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Was Ramsgate excluded for any reason?
I wanted to get a cheap fort option for the fleet, and Brompton was cheaper. The idea/thought process is that the game won’t last too long, either way I tackle it. If I find a 3 coin early on I can rapidly build Brompton giving the Roci a place to dock and potentially repair, alongside the Fishhook.
With a fleet so ready to explore islands, I’m surprised by all the negative UT’s.
It’s possible I didn’t quite articulate my strategy well enough. Almost none of my ships will be exploring islands, and I’d actually prefer to go second if I ran this fleet. The Roci and Fishhook would take off after the closest enemy gold ship to either straight up steal the treasures or capture the ship. That said, I certainly can and probably would drop some of the UT’s if I ran this fleet in an actual game.
One interesting swap would be taking out the Santa Isabel and Haulers in favor of the Alquimista with Nemesio Diaz. A tiny bit less firepower, but Diaz might end up being better than the Haulers for defense while also providing a way to cancel enemy oarsmen so the MF can snag ships without having to board for crew elimination. If the MF encounters multiple ships with oarsmen it could become frustrating, especially since her middling mast count could provide opportunities for dismasted enemies to beat her in boarding parties (as she tries to eliminate oarsmen). The Alquimista’s +2 bonus could also be perfect with the Rocinante’s hoist and stealing capabilities.
Good point, I hadn’t thought of that. I mostly assume (erroneously it seems) that people will leave oarsmen behind when building a fleet so as to save points on crew and get potentially another ship in their fleet. Ergo I didn’t think that many if any of the opposing ships would have oarsmen, or if they did some of my UT selections would remove them.
The Winner is Xerecs!
Woooo! I’ll think of something for the next challenge. 😀
Timing question. Let’s say that Commander Temple (SM 068) and Peter Miles (FN 050) are on the Maui’s Fishhook. The Fishhook uses her Hoist arm to explore an enemy derelict. Which ability is applied first? Would Miles be able to steal most of the treasure on the target ship before Temple’s ability kicks in? Or would Temple’s ability take precedence over Miles’s?
I only have a couple to contribute.
Game of the Year: In-person game with Ben when he visited.
Video of the Year: CoEC 2021 Report 19
Picture(s) of the year: I couldn’t decide between these two. I’d have chosen almost all of the sunlight shots from CoEC otherwise.
though I think the Salient has 2 cargo open (CRGO links and oarsman doesn’t take up space).
So it does! I think I was thinking of my original bare-boned version, which didn’t include Gunn or CRGO.
Potentially silly question.
Under point reducers and modifiers, The Code says:
-The point cost of a crew cannot be reduced below zero.Can a crew be reduced to zero points? For example, an oarsman on the same ship as Countess Diana Doone. Is the point cost of the oarsman reduced to 0 or does it stay at 1?
Unique treasures (I think there were a couple in Revolution)
Unique Treasures (UT’s) have been around since day one, Spanish Main has 6, CC and RV each have between 8 and 9. That sort of holds true for most of the sets going forward from there, somewhere between 7 and 10 UT’s per set.
exciting new things in the game? Would I be limiting my game experience?
You’d be missing out on some of the more fantastical ship designs and types, such as Submarines, Sea Monsters, Galleys, Longships, Hoists, and more.
Possibly, it depends on how you like to play the game. Ben and I like to have huge campaign games that use almost every ship from the game, as well as more competitive strategic games with crazy combos that can only be accomplished with stuff from later in the game. It’s up to you.
A by-product of the creative fleet challenge:
HMS Salient(20)+ Sir Peter Miles(6), Thomas Gunn(5), Sir Christopher Myngs(3), Commodore Rhys Gryffyn Owen(0), oarsman(1)
Maui’s Fishhook(20)+ Commander Temple(6), Hermione Gold+Trevor van Tyne(5+2), oarsman(1)
El San Francisco(8)+ Bianco’s Haulers(3)
Similar in concept to my actual entry for the challenge. HMS Salient and Peter Miles will go around damaging ships and using the switchblades to activate Miles’s ability to take a treasure. The Salient only has one open cargo space however, so a majority of her function will be softening ships up for the Maui’s Fishhook. Commander Temple leads her, along with the dynamic duo of Hermione Gold and Trevor van Tyne, the only 2 point musketeer. Temple will take advantage of the hoist arm on the Fishhook to steal ships, hopefully with gold on them. In case the Salient and Fishhook have trouble finding targets, El San Francisco rounds out the fleet to provide some “traditional” gold running. Bianco’s Haulers come aboard to provide a smidge of protection while she’s docked and exploring an island for the first time, or stopping off at one previously explored by the Fishhook.
My Entry for the challenge!
Rociante(18) + Nikos Chelios(5), helmsman(2), oarsman(1)
Maui’s Fishhook(20) + Commander Temple(6), Thomas Gunn(5), Sir Christopher Myngs(3), Commodore Rhys Gryffyn Owen(0), oarsman(1)
La Santa Isabel(13) + Bianco’s Haulers(3), captain(3), helmsman(2), oarsman(1)
Fortaleza Dorada, Fort Brompton
Treasures: Natives, Maps of Hades, Marines, Jail!, Tiki of the Volcano
Coming in with the first ship, we have the Rocainte, from RtSS, with a great combination of abilities. Hoist will be handy for exploring islands and she’ll be expected to do a bulk of the “traditional” gold running. Nikos Chelios will stay face-down until an opportune moment and will take up to two treasures from any ship the Rociante touches, or rams. Normally you’d want to avoid ramming as you become pinned as a result, however, the Rociante cannot be pinned, AND she has secret hold, which will make getting the treasure Chelios steals back almost impossible, short of capturing the Rociante.
Backing up the Rociante is fellow hoist, Maui’s Fishhook. The Fishhook has the most accurate cannons of any hoist, along with the “worst” cargo. Her high point cost allows for Commander Temple to come aboard and command the vessel, alongside Thomas Gunn from RotF, Sir Christopher Myngs, and Commodore Owen from BC. Contrary to the gold running nature of hoists, the Fishhook is kitted out as a gunship, and will do most of the serious fighting. Her objective will to be to find the smaller gold runners I encounter, derelict them, explore them with the hoist arm, and trigger Temple’s ability, thus capturing the ship! Ideally she’ll be able to catch and capture ships with gold already on them, thus running gold by fighting.
Providing support for both of the hoist is La Santa Isabel, the largest ship of the fleet. The Isabel should have no problem keeping pace with the Rociante, and shouldn’t be too far behind the Fishhook. On board are Bianco’s Haulers, to keep her safe while docked, as well as a captain and helmsman. Should things go in favor early on, the Isabel may be called upon to fill out some “traditional” gold running, as both of the hoists are more optimized for stealing treasure from other ships. However, should things not go so well, the Isabel will be tasked with providing cover for either of the Hoists.
With a mostly Spanish fleet, Fortaleza Dorada is included to provide a safe refuge on the open waters, and a secondary place to store gold. Most crucially Fortaleza will allow the Rociante to repair, since the Mercenary keyword gained from Chelios will keep her from docking at home. Fort Brompton is included as a cheaper alternative. Ideally both forts will be built, giving multiple places for ships to repair or store gold.
Treasures are included with the intention of slowing down enemy ships, either by removing their crew (like helmsmen), freezing them in place, or allowing me to potentially move them. I didn’t want to include anything extremely bad that could be used against me, like Plague or Rum. Regular gold values will depend on additional set-up rules. I tend to use random gold values for an entire map or game, and not have gold contributed by players for a set total. In this scenario I’m imagining that there would be some kind of treasure limit or rule. If it’s similar to the regular rules (8 coins equaling 16 gold) I’d have to include a couple high value coins alongside my various UT’s. If there’s only a pre-arranged number (and not value) of coins to be contributed, I’d either throw in a few 0 coins or some high value ones.
Final thoughts:
This fleet should be able to mount a bit of a challenge to whatever it is facing, either with extreme regular gold running, or by capturing enough ships to turn the tide in my favor. Owen could be dropped from the fleet in favor of a +5 crew to fit Diaz onto either the Rociante or Isabel and I very nearly did that, however I wanted the re-roll that Owen provides as it makes the Fishhook that much better. My one caveat would be that this fleet is small, in terms of number of ships and size of ships. 80 points is enough to throw at least one kitted out ten mast at an opponent, or run a fleet of larger faster ships. Against a 1-2 mast gold runner the Fishhook would have an advantage, against a 3-4 mast or larger, that advantage diminishes greatly. Alternatively a fleet that has almost no gold running put into it and is a straight combat fleet will not be good for me.
Epic! If it happens we’ll just make sure to plan it really well in advance.
Indeed, and perhaps not just me, but one or both of my brothers. Imagine, a genuine 6-7 player game….. We’d need more than 6 islands! 😀
Thank you to Xerecs for inspiring me to do my first video battle report:
Yoooooo! You finally did one! Awesome!
I think the difference in collections especially showed, but also I think play styles too. Your fleet clearly had a purpose built objective with some strats and combos you wanted to pull off and did. The other fleets seemed to lack that. Then again, the report is mostly from your point of view so they could have had combos and things they wanted to do but couldn’t.
I know that at 100 points I’d have had at least one maybe two full loaded gunships, between the Acorazado, RV Constitution or HMS Grand Temple. Supporting them I’d have whatever I could fit into the fleet once the gunships were fitted out.
Seeing this I’m now putting some serious thought into a trip north to Bellevue. IF it were to happen, it probably wouldn’t happen until some time next year, possibly after the Summer.
Absolutely unreal. I am without speech. XD I can’t believe you got within about 500 points of the CTO record, and within 1000 points of CG4’s current total. O_O
It could have been bigger too. 0_0 The English, Cursed and Pirates were all not at full strength, if those three factions were…… Ho boy.
Ahoy there, welcome aboard!
What size and shape ‘ocean’ mat is ideal for games?
About a 3 by 3 foot space is ideal for a 40 point game. However as you increase the point limit you might also want to increase the play area. 3 by 3 might too small for a 100 to 150 point game. Number of players also factors in. 3 by 3 is ideal for 2 players, but above that you might also need to increase the play area.
the ease of access and now I’m determined to get back into it.
…..oh boy. Prices for ships and crew have risen dramatically in the last year and a half, and sealed packs of the game are getting harder to find and more expensive. If you’re looking for sealed packs I’d recommend Hill’s Wholesale gaming. They have packs a plenty, but are more ideal for buying in bulk and not individual packs.
Final numbers:
Total points in play when game was called to an end: 8,524
Total ships still afloat when game was called to an end: 432
Largest fleet by ship count: Americans, 150 ships
Largest fleet by point count: Americans, 2,913
Most gold to their name: Spanish, 3,091
Combined gold of all factions: 11,541
The results make me wonder who would have won the war if it was played out and the Franco-Spanish stuck together. 98+67 would be 165 ships to the American 150, though some more ships likely would have been launched.
I wonder that as well. The French had most of their large gunships already in the water, but still had plenty of ships to launch, especially in the 3-2 mast range. The Spanish were in a similar situation as the Americans, running out of their own ships.
I will admit I figured it would be 30 minutes of gameplay and duking it out with the last ~10 minutes for the results, so you faked me out with the quick ending.
Gotcha! 😀 The Finale has over 200 pictures alone, most of them sunlight shots taken on the very last day before we started breaking the game down.
Believe it or not, we have reached the Finale! Report 19 is now up!
Two in one day? 😀 Report 18 is now up! Who will win the war……?
Stay tuned for the Finale tomorrow!
Report 17 is now up! Conflict!
If abilities that have the same trigger but are different, what happens?
For example, lets say that Bonny Peel is on the Fool’s Hope and the ship wins a boarding party. Which ability may be used?
Report 16 is now up! Has conflict finally begun?……
Report 15 is now up!
The Americans are really trying to meet with the Spanish. They want to know what’s up with the castle take-over.
After a Halloween hiatus, we are back! Report 14 is now up!
The Code:
“Named crew have only the abilities printed on their cards. They do not gain any other abilities based upon their name, title, or flavor text. However, named crew may still be used to trigger other abilities that refer to a specific name or title.”
Does this mean that Capitaine Chevalle for example, would satisfy the condition for the Black Pearl (025)? I’ve always interpreted those abilities as needing a crew with the captain ability to trigger, is that not the case?
Also Odin’s Revenge seems to be missing from the Code. Would revealing Odin’s Revenge cause a derelict ship to sink?
“Seafloor Traveler”
…..she cannot ram, be rammed, pin or be pinned, board, be boarded……
-emphasis added-
I think that part of the keyword would prevent any boarding while submerged, even the S board ability.
Also, just updated the keyword slightly to more clearly state that the ship can only be given a move action while submerged.
Question from the Discord.
Can Sea Dragons be used to build a fort? Not as the ship that explores, but as the friendly ship docked at a previously explored island.
“Sea Dragon Keyword”
A sea dragon has a base move of D, meaning that it has unlimited movement. It ignores all terrain, islands, and ships when moving, but cannot end any movement overlapping a ship.
“Pirate Code, Sea Creatures”
Any game piece with the Sea Dragon, Sea Monster, Titan, Kraken, or Octopus keyword printed on its deckplate card is considered a sea creature, even if the effect of that keyword has been cancelled.
A sea creature is docked if any part of it (including a segment) touches an island.
“Pirate Code, Sea Dragon”
A sea dragon is considered docked if it touches any part of an island.
It seems like they could be used to build a fort, is there something we’re overlooking that would prevent them from being able to do this?
Report 13 is now up! Has conflict begun?
I got sidetracked yesterday so we upload today! Report 12 is now up!
Welcome to the crew! While you lurk, consider joining the facebook groups and check out the discord server!
#1 Correct, Sea Creatures can only move or shoot. There have been a few people who have house-ruled the captain ability built into some.
#2 Native canoes begin the game docked at a wild island, but CANNOT be given an explore action on the first turn. Furthermore, Canoes must all be given the same action. If one of them moves, then the others can only move.
#3 One mast ships are indeed vulnerable to ramming, however I would consider it far from an auto-kill since you must roll higher than the number of masts remaining on a ship to successfully ram a ship, making it possible to fail a ram roll against a one mast ship if you roll a 1.