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It has been 2 years since I started Command the Oceans. It became the largest recorded Pirates CSG game that I’ve heard of, and my finest effort to date.
I just fixed the fleet links (hopefully all of them) for VASSAL Tournament #1 and VASSAL Tournament #2. Between my own fleets at PwB and the others on the Internet Archive, we can see all the fleets! 😀
As a side note, anyone participating in Vendari’s VASSAL tournament may find the battle reports useful. There is a HUGE amount of strategy talk/thoughts in those big and long tournaments, with all the games being competitive standard (1v1 at 40 points).
Edit: Also just fixed links for the fleets in the 8 fleet game.
With the last report going up not too long ago, the Century of Economy 2019 playlist is now complete, and you can watch all of the reports back-to-back here.
Had a great time playing with Captain Randy at Treasure Island in Las Vegas! 😀
Probably my last physical game for quite a while: Post TG family game
Just finished rereading the reports for VASSAL Campaign Game 3, certainly one of my all time favorite games.
Got out the ships yesterday, and played the Defence of St. Helens for the first time. I allowed custom game pieces to be used and played a total of 4 rounds of the deathmatch scenario.
The defending forts were:
Ramsgate, placed on the forward most island.
Paradis de la Mer, placed on the righthand guard island.
The center island and lefthand guard island were occupied by two custom forts. On the lefthand guard island stood Atero.
Atero
Spanish
10 Gold
Cannons: 3L-3L-3L-3L-2S-2S-2L-4LAbility: This fort’s cannons cannot be eliminated (flags still may be). If not flags remain, this fort cannot shoot.
On the center island stood La Iglesia en el Acantilado junto al Mar
La Iglesia en el Acantilado junto al Mar (La Iglesia)
Spanish
7 gold
Cannons: 3S-3S-3S-3S-4L-4L
Ability: Extended RangeI defended three times, first against JWDarkhurst. I was using a Custom ship:
USS Vengeance
American
Points: 25
Masts: 5
Cannons: 3S-2L-2L-2L-3S
Cargo: 4
Movement: L+S
Ability: Captain. SAT.The Vengeance was crewed by Captain Tyler Robinson, who gave her S-board and allowed her to roll two dice ANYTIME she’d need to roll one. Robinson was joined by a helmsman and cannoneer.
JW was attempting to get past with:
Terror+ captain, helmsman, and cannoneer
HMS Greyhound+ Thomas Gunn(rotf), and oarsman
Crescent Rose
Pirate
16 points
Masts: 3
Cannons: 2S-3S-2S
Cargo: 4
Movement: L+S
Ability: E.A.Crewed by Griffin(OE) and helmsman.
The Vengeance saw the Rose as the biggest threat, and quickly overwhelmed the ship, though not before the Rose was able to take a mast off of the Vengeance. The Greyhound tried to be sneaky and camp out near one of the forts, but was forced to change tactics and run for it when the Rose was sunk. Despite putting some distance between herself and the Vengance, the Greyhound was still sunk by the powerful warship. This left the Terror and little hope for JWDarkhurst. The Terror tried to breach one of the first gates, but was sunk by a combination of Paradis de la Mer and the Vengeance.
I then matched up against Gingerninja, who came at me with:
USS Missisippi+ Commodore Edward Preble
Pyre+ Brine(custom, captain+helmsman), Sargasso Nightmare and navigator
Ophidious
Ginger managed to use his navigator a few times, but the Mississippi was sunk quickly by the Vengeance, leaving the Pyre and Ophidious against the much more capable Vengeance. With some careful maneuvering, he was able to get past Paradis de la Mer and the second block, but was unable to advance any further, as the Vengeance was able to sink both the Ophidious and the Pyre.
On the third attempt I was joined on defense by JW, and Gingerninja was the sole attacker, with 120 points to our combined 80.
JW sunk all of his 40 points into one ship, like I had:
Premier Republique
French
Points: 26
Masts: 4
Cannons: 3L-2S-2S-3L
Cargo: 4
Movement: L
Ability: Man-o-War. This ship cannot be shot at by ships within S.Man-0-War: Once, before you give this ship a shoot action, roll a d6. On a result of an odd number, her cannons become rank 2 for this turn. On a result of an even number, she eliminates two masts with each hit.
The Premier was manned by Capitain Francois Moreau, helmsman, Amiral Stephan Dupuy, and Madame La Fontaine. Moreau would serve as the ship’s captain, and would give a cannon bonus against any non-French ship.
With 120 points at his disposal, Gingerninja put together a wicked fleet of 3 ships:
King Jones
Cursed
Points: 20
Masts: 5
Cannons: 2L-2S-2S-2S-2L
Cargo: 4
Movement: S+S
Ability: Eternal. Extended range.Ginger had manned the King Jones with the DJC versions of Sammy the Skull and El Fantasma, helmsman, cannoneer and oarsman.
HMS Endeavour+ Lord Thomas Gunn(OE), Sir Rupert Hargreaves, Admiral Morgan, helmsman
USS Kettering—towing Gibraltar flotilla+ Connie Marsh(captain+helmsman), Commodore Edward Preble
Ginger kept his fleet together, and concentrated on the Paradis side of the map after easily wiping out Ramsgate. Paradis gave him some trouble, knocking a mast off all three of his ships. The Kettering presented a significant problem, as neither of the defending ships had cancelling of their own, only L-range cannons. The attacking fleet downed the first gate reasonably easily, but was hesitant to surge into the middle zone, wary of the lurking Vengeance and Premier, along with the extended range of La Iglesia on the center island.
Not willing to cede the first shot, the Vengeance surged forward with a successful SAT, and dismasted the King Jones, careful to keep out of reach of the Kettering. The Vengeance used her second action to get back to what was conceived to be relative safety. Unfortunately the Endeavour got Morgan’s Extra Action, and surged through the gap and laid waste to the Vengance, sinking her. The Kettering benefited from Preble’s fleet action and used her movements to sail broadside to the Premier, and with a combination of her own cannons and the Gibraltar sank the Premier. This left La Iglesia to defend against most of Ginger’s intact fleet.
La Iglesia didn’t last however, as the Endeavour still had an extra action left to her and used it to eliminate all but one flag from the fort. With the way clear, Ginger decided to NOT advance quickly for the final gate, but to instead sail back and destroy completely Paradis de la Mer and Atero. Paradis fell quickly to the Kettering and Gibraltar, while the Endeavour made sail for Atero. The Kettering was able to turn around quickly, leaving Gibraltar behind and was able to land the first hits on the fort. The Endeavour sailed in and took the fort down to two flags standing. With all 8 cannons still available Atero opened fire on the Endeavour, but was only able to eliminate three masts from the English warship. With time almost up, and experiencing a close call, Ginger dedicated the Kettering to Atero, and used another extra action from Morgan to sail the Endeavour to the final gate, which still stood. The Endeavour was able to knock the gate down and sailed across the finish line on turn 14 of 15 to win the game.
I had played defense for three rounds now, and wanted my own chance to attack. So Ginger and I switched, with him going to defense; keeping his set-up with the King Jones as his 40 points. JW didn’t change his fleet either, running the Premier back with hopefully better results.
With 120 points now at my disposal, and customs allowed, I decided to field test my custom faction, the Ionics.
Three Virtues
Ionic
Points: 17
Masts: 5
Cannons: 3S-3S-3S-3S-3S
Cargo: 5
Movement: S+S
Ability: EAThe Virtues was manned by Amakav, a re-rolling Ionic captain; Onua, who would give the ship +1 to cannon rolls against non-Ionics; a helmsman, cannoneer, and a Disk Launcher equipment, which gave the ship an additional 2L cannon.
Kaita
Ionic
Points: 21
Masts: 5
Cannons: 2L-2L-2L-2L-2L
Cargo: 5
Movement: S+S
Ability: Crew of any nationality may use their abilities on this ship. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against non-Ionic ships, crew and forts.Serving aboard the Kaita were Ackar a 3 point SAT and one of his linked crew, Kinaa, who provided helmsman and explorer. They were joined by Helyrex and Kazi, who provided re-roll and cancelling, respectively. Rounding out the crew was a generic cannoneer, in case any 1’s were rolled.
Toa
Ionic
Points: 26
Masts: 5
Cannons: 3S-2L-2L-2L-3S
Cargo: 4
Movement: L
Ability: Eternal. This ships cannons cannot be eliminated (masts still may be). If derelict, she cannot shoot.Onboard the Toa were J’ree, an extra action captain; Pohatu, a helmsman SAT combo, a cannoneer, oarsman, and the Ballista equipment, which gave the Toa 3 additional cannons.
With a formidable fleet at my disposal, I set out. Unlike Ginger and JW who had sailed for the Paradis side of the map, I pointed my ships toward the Atero side of the map, since Atero would be much easier to silence than Paradis. The Premier was confident, and sailed out to meet my ships, and managed to catch the Three Virtues, dismasting her. What JW did not count on were my ships landing almost all of their EA/SAT rolls. The Kaita sailed forward, cancelled her S-immunity and sank her in one volley.
This left the King Jones to contend against 3 healthy warships, each equipped with EA/SAT. Ginger decided to pull the Jones back, and wait for me to come to him at the final gate. The Toa tried to clear the first gate; she did damage it, but failed miserably on the Ballista equipment, rolling two 1’s and missing on the other. The Kaita now sailed in, took the Virtues under tow and knocked down the first gate.
I then did a little re-organizing, taking a cannoneer and the Disk Launcher from the Virtues and placing them on the Toa. Leaving the hulk of the Virtues behind, the Kaitia and Toa, both now minimally damaged, sailed into the center area, and decimated La Iglesia before the fort could fire a shot. The King Jones then engaged, taking the Toa down to one mast and knocking two off of the Kaita from extended range. It would not be enough however as both ships once again succeeded at their respective EA/SAT rolls, and sank the King Jones with little trouble. The way was now clear, but my ships still took two turns to get through the final gate, ending the match with me victorious.
We finished the last match laaate at night, and so adjourned for sleep, but made were ready to continue the following day. JW was still upset come morning at the performance of his beloved Premier, and had some things to do, so didn’t participate in the continuation. Ginger and I decided to forgo a scenario and instead played ~3 100 point deathmatches, with the condition that neither side use cancelling abilities and nothing Custom.
He was using:
HMS Endeavour+ Lord Thomas Gunn, Sir Rupert Hargreaves, Admiral Morgan, helmsman
HMS Titan+ Hermione Gold&Trevor van Tyne, Mullroy, helmsman, shipwright
HMS Bartlesville+ Thomas Gunn (rotf), firepot specialist, First Mate Ismail, shipwright.
I came at him with:
El Acorazado(SM)+ Luis Zuan(MI), Joaquin Vega, Captain Alarico Castro&Duque Marcus Vaccaro, helmsman and cannoneer.
Constitution(rV)+ Montana Mays(OE), Jonathan Haraden, Chief PO Charles Richard, helmsman and cannoneer.
Darkhawk II with Hammersmith(FS) and Calico Cat(SM)
The first round I won handily, getting the first shot in and sinking the Bartlesville and damaging the Endeavour. The Titan tried to even things out, but a 1+2 combo of El Acorazado and Constitution were too much for the English to handle.
Second round the English got the first shot in, dismasted both the Zado and Constitution, but were severely damaged as a result. The Darkhawk II got a timely SAT from Calico Cat and was able to finish off the English, making me the winner once again.
Third round involved a little bit of strategic maneuvering on the side of the English, who gave ground (sea?) until both ships got their respective EA’s. They got the first shots in, damaging El Acorazado, downing two masts and setting another alight. The Titan tried to even things by bringing cannons to bear on the Constitution, but missed just enough times to do minimal damage. The Zado put out her fires, and with help from her fleetmates was able to sink the English for a third straight victory.
@Xerecs: Sounds like a fun day of action! A lot of these customs still seem overpowered to me, but I guess I always think that about your customs. XD (I think it’s the overabundance of action generators)
Unfortunately the Endeavour got Morgan’s Extra Action, and surged through the gap and laid waste to the Vengance, sinking her.
Yes! Go English! This sounded like an epic game with some big momentum shifts.
When you were attacking, wouldn’t the King Jones be facing two healthy warships (not three) after the Three Virtues had been dismasted? Nice victory nonetheless.
I will say that the defenders should theoretically have an advantage the smaller the build totals are, due to the forts. With less points in play, the forts can have a higher impact on the game. When the attacker is able to throw dozens of ships at the forts in a large St. Helens game, the forts are pretty much doomed either way. I haven’t thought about this scenario in a while but I like the idea of strategizing when to come through gates as the defender. I’d like to finally try this scenario again… I think I’ve only played it at 500 points. I’d probably be down to try it on VASSAL soon using the map I created for it (not at 500 points XD), if you or anyone else would like. (though I understand if you’re a little tired of it after those games)
Good job with those last deathmatches, though I’m unsurprised the English lost. HMS Bartlesville is just not an effective ship – I would’ve wanted to swap her out after a game or two because there’s pretty much no way the English would be able to win without getting incredibly lucky.
Sure, I’m down to try it on VASSAL. I’m getting some hardware upgrades in the next couple days and the Virus has forced an interesting situation for me. I’ll shoot you a message, either on FB, Discord or here.
Here we go again!! My penchant for grand campaign game attacks is alive and well! XD 😀
@Xerecs: Neat! Though we played it on 12/2/2019.
I submitted a BR today as well: Points in Play + gold with 3 players, 50 points
CG4 continues! The most action seen yet in the game!
The combat continues! The WMD is here!
The latest in CG4! The Pirate fleet continues to grow (this time with quality not quantity) and the Cursed make an interesting decision! 😀
Today is the one year anniversary of my Legend of the Giant Turtle game! One of the more memorable games I’ve played. 😀
No report yet but I’m collecting pieces for a 50 Point game with Pirates, Spanish, French, and English. each fleet will have a 1 mast, a 2 mast, a 3 mast, and a 4 mast ship(no 5 masts) normal crew (no named crew) 8 wild islands, 4 home islands, (no forts), 8 coin pieces totaling 20 gold per player
all this due to new players I have to teach and I only have SM & CC Cards
Battle Report – 50 Point Game: From SM & CC
Pirates with: The Rover, Bonnie Liz (with Shipwright), Recreant (with Musketeer), and Dark Hawk II (with Captain & Helmsman)
Spanish with: La Rosairo, El San Francisco (with Shipwright), El Triador (with Musketeer), and L’ Aguila (with Captain & Helmsman).
English with: HMS Albion (with Oarsman), HMS Alexander (with Explorer), HMS Lord Walpole (with Musketeer), and HMS Dover (with Captain & Helmsman).
French with: L’ Artesien (with Helmsman), La Provence (with Musketeer), Le Triton (with Cannoneer) and La Possession (with Captain)
8 Wild Island and 4 Home Islands – no Terrain, no Forts, no UT, just gold points and 4 treasure coins per Wild Island.
Pirates go first…and head for Wild Islands with all ships.
Then French go second, and split fleet, L’ Artesien docks first, but with no explorer has to wait until next turn to explore. La Provence and Le Triton ships try to reach The Pirates and La Possession sail towards the English.
English go next… and split fleet, HMS Albion, and HMS Alexander sail towards Wild Islands. HMS Lord Walpole, and HMS Dover sail toward the French. With the HMS Dover real close to L’ Artesien.
Spanish go next…and send all ships towards the Pirates, with L’ Aguila reaching pirate ship Bonnie Liz and since the Spanish have a Captain she fires all her Masts at the pirates, scoring 3 hits, she sinks the Bonnie Liz. Therefore, the Spanish draw first blood.
The Pirates go next… Dark Hawk II turns toward the Spanish and lines up to El Triador and fires all her masts, and misses all of her shots. Bad luck for the Pirates. The Rover and Recreant dock at wild islands.
Now the French… L’ Artesien Explores the wild island takes the highest 3 coins. La Provence and Le Triton continue towards the Pirates, La Possession tries to catch the English still.
English go next… HMS Dover reaches L’ Artesien and fires one shot and hits, causing the L’ Artesien to become derelict. HMS Alexander docks at a wild island and explores it in one action. Picking up 3 more coins. HMS Albion docks at Wild Island. HMS Lord Walpole continues toward the French.
The Spanish go next… L’ Aguila gets close enough to Ram Dark Hawk II; No mast were eliminated and an unsuccessful boarding party leaving L’ Aguila pinned. El Triador docks at Wild Island, La Rosairo and El San Francisco now head for wild islands.
The Pirates go next… Dark Hawk II fires all her masts at L’ Aguila scoring 3 hits, taking out 3 masts, The Rover and Recreant explore on their turn.
Now the French… La Possession catches HMS Lord Walpole and fires all her cannons, hits 2 times, La Provence and Le Triton catch up with the Pirates, and Le Triton rams The Rover, eliminating a mast, and boards, stealing a Treasure coin. La Provence fires at Recreant, and misses.
English go next… HMS Dover touches L’ Artesien and explores it taking all the treasure. HMS Alexander sails for home Island. HMS Lord Walpole shoots at La Possession hits 1 time. HMS Albion explores wild Island picking up more coins.
Well the story continues and there were more turns for every player and I can’t remember play by play, but I do know the Pirates get decimated by the Spanish and French, The English manage to get 3 of their ships to their Home Island and get the most of the gold in the game. Therefore, we called it at that point with the English winning the game for gold acquired.
For beginners and new people to the game, it went well, and everybody said they would play again.
Your correct speed is Great, However I was teaching the game mechanics so I only included one of each crew for the player to choose from, explaining what each crew is capable of doing.
May be next game Ill let them choose more double of said crew. They all saw how Fast the French with Helmsman docked at wild island first.
@Don: I’m glad you played, and glad they enjoyed it! Happy the English won too 🙂 (they’re my favorite faction). That Spanish ship should be Tirador (not Triador), unless you might have a rare misprint on the deckplate or the ship itself.
Ahh you caught my bad spelling, That’s one thing I am actually really bad at. Sorry about that. It was my error not the Deckplate or Spreadsheet.
Yeah my Wife played the English, her mom played the Spanish, I played the French and our friend played the Pirates. I must have taught them well, they all did a great job of playing.
Downloaded VASSAL again and played a small game against myself to practice using the program. Wrote up a small report about it here.
@AGiantPie: Nice report! Glad to see you back in action.
At some point I just decided to ignore any overlaps on an island a ship was undocking from for the first move segment since it was so awkward.
That’s exactly what you should do. It’s bothered me in the past, but as far as I can tell, it’s an issue of the “rotate on bow” being completely different than how you move ships in real life. In the physical game you pick ships up and rotate them at the same time. In VASSAL, the heading changes before any forward movement happens, so overlapping while establishing a new course is inevitable. If you think maneuvering with 4 masters is bad, try a 10 master. XD It’s generally best to ignore rotation-based overlap within the module because it’s not indicative of what’s happening in real life.
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