FIRST BLOG POST!!

Hello everyone!  This is A7XfanBen!  You can simply call me Ben if you want. This is the first blog post here!

Welcome to the NEW Pirates with Ben!

This brand new website is the continuation of my journey into the online world.  It is the first domain I am paying for, and something I plan to eventually develop far more than the original Pirates with Ben, which I will admit is about where I wanted it to get.  However, I want to do even better. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. Feel free to buy from eBay to help support the site!  Thank you!

I have begun using WordPress instead of Weebly.  This is for a variety of reasons.

1. The hosting I’m using has WordPress as the default system.
2. WordPress is better than Weebly.  That seems true according to just about everything I have read during the past month as I considered whether or not I wanted to shift my Pirates site.  Weebly is more friendly to beginners, but I plan to learn WordPress over the long haul and would prefer the best system possible.
3. I really wanted to have a non-weebly domain name at some point.  The free options at Weebly are great but I want to commit to more of a grand Pirates experience, and nowadays my Weebly site is stagnant and sometimes it feels like a chore to edit.  The pricing and features of upgrading within the Weebly system pale in comparison to the better pricing with my current host and the features of WordPress.
4. I want more security for the future.  By going to the most popular and most-used website platform (WordPress), AND paying for a full standard domain name that is not directly under Weebly’s control, I hope to secure my online Pirates presence for the many years to come.

Now.  A word about how bare this site is.  EVERYTHING is a work in progress right now (as of May 11th, 2018).  I have just begun learning WordPress and often need to look up tutorials in order to figure out how to get things the way I want.  A few weeks ago I began the LONG process of hopefully transferring everything over from the Weebly fansite to this new and improved site.  It could even be months before this site rivals or surpasses the Weebly site, which I understand.  I’m flattered if you spend time at either of them!  However, all new content will go here from now on.  The transition will likely be difficult and lengthy.  I have already looked into various ways of transferring a Weebly site to WordPress, and quite frankly none of them have worked for me.  As a result, it is time to move on from the “easy” “solutions” and build things up again from scratch.  There is no telling how long the process will take, but as a general plan I would like to make progress every single day.  Ideally I will be moving all of the pages from the original site over to here, with some adjustments.

 

The idea of writing about Pirates every day in blog format appeals to me.  It allows me to keep my potential audience up-to-date on things and also allows me to remember things I forgot from the previous day.  I am excited to begin this journey of piratical fandom and share my experience and adventures with you!  This is just the beginning.  There are so many things to work on.  Just today I added a feature that allows people to register on the site.  The amount of plugins within WordPress is crazy.  I already have around 15 with this site and don’t understand some of them.

 

Finally, I really want to expand the scope of piratical operations.  A solid bunch of people have given me props on my website in the past, and I hope to eventually do even better with this one.  I’m hoping to really promote and provide awareness to the game.  Through more content, daily posting, and lots of value provided, I’m hoping to do well with SEO/Google rankings and whatnot.  I would love to expand the operation as much as possible, and possibly bring more nostalgic fans of the game back into the fold.

 

Introducing: Daily Blog Features

-I hope to have these for every single blog post.  At various times, some features may go and new ones may be introduced.

2023 edit: These deals are long gone, but you might be able to find a Baochuan on eBay. **Disclaimer: I will be using affiliate links with things like this, so if someone buys from it, I could make money that helps support the website.

Deal of the Day: Baochuan for $44, with Best Offer an intriguing option.  This listing only has 2 left.  The Baochuan is a special ship, the first 10 master ever released and one of the best hybrid/multipurpose ships in the entire game.

 

Pirates CSG Card of the Day

This is directly inspired by both the old Card of the Day reviews on Pojo.com, and by the Random Pirates Piece Discussion at Miniature Trading.  These will function as mini-reviews, and with well over a thousand game pieces released, I’ll be going for quite awhile!  To find a game piece, I will use a random number generator and go from 1-14 on the set # (including Return to Savage Shores!) and then from 1-### for the number within the set.  With that, here is the first Card of the Day on Pirates with Ben!

Set number: 6 – Davy Jones’ Curse
Collector’s Number: 089 – Pequod

Pequod

• Collector’s Number: 089
• Faction Affiliation: America
• Rarity: U
• Type: Ship
• Point Value: 14
• Cargo Space: 5
• Base Move: L
• Cannons: 2S-3S-3S-3S
• Number of Masts: 4

This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. She gets +2 instead if her opponent is a sea monster.

Link: Jerky Johnson.

The Pequod is a solid ship.  American fans will likely be slightly disappointed because they can have superior warships like the Franklin and USS Hudson for a lower price.  However, the Pequod still has her uses.  I see her either as a slow hybrid, or a gunship with enough cargo and point capacity to make into a formidable foe.  For example, try giving her a firepot specialist (almost “assigned” to that 2S cannon at the bow for maximum firepower – literally!), a cannoneer, and a musketeer or another specialist crew.  This turns her mostly average guns into an intimidating armament.

With each ship, I’ll do my best to detail how I would use them at various game sizes.  I will recommend one setup each, which will be what I consider the “optimal” setup.  Of course, everything depends on your play style and preferences.  I will be detailing my own later.

Standard 40 point games: Captain + helmsman (19 total points)

Medium size games (50-100 points): captain, helmsman, explorer OR oarsman (20 total points)

Large games (over 100 points): captain, helmsman, firepot specialist, cannoneer, + your choice of musketeer/specialist crew (~25 total points)

Game Piece Rating: 6.5/10.  The Pequod is a nice ship for beginners, but doesn’t stand out to American players who have large collections.

 

If I’m able to, I’ll try to include a picture of the game piece in question being used!  (though, mostly just for ships)

Here she is getting double teamed by two sea monsters!  This was a game where I was able to test out my Monsters, Hoists, and Canoes fleet, which I’d like to use again sometime.  It did well and I won the game, but I’d like to use it in a different ocean setup.  The Pequod was a favorite of my friend from college, who put his pennants the opposite of how I place them nowadays.  I used to put them like they are shown here, but to me it makes more sense for them to be blowing forward with the wind (hopefully!  XD) behind the ship. (as you can see on my ship at the bottom of the pic)

 

Picture of the Day

It’s only fitting that I begin this blogging journey with what I believe is the first picture I ever took of anything Pirates-related.  Here is the outset of my Century of the Empires game, played in June and July of 2013.  Almost 5 years ago!  It’s funny to me since it actually feels like longer ago, but 2014 and 2015 don’t feel all that far away.  Likely due to the college vs. high school divide I suppose.  This game featured a unique circle-shaped play area, so I could sit in the middle and spin around to play the game!  XD  The Cursed Corsair permanent alliance is gathering gold.  At the upper left, Paradise Island lies where the American deckplate area was for both Economy Edition and Command the Oceans.  (more on those later)  If you want to read about the game, click the picture.

 

Disclaimers

I am NOT trying to compete with the various Pirates CSG sites already out there!  This website is a continuation of my journey that started at Weebly.  Pirates CSG is one of my favorite things in life and I want to have my own personal presence on the web that I own and have complete control over.  In fact, I will likely be linking to the existing community sites all the time.  Unfortunately, Miniature Trading has shut down since I made this site.

 

Thank you for reading.  As I said, this site is in the beginning stages and will be much better and more fleshed out as I go about expanding it.  Stay tuned for MUCH more!

 

It’s a Pirates’ Life for Me.

Ben