Another small game has been played. I was extremely stoked to use Abandoned Crew for the first time!
French:
Le Pluton + Leander Arnaud, captain, helmsman
Le Marseillais + explorer
Franco-Spanish:
Cazador del Pirata + Victor de Alva, helmsman, explorer, firepot specialist (I realized partway through the game that the specialist shouldn’t have been there.)
La Felicite + captain, helmsman
The setup featured a new, silky/shinier ocean fabric, which means that all 5 have now been used. This one is the most unique in terms of the material, and I like it a lot so far. Only one wild island was used, but it was a large one with three separate beaches.
In addition, the Franco-Spanish player was given their own home island, courtesy of my trade with rossinaz.
Rocks and sandbars were also placed:
The Marseillais was the first ship to reach the island.
Each fleet wanted to get a good gold start:
Knowing that some Abandoned Crew had been placed, the French set their sights on acquiring some to use in a potential battle. However, it was also obvious that with the crew, only so much actual gold could still be on the island.
The Felicite started the action, hitting twice on the Marseillais, who now carried the final treasure coin.
The Marseillais turned around and gave the final coin to the Pluton, a bigger and more dangerous ship.
The Felicite used her narrow hull and some excellent maneuvering to slide between the island and the Marseillais, taking care to dismast the Frenchman.
Victor de Alva was very lucky in this game, and his luck continued in the chase for the Pluton’s coin. Using an extra action, the Cazador caught the Pluton and took out all 4 masts over two turns, setting the ship ablaze and leaving the Franco-Spanish to take the final treasure coin.
With that, the gold was counted… and it was a tie! Both fleets had 10 gold. Neither player was completely satisfied with this unexpected outcome, so it was decided that a second game would be played as a tiebreaker.
The setup for the second game was similar, but featured one wild island that had all the treasure on one beach.
The Cazador used de Alva’s luck (yet again) to reach the island first.
As the Marseillais loaded gold, the Pluton took advantage of the Cazador’s absence, shooting a mast off the Felicite and using her S-board ability to steal the Felicite’s only coin.
As the Franco-Spanish returned home, the French decided they might wait until they came back and protect the gold.
However, they were forced to turn around when the Cazador had other ideas, sailing straight for the French home island. In the meantime, the Marseillais returned to the wild island and exchanged her explorer for an abandoned captain and helmsman. At this point, the Pluton had two treasure coins aboard in addition to an abandoned oarsman.
The Cazador’s luck finally ran out, allowing the Marseillais to return home safely with her gold. Using the abandoned captain, the Frenchman took aim at the vulnerable Cazador, but promptly rolled three 1’s in a row! The Pluton was almost back home as well.
The Cazador took aim at the Pluton but only hit once. The Marseillais finally got a hit, and the Cazador couldn’t squeeze between the Marseillais and a rock, so the Cazador rammed and fired, inflicting considerable damage and setting the French ship alight. At this point, the Pluton was able to return home as the repaired Felicite sailed onto the scene.
To end the game, the Marseillais dismasted the Cazador with a ram and shoot, followed by the Pluton dismasting the Felicite with a broadside.
The gold was counted up, and the French prevailed over the Franco-Spanish by a score of 9-7! These were short but fun and close games that saw the emergence of Abandoned Crew, something I may be using a lot!