It’s finally happened! A Sealed Pack Game was played. The old rules called for one pack for every 10 points of the build total, but this game featured 3 packs per player for a 40 point game. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
Here are the fleets, in the order of play. Players 1 and 3 received 1 pack of DJC and 2 packs of OE. Player 4 received 1 pack of BC and 2 packs of OE. Player 2 (myself) received 1 pack of BC and 2 packs of FN (since I don’t have the Super Rares from those sets). All crew (including named crew) could use their abilities on any ship, regardless of nationality.
(I’m trying to use better names for the fleets than Fleet 1, Fleet 2, etc, partly because I think it helps you remember which fleet is which when reading the report. This results in some fleet names that aren’t entirely true.)
Empties: (this player didn’t receive any captains, helmsmen, or named crew in their packs)
Dragon’s Breath + explorer
Pioneer
USS Oregon
El Algeciras + shipwright
US Vikings: (USV)
Minuteman + captain, firepot specialist
Devil’s Kiss
Loki
Cursed:
Brachyura
Maman Brigitte
Jamaica + helmsman
Franco-Spanish: (FS)
La Resolucion + captain
Le Musarde + Griffin, helmsman, shipwright
Between the nature of a Sealed Pack Game and the number of players, the setup had to be laid out with time constraints in mind. Four home islands were featured at one end of a “short” rectangle (the opposite of some of my typical setups), with my new “shipwreck cove” custom terrain at the other end guarding a lone wild island. However, to mix things up, the shipwrecks on the reefs held gold in two places, on the Thrud and the Flying Dutchman. The wild island held 5 coins and there were 3 apiece at the two wreck locations, where ships would have to roll for effect on the reef to “dock” at the gold. In addition, to make a true SPG, the gold from two of the packs was used.
The first player is at the top, and then play continued from the bottom up.
The fleets set out, and it was apparent that the new shipwreck obstacle would see heavy congestion, as I had planned. Only two spots on the entire line of reefs were able to be traversed by ships: the first is in the foreground between the wrecks of the Xi’an and Deliverance, and the second is north of the Deliverance wreck right where the Jamaica has lost a mast to the reef.
The FS were battle-hungry, with two captains and overall the best pack pulls of all four players. The Musarde opened fire on the nearby Pioneer, but even with Griffin’s reroll she only hit once. The Pioneer exacted revenge by crushing the Musarde on the next turn.
A shot of the Minuteman, who is sailing as an escort for the Devil’s Kiss and Loki, the goldships of the USV fleet. The Minuteman’s captain keeps an eye off the ship’s larboard quarter with Brachyura looming, but he’s also aware that the Cursed player is the most combat-averse of the four players, hence why it was ironic that they pulled the giant crab.
The Jamaica is the first to reach the wild island, as the Maman Brigitte approaches the dangerous reefs. The Cursed player opts to keep Brachyura in the same spot, perhaps looking to ambush whichever player comes out first with gold.
The Musarde turns for home to repair, but the FS know they’re powerful in this strange game with such a lack of useful crew. The Resolucion navigates the reef and dismasts the Jamaica.
The many guns of the once-powerful Deliverance have fallen silent, but the good old Resolucion has a lot of life left in her! At the upper right, notice the three coins sitting on the deck of the Thrud.
The game continues to develop. The Jamaica explored while derelict, but the Resolucion quickly moved in to board and take a coin. The Minuteman has docked at the eastern side of the wild island, while her comrades slowly approach from the south. At the left, the abysmally slow Oregon follows her fleet mates, who are searching for gold. The Dragon’s Breath has found some on the Thrud, though she loses a mast to the same reef that wrecked the Thrud in the process. To the right, the Maman Brigitte has successfully moved onto the reef, while the Musarde is the only ship at any home island.
At the left, the Dragon’s Breath has lost masts to the powerful Resolucion, and the Empties fleet has their hands full dealing with a captained ship with essentially rank-1 cannons. The Minuteman has circled the wild island in the hopes of towing home the derelict Jamaica, but the Pioneer will soon spoil that wish by sinking the ship and her remaining 6 gold. Speaking of the Pioneer, she docked at the Flying Dutchman’s gold after the Maman Brigitte, so the Maman can explore first. Brachyura has… skittered?… to the left, and the Devil’s Kiss finally docks at the wild island to load its last coin while the Loki turns around with no more gold available (at least not to explore!).
Brachyura moved towards the weakened Dragon’s Breath, but was soon called upon to tow the Maman Brigitte instead, as the poor Cursed vessel had lost her remaining three masts to the reef and had no oarsman to get home with. The Resolucion continued her trek home, crippling the Oregon on the way by.
The FS and the Empties continue to clash:
Brachyura towed the Maman Brigitte home, meaning that both the Empties fleet and the Cursed fleet had 3 coins each on their home islands.
On her way home, the Resolucion used her powerful guns to derelict all three remaining ships in the Empties fleet (the Oregon had been sunk), knocking them out of the game! This gave the Loki of the USV fleet a free shot at the Empties’ home island.
The Minuteman is too fast for Brachyura to catch, but the Devil’s Kiss won’t be so lucky…
And the crab attacks! Unfortunately for the Cursed the attack was harmless.
Feel free to comment which picture you like better, the above with the flash or the below without.
The Minuteman soon came to the rescue, although the Titan’s defensive ability meant the battle wouldn’t be easy.
At this point, the Loki stole 2 coins from the HI of the Empties, and hoped to round earth it back to her HI. The Devil’s Kiss added her coin to the one that the Minuteman deposited. The Resolucion finally docked home her coin, and the Maman Brigitte finished repairing.
The Empties fleet lies in ruins, allowing their gold to be plundered by Vikings.
The final part of the Sealed Pack Game featured a short showdown between the two fleets with captains. However, the Minuteman and Devil’s Kiss formed a line to block the Musarde from boarding the Loki, so the USV fleet returned home their stolen loot.
However, it wasn’t quite enough:
1. Cursed: 11 gold
2. USV: 8
3. FS: 5
4. Empties: 1
And there you have it! The Cursed pull out a win by towing the Maman Brigitte’s three coins (4, 4, and 3) home with a giant crab! After losing the Jamaica early and having the Maman dismasted by the reef, the Cursed showed good resilience. The USV gold ships were too slow to get high-value coins, but the Loki’s HI raid gave them second place. The FS could have done better, especially if it had been a longer game. The Empties got off to a good start, but poor maneuvering and poor crew options doomed their fleet against the powerful Resolucion, who was truly a threat to be feared in this Sealed Pack Game.