Crew Recycling 2.0

Originally published to Miniature Trading on September 11th, 2015

I experimented with a strategy I call “crew recycling” a while back, and battle reports can be found here and here.

This is yet another “gimmick” fleet of mine, and this is the second and much larger version. If you’re wondering what crew recycling is, check out Captain Davy Jones and Wraith. The entire idea is to eliminate as many crew as possible, and then roll 6’s to take control of them. The crew can then assist the two flagships in eliminating the other player’s fleet. It’s a rather evil tactic. 

The Flying Dutchman may not have the most accurate cannons, but she has 5 of them and a huge boarding advantage: she boards like a 6 master, kills all crew when successful, and has reroll and a sacrificial oarsman just for good measure! In addition, Fear could help once in a while. In addition to the boatload of crew abilities, the Dutchman can turn ghostly and can’t sink, making her a perfect and almost invincible flagship.

It was TOUGH to get the Cristal’s crew to work out. First of all I had to figure out a way to get the Cursed Wraith aboard, but the Inquisitor was perfect with his Black Mark keyword. Originally I had a similar setup, but then I realized that Black Mark increases the overall cost of the crew’s points to 17, while the ship costs 16. Then, to compensate for the extra point, I put Luis Zuan aboard, but then realized he was hostile to Pirates (plus he would have to be Cursed). After that, I saw that the Cristal had enough cargo space (especially with the Inquisitor’s link) to load another crew, and Edmund fits perfectly to lower the cost down to 14 overall, then back up to 15 with Black Mark. Whew!

However, it was worth it, since the Cristal is extremely dangerous. She is a potent offensive and defensive threat, and she’ll concentrate on attacking and boarding enemy ships to kill all their crew. She doesn’t have eternal, oarsman, and +1 to boarding rolls like the Dutchman, but she makes for a perfect (considering the Inquisition) co-flagship in this fleet.

The third ship is incredibly brutal. El Rosal is an underrated schooner from the Frozen North, and she’s got two crew aboard to help this fleet’s goal of getting the dead to DJ and Wraith: Castilla and Kian Ng. The first hit will eliminate 2 crew, and every hit thereafter will eliminate one. The Rosal also has the reverse captain ability and enough speed to tow one of the best flotillas in the game: the Armada.

It’s always fun to think about putting crew on a flotilla, and the Armada shines in this regard with her high cost of 9 points. The first crew is Bianco, who lets Castro come aboard and give the ship SAT capabilities, which will allow the ship to shoot twice per turn! Next, Vaccaro links to Castro, so he doesn’t need his own cargo space. In this way, his reroll provides a perfect complement to the SAT roll, and if the SAT roll is successful the first time, his reroll can be used to re-fire one of the deadly cannons!

All told, when the Rosal and Armada come to town, up to THIRTEEN crew (13!) will be eliminated, which means that DJ and Wraith will be VERY busy rolling for 6’s!

The Royal James is a classic schooner from one of the best sets, and she carries above average stats in every category. With Chevalle and a captain, the RJ can cut through enemies and ferry more bodies to DJ and Wraith to recycle. Just like the Rosal, her first hit will eliminate two crew (if no treasure on the enemy ship of course). 

After reviewing the Rules Thread, I decided to add a kraken to complement Davy Jones, with his “target” ability. However, this kraken is more to fill out the points and be intimidating than anything else. The +S bonus will help and makes this fleet very fitting given the theme. The kraken can suction off the faces of enemy crew, upon which they are eliminated by the other ships and “repurposed” or recycled for use in Davy Jones’ fleet!  Wow, this fleet is even more evil and sadistic than I realized. 

This Crew Recycling fleet is meant to be a gimmick fleet, and it would do better in a deathmatch. I had a lot of fun making it!
Thanks for reading; I’d love to see some comments and votes!

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