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Ooh, I’m very sorry to hear that. I use the Miniature Trading website to get my stuff. I took one look at the price of a single fort in EBay and I hauled out of there. Upwards of $15 for Fortaleza Dorada, $27 for Harbinger, $14 for a couple mixed named crew… This hobby would have been prohibitively expensive had it not been for the dudes at MT, and the sellers at Wholesale.
Big score today, gentlemen! Today I got the Akua Lapu, Le Bon Marin, the American native canoes, the Tiger’s Eye, Raven, Hermione Gold, Cannonball Gallows, and the Mont Blanc. The crowning achievement of this pull is the Spanish Morning Star, which I immediately assembled. I’m super excited to use it, it’s a fantastic and beautiful ship that will bring great honor and gold to my Spanish Rebels.
I’ve bought two 36 pack boxes, a OE mega pack, and unrelated CCG boxes from them and they’ve arrived on time, undamaged and otherwise in a satisfactory condition. I trust them completely, especially since most of the posts you’re talking about later go on to say that their orders were eventually placed and were backed up in the first place only because of an item shortage on their end.
Oh no, I meant with the Divers event. Doesn’t it allow you to sink a ship with treasure and then take all the treasure for yourself? Bringing back enemy derelicts is definitely an option though, since there shouldn’t be a lot of ships out on the seas to put pressure on a towing ship.
Thanks for your feedback! I know I’ve said it before, but I’m really enjoying building these fleets!
You guys were right, I checked the Spanish Native Canoes and they’re 9 points, not 10. As such, here’s my new Rebel Spanish fleet:
Rebel Spanish
40 pts
El Leon: 14 pts
Captain + Helmsman + Contessa Anita Amore
San Pedro: 21 pts
Explorer + Native Chieftain
Native Canoes
El Raton: 9 pts
Diablo
Divers: 1 pt
Fortaleza Dorada
With the addition of Divers, this fleet should have a maximized gold output from all sources. Not only do the Spanish create gold from nowhere, but this fleet can also put its war dogs to good use by hunting enemy runners and blasting them; not only do they serve the purpose of protecting the ever-important gold runners, but El Leon and El Raton can also generate a modest income by stealing it from whoever is so lucky to come across them!
Whoaaa it looks like I missed an integral part of the ramming rules. Only the ramming ship is pinned, not both! Ok, this means that ramming is fairer than I thought earlier: You can remove a mast most of the time for free, but you sacrifice a move action next turn. It would used for finishing moves, I suppose, in that case.
Now that I know that the Bonne Chance won’t pin anybody, I guess I can still use her to ram and finish something off, but it’s a lot riskier now that the enemy ship can move away. I would have to make sure that the enemy isn’t left with more than 2 masts, that way they don’t kill my Mont Blanc or Bonne Chance next turn. It’s going to be a little more case-to-case now.
Anyways, advice is needed! Is this as tight and deadly as it can be? This isn’t for a learning game, it’s fully competitive!
Won’t it work if the enemy remains alive? I understand that I’ll be pinned for one turn if I derelict them, but if they have a single mast remaining, they’ll be stuck as well. My point being that I can sacrifice the Bonne Chance to either pin a dangerous ship, or even better, kill it outright.
Do you see any weaknesses in this fleet? It’s a 40 point deathmatch but I’d like all the advice I can get so I can better my game! As of now all of my plays and fleets are based upon theorycrafting and haven’t been tempered in the forge of battle.
Alright boys, I’ve got a very special game coming up soon. We’re not sure when we want to do this, but next weekend might be the perfect time.
My friends and I were thinking of having our first ever deathmatch, and I’ve crafted a French fleet that I hope will put up a good fight!
Pour l’Empereur!
40 pts
Le Soleil Royal: 23 pts
Capitaine Arathiel, Helmsman, Vicomte Jules de Cissey, 3 Oarsmen
La Bonne Chance: 22 pts
Captain, Le Mont Blanc
The object of this fleet is to bring an overwhelming amount of guns to bear at a critical point. Arathiel has 3 chances to make his ability count (4 if he’s desperate enough to sac the helmsman) so against the two opponents I’ll be having, the Soleil should put in a lot of work. The Bonne Chance will be there to act as a huge beatstick, to ward off any retaliation, and to bog down any enemies. It can unhitch the Mont Blanc and ram something, firing first to make sure the ram roll goes our way, keeping an enemy stuck in the water while the Mont Blanc takes potshots at whatever comes out of the melee.
Let me know what you guys think of this fleet. I’m really proud of it and I had a lot of fun coming up with it, and it just further solidifies my love for the French.
I like the idea of giving Ghost Ship the submersible ability to ships. It’ll certainly make me want to use them a lot more, and it’ll make these ships more fun to use if you can treat them basically like submarines!
Hmm no, the effect is indeed once per turn. I would definitely consider this better than the Superbe if it triggered on every hit like the Belle Etoile since it would severely cripple a ship by killing all her crew at once
Hmm. I have a question about the rules. Do I get to choose the crew LSR kills? If not, what’s stopping my opponent from killing off a less useful crew instead of, say, his captain?
Follow up question, would killing their captain be worth it? Why not just go with the Superbe’s better killing power and destroy the ship outright?
Sorry if these are dumb questions, I just haven’t played with crew killers yet so I’m unsure of how useful they are.
Marines should have been a lot less expensive and useful. As they are right now, they’re pretty much not worth the points investment. I’d rather have a Sac captain with fodder than a 2S gun that has a gimmicky island move mechanic, often for the same cost.
You guys have a point but the risk of breaking the masts is too high for me. I’d rather have a status drawing or something on a piece of paper. It won’t be the same though… I guess we can try taking the masts off if it gets too confusing, though
I don’t take the masts off for this reason. I’ve broken a couple masts and hull parts though, while building. L’Eroica and Le Richelieu both have broken masts, but I can fix them with superglue or something. The Clear Wind has a broken hull tab, so that one definitely can’t be fixed.
I see you’re pining for the Jannisarie’s Blood. She’s amazing for what she does, I’m going to put a Smokepot and Murat on her along with a captain and maybe a helmsman or a firepot. That’ll make her incredibly maneuverable and deadly, on top of being able to use Smokepot tricks to make getting to her difficult. Her reverse captain ability allows her to broadside someone with 3 cannons, maybe shoot a firepot, and then use the Smokepot to move into the newly created fog bank and become invisible.
For the French fleet, I’m using a couple oarsmen on the Soleil with Arathiel to make it extra deadly, and I’m hitching the Mont Blanc to the Bonne Chance for a sweet 7 guns moving at SSS. I’m really excited to try this fleet out!
Hey guys, here’s my battle report from the beginner’s game I mentioned 2 days ago. I unfortunately don’t remember the exact crew list of each ship except for mine. The points limit was 40, mixed fleets were allowed, and crew of any nationality were allowed on any ship for simplicity’s sake and to account for small collections.
I was using my Raven pirates fleet: I was running the eponymous Raven’s Neck as a hybrid, with a captain and helmsman along with a firepot. Up next was the Bloody Jewel with an explorer, and for a support gunship I had the Recreant, crewed by a captain and helmsman.
Opponent 1 had an interesting boarding-focused fleet, with the DJC Harbinger soaking much of the points since it had Jack Hawkins, some dude that would steal all of a ship’s gold upon a successful boarding action, a shipwright, and a helmsman. His secondary ship was the Zephyr, crewed by a captain.
Opponent 2 had a monstrous loadout, sporting the HMS Grand Temple and the Divine Dragon.
Opponent 3 had another HMS Grand Temple as well, but he chose not to crew his ship, adding another empty ship alongside the Temple; the Musarde.
Opponent 4 had an American fleet, with the OE Constitution and the USS Oregon. She put El Fantasma (SAC version), a helmsman, and an oarsman (might 6 had more, don’t remember) in the Constitution, and a helmsman with an explorer in the Oregon.
Here is what the game state looked like two turns in:
The Temples were the highlight of the game, commanding the attention of two players. #2 was attacked by both #1 and 3, with the Harbinger dealing light damage and killing the Temple’s Cannonneer, and the second Temple ramming the first. The Zephyr also rammed and boarded but, unsurprisingly, was unable to do anything.
I opted to leave the American fleet alone. The less I had to deal with El Fantasma and his 5 masts of doom, the better. Instead, I kept the Jewel constantly moving, making huge drops at my home island.
In the final few turns, there were only two coins left in the game and the fighting had escalated. #2’s Temple was pinned by the Zephyr, but he sunk it in a powerful volley after crippling the Harbinger in an earlier turn, taking off 3 masts. The Harbinger ran away to the center island, her hull punctured and her crew tired.
The Divine Dragon made #3’s Temple a derelict, and next turn it began to tow it back home. #3, with only one ship left, chose to unload his gold at home and remain there.
The American fleet finished clearing out their starting island and sat in their docks, waiting for the game to end. Seeing as how there wasn’t much more to do, I pulled the Recreant up to the Harbinger and shot it, landing 2 hits and turning it into a derelict.
With 1 player out of the game, it was decided that the game had ended, and all the gold was tallied up. I came in first, in no small part thanks to the excellent Bloody Jewel, at 15 gold. The Harbinger and the American fleet came in at a close 2nd and 3rd place, with a tie for 14 gold. The Americans gained the edge and cinched a 2nd place victory due to having a superior number of masts. Opponent #2 ended up with 3 6 masters, but never got to use them as the game was over before he had a chance to repair his captured ship.
Just acquired a couple French pieces I need for a fleet I’m planning out. I got Paradis de la Mer, Libellule, Le Soleil Royal, and I’ll be getting the Bon Marin soon.
I have big plans for a couple fleets, including the Spanish one I posted a couple days ago. I’m planning an English one, another French fleet, a couple Barbary ones, and a pirate fleet.
It’s really fun to come up with ship combos and just building fleets!
I’m not too sure about being allowed to repair at sea and also being allowed to move. There are too many ways that it could be abused, from a simple move and shoot after repairing to using an S boarding action, or even repairing, shooting a smokepot, and moving into the fog bank for invulnerability.
I don’t want to create an OP ship combo but I do want shipwrights to be decent and worth including. That’s why I think tying the shipwright to an explore action is a better option: you won’t be able to heal unless you have an island nearby, and most ships won’t be able to shoot before moving so it’ll be a purely defensive action for that turn.
Hmm, I think the factions were more like this:
Spain: gold running
England: battle
France: balanced
Pirates: balanced
Corsairs: gold running
I don’t think the fix at sea makes much sense either. I would rather the shipwright give his ship more utility without sacrificing flexibility. Right now, you can only repair at the cost of an entire turn, which if you need the repair in the first place, might be pretty risky because of the enemy that’s circling.
I would rather the shipwright repair a single mast as a free action upon exploring an island. This way, ships can run away from the dangerous situation they’re in and repair. They’d have to dock, which makes more sense than just being able to repair anywhere since shipwrights would presumably need wood to make a replacement mast. This run and repair ability would be kept balanced by the fact that it’s not always guaranteed since it’s dependent on the existence of an island nearby. Docking would make it easy for a clever enemy to trap the wounded ship on the beach, and lastly, if the ship wants to fix more masts, it has to consume an entire turn with an explore ability, or dash for another island. I find it intriguing that island hopping would be a viable strategy here, with fast gunships repairing once every turn as they run from an enemy, and then swing back around to destroy their pursuers.
Not sure if this would be 100% balanced, but I’m willing to try to convince my friends to try it so we can test it out. The shipwright doesn’t really seem like a good crew at the moment, so any fixes or buffs he’d get would be greatly appreciated.
Whoa oh man I didn’t even see that! That’s horrifying, you could clean out an entire island with that single ship!
Doesn’t the Pandora have worse guns and a slightly worse ability? I’m not sure I would take 3S guns and +1 to boarding rolls over 2S guns and an autoheal, or a crew snipe
That’s strange, my faceplate says S+L… Is the Miniatures entry correct, or is this a misprint?
Edit: hmm, all of the pictures of El Raton I’ve seen online show an S+L movement speed as well
I don’t have any useful UTs right now, I haven’t really had a taste for them tbh. Anything that can accidentally help my opponent instead of me isn’t good in my eyes, but maybe there’s something I’m not getting when it comes to these treasures?
Ben, I’m not sure why you’re saying that El Raton is slow when the San Pedro and El Raton have the same starting speed and I haven’t given a helmsman to the San Pedro both for points sake and cargo space. Like I said, I’ll see if I really need it since it does sound like a good idea, but I like flexibility and El Raton is a cheap way to give Diablo independence to just rush in guns blazing.
Lastly, on the Duque Vs Leon question, I would pick the Leon over Duque because of the better cannons and the ramming immunity. El Leon is a nasty little pit fighter I can throw at any enemy and destroy 2-4 masts on average, which is pretty good in small games. Duque would be a good choice if her cannon ranks were just a little better but as it is I can’t compromise El Leon’s excellent shooters for more speed.
El Ladron was my first pirate ship, it will always be one of my favorites even though it’s not exactly a very playable ship. I love the flavor text it has, it really inspires light roleplaying within the setting.
I, for one, am very excited to try out the alternate game modes. I saw that there was a fleet made for a “rescue the VIP” game, and that got me thinking about how cool it would be if there was a sort of DnD-lite campaign with a narrative involved. The players would try to beat scenarios and the results would change the story going forward. Very interesting indeed!
Raven Pirates
Tomorrow I’m playing a 40 pt game with friends and we’re thinking of taking some casual pirates to introduce some new players. Here’s the fleet I’m bringing, let me know what you think:
Raven’s Neck: 19 pts
Captain + Helmsman + Firepot
Recreant: 14 pts
Captain + Helmsman
Bloody Jewel: 7 pts
Explorer
Total: 40 pts
I would like to focus on gold running with this setup. The Firepot and the Recreant are there only as deterrents against intruders since the Raven’s Neck and the Bloody Jewel will be hauling in gold every turn. I want them to begin in a faraway island to get that gold first and then explore an island closer to home so that by the time everyone else is done exploring their home islands, I’ve already consolidated the gold in the center and can focus on protecting myself and my gold close to home. One thing I could definitely do is either move the Firepot to the Recreant, or replace it with a Helmsman on the Jewel to make it super fast. What do you guys think?
It’s not a fantastic fleet by any means but it’s a nice casual fleet I can use to have fun with new players. I would add more efficient options but I don’t have the ships I need yet and it would make it harder for the other players if I were to go all out on this game. Fun is the name of the game!
Thanks for the feedback, guys! I’ll test it out soon and report back when the game’s over. I chose to put the Diablo on El Raton in order to protect the San Pedro but also to hunt down other treasure runners or support gunships- maybe even tag team a flagship with El Leon. I wouldn’t feel comfortable risking such a valuable investment like the San Pedro with an attack action or by putting it close to the fighting, but I’ll definitely keep your advice in mind and see if it might just be better to put the Diablo on the San Pedro as a deterrent. I could then use the Divers event, and profit from enemy kills whenever that opportunity shows up.
Rebel Spanish fleet
I’m going for a 40 point fleet here, just something simple to begin and get feedback with. There’s a small backstory to this fleet, and that is that these Spaniards have rebelled against royal Spanish authorities to help the natives in their colonies, hence the canoes.
El Leon: 14 pts
Captain + Helmsman + Contessa Anita Amore
San Pedro: 22 pts
Explorer + Native Chieftain
Native Canoes
El Raton: 9 pts
Diablo
Fortaleza Dorada
Total: 40pts
The object of this fleet is twofold: use the considerable gold-gathering ability of the San Pedro and the canoes to build up an early tally and bust out the Fortaleza in a key island. El Leon and El Raton would roam and protect the San Pedro and hunt smaller treasure runners if possible, but combined they might be able to take down bigger game.
I’m thinking that this fleet is well rounded and can take on most other challengers, especially in 1v1s where the map will be smaller, therefore easier to lock down with El Raton and Fortaleza Dorada.
Aw man, the SAC/Devil’s Maw combo isn’t legal anymore? What a shame, that was a really awesome technique I was planning on using. Same with sac’ing Ransom crew, I guess I’ll either not use them or figure out how to make them more useful.
I do have a question about cost reducers like Zuan. If he reduces crew cost, why can’t he reduce build total cost as well? I don’t understand his appeal otherwise- the amount of times a crew selection would go over a ship’s cost shouldn’t be happening that often and even then he’s not guaranteed to do much, so why does he even exist?