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That was such a good podcast. It feels really good to be a part of this.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Happy you’re enjoying Pirates CSG too!! 😀
Sounds like a potentially fun ability.
It is, I actually used that custom in at least one game in 2015 or 2016. (hope to republish the battle report this year here on the site)
Thanks, I’m looking forward to it as well. This Summer our time is constrained more than ever, so the victory condition number 2 is most likely to occur. However, (small spoiler) we have the least amount of islands this year than ever before, so that should force more combat and competition for islands.
Ah yes, I forgot to mention that at least it’s not most total gold as the win condition. XD Less islands does sound like a good idea, especially for a time-restricted game. Looking forward to seeing the custom islands in action!
As a site note, I don’t think the site likes copying and pasting in from a word Doc. I had to edit the main post twice since a bunch of code looking stuff was intermixed with the text. I’m not sue what caused it, but a heads up.
Yeah, sorry the forum doesn’t always work optimally. In the past I’ve had success just pasting into the Visual tab, which usually keeps the formatting from the original document. If pasting to the Text tab, some of it may not be recognized correctly.
We are planning to do the podcast around 4pm EST tomorrow (6/11), and I plan to stream it live on youtube!
Awesome, looking forward to it as I do every year!! 😀 Should be interesting with some custom islands/etc in the mix as well.
Could the Mountain Banshee be turned into a Double Catamaran? That’s what her ability makes me think of. Not a huge fan of having to roll again each time the ship gets hit, but Wizkids started that problem.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the other ships needed a small cost increase. However, Niko Ren’s ability seems very niche and I could see him coming down to 6.
Hazy Wasteland
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: C
Point Value: 7
Number of Masts: 2
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: L
Cannons: 4S-4L
Ability: Galley. Smokepot Specialist. [Once per turn when this ship is given a shoot action, you may declare that one of her cannons is shooting a smokepot instead of a cannon; you do not need to target a ship. Simply place the center of a fog bank within S of this ship; it may not touch an island or any ship docked at an island. Remove the fog bank at the beginning of your next turn.]Flavor text: Slow and innacurate, the Hazy Wasteland nevertheless seems more than capable of finding her way out of encounters with enemies. Smoke and deception makes up for her overall mediocrity.
Figor
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: C
Point Value: 7
Ability: World Hater. [This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against any non-Cursed ship.] This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. This crew can use its abilities on Pirate and Mercenary ships. This crew can use its abilities in forts.Flavor text: A giant brute of a man, Figor is a “Russian monster” out to “get people”. His aggressive nature has already caused many deaths, and he is still on his first mission.
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Looking at King Fergus, I could probably ditch the Crew Protection to keep him at a usable price? Between that and a re-cost, what do y’all think would be better to do?
I think that makes sense. I just checked my Epic Seas spreadsheet and I have one crew with the ability. Palamides is an American crew with no other abilities for 10 points. I think the ability is worth at least 8 points, so King Fergus could be 9 with Ex-Patriot. He’d likely be on a 10 master, which makes it scarier because then there are more things to give the bonus to. (cannons, All Powerful, etc etc….)
Balrog seems somewhat powerful but 18 seems like a fair start for playtesting.
Wondrous Voyage
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Point Value: 17
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 6
Base Move: L
Cannons: 3S-4L-5S
Ability: Mercenary. Junk. Shipwright. This ship ignores the first hit she takes each turn as long as she has all of her masts. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls when she carries gold.Flavor text: Often experiencing “miracles” on their long journeys, most of this ship’s crew have circumnavigated the world at least twice over. They know how to take great care of their capacious junk, and defend it with all arms when she has a valuable load inside her.
King Tharsis
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: U
Point Value: 7
Ability: Captain. Ramming cannot eliminate this ship’s masts. Once per turn you may give +1 to any d6 roll made for this ship, after rolling.Flavor text: Apparently this man was once a prince in the Spanish royal family. Having been cast out over a dramatic and complicated dispute, he found peace in a quieter part of the world. That area has now become infested with the Europeans he was happy to escape, and so he has taken up arms as a mercenary “king” in order to preserve his freedom.
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Agreed with Xerecs for the most part.
King Fergus really needs to be more expensive. Crew Protect is worth 4 points, but +1 to all d6 rolls on the ship is worth a bunch more. World Hater is fine at 4, but including all other rolls (especially boarding, ramming, and SAT/EA/etc) has to probably double it to 8 or more. It would also help against reefs, and ideally whirlpools using my house rule. Throw in Ex-Patriot and I think he needs to be at least 13.
Devil’s Child
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: C
Point Value: 11
Number of Masts: 2
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: S+S+S
Cannons: 2L-4S
Ability: Junk. Fear. Filching Gold.Flavor text: This small ship surprises enemies as one of the fastest Cursed vessels afloat. It was as if the Devil himself had a child and set her loose upon his enemies as a pest.
The Necromancer
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: U
Point Value: 11
Ability: Once per turn roll a d6. On a 4-6, you may move an enemy ship S in any direction. If an enemy ship is within S of this ship, you can use this ship’s action for the turn to try to possess a target crew on that ship. Roll a d6; on a result of 6, the target is immediately assigned to this ship. Its nationality changes to match the nationality of this ship. This crew can use its abilities in Cursed forts. If this crew would be eliminated, place it on your home island instead.Flavor text: A master spellcaster who has been trained extensively by experts of the dark arts, the “Necromancer” has taken up residency at most of the Cursed forts around the world. He manages to travel with speed almost unheard of, and causes mysterious things to happen around enemies of the Devil. Now he turns his attention to possessing foreign souls, desperate to woo them to El Fantasma’s cause.
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Most of my points wee made on the FB group, but one more thing I liked was the inclusion of some of the Young Jack Sparrow book series stuff. Pieces like the Grand Barnacle, and Fluer de la Mort came directly from those books.
I’m happy about that too, rather than inserting random stuff not from any PotC content.
I suspect the didn’t include much from those books due to lack of publicity around them, and huge amounts of publicity on the movies.
Indeed, I knew about the extra fiction but never read any of the books. It made the set a little more confusing, but in a good way – like “ooo, more PotC stuff, nice!” 😀
Some of that stuff sounds like a great customs idea. Between that and the two movies released since 2008, a small set could be designed. I’ve got my DMTNT customs in the Epic Seas set, but might have to add some OST stuff sometime too.
Finally was able to message selvaxri about this because he actually made a custom (the Froide Vengeance) with the ability to tow icebergs!
What would you put the value of a lot with Grinder and Terrox at?
They’re both somewhat rare, but nothing too crazy. I wouldn’t want to pay more than $5-$10 for either of them personally. There have been a bunch of those lots up with a huge range in final bid price.
Great points!
It is a weirdly imbalanced set, even between the 2 factions. I usually jump to HMS Endeavour as evening things out, but really the Pirates made out way better. (though the English benefited arguably as much or more compared to the other sets, since some of their best gold runners are from the set)
I did find the abundance of random/non-movie ships kinda strange.
I guess I never thought about all of Jack Hawkins’ versions combing before PotC. Since he got so many versions (and most of them playable), I never had an issue with it. Mission is an oddity but quite interesting in my opinion. I never would have predicted it, but I’m probably his biggest fan at this point. XD
Many years ago I’d made scans of a couple terrain pieces and then printed them large enough to fill an entire Letter-sized (8.5″ x 11″) sheet of paper.
I remember seeing pictures of that! I think they’re in the pictures section at BGG. (might have been a different user though) I hope to do something like that sometime as well, could even do a massive iceberg that the Vikings could build a fort on.
I have watched your podcast on the barbary coast and read the post.
Awesome thanks, great to hear that.
there is a sense of disappoint with the set. maybe it is because you guys have played the game for a long time and there is a lot of comparison to ships from other nations and sets.
Indeed. Part of that disappointment comes from direct comparison (even if slightly unfair) to the previous 3 sets. Which, apart from SCS, were never even approached again in terms of quality in my opinion and the opinions of many others. It’s not like BC is WAY worse than SM/CC/RV, but when you’ve peaked so high early on, it’s hard not to be a bit let down by quality decreases thereafter.
It doesn’t help that SCS is generally better and was right after BC. My view of BC has shifted downwards over time, while my view of SCS has only gone up due to how incredible it is. I’m a little biased because 5 masters are my favorite ship type and the one set without a single 5 master (other than the small and unique SS) will always be slightly dinged or “more lame” as a result.
I really like the look of the Barbary Galleys though.
They are amazing. Generally the prettiest faction, or at least on par with the French. You can see most of them in my Fleet Review. Although there weren’t 5 masters, I think it was really cool that Wizkids gave a 4 masted galley to most of the major factions. (Americans didn’t get one but made up for it with the Intrepid and President, not to mention stellar named crew)
As a random positive to the set, I’ve hardly broken any ships from BC that I can think of. They may have a better lamination job/etc than some of the other sets (especially DJC and OE of course, which can be pretty rough and brittle), as the cards seem very high quality as well. (though there could be some differences across the wide range of packs of course)
I wish they kept the generic crew art exactly the same for all factions and sets, except perhaps the minor factions and Cursed. I don’t think it was worth it to go to faction-specific in the later sets, as I have far more generic crew from the earlier sets (that were better and therefore more likely to be purchased anyway).
Identical crew also make it easier to justify using generic crew on ships of any nationality, which is a very good house rule for newer players and/or those with small collections.
No surprises from me I suppose; I still have some nostalgia for the original artwork and EXPLORER in the Windlass font. 🙂 Whenever I make fleets I almost always try to use the oldest generic crew possible, especially using all-caps SM crew on ships from the early days of SM/CC/RV. 04-05 was the golden age for releases; I’m so glad I got into the game early enough to see it briefly.
You can see my thoughts on the set in my review. Quite a good set, though not top tier like SM/CC/RV/SCS.
@Woelf: I agree with pretty much all of that and do those types of things in most of my games nowadays.
One way we talked about was having a narrow causeway that you have to pay a toll to secure passage, having a cost for a single ship or a much larger cost as a pass for your entire fleet.
That sounds very similar to something I’ve been thinking of trying for years now… 😀
We also played with idea of having “npc” forts or flotillas that act as a deterrent until there is no other option then to engage them.
Sounds like Circle of Blood!
I’ve done plenty of games where at least one island is surrounded by terrain, sometimes including reefs. Off the top of my head I can think of at least two past battle reports that will be republished where I did something like that. (hopefully I will get them up here at PwB this year)
Hey Matt, thanks for doing that. Makes me like CC and RV even more because 5 masters are my favorite ship type. : )
@Xerecs: I thought about making the Red Butterfly a point or two less, but couldn’t quite justify it with the abilities. Now that I see her again I think it might make sense.
Time for a crew day!
Kadrax Dalibor
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Point Value: 9
Ability: Ex-Patriot. Ghost Ship. World Hater. [This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against any [non-faction] ship.]Flavor text: Dalibor has spent time as both a Cursed operative and a tortured pirate captive. He thus knows how to get the most out of what he is given. With a hardened mindset from years of committing or witnessing atrocities, he is ready to make a killing in any upcoming wars of the world, knowing his services will be in high demand.
Quindrick Pylindra
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Point Value: 5
Ability: Ex-Patriot. Reverse Captain. [After this ship resolves a shoot action, she may move as a free action.] UT Hoard. [Once per turn, if this ship is touching another ship, reveal all face-down treasure aboard the other ship. This ship can take as much unique treasure from the other ship as she can carry.]Flavor text: This man is an oddity that no one is able to explain. He comes and goes as he pleases, speaks little, and occasionally helps out. Some days he wears a cape and hood, others normal sailing attire or nearly no clothing. He is such a mystery that some sailors are stunned speechless when meeting him.
Maybe a bit like Professor Quirrell one day, Radagast the next, and something entirely different another day. XD Might go to 4 points.
Gervorio
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Point Value: 6
Ability: Ex-Patriot. Ransom. This ship may dock at an enemy home island and take as much treasure as she can carry. If able, she must leave on your next turn.Flavor text: A cunning bearded man whose reputation as a criminal mastermind drove him out of Italy, Gervorio now provides his services to any crown with treasure. Only after being paid huge sums does he go to work. His incredible thefts have landed him on the wanted list of many rich men.
Lotta wild combos available with this guy….
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
how is wholesalegaming?
HWG is excellent. I have purchased from them multiple times and things have gone well.
its awesome that you put so much effort into Pirates!
The love seems to be neverending! XD Getting really excited to play some physical games again after Legend of the Giant Turtle was pretty memorable. Actually I just got out fleets this morning for the next game, though it won’t start quite yet.
They only got a few 5 masters, but the Cursed make up for it a bit with a good set of 4 masters. Some of them are underrated in my opinion, including slow ones like the Whydah and Juggernaut.
A crew ability might work. For example, something like this:
“When any cannon on this ship shoots, if it can draw a single line of fire through two or more masts on the target at the same time, this ship gets [whatever the bonus is goes here]”
Good point! Another idea for customs. The hits in question could eliminate cargo if it was up to me. That can also help make L-range guns better, since they would be more likely to “hit” multiple masts, simulating that they are more powerful or are being used with extra gunpowder.
I do agree that a lot of realism has to be compromised in order to have a functioning game that is fun and not too long.
@uadoom: Interesting, they’ve been one of the bigger sellers of Pirates CSG stuff the past few years.
After watching Bens collection Video on the Cursed i went out and got Hades’ Realm. Awesome ship!
Cool! Thanks for watching. She is a really neat ship for them, one of their few that can achieve a high max speed. I like to run her with captain+helmsman and maybe oarsman, to keep a few spots open for gold. Now I want to use her again, so perhaps I’ll be able to fit her into one of the summer games I hope to play.
Red Butterfly
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Point Value: 13
Number of Masts: 2
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3L-4S
Ability: Mercenary. Galley. Crew Killing. [Once per turn when this ship hits an enemy ship, also eliminate one crew from that ship.] If this ship is within S of an enemy ship when this ship is given a move action, she gets +S to her base move.
Link: Red RadishFlavor text: The Red Butterfly got her name when her captain led an attack that stained the ship’s oars and sails with blood. Although a multipurpose ship with adequate cargo capacity, she is at her finest when facing imminent danger, largely thanks to her excitable captain.
Red Radish
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Point Value: 7
Ability: Ex-Patriot. Captain. HI Raider. [This ship may dock at an enemy home island and load one treasure. If able, she must leave on your next turn.] If this crew is assigned to their linked ship, that ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls.
Link: Red ButterflyFlavor text: The Red Radish is one of the more passionate and animated captains of the sea. His reputation is that of a “happy warmonger”. When things break right, he can make the Red Butterfly one of the most formidable galleys afloat.
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Raking could give -1 to connon roll and deal 2 masts if you can shoot their stern, I think a crew with that ability would be nice and cheep or maybe just beef up the cannoneer
I suppose, but I don’t think that would be thematic enough. It was more about getting the perpendicular angle so cannon shots would travel along the entire length of the enemy ship. A mast bonus could work, but it was really devastating to the cargo (especially crew) inside, hence my suggestion.
I remember reading about the Royal Sovereign raking the Santa as the first ship to break the line at Trafalgar, with catastrophic effect.
@uadoom: Just got word from Jason that although he didn’t work at Wizkids after 2006, he was contracted to write flavor text until the second to last set (Fire and Steel). So perhaps he’ll have more insight into your question after all!
The game started with Historical fleets and toward the end of the game, it shifted in a more fantasy direction. was that a change direction to gain a bigger audience or a way for the team to express their ideas?
Good question in general, but possibly better for a game designer who was there throughout the later sets. Mical stopped working for Wizkids in March 2006, one month after South China Seas came out. So although he was probably around for some or all of the design process for DJC, there’s a chance that the time frame doesn’t quite match up. Still looking forward to asking the question though, thanks!
(merged to this thread)
This is the sticky thread for ALL Rules questions, so please post any future questions in this thread.
I ask because I have the HMS GT and I have Crimson Angel. would I be able to move and shoot (captain) than use the same action, to move no distance (In case I was within S range) and shoot again? or is this not allowed? I did not see that a ship had to move it’s full distance.
Technically you must be given the Same Action Twice as the ability states. However, there is really no “minimum” distance required for movement, so you could move a fraction of a millimeter and then shoot with all the cannons still in range. It’s one of those “fudgey” things that doesn’t matter a whole lot, since you can kind of “simulate” the movement and basically keep the ship in the same place. A little funky, but for official purposes you could just bump the ship a tiny bit forward or whatever to satisfy the “move action”.
