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End of Year Creative Fleet Challenge!
Welcome to the first Fleet Challenge since 2018!
This is not your average fleet challenge! If at least 10 pirates participate, there will be a prize of real pirate BOOTY! That’s right – the winner of the challenge will receive a pair of 1oz 2020 American Eagle silver coins! (approximately a $70 value as of this post) Second place will receive a single coin of the same type! If less than 10 pirates participate, there will be no booty up for grabs! So tell your friends and make sure to submit a fleet!The Challenge:
Make a creative and effective 80 point fleet using at least one of the following “exotic”, “1 of 1” game pieces:
Calypso
Captain Jack Sparrow (common or rare version)
Grim the Savage (FN version)
Commander Temple (SM version)
Captain Nemo
Nikos Chelios
Peter Miles
Davy Jones (DJC version)
Captain Davy Jones (PotC)
Bianco’s Haulers (SS version)
Sebastián Rojo (RtSS)Rules:
-Only one fleet will be allowed per player.
-There can be fleets of multiple nationalities.
-Game pieces from Return to Savage Shores are allowed.
-Ban List: all events, Le Bonaparte (DJC version), Nubian Prince, Sirène (RtSS). Items not on the ban list are available for use (with the exception of the Sleigh and Captain Whitebeard of course).
-Custom game pieces are not allowed.
-Post your fleet in this thread before 2022 starts. I would prefer if it was in the same format as the first post in the Fleets thread. (ship name + crew, crew, etc; new line for next ship/etc.)Fleet Scoring:
-I will pick the winning fleet. Fleets will be judged primarily on creativity, uniqueness, and new combos introduced; however the fleets should still be capable of winning games. I would like for as many people as possible (whether they are participating in the fleet challenge or not) to rate the fleets on a 1-5 scale as well (5 being the best), similar to how we did it at Miniature Trading. Bonus points to fleets that are well regarded by forum members, and bonus points to participants that rate or comment on fleets submitted by others. It is also the holiday season – bonus points if you provide pictures and/or a Battle Report of your fleet in action while gaming with family/etc!More Stuff:
-All game pieces can be found in the Master Spreadsheet.
-Consider the use of Unique Treasures and Forts in your fleet. You can also elaborate on what standard treasures you would include, such as 0’s or a specific distribution.
-Edits after posting are okay if there are rules issues or other serious problems, but try to avoid any drastic changes.
-If you will be participating in the challenge, feel free to make a post about it here in this thread. This may help encourage others to participate to “unlock” the prizes.
-Fleets are not meant to be pitted against other fleets submitted for the challenge for the purposes of the judging/scoring process. (no point in making a counter fleet to one someone else already submitted)
-You can use as many of the aforementioned crew in your fleet as you would like.
-I am specifically looking for ideas and combos that I have not seen before or that have not been done. Wow me with the creativity and outside the box thinking! You can search the site for the game pieces and/or use the Fleets category to see some of the combos I’ve already done.
-Please post any questions you have in this thread.Prizes:
-If at least 10 fleets are submitted by different members of the forum: two 1oz silver coins for 1st place, and one for 2nd place. (all will be 2020 American Eagle silver coins) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Ring in 2022 with some REAL treasure! 😀
-Bragging rights.
-The opportunity to create the next Fleet Challenge.Deadlines:
-Submit your fleet no later than the end of 2021. 😀 Simply use 11:59pm PST on New Year’s Eve.If at least 10 people submit fleets, the top two will receive the actual coins pictured. No need to pay shipping!
I’ve been having quite a day making some fleets, but I’ve noticed that there aren’t nearly as many fleet ideas submitted since Miniature Trading sank in summer 2019. Specifically, I have seen enough beginner or typical fleets for the time being! Basics begone! Let’s get complex, convoluted, exotic and wild! XD I don’t want myself and Xerecs to be the only ones on here coming up with new UPS ideas, teleportation shenanigans, and fun combos. I figured it’s time for a new fleet challenge, and what better time than the season of giving!
I may have missed it when reading but where do we submit our fleets? This thread?
Yes, I had it under More Stuff but I’ll put it under Rules instead.
Post your fleet in this thread before 2022 starts.
Fleet Name: Fear the White Mist
Point Total: 80
The goal of this fleet is to both be flavorful and somewhat effective to take advantage of the “Fog-hopping” mechanic. Not many ships/crew utilize this but I figure I’d throw my hat in the ring for this challenge.
For set-up you’re gonna want to place as many fog banks as you’re allowed to and place them near islands. Your opponent might be privy to your fog-hopping ability and give you a starting island with no fogbanks near it, and that’s where you Bamboozle them! The Alligator has a Smokepot Specialist on board giving you the option to play a fog bank first turn and move all your units into it. Davy Jones will copy any of your units abilities to fog-hop as well! You can then teleport your entire fleet on the second turn to any fog bank in play. Feel like your opponent is playing a more passive gold-running fleet? Teleport the Dutchman and Mistwalker to them for a nasty surprise. Mistwalker can pin any ship of your choice for the Dutchman to lay devastation in her wake. Is your opponent playing a super aggressive fleet? Maybe try running gold with your fleet by teleporting to an island and teleport away.
El Fantasma give the Hangman’s Joke the defenseive power it’s needs to take a shot and retreat to a fogbank after loading some gold. You’ll probably want to fog hop your units to the furthest island away from your home island first, swipe the gold that’s worth the most and leave. The Dutchman has 2 spaces open for either getting gold via island or stealing from an enemy ship.
As for the UT’s, I selected the ones that help the cursed and delay the enemy fleet. Cursed Natives might cripple a gold runner or hybrid, Voodoo Doll only helps you and is useless to your opponent, Curse of Davy Jones hinders your opponent and helps your Mistwalker and Witch’s Brew is a good UT to have on any of your ships should you need it.
Remember, this fleet is about stealth. Strike hard and fast on the first attack then make a retreat to the shadows. Speed of your ships dosent really matter due to teleportation but know when to back off and wait for an opportune moment.
Flying Dutchman(DJC 001) 17
-Davy Jones(DJC 025) 11
-Cursed Captain 3
-Cursed Helmsman 2
Mistwalker(DJC 135) 14
Hangman’s Joke(DJC 018) 11
-El Fantasma(DJC 023) 9
Alligator(DJC LE) 9
-Cursed Smokepot Specialist 3
-Cursed Explorer 1
Unique Treasure:
-Witch’s Brew
-Cursed Natives
-Voodoo Doll
-Curse of Davy Jones
I hope I formatted this correctly, this was fun to make. ?
Are the 0LR+5 crew legal for this challenge?
As stated:
Items not on the ban list are available for use (with the exception of the Sleigh and Captain Whitebeard of course).
Thank you. Also, I wanted to say I really like Davy Jones’ fleet above! Fog Hopping is one of my favorite gimmicks, and one I considered for my own submission. I love the inclusion of the Dutchman (one of my personal favorite ships) and you even subverted it’s biggest weakness. Bonus points from me at least for that!
Thank ye!
When it comes to the Cursed Faction, I tend to try to push their gimmicks to the absolute maximum.
When it comes to the Cursed Faction, I tend to try to push their gimmicks to the absolute maximum.
In that case I applaud your efforts here in that regard, as such a thing is almost impossible to do with “only” 80 points. XD Oftentimes when I’ve made Cursed gimmick fleets in the past, the build total quickly balloons to 100+ or 150 points before I can reach a satisfaction point with the fleet.
If you haven’t already you might enjoy reading about VASSAL Campaign Game 4.
CC Roanoke (13) {6+2} [46]
PotC Anamaria (3)
SS Captain Charles Richard (3)
DJC Davy Jones (11)
F&S Sir Rupert Hargreaves (8)
F&S Chain Shot (1)
SM Carbon Charlie (3)
SCS Chang Pao (4)PotC Jolly Mon (1) {1} [1]
F&S Minuteman (7) {0+1} [13]
SS Cargo Master (5, American)Rev Banshee’s Cry (3) {4} [17]
CC Jonah (0)
RoF Crimson Angel (3)
F&S Lord Mycron (6)
SS Cargo Master (5, American)On HI/floating
F&S Stinkpot Shot (1)
F&S Grapple Shot (1)
F&S Chain Shot (1)This fleet is all about area control. I’d use El Neptuno or USS Atlanta to get even longer range, but just couldn’t get what I needed for 80 points. Roanoke has several 3L cannons. I place Anamaria on here to allow a variety of crew. Captain Charles Richard does double duty with Captain for move and shoot and Ignore Ship Point limit. Now we have two heavy hitters on board.
Davy Jones allows us to copy any ability in play. We’ll primarily be copying Minuteman’s Extended Range. Now we shoot at 2L range.
Next, let’s look at that unassuming Chain Shot. I’m using equipment over specialists because Specialists specifically limit the range to S, and we’re trying to fire at ships 2L away or further (if you apply this strategy to other fleets). There are a couple “floating” Equipment in the fleet just to allow flexibility if you see you are fighting a crew-heavy or treasure-runner heavy fleet. Chain shot will allow you to pin down a ship and keep it from coming in range. Ideally, you’d knock out smaller ships and leave the largest threat for the Chain shot, or you can start on the big threat and if you fail to disable it, then fire the Chain shot.
Equipment have a large drawback of self-destructing on a roll of a 1. A reroller might be beneficial here, but a Cannoneer will not (seperate shoot action if you fail). Rolling a 1 would be catastrophic, so we’re going to take advantage of Sir Rupert Hargreaves, which allows one shoot action to roll 2 dice per cannon instead of 1. Assuming you get two shoot actions, be sure to use Sir Rupert and the Chain Shot (or other equipment) on the same action. Not only do we increase a 2LL cannon (not a typo) from a 67% (4 in 6) to a 89% (~9 in 10) chance of hitting, we also reduce the chance of a 1 on our Shot rolls from a 17% (1 in 6) chance to a 3% (1 in 36) chance. Here’s the key: you’ve prevent a ship from moving, and you are out of its firing range. You can continute to lock down the ship (imagine a 10 mast or El Acorazado, which take a lot to take down) as you chip away at its hull with long range shots.
We finish out with Chang Pao + Carbon Charlie, though LE RoF Griffin is also a great option. The extra bonus to the cannon rolls is great, and Carbon Charlie will be more beneficial in longer games, giving extra cannons that are 2SS cannons. Griffin is the runner up alternate since we have a Captain, and a guaranteed +1 on the off chance we end up with a “world hater mismatch” like Chang Pao vs Jade Rebellion, etc. The extra speed is only good if we drop Minuteman. DJC Devereaux is also a good option instead of Carbon Charlie for extra accuracy. Minuteman can shoot first, and regardless of success, now we can shoot more accurately with Roanoke.
Minuteman is the only American floatilla, and we need a floatilla to copy for extended range with Roanoke. We also take advantage of the hull as a place to stick a Cargo Master, which gives cargo to Roanoke for more crew/equipment. Since Cargo Master doesn’t take up cargo space, and is below the point limit, it can be applied here. You can also put one of the floating Equipment on here if you would like (we’ll find that cargo space in a moment). Beware that if you want to replace one on Roanoke, Roanoke will have to do the exploring to swap out since Floatillas can’t explore.
The final ship is the reliable Banshee’s Cry. It’s only 3 points and 4 cargo. I used Paradox initially (4 points for 5 cargo), but didn’t end up needing the extra cargo. Keep it as a plan B if you drop Jolly Mon or an equipment and need extra space. We overload Banshee’s Cry with Jonah, Crimson Angel for crew of any nationality, and Lord Mycron and an American Cargo Master. This gives an extra cargo to the Floatilla (for an equipment) as well as to Roanoke.
Jolly Mon is here to support Roanoke. It can shift around a piece of gold to feed Carbon Charlie, an equipment for Roanoke/Minuteman, or even just a dummy shot if you are using Devereaux.
Stinkpot Shot can wipe out a ship using Point Break Limit (Robinson, et al.) or cancellers. Grapple shot is fantastic to pick off crew if you manage to pick up Weapons/Gun (we end up with +11 to a boarding roll with one of these!). Claw Cannon (UT) is great for late game if there are problematic ships running around, you can “yoink” a ship from far away, and use your second shoot action Chain shot to lock it in place or just blast away at it. Again, Weapons/Gun really helps with Claw Cannon.
Eye of Insanity is great, though if someone else gets it they can use it too. Have someone like Carbon Charlie pick up Davy Jones’ power and copy something situationally useful (+1 to cannons, reroll, double but roll 6, etc.)
Power Cannons can make you shoot at 4L, but be careful because it also means an opponent can outrange you. One outrange and the Roanoke can fall apart.
Targeting Scope lets you assure a Chain or Stink hit, which can be clutch late game. It’s not as great for your opponent because your goal is to never get in range of their ship for them to hit anyways.
Ammunition lets you pick up a free extra shot, such as Exploding shot or replace a Chain shot.
Other UTs to mention:
Marksman’s Map
Forged Papers
Homemade Flag
Dry Powder
Abandoned Crew (Cannoneer)
Runes of Defense
Runes of ThorFinal Thoughts: If you want to play it safe, replace Jolly Mon and perhaps Carbon Charlie or some extra Equipment with an additional +1 to cannon rolls to hit your shots on a 97% chance. You’ll want to set up Minuteman and Roanoke to cover as wide of an area as possible, especially close to your opponent’s home island. Assuming Minuteman is the only Floatilla, and it dies, you lose your range advantage. Roanoke will also be severely outgunned if it is ever hit and you lose Davy Jones. Thankfully, you should be able to out range everything unless you are up against a similar fleet, such as Selkie, El Neptuno, or USS Atlanta. Fleets that are extremely fast, such as Hai Peng or San Cristobal should be able to dive right on top of you from outside your range, so watch for those. Banshee’s cry will never really leave the home island because of giving Roanoke its action every turn, though if Roanoke is sunk, abandon all the crew you can and start going for treasure. In reality, this fleet is best in a slightly higher point game, or if you take more risks (such as dropping Hargreaves) so you can use El Neptuno to fire off these abilities as 2LLLL cannons rather than just 2LL.
Oh I’ve seen all your videos, some of them more than once… I like hearing other people’s takes on certain ships or factions or strategies. I listen to your podcasts while I’m driving.
Oh I’ve seen all your videos, some of them more than once… I like hearing other people’s takes on certain ships or factions or strategies. I listen to your podcasts while I’m driving.
Thank you, very glad to hear it!
My Entry for the challenge!
Rociante(18) + Nikos Chelios(5), helmsman(2), oarsman(1)
Maui’s Fishhook(20) + Commander Temple(6), Thomas Gunn(5), Sir Christopher Myngs(3), Commodore Rhys Gryffyn Owen(0), oarsman(1)
La Santa Isabel(13) + Bianco’s Haulers(3), captain(3), helmsman(2), oarsman(1)
Fortaleza Dorada, Fort Brompton
Treasures: Natives, Maps of Hades, Marines, Jail!, Tiki of the Volcano
Coming in with the first ship, we have the Rocainte, from RtSS, with a great combination of abilities. Hoist will be handy for exploring islands and she’ll be expected to do a bulk of the “traditional” gold running. Nikos Chelios will stay face-down until an opportune moment and will take up to two treasures from any ship the Rociante touches, or rams. Normally you’d want to avoid ramming as you become pinned as a result, however, the Rociante cannot be pinned, AND she has secret hold, which will make getting the treasure Chelios steals back almost impossible, short of capturing the Rociante.
Backing up the Rociante is fellow hoist, Maui’s Fishhook. The Fishhook has the most accurate cannons of any hoist, along with the “worst” cargo. Her high point cost allows for Commander Temple to come aboard and command the vessel, alongside Thomas Gunn from RotF, Sir Christopher Myngs, and Commodore Owen from BC. Contrary to the gold running nature of hoists, the Fishhook is kitted out as a gunship, and will do most of the serious fighting. Her objective will to be to find the smaller gold runners I encounter, derelict them, explore them with the hoist arm, and trigger Temple’s ability, thus capturing the ship! Ideally she’ll be able to catch and capture ships with gold already on them, thus running gold by fighting.
Providing support for both of the hoist is La Santa Isabel, the largest ship of the fleet. The Isabel should have no problem keeping pace with the Rociante, and shouldn’t be too far behind the Fishhook. On board are Bianco’s Haulers, to keep her safe while docked, as well as a captain and helmsman. Should things go in favor early on, the Isabel may be called upon to fill out some “traditional” gold running, as both of the hoists are more optimized for stealing treasure from other ships. However, should things not go so well, the Isabel will be tasked with providing cover for either of the Hoists.
With a mostly Spanish fleet, Fortaleza Dorada is included to provide a safe refuge on the open waters, and a secondary place to store gold. Most crucially Fortaleza will allow the Rociante to repair, since the Mercenary keyword gained from Chelios will keep her from docking at home. Fort Brompton is included as a cheaper alternative. Ideally both forts will be built, giving multiple places for ships to repair or store gold.
Treasures are included with the intention of slowing down enemy ships, either by removing their crew (like helmsmen), freezing them in place, or allowing me to potentially move them. I didn’t want to include anything extremely bad that could be used against me, like Plague or Rum. Regular gold values will depend on additional set-up rules. I tend to use random gold values for an entire map or game, and not have gold contributed by players for a set total. In this scenario I’m imagining that there would be some kind of treasure limit or rule. If it’s similar to the regular rules (8 coins equaling 16 gold) I’d have to include a couple high value coins alongside my various UT’s. If there’s only a pre-arranged number (and not value) of coins to be contributed, I’d either throw in a few 0 coins or some high value ones.
Final thoughts:
This fleet should be able to mount a bit of a challenge to whatever it is facing, either with extreme regular gold running, or by capturing enough ships to turn the tide in my favor. Owen could be dropped from the fleet in favor of a +5 crew to fit Diaz onto either the Rociante or Isabel and I very nearly did that, however I wanted the re-roll that Owen provides as it makes the Fishhook that much better. My one caveat would be that this fleet is small, in terms of number of ships and size of ships. 80 points is enough to throw at least one kitted out ten mast at an opponent, or run a fleet of larger faster ships. Against a 1-2 mast gold runner the Fishhook would have an advantage, against a 3-4 mast or larger, that advantage diminishes greatly. Alternatively a fleet that has almost no gold running put into it and is a straight combat fleet will not be good for me.
@zone: Smokepot Specialist is a 3 point crew, which brings the fleet total to 81. However, you still have until the deadline to make edits so the fleet is legal.
Weird, I was looking at an OE Smokepot specialist and it said 2 points. Misprint I guess?
EDIT: Alrighty I switched the Howl for the Alligator and an explorer.
Weird, I was looking at an OE Smokepot specialist and it said 2 points. Misprint I guess?
It’s an error addressed on page 2 of The Pirate Code.
Anyone else on the fence still has until the end of the year PST to submit a fleet! We need more submissions to unlock the booty!
Question about piece legalities for this challenge: Are the Unreleased pieces meant for SS/RtSS legal for use? I know you listed specific banned pieces, and said that RtSS was allowed, but does that extend to the Unreleased sections?
Question about piece legalities for this challenge: Are the Unreleased pieces meant for SS/RtSS legal for use? I know you listed specific banned pieces, and said that RtSS was allowed, but does that extend to the Unreleased sections?
No, Unreleased is not part of RtSS whether it was meant for the set or not.
Alrighty! Finally decided on a fleet to use for the challenge! I made like, 10 fleets. I don’t know why. I can share ’em later tho, if people are interested.
So! Unlike most of the above participants, and indeed, most other players, I tend to not focus on terrain/island count, UTs, or overall game setup, but instead rather focus on the pieces themselves, and how they play in the provided scenario.
And so, I present to you all, my Fleet for the End of 2021 Challenge:
The Spanish Saints
Because it’s what I’m used to, and because it’ll be different, I went with a faction-pure fleet of all Spanish pieces. Here’s the breakdown:San Cristobal (LE) + Almirante Carlos Pavon y Miranda + Explorer crew (15+6+1= 22)
Santa Ana (SCS) + Luis Zuan (MI) + Helmsman crew (15+7+2= 24)
La Santa Isabel (Rev) + Bianco’s Haulers + Dominic Freda (RotF) + Helmsman crew (13+3+4+2= 22)
La Santa Ana (CC) + Contessa Anita Amore + Cargo Master (12+0+5= 17)
(22+24+22+17=85 points total)
For this fleet, my overall concept was simple: Spain knows how to Game. The Santa Isabel is one of the best hybrid and gold running ships produced by WK, so of course, she’ll be the star of the fleet. Hosting Bianco’s Haulers, the Isabel is safe from cannon fire, no matter where she makes port. Alongside the Haulers, is a generic Helmsman crew, and the one and only Dominic Freda from Rise of the Fiends. Providing an extra cargo and serving as an explorer, the Isabel will be fully prepared to drain Islands before her opponents can find them.
And if the Isabel isn’t enough, we have the Limited Edition San Cristobal from Rise of the Fiends to help her out. Usually played as a pure gunship in my experience, the Cristobal will be gearing up to be a combat-ready hybrid. She’ll be captained by the famous Almirante Carlos Pavon y Miranda, who will use his re-roll ability to ensure a greater chance of succeeding with the Cristobal’s built-in Same Action Twice. And linking to all Spanish ships, this Almirante will take up the cargo space he provides, leaving plenty of space for the generic Explorer crew, and a load of golden goodies.
Now, if the runners need more defense, then the Santa Ana from South China Seas is there to provide it. Sporting a mixture of 2 and 3 rank cannons, and a built-in Extra Action ability, there’s no doubt the Santa Ana can be deadly. Especially when captained by Luis Zuan from Mysterious Islands, the only WK released Spanish World-hating Captain. Joined by a generic Helmsman crew, Zuan is more than ready to send his enemies to the bottom of the seas, and possibly even pick up some extra gold in the Santa Ana’s impressive cargo hold.
And, last but certainly not least, La Santa Ana, from Crimson Coast. As an all around good runner sporting 6 cargo, and an S+S base move, she’ll also be hosting the lovely Contessa Anita Amore, who will use her charms to ensure the employment of a diligent Cargo Master. With the inclusion of the Cargo Master each of the aforementioned ships will gain an extra cargo slot for holding golden riches.
I didn’t plan on building a fort, but if needed, any of the 3 available forts could provide a forward operating base for the Spanish Saints. I did not include any Unique Treasure options, as I, personally, do not believe a standard game needs such tomfoolery to be entertaining.
Final Thoughts on this Fleet: (Firstly, I didn’t mean to put the two Santa Anas right next to each other like that. I know it’ll be confusing, and for that, I’m sorry.) While I’m sure it’s not the strongest fleet to be submitted, it is (so far) the only Faction-Pure fleet, and I had a fun struggle trying to come up with new and original combos to use. I don’t think anyone has used these exact setups before, but please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong about that. This has been fun, designing Fleets (I seriously have 9 more I can share later if people want to see them) and I hope I’ll participate in more Fleet Challenges in the future!
Good luck, me fellow Scallywags, and may the Best Fleet win!With 2022 upon us the deadline has passed! Thank you to all who submitted fleets! I was a little disappointed to only see 5 entries, especially with the prize up for grabs to incentivize participation. Alas, no silver will be distributed!
Now it is time to grade the fleets!
@zone: Nice use of DJC Davy Jones who will also likely see some abilities worth copying in enemy fleets. The Hangman’s Joke will be somewhat reliant on popping out of a fog bank that is close enough to a wild island. Between the randomness of exit location and her lack of a helmsman, it could be an issue. Partly for that reason I would prefer the explorer on her rather than on the Alligator, who is less likely to need or use it. Fog hopping does make up for lack of speed, but not having anything other than Mist Walker (which is two words) moving faster than S+S could hurt in the long run.
I like that you included a picture! Have you played the fleet in a game?Rating: 3.5/5
@tilorfire27: Very interesting build! I like the use of Hargreaves, stinkpot shot, and the Minuteman. Impressive that you got two American cargo masters in the fleet with neither on the Roanoke. I don’t know if the Roanoke would be able to get in range of all the targets she would need to potentially neutralize. She’ll be moving L+L with a total range of about 4L for shooting purposes. The chain shot should help, but as soon as it misses or you face multiple enemy ships closing in (quite likely at this build total), it will become a simpler firefight.My main concern is that the entire fleet feels like walking on thin ice. Roanoke getting hit once, Minuteman sinking or BC getting boarded could all be disastrous. The UT’s sound great in theory but I’m not sure how they’re supposed to be acquired. The Jolly Mon might be able to get something to the Roanoke. However, lack of gold also makes Carbon Charlie even harder to use. I also think Roanoke will be far too busy sailing around dealing with targets and threats to spend a single turn docked at her home island, so I’d rather see a different crew used than him. I think a helmsman would actually be far more useful. I think I would find L speed (while towing Minuteman) to be too limiting for the sheer volume of things the Roanoke has to accomplish by herself in a game like this.
I assume you used Chang Pao instead of Brent Rice because you’re more likely to encounter Americans than Jades?
Rating: 3/5
@xerecs: Rocinante is the spelling from the RtSS spreadsheet. She may indeed want to ram, since a successful boarding party could allow for the stealing of a 3rd treasure. Great setup and strategy with the MF. 2 cargo spaces still open for coinage is also nice. I could see the Santa Isabel teaming up with the MF to help the MF dismast ships.One interesting swap would be taking out the Santa Isabel and Haulers in favor of the Alquimista with Nemesio Diaz. A tiny bit less firepower, but Diaz might end up being better than the Haulers for defense while also providing a way to cancel enemy oarsmen so the MF can snag ships without having to board for crew elimination. If the MF encounters multiple ships with oarsmen it could become frustrating, especially since her middling mast count could provide opportunities for dismasted enemies to beat her in boarding parties (as she tries to eliminate oarsmen). The Alquimista’s +2 bonus could also be perfect with the Rocinante’s hoist and stealing capabilities.
I love that you used 2 hoists, but especially love the use of THREE of the challenge crew options. It’s good that I have to fish around for negatives in your fleet. The Santa Isabel is a pretty typical choice for you, and an easy include with a basic setup only made semi-interesting by the inclusion of the Haulers. Was Ramsgate excluded for any reason? Wouldn’t hurt to include all 5 possible forts. With a fleet so ready to explore islands, I’m surprised by all the negative UT’s. I’d probably not include Natives or Maps of Hades. Decent chance Rocinante finds one of them early on, which could cause big problems. Standard treasure rules are 8 coins worth 15 gold (not 16).
As to your last note on a +5: Lord Thomas Gunn from OE could provide Reroll for 3 points on the MF, allowing 2 points elsewhere though I’m not sure how useful it would be. (maybe explorer on LSI and stinkpot shot on MF to deal with oarsmen)
Rating: 4.5/5
@j-w-darkhurst: I would be interested in seeing your other fleets, though it may take me ages to comment on them. Thank you for mentioning that Miranda links to all Spanish ships, since the Master Spreadsheet didn’t have that. Nice use of skirting the No-Duplicates rule with the Santa Anas, which I had to look up and confirm via Woelf’s post.Wow, that is a really effective fleet! Ironically I think you have by FAR the most conventionally “good” fleet submitted, as it will have no problem winning games. However, as far as creativity and uniqueness goes, the fleet is lacking the “it factor” or newness I was looking for in this fleet challenge. Nothing really blows me away or surprises me. Knowing the importance of helmsmen, I think I would have approached Anita’s +5 points differently. Instead of the cargo master I’d add helmsmen to the San Cristobal and CC Santa Ana, with the last point going to an explorer on the CC Santa Ana or an oarsman on the SCS Santa Ana. I think it would be more important to get the best coins from more islands rather than the slight bit of “cargo overkill” I’m seeing that sacrifices speed. In addition, all four ships have at least 5 cargo to start, so a cargo master is probably just unnecessary (in my opinion). I do like the theme.
Regarding your note on these exact setups, I wouldn’t underestimate how long this game has been around and the sheer volume of people that have played it and the various combos that are likely to have been used. For example, using a Reroller (including Miranda himself as Cadet-Captain Mike alluded to in 2012) on a ship with SAT is as old as the early sets. One way to differentiate one of the setups would be to crew the Santa Isabel with Nemesio Diaz, Fernando Sanchez (who links to Diaz) and the Haulers. Maybe too slow (a problem potentially solved by Calypso), but a real nasty combo where you have 4 spaces for stolen loot with Diaz and the Haulers making the SI a defensive powerhouse of sorts just re-parking at an enemy home island (though you could argue that the canceller is just overkill with the Haulers there). The CC Santa Ana setup might actually be the most unique, mostly because she’s probably usually run with at least a helmsman and/or explorer.
Lastly (I hope this doesn’t sound too harsh!) I wasn’t really worried about whether any of the fleets submitted were faction-pure; in fact, to make these unique, creative and wacky combo ideas work, you often can’t go faction pure (the Guichuan + FN Grim the Savage and Bianco’s Haulers combo is an extreme but really good example). Also, it looks like Zone/Davy Jones’ fleet is all-Cursed.
Kudos for creating a fleet that with a few tweaks might even be pretty competitive at the 80 point level!Rating: 3/5 (you would win if I was judging on pure effectiveness, but that wasn’t the goal)
The final submission comes from ARabidPickle, which I’m counting since he was having a login issue when he tried posting the fleet before the deadline.
“Fun with Commander Temple 85pts
HMS Titan 17
Lord Thomas Gunn 6
Helmsman 2
Total 25
HMS Caradoc 13
Commander Temple 6
Helmsman 2
Oarsman 1
Total 22
St. George 10
Lawrence 5
Total 15
HMS Patagonia 4
Commander Portland Spencer 7
Lord Mycron 6
Robinson 0
Administrator Scott Bratley 0
Total 17
Le Bon Marin 6
Total 6
The strategy is to derelict opposing ships and using Lawrence to cancel any abilities that Would prevent Commander Temple from capturing. Lord M helps Temple by letting him make contact with derelicts then explore in the same turn to capture.”@ARabidPickle: Solid English fleet. Most of the setups are pretty basic/expected but I like the inclusion of the Caradoc and St. George at first glance. Why is Portland on the Patagonia? As it says in The Pirate Code: “-If you use this ability, this ship cannot be given any other actions this turn regardless of how many it could generate or would normally have available. This restriction also applies to free actions such as making a scuttle attempt or transferring crew to or from an island.” Not sure what your goal is with him on the Patagonia. Boarding protection for Mycron?
I think Lawrence might be better off on the Caradoc (if she lost her oarsman) or the Titan. That could even allow for the addition of a second canceller if you swapped the St. George for HMS Rye, which also has an extra cargo space and could be used as a gold runner.
Rating: 3/5 (this could be 3.5 if Portland was explained or swapped for something that worked better)
Final Scores:
1. Xerecs: 4.5/5
2. Zone (Fear the White Mist): 3.5/5
3. Tilorfire27: 3/5 (tiebreaker goes to most unique/creative here)
4. JW Darkhurst (The Spanish Saints): 3/5
5. ARabidPickle: 3/5 (would be tied with the All Saints fleet if not for Commander Portland’s placement)The Winner is Xerecs! Congratulations! You now have the opportunity to host the next Fleet Challenge if you’d like! 😀
Was Ramsgate excluded for any reason?
I wanted to get a cheap fort option for the fleet, and Brompton was cheaper. The idea/thought process is that the game won’t last too long, either way I tackle it. If I find a 3 coin early on I can rapidly build Brompton giving the Roci a place to dock and potentially repair, alongside the Fishhook.
With a fleet so ready to explore islands, I’m surprised by all the negative UT’s.
It’s possible I didn’t quite articulate my strategy well enough. Almost none of my ships will be exploring islands, and I’d actually prefer to go second if I ran this fleet. The Roci and Fishhook would take off after the closest enemy gold ship to either straight up steal the treasures or capture the ship. That said, I certainly can and probably would drop some of the UT’s if I ran this fleet in an actual game.
One interesting swap would be taking out the Santa Isabel and Haulers in favor of the Alquimista with Nemesio Diaz. A tiny bit less firepower, but Diaz might end up being better than the Haulers for defense while also providing a way to cancel enemy oarsmen so the MF can snag ships without having to board for crew elimination. If the MF encounters multiple ships with oarsmen it could become frustrating, especially since her middling mast count could provide opportunities for dismasted enemies to beat her in boarding parties (as she tries to eliminate oarsmen). The Alquimista’s +2 bonus could also be perfect with the Rocinante’s hoist and stealing capabilities.
Good point, I hadn’t thought of that. I mostly assume (erroneously it seems) that people will leave oarsmen behind when building a fleet so as to save points on crew and get potentially another ship in their fleet. Ergo I didn’t think that many if any of the opposing ships would have oarsmen, or if they did some of my UT selections would remove them.
The Winner is Xerecs!
Woooo! I’ll think of something for the next challenge. 😀
Woo, first Fleet Challenge! I feel accomplished now. Looking forward to the next one!
I’ll probably post either all or a couple of the more interesting (or amusing) extra fleets tomorrow, for laughs and giggles. I went and gave them all little nicknames, so that’ll be fun to go over. 😀As a fun little experiment I made an “example entry” for the challenge to better illustrate the kind of thing I was looking for (though not really that complicated).
Grim Zeus combo
(40) Zeus + Crimson Angel (RotF LE version), Grim the Savage (FN version), Gentleman Jocard, helmsman
(12) Tiger’s Paw + Calypso, Ms. Cheng
(28) Frontier + Nikos Chelios, Ralph David (RV version), helmsman, oarsmanHere we have a rerolling Tiger’s Paw creating whirlpools with Calypso that the Zeus uses to steal a ton of gold from enemy HI’s. The Frontier tries to steal enemy treasures and +2 each one, using her hoist crane to explore the home island without docking at it due to Ex-Patriot/Mercenary (preferably offloading one at a time for maximum +2’s). The Zeus provides deterrence through pure firepower while the Frontier can also run gold conventionally to keep the fleet effective. The Paw cannot be boarded while she has panels and provides a unique spot for Calypso to call home. In a perfect game Grim would steal a ton of gold that is then taken off slowly by the Frontier for a crazy amount of bonuses. This fleet uses 3 of the challenge-required crew (who likely work synergistically to boot) along with 4 additional named crew. The key players stay face down as long as possible with some surprise element likely. (an opponent is likely to guess that it’s Grim on the Zeus, but Chelios and the non-RotF Ralph David could be a small shock)
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