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Slightly worse overall cannons, but a handy bonus if you know you’re going up against the Americans. I take it that cannon rolls and Mortar rolls are considered different for game play purposes? Not that you’d be able to stack the bonuses, since Bomb Vessel prevents that.
Are there plans to use this technical shape without using the Bomb Vessel keyword in the future? I quite like how these ships look.
I take it that cannon rolls and Mortar rolls are considered different for game play purposes? Not that you’d be able to stack the bonuses, since Bomb Vessel prevents that.
Not different for gameplay purposes other than what’s part of the keyword (such as no bonuses beyond the fort one).
Are there plans to use this technical shape without using the Bomb Vessel keyword in the future?
Not currently, but that could change.
I really want a cursed fort but I don’t know enough about them to make a balanced one. Does anyone have the stats for one you’ve made by chance? And if you do, would you mind if I used the stats to get a custom one printed. Thank you in advance.
I really want a cursed fort but I don’t know enough about them to make a balanced one. Does anyone have the stats for one you’ve made by chance?
I have some custom Cursed forts in my Epic Seas custom set.
And if you do, would you mind if I used the stats to get a custom one printed. Thank you in advance.
I’m fine with that, though if you mean to purchase one from my store here, you would have to provide artwork files for that product as none of them have any artwork.
Nagoya
Nationality: Japanese
Point Cost: 10
Masts: 3
Cargo: 5
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 3S-4L-5L
Ability: This ship can use Parley against Jade Rebellion and Portuguese ships.
Link: Murayama TōanOoooh. A new Red Seal ship. That’s quite the speed and cargo for this one, and not too expensive point cost wise. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the mega pack!
Ooooh. A new Red Seal ship. That’s quite the speed and cargo for this one, and not too expensive point cost wise. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the mega pack!
Thanks! Your copy is en route to you 🙂
Fittingly enough, this month’s Mega Pack theme is RtSCS (Return to South China Sea), and this month marks 20 years since the original SCS set came out!
Here are some previews….
Some interesting looking ships there! Fujian must have some of Kian Ng’s fireworks on board or something. 😀 I’m curious to see what this purple sailed ship is. Hong Bao is an excellent crew, making their line up of named crew even better. Curious to see who he’s sharing a card with.
Taicang – The first-ever 7 masted ship of any kind in Pirates CSG history!
Nationality: Jade Rebellion
Point Cost: 18
Masts: 7
Cargo: 8
Base Move: S
Cannons: 5S-5S-4L-4L-5L-4S-4S
Ability: Junk. Once per round of turns, if this ship carries treasure and is within S of any ship or island, you may randomly trade one treasure from this ship with up to two treasures from that ship or island. One of this ship’s treasures is worth +1 gold for each different island this ship docks at before docking at your home island.Flavor text: One of the large Liáng Chuán (supply ship) vessels operating under Zheng He. Although her primary cargo is food and drink for the thousands of sailors in the fleet, she has enough room in her cargo hold for a cache of tributes received from the many countries and ports visited on recent voyages.
The abilities are historical (as always for game pieces in my Age of Sail set) – the first new ability represents the sheer volume of trading conducted on Zheng He’s voyages. The second is what I call a “Tribute collection ability”. The Ming visited various ports across many countries and had many tributes to bring back to China. It should say “each different island”, so I’ll put that in the errata/notes so it can’t be broken by redocking constantly. Very fun to try to translate history into usable and useful game abilities!
Dedicated treasure/cargo ship for sure. I’m slightly worried she’ll be out paced by smaller faster ships, given her base speed and considerable point cost. However her treasure trading ability could be useful or used in interesting ways.
You could make her a hybrid of sorts with Dragon Eyes, utilizing the 7 masts against slightly smaller ships to pick their crew off. Of course you’d have to catch them first…..
Artwork looks great!
Introducing: the Merchant ability!
The idea of a crew that is a Merchant or Trader (leaning towards Merchant for the name). The Age of Sail is littered with people who weren’t pirates or warlords, but the game doesn’t have many ways or abilities to reflect on amicable relations.This is something I’ve developed for Seas of Japan Part 3 that I’m quite stoked about. I’ve become a little obsessed with it. This has the potential to open up vast new possibilities in gameplay, especially in terms of logistics, diplomacy and duplicity. The wording is extremely intentional, so if you think something is a possibility because of it, it probably is….
Merchant: Once per turn if this crew or ship is within S of any ships, home islands, or forts, the controllers of each game piece may agree to trade any number of cargo between the game pieces as a free action (if applicable, up to their available cargo space). If the trade is between friendly game pieces, all friendly game pieces involved must unload at least one non-identical cargo; you cannot trade between friendly ships and your own home island.
Current cost: 2 pointsClarifications:
“Once per turn”: This means once per player turn, as opposed to “once during each of your turns” or “once per round of turns”.
“If this crew or ship”: This means only the crew must be within S of X game piece, so the ability can be used while the crew is on an island. “Or ship” is mostly added to clarify that the ability can be used normally while the crew is assigned to a ship.
“Is within S”: The crew with this ability must be within S of ALL parties involved in the trade. You cannot have a trade “chained” by game pieces within S of one another but not the crew – they all have to be within S of the Merchant crew. (unless of course there are additional Merchants that would make the situation legal)
“Any ships, home islands, or forts”: Including both enemy and friendly game pieces of those types. Since each is plural, it also means you can do 3 (or more) way trades, or broker deals between third parties without the Merchant player being one of the parties to give or receive a cargo (however, since it says “each game piece”, the Merchant player still has to agree to the trade!).
“May agree to trade”: Trades must be fully consensual when a deal is struck.
“Any number of cargo”: That number could be zero, allowing for gifts/bribes/tribute/payments to be given and received.
“Between the game pieces”: For example, a ship trading with a fort, or ship to (enemy) home island.
“non-identical” : This is to prevent friendlies from swapping oarsmen along with another item to basically make it a one-way trade.This keyword is subject to change if it is found to be broken/etc.
Additional explanation:
“If the trade is between friendly game pieces, all friendly game pieces involved must unload at least one cargo”: This is to prevent the ability from being used primarily to expedite friendly gold logistics with gift transfers (which can get really powerful, as the Hoist keyword shows, and would therefore increase the ability cost too much).“you cannot trade between friendly ships and your own home island.”: This is to prevent the ability from breaking the gold factory meta – if not for this clause, you could simply park a ship next to your HI and trade a crew for a coin already on your HI, dock to give it +2 (or more) gold, then reload the crew via the free transfer rule and do it again next turn.
By allowing its usage on any player’s turn, it opens up new options for trade and friendly relations. It’s not just about the player who controls the crew – other players may want to get in the Merchant’s good graces so they can trade with another 3rd party (as long as the Merchant agrees to broker the deal of course).
Random exposition and thoughts:
I want it to be as flexible as possible, which is why I opened it up for ship-island/etc transfers rather than just ship to ship (especially because many historical merchants would have stayed in port and hardly gone to sea). This way you could pay gold from your home island to swap it for a useful crew on a nearby ship via mutual exchange.I think allowing wild islands into the equation gets weird, both logistically and in the case of the Merchant being outnumbered by enemy crew on the island (+you shouldn’t be able to trade freely if you have an enemy Marine right next to you on the island).
Obviously there is nothing in the rules that would prevent players from making tentative trade agreements before having their game pieces within S of the Merchant. The key is that the trade is mutually agreed upon when the game pieces are within S – by that point, the situation in the game may have changed….
I think it will open up the game for both more player interaction (almost always a good thing to have more of, as Pirates can often just be “turn taken, everyone sits around, next turn taken, etc”), and certainly more opportunities for actual piracy. (which the game arguably doesn’t have enough of given the original boarding rules, although my Restarting Rules help with that a bit) I’ve often found that players want more combat in their games, and I think the wild options for duplicity this opens up could promote more secret player conversations, and retaliatory attacks. Players might get suspicious of whispered conversations had by other players and then they might go full pirate to interrupt a deal/etc. A face down Merchant could be a way to put someone on the spot with a trade option. Plus, someone with completely unwanted cargo (ex: Plague UT that another player wants to use as a weapon) could accept a “loot box” where they don’t know what face down coin they’ll receive from someone else as payment . The face up/down differences could be interesting too, where 3rd parties who aren’t privy to the trade details wonder what’s being traded, or they see the face up cargo but not the face down one being traded. Plus, saying things out loud vs private convos – 3rd parties might want to know what’s being traded, and if the traders don’t fess up, that could lead to hostility. A player could bluff that a face down crew is a Merchant and use it to lure a player into a trap. All the risks involved make the crew less likely to be used, which should help keep the cost cheap. I think it will shine most in multiplayer games.
If you request a face down coin, I think it would be fair to ask that player to show it to you privately to trust their end of the deal (but of course, nothing in the rules or ability requires them to show it to you).
There’s a fun “reputation” mechanic that would naturally develop with Merchants, because players would be less likely to trade with a Merchant/player that has duped someone in the past (likely even extending across separate games in a play group, due to the human element). That incentivizes players to be “good” in their dealings.
If both players agree to the trade and the cargo are facedown, the trade happens simultaneously and then both players can see if they got what they expected. Since it’s at such close range, if either player isn’t happy, combat might erupt. This could lead to any number of new possibilities: players being overly generous as a sign of goodwill, or getting another player involved as an enforcer – if someone doesn’t hold up their end of the deal, maybe a 3rd player is waiting to whack any dishonest merchants
It might make the spying abilities even better, since those could be really useful for ensuring that a player can verify that the other party even has what they claim to have.
Between the factors of player interaction, opportunities for realistic trade and piracy, and the lack of “ideal” use cases (to keep it from being too powerful/expensive), I think it’s worth the risk. The game has arguably been broken since Spanish Main, and I don’t think this will come close to Banshee’s Cry/mermaids/Captain Jack Sparrow/etc; if anything it might be quite impractical in 90%+ of situations where it even becomes plausible to trade.Imagine a trade like Captain Nemo for a powerful UT….
Ex-Patriots could be interesting with this, switching sides for payment.I do think in most games/situations, trading will either be too much of a hassle, or not much of an advantage. It can also be high risk, which will likely dissuade players from engaging with the ability to some extent. Which is all fine with me, since it helps keep it cheap.
I’m excited about how this might open up gameplay, especially with diplomacy and alliances in multiplayer games.
A crew from Seas of Japan Part 3!
Jan Joosten
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 3
Ability: Loyal: Japan. Merchant. This crew can use their abilities on Japanese ships. If this crew trades with an enemy Dutch or Japanese ship, one treasure on each ship is worth +1 gold.
Link: De Liefde, William Adams, Jacob Quaeckernaeck, Melchior van SantvoortMerchant: Once per turn if this crew or ship is within S of any ships, home islands, or forts, the controllers of each game piece may agree to trade any number of cargo between the game pieces as a free action (if applicable, up to their available cargo space). If the trade is between friendly game pieces, all friendly game pieces involved must unload at least one non-identical cargo; you cannot trade between friendly ships and your own home island.
Flavor text: After landing in Japan with William Adams, he was given the name Yayōsu and now lives near Edo Castle. Joosten has become one of the hatamoto and engages in the red seal ship trade with a license from Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Oooh. An interesting crew for sure. His gold bonus would apply to both the ship he’s on and the target of the trade, yes? Provided that the target is an opposing Dutch or Japanese ship. Would the bonus stack if you did more than one trade before docking at your home island? Suppose the players managed to pull off three trades with Dutch and Japanese ships, does the ship he’s on get a collective +3, or would it be more like three separate +1’s Also I’m noticing, he’s Loyal: Japan, despite being a Dutch crew.
His gold bonus would apply to both the ship he’s on and the target of the trade, yes?
Yes
Suppose the players managed to pull off three trades with Dutch and Japanese ships, does the ship he’s on get a collective +3, or would it be more like three separate +1’s
Technically either way works as it depends on how treasure bonuses are tracked/collected, which is deliberately left ambiguous in the Code. “This tally may be recorded using any number of mutually agreed-upon methods”
Also I’m noticing, he’s Loyal: Japan, despite being a Dutch crew.
Indeed; by design and based on history. 😀
The Poop Lady
Type: Crew
Nationality: America
Point Cost: 8
Ability: At the beginning of each of your turns, roll a d6. On a 5-6, all crew abilities on this ship and all ships within L of her cannot be used until the beginning of your next turn (except the ability of this crew).Once per turn when this ship is given a shoot action, one of her cannons may shoot a stinkpot at a target within S range. You must declare which cannon will shoot the stinkpot before rolling the d6. If the stinkpot hits, do not eliminate a mast; instead, the target’s crew cannot use their abilities next turn.
Flavor text: This putrid woman has managed to sabotage her own ship and many poor enemy vessels. After her fecal tossing tantrums have ended, sometimes she becomes so desperate for a “poop party” that she blows up her “collection”, splattering human feces across a vast area and causing sickness and vomiting to all unfortunate enough to be nearby.
The new Grenades equipment!
Grenades
Point Cost: 1
Ability: If this ship has any crew, once during each of your turns you may choose an enemy ship touching this ship. Roll a d6; on a 5-6, the target’s controller replaces one mast with a fire mast and eliminates a crew; if the roll is a 1, eliminate a crew from this ship.
Black Totem v.2
This ship may begin the game as a member of the Cursed nation instead of its own. If it does, change its flag to Cursed during set-up; it is now a member of the Cursed nation (any crew aboard the ship retain their original nationalities). If Cursed, the point limit for cargo on this ship is reduced by 1.
Added this under your keyword section in the CD first tab; reminded by my CG4 launching 🙂
The first preview for the May Mega Pack!
Gouden Leeuw
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 072
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 18
Masts: 4
Cargo: 4
Base Move: L
Cannons: 2S-2L-2L-2S
Ability: When this ship hits an enemy ship, also eliminate one crew from that ship. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against English ships.
Link: Cornelis TrompFlavor text: The flagship of Cornelis Tromp is one of the largest ships in service to the Netherlands. She has excelled in battles against the English across multiple Anglo-Dutch wars, from Schooneveld to Texel. Armed with 82 guns, she is a match for all but the largest English three deckers.
I am excited to return to the European theater! Here we see one of the most iconic Dutch ships of all time, come to life on the new D4M (Dutch 4 Master) ship shape made by Gigi. Having read about this ship and her captain/admiral many times earlier in life, it felt like something coming full circle. The late 1600s were an explosive time for naval warfare – three Anglo-Dutch Wars were fought between 1652 and 1674. These wars were unique in that they were almost exclusively fought at sea. The battles and paintings from that time period are legendary.
Although the English are my favorite faction in our game, I have to give major credit to the Dutch for being an absolute powerhouse throughout the 17th century. This 82-gun ship comes ready to brawl. A veteran of important battles against the English, she has artwork to match, with various holes in her sails from round shot and musket balls. It was tricky fitting all the cannons on the hull, but I noticed that they also look tightly packed on the various paintings I studied.
As usual for when I make historical ships with existing painting or replica references available, as many parts of the ship as possible are color-matched to the actual ship (in this case from really gorgeous paintings). The stern and prow details are taken directly from public domain source artwork, with the golden lion (ship’s namesake) visible on the stern hull detail. I couldn’t find any true broadside-angle depictions of her, so the stern gallery might look a little weird because it’s mostly a stern/quarter angle view. However, between the tiny scale of the ships of the game and the print quality, I think it will turn out okay. Lighted lanterns are added to the quarterdeck, as these 17th century warships often got rather fancy and ornate.
The cropped flags are also a fun detail to add, straight from source paintings that were often finished within a decade or so of the actual battles of the time. Having grown up reading books that featured paintings by Willem van de Velde (the Younger, and the Elder), it felt really fitting to pay homage to them by bringing their artwork into the game. The book War at Sea in the Age of Sail (by Andrew Lambert) introduced me to their work and that book was also a major factor in me getting into Pirates CSG in the first place (and playing huge games as a result of reading about the massive battles that took place centuries ago). The flags are all blowing to starboard/forward, a detail I like being really consistent with as often as possible with my designs.
If the rest of the mega pack is similar to this, then the Dutch are going to get a missive firepower boost. Very good cannons with a devastating offensive ability. Reminds me of Cargo-wrecking. I’m hoping her linked crew is also included in the pack, as the Dutch could use a couple more, building on what they got in Golden Seas.
My one “concern” is the point cost, she’s probably worth the points but that’s still quite a few, even with a restarting 60 point limit.
If the rest of the mega pack is similar to this, then the Dutch are going to get a missive firepower boost.
It’s not all based on the Anglo-Dutch Wars since I wanted some variety, but there are a couple other ships in it with solid cannons.
Exactly, the ability is nasty since it’s not limited to once per turn. That contributed heavily to the point cost which I think is the right amount.
I’m hoping her linked crew is also included in the pack, as the Dutch could use a couple more, building on what they got in Golden Seas.
Cornelis Tromp will be previewed soon! 😀
Zeelandia
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 073
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 12
Masts: 3
Cargo: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3L-3L-3L
Ability: You may double the range of any of this ship’s cannons each action, but if you do, that cannon must roll a 6 to hit.
Link: Joris van der Zaen, Jacob Huyrluyt, Nicolaes Marrevelt, Daniel ElsevierFlavor text: A veteran of all three Anglo-Dutch Wars, this vessel of 34 guns has served many captains. She now heads to the Caribbean, for rumors abound that the French will try to recapture Tobago.
For this one, I wanted to keep some elements of the 3-tone hull design from the Golden Seas D3M’s. Her armament is mostly based on her 1665 armament; perhaps the 3-pounders aren’t included in the “nominal guns” count so I didn’t add them to the deck art, but she’s also listed at 34 guns for the Battle of Texel, fought during the third Anglo-Dutch War.
None of her linked crew are in this release, but there’s always a chance they’ll show up in the future. I wanted to give the Dutch a ship with the “new sniping” ability that can be mixed and matched on a per-cannon basis (unlike the old sniping ability, where you have to snipe with all cannons or none for a shoot action). Perhaps a jack of all trades warship that can bring some life and fun to their fleets.
The ship still has some battle damage from surviving 8 battles with the English, but a lot of her holes have been patched up for her journey to the Caribbean. She’s flying a West India Company flag from her main topsail, given that the flavor text implies her journey to Tobago, where she would be sunk by the French. The orange on the flag fits well with the orange details on her hull and gunport lids.
Looks quite nice, I’m digging the three tone hull so far. This seems like a solid ship for the Dutch. Good speed, good cargo, usable cannons, and reasonably budget friendly at 12 points, with that handy sniping ability.
Halve Maen
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 074
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 10
Masts: 3
Cargo: 4
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 4S-4L-4S
Ability: Once per turn, if this ship is within S of a wild island, you can mark it as explored without docking at it. The island becomes unexplored in regards to all other players.
Link: Henry HudsonFlavor text: Tasked by the Dutch East India Company with a covert mission to find a northern passage to Asia, Henry Hudson captains this ship to new waterways.
This was originally an existing custom I made some years ago as a 2 masted square rigged ship – long before I even considered making my own ship types. However, given how similar her “jacht” design is to a carrack, this was a great opportunity to use the new carrack design in this Dutch release. The faction flag is intentionally orange on top rather than red, because I saw that they used the “Prince’s Flag” around the time she made her main voyage (1609).
I’m originally from New York State and I’ve seen the Hudson River, so this one was a little bit like a homecoming in certain ways. Henry Hudson is not in the release but might be made in the future. Pretty crazy how much bears his name beyond just the river: Hudson Bay, Hudson’s Bay Company (the oldest corporation in North America and just liquidated in 2025), etc. Since she was an exploratory vessel rather than one of the big Portuguese carracks meant for maximum cargo (and technically of a different design historically), I gave her a fast base move along with the S-Explorer ability.
One of the best things about making this one is that a replica exists, with tons of modern pictures to use for reference. From that I was able to recreate the various hull details and especially the color scheme, which is quite unique compared to most other ships in PCSG. I think she’ll make a fine historical addition to the Dutch quest for riches in the game!
Castel del Rey
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 075
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 9
Masts: 2
Cargo: 5
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3S-2L
Ability: Pirate crew can use their abilities on this ship.
Link: Adrian Claver, Otto van TuylFlavor text: The Dutch privateer Adrian Claver uses this well-armed vessel to pillage Spanish holdings. Some consider his friends such as Captain Gincks to be pirates.
With the return of the “1700s” version of my 2 masted brig, we see an 18-gun historical ship with a mixed allegiance. Claver (also part of this release) was a Dutch privateer in league with some pirates, so this vessel will open up the Dutch faction to some interesting potential combinations.
For the art, I wanted a damaged ship to represent how much action she got into (especially with the Spanish). I tried playing around with drop shadows from the masts to accentuate a lighting effect. In this case the sun is coming from the port quarter, with the lighter shade of each mast gradient on the left and the drop shadows to the right (and forward on the jib). She might look more like a pirate ship than anything else, but the orange highlights serve to distinguish her as a privateer of the Netherlands. (orange being the national color of the Netherlands)
I could see her playing multiple roles in a fleet – likely an armed merchant, with possible starting crew setup looking like captain-helmsman-explorer (CHE).
A neat ship! Seems like a hybrid to me, even though she’s a 2 mast ship. She ties the Friesland for the most cargo space on a Dutch ship (at least so far) and has a very handy ability, opening the door for all kinds of combos. Right off the bat I’m thinking Gentleman Jocard to boost cargo and gold running potential.
Postillon
Set: Pirates of the Age of Sail
Release: Dutch Golden Age (DGA) (May 2026 Mega Pack)
Collector’s Number: 076
Nationality: Dutch
Point Cost: 4
Masts: 1
Cargo: 1
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 5L
Ability: This ship gets +S to her base move if she begins that move action within S of an island.
Flavor text: This pinnace from De Hoop is serving under Simon de Cordes after Jacques Mahu’s untimely end off the African coast. She was assembled in the Strait of Magellan. Other ships in the squadron include Trouwe and De Liefde.Here’s a sloop that was apparently stored in the hold of a ship on the expedition that eventually took William Adams to Japan. If the artwork looks somewhat janky/rushed, it’s because that was done on purpose to reflect the fact she was assembled en route. Almost like a jury rigged ship. I don’t normally do monochrome sails anymore, but this felt like the right time to try that – an otherwise fresh white sail that hadn’t been exposed to the sun/weathering much, but was creased and slightly worn out from being in storage on the Hoop.
The Postillon went missing in the vast Southern Ocean (Pacific Ocean) and likely perished.
Because she didn’t last long, this ship was a good opportunity to make the cheapest Dutch ship yet, at under 5 points. It is worded as “that move action” rather than “her move action” to prevent any confusion about the bonus being cumulative (as it’s not).
Credit to my friend Gigi for the original ship design from Golden Seas – I was really happy to use 3 of those 4 in this release. All 5 ship types in DGA are new “relaunch” ship types, which I was stoked to do. (definitely want to get as much mileage out of them as possible, given the design and testing time that goes into each model)
Interesting little ship, a helmsman would likely be my got-to, get her moving 4S out the gate. her ability states “an island” as opposed to a wild island. With that wording you could get the +S from home islands, is this intentional?
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