A Full Round!
As you could guess from the title, I was able to play a full round of turns today, from the English to the Cursed in this case.
If I hadn’t mentioned it as a house rule already, I am allowing shipwrights to repair fire masts.
The Meresman returns to the Caribbean, where she informs the fleet of the total loss to the Pirates.
However, what English ships couldn’t escape the Sea of Allost put up a good final fight in the meantime! The Plantagenet towed the Dunlap to send the latter through the whirlpool and back to safety, shooting a firepot into the Revenge at the same time.
The Wycliffe shot a mast off the Fool’s Hope, while the Hastings unsuccessfully boarded the Black Arrow.
The Guy Fawkes ignites the Deliverance, but the Belle of Exeter misses most of her shots.
Of the 10 English ships sent to fight the Pirates, only 5 are able to return to the Caribbean. The other 5 will likely be captured by the Pirates.
Plenty of other English gunships had been preparing to take the plunge to Allost, but after the blowout loss and the Pirates limiting how many ships can emerge from the whirlpool, the English are considering other options.
The Principe de Asturias sets out, as the Cristal del Obispo cashes in her luxuries. The Ebro will dock next turn to increase the Spanish store to 30 gold, at which point they plan to launch the San Cristobal!
In the Sea of Karkuda, the Spanish “miracle” continues, with the Granada going 2/3 and the Spanish having a good turn overall. In a way they’re fighting on their home field, since the Castle was built by the Spanish long ago. They are hell-bent on retaking it!
The Kentucky is finally dismasted, and will burn to the waterline if the Americans cannot save her!
The Spanish 5-ship reinforcement squadron has finally arrived, and will provide some life into the Spanish attack now that the Santa Ana, Corazon Dorado, and Asesino de la Nave have all been crippled.
The Spanish are not planning to send any of their damaged ships back to the Caribbean. They are intent upon capturing the Castle and using it to repair once they have driven the Americans out.
A perspective from the American side, with the Granada acting as a block ship:
The French turn!
As usual, very crowded logistics at the Harbor as the French continue to restore order after the Cursed attack.
VERY crowded indeed:
Similar to the Pirates, the French have begun to surround their whirlpools in an effort to prevent hostile attackers from invading:
Le Loup-Garou is back from the Caribbean, but rolls a 6 and cannot discover the Sea of Allost.
Amiral Louis Cartier strikes again! He has been incredibly successful with his EA rolls in this game, and this one let him sail the Delacroix from near the lighthouse island around Fish Island and to the USS Mercury! The French open fire! The Mercury is hit 4 times, and the French have opened up another theater of the battle.
Indeed, with the Spanish reinforcements clogging the narrow entrance to the Castle up north, 6+ French gunships are now headed south to invade American waters from the east.
The Mercure speeds west towards the American battle, while the Rocher Noir and Espadon head south to combat the pesky Mercenaries. The Tepant is anchored by the Harbor entrance as a guard ship. At the upper left, the Profeta is the latest Spanish arrival from the whirlpool, but there will be a considerable delay between the 5 Spanish ships mentioned earlier and any future Spanish reinforcements. The Resolucion and Principe are also on their way in the Caribbean, but each Spanish ship is spaced apart, so there will not be a sudden flood of Spanish ships entering the Castle area anytime soon.
Unable to get in range of American ships, some French blockade runners use their time to chain tow the Pequod close to The Flat, where the Monaque and Aaron Burr will also undergo repairs.
Disaster for the Americans! The Franklin is dismasted and set aflame!
Up north, the Superbe flees after the Kettering cancelled Arathiel’s sac ability. This allowed the Conquerant to round the stern of the Jarvis and shoot at the Kettering, but she went 0/2 and jammed her flamethrower! XD Le Gaule dismasted the Jarvis, but it was a mix of extreme success and extreme failure on this French turn.
Other than the Franklin, here is perhaps the greatest successes! The Neptune hit the President with stinkpot shot, freezing Commodore Preble and his crew for the American turn! This denies them the potential usage of his AA ability, while the French got their own from Gaston on this turn. Gaston and Deleflote combined to give two French capital ships double actions this turn: the Neptune repaired and sailed out, replacing the Ville de Paris, who sailed to The Flat to carry out her own repairs! In the background looms an important figure yet to see action in this battle: Lenoir’s own ship, the Dauphin Royal!
A grim scene for American fans, with Preble himself in trouble and the Franklin likely doomed to fire.
The Franklin was in “the spot” as it’s coming to be known, with yet another capital ship dismasted in nearly the exact same area. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle of Command the Oceans, right between the lumber island, Flat, and Castle.
And now for some zoomed out shots to show the scope of the battle between the Franco-Spanish and the Americans.
The battle stretches the entire length of the Sea of Karkuda!! From the Delacroix vs. Mercury south of Fish Island, to the action northwest of the lumber island:
The American turn! First off, notice the President hiding in a fog bank. In what could become a future Battle of the Heroes, Lenoir (aboard the Dauphin Royal and in range of Preble’s ship) cancelled the President’s reroll ability right after the fire aboard the President spread! With Preble already out of action due to the stinkpot shot from the Neptune, Lenoir was free to cancel the reroll ability to ensure the fire DID spread. This burnt the President’s second mast, and the Americans suffered a morale loss when Preble fled into the fog. He will sail home for repairs.
With no way to save the Franklin, the Americans sadly let her sink early in their turn. However, this cleared space for the Intrepid and Concordia to get revenge!!
The Intrepid walloped the Neptune on 3/4 shooting, including an exploding shot! The Concordia, Horizon, and Julius Caesar teamed up to dismast the Mont Blanc. The carnage continues to mount!
The Boston, Saratoga and Hudson are getting in action, taking the places of the Franklin, President, and Overton. In the north, the Kettering chain tows the Jarvis back to the Nene-nui and goes 3/6 to damage the Gaule and Conquerant:
With the exception of HMS Henry VIII, the English have left Karkuda. The Americans are establishing a close blockade of the whirlpool and towing the last Pirate captures back home for repairs.
A few closeups to show the debris-laden battlefield; keep in mind this is AFTER some ships repaired so the wreckage was actually more dense! However, you can see it more clearly now that there aren’t as many ships sailing over the masts.
Even the deep southwest corner of Karkuda has seen considerable carnage:
The Americans start their Castle operations with a bang! After the Mercury flees into the fog, the Hornet, Mohican and Atlanta took over combat duties. The ships combined to go 5/7, setting the Delacroix on fire and likely sending Amiral Louis Cartier and Jordan Dumas scurrying away for repairs next turn!
The Granada loses one mast, partly because the Americans can’t get more than around 5 shots in range of her.
The Kentucky burns and sinks. She has been outnumbered since she was launched I believe, but put up a spirited defense of the Castle while she could. The Harlequin and Gold Eagle (both damaged) are now responsible for holding the northeastern area of the Castle, likely an impossible task given the Franco-Spanish onslaught coming from the north. However, the Harlequin proves her worth, setting the Asesino aflame and almost definitely dooming the ship! (“almost” barring any bizarre interference or some kind of shipwright transfer miracle XD) This continues the stalemate/indecisive battling trend, where factions trade huge blows but struggle to win territory (such as the Monaque momentum shifts on both sides of the French-American battle, and now the Charlemagne/Franklin morale shifts). Since this resembles historical warfare (especially sea battles in the 1600’s) I’m quite fine with it. XD It will be interesting to see who wins the war of attrition!
American artillery lands a hit on the Serpiente from beyond normal range due to the height of the firing arc:
The Castle situation. The Enterprise got a bad fog roll and still hasn’t seen battle. Wayne Nolan (her commander) has grown frustrated, unable to reach the Pirate battle due to carrying the Castle fort upgrade and now unable to reach the Franco-Spanish battle due to crowded quarters and foggy conditions. Two gunships on each side are crippled and hide in the fog.
Destruction at the Battle for the Castle!
The Colonial Trader unloads infantry reinforcements at the Castle:
I didn’t realize it until today, but the lower ledges provide great spots for infantry units:
The Albany has begun burning wildly and out of control! However, with Commander Crenshaw and many expensive cannons aboard, the Americans are desperate to save her! Through some chain towing logistics they will likely be able to dock her home next turn.
The near beach on the big northwestern island has run out of textiles!
Some pictures of Karkuda:
The Turn 72 graveyard, though I think I’m missing some I had already put away. The Americans have lost some points (Brandywine was a Jade ship when she sunk though), including two large gunships (one of which is one of their best).
Turn 73!! The resource roll was not a 1, and there are now 3 turns remaining until the next major change.
The Sunrise Fire braves Shipwreck Cove to access Pearl Island! Next turn she may become the first ship to explore the island! The final frontier is upon us! XD
The crew of the Celtic Fury have climbed back up the ladder and begin drilling operations!
There they are!! XD
The Pirates clean up against the English:
The Revenge partially succumbs to the flames and may need cargo ships to get out of her way at the kingdom, to the high annoyance of many captains….
The Guy Fawkes and Belle of Exeter are dismasted:
The Wycliffe is doomed to burn, while the Hastings is simply sunk outright. That might make the Hastings the largest ship to sink by pure cannon fire and not from fire masts.
The Rickets and White Rose dismasted the Plantagenet, who was captured by the Dolphin and thrown into the whirlpool by the tow.
The Pirates purposely placed her at the northern whirlpool so they could tow the ship a smaller distance to Dead Man’s Point. The gunships lined up at the right are repairing with shipwrights, but they will have to move soon to make way for the Sea Nymph and Akua Lapu (who put out her fire mast!).
A somewhat rare view looking west along the northern wall of the Tunnel, showing the defensive line the Pirates are assembling:
The Pirates launched a bit at the end of their turn: two of their four krakens, with the Just Wind as a new support gunship.
Left of the horribly mauled Fuchuan, the Picaroon will soon begin repairing masts. I have taken most of the masts from the Karkuda battlefield out so ships can repair more easily without me having to go back and forth between rooms to grab masts in the debris field. XD
The JR-Cursed War
The Jades begin their turn! The Wiglaf goes a miserable 1/4 (musketeer and reroll from Shayna Deux providing the additional shots), but the Whydah loses a mast to the Dragon’s Talon.
Numerous galleys team up to set the Poor Adams on fire!
The captured Executioner repairs a mast, and the Fire Djinn sets the Flying Dutchman on fire yet again! (third time in this battle I believe)
The Donar and Ivory Star combine to go just 2/7, leaving two masts on the Spilled Salt:
However, in a short-lived and rare battle of longships, the Asgard goes 4/4 to dismast the Serpent’s Fang!
The flood of galleys advances slightly, with the Majestic losing her third and final crew to the Cursed horde.
Against all odds, with a huge miraculous effort the Jades somehow manage to save the Beowulf from burning to the waterline!! The Nubian Prince began the chain tow, and no less than 7 different ships towed the Beowulf at some point during the turn! However, the Jades needed some kind of double action for the last ship to not only begin towing the ship, but also to bring her home. The Grand Temple finally got a decent fog roll and succeeded with her SAT to move twice, towing the Beowulf and docking her home to extinguish the flames!
One of the great rescue efforts in history, and the Jades still have both their icebreakers in play.
A shot from the Jade HI looking at the gates of the Roost:
The ships in the northeastern area finally do some damage, hitting the Rook’s Folly once and the Knight’s Errant 4 times:
The Polaris eliminates part of the big berg as the Loki flees into the fog:
The Yggdrasil also finds temporary shelter in the fog, but one Jade ship has made an ill-fated decision to chase the Fleur de la Mort into the Tunnel…
The Floating Stone connects, but the Pirates will likely blast the ship to pieces on their turn.
From above, looking at the entire front:
The Cursed begin their turn, and The Headhunter gets his first 6 of the game!! O_O
It is true that luck would be on the side of evil on this day! The Whydah sets the Wiglaf alight, dismasts the Proud Tortoise, and captures the Hrothgar!!
The Poor Adams sails away to repair, dismasting the Ragnarok in the process! The Flying Dutchman reverses direction and tows the Scorpion, who is immediately scuttled due to her Eternal keyword!
The Pyre becomes ghostly to reach the Wiglaf, and hits 2/2 to dismast the ship!
Sea monsters rise! Gog-Clocthoth and Slarg Gubbit surface, pinning the Grand Mountain and Sultan’s Sword.
And now for the climax of the Cursed turn!! Davy Jones copies the fog hopper ability, sending the Guichuan to the fog bank just southeast of Broken Horn Island!! O_O
One of the Cursed weapons is aboard! They have been saving this UT for ages! Poseidon’s Breath!
Moving a full 10S (!), the Guichuan goes around the Jade wild island and almost reaches their home island!! However, The Headhunter and Davy Jones agree to turn north, right into the Jade trade route to the wild island!!
With a very potent combo (DJ+fog hopper+Poseidon’s Breath), the biggest ship in the game is suddenly interfering with JR cargo ships!
The Guichuan went 6/11 (with a musketeer) on her first shoot action, knocking masts off the Grand Wind and Sea Wind.
You can probably guess which ship got the Headhunter’s AA this turn….
Here you can see the immense height of the Roost as it towers over even the Guichuan:
The immensity of this game, which perhaps no on else can match…
The Guichuan’s second action of the turn rips spar from sail! A 7/11 effort sees the Sea Tiger dismasted and the Grand Wind badly damaged.
Davy Jones’ supernatural powers kept the Guichuan’s 10th mast from falling until the end of their overall turn (the drawback of Poseidon’s Breath).
Surveying the damage, with the Executioner recaptured after the Flying Dutchman dismasted her.
From left to right: the Monkey’s Paw has finally dismasted the Fire Djinn, so she will be of no further harm to the FD. The Donar finally loses a mast and is hit with Fear. The crew of the Ivory Star is similarly scared, while Namazu uses the bonus of the Serpent’s Fang to get in position (while submerged of course)… could another wave attack be coming soon? Right by the entrance to the Roost, the Cursed keep the Asgard from entering the huge hallway the Cursed call home, the Grim Reaper and Death’s Anchor hitting enough times to dismast the longship.
And even that wasn’t quite it! Shal-Bala has settled into position, stalking the Sea Snake as she makes her way to the wild island.
One of the best turns in Cursed faction history concludes with the launch of my last two Death’s Anchor flotillas, here positioned as guard towers to prevent any foolish souls from entering….
To conclude a Cursed turn for the ages:
Wiglaf, Ragnarok, Fire Djinn, Asgard, and Sea Tiger dismasted
Scorpion and Executioner recaptured; Hrothgar captured
Sea monsters surfacing and Namazu now in position
Guichuan hits Jade trade with 13/22 shooting (very good for me on the rolls, since I have a HORRIBLE history of shooting with 10 masters)
Have all 5 of their available flotillas in play
By the way, here is the entire deckplate area in Room #2, which is by far the largest single area I have available. There are 11 full columns, with ships placed as close together as possible to save space. I counted 178 deckplates, so this picture represents only a little over a third of all ships in play (just over 500 total). O_O
