Return to Savage Shores was the final set designed, but it was never released due to Wizkids getting shut down. Here are my Top 10 game pieces from the set!

You can find the original threads here or look at the spreadsheet for the set here.

1. GWL (American Mycron)

2. Fetu

Basically OP with the following game piece aboard…

3. Lady Roimata

Pairs well with a ton of great French ships, both gunships and gold runners.

4. Rocinante

Has very good speed for a hoist and could even do pretty well as a raider between that ability and somewhat serviceable guns.

5. English Native Canoes/French Native Canoes/Pirate Native Canoes

Unlike the SS canoes, these sets are harder to differentiate in the rankings. The English ones make it possible to do all sorts of crazy repair options, including sea monsters. The French ones are definitely the best pure gold runners in the bunch, and the easiest to fit into a fleet (and onto a ship for the chieftain). The Pirate ones may have the slowest speed and a somewhat high cost, but the potential for swarm-raiding a home island (especially with hoists and/or major support nearby) is just awesome and has some real potential. Consider that you could get 5 coins at once for less total points than the Wicked Wench or Belladonna .

6. Zhanfu

The fastest 10 master in the game! Capable of 6S speed and 20 shots rather easily when you consider the Mercenary and American crew available. Tons of great combos as with the other 10 masters.

7. HMS Halcyon

Slight upgrade over HMS London .

8. Colector del Dia

One of my favorite ships, and essentially an upgraded version of my classic favorite the Cazador del Pirata, this is a fantastic hybrid that is criminally underrated when compared to other Spanish ships.

9. Fortaleza

10. Papa Doc

Cursed finally got a proper canceller crew. Amazing addition for them, and works great on their fun array of flagships including two 10 masters.

Just missed: Sskwa’aluk, USS Strongarm, Plague of the South

Honorable mentions:
Orphan
Ebat
Namazu
Sirene
Mongrel
Renard a Ailes
HMS Goodfellow
Babieca
Sebastian Rojo
Abandoned Charts
Native Lore
USS Conscript

(Spanish cargo master excluded due to massive similarity with my SS rankings)

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. Navigators/Cargo Master

Utterly broken in campaign games, and I don’t like them, but they are extremely good.

2. Native Canoes 

3. Native Canoes 

4. Libellule 

5. Shap’ng Tsai 

Essentially giving every faction a sac captain cannot be overstated. (especially for the minor factions!)

6. Frontier 

7. Shui Xian / Celtic Fury 

I am massively biased towards the SX and she can often be a better ship due to crew differences and I like having those rank-2 guns even if it means an extra 4, but they’re similar enough that it’s tough not to rank them together.

8. Altar of the Loa 

“Oops!” XD

9. Capitaine Baudouin Deleflote 

10. Buscador 

Honorable mentions: (actually sort of in order for once since it’s a small set and easy to look at)
Celestine / Master Scribe 
Akua Lapu 
Honu Iki 

Celestine’s Charts 
Bianco’s Haulers 
Nene-nui 
Native Canoes 
Commodore Peregrine Stern 
Valeroso 
Metal Dragon 
Cannibal King (I love this thing too much! )
Duncan Rousseau 
Frond of Fisaga 
Necklace of the Sky

Original thread at Miniature Trading

1. Lord Mycron 

2. Hammersmith 

3. Equipment (mostly Fire/Exploding/Stinkpot/Grape Shot)

Grapple, Chain, Double, and Smokepot aren’t as good, but you forgot one: Stinkpot Shot. It can be devastating when it hits at the right time, and is a great (and sickeningly cheap) way of going after stuff like the Acorazado and Constitution, or 10 masters in general.

4. San Pedro / Morning Star 

Both are fantastic gold runners – the San Pedro has the best gold running ability in the game, but the MS can go faster and carry more for the same point cost.

5. Victor de Alva 

6. Flotillas

Armada stands above the rest, but the others are generally similar in effectiveness.

7. Various 5 masters

Tough to pick between some of the rares and the LE Morning Stars, since they’re so similar and many cost 14 points.

8. Lezard

Not as good as some other tiny French runners, but underrated due to her rarity (and perhaps because almost nobody knows what the ship looks like).

9. Cygnet 

10. Skin Flayer 

Just missed: Thomas Gunn , Barstow / Blackbeard , Montana Mays 

Honorable Mentions: Jeux , Conquerant , HMS Ram , Poor Adams , Pawtucket , HMS Salient , Saber , Splinter , Freedom’s Hand , Sol , USS Lenox , Coconut , Roberto Santana , Lenoir (would be top 10 but CC version is nearly the same), Turtles , Ammunition , Letters of Marque/Soul Mark equipment, Treasure Cards

Original thread on Miniature TradingRank

1. San Cristobal 

2. Dominic Freda 

3. TGunn/HGold

4. Ralph David / Gus Schultz 

5. San Cristobal 

6. Grinder 

7. Gibraltar 

8. Luis Zuan 

9. Fool’s Hope 

10. All other flotillas in the set

Just missed (likely in this order): El Fantasma , Aberdeen Baron , HMS Apollo , Griffin , Lenoir 

Honorable Mentions: HMS Apollo , Magdalena , Bloody Blade , Sean “Cannonball” Gallows , Lady’s Scorn , Concepcion , Tepant , Rising Sun , Grim Reaper , Trevor Van Tyne , both versions of Crimson Angel, Dominic Freda , Capitaine Arazure , Captain Mysion , HMS Forge , Hades’ Realm , Isabela , Delusion , Specter ; various other ships as well actually

Original thread at Miniature Trading

Here’s a Rankings idea a little more off the path than the others. I will rank the various Pirates of the Caribbean game pieces that have more than one version. It was a cool set in my opinion, and many of the movie ships and crew made interesting appearances.

Black Pearl
1. Black Pearl 
The max speed of L+S+S with wicked good guns makes this ship one of the best gunships in the game.
2. Black Pearl (damaged) 
I actually think this one is closer to the undamaged version than most other people might, and it’s not far behind. This one is more of a short-range brawler, with all-S guns instead of L, and the very nice crew protect ability.
3. Black Pearl 
This one is inferior to the other two in pretty much every way. It’s still a pretty solid gunship, but not close to the other two versions.

For the purists out there, I would rank the Wicked Wench #3 and the SR version #4.

Flying Dutchman
1. Flying Dutchman 
I think I will get a LOT of flak for this lol. Keep in mind, I think all 3 of these are extremely close. However, you cannot ignore the ability of this FD to be the most flexible in terms of the build total and in terms of gold gathering ability.
2. Flying Dutchman 
This version is technically superior to the above, but the abilities add 9 points to the cost, which makes the ship tough to use in 40 point games and two of them (Ghost Ship and “crew massacre”) usually aren’t worth it. Definitely a Pirate flagship with the right (and expensive) crew setup, but better used in big games and not exactly a gold ship with the crew complement most people put aboard.
3. Flying Dutchman 
It’s not part of the PotC set, but the PotC FD’s should have been Cursed and this is the original version for our game as well as the most powerful on a pure firepower basis. It’s a solid gunship, and one of the most important ships the Cursed got. However, the speed, big cost, and borderline-useless BA keyword hold her back severely. In fact, here the BA keyword is not only difficult to use (getting all 5 in range when the ship is healthy), but it shortens the range of the cannons and usually isn’t worth it to put all your shots in one die roll.

-Like I said, I think all of these are quite close. A very good argument could be made to have them in the opposite order, especially if you emphasize mega-gunship setups and how important the DJC version is to the Cursed (while the PotC versions aren’t nearly as vital to the Pirate gunship options).

Empress
1. Empress 
2. Empress (undamaged) 

Again, very close here. This is just a tossup between a player’s preference: wicked cannons or slightly better speed. The undamaged version is probably better in smaller (build total) and more competitive games with the higher speed and lower cost, but I like the “dreadnought” type of ship better sometimes. XD

Captain Jack Sparrow
1. Captain Jack Sparrow 
No contest here, as this is arguably the best named crew in the entire game.
2. Cursed Captain Jack 
This version is ANNOYING! XD Really good though, especially in huge games.
3. Jack Sparrow 
Good but pales in comparison to the others.

Davy Jones
1. Davy Jones 
Really getting out of the PotC set here lol, but the theme is good enough. I’ve found this one to be more useful than the copier version, but I do need to use the copier more to really know. Either way both are far better as the game gets bigger and bigger.
2. Davy Jones 
3. Captain Davy Jones 
One of the most unique and confusing crew in the game, but not usually worth using when you can get better crew for less or equivalent points.

Barbossa
1. Captain Barbossa 
2. Cursed Captain Barbossa 

World hater vs. Fear is really no contest even when Fear is priced appropriately at 2 points.

Will Turner
1. Will Turner 
I’m not a huge user of either secondary ability, but I much prefer the option to S-board for the extra point compared to…
2. Will Turner 
… one of the most overrated abilities in the game, and one that almost never proves decisive in actual games. I can’t remember the last time this ability actually turned a boarding party, let alone influenced the end result of a game.

Ms. Swann
1. Captain Elizabeth Swann 
2. Elizabeth Swann 

This is a tossup and it depends completely on the build total. Rerolls are easy enough to come by in campaign games, but the AA (Admiral’s Action) ability is VERY good the longer the game goes and the higher the build total is. Of course, in most games people play (aka 60 points and below), reroll wins easily.

James Norrington
1. Admiral James Norrington 
2. Norrington 

THE KRAKEN!!
1. The Kraken 
2. Kray-kin 
3. Beastie 
4. A Fearsome Creature 

Kind of a tossup between the two pairs – can you afford the more expensive/better one, or do you need those points elsewhere to complete your fleet.

Post your disagreements, opinions, and your own rankings! 

Original thread at Miniature Trading

The Pirates of the Caribbean set marked a number of changes to the game. The ships had new masts that were less prone to breaking, rounder tabs for easier construction, and no more pennant flags. These changes were generally for the better, but the set was marred by a variety of things. These included a collation fiasco with entire booster boxes full of commons (and yes, some full of super rare packs), and just 2 factions despite the Cursed being a strange omission.

I like the set a lot, and think it was a cool business and marketing move for both parties. It’s awesome to see our favorite characters and ships from the movies in the game, and it can lead to fun ironies and cool games.

Here are my Top 10 game pieces from the PotC set:

1. Captain Jack Sparrow

I’ve played so many games by this point that my entire list can almost be strictly based on game results, which is what matters. CJS is arguably the best crew in the entire game, as proved by VASSAL Tournaments #1 and #2. You could make a case that he is the single best game piece ever released by Wizkids. When most of the best fleets in the history of the game have this guy as their centerpiece, you know he’s amazing, and you also know that something went wrong. I do find it rather ironic that our beloved character is such a dominant force in the game, since he’s such a major character in the movies as well.

2. HMS Endeavour

Just about on par with El Acorazado and the Constitution as the best gunship in the game. Combine the best guns money can buy with just about the best offensive ship ability in the game, and give those to the most offensively-minded faction, and you’ve got a warship for the ages.

3. Jolly Mon 

Captain Jack’s little boat from the first movie, this thing was an ugly addition to the game. It comes as close as you can get to having a free ship, though it’s nearly useless. The problem is, you can easily abuse it by letting it sit at home all game with The Hag of Tortuga aboard. It may not seem like such a pitiful vessel should be ranked so highly, but when it enables you to add an extra 4 points into the game at nearly no downside, it just about becomes overpowered for the net benefit. ( Banshee’s Cry + explorer, Rover + Mermaid , Le Coeur du Lion + navigator, events; the list goes on and on)

4. Hai Peng

But where would Captain Jack Sparrow be without a ship? It might not be a ship he even sailed on in the movies, but the Hai Peng is the fastest ship in the entire game, and the fleets involved in T1 and T2 prove how insanely effective it is to pair them up. The only reason the Hai Peng isn’t higher is because without CJS, the HP wouldn’t be as ridiculously good.

5. Tia Dalma 

And where would the best faction in the game be without a canceller? Well, the truth is, still pretty darn good, but having a canceller is like a necessity for a faction. They are usually the best crew outside of the Big 3 generic crew (captain/helmsman/explorer), and sometimes even outperform those guys over the long haul of a solid game. Their versatility and value for your points almost cannot be overstated.

6. Black Pearl 

One of the best gunships in the game. With a captain and helmsman for 22 points, capable of moving L+S+S with 2L,1L,1L,2L guns. Throw in extra actions and she’s tough to beat. (Flavor text is one of my favorite quotes from the movies)

7. Dragon 

A somewhat underrated gold runner, understandable given her faction affiliation. Another example of negative abilities being a net positive for most of the ships that have them.

8. Jimmy Legs / Mercer 

Though still underpriced, the sac ability is just insanely good. These two are actually underrated due to the prevalence of sac captains. Mercer is more important due to the Pirate sac captains, but both are very valuable to fleets using them. Similar to the statements on cancellers – they’re just so so good.

9. Jailhouse Dog 

This is a “fun-ruiner” UT that I’m not a fan of, but being able to cancel any UT in the game is very powerful. You can even affect gold scores by knocking something like Barbary Banner out of the game.

10. Cursed Captain Jack 

The last spot was tough, but I had to give it to a unique crew who can dramatically affect a game. This version of Captain Jack has two of the better abilities you can have, and either one can really affect the results of a game. Parley is underrated, especially as a potential offensive weapon, while the other ability is just super obnoxious. This one crew completely altered the strategy of the Cursed faction in VASSAL Campaign Game 1, and likely other factions as well if the Cursed hadn’t “dealt” with him. 

Just missed (in no particular order): Captain Elizabeth Swann , Damsel In Distress , Black Pearl (damaged) , Paradox , HMS Hound , HMS Hyena , Lord Cutler Beckett , Kraken Gong , Kray-kin , The Kraken 

Honorable mentions, in no particular order: Flying Dutchman , Flying Dutchman , HMS Trepassey , Song , Jack Sparrow , Wicked Wench , HMS Interceptor , Swift , HMS Victor , Calypso ,Captain Sao Feng , Captain Barbossa , Admiral James Norrington , Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight , Dead Man’s Chest , Potions and Brews , Capitaine Chevalle , HMS Phoenix

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. HMS Grand Temple

This isn’t English bias, this is results and experience.

2. Calico Cat / Crimson Angel 

Should cost 9 and 7 points respectively, these two are some of the best crew ever.

3. Zeus

Can be crewed a variety of ways to dominate in any build total. Was a competitive beast in tournaments then and now (such as RedDragon’s SOE fleet, and T1, among many others I would assume).

4. Whirlpools 

A brand-new terrain piece that lets me teleport with almost no drawback? Sign me up! As unrealistic as they are, I believe whirlpools changed the game for the better. As a great option for both gold runners (getting to islands faster and making slow speed less of a hindrance) and gunships (sneak attacks, escape routes), they’re also one of the “best” game pieces you can use, and often more fun and relevant than other terrain. (which just gets easily avoided and ignored)

5. Davy Jones / Emperor Blackheart 

Insanely good, especially as the game size gets bigger, and bigger, and… HUGE!  (at least 1,000 total points)

6. Le Coeur du Lion

A ship that can do a variety of things somewhat well, and provides an excellent spot for certain named crew when needed. Nearly free cost cannot be ignored.

7. Virtuous Wind 

One of the best hybrids and stacked ships in the game.

8. El Algeciras 

Sick of her, but great bargain-bin firepower.

9. El Fantasma 

Sac captains are about as good as crew get, and here the Cursed got what is arguably their most practical named crew. Just so good, and makes the Cursed more viable as a faction.

10. Deliverance 

Faster than the other 5 masters in the set with a very similar point cost, and tied as the fastest 5 master in existence.

Just missed (in no particular order): Lost , USS Constitution , Le Gaule , HMS Victoria , Ghost Walker , La Bonne Chance , Divine Dragon ,

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): Francesca , Guinee , Raninoidea , Sea Rat , Seleucis , Captain Montana Mays , Protection from Davy Jones , Bilge , Sea Crane , Sea Duck , Sea Tiger , various similar 4 masters

1. USS Kettering 

2. Odin’s Revenge 

3. White Rose 

I’ll try not to underestimate this one any more. I’d also like to use her more often.

4. Loki’s Revenge 

5. Diamond Strike 

Two of the best abilities in the game built in to the same ship! Yes please!

6. La Delacroix 

I love this ship, just think the other ones are a little better.

7. USS Albany 

So many potential combos; yes the speed is lacking but everything else makes up for it.

8. La Dijon 

9. La Lyon 

10. Icebergs/ Runes of Odin / Runes of Magic 

Absolutely cannot deny the power of these. Tough to use together, but game-changing when it works.

Just missed: Muninn , Grim the Savage , tie between Baba Yaga / USS Atlanta / La Tartessos 

Honorable Mentions: Naegling , Huginn , Asgard , Hrothgar , Donar , Sleipnir , Hlidskjalf , Sigurd Andersen , Shayna Duex , Gruesome , HMS Orkney , HMS Royal , El Rosal , El Alma , Duque Alfonzo de Castilla , Marianne , Amiral Louis Cartier , USS Sioux , USS Maryland , Runes of Thor , Runes of Loki , Runes of Death , Kalaallit , Kalmar , Serpent’s Fang , Polaris

Original thread on Miniature Trading