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I’d always thought the Crimson Coast referred to the English channel, but there’s flavor text on several CC pieces indicating it’s still just the New World/Caribbean.
I’ve always found it weird how SAT got a keyword (Born Leader) but the any action twice crew didn’t.
On a different note, in the interest of avoiding double posting: I’ve decided I don’t think I want to buy singles from CC (aside from tracking down the French forts) or MI anymore. My collection for SM, RU, and BC is large enough that buying packs would usually result in redundancies, and I generally don’t enjoy fantasy so buying packs of anything after DJC is risky. But for CC and MI it’s still small enough that I can get that joy of pack opening without worrying too much about getting a duplicate. I know at least @Ben kinda hates MI but I love it. I like Jules Verne/steampunk and always found the submarines really cool, especially compared to the crimes against nature WK did in later sets with new ship types.
Didn’t even know this thread existed lol. Well I’m still tracking down the Terror. Otherwise I don’t have any way in my collection to combine fear and something submerged. I’ve thought about putting the Unblinking 99 on board the Fallen Angel, since she’s very fast and can’t be shot at by most ships, but then I remembered ramming is a thing. Fallen Angel + 99 + low cost Cursed crew saved by Devil’s Maw would be super gimmicky but in theory gets you a way to quickly move a fear crew into the middle of a fight on a ship that would be very hard to hit I suppose.
How the heck are you supposed to make use of the Fear keyword? Since it happens at the start of your turn, the canceller ability isn’t as useful. You can’t protect yourself by cancelling a captain on a ship that’s going to attack you for instance. And the S-move result isn’t that good either, because again it happens at the start of your turn. You have to be within S of a ship already to do it so you’ve already caught it. If it happened at the start of every turn then it might be playable.
Here’s a pretty silly one that came up last night. Can you touch another ship without becoming pinned? Obviously you can with ships with certain abilities like galley, but for a ship that doesn’t have an ability like that, is it legal/possible to move your ship so the sides touch before the bow does? I keep having an issue with a Spanish fleet where L’Aguila just gets stuck after ramming a pirate ship.
Godiva escaped when the Duc de Valois failed to deliver her to Papa Doc. In the unreleased Return to Savage Shores set, Papa Doc is still hunting her down.
Can I link the same crew twice? For example, Mademoiselle Josephine Godiva is a 0LR re-roller, so at set up I pick a crew for her to link to. Can I use this ability on Duc de Valois, who is already “naturally” linked to her, and if so, do both links still count? If I put both of them on board L’Eroica, does it gain 3 links, effectively gaining a cargo space for free?
You’re both wrong! I gave Fantasma the slip by letting him think me dead while my boy Roger took over the pirating stuff. I live with Lady Arcadia in the sleepy town of Newport and sleep on stacks of gold.
Here’s the story of me:
I was holed up in Port Royal, sent there as an indentured servant. When Angus Skyme sacked the port, I was able to escape and I joined forces with him on board the flagship of his fleet, the Harbinger. It was during my time with him that we both encountered the beautiful Lady Arcadia del Sol, who escaped El Castillo Del Infanta to explore the world. Me and Angus had a great thing going, but our shared attraction for del Sol drove a wedge between us. She gave me a monkey, which I named Skyme after my friend, but the gift only made him more jealous. Our partnership ended in a duel, in which I beat him and won Arcadia Del Sol’s heart, but Skyme, who now styled himself as Blackheart, made off with the Harbinger.
I got back into the trade by commandeering the Snipe, which I used to take El Ballista without firing a shot. But my men didn’t like the name Sea Nymph, which I had in mind for her. So they kept the ship, and I was once again left on my own with the Snipe. I used it to capture a new ship, and this time the name Sea Nymph stuck. That’s all just Spanish Main!
I stayed active through the Crimson Coast days, where I built up quite a fortune and honed my skills further. In search of riches and a safe haven from pirate hunters I sailed across the Atlantic to try my hand at corsairing. But I grew tired of the life. I thirsted not for riches, but revenge. And so, I stole the Harbinger back from Blackheart, though he would up with the monkey.
In my humble opinion, I am the most successful pirate of all time. Only Calico Cat can rival me. Before slipping off into retirement, I found the old Jade Rebellion leader Shap-‘ng Tsai and we embarked on one more tour of revenge against our old foes, though I never was quite able to hunt down Blackheart and end our rivalry for good
For some reason I only ever made one fleet post on MT despite 5-6 ship reviews. I’m making up for lost time with this thread lol.
Whoops, forgot that second Oarsman would count as cargo. I really want to keep that cannoneer because of Santiago’s rank-4s so I might just change Amity’s explorer into a helmsman. Not sure though.
Now I’m confused again. In game 2 between the French fleet and the UPS one, it ends with the Sea Crane establishing the Devil’s Maw. But France can still move. La Courageux is actually a nightmare for the Devil’s Maw to deal with because she can just sit so only one short gun of the fort is in range and fire with impunity. How come the game ended with the fort being built?
A couple of 80 point Crimson-ish Coast fleets that may go up against each other soon:
France:
La Ville de Paris
– Capitane Gastone de St. Croix
– Madame LaFontaine
– Captain
– Helmsman
– Cannoneer
L’Orient
– Capitane Arathiel
– Helmsman
– Oarsman
– Oarsman
L’Auguste
– Explorer
– Maurice Artiside
L’Artesien
– Monsieur LeNoir
– Vicomtesse Richelieu
UTs: Buried Treasure, Plunder
I originally had one less Oarsman and La Magnifique, but I use Magnifique in almost every French fleet that can fit her, so I’m giving my new purchase Ville de Paris a shot. L’Artesien can attempt a rum bomb trick with the UTs if it gets lucky. Filching Gold really isn’t that strong. I almost put the Vicomtesse on La Mercure so she could use her ability without her ship getting pinned but I like her being on her lore correct ship with her link for thematic reasons.
Pirates:
Deliverance
– Calico Cat (OE)
– Bonny Peel
– Lady Baptiste
– Shipwright
Santiago
– Havana Black
– Bloody Jake
– Gaspar Zuan
– Helmsman
– Cannoneer
– Oarsman
– Oarsman
Amity
– Explorer
Rover
Girl power drives the Deliverance, though I’d have to proxy Lady Baptiste as I don’t own her. Cat and her canonical protogé are on a very not canon ship for them. Havana Black and Bloody Jake seem like a perfect thematic fit for the Santiago, which I believe is the captured pirate version of the Asesino de la Nave.
That’s… distressing. At least the rules apparently changed so I feel less bad about not understanding, but forts are suddenly much less powerful now for me. I feel like they lead to a lot more games ended by stalemate then.
I was actually just thinking about doing a post following the careers of the main “cast” of myself, Calico Cat, Blackheart, and Fantasma. The wiki probably lays it all out but I love Cat’s story so I’ll just leave it here as condensed as possible:
Cat’s real name is Catherine Gunn. You can put this together from the flavor texts of Thomas Gunn the Elder, SM Calico Cat, and the Zephyr. She was taken prisoner by the Spanish after the ship taking her to the new world was attacked, and presumably brought to Havana. There, she managed to impress some of the prisoners she encountered and broke out, managing to wrangle a crew of rough and tumble men from Havana’s slums and stealing the Zephyr.
From there she rose to prominence by capturing the Shadow, though it’s unknown how she pulled it off. She doesn’t have an appearance again until SCS, though the flavor text of CC’s Duke indicates she’s still active in the second set. Around the time of the Revolution set, someone in her own crew backstabs her. She flees to China and outfits the original Lady’s Scorn, bent on revenge. During her absence in the Atlantic, Bonny Peel assumes command of her old crew.
Cat vanishes again around the Mysterious Islands, and loses her fleet under unknown reasons. She resurfaces in Ocean’s Edge, commandeering an English brigantine which she uses to slowly claw her way back. By Rise of the Fiends, she’s the most powerful female pirate in the world, and her brother Thomas is a Lord, one of England’s best commanders.
Wraith’s is the Deliverance, but the Crimson Angel stole it from him.
Pirate Deveraux’s signature ship to me is the Hades Flame. Ghost ship treasure runner fits his aesthetic very well.
I was reading Under the Black Flag when my crippling nostalgia fit happened lol. Welcome.
I remember going to my friend’s house to play a game and we spent so long trash talking and building our fleets that my mom came to pick me up before we could even start. There’s a rules section with links to the full rulesheet and keywords if you need it!
Ugh, you’re making me want to buy Vega and Diaz.
My Spanish battleship suggestion is El Cristobal del Obsipo with Captain Castro, Duques Vacarro, The Inquisitor, a Helmsman, Inquisitor Blanco, a shipwright, and Don Rafael y de Theresa. Two inquisitors give it a nice thematic fair, but more importantly the idea here is to take advantage of the Obsipo’s already decent speed to potentially move 6S and wipe out the crew on the enemy flagship. The doctor is actually useful here, minimizing the risks to boarding. As is the shipwright. Angle your ram correctly and Obsipo shouldn’t take any damage from return fire.
Ok so this is embarrassingly simple but I suddenly think I’ve been playing forts wrong all this time. If the only gold left in the game is on forts, does the game end? I’ve always played that it did, because no player can load any treasure from wild islands that they don’t already own. But the more I think about it, the more it seems you’re actually supposed to ferry the gold to your home island before the game can end. But that would seem to mean you don’t in any way own the gold in forts?
The rum bomb idea is nasty. I have the Buried Treasure and Plunder UTs, but both are pretty scratched to the point where I’d unfairly know where they are right away. I actually almost bought rum the other day but opted for explosives instead.
Akua Lapu is also interesting for not sacrificing cargo space but maintaining speed, though I own nothing past the POTC pack. Right now I’m thinking I stick with the Raven’s Neck then since it can double as a gunship, because the rum bomb idea actually makes putting Wiley on a gunship make sense.
I play yugioh a lot, for about a year or so I got pretty competitive with it, but then my deck got hit by a dumb banlist (Trickstars) and the past few formats have been pretty boring, and I can’t go see my usual yugioh buddy cause covid. I also do the occasional Catan game as well as stuff like Civ, AOE3, and CK2. Oh, and Sid Meier’s Pirates ofc
I’ve been trying to find a way to make the most effective use out of the swap ability of things like David “Bones” Wiley and L’Artesien, but the more I try to make it work, the weaker the ability seems. At least L’Artesien is an otherwise great ship. But right now I’m struggling with Wiley. So far my best idea has been to put him and Lucky on board the Raven’s Nest, but in that case the Raven’s Nest is a good gunship already and can probably just take out treasure runners outright. Maybe on something like the Amity, which can duck in, swap, and get out while preventing a boarding through ghost ship?
La Resolucion (SM)
– Nikos Chelios
– Bianco’s Haulers
– Master Bianco
There’s probably better ways to set this up, maybe with a galley or ghost ship to avoid being pinned. But with this, you can steal three coins for free and thanks to Bianco, bypass the mercenary keyword so you can actually unload the treasure.
Had a fun one last night.
Almost pure Crimson Coast match between pirates, Spain, and France. France’s fleet had Madame LaFontaine which was the one piece not from CC.
French Fleet
La Magnifique
– Capitane Arathiel
– Capitane Gaston de St. Croix
– Claude Perrier
– Helmsman
– Madame LaFontaine
L’Artesien
A battle focused fleet, centered on my favorite warship of all time, La Magnifique.
Pirate Fleet
Duke
– Geoffrey Flores
– Helmsman
– Cannoneer
Amity
– Explorer
Rover
A balanced pirate fleet, with the Duke being built specifically to try and counter La Magnifique.
Spanish Fleet
El Neptuno
La Bahama
El San Francisco
– Helmsman
La Rosario
El Castillo del Infanta
El Puerto Blanco
An all gold running Spanish fleet, hoping to lock down gold in the second half of the game using their forts and avoiding the flagships of the other two fleets with a divide and conquer approach.
UTs: Buried Treasure, Witch’s Brew, Missionary
——
Things immediately went wrong for the pirate fleet. On turn 2, St. Croix gave La Magnifique an extra move action and the French fleet decided to immediately go for broke. Moving L+S+L+S was enough to set up for a broadside, but if they missed, they would be a sitting duck to a return fire from Florex next turn. They didn’t. With a roll of 6, over half of the pirate fleet’s points were gone two turns in.
Spain meanwhile had a better start. Rosario and San Francisco both found rich wild islands on their first try, and Bahama and Neptuno set up a blockade of the pirate HI. The Rover unloaded two 4-gold coins, and one was immediately stolen. The Amity doubled back with its cargo to try and intercept the Bahama. Ghost ships are actually ideal for ramming and boarding situations like this.
La Magnifique gave chase to El San Francisco, and thanks to another successful SAT roll, came bearing down on it as it docked at another wild island. Spain’s only move to try and save it was to build El Castillo Del Infanta there at the end of their turn. Meanwhile, El Neptuno pulled up alongside the Amity to chase it away. The pirates however, successfully stole back their 4-gold coin and simply slipped through the Bahama out of range of even El Neptuno’s guns.
France brought her guns on El Castillo del Infanta, which contained the coins from two wild islands now. A poor showing made Perrier flip to bring a cannoneer into the fray, then Arathiel Sac’d Perrier for a second shot. It was enough to make the fort abandoned, but not destroyed. L’Artesien uncovered buried treasure and loaded gold from a wild island worth about 15 in total.
El San Francisco took as much from the fort as it could carry and made a break for the HI. Meanwhile El Puerto Blanco was established on an island near the pirate base, with the plan being to use the Bahama to ferry gold there from the pirate HI. However, when the Bahama made a break for the fort, a shot from the Rover and another ram from the Amity rendered it derelict. Improbably, a one master and a ship with all 5-rank guns had managed to hold off the Spanish blockade.
La Magnifique caught El San Francisco the next time their SAT roll was successful. They stopped short of sinking it, seeing how much gold was on board, and diverted L’Artesien over to collect it. Spain’s attempt to beat L’Artesien to the prize was foiled by La Magnifique after yet another SAT roll allowed it to catch and sink La Rosario. Over by the pirate HI, El Neptuno sniped Rover’s mast from long range and went to capture it, bringing her to El Puerto Blanco for a repair. It was when El Neptuno returned to tow the Bahama when the climactic showdown happened.
La Magnifique again made an aggressive move, willingly putting itself in range of 3 of El Neptuno’s long guns as they charged headlong. With no chance of running, El Neptuno made its stand. Two of the long range guns hit, and the Rover moved to a support position, with El Puerto Blanco to the south. Arathiel brought a three gun broadside to bear against El Neptuno’s stern on France’s next turn, and was successful. Down to one mast, El Neptuno rammed La Magnifique, and was successful. The Rover, out of range to fire, moved in position to shoot next turn.
On LaFontaine’s reroll, La Magnifique won a second action. It sunk El Neptuno and then rammed Rover, knocking Spain out of the game. The Amity was the only ship left against France, and despite its speed and ghost ship ability, La Magnifique, with one last broadside, knocked it out of commission just as it was approaching its HI. However, it didn’t have enough to sink the Amity, so as the game ended the pirates kept the gold anyway. Not that it mattered.
Final score: Spain 15, Pirates 16, France 28
Madame LaFontaine, the one thing (besides the Missionary UT) preventing this from being a pure Crimson Coast battle, was probably MVP. France would probably have won anyway but it’s likely El San Francisco would have successfully evaded Magnifique without her, which would have prolonged the game by quite a lot.
Okay I have been trying to think of a way to contribute to this thread with a combo that’s actually legal, and I think I have it.
Ship: Song (PotC)
9 points. Junk. Each time this ship unloads treasure at your home island, one of the coins is worth +1 gold
Crew: Genny Gallows, Silver Explorer.
This means that a silver coin unloaded to your HI from the Song is worth +4 gold, since I do not believe any of these value buffs count as duplicates, since they’re all different. The downside is obviously that you only have one cargo spot left on the boat. I imagine you could try doing something like using the Banshee’s Cry to collect the gold at the nearest island and just ferry the gold over to her.
Does a firepot count as a “hit?” I know that it counts as a mast replacement not an elimination, so it bypasses effects like Acorazado’s, but what about effects like La Belle Etoile, which eliminate cargo when they “hit” a ship, and ships that ignore the first hit each turn?
Why is SCS so expensive again? I assume because it’s rarer than other packs, but how come? Shorter print? More popular?
