Originally published to Miniature Trading on October 24th, 2017
40 Points
This is for pirateaj14’s Halloween Fleet Challenge. With the various restrictions making the Cursed the obvious faction of choice, naturally it made me want to submit a fleet without using any Cursed pieces lol.
With only 40 points to work with and needing both a somewhat expensive named crew in addition to expensive ship keywords (Ghost Ship and Fear), it was somewhat tough to fit a gold runner in. However, considering the two Pirate versions of Fantasma, I realized I could fit an HI raider on a Pirate Ghost Ship, which at first was the Hades’ Flame. Then I saw the Amity for a point less and more durability, which allowed me to use the more unique CC version of Fantasma. The Amity is the gold runner and should be pretty capable between her ability, durability, and speed. Phantasma will be used when optimal, and there’s not much fear of losing him to a boarding party (which won’t be likely when ghostly anyway).
The gunship here is a bit of an oddball pick, but I didn’t want to go with the predictable Executioner + El Fantasma . The Terror has the perfect name, flavor text, and abilities for a non-Cursed Halloween-type ship. I wanted to fit Shap’ng Tsai aboard to really make the ship a threat, but I didn’t have enough points left. However, I was happy to fit a firepot specialist aboard (which can strike fear into enemies just by having it around), as it makes the fleet a little more interesting, small though it may be.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on September 26th, 2017
40 Points
These combos have been done before, but I didn’t see them in the same fleet here. The premise is to have 2 Mercenary gold runners in one 40 point fleet.
The Slipstream has 4 cargo spaces open between the abilities and links, and can unload near home despite the Mercenary keyword. Before play begins, ask your opponent if they’re willing to go to 41 points. This can allow you to swap the oarsman for a helmsman.
The other gold runner is the Devil Ray, but she needs to have the Mercenary keyword cancelled in order to dock home her gold. Therefore, we have the Mobilis as well. The Mobilis can act as a HI guard ship while the others are out and about, and can escort them on the first and final parts of their journeys.
Clearly this isn’t remotely competitive, but shows the Mercs have something they can do about their gold conundrum. Although there’s almost no combat capability, three submarines that are often submerged is pretty tough to deal with at 40 points, and throw in submerged ramming and the Mobilis’ cancelling, and you’ve got enough to possibly survive and not get shut out! XD
The former Spanish Empire is in shambles. Their treasure fleets have been sunk by storms, ravaged by pirates, and captured by Englishmen. Their war glories are from an entirely different age. As the dark times move in, the King becomes increasingly desperate and is willing to go to any length to see his country restored to its former position in the world order. He turns to an untouched cache of gold from the 16th century, brought from the New World on Spain’s now-lost treasure galleons. With this, he finances an expedition…
What better man to have for the job than a desperate treasure-seeker himself?
Tasked with finding the mythical city of El Dorado, Agustin Covas finds the King’s demand right up his alley:
Born and raised in Portugal, Agustin Covas attended the prestigious navigation school founded by Columbus’ navigator. He sailed for the New World to distance himself from the Inquisition, but it followed, and he lives in fear of being discovered as a Jew. Covas is compelled to find enough gold to save his people, and so he seeks the mythical city of El Dorado.
After the Inquisition was largely defeated at the hands of an English Armada, Covas was able to return to Spain and enjoy the short-lived period of Spanish Renaissance. However, this didn’t last long at all, for Spain was quickly falling behind and excluded once again.
With a desperate (and possibly insane) King financing the journey, Covas had his pick of ships to sail all the way back to the New World, his “old stomping grounds” if you will.
After a number of mediocre experiences aboard small or cramped vessels, Covas saw this as an opportunity to live in luxury for the first time since his school days. With the Rocinante still under construction (just months away from launching, but the King is impatient, mind you!), Covas chose a ship he had watched from afar, the Buscador:
With a grand ship of such large cargo capacity, Covas was able to convince the King that even with a few other “useful” (as described by Covas of course, though the uninformed King had his doubts about that) crewmembers, the Buscador would still be able to bring back any gold found in Lake Guatavita or Lake Parime. Covas was mighty excited by the King’s permission, as he knew just the right person to join him!
After two nearly fatal “accidents” at home (possibly arranged by her husband’s children, all older than she), the lovely Contessa Anita decided that it might be prudent to take a long trip until her husband passes away and she inherits everything. She has been seen in the company of both Comandante Luis and the pirate Jack Hawkins.
With her ailing husband hanging onto his life through a series of miracles (some claim that the infamous Papa Doc is involved for financial reasons), the more-mature but still-annoyed Contessa Anita is ready for her long trip. Over the years she has seen the deaths of her other lovers, including both Luis and Hawkins. Covas is unaware of her piratical and deadly past, seeing her as a potential partner in the riches that they will acquire on their voyage together. He hopes to wine and dine her, killing two birds with one stone by getting a wife and retiring with riches from El Dorado! (and getting not just one, but two kinds of “booty”, if you know what I mean… )
With that, the crew was nearly ready to set sail. In his obsession over the still-lovely Anita Amore, Covas nearly forgot that the King was allowing him TWO additional crewmembers. In great haste he used the King’s old gold to hire a helmsman, for he knew that as good a navigator as he was, he couldn’t crew the Buscador all by himself. After all, he had never dealt with a “crane” or “hoist” before. Even if he had, in the back of his mind he knew it would be difficult to sail all the way across the Pacific without being “distracted” by Mrs. Amore along the way….
And so, the Buscador set sail for South America with her motley crew. And El Dorado doesn’t exist, and that was that. Or, maybe not?!
“WHAT IF THEY GET ATTACKED!?” exclaimed the King, fearing that he had just spent his gold in vain. With almost no money left (and the only money he DID have left was secretly given to him by Anita out of her own personal savings, as she knew how badly undermanned and therefore outgunned the Buscador would be), he turned to the cheapest “gunship” in the annals of Spain:
Capitan Vencinia has become a victim of his own success, having replaced shrewd negotiating with wastefulness and gluttony.
Luckily for Vencinia, no negotiating skills were needed here: the King wanted him for his low bid price! With Spain’s finest gearing up for war with the former American colonists (SS flavor! lol), the King didn’t have many choices in the first place. Vencinia’s best days were behind him, but he could still lead a ship to victory in battle. At least, that was what the King hoped.
The King suddenly remembered that one of his newest possessions could be a potent weapon if only Vencinia could make a quick stop on the way to the New World. He explained the situation, and Vencinia knew what was waiting for him in the West Indies:
First deployed in the Caribbean, the Diablo surprised pirates used to Spain’s “old ways.”
And with that, the Algeciras set sail for the New World hot on the stern of the Buscador. With the frolicking taking place on the Buscador, Vencinia had no trouble catching up to Covas and his ship. A formidable friendship was struck between all four members of the expedition, and although small, it DID feature two of Spain’s finest ships and some (?) of their better crew. Covas was thrilled to have a war-proven ship to escort him to El Dorado, and he grew even more secure when informed that they would be picking up a “gunbox” in the Caribbean on their way there.
~~~~~
And so the expedition was complete, and off to find El Dorado! I hope you enjoyed my “story” of sorts, it grew quite a bit larger than I expected when I was able to tie things together in whatever ways I could think of heh.
The fleet is relatively straightforward: with just 25/30 points available, it’s tough to have more than 2 effective ships. The Buscador is simply underrated by most, and carries a huge cargo hold, solid abilities, and enough crew to make her a good gold ship. The Algeciras is overused for a reason, but the Spanish don’t have any 5 or 7 point ships (considering captain/helmsman necessities) that I liked enough. Throw in Diablo’s flavor text, and adding the tried-and-true combo was a lock. I would have preferred a captain on the Algeciras, but the King couldn’t afford one. Once it was posted that 0LR +5’s were legal for this challenge, they seem almost necessary due to how big of a percentage boost they give you in a small build total. (+20% more points!)
PS: I checked with Woelf about the flavor text on Covas’ card, which says Olano as the name at the beginning of the last sentence. Apparently it’s an unsolved mystery, but in all likelihood it should say Covas, so that’s what I’m hoping was the intent heh. (or else this fleet falls apart real quick in terms of flavor lol)
Originally published to Miniature Trading on July 26th, 2017
100 Points
This is a fleet meant for fun. The goal isn’t even necessarily to win the game, but to establish many treasure trades that confuse the opponents you’re facing and when combined with abilities and UT’s, possibly end up in you getting all the high-value coins. I wanted this to be a fleet that was somewhere around 60 points, but as usual the costs spiraled out of control as I kept finding things I wanted to add. It’s quite thematic.
The goal here is to be a friendly but profitable trading nation. There are no captains, and combat of any kind is frowned upon. Everything is about doing business and conducting transactions. With enough luck and a somewhat mellow opponent, you may be able to set up a “trading empire” and win handily.
As one of the better gold ships in the game, the Neptune’s Hoard was the first ship I chose. The combo of Bones Wiley and his parrot are absolutely perfect for this fleet, as they link to save a cargo space on the NH and give the ship a second trading ability along with some spying potential. With good speed and 3 open cargo spaces, the NH will get gold and should be able to trade effectively, whether it be with islands or “enemy” ships.
The next ship is one of the more odd 5 masters in the game, the USS Morning Star. With the extremely powerful treasure/crew trading ability, the Morning Star has a flexible role in this fleet. She’ll be getting gold and possibly trading it with the little-used original version of DNT. The ship ability is a nice option to have if the ship explores right before getting attacked (which happens rather often in games), but with no other American crew in the fleet it’s not as practical as when you base a fleet around it. The ship has good speed and the crew and durability to protect the chieftain reasonably well, and functions as the fleet’s main gunship if the need arises.
The canoes are one of the most powerful gold running options in the game, and feature great speed, above-average cargo for canoes, and of course another trading ability. This is more of a “taking” ability, but the canoes should do well ferrying gold home from the other ships. The strategy can work in different ways: the larger ships have the speed and durability to reach some faraway islands, and the canoes can ferry their coins home in chains. In addition, the “trade within S” ability could work great with the native canoes. Imagine your opponent’s look of shock when Wiley or DNT is flipped to trade a 0 (more on that later) for a high-value coin, which is suddenly warped home through the canoes using their ability!
Just like the NH, the Foresight has both of the regular trading abilities available. Gilbert speeds the ship up with some sacrificial oarsmen, and the Foresight will have 4 open cargo spaces once one of them leaves. Similar to the previous ships, the Foresight has some good durability for a gold-oriented ship, so taking damage isn’t completely crippling.
Have you had enough trading confusion yet? How about some more! The Artesien gets the point total closer to 100 while introducing a more typical gold runner. This combo results in a third ship with both regular trading abilities. I’m not a fan of the explorer/wild island swap mechanic, but it could be used since the Artesien could only pick up two coins without it. (you could also swap out the explorer for an oarsman on one of the other ships, or even better, perhaps a Letter of Marque equipment…)
The final ship was chosen to bump the points to 100. I didn’t want to go the ultra-cheesy route, but Aristide’s flavor text fits perfectly with the fleet. The Coeur will stay near home and add his +2 bonus to as many coins as is convenient. Gold bonuses win games, plain and simple, so this fleet of traders and businessmen could be quite profitable indeed.
Finally, we have False Treasure, the most hostile thing this fleet contains. I’m not a big fan of events, but this is one of the only events that isn’t underpriced. It was my first event, and could tip the game in favor of the traders. Between Lucky and the UT’s, there will be plenty of knowledge about what gold is where throughout the game. This could allow for perfect timing with False Treasure. It’s also a good insurance policy in case you aren’t able to trade away low coins for good coins with the within S ability, or if your opponent has a very fast gold runner that can get home before any of this fleet’s ships can get to her. Finally, it could lead to confusion in the other fleets. Unless they count the points of the rest of the fleet, it’s not exactly expected that False Treasure would be picked over the other events. In addition, since False Treasure could be saved until near the end of the game, your opponent could be lulled into a false sense of security that you’re just bluffing with Rolling Fog or simply haven’t had an opportunity to use Raft. Little do they know what’s in store for their gold!
Trade Route is the only “mandatory” UT for this fleet, but I’ve included a lot of other fun options. Marksman’s Map, Shipping Charts, and Spyglass should help with knowing which ships to go after with the S trading. The Artesien was the original ship used in the Rum Bomb combo, and is a great option with so many S traders sailing around. Jade, Spices, and Trade Route are purely thematic, though Trade Route could become rather strategic if you can manage to trade a 0 for a 7 or something. Try to ensure that both players have a low number of coins on their HI’s, so the swap is less random (such as 1 for 1 if you know what both coins are with the help of the spying). Since it’s loaded face down, it could even become a nasty surprise. Maybe even avoid using False Treasure on purpose when you only have a 0 on your HI (prioritize getting low value coins home early, using the canoe chains), and then flip Trade Route for a quick reversal of fortune! Include at least a 0 or two in the distribution so you have some great things to trade away with the various abilities.
Maps of Alexandria is a proxy for:
Abandoned Charts
RtSS-033, Rare
Unique Treasure
When this treasure is revealed, mark all wild islands as explored and choose any wild island and look at all the face down treasure on that island. Then remove Abandoned Charts from the game.
This should help with the fleet’s lack of explorers, and further help with knowing what treasures to pursue via trading. It’s not that bad if your opponent finds it, because it will just allow for easier trading with them (using the trade within S ability). In addition, through their ship movements it may become obvious if the island they choose to look at has very good or very bad gold on it, so unless it’s about average, it’s almost like all players see what’s generally on the island. (unless of course they sail towards the island to deceive you lol)
As this isn’t a hostile fleet, the forts were included to help with the strategy. St. Pierre could actually see some usage, while the Devil’s Maw will help keep the traders (and possibly even the chieftain!) alive. If any crew come back ghostly, that could help protect the traders since enemies wouldn’t be able to board and steal back their valuable gold you made fair trades for. XD
I’ll admit, this fleet is kind of dumb. In a game called Pirates, it’s likely that everything will fall apart when your opponents bring multi-action gunships and nasty UT’s to the game, especially at this point level. However, between the durability, some speed, and lots of targets to hit (most of which will be scattered all over the sea, establishing trading opportunities), it won’t be automatic to eliminate everything. In addition, with all the island trading abilities, negative UT’s could be traded away as needed, or simply avoided through knowledge gained of what’s on each island.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on July 25th, 2017
45 Points
I would NEVER use this in a game. Also, if you use something like this against me, don’t expect a full game. (I don’t play with mermaids/fotg ever, and highly prefer no events at all)
This is a compilation of how to NOT have fun playing Pirates. It’s almost like a fleet of most of my least favorite things in this game.
Before you start the game, you can tell your opponent:
-“Yes I’m using a 0LR +5 crew.”
-“Yes I’m using 4 events, all of which are underpriced and OP.”
-“Yes that includes mermaids, the stupidest game piece ever invented.”
-“Yes I’m using the most annoying ship ability in the game on the largest and most powerful ship it appeared on.”
-“Yes I’m using the Banshee’s Cry.”
-“Yes I’m using two other dirt-cheap gold runners which have mostly irrelevant abilities that make them underpriced.”
-“Yes I might be building what is by far the best fort in the game.”
-“If it’s any consolation, no I’m not using Captain Jack Sparrow LOL!”
The game starts, and if your opponent goes first, you can use mermaids to freeze their well thought out and excellently crewed gunship for nearly the whole game. Or, use Hidden Cove to get gold immediately with the BC. If you go first, you get two turns: play Becalmed right next to their home island to freeze their fleet for their entire turn. If they try anything, you have fotg to wreck it.
Then we get to the actual gameplay. Get bored while they constantly measure over and over and over and over and over again with their gunship to try and get a single L range cannon in range of the Bonaparte. Then, it misses. A huge waste of time, and now move the Bonaparte right next to their gunship and hit it with chainshot (with the help of a reroll of course). Then spend most of the game shooting at their dead gunship with mediocre rank-3 cannons.
Ah, don’t forget the gold though! With 3 of the cheapest gold runners in the game, you should do fine in the treasure department. The fun of exploring islands and checking out what’s on them is eliminated through the omniscient UT’s included. Any fun UT’s will be knocked out through the others, which are permanent fun-wreckers.
Wreck everyone’s strategy, make everyone hate you, and win the game with boring and OP tactics. You win! Yay!
Remember: don’t have fun.
(PS: Feel free to give this a reverse rating, such as a 1 or a 2 even if you think it’s a “good” fleet. I really would like that actually.)
Originally published to Miniature Trading on July 25th, 2017
45 Points
Here is a Pirate fleet that features a new ship for Barstow, a very unique crew, as well as an unexpected hybrid of sorts and a slow gold runner.
Barstow is best aboard a larger ship so he can win boarding parties, but the Raven is a surprisingly good ship for him to serve on. The Raven is fast enough to ram and board enemy ships, though unfortunately Barstow will have to board before the flotilla’s cannons can soften the target. However, he has an oarsman for protection, and will not be pinned due to his ship’s ability. In addition, the Schooner keyword could allow Barstow to board without ramming in some cases, which might be desirable at some point. Finally, the explorer keyword and the Raven’s 3 remaining cargo spaces make the ship a fun and versatile option.
The Cutlass is a solid support gunship, but here she’s the main attack ship while also functioning as a hybrid. Hammersmith is just irresistible to us fleet makers, and for good reasons. The cargo space he saves makes the ship viable as a hybrid, with two spots for gold to be gotten from exploring or stealing. The Cutlass may shadow the Raven and protect her, potentially hitting a target with covering fire before Barstow attempts to capture crew (after which the ship is finish off with Doombox). She’s also the designated fort-wrecker if you need her for that!
I started running into point problems at the end, but luckily the Paradox is a still-underrated option at the dirt-cheap <5 point level. The Hag lets Hammersmith do his thing on the Cutlass, while the helmsman is necessary to make the Paradox fast enough to reach islands close to home. The hope is that Barstow and Hammersmith will create enough chaos and distraction with their vessels that the Paradox can make multiple trips and steadily accumulate gold.
In a unique UT strategy (lol), I am trying to give my opponent(s) crew or protect their existing crew. The abandoned crew would likely be a shipwright and cannoneer, since a captain or musketeer could be more invasive to my own plans. In addition, it could be nice for the Cutlass or Paradox to find one of them. Castaway is amazingly underrated and versatile, and might be used against me, but was too fun to pass up. Between the potential for 3 extra crew to enter the game, Barstow will be busy nabbing people left and right! I originally had the Executioner in for the Cutlass, but realized it made no sense with the capturing strategy. I’ve gone the complete opposite route, hoping my opponent finds Jack’s Piece of Eight to avoid them losing crew so I can capture them.
The forts are standard, and would likely be financed by the Paradox and set up by either of the schooners.
Thanks for checking this out! It’s not nearly as practical as many other Pirate fleets, but it’s a fun new usage for Barstow with a bit of a weird strategy overall.
I used this fleet in a unique game featuring points in play PLUS gold in order to win.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on July 8th, 2017
70 Points
It’s a bit tough to find ships that can play a hybrid role that are underrated in that capacity, but I think these three fit the bill well enough.
The Gallows is one of the best gunships in the game, but also sports a big cargo hold. She’s got the 3 basic generic crew abilities.
The Joya del Sol is one of the best gold runners in the game, but also one of the largest. Her cannons could use improvement, but she’s got a bunch of them along with a boarding bonus. Her crew complement leaves her with 6 cargo spaces open, with the potential for 6S speed. Also with the 3 basic generic crew abilities, she’ll be a force either way.
The Espada is just a fun ship in general, but doesn’t really fit into a specific mold. Zuan’s bonus will hopefully be a surprise to your opponent, making her guns 2L-2S-3S-4S. She can grab some gold, raid enemy gold runners without being pinned, and maybe even steal some loot from enemy HI’s.
Not the most practical of fleets, but a fun idea of “surprise hybrids” I randomly came up with.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on July 6th, 2017
6 Points
Try challenging your opponent to a game with a build total of 1 point. Especially if their collection is small. And you want to annoy them.
Perhaps they bring an explorer, or a fire shot. Set sail in the Jolly Mon, and who shows up at the helm but the hideous Hag? Then bring in two of the best gold runners in the game and win the game! XD
Of course, this is a bit of a joke. However, it shows that this game can be played at ANY point level, even 1. (0 would be difficult heh) This fleet becomes my smallest/lowest build total fleet submitted here. Whether I someday top 500 remains to be seen….
Do you think this is the best 1 point fleet? Not many changes you could make to improve it; Mermaid or Rover would give you more speed than the Coeur but at the loss of cargo.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 23rd, 2017
100 Points
This is an idea for a fleet I had, to combine some great ships from each of the Big 5 factions. None of these ships is the best in its faction at getting gold or fighting, but overall each of them are great options.
The Swallow is the flagship, capable of moving S+L+S as one of the fastest 5 masters in the game. She’ll be ready for anything – brutal combat, hybrid tasks, or simply gold running when there is nothing else to do. Gunn saves a cargo space and the explorer provides some protection for him.
The Descharges is one of my favorite French ships, and plays the role of treasure raider. With a great boarding ability and Lenoir’s reroll, she can effectively raid enemy gold runners after softening them up with her accurate cannons. Ideally she’ll deposit the stolen loot in a nearby fort before going on another raid, so she doesn’t have to come all the way home each time (and repairing at the fort when necessary). Lenoir’s Parley ability also helps to keep any stolen gold protected, and the Descharges can explore islands for gold as well.
The Algeciras/flotilla combo is a great one, and gives you 6 mobile cannons for just 13 total points. The Algeciras will likely shadow another ship in the fleet for support, such as the Swallow or Roanoke. She’s also the most expendable, and could serve as the first line of defense if an enemy gunship or two come charging at the rest of the fleet.
The Eagle is a multipurpose ship whose role combines those of the Swallow and Descharges. She’s a great addition to the fleet and should be able to help out in various ways, whether it’s grabbing or stealing gold, or blasting opponents out of the water with up to 8 shots from the SAT.
I almost went with the USS James Madison to hold the tribal chieftain, but then I realized I could get the Roanoke and put a helmsman aboard. The extra masts and additional crewmember help protect the chieftain from harm, and the Roanoke is a great hybrid ship that will mostly be running treasure in this fleet. The canoes are one of the best ways to get gold. They might be able to set up a gold chain extending from the home island using their ability, possibly taking gold from the multipurpose ships that are safer in waters far from home.
I like keeping this at 100 points, but if you added a 0LR +5 crew I would add a stinkpot shot and fire shot to the home island, and probably oarsmen on the Swallow, Eagle, and Roanoke.
This fleet could be pretty susceptible to cancellers and faster fleets that have more extra actions available, but it’s a solid attempt to make a fleet with many diverse and balanced options. Feel free to comment and vote on this Diverse Balanced Fleet!
Originally published to Miniature Trading on June 22nd, 2017
20 Points
Simple but hopefully effective. At such a low build total, there will only be so much an opponent can throw at these ships. The key is that the canoes start at an island – by the time any enemy gunships can get going, the canoes can be on their way home. If there’s any gold left on their island, the Alquimista can pick it up since the island has already been explored. If all goes well you’ll have an extra 7 gold after one big trip, which could be enough to tip the scale in your favor. Just watch out, because a lost boarding party or a fast gunship targeting the canoes could spell doom.
