-The game board will be set up with a good amount of fog banks (for the large number of fog hoppers The Cursed have) and icebergs (in case you want to use the Urd).
This is a fog-hopping fleet. Four of the six ships have that unique ability, and I’m also using the Urd for her usefulness in this challenge. The odd ship out is the Sea Monkey, a good ship on her own, but much more intriguing now that she is beefed up.
The overall strategy is one of striking the Flying Dutchman without having to deal with her support ships. The fog-hoppers will lie in wait in the fog, looking for the right opportunity to strike. They will try to attack her from behind, and separate her from her supporters. I was originally going to also include the Needle, but I needed to have some version of Fantasma. Equipment has been emphasized here, as there are no five+ masters or ships with capturing abilities. Instead, there will be a swarm of ships with many guns capable of inflicting different types of damage. Although the build total is listed as 118, it is really the maximum 120 due to the cost of Exploding Shot being 3 points, not 1.
The Sea Monkey is sort of the flagship, with both the captain and reverse captain abilities at her disposal. She is equipped with both Stinkpot and Grape Shot, to make her a mighty three master. Both shot types will ideally be used against Davy Jones, to kill him or prevent him from copying useful abilities and providing extra actions. She is also towing the Silver Coffin, which will provide some extra firepower at long range. That might be useful considering the reverse captain ability, where the Sea Monkey could shoot and move away, giving the Silver Coffin a chance to shoot as well while possibly blocking potential lines of fire for the enemy.
The second ship, the Sea Hag, is a simple four master that will dart in and out of the fog. She carries the vital Fantasma, who I picked based on his essential immortality and how he fits into this fleet, with the Ghost Ship keyword making a fog-hopper truly elusive. Between the Sea Hag’s ability and her ghostliness (plus the fact that the Sea Hag is the most durable ship in the fleet), Fantasma should be relatively safe.
The Mist Walker is one of the most unique sea monsters, between her ability, fast base move, and relative cost-effectiveness. She will zoom out of the fog and pin the Dutchman in place, letting her comrades swarm around the Dutchman before her support arrives. She even has good firepower, making her a potential game-changer.
The Urd can take out any icebergs that get in the way, and she has Stinkpot Shot aboard, to cancel enemy crew. She was also selected for her ability, which is one of the best in the game. If possible, other ships will take out the crew surrounding Davy Jones via equipment and/or boarding, and then the Urd can make a fatal ram and pin attempt to take out Jones. Either way, the Urd is a nice support piece that is surprisingly cheap.
The Hangman’s Joke is a pesky ship with nice guns that has her cargo hold maxed out. She may not look like much, but her combination of good guns and devastating equipment may prove to turn the tide against Davy Jones’ fleet. Just one hit from either one of her equipment pieces can lay waste to an enemy ship’s chance of having an impact on the game.
The final ship, Howl, is another fog-hopper used for support. She is unique only in that she is the only ship moving S+S+S in the fleet, and the only ship with all L-range guns.
Thanks for reading, commenting, and voting, and thanks to lord_denton for running the challenge!
Let me start off by saying that this isn’t my typical fleet; I don’t usually use a lot of sea monsters in my games, and I have had a truly terrible experience with my ten masters in the past. I was originally going to base a fleet off of the Divine Dragon as a boarding monster, but that idea has already been used. I’ve come up with a few other ideas using fog hoppers and crew with the Black Mark keyword, but suddenly I remembered an old fleet build that isn’t all that great, but that would be perfect for this challenge.
Basically, we have a flagship that will try to end the game as quickly as possible.
quote from lord_denton:
-To win, you must capture or kill Davy Jones (either by sinking or by boarding the Flying Dutchman).
(Italics added )
How it Works
This is how the strategy is supposed to work. Calim and Mist Walker will do their best to pin the Dutchman in one place so she can’t escape (especially by copying Mist Walker’s ability). Mist Walker may be able to slip in behind the van of the enemy fleet by using her sneaky ability and bypassing the gunships that will presumably lead the fleet of Davy Jones. The sea monsters and the Nightmare clear a path through the enemies for the Delusion to pass through.
Then the real fun starts. The Delusion sacrifices an oarsman so she can move L+S+L+S. This will put her in range of the Flying Dutchman and her All-Powerful captain. She would fire a few shots off, hoping for at least one hit (I have fired full broadsides with the Delusion before and usually hit ~ 2 times or less). Then she will use Ibrahan Ozat’s ability to board without ramming. Since the Dutchman would most likely have at least one mast missing, the Delusion should win the boarding party (Even if the Delusion can’t score a hit, in a worst case scenario, the Dutchman can tie it at 11-11 if she rolls a 6 and the Delusion rolls a 1). Nemo’s ability captures Davy Jones and the game is over! (for a swift victory!)
Fiore is there to cancel Davy Jones. Thane Hartless is there for the possibility of a bad die roll. There is also another oarsman for sac fodder. If there is not a clear path to the Dutchman, the Delusion can become ghostly and bypass anything in her way, and then shoot a handful of cannons at the Dutchman, and then board her on her next turn.
On top of it all, the Delusion is Eternal, so even if things get wacky and she sinks, she’ll have another shot. Killing Fantasma is a tall order for Davy Jones’ fleet, since they’ll have to either sink the Delusion twice (22 hits) or eliminate all other 7 crew first.
Raptor Maw will be an option if something improbable happens, and that crew-killing ability could come in handy.
The Nightmare is there to fill up the points and provide a small measure of extra firepower.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on August 30th, 2012
This is a fleet designed for controlling your opponent’s ships and messing with their strategies. It is a gimmick fleet that is meant for fun. I don’t recommend using it competitively, and if you vote on it, please don’t judge it by it’s overall effectiveness against tough fleets.
70 points is a bit strange, but if you bump it to 100 with 30 points of treasure runners, it can become more practical. This fleet was used in a game where 0LR +5’s weren’t allowed (just to mix things up for a change ).
The Divine Dragon is the flagship, and with Davy Jones, captain, and helmsman, she is decked out to the max (actually, over the max, as I had to add Edmund to make all 17 points of crew fit). In the end, she takes up half of the build total, but I have a soft spot for the Dragon and for Davy Jones. The primary objective of these 35 points is to use 6’s to control the enemy, but the Dragon serves as a solid gunship as well (at least, a solid gunship for the Cursed). Jones rolling 6’s is the best way for this fleet to win, as he can make your opponent shoot at their own ships!
The Kentucky is a 17 point rock that serves one purpose: providing a reroll and ship for LeBeaux. His ability is good on a 5 as well as on a 6, so your opponents will be wrenched around by him quite often. You can pull enemy ships into range, throw them onto reefs, make them forever lost in the fog, or create any other hindrances you can think of to ruin your opponents’ gameplan. Alternatively, you can use the USS Annapolis with Wayne Nolan for a total of 12 points, instead of 17. Edit (12/19/14): Now that I’ve acquired the Annapolis I thought I would put her in for the Kentucky, but I like how the Kentucky has a lot more size for only 5 more points. However, the Annapolis has a built-in explorer that makes her viable to use as a runner to help find the UT’s, so she would still be a good fit for this fleet.
The third ship also has a very specific role. The Cyclone will use her enhanced speed and unique ability to steal the unique treasures from enemy ships. The UT’s are essential to the success of this fleet. Steal the Eye of Insanity and Nemo’s Charts from the enemy, unless you manage to find them first. You could also use La Monarca with Rollando to save 2 points, but the Cyclone hasn’t seen nearly as much action as the Monarca. In addition, it helps keep the Cursed theme for this fleet which is appropriate for a “mind control” theme. It’s also nice to have the Galley keyword.
The Rover is a UT dump. She will either discover UT’s by exploring islands, or receive them from the Cyclone after she steals them. The shipwright is the ‘sac’ crew for the Eye (you can also use an oarsman). Suddenly, we have a one mast with a makeshift Davy Jones onboard . This is just so we can roll more 6’s and mess with our opponents with two All-Powerfuls .
Nemo’s Charts is to be found/stolen and then used in combination with the specific mysterious islands I have listed. Try to include as many of those two as you can, so they will be close by no matter where your home island is. Perpetually annoy your opponent by repeatedly docking at the MI’s and rolling 3-6, and then throwing their ships off course and into terrain . Throw some icebergs into the terrain pile and then watch as their ships are continually slammed into them again and again. He he he…
The Cursed Conch is a very specific UT that will only bear fruit if your opponent brings a sea monster to the game. The Rover is the best ship to sac actions on to use your opponents sea monsters, but again, be prepared to go get it.
Maps of Hades is another chaotic UT that relies on die rolls, but since you probably won’t find it (with no ships really designated to grab gold), your opponent will have yet another obstacle in their path. In a two player game, you will always be the one to give the action, so just hope for more high die rolls .
I would have like to have included the UT Lost in this fleet, but your opponent would most likely find it first. However, if you use more than 70 points, you could add a swarm of small ships that could uncover it first, letting you place more terrain for you to toss your opponents’ ships into.
To be effective, this fleet needs almost everything to break right. It is extremely unrealistic to think that all of these things will happen, and this fleet has almost no treasure running capability and a small amount of firepower for 70 points. That said, think about the possibilities of having all of these UT’s available, and good luck with the dice:
If your opponent had Calim (S+S+S speed), you could potentially move it S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+S+L! You can make your opponent’s best gunships fire on each other! Throw those useless ten masters and krakens onto reefs and laugh as your opponent watches in disbelief as you win the game (potentially) a. without firing a shot, and b. without doing any real gold running.
Edit:
I was just looking through the Rules thread of the forum and came across discussion centered around Runes of Odin, Runes of Magic, and Nemo’s Plans. Once you or your opponent throws down an iceberg, all of your controlling effects can quickly tilt the game dramatically in your favour. With good luck on the die rolls, you could eliminate their entire fleet! Plus Nemo’s Plans helps not only with the Runes, but also with protecting your other UT’s.
I’ve also added Bad Maps, to help wrench your opponent all around the board, and Maps of Alexandria, to aid in the acquiring of the UT’s.
These new additions make this fleet more interesting, and more powerful. Also, this adds another layer of complexity to the fleet, which intrigues me. You may want to wait as long as possible to reveal the strategy, because if you make your intentions known too soon, your opponent may keep the Runes face down the entire game. Also, this makes it even more practical to add more points to the build to add multiple treasure runners in order to get as many UT’s as possible. I don’t own either of these UT’s, but I will probably proxy them into the next game I play with this fleet.
Especially in the midst of the current Gimmick Challenge, this re-sparks my interest in this fleet idea, and I will continue to search for ways to make it more powerful, and potentially, more practical for competitive use.
Another edit (1/22/13): I just saw “ziotoo’s Creative Fleet”, and it looks spectacular. That looks like an even more effective (and practical) way to win by controlling the enemy. I look forward to playing that fleet, possibly in tandem with this one. Out of respect for ziotoo’s build, I will not simply copy tactics from that fleet into this one, but that fleet is better than this one (at least in terms of winning). Go check it out!
Another edit (12/19/14): I’ve decided to add Perry in order to add some events. This fleet was originally used in a game without 0LR +5’s; I may edit Perry back out and change it up even more at some point. For convenience, the Annapolis subbing in for the Kentucky is a perfect 5 point swap that lowers the cost to 65.
Edit (1/4/2015): As marhawkman over at BGG pointed out I have two Limit crew in this fleet with Davy Jones and Perry. For now I’m taking Perry out to make the fleet legal again. I’m leaving Foul Winds and the helmsman for now which makes this a 75 point fleet. Even without Perry it can be a 70 point fleet if you use the Annapolis instead of the Kentucky.
Foul Winds is a nasty event that is one of the only guaranteed ways of being able to move enemy ships. Again, like with Maps of Hades you’ll be the one moving their ships in a two player game. With multiplayer it gets more chaotic! I also added a helmsman to the Kentucky so she’s not so slow. When LeBeaux doesn’t succeed she’ll be able to provide some support/escort for my other ships.
I also considered ditching Perry and just making this an 80 point fleet. In this way I’d add Foul Winds, Becalmed, and Cursed Zone and forgo the helmsman on the Kentucky. Becalmed would be used on the first turn to freeze my opponent (another way of controlling them). After putting Cursed Zone near their ships I would be able to use all of my multitude of controlling gimmicks to move their ships into the dreaded Zone and crush them from there! I may make this edit at some point, however for now I like the fleet as a 75 point fleet with a helmsman on the Kentucky. In addition I’m not a big fan of events in general and using three in one fleet (especially Becalmed) is a bit much. Lastly, I still like the thought of combining this fleet with 30 points’ worth of treasure runners to make it more viable as a real fleet and round the points out to 100.
Edit (9/11/2015): I added Runes of Thor to help Davy Jones roll 6’s!
Edit (10/12/2015): As perfect as Foul Winds is for this fleet, I really don’t think events should exist in the first place, so I took it back out.
Here are a few battle reports of games that this fleet was involved in. The other fleets were also ‘gimmick’ fleets.
quote from a7xfanben:
A short description of the four fleets, in the order of gameplay:
1. A fleet based on controlling the opponent. This fleet used crew like Davy Jones and George Washington LeBeaux, as well as UT’s and mysterious islands, to control the enemy ships and mess up opposing strategies.
2. A fleet based on home island raiders. Of the four ships in the fleet with the HI raider ability, all of them had solid firepower, and two had captains, so the fleet looked formidable.
3. A fleet based on recycling crew. The main game pieces in this fleet were Captain Davy Jones (POTC) and Captain Blackheart. The Deliverance, with these two crew onboard (along with Lady Baptiste to reroll Jones’ ability), was supported by ships that are effective crew killers, such as the Asesino de la Nave, the USS Quigley, and El Villalobos. The eliminated crew are supposed to then be recycled by Jones, and then sacced by Blackheart for extra actions that would let the Deliverance dominate the battle.
4. A fleet based on using three sea monsters. The Raninoidea was equipped with OE Calico Cat and OE Griffin, and she was towing the Pirate flotilla Doombox. Also in the build were the Seleucis, who would use her unique ability to essentially give the Leviathan the move-and-shoot.
The game got underway, and the Raninoidea and Seleucis were quickly killed, leaving the (mostly) Pirate sea monster fleet in bad shape.
The HI raiders didn’t actually get to raid any home islands, as they were preoccupied fighting Raninoidea, and then repairing from that fight. Also, the Doombox was left behind close to the fleet’s island, so the flotilla kept harassing the HI raiders as their runners brought home a good amount of gold.
The crew-recycling fleet struggled mightily to get into action, as there was an obstacle course of terrain around their HI (two of them created by the UT Lost). When they finally started shooting (desperately trying to feed their big gunship), they killed some crew, but weren’t able to get the 6’s required to link them to Davy Jones. Their strategy failed miserably, but they were able to keep themselves out of last place with their treasure runners, the Alquimista and Joya del Sol.
The ‘mind control’ fleet had solid luck with the dice, and they were able to create chaos around the sea with LeBeaux, good MI rolls that were aided by Nemo’s Charts, and essentially two of OE Davy Jones. The first one was the real one onboard the Divine Dragon, and the second (temporary) one came from the Eye of Insanity UT, which lets the owner of the ship it is on choose any Cursed crew in play and substitute their ability in for a crew aboard the ship that the Eye is on. In this way, this fleet had four abilities that let them control their opponents, which would prove to be somewhat valuable.
In the end, one ship proved her worth: HMS Lady Provost. She made a daring raid on the HI of the crew-killer fleet, taking a 7 and a 2 on consecutive turns. She was not actually part of the HI raiding fleet, but a regular treasure runner in the ‘mind control’ fleet. In the end, that fleet tied with the HI raider fleet for first with 15 gold each. Coming in third was the crew-killer fleet, with 5 gold (therefore, they still would not have won if the Provost didn’t take their gold; in that case, the HI raiders would have had sole possession of first place). Bringing up the rear was the sea monster fleet, with 0 gold. They will have another chance tomorrow, however, as I am going to play at least one more game with these fleets.
The setup for the next game was purposely more confined, and things got very crowded toward the end of the game.
The ‘mind control’ fleet had a rough time, losing the Aberdeen Baron to the Raninoidea after she went through a whirlpool. They also were unable to get the UT’s necessary to fuel their efforts.
The crew recyclers were unable to roll a single 6 with Captain Davy Jones, and their gunships had a rough go of it. The Asesino de la Nave missed two of three shots against La Vengeance (of the HI raiders), and then was taken out in the return fire. The Quigley and Villalobos were obliterated in one turn by the Raninoidea, and the Deliverance wasted time fighting a silly battle against the Divine Dragon (silly because neither ship could get their guns to work).
The sea monster fleet (and their Pirate treasure runners) had the best start, but things started to unravel when the HI raiders discovered the Lost UT and rolled a 6. All three sea monsters were ‘reefed’, and all three lost two segments. The Raninoidea was later eliminated by Le Bon Marin using the UT Cursed Conch to move her back onto the reef. The Doombox and a derelict had fog banks placed underneath them, essentially eliminating them from the game.
Then the HI raiders came to town. In a sudden swarm, all four ships with the HI raiding ability (Poor Adams, L’Heros, Freedom, Belladonna) attacked the HI of the sea monster fleet. The Belladonna and Poor Adams got into a skirmish with the Raven and the Leviathan, while the Freedom was busy buying time for the other three. L’Heros made the only successful raid, but it was all they needed, because while all of this was going on, the French runners Coeur du Lion and La Dijon grabbed gold and quickly brought it back for a swift, stunning victory!
The final treasure count revealed 16 gold for the HI raiders, 9 for the crew recyclers (La Joya del Sol brought back a 4 and a 5), and 0 for both the sea monsters and the mind controllers. The sea monsters had theirs stolen, while the mind controllers needed very lucky, specific things to happen to win.
Another game was played, but two of the four players wanted to change their fleets. The crew recyclers swapped that fleet for an all-sub fleet, utilizing the Nautilus, Mobilis, Brave Selkirk, and USS Lamon. The sea monster fleet was swapped out for a fleet that would try to capture crew and turn them into gold, using crew like Bonny Peel and Barstow.
On the first action of the first turn, HMS Lady Provost (of the mind controllers) picked up a 5 and a 7 from the same island, which would be too much of a deficit for the others to overcome. The fleet had moderate success rolling for controlling effects, which helped out later in the game.
The all-sub fleet managed to run gold with the Brave Selkirk, whose Mercenary keyword was cancelled by the Mobilis. However, the subs were too slow to get into the real action that dominated the middle and end of this game.
The HI raiders came into the game as victors of both of the previous two, so there was an understandable amount of bias in the actions of the others. After having all of their gold stolen in the previous game, the crew capturers (previously the sea monsters) tried their best not to hold a grudge against the raiders. However, after discovering the UT’s Monkey’s Paw and Maps of Hades, they flew into a rage, vowing to do everything possible to make the raiders lose. The only time they strayed from this promise proved to be the climax of the game.
The raiders’ HI was close to the HI of the mind controllers. After seeing the Provost load up (although they didn’t know what she had), they decided to go after them. However, LeBeaux was able to throw the Freedom onto a reef, and the Divine Dragon was able to protect the Provost so she could return home safely. On the next turn, the angry crew capturers arrived, and the Lady’s Scorn immediately sent L’Heros to the bottom. After the Belladonna and Poor Adams were both dismasted, the crew capturers used Barstow (onboard the Xiamen’s Claws) to capture OE Davy Jones, and later, the captain aboard the Dragon, which would have netted them 15 gold.
However, this made the Claws a huge target for the rest of the game, and ships flocked to her to try to capture/sink her. This is where the mind control fleet shined. After the Claws lost all of her masts in a gauntlet of hostile ships, LeBeaux moved her off of a reef and away from the Raven, who was towing her. The Claws was then moved S+S (her base move) further away via a mysterious island roll by the Provost, moving her into a fog bank. Since derelicts in fog banks are lost forever, this ended the threat of the crew capturers having more gold than the mind controllers. The Raven then brought home the last gold coin, transferred from the derelict Longshanks, ending the game.
The treasure was counted, and the mind controllers won despite the capturing of their best crew (Davy Jones) and the sinking of their flagship (the Divine Dragon). They finished with 17 gold, the HI raiders with 12, the all-sub fleet with 9, and the crew capturers with 3.
Another game has been played, with the mind controllers winning once again. The game didn’t have any true excitement, but at least the gimmicks were used, and the final treasure count close. The mind controllers finished with 13 gold, the HI raiders with 11, and the crew capturers and subs with 5 each.
Tomorrow, the last game with these fleets will be played, and to elongate the game, there will be double as much treasure on each island (6 instead of 3).
The final game between the gimmick fleets was played today. The mind controllers won again, due to their HI being a good distance away from the other three fleets. They had good treasure running, solid luck with UT’s, and they made two brilliant moves to ensure their victory. The Divine Dragon was sent through a whirlpool, and sunk the Lightning and Longshanks, two treasure runners in the crew capturer fleet, right before they could return home with 6 coins of gold.
When the HI raiders L’Heros and the Belladonna approached the HI of the mind controllers, the mind controllers acted quickly and divided their gold up by building two forts, so the raiders only had access to two coins.
The final gold count saw the mind controllers finish with 31 gold (remember there was twice as much treasure, 6 coins per island), both the HI raiders and the subs with 14, and the crew capturers with 5 (they weren’t able to capture any crew).
So there you have it! Four victories in five games! Not bad, especially for a multiplayer game.
Again, this is a fun fleet, not a competitive one. The fleet is based around one principle (controlling the enemy), and many things have to go right for it to be effective. However, it is my personal favourite ‘fun-only’ fleet, and it can be very satisfying. It is one of those fleets that you’ll have fun with no matter how badly it performs, since you’ll be coming into the game with low expectations for it (at least, they should be low expectations), and therefore, you won’t be disappointed.
Please comment! I realize this fleet may not win many more games… but it’s proving to be pretty effective at 5-1 now. I’d love to hear about more ways to control the enemy.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on August 22nd, 2012
500 Point English Fleet
I’ve played two regular (gold and guns) 500 point games, and one 500 point deathmatch game. This is the second of the two regular 500 point fleets that I created for the English.
I only used stuff from my collection, of course, so some ships are empty since I ran out of crew. Also, I allowed the use of duplicates so that there would be more ships capable of making a difference (rather than being devoid of crew). I also ignored the Limit keyword.
The site only allows for 8 separate ships (this fleet has 31), so I put the 7 ships with the most named crew on them in the first 7 spots, then stuffed everything else in the #8 spot. It rearranges all of the pieces, however, so the crew and ships aren’t together in the appropriate allocations. To sort that out, the ships in section #8 have the following crew (the rest are empty):
Aberdeen Baron-First Mate Ismail and helmsman
HMS Dover-MI Hermione Gold and explorer
Cygnet-Thomas Gunn the Younger and firepot specialist
HMS Hyena-ROTF Hermione Gold and explorer
HMS Ark Royal-captain and cannoneer
HMS Bolingbroke-captain and firepot specialist
HMS Nautilus-captain
HMS Auckland-captain
HMS Alexander-explorer
HMS Lady Provost-explorer and oarsman
HMS Europa-Commander Temple
HMS Caradoc-Sir Meyer Hampstead
HMS King Edward-explorer
HMS Victor-captain and cannoneer
With this fleet, I won a five player 500 point game. The following battle report details parts of the game and should give at least some idea of how the fleet would be used in a game. Also, you can infer (from crew/ship abilities and stats) what ships would be fighting and what ships would be running treasure.
quote:
Today (2/18/12) I set everything up for a 500 point game, the second I will have played. I created the fleets on paper earlier in the week.
Once again, there will be five 500 point fleets, with four of the five having +5 0 point Limit Ransom crew, for a grand total of 2520 points on the floor!
Things have changed in my Pirates CSG landscape, so the fleets will be composed of slightly different factions than last time. The English, Spanish, and Pirates will all be fighting individually. The French, however, are now allied with the Americans, as well as the Corsairs (this alliance will be referred to as the French Americans). The Cursed have teamed up with the Mercenaries (I will call them the Merccursed). The Merccursed are the only fleet not playing to win, as they will be trying to create chaos for the opposing fleets.
I am not using duplicate ships this time (other than two of the Death’s Anchor flotillas), but I am using some duplicate named crew. However, most of the duplicate crew used will be variations of crew with the same name (ex: the Pirates are using the SM Calico Cat, as well as the OE and ROTF versions, and the English will be using the MI Hermione Gold and the ROTF version, among others). The English are using 31 ships total, the Spanish 36, the French Americans 33, the Pirates 36, and the Merccursed 29 (including flotillas and sea monsters), for a grand total of 165 !
20 islands will be used, with four treasure coins per island, for 60 total coins (15 wild islands + 5 home islands), of which 16 are unique treasures. 14 pieces of terrain have been placed, with six more on standby for the Lost UT.
The nations have chosen their home islands, from east to west: Pirates, French Americans, Merccursed, Spanish, English. The order of turns will be: English, Spanish, French Americans, Pirates, Merccursed. Hopefully it will be as exciting and close-fought as the last 500 point game!
2/19: First seven turns: The game commenced, and the fleets were off! The HMS Lady Provost encountered the UT Natives, freezing her for two turns, while the HMS Alexander uncovered the UT Missionary, marking a bad start for the English.
The Spanish got into a fight with the Cursed which is just now ending. They managed to sink the Executioner by canceling ROTF Fantasma’s Eternal keyword, and now they have acquired the Eye of Insanity, which they transferred to El Acorazado, who is also decked out with crew. The Eye lets her substitute one of her crew for a Cursed crew in play, and they naturally picked OE Davy Jones’ guaranteed extra action. Their Toro and San Jose have been sunk, among others, but they have been doing okay.
The French have gotten some treasure with La Vengeance, the Griffin, and the Viper’s Bite (the latter are still on their way home, and in big trouble from the Pirates and English respectively). The Conquerant, Saber, Possession, and Soleil Royal have all been sunk in two separate actions against the Pirates, while the French were able to eliminate the loaded Harbinger, and the dangerous Raninoidea crab. Those same Pirates have had bad luck and bad timing, and almost half of their fleet was annihilated in one turn by the English.
The English used the “round earth” rules to go to the other side of the sea and try to get to two far-off islands, but things became much more complicated than that. The English ended up having to send some of their best gunships over to take care of the Pirates, heading for the same islands, and took out 24 masts in one turn of furious broadsides (mostly the work of the HMS Grand Temple, HMS Titan, Bretwalda, Ark Royal, and Apollo). Both islands were explored by the English, and they built Fort Brompton on the closer one, but the fort was quickly destroyed by the Revenant (soon thereafter sunk by the Lord Walpole), but then rebuilt. The Aberdeen Baron was captured after exploring the farther island by the Viper’s Bite, after having been dismasted by Le Gaule, who consequently was almost dismasted by a collection of English ships. As of now, the Baron is sitting derelict with one treasure coin, the dismasted Viper’s Bite is crawling home at S speed, and the Gaule is doomed (La Dijon was sunk in this action as well). The English appear to be in complete control in this northeast area of the sea. They have captured three Pirate ships, the Raven (now at her new HI repairing), Longshanks, and Darkhawk II (both of which are being towed home with treasure on board).
The Merccursed have been creating chaos in the middle of the sea, harassing the two nearest fleets, those of the Spanish and the French Americans. The Spanish have successfully beaten them back, but the French Americans didn’t fare so well. Their problem was the fact that most of the French gunships (the bulk of their fighting ships) were off fighting the Pirates to the east, while the Merccursed used teamwork to attack the three American five masters, the Enterprise, Blackwatch, and Constitution (OE). They weakened the Enterprise with a host of ships, notably the Forward equipped with a Firepot Specialist and Musketeer, then took out her Eternal crew, Ralph David, with the crew-killing boarding effect of the Jikininki. Then the Blackwatch appeared, but she was handled by the same combination of ships (less the Forward who the Blackwatch sunk). Christian Fiore’s cancelling ability was utilized to cancel Gus Schultz (Eternal) at just the right time, and then the sea monster Slarg Gubbit finished her off. Too bad the Merccursed won’t have any treasure, so they won’t win.
Dozens of other ships were damaged and sunk today; too many to remember. These were just the highlights. The last treasure coin is on an island to the west, protected by the Wolves UT. La Ebro heads there, but there is a large battle looming in that area, in the southwest corner, between the English and the Spanish. The English have more captain crew, but the Spanish have El Acorazado and possibly more ships that are fit for battle. These appear to be the strongest factions at this point, but the Pirates and French Americans are still in the running.
2/20: Another five or six turns have been completed, and the game will probably be finished up tomorrow. The English and the Spanish fought in the southwest corner, with the Spanish appearing to have somewhat won . Too bad my English have way more treasure than them!
Some of the English ships have gone to the east using the round earth rule and are just now stealing treasure from the HI of the Pirates. HMS Bath and HMS Lady Provost are taking gold, although it may not even be necessary for the English to win, as I appear to have the most gold of any faction, with some on my HI and more in Fort Brompton. The Viper’s Bite, Longshanks, and Darkhawk II have all been captured by the English, who have been the dominant force of late, as they also recaptured the Aberdeen Baron and sunk Le Gaule. The Acorazado was sunk by a team of English ships, and La Ebro (with Olano’s Marine keyword) has eliminated Wolves, allowing the last treasure to be loaded.
The treasure still has to be counted, but the other four fleets have all but conceded that the English have the most treasure. The Merccursed have repaired and regrouped, but appear to be too late to make any real late-game noise, although they have just recently attacked the French Americans, who were also repairing (from skirmishes against the Pirates). Le Bonaparte and Le Lache de Calvados, both immune to enemies within S, have frustrated the English around the Pirates’ HI, forcing the English to try to ram them, which has not worked. Meanwhile, the Pirates have been officially eliminated, with some of their ships captured by the English, sunk by the French Americans and the English, and scuttled to escape capture. The Coral was the last Pirate ship floating, but now they have nothing, which is important because the English have a free shot at their HI, which has the most treasure other than the HI of the English.
The Spanish fought the English in the hopes of defeating them, but they suffered three serious blows in their efforts today: the Divine Dragon sunk El Villalobos, who was carrying 11 gold in the form of two coins, having been transferred to her by the derelict San Pedro. Also, the English captured the Joya del Sol, who had more valuable treasure on her (probably about nine gold), giving them even more treasure. As if this wasn’t enough, both cancelers (Nemesio Diaz) were eliminated, going down on board the Santa Teresa and the Asesino de la Nave.
With the Pirates unable to defend their dwindling supply of gold, the French Americans losing most of their useful ships and now fighting the Merccursed, and the Spanish without a large amount of gold, the English appear to have won, though hopefully I am not speaking too soon.
HMS King Edward is positioned to take the last pieces of treasure, and the game shall end soon!
2/21: The game was finished up today; it didn’t take as long as the other 500 point game. I believe it took only 13 or 14 turns. The King Edward was sunk by a combination of three Spanish ships, ending the game, with the Spanish with nine ships remaining, and the English with 14. The French Americans had some ships, and were in the process of a battle against the Merccursed. This was interrupted when ‘all available gold had been unloaded to home islands’. The final treasure count:
1. English: 81 gold
2. Pirates: 25
3. French Americans: 21
4. Spanish: 0
5. Merccursed: 0 (I put them behind the Spanish because they never had a single coin at any point during the game).
A blowout victory for the English! The game wasn’t as thrilling as the last 500 point game, but it was fun to see the English play a near-perfect game.
I don’t expect anybody to vote or comment on this , since it is so much larger than what most players are used to.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on July 25th, 2012
RtSS Fleet Challenge – Cursed
This is my second entry for woelf’s RtSS Fleet Challenge. This is a Cursed fleet that uses two exciting new Cursed ships, and an existing one for support. The strategy is a balance between running gold with the treasure runner and using the ability of Namazu as much as possible.
Leviathan represents Namazu (here is the link to the original post): Namazu
RtSS-003, Rare
Cursed
Points: 15
Masts: 4 (Sea Serpent)
Cargo: 2
Move: S
Cannons: 3S-3S-3S-3S
Ability: Sea Monster. Give this sea monster a shoot action. A wave S wide and 2L long leaves the sea monster in one direction. Up to 2 masts of every ship in the path of the wave are eliminated. Eliminate one of this sea monster’s masts.
Flavor: Old sailors shiver at the mention of Namazu. Few who have survived its tidal attacks can return to the sea, so paralyzing are the nightmares of the memory.
She will get close to the enemy ships and blast them with her super-duper-wondrous-bizarro thing. Yeah, quite a funky ability. But that’s the Cursed for you!
The second ship, the Sskwa’aluk (what?!), is represented by the Sea Monkey (here is the original post): Sskwa’aluk
RtSS-047
Cursed
Points: 13
Masts: 3 (Windcatcher)
Cargo: 5
Move: L+S
Cannons: 5L-5L-5L
Ability: Wind Catcher. On the turn this ship is pinned, eliminate one crew and one mast from the rammed ship.
Flavor: Crewed entirely by Trogs, this foul vessel actually carries a coral nest beneath her hull. What lives within the nest is known only to the Trogs—and the captives who are lowered into the hull as food.
This ship is your main treasure runner. With an unheard-of combination (at least for the Cursed) of speed (L+S), big cargo hold (5), and bad guns (fitting for a treasure runner), this new Windcatcher can run gold like no other Cursed ship. She has room for an island’s worth of gold, and she has that nasty ability that will make opponents think twice before attacking her.
The third and final ship is not from RtSS, but an LE from F&S, the Lizard’s Sting. With the Hag of Tortuga on board, she will tag along with Namazu to give a needed speed boost. I used the extra point to put an oarsman on, and he will either protect the Hag, or let the Sting keep moving if her one mast is eliminated. This is made a bit more difficult due to her supreme ability. With two cargo spaces left over, she can also help the Sskwa’aluk run treasure.
I added the UT Seastar, represented by Trees (the original post), to incorporate a UT from RtSS. Hopefully one of my ships can pick it up and use it effectively. If the Lizard’s Sting managed to grab it, her already-awesome ability would become even more annoying to the enemy.
Seastar
RtSS-032, Rare
Unique Treasure
Values: 6,5,4,3,3,2,2,1,1
Ability: Load this treasure face down. When revealed, once per turn as a free action roll a d6. On a result of 5 or 6, repair one mast on this ship.
I think this is a decent enough fleet, at least for the Cursed. It’s a bit weak in almost every area, but the Cursed don’t really excel at very much. It’s a bit strange for the Cursed, as well-a true treasure runner backed by a sea serpent that might not fire her guns at all. If only we could combine this fleet with my other fleet for this challenge. Then you could use the English Native Canoes and their repair ability to keep up a steady stream of tidal wave attacks!
Thanks for reading, comment and vote! I may add a UT or two, but I’m not sure just yet. Thanks for woelf for running the RtSS Fleet Challenge – this was a very fun fleet to create!
Originally published to Miniature Trading on July 14th, 2012
RtSS Fleet Challenge – English
This is my entry for woelf’s Fleet Challenge of Return to Savage Shores (RtSS).
The fleet has 13 masts for just 45 points, and I tried to have all of the actual ship game pieces come from RtSS. The fleet has your standard gunship, a treasure runner/raider that will take advantage of opportunities when they arise, and the new English set of Native Canoes with their funky ability. I wanted to use HMS Goodfellow, but she needs a helmsman, while the canoes are just the right amount of points.
The Fleet
HMS Halcyon + Administrator Scott Bratley, captain, helmsman HMS Halcyon
RtSS-015, Uncommon
English
Points: 11
Masts: 4
Cargo: 4
Move: S+S
Cannons: 2S-2L-2L-2S
Ability: When this ship sinks another ship, you can repair one of this ship’s masts.
HMS London, from CC, will be used in place of HMS Halcyon. Almost the same ship, the Halcyon simply has a more practical ability that suits her stats better. She is equipped with the customary captain and helmsman, as well as Bratley, to add 5 points to the build, which brings it to the perfect amount. She will either take out the enemies’ gunship(s) and/or treasure runners. The Halcyon is to be used as a standard gunship, and her repairing ability may be augmented by some native canoes that tag along for the ride.
Elthelfleda + Tribal Chieftain, explorer Elthelfleda
RtSS-009, Rare
English
Points: 16
Masts: 4 (Galley)
Cargo: 4
Move: S+L
Cannons: 3S-4L-3S-4L
Ability: Galley. This ship can move and shoot using the same move action. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. She gets +2 instead if her opponent is a sea monster.
This is the ship that HMS Gallows represents, being the only 4 masted English galley other than the Alexandria. With a built-in captain ability and nice S+L speed, she is ready to go right out of the pack. Her high point cost and combative abilities may make her seem like a pure combat ship, but since you don’t need a captain and helmsman to crew her, I have put an explorer on her to be the main treasure runner. She also will have the chieftain on board.
However, she will see much more use than that. She has room for two treasures, but you’d be crazy to ignore the abilities. She will be a very tough opponent for any treasure runners that sail to the same island as her, since she can blast them with her move-and-shoot, and possibly ram and board as well. The ram won’t do any additional damage, but it isn’t necessary, either, with the Galley keyword. Also, she could be used to chase down any enemy treasure runners and take their gold by shooting at them and boarding them.
Tribal Chieftain & Native Canoes
RtSS-017
England
Points: 12
Masts: X (Canoes)
Cargo: 1
Move: L+S
Cannons: 3S
Ability: Native Canoe. Give this ship a move action but do not move her. Instead, roll a d6. On a result of 5 or 6, you may repair one mast on ships within S of any native canoes.
Represented by the Aberdeen Baron since she has five masts and costs 12 points, this turns the fleet from somewhat interesting into something that hasn’t been done before. That potentially ‘game-breaking’ ability that is unique to this game piece can be used multiple times throughout the game, by each and every canoe.
Here is the discussion that details some of their pros and cons, and their rules questions. There you can see many of their potential uses, and in this fleet they could help out the two main ships quite a lot. They could follow them around and give them repairs when needed, and help run treasure. HMS Halcyon could be turned into a nightmare of a gunship for your opponents, with endless stamina. The Elthelfleda could keep up a steady stream of successful boarding actions against enemy ships with her eliminated masts sprouting back up every turn. I am not familiar with Native Canoes (especially not this set), so if I missed anything important, please point it out.
Unfortunately, I don’t own a single 4 masted galley or any canoes, so it would be quite difficult to try this fleet out in a game by using proxies. I would if I could. That said, however, I think this fleet would do reasonably well between its outstanding durability (13 masts and possibly a ton of repairs) and good speed.
Thanks for reading-comment and vote!
Edit-I have since acquired the Alexandria and the Spanish native canoes, so playtesting this fleet is not out of the question anymore… we’ll see how things go.
October 19, 2016
This fleet is participating in VASSAL Tournament #2!
After losing in the first round this fleet is now 0-2. Of course, there’s not much shame in losing to a UPS fleet.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on May 6th, 2012
40 Point Spanish – Mathias01 Fleet Challenge
This fleet is designed for a regular 40 point game-a combination of fighting and gold-running. I almost made a simple 4-ship Corsair fleet built specially for gold-running, but I decided it was too simple. I have chosen Spanish Main as the set (it is my favourite) and the Spanish are the faction.
The Ships
The first ship is La Resolucion, and she is equipped with the necessary captain and helmsman, because she is the primary ‘gunship’, though that is not all she will do. The Spanish were lucky enough to be the first faction to receive a canceller, Nemesio Diaz, and he is aboard the Spanish ship. La Resolucion will go around harassing enemy treasure runners, and, if possible, steal the highest gold value with her ability by utilizing the UT Shipping Charts.
La Resolucion is set up so that she can move, shoot (weakening the enemy ship), ram, and then steal. If all goes well, she will leave the enemy gold runner derelict or sunk as she makes off with her best treasure coin. Additionally she could tow the ship home at only a small reduction in speed. When an enemy gunship gets too close or tries to attack La Resolucion, Diaz will cancel the opponents’ captain and therefore La Resolucion will be able to strike first.
The second ship is the main treasure runner, the Cazador del Pirata. She has four crew aboard, but still has five cargo spaces available, so she will take the best treasures from two different islands. The helmsman and explorer are predictable, but she also has Master Bianco aboard to help out in the gold department. The oarsman is along to protect her more valuable crew and possibly get her home in an emergency (although he could be placed on La Resolucion to protect her crew instead). Her decent durability (at least for a treasure runner), respectable guns, and pirate-hating ability may make opponents think twice about going after her. Indeed, if you are playing the pirates, she could be used as a hybrid, since she would effectively have nice 2L guns against them.
UT’s and Potential Problems
Shipping Charts has been explained; it fits nicely into the contest (since it’s from SM) and fleet as it will assist La Resolucion in her quest to find and acquire the decisive treasure coin. Homemade Flag is in there to spice things up, and make La Resolucion harder to hit by enemy gunships (the idea was that the UT would make enemy gunships have to come within S of her, therefore inducing the cancellation).
Problems with this fleet include a relatively weak core, since the canceller is the only thing that stands in the way of a big, fast gunship swooping in and severely damaging/sinking both ships. A fellow canceller would of course be problematic as well, but this fleet has some nice parts. A lack of speed would be exposed as well, however.
Once I get my ships out again I will be able to test this fleet against others, since I have all of the pieces except for Homemade Flag. Thanks for reading and voting!
Today (2/18/12) I set everything up for a 500 point game, the second I will have played. I created the fleets on paper earlier in the week.
Once again, there will be five 500 point fleets, with four of the five having +5 0 point Limit Ransom crew (0LR +5), for a grand total of 2520 points on the floor! Things have changed in my Pirates CSG landscape, so the fleets will be composed of slightly different factions than last time. The English, Spanish, and Pirates will all be fighting individually. The French, however, are now allied with the Americans, as well as the Corsairs (this alliance will be referred to as the French Americans). The Cursed have teamed up with the Mercenaries (I will call them the Merccursed). The Merccursed are the only fleet not playing to win, as they will be trying to create chaos for the opposing fleets. I am not using duplicate ships this time (other than two of the Death’s Anchor flotillas), but I am using some duplicate named crew. However, most of the duplicate crew used will be variations of crew with the same name (ex: the Pirates are using the SM Calico Cat, as well as the OE and ROTF versions, and the English will be using the MI Hermione Gold and the ROTF version, among others). The English are using 31 ships total, the Spanish 36, the French Americans 33, the Pirates 36, and the Merccursed 29 (including flotillas and sea monsters), for a grand total of 165 !
20 islands will be used, with four treasure coins per island, for 60 total coins (15 wild islands + 5 home islands), of which 16 are unique treasures. 14 pieces of terrain have been placed, with six more on standby for the Lost UT. The nations have chosen their home islands, from east to west: Pirates, French Americans, Merccursed, Spanish, English. The order of turns will be: English, Spanish, French Americans, Pirates, Merccursed. Hopefully it will be as exciting and close-fought as the last 500 point game!
Additional Comment:
First seven turns: The game commenced, and the fleets were off!
The HMS Lady Provost encountered the UT Natives, freezing her for two turns, while the HMS Alexander uncovered the UT Missionary, marking a bad start for the English.
The Spanish got into a fight with the Cursed which is just now ending. They managed to sink the Executioner by canceling ROTF Fantasma’s Eternal keyword, and now they have acquired the Eye of Insanity, which they transferred to El Acorazado, who is also decked out with crew. The Eye lets her substitute one of her crew for a Cursed crew in play, and they naturally picked OE Davy Jones’ guaranteed extra action. Their Toro and San Jose have been sunk, among others, but they have been doing okay.
The French have gotten some treasure with La Vengeance, the Griffin, and the Viper’s Bite (the latter are still on their way home, and in big trouble from the Pirates and English respectively). The Conquerant, Saber, Possession, and Soleil Royal have all been sunk in two separate actions against the Pirates, while the French were able to eliminate the loaded Harbinger, and the dangerous Raninoidea crab. Those same Pirates have had bad luck and bad timing, and almost half of their fleet was annihilated in one turn by the English.
The English used the “round earth” rules to go to the other side of the sea and try to get to two far-off islands, but things became much more complicated than that. The English ended up having to send some of their best gunships over to take care of the Pirates, heading for the same islands, and took out 24 masts in one turn of furious broadsides (mostly the work of the HMS Grand Temple, HMS Titan, Bretwalda, Ark Royal, and Apollo). Both islands were explored by the English, and they built Fort Brompton on the closer one, but the fort was quickly destroyed by the Revenant (soon thereafter sunk by the Lord Walpole), but then rebuilt. The Aberdeen Baron was captured after exploring the farther island by the Viper’s Bite, after having been dismasted by Le Gaule, who consequently was almost dismasted by a collection of English ships. As of now, the Baron is sitting derelict with one treasure coin, the dismasted Viper’s Bite is crawling home at S speed, and the Gaule is doomed (La Dijon was sunk in this action as well). The English appear to be in complete control in this northeast area of the sea. They have captured three Pirate ships, the Raven (now at her new HI repairing), Longshanks, and Darkhawk II (both of which are being towed home with treasure on board).
The Merccursed have been creating chaos in the middle of the sea, harassing the two nearest fleets, those of the Spanish and the French Americans. The Spanish have successfully beaten them back, but the French Americans didn’t fare so well. Their problem was the fact that most of the French gunships (the bulk of their fighting ships) were off fighting the Pirates to the east, while the Merccursed used teamwork to attack the three American five masters, the Enterprise, Blackwatch, and Constitution (OE). They weakened the Enterprise with a host of ships, notably the Forward equipped with a Firepot Specialist and Musketeer, then took out her Eternal crew, Ralph David, with the crew-killing boarding effect of the Jikininki. Then the Blackwatch appeared, but she was handled by the same combination of ships (less the Forward who the Blackwatch sunk). Christian Fiore’s cancelling ability was utilized to cancel Gus Schultz (Eternal) at just the right time, and then the sea monster Slarg Gubbit finished her off. Too bad the Merccursed won’t have any treasure, so they won’t win.
Dozens of other ships were damaged and sunk today; too many to remember. These were just the highlights. The last treasure coin is on an island to the west, protected by the Wolves UT. La Ebro heads there, but there is a large battle looming in that area, in the southwest corner, between the English and the Spanish. The English have more captain crew, but the Spanish have El Acorazado and possibly more ships that are fit for battle. These appear to be the strongest factions at this point, but the Pirates and French Americans are still in the running.
February 20th, 2012
Another five or six turns have been completed, and the game will probably be finished up tomorrow. The English and the Spanish fought in the southwest corner, with the Spanish appearing to have somewhat won . Too bad my English have way more treasure than them!
Some of the English ships have gone to the east using the round earth rule and are just now stealing treasure from the HI of the Pirates. HMS Bath and HMS Lady Provost are taking gold, although it may not even be necessary for the English to win, as I appear to have the most gold of any faction, with some on my HI and more in Fort Brompton. The Viper’s Bite, Longshanks, and Darkhawk II have all been captured by the English, who have been the dominant force of late, as they also recaptured the Aberdeen Baron and sunk Le Gaule. The Acorazado was sunk by a team of English ships, and La Ebro (with Olano’s Marine keyword) has eliminated Wolves, allowing the last treasure to be loaded.
The treasure still has to be counted, but the other four fleets have all but conceded that the English have the most treasure. The Merccursed have repaired and regrouped, but appear to be too late to make any real late-game noise, although they have just recently attacked the French Americans, who were also repairing (from skirmishes against the Pirates). Le Bonaparte and Le Lache de Calvados, both immune to enemies within S, have frustrated the English around the Pirates’ HI, forcing the English to try to ram them, which has not worked. Meanwhile, the Pirates have been officially eliminated, with some of their ships captured by the English, sunk by the French Americans and the English, and scuttled to escape capture. The Coral was the last Pirate ship floating, but now they have nothing, which is important because the English have a free shot at their HI, which has the most treasure other than the HI of the English.
The Spanish fought the English in the hopes of defeating them, but they suffered three serious blows in their efforts today: the Divine Dragon sunk El Villalobos, who was carrying 11 gold in the form of two coins, having been transferred to her by the derelict San Pedro. Also, the English captured the Joya del Sol, who had more valuable treasure on her (probably about nine gold), giving them even more treasure. As if this wasn’t enough, both cancelers (Nemesio Diaz) were eliminated, going down on board the Santa Teresa and the Asesino de la Nave.
With the Pirates unable to defend their dwindling supply of gold, the French Americans losing most of their useful ships and now fighting the Merccursed, and the Spanish without a large amount of gold, the English appear to have won, though hopefully I am not speaking too soon .
HMS King Edward is positioned to take the last pieces of treasure, and the game shall end soon!
February 21st, 2012
The game was finished up today; it didn’t take as long as the other 500 point game. I believe it took only 13 or 14 turns. The King Edward was sunk by a combination of three Spanish ships, ending the game, with the Spanish with nine ships remaining, and the English with 14. The French Americans had some ships, and were in the process of a battle against the Merccursed. This was interrupted when ‘all available gold had been unloaded to home islands’. The final treasure count:
1. English: 81 gold
2. Pirates: 25
3. French Americans: 21
4. Spanish: 0
5. Merccursed: 0 (I put them behind the Spanish because they never had a single coin at any point during the game).
A blowout victory for the English! The game wasn’t as thrilling as the last 500 point game, but it was fun to see the English play a near-perfect game.
I also set up for the Defence of St. Helen’s scenario. I used the dimensions given (the table in the link is too small for what they have listed, probably because they don’t play huge games ), and tried to set up the islands and icebergs the same way.
There will be five fleets, five 500 point deathmatch fleets (so a total of over 2500 points in play, just like the regular 500 point games). The fleets of the Spanish and the French-Americans are the defenders, and have worked out a sort of strategy before the game’s start. Their biggest and best ships are concentrated in the rear, while they send their other ships out first to annoy the attackers while the forts do some damage. Since I only have one Spanish fort (El Puerto Blanco) and two French forts (St. Pierre and Paradis de la Mer), and four are required for the game, I have let the defenders use the Pirate fort Dead Man’s Point. The English, Pirates, and MercCursedRebels (I may refer to them as the MCRs, not to be confused with My Chemical Romance) are the attackers, and have similarly positioned their uncrewed/weaker ships at the front of their formation (one of those awesome sights, a ‘forest of masts’). The ratio is 3:2 in favour of the attackers, with 1500 points and 1000 points. The attackers command 81 ships, and the defenders, 56, for a total of 137 (not quite 200 , but I am using crew).
Original as seen on Deviantart
The game has started, with the first three turns down. Five defender ships have been sunk, and Dead Man’s Point has been destroyed. The defenders are harassing the attackers with some of their smaller ships, and have formed a defensive line blocking the southern path from the edge of the game area to the islands protruding from the centre. I would play more today, but the ten masters have ruined my gaming experience for the day . I would rather not go on a long rant, but if they keep disappointing me I think I will flip out. Basically, they all stink. The Baochuan went 7 for 20 in her double shoot action today thanks to a rare 6 from Zheng He. She has 7 rank-3 guns, and they were essentially rank-2’s thanks to world-hater Chang Pao. Whatever. In a rage, I ignored the ‘can’t shoot at ships in your own fleet’ rule and sunk all three of them easily. HMS Leicester sunk the Baochuan without any help, and she didn’t even have Hermione Gold (MI version) on board. I think I will redo the turn and place them back where they were, and give them a final chance. I know they aren’t designed for just combat, but the fact that they are this bad is just plain embarrassing. Hopefully they will prove me wrong when I resume play again tomorrow.
I have finished this game, and the attackers won on turn 14, one turn before the time limit. The ten masters did reasonably well, so they are safe for now. The attackers basically just flooded the top, middle, and bottom of the game area with tons of ships, and the defenders were overwhelmed. The last defending ship afloat was El Acorazado, but her defences were bypassed by a Broadsides Attack from HMS Bretwalda. A good scenario, although a chunk of attacking ships didn’t get to see action.
Today I played a three game set of deathmatches between two 300 point fleets. The idea was to have a small group of true super-gunships against a much larger group of good, cheap, smaller gunships. The only restrictions were the 300 point limit, but I also only let the small ship fleet have ships that cost less than 10 points, and have 3 masts or less. The big ship fleet contained just 6 ships for all 300 points, with the Baochuan, Delusion, Shui Xian, El Acorazado, HMS Dreadnought, and Le Bonaparte (DJC version). The small ship fleet contained 25 ships, with most of them either Pirate or Spanish, although there were also ships from England, France, America, and the Cursed. The big ship fleet won 2 of the 3 games. They lost the third game only because the small ship fleet had incredible luck with the dice. The ten masters were respectable in these games, although at one point the Shui Xian (with world-hater MI Hermione Gold on board) missed five times in a row, and Le Bonaparte rolled four one’s in a row . If not for this aberration, the big ship fleet would have won all three times. Their biggest advantage was that they had a sac captain, three cancelers, and two SAT crew.
My next few games will be much smaller, as I intend to test out this fleet and possibly some others.
This Thursday I will finally be able to start playing again. I have a few things in mind for games, and I have created and written down ideas for fleets. There is a scenario I intend to try as well, but I will start the action with the biggest undertaking of my career in Pirates CSG yet: a long cumulative game (spending gold during the game to build fleets up) that combines Pirates with the board game Risk. I am anticipating a lengthy game, and in preparation I have tried to work out some of the details in my head. I am not sure how well it will work with scaling the ocean to the Risk game board, but I will try. To combine the games I have been developing a set of custom rules designed to (hopefully) emphasize the Pirates (and therefore naval) aspect rather than the land struggles.
There will be five fleets participating in this game, a combination of single faction fleets and (fixed) alliances (mostly to beef up factions that in terms of my collection are lacking in crew and/or ships): English, French-Americans, Spanish, Pirates, and the MercCursedCorsairRebels (a fleet combining the factions of the Cursed, Mercenaries, Barbary Corsairs, and Jade Rebellion).
In-game alliances are not prohibited by any means.
Now to the unique rules that will undoubtedly be expanded and/or edited as I discover more problems and solutions to this setup (many are concerned with the complex geography issues I will try to work out):
1. The Risk board and the associated infantrymen, cavalry, and artillery units will be in a separate location from the main ocean playing area (board is too small for almost any point cost, let alone a cumulative game).
2. In the main ocean playing area, islands will be placed based on the Risk game board. I will bunch islands together to make the continents and have one island represent one territory. In addition to the islands representing the territories, I am planning on placing other islands based on real-life islands in the main ocean, such as Cuba. These islands (not territories, so therefore essentially irrelevant to the Risk part of the game) function first as wild islands, but they can have units from Risk placed on them, and they will (hopefully) be important outposts and possibly bases for factions controlling them. Due to space constraints, the realistics of the game will be severely hampered, as I will not have enough space for the Mediterranean (as well as the Red, Black, and Baltic Seas).
3. All of the territories that are bordered by only water will start the game as wild islands, unless chosen as a home territory by a faction. These territories follow the normal rules for wild islands. Australia functions as two wild islands, with both Eastern and Western Australia with 4 gold coins each.
4. Each faction will choose a home territory. The territory chosen as a home territory must be bordered by a body of water, and the territory chosen can be bordered by water on all sides (obviously that particular territory would not therefore start the game as a wild island). Home territories can be conquered, but a faction is not automatically out if their home territory is taken over by an opponent (unless of course they had no ships left and the units they lost in the invasion were their last).
5. When invading an enemy territory across water or reinforcing a friendly territory across water, the army units must be transported by ships. The lines that connect territories on the Risk game board are totally irrelevant, armies cannot invade across water unless they are transported in ships. That being said, ships have no limits on where they can transport army units. Ex: Normally you can invade Iceland from Great Britain via the line connecting the territories, and you can still do that (as long as the units are transported in ships). However, movement across the seas is not limited to the lines: a fleet can transport an army going from Great Britain directly across the Atlantic to the Eastern United States, or maybe from Madagascar all the way up to Alaska.
6. Invasions follow the standard rules for Risk, and combat due to an invasion happens as soon as the units disembark from the ships. In order to land the troops on the territory, an explore action is needed, unless the territory is friendly and/or has been invaded before (home territories do not require an explore action to land troops there if it is the landing player’s home territory).
7. Risk units cost 3 gold each (or 3 points). Hopefully this will be a reasonable and effective point cost, because I would rather not have to adjust their cost in-game. For the purposes of abilities and effects, army units are considered ‘crew’ when on board a ship, even though they have no abilities. Because of this, they do count against the ship’s point cost. When a ship loads army units, they take up one cargo space per unit. They can be loaded and unloaded like normal crew with the following exceptions: An explore action is required in order to load or unload army units. When a ship loads army units from the main ocean, the army units will be transferred from the Risk board to the deckplate card of the ship, and when unloaded, transferred back to the Risk board from the deckplate card. In this way, the only time army units will be placed anywhere on the main ocean is if they are unloaded at an island that is not on the Risk board (an example would be Cuba).
8. Ships can fire on army units on land (following the regular procedure for a shoot action), but army units can not fire back. However, if a ship misses an individual unit twice in a row in a particular shoot action, she loses a mast. Shoot actions by ships designating army units as the target will be simplified because the ships will be in the main ocean area rather than the Risk board, so the ranges become almost irrelevant. Ships cannot shoot over an island representing a territory in the main ocean to hit a territory beyond, no matter what range her guns are.
9. When a ship is docked at the island/territory that a friendly fort is on (unless it is abandoned), she can repair masts as if the island/territory is her home territory (although it is not considered a home territory). In addition to the regular rules for forts, the rules for forts regarding land attacks are as follows: Army units can attack forts from land, in this way they must have already invaded the territory. The fort can contain army units of that particular faction, as a means of protecting them. The fort serves as the last line of defence if placed on a territory bordered by land. If a fort is to be built on a territory that is bordered by land, the territory must also be bordered by water.
10. There are three custom forts that I have designed for the game-forts that were key strategic points in real-life campaigns. These forts are stationary. They cannot be placed on any territory/island and rebuilt on other territories/islands later in the game. Other than that, they function as regular forts.
Gibraltar (Gibraltar, located on the southern tip of Spain)
12 gold, 10 guns: 3S, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 3S. Ability: When this fort hits an enemy ship, you choose which mast is eliminated. Once per turn you may double the range of ONE of this fort’s cannons.
Diamond Rock (off Martinique)
4 gold, 2 guns: 2L, 2L. Ability: Extended Range.
El Morro (Havana, Cuba)
8 gold, 7 guns: 3L, 2L, 2S, 3L, 2S, 2L, 3L. Ability: Ships do not block this fort’s line of fire. This fort’s L-range guns cannot be eliminated.
Sadly, the space constraints will not let me effectively use these forts. Diamond Rock, with her 2L range, can shoot past Cuba, and the ranges just won’t work. Maybe in a different game.
11. Each faction will start out with 20 point fleets. They will also be given one free infantry unit that will be placed on their home territory. All of the other territories will be empty at the start of the game (other than islands that start as wild island territories).
12. Unlike the regular rules for Risk, territories can be abandoned. However, a faction cannot abandon their home territory under any circumstances. They can move most of their units and/or ships and gold to another territory to avoid being annihilated, but they cannot abandon their home territory. If a player moves their units into an empty territory, they do not receive a territory card for conquering the territory, since they didn’t conquer it.
13. When moving army units on the Risk board, each individual unit can only move from one territory to another once per turn. If units are part of a successful invasion, they cannot immediately move onto the next territory and invade it as well. Units can only move into one territory at a time (once per turn) even if the territories they are moving through are abandoned. When fortifying their position, a player can only move from one territory to an adjacent territory.
14. The golden cavalry piece that is used for bonus reinforcements when turning in a set of cards cannot be moved past the 10 mark. I may change this in-game, but I don’t want armies to get a sudden massive influx of units that dramatically alters the game.
15. Wild islands will start with 4 gold coins on them, and whenever there is less than 4 gold coins, once per turn (at the end of each round of turns, not on every individual player’s turn) a gold coin will be placed on the island, and in a fort if a player has a fort on the island (the islands replenish themselves).
16. With such a long game, I have decided to reuse the unique treasures that have one-and-done abilities. The UT’s would be periodically shuffled back into the game by putting them in the tin that I use for treasure, and then randomly distributing them as treasures that replenish islands.
17. There are no reinforcements from the number of territories a player controls. Since players are supposed to pay for their armies, there will be no free reinforcements-players have to control continents and turn in card sets from their conquered territories in order to bypass the cost of army units.
These custom rules and ideas are by no means a finished product, and I will be adding to them and editing them as I discover new issues.
Additional Comment:
I have finished the setup, and these are the HT’s (home territories) that each faction has chosen, as well as their starting fleets (20 points):
England (Greenland): Aberdeen Baron + helmsman, Sea Tiger.
French-Americans (Western Europe): La Dijon + explorer, Le Bon Marin, Jeux.
Spanish (Argentina): La Santa Isabel + explorer, Magdalena.
Pirates (Madagascar): Darkhawk II + helmsman + explorer, Longshanks + explorer.
MercCursedCorsairRebels (New Guinea): Algiers, Griffin, and a Cursed captain on New Guinea.
As an added note, I am allowing the use of duplicates, but they will be discouraged. Due to their treasure-running disadvantages, as well as the fact that they don’t have a fort, the MercCursedCorsairRebels will be allowed to use both versions of Davy Jones.
Additional Comment:
I have made it through the first handful of turns, with each fleet sailing around exploring to try to gather as much gold as possible. The English have explored Bermuda, Cuba, Iceland, and Jamaica, and have launched four additional ships.
The French-Americans have explored Martinique, St. Helena, Iceland, Great Britain, and Svalbard, building Ft. St. Pierre on Great Britain.
The Spanish have been gathering gold from the Falkland Islands (represented as one island), Hawaii, Clipperton Island, Easter Island, and Martinique, with El Puerto Blanco on Hawaii.
The Pirates have explored Indonesia, both halves of Australia, and Japan. They have now launched two of their best gold runners, the Darkhawk II and the Raven.
The MCCRs (MercCursedCorsairRebels) have five galleys, the Nightmare (DJC version, the two-master), and the Fallen Angel. They have explored the same islands as the Pirates, as well as Svalbard and New Zealand.
The land aspect has not come into play yet, the Spanish being the only faction to buy any army units (2, both still in Argentina).
The MCCRs have fired the first shot, with the Fallen Angel (with a captain and Fire Shot equipment on board) setting fire to the Raven after the Raven grabbed gold from Eastern Australia. The Fallen Angel was then rammed and dismasted by the nearby Darkhawk II, and she has been towed home and repaired.
More gold has been gathered, and more ships have been launched as the size of the fleets increase. The most important action so far has been in the Caribbean, where there are three islands (Cuba, Jamaica, and Martinique) within shooting distance of each other. The English have explored Cuba and Jamaica, and the French-Americans have explored Martinique. The French-Americans led a treasure squadron across the Atlantic made up of Le Bon Marin, the Boston, and L’Emeraude, with the intention of loading gold from Jamaica and possibly Cuba. However, the English had HMS Lady Provost to the north and were not too happy about the idea of the French-Americans taking gold that the English thought was theirs. Escorting the Lady Provost to the Caribbean (from the British HT of Greenland) was the first English gunship, HMS Victor with Hermione Gold (MI version) and a helmsman aboard. Trailing close behind the weak (no captains) French-American squadron, however, was La Belle Etoile, decked out with Lenoir (F&S), captain, helmsman, and Fire Shot equipment. In what could be a potentially monumental decision, the English decided to attack, with HMS Victor dismasting Le Bon Marin and taking out two masts on the Boston. L’Emeraude fled south and out of harm’s way while La Belle Etoile sailed in and took out two masts on the Victor, and the Victor replied with a shot of her own, leaving the Victor with one mast and La Belle Etoile with two.
Meanwhile, the Lady Provost landed at Jamaica, and the English built Fort Brompton on the island. From there they launched HMS Victoria, who promptly captured Le Bon Marin. The HMS Alexander, coming from the north around Bermuda, got in on the action and rammed the Boston, dismasting her. La Belle Etoile, being outnumbered and damaged, ran off fearing that the English would launch a new gunship from their fort. Sure enough, they bought the Cygnet on their next turn while the Lady Provost brought treasure from Cuba to Jamaica. The Aberdeen Baron, Sea Tiger, and HMS Starbuck continued to gather treasure in the north, from Bermuda and Iceland.
As it stands now, the English have established dominance of the Caribbean, and indeed the whole northwestern part of the Atlantic, while the Spanish are the only fleet in the east Pacific. The French have the east Atlantic, and have also taken treasure from Svalbard. The Pirates own the Indian Ocean, and appear content with that for now. The MCCRs are the force in the west Pacific, and have now made a few trips to Svalbard. The land game is still dormant at this point, but Spain has considerably reinforced her HT position in Argentina, where her army stands at 19 units strong. Every other faction has yet to buy army units.
Additional Comment:
I was not able to post here yesterday, so I have fallen quite a distance behind and will not be able to remember all of the details-the game has progressed quite a lot!
The English fleet has rapidly expanded, with the English launching HMS Swallow, HMS Grand Temple, HMS Leicester, Cygnet, HMS Bolingbroke, HMS Apollo (ROTF version) and HMS Victoria, among others. They have asserted their dominance of the Caribbean, with a network of treasure runners (Sea Tiger, HMS Alexander, and the captured Bon Marin) making quick trips to Cuba, Bermuda, and Martinique, and bringing the treasure back to Fort Brompton, from where they have launched many of their ships. They have expanded into new areas, as well, as the west Atlantic is not big enough to contain the expanding British empire. A disastrous expedition into the Indian Ocean saw them lose the Cygnet, HMS Bolingbroke, and HMS Victor (though they have already built the Cygnet and Bolingbroke again), but they did inflict serious damage on the Pirates.
They then saw a considerable threat developing in the far west, where the Spanish had a beautiful system of treasure running going, raking in gold with the help of three +2 gold ships: La Santa Isabel, El Alquimista, and the San Pedro. The Spanish didn’t have any gunships, but were rapidly adding to their army every turn, with additional reinforcements coming in from the +2 bonus provided by controlling all of South America. The Spanish wanted to control all of North America, as well, and the English HT of Greenland was the only territory left that they hadn’t occupied. They had built the fort Puerto Blanco on Hawaii, and were transporting troops from there to Alaska when the English rounded Alaska and began their assault. The Spanish panicked and asked if the English would stop their attack if the Spanish retreated from Hawaii and stopped the apparent invasion preparations. The English went on with their attack, with nothing to gain from letting the Spanish get away. HMS Swallow did most of the work, with SAT + reroll to let her get 10 shots per turn. She took out the Spanish transports, El Picador, La Santa Ana (CC version), and Cazador del Pirata. Assisting her in the bombardment of the Spanish stronghold was HMS Grand Temple and HMS Nautilus, and the three of them made short work of the Spanish fort and the defending ships. The Asesino de la Nave and her commander, Nemesio Diaz, were overwhelmed by sheer numbers, while El San Jose, Joya del Sol, Martillo de Dios, La Ebro (MI), and La Reconquistador were sunk at the island. No ships got away, and the annihilation of the Spaniards’ northern fleet meant their army was stranded on land, at least for the time being. It is quite an army, the largest in play so far, now numbering at least 61 units strong. The HMS Victoria made a quick detour to go down near Argentina to dismast El Alquimista, but the Spanish launched the powerful ships La Resolucion (OE) and El Monte Cristo before the English gunship could sink her. The once-proud Spanish fleet now only numbers five ships, with the San Pedro and Magdalena in addition to those above.
The French-Americans have seen their numbers dwindle, after a failure to grab gold from Japan, where La Dijon was sunk by the Cursed gunship Grim Reaper. They still have La Belle Etoile with all of her crew, but she is their only gunship. Recently they have been building up their army, which now controls all of Europe except for Iceland, where the Jeux has been aggravating the English, who consider the treasure on the island to be theirs, since HMS Starbuck has made repeated trips there. The French have remained stagnant in terms of naval strength, and they are not in a position of power. With the fort Ramsgate being built on St. Helena, they only have two consistent islands that they get gold from, Great Britain and Svalbard. However, they have recently entered into an alliance with the Spanish, with both factions in bad shape. The French proposed the alliance, with the Spanish accepting, but unable to assist the French right away. France appears to want to take over Iceland and Asia, while destroying Ramsgate and so getting another island to pillage from, but we will see in time if these goals are far-fetched.
A dramatic event has unfolded in the Indian Ocean: the Pirates have been eliminated! The English inflicted damage in their failed expedition (they wanted more than just a few sunken ships, anyway), and the Cursed finished them off with the Grim Reaper and the Fallen Angel. At one point, the Pirates were doing quite well, with the Darkhawk II, Raven, and Doombox among their numbers. Now they are gone, with the Raven and Selkie captured by the MCCRs, and the rest of their fleet at the bottom of the sea. The final blow came when the MCCRs launched the Baochuan with Admiral Zheng He, Ms. Cheng, a captain, and a helmsman on board. The MCCRs had been saving gold for quite a while, and spent 95 gold in one turn to buy the above, along with 18 army units. The Baochuan loaded some army units and sailed to Madagascar (from the MCCR HT of New Guinea) and took out the lone Pirate army unit stationed there. Madagascar now converts to a wild island since the Pirates are gone and not coming back. The MCCRs have since saved up gold for a second huge turn, and they just bought the Shui Xian with Shap’ng Tsai, Captain Nemo, Ibrahan Ozat, and a helmsman, as well as the Death’s Anchor flotilla. They have troops in every territory on the Australian continent except Eastern Australia, where they will have troops soon, and be able to gain the reinforcement bonus. I have granted them the use of the only Pirate fort I have, Dead Man’s Point, because they don’t have a fort of their own. They have built the fort on Madagascar, which is the western extent of their empire, an empire that is now uncontested (they had basically shared islands with the Pirates until recently). They are alone in the West Pacific and Indian Oceans, but appear to have bigger aspirations.
Many smaller goings-on have been forgotten already, but that is where we stand so far, with the English in control of much of the Western hemisphere, and the MCCRs in a good position in the opposite hemisphere. The land-based factions, the Spanish and the French-Americans, have suffered in their maritime experiences but now have a promising alliance and large armies.
Additional Comment:
I was only able to play three turns today (6/17). The English attacked the French fort St. Pierre on Great Britain, bombarding it with HMS Bolingbroke and HMS Apollo. They took out the fort, and the French retreated back to their nearby HT of Western Europe, where they hastily built two gunships, La Corse and La Possession, and remained there so the English would not be able to shoot at them. The Bolingbroke dismasted La Belle Etoile, and HMS Europa captured her, using Commander Temple to teleport her to Greenland, where she will repair. The English have now enforced a blockade with a handful of their gunships, and the French can’t move without risking the remnants of their fleet.
Meanwhile, at Fort Brompton (on Jamaica), the English have launched HMS Titan, and crewed her with Hermione Gold (ROTF version) and Sir Edmund Atkinson (who I’m using because I’ve never used him before, and because his ability has received attention in the latest edits to the Pirate Code, where it says the ship he is on can be given actions if the die roll is not a 6, and crew he possesses don’t take up cargo space, can use their abilities, and don’t count against the point limit of a ship). The English now have total dominance of the Atlantic, except for the Falkland Islands, where HMS Titan and HMS Victoria seem to be headed (the Magdalena has run treasure from there to the nearby Spanish HT territory of Argentina all game long).
The Spanish bought two captains and a helmsman for their new gunships (La Resolucion and El Monte Cristo), and appear to be saving up gold.
In the far east, the MCCRs have saved up their gold once again, and have now launched a third (and final) ten master, the Delusion. Crewed to the max, she is carrying DJC Davy Jones, Captain Nemo, Ibrahan Ozat, Christian Fiore, Sir Edmund, El Fantasma (OE version), a helmsman, and an oarsman. They also built the Pestilence, and crewed her with a shipwright. She and the Fallen Angel, finally back in action after being rammed and dismasted near Madagascar, are each carrying two army units, and are sailing in a northwesterly direction, following the mammoth Baochuan, carrying six more units (she would carry more, but still has 11 points of crew on her). The original gunship of this combined-faction fleet, the Grim Reaper, is still busy, now in the process of towing home the captured Selkie, after doing the same with the Fallen Angel. The Shui Xian is heading west along the coast of northern Asia, towards the French. Although she is ahead of her sister ships, the Baochuan and Delusion, the three huge junks are in a rough line, forming an imposing sight. Time will tell if they are a good investment, as the MCCRs have spent a total of 164 gold on them and their crew.
Additional Comment:
Things progressed rather quickly today (6/18), and there was a flurry of actions all around the world.
The blockade of the remaining French ships docked at Western Europe continued, and the English had enough gunships to split their forces and send 6 more gunships down south to blockade the Spanish, who were docked at their HT of Argentina. Meanwhile, the MCCRs built the Divine Dragon and crewed her with OE Davy Jones, Sir Edmund, a captain, a helmsman, and an oarsman. The MCCRs still felt indebted to England ever since the English helped them eliminate their territorial rival, the Pirates. As a result, the MCCRs were willing to give gold to the English (20 total, transferred from Dead Man’s Point on Madagascar to Ramsgate on St. Helena), and wanted to help them bring the French and/or the Spanish out of their ports, where they were essentially invulnerable. Eventually a 6 was rolled by OE Davy Jones, and the chaos began.
The MCCRs moved El Acorazado (newly built by the Spanish and ready for action) S+S away from Argentina, and since the MCCRs are last to go and the English first, the English were able to start pounding away. Three powerful English gunships, the Titan, Swallow, and Leicester, all opened fire on “The Battleship”, who only lost two masts in that first turn because of her immense defences, which included Joaquin Vega and Nemesio Diaz in addition to her own ability. The other Spanish gunships, the powerful La Resolucion and El Monte Cristo (both have world-hater with rank-2 guns, so TWOS HIT), got in on the action and came to the aid of their flagship. After a few minutes of intense broadsides, English guns won the day, with the Acorazado and Resolucion captured and the Monte Cristo sunk.
The English lost their HMS Swallow and HMS Titan, but these would soon be rebuilt with all of the gold the English had saved up. The Spanish launched the Santos Romanos at the tail end of the engagement, and she sunk the schooner Auckland with her powerful guns. HMS Europa used Commander Temple to transport the Acorazado straight to the English HT of Greenland, while HMS Victoria (with only her mainmast left standing) began towing the Resolucion. Her reduced speed meant she would be the last to leave the battle area, and the Spanish decided on a desperate cheap shot, using the Santos Romanos to sink both the Victoria and her prize. Furious, the English turned around the untouched HMS Apollo (F&S version) and blew the Spanish blockade runner out of the water at point-blank range. With that, the Spanish lost their last ship and are officially out of the naval war.
As the battle began in the southwest, the French at their HT of Western Europe decided to try to capitalize on the fact that the English fleet was divided, and started another battle. This one would not be so hotly contested, however, as the French only had two gunships (La Corse and La Possession). The defensive ability of La Corse (same as El Acorazado) was cancelled by Lenoir, aboard the captured Belle Etoile. This made her easy prey for the Cygnet and HMS Grand Temple, who sunk both ships with the help of Ramsgate. L’Amazone and L’Emeraude have also been sunk, leaving the French with only one ship, La Vengeance. Last turn, La Vengeance sailed on a suicide mission, and took out four masts (replacing one with a fire mast) on HMS Swallow. However, she is about to be pounced upon and sunk by more English gunships, and France-America appears to be the most likely candidate to be the second faction eliminated. Also last turn, the English launched new gunships at Fort Brompton, with the Bretwalda and Dover among those newly commissioned. HMS Dreadnought has been built at Greenland, and although I have run out of English captains, she is stacked with a shipwright, cannoneer, musketeer, fire shot, grape shot, and stinkpot shot, with First Mate Ismail on board to make room.
The French-American armies are dwindling after being sent east across Asia to attack the growing numbers of the MCCRs, who have lost the land battle up to this point. Most of the fighting has been around Kamchatka and Irkutsk. Though the MCCRs have been on the losing end so far, the French will not be able to reinforce their armies (since they can’t run gold and buy new units), while the MCCRs have a strong, uncontested gold system that they are using to consistently buy army units with. For the MCCRs, it is just a matter of transporting their armies across the sea to Asia from their HT of New Guinea, which they are hurrying to do, with some difficulty. New Guinea is always extremely crowded, with five galleys and other gold ships going in and out, ferrying gold all over the western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea. Two Duncans (Mercenary two masters) and the Cursed ships Guinee and Executioner have recently been launched. The Baochuan is trying her best to transport as many troops to Asia as quickly as possible, but she can’t do it by herself. Shap’ng Tsai, captain of the obtrusive Shui Xian, seems a bit confused on how to help out, as he thought he would be fighting, not watching and carrying troops. The huge Mercenary ten master has gotten in the way a few times, and to complicate things even further, a reef is positioned on the northwest corner of New Guinea, cutting down on how much space ships have to dock. Who knew a faction could be so rich and powerful yet awkward and inefficient?
An overview of the global situation: The English have complete naval dominance of the entire Western hemisphere, while the MCCRs are masters of the east. The Spanish still have the largest army, with England and the MCCRs building theirs up. Spain and France-America have been all but annihilated at sea. Spain has 105 army units, England 40, France-America 10, and the MCCRs, 41. Since Spain is powerless with no navy, she can be picked off at leisure by whoever wins the naval war. The victor will have unlimited armies, since they will have a monopoly of gold and therefore armies that don’t run out. It appears as though the English and MCCRs, friendly up to this point, will inevitably clash in an epic struggle for the command of the oceans.
Additional Comment:
Today saw the end of the French-Americans, as expected. They have no ships left and have three infantry units, one in Western Europe and two in Great Britain. They lost the battle for Asia to the MCCRs because the MCCRs were able to gain 5 reinforcements per turn because they control both Africa and Australia.
The battle to decide the game has begun! The MCCRs have sent their whole fleet west around South Africa and have engaged the English. At the start of the battle, the sides numbered somewhere around 21 ships for the MCCRs and 41 for the English. The English appeared (and still appear) to have the advantage, but many of their new ships were hastily launched and uncrewed, while the MCCRs had three ten masters at their disposal.
The battle is probably less than halfway through; it has been rough going for the MCCRs. The three ten masters sailed in line ahead (just a coincidence) with a few fast galleys and the Divine Dragon in the lead. The Dragon was the first ship sunk, but not before she inflicted damage on numerous English ships and destroyed Ramsgate, on St. Helena. The Delusion, first in the line of ten masters, began shooting everything in sight, while DJC Davy Jones copied the ability of the Pestilence for defence. The ability requires enemies to roll sixes to eliminate masts, but the English used Thomas Gunn (far to the north on HMS Apollo) to give +1 to English die rolls once per ship, once per turn to let fives hit as well, and now the Delusion has just four masts left.
The English have devised a strategy of throwing all of their smaller, uncrewed ships into battle to wear down the MCCRs before letting loose their big, stacked flagships, and it seems to be working. The Delusion and Shui Xian both have Captain Nemo and Ibrahan Ozat, but they haven’t been able to capture any crew since the crewless English ships have surrounded them. The Delusion finally broke free by becoming ghostly and moving L+S+L+S by sacrificing her oarsman (via OE Fantasma), moving through to open sea to sink HMS Titan to the east, off of Congo. However, now HMS Dreadnought has her cornered, and has just shot her crew with Stinkpot Shot, limiting her options severely. The other two ten masters aren’t as damaged, but they have also had terrible luck. On just a single turn, the Shui Xian missed 5 times out of 6 (6 guns in range, that is), while the Baochuan (with world-hater Chang Pao on board) missed 6 times out of 7! The MCCRs have sunk more ships than the English, but none of the English ‘super’ gunships have been in action, while the ten masters are already in a world of hurt.
Additional Comment:
Today (6/20) saw the end of this long game. The Shui Xian and Baochuan were eventually sunk by the English, who labouriously fought through the horde of MCCR ships, suffering the loss of six more ships in today’s action. When the Delusion was derelict and the other two ten masters sunk, the MCCRs ordered a hopeless retreat. The Delusion was towed east to Madagascar to Dead Man’s Point, where she tried to repair. However, the whole of the English fleet was in pursuit, and the odds were impossibly in favour of the English. The Fallen Angel was rammed by HMS Leicester and sunk by the captured El Acorazado, who used Nemesio Diaz to cancel her ability. HMS Grand Temple finished off the fort, while the Sea Tiger captured the Delusion (since she is Eternal) and HMS Swallow captured the other MCCR Eternal ship, the Grim Reaper. The last MCCR ship left standing was the Pestilence, who hurried back to her HT of New Guinea. There she was rammed and captured by HMS Apollo and the Cygnet. With that, England has total dominance over the seas, and therefore, of the world. She went on to conquer the world on land, and England has now won the game!
The game went quite well, and although I was unsurprised that the naval aspect held power over the land portion of the game, it was a bit too one-sided. I may try to change a few rules to make the land part more relevant (possibly starting the game with treasure in unoccupied territories, only to be obtained over land) if I play this Risk combination game again. As it stands now, all a player needs to do to win the entire game is eliminate the other players’ navies.
Tomorrow I am planning on testing one ship fleets in (mostly) one-on-one deathmatches where I will try to determine which of my ‘super’ gunships is the most effective. This may turn into a sort of process dubbed ‘The Acorazado Trials’, but this is just me speculating that she will dominate; hopefully she won’t win every game.
After this I think I will try a scenario described in the link below, but I probably won’t start it tomorrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sariouriel
I’ve once had quite a big battle that lasted for a few days. I believe we had around 200 ships in total.
There were two teams, the attackers and the defenders. The scenario was called “the defence of st. Helen’s” and there were 6 of us and we decided not to take any crew. It was supposed to take 15 turns, but we made it 30 in order to have more fun. When you have 70 ships in total, it is quite hard to move them.
