Strategy/Gameplay discussion thread

[Ben]

I only have one copy each of SS 051+052, but both crew chips on them (Shap’ng Tsai and Eileen Brigid O’Brien) have the flag/background art extend to the edge of the chip. Since they both have it, I assume everyone else’s crew chips from those cards are like that as well.  Outside of misprints/miscuts, I think they are the only crew in the game like that. As a result, if you see one of them on an enemy ship, you know it has to be one of those two crew.  Fun little tidbit detail that might help for knowledge purposes once in a great while, especially if trying to determine what kind of Ex-Patriot might be on a non-Mercenary ship.  (such as Tsai on San Cristobal in a competitive game)

[Ben]

Using native canoes to farm Mysterious Islands can break them even more than I thought. It would even work really well for the Mind Control strategy – since they don’t have masts, they’re immune to the negative effect. In a perfect scenario, you could perhaps start 10 American canoes at MI #2, go first and redock them all. With tons of reefs and sargasso seas in the setup, potentially wreck multiple enemy ships or get ships stuck for a while.

1-2: Roll 3d6. For every 4-6 result, eliminate one of this ship’s masts.
3-4: No effect.
5-6: Move an opposing ship using this ship’s base move.

Canoe farming could make MI #4 sickening. Hidden Cove a ship that has S-Explorer to the MI and mark it explored. Canoes then redock and explore. If you get four 5-6 results (quite possible especially if redocking with 10 canoes instead of 5), you could convert the entire island into UT’s. This could be used in various ways, but possibly the most devastating would be a double Odin Missile to wipe the best two enemy ships off the map. (Runes of Odin x2 and Runes of Magic x2)

1-2: Roll 5d6. For every 4-6 result, eliminate one of this ship’s masts.
3-4: No effect.
5-6: When this ship explores this island, replace one treasure coin with a unique treasure from your collection.

[Xerecs]

Using Canoes and Island #14 could also get ugly real quick. As mentioned, the canoes don’t have masts and so would be unaffected (I think) by the 1-2 result, meaning you’d only need to roll a 5-6 to potentially add up to 5 Events to your fleet. If you’re very lucky you can skip out on Hidden Cove or Favor of the Gods in your initial fleet build and grab those two with the first successes, then grab either Mermaids, Becalmed, Duel or any of the other Events that hinder ships. This would save points in the overall fleet, allowing for either more/another ship or more crew on a particular ship.

1-2: Roll 5d6. For every 4-6 result, eliminate one of this ship’s masts.
3-4: No effect.
5-6: You can add an event from your collection to your fleet.
For island #4 I assume you’d need to choose a Treasure that could actually be loaded, as opposed to one that would go face-up on the island? If not, you could intentionally bring in Wolves to keep that islands gold from being taken, then re-dock and if luck is with you you can select either Pirata Codex or Jailhouse Dog to get rid of the Wolves so you can take that islands gold for yourself.

Odin Missile does seem like a go-to combo, but you could also bring in a treasure that modifies gold values to help win, something like Jade or Spices.

[Ben]

For island #4 I assume you’d need to choose a Treasure that could actually be loaded, as opposed to one that would go face-up on the island?

Correct, it’s in The Pirate Code now on page 11, I believe in part due to ziotoo4’s Creative Fleet Challenge entry back on MT.

Another UT to farm with the canoes would be Lost. Being able to place trade currents all over the map could set up some really easy logistics, or maybe place terrain under a ton of enemy ships. (could also be a way to “hack” the terrain setup meta if an opponent votes for 0 terrain and gets the d6 rolloff, then canoes hoard Lost and yank in 1-2 dozen terrain lol)

[Ben]

Here’s a weird way to potentially blockade an enemy home island:

Get two Titans (El Toro likely being one). They both need the ability to not be shot at while docked. Bianco’s Haulers for El Toro, and Copier Davy Jones on Brachyura/Raninoidea to copy BH. They both also need the Letter of Marque UT – the CC/PotC variants are not on the No-Duplicates List, so they can both be included in the treasure distribution. Once both titans have both abilities, move them on top of an enemy HI using the Letters of Marque to dock, making sure to arrange them in a way where their claws hopefully block any docking access points (likely either putting them with their backs together, or with extended claw tips touching).  They cannot be shot at while docked, they cannot be rammed, and the Letters of Marque prevent them from ever moving away from the enemy home island!

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