Pirates: 2019 Year in Review
Hi everyone! This is a thread where you can share what Pirates stuff happened over the past year. It can be just about anything, from accomplishments to purchases to cool ideas. If this seems too vague, you can look at mine for an example. There’s also the option of stating your Pirates Goals for 2020.
It will be nice to look back upon the entire year and find joy and amazement in how much we’re capable of. List (possibly with links and/or a short description) everything you accomplished in 2019 in regards to Pirates that you thought was a good thing that happened. Everyone could make their own post and contribute their own things that they did or are currently doing. When I think about this past week for example, I don’t really think much of it, but when I consider everything I’ve personally done in the entire year, I feel amazed at myself! 😀 I think others could share that feeling as well if they look back at everything. Also, little things count too, so it doesn’t have to be all about one particular event or anything. Once everyone has posted, we can talk about what we accomplished as a whole forum.
a7xfanben
Pirates Goals for 2019 (set last year)
-Didn’t end up teaching any players. 🙁
-I did make a bunch of videos and podcasts about the game.
-I didn’t play The Hourly Campaign a lot, but I found a lot of satisfaction in playing a handful of games that could actually be finished.
-I made some improvements to Pirates with Ben and saw the site grow quite a bit. I finished reposting ALL of my past Battle Reports, which was great. I did set a new personal record for a one month affiliate marketing total, so the site is sometimes paying for itself in some months.
-Although no real progress was made on the NECA/Wizkids front, I did do some “big” podcasts, along with my first physical game with another member of the online community.
General accomplishments:
-Helped with somewhat successful transition from Miniature Trading to PwB/FB groups/etc.
-Produced 13 podcast episodes, including those with James Ernest, Mike Selinker, Jason Mical, Tiffany O’Brien, and Tony Vigil.
-Produced 76 videos for Pirates CSG, including plenty of game footage.
-Created 6 fleets
-Got to 3,000 posts and 300 followers on Instagram (though now it’s lower lol).
Games:
-Played 11 games
-Continued CG4 and THC
-For the first time, played a physical game with another member of the Pirates CSG community
-Did what I set out to do with specific game objectives: Legend of the Giant Turtle, 4 fleets at 100 points, 6×150, game with Captain Randy, November game with family, and the final (for now) game with Xerecs.
Pirates Goals for 2020
-Play at least one game.
-Play my turns in CG4 when/if I am able.
-Teach at least one person how to play the game.
-Check in to and maintain Pirates with Ben when I can.
-I’d love to do a podcast episode and maybe a few videos, but these seem less likely than the above.
Feel free to comment below with your own 2019 Year in Review!
2019 was either stronger or weaker in regards to Pirates for me, depending on how you look at it.
My group of friends and I haven’t ordered a lot of product this year – most of our orders were made 2018, with only 2 or 3 having happened this year – but we’ve played a good number of games together. Had a little bit of situation at one point caused by a difference in playstyles, but got over that and continued playing not too long after.
We actually played a game with someone else! A friend pulled a surprise visit (was a surprise for two of us, planned by the third) and played a round. He seemed to like it, though he was a bit baffled by things, so here’s hoping we can play with him again sometime.
The big hit this year was our (failed) Barbary Coast draft. I pulled my first (and our collective third) Super Rare pack! Unfortunately due to time constraints the draft was pack opening only and no games, but the experience of drafting from a limited selection of game pieces was enjoyed by all of us, and future drafts with other boxes, even if we have the majority of game pieces found in them, are a possibility.
For 2020 I’m not asking for much. Just more games with my friends and good times shared by the three of us. Another Super Rare pack would be amazing, and maybe, just maybe, some packs of the rarer sets for a good price (SCS being the big wish here, haha).
@KaiserG: Thanks for commenting! Great to hear you’ve been able to play!
It seems that my years revolve around the campaign games I play in the summer. Preparing and figuring out the space to play, getting the map tables set up, playing the game, etc.
This year I set the new record of second largest physical campaign played, something I did not believe was possible, especially in the even more limited playing time this last Summer.
I was able to make a few more islands for Pirates games, some finished just before play started for the Summer game. I hope to make more and maybe even give some away. In a similar vein, I was able to bring more of my custom ships off of the paper, including some designed by JWDarkhurst.
Pirates video content for me has been slow. Some of this is due to me procrastinating and watching anime. 😀 That said, I was able to fully document the annual Summer game, continue coverage of CG4 and a few prominent games that I played at other times in the year, such as the Hunt for the Mask of Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0FUYxMCsBk
Coming back around to making islands, I was able to put together a two part tutorial that details how I more or less make islands for pirates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blW6dXBFUyw&list=PLY5ESzOKns5h55wtR_1MTo-Ha6nfda7kg
I’ve lost count of how many Pirates Podcasts I’ve been in, but each and every one was fun to make and participate in.
Sadly, the only other person that my brothers I have played with on a consistent basis moved away to somewhere in Oregon. We totally brought this guy into pirates, introduced him to the game, and played two campaigns with him. Before he left we had one last “Pirates Weekend” where we fit about 5 games into the space of a Saturday and Sunday.
Looking into 2020, I’m excited but also nervous. This summer will be the 5th anniversary of a Summer Campaign, and my brothers and I are already looking forward to it. I very much want to re-make all of my old campaign reports into videos, a daunting task. I want to be able to make some headway with my SS project on VASSAL, but I’m going to need some hardware upgrades for that I think. Speaking of VASSAL, I want to play more games with fellow pirates, and possibly make it a recurring segment on my Chanel. Furthermore I have some lofty ideas that I want to try on VASSAL, again with fellow pirates from the community.
I do hope to continue making islands, refining my techniques along the way; as well as expand the number of Custom Ships I bring off of the paper. Speaking of Customs, I’m eagerly looking forward to the next Custom Set that I’ve been working on with JWDarkhurst. It’s been in the works since last fall.
Hopefully real life issues will allow me to continue to make content for this game, and this community, that is my biggest hope for Pirates in 2020.
@Xerecs: Great comment! CG’s take a TON of time. I wasn’t aware/didn’t remember that this year’s CoEC was on more of a time constraint.
Love hearing that! 🙂
That makes two of us, especially for the Caribbean/World games in the distant future.
Sounds like a great year ahead! 😀
My first posting. I collected and played when first released but everything was stored in a box until retirement. I just shared my collection with 4 college freshmen. We are now playing a regular Sunday game. Starting with 36 point ship costs and 10 gold to spend on crew. Max ship cost 13 gold. I’ve culled your site for wisdom (and links) and put together my own set of Google doc/sheet house rules based on my collection. Thank you for keeping the dream alive.
@Glenn: Love hearing that! Super awesome you’ve been able to get a game group going. Interesting house rules. Feel free to share your other house rules/ etc in the Game Ideas thread!
Thanks for commenting!
Ben