Warning: This is a short report of one of the worst games I’ve ever played.
Custom pieces courtesy of el_cazador and yours truly in the case of the equipment.
2 fleets, 60 points:
Spanish:
Las Espadas de Oro + Victor de Alva, Duque Marcus Vaccaro, Master Bianco, Bianco’s Haulers, helmsman, explorer, oarsman
La Resolucion + captain, helmsman
Las Espadas de Oro
Type: Switchblade
Nation: Spain
Points: ? (22)
Masts: 4
Cargo: 6*
Move: S+S*
Cannons: 2S,5S,5S,5S
Link: Master Bianco
Switchblade. This ship may ignore any hit she takes each turn if she carries treasure; put a treasure coin from this ship on the nearest wild island after ignoring a hit.
Flavor: Master Bianco finds himself torn between saving his ship or saving his treasure.
*These are not by any means her final stats. This was a test game.
La Resolucion
Type: 4-masted ship
Nation: Spain
Points: 15
Masts: 4
Cargo: 3
Move: L
Cannons: 3S,4L,4L,3S
Link: None
Extended Range. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against ships within S of her.
Flavor: Captain Ladron smuggled experimental British cannons out of Singapore and outfitted his ship with them. He has resolved to put them to good use against enemies of the Crown.
English/Mercenaries:
Edelweiss + Thomas Gunn the Younger, helmsman, oarsman, Bow Chasers
HMS Growler + helmsman, explorer
Gladius Dei
Edelweiss
Nation: Gallia/England
Type: 3-mast Windcatcher
Points: 18
Masts: 3
Cargo: 3
Move: S+S
Cannons: 2L,3L,2S
Link: Alicia Melchiott, Welkin Gunther
Windcatcher. Two hits from the same shoot action are required to eliminate one of this ship’s masts. This ship ignores the first hit she takes each turn if she has all of her masts.
Flavor: Purchased from the Americans and modified by Gallian nautical engineers, the Edelweiss has proved a capable ship. Her high price is all that has precluded further orders by the Principality of Gallia.
Bow Chasers
Faction Affiliation: Neutral
Type: Equipment
Point Value: 5
This ship gains two additional cannons that can only shoot from the foremost mast of the ship. The cannons follow the rank of the foremost mast of the ship, but they have the Extended Range keyword. The cannons can only fire in a straight line directly forward of the ship’s bow. Other pieces of equipment cannot be used with Bow Chasers.
HMS Growler
Type: 3-mast square rigged
Nation: England
Points: 10
Masts: 3
Cargo: 4
Move: L
Cannons: 3S,3S,3S
Link: None
Schooner. This ship gets +L to her base move if she starts her move action within S of an island.
Flavor: The Growler, called by some the Prowler, slinks along coasts and archipelagos, looking to use her relatively shallow draft to seize a first strike.
Gladius Dei
Nation: Mercenary
Type: Submarine
Points: 15
Masts: 3
Cannons: 4S,4S,5S
Cargo: 4
Move: L
Link: Caesar
Mercenary, Submarine.
This ship gets +S to her base move and +1 cargo spaces if she doesn’t carry crew.
Flavor: The “Sword of God” is rumored to have been built by the Vatican in an attempt to safely move Catholic wealth and artifacts around the globe.
Proxies: Matthias Vospero=Resolucion, Saber=Espadas de Oro, USS Mercury=Edelweiss, Nova Scotia=Growler, Fathom=Gladius Dei
Both fleets featured good speed, especially with their treasure runners. The islands were placed 3L apart for the first time in a while.
The Espadas and Growler were the first to explore, as the Edelweiss looked to corner the slower Resolucion. The Gladius Dei stayed submerged and sped towards the furthest island out of the picture.
Using her Bow Chasers to great effect, the Edelweiss shot 4/4 to dismast the Resolucion!
This seemed to leave the Espadas as easy picking, but the Spanish switchblade docked at the island and simultaneously towed the Resolucion. Bianco’s Haulers protected the Espadas from the Edelweiss’ guns, so the English sank the Resolucion instead. The Growler is home with gold.
The Espadas needed another EA from de Alva, and she got it. This allowed her to get home, but the game was all but decided.
The Espadas couldn’t wait at home and hide from the Edelweiss while the other gold runners brought back more gold, so she headed out again. The Edelweiss knocked off all her masts and left her moving S on oar power, just barely keeping the Spanish in the game so that the English could return home some gold with the Growler and Gladius Dei.
English: 32 gold
Spanish: 12 gold
Next time I’m going to put a lot more effort into the setup and have more fleets. For various reasons, this game was rushed from both a setup and gameplay standpoint. It turned out rather boring and went by very quickly.
@el_cazador: The game wasn’t bad because of your custom pieces. I think it was mostly the setup, and the fact that the Edelweiss managed to get the first strike against both Spanish ships. I changed the switchblade’s stats based on my hunch, but further testing is needed to determine what the ship should end up looking like. The Resolucion didn’t get a chance to fight, while the Edelweiss dominated. Even if the Edelweiss hadn’t gotten the first strike, I think the Spanish would be very hard-pressed to win the game. The Edelweiss may be undercosted, as Vega’s ability on top of the Acorazado’s ability is truly difficult to deal with. Also, my Bow Chasers may be underpriced as well, partly because the Edelweiss’ fore gun is a 2L. I may test the equipment out more to determine if any changes should be made. The Growler should be fine; the Gladius Dei’s Mercenary keyword is the only thing keeping it from being overpowered. Again, more testing is needed before ANY changes are made.
Another game of Waterworld was played. This time, the setup featured a single fog bank in the middle of the sea, which each fleet would emerge from on the first turn. Two arches made for some nice pictures, and the original arch from Economy Edition made a surprise appearance. Each of the four wild islands had 4 regular treasures and 1 unique treasure.
There were seven 15 point fleets this time, with 0LR’s again not being permitted. They went in this order:
Sea Phoenix + captain, helmsman, oarsman
Silent Death + captain
Calypsos
Black Bear + helmsman
USS Destiny
Rum Runner + helmsman
Matthias Vospero + captain
L’Eroica + captain, helmsman
The Sea Phoenix took the first action and reached the arch made famous by Economy Edition.
The Silent Death is visible through an archway:
This one’s not the best quality, but you can see the Jade Rebellion flag to the left as the Americans approach the arch from the other side.
After the Sea Phoenix explored, the Black Bear planned to ram the ship and use her ability to steal gold!
The Black Bear also won the boarding party, and stole both coins from the Sea Phoenix!
From the mizzen top of the Matthias Vospero:
The arch has returned!
The Vospero soon joined in on the action, taking a mast off the Sea Phoenix:
The Destiny has docked on the other side of the arch, but a monster approaches…
The Eroica managed to maneuver to the far side of the southern island, denying Calypsos the chance to easily ram the ship and steal her gold.
The Rum Runner and Silent Death peacefully loaded gold, but the game was still in its early stages…
For a small measure of revenge, the Sea Phoenix rounded the arch’s lowest point where the gold sat and dismasted the Destiny, who was promptly rammed by Calypsos, who stole both her coins!
The Black Bear ran for safety as the Vospero turned around and eyed the Silent Death. The Rum Runner wanted to run away as well. The French Eroica had the misfortune to find Barrel o’ Monkeys.
As ships ran away from other ships, it became evident that more conflict was approaching. The Black Bear ducked into the single fog bank, which would immediately disappear as soon as a ship rolled a 1 to emerge from it. The Rum Runner turned around, knowing that she had a large load of gold, potentially enough to win the game.
After taking a mast off the Silent Death, the Matthias Vospero turned around to attack the Black Bear, who had emerged from the fog to chase the Sea Phoenix. The Vospero now appeared to be in control up north, while major trouble was brewing in the south.
The Eroica used an SAT to fire off 6 shots at the Rum Runner in addition to a ram, which left the schooner with 1 mast standing. This was a nightmare for the Pirates, who didn’t want to use Parley and give up their gold. To make things worse for the combatants, Calypsos eagerly swam towards the battle.
The Eroica dismasted the Rum Runner and captured her, with the Barrel o’ Monkeys changing hands inconsequently several times in the process. The French were happy to have won the battle, but as soon as they had, Calypsos was staring them in the face ready to fight!
Up north, the Matthias Vospero dominated both ships, capturing the Black Bear. She illegally captured the Sea Phoenix, who had an oarsman on board. A turn later the Sea Phoenix was removed from the game and the coin she had loaded was put back on the island you see her docked at.
The Silent Death had rolled a 1 to eliminate the fog bank, and after a brief trip to the eastern island, she returned to the center where the Vospero began chasing her.
Calypsos pinned the Eroica and knocked off a mast, and the Eroica fought back gallantly, blasting the sea monster!
After a furious fight and yet another SAT from the Eroica, Calypsos lay in pieces over the sea! Even the Eroica’s crew were surprised by their stunning victory, though they lost her helmsman in the engagement. If Calypsos had better luck and the Eroica slightly worse luck, the Cursed would have had a real shot at winning the game with just a single L-speed sea monster, since they could have grabbed the impressive treasure still aboard the Rum Runner! However, it was not to be, and the Cursed would have to settle for losing once again (so close!).
After a brief game of cat and mouse, the Matthias Vospero cornered the Silent Death and knocked the Corsairs out of contention. The Eroica had no choice but to confront the Vospero, since the Vospero could easily catch her now that the Eroica’s helmsman was gone.
The Vospero captured the Silent Death and explored the nearby island for a sudden influx of gold! The Eroica arrived to knock a mast off, but it was too late. The Vospero took out the Eroica, and the game was over.
In the end, the Spanish captured 12 gold (three 4’s) through the Silent Death, and when combined with the gold from the Black Bear and Matthias Vospero, they won by a large margin:
Spanish: 23 gold
French: 11 gold
Everyone else: 0
The French played a good game but were hampered by Barrel o’ Monkeys and Calypsos. The Spanish played a good game and showed how useful and important it is to capture enemy gold ships in Waterworld, but I’ll probably remember this game as the game that almost saw the Cursed win single-handedly with nothing but a sea monster moving L the whole game.
A few months back brettb45 mentioned a game called “Water World” that one of his friends came up with.
I love this idea, and I love it even more now that I’ve tried it out! For my first Water World game, the game would again feature seven 10 point fleets. However, things were changed up a bit, and the fleets went in the opposite order:
Proud Tortoise + captain
Golden Peacock + explorer
Tiger + helmsman, oarsman
Sea Crane + oarsman
Bazana, El Raton
L’Eroica
Sea King + captain, oarsman
The setup was very unique, with no home islands in the Water World setup. In addition, I don’t have any forts with me, so all the gold would have to be stored on ships!
The fleets started out in the center in a ring, with four wild islands and 16 total coins. In order to avoid cheesy tactics of running away, it was ruled that strict flat earth rules were in effect, and the islands marked the corners of a square boundary. It was going to be an interesting game!
The Golden Peacock was the only ship able to explore on the first turn, but she quickly lost a mast to the Sea King.
The Golden Peacock began the process of running away, and the Sea King began a process of bad dice luck! In the meantime, each of the other three islands had two hostile ships docked at them, with things inevitably turning ugly immediately after.
The Sea Crane dismasted the Raton. The Proud Tortoise dismasted the Tiger. The Sea King hit the Golden Peacock again. The Bazana missed the Eroica.
Now things got really interesting. The Proud Tortoise, with a cargo hold already full, didn’t want to chance losing her captain in a failed boarding attempt to kill the Tiger’s oarsman and then capture the Tiger on the next turn, so she simply sunk the American galley and both her coins.
The Sea Crane captured the Raton, giving the Pirates a decent amount of gold. However, they were soon in the middle of a chase, with the Golden Peacock still running from the relentless Sea King.
The Bazana landed a hit on the Eroica after the Eroica rammed the Bazana and stole some of her gold.
With no gold on them, the two western islands sank beneath the waves. The Golden Peacock tried to distract the Sea King with the allure of the Sea Crane’s gold, but the Sea King was hot on her tail. However, this brought the Sea King in range of the Sea Crane, who simply stayed put and shot off the mainmast. The Proud Tortoise sailed into the middle area, looking for more combat. The severely damaged Eroica took the Bazana in tow.
The Proud Tortoise finally left the Golden Peacock derelict, and the Sea Crane knocked the English out of contention by hitting the Sea King. The French were sneaky good in this game, with the Eroica getting an SAT as she made her way towards the southeastern island.
At this point, the weakened Sea Crane was content to sink the Sea King and wait for the rest of the game to play out. She wouldn’t be able to compete with the Proud Tortoise for gold, as the PT took the Golden Peacock in tow. Only two coins remained in play.
The Proud Tortoise attacked the Sea Crane, but it failed! The Sea Crane then tried to ram the Proud Tortoise out of the game, but also rolled a 1! Bad luck with the dice resulted in a draw, but the already rich Golden Peacock returned to her island she had visited as a Corsair ship, dumped her explorer, and filled up her cargo hold to make herself even more “Golden”.
This left only one treasure left in the game, and the Eroica was already docked there.
The Proud Tortoise sunk the Raton, but her 1 wouldn’t have mattered anyway. The Sea Crane tried to capture the Golden Peacock, but it was too late, as the Eroica loaded the final treasure to end the game!
The Golden Peacock turned out to have a lot of gold on her, giving the Jade Rebellion the win in this first Water World game!
I played three games today (11/2), but so it’s not overwhelming I’m going to post them at different times. Also, each game was very unique and featured some interesting setups, not to mention that they were all very good games, so I don’t want any of them to be overshadowed!
The first game was an idea I’ve wanted to try for a while. Being such a big fan of huge games, it may come as some surprise that I like the idea of using 10 point fleets. That’s right, not 30, not even 20, but 10! It’s worth noting that I only have my somewhat limited “traveling collection” right now, so I couldn’t use some of the dirt-cheap ships. All game pieces can be found in the Master Spreadsheet.
It was a 7 fleet game at 10 points each, with no 0LR’s allowed. The fleets went in this order:
Honu Iki + captain
Le Rochefort + captain, helmsman
Bazana
El Raton
Sea Crane + explorer
Black Bear + helmsman
Tripoli
Noble Swan + captain, oarsman
The setup featured 7 home islands and 7 wild islands, with islands being about 1L apart from their neighbours. Since most terrain is either extremely dangerous or completely harmless against such small ships, none was used. Mysterious Island effects were not used.
This one is blurry, but some of the ship have reached islands. Everyone tried to avoid being near the Noble Swan during the setup, as she needed to be hit 3 times (a tall order for this game) since she was immune to ramming.
The Noble Swan trashed the Bazana with a shoot and ram, and it appeared that hopes would be dashed very quickly with every fleet being so fragile.
The Noble Swan’s next target was the Sea Crane, who lost a mast. At the top of the picture the Rochefort has missed hitting the Tripoli.
Major fighting occurred on the next turn, with the Noble Swan finishing off the Sea Crane and eliminating the Pirates from contention. The Rochefort got the better of the Tripoli, while the Black Bear eliminated the Spanish from the game by ramming the Raton and stealing her gold. At the right, the Honu Iki is the only ship yet to be involved in combat.
With such small fleets, every ship was disproportionately valuable, so the Black Bear and Rochefort took their respective prizes in tow. In the meantime, the Noble Swan sunk the Sea Crane, and it appeared that nothing could stop the turtle ship from dominating the game.
From left to right: the Americans gain a ship by repairing the Raton, and the Spanish have scuttled the Bazana to remove themselves from the game. The Rochefort has left the Tripoli to return home on her own oar power, and the Honu Iki carries her second load of three coins.
The Noble Swan attacks the Americans! A shot tears through the Black Bear’s foremast, but the ram against the Raton is unsuccessful.
A turn later, and the Americans are the third fleet to fall to the Noble Swan!
At this point, the French had gotten the Tripoli and Rochefort back home, and the Rochefort headed back out for another coin.
The Honu Iki had no choice but to try and get more gold, but the Noble Swan inevitably took her out.
The Honu Iki carried gold, so the Noble Swan had to try and tow her back. The Jade Rebellion’s aggressive playing left them with just one cargo space open on their only ship, so they would have to tow ships home to win. The French had other plans, and all three one masters converged near the JR HI.
The Noble Swan made quick work of the Rochefort, but was only moving S because of the Honu Iki behind her. The French boxed the turtle ship in, with the Tripoli’s 4S cannon the best hope the French had to end the game.
After another miss by the Tripoli, the Noble Swan just barely couldn’t make it home! A final shot rang out, and the Honu Iki sunk! This denied the JR’s a few coins, but it wouldn’t matter.
In the end, the Honu Iki’s peaceful runs at the beginning of the game won the day for the English, though not by much:
English: 15 gold
French: 14
Americans: 12
Pirates: 4
Jade Rebellion: 3
Spanish and Barbary Corsairs: 0
Hope you liked the change of pace using 10 point fleets! More reports coming soon, so stay tuned!
Using unreleased and custom game pieces may become somewhat common, so please give me feedback on how you like the “fleets” area where I detail what is in each fleet. Would you rather have the fleets listed with everything in a small space first, and then list the details of each piece below, OR just like I’m doing here and have the information on each game piece within the specific fleet section? There’s also the option of doing it the way it is here, but with fleet titles (ex: English, Fleet 1, etc.) bigger in size so it’s easier to differentiate between each fleet and the associated parts of it.
(Warning: the sheer amount of new stuff you may not be aware of can make this a somewhat challenging or chaotic battle report, and I put a lot of effort into all of the different aspects of these types of reports. I feel like a link wizard or something! Lastly, any advice on how to improve is always appreciated, though I like how I do things now.)
It was an 80 point game with 3 fleets, sailing in this order:
Spanish:
Rocinante + Sebastian Rojo, captain, helmsman, oarsman x3
Babieca + Antonio de Silva (RtSS), Dominic Freda, helmsman
San Martin + Luis Zuan, helmsman, explorer
Flavor: The heroic vessel Rocinante launched from Spain amid a roar of applause. The hopes and dreams of a new age of Spanish glory go with her.
Sebastián Rojo
RtSS-027b, Common
Spanish
Points: 9
Ability: Marine. Once per turn, you can eliminate one of this ship’s crew to give her an extra action.
Flavor: Rojo’s past is steeped in blood. An expert at dealing with natives and policing those disloyal to Spain, Rojo has dedicated himself to ensure that the conquest of the South Pacific is successful.
Babieca
RtSS-050, Special Edition
Spanish
Points: 13
Masts: 3 (Windcatcher)
Cargo: 5
Move: L
Cannons: 3L-2S-3L
Ability: Windcatcher. This ship ignores the first hit she takes each turn as long as she has all of her masts.
Flavor: Named in honor of the warhorse of the legendary Spanish hero, El Cid, the Babieca displays strength and stamina in combat fitting of her namesake.
Commandante Antonio de Silva
RtSS-011, Rare
Spanish
Points: 6
Ability: Captain. Musketeer.
Flavor: Still devoted to protecting the interests of the Crown, De Silva fights to forge a new era of prosperity for Spain.
San Martin
PotAoS – Limited Edition
Spanish
Points: 15
Masts: 4
Cargo: 5
Move: L
Cannons: 3S-2S-2S-3S
Ability: Cannoneer. This ship’s base move becomes S if she reaches her cargo limit.
Pirates:
Cuerno de la Cabra + Cursed Captain Barbossa, Capitaine Chevalle, helmsman
Hispaniola + captain
Sea King + Bartholomew Roberts, oarsman
Centurion + Thomas Tew, helmsman
Beast’s Belly + helmsman
Cuerno de la Cabra
RtSS-023, Common
Pirate
Points: 11
Masts: 2 (Junk)
Cargo: 3
Move: L
Cannons: 2L-2L
Ability: Junk. Two hits from the same shoot action are required to eliminate one of this ship’s masts.
Flavor: Arrogant sailors of every nation have mistaken the small size of the “Goat’s Horn” for weakness—and their pockets have paid dearly for it.
Sea King
VotCC #014, Uncommon
Pirate
Points: 14
Masts: 4
Cargo: 4
Move: S+L
Cannons: 2S-3L-3L-2S
Ability: If this ship wins a boarding party, it can take as much treasure as it can carry. (Hoarding Gold)
Americans:
Mongrel + Joshua Humphreys, explorer
Paul Revere + Commodore Peregrine Stern, Wayne Nolan, helmsman, firepot specialist
Providence + Huang Bai (I once again forgot about the Ex-Patriot keyword), helmsman, oarsmen x3
USS Valley Forge + captain, helmsman
Mongrel
RtSS-021, Common
American
Points: 13
Masts: 3 (Junk)
Cargo: 4
Move: S+S
Cannons: 2S-3L-2S
Ability: Junk. If this ship is within S of a friendly ship when this ship is given a move action, she gets +S to her base move.
Flavor: She’s no beauty, but the Mongrel has a lot more to offer than the pretty faces of her crew. She is frequently set upon enemy vessels to ensure safe passage.
Joshua Humphreys
VotCC #066B, Common
American
Points: 3
Ability: This ship gets +L to its base move if no Helmsman crew are aboard.
Huang Bai
RtSS-051, Limited Edition
Mercenary
Points: 5
Ability: Ex-Patriot. Hostile: Spain. Once per turn, you can eliminate one of this ship’s crew to give her an extra action. After looking at treasure on a wild island, you can trade any one treasure from that island for a random treasure on any other wild island. This ship must load the traded treasure.
Flavor: Unwilling to cede the end of the Jade Empire, Huang Bai nonetheless realizes the need to pause and rebuild—as a mercenary. His first customer, America, is eager to pit him and “Golden Axe” against the expanding Spanish empire.
Now that the pieces are out of the way, onto the game!
The setup featured all three home islands close together at one end, with a big wild island with three separate beaches at the other end. The island was completely surrounded by reefs and, on the far side, icebergs that wouldn’t move. Each beach held 7 coins, and 5 UT’s were included as well. 10 preselected UT’s were mixed around, and 5 were randomly chosen to be in the game.
The Spanish are at the bottom right, with the Pirates in the middle and the Americans up top.
Proxies: Buscador=Rocinante, Mystic=Babieca, Matthias Vospero=San Martin, Ranger=Sea King, Kin Tai Fong=Cuerno de la Cabra, Nancy Nox=Hispaniola, Sea Wind=Mongrel.
The Rocinante used the sac-marine Sebastian Rojo to jump out ahead of the rest of the Spanish fleet. The Pirates purposely created a fleet where every ship would move L+S, planning to stay in a wolf pack. The Americans also had major speed, with the Paul Revere and Providence capable of extra actions at S+L+S, and the Mongrel moving S+S+S+L between her ability and Humphreys (one of the fastest ships to sail without a helmsman).
With the Spanish going first, it surprised no captain that the Rocinante was the first to reach the island. She passed over the reefs without harm, but only took one treasure from the nearest beach.
The Mongrel was the second ship to reach the reefs, as the Paul Revere maneuvered to guard the American gold ships.
The Rocinante explored another beach, and was more satisfied with this hoard than the last one: she took a 5, a 2, Exploding Shot via Ammunition, and Claw Cannon. The hoist now had some good UT’s in addition to the marine and captain abilities, making her an intriguing and diverse offensive threat (she’s also a good gold raider ship with her secondary abilities of Secret Hold and not being pinned). This put a target on her back.
Up to this point, the fleets hadn’t shot at each other despite the close quarters race to the island. Predictably, the game started to devolve into chaos (one of my favorite phrases!).
Basically, Stern on board the Paul Revere got bored and wanted to put his S+L+S x2 speed to good use. The Rocinante was the only enemy ship with gold, so the Paul Revere sped over the reef (losing a mast) and attacked! Her remaining guns rang true with the help of Wayne Nolan, and the Rocinante was reduced to a burning hulk, losing her final oarsman in the S-board as well.
In the meantime, the Mongrel was busy grabbing a coin and a Castaway captain from the last unexplored beach, as the Providence sailed over a reef. She was undamaged, but the Hispaniola wasn’t so lucky. The Pirate ship lost two masts on a 1, and then was dismasted by the Paul Revere’s first action as the PR sped over to the Rocinante.
The Spanish were quick to exact revenge on the Americans, with the combined might of Rojo, Babieca and San Martin sinking the Paul Revere. This was evidently going to turn into a bloody game, possibly even more brutal than the last one.
As the Pirates made their way onto the reefs, the Cuerno de la Cabra (Cuerno) began towing the Hispaniola, who was the only true Pirate gold runner. However, they had a flexible fleet with cargo spaces open on all their ships, so they weren’t going to let the reef stop them.
The Mongrel headed for home as the Providence docked and explored the nearest beach with an extra action from Huang Bai. The Valley Forge rolled an unlucky 1 to lose a mast.
The Babieca was the next ship to lose a mast to a reef, but the Spanish had a good turn, with the Rocinante hoisting crew and gold all over the place. When it was all over, the beach was empty, with gold on each of the three Spanish ships (most on the Babieca and San Martin now that the Rocinante was derelict). The hoist was able to move into position with her oarsman and helmsman, and then transferred the Exploding Shot and Claw Cannon to the Babieca. There was also a small crew transfer – I believe the Rocinante took the San Martin’s explorer, but there may have been an additional swap. Either way, Rojo knew that his best place was on the Rocinante with no gold left to protect on the beach and a derelict hoist to row home.
Then the Pirates attacked! The Sea King went a perfect 4/4 to dismast the Providence, and then used her ability to rob the ship of both her coins! To make matters worse for the Americans, the Centurion and Beast’s Belly docked at the same beach and planned to explore on the next turn. However, the Americans had a sudden realization!
The Mongrel had already explored the other beach, so the Americans knew what treasures were there. The Providence used one of her oarsmen and her helmsman to limp over and dock at the beach. For the first time in a long time (possibly the first time ever), Trees was used to great effect!! (usually it just sits face down on the island the whole game)
With a fully repaired Providence (who also took aboard a few more coins to replace those she had lost to the Sea King), the Americans were back in the running! (sailing?)
With great trepidation, the Rocinante sailed over a reef… and rolled a 4! (I’ve become slightly obsessed with wrecks if you couldn’t already tell from the last few games)
Now all three fleets had some ships going home. The Pirates weren’t playing nice, and the Sea King dismasted the Providence once again!
The Sea King also took another coin from the Providence, who turned around and headed back to the beach. There were no Trees to help her, but she did find Screw Engine in addition to picking up a coin to fill her hold. The Valley Forge tried to guard her and took a mast off the Sea King.
Ships continued to take a beating. The Providence headed home, but rolled a 2 on a reef, and finally, at long last, there was a wreck in one of my games! In the meantime, the Centurion dismasted the Valley Forge but lost a mast herself to a different reef.
With gold still on the Providence, the Mongrel immediately headed back out.
As the Mongrel sped out, she couldn’t resist taking some revenge on the Pirates, making the Centurion derelict. You can see the Pirates have a slight edge over the Spanish in the race for home (including the Cuerno and Hispaniola), which would make things very interesting in the near future. The Cuerno has finally docked home the Hispaniola.
You can see the ocean littered with masts:
The Sea King battered the San Martin, and the Hispaniola and Cuerno de la Cabra moved into position. However, none of their combined 3 guns could hit! Barbossa’s Fear slowed the Babieca, but she was too close to her HI for it to matter.
The Beast’s Belly turned around to tow the Centurion, as the Mongrel approached the wreck of the Providence.
The Spanish docked the Babieca first, who successfully hit twice to land an exploding shot on the durable Cuerno. Following her lead, the San Martin docked and dismasted the Hispaniola. The Spanish had accomplished their plan of getting their gold home, as the Rocinante had purposely only kept a 1 earlier in the game knowing she was going to be the last ship to get home.
Nothing like some late-game excitement!
The Mongrel explored the wrecked Providence, and considered her options. After a shuffle, her hold was full with crew and gold. The Cuerno planned to sink the Rocinante, but was foiled by the spreading fire.
The Rocinante docked home, and the Mongrel used Huang Bai to sink the Centurion!
At this point the Pirates had unloaded their gold, and it was accepted that the final 1 left on a beach wasn’t worth fighting over.
Spanish: 11 gold Pirates: 8 Americans: 6
This was a fun game (truly a “proxy war”) that saw many great new pieces introduced. I liked all of them!
This game was interesting. I wanted to play a game on Halloween, and naturally the Cursed were involved. It turned out to be a oddly brutal game… there was a strange sense of hostility present throughout. The setup didn’t turn out quite as well as I hoped, but it was still a memorable game.
All custom pieces courtesy of el_cazador. He’s working on a huge custom set right now, which looks quite interesting.
Tenfold
Type: 3-mast hoist
Nation: Mercenary
Points: 18
Masts: 3
Cargo: 5
Move: S+S
Cannons: 4L,3S,3S
Link: Zedekiah
Mercenary, Hostile: Caesar, Hoist, Turbine. Two hits from the same shoot action are required to eliminate one of this ship’s masts. This ship ignores the first hit she takes each turn if she has all of her masts.
Flavor: Zedekiah’s ironclad ship has been in the employ of several nations, most recently the French. His hope is to repurchase the ancient land of the Jews with the lucrative profits he makes from shipping. As he is fond of saying, if you hire him, your investment will repay tenfold.
(The Buscador is the proxy for the Tenfold.)
Zedekiah
Type: Crew
Nation: Mercenary
Points: 6
Link: Tenfold
Ex-Patriot, Hostile: Barbary Corsairs, Cursed, Pirate, Viking; Captain. One of this ship’s treasures is worth +2 gold when unloaded at your home island.
Flavor: Zedekiah has had run-ins with all the worst on the seas yet always comes out ahead. He captains his ship well but prefers to play the tunes of his people on his clarinet.
French:
L’Aube + captain, helmsman, fire shot, grapple shot
Le Pluton + helmsman, explorer
Le Rochefort + Princess Arii Auraa, chieftain, navigator
French Native Canoes
Canots Indigènes
Nation: France
Points: X (13)
Masts: X
Cargo: 1 (x5)
Move: S+S
Cannon: 3L (x5)
Link: None
Native Canoes, Captain
Flavor: The natives of Indonesia have been trained in the art of war by French capitaines, and they pursue the monsters of the deep.
Chef de Tribu
Nation: France
Points: 13
Link: None
Tribal Chieftain
Before you give any of this chieftain’s canoes an action, roll a d6. On a 5-6 they may shoot at submerged ships.
Flavor: This chieftain’s men have had contact with the Monster Hunter’s guild.
(The Cursed native canoes represent the French ones.)
English:
Maui’s Fishhook + Captain Percival Blake, Commodore Rhys Gryffin Owen, Professor Clive Defoe, helmsman
HMS Interceptor + Thomas Gunn, explorer
The Mercenaries were using a brand-new hoist, which featured a rather grand set of abilities and combos. Their support ships were capable of running a little bit of gold, though Herr Fuchs would have the Fathom keep a close watch on the Tenfold.
The Cursed looked slow but intimidating, with 16 total cannons available. Typical of their fleets, they also had some fun abilities at their disposal.
The French looked ready for battle, with some interesting new canoes in addition to their 5 masted flagship. Le Pluton’s size and guns only added to their heavy armament, while the Rochefort was playing the character of Le Coeur du Lion.
The English only had two ships, but they included a decked-out Maui’s Fishhook and the speedy and versatile Interceptor.
The setup was somewhat intricate, and in hindsight perhaps overthought. It featured 6 mysterious islands with 4 coins each, and two shipwrecks with 6 coins each. The sea was littered with reefs, and fog only made things even more dangerous. There were all sorts of fun treasures to be found!
(I forgot to put the Merc ships S away from their home island.)
The Tenfold started the game by hoisting some treasure into her cavernous cargo hold, and with a +2 bonus from her linked crew, looked to be perhaps the best Mercenary treasure runner of them all.
However, the Cursed had other plans. Tsuro started off their game with a 6, and the new Mercenary hoist was immediately thrown onto a nearby reef by the Cursed’s powers, though she wasn’t damaged. On Halloween, the Cursed wanted to feast on human flesh rather than candy.
All the fleets spread out, with the MF (Maui’s Fishhook) able to grab a coin with her own hoist crane.
The Tenfold was quickly back with a big load of gold, and her hoist arm meant she was the Mercs’ only hope of winning the game. The Fathom surfaced to dock, and you can just make out the Hare’s Luck at the upper left successfully exploring one of the shipwrecks.
On the second turn, Tsuro continued its devious ways, moving the Tenfold back onto a reef! This time the Tenfold lost a mast, and the Cursed’s strategy was working so far. They knew it would be difficult to catch and dismast the Tenfold just by shooting, so instead they used reefs to bypass her defenses.
However, the Cursed would soon see a change in their luck, as the Maman Brigitte found Enemy of the State and Albatross! The Nightmare turned around to take the Enemy of the State UT so the Brigitte could dock, but the Cursed were off to a typically slow gold running start.
In the meantime, HMS Interceptor found Barrel o’ Monkeys, so the randomly selected UT’s weren’t making things fun so far! This and the rising tension made for a somewhat nasty game.
The French were running into their own problems, with the Pluton losing the maximum 3 masts after she sailed over the reef that held the infamous Duke shipwreck!
The Tenfold now used her hoist arm to grab the treasure from the Fathom. She also had Letter of Marque aboard, which would help her repair if she got into trouble.
Thanks to the Cursed, trouble found her very quickly, as Tsuro rolled yet another 5/6! This time the Tenfold really felt it, as a 1 knocked out both of her remaining masts. The reef was wearing away her defenses, and Zedekiah signalled the Fathom to come to her assistance.
The Cursed ships pair up, with the Nightmare taking Enemy of the State so the Maman Brigitte can dock on the next turn.
Unable to move, the Tenfold again survived, with the Fathom coming into the range of her hoist arm. The Tenfold plucked out the Merc shipwright stationed on the Fathom, and soon her mainmast was repaired. The Hare’s Luck eagerly awaited the Tenfold to do a gold transfer. To the right, the Pluton limps home with some good gold.
Some French canoes are back with gold, but one of them found Wet Gunpowder, and the French don’t want to waste an entire turn “repairing” one canoe. The Interceptor is exploring the Sultan wreck, but Barrel of Monkeys is proving to be frustrating. Things weren’t about to get sunnier.
The Tenfold unloaded both her gold and the gold from the Hare’s Luck as the Fathom dived. However, the Aube sailed around a fog bank and promptly sank the Hare’s Luck! This was the first direct combat of the game, and continued the anti-Mercenary theme (not on purpose!). In the background, two French canoes are exploring the Duke shipwreck.
The Cursed have finally figured things out, while the Interceptor docks home more gold for the English.
At this point, the Mercenaries had a choice to make. They had the durable but offensively weak (especially with just one mast remaining) Tenfold, and the decently armed Fathom, who could use her ability if the Tenfold attacked the Aube first. It would have been easy to send both ships into the safety of the fog.
The Mercs considered the possibility of the Tenfold surviving the counterattack, since this was the main issue. If the Tenfold was sunk, the Mercs would have very little chance of winning the game.
With the Tenfold’s defensive ability, it would take at least three shots from the Aube to sink her. The Mercs deliberated, and then decided to attack! They hoped the combined power of their two ships would take out at least three masts on the Aube.
With a vengeance, the Tenfold slammed into the Aube, and incredibly both the shot and the ram worked! This left the ship ready to be attacked by the Fathom…
… and the Fathom scored a perfect 3/3 without even needing Herr Fuchs’ cannoneer ability! The French flagship laid in tatters, with wreckage strewn around the Merc HI.
A huge moment in the game:
The Interceptor now used her L+L+S speed to surprise the Cursed, shooting two masts off the Nightmare. The Maman Brigitte turned around, seeing how much gold was on a western island and the Sultan wreck right next to it.
The Cursed had another streak of lucky die rolls, going 3/3 with the Nightmare’s double shot and sinking the Interceptor with the Silver Coffin!
The Tenfold repaired a mast, but the angry French were on their way. One of their canoes had found an abandoned captain, and looked to give it to the Pluton, who had almost finished repairing.
Tsuro finally left his post at the Cursed HI, but it wasn’t long before he stopped and resumed messing with opposing ships.
Herr Fuchs knew the Cursed had no counter against the Fathom, and the Fathom unsuccessfully rammed the Nightmare. The Tenfold set a course for the Sultan wreck.
For the first time in the game, a fleet took advantage of the whirlpools. The Nightmare dragged the Silver Coffin through one, emerging close to the Tenfold. It was the best move the Cursed could make, but it failed miserably. The Nightmare and flotilla both lost masts to the whirlpool, and the Silver Coffin’s inaccurate guns couldn’t dent the Tenfold’s armor.
At this point, the Maman Brigitte settled for UT farming, with the Fathom lurking about. Even with Tsuro’s help, the Cursed had trouble duplicating their early-game luck moving opponent’s ships around. With the Nightmare limping about and almost no gold on their home island, they knew they were out of the race.
In a beautiful turn for the Mercenaries, the Tenfold dismasted the Nightmare while simultaneously taking gold off the wreck of the Sultan. The Fathom explored a mysterious island and was looking to get the gold home via the Tenfold. However, the Mercs would still run into more trouble.
The Maui’s Fishhook came out of nowhere to sink the Nightmare and grab gold, similar to what the Tenfold had just done. The Maman Brigitte forced the Tenfold onto the Sultan’s reef, but no damage was done. In the meantime, 3 of the French canoes had finally reached Mercenary waters, and they hoped to block the Fathom and potentially use their chieftain to sink the sub.
With the Tenfold on a reef, the English saw a chance to eliminate a huge gold threat. Percival Blake gave the order, and a thunderous Broadsides Attack ripped through the Tenfold’s defenses and sent her to Davy Jones’ locker!
To complicate matters even more for the Mercs, the Fathom didn’t have an explorer and had to wait an extra turn at her MI, with the French native canoes waiting for her back at her HI, although now with the Tenfold gone she wouldn’t even be able to get the gold home. The French just wanted revenge. The Pluton and remaining two canoes were also making all speed towards the Fathom.
The Cursed knocked the MF onto a reef, where she lost two masts. The French canoes cornered the Fathom, blocked her path, and began blasting her apart.
The Fathom took a canoe with her but couldn’t withstand the French attack. This meant the Mercs were the first fleet out of the game! It looked like more would follow, with not much gold left and a weakened MF looking to go out again for more gold.
The French now turned their Pluton and canoe piranhas on the Cursed, but only hit 2/7 against the Maman Brigitte!
In the meantime, the MF grabbed some Rum, which was now worth 4 gold after she left Blake and Defoe on her home island. However, Owen and the helmsman drank it all by themselves, immobilizing the ship and making her vulnerable to the nearby French.
The French now dominated what was left of the carnage-filled ocean, dismasting the MF.
The game was basically over, but the Cursed had to at least try and wreak some more havoc. Tsuro lost its tail in a whirlpool and was then destroyed by the Pluton, who then towed the MF home to end the game! The game went down to the wire! The Rum mattered!
The French had 21 gold before the Rum boosted their score, so they won by not giving up and making sure they did everything and anything they could to win. The Mercs brought in a lot of gold early with the Tenfold, including 4 extra from Zedekiah’s ability.
The English played a decent game but were predictably hampered by a scarcity of cargo available, as well as some named crew that didn’t really affect the game (Owen and Defoe). The Cursed had good luck with the dice but bad luck with treasure and slow ships. Not only did the Maman Brigitte find Enemy of the State and Albatross on that single island, but the other two treasures were a 3 and a 0!
Overall this was a fun game, and it became brutal as it went on. The Tenfold is fantastic, and quite possibly slightly overpowered especially with her link. However, more playtesting is needed before changing anything. The French native canoes were fun and seemed about right for their cost, and the navigator really helped the French fleet.
Today (10/26) was the 10th anniversary of Barbary Coast’s release!
What better way to tribute such a great set than having an all-BC game?
It was a simple 30 point game, partly because these 4 ships are literally the only ships from BC in my current traveling collection! Funny enough, this turned into one of those relatively rare games that, despite being very one-sided, was quite exciting and fun.
To switch things up for a change, the home islands were located right next to each other. In addition, the single wild island was completely surrounded by fog! Lastly, since this was a game featuring 100% Barbary Corsairs, each fleet would have to bring its gold back to the other home island.
Both fleets immediately sailed into the fog, and knew that whoever was lucky enough to roll to reach the island first would hold an advantage.
The Silent Death looked to be an aggressor, while the Terror of Gibraltar wanted to steal gold from the Golden Peacock. As is typical in this game, the exact opposite happened!
The two fleets jostled for position, but neither had any luck whatsoever with the extremely foggy conditions. All game long, a ship would roll for one of the two edges and emerge straight into another fog bank! When an outside roll was made, the ship would duck right back into a different fog bank, careful not to be vulnerable to one of the captained ships.
The Terror of Gibraltar managed to stay on the Peacock’s trail, but the conditions were so bad that neither fleet made any gold or combat progress for a while.
At long last, the Tripoli broke through with a lucky roll and docked at the island. Neither fleet had explorers, but the Terror also was able to dock on the same turn.
The Silent Death and Golden Peacock again simply shifted from one fog bank to another, as their enemies started the journey home.
The smaller ships got lucky soon after, with the Tripoli able to dock home her two coins and the Silent Death finally reaching the wild island. The Silent Death was only able to pick up one coin due to her heavy crew complement.
At this point, to speed the game up, whenever a ship rolled a 1 for a fog roll, a random coin would disappear from the island. In addition, if a ship rolled a 6 for a fog roll, the fog bank farthest from the home islands would disappear.
The Tripoli soon reached the island for a second time, and a coin and fog bank quickly disappeared.
Wesley aboard the Terror had a plan – with his one available cargo space, earlier in the game when he explored he took the lone 0 coin, hoping to lure the Golden Peacock into taking it. Due to the nature of this game, he unsurprisingly had his plan ruined!
At this point, the Golden Peacock’s frustration reached a high, with the ship rolling to emerge on the outside of the fog ring to sail around the circle. The Silent Death, useless against the escaping Tripoli, sailed out to meet her. Another coin disappeared from the wild island.
The Silent Death and Golden Peacock maneuvered to the opening in the fog. The Tripoli sailed home as the Terror approached her enemies.
The plans now became apparent, and things started to get weird. The Silent Death handed off Murat Rais and her captain to the Golden Peacock, who was immediately rammed by the Terror. Wesley’s bonus wasn’t even needed, and the Peacock immediately lost Rais in addition to her mizzenmast. In the meantime, the Silent Death went from dangerous gunship to content treasure runner, picking up two coins to augment the one she had loaded earlier in the game, which felt like ages ago.
With the Tripoli home safe with another hefty load of gold, the other Corsairs realized they were in trouble. The Silent Death continued to flounder in the fog as the Golden Peacock fled into a different fog bank.
The role reversal on the part of both original gunships continued. In a move that made it obvious she intended to win the game, the Terror of Gibraltar docked at the wild island, unloaded both Wesley and her helmsman, and picked up two additional coins! Although this made it obvious that their fleet would win the game if the Terror could make it back home, the mutiny (by the lone oarsman left on the ship, lol) angered Wesley, who was left stranded on the fog-shrouded island. This would soon hurt what was left of the Terror’s crew.
With a chance for revenge against the Terror, the Golden Peacock emerged from the fog to ram the big ship, scoring a hit! However, the Peacock lost the boarding party, which meant that her essential captain was no more. This left the fleet with just one crew, the helmsman on the hapless Silent Death. That is, unless they could recruit some angry Corsairs…
The gold-laden and slowed-down Terror fled into the fog, where the poor Silent Death was still sailing to and fro. The unscathed Tripoli headed back out for another run.
To complete the civil war aspect of this game and make it even more bizarre, the Golden Peacock, who had lost both of her valuable crew (Murat Rais and captain, which originally came from the Silent Death), now docked at the island and loaded the betrayed crew of the Terror – Wesley and a helmsman! Eager to get revenge on the Terror, they were essentially replacements for the crew the Peacock had already lost in battle. However, they would be sorely needed, as the Terror and Tripoli looked to be close to victory. It was up to the Golden Peacock to sink or steal the treasure from the Terror.
The Peacock had to pull double duty, knowing she also couldn’t let the Tripoli get home with another load of gold. With S+L+S speed, the Peacock came around the fog to surprise the Tripoli, but her shot missed. The Terror took advantage of the distracted ship to duck into a different fog bank.
At this point, another 1 was rolled in the fog, eliminating the last treasure from the wild island and eliminating the Tripoli as a gold threat. Now the Tripoli would try to support the Terror, but they were on opposite sides of the fog and the Tripoli had just ducked into the fog to escape the only captained ship remaining, the Golden Peacock. The Peacock raced to intercept the Terror, who was slowly making her way through the fog.
The Terror now made a decision to break for the home island, despite her S+S speed and relative safety of the fog.
The Golden Peacock easily outstripped the Terror and caught her! With the first real broadside of the game, the Peacock missed both shots!
In the background, you can see the Tripoli will be too late to join the fight. The ever-frustrated Silent Death has ditched the fog entirely and began the long journey around the entire ring from the inside out.
The Terror of Gibraltar couldn’t quite make it home on her next turn, and the Peacock finally scored a hit, but it was too late. Funny enough, she lost the boarding party and therefore her helmsman. Even if she had won to eliminate the Terror’s oarsman, the Terror’s Galley keyword would dock the Terror home on the next turn even if she was derelict. You can see how many 6’s were rolled late in the game, with lots of fog disappearing on the far side of the island.
The Terror docked and the game finally ended!
Terror of Gibraltar/Tripoli: 17 gold
Golden Peacock/Silent Death: 0 gold (although they had 8 on the Silent Death and 2 on the Golden Peacock for 10 total)
What a strange game! The big/small ship fleet was able to prevail despite having smaller cargo holds and inferior guns, although it was partly due to the Tripoli’s fog dice luck. The midsize ships put up a gallant fight, but the civil war is over. The setup was rather unique and interesting, especially when the house rules were instituted mid-game to eliminate gold and fog. The crew killing and swapping made for an especially bloody and emotional conflict, a civil war that will not soon be forgotten in the annals of the Barbary Corsairs.
The Loa’s Justice reached the first island, which only had four coins compared to six apiece on the other two islands. She was undisturbed as the other fleets raced to the farther islands.
Fleets 1 and 2 didn’t bother shooting at each other, despite how easy it would have been for either of them to do so.
As the Loa’s Justice sailed home, the Honu Iki was the first ship to reach the middle island. The Sea King made an abrupt turn.
The race to the islands:
Fleet 1’s patience ran out when the San Pedro became stuck on a Sargasso Sea. They took their anger out on Fleet 2, knocking out two masts on the Antamasia. Fleet 3, realizing that Fleet 2 would reach the furthest island before them, suddenly turned around.
A nice shot of Fleet 3’s sails:
The San Pedro broke loose, entering the area around the middle island:
As the Loa’s Justice sailed out again, the Sea King sailed within sniping range and promptly rolled consecutive 6’s to dismast the ship!
As the San Pedro explored the middle island, the Antamasia fired a passing shot at the Templar as she turned for home and repairs. The Templar appeared to have trouble cresting a wave.
Fleet 3 was now concentrated in one place and ready to reveal their strategy. The Honu Iki unloaded gold, while the Sea King captured the Loa’s Justice. Fantasma hungrily eyed the fresh gold on Fleet 1’s home island.
The Meresman and Templar turned around, hoping to stop Fleet 3 from pillaging their HI. They took care to dismast the now-helpless Antamasia on the way by. However, Fleet 2 had finally reached the furthest island and drained it of all 6 coins.
Fleet 1 coming home:
Fleet 3 struck first, using the Sea King to dismast the Meresman. The Honu Iki began towing the Loa’s Justice after the Sea King released her. In the meantime, the Rum Runner stole a coin from Fleet 1’s HI.
The Templar dismasted the Destiny before being sunk by the Sea King. The San Pedro approached her home island.
The Loa’s Justice began repairing as Fleet 3 shifted its attention to Fleet 2. However, the Sea King had lost her helmsman in a boarding party to the Meresman, and this time the Sea King’s cannons failed to snipe the Algiers.
The San Pedro docked home 3 coins as well as her +2 bonus, while the Rum Runner and Honu Iki looked to provide support for the daring Sea King. The Sea King had a successful shoot and ram against the Algiers, but lost a mast to the Epee in return.
At this point, the Algiers docked home her gold, only to have some of it immediately stolen by El Fantasma aboard the Rum Runner! The Honu Iki has gone to the right to grab the last coin before the San Pedro can get it.
The Rum Runner docked, and the Epee sunk the Sea King. The Honu Iki was able to grab the final treasure coin, but got rammed by the San Pedro!
The Epee sunk the derelicts Meresman and Destiny, as the Honu Iki was knocked out of the game.
At this point, Fantasma wanted to use a combination of Parley with his HI-raiding ability. However, it was not to be.
The San Pedro was coming home with the final coin, but it was irrelevant after everyone counted up their treasure.
Fleet 3: 23 gold
Fleet 2: 16
Fleet 1: 10
Thanks for reading about this game at 3 players, 50 points!
Le Gaule
Type: 5-mast
Nation: France
Points: 17
Masts: 5
Cargo: 4
Move: S+S
Cannons: 3L,2S,2S,2S,3L
Link: None
When this ship sinks another ship, give this ship a free move action.
Flavor: After decisive action against the Cursed near the coast of French Indochina, this legendary vessel has come to the Atlantic to fight the English.
HMS Fatalis
Type: 3-mast hoist
Nation: England
Points: 16
Masts: 3
Cargo: 5
Move: L
Cannons: 4L,4L,4S
Link: None
Hoist.
This ship eliminates two masts with one hit.
Flavor: The HMS Fatalis was comissioned to pillage and plunder and and rifle and loot; occasionally she even burns the town down. She’s really a fright.
The setup featured 4 wild islands with four coins apiece. The only terrain was numerous rocky outcroppings. The French rolled to go first. Although it was Trafalgar Day, I was conscious to not let any English bias affect the results of the game. It should also be mentioned that during setup, either no fleets or both fleets would have extra action crew or cancellers, to balance things.
The Maui’s Fishhook portrays the Fatalis, while the Aube is a proxy for the Gaule.
The French went first, and sent their runners in pursuit of gold. The Gaule shadowed the St. Michel at a distance, hoping to lure the Fatalis into striking range. The Sea Phoenix headed west, while the Fatalis was just out of range to grab gold with its hoist.
On the second turn, both French runners reached islands, but without explorers they couldn’t do much else. The Gaule tried to anticipate the English moves, keeping a close eye on the St. Michel and Sea Phoenix.
The English explored with both of their ships, with the Fatalis stealing treasure right from under the nose of the St. Michel.
The English headed home, with the Fatalis turning west to help protect the Sea Phoenix from the dangerous Le Gaule. The Fatalis sails through the rocky obstructions:
In the meantime, the Rochefort explored her island and took two coins, eagerly spying on the treasure that the English were about to bring back. The St. Michel didn’t bother exploring to take the final coin off the center island, instead heading northeast to a new island close to the English HI.
The English docked home 5 coins, while the St. Michel docked at the northeastern island. The Rochefort was headed home, and the Gaule helped out by clearing out the island that she had just left.
The Rochefort dropped off two coins for the French, with two more from the Gaule close behind. However, the St. Michel was in trouble. She had just explored to take 3 of the 4 coins, when she saw the Fatalis approaching from the west.
The Rochefort departed to look for more gold, while the Gaule unloaded her haul. The Sea Phoenix picked up the last two coins from the western island she was accustomed to. However, the real excitement lay to the northeast.
This game featured a decent amount of pre-measuring, which I don’t like to spend a ton of time on. On this turn it was crucial, as the Fatalis tried to get positioning on the St. Michel. Hermione Gold wanted at least two cannons in range, but the only way to do that was to rake the St. Michel by the stern as the Fatalis continued sailing east. Gold gave the order, and the Fatalis’ powerful guns echoed across the sea. The first shot was a 4, boosted to a successful 5 from Hermione Gold! Two masts of the St. Michel toppled into the water, the first combat of the game. However, the second shot was a 3, and the mizzenmast was out of range. To complete her successful turn, the Fatalis used her hoist arm to grab the last coin from the island the St. Michel had just left.
From the main top of the Gaule:
Move, shoot, and explore!
Although suffering, the French had to breathe a sigh of relief, with the St. Michel still sailing. She almost made it home, while the Rochefort docked at the center island. Looking for revenge, the Gaule sailed in the general direction of the English home island.
The Fatalis reversed direction, looking to get home with another coin.
On the next turn, the Gaule caught up to the Fatalis! Stormy waters meant that the two ships almost collided, with the Gaule able to get all guns in range!
This picture also shows how the Gaule was pitching to and fro, entering the back part of a wave as the Fatalis leaned to port.
The Gaule’s guns boomed, and the French flagship went 4 for 4! The Fatalis sunk beneath the waves, with her coin (1 gold) going to the French HI.
Using her unique ability, the Gaule now turned her attention to the Sea Phoenix, the most isolated ship of the game. S+S+S was not quite enough however, and the Gaule couldn’t get any cannons in range.
The Sea Phoenix docked home her gold, with the St. Michel and Rochefort doing the same for the French.
The endgame situation:
The gold count:
French: 21 gold
English: 17 gold
This was a fun game that saw two impressive new ships enter the fray for the first time. Time will tell if they set sail again, but for now they both go down as balanced but powerful additions to the Pirates CSG seascape.
Two games have been played. The first was 40 points, and the second was 60.
Game 1
The fleets went in this order:
Spanish:
La Catedral del Mar + captain, helmsman, shipwright
Sea Lion + helmsman Bazana + explorer
Franco-Cursed:
La Bonne Chance + captain
La Richelieu + helmsman, explorer
Sea Rat + helmsman, explorer, oarsman
Some stringed terrain was featured:
The Sea Lion was the first to reach the island:
On the next turn, the Spanish ships took all the gold from the beach:
The Catedral hid in a fog bank, waiting to ambush the French:
However, she only hit once against the Bonne Chance, as the gold runners sailed straight for the other two beaches.
The Bonne Chance returned fire for two hits on the Catedral!
However, the Spanish know that gold is the real prize, and eagerly get away.
The Chance won the battle, but at a cost. This allowed the Sea Rat and Richelieu to run home.
The Spanish considered using the Sea Lions ability, but thought better of it.
The Catedral revealed her shipwright, but the Chance would be able to continually knock it back down. As the Sea Lion prepares to explore again, the Bazana goes on the other side of the terrain.
The Sea Rat’s return allows for the capture of the Catedral, but she distracted the French long enough for the Sea Lion to explore.
At this point, the Sea Lion was able to run home. The Sea Rat ditched the Catedral to pick up the final coin from the other beach, and the gold was counted up.
French: 22 gold
Spanish: 19
Game 2
The second game featured a higher build total of 60 points, along with a different setup that I ended up liking a lot.
Franco-Cursed:
Mostly the same as above, with one new ship: La Bonne Chance + captain La Richelieu + helmsman, explorer Sea Rat + helmsman, explorer, oarsman Le Duc d’Enghien + captain, helmsman, oarsman
The home islands were again at opposite ends, but three wild islands with four coins each were in the middle. Terrain was placed throughout, including an iceberg and a fog/reef combo.
The Corsairs are off! However, they can’t row in between the dangerous rocks.
The French set sail as well, but the Golden Peacock and Tripoli quickly reached a sandy island. Between the two ships all the gold disappeared! At the far side of the picture, the Terror of Gibraltar has received an SAT from Crimson Angel, allowing her to terrorize the Bonne Chance and dismast her! Crimson Angel’s cannon bonus really helped in this early battle.
An excellent shot – you can also see the Sea Rat in the distance.
The Silent Death preferred the fog to a reef, but it looks like the Sea Rat will reach the island first. However, the Bonne Chance won’t be able to protect the Rat from whatever comes next…
With one island out, the French then focused on the middle island with their two remaining 3 masters. The Duc shot 1/3 to hit the Golden Peacock, while the Richelieu sailed around to the sandy beach of the center island.
An overhead view of the game. The Terror of Gibraltar captured the Bonne Chance, but decided the game would still be too short to tow her back and use her effectively. Crimson Angel wanted another battle. In the meantime, Kheir on the Silent Death revealed his own plan, coming out of the fog onto the reef to S-board the Sea Rat and steal a coin! On this turn, Kheir’s roll was successful, allowing the Tripoli to return home early.
With a coin still on the island, the Sea Rat’s crew got greedy even in the face of the relatively dangerous Silent Death.
The Terror of Gibraltar. I love how you can actually see her masts through the sails because of the light. This is one of the more realistic pictures I’ve taken.
The game is lit up, and you can again make out the Terror’s beauty as the light shines through her sails.
The Duc strikes again! Unfortunately, she only hits 1/3 this time too.
The Golden Peacock survives the onslaught to dock home more gold for the BC’s. The Silent Death has cornered the Sea Rat in hopes of taking another coin to fill up her cargo hold, but somehow both ships roll a 6 to tie at 8! In the meantime, the Terror of Gibraltar has moved twice to hit the Richelieu twice, knocking her down to one mast.
What a beautiful setting for a game!
Another view of the excitement, as three separate actions have gone down in just the span of one turn!
The Silent Death again tried to steal a coin from the Sea Rat, but finally lost a boarding party! This killed her helmsman, but gave her an extra cargo space to work with. The Richelieu is happy to run from the Terror of Gibraltar, who’s been blocked completely by the Duc. The Duc took out a mast on the Terror with her first shoot action, but the Terror has responded with two hits of her own. The Corsairs had luck with them on this day, getting some SAT’s from Crimson Angel, two 6’s from Kheir, and some good luck with terrible rank-5 cannons boosted by Crimson Angel. In the meantime, the Tripoli and Golden Peacock eye the final two coins left on the middle island.
The French breathe a sigh of relief as the Richelieu and Sea Rat dock home their gold, with both having been harassed by the numerous fast galleys still flying over the waves. The guns of the Duc and Terror are booming, with the Terror’s mizzenmast about to fall over the side.
The Duc decided the battle wasn’t going to end up in her favor, and decided to take advantage of the reverse captain option to run away. However, the Terror caught her with an SAT from Crimson Angel, knocking out her final mast. The Duc had brought an oarsman along, and so was spared by just barely being able to row back to her home island. The Silent Death is slowed by the loss of her helmsman, but she still manages to reach the center island before her comrades, who are struggling with the fog.
The battered French mock the nearby Crimson Angel, who waits patiently for her next opponent.
The Silent Death takes the final two coins! The Terror again receives the SAT, but only manages to sink the Richelieu. The Sea Rat continues sailing. Carnage is strewn over the battlefield.
The Silent Death and Terror of Gibraltar go one way, while the Golden Peacock and Tripoli shadow the Sea Rat, who is now immune in the fog. The Duc repairs a mast at her home island.
A view from the Corsairs’ home island, with the Sea Rat approaching:
As the Silent Death fell just short of her home island, the Golden Peacock tried to block the Sea Rat. The Tripoli rounded off her larboard bow, forcing the Rat to dock right in the middle.
The Duc has come back for more! The rivalry between her and the Terror continues, with the Duc able to catch up at S+L+S. She missed her one shot, however, giving the Terror the upper hand once again.
The Silent Death and Sea Rat docked, with the Rat stealing gold!
At the bottom of the picture, the Terror has finally defeated the Duc for good. The Golden Peacock rams the Sea Rat in an attempt to reclaim the gold.
The Sea Rat rammed the Golden Peacock and dismasted her to take back the coin, but the Corsairs finally put an end to the shenanigans. The Silent Death fired and found her mark, and the Tripoli captured the Sea Rat and towed her home to end the game.
The gold was counted up!
Barbary Corsairs: 23 gold
French: 18
The coin the Sea Rat stole was a 5! If only the Sea Rat would have made it back to her home island, the scores would be reversed! Alas, the Corsairs’ fine gunnery combined with their superior numbers advantage (after the Bonne Chance was taken out early) won them the game.
This was a great game that featured some fun crew and ship abilities, as well as a setup that I really enjoyed quite a lot.
