The fleets went in the order of play as follows:
French Pirates:
Le Flamberge + Guy LaPlante, helmsman
Satisfaction + helmsman
Orca
Cursed Pirates:
Nightmare + captain, helmsman
Bruja + captain, helmsman
The setup featured home islands at opposite ends, and three wild islands in the middle. The island in the center of the ocean was surrounded by a combination of fog and reefs, but it had 8 coins compared to 5 coins each for the other two islands.
The eastern island is off to the right of the frame.
Ships headed for the islands. The Flamberge ducked into a fog bank to avoid the Bruja.
As the Orca struggled to exit the fog in the correct direction, the Satisfaction and Nightmare cleaned out the eastern island. The Flamberge actually beat her comrade (the Orca) to the middle island, meaning that the western island was the last to be explored. The Bruja, with no cargo space available, waited to ambush the French Pirates.
The Satisfaction gambled, hoping that the Bruja’s average cannons would either miss at least half the time or not get completely in range.
And she paid the price! The Bruja sailed up and broadsided the Satisfaction, eliminating all three masts, both coins, and her helmsman.
The Bruja sunk the now-empty Satisfaction as the Nightmare returned home with gold. Now with 2 ships, the French Pirates looked to unload some gold of their own. Luckily for them, the Flamberge and Orca had 10 gold between their 2 coins! Still, the French Pirates were facing an uphill battle after their main gold runner was sunk.
The Flamberge returned home, taking a mast off the Bruja on the way by. Guy LaPlante led a boarding party which killed the Bruja’s helmsman. The Bruja had no choice but to duck into a fog bank. The Flamberge headed west this time, as the Orca and Nightmare sailed in and out of the fog.
Here, the Bruja has repaired, while the Flamberge and Orca make trips to the western island, which they’ve discovered has a lot of high-value coins on it.
With the Bruja and Nightmare now heading to the western island, the Flamberge and Orca go back to the center.
LaPlante was getting bored, and decided to attack! His cannons took out three masts from the Bruja, and his S-boarding stole a coin from the Nightmare.
However, the Cursed got their revenge on the next turn, with the two ships teaming up to crush the Flamberge. The Bruja’s Fear keyword was a 5, meaning that the Flamberge was almost useless for the following turn. The Nightmare’s ram and board meant that the coin changed hands again back to the Nightmare.
The Flamberge headed home, and the Nightmare took the Bruja under tow.
As the Bruja repaired, the Flamberge was unlucky enough to hit a reef and roll a 3, meaning that she was derelict and pretty much out of the game. The Nightmare returned to the center island to grab the last coin.
1. Cursed Pirates: 26 gold
2. French Pirates: 25 gold
Wow! That last 1 coin mattered, giving the Cursed Pirates the victory! The French Pirates found some coins of very high values, but the Cursed Pirates had more gold overall.