Welcome to Ice World 2022. Simple idea: Three fleets featuring at least one Ice Breaker each. All Wild Islands are situated inside a ring of icebergs. While Ice Breakers are meant to forge a path and deal with the bergs quickly, the ever changing map could become a frosty sea of terror for hopeful treasure runners. Standard set up, however random gold amounts were chosen to be placed on islands along with four random Frozen North UT’s. Mostly an excuse to give some new Frozen North ships their Maiden Voyages.
Vikings v French v Spanish
All three fleets begin their journey and make a path into the fray. Immediately, Le Breton takes the first hit from a moving iceberg.
Without missing a beat, Le Breton continues to open up the path for her fleet, while La Dijon makes the first explore action. Le Coeur de Lion stays close to her cohorts, and La Lyon heads North into Viking territory.
Le Lyon sees her chance to claim the offensive upper hand in the North, and moves to attack Muninn. Unfortunately, she misses all three of her rank 1 cannon shots, but Gendarmerie Rene Moreau manages to successfully make his only attack in the game.
With a successful extra action, courtesy of Sigurd Anderson, Muninn obliterates Le Lyon just for having disrespected her so blatantly. Polaris and Beowolf continue their path of treasure collecting in the North.
Le Breton has another close call with an ice berg but narrowly evades its clutches. Back at the French Port, Le Coeur de Lion uses Runes of Speed, which she acquired at a mid positioned island, to return home and hastily evade the encroaching Muninn Murderer. La Dijon sneaks through the icebergs, avoiding damage and finishing off the initial scoring turn of the game.
Having made her way across the Southern edge of the map to threaten the French, La Tartessos finds herself in the death path of Muninn. Muninn relieves the Spanish behemoth of two masts.
Feeling free of La Tartesso’s threats, Le Coeur de Lion makes her way out to collect more treasure, while Le Dijon hides in the fog. La Hada remains safe at a central wild island with the help of Bianco and his Haulers, and the Vikings prepare to take treasure from two more islands in the North.
In a poor choice of allegiance, La Tartessos tests her might on the passing Coeur de Lion, dismasting and sinking the sneaky French vessel.
Still unable to attack La Hada, Muninn aims to finish the job she started on La Tartessos, and completely dismasts her.
Meanwhile, Le Dijon gets her first taste of ice while returning to the West to secure some previously explored islands. Exceeding French dismay, her cohorts get another taste of death in the South when Muninn swiftly sinks Le Breton.
While their gunship is securing offensive prowess in the South, Beowolf and Polaris return home with gold and some newly acquired Unique Treasures they are preparing to deploy.
The French get some karmic revenge rolling an iceberg combo that sends it directly into the bow of Muninn.
Later, La Hada finally makes her way home with a large amount of gold. Muninn gives chase, hoping to use her last remaining bit of firepower to thwart the Spanish.
El Profeta prepares to explore a wild island that protects her from an incoming iceberg. La Dijon also sees a second iceberg locking into place on the island she had just explored.
Doing her best to make haste, La Hada nearly arrives to the safety of home. But the Vikings are watching close and determined to stop Spanish progression without having their say. El Profeta finds the final Unique Treasure, but keeps her acquisition a secret.
In the West, the same iceberg that pestered La Dijon previously, returns to stop her dead in her tracks. With a decent amount of treasure aboard, the shipwreck becomes a focal point for the opposing nations.
Vikings unleash Runes of Magic on a nearby iceberg sending it directly into the port side of La Hada.
Muninn now has her chance to bring the Spanish vessel to a full stop, and does so, derelicting La Hada with two successful shots.
In the North, Beowolf utilizes Runes of the Serpent to dock at a nearby iceberg. With many prospects on multiple sides of the map, the Viking captain is unsure of where to appear next turn.
Seeing El Profeta make way towards home, and the derelict La Hada, Muninn rams into the last remaining Spanish vessel that is able to move. After a risky boarding party, Muninn loses her devastatingly useful Helmsman.
El Profeta continues home undeterred and leaves behind a present of Fear…no not that Fear….the fear of Odin!!
Beowolf arrives on the opposite side of the map via iceberg, and immediately explores a hotly contested wild island.
Muninn takes a center position aiming to protect the last unexplored island in the game, and attempting to move away from the Red Odin-Berg. The Odin-Berg moves North towards the unexplored island, along with three other icebergs blocking the direct path.
As El Profeta makes her dash towards the island, Muninn cuts her off, fires, and removes two masts from El Profeta. Odin-Berg begins to return to the fray.
Polaris spends several turns making her way towards the lucrative shipwreck that was the Le Dijon, but just as she arrives within range the capture, a successful scuttle from the previous turn is activated. The French have officially exited the game.
After a missed attempt to dismast Muninn, El Profeta continues to race towards the last bits of unclaimed treasure.
As Odin-Berg heads directly towards her, Muninn circles around, staying close to the desperate and wounded Spanish vessel but elects not to attack. Muninn uses a second action to move even closer to El Profeta.
Odin-Berg seems to be maliciously targeting Muninn, but stops just short of smashing into her stern. Odin-Berg could not be any closer to possibly changing the outcome of the game.
Polaris reaches the unexplored island and takes treasure aboard, giving the Vikings an interest in ending the game.
Securing her reputation as the game’s MVP and military powerhouse, Muninn fires and sinks El Profeta, removing the Spanish from the game and bringing a close to standard play.
A Surprising victory, both offensively and economically!!!
French: 17
Spanish: 16
Vikings: 27
Bird’s eye view of the carnage that was Ice World