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Another one for QotD on Facebook. 60 points Davy Jones Curse only.
HMS Half-Moon(9)+ helmsman, explorer(2+1)
HMS Starbuck(7)
HMS Gargantuan(16)+Commander Spencer Portland, captain, helmsman(7+3+2)
L’Eroica+ Mdmsl Josephine Godiva(0), helms, explore(2+1)
I was veeeery tempted to make a 60 point fleet revolving around Guichuan, as well as a fleet focused on Bonny Peel, but decided otherwise in the end. HMS Gargantuan fills the role of primary gunship; she should have enough speed and luck to catch any small to mid-sized gold runner as well as get the drop on any gunship. HMS Half-Moon and co will take care of the gold, with L’Eroica making a surprise entry as the primary back-up to the half moon. In fact the Eroica could easily take the primary role is her built in SAT comes through a few times. Godiva links to the ship and provides a re-roll mostly for the SAT but could also be used for other purposes.
Another fleet from the QotD! Mysterious Islands, 60 points.
HMS Pacificum(15)+Lt. Henry Ducie Chads, captain, helmsman, firepot specialist(5+3+2+2)
Devil’s Pay(4)+ Cannonball Gallows(0)
Coleptra(12)+Captain Mission, helmsman(7+2)
Panama Sun(10)+helmsman, explorer(2+1)
Islands: MI#1 and #7
This was a tougher one. Not too many quick cheap gold ships, if any. There was however a +5 point crew, so I had to bring him in. Could I have done it better? Possibly. However, here we are. Anywho, the Pacificum fills the role of dedicated gunship. She isn’t the most combat capable 5 mast, but she’s the only 5 in the set that moves faster than L. Lieutenant Chads should hopefully give her a speed boost or a second shoot action. Unlike other fleets I’ve submitted she’ll likely stay close to the gold runners. Coleptra and Panama Sun will be doing the gold running, and will be targeting the Mysterious Islands I’ve included. With luck I’ll be able to gather most of the gold on the map in one or two locations and take the best for myself. With most of the gold hopefully near me my opponent will be forced to come to me for it, and even subs need to come up to dock and get gold, making them easy targets for the Pacificum. This fleet depends heavily on island placement and luck, making this one of the most gimmick fleets I’ve submitted yet.
Ramsical 40 Points
El Ballista+Helmsman (11)
Le Lyon+Helmsman+Captain (19)
L’Afrique+Captain (10)
It’s time for a GIMMICK FLEET™! El ballista goes in first to hopefully kill a useful crew member. Le Lyon follows close behind to ram/shoot them again. L’Afrique takes potshots from afar or secures a ram kill. Each ship has at least one available cargo space to steal some gold. Watch as your opponent scratches their head in puzzlement!
Suggestions for this fleet:
- Towing is bad, leave derelicts for sinking or stealing.
- Kill those pesky gold runners first, murder is fun!
- Utilize Lyon to get gold if Ballista and Afrique are enough of a distraction.
- For 60 points add: Cursed Blade+Helmsman (13), Bloody Jewel+Explorer (7)
I’m assuming that’s the Ocean’s Edge version of L’Afrique and not her Barbary Coast version?
Interesting fleet, very combat focused. I’d try and find a way to get a captain onto the Ballista as well. Her cannons are NOT good, but with 4 chances to hit odds are semi-decent that you also succeed with at least one. You can do it by adding Jules de Cissey from Crimson Coast, the French +5 crew. He can hide on the Lyon or on L’Afrique’s one extra cargo space.
Two fleets from the QotD on FB. Today is time for Ocean’s Edge, 60 points.
First fleet:
Virtuous Wind(14)+ helmsman, silver explorer(2+3)
Sea Crane(9)+ silver explorer(3)
HMS Grand Temple(15)+Lord Thomas Gunn, Calico cat, helmsman(6+6+2)
UT’s: Lost
Should come as no surprise what the Grand Temple will be doing. Her speed and good cannons will allow her to either go hunting the other fleet or will allow her to keep escort with my own runners. Thomas Gunn is chosen over Griffin in case someone brings along the Guinee and cancels the Temple’s ability. Virtuous Wind and Sea Crane will do a bulk of the gold running. Both ships are equipped with silver explorers, and I would be adding almost 2 full cards worth of silver to the mix, so I should find quite a few silver coins. The VW has decent enough cannons it could return fire if something gets the jump on it and leaves at least a mast standing. Lost is included to add whirlpools if I find it. If my opponent finds it, the Temple is probably getting reefed.
Second fleet:
Zeus(23)+Emperor Blackheart, captain, helmsman, oarsman(12+3+2+1)
Angelica(19)
Pure silliness. EBH will hopefully land a 1-5 more than a 6, which will give extra actions to the Zeus and to the Sea Dragon. ? Angelica is the cheaper of the two dragons and has the much better ability. Zeus has enough cargo to essentially operate as a hybrid ship in this set-up. She’ll likely not be able to chase down the myriad small goldships, but Angelica should be able to by flying.
QotD keeps on going and I keep on answering. 60 points, Disney Pirates of the Caribbean only. This one required some serious thinking as there are no generic crew in Disney Pirates, everyone is a named crew. 0.0 That said, here is the fleet I came up with:
Grand Barnacle(13)+Bootstrap Bill Turner, Ragetti(2+1)
Black Pearl(17)+Captain Barbossa, Sao Feng, Elizabeth Swann, Cotton (7+5+3+2)
Dragon+ Mistress Ching(4)
UT’s: Pirate Globe, Smuggled Goods, Kraken Gong
Given that there are only two crew with the helmsman ability and only one with the explorer, I’ve leaned heavily into my main gunship. Almost went with the Flying Dutchman, but speed wins games and so the Black Pearl was chosen. On her we have a full gamut of crew, with linked Barbossa, leaving a cargo spot open for a potential coin. The Pearl is likely going to be one of if not the fastest ships in the match and will go hunting, no two ways about it. Even though she’s bigger than the Pearl, the Grand Barnacle features as the main gold runner of the fleet. Good speed and cargo for a five mast she’ll get around to islands as quickly as possible and hopefully find the Pirate Globe, which will indicate where she’ll need to go and reveal the locations of the other two treasures I’ve included. Smuggled Goods will be handy for getting an edge in the gold game and the Kraken Gong will potentially add more fire-power to the fleet while also potentially annoying everyone if I bring in Kray-Kin or The Kraken. Rounding out the fleet is the Dragon with Mistress Ching. The Dragon will follow along with the GB and take whatever coins the GB didn’t take.
Hometown Pride (60)
USS Seattle+Captain+Helmsman+Oarsman (19)
USS Bellevue+Montana Mays (OE)+Captain+Helmsman+Shipwright+Oarsman (27)
Black Diamond+Jonah+Le Requin+Helmsman+Captain (14)
Another Combat fleet, but with a twist. All of these ships have the names of cities out here in the PNW. The tentative idea is that Black Diamond can move (L+S)*2 and weaken an enemy ship. USS Bellevue is close behind moving at the same speed, shooting all along the way, eventually delivering the Shipwright to any derelicts they create. USS Seattle can hang back and ferry gold, or swoop into the fight at a moments notice. I know full well how ineffective this fleet is, but I think it’d be fun regardless.
All of these ships have the names of cities out here in the PNW.
Really? There’s a place called Black Diamond?
Why do you have Jonah on the Diamond? From the look of it Le Requin and crew will fit on her without going over the point limit of the ship.
They may not go over the point limit of the ship, but they do go over the point limit of the fleet. 60 points is a lot more common than 68 lol. I really wanted every ship to have a captain. And yes! There is a Black Diamond, it’s where I live, about an hour north of Rainier (big missed chance for a named crew right there). I’m just making my fleets using my collection stuff, so there’s probably more efficient builds. Always appreciates hypotheticals though!
They may not go over the point limit of the ship, but they do go over the point limit of the fleet. 60 points is a lot more common than 68 lol.
That’s not how Jonah works. Page 36: “These abilities do not allow you to exceed the build limit of a game. They have no effect until placed on a ship during setup, which first occurs after building your fleet, so they only apply to the point limit of a ship.”
Another QotD fleet! Frozen North this time, 60 points.
La Dijon(8)+ Silver explorer(3)
Marie Antoinette(14)+ Amiral Louis Cartier, captain(7+3)
Jaguar’s Spirit(12)+Gunner, capt, cannoneer(3+3+2)
El Hambre(5)
UT: Runes of Death
Another tough one, as only the Vikings got a helmsman crew, and they’re far too expensive for my liking. Furthermore, they were the only faction to get a regular explorer crew. However every faction did get a Silver Explorer in this set as it was the first time those crew were introduced in the game. La Dijon will do most of the gold running and will hopefully find more silver coins than regular, and her ability will allow her to move Runes of Death to another island. Marie Antoinette serves as a raiding gunship, that will try and go after enemy gold runners, using her S-board and Cartier’s +1 to boarding rolls to hopefully steal a treasure and then let loose with the cannons. Jaguar’s Spirit acts as the true gunship of the fleet, and will either finish whatever ship the Antoinette attacked or will keep the Dijon and El Hambre safe.
Two fleets from the QotD on FB! Rise of the Fiends, 60 points. This one was both exciting to do and frustrating.
Fleet one:
San Cristobal(15)+ Luis Zuan ,helmsman, explorer(2+2+1)
Bazana–Diablo(8–7)+captain, helmsman(3+2)
San Estaban(9)+ Dominic Freda, helmsman(4+2)
UT: Blood Money
Strictly speaking, this is a 55 point fleet. You could drop the explorer from the San Cristobal and add the Magdelana, but I wanted to keep the explorer for hybrid purposes. Initially this fleet looked much different with the Rare version of the Cristobal instead of the LE version and the Lady’s Scorn as the main gunship. However I then recalled the Zuan is a 2 point captain because he’s hostile to Pirates, meaning I couldn’t use him if I was going to include the Scorn. So I changed to the LE version of the SC which has SAT built in along with good speed and cargo. Even though she functions more as a hybrid the Cristobal serves as the main gunship. The San Estaban will be relied upon to do the brunt of gold running, equipped with the excellent Dominc Freda. Escorting the Estaban is the Bazana serving as a support gunship with her captain and lugging around the Diablo fotilla, effectivly giving the Bazana the fire-power of a 6 mast ship. Blood Money will be annoying for my opponent and will “guard” an island for me, forcing my foe to seek gold elsewhere or suffer the penalty.
Fleet two:
Grinder(12)+ helmsman, explorer(2+1)
Hades Realm(13)+ El Fantasma, captain, helmsman(7+3+2)
Grim Reaper(12)+ capt, helms, explorer(3+2+1)
UT: Cursed Natives
Again, strictly speaking this is a 55 point fleet. The Hades Realm serves as the main gunship, even though I was VERY tempted to make the Grinder the main gunship. However the Realm is more suited to gunning than running, at least in this fleet. the Grinder will do most of the running with help of a sorts from the Grim Reaper. The Reaper will target enemy gold runners and use her boarding bonus to try and steal a coin after blasting away with her cannons. Should that seem unlikely she is equipped with an explorer to grab a coin that the Grinder hasn’t gotten to yet. Cursed Natives included to slow down and annoy my opponent.
Two fleets, one from Fire and Steel and one from Savage Shores!
Fleet one, 60 points, Fire and Steel only.
Another tough one. There are exactly two crew with the helmsman ability in the entire set, and only one with the explorer ability.
Trinity(15)+Victor De Alva, Luis Zuan, cannoneer, oarsman (8+2+2+1)
Morning Star(9)
HMS Ram(6)+Lord Mycron(6)
San Pedro(11)
UT: Turtles
As mentioned this one was tricky, there are not a lot of fast ships in FS and even fewer decent goldrunners. However, they are there and some of the best from the set are here. Spanish Morning Star is an absolute steal, 9 points for a 5 mast ship moving S+S. I was VERY tempted to put Luis Zuan on her to boost the speed, but felt he would be better suited to the Trinity. Assisting the MS is the San Pedro a clone of El Alquimista from SCS. Same point cost, same ability, same cargo, same cannons and so on. The Trinity fills the main gunship role with pretty much the only EA crew in the entire set in Victor De Alva. Her ability should allow her to catch fast runners, but she’ll be significantly slower once she takes a hit or two. Even though there are cheaper ways to do it, Lord Mycron enters play sitting on the Ram and providing an extra action to any of the other three ships when needed. With luck one of my runners will find the Turtles giving my fleet a nice gold bonus no matter how many of them get home.
Fleet two, Savage Shores, 60 points
Akua Lapu(15)+ Isandro Ramirez, Eileen Brigid O’Brien(7+5)
Frontier(17)
Celestine(11)+Master Scribe(3)
Even though this one was tricky I’ll likely make a second fleet for it. Akua lapu serves as a gunship and a pinch gold runner. She’ll have to rely on the Frontier to unload any of her gold however due to the Mercenary provided by O’Brien. The Frontier and Celestine will do the bulk of gold running, with the Celestine hopefully dropping more trade currents rather than eliminating them. Also, strictly speaking this is a 58 point fleet, not 60.
A by-product of the creative fleet challenge:
HMS Salient(20)+ Sir Peter Miles(6), Thomas Gunn(5), Sir Christopher Myngs(3), Commodore Rhys Gryffyn Owen(0), oarsman(1)
Maui’s Fishhook(20)+ Commander Temple(6), Hermione Gold+Trevor van Tyne(5+2), oarsman(1)
El San Francisco(8)+ Bianco’s Haulers(3)
Similar in concept to my actual entry for the challenge. HMS Salient and Peter Miles will go around damaging ships and using the switchblades to activate Miles’s ability to take a treasure. The Salient only has one open cargo space however, so a majority of her function will be softening ships up for the Maui’s Fishhook. Commander Temple leads her, along with the dynamic duo of Hermione Gold and Trevor van Tyne, the only 2 point musketeer. Temple will take advantage of the hoist arm on the Fishhook to steal ships, hopefully with gold on them. In case the Salient and Fishhook have trouble finding targets, El San Francisco rounds out the fleet to provide some “traditional” gold running. Bianco’s Haulers come aboard to provide a smidge of protection while she’s docked and exploring an island for the first time, or stopping off at one previously explored by the Fishhook.
@Xerecs: Nice fleet. I like the idea of Peter Miles on a switchblade, though I think the Salient has 2 cargo open (CRGO links and oarsman doesn’t take up space).
though I think the Salient has 2 cargo open (CRGO links and oarsman doesn’t take up space).
So it does! I think I was thinking of my original bare-boned version, which didn’t include Gunn or CRGO.
Altar Abuse (40 point standard)
Hai Peng + Bartholomew Roberts, helmsman, explorer, oarsman
Patagonia + Robinson, Administrator Scott Bratley, Lord Mycron
Bloody Jewel + helmsman, explorers x2, oarsmen x2
Treasure contribution: Altar of the Loa, Maps of Alexandria, Pirate Globe, Marksman’s Map, Abandoned Oarsman, three 5’s
Forts on hand: all Pirate and English fortsStrategy: Hai Peng zooms to island closest to enemy HI (overall speed of L+S+L+S x2). If you find the Altar on an island closer to your opponent than your own HI, use Black Bart to toss it closer to home where the Bloody Jewel can abuse it soonest. Between the Maps and Globe, the Altar should be located quickly. Once the Altar is found and in a spot you like it, the Bloody Jewel has 4 crew to sac for 2 turns of complete control of the enemy. In a 40 point game with the Hai Peng flying around at mach speed, this should be enough to win you the game. If not, the remaining crew on your two Pirate ships and the abandoned oarsman could give an additional 2-3 turns of mind control, plenty of time to secure enough gold to win.
Biggest issues include your opponent including a bevy of negative UT’s that are too numerous for Bart to trade away, slowing down the Hai Peng. Don’t want the HP to get clobbered on opponent’s first turn if they go second, so you might have to play it safe (premeasuring would be big, and anticipating enemy crew setups for double action potential) and not explore the island closest to their HI on the first turn if you go first. If you go second, it might be advantageous to attempt to explore two wild islands regardless of proximity, just to double your chances of directly finding the Altar in round 1.
Thought about including Hidden Cove, but it starts to cramp how many crew you’ll have to sac at the Altar, or at least the speed of the ship getting to the Altar. With the final 12 points you could swap out BJ+crew for Hidden Cove, Banshee’s Cry + 3 1 point crew, and Coeur du Lion + 2 1 point crew. This would likely be worth it if HC allowed the HP to explore BOTH of the wild islands closest to the enemy HI during round 1. But I like the Bloody Jewel moving at S+L+S compared to two 1 masters both moving slower than that to reach the Altar island. It might be good to swap the Marksman’s Map for an abandoned explorer, simply because that UT would be slow to find the Altar compared to the “reveal all” duo that could make it irrelevant. Simply having a build total of 50 or 60 points would vastly increase the amount of Altar-sac options. One strength of this fleet is that it could win even without Altar abuse, simply because of the speed and OP game pieces getting gold at a fast pace.
70 Point Durable Endeavour build
HMS Endeavour + RotF HGold, Brother Virgil, DJC Davy Jones, 2 points left for Ralph David + oarsman, or RotF TvTyne (up to 12 masts/turn), or Oarsman + Letter of Marque/Lucky the Parrot/etc.
HMS Lord Kenyon + Robinson, Thomas Gunn (F&S), Lord Mycron, navigator
+Oarsman on HIIdea is to copy Lord Kenyon’s ability to Endeavour to make the beast a more offensively charged version of El Acorazado. Swap out the Eternal crew for others if playing deathmatch with HI’s and/or Eternal banned. Lord Kenyon acts as one of the best cheerleaders ever, giving Endeavour the ability to hit on 2’s, two actions per turn every turn, and sometimes a +S boost to increase chances at initiating combat.
If Endeavour is lost, LK can drop the navigator for the oarsman and be a somewhat annoying final customer for the opponent with *essentially* 2S guns and 4 hits to dismast.
With cheese this is adaptable to a non-deathmatch 70 point game too. Just swap navigator on LK and HI oarsman for 0LR+5 Bratley, then for the 8 points left add in whatever you want for gold runners (Banshee’s Cry + explorer, Rover, Mermaid, etc).
60 Point American fleet
USS Constitution + captain, helmsman, tribal chieftain
Destiny + Wayne Nolan, Brent Rice, captain, chain shot
Hessian + helmsman, shipwright, oarsman
American Native Canoes
UT’s: Weapons, Enemy of the State, Power Cannons, Marines
Islands: not too far apart due to max speed of L+S, but want some room to flex Destiny’s max cannon ranges.
Terrain: Likely reefs and a fog bank – all gold runners are immune to reefs here.Fun American fleet I used in a game. You could swap Nolan for Commodore Perry on Constitution, then use the 5 points to add Rattlesnake/etc.
UT selection was based on the abilities present. Marines are ignored by the canoes and Hessian can repair if she finds them. Weapons helps all three ships with crew quite a bunch. Enemy of the State is easily carried by a “sacrificial” canoe or yanked off Hessian by a canoe that doesn’t need to dock at home. Power Cannons is meant to get Destiny to 4L range cannons, but can be utilized effectively by the Constitution as well.
150 point Dragon Fleet
After seeing the 100 point Dragon Fleet, and some minor discussion on Discord, I went and created this fleet. Similar in concept to the original, Rapto Maw, Angelica, and Shal-Bala will fly around the map with EA provided by Mycron, LeBeaux, and Deleflote to move into position and then fire their “cannons”. Supporting them and providing most of the gold running capacity of the fleet is not one, not two, but FOUR sets of Native Canoes. The American, Spanish, French and English canoes are squeezed in where they can, with the English Canoes providing a very important aspect to the fleet, allowing for the Dragons to “heal” after a battle. To that end, those canoes will likely either stay at or near my home island, while the rest go out and run gold or else position themselves optimally for Dragon healing. Supporting all of them is the Bolingbroke, with Bratley, Myngs and Hermione Gold aboard, giving the fleet a traditional gunship. Cannibals, Curse of Davy Jones and Maps of Hades are included to slow down enemy runners, and potentially put enemy ships within range of Swoop Attacks from Dragons.
You could probably get the bones of this fleet down to 100 points by dropping the American and French Canoes, along with the Bolingbroke. At such a high point level, a serious dedicated gunship will be very bad news for this fleet, along with any kind of canceller. Another major drawback to the fleet is the overall fragility, canoes are eliminated in one hit, the essential ships are all 1 mast, making the susceptible to ramming and anyone running Odin’s Revenge.
Angelica (19)
Shal-Bala (20)
Raptor Maw (16)
Le Coeur du Lion(2)+ Princess Arii Auraa(0), Deleflote(9), Chieftain(9)
USS Annapolis(6)+ CPO Richard(3), GWLB(6), Chieftain (10)
Patagonia(4)+ Robinson(0), Mycron(6), Chieftain(12)
Banshee’s Cry(3)+ Jonah(0), Anamaria(3), Chieftain(9)
HMS Bolingbroke(10)+Bratley(0), Sir Christopher Myngs(3), H. Gold(5)
Spanish Canoes
English Canoes
American Canoes
French CanoesUT: Maps of Hades, Curse of Davy Jones, Cannibals
After seeing the 100 point Dragon Fleet, and some minor discussion on Discord, I went and created this fleet.
Nice fleet!! I like the inclusion of so many canoes, and the idea of using the “any canoes” part of the English canoe ability text. I think one of the main issues will be that you must place all 20 canoes at the same wild island. If someone has a multi-action 10 master nearby (more than likely at this build total), the first round could get really ugly. Sure the dragons could retaliate, but losing the American and Spanish canoes could be crippling. I think it would make the turn order and home island/terrain placement selections extremely important.
60 point Jade fleet
Grand Path + Shap’ng Tsai, Katsura-chan, helmsman
Virtuous Wind + Captain, helmsman, explorer
Noble Swan + Li Quin, Captain
Sea Tiger
Forts: Ramsgate, Fort Brompton
UT’s: Bad Maps, JadeMy latest fleet: Delay of Game
When you love the game so much, you don’t let it end. XDI’ve also recently published some new fleet making videos, and there will be more on the way. 🙂 It’s going to be a great year for making fleets and playing! 😀
The latest combines a UPS counter with a cheap form of UPS on the back end. XD
After observing some recent new UPS fleets, I decided to try and revisit an “old” idea of mine, getting a +4 bonus on a gold coin. This lead to an afternoon of head-scratching and bemoaning as I tried to make the combo work at a 40 point limit. I met with some success, but feel as though the fleets could still be optimized further. I’ll share the two that I think have the best odds here however.
Max Bonus 1
Bonnie Liz(8)+Gaspar Zuan(2),Genny Gallows(3), Powder Pete(2), Silver Explorer(3)
Banshee’s Cry(3)+ Jonah(0), Captain Jack Sparrow(6), helmsman, explorer(2+1)
Patagonia(4)+Robinson(0), Mycron(6), Bratley(0)
Oarsman x3 on Home Island
Hidden Cove (2)
Ramsgate, Dead Man’s Point, Fort Brompton
Treasure: Kharmic Idol, Pandora’s Box, Silver 3, 3, 3, 3, 3Ideally you’ll find a majority of silver on the island you send the Cry to with Hidden Cove, sending home at least two silver 3’s with an extra explore action from Mycron. Only one of them will be able to be unloaded on turn one, but after bonuses it’ll be worth 7 gold which gets to about half of what you need to win the game. You’ll only be able to send one more coin back to the Bonnie Liz by the time turn 2 starts, during which you’ll need to unload the coin she’s still carrying getting hopefully another 7 total gold. That puts you at 14 gold on your home island, just one shy of the more than half victory condition (I think), so you’ll have to either go a find another silver coin on another island, or maximize your chances with the gold on island 1, either by building a one of the forts or sending more of the coins there back home to get bonuses. Either way by the time turn 3 ends you should have enough gold on your home island or in a friendly fort to have won the game.
Max Bonus 2
Hai-Peng(13)+Captain Jack Sparrow(6), helmsman, explorer(2+1), Jimmy Legs(3)
Banshee’s Cry(3)+ Jonah(0), Genny Gallows(3), Silver Explorer(3)
Le Couer du Lion(2)+Princess Arii Auraa(0), Maurice Aristide(3)
Jolly Mon(1)+ Hag of Tortuga(0)
Oarsman x3 on Home Island
Hidden Cove(2)
Paradis
Treasure: Kharmic Idol, Pandora’s Box, Silver 3, 3, 3, 3, 3Similar concept and almost the same execution. Use Hidden Cove to fling the Hai Peng to an island. Load an oarsman onto the BC and CdL. Re-dock and explore with the Hai-Peng, sending a silver coin to the Banshee’s Cry, or send a high value regular coin to the CdL. SAC the oarsman that you get in return to try and get to the next closest island. Upon docking and exploring that island, send a coin to whichever ship at home still has an oarsman on it. That ship then unloads a traded coin for a bonus. There should now be enough gold on your home island to build a fort at the Hai-Peng’s current island, thus claiming that gold for your fleet and hopefully putting you over the more than half needed to win the game.
I’ve spent the better part of the day trying to find a way to meld these two fleets together and still be at the 40 point limit. So far I’ve not met with success but I feel there’s got to be a way.
After observing some recent new UPS fleets, I decided to try and revisit an “old” idea of mine, getting a +4 bonus on a gold coin. This lead to an afternoon of head-scratching and bemoaning as I tried to make the combo work at a 40 point limit. I met with some success, but feel as though the fleets could still be optimized further. I’ll share the two that I think have the best odds here however.
Neat! I think it’s difficult partly because getting the +4 on multiple coins in a turn is hard. Maybe Mycron gives Patagonia’s action to Bonnie Liz on turn 2 – first action to unload with +4, pick up 3rd oarsman with free transfer, then BC swaps, sending home a third coin overall that is then +4’d with BL getting another action to unload.
Nice use of Gaspar Zuan, though it feels a little unfortunate he has to take up points in the fleet to make it work. Can’t think of a better ship to use to get 3 bonuses on though. I’ll have to mess around with some Paradox setups – saves points but you don’t get Powder Pete.
Switching islands on the first round is an idea I haven’t thought about enough in regards to UPS, so I’m glad you brought it up. Perhaps the coin distribution could be gamified to an extent where you can win on turn 1 if you get lucky enough (using the 16+ more than half rule of course). With +3 on each coin, any of three 5’s contributed would be worth 8 gold. If you find a single 5 on the first island, send it home and then go to a second island and try to find another 5 (Hai Peng best due to her max regular speed being more than 3L). 8×2=16
Maybe throw in Barbary Banner so you’re essentially including 4 5’s in the treasure distribution – odds are decent that you’ll find at least 2 of the 4 essential coins within the first 2 islands you go to….
Pandora’s Box seems like a risky inclusion. But I suppose it could bring in more gold via a UT like Barbary Banner or Sunken Treasure. Or bring in the Altar and finish off a victory with the crew you’ve sent to the island. Could instead do Pirata Codex for maximum UT elimination. (Jailhouse Dog tough since it would be loaded first and takes up a space)
This makes me curious about having the unloading ship at home be the Banshee’s Cry + Jonah, Genny Gallows, oarsman. Oarsman takes up space initially, but not after being swapped for a coin. Then she receives Sunken Treasure… (Coeur can’t load Sunken Treasure with Auraa+Aristide so the HI ship has to be swapped)
On another note, today’s live game is really making me think about countering Becalmed by making sure an oarsman is on the primary ships needed to win a game. I suppose you could load an oarsman from the HI via the free transfer rules after getting hit with Becalmed in order to get around it.
What UPS means
Universal Pirate Shipping. The shorthand for the ability of Captain Jack Sparrow (CA 058). It lets you swap a treasure from a wild island with a crew on any friendly ship.
What UPS means?
It generally refers to any fleet that uses the ability of 058 Captain Jack Sparrow (CJS) to fling coins home to ships waiting at your home island. A few ships have it too, but CJS is usually the most competitive way to optimize that fleet archetype. The fleet idea for it was pioneered by darrin back in the 2000’s at Miniature Trading. You can see details on it in this post I made, with the original by darrin still viewable and many battle reports involving variants of the strategy in VASSAL Tournament #2. This year I will be testing out some counter fleets to oppose UPS fleets.
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