Pirates for Thanksgiving In Quarantine Aboard A Destroyer
This is a simple game I played on my Navy ship with a fellow Sailor while in quarantine! (shortly after getting to the ship on deployment) It was played on Thanksgiving Day 2020 (11/26/20), the report was written a day or handful of days after, and this post on my site was created on Christmas Day 2020. And now I’m finally posting it in May of 2021! 😀
The game fulfilled one of my long-term Pirates CSG goals, which was to play a game of Pirates CSG on water and/or at sea. The next step up would be to play on a ship on water while outside, but real-world wind could be an issue there….
I taught him the main rules and we got started sailing.
I rolled to go first with the English:
HMS Goliath + captain, helmsman, explorer
HMS Durham + captain, helmsman, explorer
He went second with the Pirates:
Flying Dutchman (PotC 300 version) + captain, helmsman, musketeer, oarsman
Shadow + captain, helmsman, cannoneer
The Pirates chose the middle island for their home, leaving the English to settle for the upper right island. The Durham grabbed 2 coins from the southeastern island on turn 1.
The Shadow grabbed coins but was then savagely slammed by a broadside from HMS Goliath!
The Flying Dutchman (FD) headed southwest for gold. The English captured the Shadow. The Durham provided some cover for the Goliath’s activities while sailing west for more gold after depositing her first load at home.
The Goliath docked home the Shadow, netting the English more gold. After putting 2 coins on their HI, the Pirates wanted revenge, with the FD hitting the Durham twice while she grabbed two coins from the northwestern island. (picture shows the end of my subsequent turn)
The Pirates weren’t satisfied, and the FD shot up the Durham again, this time dismasting her! However, the English deployed their other two assets to complicate things! The Goliath sailed out to take two masts off the FD, while the Shadow robbed a coin from her former home island!
The Dutchman fought both broadsides, hitting each ship once to dismast the Shadow and complicate English decision making.
The Goliath began towing the Durham while simultaneously hitting 2/2 against the FD.
The Pirates maneuvered the FD to touch her bow to the Shadow’s bow and the Pirate HI at the same time. Regardless of whether or not it is legal to do such a capture play, we house ruled that it made enough sense and was fine for this game. This allowed the Pirates to recapture the Shadow, get one of her original coins back, and repair her all in one turn. The Goliath made way towards home but the islands are rather close together….
And the Pirates aren’t done! The Shadow rammed and boarded the Durham, losing her cannoneer as the English fought hard to protect their gold. However, the FD then simply began ending things, sinking the Durham and her cargo of 7 gold.
The English repaired the Goliath at home while the Shadow took another coin from the island she originally explored. The FD repaired as well, but would soon be called to duty once more as the Goliath dismasted the Shadow for the second time in the game!
The FD took advantage of her musketeer and shot 2 masts off the Goliath:
The Goliath captured the Shadow again (swapping control for the 3rd time in one game!), but the Pirates were simply fed up with the shenanigans. The FD sailed out and sank both ships, ending the game!
Final Scores
English: 12 gold
Pirates: 5 gold
In the end, the initial gold found by the Durham and Shadow gave the English the win. For a basic introductory game, it was surprisingly active and exciting!