Nubian Prince is not nearly as effective as the Bonaparte, thankfully. She can be more of a nuisance than a ship that is actually effective at doing things. That said, she could jump to #4 if I face her again. Not sure how to rank her properly. Just such a horrid ability.
1. Darkhawk II
2. Native Canoes
-Sickeningly good compared to the other canoes, including the ones from RtSS I think (still need to use those more). 10 cargo for 10 points, spread out on 5 ships that move S+L and can chain their ability for maximum logistics perfection and evasion? Arguably should be #1. In huge games they would take the top spot since you can have as many as you have gold for, which gets crazy in a hurry.
3. HMS Dover
4. Raven
5. HMS Nautilus
6. Le Triton
-Boom! One of the most underrated ships of all time and one of my all time favorites! Awesome! Could make a case for as high as #4 too.
7. La Bonne Chance
8. HMS Phoenix
-Love this one, but the speeds of the above are tough to ignore. #’s 4-8 could be put in most orders and it would still look good though.
9. East Wind / East Wind
10. L’Eroica or USS James Madison
-L’Eroica is a bit of a wacky pick here, but underrated. SAT on a gold runner can be great especially in big games when you make multiple trips to the same island(s), and she even links to a free reroller! This could easily be changed with the first few of the just missed category though.
-I had the JM as the first ship of the next section, but it’s mostly a tossup of game type/size. The longer the game goes, the more likely it is that SAT will provide more value than the extra S speed and spying ability. (though both ships would probably have a helmsman too, though the JM is one of my favorite places to put the American chieftain)
Just missed: Le Courageux , Mourning Star (I’ve used her before and it’s difficult to get anything done or succeed in any way. Incredibly short striking range with S+S total speed (that’s difficult/impractical to improve) and S range guns), HMS Lord Walpole , Wicked Kareen , Sea Rat
El Paso is an honorable mention for me but only makes this list if it was limited to campaign/huge games. Fragile and lackluster for a canceller, not great in games at or under 100 points.
I HATE to leave the cancellers off this list, but they’re so easy to dismast with a ram and even capture quickly (though you should have helmsman+oarsman on both if possible). In huge games they’d get bumped to the 10th spot but they are certainly specialty pieces, more so than stuff like the Kettering and crew cancellers which are more like staples.
Just missed (along with those in the #10 spot XD): Half Moon, Ballista, Sea Crane, Fortune, Caledonia, Tiger’s Breath, Swift
6. La Belle Poule / Lynx
-9 points for 3 open spaces moving L+S. Nothing remarkable for the French but not bad. Or, S+S+S on the way out for 7 points, three coins at S+S on the way back.
10. Bonny Kate
-Never liked this one, it has just bothered me for some reason. I suppose I underrate it but I find her very boring. Solid case to be made that she shouldn’t make the Top 10… hmmm.
Just missed: Coral Le Republicain
-One of the most underrated support gunships out there.
Other Honorable Mentions not seen in thread yet: Proud Tortoise El Villalobos
-Trades any accuracy for speed, but these ships aren’t likely to be shooting much if at all. La Serpiente
-Direct downgrade of this Coeur, but still playable. La Anunciada
-Speed is great, and you can make her more dangerous with Kian Ng + Captain towing Armada . HMS Disraeli
1. Bloody Jewel
Compared to the Bon Marin: More cargo, more durability, more and better cannons.
2. Bon Marin
3. Longshanks
4. Griffin
5. Dragon/Queen of Sheba
6. Winds of Vengeance/Agha’s Whip
7. Marrakesh
-Somewhat boring empty gold runner, but durability can really matter.
8. Bilge
9. Princess
-Poor man’s Longshanks. There’s a solid argument for putting her at around #7, especially if you use Hammersmith .
10. Annapolis
Noble Swan is a good turtle ship, but still a 1 masted gunship without much gold running potential.
Honestly the Meresman and Sea King have not done well for me, and are not particularly good ships at all. HMS Ram is a better gunship most of the time, and even Beast’s Belly has the potential to do more damage in a game.
1. Intrepide
-I’ll take the extra mast and cargo space for the same cost over the Pique.
2. Pique
-I’ve never had much success with 1 masted gunships, so this is better off as an empty gold runner. Intrepide is just more valuable and useful IMO.
3. Rattlesnake
4. Cumberland
-Very close here, but the Rattlesnake will often be better as a gold runner than the Cumberland will be as a potential hybrid. Pretty much tied though.
5. Treachery/Chico
I like the Treachery better, but neither is all that great.
9. Picador
-I understand she’s not bad, I’ve just never really liked this ship at all. Can’t excel at anything, and the few times I’ve used her she’s done awful.
10. Rochefort
-Could make a case for this ship being #8 or 9. In fact these bottom 4 are almost interchangeable. Kind of underrated, but often best left near the home island for short gold trips and spying enthusiastically. (this one can look at crew and not just coins, so it can be a pretty solid ability)
This version of Fantasma is more effective for his cost, but Davy Jones’ capability to change games by himself and rolling 6’s in huge games gives him a slight edge.
I do like using him on the Pestilence, especially since the Cursed can just put generic navigators on the Nightmare if they want. Do both, and you might be able to fix the Cursed need for speed.
Sure it’s crazy, but Fear+AA+Hoard/Massacre for just 7 points? Definitely a good deal. I know you’re supposed to spend 37 points (or 42+…) when using him, but you might as well put him on a big ship even without the restriction. For all the talk about the Guichuan, her captain goes unnoticed at times.
Tough to pick for the last spot here. I like Wraith, but I’ve found his ability somewhat disappointing even in huge games.
El Fantasma just missed for me; there’s not much point in using him over the other versions, but still a decent crew. That’s part of the reason I like Fantasma so much in general – pretty much all versions of him are playable (including the Pirate ones).
“Screaming” Mimi / Tabitha McWarren are pretty decent in larger games and/or games with lots of players. Speaking of L, the L boosters ( Sargasso Nightmare / Hag of Tortuga ) are underrated and a solid way to fix the sea monster speed problem. Though all 4 of those crew are geared towards “gimmicky fun” than “win at all costs”.
Dishonorable mentions? Pretty much all the rest…
If you’d like to see some serious quantity and quality of Cursed named crew, check out my custom set on the 4th tab. I’m about to add some more, and suffice it to say that many of the Cursed crew I’ve made are more interesting and useful than many of the ones Wizkids came up with. It’s actually incredibly easy to come up with all sorts of nasty Cursed named crew, so it’s almost shocking that Wizkids couldn’t do a better job than just “here’s another Fantasma” and then run out of ideas. I’ll never be the biggest supporter of the Cursed, but man could they have been bigger, cooler, better, and so much more. Luckily Xerecs and I (and others) are working all the time to overcorrect that, for better or worse.
So important because he’s the perfect complement to many of their action generators. A bit less noteworthy for other factions, but amazing for the Americans. I’m not usually this high on basic reroll, but he’s so useful given their other named crew.
Firepower is firepower, and here’s a faction with lots of it. Constitution is my #1 option for either of these, but they have a plethora of great 5 masters that can put them to great use.
I still need to use Captain Charles Richard . He doesn’t have a ton of utility for the Americans (I get what you’re saying, but this isn’t “best Cursed crew”) and I can’t get over that negative and the doomsday scenario that could lose you a game with the wrong rolls at the wrong time. Very risky – like putting all your eggs in one basket and then bringing a raging elephant near that same basket.
I’ll never be the biggest supporter of the Cursed, but man could they have been bigger, cooler, better, and so much more. Luckily Xerecs and I (and others) are working all the time to overcorrect that, for better or worse. 
