Marques Miguel Antonio from Davy Jones’ Curse – Mike Mulvihill’s personal crew in the game
Mike Mulvhill is one of the true giants of Wizkids Pirates CSG history, having designed the majority of the game pieces! He was heavily involved in numerous aspects of the game from Spanish Main through Rise of the Fiends, and helped with certain aspects on Fire and Steel. The game was basically his in terms of game design, concept creation, game mechanics and gameplay concepts, as well as rules, factions, and the specific individual game pieces.
Pirates CSG on eBay: https://ebay.us/5C1kyR (affiliate link – purchasing through it will help support my content and efforts with the game!) This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Marques Miguel Antonio from Davy Jones’ Curse – Mike Mulvihill’s personal crew in the game
Mike Mulvhill is one of the true giants of Wizkids Pirates CSG history, having designed the majority of the game pieces! He was heavily involved in numerous aspects of the game from Spanish Main through Rise of the Fiends, and helped with certain aspects on Fire and Steel. The game was basically his in terms of game design, concept creation, game mechanics and gameplay concepts, as well as rules, factions, and the specific individual game pieces.
Pirates CSG on eBay: https://ebay.us/5C1kyR (affiliate link – purchasing through it will help support my content and efforts with the game!) This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Marques Miguel Antonio from Davy Jones’ Curse – Mike Mulvihill’s personal crew in the game
Mike Mulvhill is one of the true giants of Wizkids Pirates CSG history, having designed the majority of the game pieces! He was heavily involved in numerous aspects of the game from Spanish Main through Rise of the Fiends, and helped with certain aspects on Fire and Steel. The game was basically his in terms of game design, concept creation, game mechanics and gameplay concepts, as well as rules, factions, and the specific individual game pieces.
Pirates CSG on eBay: https://ebay.us/5C1kyR (affiliate link – purchasing through it will help support my content and efforts with the game!) This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Ethan the Farseeker from Pirates of the Frozen North, his in-game crew
Here is an overview of Ethan’s involvement with the game:
At the time when the project was started I was a graphic designer, and as the most technical among us I ended up being the main Styrene guy – designing and prototyping the ships was my biggest ongoing contribution to the game line by far. However I also did the graphic design for the first set (skinning the ships, figuring out how to display the stats, etc), which because we were working in parallel with the Game Design team (rather than after they were done) the needs of the ship design and layout ended up strongly influencing the game mechanics as things progressed and we figured out what could and couldn’t work on the medium we were working with. So the work Mike Mulvilhill and I did together figuring those things out had a lot of impact on the way the game morphed from the original concept to the final design that hit the shelves. So this title was actually my first real foray into Game Design (which eventually took over as my career path), though an uncredited one since it wasn’t officially my job yet.
By the end of the run I had personally engineered all but one or two sets of the styrene models (for the last ones I had finally found myself a worthy successor in Darrel Rustvold) but I never contributed further to the game design or the graphic design.
Questions of the Day:
(Ben) What is your favorite ship type to build and why?
(Ethan) What is your favorite ship type to look at and why?
Pirates CSG on eBay: https://ebay.us/5C1kyR (affiliate link – purchasing through it will help support my content and efforts with the game!) This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Sorry if the audio is inconsistent on this one, I had to make a bunch of edits to make it better than the raw version.
Marques Miguel Antonio from Davy Jones’ Curse – Mike Mulvihill’s personal crew in the game
Mike Mulvhill is one of the true giants of Wizkids Pirates CSG history, having designed the majority of the game pieces! He was heavily involved in numerous aspects of the game from Spanish Main through Rise of the Fiends, and helped with certain aspects on Fire and Steel. The game was basically his in terms of game design, concept creation, game mechanics and gameplay concepts, as well as rules, factions, and the specific individual game pieces.
Questions of the Day:
(Ben) What is your favorite Q&A segment of this discussion so far? (across all parts)
(Mike) Is there something in the game that you initially didn’t like, that now you like more or at least accept?
Do you put the pennant flags facing towards the bow or the stern?
Pirates CSG on eBay: https://ebay.us/5C1kyR (affiliate link – purchasing through it will help support my content and efforts with the game!) This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Marques Miguel Antonio from Davy Jones’ Curse – Mike Mulvihill’s personal crew in the game
Mike Mulvhill is one of the true giants of Wizkids Pirates CSG history, having designed the majority of the game pieces! He was heavily involved in numerous aspects of the game from Spanish Main through Rise of the Fiends, and helped with certain aspects on Fire and Steel. The game was basically his in terms of game design, concept creation, game mechanics and gameplay concepts, as well as rules, factions, and the specific individual game pieces.
Pirates CSG on eBay: https://ebay.us/5C1kyR (affiliate link – purchasing through it will help support my content and efforts with the game!) This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Shane’s in-game crew, Thane Hartless from Mysterious Islands (#302, a Limited Edition Mercenary reroller)
Very excited to have Shane Hartley on the podcast! He was the Art Director and one of the graphic designers for Wizkids Pirates CSG throughout the production run, one of the core members of the team. He also made it into the game – you probably already knew him as Thane Hartless from Mysterious Islands!
Contessa Anita Amore from Crimson Coast, one of the original 0LR+5 crew.
The “0LR+5”. An oft-mentioned acronym in Pirates CSG, yet possibly unfamiliar or even esoteric to the unintiated. It’s used as an acronym for one of the best types of crew in the game, truly essential for many of the top fleets. Here we’ll discuss their pros and cons as well as how to best utilize them for optimal gameplay and strategy.
What are they?
Breaking down 0LR+5, we get 0=0 points (a free crew!), L=Limit keyword, R=Ransom keyword, and +5 meaning that the primary ability of the crew is to give you +5 points to the build total of the game. Limit means you can’t have another game piece with the Limit keyword in your fleet, while Ransom is a negative ability that gives your opponent 1 gold for eliminating the crew or 5 gold if they capture it and unload it at their home island (HI). Full ability text: “Limit. Ransom. Place this crew face up during setup. You may build your fleet using 5 more points than the game’s build total. This crew cannot leave this ship unless captured or eliminated.”
These crew are most often used to fit more into a build total than you normally can. In a standard 40 point game, 5 extra points represents an additional 12.5%, potentially giving your fleet an advantage over any opponent not using a 0LR+5. Oftentimes the crew is used to bring in a captain and helmsman on a main gunship, a canceller, or sometimes dirt-cheap treasure runners like the Banshee’s Cry and Rover.
Rules Review
Commodore Matthew Perry, American 0LR+5 crew from Pirates of the South China Seas
It’s worth reviewing entries in The Pirate Code for the various abilities that these crew have, because it can get a bit confusing. In my experience, the biggest mistakes or things to keep in mind are usually these: 0 point crew must be assigned to a ship of their own nationality (regardless of any abilities on board). The additional 5 points come into play AFTER building your fleet, so you must have 5 or less additional points in some form – if you’re already at 38 and want to add a 7 point crew, it doesn’t work. You have to divide it up and plan ahead so that you’re only adding a maximum of 5 points with the +5 crew – not simply using a different build total than your opponent. That said, it almost always works out because usually you have cheap crew somewhere in a fleet that can easily be brought in via the +5 as opposed to being in the original starting fleet.
As for Ransom, crew with the keyword can only be eliminated by an enemy ability or action, or by some Unique Treasures (UT’s). This means you cannot just sacrifice the crew with a Sac Captain (this would be too easy and eliminate the negative that Ransom is there for), but you can choose to eliminate them in a lost boarding party if you don’t mind your opponent getting the automatic 1 gold payout. If the Ransom crew is sunk with a ship, the crew (now worth 1 gold) goes straight to the sinking player’s HI, which is an exception to the normal rule where crew are removed from the game when a ship is sunk.
How to Use
The Hag, possibly the most-used 0LR+5
The best use of 0LR+5 crew is often the most typical way – filling out the fleet with ships or crew that you wanted to include from the start but didn’t have the points for. However, I think it is worth considering the “meta” of competitive gaming and how the crew functionally work, and using that to your greatest advantage. Notably, the rules have Placing Crew towards the bottom of the Setup phase – AFTER the entire map is constructed with islands and terrain, and after home island locations are chosen. This is important for decision making, as a poor home island choice might make a player more likely to be more aggressive with their extra 5 points – maybe they’d whip out the Becalmed event instead of some extra oarsmen. If the opponent deliberately placed islands the maximum distance apart, a navigator might be a better choice than a cannoneer. If there ended up being way more terrain on the map than you anticipated, various 3 or 4 point crew allow you to ignore terrain as part of a move action. This could even lead to bargaining and threats between players during the Setup phase – perhaps you detest a certain terrain type or a home island location – you could threaten to bring in the Mermaids event or a canceller with your +5, though in a competitive scenario they would likely be expecting it anyway. (you could also bluff about what might be brought in)
One of the most interesting aspects of this “+5 meta” is the player turn order. If you go second and see that your opponent didn’t include any events in their fleet for their extra 5 points, you know you won’t have to deal with Mermaids and can therefore pass on including Favor of the Gods as a counter, freeing up the 2 points for Hidden Cove instead. If your opponent brings in 3 events and 1 crew with their +5, you also know you won’t be dealing with Mermaids or Becalmed, because no single game piece of those four can cost more than 2 points. You could adjust accordingly and not have to settle for counters based on fearing what might be revealed once the game starts. However, because of this it could be argued that Player 1 must use their +5 more aggressively, even if only as a deke – possibly including a cheap event like Divers along with a face down crew in the hopes of getting the other player to needlessly include Favor of the Gods when it won’t help them.
Letter of Marque equipment art
Many playgroups may ban events, but other notable possibilities abound. I would argue that the most underrated choice could be the Letter of Marque/Soul Mark equipment. These can be used to force a Parley situation against most of the major factions (with the exception of the Pirates). You’ll always know which faction(s) your opponent is playing by the time it comes to your +5 decisions, so including the correct Letter of Marque (possibly more than one) could be an easy way to deflect an attack later in the game at an opportune moment. Even if they’re using a multi-faction fleet, in a lot of games it won’t be difficult to see which ship is likely to be their main gunship, based on size/crew complement/etc.
The Roster
The 0LR+5 crew are as follows: The Hag of Tortuga (Pirate), Administror Scott Bratley (English), Contessa Anita Amore (Spanish), Vicomte Jules de Cissey (French), Li Quin (Jade Rebellion), Commodore Matthew Perry (American), “Cannonball” Gallows (Pirate). Notably, the Pirates are the only faction to receive two 0LR+5 crew, while the Jade Rebellion is the only minor faction to receive any. The Cursed, Barbary Corsairs, Vikings and Mercenaries don’t have any.
I hope you enjoyed this article on 0LR+5 crew and would love to hear about your strategic or “meta” use of them!
Measurements of L and S compared to full card measurements
This year I’ve noticed many players measuring L and S incorrectly, usually by using a full card length of a ship deckplate on the top side or using a crew card to measure. Various third party accessories have also become quite popular, as sometimes a deckplate card leaves some maneuverability or angles to be desired, such as when trying to determine a close measurement or for premeasuring move actions. I got my vernier calipers out to see what distance differences there are between S, L, full card lengths often used in their place, and some extra straws and tubes I’ve been using. Disclaimer: Measuring with or without the black border lines on the S and L segments may produce slightly different measurement results.
I used the back of a spare Martinette deckplate that I’ve been using for years as my primary measurement tool, as well as an HMS Goliath deckplate to confirm accuracy given that my official card has been exposed to so much playing that perhaps it isn’t 100% accurate anymore (this experiment determined that to not be the case, though I should swap it out if more finish comes off to the point where I cannot determine the endpoints of S or L).
I measured L at 83.8 millimeters.
Using the other side of the calipers with the Goliath card, I measured the same 83.8mm. It may look like the number should be higher, but that’s because the calipers are slightly above the card and I couldn’t get a camera angle showing it head on at both ends.
Next was the test using the entire length of the card. This came in at 89.2mm, a 5.4mm bonus compared to L actual!
In a separate test on the wrong side of the Goliath card, this number was confirmed:
S was next. The official distance comes in at 57.5mm.
The Goliath S segment measured exactly the same.
Now came another full card test. Standing the Martinette deckplate on end and pinching the calipers to it, we see a measurement of 63.7mm!
Perhaps this measurement was slightly off, but the “inside calipers” still showed the Goliath card at a similar number. If you average these two measurements to approximately 63.5mm, that means that measuring with the full width of a Pirates card gives you a 6 millimeter advantage compared to using the proper S distance! As anyone who has played the game surely knows, that can easily be more (sometimes much more) than the difference between: docking vs. not docking; being in or out of range for cannon shots; being in or out of cancelling range, etc. Even if you don’t add up how big these differences would compound over the course of a full game, any one instance of these measurement differences could be the difference between winning and losing.
Now it was time to test some unofficial segments. Fittingly enough, I did not make any of these myself, though I have used them in games somewhat consistently, though I still try to use my deckplate most of the time. That I didn’t make them is not to clear my name of any wrongdoing, as I have played many things wrong in the past and will likely accidentally screw up additional rules (hopefully just minutiae) in the future.
An S straw I received years ago in an eBay lot measures 58.1mm, very close but still .6mm more than 57.5mm.
An L straw from the same lot actually came in slightly short at 83.6, .2mm less than the 83.8 “official” measurement. Vernier calipers closed over both ends to show it’s raised off the surface for the best possible measurement.
Next was the string of metal tubing that Captain Redgoat gave me. The silver S tube measured 58mm, .5mm more than what we saw from the official segment.
The L tube measured 84.2mm, .4mm above the 83.8mm from the card L.
I think a fair question to ask is: what could be considered “close enough”? I would posit that a difference of .5mm or less is fine for most games and all casual play, simply because the difference is barely (or not) perceptible to the naked eye and that distance is likely to be mis-measured anyway due to slight shaking of hands when a ship is placed at the end of a segment, or the slight movement of a hand above a ship measuring the distance to see if a shot can be made. In addition, I think the benefits of having accessories and convenient tools for players outweigh the slight differences, not to mention other elements such as bumping the table, “undoing” move segments and trying to estimate where the ship’s bow had started, and other accidental calculation errors.
However, I think it would be fair for any player playing competitively or for any kind of prize to request full enforcement of using strictly Wizkids official deckplate cards for all measurements during a game.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is to not measure with full card lengths, as this gives such a player a decided advantage. In addition, I highly recommend comparing any accessories you may have to the L and S segments on a Wizkids card, and trimming or editing them so they’re as close as possible to standard measurements.
Lastly, I welcome any community feedback regarding my measurements, if you have made your own and they differ, or what your group considers “close enough” as far as unofficial measuring accessories.
