Originally published to Miniature Trading on November 27th, 2015
I thought up this fleet on a whim. I was thinking about how, when teaching new players, Spanish Main is a great set to give away because it only has three factions (therefore increasing the chances they’ll get items from the same faction), and also because the high number of useful named crew. Not only that, but a lot of those useful named crew are simpler, easier to understand, and cheaper than some crew from later sets that are also easy to acquire. During fleet construction, new players often make fleets where a high portion of their build total is just with the cost of ships alone (35+ points for ships), and this leaves less room for the vital generic crew.
From there, I quickly thought up a fleet that’s quite simple but potentially effective, trying to use a small amount of crew.
I actually thought of the ships in the opposite order they’re presented here, but the whole thing came together within a minute or two. The Bon Marin is the easiest choice, and in my opinion the most “perfect” gold runner (not the best) in the game. The San Pedro is one of the best ships from the entire Fire and Steel set, and here she has an explorer. Her +2 gold bonus is one of the best abilities in the game, and her durability (and serviceable 3S guns) help offset the fragility of the other gold runner, the Bon Marin. Lastly, the Stephens is the only 5 master with the captain ability built in, so adding a helmsman is all that’s necessary to complete the simple gunship combo. Her guns aren’t the best, but she’s a threat, especially when you also throw the reverse captain ability into the mix.
Again, this is a simple, easy-to-use fleet designed to have as few crew as possible. This fleet has 37 points in 3 ships and the last 3 points are spent on just 2 minimal crew.
I’d like to think that many of you have seen Mind Control, although it only has 3 votes right now!
You can almost think of this as “Mind Control 2.0”. It’s not nearly as effective or fun, but the sheer amount of stuff happening and the nature of this specific challenge let me make a fleet I couldn’t resist posting.
The Seleucis is an absolutely perfect fit for this meeting of the Mind Control strategy and this particular fleet challenge. With at least one sea monster present in the opponent’s fleet, Seleucis will always have a rival beast to toss around. If enemy monsters are eliminated, Tsuro can effectively be given a move and shoot.
Tsuro is a gimmicky Cursed serpent that relies on a die roll to control it’s enemies, but it does work on a 5 or 6. Again, Tsuro could receive a move action from Seleucis at some point during the game, and then be given a regular action to attack. However, especially in the early stages of the game, Seleucis and Tsuro will stay docked at the home island, causing chaos in the opposing fleet while remaining immune to shoot actions.
The Bloody Jewel is outfitted with an explorer and none other than Lady Baptiste. Lady Baptiste may seem out of place with no EA/SAT crew or even a captain, but she serves a vital purpose. Baptiste will be the one to bang on the infamous Kraken Gong. Her reroll will give her a second whack at the fickle instrument, hoping for a deadly Kraken to emerge from it’s lurking below and freak out the enemy ships. Especially in a smaller game like this, the presence of a new Kraken could be a real game-changer. Lastly, rolling a 1 early on could be great for this fleet, since it could eliminate a Kraken in another fleet for this challenge.
The rest of the ships were chosen with the sole purpose of finding UT’s. I generally try to maximize the potential of my gimmicks working, and if a fleet suffers in creativity as a result, so be it. All four ships (and probably not the Jolly Mon) will swarm out and try to find the UT’s. Maps of Alexandria will aid in this process, and if the maps reveal that an important UT such as the Gong is within reach of the enemy, all available ships (including the Bloody Jewel) can swarm the enemy and try to steal it back, which could be effective with so many potential rams. In this case of a UT panic (I invented a new strange term! lol), Seleucis adds flexibility by allowing Tsuro to move L+L per turn to catch any opponent that has a desirable UT. Also, with so many runners available, it’s likely that at least one good UT will be found. The goal with Chariot of the Gods was to put Baptiste on Tsuro to reroll the controlling ability, but bringing in a Kraken is more important. If everything goes right, perhaps Baptiste could command Tsuro after she summons a Kraken. (Maybe she’d even like her new role more than the Golden Medusa (despite her flavor text lol) and become the new Hag of Tortuga!)
For those of you who will complain about the potentially detrimental effects of the Cursed Conch and Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight being used against me: this fleet is all about maximizing the gimmick, and that’s about it. Those two UT’s a great for mind control, especially with this challenge.
I hope to test this fleet sometime. It doesn’t have a true gunship, but with the amount of possible scenarios (even just winning by having more gold with all the runners), it will be fun and chaotic. Thanks for reading – comment and vote!
After going with numerous gimmicky entries for past challenges, including the most recent Small Fry challenge, I decided to go with a more practical approach for this one. This may be surprising to some, since sea monsters are some of the most gimmicky pieces in the game. I’m full of surprises!
However, to make this a practical fleet at just 45 points and still include a sea monster, I had to think cheaper. Ophidious is considered to be one of the best (if not the best) sea monsters in the entire game. With L+S speed, a cheap point cost, and fantastic offensive capabilities, Ophidious will be a nasty attacker. Ophidious is cheap because of that strange ability, but between the high number of sea monsters in this game and the fact that having a pricey sea monster limits the number of large boarding ships, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Ophidious also has Eternal, so opponents may want to think twice about attacking it or stealing its body parts!
I wanted to make a faction-pure fleet if possible, and the Pirates are a good option with their variety of creatures available. The second ship is absolutely perfect for this fleet and challenge: the Prussian Crown. A little-known 5 master from MI, the Prussian Crown is average in every way except for her submersible-hunting ability. The Prussian Crown is the main gunship in this fleet, capable of hunting down enemy sea monsters that lurk below the waves.
For crew, I originally only had Hammersmith and the explorer. However, seeing that the fleet was at exactly 45 points, and seeing that the Crown still had plenty of cargo space available, I decided to make the Crown even more deadly and add canceller Tia Dalma with Cannonball Gallows (for those purists who like to see the original versions of crew, I counter that Gallows is from the same set as the Crown, making it more fitting, not to mention that Hammersmith was also introduced in MI). I still like the original crew setup, since it allows for 3 total cargo spaces on the Crown, making her a surprisingly good hybrid, capable of getting gold, fending off attacks, and hunting down enemy sea monsters. Although I like the gold-oriented approach, I feel that Dalma makes this fleet even more practical, since it almost guarantees a victory for the Crown against most opponents in this particular challenge. If the opponent has two sea monsters, the Crown could cancel one to the surface to shoot at it and shoot at the other one with “torpedoes”! Also, I kept the explorer, for the Crown still has a cargo space open. That could actually come in very handy, since if the Crown explores an island and takes the highest value coin, that could be enough to make the difference. Lastly, although I like the Crown running gold and fighting, my final ship makes it more reasonable to use Dalma and decrease the total cargo space available.
The Raven has always been a classic. For my main treasure runner, I wanted a ship that was relatively cheap that could make good speed. The Raven doesn’t really need a helmsman, so an explorer bumps her total cost to 11 points. With a nice ability and good guns, she should be one of the better treasure runners in this challenge. It’s entirely possible that Ophidious would escort the Raven while the big bad Prussian Crown went after the opponent’s ships and monsters with submersible hunting and cancelling. However, Ophidious is also a potent offensive threat, and could get tangled up with an opposing sea monster. Lastly, if Ophidious directly teams up with the Crown, there may not be a lot of things in other fleets for this challenge that could stop such an onslaught.
I added the Cursed Conch, which is a nostalgic UT for me. There were a few others that I considered, but they would probably hold more potential benefits to other fleets than to mine. The forts were added since the Raven could get gold home quickly, and the Crown may want a place to repair.
This fleet’s biggest weaknesses are a lack of extra actions, and the potential vulnerability of the gold game. The fleet won’t be receiving extra actions other than through the Conch, and the Crown can still be hit easily by enemy gunships with L-range guns. If a Sea Dragon preys on the Raven, this fleet could have trouble winning. However, that’s part of the reason I added Dalma – she could come in handy cancelling some of the more annoying sea creature keywords, such as Kraken. However, I think this fleet is pretty well off in terms of guns and gold, so hopefully it can win the day!
Thanks to notalwaysyou for running the challenge, and thanks to you for commenting and voting!
The Mercenaries have a unique advantage in deathmatches in the form of submarines. This is an all-sub fleet besides the Celtic Fury.
The Celtic Fury is loaded up. I dislike her cannons, and the more masts you have the greater value there is in putting a world-hater aboard, so Barbinais enters the fray. O’Brien provides a potential SAT and more firepower against the powerful English. Lenoir provides the first of three cancellers in this fleet, almost as many as my American fleet. Herr Fuchs adds captain and cannoneer, so between the cannon bonuses, SAT, and cannoneer ability, the Celtic Fury will be dishing out some damage. I don’t like relying on 10 masters, but unfortunately she has to lead the pack and weaken enemy ships (especially 5 and 6 masters) so they’re more vulnerable to being rammed by the subs. Therefore, she may purposely go after multiple targets and not concentrate on sinking individual ships, at least in the early game. She also has a funny-looking shipwright, who could see action with the SAT and/or if the cancellers can “hide” the Celtic Fury for a turn or two.
With this many points it would be a shame to exclude the Nautilus. The Nautilus is rather obnoxious, with Submarine, Canceller, and the Acorazado ability.
I finally acquired Count Gustov for my collection, so I wanted to showcase him. Only a 16 point ship could hold what I wanted to do, and the Terror is an underrated sub. With Thane’s reroll, the Terror will be just that, a terror of the high seas. Fear can augment the numerous cancellations going on, while the captain and helmsman help the sub ram and shoot at enemy ships. The Terror would likely be the first submarine to surface, and possibly the only submarine to surface willingly.
The Hephaestus completes the trio of the most powerful Mercenary combat subs. She’s moving slowly, but her ability and guns make her a considerable threat if an opponent can bring her to the surface.
Last but not least, I really wanted to include Shaihulud, but the cancel ability is simply too important. The Mobilis resembles a junior version of the Nautilus, and it’s possible that these two submarines will surround the Celtic Fury for a devastating triple-canceller wave of destruction!
Thanks to xerecs for the idea, and feel free to comment and vote!
The strategy is simple: use defense to exhaust all opposing ships. 4 ships with cancellers, 2 submarines, 2 eternal crew, and oarsmen everywhere.
The Kettering is a great flagship, capable of firing 6 shots per turn. With an oarsman and Eternal, she’ll be hard to capture.
The Ghost Walker isn’t Eternal, but does carry the cancel ability and a powerful complement of guns.
The Mercury is definitely the toughest ship to deal with. It’s an Eternal submarine with immunity against boarding parties, and the oarsman prevents capture. She also has an annoying defensive ability, in addition to more than capable guns.
In order to help the Mercury’s quest to invincibility, the Lizard and Hessian can surround the sub to provide considerable support. They’re vulnerable to ramming, but two cancellers (or 4 with the Kettering and Ghost Walker leading the charge in front of the Mercury) should help fend off any sub hunters or opposing cancellers. In addition, the Hessian has an oarsman so she’ll still be a mobile canceller moving S+S until sunk. Last but not least, both of these support ships have captains and solid guns, making them even more difficult to take down and get to the Mercury.
The Paul Revere and Minuteman add some much-needed S-range guns to the fleet, although that ability could easily be cancelled into oblivion! The Paul Revere is one of my favourite ships and includes a nice S-boarding option. Although the Paul Revere is the only “normal” ship in the fleet with no defenses, the combo still adds 8 cannons to the fleet.
Lastly, just to make things even more annoying for your opponent, the Lamon will also be underwater and ram weakened enemy ships. She could be in the middle of a “canceller sandwich” like the Mercury for maximum protection.
Thanks to xerecs for the idea, and feel free to comment and vote!
The French presented an interesting dilemma since many of their extra action crew come from CC, RV, and BC, which aren’t allowed in this scenario.
This fleet is unique compared to some of the other fleets designed for this scenario; this one is designed to be very difficult and annoying to deal with, while also being able to stop other fleets that have unique advantages.
The Bonaparte should come as no surprise. With a canceller, chain shot, Schooner keyword and reroller, the Bonaparte is annoying at best and almost unhittable at worst.
The Delacroix is one of my favourite ships from FN and the only 5 master in the fleet. She’s obviously capable of doing a lot of damage, but her reverse captain ability fits perfectly with the addition of smokepot shot. With such an equipment, she can become essentially invulnerable after shooting. Also, the smokebank could provide temporary cover for another French ship.
The Tepant is close to invincible with Eternal and an oarsman aboard. She continues the theme of this fleet being very difficult to deal with.
The Epee isn’t one of the better French gunships, but in this scenario she carries Barbinais and an oarsman to maximize her effectiveness. As she loses masts, her cannons will continue to fire (at 2L,3L,3L,2L) until she sinks.
The Rocher Noir is a fast gunship capable of dealing with an annoying possibility.
The Bonne Chance is one of OE’s gems, and here the gunship is towing a flotilla for 7 extra cannons at 22 total points.
Last but not least, the Lion sits at the HI to compensate for the fleet’s lack of extra action potential. I originally had Capitaine Arazure on the Delacroix, but I wanted to include smokepot shot and the Bonne Chance. Deleflote will provide extra actions to different ships as they need them, especially the Bonaparte, Delacroix, and Epee.
Thanks to xerecs for the idea, and feel free to comment and vote!
Originally published to Miniature Trading on September 20th, 2015
140 Points
This English Empire fleet was inspired by xerecs’ idea.
The English are my favourite faction, but with both cancellers and numerous other pieces unavailable, I had to think outside the box a little bit. Also, the English 0LR +5 wasn’t available either.
To purposely make things even more difficult for myself, I decided to only use ships from POTC, though I could use anything from SCS to SS.
The Endeavour is loaded with SAT+reroll, while Portland protects the crew. Beckett will also be rerolled, meaning that Gunn will be very busy! Beckett becomes more valuable in games like this where his ability is more affordable and more flexible with additional ships.
The Dauntless has a standard crew setup, but also has fire shot and stinkpot shot (a personal favourite of mine) to dole out extra damage. Between her powerful guns and nice ability, she’s a nice complement to the Endeavour.
Keeping with the POTC theme, Norrington joins the Interceptor, which may be the first ship to shoot moving at L+L+S in the early game. Norrington makes it more likely that Exploding Shot will find its mark, which could cause opponents problems if it hits early on.
The Phoenix is a great sniper ship that can hit on a 5 or 6 here thanks to HGold. Even at close range she’s got 4 guns shooting at 2L.
I originally had the HMS Hyena instead of the Victor, but the Hyena is perhaps slightly overused and the Victor has slightly better cannons. In addition, the Victor can repair herself if need be.
The Success is an underrated ship that can do some surprising damage through her ability and guns. Her total point cost of 14 takes up just 10% of the build total, making her an underrated asset.
Thanks to xerecs for the idea, and feel free to comment and vote on this English Empire fleet!
Originally published to Miniature Trading on September 12th, 2015
105 Points
Unlike a lot of my other fleets, this fleet is designed to win at all costs. It’s cheesy and overpowered, but it’s fast and effective.
The San Cristobal (SC) is the expected flagship. With de Alva’s link, she’s got three cargo spaces available, which she can use to get gold from an island or enemy ship. Diaz provides the fantastic canceller ability, making the Cristobal a fast force to be reckoned with. Her max speed is S+S+L+S+S+S+L+S. The SC plays a dual role here; the only way to win is to get the most gold, and therefore this fleet is based on getting treasure. The SC has the speed to hit almost any target on the sea on any given turn. Mycron (big surprise!) will make sure she can move if de Alva doesn’t give the EA. The SC acts as a deterrent and possible gold runner. If she explores, she’ll explore one of the most distant islands.
Next we have the Hai Peng. CJS links, so the HP still has 2 cargo spaces available, which she might not even need with CJS’s ability. Similar to UPS and HPFF, the Hai Peng will work with the Intrepide to teleport gold home to build forts. Ideally, Mycron will give the HP an extra action on the first turn of the game, and the HP will be able to build Paradis de la Mer on the wild island closest to your opponent’s HI. Think about it: imagine having by far the most difficult fort to destroy sitting on your doorstep before you’ve even moved your fleet!
The Intrepide sits at home waiting for the Hai Peng’s gold to flow in. Aristide bumps up the value and you can start building forts. Again, build forts on the furthest islands to protect the gold and then work your way backwards. If the HI’s are close together, build a fort on the nearest contested island to establish dominance of the area (which you may already have with the SC). When you run out of oarsmen to feed CJS, the Hai Peng can grab two coins and sail away at L+S+L+S, possibly doubled by Mycron. Also, once the oarsmen are gone the Intrepide can run gold herself, with 2 spaces and Aristide’s bonus still available.
The Banshee’s Cry (surprise!) can explore the nearest wild island, which is why she has an explorer rather than a helmsman. The BC could also tow the Doombox if something happens to the Raven.
The Raven/Doombox combo is fast and deadly. With a captain on the Raven, the combo moves S+S+S and shoots 2 cannons at 2S and 4 at 3S+S. However, similar to the SC, the fleet’s goal is to win above all else, so the explorer lets the Raven take a few coins quickly. The captain could also be substituted for something like Divers, Raft, and another oarsman for the Intrepide, or even 3 oarsmen if you want Mycron to focus on the Hai Peng and building forts.
The Patagonia joins the Intrepide at your HI, where Mycron gives this fleet a lot of flexibility. Even without extra actions this fleet is very fast, but with de Alva and Mycron doubling speeds, it’s a very competitive fleet.
I’m not a fan of events, but this fleet is made for pure brutality and winning effectiveness. Becalmed should be played on the first turn to freeze as many ships of the enemy fleet as possible, giving the Hai Peng more time to build as many forts as possible. Hidden Cove would also likely be played early in the game to give the HP or SC a head start on the first turn. It could be saved for later in a pinch if the SC or other ship needed a boost.
I figured I’d find the UT’s before my opponent between the SC, HP, and forts.
There you have it! One of the most effective fleets I’ve ever submitted. Hope you liked it! Be sure to comment and vote!
Originally published to Miniature Trading on September 12th, 2015
This fleet is designed to steal all of your opponent’s ships, and then use them yourself. There are ways to make this work better, such as negative UT’s and putting a lot of gold on islands so the game will last longer.
This is a gimmick fleet, but I tried to make it as relevant as possible if things don’t work out. It just so happens that all of the ships with the necessary ability are Pirate and American, but I had to throw Commander Temple in there at the end for nostalgia, not to mention the perfect EA combo with the Europa, also from the first set.
The Harbinger is inevitably the flagship, and she’s decked out to be purely efficient. She has enough oarsmen to be a force. The Harbinger can go after the opponent’s largest ships. She’ll also act as a way to dismast enemy ships and then leave them there for other ships to teleport home, since the Harbinger should always be on the front lines. The Harbinger is the best boarder to take out enemy oarsmen that prevent dereliction, so she’s very important to this fleet.
El Dorado only has 2 cargo spaces, but she’ll likely tag team with the Harbinger and bring any derelicts home. With three masts and reasonably serviceable guns, she can ram and board any ships that the Harbinger can’t dismast, and then go from there. With one cargo space open, she also has the option of stealthily grabbing the highest value coin from an island or stealing a treasure from an opponent not worth teleporting home.
As I mentioned above, I tried to make this fleet as relevant as possible despite its gimmicky nature, hence the Philadelphia’s explorer. She actually makes for a decent treasure runner, and she won’t be able to assist the Harbinger with a couple of 5S cannons. That being said, capturing ships is still important, so the Philadelphia could abandon her trading routes at any time to go after a fresh derelict.
Unlike the Philadelphia, the New Orleans actually has offensive capability. She also has enough cargo space and a high enough point cost to accommodate a nice crew combo. The captain and helmsman let her move S+S+S and attack enemy ships. While the Harbinger and Dorado go after the bigger ships, the New Orleans will probably work on her own, hitting the enemy gold runners. With a well-timed 6 from Preble (enhanced by Nolan’s free reroll!), the New Orleans could dismast and teleport a gold runner in one turn! This would be a great way of getting gold home quickly, since the derelict would immediately dock at the HI and unload her gold. Lastly, a “fleet admiral” crew (like Preble) was something I really wanted to include in this fleet. The Pirates don’t have a 0LR reroller, but the New Orleans is perfect for the combo. Extra actions are key for this fleet since you can’t explore a derelict immediately after ramming. Preble can give EA’s to the Dorado and Philadelphia as well to increase the speed and stealth with which this fleet steals ships!
The Europa/Temple combo is a classic, and like I said before, that EA can come in very handy. It will also help the fragile Europa get out of trouble, which she’ll probably be in. The Europa is probably the least important ship in this fleet, but she works perfectly to include Temple (the only crew ship stealer) and add another weapon.
When I saw the fleet at 89 points, I wanted to include one more ship. I was looking for a ship that could fight and grab gold. However, it would have to be a cheap ship with minimal crew. The Hound is perfect to round this fleet out to 100 points. She has a captain and explorer, able to fight when necessary and grab a few coins. At the beginning of the game, she’ll probably leave her captain behind and take 3 coins from a nearby wild island. Afterwards, she’ll pick up the captain and go off in search of enemies and/or more gold. The Hound adds another flexible ship to this fleet, and keeps the Pirate/American/English theme. Last but not least, her ability complements the fleet perfectly as well. Seeing what treasures your opponent has can determine which ships the stealers will go after.
I included Neptune’s Figurehead for two reasons: I don’t want to sink my opponent’s ships, so once I capture them, the UT will be mine; and if one of my ships finds it, one of the fragile ship stealers could remain in the game longer. Rum and Natives will slow down my opponent’s ships, which will allow the ship stealers more time to get to them and take out their masts while not affecting my gold runners for very long. Dead Man’s Chest serves a dual purpose: this fleet has no way to counter submersibles, and with so many ships joining my fleet I may acquire it even if my opponent loads it first (plus my opponent can’t benefit from using it against my fleet). Wet Gunpowder can prevent my opponent from returning fire against my ship stealers, while my gold runners either don’t want to shoot or (in the case of the Hound) won’t be far from the HI where they can repair.
The forts are not really a priority, but they could help if my ships need to repair.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on September 12th, 2015
This is a fleet that tries to steal as much gold from your opponent as possible. The idea is to let your opponents explore while using the UT’s to your advantage, and then strike the gold runners.
Le Pluton is an underrated ship from South China Seas, which is perhaps the reason no one talks about her. Between her S-board ability, Leander Arnaud, and Dumas’ reroll, the Pluton is a fantastic ship to steal with. She can also double as a gunship/gold runner hybrid if she’s too slow or there aren’t any targets.
The Descharges has long been one of my favourite ships. The ships is packed with great stats, which lets her play a variety of roles. Here she’s another treasure raider, with captain and S-board just like the Pluton. With three cargo spaces available, she can take a lot of gold, even if that means exploring an island.
The way I have the Albany set up is one of my all-time favourite crew arrangements for any ship in the game. It’s truly perfect. To use the Albany’s ability, you’ll want as many cargo spaces free as possible. Stern combines three abilities into one crew, and all three are extremely relevant to what the Albany will be doing. The captain ability can help soften up or dismast enemy treasure runners before the Albany easily wins the boarding party. The +1 to boarding rolls means the Albany will almost always win against most gold runners. Lastly, the extra action capabilities will allow the Albany to catch enemy treasure runners, which might not be possible even with the mandatory helmsman. Nolan makes the setup even more ideal, linking to Stern and providing a free reroll for either the extra action or the boarding attempt. In conclusion, the Albany is set up quite well to do anything. Even if she doesn’t get the chance to raid any gold runners, she’s a formidable gunship in her own right, with so many abilities at her disposal in addition to her powerful guns.
Last but not least, the Prince of Chichester is one of the absolute best 2 masters in the game and another one of those “packed” ships. With the captain and helmsman abilities, she doubles (triples?) as a gunship, gold runner, and gold stealer. Peter Miles (a very unique crew) allows the ship to take treasure without necessarily winning a boarding party.
This is kind of a gimmick fleet, but with so many good guns, captains on every ship, and lots of cargo spaces available, I think this fleet could do well even if it can’t steal gold. Thanks for reading; comment and vote!
