adventure on VASSAL has been planned!!

VASSAL Campaign Game 4 features 3 players and a whopping 12 factions, with each player controlling 4 factions completely independently. (as if they were separate players)

Without further ado, here are the participants in the order of play:

Xerecs
1. Spanish
2. Jade Rebellion
3. The Conglomerate/The Alliance
4. English

A7XfanBen
5. Pirates
6. Cursed
7. Vikings
8. Barbary Corsairs

PirateAJ14
9. Dutch
10. Americans
11. Mercenaries
12. French

A few notes on the factions:
-“The Conglomerate” is made up of ANY and ALL custom game pieces not part of the main 11 factions (Wizkids’ 10 + the Dutch). Any customs from other factions are automatically part of this permanent alliance that functions as a single faction. Any new factions that are made are automatically part of The Conglomerate. Crew within factions that comprise the Conglomerate can use their abilities on each other’s ships. (ex: Swedish crew can use their abilities on Ionic ships, and vice versa/etc.) Here is a non-exhaustive list of all the factions included in the Conglomerate: Ionics, Nexus Alliance, Hyrule, Denmark, Germany, Privateer, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Irish, Japanese, Outcast, Prussian, Atlantean, Neutral
-The Mercenary keyword will be ignored in full for the Mercenary faction. (including as part of the Ex-Patriot keyword)

Now for the rules!

Modified version of cannonfury’s Economy Edition rules

Errata

Duplicates Rule – There cannot be duplicate Wizkids ships in play until a faction has purchased every single standard ship (including flavor duplicates (such as all three versions of the 5 master HMS Apollo, for example, but not including customs)) available to them. Once a faction has every official Wizkids ship in its fleet in play, that faction can launch duplicates of those official Wizkids ships. Only one duplicate ship is allowed, but if a faction has two of every ship in play, they can begin a third set of duplicates. However, once a ship is sunk, it MUST be replaced before duplicates can be launched again. (This is also known as the “complete the fleet” rule) Unreleased game pieces designed by Wizkids are not included in the Duplicates Rule. Wizkids faction fleets cannot have duplicate custom ships. Since the Dutch and Conglomerate factions have no official Wizkids ships, their entire fleets of custom ships are subject to the Duplicates Rule. For example, if ALL custom Dutch ships are in play at once, they can begin a second set of each custom Dutch ship.

-Named crew that have multiple versions can be used as long as it’s not at the same time by the same fleet (one has to be eliminated or removed from the game before hiring a different version). Generic crew may be used as many times as you can afford.

-Unique Treasure may be used, but note that due to the nature of some rule changes, they may no longer function as intended. There may be gold replenishments at some point in the game.

-Resources are represented through tokens; players may choose whatever kind of tokens they wish as long as all players agree. Ships can carry any number of any resource types up to their cargo limit. After a ship rolls for the resource type and loads resources, the ship will load face-up gold coins that correspond to the numbered resource (for example, a ship with lumber on board would have 1’s). When the ship unloads the resources at the home island, the 1’s (in this case) may be unloaded just like treasure. At any point during a player’s turn (usually at the beginning of the launch phase, after the play phase ends), any resources on the home island can be swapped out for the value of the resource in gold. If the value of lumber was 4, the 1’s are swapped for face-down gold 4’s on the home island (HI), which can then be used to purchase ships and crew during the launch phase at the end of the turn. Players may use UT tokens to represent total gold or resource quantities on their home islands, but should keep in mind that a UT worth 400 gold could be stolen by a home island raider with a single open cargo space.

-Game time is measured in rounds. A round begins with the start of the first player’s turn and ends with the finish of the last player’s turn.

Starting Conditions

-Players begin with 30 points to design a pure nationality fleet.

-There are 48 total islands, all of which will be wild at the start of play. All islands currently have unique treasures on them, but most will produce resources.

-Factions will be sailing in from the edges of the map. The first island a faction explores immediately becomes that faction’s home island.

-Round earth rules are in effect.

-Map details are below.

Players take turns and move their ships, using normal Pirates CSG rules.

Victory Conditions

-Last Fleet Afloat: the final fleet remaining in the game will be the winning faction.

-If we cannot play until only one fleet remains, the fleet with the most total points in play will be the winner.
Players may surrender if they feel that they no longer have a chance at fulfilling any of these victory conditions.

Action Modifications

Explore Actions: An explore action at a wild island takes a turn, as usual. When a wild island is explored for the first time, the player that performed the action rolls a d6—match the result to the number of the corresponding resource. That island now produces that resource for all players, and you may load tokens of that resource onto this ship up to its cargo limit; each token fills one cargo space. Abilities that remove exploration markers may reset the resource of an island.

Repair Actions: Repair actions occur normally, with the exception that a ship carrying both lumber and textiles may repair a mast at a wild island, per the shipwright rules; these resources are used in the process.

Combat Actions: Combat actions occur normally, although boarding actions have received updates and new actions, blockading and razing, have been created.

Resources

Resources are the main source of gold production in the game, but must first be converted for a variable price at the home island into treasure coins, which can then be used to purchase ships, crew, equipment, etc. Resources count as cargo, and abilities that affect treasure coins also affect resources (i.e. each of these coins is worth +1 gold…turns to each of these resources is worth +1 of whichever resource is in question).

The value of a resource is determined by a die roll. At the beginning of the first player’s turn, a d6 and a d20 are rolled. The d6 roll determines the values of all resources (refer to the quick reference for exact values) while the d20 roll determines the number of turns this value will hold.
Lumber: (1) Fundamental for ship and settlement building, lumber is the basic building block of any naval civilization.
Textiles: (2) Needed for sails and clothing, textiles are a key part of the trading industry.
Metals: (3) Stronger than wood, metals allow for the construction of sturdier ships and deadlier weapons—as well as providing the means for paying for them.
Food: (4) A food source from the sea, fish are bountiful and whales provide a large source of oil.
Spices: (5) Useful for preserving and improving the taste of foods, spices were highly sought after
Luxuries: (6) The rare items crews find on their journeys through the world’s seas—from the beautiful to the wild to the truly cryptic.

Die Roll……1……2…….3…….4…….5…….6
Lumber……1……6…….5…….4…….3…….2
Textiles……2……1…….6…….5…….4…….3
Metals……..3……2…….1…….6…….5…….4
Food………..4……3…….2…….1…….6…….5
Spices……..5……4…….3…….2…….1…….6
Luxuries…..6……5…….4…….3…….2…….1

cannonfury wrote:

So let’s say hypothetically that I dock at an island and I roll a 1. That means that island now produces lumber. There are the two main die, a d6 and a d20, that control that market in the game. If I roll a 3 on the d6 and a 14 on the d20, you go to the chart value of 3 for die roll and read down. For the next 14 turns, lumber is worth 5 gold, textiles 6, metals 1, and so on.

-If an island produces a resource, it has that resource face up on it. If other resources are present on the island, they are placed face up next to the island or on the shoreline.

-Players may agree to change the resource system. Instead of simply rolling a d6 for values and two d6 for duration, other options may be added for more randomness.
Example: A round of turns begins with the d6 roll. A 1 is rolled (on a 2-6 the resources stay the same, until a 1 is rolled). Since a 1 was rolled, roll again. If the second roll is a 2-6 (anything other than a 1), the resources only change value for that turn. On the next turn, they revert back to whatever they were on the previous round, or a different system is once again agreed upon by all players (such as starting over with regular EE rolls, or using the system described in this example). However, if the second roll is a 1, the current EE rolls are disregarded, and new rolls are made (both for values and duration).

Changing the rules for how resources change could really make things interesting, so we may also implement additional/different economy/resource rules as we see fit.

Island Upgrades

Islands: An island upgrade is bought at the home island; a token representing that upgrade can be loaded onto any ship, and fills one cargo space. That ship must return to the previously explored island and may unload the token as a free action. On the next turn, the island is upgraded. If a ship is sunk on transit, the token is eliminated. Upgrades must happen sequentially – an island can be explored in one turn, upgraded to a town on the following turn, and upgraded to a colony on the third turn. This cannot be accomplished faster, as there is no skipping levels. Ex: For each island, that island can only be upgraded once per turn.

-Encampment: Automatically created after an explore action. Abilities that remove explored island markers eliminate encampments. Encampments simply mark that this island has been explored by the player; enemy encampments may exist on the same island.

-Fort: An encampment may be upgraded to a fort by bringing the fort’s gold cost to an island (no teleporting the gold and fort like in a regular game). A fort generates no resources OR gold. Crew may be hired at this island. Resources can be unloaded at a fort, but they cannot be converted. Forts may be upgraded by paying 40 gold for a fort upgrade; a Shipyard token (in the module) must be taken to the fort to upgrade it. Once upgraded, forts can be used to buy ships, crew, and equipment using gold stored in the fort or gold from your home island. No more than 2 of the same custom fort can be in play at once.

-Lighthouse: An island can have a lighthouse built on it by bringing 3 times the lighthouse’s regular cost to the wild island, similar to how forts are built. Other island upgrades can be built on the same island a lighthouse is on, as if the lighthouse wasn’t there – the lighthouse still functions as normal. The island a lighthouse is on still produces resources or gold normally unless another island upgrade supersedes it. No more than 2 of the same custom lighthouse can be in play at once. Lighthouses will be represented by the tavern structure within the module.

-Town: An encampment may be upgraded to a town by paying 10 gold for the town upgrade token and bringing it to the island. Abilities that remove explore actions do not eliminate towns. Having a town on an island gives control of that island to a player; other players may no longer take resources from that island. Towns can be razed by enemy ships, they have no natural defenses and after three hits are considered destroyed. A town may also be captured through a boarding party. Once destroyed, the island becomes unexplored in regards to all players, and its resource value may be reset. Towns are represented by the associated faction’s infantry unit in the module.

-Colony: A town may be upgraded to a colony. Players have a choice between either a trading or a military port; an island can only accommodate one.
1) Trading Port: 25 gold. Allows a player to trade any two resources for one other resource, of any type. An opposing player’s ship may also dock at your trading port to trade commodities, but they must pay one resource to the owner in addition to the two resources being traded. Ships with the Parley keyword do not have to pay this fee. A trading port can be blockaded by any ship. Trading ports are represented by cavalry units.
2) Military Port: 50 gold. Allows a player to repair ships docked at this island as if it were a home island. Ships, crew, and equipment may be purchased at a military port using gold from your home island. A military port cannot hold gold like an ordinary fort. A military port cannot be blockaded, and acts as an 8 flag fort with 3S cannons. Military ports are represented by artillery units.

Crew

-Explorer: Explorer crew has been updated. If a ship performs an explore action with an explorer on board, that ship may reroll for the initial resource value. Hoists also benefit from this ability.

-No 0LR +5 crew

-0LR reroller crew will cost 3 points so they’re not free; they will function as basic reroll crew without the Limit and Ransom keywords (no links either)

Updated/New Mechanics

-Boarding: When a ship wins a boarding party, the winner decides whether they will take gold/resources or eliminate crew. The winner chooses which gold/resources to take, but the loser chooses which crew is eliminated. After a successful boarding party, the winning ship may, in addition to taking gold or killing crew, take any resources of any type up to their available cargo space. To initiate a boarding party against a town, an enemy ship must dock at the island or use a boarding ability that allows for boarding without touching. A town can be considered to have 2 masts in a boarding party, and can be captured by the winning ship. If a ship loses a boarding roll against a town, the attacking ship must remove a mast and move +S away.

-Blockading: A trading port can be blockaded by a ship. If a ship docks at a trading port and declares hostilities, that port is considered to be blockaded; all trading ceases and the player loses all bonuses, including the production of commodities. The blockading player gains the resource bonuses, and can choose to take resources up to their cargo limit or remove them from the game.

-Razing: A colony can be razed after a successful boarding party, it is considered to be a 4 mast ship. If the boarding ship wins, the colony is removed from the game, and the boarding ship receives all the resources available, up to that ship’s cargo limit. If the colony wins, the opposing player takes that ship, but all crew on board are removed from the game.

-Raiding: A ship with the home-island raiding ability can dock at an enemy home island and take as many resources as she can carry, in addition to any gold. If able, she must leave on her next turn.

-Storm terrain: Storms are a custom terrain piece. At the end of a round of turns, a d6 is rolled. Match the result to the number printed on any Storms in play. Roll the d6 again. Match the result to the number printed around the edge of the Storm and move the Storm L in a straight line in that direction. If two or more Storms collide or move into contact with one another, they merge and move as one Storm. If any part of a game piece touches a Storm, it is immediately placed inside of it. Roll a d6, the result is the number of masts, segments, flags or damage points removed from the game piece. If the result is more than the number of remaining masts, segments, flags or damage points remaining, the game piece is eliminated from the game. If a storm spends more than three rounds over a body of land, it is removed from the game. Storms can move over other terrain types and affect ships that are in/on that terrain.

House Rules

-All game pieces require two hits to eliminate one mast, flag, or segment. These hits do not need to come from the same shoot action or player, and do not need to occur on the same turn. Partial hits that do not eliminate a mast can be repaired with a repair action, but a fully eliminated mast only requires one repair action as normal. Any damage done due to fire needs to be done on the second hit of a mast, meaning you cannot just use fire hits to ignore the 2 hits per mast rule. Stinkpots and Chainshots are exempt from the 2 hits per mast rule (each hit of their type takes effect since they don’t eliminate masts). Flotillas must be hit 4 times overall in order to eliminate their flag (none of the hits have to come from a specific shoot action). Partial hits on masts are represented by adding a pennant flag to the ship in the module. If a ship has the ability “Two hits from the same shoot action are required to eliminate one of this ship’s masts”, it does benefit from the 2 hits/mast (needing 4 hits to eliminate 1 mast), but the hits do not need to come from the same shoot action. To represent such a ship that has 2 or 3 hits on it already, we can edit the title of the ship in the module to include “2 HITS”/etc for maximum clarity.
-Game pieces being towed behind ships do not have to be docked automatically at every island the towing ship docks at.
-Ships cannot do damage by ramming, with the exception of submarines which can do ram damage both surfaced and submerged. Ability “Ramming cannot eliminate this ship’s masts” is changed to “This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls.”
-Ships docked at their home islands can be shot at.
-Ships can load face-down treasure and resources from their home island with an explore action. Face-up Unique Treasure can be loaded and unloaded to and from islands as part of the free transfer rules.
-If both players agree to it, opposing ships can touch without ramming, boarding or pinning. While touching, they can be given an explore action to transfer cargo freely between them.
-Home island raiders can look at all treasure on an opponent’s home island and choose which treasure to take, rather than having it be random.
-Forts can be given repair actions if they have a shipwright in them. They cannot repair and shoot on the same turn unless they have an extra action available.
-Terrain can be placed anywhere on the play area, and each piece can touch any other piece of terrain or islands as long as they are not directly on top of each other.
-Whirlpools take effect on a roll of 1-3 instead of 4-6 (since you almost never want to roll low in this game).
-On negative whirlpool rolls, equipment is now one of the items that players can choose to eliminate. (instead of just mast/crew/treasure if desired)
-Return to Savage Shores and Wizkids Unreleased game pieces are available (found in the Master Spreadsheet)
-Custom game pieces are allowed, but they may be modified or banned in-game (through a vote) if they are overpowered (OP). [Modifications: Streamlined Hull costs 3 points.]
-Trade-In Rule: If a faction brings a captured ship back to their home island, military port, or upgraded fort, after repairing ALL masts on the ship, they can then remove the ship and all her cargo from the game and convert the total points she and her cargo was worth into gold that is then placed on that island.
-Relaunching Rule: Non Big-6 factions (Big 6 being England, France, Spain, Pirate, America, Cursed) can relaunch Wizkids AND custom game pieces without restrictions other than the No-Duplicates rule being applied to their own fleet. (this is to give the minor factions more of a chance if their best pieces are captured and not traded in)
-Changing Home Islands: A faction may choose to move or relocate their home island. To do this a faction must remove ALL items from their current home island location. The island of choice must not have any island upgrades already on it; none of the 5 Archipelago islands can ever be a home island. Once a faction declares their new home island location they must explore it to make it official, at which point the island will not produce resources or gold. Once that happens, their previous home island reverts to an unexplored wild island that can produce resources.
-Celestine’s Charts and the S-Exploring ability will reset the resource values of islands.
-Native Canoes cannot be given an explore action on their first turn in play.
-Only up to 3 copies of each unique set of native canoes can be in play at a time.
-Other house rules may be instituted during the game if players are in favor of them.

Ban List: All Events, Odin’s Revenge, Kharmic Idol, Pirata Codex, Flood UT, Missionaries UT

~~~~~~~~~~

The Ocean

This ocean is my best VASSAL ocean outside of the Caribbean and World game oceans. It is 6 ocean tiles wide by 4 high, twice the dimensions of the oceans of CG1 and CG3 (3×2). In 2025 I made a new VASSAL module specifically for CG4 that greatly expands the border areas outside the ocean, so we should have enough space for deckplates.

Islands: 48
All of these are wild as of now, but eventually there should be 12 home islands and 36 wild islands.

We rolled to determine both player and faction turn order. I then figured out how to place the factions in their starting locations. From my email to all players: It is hard to explain exactly how I went about doing this in text form, so it might be pretty confusing. XD

Each of the 4 sides of the map has 3 factions assigned to it. Each player has a faction assigned to 3 of the 4 sides, starting in player and faction order. I decided to go in reverse turn order, since that’s how we would have picked HI’s if we had done it that way. For example, I started with pirateaj14’s last faction (the Mercenaries) in the east, then one of his in the north, then west. This is because I was doing things backwards so the first player (gingerninja) would end up with the “leftover” spots. My whole thought process was basically one of each player’s factions on one side of the map, going clockwise the whole time. However, since I reversed the order, it makes it more confusing to read about. This gives us a bit of a clockwise motion for the turn order (which I don’t really care about, but with 12 factions it should help a little XD). I didn’t mix up the factions more because there is already a bunch of randomness built in when we rolled for faction order and player order.

From there, I went in reverse faction turn order (with each player’s third faction going last of their three) and rolled to see which of the three locations a faction would end up in on their side of the map. I went clockwise with the numbers (but anticlockwise with the factions!) so (in the north) 1-2=western location, 3-4=center, 5-6=eastern, etc.

Each player has one faction on three consecutive sides of the map, going clockwise and starting in the north with the first player. So gingerninja’s factions go clockwise from North-East-South, xerecs: E-S-W, a7xfanben: S-W-N, pirateaj14: W-N-E. Almost like 3 half-circles per player rotating around the map. The die rolls were to determine which of the 3 spots on a side that a faction would start in.

Now for a “map tour”. 😀

The grand ocean:

I have put nearly ALL of the game’s unique treasures into the stack, shuffled it up, and distributed multiple UT’s to each island! O_O This means it could be very interesting and chaotic from the start, with tons of UT’s being found early on. There are approximately 150 coins in play to start the game. The regular wild islands have 3 UT’s apiece, while the Archipelago islands in the middle have 4-5 apiece. Between the UT’s and the sailing in format, it should provide a unique and exciting start to the game.

Around the map starting in the northwest. The Archipelago in the center of play will be used as a center point of reference for the pictures. The 5 islands of the Archipelago cannot be home islands.

In the northwest, we see the Cursed and Hyrule on the west side (French to represent the Hyrule Conglomerate for now). On the north side are the Americans and Vikings. As a result, you could argue that it’s a somewhat weak area as far as factions are concerned, especially compared to the powerhouse of the southeast. In the middle of this quadrant is a lagoon, inside which there is an island with gold rather than resources. Unlike my Economy Edition game, the lagoon is surrounded by reefs that function normally. The lagoon island cannot be chosen as a home island, and is a gold island.

Here is “The Vortex”, a whirlpool that mysteriously appeared in the middle of a coral reef formation and has changed the orientation of the reefs themselves to match the spin of the whirlpool.

In the northeast, we see the Vikings again as the middle northern starting faction. A fitting location for the Norse raiders! East of them are the Barbary Corsairs, meaning that two (very) minor factions are starting on the north side of the map. On the east side we can see the English, and south of them the Mercenaries. This area features a bit less terrain, but some interesting things as well. There is a large island, as well as an island in the north that is connected to another island piece (considered one island for play purposes) via round earth! (we’ll see the other half in the SE picture)

You may have seen this oddity near the large island – a “fogpool”! This whirlpool is shrouded in a fog bank. Any ships that come out of the whirlpool are immediately lost inside, and anything trying to enter the whirlpool has to be given a separate move action once inside the fog.

The northeast corner has a whirlpool surrounded by sargasso seas, while a shipwreck is present on some reefs that connect to another feature via round earth… a dangerous area indeed.

The southeast, with the Mercenaries and Spanish on the east side, and the Pirates and Jade Rebellion on the south side. This area has some distinct features, including an island surrounded by whirlpools and the other half of the island in the north.

The southeast corner is dominated by “the Turbulence”, an area of uncertainty, chaos, and danger. No less than 3 whirlpools are concentrated here, but all of them are surrounded by terrain. Walled off from the southeast, using round earth from the other corners may be the best way to access this area. However, both wild islands are hard to get to, and the one surrounded by fog cannot be chosen as a home island (it is another gold island).

Finally we come to the southwest, where the Jade Rebellion and French will sail in from the south, and the Dutch from the west (Hyrule just out of sight north of the Dutch marker). This area features a lot of terrain, but slightly higher island density than the other areas.

The sargasso sea formation in the northwest continues via round earth to this area, culminating in an island surrounded by sargassos except for a potential foggy entrance. Just northeast of that, a whirlpool surrounded by multiple fog banks is the alternate of the new fogpool.

In the center of the map is the Archipelago, a chain of 5 wild islands that is hard to access from any angle. The waters are treacherous but plentiful, and it represents the “tropical paradise” of this game. There are various “squeeze” spots where there is a break in the terrain – I purposely did that to increase the chances of it becoming a bottleneck that can be strategically controlled for limited access. Also, despite the two whirlpools in the area, both are blocked somewhat by the large amount of terrain. The center island of the Archipelago will be the most valuable in the game, and could eventually contain both gold and resources.

BATTLE REPORT WARNING: With postimages recently changing their url’s and other image hosting sites not satisfactory, it is very likely that this game will see a variety of reporting styles. Youtube videos may be more common than regular text-and-picture reports. At any moment all of the pictures in this thread may disappear.

With that, we are about ready to begin! Time to GET HYPED with my CG4 trailer video!!

4/23/2018

The Beginning (Part 1)

Play has started! As I said in the first post, picture reports will be less of a priority since the image hosting sites are prone to disasters. I’ll try my best to make any recordings informative and good, and do some video reporting as well.

The Jade Rebellion is the first to a wild island! The Virtuous Wind explores and the Jades have the first home island of the game! They also got the Forged Papers and Sword UT’s.

The Barbary Corsairs got hit with some “instant karma” when they found two negative UT’s (Missionary and Gauntlet of Pestilence) after not starting the game with the full 30 points (only 13 in fact). Here the Tiger’s Eye is in a fog bank created by the Gauntlet, which is a custom UT from Rizz the Bloody. This island will be the Corsairs’ home island, which will be interesting with that nasty fog bank right next to it.

The Vikings have fittingly settled on a home island in the far north near where they entered the ocean, with the Grendel finding Protection from Davy Jones.

The Dutch are off and running! With a hot start similar to their effort in the Caribbean game, they have already explored two islands. Led by Abel Tasman, they have a home island near the fog at the bottom of the picture, and some UT’s on the Prins Willem to the northeast.

Various factions are still without a home island, but it was a solid start to this epic adventure!

5/4/2018

Another turn has been completed, with various UT’s and home island discoveries.

5/16/2018

Another mini report – The First Launch

6/17/2018

The game has continued, with the Virtuous Wind being the first ship (and the Jade Rebellion the first faction) to explore the Archipelago! The VW is now really loaded, with various UT’s along with newly found textiles aboard. The Vikings explored their first wild island, finding lumber in the far north.

All CG4 Battle Reports can be found HERE!

One of the best games I’ve ever played! November 21st, 2015

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Ben

This game was played on 11/21/2015.

This was a game with 4 fleets at 100 points each. After being completely astounded throughout, I can honestly say that in my 240+ games of Pirates up to this point (400+ as of republishing in 2018), it was one of the absolute best games I’ve ever played. I would estimate that excluding cumulative games and huge games (games exceeding 1,000 total points), it was quite possibly one of the top 3 all-time!

As a result, I wanted to make it one of my all-time best battle reports. The game was so long, complicated, and engaging that the report has to be as well. However, naturally there are some details that I’ve already forgotten. There are almost 150 pictures, and I tried to go as in-depth as possible. Therefore, you may want to read this report in more than one sitting. Either way, enjoy!

Some custom game pieces were used (all mine this time), as well as one ship from Return to Savage Shores. The fleets took their turns in this order:

French:
Saber + Captain Nemo, Capitaine Arathiel, Mademoiselle Josephine Godiva, helmsman, oarsmen x2
Fetu (RtSS) + Jean Bart, helmsman, Smokepot Shot (played as a 1 point equipment for this game)
Le Pluton + Amiral Louis Cartier + captain, helmsman, oarsman

Fetu
Collector’s Number: 041
Faction Affiliation: France
Rarity: SR
Type: Ship
Point Value: 16
Cargo Space: 6
Base Move: L
Cannons: 3S,4L,3S
Number of Masts: 3

Hoist. If this ship has a crew with the Captain keyword, she gets +L to her base move.

Jean Bart
Collector’s Number: 134
Faction Affiliation: France
Rarity: LE
Type: Crew
Point Value: 13

Captain. Reverse Captain. You own any derelict this ship explores; both ships become docked at your home island. Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, this ship may be given an extra action. This crew ignores the normal point limitations on crew, that is, this crew may serve on any French ship. If the ship’s point cost is 13 or less, then this is the only crew that can serve on this ship. If the ship’s point cost exceeds 13, then the normal point limitations apply.

As you can see, the French were going all-in on their three ships. I’ve wanted to use various crew combinations on the Saber for a while now, and this is one of the best. Arathiel has two oarsmen to sac for extra actions (EA) before Nemo starts nabbing enemy crew for Arathiel to sacrifice. The Fetu is one of the best ships from RtSS, and hoists are simply some of the game’s best ships overall. With Bart on board, the Fetu would be able to move L+L+S even without Bart’s EA capabilities. Also, the Fetu would be able to execute the extremely powerful combo of having Bart’s derelict-teleportation ability on a hoist, where a hoist can use its free explore action on a derelict. Lastly, the Pluton rounds out the fleet as a hybrid, capable of running gold, stealing it, or simply fighting. The addition of Cartier means that all three ships have extra action potential.

Barbary Corsair/Jade Rebellion/Viking Alliance (referred to as the Alliance):
Rabat + Jack Hawkins, Bonny Peel, helmsman, explorer, oarsman
Grand River + Dragon Eyes, Ms. Cheng, helmsman, firepot specialist, Stinkpot Shot, oarsman
Sigra Mein + Shayna Duex + Christian Fiore, oarsman

Rabat
Collector’s Number: 123
Faction Affiliation: Barbary Corsair
Rarity: SR
Type: Ship
Point Value: 18
Cargo Space: 6
Base Move: S+S+S
Cannons: 2S,3S,4S,5S
Number of Masts: 4

Galley. After looking at treasure on a wild island, you may trade one treasure from that island for a random treasure on any other wild island. This ship may dock at an enemy home island and load one treasure. If able, she must leave on your next turn.

Grand River
Collector’s Number: 124
Faction Affiliation: Jade Rebellion
Rarity: SR
Type: Ship
Point Value: 16
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3S,3S,3L,3L,3S, 3S
Number of Masts: 6

Junk. This ship’s base move becomes S when she reaches her cargo limit.

Sigra Mein
Collector’s Number: 125
Faction Affiliation: Viking
Rarity: SR
Type: Ship
Point Value: 20
Cargo Space: 2
Base Move: S+S+S
Cannons: 2S,2S,2S
Number of Masts: 3

Longship. Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 4-6, this ship gains the Fear keyword for this turn.

The BC/JR/Viking Alliance featured three of the four SR ships from my custom set. It’s quite possible that all three are somewhat underpriced, but they have their drawbacks. With this setup, the Rabat is moving S+S+S+S (4S) per turn with the potential to double it to 8S with Jack Hawkins. She’s a fantastic but expensive gold ship, with treasure trading and HI raiding available to complement her large cargo hold. The Grand River could be called a “boring” 6 masted junk compared to some of the others, but with enough help from the excellent selection of Jade Rebellion crew, she can excel. Here Ms. Cheng and the oarsman keep her from reaching her cargo limit and inducing the movement penalty. Just like the Rabat, the Grand River is equipped to capture enemy crew and turn them into gold. The Sigra Mein (supposed to mean “inflict pain” in Old Norse) is a brutal short-range fighter with enough room to add a captain/reroller and a Mercenary canceller. Similar to the French, the Alliance is looking to dominate with quality over quantity.

Pirates:
Beastie
Ranger + Hammersmith, Barstow, oarsman
Sea Crane + Genny Gallows, oarsman
Coleoptera + El Phantasma, oarsman
Typhoon + Jean Laffite, helmsman, oarsman

The Pirates went with a very different approach. Their fleet featured a large gunship with gold-capturing capability, in addition to the captain/helmsman/explorer combo. This saved the Ranger two spaces which she wanted to fill with gold. The Sea Crane was looking to combine her ability with that of Genny Gallows in order to get +3 on as many coins as possible! To help her do that, the Typhoon was a sort of hybrid ship designed for support and gold, with two spaces left and S+S+S speed. Laffite was a perfect fit with the Typhoon’s built-in reroll, and fleet admiral crew are more affordable and useful in games like this that feature higher build totals. The Coleoptera was slow but threatening – the only submersible in the setup, she also featured the only HI-raiding ability other than the Rabat. To top it all off, Beastie promised to wreak havoc and cause consternation among the other fleets. To round out their fleet to the 100 point limit, the Pirates were able to add oarsmen to all of their ships, helping to protect crew from elimination and giving the ships more flexibility.

English:
Nova Scotia + Lawrence, captain, helmsman
Honu Iki + Powder Pete
Maui’s Fishhook + Sir Christopher Myngs, Commodore Rhys Gryffyn Owen, helmsman
HMS Sea Phoenix + Thomas Gunn
Bombardier + Richard Howe, captain, helmsman, oarsman

Richard Howe
Collector’s Number: 041
Faction Affiliation: England
Rarity: U
Type: Crew
Point Value: 6

Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 4, any ship in your fleet may be given two actions that turn. On a 5-6, this ship may be given the same action twice.

The English were planning to focus on beefing up the already-dangerous Nova Scotia using her unique ability, which doesn’t see use very often. For this purpose, the MF (Maui’s Fishhook) was the main treasure runner. Similar to the Pirates’ strategy, the Honu Iki would try to get Powder Pete’s +1 bonus on as many coins as possible so the Nova Scotia could simply eliminate the 1’s added to the English home island. The Sea Phoenix was a hybrid, with 3 cargo spaces open to run gold. She could fight with Thomas Gunn and raid HI’s with her ability. The Bombardier was the last addition to the fleet, a powerful gunship capable of defending the English fleet and attacking if need be. Howe is a custom crew from my set that I like to refer to as “SAT with a twist”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The setup featured the 4 home islands around the perimeter, with round earth rules making them closer in reality than they appear to be. There was one wild island in the middle, with three separate beaches containing 12 gold coins each, including some unique treasure. To the north and south of this island there were two shipwrecks, both of which were laden with 4 non-UT coins. In addition, each fleet had a unique obstacle to overcome in their pursuit of the island. The fleets picked their HI’s in the opposite order of play, so the English opted for what they thought looked like the easiest approach. They had to contend with a few reefs, but one of the shipwrecks was conveniently located on a likely route to the island. The Pirates picked the other HI in the south, which had a huge sandbar in the way. The Alliance had two ships with wide oars, so they had to pick the northeastern HI which was completely blocked off from the island with various terrain. As a result, the French got what the Alliance didn’t want, a HI near an obstacle course of dangerous rocks, which made maneuvering rather difficult and slow.

The Pirates on the left, the Alliance on the right:

French on the left, English on the right. Note the two hoists, one switchblade and one bombardier.

This is where everyone wanted to be, but getting there would prove complicated:

The French led off the game and it began! For the Alliance, the Rabat and Sigra Mein (Sigra) were able to reach a fog bank on the first turn, with the Grand River not far behind. The Rabat left Bonny Peel behind on the HI to make room for more gold. The Pirates were intimidated by the 6 masted junk and powerful longship, so they headed west towards the English, who got off to a good start with an SAT on the MF (Maui’s Fishhook).

The French make their way through the obstacles:

Turtles! The Fetu is the first to reach the island and finds the funny UT. In addition, she picked up Wine and the Knights of Malta Banner to go along with three valuable coins.

The fog bank facing the Alliance had numbers 3-6 exiting the fog bank the same way they came in, a 1 resulting in being laid up on a reef, and only a 2 resulting in clearing the fog and emerging in the semi-lagoon containing the only wild island. Miraculously, the Rabat got a 2 on her first try, and also received an SAT from Jack Hawkins on the same turn! This let her explore the northern beach, take a bunch of goodies, and sail right back into the fog! Along with regular gold she grabbed Manawa no Kowhatu, Relics, Wet Gunpowder, and Periscope, making her more of a defensive threat. In the meantime, the Sigra Mein exited the fog bank to join the Grand River, who was sailing west.

Seeing the Alliance’s change of course, the Pirates turned the Ranger and Coleoptera around. The OE junks Sea Crane and Typhoon continued, looking to explore the Duke shipwreck rather than get into an early confrontation with the nearby English. Beastie hung around to make sure the English didn’t try anything.

However, the English weren’t worried about the Pirates just yet, as the MF found a very interesting mix of UT’s to complement her standard gold: Neptune’s Figurehead, Metal Hull, Barbary Banner, and Poseiden’s Breath, and Jail! Jail sent all three crew home, while Metal Hull reduced her movement to S. (In hindsight CRGO should have stayed on the MF)

For a unique twist on the game, each time all three beaches were explored, the remaining treasure on the island would re-shuffle itself so that each beach had the same amount of coins on it, but the shuffling meant that each fleet didn’t know what the beach they had already explored now contained!

With an EA from Jean Bart, the Fetu has already returned home. The Saber feels useless because her switchblades prevent her from traversing the rocks. She’ll have to prove her worth on the outside parts of the sea. The Pluton grabbed a few coins from the western beach and sails beautifully through the rocks as the turtles begin following her.

With an overhead view of the whole sea, the first sign of conflict appears: the Bombardier, after receiving Neptune’s Figurehead and Metal Hull from the MF, moves to eliminate a turtle and almost comes within range of the Pluton. To the southeast, the Sea Phoenix grabs gold while the Sea Crane looks to do the same at the Duke shipwreck. In the east, the Ranger and Rabat cross paths in the fog. At the northeastern and southwestern HI’s, note Bonny Peel awaiting the return of the Rabat and the jailed English crew of the MF.

Hmmm… English vs. French! What a surprise!

The Pluton ran home with the help of an EA from Cartier, knowing her gold was more valuable than the slow-moving turtles. The Saber and Fetu have pointed their bows south, but the Fetu must wait for a fleet to return gold home to its HI before she can utilize Wine. With the turtles, the French have a slight advantage with the rocks, since the turtles can split up a bit to run away from the Bombardier, who is really scaring them with her flamethrower. At the far right, the Honu Iki has used her ability to ignore the reef (which she can essentially do anyway) and explore the western beach.

Luck has caught up to the Rabat, who lost two masts coming out of the fog onto a reef. However, she’s still more than swift enough to return home on the same turn, giving the Alliance some gold. The Rabat is almost happy to have to repair, since it keeps her around to guard the gold against the submerged Coleoptera, lurking nearby. Also, the Rabat will need a full three turns to fully repair, since Bonny Peel won’t take command until all the Wet Gunpowder is removed.

Even with Metal Hull now aboard the Bombardier, the MF was still moving just L since her helmsman had been jailed along with Myngs and Owen, more crew that helped speed up the MF. The MF wouldn’t stand for getting home so slow, and used Poseidon’s Breath very early in the game to move L+L+L towards home. This made it look like the English were in a hurry to get the MF’s haul home, which they were. This aroused some suspicion in the other fleets since it was so early and each fleet knew that the MF could be carrying a lot of gold, especially since Jail removing her crew had let her take extra coins to fill her cargo hold. The Sea Phoenix successfully traversed a reef, and the Nova Scotia’s Lawrence was prepared to cancel the Kraken keyword if Beastie tried anything.

Here’s a quick overview of how the fleets were set up. The Saber has gotten the Knights of Malta Banner from the Fetu, since the Saber is looking to do a lot of damage in the game. Above the French fleet is the Alliance fleet, while the Pirates are at the bottom right. At the top, three of the five English ships have gold aboard.

This shows the end of the round of turns. Coleoptera has abandoned the Alliance HI and has round earthed her way to the west in the hope of raiding the French instead. The S and L straws at the top left and top right of the frames represent the round earth boundaries. At the bottom left, the Grand River and Sigra Mein have round earthed to the southwest, showing how the setup is relatively tight and competitive around the edges. Hoping to steal gold from the English, the Fetu has hidden in a fog bank. The Saber adopted a flexible position, where she can potentially hit the Coleoptera if the sub tries a home island raid, the Saber can also hinder the Bombardier, or the Saber can head south to assist the Fetu if needed. The Pluton would love to help the turtles, but the Bombardier can only eliminate one per turn, not to mention how dangerous the Bombardier is with Metal Hull and Neptune’s Figurehead. The Pluton is also guarding the HI in case of a HI raid. The MF and Sea Phoenix are almost home with gold, with the Honu Iki not far behind. Unfortunately for the English, this is the end of this round, which means that the other fleets are up next in the following round…

Tensions rise in the west:

On board the Fetu, Jean Bart suddenly realized: “Why am I waiting for them to drop off gold and then exchange Wine for one coin, when I can use my hoist to steal an entire ship’s worth of gold?” Why wait indeed? The Fetu came flying out of the fog and crashed into the Sea Phoenix, signalling the true start of war! Her guns shot only 1/3, but the ram bailed her out to dismast the Sea Phoenix. Immediately after, the Fetu used her Hoist keyword to get a free explore action, which was combined with Jean Bart’s derelict-nabbing ability to teleport both ships home right then and there!

Myngs watches in agony as one of his ships falls to the French:

If the Coleoptera had reservations about raiding the French while the Pluton was there, now she has to contend with the Fetu and soon the Sea Phoenix as well!

The Alliance attacks! The Sigra Mein’s powerful guns boom out and the MF is quickly dismasted!

And just like that, England’s two best gold runners have been captured! They unknowingly made the (relatively minor) mistake of using Poseidon’s Breath to draw attention to themselves, and now two fleets have capitalized on it. And both ships were so close to getting home! The Sigra Mein’s guns also wounded the Nova Scotia after Lawrence and Christian Fiore cancelled each other out.

Here, the Pirates are sailing the Sea Crane and Typhoon home. The Typhoon is hoping to transfer her two coins one by one to the Sea Crane to maximize the gold bonuses at +3 per coin. The Ranger heads in the opposite direction, frustrated by the western fog bank. Beastie has entered the now-deserted center area, hoping to trap any treasure runner too greedy to avoid the remaining gold.

The Coleoptera isn’t foolish enough to surface and raid the French HI, but she is willing to take advantage of France’s lack of antisubmarine abilities, annoying the French by ramming the Fetu while she’s docked at her HI.

The Nova Scotia and Honu Iki reach home, with the damaged Nova Scotia managing a hit against the hulking Grand River. I believe the 4 result is from Richard Howe’s modified SAT/fleet admiral ability, which let the Honu Iki dock home three 1’s. In addition to that gold, Powder Pete’s +1 bonus was immediately used to add a 3S cannon to the Nova Scotia. The English would love to get their MF back, but know it will be difficult against the dangerous gunships of the Alliance.

After another turn, this is how it looked. Notice the development at the lower left near the English HI: both the Nova Scotia and Bombardier have received SAT’s, with the Nova Scotia repairing two masts in one turn while the Bombardier abandons her turtle attacks to help her fleet mates. The Nova Scotia temporarily put Lawrence on the HI to load the linked Myngs/Owen combo. With the Saber lurking in the fog the Honu Iki has decided to stay put for the time being. The Sigra Mein is shielding the MF, and although they don’t want to, the English are prepared to sink the MF rather than see her falling into enemy hands, which is a very real possibility since the Alliance HI is close to the English HI via round earth. Speaking of the Alliance HI, notice that the Rabat has finished repairing in the northeast. To the south, the Sea Crane and Typhoon have begun the process known as “gold factory”. In the northwest, the captured Sea Phoenix repairs as the Coleoptera continues to annoy the Fetu, ramming a mast off as soon as it’s repaired.

There’s really not that much gold left out there, even including the two shipwrecks, one of which (the Duke in the south) is empty. This began a deceptive trend of making it look like the game could end soon…

The Sigra Mein shows the English she’s not just sailing around to defend the Maui’s Fishhook, blasting the Bombardier with an effective broadside. The Sigra Mein was the first ship to brave the Bombardier’s Metal Hull defense, which was somehow eliminated on a 6 with the Sigra Mein’s very first shot of the shoot action! This left the English ship easy prey for the rest of the shoot action, though the Sigra took care not to sink the ship for fear of triggering Neptune’s Figurehead.

Will the Grand River succeed in towing the MF away to safety?

NO! With a defiant cheer, the Nova Scotia sinks the MF, knowing the English had a slim chance of recapturing the ship. The Alliance’s hunch turned out to be right, for the Maui’s Fishhook had a whopping 23 gold on her! (Two 4’s, two 5’s, and Barbary Banner which would be worth 5) Luckily for the English, the dismasted Bombardier had an oarsman and was within rowing distance of her HI, so the Sigra Mein’s broadside didn’t spell the end for the gunship. The Honu Iki has sailed into a fog bank for protection, and notice how the Nova Scotia swapped Lawrence back in for Myngs/Owen.

After the Rabat finally departs, the Coleoptera immediately returns to the northeast, hoping for a home island raid. So far the Pirates’ gold factory is working well, while the Ranger searches for gold.

The English get some revenge on the Sigra Mein! The Nova Scotia, with the help of another new cannon, hits twice to cripple the once-powerful longship.

El Phantasma aboard the Coleoptera continues to change his mind, going back to the French HI now that he sees there’s more gold there than on the Alliance HI. The Bombardier succeeded in eliminating some turtles, but the French still stand to gain a nice bonus from the UT, despite their lack of effort to “save the wee turtles!” The Pluton has gone out for more gold, while in the top right the Rabat has lost a mast exploring the wreck of HMS Sultan. Where has the Fetu gone?

There she is! The Fetu used Jean Bart’s EA to move L+L+S+L+L+S and round earth her way to the Pirates’ home island! Wine has been exchanged for a shiny silver 6 (no Economy bonuses though!), and the Typhoon and Sea Crane are just too far away to ram her in an attempt to steal it back.

Having battled to a relative stalemate, the Alliance and the English part ways. The English won the morale battle, but the Alliance essentially cost the English 23 gold.

The whole situation. The only “new” developments here are the Ranger docking at the northern beach and the Grand River has almost made it home to repair.

With another EA from Jean Bart, the Fetu has quickly returned the 6 home for the French, who look like the fleet to beat! Arriving turtles bring in even more gold, and the dangerous Saber and Pluton haven’t even been in action yet!

The east. After the sudden HI raid by the Fetu, the Typhoon and Sea Crane are almost finished getting +3 to each coin they got from the Duke shipwreck. Beastie and the Ranger are returning from their exploration of the center area, while for the first time all Alliance ships are converging on their home island. However, Christian Fiore will have to be removed from the Sigra Mein for the longship to repair, causing a minor headache for the Alliance.

The Bombardier repairs while the Nova Scotia, now with a whopping 6 total cannons, heads south in an attempt to recapture the Sea Phoenix. The Honu Iki wants to grab gold and avoid the nearby Pluton.

However, the Pluton attacks! Miraculously for the English, she misses all four shots against the Honu Iki! Up north, realizing the presence of the nearby Saber will prevent the successful recapture of the Sea Phoenix, the Nova Scotia simply sinks the ship to deny any more use of her to the French. Bored, Phantasma amuses himself by ramming the Fetu again. The eastern fleets are regrouping.

The French were annoyed that the English sunk their captured Sea Phoenix, and sent the Saber to intercept the Nova Scotia. Lawrence cancelled sac captain Arathiel to limit the Saber’s potential, but Captain Nemo was free to board the Nova Scotia and capture Lawrence! This gave the already-powerful Saber a canceller in addition to her large crew complement.

The Saber attacks! Arathiel’s captain ability was cancelled, but the Saber sacced an oarsman to extend her deadly blades once again, capturing the Nova Scotia’s captain in addition to Lawrence! The Saber was finally proving her worth and establishing herself as a huge presence in the game. With crew included, she was the most expensive ship in the game at 40 total points, so the French were happy to use her.

However, trouble was brewing for the French! With the Fetu on the other side of the island and the Saber occupied with the Nova Scotia, the Coleoptera took the opportunity to surface and stole a coin! It happened to be the same 6 that the Sea Crane originally found on the Duke shipwreck, which was then stolen from the Pirates’ home island by the Fetu with Wine! In addition, the French saw even more ships approaching via round earth in the northwest corner. The Pirate ships Ranger and Typhoon appeared, ready to attack the French and support the Coleoptera. The partially repaired Rabat, who has HI-raiding as a ship ability, also appeared to want a piece of the French pie. The French looked like the richest faction in the game, and therefore other fleets were looking to steal from them to even things up. Everyone knew that if they simply got more gold, it wouldn’t necessarily be enough to beat the French, but if they stole the highest value coins from the French (as I let HI raiders do), that would have a higher chance of evening the odds because not only would they gain, but the French would also lose gold. At the top right, the Nova Scotia has lost her captain so she can only shoot at the Saber, knocking over a mast.

The east is relatively quiet once again. In the northeast, the Grand River has taken aboard Christian Fiore and given Dragon Eyes to the Sigra Mein, allowing the Sigra to repair. In the southeast, the Sea Crane adds +3 to another coin as Beastie prepares to round earth to the northwest.

With just one usable ship (the Bombardier, as the Honu Iki and Nova Scotia were both in major trouble with the French), the English knew they were pretty much out of it, with just one measly coin on their home island. As a result, they decided to stick it to the French instead of running away, and the Honu Iki was given a shoot action. Her cannon missed, allowing the Pluton to sink her on the following turn. The Bombardier finished repairing, and the English continued to hate the French.

The French go first each round of turns, and the Saber finished dismasting the Nova Scotia. Then, the nearby Fetu duplicated her earlier strategy with the capture of the Sea Phoenix, moving out to capture the Nova Scotia instantly with the hoist/derelict combo.

The French purposely positioned their ships back at home to block the invaders from the east, and the Nova Scotia was given a repair action. The coins on the Nova Scotia represent the three extra cannons added to her by the English via her ability, meaning that she effectively had 4 cannons with one mast standing since the added cannons can shoot from an eliminated mast. Even without a helmsman (Nemo aboard the Saber grabbed him too) or any other crew, the Nova Scotia could still help the French in the form of home island defense, which they currently needed.

The French turn was followed by the Alliance and then the Pirates, and all hell broke loose! The Rabat got an SAT from Jack Hawkins, allowing her to dock at the French HI, steal a coin, and then move away and redock to steal another coin! With her other crew aboard this filled up her cargo space, but she knew she’d have a tough time getting out of there unharmed. The Pirates were next, with the Coleoptera immediately diving underwater and making a break for the northwest round earth corner, from which she could relatively quickly emerge near the Pirate HI. The Pirates were in a bold mood, and the Typhoon and Ranger rammed! The Typhoon was successful in taking out the Nova Scotia’s only mast, which meant that the Typhoon wouldn’t be pinned and helpless since she couldn’t shoot at the Nova Scotia docked at her HI. This also meant the Nova Scotia was derelict, which rendered her extra cannons obsolete. This was the Pirates’ strategy, for the Typhoon was merely a support ship buying time for the Ranger. What the Pirates were really after was Jean Bart! The Ranger slammed into the Fetu, but couldn’t fire because the Fetu was docked at the HI. Instead, the Ranger planned to use Barstow to capture Jean Bart, who at 13 points was the most expensive crew in the game and huge target to any gold capture crew. Unfortunately for Barstow, the ram failed, which left the Ranger at only a slight advantage for the boarding party… which she lost as well! This only eliminated the Ranger’s oarsman, but it left the Ranger in a delicate position, pinned to a ship docked at its own HI. The Typhoon was blocking the Nova Scotia, but the Ranger was still at the mercy of the Fetu.

Here’s the whole ocean. Most of the ships are near the home islands, especially in the northwest. In the nearby southeast, the Sea Crane looks to intercept the homecoming Coleoptera to add another +3 to the 6 coin the Sea Crane deposited not too long ago. The Sigra Mein repairs another mast, but she essentially ties up the Grand River for two turns as well because of the crew swap. At the upper left, the Bombardier is on a suicide mission to hurt the Saber, with the English abandoning logic in their quest to hit the French.

More carnage! The English charged into battle only to be devastated by the Saber’s brutal combo of good guns, tons of crew available, and great boarding prowess between her ship abilities (Switchblade and +1 to boarding rolls) and Godiva’s reroll. Nemo captured Richard Howe to mark the fourth English crew captured by the Saber!

This is the Saber’s ludicrously crowded deckplate. The crew on the deckplate are her original crew, minus an oarsman sacced to finish off the Nova Scotia. The crew below are captured via Nemo (Beckett represents Richard Howe), as the helmsman from the Nova Scotia was sacced already. The French have their system working perfectly: the Saber uses an original oarsman to get two actions in one turn, which she uses to devastate an enemy ship and capture (via Switchblade boarding) two enemy crew, resulting in a net +1 in total crew on the ship. Then, the Saber can sac the less valuable of these two crew to double (or triple with a regular ram!) board another ship and take two or three more crew. Basically, Nemo+Switchblade+sac captain=game over for any ship that doesn’t get a devastating first shot against the powerful Saber. She doesn’t have any defenses with this combo, but her offense is so good that you needto hit her before she hits you if you want to have any chance of surviving. Off to the left, the Saber has now accumulated 6 gold with the Knights of Malta Banner UT by dismasting the 3 masters Nova Scotia and Bombardier, meaning that she’s essentially getting gold during this process in addition to adding captured crew from Nemo and wrecking every ship in her path! Adding insult to injury, Neptune’s Figurehead, which has just recently been stolen from the Bombardier, means that sinking the Saber is a bad idea!

After all that discussion, the Rabat isn’t scared of the Saber! In a climactic moment of utter shock and awe, the Rabat launches an attack on the Saber! Somehow, all three of her remaining cannons HIT! The Saber is dismasted! The Rabat initiates a boarding party! The Rabat wins! Bonny Peel captures Captain Nemo!!

Sheer confusion! At the bottom of the picture, the Saber has lost Captain Nemo to Bonny Peel, and near the top you can see his captured crew chip right underneath Peel. The Rabat still carries Manawa no Kowhatu (Manawa) and Relics, meaning she gets a free pass to anyone trying to attack her in addition to the defensive nature of Fear and Eternal! You can also see the two stolen coins the Rabat carries, so the French have turned their anger towards the Rabat and the Alliance. Above the Rabat’s crew you can see the crew of the Grand River, where Christian Fiore will soon leave the ship and Dragon Eyes will rejoin his rebels.

The Sigra Mein has finished repairing, while the Coleoptera appears in the southeast. At the lower left, the Bombardier is free to return home on oar power after the Rabat dismasted the Saber. The trouble in the northwest continues…

From left to right: the Fetu shoots two masts off the pinned Ranger, the Nova Scotia repairs again, the Typhoon gets into position to shoot at either the Rabat or Saber, and the Pluton sails home with a few coins aboard. In all of this chaos, the Saber actually wanted to be sunk without Captain Nemo aboard. With Neptune’s Figurehead, the Saber was due to come home fully repaired and just a slight distance away from the Rabat, who had Nemo aboard if the Saber was sunk. On the contrary, if Peel hadn’t captured Nemo, although this would be good to deny the Alliance Nemo’s possible gold payout, the Saber would be sunk permanently because Ex-Patriot denies the use of Neptune’s Figurehead. This would not be the last of these types of complications in this game!

The Pluton attempts to shoot at the Rabat, but the Rabat gives her Relics instead! At this point, the Pluton declined to use her S-boarding ability even though she had a boarding advantage over the Rabat at 4 masts and +1 with Cartier vs. the Rabat with 3 masts. The reason lied with Bonny Peel – in the event the Pluton lost the S-board, Cartier would be captured by Peel and worth 7 gold to the Alliance when unloaded. The Pluton could only hope to eliminate the Rabat’s oarsman, so the boarding party was called off.

The French finally were able to rectify their situation, using the Fetu’s hoist/derelict teleportation ability for the third time in the game! Their home island was only a short distance away, but the combo still saved them a turn or two with the Fetu and Saber, which would prove to make a difference.

Jean Bart also provides the Fetu with the captain ability, so the Fetu shot 2/3 against the Typhoon on the way by. The Nova Scotia took the Ranger down to one mast, and it looked like the Pirates’ raid was a mix of success and failure: the Coleoptera succeeded in stealing back the 6, but the Ranger and Typhoon were foolish to take on the French at their HI.

After warping the Saber just a few feet back to their HI, the French were back in business. Since the Saber hadn’t been given an action that turn, she was able to use her first action to repair. Arathiel considered saccing to repair another mast, but he knew that if the Rabat got an SAT from Hawkins on the Alliance’s turn, the Rabat could move 8S and would be far out of reach, indeed so fast that she could probably return home via round earth and deposit Nemo, denying the Saber from using him again. As a result, Arathiel sacced for a move action to rekindle the battle!

The Saber was extremely successful, using her newly repaired cannon, switchblade and a regular ram to take two more masts off the Rabat. Unfortunately she was successful in 2 of the 3 attempts, which left the Rabat with one mast standing, all she needed to make a quick getaway. The boarding parties resulted in the Saber stealing back one of the Rabat’s stolen coins (a 5!), but not without the help of Godiva’s reroll! I believe the other boarding party eliminated the Rabat’s explorer.

The huge mainmast and sail of the Rabat fall atop the Saber’s blade:

The Alliance took their turn, and sure enough, Jack Hawkins got an SAT to sail the Rabat northwest, past the French HI, and through round earth to the northeast, where the Rabat was just able to dock home and unload the captive Captain Nemo for 8 gold! The Grand River and Sigra Mein are reswapping their crew so they’re back to their original setups.

Another shot of the whole ocean. In the northwest, debris litters the sea around the French HI after the battles. Beastie guards the Typhoon who sails for home. The Ranger has already appeared in the southeast via round earth and wants to repair. The Coleoptera has surfaced, allowing the Sea Crane to once again possess the 6 she originally found on the Duke shipwreck.

All of the other fleets have been picking on the French since they appear to have the most gold, but the Pirates aren’t looking too shabby:

Miraculously all three original French ships have survived the carnage, with two of them even in perfect condition!

The English are the only faction out of it:

The French began the next round by depositing the Pluton’s gold, repairing the Saber and Nova Scotia, and sending the Fetu east once again in search of more gold.

As the Rabat and Ranger repair, the Bombardier docks at the English HI to begin doing the same. Here was a short period of relative peace, though the game was FAR from over!

Beastie feinted towards the French, but heads out now that the French are returning to full strength.

The Fetu enters the middle area, a place that saw remarkably little action during the game.

The Alliance regroups, but the Pirates have already sent Coleoptera north by round earth to appear near the Alliance HI! The Alliance is stunned, with all three of their ships near their HI in the presence of the HI-raiding Phantasma. What could the submarine do, especially with canceller Christian Fiore on the nearby Sigra Mein?

The English are too far behind to win the gold game, but they can still shake things up with the Bombardier! She’s repairing quickly with the help of the Myngs/Owen SAT combo.

The Pirates show the Alliance that they mean business, sending the Coleoptera underneath the Grand River while the Beastie surprises the Alliance after round earthing her way from the northwest! All of the Pirates’ carefully laid plans have worked so far. Beastie is literally at the most northeastern part of the round earth ocean.

The mostly-repaired Rabat has sailed into her familiar fog bank in a quest to grab some of the few coins left in play. The Sea Crane may follow her, but also looks to add value to any coin the Coleoptera can potentially steal from the Alliance. Like the Rabat, the Ranger is too important and the game is becoming too urgent to fully repair, so she sails out with three masts while the Typhoon begins repairing. The west has become peaceful, with the Bombardier, Nova Scotia and Saber fully repaired. The Fetu has grabbed some low-value coins, while the Pluton heads out to grab what she didn’t have room for.

The French continue to accumulate more gold. The Saber departs again, a menacing sight.

The Rabat couldn’t roll the 2 needed to exit the fog bank in the middle area, so instead of going back into the fog she attacked the vulnerable Sea Crane out in the open ocean! The Crane was left derelict, but Bonny Peel was unlucky enough to be denied capturing fellow pirate Genny Gallows.

The Alliance had a decision to make. With Beastie approaching, Christian Fiore could either cancel the Kraken keyword, or the submarine keyword of the Coleoptera, who was looking to raid the Alliance HI. However, if Beastie wasn’t cancelled, the Grand River would probably be engulfed (surrounded) after the Sigra Mein attacked the Coleoptera. Hoping to take both threats out, and realizing how slow the Coleoptera was, Fiore cancelled the Kraken keyword. The Sigra and Grand River teamed up to destroy Beastie, and in fact they went a combined 8 for 8! However, Beastie’s Eternal keyword sent him back to the Pirate HI to repair.

Looking for revenge against the Rabat, the Ranger sailed up near the galley and Hammersmith ordered a Broadsides Attack! With typical BA drama the roll was a 1!

With the Sigra and Grand River off fighting Beastie, the Coleoptera surfaced and robbed the Alliance HI! The Pirates and Alliance were engaged in full-out war!

The Pirates weren’t done yet! Throughout this entire game, Jean Laffite aboard the Typhoon almost never succeeded in rolling a 6 for his fleet admiral ability, even with the help of the Typhoon’s reroll. However, at this opportune moment, he finally got a 6, allowing the Coleoptera to move again, meaning she was already going S+S away from the Alliance HI! This furthered her chance of getting her stolen loot home. The Typhoon’s regular action was used to tow the Sea Crane, which in hindsight was a pointless move, but the Typhoon didn’t have a captain with which to shoot at the Rabat. Beastie begins repairing.

An overhead shot, showing the Bombardier’s approach to the HI of the hated French. The Fetu unloads gold, but the conflict has shifted from the west to the east.

The Sigra Mein turned around and sailed S+S+S to catch up with the slow Coleoptera! Her guns easily dismasted the sub, but the Vikings didn’t want to sink the sub. They knew that they could get their stolen gold back if they used Fiore to cancel the Submarine keyword and tow it home while it was cancelled.

The Saber had recently gone round earth to the southeast in an attempt to join the chaos, but the Grand River saw it and did the same from the northeast!

The matchup everyone wanted to see: Saber vs. Grand River!

Advantage: Grand River! The 6 master initiated the conflict, gaining an edge over the switchblade. Half of her shots found their mark, including the firepot and the stinkpot, the latter of which was huge since it shut down Arathiel so the Saber couldn’t do a double action on her turn.

The Rabat then attacked the Ranger! The Rabat maneuvered so that all three of her remaining cannons were in range on the port broadside, and rammed the taller Pirate ship with all she had. The continuation of this battle also meant that we would see a world-class duel between Bonny Peel and Barstow, two Pirate crew with the gold capture ability who both also happen to cost 8 points.

The Rabat rolled 0 for 3 to miss all three shots! This left the ships on equal footing for the boarding party, as each ship had 3 masts. With great drama the two gold capturers led their boarding parties across the decks, and when it was over, Barstow had captured Bonny Peel!

The east is now the site of major conflict! The Alliance is winning all of the three main battles, but the Pirates go next!

The Ranger broke away from the Rabat only to ram the galley back! Establishing a pathetic trend of very poor rolling in this one-on-one battle, the Ranger missed both shots and failed the ram! Boarding parties commenced once again, and Barstow had his eye on capturing Jack Hawkins, who in hindsight would have been eliminated if captured to due the Manawa UT.Miraculously, the Rabat won the boarding party to recapture Bonny Peel! (After checking with woelf, crew that have been captured for gold cannot be recaptured even if it’s the same ship that the captured crew originally resided on, but I didn’t know that; plus, this was a much more fun way of doing it!) In the meantime, the Coleoptera limped away from the Sigra Mein at S with her oarsman. The Sea Crane did the same, and so far it was a good idea the Pirates had to fill out their point limit with oarsmen on all ships to start the game.

The Fetu is too fast to be caught by the Bombardier:

Switchblade attack! The Saber tears into the Grand River and fires with her remaining cannons, taking the GR down to 4 masts. The Saber also wins a boarding party, which eliminates the GR’s oarsman.

The Grand River continues the battle! Another shoot and ram, with the Saber losing her third mast as Stinkpot Shot finds its mark once again. However, the Saber won this boarding party as well, which killed the firepot specialist of the Grand River.

The Alliance continues its assault on the Pirates, with the Sigra Mein ramming the Coleoptera and shooting at the Typhoon. There was no reason for the Vikings to spare the Typhoon, and the junk was sunk easily, with fleet admiral Jean Laffite going down with her. At this relatively late stage in the game, the Typhoon was finally the first non-English ship sunk! Shayna and Fiore turned their attention to the Coleoptera, who predictably lost the boarding party, which eliminated El Phantasma! However, the HI raider was too slick to go out so soon (lol) in the game, and so reappeared at the Pirate HI.

El Phantasma, literally sitting atop a pile of gold:

The Alliance fights back! In a second daring attempt to capture Barstow with the newly-recaptured Bonny Peel (this got confusing!), the Rabat rams and shoots the Ranger once again! As usual, the Rabat’s guns fail to respond to the urgency of the situation, going a paltry 1/3 to take a mast off the Ranger. This was better than nothing, for the Rabat now had a slight boarding advantage. A third boarding party resulted in… yet another loss for the initiator! Bonny Peel was captured again (re-recaptured?) by Barstow!! To continue the abysmal rolling aboard the Rabat, Hawkins’ SAT and Manawa’s Fear didn’t activate during this battle.

Absolute carnage in the east:

The Pirates took their turn, with surprising success. Most importantly, the Ranger deposited Bonny Peel on the Pirate HI, giving the Pirates 8 more gold in addition to denying the Rabat from using her again! In terms of the crew-capturing food chain, at this point Captain Nemo had captured 4 crew from the English, but was then captured by Bonny Peel, but then Bonny Peel was subsequently captured by Barstow!

The Sea Crane limps home on oar power, while the Coleoptera uses her own oars to hide in a fog bank, trying to avoid the Sigra Mein. The sub still has the 5 coin Phantasma stole from the Alliance. The Sigra Mein didn’t have any room with which to take the treasure, and now the Sigra Mein must first eliminate the oarsman to make the Coleoptera to make her derelict, and then cancel the Submarine keyword to allow the sub to be towed.

The Grand River has defeated the Saber! In a great battle the Alliance has beaten the French, at least for now. The Saber is left burning, and her crew is decimated by Dragon Eyes, who captures both Lawrence and Capitaine Arathiel in the boarding chaos.

Ranger and Beastie repair as the Alliance dominates the east.

The endgame approaches. The Pluton has the last gold coins from the lone wild island, while the Fetu has loaded the last coins from the Sultan shipwreck in the north. The French still look like they have quite a lot of gold, and the other fleets suspect that any more could put them over the top into victory, if they don’t have the most already. The Rabat has round earthed her way to the west to stop the Pluton, while the Bombardier is still lurking near the French HI, hoping to attack the Fetu when she emerges from the fog.

The Pirates aren’t done just yet! Beastie, with three huge tentacles, has surrounded the Grand River near the burning Saber. The Ranger approaches to attack the Grand River, who with Dragon Eyes and captured crew aboard is a huge target. Up north, the Sigra Mein wants to guard the fog in case the Coleoptera emerges from it, but also wants to help the Grand River. In the end Shayna and Fiore decide to trust that Dragon Eyes and his massive junk will prevail.

The Pluton hides in the fog to avoid the Rabat for the time being, while the Fetu somehow manages to roll a 1 to come out of her fog straight onto a reef! However, she is undamaged.

Chaos in the northwest! The game has come full circle! Once again there is major conflict happening around the French home island. First, the Saber was automatically scuttled via fire, but then Neptune’s Figurehead finally came into play! Instead of the Saber sinking, she returned to her HI with all of her masts! At this point, the Saber’s crew consisted of only Godiva, a helmsman, and an oarsman. However, she was still a threat, as she proved by immediately attacking the Rabat! The same thing that happened earlier repeats itself! The Rabat is attacked by the Saber, who is again not at full strength (the first time she only had one mast) with no captain ability. At the top of the picture, the Bombardier couldn’t quite position herself to block all paths to the French HI, but even with an EA from Jean Bart, the Fetu can’t quite get home!

The Saber’s “sabers” eliminate another crew from the Rabat and damage the ship! Remember this?

Nearby in the southeast, the Grand River easily fights her way out of Beastie’s grasp, eliminating the kraken for the second time in the game. However, this delays the Grand River’s return trip by a turn.

With their next action the Rabat received an SAT from Jack Hawkins. She turned around and maneuvered behind the Saber before going on to ram the Fetu! With the Pluton in the fog the Fetu had one of the only remaining coins, and Jack Hawkins was determined to get it.

The Rabat’s boarding party fails (big surprise lol) and she loses Jack Hawkins, her final crew! This also eliminated the Manawa UT, which meant the Rabat wasn’t Eternal and couldn’t use Fear anymore. At this point, the Rabat had started the game with 4 masts and 5 crew, but now had only one mast and no crew, with her crew having been eliminated or captured in various places and by various different ships!

Beastie’s Eternal let the kraken repair again, while the Ranger now had a golden opportunity to capture or sink the Grand River! Hammersmith ordered up another Broadsides Attack, and it failed with a 2!

The English ended the round of turns by predictably ramming the Fetu. However, unlike the severely weakened Rabat, the Bombardier won the boarding party! Unfortunately for the English, they had brought along a spare helmsman in addition to the original helmsman and the Myngs/Owen combo (plus an oarsman), which meant that the Bombardier couldn’t take the coin! Instead, the Fetu’s helmsman was eliminated. The Bombardier also knocked off a mast.

The action lies in the northwest and southeast, while the Sigra Mein waits patiently for the Coleoptera to emerge from the fog.

In the west, the French are happy to finally take their turn, docking home the Fetu to deposit her gold! The Pluton came out of her fog bank to continue sailing home, while the Nova Scotia and Saber positioned themselves to defend the Pluton if she needed it.

In a huge move, the Grand River wisely decides to attack the weak Ranger instead of running for home. The shooting and boarding results in not only a derelict Ranger, but Dragon Eyes captured Barstow!

Here’s another overview of the situation with the French and Alliance fleets. From bottom to top: the Saber shouldn’t have Knights of Malta Banner anymore, since it was unloaded for 6 gold when the Fetu hoisted her home a while back. Above her, the Fetu has lost her helmsman. The Pluton is remarkably healthy and has been the whole game, and here she even has the Relics (from the Rabat) in addition to the lone coin she’s bringing back. For the Alliance, the coin on the Rabat is interesting, while you can see that Dragon Eyes has captured a whopping 18 points’ worth of crew for the Grand River (Arathiel, Lawrence, and Barstow – crew from all 3 other fleets to boot!).

If you’re wondering where that coin on the Rabat came from – she stole it from the French! Who else? In another irony of this long game, the Rabat raided the French HI for a second (technically third though the first two were on the same turn) time, though this time around she wasn’t in nearly as good a position to get out of there alive. Indeed, the Bombardier rammed her immediately, knocking over her last mast and stealing the coin! Once again there was treasure on an English ship!!

AHHH! More deja vu! The Saber once again tears into the Bombardier just like she did many turns ago, and the Fetu gets in on the action as well! The Bombardier loses all her masts in the onslaught, but the Fetu loses Jean Bart in a boarding party!

Once again, total carnage around the French home island!

The chaos in the north allowed the Pluton to approach undisturbed from the south. The Nova Scotia turned around, but everyone assumed she was too slow to be of any help to the French. The Rabat, completely broken over the course of all her adventures, tries to limp home on oar power. After this latest mess I’m pretty sure the Fetu’s coin ended up being retaken by the Saber from the Bombardier, but I’m not entirely sure if the Fetu didn’t retake it instead.

The eastern conflict has moved west, but Beastie desperately surrounds the Grand River once again. With just two tentacles, the Pirates need a miracle to stop the Grand River, who still has 4 masts remaining.

At the beginning of the next round of turns, the French clean up around their HI. The Nova Scotia puts an end to the Rabat’s misery, while the French also sink the Bombardier, meaning that the English are finally out of the active game. The English lasted a remarkably long time and put up good fights, but perhaps even more remarkable was that all three original French ships were still sailing with no more than one mast missing from all of them combined!

The Grand River is forced to defeat Beastie for the third time.

The Saber docks home the stolen coin, while the Fetu attempts to come home as well. The Fetu used to move L+L+S twice in one turn, but with her crew gone she can only move L. The Pluton has disappeared…

… to round earth her way to the southeastern battle! Her shots take the Grand River down to two masts, and the Alliance is in major trouble: if they want to have a shot at winning, they NEED to get the Grand River home. In addition to the three crew already mentioned as captured by Dragon Eyes, he also nabbed Hammersmith a turn or two ago!

At this point, the Grand River used round earth to approach her HI from the north. The Sigra Mein was still hunting the Coleoptera, but took up a more flexible position where she was closer to the Grand River. In the meantime, the Pirates decided that, having lost all 3 of their other ships, the Coleoptera wouldn’t realistically be able to make it home at just S speed with a valuable 5 coin on board. They decided to try and wreck the sub on a reef!

The Pluton followed the Grand River and dismasted her! The Nova Scotia slowly made her way to the northeast as well, giving the French two ships in the area! The French looked to sink or capture the Grand River.

I don’t believe I’ve ever had a submarine wrecked on a reef! The Pirates succeeded in their plan, making it more annoying and time consuming to get at the gold they stole a while back from the Alliance.

The Sigra Mein abandons the Coleoptera to help the Grand River, but it’s too late! The French have begun towing the 6 master with the Pluton! The Sigra Mein shot at the Pluton, but the Pluton gave the Sigra the Relics UT instead! In another ironic twist, the Relics UT that had helped let the Alliance’s Rabat escape from the French with stolen gold now helps the French steal a ship (essentially with gold aboard) from the Alliance!

The Nova Scotia tried to block the Sigra Mein, but it wasn’t enough! The Pluton, reduced to S+S while towing the huge Grand River, was promptly sunk by the Sigra Mein! Just when the Alliance thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Saber round earthed her way into the fight, taking up the towing duties!

The Sigra Mein won’t be denied! All of the French moving and towing leaves their captainless ships open to a devastating salvo from the Sigra. In another strange twist, the captured Nova Scotia was sunk first to prevent her 6-cannon armament (a result of the English such a long time ago) from damaging or sinking the Sigra on France’s next turn, since Fiore couldn’t cancel the Scotia’s ability or shoot action. The Sigra Mein wanted to just take out the Saber, but she couldn’t ignore the Nova Scotia, who with enough luck could eliminate the Alliance from the game on the next turn and allow the French almost certain victory if they towed the Grand River the short distance home. All told however, the Sigra Mein proved her worth yet again, going 6/6 to sink the Nova Scotia and damage the Saber.

On their next turn, the Saber broke across the round earth boundary (partially!) to almost dock home the Grand River! The Fetu flanked her port side to block the Sigra Mein, but naturally this allowed the Sigra to sail up on the Saber’s starboard side! The Sigra easily sunk the Saber, finally eliminating the now-infamous Saber from the game after she had narrowly escaped death twice, once by the Fetu/Jean Bart, and the second time via Neptune’s Figurehead. Notice the immense wealth the French have accumulated on their home island over the course of the game.

Now the Fetu had to take up towing duty! With her allies sunk, the Fetu was France’s last hope for getting the Grand River home. However, Jean Bart was long gone, meaning the Fetu had no captain with which to harm the healthy Sigra Mein. The predictable trend continued, with the Sigra dismasting the Fetu!

It appeared that all was well within the Alliance, but this was not the case:

Beastie has returned! While the Sigra Mein was dealing with the French, the Pirate monster nursed itself back to 50% health, and now the kraken was back in French waters to challenge the Alliance once again, looking for a different result this time. In the meantime, the Alliance was dealing with a familiar problem: they couldn’t dock home the Grand River while Christian Fiore was on the Sigra Mein! To make matters worse, they couldn’t just put him on the Grand River either, and the Grand River had lost her oarsman earlier. The Sigra Mein decided to capture the Fetu and unload Fiore onto the hoist, allowing both remaining Alliance ships to dock home at the same time. The Ranger’s gaff mast lies in the water on the starboard side of the Grand River.

Beastie was happy to see Fiore depart the Sigra Mein, but the kraken soon realized that Fiore was an Ex-Patriot and could therefore use his abilities on any ship! Fiore once again cancelled the Kraken keyword, this time from the Fetu, and the Sigra Mein shot away all of Beastie’s tentacles to end the game at last!!

Who would’ve thought that after all that carnage, this would be the final scene? Beastie’s tentacles lay atop the decks of the shattered Fetu, who lost both of her crew. The shattered hulk of the Grand River commands presence behind the healthy Sigra Mein, who wasn’t so healthy earlier but has long since repaired.

The Sigra Mein towed the Grand River home to unload Dragon Eyes’ captured crew. The game is finally over. All English ships have been sunk, two while in the French fleet. Two French ships have been sunk, while the third is a captured hulk. Both Pirate junks have been sunk, while the Ranger lies derelict, the Coleoptera wrecked (with gold still aboard) on a reef, and Beastie slain no less than 4 different times, all at the hands of the Alliance, who have only one usable ship. The sea is still strewn with debris, especially around the Ranger’s hulk in the southeast, where the Grand River vs. Saber and Grand River vs. Ranger and Beastie battles occurred.

It was finally time to count!

The Alliance had most of their gold from crew captures, which is a unique way to win. They also had some gold from the Rabat’s first raid of the French HI and her trips to the wild island and Sultan shipwreck.

The French played the best “normal” game, making multiple gold runs with both the Fetu and Pluton. Some of the 1’s are from the Turtles UT.

What the Pirates lacked in quantity they made up for with quality: 8 gold from Bonny Peel, the 6 that the Sea Crane originally found on the Duke shipwreck which was re-stolen by the Coleoptera, and another 6 and a 5. Most of the 2’s and 1’s are from the Sea Crane’s effective gold factory strategy, combining her ship ability with Genny Gallows.

1. Alliance: 46 gold
2. French: 44 gold
3. Pirates: 43 gold
4. English: 1 gold

Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked

…………………..

The Alliance has won one of the best games I’ve ever played!

I was stunned by the ending, and the whole game overall. The scores are almost too close to believe! After all that chaos, carnage, and bizarre twists, you’d think one fleet would emerge as the clear victor! Instead, it appears as though the fleets and HI locations were very evenly matched.

The final scores are also eerily similar to my first 500 point game (it starts at post #7). That game is still one of the very best I’ve ever played. Just like that game, the what ifs start: What if the Pirates hadn’t deliberately wrecked the Coleoptera on a reef, since right after they did that, the French and Alliance got completely tied up in the northeast? This may have allowed the sub to get back home with her 5 coin and give the Pirates 48 total gold, enough to win! However, she would only be able to row S towards home, and she would have to navigate the fog bank again since she had already emerged on the other side of it before going onto the reef. Also, the Sigra Mein was moving S+S+S, so once Beastie was eliminated again, the Sigra would only need about two turns to catch the Coleoptera. Still, it’s worth considering. What if the Rabat hadn’t received that SAT from Jack Hawkins after her first HI raid on the French? If she hadn’t gotten home successfully with both coins (I believe both were 4’s), the Alliance would have finished with 42 or 38 gold, making a possible final score 44-43-42 in favor of the French! What if the Ranger’s BA against the Grand River had succeeded? Perhaps the Pirates could have won easily in that case!

Now for some numbers. It’s worth noting that the Alliance won mostly because of their gold capturers – Bonny Peel and Dragon Eyes were monumentally important. Peel captured Nemo for 8 gold, while Dragon Eyes was unstoppable, grabbing Arathiel, Lawrence (both from the Saber), Barstow and Hammersmith (both from the Ranger) for 23 gold! In total, 31 of the 46 gold the Alliance got was from gold captures!

Yesterday after the game, I originally thought that the Alliance and the French had tied at 46 gold apiece! The reason lies with a little known UT, the Knights of Malta Banner. Almost a full year ago I asked a question in the Rules Thread concerning whether or not the Banner is unloaded when a non-BC ship docks at its HI, or if you can keep it aboard to continue gaining the bonus as the ship continues to eliminate masts. Woelf gave his answer, which is a huge reason the Alliance won. The Saber eliminated 6 masts during the game (3 from the Nova Scotia and 3 from the Bombardier) before she docked home for the first time, which obviously could only happen once Nemo was off the ship. Now, I forgot how woelf had ruled my old question, and I didn’t want to look it up mid-game, so for the time being I decided to keep the Banner aboard the Saber, who coincidentally managed to last a while longer and eliminate two more masts (from the Rabat) before she docked again (from Neptune’s Figurehead saving the ship from being sunk). Once she docked the second time, I decided enough’s enough and got rid of the UT after she had unloaded 2 more gold from the Rabat’s masts, for a total of 8 gold gained from the UT. It was easier to just add more gold to the UT’s count (I added a treasure to the Saber’s deckplate for each mast eliminated) and subtract after the game ended than try to remember how many masts the Saber had eliminated at some point in time and then add to their total. Now that I revisited the question and know how the UT works, it’s obvious that the French only gained 6 gold from the UT, knocking their score down to 44 and giving the Alliance the win!

And again, the Pirates may have been able to row the Coleoptera’s stolen 5 home, but they decided it was a lost cause.

It was so strange and ironic how the crew capturers worked out! First, Captain Nemo captured a bunch of crew from the English, which he successfully used, some for saccing and some for their abilities. The Saber’s lack of defenses let Bonny Peel aboard the Rabat capture Nemo, and the Rabat quickly unloaded Nemo! However, it continued: Barstow then captured Peel, which should have ended it according to the official rules. However, I’m glad I played it otherwise, with the Rabat recapturing Peel before Barstow re-recaptured Peel! The Ranger finally unloaded Peel to further the Pirates’ score, but Dragon Eyes was the real star. He captured no less than 4 crew (including Barstow!) for 23 total gold, which proved to make the difference as the Alliance prevailed! So, in the end, 3 of the 4 capture crew ended up captured, haha!

To complete about a perfect game as you can imagine, bringing up the rear is the English with a hilarious 1 gold! I think they maxed out at 4 early in the game. Basically, they had around 30 gold between the Maui’s Fishhook (seems like ancient history) and Sea Phoenix. They were captured and the English couldn’t get them back. Around that time the Honu Iki returned with 3 1’s, which made 4 with Powder Pete’s ability. However, over the course of the next few turns, the Nova Scotia proceeded to turn 3 of those 4 1’s into extra cannons, hence the 6 cannons she sported later in the game after the French captured her. This left the English with a single 1, which was left undisturbed because the Fetu, Rabat, and Coleoptera wanted to raid the rich home islands (aka each others!).

Unreleased/Custom game pieces analysis:

Fetu: The Fetu is an amazing hoist ship from RtSS, and she more than proved her worth. I’ve argued elsewhere that hoists are somewhat undercosted, and one that has the San Cristobal’s ability (+L with a captain) is simply over the top.

Jean Bart: This amazing LE crew from my custom set (Pirates of the Age of Sail) is overpowered to some extent. The general pricing of his abilities would be: Captain=3, Reverse Captain=2, Derelict-teleport ability=5, and EA=5. This puts him at 15 points, which is extremely expensive. Therefore, I added a discount of 2 points based on having so many of your eggs in one basket, but he’s still extremely powerful. (Also, it helps that you can’t use Captain and Reverse Captain on the same turn.)

Richard Howe: This “SAT with a twist” character was fine. You could argue that he should cost 7-9 points because he essentially combines a 3 point ability (SAT) with a 6 (in my opinion 5) point ability (fleet admiral), but you can only make one die roll for him. He helped the English, but not overly so. Then he was captured by Captain Nemo and sacrificed.

Rabat: The 4 masted SR galley from my custom set is probably underpriced for what she gives you. She’s just too good; basically a perfect ship. That’s what she was designed to be, but I could see her cost raising to ~22 points, or possibly drop the HI raiding ability and maybe even the treasure trading ability as well.

Grand River: I think this ship is fine. She’s relatively cheap for what you get, but this is in line with the large discount Wizkids gave to ships with her ability (hello Darkhawk II!). Her crew was the reason she excelled.

Sigra Mein: This ship is very unique, a 3 masted longship with a base move of S+S+S but only 2 cargo spaces. The Alliance utilized her perfectly, and I think 20 points is about right for her. The 50% Fear modification didn’t really work, and when it did Fear didn’t affect the game very much. As with all longships she’s typically powerful but fragile. She’s abnormally fast for any Viking ship but her cargo definitely holds her back, and the Vikings don’t have many ways to increase how much cargo their ships can carry.

I will always remember this game, and now I can come back to this BR if I want to revisit it. Thanks for reading! If there are any rules problems you see, please comment and we can debate who should have won! For now, however, the custom Super Rare-ships Alliance of Barbary Corsairs, Jade Rebellion, and Vikings are atop the Pirates CSG world. This is a fitting finale for a short time since the next few weeks will likely see smaller adventures only. What an amazing game!

VASSAL Tournament #2

Posted on November 20, 2018September 15, 2019 by Ben

VASSAL Tournament #2

9/30/2016

Welcome to the second VASSAL tournament! The winner of the tournament will be declared the best fleet of all time!!

Just like Tournament #1, each matchup consists of 2 fleets facing each other in 1v1 competition in a 3-game series. The fleet that wins the series advances to the next round. To save time, if a fleet wins the first 2 games of a series, the third game of the series will likely not be played. If you’d like to join the tournament, just let us know.

These games are being played under most of the “standard” game rules (8 coins per player worth 15 gold, 6 islands, etc). However, there will be a few house rules:
-Xerecs and I are changing the turn order after the first game of each series. The fleet that went second in the first game will go first in the second game. This is to ensure maximum fairness so one die roll doesn’t effectively decide a series. (though Game 3’s will still feature regular rolls)
-We will play until there is a clear winner. This will often be the “more than half the starting gold” rule, but there may be exceptions.

The seeding is based primarily on each fleet’s winning percentage. Of the 16 fleets participating in T2, 6 were determined before T1 based on their past performance – these are the best of the best. Then, the top 4 fleets from T1 were added. Finally, over the past few days Xerecs and I have selected 3 fleets each for the final 6 fleets of the tournament. The seeding wasn’t strictly based on winning percentage – exceptions were made based on our judgement and who was going to play each fleet in the first round.

We based our bracket on this, with the exception that in each matchup, the higher seeded fleet is on top. The picture below shows the bracket, but to clarify, here are all of the matchups and fleets. This order simply goes down the left “division” or column, and then it goes down from the right. However, we may not play the games in this order. Also, some of these fleets may be edited slightly by the time we play them.

Round 1 matchups:

HMS GT (#1 seed)
vs.
Artillery Strike (#16 seed)

Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed)
vs.
USS Kettering – Deadly Weapon (#9 seed)

Norvegia (#4 seed)
vs.
Spanish Meta V2 (#13 seed)

UPS 2 (#5 seed)
vs.
Extra Action Gold Runners (#12 seed)

(right side of bracket)

UPS 5 (#2 seed)
vs.
RtSS English (#15 seed)

Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed)
vs.
dakmor’s swarm fleet (#10 seed)

UPS 4 (#3 seed)
vs.
Quick wins the game (#14 seed)

American Pirates (#6 seed)
vs.
The Doldrums (#11 seed)

If I had to bet money on the winner of the tournament, I would pick UPS 2. Xerecs said he would pick either HMS GT or UPS 5. Our “sleeper” picks were generally the Doldrums and “Quick wins the game” fleets.

The first matchup was underway! HMS GT vs. Artillery Strike, in a series that would likely be played in a deathmatch style.

Basically, I forgot about Hidden Cove. The overpowered event allowed the Neptuno to strike first, where she scored a whopping 5/5 hits on the Grand Temple. The London was overmatched for the remainder of the battle, and Artillery Strike pulled off a major upset!

The second game underway:

After a somewhat lengthy maneuvering process the GT finally got in range of the Neptuno and sank her outright!

Diablo managed to go 4/4 against the GT, but the Spanish fleet was effectively doomed. HMS GT won the game to even the series 1-1!

For the final game, the home islands were close together. The Neptuno didn’t have a lot of room on her first turn, and luckily I got an SAT to dismast her. From there the game was predictable, with the English firepower too much to overcome.

HMS GT wins the series 2-1 and advances to the second round! This series was unique in that it was essentially a deathmatch, since neither fleet loaded any gold in any of the games. This would soon change however, as Xerecs and I got started on the next matchup. The first game is in progress!

10/16/2016

Two more series have been played! We decided to go in seed order – the second matchup would feature the #2 seed, and so on.

UPS 5 (#2 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
RtSS English (#15 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

This was my first time playing my RtSS fleet challenge entry, and my first time using the English native canoes. Of course, my fleet was in for a rude awakening, facing a UPS variant.

The canoes were designed to deny the Zeus from an island, but the Zeus sacced to explore first. The canoes scattered, while the Halcyon ducked into fog in anticipation of battle.

The Halcyon attacked but only scored one hit! This left the RtSS fleet in grave danger.

The Zeus sacs to sink the Halcyon! The Elthelfleda returns home with gold as canoes load gold.

The Elthelfleda gets home before the Zeus can strike, but things aren’t looking good for the English.

The Zeus then went after the canoes, eliminating one and being pestered by another. The Zeus had lost some masts when the Elthelfleda redocked at her home island, firing at the Zeus in the process.

The Zeus eliminated the gold-laden canoes but this left the Elthelfleda to sail east for more gold. The Zeus docked home, but was still a huge threat.

The Zeus sacced to cut off the Elthelfleda before she could return home!

The Elthelfleda was captured and UPS 5 won the game 11-8!

The second game featured different home islands. I made the mistake of putting the canoes near the Zeus again, but it didn’t seem to matter much.

Similar to the last game, but the Halcyon stays docked.

The Halcyon comes out and hits 2/3, trying to buy time for the gold runners.

The Zeus simply crushes the opposition. The Halcyon lies derelict while the Elthelfleda is close to being dismasted.

Now it was a chase for the canoes! I decided to spread them out, simply hoping that the Zeus would only be able to catch 2. The English were just trying to avoid being shut out at this point.

A canoe did manage to slip by, but UPS 5 still won the game easily, 9-2. UPS 5 advances to the second round!

The next matchup!

UPS 4 (#3 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
Quick wins the game (#14 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

It’s important to note that the “Quick” fleet had the Coeur swapped out for Hidden Cove. The Coeur’s explorer was moved to the Courageux, while Cissey was moved to the Vengeance.

The sea was set for Game 1!

It quickly (no pun intended heh) became apparent that this series would be considerably more interesting than the last two. The first was a mismatch with HMS GT emerging victorious, with the second matchup also ending in a predictable fashion. Here, both fleets possessed gold bonus abilities (3 for UPS 4, and 1 for Quick), and both fleets were generally focused on gold, though each also had a purpose-built gunship. Here, the French gold runners have abandoned their explorers in favor of more gold, while Captain Jack Sparrow (CJS) gets busy aboard the Coral up north.

I knew I needed to force the action with the Vengeance, or else the Pirates would get a huge lead with all of their gold bonuses. The Coral would be the primary target in all games of the series, and here the Vengeance dismasted her with a well-placed L-range shot! At the French home island, the Pique is about to be given an explore action to give her gold to the Courageux, who will redock to get Aristide’s bonus on both hauls.

Battle erupts in the northwest, where the Longshanks and Vengeance duel. The Vengeance has a durability and cancelling advantage, but her gunners seemed tired to start this tournament. The Sea Crane has no UPS strategy to work with, so she sails out to get gold on her own.

After missing another shot, the Vengeance abandons the LS to go after the Sea Crane, hoping to cripple the ship before she docks home gold. The Courageux and Pique continue to tag team, getting the gold bonus on a single coin.

The Sea Crane did manage to get home in time, but the Vengeance was in cancelling range! Lenoir cancelled Genny Gallows, denying the Pirates an additional 2 gold. Battle then continued, with the Vengeance eventually winning out with just one mast remaining. The gold was counted up, and the Quick fleet had won a 19-14 upset! It helped that they had found most of the silver coins coveted by the Pirates.

For the second game the HI’s would once again be at opposite ends of the playing area.

The Coral does her thing, and the Vengeance comes after her.

The Pirates can get gold extremely quickly, but the French have 6 coins on their runners. The Vengeance is not fast enough to catch the Coral…

Then things started getting interesting. The Pirates built Dead Man’s Point on the island, but the Vengeance rammed off the Coral’s single mast.

The fort took out a mast on the Vengeance and Barbinais along with it, but the Coral was dismasted after repairing.

The Coral sank, and the Vengeance and Longshanks went at it again!

The Vengeance couldn’t overcome the combined firepower of the fort and LS. The French cleaned out their two islands, but the Sea Crane established the Devil’s Maw on the center island. This effectively ended the game, and it was time to count!

The Pirates had won a 31-24 victory in one of the highest-scoring standard games you’ll ever see! 55 total gold was counted, meaning that 25 extra gold had been created with the gold bonuses! (almost another game’s worth of gold!)

A Game 3 finale was in order! The French got to go first, and I made sure that the Pirate HI was next to my own.

The French used Hidden Cove to spring the Vengeance to the center island. She then moved east, looking to attack the Coral once again.

Once again the Coral built Dead Man’s Point:

The Vengeance got lucky and hit 3/4 on the fort to severely limit its return firepower. The Coral was in major trouble, with the LS too far away to help.

Similar to the first game, the Coral ran for it and was dismasted by a long range shot! As you can see, both fleets have unloaded some gold and received some bonuses from it.

The LS went after the French gold runners for the first time, but the Courageux fought back instead of running! The Vengeance went after the Sea Crane, and it looked like the Quick fleet could pull off a major upset if they could just dismast the remaining Pirate ships.

The battle in the center rages, with the Pique getting in on the action:

The LS was sunk and the Vengeance dismasted the Sea Crane to end the game!

The French had 16 gold to the Pirates’ 9. Quick wins the game advances to the second round!

Here’s the updated bracket. After two predictable matchups, we have our first upset. (The X’s at the upper left mean that the fleet was eliminated without getting any gold, while the 0’s mean that that fleet won the game despite not getting any gold.)

10/16/2016

Norvegia (#4 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
Spanish Meta V2 (#13 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

The next matchup featured the classic Norvegia setup. We only had time for Game 1 so far.

The Neptune’s Hoard (NH) found Rum on the middle island, freezing the ship for a turn. In hindsight, I could have used the ship’s ability to trade away the UT, but in addition, Rum probably shouldn’t be in the fleet in the first place.

The San Cristobal (SC) caught the NH and blasted most of her masts off. Luckily for the Pirates, the final mast standing meant the NH could return home with a sac action. The Star of Siam docked home gold on the turn as well, giving Norvegia a bit of a windfall. The Banshee’s Cry (BC) is hiding from the SC while the Monarca runs gold.

At one point all the Pirate ships were docked at the home island, leading to the SC resorting to ramming.

The Monarca reached home with Buried Treasure (another UT I’m taking out of the Norvegia build for future games) and Spices, while the NH was able to damage the SC with a double action, including a ram of her own. The BC grabbed some coins but wasn’t able to get them back home.

In the end, Barbary Banner and the sheer volume of gold gave Norvegia the victory! The final score was 23-16. We look forward to Game 2!

10/19/2016

Norvegia (#4 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
Spanish Meta V2 (#13 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

The second game of the series was about to begin!

Total destruction! The San Cristobal gets an EA, which lets her dismast the NH and BC. The Star of Siam was in the fog, and came out to score a hit. However, the game was as good as over when the NH’s final mast fell.

The SC sinks the remainder of the fleet, and the Spanish Meta fleet wins Game 2 by a score of 1-0! (from eliminating the Hag of Tortuga aboard the BC when she sank)

For the third time in the first four matchups, we were going to a decisive Game 3!

The NH and Star of Siam reached islands on their first turn, and the BC headed to a third island. The Pirates wanted to split their fleet so the SC would have to chase down multiple targets.

Once again the SC got an EA, but she couldn’t reach the Neptune’s Hoard! The Star of Siam was sunk instead, allowing the NH to reach home with gold.

With the NH docked, the SC then went after the Banshee’s Cry. The BC was sunk, but this opened the door for the Pirates to strike. I nearly went for the northernmost wild island, but I then remembered that from past experience, sinking the only gold runner an opponent has gives you a very good shot at winning the game. The NH used a sac action to reach the Monarca and dismasted her!

The SC finally missed the EA roll (about time haha), and missed the NH with both shots. This allowed the NH another sac action, which was used to sink the Monarca and miraculously dismast the SC as well!

Norvegia won the game 8-1. Norvegia advances to the second round! This was a fun series, and the Spanish Meta fleet is definitely a tough customer. The biggest differences were the guaranteed sac actions of the Norvegia fleet against the EA roll for the SC, which sometimes doesn’t work, as well as having 3 gold runners compared to 1.

The next matchup!

UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
Extra Action Gold Runners (#12 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

I really love my EA gold runners fleet, but I love UPS 2 as well. Also, as I said previously, if I had to pick a fleet to win the tournament, it would be UPS 2, although it’s very close and there is very tough competition. I was disappointed to see that these fleets have already faced each other, with UPS 2 prevailing 2 games to 1, but that was bound to happen in this tournament anyway, and will likely happen again.

The EA fleet got off to a great start, with the Joya and Star of Siam (SoS) receiving EA’s on the first turn. The Joya grabbed gold from the center island, while the SoS headed west.

Then it was time for UPS 2. The strategy darrin outlined in his fleet was followed, and by the end of the turn UPS 2 had a bunch of gold sitting on their home island, two islands explored, Paradis de la Mer built on the island the SoS was sailing towards, and turtles swimming towards their home island.

The second turn saw the Joya dock home gold with the help of Skrew Engine, while the Hai Peng built another fort.

The SoS eliminated some turtles, while the Joya made for the northeastern island. The Hai Peng wasn’t quite fast enough to beat the Joya to the island from across the sea, so instead took a shot against the Algeciras (which missed) and then returned to Dead Man’s Point to transfer another coin home.

The Joya used Homing Beacon to get home extremely quickly, and with most of the gold unloaded and the rest in forts, the game was called. UPS 2 had won handily, 27-13. This was the first time using UPS 2 in a while, and it didn’t disappoint!

10/20/2016

UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
Extra Action Gold Runners (#12 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

UPS 2 went first in the second game of the series, building a fort on the second island but finding useless UT’s and low gold values.

The Joya got an EA and found turtles, and it was clear that this game would be tougher for UPS 2 to win.

Only then did UPS 2 play Hidden Cove, and CJS transported some coins home and Dead Man’s Point was erected on the island.

That caused the SoS to change course, while the Joya got another EA to dock home some gold. The turtles were on their way, and they had a short trip home.

Here I made a mistake, thinking the Hai Peng could dismast the Algeciras with a shoot and ram. Both shots missed, and the Hai Peng was pinned. After dumping some crew, the Intrepide sailed from home, as it was a bit of an emergency for the usually-calm UPS 2 fleet. The Intrepide was ready to sail to the Paradis fort if needed, taking the gold to the much safer location of the home island.

The Algeciras scored a hit on the pinned Hai Peng, but it was ignored with a Cross of Coronado. The SoS then missed twice in a row, and UPS 2 had another chance.

The Hai Peng finally managed to dismast the Algeciras and escape a bad situation, scooting off to the southwest island to trade home some coins. My thinking here was that, knowing the gold values on the wild island, I could create a bigger gold advantage by tossing them home than eliminating turtles. It’s not likely the Hai Peng could get all of the turtles, but each coin transferred via CJS would get +2’d by Maurice Aristide. In addition, eliminating the turtles could have meant facing more shots from the SoS.

UPS 2 was content to transfer home coins and get the bonus on each one, while the EA runners got busy attacking Dead Man’s Point. The fort took a hit from the SoS, while the Joya waited for an EA to get in range since she had no captain. The fort’s gunners didn’t expect any contest with UPS 2 going, and they were asleep at their posts and forgot to fire.

The Star of Siam’s guns woke them up, and they connected to dismast the SoS! This took Gallows out of the action, and the EA runners were essentially down to one ship. The turtles reached home safely after the Hai Peng eliminated one of them, while the Intrepide and Coeur sailed north now that the HP didn’t have any gold to transfer.

The battle at the fort intensified! The Joya eliminated its final cannon, but that happened as the entire UPS 2 fleet sailed up to the Joya. The Joya was rammed by the HP and Coeur, while the Intrepide loaded the final available coin from the fort.

The Joya steals the coin! The SoS heads for the center island, where the Trees UT is located.

The HP stole the coin back, and the Joya was sunk.

The SoS used Homing Beacon to return home and repair, while the Intrepide took the coin from the HP. Aristide worked his magic once more, and the game ended. Once the gold was counted, it was obvious that the gold in the forts would not have given the EA fleet the win if they had gotten it.

The final score was:
UPS 2: 37 gold
EA gold runners: 17 gold

UPS 2 advances to Round 2! This came as no surprise, especially given that UPS 2 had already won a series against the EA fleet. My EA gold runner fleet is now 9-13, but 4 of those losses have come against UPS 2, one of the best fleets of all time.

With that, we also have our first Round 2 matchup: Norvegia vs. UPS 2!

12/1/2016

Xerecs and I were able to continue the tournament! We played three games; the third one was possibly the longest (by number of turns) 40 point game I’ve been involved in. It was incredibly desperate and wacky – keep reading to see what happened!

American Pirates (#6 seed) (commanded by Xerecs)
vs.
The Doldrums (#11 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

Becalmed would soon prove to be a massive nuisance to the AP’s, giving the Doldrums fleet a head start. The Eagle waited for the Roanoke in the fog, while the Banshee’s Cry and Amity both docked at the same island. The Longshanks is already headed back with gold due to Hidden Cove.

The Eagle managed to dismast the Roanoke and come to the BC’s aid when the Amity rammed the BC! With their gunship out of action and no gold on their ships or home island, it would be a tough road back for the AP’s in this game.

The Eagle has sunk the Roanoke, while the Longshanks rams the Amity.

The Eagle finishes off the Amity while the Bloody Jewel returns home with gold. The LS rescues the BC. The AP’s manage some gold as the Bandido returns home, but it’s only to avoid a shutout at this point. The Doldrums win 20-4!

The AP’s went first in the second game, but the Doldrums still managed to hit the Roanoke and Amity with Becalmed on their first turn. The Eagle stayed home, anticipating the Roanoke returning to her HI, while the Doldrum gold runners were wary of the dangerous American 5 master.

The Roanoke instead headed west, prompting the Eagle to sail out. Suddenly 4 ships were near the center island! The Bloody Jewel unloads gold, while the Amity grabs some for the AP’s.

Shots fired! The Eagle wasn’t able to hit anything with her first action, but by saccing she got lucky and took out 3 masts on the Roanoke! The Longshanks rammed the Bandido derelict, and combat was in full swing.

Of course, in a game this small, it didn’t last long. The Eagle used another double action to dismast the Roanoke, while the LS towed the Bandido.

This led to a strange situation where the Eagle purposely didn’t shoot at the Amity, since dismasting her would end the game. The Doldrums weren’t 100% sure they had more gold than the AP’s, so the Eagle sailed by while the Amity took some ineffective shots at the captured Roanoke. The BC engaged the Amity but failed her ram and was then dismasted.

The game ended when the Eagle docked home the Roanoke; the gold and captured Commodore Perry gave the Doldrums a 21-8 victory! The Doldrums advances to Round 2! Becalmed was certainly a factor in the two games, but good dice luck and appropriate maneuvering by the Eagle also won the day. (The Eagle would have to receive the MVS “Most Valuable Ship” award for this series)

The next matchup:
Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
dakmor’s swarm fleet (#10 seed) (commanded by Xerecs)

(This was the crazy one!)

The home islands were relatively close together. I was very excited to return to my HPFF fleet, which is a variant on the UPS strategy. Of the 16 ships the two fleets had on the ocean, none had more than 2 masts. Throw in only a single captain ability (Captain Jack Sparrow), and it looked like the series wouldn’t feature much combat. What looked like it could be a quick game turned into a long affair….

This is the situation before the swarm fleet even took a turn. The Hai Peng has followed the HPFF strategy, building Paradis de la Mer on the center wild island. The UT Maps of Alexandria was found, giving both fleets the location of each UT and standard coin. The HP (Hai Peng) loaded the traded oarsman and a coin, while the Banshee’s Cry headed for the southwestern island. Finally the swarm fleet could take its turn!

Here, the swarm fleet has set out, but the Hai Peng is at it again. The Devil’s Maw was built on the westernmost island, and the HP loaded another coin and the Holy Water UT.

The HP then headed south to build Dead Man’s Point, the third fort on four wild islands! Soon afterward, things started to “devolve into chaos”, as I like to say. A few swarm ships got too close to Paradis de la Mer, who shot a couple masts off. The Banshee’s Cry went there to grab any extra coins not used for the fort’s construction. The swarm fleet mostly divided itself in two: a contingent of ships headed west to attack the Devil’s Maw, while another group headed south towards the HPFF home island. There, the Hai Peng had just docked home the coins she had picked up on her journey to most of the wild islands. However, she was soon under attack! The swarm fleet can utilize rams quite effectively, and this strategy began to pay off as the HP lost a mast. CJS was surprised to be in so much trouble at his own HI! It’s worth noting that the northern wild island was effectively irrelevant at this point, having been emptied by the swarm fleet.

The swarm fleet took their turn, and the momentum began to shift! The sheer number of swarmers overwhelmed the Hai Peng and dismasted her via ramming! Then, in an expert display of seamanship, Xerecs used the swarm fleet to capture and chain-tow the Hai Peng away from the HPFF home island and out of harm’s way!!!! Shocked Chain-towing in a regular game, using about 6 total ships! (I sort of introduced chain-towing as a tactic back in my first 500 point game; it’s normally only viable in very large games so to see it here was epic.) At this point I commented that I was willing to lose despite my love for the HPFF fleet, simply because of Xerecs’ fantastic move and the honorable way of losing such a unique game. However, it was becoming evident that there was a lot of game left to play! The swarmers took up position in the far west against the Devil’s Maw, and began their bombardment! This was another unique feature of this game – a prolonged assault against a fort by multiple ships, something you’d be more likely to see in real life than in a game of Pirates.

With the Hai Peng captured, Lord Mycron aboard the Patagonia can now give the extra action to the Banshee’s Cry. The BC zips home with an extra coin from Paradis, giving the HPFF fleet 11 gold on their home island. The Lezard sails out, the HPFF fleet desperate now that the HP is gone. The Devil’s Maw puts up a good fight against the uncaptained swarmers, dismasting two ships even as three more prepare to fire.

The two battles continue to rage. The swarmers now concentrate some ships against the remaining HPFF ships. The Lezard and Patagonia are both dismasted by rams! The Devil’s Maw has knocked the western swarm squadron down to 2 masts, meaning that the fort has won the battle! Another rarity, as forts are often destroyed before they can even fire a shot when a fast gunship sails in and mauls them immediately. Between the lack of captains in the swarm fleet and the small size of the ships, the fort was in a uniquely good position. The Banshee’s Cry tries to get gold, while the Hai Peng is towed home by the swarmers. At this point, the only way for the swarm fleet to win is to get some of the gold from the forts. However, they will be hard-pressed to destroy all 3 with their lack of firepower.

Both fleets continue to have some successes: the Devil’s Maw finishes off the swarmers in the west, and the BC uses Skrew Engine to duck into a fog bank with a coin. However, the swarm fleet sinks the Lezard and captures the Patagonia! This gives the swarmers access to Lord Mycron.

Some turns later, and the Hai Peng has been repaired! She sets out for the swarm fleet, and is by far their best hope for them to destroy the forts, between her speed and CJS’s captain ability. Her first shots miss the Devil’s Maw, but Mycron can give the ship another action. At this point the Pirate fort is down to 3 cannons and faces a more powerful squadron in this second battle, with more swarm ships arriving soon. A ship stands guard at the HPFF HI, where the BC needs a 2 or 3 coming out of the fog to dock home her coin.

With 4 ships the swarm fleet manages to destroy the Devil’s Maw in the second assault! The Hai Peng is given the Patagonia’s action to load the 5 coin, which is extremely important. With two forts left, the swarmers will need some luck if they want to destroy both, especially against Paradis’ overpowered ability. The Banshee’s Cry has docked home a 3 for HPFF, and since she’s the only ship remaining in the fleet, she has become essentially invincible! If the swarm fleet dismasts the BC, the game immediately ends and the remaining gold in the two forts counts for the HPFF fleet, which would give them the win. Knowing this, the BC immediately rams the nearest swarm ship in the hopes of capturing and repairing it, but the hapless Venture sinks instantly!

The Banshee’s Cry manages to capture El Raton and even the Patagonia! However, the Patagonia is quickly sunk after being recaptured, giving the swarm fleet an extra 1 gold from Bratley’s Ransom ability, which could certainly matter in this hotly contested game. In the south, Dead Man’s Point has already fallen! Some of the fort’s gunners fell asleep at their posts after the battle of the Devil’s Maw took so long, and the fort is quickly defeated. The Hai Peng tries to load the gold used to build the fort… and we suddenly realize that I had accidentally cheated! The BC’s entire trip to Dead Man’s Point earlier in the game was all for nought: I thought there were two 3’s in the fort, but in reality the 3 used to build the fort was the only standard coin on the island. Thus the coin couldn’t be removed from the fort, and we corrected the mistake by transferring the coin from my HI to the Hai Peng. I knew something was amiss when I counted 38 total gold in play (30 + 5 from Barbary Banner, + a mysterious 3 that I mistook for an extra coin when it wasn’t).

Something else happened in this segment of turns that completely turned the game on its head. When the BC went to Dead Man’s Point to grab the “extra” 3 coin, she did pick up the Jailhouse Dog UT (so I guess the trip wasn’t completely worthless!). I completely forgot about the UT until one of the swarm ships won a boarding party against the BC. Having to look at the BC’s deckplate for the first time in a while, I suddenly saw the UT! I then consulted the Pirate Code and found this:

The Pirate Code wrote:

Jailhouse Dog
-This ability may be used at any time during the game.

Ecstatic, I then happened to (luckily!) read further:

The Pirate Code wrote:

-This ability may be used to remove a unique treasure that is worth gold after it has been unloaded to a home island, provided that unloading that treasure did not trigger an endgame condition. If any endgame condition has been reached, Jailhouse Dog can no longer be used.

Shocked

I used Jailhouse Dog to eliminate the Barbary Banner sitting on the swarm HI and cost them 5 gold!

The BC lost one of her two oarsmen instead of having the UT stolen, and now it was once again a regular 30-gold game instead of the one-time “38”! At this point I knew exactly what I had to do: with 11 gold on my HI, just hold Paradis (with a 5 coin inside) and I would win the game. Jailhouse Dog meant the swarm fleet would have to get the gold from Paradis after all, rather than just the Devil’s Maw and Dead Man’s Point. Despite being on the winning side of the UT in this game, Jailhouse Dog is still one of my least favorite UT’s because it can be OP and game-breaking. It’s one of the ultimate “party poopers” of Pirates CSG.

With 2 of the 3 forts destroyed, it looked like the game would finally end soon. There was a brief scuffle near Paradis, which resulted in two derelict swarm ships. The Hai Peng hurried home with the gold from Dead Man’s Point (the real 3 that the BC never should have loaded heh), while the gunners at Paradis prepared for a final clash.

The BC captured the Intrepide and towed her to Paradis to repair, while the fort sank the other swarm ship. The Hai Peng sailed out, knowing that only one of the two HPFF ships (now including the Intrepide) could be dismasted (unless docked at the fort and therefore able to repair).

In between the above picture and this one, the Hai Peng rammed the Banshee’s Cry at such an angle that the guns of Paradis couldn’t hit the HP. However, the Intrepide rammed the HP and forced her to retreat. The HP went home to repair one final time! At this point I had been playing the game and typing in the chat with one hand for a while due to eating. This led to many bizarre and amusing things in the VASSAL chat, and further contributed to this long and wacky game.

The Hai Peng sailed out and dismasted the Intrepide, leaving the BC as the only HPFF ship once again. The Hai Peng tried to attack Paradis, but once the first die was rolled for Paradis’ effect, it was obvious that it was impossible for the HP to get enough hits. The fort’s guns boomed once more, and the Hai Peng was derelict! This seemed to end the game, but the swarm fleet still had the Jolly Mon at their home island! The Jolly Mon vs. Paradis de la Mer matchup didn’t happen for obvious reasons: the Jolly Mon would need an absolutely unprecedented string of luck to win, and even then a single successful ram from the BC would end the game as well.

Hai Peng Fort Frenzy wins the game 16-15!! 11 gold was on their HI, with 5 in the intact fort. The swarm fleet had 14 gold and 1 extra from sinking Bratley. How fitting that one of the longest and most desperate 40 point games ever ends with a 1-gold margin of victory! This is a game we’ll remember for a long time, and continues the trend of the HPFF fleet having very long and interesting games: its first series (against the AP fleet ironically) was also quite memorable. After all that, we still have at least one more game left to play in the series!

12/10/2016

2 more games!

Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
dakmor’s swarm fleet (#10 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

The second game of the series got started, with the swarm fleet going first. For the second game in a row the Hai Peng built Paradis de la Mer on the center island.

The HP was headed to the southeast (building Dead Man’s Point), where she found the Maps of Alexandria. By that point she had also loaded Holy Water and Jailhouse Dog. Paradis dismasted the swarm’s Banshee’s Cry, while the HPFF BC docked in the northeast.

The BC used Skrew Engine to dock home a few coins, including the Barbary Banner. This time HPFF had found both the dog and the banner, giving them a decided advantage. It was already likely that HPFF would win, but they also had luck on their side. Xerecs’ cannons were ineffective, and DMP crushed all comers in the southeast.

Here, the swarm fleet has some gold home, but they’re running out of ships. At this point the swarm fleet had to do the near-impossible: steal the Jailhouse Dog from the HP, use it to eliminate Barbary Banner, and then somehow destroy Paradis de la Mer to get the fort’s 5 coin. HPFF had 16 gold when counting Paradis’ gold but not counting the banner or the 3 in Dead Man’s Point. The Banshee’s Cry and Lezard were dismasted via rams but quickly repaired.

The Hai Peng got involved in the skirmish at the HPFF home island, where she was actually dismasted by rams and forced to hand over the Jailhouse Dog! Xerecs immediately played it to eliminate the Barbary Banner, but after the BC and Lezard got revenge by dismasting two swarm ships, the swarm fleet almost certainly wouldn’t be able to destroy Paradis. Realizing that the Hai Peng could move S+L+S when derelict (oarsman + both bonuses intact from having a captain and helmsman aboard), I decided to take off, knowing I could repair at either fort but knowing that the HP would be captured if she stayed at home.

An overly lengthy endgame process saw the Algeciras capture the Patagonia, so Mycron gave the swarm’s Coeur some extra actions. The Carrion Crow took the BC and Lezard out, leaving HPFF with just the HP. That would prove to be enough however, as the HP repaired at DMP, then dismasted the Carrion Crow. With only 2 masts left in the swarm fleet, we decided to call the game. HPFF had a 14-8 advantage even without the forts, which made the final score 22-8. Hai Peng Fort Frenzy advances to Round 2!

The final matchup of the first round!
Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
USS Kettering – Deadly Weapon (#9 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

This was a bit of an odd matchup – a UPS variant against a fleet designed for deathmatch play. The Kettering fleet used the same nasty UT’s as the HMS Grand Temple fleet to maximize the competitive nature of the tournament.

Darrin’s fleet rolled to go first, and I followed his strategy to a T. The fleet had 12 gold on its HI by the end of the first turn.

CJS traded another coin home on the next turn, which was the final coin on the center island (Missionary was traded away on the first turn and the BC loaded a Monkey’s Paw). This gave the gold race fleet 17 gold, technically enough to win. However, knowing that the BC had only traded away 8 total gold, there was 22 more gold out on the islands. To be fair we kept playing in the off chance that the Kettering fleet could come back, since the gold race fleet didn’t have a true majority of all the gold now in play (9 extra on their HI from the bonuses).

The Rover turned around and rammed the Kettering! However, no damage was done. Then, in a bizarre twist, the Rover won the boarding party 7-6! A 2 point ship had just won a boarding party against one of the most feared ships in the game, and there was nothing the canceller ability could do about it! To continue the oddities, the Kettering then missed 4 shots in a row (partly due to Brent Rice having been eliminated in the boarding) before the Minuteman finally put an end to the mighty Rover. That whole sequence guaranteed the Banshee’s Cry another explore action at a different island, and it was over. CJS traded home a 7, which became a whopping 10 after the gold bonuses. Darrin’s gold race wins the first game of the series 27-0, the greatest margin of victory so far in the tournament and a higher margin of victory than any game from Tournament #1.

12/28/2016

Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
USS Kettering – Deadly Weapon (#9 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

Game 2 (Darrin’s fleet won the first game)

This time the Kettering fleet went first, and the BC was unlucky enough to find 2 negative UT’s at the center island, loading Maps of Hades.

The Rover was dismasted, and it was clear that the BC would have to do some sailing (rather than just “Hidden Cove’ing” to the island and redocking) in order to win the game. The BC needed more regular coins at the center island rather than UT’s. Negative UT’s may be the most reliable way to slow down these UPS fleets, since treasure traders like Gilbert can only toss away one at a time. Even then, there’s a chance you’ll get another bad one in the exchange!

The Maps of Hades allowed the Kettering to easily sink the BC, while the Sea Crane and Bonnie Liz sailed out to look for gold instead. The strategy of the gold race fleet was massively compromised, and the serious firepower advantage of the Kettering fleet looked like a tough obstacle to overcome.

Here the Sea Crane is being towed by the Kettering for her gold and gold bonus ability. The Bonnie Liz has gotten the Rover back in action, and they look to ram and steal before it’s too late.

The Bonnie Liz actually managed to steal a 7 from the Sea Crane, but it was promptly retaken by the Algeciras, who gave it to the Sea Crane to get the +1 bonus. The Rover was smashed again, while the Bonnie Liz tried to commit suicide on a reef in order to force the game’s end, simply hoping for enough gold to win. However, it would have been too late anyway, for the Kettering fleet won the game 22-9!

We have begun the third and final game of this series, and hope to complete it in the near future. After that, the competition heats up in Round 2!

1/20/2017

Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
USS Kettering – Deadly Weapon (#9 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

The final game of the series was underway!

The Banshee’s Cry had to make a run for a second island, while the Rover tried to hold off the Kettering and the Sea Crane left her HI.

Disaster for the gold race fleet: the BC is sunk, the Sea Crane captured, and the Rover dismasted. The Bonnie Liz is their only hope now.

The Kettering encountered a Missionary, but managed to get some gold home, leaving the Minuteman flotilla near the middle of the map. The Bonnie Liz was off to the southwestern island, where she found Wolves.

With Wolves making some of the gold unavailable, the game was soon decided. Darrin’s gold race had won a close 21-16 victory and advances to the second round of the tournament!

After the entire first round, here is the updated bracket. As before, the first number in each pair of scores belongs to the upper fleet, whether they won the game or not. Many fleets were quite impressive, winning both games of their series, while others prevailed against tough competition. The biggest upset was Quick wins the game (#14 seed) beating UPS 4, the #3 seed. After exactly 20 games in Round 1, there are 8 fleets remaining!

The first matchup of Round 2!

HMS GT (#1 seed) (commanded by Xerecs)
vs.
Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

The home islands were the same as they were for the third game of the previous matchup, and with HMS GT following a similar style as the USS Kettering fleet, it would prove to be a similar game.

Once again, the Rover is dismasted as the BC runs off to a second island.

I didn’t take many pictures, but the Bonnie Liz ended up as the last ship in the gold race fleet once again. This time, the Bonnie Liz managed to do a suicide run onto a reef to force the game’s end, knowing that her fleet likely had more gold than the HMS GT fleet. This was correct, as darrin’s fleet won 15-6.

There are no pictures from the second game of the matchup, because there doesn’t need to be. The gold race fleet rolled to go first (after going second in the first game), and the Banshee’s Cry managed to find only standard coins on the island she was Hidden Cove’d to! This meant she could simply trade 4 coins home in 2 turns and get the +3 bonuses on all of them. There was no need to scramble and no need for a second island. With 13 regular gold on the HI, there was only 17 gold available for the GT fleet. However, with 12 gold in bonuses in addition to the 13 standard, there was absolutely no way for the GT fleet to win.

Darrin’s gold race wins 25-0 and advances to Round 3, the semifinals! The #1 seed is out of the tournament in an upset! It wasn’t hugely surprising, since the gold race fleet is a UPS variant and the HMS GT fleet is built for combat. The perfect scenario combined with going first let the gold race fleet attain an easy second victory.

2/3/2017

Xerecs and I have played a whopping 5 games in VASSAL Tournament #2! (and nearly finished a 6th)

UPS 5 (#2 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

Both fleets quickly got to work, with HPFF building Paradis de la Mer in the center and the Devil’s Maw in the north, and UPS 5 building their Devil’s Maw in the west. UPS 5 found better coin values.

Here, HPFF has gone to the southeastern island, but the Zeus has destroyed their Devil’s Maw!

With the remaining gold contained within the two forts, there wasn’t much HPFF could do with their lack of firepower. The Lezard blocked the Zeus temporarily while the Hai Peng sped off in an attempt to destroy the Devil’s Maw to get at the gold inside. The Banshee’s Cry looked to take out the Hag of Tortuga.

The BC succeeded, but was dismasted for the effort. The 1 extra gold would not be enough to make the difference for HPFF, whose Hai Peng managed some damage against the Devil’s Maw before being destroyed. UPS 5 had won the first game of the series 17-12!

One turn into Game 2. HPFF’s home island is in the southeast, with UPS 5 in the west. The HP made it to the northern island, finding Pirate Globe, Jailhouse Dog, and two of the three 5 coins. Indeed, the luck had reversed from the previous game in terms of gold. To make things even better for HPFF, the Barbary Banner was revealed to be in the east, where the BC was headed.

A few turns later and HPFF is able to get what they need home. The HP avoided building Paradis on the northern island because it would put the valuable gold back in play, where the Zeus could potentially get it. After a loss in the first game, a change in strategy was just what the HPFF fleet needed, and here it panned out nicely (normally it’s better to just build the forts, but with a Zeus moving L+S+L+S the gold is not safe for long at all heh). UPS 5 almost managed a late-game salvage operation: I had kept the Jailhouse Dog aboard the Hai Peng in case it was needed, but suddenly it became a huge liability since the Zeus could steal it and use it to eliminate the Barbary Banner, which would cost HPFF the game! Thinking quickly I did something unorthodox and eliminated one of my own positive UT’s, Holy Water. This was simply to eliminate the dog from play to deny UPS 5 from using it. Indeed, the game turned out closer than I expected, but HPFF won 18-17 to even the series at a game apiece.

Game 3!

The Hai Peng sprinted to the northern island, once again finding the Pirate Globe, and this time the Barbary Banner as well. The Zeus went to the center island before turning to the northeastern island, where the Jailhouse Dog was. I then had to think about the best course of action for my fleet – I originally was going to run home with the Barbary Banner and the other coin the HP was carrying. However, seeing that the Zeus would soon come into possession of the Jailhouse Dog, and knowing that the UT could eliminate the Banner even after I docked at my HI, I decided to do something more risky but also more wise. The Hai Peng took off for the same northeastern island the Zeus was headed to, which could have been a suicide move. The HP docked on the side opposite the Zeus to maximize how far the junk would have to travel to get in range, and picked up the Jailhouse Dog, immediately playing it to eliminate the now-useless Maps of Alexandria UT on the western island. The Hai Peng picked up the Banner, and traded a 5 from the island for an oarsman on the Banshee’s Cry. The BC, originally headed for the western island, now turned around and docked home the new 5 coin, giving HPFF two of the three 5’s. To finish the turn, one of the 5’s was transferred back to the northeast to build Paradis de la Mer, both in an attempt to deter the Zeus from attacking the Hai Peng/Barbary Banner, and to protect the final coin on the island. Not trying to brag but it was one of my best turns of the tournament and a fine example of how strategic this “beer and pretzels” game can be, and why it’s always best to think things through. In the end I had essentially swapped 5’s while protecting my end of the gold in play, since it was likely the Banner would be sunk or stolen, but that the 5 would remain in play for at least some time inside Paradis. Had I ran home, I would have lost the Banner immediately and not gotten the 5 in the northeast.

The Zeus decided against attacking Paradis and a double-action Hai Peng, turning to the western island instead. The HP used an action to trade home the 2 from the northeastern island, then used her second action to move towards home, careful to stay out of the Zeus’ range.

The Coeur came out to meet the Hai Peng, but was unsuccessful with a ram and board. The HP sought shelter within a fog bank, while the Zeus unloaded her gold and combined it with the gold on the western island inside the Devil’s Maw fort. Seeing the endgame conflict materialize, the Banshee’s Cry headed to Paradis.

And there you have it – HPFF isn’t willing (or capable, likely) to go after the Devil’s Maw (and has no reason to), so the Zeus heads east to destroy Paradis. The 5 coin inside will determine the winner of the game – HPFF was up 21-14 at this point in gold, which could be determined by the revealed gold and the lack of extra gold in play outside of the Barbary Banner. It looked like the Coeur was sailing out to join the Zeus, but the HP sank her quickly. HPFF’s strategy was to stop the Zeus from destroying Paradis and loading the 5 coin in a single turn. As long as that didn’t happen, the HP could scoot to the island after Paradis fell, and then simply trade the 5 home (the Lezard still had 2 oarsmen aboard) for the instant win. The advantage laid with HPFF, but the situation was tense and competitive.

The BC maneuvered to block the Zeus at her bow, which in hindsight was a mistake because the Zeus could stay in place and shoot at the BC without coming into the range of the fort’s guns. The Zeus did just that, but managed to go an abysmal 0 for 4! This gave the BC another chance, which she used to dock at the island on the side where Paradis was closest to the water (with her stern sticking out as far as possible). This new blocking method was designed to force the Zeus to go to the far side of the island and shoot at Paradis from longer range, reducing the number of effective guns. The Hai Peng observed everything, ready to pounce on the Zeus with a double action (4 shots) or grab the 5 if the Zeus got lucky against the fort.

Incredibly, Xerecs rolled a 6 for Paradis’ ability, meaning the Zeus had to hit the fort 6 times that turn just to damage the fort at all! After this was not accomplished, Paradis knocked down 3 masts on the junk. The Banshee’s Cry has departed the island, hoping to get revenge when the Zeus becomes weaker.

After another exchange of cannon fire, the Zeus is left with just 4 masts while Paradis still has 4 cannons. The BC saw her opportunity for a miraculous ram and board, but both failed!

The OP ability of Paradis was too much for the (similarly OP) Zeus to overcome, with the Hai Peng fittingly dealing the final damage to the 10 master. After a great game and hard-fought victory (final score 21-14), Hai Peng Fort Frenzy had knocked off the #2 seed to advance to Round 3, the semifinals!

This was a really memorable series, and showcased how HPFF is one of the best fleets out there. The fleet also seems to be involved in a LOT of very long games, from its first (and also extremely memorable) series against the American Pirate fleet, to that crazy game against the swarm fleet, and now to this hotly contested series against the fleet that won T1. Wacky enough, when considering the total gold scores from each of the three games, HPFF beat UPS 5 by a score of just 51-48!

Fittingly enough, as great as that series turned out, the next series was a complete dud! lol.

Quick wins the game (#14 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
The Doldrums (#11 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

As the winner of the Round 1 series involving these fleets, I picked which one I controlled. Between my general disliking of events and my very positive experience using the Quick fleet to knock out UPS 4 in Round 1, I went with Quick wins the game despite its lower seed.

Game 1 setup: Quick in the north, Doldrums in the south.

Quick went first, with the Courageux being Hidden Cove’d to the center island to explore. The Pique headed east, while the Vengeance prepared to protect either gold runner while also trying to make sure that no two ships would be in range of Becalmed at the same time. Alas, it didn’t work, with the Pique and Vengeance getting hit with the event. I had forgotten that the Doldrums fleet also had Hidden Cove, and suddenly the Eagle was at the center island and attacking my fleet! The Courageux and Vengeance lost a mast apiece, but Becalmed was an even bigger problem. The Vengeance connected on my turn, but was unable to move and get canceller Lenoir in range, while the Courageux’s ram and board failed miserably.

The Eagle takes over, blasting the Quick fleet to smithereens! Suddenly the Pique was the only ship they could move (Vengeance sunk and Courageux derelict), and the game was effectively over.

The Eagle sank the Courageux with 6 gold aboard, but the Pique escaped into a fog bank, later grabbing gold from the western island. During all of the combat shenanigans the Pirate gold runners were busy establishing an advantage, and the French were out of the running. The Longshanks intercepted the Pique on her trip home and rammed her derelict to end the game. The Doldrums had won 13-0!

The second game went similarly great for the Doldrums, and similarly horrible for Quick. The Vengeance stayed in port, so the Eagle couldn’t shoot at her if the same Hidden Cove strategy was used. However, this allowed Becalmed to hit two ships on the first turn once again, and it looked like the Vengeance should have moved northwest. This time the Pique was Hidden Cove’d to the center island, the French changing their strategies after the embarrassing loss in Game 1.

Becalmed was played to hit the Vengeance and Courageux. Hidden Cove was then played to put the Eagle at the center island once again, where she wreaked havoc. The Pique was sunk, while the Courageux was dismasted soon afterwards. This left the French to seek Vengeance (ha ha… or not). The Vengeance got caught up in a skirmish with the Longshanks, which further proved how much momentum the Doldrums fleet had, for Xerecs even rolled much better at the guns during the engagement. The battle was ended by the Eagle, with the French eliminated for the second game in a row!

The Doldrums won 7-0 in dominating fashion, and are a force to be reckoned with as they move on to the semifinals to face HPFF!

Only one more series in Round 2, after which there are only 3 matchups before we crown the best fleet of all time!

2/5/2017

The final matchup of Round 2!

Norvegia (#4 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

UPS 2 got busy with a couple forts, while Norvegia went to the northern and southeastern islands.

Eventually the only gold left was in the two forts, which would determine the winner of the game. The Neptune’s Hoard attacked Dead Man’s Point, knocking out three cannons before she was dismasted and captured by the fort and the Hai Peng. (we counted our gold early to determine if it was close enough to keep playing for the fort gold, and indeed it was, with Norvegia up 21-18 with 9 gold in the forts)

The Star of Siam and Banshee’s Cry didn’t have enough firepower to destroy Dead Man’s Point, and both ships were dismasted to end the game! UPS 2 won the game 27-21.

Norvegia went first in the second game, using sac actions to reach two wild islands. The Hai Peng settled for the northwestern island, finding good gold values there (4,3,2,2). UPS 2 didn’t build a fort, planning to send home the islands’ final two coins on the following turn.

After much excellent treasure running by both fleets, it looked like it was going to be a close finish. Norvegia found all of their UT’s (Spices, Barbary Banner, and Buried Treasure), while the Hai Peng was busy trading home coins from the northeastern and center islands. The last coin on the NE island was a 1, and CJS knew there was no point in getting that coin when he could try for a potentially better (and definitely not worse) coin with the final treasure of the center island. (UPS 2 had to pick one coin and not the other because the HP’s helmsman had been sacced recently so the HP could explore the NE island right after docking, and because the Neptune’s Hoard could catch the HP with her speed on Norvegia’s turn.) The decision paid off when the coin was a 2, which CJS traded home.

The Hai Peng was dismasted by the Neptune’s Hoard, while the Banshee’s Cry docked home the final 1 coin for Norvegia.

In the end, UPS 2 had won a very close 27-25 victory! This reveals how important it was that the HP switched islands at the end, for if CJS had traded home the 1, the game would likely have ended tied at 26! For me it was one of the best treasure running games I’ve ever seen, with a whopping 22 extra gold in play by the end of it (12 from Maurice Aristide’s +2 bonuses, and more from the UT’s). Another weird stat is that Norvegia totaled 46 gold between the two games and still lost both! It seems that UPS 2 is always involved in very high-scoring affairs; they just happen to score more than their opponents.

UPS 2 advances to the semifinals!

Here is the updated bracket, with just 3 matchups left! At this point, we may play more than 2 or 3 games per series, if there’s any doubt about which fleet is superior, similar to what we did in the last few series of T1.

Round 2 saw some VERY interesting series, with both the #1 and #2 seeds being knocked out. I’m not overly surprised at the left side of the bracket, as I had UPS 2 as the potential winner before the tournament started, and the gold race fleet not far behind. However, the right side of the bracket is a little more surprising, with HPFF knocking off UPS 5 in a close series. The Doldrums fleet has been the most dominant of the tournament, outscoring its opponents 61-12 (!), going 4-0, and often finishing games rather quickly. I hope Becalmed doesn’t effectively ruin the tournament… either way, these semifinal matchups look very competitive and intriguing. It’s also worth noting that the Doldrums fleet is the only fleet remaining that has a functional gunship… not overly surprising, but in the past I’ve seen different HMS GT fleets absolutely steamroll great gold fleets (which just speaks to how amazing Darrin’s gold race fleet really is).

Stay tuned to find out which fleet becomes the greatest ever!

2/10/2017

A grand mistake has been made… an embarrassing error that threatens the integrity of the tournament….

EVENTGATE.

The first of two semifinal matchups began, with Hai Peng Fort Frenzy (HPFF) facing the Doldrums fleet. As usual, the Doldrums fleet was cruising along, indeed on their path to an easy 17-2 victory for a nearly unprecedented 5-0 record. Early in the game the Hai Peng returned home to avoid being hit by Becalmed and then the Eagle, who would be Hidden Cove’d to the center island and then given a sac action to move and shoot twice. The Banshee’s Cry then moved into a fog bank, which prompted Xerecs to wonder if the fog would make the BC immune to Becalmed. I figured as much since I thought that lines of sight/ability/etc were blocked by fog. The game continued, and here you can see the Eagle in the southwest after sinking the HP, essentially ending the game in favor of the Doldrums.

To confirm my thoughts about Becalmed I went to the Pirate Code, and funny enough I went to the section on Becalmed instead of the section on fog banks (where the answer to the question actually is). It was then and there that I saw it:

-Only one “beginning of turn” event token may be revealed during your turn.

O_O

Neither of us knew about this ruling, and it changed EVERYTHING. I immediately looked back at the battle reports concerning the Doldrums fleet, and sure enough, the fleet had used both Becalmed and Hidden Cove on their first turn in possibly every game.

Suddenly the Doldrums’ 5-0 record was in doubt. Not only that, but their position in the tournament. One more win would put them into the final round, where a series victory would give them the title of “best fleet of all time”. It became very apparent that controversy and scandal would win the night, but with T2 being a somewhat serious affair (we have to get it right), we were determined to fix what we could.

I have decided not to go back and edit any previous reports, since it could be confusing and disrupts the story of the tournament. A new picture of the updated bracket follows at the end of this report.

After a discussion, Xerecs and I narrowly decided to replay both series that the Doldrums fleet was involved in. This would be the most fair, and the Doldrums fleet would need to prove itself using the better rules. After all, it felt like Becalmed had gotten them to the semifinals almost by itself, and it was the only fleet in the tournament using the event. (the latter of which was very lucky – since no other fleet in the tournament uses both Becalmed and Hidden Cove, there wouldn’t be any other matchups to replay)

With that, we were suddenly back in Round 1!

American Pirates (#6 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
The Doldrums (#11 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

We used the same home islands as in Game 1 of the original series. The Amity used Hidden Cove to load up from the center island.

The Doldrums used their own Hidden Cove to dismast the Amity with the Eagle and take two masts off the Roanoke.

However, on the next turn the Roanoke sank the Eagle! It became clear that playing Becalmed and Hidden Cove on the first turn hadbeen giving the Doldrums fleet quite an unfair advantage.

The Roanoke sank the Bloody Jewel, while the Amity and Bandido eventually returned with gold for the AP’s.

The Roanoke was then set upon by the Longshanks (LS) and BC of the Doldrums fleet, until she was dismasted and captured! The Amity repaired two of her three masts before setting out for the final coin on the southwestern island. The Bandido followed her into a fog bank, while the remaining Doldrums fleet looked to intercept. The BC was rammed out of the game, while the Roanoke repaired. Eventually the Bandido rammed the final mast off the LS and captured her, towing the ship to block the Roanoke from attacking the Amity. The Amity returned the coin home and the American Pirates had dealt the Doldrums fleet their first loss! The final score was 17-15 after finding out that Raft had no effect on the Hag of Tortuga; she became 1 gold for the AP’s when the Eagle sank.

The setup for Game 2:

This time the “Hidden Cove chess game” resulted in the Roanoke besting the Eagle once again.

Now the Roanoke can effectively terrorize the Doldrums gold runners, while the Amity and Bandido both dock in the west.

The BC was dismasted and captured, while the Amity and Bandido returned home with gold.

The Bloody Jewel ducked into fog with gold aboard, while the LS was targeted by the Roanoke. The AP fleet has formed a temporary chain of ships to block the Bloody Jewel if she comes out of the fog.

Some late-game antics made the game closer than it looks. (capturing the BC was a mistake) However, in the end the AP fleet won 9-8!

The American Pirates move on to Round 2! The Doldrums fleet has been retroactively eliminated! In stunning fashion, the Doldrums fleet falls as far as you could possibly imagine, from 5-0 and one win away from the finals to 0-2 and out of the tournament. 0_0

Now we had a brand-new Round 2 matchup, and HPFF would have to wait to see who their new opponent in the semifinals would be.

Quick wins the game (#14 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
American Pirates (#6 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

Quick rolled to go first, and both fleets used Hidden Cove on their first turns, with the Roanoke dismasting but unable to sink the Courageux.

The Roanoke captured the Courageux, which later turned out to be a mistake.

The Amity and Bandido hide in the fog, while the Vengeance blockades the AP home island. The Roanoke uses the opportunity to drop the Courageux and sink the Pique.

Here I made another mistake (one of many this session) and pulled the gold runners out of the fog too early. The Vengeance turned around and dismasted both of them in one action! Now the AP’s would have to win with just the Roanoke.

The Vengeance sank the Amity and Bandido, eliminating 11 gold from the game. This left 19 in play, of which the Roanoke deposited 4 from the center island soon afterwards. She then headed northwest for 4 more, while the Vengeance recaptured the Courageux. In a nice move the Vengeance towed the Courageux to dock her at the center island, loading up gold.

With no helmsman, the Vengeance could only tow the Courageux at S speed, allowing the Roanoke to get in range of the Courageux while being out of Lenoir’s cancelling range. The Courageux was sunk, and the Roanoke won a brief battle of the gunships to end the game. The AP’s win 8-4!

Here is the updated bracket, with Eventgate over. The AP’s went from being eliminated to being one win away from a trip to the semifinals (if they get there, they would face HPFF, which would be an extremely highly anticipated rematch for the ages). At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Doldrums fleet proved to be a lot of hype for nothing. This also gives the Quick fleet new life, though now they have to win 2 in a row to advance.

2/12/2017

Quick wins the game (#14 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
American Pirates (#6 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

After losing the first game of the series, Quick went first once again.

The AP’s were very aggressive with Hidden Cove, using it to catapult the Roanoke towards the French gold runners.

This turned out to be a mistake, for the Courageux was never in range, and the Vengeance arrived to cancel Captain Blackheart and eventually sink the Roanoke.

The Vengeance headed south to cut off the Bandido and Amity on their second gold run. Seeing no chance of getting the gold home, the Pirates turned to attack! An impressive ram and board from the Amity (two 6’s in a row) hurt the Vengeance a little, but things were still looking dire for the AP’s.

After the Bandido was sunk, the Amity put up a rather miraculous fight against the Vengeance, though it was more due to the Amity carrying the final AP mast (Quick needed to make sure they had more gold before triggering an endgame condition) than the excellent exploits of the Amity and her crew. The AP’s built a Devil’s Maw in the west after capturing the Vengeance and her two coins from the same island. However, the Courageux was going to the northern island once more, and gold bonuses were already stacking up on the Quick HI.

The Vengeance brought home de Cissey for a ransom payment, and the Courageux avoided the Amity to dock home the final coin. Due to the gold bonuses from Maurice Aristide, the Quick fleet had won a nice 24-20 victory!

It was one of the better games of the tournament thus far, and sets up a Game 3 showdown to see who moves on to the semifinals to face Hai Peng Fort Frenzy!

5/26/2017

With xerecs not responding to my emails and showing zero interest in T2, and myself eager to resume/finish the tournament, I have decided to forge onward by myself. (If anyone else would like to join, just let me know, keeping in mind that the games are competitive and mistakes pretty much have to be replayed to have optimal results)

The tournament left off in the middle of the final game of the second round! The rubber game (#3) between these two great fleets:
Quick wins the game (#14 seed)
vs.
American Pirates (#6 seed)

These were the home islands, from play back in February:

The fleets made mirrored movements to the north, with neither playing their Hidden Coves.

The northern islands were explored:

This is where the game left off. After my question was answered by Woelf in the Rules thread, it was clear how to continue the game.

As expected, the AP’s used Hidden Cove to get the Roanoke out of Lenoir’s cancelling range. With careful maneuvering and a sac action, the Roanoke was able to knock down the Vengeance’s final two masts and capture her!

The Courageux explores the Pique for her 1 coin, eager to unload it to get Aristide’s +2 bonus. They plan to do the same at the northeastern island, which would give them 20 gold total (which they are aware of because they’ve explored two islands and found both 1’s, and know the treasure distribution based on the previous games). However, the AP’s would have 21 if they unload all of their gold (16 between the Amity and Bandido) as well as Cissey, who would provide 5 via the Ransom keyword. Thus, the French must make some kind of daring attempt to limit how much the AP’s bring back.

The Pique was going to capture or sink the Amity, but Captain Blackheart on the Roanoke had other plans. At this point I forgot about the “new” oarsman keyword ruling, where you can’t tow a ship if it has an oarsman. The Amity was towed a little bit by the Roanoke, but she could have just hidden in a fog bank or made it on her own anyway. The Roanoke could have dismasted the Pique instead of the Courageux to avoid forcing the end of the game and the treasure count, at which point a similar situation would have unfolded at the end of the game. In addition, the Roanoke would then have time to load the Amity’s oarsman for sacrificial purposes and also to tow the Amity. Here are the pictures from the rest of the game, which the AP’s won 21-17. It’s extremely likely they would have won anyway, but I’m playing another game for maximum fairness.

In the other game, the same home islands were picked with Quick going first. The Roanoke used Hidden Cove to go to the center island and attack the Vengeance, hitting 2/3 times. The Vengeance fought back and cancelled Blackheart, but eventually lost the fight. The Amity beat the Pique to the northern island and the AP’s won in a shutout.

With that, the American Pirates move on to Round 3 of the tournament, the semifinals! There they will face Hai Peng Fort Frenzy, in an epic rematch! But first, the other matchup will be played: Darrin’s Gold Race fleet vs. UPS 2!

5/27/2017

Xerecs has rejoined the tournament and Round 3 (the semifinals) has begun! From here on out, a fleet will need at least two more victories than its opponent in order to advance. We will play as many games as necessary to determine which fleet is better in each matchup.

Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed) (commanded by Xerecs)
vs.
UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

This matchup pitted two fleets that use Captain Jack Sparrow against each other. Each has Hidden Cove and CJS on a very fast flagship (Banshee’s Cry and Hai Peng). The games didn’t disappoint! Xerecs also got a crash course on the gold race fleet, which I consider to be the most confusing fleet ever made.

The first game was marred by a UT problem. The gold race fleet has Periscope listed (Sunken Treasure was already taken out based on past problems with including it), but the Hai Peng (HP) found it. The Hai Peng used a double action (saccing with Jimmy Legs) to activate the UT and cancel Jonah aboard the Banshee’s Cry (BC), shutting down the crew and therefore forcing the removal of both Captain Jack Sparrow and Don Pedro Gilbert, two extremely essential crew for the gold race fleet! They were tossed overboard, and meanwhile the Hai Peng’s CJS was busy ordering the gunners to open fire, leaving the BC derelict.

From here it looked like UPS 2 would have an easy ride to victory. The HP teleported two coins home from the northern island, getting bonuses on both. The gold race fleet was forced to sail out their remaining ships, with the Banshee’s Cry useless and later scuttled.

The HP gets gold from the center island, while the gold race fleet salvages what they can.

After clearing out the western island, the HP headed east to intercept the final coins sailing home in the opposing fleet. However, she lost a skirmish and was captured! Here the Bonnie Liz transfers individual coins to the Sea Crane, who redocks to get a +3 bonus on each coin. This was the gold race’s best chance at victory, and it could work as long as the rest of UPS 2 (Intrepide and Coeur du Lion) couldn’t interfere.

The final coins were unloaded, and UPS 2 had won a 35-26 victory! This broke the previous tournament record (for T1 and T2) of total gold collected in a single game, at 61 gold! (previous high was 55)

The second game started, with the gold race HI in the southeast and the UPS 2 HI in the northeast. The BC has built Dead Man’s Point in the center, dumping her French Letter of Marque equipment to make room for more sacrifices.

The fleets accumulate more and more gold via the UPS strategy.

Things started to get interesting. UPS 2 ran out of sac crew for the Hai Peng, who shadowed the BC and managed to dismast her (sending that CJS to the northern wild island via Jonah). The Intrepide and Coeur are sailing to the northern wild island.

The HP tries to steal the BC’s coin, but manages to lose the boarding party! The Sea Crane stays docked to protect her valuable gold bonus crew. This makes Genny Gallows (aboard the Sea Crane) a “stay-at-home mom”. (I wonder what Sean thinks of that? Wink ) The Bonnie Liz sails to the fort and grabs the gold there. The Rover stalks the Intrepide and Coeur up north.

The Hai Peng sets up a sort of blockade of the gold race HI, leading the Bonnie Liz to seek shelter in the fog and wait for a good die roll to come out. The Sea Crane waits for her. Captain Jack, even the opportunist, seizes the chance to grab Powder Pete (traded earlier in the game via the other CJS to the southwestern island), in order to sac him. The Rover rams the Coeur derelict to get at the Intrepide.

The Intrepide has a mast rammed off by the Rover, before returning the favor to end the threat. In the southeast, further disaster for the Hai Peng! She went after the Bonnie Liz, who came out of the fog eager to hand off coins to the Sea Crane. With a handful of terrible die rolls (typical for me of course), the HP is eventually captured as you can see in the next photo…

… as all three 2 masters race to stop the Intrepide from accumulating more coins and bonuses. I finally managed to calculate that grabbing the final coin from the northern island and towing the Coeur home (she also had a coin aboard) would take 7 turns, compared to 8 turns if the Intrepide explored the Coeur, took that coin home, and then went back out for the other one. Exploring the Coeur and then going to the island (or vice versa) and taking them both home at once wasn’t a good option, since I had also calculated/estimated that I needed the +2 gold bonus from Aristide on both coins (which was proven correct in the final gold totals). Hopefully this gives some insight into how competitive these tournaments have been – not so much between myself and Xerecs, but more between the fleets themselves. There’s been plenty of math and deductions going on, with estimates and projections changing every turn based on the changing conditions of the game. The level of play is extremely high, evidenced by the very very high, very very close scores. Normally I wouldn’t do so much before one action, but this turn got a little extreme and I really wanted to know what was truly optimal. Of course, I didn’t factor in the other variable – the gold race fleet was already on its way, which meant the Intrepide had to get ANY coin home as fast as possible, with no time to get both. (pretty much guaranteed to lose both if that was pursued)

In the ensuing skirmish (not quite “chaos” between a few small ships heh), the Coeur was sunk and the Rover recaptured. The Intrepide got a coin home but it probably wouldn’t be enough. The gold race fleet was in full control, but didn’t want to end the game since they could still get the final coin on the northern island and +3 bonus it. (4 gold vs 1 from Cissey’s elimination; capturing Cissey would end the game with no chance to unload him) The Intrepide initially tried to suicide on a reef, but then began fighting Dead Man’s Point.

In a brilliant move, Xerecs used the captured Hai Peng to load up an oarsman and the CJS that was originally on the BC (so the HP had two Jack Sparrow’s on her during the same game – Multiple Jacks like in At World’s End!!). Then he used Jimmy Legs to sac the oarsman and redock, NOW using CJS’s ability to flip the coin to the Sea Crane way in the south, who unloaded it for 4 gold total. To end the play, the gold race fleet was now free to end the game, and that they did, with the fort blasting the Intrepide apart and getting 1 gold from Cissey’s elimination.

The final score was 34-28 in favor of the gold race fleet! The series was tied 1-1. This also rebroke the record set earlier in the day of most total gold in a standard game, with 62.

For the third game of the series, the gold race fleet rolled to go first, just as in the first game (and they went first in the second game too since they lost the first game). The home island locations happened to reverse, and we set sail!

Once again the BC built Dead Man’s Point on the center island, which forced the Hai Peng to go around the perimeter. The HP was Hidden Cove’d (copyright lordstu) to the southwestern island but skipped it entirely, sailing north to the western island.

The HP and BC got busy trading, with the HP continuing to circle the center island by moving to the northern island, much to Xerecs’ dismay. Paradis was built on that island, and the BC turned away.

The sickening speed of the Hai Peng was soon on full display. She sent another coin home before saccing to dismast the Rover, and then moved on to the southwestern island (finally returning to it) on the next turn. Honestly, sometimes there’s just not much you can do against a ship like the Hai Peng with the right crew setup.

Another example: the Hai Peng is running out of crew to sac, but catches the Sea Crane right before she gets home and dismasts her. This is when it was time to get wild, with strategies going out the window and the desperate endgame situations kicking in.

Here is when it happened. The Banshee’s Cry scored a hit. With CJS aboard and desperate times calling for desperate measures, the BC somehow dismasted the HP with a shot and ram! Importantly, the BC stole back the coin the HP had stolen from the Sea Crane. The Bonnie Liz came out to help the Sea Crane, while the Intrepide and Coeur looked on from afar in confusion and disbelief.

Then, another bizarre thing happened. While attacking the Coeur, the Banshee’s Cry couldn’t shoot due to carrying treasure, the same treasure that she stole partly as a result of her earlier hit.

The Coeur eventually sank, and the Intrepide once again tried to fight a fort. This time, she would survive at least in the interim, since the gold race fleet was trying to get the 4 gold from Paradis rather than settling for the 1 from eliminating Cissey.

The battles at the forts continued after a brief break, caused by yours truly messing up and pasting the entire eBay spreadsheet into the chat box lol, causing my VASSAL window to freeze and crash. (this can happen even if you don’t submit the message, so beware)

Paradis is massively overpowered and unsurprisingly put up a great fight against the gold race coalition of 4 ships, besting all 3 comers! To complicate matters further for the gold racers, the Intrepide had just finished taking out the guns of Dead Man’s Point, so it would only be a matter of time before she loaded the fort’s former gold and sailed it home for a reversal of fortune and momentum. The Bonnie Liz put a stop to all that by ramming the Intrepide to end the game!

As you can see from the gold, it was a very high-scoring game! UPS 2 wins 37-31! This game set yet another record (rebroken for the 3rd time in 3 games, all in one day) for the most total gold unloaded or scored in a standard (40 point) game, with 68! This means we had well over twice as much gold than when the game started!

Between that (averaging gold scores in the 30’s, like what??) and the overall effectiveness of the strategy, these are absolutely two of the best fleets of all time. It’s interesting that UPS 2 holds a 2-1 advantage despite the gold race fleet going first in all 3 games, but that was partly due to the Periscope situation in Game 1. The future holds more excitement, for at least one more game will be played between these two fleets. The winner of the series advances to the finals!

6/14/2017

Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed) (commanded by Xerecs)
vs.
UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

Game 4

My horrendous dice luck continued at a near-unprecedented rate, starting with losing the roll to go first. The gold race fleet uses Hidden Cove to send the Banshee’s Cry to the center island.

The Hai Peng was Cove’d to the western island, and she continued south from there, exploring two islands in the same turn.

UPS 2 built Paradis de la Mer, and the gold race fleet responded by building Dead Man’s Point in the northeast.

This is where things started to get interesting – with a scarcity of crew to trade with Captain Jack Sparrow, both fleets would need to scramble to secure victory. The Hai Peng lurks in wait for the Banshee’s Cry and/or Rover, who could be coming home with gold soon.

After a change of plans, the HP instead attacks the Sea Crane, nearly losing the battle due to my bad rolls in the process. The ship is captured, and the Intrepide comes out to tow her home. The Coeur grabs an oarsman in the northwest, while the gold race fleet gets bonuses the hard way with the Bonnie Liz.

Suddenly all ships of UPS 2 are headed home, as I realized the HP could simply tow the Sea Crane back at S+L+S speed. In addition, the 5-gold payout from the Hag’s Ransom keyword was greater than the potential 3 the HP could get at the southwestern island. Finally, it allowed the Intrepide to go back home and not risk being vulnerable to the gold race fleet while towing at S speed.

The HP repairs and speeds out to the southwest, where she trades home the final coin that she had found earlier. Then UPS 2 appears to sail straight for Dead Man’s Point.

Battle for the fort! My die rolls continue to defy belief, and Dead Man’s Point and the gold race fleet quickly gain the upper hand. Before the Rover was dismasted by a shot from the HP, a ram roll failed with a 1. You really can’t make this stuff up.

Eventually 3 of the fort’s 4 guns were silenced, but not before the HP was captured and most of UPS 2 dismasted. Xerecs didn’t have amazing die rolls this game, but naturally the Banshee’s Cry hit once again with a 6 to dismast the HP. (An outsider wouldn’t be crazy to think that the module is biased against me.) A final shot rang out, and the game was over!

The final scores:
1. Darrin’s gold race: 38 gold
2. UPS 2: 31 gold

With that, two more records are set! 38 gold is the new high score of any fleet in a single game, beating the 37 that UPS 2 collected in the previous game of this series. The 69 total gold breaks the previous record of 68, also set in the previous game.

The series is now technically tied at 2-2, but it’s more like 2-1 in favor of the gold race because of the Periscope dilemma that ruined the first game. However, UPS 2 still hasn’t gone first in any of the games. Between these factors and the close scores, it’s incredibly unclear which fleet is superior. Stay tuned for more!

7/28/2017

Darrin’s Gold Race fleet (#8 seed) (commanded by Xerecs)
vs.
UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

Game 5

Xerecs and I were recording our Skype discussion for a video of the game.

With the series tied at 2 games apiece, we decided to let UPS 2 go first because the gold race fleet had gone first in all 4 previous games in the series. This led to the Hai Peng quickly establishing forts at the center and northern wild islands.

Turns and turns of furious treasure-trading and gold bonus applications went by. There wasn’t much the gold race fleet could do about the UPS 2 forts, and the game was truly a gold race. In the end, UPS 2 won the game with an insane score of 44-21! This is a new single-fleet high for gold in a standard game that we have played, breaking the previous record of 38 set by the gold race fleet in Game 4 of the series.

Game 6

Due to eating and an imminent time crunch, we didn’t do Skype or a video for the second game of the session. Since the gold race fleet had gone first in more games (3 to 1 even if you don’t count the first game which was marred by the Periscope incident), UPS 2 went first once again.

The home islands were swapped, with UPS 2 in the southeast and the gold race fleet in the west. Both fleets built Dead Man’s Point in the north!

Knowing I had to get moving in order to prevent the Rover from getting gold in the southwest, the Hai Peng used one turn to build Paradis de la Mer on the center island, and the next turn to build the Devil’s Maw on the southwestern island right before the Rover would have been able to explore. This meant that all wild islands had a fort on them!

The Dead Man’s Point is the easiest target for the gold race fleet, who must destroy at least one fort and get its gold to have a chance. The Intrepide sails out to meet the HP and get a double bonus from Spices after a treasure swap. I dismasted the Rover with the intention of capturing her, thinking she might be useful down the line if the game came down to a battle to the death at a fort.

DMP (the UPS 2 version heh) puts up a good resistance, blasting masts off all 3 remaining gold race ships. The Intrepide makes another trade, this time with the captured and repaired Rover. The Coeur is ready to assist the fort up north, while the Hai Peng finally repairs (she was hit by the Rover after I missed her 4 times in a row) and gets ready for maximum speed once more (she was only doing stuff at one action per turn for 2 or 3 turns in a row, which is nearly unheard of in this fleet).

The Intrepide got yet another bonus via Aristide, and the Coeur rammed the Bonnie Liz unsuccessfully. The firepower in the northwest eventually subdued the BL and Sea Crane, while the Hai Peng chased down the Banshee’s Cry and dismasted her to end the game!

In a second consecutive blowout, UPS 2 wins 40-20!

After a brief discussion, Xerecs and I decided that UPS 2 advances to the Finals of VASSAL Tournament #2!!

Our reasoning was that UPS 2 had a 4-2 lead in the series, though it was more like 3-2 because of the weird Game 1. However, UPS 2 won a game (out of three) despite going second. In the only games where UPS 2 went first, the gold race fleet lost both by a wide margin. As a result, it seems that the gold race fleet cannot beat UPS 2 when going second, while UPS 2 can beat the gold race fleet when going second. With that, we have a finalist. At the start of the tournament, I predicted that UPS 2 would win if I had to put money on just one fleet. Now they are in the finals, and have a serious shot at winning the title of the best fleet of all time.

The other semifinal matchup is next! Hai Peng Fort Frenzy versus the American Pirates! Get hyped! XD

8/4/2017

In one of the most highly anticipated series of all time, an epic rematch is taking place!! I knew this was a possibility from how the bracket was structured, but I can hardly believe it’s actually happening. Similar to darrin’s fleets facing off in the other semifinal matchup, my best two fleets I’ve submitted go head-to-head with huge stakes!

Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
American Pirates (#6 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

HPFF rolled to go first, and was placed at the center island.

The Hai Peng has explored the two western islands, building Paradis de la Mer on the southwestern one. She unloads Barbary Banner at home, while the Roanoke sinks the Banshee’s Cry.

The Amity explored the northeastern island and flipped Jailhouse Dog to eliminate the Barbary Banner. Knowing I’d need more gold, the HP scurried past the Roanoke to explore the northern island. However, the Roanoke’s boarding party kills Lord Mycron, which puts a severe dent in the HPFF game plan.

The Roanoke sped north to dismast the HP, who took off into the safety of a fog bank. The Patagonia and Lezard sailed out, now unable to serve the HP.

The Lezard was sunk, but the HP managed to get a lucky roll out of the fog bank and speedily row home to unload her coins from the northern island!

With a considerable ship and mast advantage, the AP’s capture the Patagonia, hoping to unload Bratley for the 5 gold Ransom payout. However, the Hai Peng is too fast for that! Although she missed when redocking at her home island, the HP managed to try again on her next turn. The second shot connected, sinking the Patagonia and denying the AP’s the ransom.

At this point, only the 5 coin in Paradis remained. The AP’s would give it up if they sunk the HP, and therefore the HP became essentially invincible for the endgame. The Roanoke and Amity headed over to the fort, but the Roanoke rolled a 5 for the ability and thus was only able to eliminate one cannon even after saccing for a double shoot.

Paradis was simply too much for the AP’s to overcome, and the game ended after the Roanoke was sunk and the Amity was dismasted. That gold in the fort was the difference, as HPFF won a 18-13 victory in the first game of this highly anticipated rematch!

It was a great game, with more to come soon. In fact, we’ve already started the second game, which you can see part of if you check out the video on my channel.

8/13/2017

Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
American Pirates (#6 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

For the second game of the series, the AP’s went first and HPFF’s HI was moved to the northwest.

The HP builds Paradis in the north, while Maps of Alexandria reveals the southwestern island to have both the Barbary Banner and the Jailhouse Dog, two important UT’s in this series that often cancel each other out. Knowing the Bandido would likely ram the Banshee’s Cry to dismast her, I had to try to explore the island anyway.

The HP was dismasted by the Roanoke, but since she can move S+L+S with a captain/helmsman/oarsman setup, she was able to return home some gold and repair there. The BC is indeed dismasted by a Bandido ram, but HPFF gets another fort built. The Roanoke has begun a fight with Paradis, but the OP fort shreds the gunship without taking any damage!

Both flagships repair (the Roanoke at a new fort built by the AP’s in the northeast), and both Pirate 1 masters are sunk in the south. The Amity and Lezard are unable to do their usual tasks (respectively to gather gold and flip oarsmen for coins), and so they prepare for the inevitability of war.

The AP’s destroyed Dead Man’s Point in the southwest, but immediately afterwards the Hai Peng showed her worth using her uber-fast speed and great crew complement to get both gold coins from the fort back home to safety. This led to an inevitable and lengthy conclusion, with the AP’s assaulting Paradis to no avail. However, in this picture you can see not only the mess, but also how close the AP’s got to destroying the fort. Paradis is down to one cannon, while the Lezard and HP only have one mast standing between them.

In the end, HPFF won its second game in a row, this one by a score of 19-11! With that, HPFF seems like the better fleet, but at least one more game will be played in the series. We’ll swap the Bandido out for the Banshee’s Cry with a helmsman and explorer, and possibly switch controllers at some point. Either way, the Finals of T2 are not far away!

9/2/2017

Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)
vs.
American Pirates (#6 seed) (commanded by xerecs)

Here is a recording of the night’s action, which happened directly after the start of CG3! The Bandido was swapped out for the Banshee’s Cry with a helmsman and explorer. I didn’t really want to do that, but I wanted to see if the AP’s could pull out a win with a more optimized setup.

Here is the only picture from Game 3 of this series, showing how the Amity Hidden Cove’d to the center island and the Hai Peng used Mycron to reach the west. The Pirate Globe and Maps of Alexandria revealed the treasure distribution, with HPFF getting the better of it. They grabbed the 5 coins they needed to win (two 5’s and three 2’s), with the final score being 16-14.

With that, HPFF had a commanding (and indeed, decisive in normal circumstances) lead in the series, but I wanted to experiment. We switched fleets with myself in control of the AP’s and Xerecs getting HPFF. Once again the AP’s went first since they were behind in the series. The Roanoke was Coved out to the center island, where for the second game in a row, Pirate Globe and Maps of Alexandria were revealed at the same time! With two 5’s on the southeastern island, the AP’s got a better treasure distribution.

The Hai Peng couldn’t reach a far island on her first turn, and so settled for the northern one. The Roanoke blasted her with a double action but couldn’t sink her, which let her get away to the east. However, she was slowed, and by this point the Amity, BC, and Roanoke carried enough gold to win the game for the AP’s. In a rarity, HPFF got both the Dog and the Banner, raising their potential score. However, I knew how much gold was on the Roanoke, and the calculations for this series were far easier than in the other semifinal series (which had a TON of gold bonus variables). The partially repaired HP nearly managed a miracle against the Roanoke, hitting 3/4 and getting her ram roll, but lost the boarding party. The Roanoke docked home her 6 gold, giving the AP’s their first victory of the series by a narrow 18-17 margin!

Those two games were quick, but the third and final one of the night was FAR longer. It was one of the most desperate and drawn-out games I’ve ever been involved in.

Once again the Roanoke finds the revealing UT’s on the middle island after Coving. On HPFF’s first turn they get the Dog to knock out the Banner.

The HP has built Paradis in the southwest, while the Amity and BC clean up the center and northern islands for the AP’s. The Roanoke reaches the HP with a double action but only hits once in three tries!

The HP goes all the way around the map (but still very quickly of course) to reach home without being intercepted by any AP ships. She docks home her gold, which leaves only a couple coins left in play. Between the 30 gold in play and the UT’s that reveal everything, I knew how much gold was on my HI and how much was left. I came to the unfortunate realization that I (as the AP’s now) would be playing for a tie in an attempt to continue the series with a rematch. That is, until xerecs made the good point that if I could eliminate Bratley on the Patagonia, the Ransom payout could potentially give the AP’s a 16-15 win. However, that trade route (not road haha!) was fraught with waterfalls (instead of pitfalls), since a ton of things had to break right for that conclusion to even be plausible.

With the game in her hands (or so we thought…), the Roanoke begins bombarding Paradis with a 2 in her hold and a 5 in Paradis. I had 8 gold at this point, so I needed both coins to tie. I was afraid that HPFF would simply trigger the Ransom keyword of Perry, making it even more of an uphill (stormy?) battle. I did have absolutely incredible good luck in this game, which is somewhat rare for me (although it’s mostly just shoot actions that give me problems). The roll for Paradis was a 1, which let the Roanoke hit 4/5 to take the fort down to just one cannon. In this picture, the HP has arrived to damage the Roanoke, with the fort contributing as well. The Amity and Lezard flock to the scene, while the AP’s BC rams the Patagonia, killing Mycron.

A fair bit of wackiness later, and the Roanoke is derelict and the fort is abandoned. The HP, Patagonia, HPFF BC, and Lezard are all dismasted. This was where things really degenerated into madness, but unbeknownst to us, it was just beginning….

So much happened in the “endgame” (I call it that since we were fighting over the last few coins left, but it took longer than the other parts of the game) that I cannot remember all of it. HPFF managed to capture the Roanoke and began repairing her at the fort, but the Amity put a stop to that and eventually the Roanoke sank. The Amity became a major factor in the game, providing All-Star service to the AP’s. However, the pesky rams from the HP and Lezard took her down to 1 mast. In the southeast, the “Battle of the Banshees” took place, with the HPFF Banshee’s Cry eventually prevailing, but not before the AP BC successfully boarded the Patagonia again to eliminate Bratley and give the AP’s 1 extra gold! However, now that the AP’s were down to just one ship, the Amity, they couldn’t afford to lose her. With HPFF having a gold advantage, the Amity needed to keep her final mast standing at all costs. As a result, although her priority was to get the 5 coin from Paradis (abandoned but still standing), she was forced to ram and dismast any potential threats in the area. This included the Lezard and Hai Peng, both of which had oarsmen before the Amity eventually eliminated them to render them harmless. Whew! This is just about as desperate as this game gets!

But of course! More ramming and boarding! LOL. The Amity needed to take care of the dual BC threat (both healthy and in the HPFF fleet) before moving back to the fort (I believe she had missed a handful of times with her remaining 5S gun in the attempt to destroy it). Both BC’s were dismasted, but another shenanigan was continued from earlier, though I haven’t mentioned it yet: the Roanoke’s old 2 coin was making its rounds through both fleets, and it was probably on at least 4 of the ships by the time the game ended. The Amity was trying to protect the 2 coin and recover it and re-recover it so that HPFF couldn’t get it home somehow. This all in addition to the whole purpose of getting the 5 from Paradis!

With the BC’s still in play (at least one of them rowing around), the Amity returned to the fort but I believe she missed again. She then dealt with one of the BC’s and towed her to retrieve the coin and end the threat. However, by this point the most unlikely of ships had entered the fray: HMS Patagonia! With Mycron and Bratley killed in combat, only Robinson remained to crew the ship all the way to the southwest at S speed. With the Amity busy ending threats to stay in the game, the Patagonia managed to get in range. Her 2L cannon boomed for the first time in ages, and the Amity’s last mast fell overboard! Finally there was a victor! The final score was 20-9 in favor of HPFF, since the AP’s got Bratley but HPFF retained the fort gold. (and the 2 was still afloat on the Amity when the game ended)

With that, an incredible game ends the series. By the end of the game, only the Patagonia had a mast standing, with 3 derelicts and one abandoned fort among the living. 3 ships were sunk, and most of the crew were gone. In fact, we probably came close to setting a record for most crew eliminated in a standard game.

With that, Hai Peng Fort Frenzy wins the series 4-1! Hai Peng Fort Frenzy advances to the Finals of VASSAL Tournament #2!

Here is the updated bracket. Only 2 fleets remain!! Which will claim the title of The Best Fleet of All Time?

12/29/2017

The Finals

After a long hiatus since early September, T2 has been revived for its grand finale! The Final Round has begun!

UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

There are videos of Game 1, in addition to Games 2 and 3.

UPS 2 rolled to go first in Game 1, establishing a gold lead and finding the Maps of Alexandria to reveal all treasures on all islands.

After much trading of gold and crew, and the building of a fort, my calculations revealed that I could not win with HPFF in this game. This was due to how early everything was flipped due to Maps of Alexandria – even with gold bonuses piling up for UPS 2, I was able to figure out the situation in terms of gold scores, both real and potential. The best I could hope for was to lose 22-21, since UPS 2 had the Barbary Banner and Jailhouse Dog (which had been played to deny my Hai Peng from getting Holy Water), in addition to a trio of +2 bonuses. The semi-worst case scenario in a long endgame would see HPFF lose 23-20 instead. Therefore, we called it, with UPS 2 technically winning the first game 22-5.

HPFF automatically went first in Game 2, trading home the Banner and building Paradis de la Mer on the lucrative northern island.

My Hai Peng went all the way to the southwestern island to trade home another coin…

… but was eventually sunk by the UPS 2 Hai Peng. XD

With only Paradis’ 5 left in play, we counted gold to see if it was relevant. With UPS 2 winning 14-11 NOT counting the fort’s gold, it was clear we had to play the endgame out. Things quickly devolved into a ramming fest, with the Banshee’s Cry playing the role of hero. She was able to sail out, ram off a mast from a UPS 2 ship, get rammed in return, row home at S+S with the help of Mycron, and then repair and sail out to ram again on the next turn (with the help of Mycron).

UPS 2 needed to destroy the fort to eliminate or claim the gold there, but they couldn’t get there. The ramming and boarding antics favored HPFF, who got consistently better rolls. The Coeur was captured and the HP dismasted, at which point we called it. HPFF wins the second game 16-14.

With the series tied at one apiece, we had to play at least 2 more games. The home islands changed again, with UPS 2 rolling to go first as in Game 1.

However, Game 3 was the most lopsided of the series so far. UPS 2 went first and got all the good coins, with HPFF having to settle for a bad haul up north. This forced me to fight early, which ended as poorly as one would expect. In one of the most lopsided games of the entire tournament, UPS 2 won 34-6!

With that, UPS 2 has a 2-1 lead over HPFF! At least one more game will be played, and we’d like to see UPS 2 win while going second to have a more decisive and conclusive result. Either way, the greatest fleet ever will be crowned very soon!

12/30/2017

The Finals

With UPS 2 up in the series 2-1, the Finals of Tournament #2 have concluded!

UPS 2 (#5 seed) (commanded by xerecs)
vs.
Hai Peng Fort Frenzy! (#7 seed) (commanded by a7xfanben)

There are videos of Games 4-6, in addition to Games 7-8.

HPFF went first with its back against the wall. The HP reached the center and northern islands on the first turn, with one of the UT’s revealing where everything was.

I don’t have more pictures from this game, since it ended in a tie! 19-19 was the final score, which meant we had to play on.

The home islands were essentially rotated anticlockwise for the second game, with HPFF going first again and hitting two islands.

Both fleets used their Hai Pengs to build Paradis de la Mer, showing how similar and evenly matched these two are:

The UPS 2 Hai Peng was sunk, and with the support ships unable to blast Paradis, the game was over! HPFF won this game 21-11, evening the series at 2.

The HI’s were reversed for the start of Game 6:

UPS 2 rolled to go first and got busy exploring and trading. Honestly this final round was a bit of a blur, and both fleets are complex, confusing, extremely similar, and entirely based on maximizing profit. As a result, there’s not a ton to report on. XD

UPS 2 went to the center island for more gold bonus trading opportunities, while HPFF built a fort on the northern island:

With the fort’s gold becoming irrelevant, UPS 2 had a 19-9 victory!

With HPFF down in the series 3-2, they went first once again.

I made a mistake by not trying to build a fort on the western island. This resulted in a throwaway win for UPS 2 (final score 29-18 ), but due to the unknown, we played another game to see if UPS 2 could conclusively win even while going second without mistakes made by either commander.

Game 8!

We kept the same home islands as last time, and ironically the treasure distribution also turned out very similar, with HPFF getting solid values along with the Banner, Jailhouse Dog, and Holy Water. (Jailhouse Dog was played to eliminate the Holy Water to prevent UPS 2 from stealing the Dog to eliminate the Banner)

This time HPFF did build a fort on the western island, with Dead Man’s Point providing a second fort.

Both Hai Pengs were busy trading gold home, but the advantage of UPS 2 lies in its gold bonuses….

The UPS 2 HP was dismasted by DMP, after which we counted gold to see if the forts were worth fighting over. They were not!

With a dramatically close finish, UPS 2 defeats HPFF 22-21 and wins the series 5-2!!!!

UPS 2 IS OFFICIALLY THE BEST FLEET OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s finally over! After starting this tournament in October 2016, it fittingly ends right as 2017 ends as well. The tournament featured 16 different fleets, and it took 53 total games to have a decisive winner.

Congratulations to darrin for making such a brilliant fleet. 3 of the 4 semifinal fleets used the Hai Peng/Captain Jack Sparrow strategy, but UPS 2 emerged victorious in large part due to saccing efficiency and gold bonus galore. It truly is an incredible fleet, and is now the fleet to beat in competitive play.

Congratulations to myself and Xerecs too, for playing such incredible tournaments out (T1 included). They have been quite fun, with a ton of games being very close or quite exciting. We’ve learned a lot about playing standard games optimally, and could certainly be considered experts in regards to the UPS strategy and competitive play in general. However, things got a little bogged down over the course of SO many standard 40 point games, and we’re ready to take a break from the endless “Hidden Cove’ing/saccing/treasure trading with CJS/extra action to HP”/etc etc. XD Also, congratulations to a7xfanben for correctly guessing the winner of the tournament right from the start! O_O

a7xfanben wrote:

If I had to bet money on the winner of the tournament, I would pick UPS 2.

This was partly because of my prior experience with UPS 2 in a small number of physical games, in which it dominated to the extent that it was my winner pick (though I had a feeling the Gold Race fleet or UPS 4 would give it a serious run for its money (literally), and the Gold Race fleet did not disappoint in this tournament). It feels good to have a good handle on the various fleets, and it’s too bad that nobody bet against me. XD

From here we do have one final thing left to do with this game file: the 16 fleet game to conclude the festivities. O_O This will be played soon, after which we turn our attention to other projects of a larger nature. Until then, thanks for reading these reports, and look out for that wacky 16 fleet game sometime soon.

Here is the final, completed bracket!

1/1/2018

The first Piratical activity of 2018!

The 16 fleet game has begun! As far as I know, this sets a new record for total fleets used in a single game!

If you watch the video you’ll get the gist of it, but here’s how we started things.

Xerecs rolled higher than me to go first in the player turn order. From there, we decided to do a draft in reverse turn order! This meant that I had the first pick in the draft, followed by Xerecs for a fleet, and so on until all the fleets were picked. This was a fun way of doing it rather than haggling over which fleets we each controlled. We ended up with mostly the fleets we wanted to play, which is great. I had some conflicts of interest and decided to choose fleets that were NOT my own, passing over HPFF to select UPS 2 (a fleet I like about as much as HPFF though) and taking the swarm fleet instead of RtSS English since I’ve barely controlled the swarm fleet at all since T1 began. However, I did go with classic favorites American Pirates and HMS GT, while Xerecs went with some of the more combat-heavy options, locking up both Spanish 5 masters along with the Doldrums and Kettering.

Then, for fleet turn order, we simply went in reverse draft order. (might be getting confusing XD) That meant the last fleet picked would go first in the game, so RtSS English (controlled by Xerecs) would go first, followed by the swarm fleet (controlled by me). In this way you can see the order here: (go side to side before up and down; this is the reverse draft order with the AP’s and then Norvegia going in the second round of the draft)

Since this game is purely for fun and the tournament is over, it would not nearly be worth the considerable time involved to recreate all 16 fleets in a bigger ocean to have a “standard” setup with 2 wild islands per fleet. Also, less wild islands and less distance between islands can often make for a more fun, fast-paced, and combative game. We were barely able to fit 32 total islands in, with 16 home and 16 wild. This meant there would be 8 coins per island, double the normal amount. The home islands were chosen in draft order/reverse turn order, with UPS 2 picking their HI first.

It is important to note we would use round earth rules, just as in the big T1 game. To not ruin the fun of having all the coins revealed early, a custom ruling for Maps of Alexandria and Pirate Globe is being used: when those are found, the fleet can choose to look (privately) at all the coins on ONE other island, instead of revealing every coin in play to all the fleets.

Reminiscent of my 12 fleet game and the 8 fleet game to conclude T1, here is the grand setup with all the fleets ready to set sail!

Entering play, my American Pirates fleet had not only the most pressure on them in a way (having an incredible pedigree in these giant multiplayer games, coming in 2nd in the 12 fleet game and winning the 8 fleet game), but also a good home island location despite choosing third. Most fleets tried to stay away from the Zeus and Grand Temple during HI selection, but in general these things turn into a crapshoot due to how many fleets pick after you (or before, as picking last has narrow options) and due to the randomness of the treasure distribution.

We were off! The first turn saw a lot of developments, with 16 fleets trying to maximize their potential to win the same game. It truly is incredible, with most of the best (submitted) fleets ever matching up against each other in a big game like this. Whoever wins will certainly have bragging rights forever, but could an underdog pull away with an upset due to the sheer amount of luck and chaos involved?

UPS 4 ran into some trouble early when the Kettering and Minuteman flotilla round earthed to sink the Longshanks. A bunch of Hidden Coves were played, with ships trying to get gold as fast as possible.

As far as combat goes, the Artillery Strike fleet made the biggest first impact. The Neptuno Coved out to the island where the English canoes were docked, and used extra range and cannon bonuses to hit 3/4 and dismast the Kettering! The Diablo flotilla shot 1/2 to eliminate one of those English canoes. The AP’s were one of the last fleets to go, and after much pondering, I had the Roanoke cove out near the Neptuno, capturing the Kettering instead of exploring and/or trying to hit the Neptuno (keep in mind with all these nasty fleets, UT’s like Missionary are out there). With a good home island location, the Amity and Bandido were able to take coins from the same island this turn, with the Amity discovering Holy Water. (this is in the deep south to the left)

Some other happenings around the map: at the lower right, the Zeus traded home a 5 to build Paradis, making that corner of the board a certified UPS 5 stronghold, with the most OP 10 master and the most OP fort in the same area. To the right of the Zeus, the Gold Race fleet didn’t have many options for Hidden Cove, having to choose between the Zeus and the San Cristobal (round earth at top center). The BC docked at the eastern edge of the SE island, but the Elthelfleda is approaching via round earth. However, the Gold Race quickly showed why it’s the 3rd or 4th best fleet of all time (would be interesting to match it up against the AP’s, though I think the Gold Race would win), saccing to trade home two coins which both got +3 bonuses. O_O

EA Gold Runners does not have a favorable HI position, but the Joya got an EA to reach and explore a wild island, grabbing a bunch of coins along with some Spices. At the upper right, the Doldrums coved the Bloody Jewel to deny that wild island from HPFF, whose Hai Peng has gone to the west via round earth. In the upper right quadrant you can also see the Neptune’s Hoard hit the Pique, but only with the help of the Monkey’s Paw UT. The Quick wins the game fleet did not have a good first turn, with a tough HI position and the Pique likely doomed after finding a bad island and the Norvegia cheese attack. XD (they partly picked that HI since Lenoir’s cancelling can help them deal with the nearby Zeus)

The Swarm fleet is heading towards at least 3 wild islands, and may somehow be the first to explore 2 of them. However, they have been denied of that island in the center/northwest by a wacky first turn from UPS 2, the last fleet to go each round and the winners of the actual tournament. UPS 2 continues to dominate headlines, winning the tournament in grand fashion, getting picked first (albeit predictably) in the draft, and now finishing the first round of turns with a BANG. The HP was coved out to that island where you see a bunch of Pirate crew chips. The HP redocked to explore but also shoot at the nearby HMS London of the HMS GT fleet, incredibly shooting 2/2 to take the London down to 2 masts! I was originally going to trade home the best coin and then drop some crew to sac and get home with more (so the London couldn’t return fire next turn), but one of my least favorite UT’s in the game ruined all that: Natives. Ironically one of the UT’s placed by the HMS GT fleet, this freezes the Hai Peng for FIVE turns, since that’s how many crew were on the ship when the island was explored. O_O In all likelihood this could doom UPS 2’s chances of winning, but they could at least finish the explore action even if they couldn’t sac afterwards. The island was good otherwise, with CJS trading home a 7. Paradis was built! This may keep the London at bay while simultaneously keeping the swarm fleet from taking any of the island’s remaining gold. The Hai Peng was simply emptied out, since the crew and gold will be safer inside the fort. Also, I didn’t want crew on the HP since if she is somehow still alive after 5 turns of sitting there, she could redock and take the remaining gold without triggering the Natives again. I wanted to send the Coeur out to the island, but figured she’d be safer at home with the London still lurking. Overall a wild turn for UPS 2, from the brink of glory (flipping a 7, building Paradis, and saccing to get most of the island’s gold back home) to disaster (Natives keeping the rest of the gold there and likely dooming the Hai Peng for the rest of the game).

Whew! What a first turn! The sheer amount of fleets and things to do each turn mean this game will take quite a while to complete over the course of several VASSAL sessions. We hope to continue the video footage, and we’re looking forward to what will likely become one of the best games we’ve ever been involved in!!

1/12/2018

The 16 fleet game has continued with a partial turn.

After finding Natives, the swarm fleet loaded the remaining gold from this wild island onto 3 different ships. However, the Algeciras and Armada teamed up to sink their escort, the Carrion Crow. At the left, the Lezard has rammed a mast off the Hai Peng of UPS 2.

In the deep south, the Minuteman flotilla missed all of her shots on the Roanoke and Neptuno. The Artillery Strike fleet did not reengage with the American Pirates or RtSS English, instead opting to regroup in preparation for a potential round-earth assault from the HMS Grand Temple. However, after considering all the options (with an EA available from Calico Cat), the GT decided to stay close to home and go after the lucrative island where UPS 2 was stuck at (HP sitting around for 5 turns due to the Natives there). HMS London got things started, dismasting the HP and Lezard while staying out of range of Paradis. However, after the GT used a whirlpool and extra action to get in range of the fort, the roll came up a 6! One miss meant that the mighty GT couldn’t even damage the fort, and that’s exactly what happened. It may look silly now, but this was the best route Lord Thomas Gunn saw after considering the various options. Attacking the canoes and Artillery Strike in the deep south may not have led to any gold, and it’s quite possible that the cannons of that Spanish fleet would cripple the GT next turn. Whirlpooling to the center would mean the GT would be stuck in a crossfire between Armada and the San Cristobal, with towing home multiple swarm ships for gold not a likely possibility. With the Joya del Sol in a fog bank, there were almost no gold targets within reach of the GT from that whirlpool at the center right. In the southeast, attacking UPS 5 likely would have been a disaster (Zeus + Paradis at the same island O_O). Overall the HMS GT fleet made the choice they saw as the most profitable in the long term, as they will still try to win the game despite being more of a 1v1 deathmatch fleet. If they can indeed destroy Paradis and UPS 2 in the process, that wild island has at least a 7 along with all the gold the HP has seen but not loaded.

In the north, the San Cristobal has sunk the Banshee’s Cry of Norvegia and dismasted the Pique of the swarm fleet. In the far east, the Quick fleet finds more misfortune. They found TWO packs of Wolves on that island, and although some Turtles would have aided them since they aren’t loaded onto the ship, the swarm fleet played Jailhouse Dog immediately to knock out the turtles. So, we have the dog from PotC eating a bunch of turtles while a ton of wolves look on. O_O Quite the spectacle. XD

All that, and there are still 6 fleets left to go in Turn 2!

1/26/2018

The 16 fleet game has continued!

About a full round was played, with various activities happening around the sea.

With only some of these fleets taking turns during this live session, here’s the busy situation around the swarm HI. Paradis has shot two masts off HMS Grand Temple, while the swarm fleet gets gold home from the south but struggles against Spaniards in the north.

In the south, the AP’s got some gold home to build Thompson’s Island, with the Roanoke damaging the Minuteman flotilla (of the Kettering fleet) and Neptuno. The captured Kettering was docked at the northern end of the island when the Roanoke docked in an effort to protect the Bandido, who was also coming home like the Amity.

Alas, it was of no use, as the Artillery Strike fleet has a fantastic turn! The Roanoke was sunk by the power of both flotillas and the Neptuno, with the Diablo going 4/4. The Neptuno then turned her cannons to the other ships in the AP fleet, sinking the Kettering and dismasting the Bandido! Once looking strong to finish high in the standings in yet another big multiplayer game, the AP’s are now teetering on the edge of disaster. At the left, the Artillery Strike fleet accomplishes a rarity, with 2 gold both from eliminating Ransom crew in the same game (in this case two versions of Commodore Matthew Perry from the Roanoke and Kettering).

1/30/2018

We played a session last night. This and other reports are naturally a bit biased towards the fleets I control, even more so for this game due to how many things are happening each turn and how many things are forgotten about.

With some ships sunk or out of action and many fleets just getting home some gold, we finished the rest of Turn 3 and all of Turn 4.

I’ll go west to east to make things easier to look at. HPFF has built Paradis de la Mer in the far west, just to the left of where HMS GT has taken out all flags on the Paradis of UPS 2. With the London capturing the Hai Peng of UPS 2, the remaining ships in that fleet have fled north in search of alternate treasure options. In the upper center, about half of the swarm fleet has gotten into a crossfire mess between part of the Kettering fleet and the San Cristobal of the Spanish Meta fleet. 4 ships are derelict, but the swarm fleet still has 5 ships with masts up. EA gold runners is having a fantastic time of it, with the Joya consistently getting her EA’s most turns. She has dropped off a full spicy load at the HI, and has sailed back out to nab some gold from under the Coral of UPS 4 in the south. The Rover of the Gold Race fleet has dismasted the Star of Siam, but the SoS is limping home on oar power with a coin left. Speaking of the Gold Race, their Banshee’s Cry was sunk by the Elthelfleda of RtSS English, who you can see at the lower right in the vicinity of the Zeus. In the northeast, the Neptune’s Hoard ran into a cancelling problem, but was lucky to lose only two masts to the Vengeance of the Quick fleet. The Vengeance will try to tow the Pique home while the Courageux looks for gold in the west after round earthing (probably). The Doldrums fleet has amassed quite a stash, and I think they still have Becalmed left to use.

Later in the action, with a few more developments. In the far northwest, the Algeciras of EA gold runners looks to intercept the English canoes. In the far southwest, her fleetmate the Joya del Sol looks to grab gold from the island the canoes loaded up at! The swarm Algeciras has joined the fight against the Armada flotilla terrorizing the middle northern part of the map, but the San Cristobal has left that same area to round earth to the south and dismast both ships remaining in the UPS 4 fleet. UPS 4 had a great start and have enough gold on their HI to maintain a respectable finish in the standings, but as of now it looks like they might be the first fleet eliminated. Speaking of riches, the swarm fleet is piling up some gold. They only gained control of 1 of the 3 wild islands they were targeting from the start of the game, but they have made a good profit nonetheless, wiping the island clean with 3 different ships. The American Pirates managed to get the Bandido home, but Artillery Strike still lurks in the deep southwest where their fort is located. The bonus ships of the Gold Race fleet (Sea Crane and Bonnie Liz) have begun heading north, fearing the San Cristobal’s arrival in the south.

The faster pace of play has been nice as we approach one month since we started this game. With so many fleets, there is a massive, unprecedented level of uncertainty. It’s not QUITE anyone’s game, but at least half a dozen fleets are easily in the running for the win and possibly 10 or more still have a shot. O_O It’s a fun free-for-all that will likely see extremely close gold scores similar to the 8 fleet game, and we are looking forward to the eventual conclusion!

2/2/2018

Last night we played all of Turn 5 and part of Turn 6!

Most fleets have quick turns at this stage of the game, so we were able to cycle through a lot of minor developments. At the far left, the Halcyon and Elthelfleda of RtSS English are heading home, while the Courageux of the Quick fleet has round earthed in search of treasure, which has so far eluded Maurice Aristide. One of the more exciting developments of the night was when the Hai Peng of HPFF rolled a 6 to activate Maps of Hades , which not only denied that fleet from using Mycron on the HP, but also the player “to their right” would be the American Pirates!! This was an ultimate irony, as HPFF and American Pirates have one of the longest fleet-to-fleet rivalries of all time, first matching up in a classic 3-game series back in January 2015 before having an epic rematch in the semifinals of T2. It’s safe to say that the AP’s hate HPFF, and the Hai Peng in general by extension. In a “double whammy” move, they sent the HP south to shoot at the Hai Peng of UPS 2, which has been captured by the HMS GT fleet! Both shots missed, but the HP of HPFF got stuck in the sargasso sea! Speaking of the GT fleet, they have destroyed Paradis on that wild island, which is now “open for business” again. XD However everyone now knows of the Natives there that doomed the UPS 2 fleet, which basically requires the GT fleet to drop off crew (for the London at least) in order to explore the island and take coins. With most other wild islands wiped clean, that island and other fort islands (such as the Paradis of HPFF just to the west) may become hotspots of activity with most of the gold concentrated there. To the right, the swarm fleet has had at least two ships sunk and one dismasted by the Armada flotilla, which is the only functioning game piece left in the Kettering fleet. Further to the right we have some brutal gunship vs. gold runner engagements. The Zeus hit 2/6 to damage the Joya del Sol after whirling to that region with Grease Barrels, while the San Cristobal continued her reign of terror in the south, dismasting both 2 masters of the Gold Race fleet.

A short bit later and HMS GT has sunk the HP of HPFF (!), along with the Algeciras of the EA Gold Runners (the latter of which took out an English canoe earlier in the night). The AP’s are back in business to some extent, with the Bandido repaired and most of the big threats of the area (Kettering, Neptuno, etc) finally gone. South of the GT, the swarm Intrepide and Quick Courageux are looking for gold, but most of it is defended by gunships or forts. In the northwest, UPS 2 had a hope at that previously unexplored wild island, but the Neptuno may put an end to their dream of a comeback. In the center, the Joya and others have been frozen by Becalmed, which was finally played by the Doldrums fleet! The Zeus predictably won a firefight against the Joya, which is now derelict. However, the Star of Siam used an EA to row home with a coin. The EA runners have had incredible luck this game, but now they have no masts standing. The San Cristobal has left the south a desolate wasteland, with 4 derelicts trying to scuttle themselves (UPS 4 and Gold Race essentially out of it). The Norvegians and Spanish Meta are still doing well health-wise, but the Doldrums fleet is really piling up the gold.

2/5/2018

A sixth session has been played.

The Monarca of the Spanish Meta fleet was dismasted but then rescued by the San Cristobal, who put an end to the Norvegia fleet, making them the first fleet technically eliminated. UPS 4 quickly followed them with scuttles, and by the end of the night UPS 2 was also out of it! Of the 13 fleets remaining, a handful have quite a bit of gold. In the center, the Joya del Sol was sunk but her crew escaped with gold via a Raft to the wild island the swarm fleet was smashed at. However, it wasn’t all bad for the swarm fleet, for they had a Pique Miracle! (patent pending XD) The Pique still had her helmsman and oarsman, and finally started rowing after the effect of the Natives wore off and I remembered the generic crew aboard. After this picture she got home with 6 additional gold for the already-wealthy swarm fleet, with 4 coming from Buried Treasure.

After a bizarre situation where they had 4 ships and no gold (strange since they started with 2 ships and most fleets have gold but less ships than they started with XD), the HMS GT fleet is rising up! The repaired Lezard is loading gold from the wild island where UPS 2’s Paradis fort was destroyed, with the London and Hai Peng (captured from UPS 2) possibly looking to join her. However, HMS Grand Temple has been quite busy, destroying not one Paradis de la Mer, but TWO in a single game! After towing home the HP and repairing, she got an EA to finish off the Paradis southwest of their HI. Of course, she got solid help from the London and enemy Halcyon (basically another London haha) along with a lucky 1 roll on the second Paradis’ fort ability (though she rolled a 6 on her first attempt at the UPS 2 Paradis). However, with the arrival of the mighty Zeus from UPS 5, things may quickly unravel for the HMS GT fleet. That’s right, it’s a showdown between the Zeus and the Grand Temple! However, the Zeus sacced out of the whirlpool to hit an impressive 5/7, likely dooming the GT in the near future. That said, with both of those Paradis’ gone almost at the same time, it opens up a bunch of newly available gold in the northwest, which is why I zoomed in here to see all the action. In the far north, the swarm fleet’s Intrepide is trying to take gold from the island where the remaining two UPS 2 ships have been dismasted by the Neptuno of Artillery Strike. At the bottom right, the Pique Miracle is complete as the ship docks home and then repairs. However, trouble for the swarm fleet is brewing. The Coeur has loaded the coins from the Joya’s Raft adventure, but the Star of Siam (the Joya’s fleetmate in EA Gold Runners) has whirled to the area in an attempt to steal it back! Complicating matters is the Bandido of the American Pirate fleet, which is doing alright but won’t get enough gold to win. There was a mistake where the Neptuno had a false reroll, which may have messed up some of the stuff earlier in the game. However, the fleets affected (Artillery Strike, AP’s, USS Kettering, and now UPS 2) were not really in the running anyway so it is not likely to affect the top standings results at all (hopefully; maybe someday I’ll go back and look at the videos to find out haha).

At the far right, it’s another Pique Miracle!! (TM) After being dismasted early in the game by Norvegia, the Pique of the Quick fleet sat at a wild island for a while (somehow not being sunk or captured by Norvegia, Spanish Meta, Doldrums, or anyone else) until the Vengeance finally showed up to tow her home. The return trip was uninterrupted, and another Pique has somehow made it home with gold! Speaking of the Quick fleet, their Courageux had a mast rammed off by the Intrepide of the swarm fleet and can be seen lurking in the far west after retreating into and back out of the fog. In the south, the Diablo flotilla has destroyed Thompson’s Island, but the Amity will just get the gold home for the AP’s anyway. The Bandido ended up ramming the Jolly Mon of the swarm fleet, netting the AP’s an extra gold from the Ransom keyword.

With three fleets (Norvegia, UPS 4, and UPS 2) out of the active running and with much of the ocean deserted, the game is winding down. There is still considerable treasure to be hauled home, but it requires extreme bravery due to the forts protecting it and the various monster gunships (Zeus, San Cristobal, and until this turn the Grand Temple) still sailing around. We should be able to finish the game with another session or two, and then we’ll have an epic coin count to determine the winner and finale of this T2 story!

2/10/2018

Another session was played. The entire game is just desperate and kind of wacky at this point, so it’s tough to remember all of the insignificant details. In the far west, the Zeus has shown up to crash the HMS GT fleet party. The wounded GT and HP have tried to block her, allowing the London and captured Lezard to get coins from the island where UPS 2 essentially met their doom in two ways (Natives plus Paradis destruction by the GT). In the center, the swarm denies the Star of Siam and is about to capture the Bandido. The Doldrums continues to rack up the gold, while the Quick fleet tries to round earth to the far west.

With very few coins readily available on islands, the northwest becomes a hotspot of activity. The Pique and Courageux are quickly (pun intended) trying to go back to the east with 3 coins between them. In the far west the Vengeance is dueling the Longshanks of the Doldrums fleet to protect the gold runners. In the northwest both islands have been mostly wiped clean, with the Zeus dismasting the HP and the London having dropped off her captain and helmsman to load 3 coins. The Neptuno dismasted the swarm Intrepide, who wants to be rescued by one of their sloops. However, the Star of Siam has appeared through the whirlpool, annoyed at having lost the boarding party to the Coeur recently. In the far southeast, the San Cristobal rolled poorly for Paradis (a 5 roll), but hit a whopping 9 for 9 in a double action to make the fort go from healthy to abandoned!!

In the NW, the London got home by whirling a slight bit to the far north so the Zeus wouldn’t be able to get her. She brought home some nice gold for HMS GT, who has risen to late-game prominence a bit after a somewhat slow start. The SoS has stolen the Intrepide’s final coin, but the Lezard has rammed a mast off. The Pique captured the GT. In the SW, the Amity used Skrew Engine to ram the final mast off the Neptuno, getting ready to capture the ship for some revenge at the Artillery Strike fleet being very detrimental to the AP’s early in the game. In the SE the San Cristobal and Monarca have loaded up a lot of coins from the spoils of UPS 5’s Paradis fort, now destroyed by the Spanish Meta fleet. The Quick fleet had a good turn, with the Courageux capturing the Longshanks and the Pique darting into the fog to protect her gold.

But the Quick fleet couldn’t sustain their brief success. Although the Pique got a lucky fog roll to dock home her coin safely, the Rover (the final ship remaining from the Gold Race fleet) rammed the final mast off the Courageux, the ship with two coins aboard. The Vengeance captured the Patagonia for Mycron’s ability but is nearly dismasted with the powerful Eagle nearby. In the SE, revenge for UPS 5! The Zeus flies through the whirlpool and knocks down 4 of Cristobal’s 5 masts. She boards the Monarca and hoards all the gold! The NW becomes a desperate ramming and boarding situation, with the SoS somehow holding onto her coin (vaguely similar to a situation in the NW in the 8 fleet game at the end of T1 I believe). The swarm fleet was going to become a juggernaut with the repaired HMS GT, but the Pique lost her mast on the whirlpool trip and they’re stuck! XD

The London picks up her captain and helmsman, sailing out to wreak havoc. The English are tired of running gold! The London goes 3/3 against various canoes as the Star of Siam improbably escapes home via the whirlpool with her coin. The Bandido and Jolly Mon of the swarm fleet (Bandido captured) face off against the Lezard of HMS GT (captured from the swarm fleet!) for the final coin of the western Natives island. So many ships have swapped sides in this game that is has gotten rather confusing. Another example of that is in the northeast, where the AP’s try to make things interesting. The Amity would take a while to drag the captured Neptuno back home and repair her, so the AP’s are giving the Neptuno to Spanish Meta (ironically an all-Spanish fleet) in the hopes of creating a short-term alliance to help bring down the Doldrums, who I suspect have the most gold. The Doldrums fleet even has a shot at the Courageux, who has both coins still aboard and is likely the largest amount of gold left in play that is realistically available (Zeus with 7 masts left is just about unbeatable at this point haha). Speaking of the Courageux, she has been captured by the Rover of the Gold Race fleet!

In a reversal from the previous handful of turns, the west empties out as eyes turn towards the Doldrums vs. Quick showdown of sorts in the far east. Neither of those fleets may win the fight however, as the Eagle sinks the Vengeance and the Rover takes the captured Courageux into the fog. Various single ships are on their way to the area, including the Amity, Coeur (of the swarm fleet), and Elthelfleda. The AP’s plan backfired, as the Spanish Meta fleet rammed the Amity. The Zeus got her gold home and the London looks to explore to take the last coin from the former UPS 5 island.

Fleets that have been eliminated or essentially eliminated now include UPS 4, Artillery Strike, USS Kettering, Norvegia, HPFF, and UPS 2.

The game is obviously winding down and we will hopefully finish it in the eighth and final session!

2/11/2018

The eighth and final session of this game has been played! 😀

The two coins on Le Courageux became some of the final in play. Various ships are here fighting over them, with Le Pique of the Quick fleet briefly recapturing the ship that was originally theirs (after the Rover was dismasted.

At the upper left, the Lezard (now of HMS GT) whirlpools to the northwest to avoid the Jolly Mon of the swarm fleet. HMS London of the same fleet has one of the other final coins, so the Monarca and Star of Siam have entered the area, anticipating the return of the London through a whirlpool. In the far east, the Eagle has gotten one of the Courageux’s coins and ducks into a fog bank near her HI for safety.

Yet AGAIN there is chaos in the far northwest! The London returns, but is ambushed by one of her own former allies in a way! The Zeus of UPS 5 loaded aboard the HMS GT’s Calico Cat, and her extra action allowed the Zeus to go through the whirlpool to steal the London’s coin! However, it made the Zeus a magnet for fire, and being pinned to the London meant it would be difficult for the Zeus to get the coin home, even with 7 (at the time of the ram) masts remaining. The Neptuno, London, and Star of Siam all pounded away at the 10 master, with the Jolly Mon and Lezard anxiously waiting to ram and try to steal the coin.

The Lezard of HMS GT DID steal the coin away from the Zeus, but the Zeus sank the London to unpin herself shortly afterwards. Then she smashed the Lezard and took the coin back, sinking the Jolly Mon and eliminating the swarm fleet in the process. XD The San Cristobal won the final battle in the far east, taking the Courageux’s other coin all the way home (the Eagle of the Doldrums fleet did unload the other one). With that there was only one coin left!! The San Cristobal got an extra action to go through the SE whirlpool and dismast the Zeus, stealing the coin!! The Zeus would indeed NOT get the coin home, as it instead went to the Spanish Meta fleet, who had an incredible and dominant endgame.

In an epic COIN COUNT, Dakmor’s Swarm Fleet has WON the 16 fleet game!!!!!!!

Here are the final gold scores after a VERY long game (23 turns, but over a dozen hours).

The final standings for this epic game:

1. dakmor’s Swarm fleet: 34 gold
2. The Doldrums: 33 gold
3. Darrin’s Gold Race: 29 gold
4. EA Gold Runners: 26 gold
5. Spanish Meta Fleet V2: 24 gold
6. HMS Grand Temple: 22 gold
7. American Pirates: 16 gold
8. UPS 4: 16 gold (AP’s had a ship active at the end)
9. UPS 5: 13 gold
10. RtSS English: 12 gold
11. Quick wins the game: 9 gold
12. Norvegia: 6 gold
13. Artillery Strike: 4 gold
14. (tie) UPS 2 and Hai Peng Fort Frenzy: 2 gold
16. USS Kettering: 0 gold

Truly incredible with a 1-gold margin of victory for the swarm fleet! For the past few sessions I suspected that the Doldrums fleet had the most gold, but the swarm did very well. They had the Barbary Banner, which I think was included in a “motherlode” of about 14 gold brought home by the Intrepide. The swarm fleet ekes out a win, proving that it’s a great fleet to use in multiplayer games (which was already established from games I played a WHILE ago, but still, winning a 16 fleet game is a big deal after all! XD).

Finishing on the “podium” was Darrin’s Gold Race fleet, which placed the highest of the “super fleets” from the actual tournament. That fleet further proves itself, especially when you consider that they were down to just the Rover for the entire endgame. (so they got that 29 gold very early and quickly in the game)

The EA Gold Runners fleet did admirably, coming in 4th after winning the 12 fleet game I played awhile back. The AP’s (winner of the 8 fleet game and 2nd place in the 12 fleet game) didn’t do as well as I had hoped (I wanted them to win among my fleets), but still had a respectable finish in the top half of fleets.

The Spanish Meta had an amazing endgame, becoming a juggernaut as less and less ships were sailing around. The San Cristobal came to dominate, with the Monarca as her sidekick. Eventually they even took control of the Neptuno of the Artillery Strike fleet, giving them a perfect all-Spanish addition to an already great Spanish fleet. It was a bit too late to win the game but a very strong showing from them.

Speaking of good endgames, HMS GT came out of nowhere to finish 6th! After struggling against the Paradis built by UPS 2, they finally got some gold home (London had 3 coins worth about 13 in one load I think) and even managed to double their fleet size to 4 ships with the HP and Lezard.

From there it was mostly disappointments, but only so many fleets can do extremely well with so many participants. The Zeus of UPS 5 had a powerful endgame but they finished with just 13 gold. Fleets like Norvegia, UPS 2 and HPFF underperformed, but that was partly due to going late in the turn order. In fact, the top two fleets of this game were in the first 3 fleets to go in the turn order. In that case the AP’s and Gold Race fleets outperformed their starting positions a bit, but so much happened on the early turns that getting behind meant doom.

As far as player stats go, I got 60 more gold with my fleets than Xerecs did with his (154-94), along with one of my fleets actually winning the game, but he had many more ships active at the end of the game, including a nearly healthy Spanish Meta fleet and a Zeus that wrecked my hopes of HMS GT upsetting more fleets in the standings.

Overall it was a very fun game! This officially concludes the Tournament #2 festivities for good, and likely it says goodbye to “official” tournament play for a long time, at least between Xerecs and I. We hope you enjoyed the journey, which started in fall 2016. O_O From here we plan other adventures, including a grand one that will hopefully start sometime this year… plans to be revealed at a later date….