Originally published to Miniature Trading on May 31st, 2017
110 Points
This is a very gimmicky but potentially very nasty setup using two 10 masters, the Celtic Fury and Guichuan. Due to Black Mark’s silly 1 point increase, this fleet isn’t quite legal as it appears here.
It’s a bit complicated; the CF’s ability allows Snape to come aboard, and then he gets to Black Mark the ship and turn it Cursed. From Mercenary to French to Cursed, quite the transformation. We can pretend or house rule that BM doesn’t increase Snape’s cost by 1, or else the captain has to get tossed. It says a lot that the captain is the most expendable crew in this setup. Davy Jones copies the Treasure Ship keyword of the Guichuan, allowing the CF to once again have 7 free cargo spaces.
What should we do with all that free cargo? Why, fill it up with stolen loot of course!! Mr. Fantasma comes aboard to allow for home island raiding, with the helmsman speeding the ship up and allowing for multiple movement segments (though the latter shouldn’t matter (rhyme!) due to the “move S after loading cargo” part of the Treasure Ship keyword).
The Guichuan is pretty nasty; she doesn’t need the Black Mark keyword to get the right crew setup, but Cavendish comes aboard to let Grim the Savage join the party. This is where the combo starts to get evil, if it wasn’t already. Not only can Grim steal as many coins as he can possibly take, that number is increased to 9 by Sammy the Skull’s link to all Cursed ships! Throw in the admiral actions from the Headhunter, and the Guichuan could steal up to 18 coins in a single turn!! (if you had hoists and/or these to help you. The silver explorer and stinkpot specialist were added to fill out the ship’s point limit; after all, with so much ridiculousness on two ships, why not make it more wacky?!
The build total is somewhat random at 110 points, but here is the general strategy. Let your opponent gather lots of gold without ending the game. Keep the two 10’s together and amass 20-40 shots (40 if you copy the Headhunter’s AA ability and roll two 6’s; Snape could reroll one) to take out any enemy gunships. Due to the immense quantities of silver you’ve inserted into the treasure mix, your opponent will bring many of those coins back to their home island. Choose the right time to strike, and then begin furiously stealing gold from your opponent’s home island. When complete, turn both ships ghostly for the trip home to avoid being boarded, and use stinkpots to slow down enemies and prevent them from being able to use captains and double actions. Get back to your HI and unload the gold and silver, with the Guichuan getting an extra chunk of loot from the silver.
The nice thing about the illegality is that it’s on the Celtic Fury, so you could run this exact Guichuan setup at a 60 point limit.
Originally published to Miniature Trading on May 31st, 2017
86 Points
The French have plenty of good ships and crew for boarding and stealing gold. This isn’t so much a fleet as a combo-building exercise; for more ideas, see my Gold-stealing fleet.
Dumas is a proxy for:
Lady Roimata
RtSS-043, Super Rare
French
Points: 6
Link: Fetu
Ability: Captain. Once per turn before you give this ship an action, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, this ship can be given the same action twice.
Flavor: Suspicious and not very welcoming of the newcomers to her ocean-bound land, Lady Roimata has made overtures towards France for the benefit of her people. French cannons may be put to even better use against neighboring islands.
The Charlemange is a strong boarder, and here has S boarding and a reroller to help steal up to 3 coins. The Triton is one of my favorite underrated ships and has the ability to not be pinned after ramming, which should help Leander Arnaud get away with maximum loot (up to 4 coins at once). The oarsman helps to protect him, with a similar goal in mind for L’Heros. She has a really good combo, moving S+L x2 with rerolled SAT’s (I wish I could reroll my SAT score… lol XD). She can rob enemy HI’s of a couple coins, with Parley protecting her from the counteroffensive. The Vengeance setup is almost a combination of the others – rerolled EA’s with a boarding bonus, and the Schooner keyword should help her get to enemies. Perhaps the greatest part of these combos is that 3/4 have the captain ability and are capable gunships and hybrids that can thrive even if they’re not able to steal gold from the enemy.
Feel free to comment, vote, and share your own gold stealing strategies and combos! Watch out for these sneaky French raiders in a port near you! XD
Once I saw that you could combine the minor factions into one fleet, I knew I wanted to do that. I also knew that I wanted to use at least three of the minor factions. Naturally the Mercenaries get left out for now, but some of their ships could have worked reasonably well. This is a challenge with endless possibilities and combinations in terms of the theme, so I had to stop at one point and just stick with what I had.
I wanted a big bad Viking flagship, and here I’ve chosen the Asgard. She has the crew to make her dangerous, but since I wanted to maximize how many ships were in the fleet and how many letters I would have available, there aren’t any double action crew in this fleet. The Asgard provides the D in GOLD.
The Noble Swan is next, providing the O in GOLD. Li Quin was added at the end due to the Noble Swan having solid defense to protect him between her ability and the Turtle Ship keyword. Quin allows for a captain and helmsman to be added.
The Agha’s Whip gets the G in GOLD, while the Glorious Treasure gets the L. The Agha’s Whip is the main treasure runner after having to remove the Winds of Vengeance. The Glorious Treasure will be a bit of a hybrid, and can assist the other for a three pronged attack if desired (a nasty attack at that, for only 5 masts total you’d have 7 shots and some nice abilities). These ships also help with other words:
Seadog
HAR!
Treasure (LOL)
ARRRR (yes there are 4 R’s)
I found that bcym were the letters I needed more of, but I couldn’t find better combinations in the time I had. Let me know if I missed any good words to use!
At the end of the day, my fleet spells two words that might not count for anything, but are still important:
WIN (the goal of Pirates!)
WOW (hopefully this fleet wows you)
The strategy is relatively simple – the Agha’s Whip grabs gold while the Asgard and Noble Swan likely stick together for a decent offensive, with the Asgard potentially nabbing some gold. The Glorious Treasure explores her own island near home and then heads out to cause havoc. I included some piratey set-specific UT’s, just for fun.
Other ships considered:
Kalmar + captain, helmsman (23)
Winds of Vengeance (6)
Divan’s Punishment (11)
Most of my fleet was chosen for efficiency, but it just so happened that a lot of flavor ironies occurred with the prevalence of PotC pieces.
First off, the main ship is the Flying Dutchman. Against Fortaleza Dorada, and with 30 extra points in the allied fleet, it’s not likely that a 60 point fleet would be able to survive long enough to destroy the fort AND explore the island to rescue Mysion. Therefore, winning a single boarding party against the fort is likely the way to go. The FD has Ghost Ship, SAT with reroll, world-hater, and the necessary captain and helmsman abilities. She also has that nasty built-in boarding massacre ability, which pairs perfectly with Jack Hawkins’ crew-protect ability. In addition, Genny’s Red Rampage adds +1 to all boarding attempts, making the FD an even more dangerous boarding foe. If any allied ships get in the way of the Flying Dutchman, she will simply steamroll them like Captain Salazar!
Jack Hawkins is my required Pirate Lord, though he’s joined by two other Pirate Lords – Captain Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann/Turner, not one but two literal Pirates of the Caribbean. Barbossa and Elizabeth both found Mr. Hawkins to be somewhat suspiciously familiar to another pirate they had known in the past….
~~~~~
A dark cloud of gloom seemed to settle over the small collection of motley pirates, who looked down at the old wooden floor of the Flying Dutchman.
Ragetti: “Never another like Captain Mysion.”
Elizabeth Swann: “He was a good man.”
Bootstrap Bill Turner: “Part of the crew, part of the ship.”
Tia Dalma: “What would any of you do? Would you sail to the ends of the earth and back to fetch back witty Mysion?”
Ragetti: “Aye.”
Barbossa: “Aye.”
Jack Hawkins: “Aye.”
Elizabeth Swann: “Yes. Aye.”
Tia Dalma: “All ‘right… but if you will brave the weird and haunted shores at world’s end, then you will need a sheep that has sailed dose waters.”
Suddenly the waters next to the Flying Dutchman began bubbling… a metallic spine slowly emerged from the depths….
Hawkins and Barbossa frown, while Elizabeth gasps in shock.
Ragetti: “S’ Mysion’s submareen!!”
Jack Hawkins: “Where did you get that?”
Tia Dalma simply smiles and walks to one of the Dutchman’s boats to board the submersible.
~~~~~
The sudden, unexpected appearance of Mysion’s former ship, the Coleoptera, gives the Pirates hope! With canceller Tia Dalma aboard, the submarine will give the Flying Dutchman valuable protection while staying submerged and therefore immunity to the entire allied fleet.
The basic strategy involves the Flying Dutchman ghosting through the allied fleet, while the Coleoptera goes underneath them. The FD arrives at the fort and blasts as many flags off as possible, after which she tries to board. Ideally the FD would get relatively close to the fort before getting an SAT on the next turn, so as to blast the fort with a full broadside before smashing into it and firing another 2 or 3 shots before boarding. However, a single 2 or 3 shot volley could be enough between the +1 to boards and potential reroll. The toughest part will be keeping the FD healthy enough for a boarding attempt, which is why the Coleoptera must at least slow the allied fleet with Tia Dalma, the overlapping rules, and probably some submerged ramming. Finally, if the FD gets an SAT and can rip off 10 shots at the fort, it’s possible that she may simply blast away until the fort is gone, at which point the Coleoptera will surface so Ragetti can jump on the island and grab Mysion (yes, he’s there for more than just flavor heh).
It’s not likely to work against 3 super gunships armed with rerolled double actions, but between the similar speed of the Flying Dutchman and Tia Dalma’s help, it’s the best strategy I could muster in a reasonable time frame given only 60 points. The FD’s cannons are all short range, while her boarding ability could really help if things turn into a chaotic melee.
Originally posted to Miniature Trading on November 23rd, 2017
They’ll never be the best gunships in the game, and not many qualify as the best gold runners either. However, I have a love for the 2 masted schooner ship type. They are sleek, elegant, and even beautiful. They look really cool and fast on the ocean/table, and many of the ones from their first two sets are what I would define as “classics of the game”. Click the pictures to see the game piece pages at Miniature Trading (assuming that site still works as you read this).
Taking a closer look:
The first of MANY excellent 2 masted support gunships in CC and RV, and not just among the 2 masted schooners. The RJ is just perfect as a support ship: great speed, very good cannons, and a nice offensive ability. Throw in a crew from much later in the release schedule, and you even have a decent hybrid option.
One of my very first ships, and arguably the best of the Pirate 2 masted schooners. An even better hybrid than the RJ, the Raven combines wicked speed with good cargo and good guns. Lots of crew options exist, and with the right setup, you can have a “super hybrid”: fight, get gold normally, or steal gold with the immunity to pinning.
One of the best English gold runners, and a stacked ship for cargo in general. She can get a lot of gold from wild islands, or combine that with robbed loot. HMS Goodfellow from RtSS (12 points, 5 cargo, S+S speed, Secret Hold) would have provided some competition for her.
Her ability is not on par with the others listed here, but this is still a good gunship given Spain’s other options at this point cost. A dedicated fort-wrecker can be a nice thing to have againstParadis de la Mer , or campaign games in general (she did well in CG1 against the French).
Along with the Raven, this was the fastest ship of my original collection. Unlike most of these other ships, she’s not going to be a good hybrid or gold runner. However, the Mercure can still be a good “assassin” type ship, with blazing speed and accurate cannons. You could substitute a helmsman for a firepot specialist, or maybe even get Lady Roimata (Captain + SAT) with a firepot specialist and oarsman.
Almost identical to the Royal James, but with a far less practical ability.
The most offensive of this ship type, and one of the most devastating 2 masted gunships in general. Quite pricey, but you get great firepower that can wreck cargo on enemy ships. A captain, helmsman, and musketeer would make this ship quite fierce, or you could try using her as a hybrid with Hammersmith and Coconut .
France has much better options, but this is a fun ship to use with equipment.
An underrated gold runner, I consider this ship France’s answer to the Lady Provost. Not quite as much cargo, but a nice defensive ability.
I’m sick of her, but this is one of the best gold runners in the game.
Almost the same as the Mercure, but slightly worse firepower. A very nice option for towing Minuteman , and again, a firepot specialist on that 2S gun can really give the ship some bite.
That covers the good ones; although there are some subpar 2 masted schooners, this ship type may have a higher percentage of good/great ships than almost any other ship type (5 masters come to my mind as possibly the best on average since there aren’t many mediocre ones). The Flying Fish , Black Arrow , and Glaive (underrated in my opinion) are playable, but the others aren’t as much.
Anyway, really wanted to post this at some point, and I hope you enjoy the aesthetics and gameplay of this ship type as much as I do!
Hi everyone! This is a thread where you can share what Pirates stuff happened over the past year. It can be just about anything, from accomplishments to purchases to cool ideas. If this seems too vague, you can look at mine for an example. There’s also the option of stating your Pirates Goals for 2018.
It will be nice to look back upon the entire year and find joy and amazement in how much we’re capable of. List (possibly with links and/or a short description) everything you accomplished in 2017 in regards to Pirates that you thought was a good thing that happened. Everyone could make their own post and contribute their own things that they did or are currently doing. When I think about this past week for example, I don’t really think much of it, but when I consider everything I’ve personally done in the entire year, I feel amazed at myself! I think others could share that feeling as well if they look back at everything. Also, little things count too, so it doesn’t have to be all about one particular event or anything. Once everyone has posted, we can talk about what we accomplished as a whole forum.
a7xfanben
Goals for 2017
-Taught 4 players, not 8. (including 2 in the past week)
-VASSAL module. This was hit and miss, with plenty of no-shows and excuses from others. However, it was still a solid year, with progress made on T2, a handful of players new to the module, and a THIRD campaign game starting up (with SIX players no less!).
-10 year anniversary games – These were played: FN (x2), OE, PotC
-I didn’t quite play a game in each month of the year, missing March and October (though of course CTO was going on in October)
General accomplishments:
-Taught 4 new players
-Had a good first full year as forum moderator
-Recently became a moderator at the Black Mongoose Tavern
-Completed 12 trades
-Submitted 37 fleets O_O (many of which could use more comments and votes!) (new personal record, and quite possibly a record at MT for Pirates fleets)
-Wrote 8 Miniature Reviews (new personal record)
-Posted a lot of pictures on Instagram and BGG
-Won two fleet challenges
-Won a Miniature Review Contest
-Was the driving force behind the creation of VASSAL Campaign Game 3, the first virtual campaign game with not just more than 3 players, but 6!
-Reached out to NECA and Wizkids, and did some legal research about the patents
-Ran the Pirates CSG Survey
-Started the Pirates CSG Podcast with godmason
Games:
-Played 76 games, my second highest single-year total
-Played Command the Oceans, the biggest game ever by a wide margin (at the time)
-Started CG3
-Finished VASSAL Tournament #2 with Xerecs
Pirates Goals for 2018
-At least 8 new players taught (strive for more!) (previous high for a year is 7, so I’m trying to top that each year)
-VASSAL module (get more players on the module, hopefully edit for more ship types, execute on plans with Xerecs)
-Finish VASSAL Tournament #2
-Make a bunch of videos for youtube
-Make great podcast episodes and have more guests
-Finish stuff for Ocean Terrain Contest #3
-10 year anniversary games (RotF, F&S, SS)
-Try to play at least one game in every month of the year
Here are my thoughts after seeing the movie a second time (first viewing was the first one I could go to, last Thursday 5/25/2017 at 7pm).
I thought the movie was great overall but a bit disappointing based on the previews and past movies.
Random things I liked:
-Jack pulling a pistol on Henry after Henry held a sword to him (like father like son, CotBP)
-Jack roping the shark, and tricking Carina
-Pretty much the entire St. Martin part, especially with Jack drinking rum on the way through and the actions/lines of the other pirates.
-Wedding scene was extremely random but funny
-Blurring of lines between protagonist/antagonist. If you hadn’t seen the previous movies, it would be very easy to root for Salazar (who never did any wrong, arguably other than killing defenseless pirates). None of the protagonists are as lovable as in the previous movies (other than maybe Barbossa), and they really don’t deserve everything they get in this movie. If this were anything like real life the bad guys won big-time. (also the Royal Navy wasn’t as “evil” as it was under Beckett, and they lost too)
-Post credits scene (mostly since it hints at a 6th movie)
-Barbossa talking about the Pearl only having one captain (AWE)
-I generally enjoyed the lines and comedy
-Not enough original music, though they did a good job reusing themes in new ways (Geoff Zanelli was supposedly a protege of Hans Zimmer but the lack of brilliance showed)
Things I didn’t like:
-They completely wasted their star power. Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Paul McCartney got like 5 minutes of screen time combined. Everyone was hoping for more Will and Elizabeth after On Stranger Tides, but the movie almost completely ignored them.
-By extension, they wasted the Flying Dutchman. There were multiple scenes where it would have been perfect for Will and the FD to pop up. One was when Jack and his crew threw Henry overboard. Will could get angry at Jack and confront him, which could have led to Will and the Dutchman playing a role for the rest of the film (along with making a great entrance). Also, when Salazar grabs Henry, we don’t see him again until Salazar possesses his body (lol). This is another great opportunity – the Silent Mary is alone on the water, Salazar looks like he’s about to kill Henry, and then all of a sudden the Dutchman shows up and starts shooting at the Silent Mary!! Would have been a fun ship battle, maybe with the same ending if Salazar and his ghost crew just ran away towards the trident and Will can’t do much but watch. Also could have had the Dutchman on the other side of the divide with her own anchor. (can she shoot while submerged? Imagine seeing the FD zooming along underwater, shooting cannons out one side of the water and into the other at the ghost crew!!) An absolute utter waste of one of the coolest characters and coolest ships in the series.
-Continuity problems. Everyone is talking about how the whole flashback did away with the established story regarding Jack’s compass, but also his accessories and hat.
-Why did Salazar and his crew survive? Since they died in the Devil’s Triangle, but this also brings up the fact that they’ve done the same thing for every movie (undead/unkillable antagonist with cursed crew on a ship with some kind of supernatural power)
-Will should die since he has no heart (lol)
-Elizabeth doesn’t talk
-Henry and Carina are a bit bland, and I’m a bit sick of the forced love story between two characters we don’t have a lot of reason to care about (this aspect was far worse in OST but continues here)
-Plot revolves around an all-powerful device that gets destroyed almost immediately without anyone being able to use it hardly at all
-Carina is like the “science woman” who explains everything in plain detail to the audience, while everyone else in the film is a buffoon regarding it (except for Barbossa to some degree)
-Forced family theme (similar to the Star Wars problem) – in a big world/universe, why do random family connections unexpectedly happen all the time? Carina wasn’t that likable and the way and speed in which the concept was introduced didn’t make me care more about Barbossa (he’s already a great character)
-Why was a Royal Navy ship of the line (by the looks of it, nearly a 3 decker if I saw things correctly) able to catch the Black Pearl that night? Barbossa was running from the dead, so there’s no reason to not go full speed.
-Too magical: For me this movie had too many cartoonish, supernatural elements. Obviously that’s been a theme since the beginning, but the entire Trident sequence towards the end (from when they touch land until Barbossa falls) felt way too much like some Guardians of the Galaxy/cheap superhero kids movie sequence. It felt too “disneyfied” (I like Disney but the previous movies had more realism and historicity). Too much science/gems/magic/fake island stuff for me.
-Jack isn’t as enjoyable – I actually didn’t have as much of a problem with this like most people did, since it makes sense for him to be a washed up drunk after all he’s been through and frustrated with the Pearl still in the bottle.
-Pacing was a bit too fast – movie could have been longer with some more exposition/slightly more drawn out scenes. Some fast cuts during the action sequences (especially the night battle between Jack and Salazar) were hard to follow, tough to tell what was going on with the details.
-Another dead villain after one movie. I understand they aren’t sure about a potential 6th movie, but I thought Salazar was probably good enough to remain as a villain for more than one movie (not as good as Davy Jones).
-Salazar and crew too similar to DJ and crew: can’t step on land, can walk through stuff (brig cell w/ Henry)
-Davy Jones or Barbossa returning in another movie would continue to cheapen the threat of death for the main characters (Elizabeth and Blackbeard seem the most reasonably mortal)
-Why wasn’t Jack more hurt from getting stabbed with the trident? (even before it broke there was no blood or evident pain)
-Especially during my first viewing, it really didn’t look like Salazar was about to kill Carina at the end. It seemed like all 5 people on the chain could just keep climbing, with Barbossa letting Carina go ahead of him if he needed to defend her from Salazar. Jumping off and dying on purpose seemed completely unnecessary and was kind of a cheap death, especially with how little the audience likely cared about Carina and how much people loved Barbossa. (Jack also didn’t seem to care about Barbossa’s death at all, but he’s understandably happy to finally not have a rival for control of the Pearl for once)
-Jack just randomly didn’t have his signature hat on when sailing off with the Pearl at the end
I seem to have had the opposite problem most people had. My expectations were too high for this one (based on the cast and amazing previews, again, wasted star power), but low enough for the 4th one (which was originally going to have a lower budget, and obviously a different cast than 1-3). The 4th one was as good or better than I expected it to be, but this one was somewhat of a disappointment. It seems like others expected way more from the 4th but after that one (which most people liked far less than I did), their expectations were lower for this one.
I did enjoy the film a little bit more the second time, since I knew what to expect.
My updated rankings:
1. 1 and 3 (1 is a more “perfect” movie due to 3’s plot and deals being hard to follow)
3. 2 (DMC)
4. 5 (DMTNT)
5. 4 (OST)
Also, I agree with most of this. I’ve made some customs that you can find at the bottom of the Epic Seas sheet (4th tab).
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!!
Originally posted to Miniature Trading on May 24th, 2017
This was a special game to celebrate the 5th (and possibly final) Pirates of the Caribbean movie being released this week, Dead Men Tell No Tales. It’s a PotC tribute game, with tons of ships and characters from all 4 movies represented.
Here are the participants. They each have special victory conditions, as they’re fighting for separate goals. This makes it a tiny bit like an RPG (role playing game), and should make for an interesting experience. (crew abilities found here)
English:
HMS Endeavour + Lord Cutler Beckett, Mercer
HMS Dauntless + Admiral James Norrington, Governor Weatherby Swann
HMS Interceptor + Mullroy, Murtog
Edinburgh Trader
At 86 total points, the English fleet is out for pirate blood. They will not stop until all pirates have been defeated.
Goal to achieve victory: Eliminate all Pirate ships and crew.
Captain Jack Sparrow:
Black Pearl + Captain Jack Sparrow, Joshamee Gibbs, Cotton, Marty, Pintel and Ragetti
Somehow the crew fit into the point and cargo limits of the ship due to the links! Jack is up to his usual tricks – staying alive by whatever means necessary. He’s got his full crew aboard to help him, which should make the Pearl a force to be reckoned with.
Goal to achieve victory: Be alive at the end of the game.
Davy Jones’ Cursed:
Flying Dutchman + Captain Davy Jones, Bootstrap Bill Turner, Jimmy Legs, Palafico
The Kraken
Davy Jones is out for more souls, with Jack Sparrow in particular on his hit list. However, he has a target on his back, and wants to live forever. This fleet functions as part of the Cursed faction.
Goal to achieve victory: Be alive at the end of the game. (bonus points for capturing as many enemy crew as possible, and for keeping enemies from finding the chest OR its key)
Barbossa is wise, and has a lot on his mind. He’d love to get the Pearl back from Jack, but avoiding the English and Davy Jones while doing so will be difficult.
Goal to achieve victory: Capture the Black Pearl. (bonus points for staying alive)
Blackbeard:
Queen Anne’s Revenge + Blackbeard
Blackbeard is the odd one out here, as the only standout from On Stranger Tides. However, his historical record speaks for itself.
Goal to achieve victory: Survive, eliminate other Pirate rivals (especially Jack and Barbossa), and end up with the most gold whether through coins or captured crew. (his ability lets you unload captured crew for gold worth their point cost)
Anamaria:
Jolly Mon + Anamaria (obviously illegal due to her point cost, but I’m also negating the Jolly Mon’s ability because she would weigh less than Jack, especially with all his gear lol)
Anamaria is still annoyed with Jack for not having gotten her ship back. She had to pay for the Jolly Mon to be raised from the bottom of Port Royal, and now demands payment AND another ship from Jack.
Goal to achieve victory: Receive gold AND a captured ship from Jack Sparrow. (can be any amount of gold and any ship in play, with bonus points for HMS Interceptor)
The Brethren Court:
Empress + Captain Sao Feng, Lian and Park, Tia Dalma
Ranger + Gentleman Jocard
Centurion + Captain Villanueva
Seref + Ammand the Corsair
Fancy + Capitaine Chevalle
Otter + Sri Sumbhajee
Ningpo + Mistress Ching
At 101 points, the Brethren Court’s fleet is the only thing capable of directly standing up to the Royal Navy in the Caribbean. Sao Feng has gotten the real Calypso aboard his ship, and intends to release her to combat both Davy Jones, the Royal Navy, and possibly Blackbeard as well. To do this they must get Ragetti’s wooden eyeball (Barbossa’s piece of eight) and Jack’s piece of eight, both of which start the game on the Black Pearl (though they may not realize this).
Goal to achieve victory: Release Calypso, defeat the Royal Navy, and be the last fleet standing.
It’s possible that more than one participant will achieve victory, at which point various tiebreakers may be used.
Now onto the house rules and other variables (forgot to use a few others I originally planned on):
–Wind rules
-The Flying Dutchman can submerge. When submerged she follows the rules for submarines, except that she gets +L to her base move and cannot ram.
-Will and Elizabeth Turner will be in the Port Royal jail to start the game. This is where the Royal Navy will sail from. By docking at the port and being given an explore action, any Pirates (not the English or Cursed) can free them and use them if desired.
-Some crew have multiple versions; if that crew is on a ship, either version can be used on that turn.
-The undamaged Empress is standing in for the damaged version, which is the version I’m using stats for.
-Any UT’s can be loaded face down. No UT’s take up cargo space.
Custom UT rules:
Jack’s Compass: Lets you look at all face down treasures on islands and ships. (points to thing you want most)
Dead Man’s Chest and Davy Jones’ Key: If both are on the same ship, you can either kill Davy Jones outright or command the Flying Dutchman and the Kraken. (the latter of which could make you a huge target)
Curse of the Black Spot: Automatically makes this ship a target of the Kraken. (target changes if the Kraken already had a target)
Aztec Medallion: This ship’s crew cannot be eliminated.
Letter of Marque: English ships cannot attack this ship in any way.
Here is the setup. Port Royal is at the upper left, which is the northwest corner of the map. Isla de Muerta is at the top, and you can see that the Black Pearl is starting the game inside a fog bank nearby. Blackbeard has entered the area from the northeast, while Shipwreck Cove holds the Brethren Court’s fleet in the far east. Barbossa has emerged in the southeast. That small island near the center represents Isla Cruces, and Davy Jones and his Kraken are to the south of it. The big sandbar represents the one from At World’s End in the “Parlay” scene. Anamaria is on the Jolly Mon in the southwest.
The English, with the Dauntless anchored in a position similar to the outset of Curse of the Black Pearl. Three 4L and two 4S cannons occupy the fort, which fire in fixed lines of sight (no rotating their line of fire like normal cannons). The Turner couple is in jail.
Scenes from…
The Curse of the Black Pearl:
Dead Man’s Chest:
At World’s End:
World’s End! Ocean’s Edge! This game actually features a waterfall cliff.
A few turns in, and the Interceptor has explored the Sandbar, with Cannibals killing Murtog.
This looks familiar…
… ironically enough, Jack Sparrow has gotten the Curse of the Black Spot! The Kraken is after him! He also picks up Rum (which his whole crew gets drunk on), a Spyglass, and the key to Davy Jones’ chest. (NOT just a drawring of a key!)
Blackbeard aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge has found both Plunder and Smuggled Goods, which will be worth 6 gold combined if he can unload them.
The Edinburgh Trader is the only English ship not to venture into southern waters, but the Flying Dutchman lurks underwater nearby. Barbossa is after the Black Pearl, and would rather not use his Jailhouse Dog to eliminate Jack’s Black Spot, hoping the Kraken can damage the Pearl but leave her intact so Barbossa can capture it.
However, the Brethren Court have other plans, which include taking Barbossa’s and Jack’s pieces of eight to release Calypso!
Barbossa tried to tell Sao Feng that his piece of eight was Ragetti’s wooden eyeball, currently aboard the Black Pearl with Jack. But Sao Feng didn’t trust him! The Empress gets the weather gauge and rams the Hai Peng! However, Sao Feng’s boarding party is repulsed, with Park taking the hit. The Centurion also rammed, taking out one of Barbossa’s cursed crew. Unfortunately Captain Villanueva, one of the Pirate Lords, died in the ensuing boarding chaos. This made Sao Feng come to his senses, and he agreed to not attack the Hai Peng any longer as long as Barbossa was telling the truth. (as a side note, Sao Feng has collected the pieces of eight from the 7 Pirate Lords in his fleet, so he need be the only one alive to release Calypso if he acquired all 9 pieces)
I forgot to take pictures for a while. The Black Pearl used her great speed and some occasional wind gusts to avoid the Kraken and Flying Dutchman. Jack decided to rescue Will and Elizabeth from the Port Royal jail, with no English threats guarding the harbor. However, this put him into a corner, surrounded by Port Royal on one side and Davy Jones and his pet on the other! Jack temporarily accepted his fate, letting the Kraken engulf the Pearl. He planned to fight his way out since he couldn’t run any longer.
Barbossa, Blackbeard, and the Brethren Court head northwest to seek out Jack and the Black Pearl, who were starting a brutal fight against the Kraken! The Seref was attacked earlier in the game by the Dauntless, and here she is being escorted by the Otter back to Shipwreck Cove where she can repair. Unbeknownst to the Brethren, Blackbeard deposited his stash of Plunder and Smuggled Goods in part of the town of Shipwreck, netting him 6 gold. Tia Dalma’s canceller ability halted the Dauntless and Admiral Norrington, so the English have sailed back south. Anamaria was headed to Port Royal to pick up Will and Elizabeth for their assistance, but strong and constantly shifting winds made her journey difficult. By the time she had nearly reached the harbor in this picture, Jack already had them aboard the Pearl.
This looks familiar! Ever the savvy pirate, Jack intentionally let the Kraken take the Black Pearl near Port Royal, who had a cannon in range of the beast.
Devastation: after a fierce fight, the Black Pearl is gone. The Kraken is mortally wounded and has taken damage from the Empress, who used Tia Dalma to cancel the Kraken keyword. All hell has broken loose, as the Royal Navy contingent engages the Brethren Court. Blackbeard has left the scene to pursue Barbossa and the vulnerable Otter with Sumbhajee aboard. However, Barbossa is using the Hai Peng’s speed to full advantage, racing towards the ocean’s edge/world’s end. Anamaria spots him and looks to join, eager to do anything but join the melee up north.
With a timely AA from Beckett, the Royal Navy unleashes English gunnery! The Fancy, Ningpo, and Centurion are quickly dismasted, leaving the Ranger with no support. Even the Interceptor and Edinburgh Trader are available, having no better things to do.
In another unintentional irony, Barbossa steers the Hai Peng off the edge of the world and over the waterfall! Anamaria follows him in desperation on the Jolly Mon!
In the chaotic aftermath of the main battle, the Royal Navy continues to reign supreme. The Flying Dutchman finally was able to get at Sao Feng in the Empress, which sank. Davy Jones then turned his attention to the Dauntless, with Jimmy Legs saccing Lian to provide a move+shoot. It went horribly, and the Dauntless took advantage by blasting off 3 of the FD’s masts. The severely weakened Kraken has surrounded the Edinburgh Trader (again), but the Endeavour and Interceptor are healthy, the latter having captured the Ranger and Gentleman Jocard for the fun of it.
Here’s a cool sea-level view near a rocky outcropping, showing the Kraken in a familiar place and the Dutchman’s gunports. Especially with the Endeavour looming, you can tell the battle is going in favor of the English.
After a turn in Davy Jones’ Locker, Barbossa has succeeded in rescuing Jack and his motley crew from the depths!!
Here is the Black Pearl setup with everyone on board!
The English were able to kill the Kraken and capture the Flying Dutchman.
Knowing they must team up with each other to stand a chance against the Royal Navy, the Pirates band together and fight! A shift in the wind gives the English the weather gauge! The Black Pearl is quickly dismasted, while Blackbeard’s ship loses two masts. The partially repaired Seref arrives on the scene, but the Otter has already been dismasted. The Edinburgh Trader engages the Empress.
Despite the QAR sinking and having just two ships left, the Pirates put up a good fight.
In the end the Royal Navy emerges victorious, having accomplished their goal of ridding the Caribbean of piracy!
The English definitely benefited from being out of the action during the middle of the game, and basically all the pirates wanted something from Jack, which led to infighting. The themed strategies were fun to watch play out.
This was a fun game that showcased a ton of aspects from Pirates of the Caribbean. I hope you enjoyed reading about it, and I hope my videos will improve over time. I also recorded my first few videos for Instagram, where you can hear the background music I had on and even glimpse a few moments that the pictures don’t show.
The first game of the planned VASSAL weekend was a 3 player Circle of Blood game between myself, repkosai, and wifey!
Repkosai went first with a diverse fleet, followed by yours truly with my ship stealing fleet (its first game!), and then wifey with a fast Pirate fleet. Thanks to Rizz for making such a cool game setup; it would be my second go-round at CoB, and the first experience for repkosai and wifey.
With an odd number of players, we had to improvise the last chunk of picking fleet locations, which is why repkosai’s HMS Gibraltar is in the middle of the play area between the hostile forts.
This shows the first of two major coups (“a notable or successful stroke or move”; feat, master stroke) by a7xfanben’s ship stealers in the early part of this game. Looking back at the first picture, the Banshee’s Cry moved towards the SE island, and was pursued by the Harbinger to the north. Because of the unique home island rules (the first island you explore becomes your home island), there was considerable strategy in essentially being able to choose a location. With some intimidating Pirates to the north (repkosai’s Black Pearl crushed the Raven and Neptune’s Hoard in a single turn, with the Revenant also lurking), I wanted a location far from them.
In a very important die roll that allowed the move to work, I rolled a 6 with Preble to get an AA (Admiral’s Action). The Electric Eel (of wifey’s fleet) had docked at the SW island, with my El Dorado also headed there. I had other options, such as exploring the SE island with the Hound or trying to get an island in the NW area. After some strategic thinking, I made my choice, trusting the Harbinger to not roll a bunch of 1’s in a row lol.
El Dorado used her action to dock at the SW island. She then used the AA to explore it, making it my home island. Suddenly the Electric Eel was caught docked at an enemy home island, with no chance left to explore. The Harbinger surged forward, ramming the Banshee’s Cry but taking care not to sink the ship, simply dismasting her with a shot. Then Havana Black sacced an oarsman to EXPLORE the Cry, triggering the Harbinger’s ability. To complete the coup, the Harbinger warped to her new home with the BC, suddenly docking right next to the flabbergasted crew of the Electric Eel! The ship stealers were living up to their name, going from not having a home island to capturing a ship, getting it home, and simultaneously denying another ship from that island’s gold!
Clockwise from the top: repkosai has sunk the Raven and Neptune’s Hoard, putting wifey in a major predicament. In the SE, the Hound has explored the SE island while the Star of Siam makes the southern island wifey’s HI. The Harbinger knocks two masts off the fleeing Eel, while El Dorado looks to transfer Weapons to the flagship. The northwest is a scene of considerable delay, with the Windjammer finding Rum and the New Orleans finding Natives.
Repkosai’s fleet gets gold while my ship stealers continue to bother wifey’s fleet. The Harbinger dismasts the Eel, leaving her carcass to the less-important El Dorado while the Harbinger gets ready to make full sail towards the south. The Hound is hounding the Star of Siam, ramming a mast off but failing to hit with cannons. The Europa is slow without a helmsman but lurks to the west of the Hound, which would soon become important….
Another major coup! (Sorry if it sounds like I’m tooting my own horn too much, but honestly these two moves are some of my favorite that I’ve pulled off in a Pirates game) You may be wondering where the Star of Siam went. Well, she was snagged like the Banshee’s Cry.
Once again, the situation was more complicated than a simple picture can show. The super-fast Black Pearl was bearing down on the southern tier of the sea, likely in support of HMS Gibraltar raiding wifey’s unprotected home island (repkosai has made some great plays of his own this game). The Hound’s captain was worried about the BP, but reckoned that he still needed to pursue the SoS, who had picked up a certain Calico Cat who had been “cast away” for some reason. Now, I will admit that I got lucky once more, but it was perfect timing for the second time too. The Hound had caught the SoS at the SE island and knocked off her final mast. The SoS lost Calico Cat in a boarding party but rowed a bit to the south at S+S. To mitigate the Hound’s fear of the Black Pearl arriving imminently from the north, the Harbinger was sailing at full speed towards the general area of interest.
The Hound captured the SoS, towing her so the ship would be as far from the Black Pearl as possible. The luck occurred with the Europa getting an extra action from her built-in ability! I was originally going to move the Europa 4S and get her on the starboard side, to protect her from a potentially hostile Black Pearl. The Europa could not reach the SoS with her first action, and therefore couldn’t teleport her home with the second since she would need the second just to reach the SoS. Then I suddenly realized that because the SoS could move S+S but was still technically derelict, the Hound could tow her and then immediately release her, upon which the SoS turned around and moved S+S towards the Europa! This saved the Europa valuable movement. The Europa was then able to reach the SoS with her first action, and explore the derelict with her second action, using Commander Temple to warp both ships home!
This second coup of the game for me was triply effective – it made the Hound less of a target, it got the SoS and Europa out of harms’ way (the Black Pearl), and it gave me another capable gold runner in my fleet. All in all one of my favorite moves I’ve pulled off in this game, showing how important it is to consider all options and really think through how you want to tow or “untow” things to your greatest benefit.
However, for all my bragging, repkosai had gained a steady lead in the gold race, and many of my ships with treasure on them were far from home. Here, the Philadelphia and New Orleans are finally getting sails unfurled after their encounter with the Natives. The BC has explored the western island, while HMS Gibraltar raids wifey’s HI for a 7 coin (which I saw with the Hound’s spying ability). The Electric Eel and Star of Siam repair at their new HI, while the Dorado and Europa follow the Harbinger to support her potential intervention in the southern theater. With the Hound in a bad spot on the ocean anyway, I decided to have her redock at the SE island just to build Ramsgate, which could serve to not only deter the Black Pearl from coming after the Hound, but also to potentially protect my gold from being stolen off my HI by the Gibraltar.
Here the Harbinger is about to dismast the Windjammer.
The Windjammer was captured, eliminating wifey from the game and giving my fleet yet another captured ship.
Here you can see all 10 of the ships in my fleet, in a rare instance of them being relatively close to one another.
Each fleet was busy wrecking forts on the sides their HI’s were on. The northwest island (with Natives) looked like a potential future hotspot.
The last forts are finished off and the two imposing fleets are about as close as they had been all game.
My fleet masses near the northern whirlpool, anticipating a conflict.
However, a somewhat unfortunate situation played out, with each fleet inevitably being content with getting local gold. My fleet got the last of the native gold, while repkosai’s Morning Star grabbed the final coins from the northern island.
Repkosai’s fleet made a move towards the ships I had getting gold from Ramsgate in the southeast, but the distances and lack of whirlpools prevented a major encounter. Soon afterwards the Europa made a surprise attack, using an EA to burst through the eastern whirlpool and ram the valuable HMS Gibraltar! Thomas Gunn was lost in the boarding party, and the Gibraltar scurried home for repairs, the rest of her fleet covering her stern.
At this point it is worth noting that all gold (except for Ramsgate) had been unloaded to home islands. However, the game was quite “live” as both fleets had a HI raider: HMS Gibraltar for repkosai and a captured (no surprise there!) Electric Eel in my fleet. In addition, the gold race was a complete mystery but we both knew that it was likely very close. With that, the endgame was decided: it would be a raiding challenge, with neither side wanting to completely vacate their HI in fear of the other player making a move towards it.
Repkosai conceded that he didn’t think he would be able to pull off a successful HI raid without TGunn aboard the Gibraltar along with his numerical disadvantage. Thus he formed a protective barrier around his HI with all of his ships, and waited it out. This let me formulate any strategy I wanted, and of course I thought of a many plans. I decided to round earth part of my fleet, with the Electric Eel as the most important ship. Other ships headed to meet up with them in the northeast near repkosai’s HI.
With infinite time to orchestrate what I wanted, I set things up to perfection. With my ships in position, my plan was sprung. Two forts were built, to provide places for repairing and any gun assistance in case of a chase. The Harbinger hid in the fog, ready to pop out and start the assault!
The Harbinger tore into the Gibraltar and Revenant. I made sure to target the Gibraltar, so I could possibly capture another HI raider and gain a decided advantage, simultaneously securing my own gold for the duration. I managed to capture the Gibraltar with the Windjammer, but couldn’t get an extra action to the Dorado to warp her home.
Repkosai’s counterattack was devastating, with the Black Pearl sinking the Harbinger and Gibraltar with a double action! This denied me from using the Gibraltar, and took out my flagship as well. The Yankee rammed the Windjammer, while the Morning Star attempted to stop the Electric Eel from raiding the HI.
I managed to dismast the Black Pearl with a combination of ships, and then used a lucky AA from Preble to capture the ship with the Dorado! This netted me another capture, but it was doubtful the BP could be used in time to affect the results.
Captain Jack Sparrow: “I’m going after the Black Pearl…. I know where it’s going to be, and I’m going to take it.”
The Electric Eel was continually foiled by the MS, Yankee, and Revenant until she was dismasted, which ended the game!
After the gold count:
1. a7xfanben: 85 gold
2. repkosai: 81
3. wifey: 0 (she had 7 or 8 before it was stolen)
What an amazing conclusion to a fun game! In the end, wifey’s captured Rum (worth 5 gold) made the difference in a way, since it got my score from 80 to 85! Very high scores, and very close as well. I must admit being very happy about the victory, since I played one of my favorite games ever in the early going, and certainly felt deserving of the win after the plays I made.
Another successful Circle of Blood game, and it’s a great scenario that I would recommend. As far as potential changes for us, I would say that making the islands a bit closer together and/or adding more whirlpools could help. Also, the forts were easy to eliminate, so they should probably have at least 6 3L cannons instead of 4.
Thanks for reading! This was played over the course of three different sessions on VASSAL. We’ll be back with more sometime, and until then, may your swords stay sharp!
Now, I will admit that I got lucky once more, but it was perfect timing for the second time too. The Hound had caught the SoS at the SE island and knocked off her final mast. The SoS lost Calico Cat in a boarding party but rowed a bit to the south at S+S. To mitigate the Hound’s fear of the Black Pearl arriving imminently from the north, the Harbinger was sailing at full speed towards the general area of interest.
