Today (2/14) is the 10th anniversary of Pirates of the Frozen North! Over the course of two sessions on VASSAL a 3 player game using only game pieces from FN was played.
These were the combatants, in the order of play:
Cursed (agiantpie):
Loki’s Revenge, Baba Yaga, Serpent’s Fang
French (xerecs):
La Delacroix, Marie Antoinette, La Dijon
Vikings (a7xfanben):
Muninn, Donar, Sleipnir
We changed the setup rules slightly, with 4 wild islands (just like a 2 player game) and 6 coins of any value or type (as long as the UT’s were from FN) on each island. The VASSAL module doesn’t have icebergs, but the fog banks look great as icebergs and even have the same dice markings on the edges, so fog was ice in this game.
The fleets after a turn:
I forgot to take pictures for a while, and you can see here that a lot of UT’s have been discovered and played. Of the 8 coins that I contributed to the mix, all were UT’s from FN! Throw in an extra Runes of Death and one Odin’s Revenge, and things were bound to get crazy. The Dijon found the first Runes of Death very early in the game. However, she was very close to her home island… but the Loki’s Revenge sank her! A whopping 13 gold was sent to the bottom of the sea, and the French had their main gold runner sunk. The French experienced further woes when the Marie Antoinette found many UT’s at the northeastern island, among them Odin’s Revenge. That UT hurt the Vikings the most, dismasting the Sleipnir. The Vikings were smart to explore with the Sleipnir on their turn, for she found the second Runes of Death that could have been loaded by the Donar! With no crew or masts remaining, death was averted, at least for the time being.
However, the Cursed soon played Runes of Magic, moving an iceberg towards the fragile Viking fleet, whose Muninn and Donar would take damage from the iceberg. The Delacroix and Marie Antoinette descended upon the crippled Viking fleet, but they weren’t as successful as anticipated. The Delacroix took damage from an iceberg and a ram from the Sleipnir, while the Muninn engaged the Marie Antoinette. Runes of Thor was played on the Vikings’ Sigurd Andersen to guarantee an Admiral’s Action, since it looked like the Donar (the ship carrying Runes of Thor) would be captured by the MA.
This is when the game began to turn odd. The Delacroix and Marie Antoinette captured the Sleipnir and Donar respectively, temporarily giving the French 4 ships. However, this was but a mirage of success for France, as the Muninn dismasted and captured the MA, while the Delacroix lost her final mast to an iceberg! Suddenly the French only had two usable ships, both former Viking ships with gold aboard. In the west, the Cursed have set out once more, while a double iceberg has been formed between the 3 home islands.
The miraculous Viking comeback continues! The Muninn recaptures the Donar, brings her back to unload gold, and uses her reverse captain ability to cripple the Baba Yaga only after the Baba Yaga missed the derelict Donar twice in a row! Not to mention the Marie Antoinette being repaired to full strength, and the mega iceberg dismasting the Baba Yaga! #tombrady #johncena #nevergiveup. lol. (just kidding, the Vikings never had much of a chance in this game, and unfortunately for me they didn’t win at the end heh)
The Muninn and MA stopped the Loki’s Revenge from getting home with a coin, but the Serpent’s Fang brought home a few more for the Cursed. The final coins on the northeastern island wouldn’t have mattered, as the game had been decided.
1. Cursed: 16 gold
2. French: 5
3. Vikings: 2
The Cursed win a fun one! The French and Vikings got embroiled with UT’s and each other, while the Cursed found a 6 and a 4 early in the game. The Cursed essentially clinched their victory by sinking the Dijon and her 13 gold. The late-game surge by the Vikings (“Frozen North Pirates” of this game) was fitting considering it was an FN-only game, but it turned out to just be some late fireworks. The icebergs were a big factor, and between them and the Runes, it was a very thematic way to celebrate Pirates of the Frozen North.