Today (February 14th, 2017) is the 10th anniversary of Pirates of the Frozen North! To commemorate the occasion I played a game using ONLY stuff from FN, with the exception of generic crew so the game would be more fair.

Here are the fleets in the order of play, as the Vikings rolled to go first!

My current traveling collection actually has some of the better Viking gold runners, though I was disappointed to leave the Donar out. However, with the Grendel, Sleipnir, and Kalaallit (abbreviated KL) getting gold, the Vikings looked to be in good shape. The Wodin looked to function as a hybrid, with 3 spaces open for gold, the captain and helmsman ability with good guns, and the gold capture ability for yet another option. The Hrothgar was the flagship of the 100 point fleet, carrying two of the best Viking named crew (Shayna Deux and Sigurd Andersen) as well as a proxy helmsman as my Viking crew options are lacking.

The opposition: a conglomeration of ships from the Big 5 factions, which is almost all the other FN ships in my traveling collection!

The rarely used Seminole would try to give the already-deadly Tartessos and Orkney an extra cannon bonus, making for an intimidating gunship squadron. The Marie Antoinette (MA) led a group of four gold runners, the rest of which were small, uncrewed ships. The MA had Leander Arnaud aboard, who would try to take advantage of the MA’s S-boarding and steal lots of Viking loot. This would be my first time using the Seminole, Tartessos, and Ahura Mazda, as they are all recent acquisitions.

Welcome to the Frozen North!!

The Big 5 picked an island near lots of icebergs to be the Viking home island. The Vikings didn’t want to deal with the Orkney and Tartessos, choosing one of the furthest islands away, and hoped the arches and some icebergs could give them trouble. The straws at the upper left and right are the round earth boundaries.

The 3D foam icebergs would function as icebergs numbered 1, 2, and 3, with the largest being 1 and the smallest being 3 since you want to roll high in this game. For their direction, 1=NE, 2=E, 3=SE, 4=SW, 5=W, 6=NW (essentially clockwise from the north with no due north/due south).

6 regular icebergs were also in play, with 6 FN islands making up the home and wild islands. I didn’t use my custom islands (with lots of green foliage heh) since I wanted the setup to be as thematic as possible.

Arches always seem to lead to great picture opportunities, and this game was definitely no exception.

Both home islands and both arches:

The Big 5 had 7 ships to the Vikings’ 5, but both fleets had plenty of ships on the small side.

Which fleet would weather the cold and emerge victorious?

The west:

The east:

The arch on the left is usually flipped to the right to put gold on it, but here I liked it a bit different, allowing the little nook you see at the closer end. Each island had 6 coins, except for an accidental 7 on the southern island.

They’re off! Eager to take advantage of two nearby northern islands, and to avoid the gunships of the Big 5 fleet, all the Viking ships fittingly sailed north.

The Big 5 is confident that their diverse fleet will prevail. The gold runners scatter while the Orkney, Tartessos, and Seminole begin sailing towards the Vikings.

This was the ideal formation, with the gunships leading from the front but still withing S of the sheltered Seminole. The Orkney and Tartessos were willing to take an iceberg hit if it meant protecting the Seminole and keeping her speed at L+S to keep up with the gunships.

Bam! The first iceberg hit of the game and the MA is down a mast.

I love how realistic the foam icebergs are. They’re very easy to make, as there’s no painting/gluing/etc involved. I’d recommend trying some, especially if you like icebergs (which I usually don’t lol).

The Sleipnir found the first Rune of the day, Runes of Magic, which could be very valuable with so many icebergs around.

Trying to avoid an iceberg, the formation splits up as the Tartessos prepares to navigate an archway.

The MA has round earthed to the north, while the sneaky Grendel may have similar ideas.

The KL finds more runes! Runes of Thor could have been used on Runes of Wealth to turn the 1 into a 6, but the Vikings figured they might want the 6 for a guaranteed extra action from Sigurd Andersen at some point in the future. There were better treasures than the 1 on the island, but the KL smartly grabbed a 1 and promptly turned it into a 4 via Runes of Wealth with a decent die roll.

Here, an iceberg has smashed up the stern of the Tartessos, while the Wodin has returned to the Viking home island, wary of a possible blockade or attempted interception of the Viking gold runners.

I’d wanted La Tartessos for a long time, especially after she proved herself in VASSAL Campaign Game 1. It was great to build the ship and see the unique artwork on the hull.

With the Wodin and Hrothgar relatively near, the squadron sails under the arch.

Looking at English, American, and Spanish flags through the arch and seeing Viking flags beyond:

The Cantabrian and MA have reached wild islands; at the top right Grim the Savage aboard the Grendel has realized it will be some time before the Big 5 get some gold to their home island, so he docks at the KL’s island to load gold while postponing any raiding attempts.

Watch out for the imperialists!

The Hrothgar in heavy seas, ready to defend the Sleipnir if necessary.

I love pictures that look through archways: here you can see the massive iceberg beyond the Wodin.

This picture almost makes it look like the ships are sailing very fast:

No more maneuvering – the Wodin attacks! However, after using her stern turn to get both cannons in range, the Wodin utterly fails, missing four consecutive shots, failing to eliminate a mast via the ram, and losing her helmsman in a disastrous boarding party. This time, getting the first shot backfired with very poor dice rolls. The Sleipnir has docked home gold, while the KL and Grendel aren’t far behind with more.

This left the Wodin as a sitting duck for the Orkney, who sank her with the help of the Seminole’s bonus.

The Tartessos has turned around, while the Hrothgar had docked at the Viking home island in a similar fashion as the Wodin, ready to break up a blockade and/or protect the gold runners.

On the Vikings’ next turn, Sigurd Andersen rolled a 6! This gave the Hrothgar two actions and up to 12 shots!! The Hrothgar’s first action sank the Seminole and crippled the Orkney, while her second was a dud. (only 4 cannons were in range of the Orkney on the second action since the Hrothgar returned to the safety of her home island in anticipation of a counterattack)

The Tweed has finally reached the southern island, finding valuable gold. The MA, Cantabrian, and Ahura Mazda all have gold for the Big 5.

Chaos reigned during this period of the game, with the Orkney dismasting a departing Sleipnir and the Tartessos basically running away from the Hrothgar, who couldn’t be shot at while docked at her HI.

An impressive sight, but unfortunately for the Big 5 those guns were more useful in last year’s CG1 than this effort.

Through an arch: Viking flags, a desperate Englishman, and the carnage of battle.

The KL has returned home with gold, while the Grendel is almost back. The loss of the Wodin was not in vain, as the event partially helped the Vikings turn the tide.

With perfect timing, the Vikings reveal their secret weapon – Runes of Thor! This UT changed Sigurd Andersen’s die roll to an automatic 6, allowing the Hrothgar another pair of devastating actions!

The Hrothgar’s guns are mediocre, but the sheer volume of firepower allowed her to sink the Orkney…

…and dismast the Tartessos.

The Grendel docks and the KL goes out for more gold:

All four of the Big 5 gold runners are close to unloading, while at the right, the Tartessos tries to run with her helmsman and oarsman. You may have noticed something terrible happening to the Grendel…

!!

Unlucky enough to get smashed by an iceberg at her own home island, the unthinkable then occurred: the EXACT same die rolls were made for icebergs at the beginning of the Viking turn, which slammed the iceberg into the Grendel once more, this time dismasting her! I nearly made a house rule where icebergs could sink derelicts (or the giant iceberg eliminated two masts per hit, etc), but it wouldn’t be fair to the Viking fleet in particular to make it up on the spot.

Luckily the oared Sleipnir was nearby to try a rescue attempt:

The Hrothgar sinks the Tartessos, eliminating the last remnant of the Big 5’s gunship squadron. The Hrothgar has had an impressive game indeed, in no small part because of her excellent crew.

The Tweed, knowing the faster Hrothgar would likely come after her, took a risk that didn’t pan out! She sailed too close to an iceberg, which moved to dismast her at the beginning of a turn. The MA sails out to rescue her, but the Hrothgar is faster than any of the ships remaining in the Big 5 fleet. At the top left, the Ahura Mazda will try to add value to each coin the Cantabrian brings back. The Sleipnir has successfully taken the poor Grendel under tow, while the KL loads gold from the southern island.

With another AA from Andersen, the Hrothgar wrecks any chance of getting the Tweed’s 8 gold home. The MA is sunk and the Vikings look close to being able to control the final part of the game.

Indeed, the Vikings have the momentum here. The KL unloads yet more gold, while the Sleipnir and Grendel repair.

The Hrothgar prepares to annihilate the final two ships in the Big 5 fleet, but the Ahura Mazda stays docked at home and the Cantabrian sails out for more gold with Runes of Speed.

Knowing both ships must survive somehow, the Pirates go into desperation mode, ramming a mast off the Hrothgar while the Cantabrian looks to evade or get lucky if the Hrothgar misses. To make matters worse for the Big 5, the Grendel is fully repaired and Grim the Savage is finally ready for his highly anticipated home island raid!

BAM! The KL dismasts the Ahura Mazda, while Grim steals 3 coins from the Big 5 home island!

The Hrothgar intercepts the Cantabrian and dismasts her, abruptly ending the game!

The Big 5 has no future move actions available, while most gold has been unloaded to home islands.

The Vikings win 21-6! If not for Grim’s last-minute raid, it would have turned out 21-16, so in reality the game was much closer and quite exciting!

It was great to pay homage to the Frozen North set, which has never been one of my favorite sets actually. However, it has some very cool stuff in it, and I like all the sets heh. It was nice to play some ships that are new to my collection. Fittingly, the Vikings won! The Hrothgar was definitely the “MVS” (Most Valuable Ship), sinking or dismasting the entire opposing fleet! The Runes of Destruction and Magic were also used, but not with much consequence. I didn’t want to use Runes of Odin since it’s a bit OP heh, especially when combined with Runes of Magic.

Thanks for reading!

Pirates of the Mysterious Islands – 10th Anniversary Game

11/15/2016

Today is the 10th anniversary of Pirates of the Mysterious Islands being released!

To celebrate, a 50 point game with all-Mysterious Islands stuff (except for generic crew).

The fleets in the order of play:

Spanish:
La Sirviente + Luis Zuan, helmsman, musketeer
La Manila + The Mask, helmsman, explorer, oarsman

Mercenaries:
Santa Molina + Christian Fiore, captain, helmsman
Barracuda + helmsman, oarsman
Devil Ray + helmsman, explorer

Here is the setup, with all 4 wild islands being mysterious. Wary of the Sirviente attacking on the first turn, the Santa Molina guarded the Barracuda while the Devil Ray started on the other side of the Merc HI.

It quickly became apparent that the Mercenaries would not have the luck of their own set on their side, with the Barracuda rolling a 1 on the first island she docked at. However, the Mercs were able to rectify the situation somewhat by tossing two coins towards the island the Devil Ray was pursuing.

Luis Zuan aboard the Sirviente knows he must get the first strike, but with Christian Fiore aboard the Santa Molina, only half of his cannons (with the musketeer as the fourth) will be in range, and that only with some good maneuvering! Zuan is desperate to win the battle, as the Santa Molina is a former Spanish ship.

The Sirviente descends off a swell, while the “Manila galleon” is about to load gold.

After another turn, the Manila also rolls a 1 at a mysterious island – the Mercs will move her on her next turn. The Sirviente and Santa Molina eye each other from afar, while the Barracuda loads gold and the Devil Ray reaches the island in the far east, which now has 6 coins on it.

The Mercs move the Manila away from her home island, while the Sirviente sails away from the Santa Molina to ambush the Devil Ray when she surfaces!

With a view from the mizzenmast of the Manila, the Devil Ray’s crew decide to ram the Sirviente rather than risk getting attacked! However, the ram fails.

With the Devil Ray submerged and the Manila back to normal, the Spanish turn back around.

The Devil Ray is finally able to dock and explore! The need for a crew/treasure swap became apparent…

…as the Devil Ray loaded both Screw Engine and Power Cannons! A regular coin was loaded as well, while the explorer would have to sit the rest of the game out.

Christian Fiore cancels the Barracuda’s Mercenary keyword, allowing the Mercs to score first.

Luis Zuan saw his opportunity! After consulting with his expert helmsman, it was obvious that he could bring all of his long range firepower to bear on the Santa Molina. Cheering his gun crews on, the Sirviente scored two hits! The Santa Molina’s firepower had been cut in half, and the Spanish were successful in their first strike.

Between these two ships and La Manila, every “ship” in the game had red or orange sails! The Sirviente is a particularly becoming vessel.

With a lot of luck the Santa Molina absolutely crushes the Spanish!! Both shots connected, killing the musketeer, and the ram dismasted the Sirviente, leaving her derelict. Fiore’s boarding party overwhelmed that of Zuan’s, and the Spanish helmsman was cut down in the action. In one action the Sirviente had lost all of her masts and 2/3 of her crew complement. In the background, the Devil Ray has used Screw Engine to move almost all the way home.

The nature of the game has changed, as the Mercs have 3 ships available to the 1 for Spain.

The Santa Molina takes a few shots at the Sirviente while getting into position to support the Devil Ray’s landing. Naturally, both shots miss, leaving Zuan yelling on deck about how “why couldn’t the earlier shots have missed?!” Fiore finally cracks a smile, his first in quite some time.

With her gold finally unloaded, the Manila is free to pursue the Santa Molina. Since the Merc subs are faster than the Manila, Spain’s best hope is to kill Fiore and thus stop any future gold deliveries at the Merc home island. The Mask has a secret weapon to help him do just that: Targeting Scope. The Sirviente has been sunk.

With the Manila approaching, the Mercenaries pulled off a brilliant move. The Devil Ray moved into contact with the Santa Molina, who was given an explore action. Christian Fiore descended into the Devil Ray, while the Santa Molina loaded the DR’s Power Cannons. This way, Fiore would be safe underwater, since he could cancel The Mask’s S-boarding technique as soon as he came within S range of the Devil Ray. In addition, the Santa Molina would be better equipped to fight off the Manila, since guns with 2L range would be quite effective against such a slow ship. The Barracuda had found Enemy of the State, but it essentially had no effect since the ship was already Mercenary.

The Mercs do their exchange, while the Manila looks to get some gold since she can’t get in range of the Santa Molina just yet.

Another great turn by the Mercenaries: the Devil Ray submerges, and Fiore cancels to let the Barracuda unload gold. The Santa Molina opens fire on the Manila at extreme range, scoring a hit and eliminating the Spanish oarsman!

The Manila is immune to ramming, and thus had nothing to fear from the two submarines. She charged in with guns blazing, but only the one with the targeting scope hit! The S-board attempt also failed, allowing the Santa Molina to steal a coin!

This allowed the Santa Molina to shine again, and she did. The Manila lost another mast, along with her explorer. The Mask was furious.

The Manila finally dismasted the Santa Molina, but somehow lost another boarding party to lose her other coin!

Soon afterwards, the Manila looted the derelict to get her gold back, and then sank the Santa Molina for good as she returned to the Spanish home island. Meanwhile, the Mercs load more gold from the far east.

With the Mercs likely in the lead with gold, the Manila has no time to repair after dropping off the two coins. Spain’s best hope to win lies with The Mask’s S-boarding ability, which could be used to steal one or both of the Barracuda’s coins. The problem is, the Merc subs are faster than the Manila, and Fiore could cancel The Mask if the Devil Ray and Barracuda stick together.

As the debris of three ships floats away, the odds are against the Spanish.

And indeed, the Mercs get to their HI first! The Devil Ray stays underwater, and Fiore allows the Barracuda to unload for a whopping third time in the game. The Devil Ray still has a coin on board, but it’s irrelevant since the Manila cannot get it with Fiore around.

1. Mercenaries: 16 gold
2. Spanish: 10 gold

With 3 gold left in play, the Mercs were declared the winner! It was an impressive victory, with great shooting by the Santa Molina and effective cancelling by Christian Fiore. Both of those game pieces utilized their abilities to full effectiveness. The Spanish were a bit less lucky, but both fleets had some nasty MI rolls. The loss of the Sirviente gave the Mercs the decisive advantage for the remainder of the game, though the rest of the game was probably more fun! In hindsight, it may have been slightly better to have a shipwright on one of the submarines (to be transferred to the Santa Molina as needed) instead of the explorer and oarsman. The Santa Molina would only be able to repair if she transferred Fiore to a submarine and then had the sub stay within S at the Merc HI.

How fitting that the Mercenaries, of all factions, win the 10th anniversary of Mysterious Islands game!

Today (5/31/2016) is the 10th anniversary of the release of Davy Jones’ Curse!

Xerecs and I played a game on the VASSAL module to commemorate the occasion (though it was played about a week in advance).

The game had a 60 point build total, and only game pieces from DJC were allowed.

Xerecs played as the Cursed, I as the Americans.

Cursed:
Executioner + El Fantasma, captain, helmsman, oarsman
Spilled Salt + explorer, oarsman
Fiddler’s Green + explorer

Americans:
Paul Revere + captain, helmsman, oarsman
Swamp Fox + captain, helmsman
Saratoga + captain
Brandywine

The Americans got the first shot, blasting two masts off the Executioner.

The Executioner and Paul Revere duked it out, with the Paul Revere finally winning the battle. However, she was severely damaged from the encounter. The Brandywine and Spilled Salt explored for their respective fleets, while the Swamp Fox missed a Broadsides Attack against the Spilled Salt. The Fiddler’s Green has turned north.

The Cursed gained a bit of momentum, with the Fiddler’s Green holding up the Paul Revere while the Spilled Salt hit twice on the Swamp Fox, who missed another BA.

The Swamp Fox finally hit with a Broadsides Attack! Combined with a successful ram, and the Spilled Salt was derelict. The Fiddler’s Green had sunk the Paul Revere and dismasted the Swamp Fox with a ram, but the Cursed were running out of options. The Brandywine had unloaded gold for the Americans and was headed towards the battle area.

The Saratoga finally got into action and sunk the Spilled Salt! This left the Cursed with no gold on their home island or ships, and the Saratoga and Brandywine were still in the way.

After a short battle the Americans won the game 10-0!

My favorite part of this Davy Jones’ Curse game was that every ship was able to play a combat role – no ships were left unnoticed.

This game was played on 2/6/2016. It was a 60 point game, notable for being possibly the last physical game I’ll play with the first person I ever taught Pirates to (but maybe not the last!). Also, as part of the upcoming 10th anniversary of South China Seas, I’ve got quite a lot of South China Seas in my current traveling collection.

Jade Rebellion:
Grand Mountain + Dragon Eyes, helmsman, oarsman
Sea Wind + captain
Hansan Island + captain, helmsman, fire shot

Mixed:
HMS Victor + captain, oarsman
Templar + helmsman
HMS Clear Wind + helmsman
Scorpion + explorer
El Duque + helmsman, explorer

The setup featured the shipwreck cove, as well as three places to get gold. There were two coins placed on a beach on the same island where the home beaches were located. A few more coins were on an island near the main wild island, which lay in the cove.

Almost 10 years since the release of South China Seas, and the junks look as good as ever!

After the relative monotony of VASSAL pictures, it was refreshing and almost stunning to see this quality return!

The Duque grabs the nearby gold, while all the other ships make for the far islands.

Here the Sea Wind’s colors actually blend in well with the ocean.

The fleets converge on the main wild island:

The Sea Wind explores as the Hansan Island and Grand Mountain split up. All three Jade ships have captains.

The Jade Rebellion declares war! The Hansan Island sets the Victor ablaze, while the Sea Wind sprints for home and hits 2/2 on the Duque in passing.

The Victor repaired at sea, only to have the Hansan Island connect again with another fire shot! The Grand Mountain dismasted the Templar, and the Jades were doing well.

Dragon Eyes got busy capturing crew, but the Clear Wind rammed the Hansan Island derelict, ending that threat.

The Sea Wind returns for more gold, but loses a mast trying to go the shorter way over the treacherous reefs.

The Clear Wind has captured the Hansan Island!

The Victor hits the Grand Mountain, and the momentum is shifting!

The Grand Mountain fights back and captures the Victor’s captain!

As the Hansan Island is towed away, the Jade Rebellion is becoming surrounded.

The Sea Wind re-engages the Duque but fails to inflict damage and loses another mast to the reef! The Grand Mountain and Victor are locked in battle.

A great shot of the failed ram and board, and a good shot of the wrecked Flying Dutchman with her stern in the air.

As the battle rages, the Grand Mountain loses her oarsman.

The Duque rams the Sea Wind derelict! The Scorpion tries to sink the junk but misses.

The Duque captures the Sea Wind, while the Clear Wind drops the Hansan Island to help the Victor against the Grand Mountain.

The Jade Rebellion has only one ship left, and it’s doubtful that she’ll make it home safely. However, at this point she has 8 points of captured crew aboard in addition to 2 gold!

The Victor has fully repaired while the Grand Mountain slowly sails home.

As expected, the Grand Mountain has been cornered by the Mixed fleet. Note the unintentional (weak) line of battle sailing to the Mixed HI! They now control 7 of the 8 ships in the game.

Just a turn from her HI, the Grand Mountain is rammed and blocked!

The Grand Mountain shot a mast off the Scorpion, but the galley’s block meant she couldn’t get home…

After all that carnage, the Mixed fleet rammed the Grand Mountain derelict to end the game!

1. Mixed fleet: 19 gold
2. Jade Rebellion: 13

(If the Grand Mountain had just an extra turn to return home, it would have been 23-13 in favor of the Rebellion! Another great game!)

Today (10/26) was the 10th anniversary of Barbary Coast’s release!

What better way to tribute such a great set than having an all-BC game?

It was a simple 30 point game, partly because these 4 ships are literally the only ships from BC in my current traveling collection! Funny enough, this turned into one of those relatively rare games that, despite being very one-sided, was quite exciting and fun.

Barbary Corsairs: 
Silent Death + Murat Rais, captain, helmsman
Golden Peacock

vs.
Terror of Gibraltar + Wesley, helmsman, oarsman
Tripoli

To switch things up for a change, the home islands were located right next to each other. In addition, the single wild island was completely surrounded by fog! Lastly, since this was a game featuring 100% Barbary Corsairs, each fleet would have to bring its gold back to the other home island.

Both fleets immediately sailed into the fog, and knew that whoever was lucky enough to roll to reach the island first would hold an advantage.

The Silent Death looked to be an aggressor, while the Terror of Gibraltar wanted to steal gold from the Golden Peacock. As is typical in this game, the exact opposite happened!

The two fleets jostled for position, but neither had any luck whatsoever with the extremely foggy conditions. All game long, a ship would roll for one of the two edges and emerge straight into another fog bank! When an outside roll was made, the ship would duck right back into a different fog bank, careful not to be vulnerable to one of the captained ships.

The Terror of Gibraltar managed to stay on the Peacock’s trail, but the conditions were so bad that neither fleet made any gold or combat progress for a while.

At long last, the Tripoli broke through with a lucky roll and docked at the island. Neither fleet had explorers, but the Terror also was able to dock on the same turn.

The Silent Death and Golden Peacock again simply shifted from one fog bank to another, as their enemies started the journey home.

The smaller ships got lucky soon after, with the Tripoli able to dock home her two coins and the Silent Death finally reaching the wild island. The Silent Death was only able to pick up one coin due to her heavy crew complement.

At this point, to speed the game up, whenever a ship rolled a 1 for a fog roll, a random coin would disappear from the island. In addition, if a ship rolled a 6 for a fog roll, the fog bank farthest from the home islands would disappear.

The Tripoli soon reached the island for a second time, and a coin and fog bank quickly disappeared.

Wesley aboard the Terror had a plan – with his one available cargo space, earlier in the game when he explored he took the lone 0 coin, hoping to lure the Golden Peacock into taking it. Due to the nature of this game, he unsurprisingly had his plan ruined!

At this point, the Golden Peacock’s frustration reached a high, with the ship rolling to emerge on the outside of the fog ring to sail around the circle. The Silent Death, useless against the escaping Tripoli, sailed out to meet her. Another coin disappeared from the wild island.

The Silent Death and Golden Peacock maneuvered to the opening in the fog. The Tripoli sailed home as the Terror approached her enemies.

The plans now became apparent, and things started to get weird. The Silent Death handed off Murat Rais and her captain to the Golden Peacock, who was immediately rammed by the Terror. Wesley’s bonus wasn’t even needed, and the Peacock immediately lost Rais in addition to her mizzenmast. In the meantime, the Silent Death went from dangerous gunship to content treasure runner, picking up two coins to augment the one she had loaded earlier in the game, which felt like ages ago.

With the Tripoli home safe with another hefty load of gold, the other Corsairs realized they were in trouble. The Silent Death continued to flounder in the fog as the Golden Peacock fled into a different fog bank.

The role reversal on the part of both original gunships continued. In a move that made it obvious she intended to win the game, the Terror of Gibraltar docked at the wild island, unloaded both Wesley and her helmsman, and picked up two additional coins! Although this made it obvious that their fleet would win the game if the Terror could make it back home, the mutiny (by the lone oarsman left on the ship, lol) angered Wesley, who was left stranded on the fog-shrouded island. This would soon hurt what was left of the Terror’s crew.

With a chance for revenge against the Terror, the Golden Peacock emerged from the fog to ram the big ship, scoring a hit! However, the Peacock lost the boarding party, which meant that her essential captain was no more. This left the fleet with just one crew, the helmsman on the hapless Silent Death. That is, unless they could recruit some angry Corsairs…

The gold-laden and slowed-down Terror fled into the fog, where the poor Silent Death was still sailing to and fro. The unscathed Tripoli headed back out for another run.

To complete the civil war aspect of this game and make it even more bizarre, the Golden Peacock, who had lost both of her valuable crew (Murat Rais and captain, which originally came from the Silent Death), now docked at the island and loaded the betrayed crew of the Terror – Wesley and a helmsman! Eager to get revenge on the Terror, they were essentially replacements for the crew the Peacock had already lost in battle. However, they would be sorely needed, as the Terror and Tripoli looked to be close to victory. It was up to the Golden Peacock to sink or steal the treasure from the Terror.

The Peacock had to pull double duty, knowing she also couldn’t let the Tripoli get home with another load of gold. With S+L+S speed, the Peacock came around the fog to surprise the Tripoli, but her shot missed. The Terror took advantage of the distracted ship to duck into a different fog bank.

At this point, another 1 was rolled in the fog, eliminating the last treasure from the wild island and eliminating the Tripoli as a gold threat. Now the Tripoli would try to support the Terror, but they were on opposite sides of the fog and the Tripoli had just ducked into the fog to escape the only captained ship remaining, the Golden Peacock. The Peacock raced to intercept the Terror, who was slowly making her way through the fog.

The Terror now made a decision to break for the home island, despite her S+S speed and relative safety of the fog.

The Golden Peacock easily outstripped the Terror and caught her! With the first real broadside of the game, the Peacock missed both shots!

In the background, you can see the Tripoli will be too late to join the fight. The ever-frustrated Silent Death has ditched the fog entirely and began the long journey around the entire ring from the inside out.

The Terror of Gibraltar couldn’t quite make it home on her next turn, and the Peacock finally scored a hit, but it was too late. Funny enough, she lost the boarding party and therefore her helmsman. Even if she had won to eliminate the Terror’s oarsman, the Terror’s Galley keyword would dock the Terror home on the next turn even if she was derelict. You can see how many 6’s were rolled late in the game, with lots of fog disappearing on the far side of the island.

The Terror docked and the game finally ended!

Terror of Gibraltar/Tripoli: 17 gold
Golden Peacock/Silent Death: 0 gold (although they had 8 on the Silent Death and 2 on the Golden Peacock for 10 total)

What a strange game! The big/small ship fleet was able to prevail despite having smaller cargo holds and inferior guns, although it was partly due to the Tripoli’s fog dice luck. The midsize ships put up a gallant fight, but the civil war is over. The setup was rather unique and interesting, especially when the house rules were instituted mid-game to eliminate gold and fog. The crew killing and swapping made for an especially bloody and emotional conflict, a civil war that will not soon be forgotten in the annals of the Barbary Corsairs.