Debuting Four New Things!
11/30/2024
This was a 3 fleet, 60 point solo game, partly to playtest four new things I was excited to try out. It had a new atakebune ship, a new giant turtle, a new hydra, and a new island! As of the game time, I hadn’t finished artwork for the new custom sea creatures yet. I generally used the Restarting Rules, with the exception of a relatively random map setup. I went with 5 wild islands (instead of 6) with 5 coins per island. Of the 25 total random coins in play, 5 were random UT’s.
The fleets in play order:
Dutch – The Hybrid Swarm
Christiansvaern + captain, helmsman (17)
Amsterdam + captain (11)
Friesland + captain, explorer (13)
Prinses Maria + captain (10)
Volle Maan + explorer (9)
Japanese
Atakemaru + Kuki Yoshitaka, helmsman, Ōdzutsu (25)
Sengoku + helmsman, oarsman (9)
Minogame (蓑亀) (26)
Mercenary fleet w/Sub Hideout
Mušmaḫḫū (20) (Mercenary. Sea Monster. Hydra. If this hydra is hit with a cannon roll of 3 or lower, instead of eliminating a segment, repair up to two missing segments.) -That regenerative ability would later change
Nautilus + helmsman, explorer (19)
Barracuda + Osvaldo de Deus Celemente, helmsman (21)
Here’s my video overview:
Volle Maan starts things off! I generally took pictures of the first time each island was explored – treasures near a ship indicate they were loaded, while those closer to or on an island would stay there (going back face down, and of course not known to the other fleets).
Nautilus finds Rotting Hull, limiting her first take to just one coin. Barracuda submerges and goes south.
The Dutch aggressively split up their fleet, with Friesland whirling into the northeast. The Japanese sent their turtle in search of treasure, while Atakemaru looked to make her debut splash in some raiding combat against the Dutch.
Friesland couldn’t reach the island that Minogame was headed for, so she took a partial move to dock at a corner island. Triton’s Defense could actually come in handy against Mušmaḫḫū. Overall the Dutch were off to a strong exploratory start. They had a lot of cargo capacity for gold, the most ships in play, and went first. This led to the other factions realizing they might have to team up to stop a Dutch blowout.
Atakemaru gets in range but goes 0/4 against Christiansvaern!
However, Sengoku had a splendid attack against the Friesland! She won the board 9-6 and made off with a huge coin.
Mushmahhu surfaces to ram and pin Amsterdam in the northwest corner!
Christiansvaern goes 2/3 to damage Atakemaru, while Prinses Maria avoids loading the 7 because she anticipates being robbed of it on the upcoming Japanese turn.
Friesland barely escaped the northeast intact, but her misfortune is not over yet. A poor whirlpool roll forces the Dutch to make a frustrating decision, with Triton’s Defense going overboard to keep her captain and final mast intact. Just when I thought I might finally be able to use that UT successfully!
Atakemaru is not the only one looking to interrupt the Dutch path to quick riches….
Minogame finally explores, but finds a rogue feral marine ready to blow off one of its back flippers. A small loss compared to the 15 gold the Japanese currently have on these two units.
Japanese piracy is in full swing today! Although the Maria can’t be shot at while docked, she can certainly be rammed and boarded. Even more exciting was the Ōdzutsu scoring a big hit on Christiansvaern!
What the Dutch helmsman saw before being blasted:
Osvaldo de Deus Celemente (still facedown) has been growing bored and directs Barracuda to ram Volle Maan, dismasting the sloop. Barracuda uses her ability to board, taking out the Dutch explorer.
With a big 2/4 shoot action, Mushmahhu dismasts the Amsterdam! Suddenly the Dutch aren’t looking so good. Splitting their fleet has left them vulnerable to numerous raids, which are starting to exact a heavy toll.
With their ships damaged and under attack, the Dutch decide the best course of action is to build a fort in the south. Oranje will provide a base for repairs, protect their considerable stash at the southern island, and amp up their firepower in the area. Friesland docks home, and they already have 18 gold. However, Christiansvaern couldn’t damage Atakemaru, and Barracuda threatens any attempt to bring the fort gold to the Dutch home island (HI).
Sengoku unloads her stolen 7 while Atakemaru flees the southern hotspot. Mushmahhu has sunk Amsterdam in the northwest, who goes down with a 4 coin aboard. (Mercs have no way to tow here, and just wanted to finish her off)
Nautilus finally surfaces to enter the Submarine Hideout, allowing her to unload treasure!
The Mercenaries finally have a suitable home island option!
Volle Maan and Friesland repair. The Dutch are hoping for an opening to ferry treasure from the fort to home, but the Mercenaries have essentially enacted a blockade. Barracuda and now Mushmahhu are both submerged near the trade route, threatening to steal or sink any treasure that attempts to sail through. I made a mistake when Oranje shot a flag off Atakemaru (two 6’s in 2/5 snipe shooting), forgetting that Kuki Yoshitaka prevents fort hits. Minogame heads north, escorted by Sengoku. By this point the Japanese and Mercenaries had a full-on alliance, as the Dutch were clearly way in front when including their fort gold (I think 36 in total).
The Dutch make a questionable decision and split their fleet yet again, refusing to be held hostage by the Mercenaries and their stall tactics. Friesland whirls to the northwest to finish what Amsterdam started, but quickly becomes the second Dutch 3 master to be dismasted at the island. One mast was lost to the whirlpool, while Sengoku and her loud crew of angry boarders took down the others, stealing a 4 before scampering back to their atakebune.
The Mercs surface their attackers as an allied siege gets underway! Celemente was one of the biggest keys to this attack, finally revealing himself after many turns lying in wait. His Broadsides Attack was successful! This was perfect for the allies, going straight through the Christianvaern’s defensive ability and dismasting her. Mushmahhu unsuccessfully rammed Prinses Maria, but managed to take a flag off the fort.
The Japanese open up the eastern front, but Atakemaru goes 0/4! Oranje was pitiful across many turns in its self-defense, here going 1/4 to damage Barracuda.
The Dutch lose Christiansvaern, while Oranje misses everything.
With the Mercs doing most of the work, they’re wary of the Japanese using the turtle to just grab the gold once the fort is destroyed:
Oranje managed a second hit on Barracuda just before getting hit to become abandoned. This left the Mercs in the lurch, with no units capable of loading gold in the area. They submerged Mushmahhu and the derelict Barracuda (who was basically done for the game, with no oarsmen or shipwrights in their fleet). This sudden departure from strategy all but ended the Merc-Japanese alliance, with the main goal of the partnership achieved.
Prinses Maria had loaded 7,3,3 and broke for home, being met by the Volle Maan in case the latter could provide assistance. The Japanese are arriving… looking to have an endgame full of plunder.
Atakemaru destroys the fort, allowing Minogame to dock and start munching on the local shrubs. Sengoku comes flying in from the east, stern turning for maximum movement and ramming Prinses Maria to steal another 7 from the Dutch!
This is the final straw for the unfortunate Mercenaries, who never wanted to see the Japanese hoard all the wealth. Mushmahhu re-emerges after having repaired a head while underwater! The beast goes on an absolute rampage, somehow shooting 3/5 to de-flag Sengoku while ramming Volle Maan derelict!
This is where the rolls got even crazier. The Dutch got three 6’s in two turns to scuttle all their derelicts, officially taking them out of the game. Atakemaru got over a sandbar without hindrance, but couldn’t quite block the hydra from reaching Sengoku, as the latter could only move S+S with no flags (the hydra must have eaten half her oarsman last turn).
Mushmahhu gets all heads in range but goes 0 for 5 with abysmal rolls!
With yet another huge “luck swing”, Atakemaru goes 3/4 to cripple the beast!!
That shoot action essentially marked the end of play, with the Mercenaries having no hope of catching either Sengoku or Minogame before they returned home with their latest gold hauls. Nautilus had unloaded another coin by now but was too far away to help.
Scores:
1. Japanese: 40 gold
2. Dutch: 16
3. Mercenaries: 7
A blowout win for the Japanese! Their timely raids and lack of powerful opposition let their new ship types run wild. I think they really benefited from the Dutch splitting their fleet all over the map, and because neither of the opposing fleets had a “monster gunship” that can crush an atakebune easily. They also knew when to quit, fleeing battlefields at the opportune moment to ensure each of their stolen coins got home safely and would count towards their final score.
The Dutch probably had the fleet to beat, but this game further proves the danger of splitting up a fleet too much. Their huge gold deposits shined too bright in the early game, making them a ripe target. The Mercenaries had some fun but didn’t have enough cargo or speed to compete effectively in the gold race.
We almost saw fort-to-fort combat, as the Japanese were considering building a fort on Minogame and sending them after Oranje.
My observations led to some thinking after the game, and here are the results.
Changes made:
-Atakebune keyword: removed the part about a successful boarding party eliminating a mast from the enemy ship. This proved to be quite powerful, as losing a ram+boarding to an atakebune can really cripple any mid-size or smaller ships. This way they are still “boarding monsters”, but it’s not quite as devastating.
-Minogame point cost decreased from 26 to 24. It didn’t really get a good chance to use either of its abilities, but it feels expensive for what you get. (cost would later go down further)
-Musmahhu’s regeneration ability is changing: “Each time this hydra is hit, roll a d6; on a 6, you may repair up to two of its missing segments.” I don’t like how the “hits of 3 or lower” essentially punishes an opponent for paying for better cannons. I wanted to avoid extra d6 rolling because I don’t like having to roll an extra d6 for each hit/etc such as with Catamaran. However, this should work better. There were no regrown segments this game, but I think Musmahhu is fine otherwise.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to check out the products to use them in your own games! (Seas of Japan, Submarine Hideout, etc.)