The Cursed vs. an Imperialist Fleet at 100 points
The start of a new era! Let the giving begin!
The first game wasn’t a Sealed Pack game, but my opponent did receive a pack each of SM, RV, DJC, and OE, along with the obligatory MI submarine pack (lol!), not to mention a bunch of other duplicates I’m giving away.
It was a 2 player, 100 point game, with very tight spaces for ships and an interesting ocean layout.
The fleets went in the order of play as follows:
Cursed:
Skin Flayer + Sammy the Skull, White Crew, helmsman, firepot specialist, oarsman
Bloody Blade + captain, helmsman, oarsman
Sea Monkey + captain, explorer
Silver Coffin
Maman Brigitte + helmsman, explorer (that’s for you, el_cazador! lol)
Imperialists:
Le Gaule + captain, helmsman
Lepanto + Victor de Alva, helmsman
Cazador del Pirata + captain, helmsman, explorer
HMS Lord Cauldwell + helmsman, explorer
Enfant Terrible + helmsman
HMS Lucy’s Luck + helmsman
The setup featured two large arches as well as the huge island made by rossinaz, with 4 gold coins on each of the 5 beaches. There were other obstacles as well, including a huge sandbar and some dangerous rocks. Lastly, the Duke shipwreck made another appearance, with no less than 7 coins aboard. As normal, ships would have to roll for the reef to get to the shipwreck.
The Imperialist fleet – every ship is either English, French, or Spanish.
Most of the excitement would happen in the middle:
The Sea Monkey is towing the Silver Coffin as the infamous Maman Brigitte makes her way (slowly) underneath the arch.
The Bloody Blade and Skin Flayer mark a distinctive boarding theme for the Cursed fleet, and they head more towards the Duke shipwreck.
The Cursed sail underneath the arch into treacherous waters:
With consecutive extra actions from de Alva, the Lepanto is the first ship to reach the island. The rest of her fleet sails elegantly over the waves, which will soon be stained red by the horrors of the approaching Cursed.
The Enfant has just enough room to pass through the dangerous rocks, as the Lepanto explores and takes a coin.
An even tighter fit, the huge Le Gaule squeezes through next to the taller arch.
As the Sea Monkey and Maman Brigitte enter the middle area, conflict is inevitable.
I think I made the setup a little TOO cramped, but it made for interesting maneuvering!
War has begun! After taking a few coins courtesy of the Lord Cauldwell’s explorer, the Gaule is set upon by the Bloody Blade!
The Blade also succeeds with her only cannon in range.
All of the ships have converged on the middle area:
Between the guns of the Gaule and Cazador del Pirata and a ram from the Lord Cauldwell, the Bloody Blade is rendered derelict.
The Skin Flayer is hesitant to come to the Blade’s aid, especially with so many enemy guns still in the area.
However, the Blade wouldn’t go down without swinging (literally!), using her oarsman and scorpion blade to shred another mast from the Imperialist flagship.
An overhead shot of the game, still in its early stages. Treasure runners are making their way home, as the Skin Flayer looks to avoid further conflict, at least for the time being. The arches and rocks hinder her maneuverability near the Bloody Blade.
An excellent shot that actually shows all of the ships in play, as the Blade has gone down.
For a measure of revenge, the Silver Coffin takes a lucky potshot against the Cazador, using L+L range as the Sea Monkey tows her behind the rocks to safety.
The Imperialists bring back their gold:
As do the Cursed:
In a stunning move, the Cazador has built Ramsgate (from the RV pack!) on the sandbar, reasonably close to the Cursed HI!
The Skin Flayer eyes the new fort warily, eager to stay out of it’s L+L range. The Imperialists now have a sniping weapon of their own, although it’s not as mobile as the Silver Coffin.
The Cursed have explored the Duke shipwreck! The Sea Monkey rolled high, as did the Maman on the following turn.
The retracted blades of the Skin Flayer shine in the sun as the Maman takes more gold from the Duke.
Gold becomes more scarce as a repaired Le Gaule sails out.
More Super Rare action:
The Cursed bring back their shipwrecked gold as Sammy the Skull plots an assault against Ramsgate to destroy it and grab it’s gold.
More gold on its way to the Imperialist HI. Actually, all of the Imperialist ships are visible, as you can just make out the stern flag of the Lord Cauldwell.
The Cursed are annoyed with the fort, but now the Gaule approaches to defend it. To the left, you can see that the last gold coins in play are within range of the fort’s cannons, so Ramsgate is truly a thorn in the Cursed’s side here towards the end of the game.
Considerable amounts of gold are accumulating on both home islands:
The Silver Coffin snipes at the fort. The Sea Monkey acts as a shield, as Sammy knows the Skin Flayer is too important to lose on the next turn to the Gaule.
In the meantime, the Maman Brigitte tries to sneak back to the Duke…
Le Gaule has sunk the Sea Monkey! What will happen next is all too predictable…
It’s finally happened! The brand-new shiny steel blades of the Skin Flayer slash into the Gaule, and White Crew leap across to kill all of the Gaule’s crew!
The Skin Flayer also hits 3/4 times, including with her firepot specialist. The Silver Coffin is ineffective.
A great shot of the battle between flagships, with the sun glinting off the Skin Flayer’s blade, turning it almost a unique blue.
Another overhead shot, with the game winding down:
After more broadsides, the Gaule has damaged the Skin Flayer, but taken a horrific beating in return. Her automatic scuttle attempt fails.
The Maman can’t take gold from the Duke without being noticed! A well-timed EA from de Alva lets the Lepanto hit 3/3. I controlled the Cursed, and on my next turn, I deliberately tried to wreck the Maman (since I like wrecks and almost never see them), but rolled high once again.
The Lepanto dismasts the Maman and the Cazador begins towing her.
Ramsgate and the Lord Cauldwell team up to put an end to the Skin Flayer, but she’s still an Eternal ship with an oarsman aboard. To the left, the Lucy’s Luck and Enfant Terrible approach the last wild gold.
The Skin Flayer rows over her own wreckage. She still carries her full crew complement.
The Silver Coffin finally hits, tearing into the fort and taking a mast off the LC. Ramsgate only has the double-range cannon at this point. The last available coins have been loaded onto ships!
On the following turn, the Cazador explored the captured Maman to take her coins. The Lepanto sunk the Skin Flayer, who began repairing at her HI. However, it was obvious that the Skin Flayer would not be able to catch any of the Imperialist gold ships, so the game was called with that gold being transferred to the Imperialist home island.
With a relatively equal number of coins on each HI, it was anyone’s game. The gold was counted up, including the 4 on Ramsgate:
Cursed: 35 gold
Imperialists: 31
A very close finish! The Cursed’s first visit to the Duke shipwreck proved to be the decisive factor, as they found good values there. The Imperialists had more coins overall, but they had lesser values.
What a fantastic game! The Imperialists may have played a better overall game, but the Cursed got luckier with the gold. In addition, my penchant for risk-taking (with the reef) paid off in this case, though I was disappointed I couldn’t wreck the Maman Brigitte!