Ben

Was looking up the username Alanqsmithee after posting a custom by Riz that the former did flavor text for, and what do you know – a flickr account with customs!  😀   It looks like Pirates of the Tolling Depths, which was at least partially posted on Miniature Trading.  It’s been a number of years since I’ve seen these customs….

I typically stick to 40 point games and Marines add up really quickly, but that hasn’t stopped me from using them a lot.

Wow.  I’ve barely found myself considering using Marines at 80-100 points.  There’s just always something I’d rather have in the fleet it seems.

Brief CG4 update: Second point count of the game which led to 2 new records bei…[Read more]

He flips explosives and it works, sinking my ship… and by rule, magically depositing 4 coin on my HI, allowing me to win next turn.

That is epic and great strategy!  Reminds me a little of VASSAL Tournament 2 where Xerecs and I had to be aware of where specific amounts of gold were to plan our actions each turn.

Nice use of L’Hercule as we…[Read more]

Ben’s set reviews are great and I use them to find which ships sound interesting.

Thank you for checking those out!

Luckily it seems that rare does not necessarily equate to being the best ship in a set. Lots of solid uncommons and commons.

Indeed.  It’s one of my favorite aspects of the game.  I also like how you can get more than one rare in a pack.

Is there a rule set for solo gameplay? I am lucky, and have a crew for game  nights but would like to get this on my table more.

No, but if you really want something to look at, Cadet-Captain Mike has a page for it on his site.

I’ve played hundreds of solo games, and my best advice is to play each fleet equally as if you’re personally trying to w…[Read more]

Interesting to put all the crew on one ship.  Tough scenario to win with – just SM and no extra points.  I suppose Harbinger could dismast one runner early and leave it for the Dorado when she eventually gets there, then the Harbinger could go after another ship.  I think I’d prefer swapping out Cat for a helmsman on the Dorado and another oa…[Read more]

What pieces would you put on L’Hercule (22 pts, 3 cargo) to deck her out the best? Overall fleet build total isn’t important here.

I personally would actually want to prioritize the cannons over boarding, mostly because they can keep firing as the ship takes hits.  There I’d want Barbinais (4 point World Hater) aboard.

Are you opposed to usin…[Read more]

No love at all for the Dreadnought? I suppose it’s just too expensive.

I like the ship, but you asked for the best English 5 masters.  I assume you’re mostly talking about regular games, and in those she’s too slow and expensive to match up well with most of the great English 5’s.  RotF Griffin (LE) would be a nice match; with him and MI Her…[Read more]

What are the best English 5 masters? Seems to me they peaked in SM with Titan and Lord Algernon. Goliath is okay. Cheap. Dreadnought is potentially super powerful but basically too expensive (and slow) to play. Swallow is very good.

Here is my Top 10 English gunships.  HMS Titan was an early peak, but the Endeavour is up there with the best of…[Read more]