Franklin’s Lost Expedition Mega Pack
Based on subscriber feedback, the Mega Pack for December 2025 is based on Franklin’s lost expedition to the Canadian Arctic! Subscribe by 11:59pm PST on December 15th to guarantee your copy!
The release features 4 ships, 7 crew, and 1 Unique Treasure. (the first treasure of my Pirates Relaunch!) As with most of my Mega Packs, it comes on 12 cards of laser cut styrene. As of this post on December 14th, the job is still with the print company and then I still have to cut all the cards.
Here are some of the new game pieces!
HMS Erebus (decaled prototype copy)
HMS Erebus
Nationality: English
Point Cost: 11
Masts: 3
Cargo: 2
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 4S-3L-4S
Link: Sir John Franklin, James Fitzjames, Graham Gore, Henry Le Vesconte, James Clark Ross
Ability: Bomb Vessel. If an iceberg touches this ship, also eliminate one crew from this ship.
New keyword – Bomb Vessel: Ramming cannot eliminate this ship’s masts. This ship has an additional rank-4 mortar cannon assigned to each of its first two masts. These mortars can only shoot once per turn each, and can only hit targets more than L away but not more than L+L away. These shots are not blocked by other ships, and get +1 to their rolls when targeting a fort. If a mortar shot hits, replace a mast on the enemy ship with a fire mast instead of eliminating it; if the mortar roll is a 1, replace that mast on this ship with a fire mast. The following cannot be applied to these mortar shots: specialists, grape shot, chain shot, smokepot shot, other abilities that improve cannon accuracy.
Flavor Text: She was built as a Hecla-class bomb vessel, with 10 cannons and 2 mortars. The Ross expedition made her a veteran of Antarctic exploration. Time will tell how she fares against the ice floes that guard the long-sought Northwest Passage.
Francis Crozier
Nationality: English
Point Cost: 4
Link: HMS Terror, HMS Briton, HMS Doterel, HMS Fury, HMS Hecla, HMS Stag, HMS Cove, William Parry, James Clark Ross
Ability: Captain. Once per turn when this ship makes or causes a die roll involving terrain, you may increase or decrease the result by 1.
Flavor text: An Irish officer born in 1796, Captain Crozier met the last surviving Bounty mutineers as a teenager. Now a veteran of Royal Navy service, he looks to guide his sailors through new waters (and ice). He is no stranger to the cold, having explored Antarctica with James Clark Ross.
HMS Terror (decaled prototype copy)
HMS Terror
Nationality: English
Point Cost: 11
Masts: 3
Cargo: 2
Base Move: L
Cannons: 4S-4S-4S
Link: Francis Crozier, Graham Gore, John Sheridan, George Back, William McPherson Rice
Ability: Bomb Vessel. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against American ships and forts.
Flavor Text: Launched in 1813, this Vesuvius-class bomb vessel has seen action against the Americans, bombarding Fort McHenry and Fort Peter. She traveled to the Antarctic under Captain Crozier and now he looks to take her into unknown territory in the Canadian arctic.
James Fitzjames
Nationality: English
Point Cost: 7
Link: HMS Erebus, HMS Pyramus, HMS St Vincent, HMS Madagascar, HMS Winchester, HMS Ganges, HMS Cornwallis, HMS Clio, George Sartorius, George Hodgson
Ability: Captain. Cannoneer. Once per game you may prevent the elimination of one of this ship’s crew. This ship can load crew and equipment from your home island or a wild island if she’s within S of it.
Flavor text: Partially unknown birth origins have not stopped this man from living well as an accomplished mariner. Having participated in the Euphrates Expedition, the Egyptian–Ottoman War, and the Anglo-Chinese War, he is courageous and experienced enough to serve under John Franklin as captain of HMS Erebus.
Why this release has War of 1812 stuff: FLEMP (Franklin’s Lost Expedition Mega Pack) too crew-heavy with only 2 core ships, and can’t even fit them all on Erebus/Terror at once. Also want to cover a balanced amount of named crew, rather than a huge amount from only one event/etc. Plus, HMS Terror was active during the War of 1812. I felt more strongly about including the 1812 stuff that was cut from the June release than about including even more crew from Franklin’s expedition.
The crew involved have such rich stories and backgrounds, it was hard to keep some of the flavor text limited. It’s also rather striking to have actual pictures (daguerreotypes) of men involved in the expedition, especially knowing that it was one of the last times anyone would see them alive.