The Sea Tiger continued to dog the White Fleet, hitting the Meresman as well.
The Mercury attacked both fleets, but only hit the Meresman:
The Mercury then sank the Algiers as her fleetmates raced home with gold.
The Mercury turns her attention back to the White Fleet:
However, the Bat docks home gold as the Epee positions herself into range! Unfortunately, she missed all four shots!
The Mercury used her guns and ramming to dismast the Epee, who was quickly towed by the Bat. Only two coins remained in play. Note how well the subs (especially the Coleoptera) blend in to this ocean.
The Bat can’t be hit by the Mercury’s L-range guns, and the oarsman on the Meresman prevents capture, so what will the Mercury do?
She uses her ability to move through the rocks and dock at the big island:
Everyone converges on the last coins:
The Duc and Coleoptera ram the Sea Tiger derelict as the Duc loads the coin. The Mercury makes a break in the opposite direction.
A good shot of the waterfalls:
The Bat rammed the Mercury, but lost her helmsman in a failed boarding attempt.
At this point, the Bat and the Sea Tiger couldn’t catch the Mercury or Duc respectively, so both coins (1’s of course!) went to the Red Fleet.
The count:
1. Red Fleet: 20 gold
2. Neutral Fleet: 17 gold
3. White Fleet: 14 gold
Franco-Spanish: Cazador del Pirata + Victor de Alva, helmsman, explorer, firepot specialist (I realized partway through the game that the specialist shouldn’t have been there.) La Felicite + captain, helmsman
The setup featured a new, silky/shinier ocean fabric, which means that all 5 have now been used. This one is the most unique in terms of the material, and I like it a lot so far. Only one wild island was used, but it was a large one with three separate beaches.
In addition, the Franco-Spanish player was given their own home island, courtesy of my trade with rossinaz.
Rocks and sandbars were also placed:
The Marseillais was the first ship to reach the island.
Each fleet wanted to get a good gold start:
Knowing that some Abandoned Crew had been placed, the French set their sights on acquiring some to use in a potential battle. However, it was also obvious that with the crew, only so much actual gold could still be on the island.
The Felicite started the action, hitting twice on the Marseillais, who now carried the final treasure coin.
The Marseillais turned around and gave the final coin to the Pluton, a bigger and more dangerous ship.
The Felicite used her narrow hull and some excellent maneuvering to slide between the island and the Marseillais, taking care to dismast the Frenchman.
Victor de Alva was very lucky in this game, and his luck continued in the chase for the Pluton’s coin. Using an extra action, the Cazador caught the Pluton and took out all 4 masts over two turns, setting the ship ablaze and leaving the Franco-Spanish to take the final treasure coin.
With that, the gold was counted… and it was a tie! Both fleets had 10 gold. Neither player was completely satisfied with this unexpected outcome, so it was decided that a second game would be played as a tiebreaker.
The setup for the second game was similar, but featured one wild island that had all the treasure on one beach.
The Cazador used de Alva’s luck (yet again) to reach the island first.
As the Marseillais loaded gold, the Pluton took advantage of the Cazador’s absence, shooting a mast off the Felicite and using her S-board ability to steal the Felicite’s only coin.
As the Franco-Spanish returned home, the French decided they might wait until they came back and protect the gold.
However, they were forced to turn around when the Cazador had other ideas, sailing straight for the French home island. In the meantime, the Marseillais returned to the wild island and exchanged her explorer for an abandoned captain and helmsman. At this point, the Pluton had two treasure coins aboard in addition to an abandoned oarsman.
The Cazador’s luck finally ran out, allowing the Marseillais to return home safely with her gold. Using the abandoned captain, the Frenchman took aim at the vulnerable Cazador, but promptly rolled three 1’s in a row! The Pluton was almost back home as well.
The Cazador took aim at the Pluton but only hit once. The Marseillais finally got a hit, and the Cazador couldn’t squeeze between the Marseillais and a rock, so the Cazador rammed and fired, inflicting considerable damage and setting the French ship alight. At this point, the Pluton was able to return home as the repaired Felicite sailed onto the scene.
To end the game, the Marseillais dismasted the Cazador with a ram and shoot, followed by the Pluton dismasting the Felicite with a broadside.
The gold was counted up, and the French prevailed over the Franco-Spanish by a score of 9-7! These were short but fun and close games that saw the emergence of Abandoned Crew, something I may be using a lot!
For my 1,400th post (on Miniature Trading), what else but another battle report! Another person has been introduced to Pirates! They received 2 packs of OE and 1 pack of DJC to go along with the MI Convention Pack. From now on, just assume that every single player has access to the game pieces contained in the MI Convention Exclusive.
The setup featured three beautiful wild islands with 10 total coins on them, as well as the nice new rocks made by rossinaz.
The Plymouth Rock and Richelieu explored the middle island while the Aaron Burr sailed to the western one. Champ stayed underwater.
With S+L+S speed, the Duc quickly caught the Aaron Burr, dismasting her and taking a 5 coin. On the next turn, the Duc sunk the Aaron Burr and used her reverse captain ability to approach Champ.
Champ looks to attack the Richelieu as the Plymouth Rock docks home her gold.
Champ failed the ram and board, allowing the Richelieu to dock and the Duc to corner the now-surfaced sea serpent, shooting off the beast’s tail.
On the next turn, Champ took a mast off the Duc, but it was too late. The Duc unloaded her gold. The Americans had no way of getting any more gold, and the French prevailed with an 18-3 victory!
The Bruja goes after the unprotected Skipping Stone, but her Catamaran keyword stops all shots:
The Bruja tries again on the following turn, but again is foiled by the defensive nature of the ship.
The Bruja finally succeeds, but it’s not without a price:
As the battle rages, the Cazador goes out for more gold:
The Mystic finally comes to the aid of the Skipping Stone, and the battle rages on. However, the Bruja’s abilities have stopped the Stone from moving (via Fear) while both coins the Stone loaded have been lost.
The Mystic leaves the intense action in search of gold to steal, using the Beast’s Belly as a distraction. The Belly proves to be quite a nuisance, taking out 2 masts and the Cazador’s helmsman with a ram.
However, with help from de Alva the Cazador returns and starts repairing before the Mystic can take any loot. In the meantime, the Skipping Stone has finally gotten the better of her engagement with the Bruja, as the Beast’s Belly looks to grab the final coin.
The Mystic raids the Spanish Pirates, while the Stone sinks the Bruja.
After losing a mast, the Mystic brings back the coin to her HI, while the other Pirate ships start the journey back.
Getting greedy, the Mystic returns for a second raid despite the fully repaired “Pirate Hunter” loaded with an extra action crew! The Skipping Stone provides cheerleader support, but the Cazador can’t be shot at since she’s docked at her HI.
Using her cannon bonus against Pirates, the Cazador crushes the Mystic and redeposits her stolen gold.
After the Cazador sunk both the Mystic and Skipping Stone, the Beast’s Belly returned home with the final coin (just a 1), giving the Pirates a 15-9 victory!
This was a decent game that saw some interesting ship types introduced. I have finally seen the value of the Catamaran keyword! What a nice ability to have, especially with the Stone’s built-in reroll. I think I’ll always like the Cannibal King better, but the Skipping Stone more than proved her worth today.
As for the future, I’m still trying to get new players into the game, but it’s a process. I’m looking at at least one game next weekend and hopefully more!
The first game wasn’t a Sealed Pack game, but my opponent did receive a pack each of SM, RV, DJC, and OE, along with the obligatory MI submarine pack (lol!), not to mention a bunch of other duplicates I’m giving away.
It was a 2 player, 100 point game, with very tight spaces for ships and an interesting ocean layout.
The setup featured two large arches as well as the huge island made by rossinaz, with 4 gold coins on each of the 5 beaches. There were other obstacles as well, including a huge sandbar and some dangerous rocks. Lastly, the Duke shipwreck made another appearance, with no less than 7 coins aboard. As normal, ships would have to roll for the reef to get to the shipwreck.
The Imperialist fleet – every ship is either English, French, or Spanish.
Most of the excitement would happen in the middle:
The Sea Monkey is towing the Silver Coffin as the infamous Maman Brigitte makes her way (slowly) underneath the arch.
The Bloody Blade and Skin Flayer mark a distinctive boarding theme for the Cursed fleet, and they head more towards the Duke shipwreck.
The Cursed sail underneath the arch into treacherous waters:
With consecutive extra actions from de Alva, the Lepanto is the first ship to reach the island. The rest of her fleet sails elegantly over the waves, which will soon be stained red by the horrors of the approaching Cursed.
The Enfant has just enough room to pass through the dangerous rocks, as the Lepanto explores and takes a coin.
An even tighter fit, the huge Le Gaule squeezes through next to the taller arch.
As the Sea Monkey and Maman Brigitte enter the middle area, conflict is inevitable.
I think I made the setup a little TOO cramped, but it made for interesting maneuvering!
War has begun! After taking a few coins courtesy of the Lord Cauldwell’s explorer, the Gaule is set upon by the Bloody Blade!
The Blade also succeeds with her only cannon in range.
All of the ships have converged on the middle area:
Between the guns of the Gaule and Cazador del Pirata and a ram from the Lord Cauldwell, the Bloody Blade is rendered derelict.
The Skin Flayer is hesitant to come to the Blade’s aid, especially with so many enemy guns still in the area.
However, the Blade wouldn’t go down without swinging (literally!), using her oarsman and scorpion blade to shred another mast from the Imperialist flagship.
An overhead shot of the game, still in its early stages. Treasure runners are making their way home, as the Skin Flayer looks to avoid further conflict, at least for the time being. The arches and rocks hinder her maneuverability near the Bloody Blade.
An excellent shot that actually shows all of the ships in play, as the Blade has gone down.
For a measure of revenge, the Silver Coffin takes a lucky potshot against the Cazador, using L+L range as the Sea Monkey tows her behind the rocks to safety.
The Imperialists bring back their gold:
As do the Cursed:
In a stunning move, the Cazador has built Ramsgate (from the RV pack!) on the sandbar, reasonably close to the Cursed HI!
The Skin Flayer eyes the new fort warily, eager to stay out of it’s L+L range. The Imperialists now have a sniping weapon of their own, although it’s not as mobile as the Silver Coffin.
The Cursed have explored the Duke shipwreck! The Sea Monkey rolled high, as did the Maman on the following turn.
The retracted blades of the Skin Flayer shine in the sun as the Maman takes more gold from the Duke.
Gold becomes more scarce as a repaired Le Gaule sails out.
More Super Rare action:
The Cursed bring back their shipwrecked gold as Sammy the Skull plots an assault against Ramsgate to destroy it and grab it’s gold.
More gold on its way to the Imperialist HI. Actually, all of the Imperialist ships are visible, as you can just make out the stern flag of the Lord Cauldwell.
The Cursed are annoyed with the fort, but now the Gaule approaches to defend it. To the left, you can see that the last gold coins in play are within range of the fort’s cannons, so Ramsgate is truly a thorn in the Cursed’s side here towards the end of the game.
Considerable amounts of gold are accumulating on both home islands:
The Silver Coffin snipes at the fort. The Sea Monkey acts as a shield, as Sammy knows the Skin Flayer is too important to lose on the next turn to the Gaule.
In the meantime, the Maman Brigitte tries to sneak back to the Duke…
Le Gaule has sunk the Sea Monkey! What will happen next is all too predictable…
It’s finally happened! The brand-new shiny steel blades of the Skin Flayer slash into the Gaule, and White Crew leap across to kill all of the Gaule’s crew!
The Skin Flayer also hits 3/4 times, including with her firepot specialist. The Silver Coffin is ineffective.
A great shot of the battle between flagships, with the sun glinting off the Skin Flayer’s blade, turning it almost a unique blue.
Another overhead shot, with the game winding down:
After more broadsides, the Gaule has damaged the Skin Flayer, but taken a horrific beating in return. Her automatic scuttle attempt fails.
The Maman can’t take gold from the Duke without being noticed! A well-timed EA from de Alva lets the Lepanto hit 3/3. I controlled the Cursed, and on my next turn, I deliberately tried to wreck the Maman (since I like wrecks and almost never see them), but rolled high once again.
The Lepanto dismasts the Maman and the Cazador begins towing her.
Ramsgate and the Lord Cauldwell team up to put an end to the Skin Flayer, but she’s still an Eternal ship with an oarsman aboard. To the left, the Lucy’s Luck and Enfant Terrible approach the last wild gold.
The Skin Flayer rows over her own wreckage. She still carries her full crew complement.
The Silver Coffin finally hits, tearing into the fort and taking a mast off the LC. Ramsgate only has the double-range cannon at this point. The last available coins have been loaded onto ships!
On the following turn, the Cazador explored the captured Maman to take her coins. The Lepanto sunk the Skin Flayer, who began repairing at her HI. However, it was obvious that the Skin Flayer would not be able to catch any of the Imperialist gold ships, so the game was called with that gold being transferred to the Imperialist home island.
With a relatively equal number of coins on each HI, it was anyone’s game. The gold was counted up, including the 4 on Ramsgate:
Cursed: 35 gold
Imperialists: 31
A very close finish! The Cursed’s first visit to the Duke shipwreck proved to be the decisive factor, as they found good values there. The Imperialists had more coins overall, but they had lesser values.
What a fantastic game! The Imperialists may have played a better overall game, but the Cursed got luckier with the gold. In addition, my penchant for risk-taking (with the reef) paid off in this case, though I was disappointed I couldn’t wreck the Maman Brigitte!
The first fleet was in shock as Davy Jones’ PoC flew across the sea to dismast the Buffalo on turn 1.
The Cursed Pirates got off to a good start, with the Loa’s Justice grabbing gold from underneath the Napolitana. The Carcajou and derelict Buffalo loaded gold at the beginning of the next turn.
On the second turn, the Prince dismasted the Carcajou with her first attack, then sailed away and took both masts off the Loa’s Justice with the help of Griffin’s cannon bonus. With so many ships around, Davy had his work cut out for him since he had to eliminate all gold threats immediately before they could dock home any gold.
However, the Cursed Pirates had other ideas. The Pyre rammed a mast off the Prince while submerged, and the Freedom’s Hand used her sniping ability effectively to take out another mast, eliminating the English from the game!
The Napolitana was trying to sneak under the radar and grab some gold, but the Pyre slipped in to damage her.
The Freedom’s Hand sailed around the stern of the Napolitana and hit twice to sink the Spaniard and end the game, giving the Cursed Pirates an unexpectedly quick victory!
The setup featured the huge island with 5 beaches functioning as 5 separate wild islands, with plenty of obstacles and terrain in a ring around it. The HI’s were placed outside the terrain ring, with Fleet 1 just out of the frame to the left. Fleet 2 is at the top left, while Fleet 3 is at the right and the BC fleet is at the lower right.
Gold has been placed and turn 1 is over! The Algiers is fogged out already, while the Corsairs are almost completely under the arch.
The Corsairs set sail in search of plunder and crew:
Gold starts disappearing quickly as the first 2 fleets make it to the beaches.
The Barbary runners dock as the Jackal’s Teeth finds her first victim. Preying on the smaller Napolitana, Barbarossa blasts off a mast and steals the valuable Spanish captain.
A different angle on the action, with Fleet 3 approaching the final beach.
Fleet 1 has returned some gold, including Smuggled Goods and the San Pedro’s +2 bonus. However, their other ship, the Napolitana, has been attacked again by the Jackal’s Teeth, stripping her of her oarsman as well and making her derelict. The Corsairs have taken gold from the other two beaches while the Napolitana (who had already docked) emptied the left one.
Fleets 2 and 3 have grabbed all available gold nearest them, while the Jackal’s Teeth has captured the poor Napolitana.
A fantastic shot of the center area, with the two Corsair runners off to the right under the arch. The Whisper is in the light but the Winds of Vengeance is under the shadows.
To the left, the Jackal’s Teeth released the Napolitana to spring for the last two coins left on the island. The Buffalo recaptured her comrade, sad to see that Aruj had stolen the ship’s entire complement of crew. Gold runners are returning to their home islands. On the other side of the big island, a 1-on-1 battle is raging between the Freedom’s Hand and USS Shark, who are fighting over a single coin.
The Algiers of Fleet 2 is trying to use round earth rules to launch a sneak attack on the loaded Jackal’s Teeth…
The Algiers lies in wait:
… But Aruj isn’t done yet! Moving the Jackal S+L+S to ram and board the Algiers, Barbarossa splinters two masts and takes the Algiers’ helmsman. The Winds of Vengeance provides cheerleader support, hoping to sail south and use round earth to get revenge on Fleet 2’s Freedom’s Hand.
Fleet 3 sends the Splinter around the world to try and intercept the slowed Buffalo (towing the gold-laden Napolitana), but the Splinter was too slow and the San Pedro blocked her path.
Aruj gets greedy, taking the Algiers’ oarsman as the damaged galley tries to flee through the narrower part of the double archway.
A perfect shot of the chase, with the Algiers left mastless and crewless.
This shows a good view of the narrow but tall arch, just wide enough for the oars of a galley to pass through.
The Jackal’s Teeth emerges from the ominous and huge shadows of the arch to come into the light:
As the Shark and Freedom’s Hand continue to duel over one coin, the Winds of Vengeance, Whisper, and Voleur have all joined the area in hopes of winning or ending the fight.
Now Aruj got even greedier. With a cargo hold full of gold and captured crew, the intimidating galley raced off after the Splinter, but finally failed a boarding party! (though it was a tie) The Splinter rammed the Teeth in hopes of stealing a coin, but the Teeth won this second boarding party to steal yet another crew, the Splinter’s helmsman. Fleet 1 sent the San Pedro and Buffalo via round earth to try and intercept the Corsairs, but the galleys were too fast and were able to get home on their turn (this shows the action partway through the final turn, before the Corsairs took their turn).
The Winds of Vengeance rolled a 5 to sink the Freedom’s Hand, ending that battle abruptly after all the efforts of the Shark and Hand. The Jackal’s Teeth zipped home to unload her full cargo hold, ending the game!
Another ocean fabric was used for the first time. This is another solid blue, but it’s lighter than the last one.
The beginning of the game was predictable, but it turned out to be a great game.
The Lord Cauldwell sneaks around to the west as all the other ships explore.
The Lord Cauldwell (LC) catches the Fenrir and dismasts the longship with a ram and shoot.
However, the Huginn answers with the only gun she has in range, her powerful 2L mainmast.
Both fleets are getting rich as the LC slinks away.
The tunnel is illuminated as only 3 coins are left in play.
The Huginn takes one while the LC appears to have designs on the other two. The Fenrir goes out with one mast repaired and looking to steal gold either from the LC or her HI.
The damaged LC dumps her captain to grab one of the two coins, and later thinks better of it and dumps her helmsman as well to load the last treasure coin!
Everybody chases each other around the island. The Fenrir takes off after the LC while the Shark and Splinter have other ideas.
The Fenrir catches the slowed LC and rams her mast off, losing her helmsman in the process (she lost her oarsman earlier in the game when the LC rammed her).
The LC is captured as the Shark and Splinter turn around.
In a bold act of courage and defiance, the Fenrir abandons the derelict LC (with 8 gold aboard!) to steal two coins from her opponents, one of which is a 5 and the other a 1.
The Huginn takes over on towing duty, but the Fenrir is damaged and can only sail at L speed.
The Shark moved in and shot at the Fenrir, but missed both times! After that, the Splinter rammed the Fenrir and won the boarding action to take back the 5. The Fenrir tried to escape but was rammed by the Shark, who dismasted her and took back the 1. However, the formidable Huginn made off with the LC, although she could’ve dealt some serious damage to Fleet 2. In the end, gold wins this game!
The Splinter has returned the 5, while the Shark gets revenge by sinking the Fenrir.
The Huginn towed the LC back and the Shark re-deposited the 1 on her HI, ending the game!
Both fleets had 8 gold on their home islands before all of these late-game shenanigans went down, which meant that the 8 gold from the LC now in possession of the Vikings gave the Vikings a 16-8 win!
This game was played on 8/2. The game featured a lot of the new islands and terrain I’ve made. They aren’t as pretty as the ones rossinaz makes, but they are interesting and add some needed flavour to the game. Also, there are some pieces that still haven’t seen action yet but will soon. A new ocean fabric was used as well.
An overhead view of the setup. The Mercs are at the bottom, Fleet 2 is on the left and Fleet 1 is at the top. Three icebergs of varying sizes are floating around. The southern archway is extremely tall, high enough for the Shui Xian to pass under. The upper arch is not as tall, but both have gold on them, which you’ll see in other pictures. There is also a brand new shipwreck of HMS Sultan, the other ship in that defective pack that contained the infamous Duke shipwreck from Economy Edition. To the right, a big temple-esque island strewn with both desert and forests marks the edge of the map.
The Mercs start S from their HI, giving them a jump in the gold race. However, the Shui Xian is the only ship capable of getting the gold back home, which limits her destructive range.
A different view showcasing Fleet 2 and the lower archway’s gold. A large rock provides an obstruction for Fleet 1, which you can see in the next picture.
At the bottom left, the last island is visible. Big and sandy, it’s not one of the prettier ones I made, lol. I do like the big sandbar in the middle though. You can see just how large the biggest iceberg is, as it rivals even the Shui Xian in size. The taller archway completes the collection of huge items in the southern half of the sea, and it appears as though a sea dragon may have flown through it. Was the hole (to the right) caused by Vieil Homme?
The Sultan’s gold lies in wait for anyone brave enough to cross the reef that wrecked her.
The fleets begin sailing, with the Mercs quickly exploring an island and the taller arch.
The Devil Ray speeds away at S+L+S:
Fleet 1 is seen beyond the lower arch:
The Algiers of Fleet 2 can be seen through the taller arch taking gold off the lower arch:
For this game, all icebergs moved every turn, but in the same direction.
The first exchange sees the Matuku leave her gold with the Shui Xian:
The Epee dumps her captain to carry more gold!
The mighty Shui Xian makes her way through the arch:
The Matuku lies in wait, knowing the Freedom’s Hand doesn’t have an explorer.
The Carcajou (of Fleet 1) dumps her captain to pick up a coin! She also discovers Smuggled Goods, so she can take both coins. In the meantime, a small but lengthy iceberg visits the wreck of the Sultan.
The Meresman and Algiers scare the Devil Ray away from one of their islands, forcing the sub to go south.
Tsai wants to fight, but he is hesitant to leave his treasure runners full of gold and unguarded, unable to unload their treasure. The Shui Xian rounds the arch and looks to intercept the Matuku, who has taken gold right out from under the Freedom’s Hand.
Fleet 1’s Poor Adams was the third ship to dump her captain and grab extra gold, and Fleet 1 has quite a bit. However, gold is also piling up on the other HI’s.
In the only shoot action of the game, HMS Meresman takes a chunk off the Devil Ray. However, the second shot missed, allowing the sub to dive and run on the next turn.
In the foreground, the Shui Xian takes gold from the Matuku. In the background, the San Pedro is the last ship to load treasure, taking major damage from the deadly reef that wrecked the Sultan. As a result, Fleet 2 moves to intercept Fleet 1.
The Devil Ray flees as the British gunships of Fleet 2 are almost obscured by the huge iceberg.
The damaged San Pedro makes her getaway, as the Freedom’s Hand moves to block the Epee’s lines of fire. The San Pedro returned home safely on the next turn.
The Devil Ray surfaces once again to give her gold to the Shui Xian, who uses Dories to unload it and end the game!
Fleet 1: 25 gold
Mercenaries: 19
Fleet 2: 16
In the end, a rather tame game that featured a lot of new islands and terrain. The +2 bonus of the San Pedro and Smuggled Goods resulted in a net +5 for Fleet 1, so they would have won with 20 gold anyway even without the bonuses.
A new era has begun. I went to Joann Fabrics and bought 1 yard each of 5 different blue fabrics, giving me multiple options for oceans and doing away with the rather annoying plunder pack map that held me over for a few months. The pictures look fantastic, and I will be making some more of my own terrain soon as well.
This game featured 3 players with 50 point fleets. The order of play went as follows:
The Cursed English set out in search of gold in unfamiliar but beautiful new waters. Sir Meyer is unhappy to be left behind.
An overhead view of the new ocean, reminiscent of the Caribbean:
Both of the new large islands made by rossinaz are visible. Two coins were placed on each individual beach, as well as on each island.
A nice shot of the Interceptor and Scorpion sailing around the new rocks:
A different angle showing Fleets 2 and 3 sailing to separate beaches of the same island.
Picturesque:
Another view of the rocks:
The Scorpion docks at one of the main beaches of the biggest island.
The Augusta slips around a cliff to mark the beach explored for the San Pedro. A waterfall beckons. (The color of the waterfall even matches that of the sea!)
The Freedom’s Hand deposits her fire shot on an island in favour of gold:
A wide shot of the majority of the sea, showing just how large that central island is.
The Interceptor quickly returns home, with the SAT-bolstered Scorpion not far behind.
With no enemies so far, every ship in every fleet was grabbing gold.
However, it looked like a conflict was brewing between Fleets 2 and 3. The Napolitana has also dumped her equipment to grab an extra coin.
The Scorpion is the only ship to brave the rocks so far:
A new angle looking west shows that gold is becoming more scarce.
With the Scorpion on the move, the Interceptor follows her lead by dumping her explorer in favour of Sir Meyer Hampstead.
A great shot looking northwest. Fleet 2’s Freedom’s Hand has engaged Fleet 3’s Poor Adams, who appears to be on a home island raid. In the meantime, the Augusta has been busy marking islands explored for the San Pedro.
However, the Poor Adams comes up just short:
Fleet 1 is bored and looking for some action:
A turn of heavy combat sees the Buffalo and Freedom’s Hand team up to dismast the Poor Adams, while the Scorpion sinks the Augusta with a double action.
Hampstead (aboard the Interceptor) has his eyes on the San Pedro, but the Buffalo moves to intercept her (pun intended). The Scorpion has explored a wild island to grab some fire shot that the Freedom’s Hand left earlier.
The Interceptor lost the boarding party! Hampstead was tossed overboard as the San Pedro reached home safely.
The Freedom’s Hand shot 2/2 against the Interceptor, but the English returned the favour with a perfect 2/2 of their own to dismast the galley. The Scorpion dismasted the Buffalo, as Fleet 1 dealt large damage to Fleet 2 during this turn.
Fleet 3 didn’t escape the Cursed wrath either. With a devastating slashing and shooting assault, the Scorpion left the Napolitana a burning hulk.
The San Pedro sails out to meet her old enemy the Interceptor. The Freedom’s Hand rows about, helpless.
The Interceptor’s big mainmast is blocking the foremast of the San Pedro, which is still standing. With the Spaniard pinned and neither ship having a captain, the two ships are locked in a battle to the death. To the east, the Scorpion chases the Algiers, who has loaded the second-to-last treasure coin in the game.
The San Pedro has won the battle! With only one coin left in play, the Spaniard limped towards it. After the Algiers seemingly escaped from the Scorpion after the Scorpion had to wait in the fog an extra turn, El Fantasma moved the Scorpion twice to miraculously catch up to the fleeing galley! It was all for naught, as the Cursed couldn’t deal enough damage to prevent the Algiers from reaching home on the following turn.
The Scorpion used another double action to quickly circle the big island and sink the San Pedro on her way home, ending the game with just three of the original nine ships afloat!
Considerable piles of gold were tallied up, with nobody having any idea of the results:
Fleet 3: 26 gold
Fleet 2: 21
Fleet 1: 12
What a fun game this was! My favourite part was definitely using the new islands and ocean, but the gameplay didn’t disappoint. Fleet 1 did a lot of damage but made a few strategy errors where they should have run gold rather than fought. (I got bored and wanted to slash things!) Fleets 2 and 3 were more conservative and it paid off. Despite the Poor Adams’ failed HI raid and the sinking of the Napolitana, Fleet 3’s treasure-trading Algiers and overall gold game proved superior to the +2 bonus of the San Pedro.
