WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

Table of Contents

1. Rule Changes
2. The Story So Far
3. Pirates
4. The Cursed
5. Vikings
6. Barbary Corsairs
7. Point Count
8. Summary

All rules can be found in the first Battle Report for the game.

Reference Links: All previous CG4 Battle Reports | Wizkids game pieces | Master Spreadsheet which includes Return to Savage Shores and Unreleased | Customs Database

Rule Changes

-Revision to the Duplicates Rule (changes underlined): -There cannot be duplicate Wizkids ships in play until a faction has purchased every single standard ship (including flavor duplicates (such as all three versions of the 5 master HMS Apollo, for example, but not including customs)) available to them. Once a faction has every official Wizkids ship in its fleet in play, that faction can launch duplicates of those official Wizkids ships. Only one duplicate ship is allowed, but if a faction has two of every ship in play, they can begin a third set of duplicates. However, once a ship is sunk, it MUST be replaced before duplicates can be launched again (This is also known as the “complete the fleet” rule). Unreleased game pieces designed by Wizkids are not included in the Duplicates Rule.  Wizkids faction fleets cannot have duplicate custom ships.  Since the Dutch and Conglomerate factions have no official Wizkids ships, their entire fleets of custom ships are subject to the Duplicates Rule.  For example, if ALL custom Dutch ships are in play at once, they can begin a second set of each custom Dutch ship.

-Minor revisions to the Resources errata and how they work (changes underlined): -Resources are represented through tokens; players may choose whatever kind of tokens they wish as long as all players agree. Ships can carry any number of any resource types up to their cargo limit. After a ship rolls for the resource type and loads resources, the ship will load face-up gold coins that correspond to the numbered resource (for example, a ship with lumber on board would have 1’s). When the ship unloads the resources at the home island, the 1’s (in this case) may be unloaded just like treasure.  At any point during a player’s turn (usually at the beginning of the launch phase, after the play phase ends), any resources on the home island can be swapped out for the value of the resource in gold. If the value of lumber was 4, the 1’s are swapped for face-down gold 4’s on the home island (HI), which can then be used to purchase ships and crew during the launch phase at the end of the turn. Players may use UT tokens to represent total gold or resource quantities on their home islands, but should keep in mind that a UT worth 400 gold could be stolen by a home island raider with a single open cargo space.

-2 hits/mast rule addition: Flotillas must be hit 4 times overall in order to eliminate their flag (none of the hits have to come from a specific shoot action).

-Encampment clarification: Abilities that remove explored island markers eliminate encampments.

-Face-up Unique Treasure can be loaded and unloaded to and from islands as part of the free transfer rules. (slight clarification)

-Ships can load face-down treasure and resources from their home island with an explore action. Face-up Unique Treasure can be unloaded to islands as part of the free transfer rules. Ships can load face-up Unique Treasure from their home island as part of the free transfer rules.

-If both players agree to it, opposing ships can touch without ramming, boarding or pinning. While touching, they can be given an explore action to transfer cargo freely between them.

-Submarines can do ram damage while both surfaced and submerged.

-Only up to 3 copies of each unique set of native canoes can be in play at a time.

-There are currently only two storm terrain in play, but I have added their rules to the main post as well.  From Xerecs’ Century of Economy games: Storms are a Custom terrain piece. At the end of a round of turns, a d6 is rolled. Match the result to the number printed on any Storms in play. Roll the d6 again. Match the result to the number printed around the edge of the Storm and move the Storm L in a straight line in that direction. If two or more Storms collide or move into contact with one another, they merge and move as one Storm. If any part of a game piece touches a Storm, it is immediately placed inside of it. Roll a d6, the result is the number of masts, segments, flags or damage points removed from the game piece. If the result is more than the number of remaining masts, segments, flags or damage points, the game piece is eliminated from the game. If a storm spends more than three rounds over a body of land, it is removed from the game.

Additions to the Ban List: Odin’s Revenge, Kharmic Idol, Pirata Codex, Flood UT, Missionaries UT (those last two are customs)

~~~~~

Clarifying which tokens are for each type of island upgrade:
Encampment: Faction color token used to mark islands explored (under Markers)
Fort upgrade: Shipyard token (under Structures)
Lighthouses=Taverns (under Structures)
Town=Infantry unit (these last three all under Army Units)
Trading Port=Cavalry unit
Military Port=Artillery unit

Starting this turn, factions may start naming islands if they want to. Especially islands they’ve explored or taken control of through island upgrades.  For example, an obvious one is “Whirlpool Island”, the island surrounded by whirlpools south of the Spanish HI.

Custom Sets in play (by the end of this report) with abbreviations and creator name. (from now on, only the set abbreviation will be used for the launch phase specifics – that way you can find the customs used in the Customs Database if desired)
Age of Sail (AoS), Epic Seas (ES) – A7XfanBen
Return of Davy Jones (RoDJ), Fiends of the Blood Islands (FoBI), Spherus Magna (SpMa) – Xerecs
Great Sea (GS), Rise of the Moon Sorcerer (RotMS) – El Cazador
Dark Tides (DT), Seas of Doom (SoD), Eldest Seas (ELS) – JW Darkhurst
Vengeance of the Cadet Captain (VotCC) – Cadet-Captain Mike
Back to War (B2W) – The Grandmaster/PointlessArrow
Dutch East Indies (DEI) – Avery
Treasure Trove of Fenrir (TToF) – Woelf
Lost Isles (LI) – Shockwave
Godmason’s Customs
Marhawkman’s Customs
Obsidian Isles (OI), Siren Islands (SI), Oceans of the Apocalypse (OotA) – projekt355
Islands of Ice (IofI), Age of Extinction (AoE), Search for Golden Shores (SfGS), Rise of the Rebellion (RotR) – Pirate Captain Andrew/DoubleAAsauce
Baltic Sea (BS) – Skelebone
Treacherous Waters (TW) – Ochobrazo2298
Pirates Who Never Met (PWNM), Pirates Who Spent Too Much Time Together (STMTT) – Gazerbeam543
Forgotten Coast (FC) – Riz
Treachery on the High Seas (T), The Golden Age (TGA), – Vladsimpaler
Kraken Sea (KS) – mr_awesome
Lighthouses by The9ofSpades
Pirates of the Sendoran Coast (SC) – Captain Vendari’s customs

That’s a whopping 34 custom sets being used! Nearly all custom creators of Pirates CSG game pieces are represented in CG4 by the end of this turn and report!

The Story So Far

Here is a video describing the general events of the game over the first 5 years of its existence – from April 2018 to spring 2023.

If you’d like more details of some of the early stages of the game, you can also check out Xerecs’ CG4 BRs and the ones I did linked above. If you just need a quick recent events refresher, here’s the last report.

Here are a few things I held back from saying in previous reports that seem fine to reveal now….

Very old (probably from 2019): Jade Rebels probably pissed at the Pirates after Dungeon gave Plague to the Virtuous Wind.
5/8/2020: Dungeon explores island SW of Archipelago, uses Pirates’ extensive spying network to strategically trade Davy Jones’ Key for a Necklace of the Sky (latter grabbed from the middle Archipelago island).
7/13/2020: The Cursed lie to the Spanish that an anonymous source told them that the Americans were coming to attack them. The Cursed are looking for a reason to look pissed at the Spanish so it looks more natural when they go on the offensive.
7/24/2020: “The Cursed Pirates are teaming up to harness the power of the Norse gods to unleash true Hell upon the seas.”

Here is a color-coded “faction locations” map picture from the last round, before PirateAJ14 and Xerecs took their latest turns. The main colored areas are labeled with each faction, with the Pirates having some additional clusters of ship activity in the dark gray areas and The Cursed having a presence next to the Spanish HI.

Here is a giant map picture also showing the entire ocean, this one taken after PirateAJ14 and Xerecs’ latest turns before I started my turn. The Americans have continued to retreat eastward away from the Cursed, while the Spanish have mostly made all speed away from the Cursed 10 masters launched next to their HI.

After a 2 year wait from my previous turn, it was finally time for another epic session of CG4 chaos and carnage!  I do recommend watching the play videos for this turn, as I explained things in much more detail and avoided any music-only combat footage and whatnot.  I’m trying to make better battle reports (especially for CG4), so feel free to give feedback in the comments at the bottom!

The playing aspects of my turn took a whopping 51 hours, which doesn’t include the time spent planning and strategizing before playing, which was about 12 hours. Then add 9 hours for this battle report, and we get a grand total of 72 hours on this CG4 turn overall.  O_O (up from about 42+ last turn)

Pirates

196 Ships, 4697 Points in Play

The Pirates eagerly started another gigantic turn. Becoming more infamous with each passing round, they have used their “Infinite Money Glitch” to become the richest faction in the history of any Pirates CSG game. “Arcane abuse” has completely destabilized all notions of parity, leading to a bizarre situation where many factions may have to team up quickly in order to stop piracy from taking over the entire sea.

Tensions between the Pirates and their neighbors (the Corsairs and Vikings) began four years ago when the factions were fledgling fleets, content to slowly build up a foundation of strength. Now that tension is boiling over into all-out war. It is too soon to say what will ultimately transpire, but the possibility of a prolonged and bloody war is certainly there.

Beginning of turn Abilities and Effects

It was time to start!  Each of my CG4 turns begins with much anticipation and excitement.  However, there is always a lot of “housekeeping” to do – remembering and reviewing where things left off, consulting my notes for strategic ideas and order of operations optimizations, etc.  There are also a number of “beginning of turn” abilities or effects that are resolved early to start getting a picture of what the turn will look like.  This involves rolling for all of a faction’s AA (Admiral’s Action) abilities, as well as any Arcane rolls they can do.

The Pirates were disappointed to only get 1/9 AA’s, but their EPoE (Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight) was acting as a guaranteed “Mycron” via the Jolly Mon (a ship who of course was hidden in a fog bank next to their home island).  They then used their Global Surveillance Program (GSP) to spy on some Barbary Corsair assets, to make sure they knew full well what they’d be getting into if they committed to a full counterattack on the Corsairs.

The GSP is now better than ever since spying can happen on every faction’s turn! (multiplies spying efforts by 12!) I think it will be best to just do it at the beginning of each faction’s turns for all the factions that took their turn before the current faction playing.

Next it was time for the Arcane rolls!  If you’re unaware of this particular “theme” of CG4, I explain it in full in this video:

UT #1: Hidden Trove. UT #2: Evenstar. (both placed on Shadow Thief) UT #3: Eye of Insanity (placed on Sphinx).

393 ships in play x2=786 gold from Hidden Trove. x3 w/Evenstar=2358 gold. x2 w/Silverback John=4716 gold. +876 they already had=….

5592 gold.

O_O  Another new record!  The most gold ever raked in by a single faction in a single turn.  The Pirates estimate their “gold burn rate” at a minimum of 1200 gold per turn, which allows them (hopefully) at least 4 turns of megalaunching without having to use Arcane rolls for gold production.  Now they can bring in other UT’s next round….

Trove optimization: 1 Trove + Evenstar = 3 Troves. x2 from John=4716. Vs. bringing in a Trove every turn. No Evenstar-1572 gold (Trove doubled with John)
Evenstar gives 3x gold in the short term to allow for more choice flexibility in the long term. Better than having to constantly bring in Troves to support the crazy spending sprees.

A new “Eye of Insanity meta” is starting to emerge. Each EoI can be used to copy the Arcane, through the Cursed version of Davy Jones. This can be used to bring in additional copies of Nemo’s Plans and Runes of Thor, which can be used to guarantee that those EoI Arcane rolls are 6’s on future turns, which can be used to bring in additional Eyes on other ships.  Of course, at any point the Pirates could decide to stop simply “optimizing the system” and go into full brutality mode, bringing in many copies of devastating UT’s such as Neptune’s Trident in one turn and placing them on various attack ships.  The combos and possibilities are nearly endless, and the Pirates and Cursed both have a long list of UT’s that they’d like to bring in….

I got in touch with Woelf to answer a question about the Eye of Insanity UT: “A crew targeted by the Eye retains its original ability, so it would still count normally toward other abilities regardless of what got copied.”  I asked this because the Sphinx gets +1 to her d6 rolls with a Captain aboard (per her ship ability), but she might have to use that Captain with the Eye.  With that ruling answered, she can still succeed at copying the Arcane on a 5 or 6 due to the +1, even if the Captain is used with the Eye.

These “eyes” also pair well with the idea of the Global Surveillance Program….

At long last it was finally time to start giving out normal actions to the other 193 ships in the Pirate fleet!

The Smiling Jim took the Plague from the Noble Swan (lower left of the next picture), finally freeing the prize from her last negative UT. The Noble Swan explored the Smiling Jim to give her Runes of Wealth, a UT that was needlessly taking up a cargo space on a ship that will probably need it for something else in the future.

The Pirates are optimizing their “chain exploring” system at their metals island. They’re going to have ships at both ends of each line have either the Dinghy equipment (which allows you to explore an island or ship within S as a free action) or an “unload within S” ability. That way, no ships in the chain have to remain docked for the chain exploring system to work. This frees up space at both islands, which is great for maximizing how many ships can be launched from those islands.  It also opens up a sea lane where ships can easily traverse from the east or west side of those islands to the other without having to sail all the way around the chain.  The Pirates expect to have the optimized system finished next turn, at which point their metals income will be automated, likely at 6-7 metals per turn.  This is so they don’t have to spend as much time giving actions to their resource runners, and also to minimize traffic jams near those launch points.  However, with their near-unlimited gold income via Hidden Trove funding, there is a chance the Pirates will abandon resources altogether and simply outfit those resource runners with crew and equipment so they can fight if needed.

The tavern token that the Raven unloaded at the Pirates’ textiles island last turn is now a full-fledged Plumb Point Lighthouse!  This means that all Pirate ships within L+L of the lighthouse get +S to their base move during that action, kind of like a giant trade current.

The Stormy Night rolled a 5 for her ability with the help of a reroll from Norman Spells. It allowed the Pirates to move any enemy ship S into terrain (therefore the enemy ship must already be within S of a terrain piece). The Sultan’s Riches was the easiest target – a Barbary Corsair resource runner approaching a storm.  She got sucked in, and had the misfortune of rolling a 4, sinking the ship instantly!  She went down with a helmsman and 3 textiles tokens, eliminating 6 points from the Corsair fleet.

The Blackleaf’s Studding Sails equipment malfunctioned, taking down her mizzenmast with it.

Iolkos, captain of the Bombay (custom 6 masted junk), has sent a strange “dowry demand” to Ekimu, the Grand Admiral and Supreme Commander of the Ionic Navy (part of The Conglomerate faction). He did not specify to whom he wishes to be married, having spied no female crew in the Conglomerate fleet at the time of the letter.

The Pirates realized they had made a gaffe with The Leviathan, though not a consequential one. Since the ship “sank” via Eternal scuttling, her Nemo’s Plans and Neptune’s Trident UT’s were removed from the game.  It definitely makes The Leviathan less of an automatic (and broken) superweapon, and the Pirates will be more careful about how they use her in the future.

Here’s a broad overview of the Pirate-Corsair situation, showing the Corsair attack from last turn at the center left.  The northern half of the Pirate HI is just out of sight to the upper left, while you can see the English HI southeast of the Corsair HI.  Things were about to explode.

The Pirates declared war on the Barbary Corsairs on July 3rd!  The massive counterattack would now commence!!  Here is the video if you’d like to see the raw footage of the entire assault, with both my narrative explaining everything and background music. A picture+caption summary is below if you prefer that.

After the damaged ships moved out of the way as best they could, The Slash (custom 4 master) got things started!  She carries my good friend Captain Randy, who was ready to take the fight to the Barbary Corsairs!  Both bow cannons hit the Great Desert, a sign of good luck for the Pirates to start the battle so well!  Not including the Great Desert, you can count 8 Corsair ships (including the flotilla and two submarines) in the main Corsair attack force. The Pirates wanted to neutralize as many of them as possible. Various options were considered for this counterattack – including committing as few forces as possible.  However, the Pirates realized that although going all-in on the counterattack might delay their short-term plans for the WSG (to be revealed soon!), it would be better to completely smash the Corsairs, neutralize the threat, and teach them a harsh lesson.

As the shots began to ring out across these battle-torn red waters, both sides gritted their teeth for the carnage to come.

Next up was the Shadow’s Hand, who carried the Shadowed One – a devastating custom crew from Xerecs!  His primary ability: “Give this ship a shoot action. A beam S wide and 2L long leaves this ship in one direction. Replace up to two masts with fire masts for every ship in the path of the beam. This ship cannot be given an action on its next turn.”

A “fire beam” attack of godlike power!! It was time to unleash one of the many Pirate Weapons of Mass Destruction!

6 ships are set alight for a total of 11 fire masts!  O_O

Now it was time for another flame weapon!  Though far less powerful, it’s one that probably all of us know….

The Queen Anne’s Revenge greek fire attack!  From my “movie version” custom from Pirates of the Epic Seas: “Once per turn, you may eliminate one of this ship’s crew to shoot a flame S wide and 2S long directly forward of the ship’s bow. For every ship in the path of the blast, replace one of that ship’s masts with a fire mast.”  HMB Sayyida is set alight as the Nubian Prince and Anubis become raging infernos!

With the flashy WMD’s providing some serious firepower, now it was time for the conventional weaponry of the massive Pirate fleet to get to work.  Vortex and Slave Revolt set upon the Crown Jewel (Corsair 10 master), eliminating 4 of her masts.  With the latter’s Crew Protect cancelled by the Vortex, Vincenzo Gambi led a boarding party from the Slave Revolt to massacre all of the Crown Jewel’s crew.  A large number of effective Corsair crew were killed in action: Gazim, Ardagundas, Murat Rais, Sheik Al-Wahed, helmsman, oarsman.

Flotillas took some shots at the Sayyida, while the Crescent Rose used Extended Range (via my Powder Kegs equipment), shooting over the top of a burning submerged submarine to damage the Elephant flotilla.  The Misfortune’s Keep sailed into the fray, though her captain ability was cancelled by the Anubis (which is what the Pirates wanted, having intentionally waited until now to approach the Anubis).  At the bottom of the frame you can see some support ships doing towing logistics in order to get the derelict Splinter out of the way, making room for gunships to surge forth.

One last look at the severe carnage before the sinkings began:

The Pirate attack was in full swing. More gunships poured into the area, sinking the Anubis, Elephant, and Majestic.  This opened a gap that allowed more shots to fall in range of the Crown Jewel, which quickly became a wildly burning mastless hulk.  Despite the Crown Jewel’s Iron-Plated Hull equipment preventing some damage, the sheer volume of cannonade put forth by the Pirates crushed her in one turn. At the right, that’s a brand new iceberg brought in by Odin himself!  It was an Odin Missile!  The Pirates used their Rune combo to eliminate the Grand Desert from the game. Sickening devastation.

With the Slave Revolt and Shadow’s Hand both getting second actions coming out of the whirlpool, I felt that this round was a proper time to finally reveal the meaning of WSG… a foreboding acronym that the Pirates began using amongst themselves years ago….

WHIRLPOOL STRIKE GROUP

A terrifying concept whose true power has still yet to be seen… the WSG is at the core of Pirate combat philosophy. It’s what they’ve been building towards for years now.  A massive, multi-faceted strike group that can utilize whirlpools to hit enemy targets anywhere, anytime. There are a number of key pieces to the WSG, among them the Tempest – the custom 5 master that can create a new whirlpool anywhere on the map if she rolls a 6 with her ability.  Many of the recent Pirate launches were specifically to build up the WSG, as it fast becomes the largest battle fleet in Pirates CSG history. At the end of last turn I estimated the total size of the force at 50+ ships, with more being launched every single turn.

The criteria for a “WSG ship” is simple – either a ship that can generate its own second action (via Sac/EA/SAT/etc), or supply/support ships that have abilities like the Cheerleader ability (+1 to cannon rolls for friendly ships nearby), or high-cargo supply ships that carry extra oarsmen and shipwrights to replenish the attack ships when they run low on crew or equipment. It is a vast enterprise that the Pirates have been working very hard to optimize. They realize how costly whirlpool travel can be – going into enemy territory and coming back via whirlpool can easily cost a ship an oarsman and a mast, not to mention any damage or casualties sustained while fighting abroad. For that reason, the Pirates have invested heavily in a large supply chain network.  They have many ships whose sole purpose is to resupply ships with oarsmen (primarily Sac-powered ships that have a high burn rate of oarsmen, losing them both in whirlpools and while generating extra actions), as well as shipwrights so that combat ships can repair themselves if whirlpools take out some of their masts.  The idea is to have a self-sustaining combat force that can fight anywhere at any time for prolonged periods.

There is a massive number of attack ships dedicated to the WSG. Nearly every single “action generator” ship and crew in the Pirate arsenal of game pieces has been launched as a “WSG attack ship”. This is due to the sheer quantity requirements of the WSG – many EA and SAT rolls fail every turn, and sometimes Sac-powered ships have to hang back to replenish their sac fodder stores with new oarsmen.  As a result, large numbers of gunships with similar action generation tactics are on hand to keep the strike group strong and flexible.  Ex: If 8/10 SAT ships fail to get their SAT rolls, perhaps the EA ships will get luckier to bail them out. Or, Sac ships will make up the difference with their guaranteed double actions.  This is also because whirlpool attacks are inherently limited by the 2-action limit: one action is always required to go through a whirlpool, meaning that a ship can only ever be given one additional action on the other side where the combat will occur. As a result, large numbers of attack ships help the odds of a whirlpool attack success by making sure there is enough firepower to achieve decisive victory over the enemy, preferably on the first turn of the attack.

Recently the Pirates have begun to realize just how expensive and demanding it will be to keep the WSG operating in full for many rounds on end. Sometimes supply ships may have to follow the attack ships through whirlpools to attack zones, depleting their stock and strength more quickly.  Therefore, the Pirates have begun to launch “resupply” ships – ships that will supply the suppliers. This is to optimize the flow of oarsmen and shipwrights that help keep the gunships healthy and ready for action at all times.  As more combat occurs, the demands on the WSG supply system will grow and cargo logistics become quite complicated.  My CG4 tracking spreadsheet has a row for nearly all the ships in each of my fleets, with many ships in the Pirate fleet having notes about “needs S+O” (for example) to remind myself that next turn that ship should be supplied with a shipwright and oarsman if possible.

Lastly, the WSG has some extremely powerful weapons in it. If the main bulk of action generator ships cannot do the job… there are WMD’s to back them up. The Pirates have four 10 masters in play right now, as well as various superweapons like the Shadowed One that can provide ample firepower as a last resort if they are not part of the main initial assault.  The Pirates are flexing their might, and we could see the WSG become quite the deterrent force over time.  With the ability to create whirlpools at will and surge through them with game-changing firepower, no faction on the sea is safe from potential Pirate wrath.

ALL OUT WAR.  The Pirates have slaughtered the Corsairs in a grand display of strength. At the upper right, 9 ships (most or all from the WSG) came out of the brand new whirlpool created by the Tempest near the Corsair/English spice island!  They wreaked absolute havoc, smashing up the Corsair resource runners and effectively cutting off Corsair access to that valuable island.  At the bottom of the frame, Plague of the West got a second action to eliminate masts from the Corsair runners gathering textiles.  At the left, one of the most ominous signs of all – the Zeus and Hera have returned home from their excursion to Spanish waters.  They’re getting a few brief replenishments but staying near whirlpools in case the Pirate fleet needs their flagships.  Off their port sides, you can see newly minted ships of the WSG making their way to the whirlpool area.  Another handful of ships wait in the fogpool nearby, primed and ready to enter that whirlpool next round.  At the far left, a squadron of 10 warships (mostly stock gunships launched last turn) makes their way around the west side of “Textiles Island” to take up position against the growing Viking fleet in the north.

That marks 6 Corsair ships sunk by the Pirates this turn, with 3 additional ships dismasted and 7 ships partially damaged.  By my count the Pirates had 20 ships fire shots at the Corsairs, with 16 Corsair vessels either sunk or damaged.  At long last, the full scale combat of CG4 can begin….

The Pirates would also like to make a few PSAs known. They have generally been iterated to the other players, but just for full disclosure:

-Attempts to eliminate the Arcane will be met with extinction.

-Jailhouse Dog (reusable once per round with Nemo’s Plans) will be used to cancel out Fountain of Dreams if it is brought in. Not playing JD to cancel Hidden Trove or Evenstar.

-When using the Sac (Sacrifice) ability where crew are eliminated to gain extra actions, keep this in mind (from the Pirate Code) regarding Captain Davy Jones’ ability to possess crew on 6’s: “If a ship (or crew) has the ability to eliminate a crew to gain an extra action, this ability may be applied. If the roll is successful, the crew is placed on this ship normally and the ship does not gain the extra action because the crew did not remain eliminated.”
Captain Davy Jones is on the Slave Revolt in the Pirate fleet, and he will choose to roll whenever any non-Pirate or non-Cursed game pieces try to use Sac. The Pirates also have some auto-6 capability, so if some high-stakes combat occurs, there is a chance they might use that to force rolls to 6’s in order to shut down Sac for a ship or two (very unlikely however).

Launch Phase

As usual, the Pirates went on a massive spending spree across their 4 launch points.  Many new customs will see play for possibly the first time ever!  Any custom game pieces launched will have their set abbreviation in parentheses so you can use the reference near the beginning of this post to see who they’re from and in the Customs Database if you want to check them out in full (ctrl+h works really well to find things quickly).  There are a few exceptions for very commonly used generic customs, such as Dinghy from PointlessArrow’s Back to War (B2W) set and Gilded Figurehead and Streamlined Hull from Woelf’s Treasure Trove of Fenrir (TToF) set.

C=Captain | H=Helmsman | O=Oarsman | S=Shipwright | E=Explorer | WH=World Hater | FPS=Firepot Specialist | CSS=Chainshot Specialist

Skull Valley: 10 ships, 329 points
Bane (SoD) + Mr. Constantine (BS), Gilded Figurehead, oarsman (she also will have Vesok aboard)
Golden Medusa + Henry Every (OotA), CHO, shipwright (30)
Dark Trance (STMTT) + Three Eyed Roger (STMTT), CHO, shipwright (26)
Cunning Calypso (OotA) + Raveneau de Lussan (AoS), helmsman, shipwright, oarsman (21)
Devil’s Float (STMTT) + Captain Leviathan (BS), Dinghy, shipwright, oarsmen x2 (34)
Grim Spectacle (STMTT) + Captain Sally Silver (OI), Master Gunner Jarvis Johns (OI), The Mad Finn (BS), helmsman, shipwright, oarsmen x2 (46)
Royal Rover (SI) + Hugh S. Shine (RotR), Rosie Richards (SI), captain, shipwright, oarsmen x2 (38)
Pyorremyrsky + Edward Lewis (B2W), CHO, shipwright (28)
Zloty Kot (BS) + CHO, shipwright, exploding shot (22)
Spirit of Freedom (BS) + CHO, shipwright (17)
Gilded Figureheads (32)
Thok (12)

Home Island: 15 ships, 284 points (504 points with island upgrades included)
Southern half: (7 ships, 129 points (349 including the island upgrades))
Banshee’s Cry + HE, 3 coin, and fort upgrade (49)
Blinding Sun (STMTT) + Karmiine Klovisk (SC), helmsman, Dinghy (23), carrying town and military port (MP) upgrades (60)
Fickle Fiend (STMTT) + helmsman, explorer, oarsman (14), carrying town and military port (MP) upgrades (60)
Pirates Booty (STMTT) + helmsman, explorer, oarsman (13) carrying town and military port (MP) upgrades (60)
Rum Stealer (STMTT) + Evil Scott (STMTT), CHO (25)
WSG supply
Blubber (RotR) + H, oarsmen x4 (12)
HMNV Naval (AoE) + helmsman, Dinghy, shipwright x4, oarsmen x3 (32)
+1 oarsman

This picture also shows the ships launched from the Metals military port (MP), detailed below.

Northern half: (8 ships, 155 points)
Mercy + CHO (14)
Fancy + CH (10)
Crow’s Foot (ES) + CHO (14)
Ripped Canvas (ES) + CHO, chain shot (15)
Cuerno de la Cabra + CHO, shipwright (19)
Anti-Viking Defense Squadron
Stradlin (SoD) + CHO, FPS, exploding shot (23)
Witchfire (SoD) + CHO, FPS, exploding shot, Dinghy (28)
Red Dragon (ELS) + Spike Vicious (ELS), helmsman, FPS, oarsman, exploding shot, double shot (32)

The Mercy and Fancy are dedicated “tugboats”, while those next three are mainly for defending the Arcane. The Arcane is so valuable that she is beginning to have her own defense squadron, which may reach over a half-dozen ships.  The Vikings’ recent Hidden Trove acquisition has made them a serious threat to the Pirates’ western border, so the Pirates are beefing up the stock gunship squadron launched last turn with more weapons.

Metals MP: 13 ships, 275 points
Spirit Folly (TW) + “Foggy” Lem (TW), CHO (24)
Vari (BS) + CH, smokepot specialist (16)
Jaguar (AoE) + shipwright, oarsman (14)
Klabautermann (BS) + helmsman, shipwright, oarsman, Gilded Figurehead (14)
Sudden Death (BS) + CHO, Gilded Figurehead (21)
Madagascar + CHO, shipwright, smokepot specialist (24)
Black Cat + CHO, shipwright, smokepot specialist (24)
WSG supply
Smiling Djinn (OI) + HS, oarsmen x3 (14)
Manacle (OI) + HS, oarsmen x4 (16)
Urgent Undertaker (SI) + HS, oarsmen x4 (16)
Thievery + CH, shipwright x3, oarsmen x2 (26)
Grey Hind (OotA) + helmsman, shipwright x4, oarsmen x2 (24)
King’s Ransom (TW) + helmsman, shipwright x2, oarsmen x5 (22)
For ships already docked there: 2x Dinghy, 5x shipwrights, 4x oarsmen (20)

Here we start to see the true scale of the WSG – simply launching half a dozen supply ships for the grand scale of the venture. Just those new ships alone carry 20 oarsmen and 12 shipwrights.  However, the Pirates want all their supply ships to have a “permanent shipwright” aboard in addition to any extras meant to be given away – that way the supply ships can repair themselves after whirlpool travel, not just the gunships. The WSG attack ships are likely to operate wholly at sea for very long periods of time, while the supply ships might come back to a launch point eventually to replenish their cargo, or simply be resupplied en route by yet another ship in the supply chain.

Textiles MP: 6 ships, 223 points
34 points of crew and equipment for various ships that docked on the play turn: Darkhawk II, Dragon, Star of Siam, Triton’s Fury, Raven, Pandora, Agnis Crystalis.
Anti-Viking Defense Squadron
Cat’s Curse (SI) + Calvin the Wicked (SfGS), Los Diablo Rojo (OI), CHO, FPS, shipwright (46)
Fallen Eagle (BS) + Scout the 3rd (STMTT), CHO, shipwright (31)
Polska (BS) + Kazimierz Lux (BS), HSO, FPS (30)
Death’s Hand (BS) + Anne Bonnie (SI), captain, oarsman, Bow Chasers (AoS) (33)
Revenant + CHO, 2 equipment (30)
Gruesome + CHO, FPS (19)

The Pirates finally let a bunch of their older ships dock at this MP in order to come in for repairs and/or get some needed cargo. On recent turns the Pirates just wanted to max out their launches no matter what, but now they finally feel somewhat satisfied with the size and power of their fleet.  This will allow many Pirate ships in need of things to come in and get them rather than waiting off the coast as endless new ships are built in rapid succession.  It could be said that the Pirate policy of “maximum launching” is over, but of course it might resume in a crisis situation.  Every launch point will still likely resemble spokes of a wheel for many more rounds, as eventually I may want the Pirates to control every single ship ever made for them, both Wizkids and custom.  O_O  You can see where the WSG attack ships have gone east, diverging from the weaker anti-Viking squadron that heads northwest.  Both have formed impromptu lines of battle.

Launch Totals for the turn: 44 ships, 1111 points (1331 points including island upgrades)

Overall Fleet Size: 240 ships, 5797 points (at least 6017 total including upgrades)

The Cursed

51 Ships, 2171 Points in Play

The Cursed also start their turn with various d6 rolls – over a dozen with more every round!

Hidden Trove was now worth 864 gold (388 ships in play after the Pirate combat, but then they launched 44 ships for 432 total). Tripled with Evenstar=2592 gold. Plus what they already had=3943 gold.  Just like the Pirates, The Cursed wanted to guarantee megalaunches for a few turns, estimating their burn rate at no less than 1000 gold per turn (so this should cover them for at least 3 turns, potentially less if they put up enough launch points).  The Cursed got 5 AA rolls to work (+Barst, a Mycron crew), giving their burgeoning fleet a lot of flexibility.

Magnesis yanked the Ivory Star into the Gauntlet of Pestilence fog bank next to the Corsair home island, killing her oarsman in the gloom.

The Cursed are on a frenetic pace with both launches and island upgrades, upgrading their custom “whirlpool forts” (Figlar Castle and Gunos Fortress, two of each in play) at breakneck speed.  To that end, they realized they’d have to do some logistical “magic” this turn.  Using one of their trade currents, the Dinghy equipment, and an intermediary ship to support bridging the gap, they managed to get both island upgrades from the Devil’s Child to the Sea Duck, and the DC’s fort upgrade to the Gerudo Gale, the latter of which was already docked at the Gunos Fortress needing the upgrade.  Originally the DC was going to upgrade both the island and the fort afterwards, but the Cursed really want to expedite how fast they can get launch points up, specifically the whirlpool forts.  Soon they will have no less than FOUR upgraded forts that can essentially megalaunch from any whirlpool in play.  O_O  Talk about weaponizing terrain!  Arguably just as intimidating as the Pirate WSG….

The shipyard token is placed and The Cursed will be able to launch from this fort next turn!

The Spanish get slammed!

The Spanish have been crushed. 7 ships sunk, 1 ship captured, 4 ships left in play.  2/3 of their fleet was wiped out in one turn by the 10 master strike squadron.  O_O  The Pirates also have their “Anti-Spanish Squadron” sailing north towards the Spanish HI…. War is upon us indeed.

A familiar voice whispered from shadow, aboard the Devil’s Kiss of the Pirate fleet…

“The Dead have taken command of the sea….”

The killing was not over yet.  It was time for a new menace to reveal itself….

TaaW=Terrain as a Weapon

Also known as: Weaponizing Terrain

In yet another instance of the Pirates getting help from The Cursed (or vice versa), the Sargasso Nightmare teleported into the area to provide some extra firepower support, making The Cursed an enemy of the Barbary Corsairs if they weren’t already.

Nearly all terrain types have now been weaponized.  The Pirates can create whirlpools at will and surge forth deadly legions.  The Cursed continue to build up their fog hopping squadron, which will be larger and more deadly than ever before.  Odin Missiles rain down from the sky every turn as icebergs from the heavens sink ships.  Now even seaweed is something to avoid, because you never know when a swampy Cursed fiend will pop out and shoot you.

The Cursed and Pirates will be using increasingly aggressive rhetoric in their dealings with other factions as their patience continues to wear thin.

All Shall Perish.

Launch Phase

Home Island: 6 ships, 210 points (390 including island upgrades)
For Wisp: helmsman, oarsman, Dinghy (6), +42 for gold+fort upgrade token.
For Maman Brigitte: Streamlined Hull, oarsman (4)
For USS Mercury: equipment (14)
For the Grand Misfortune: Melegaunt (ES), Streamlined Hull, exploding shot, stinkpot shot, chain shot (11)
Obsidian Sun (OI) + Maleficent (OotA), helmsman, oarsman (18)
Pale Moon + Lilith (OI), Tzilacatzin (RotMS), Gilded Figurehead (26)
Insidious (STMTT) + Rapunzel (SI), helmsman, shipwright, Dinghy, oarsmen x3, gold, fort upgrades x2 (26 for ship, 92 additional)
Cursed Chalice (SI) + Merrow, Tidal Fiends, helmsman, Dinghy, oarsman, gold, fort upgrade (21 for ship, 46 additional)
Voodoo Child (STMTT) + Marie Laveau (STMTT), Vodyanoy (BS), Chirox (SpMa), HS, oarsmen x10 (66)
Bloody Cutlass + helmsman, shipwright, Dinghy, oarsman (18)

From Figlar Castle #1: 11 ships, 532 points
End of Days (ES) + Lord Hellsing (ES), Carnal Sinner (ES), Wraith (SS version), Madame Maria (RoDJ), Dhornikov – Prime Executioner (ES), SO, Streamlined Hull (TToF), smokepot specialist, stinkpot specialist, grappleshot specialist, exploding shot, grapple shot, chain shot (114)
Calamity (ES) + Acronius The Calamitous (ES), Jolly the Skull (OI), Phantom (OI), Skell (RoDJ), Streamlined Hull, shipwright, oarsmen x4 (88)
Cataclysm (ES) + Volgaad The Volcano God (ES), Sorcerer Jafar (OotA), Deranged Spider (ES), Vamprah (SpMa), Streamlined Hull, helmsman, shipwright, oarsmen x5 (95)
Blood Sacrifice (MS) + CHS, oarsmen x3 (27)
Moctezuma’s Revenge (MS) + helmsman, Streamlined Hull, shipwright x3, oarsmen x5 (36)
Rat’s Circle (IofI) + CH, oarsmen x2 (17)
Eternal Curse (ELS) + CHS, Dinghy, oarsmen x3 (31)
Arabian Nights (OotA) + The Nightsister (OI), helmsman, shipwright, Dinghy, oarsmen x4 (38)
Spinax (SoD) + CHO, shipwright, Dinghy (26)
Specter (OotA) + Lord Icarus of Destral (DT), Heir to the Satanic Temple (ES), CHOS (36)
Krikun (BS) + helmsman, Dinghy, shipwright x2, oarsmen x3 (24)

One of the most sickening and incredible launches of the game sees The Cursed spend over 500 gold at a single fort.  The 10 master expenditures average 99 points each. Even more sinister… it appears that The Cursed may be building their own WSG….

From Figlar Castle #2: 12 ships, 318 points
Farore’s Cataclysm (GS) + Vaati (GS), CHO, Gilded Figurehead (38)
Fiend’s Plot (ES) + CHO, shipwright, Streamlined Hull, Gilded Figurehead (27)
Banshee’s Wail + “Screaming” Mimi, CHO (29)
Dance + Tabitha McWarren (F&S version), helmsman, oarsman (19)
Crypt + Heiress of the Apocalypse (ES), helmsman, oarsman (22)
Siren’s Stone (B2W) + CHO (21)
Black Jar (OotA) + CHO, shipwright x3 (25)
Mauled Mermaid (SI) + Captain Nachtmare (OI), oarsmen x4 (29)
Hellish Stench (ES) + Maxis Penumbra (SoD), oarsman (20)
Man O War (AoE) + helmsman, smokepot specialist (10)
Hanging Tree (RotR) + CHOS (19)
Flesh of Oman (RotR) + Icarax (SpMa), Kaulu Kaikamahine (SI), HSO (48)
The Necromancer placed in fort (ES) (11)

This Figlar Castle whirled into the middle of a fog cluster, which was perfect for what The Cursed had in mind.  They’ve put in play a “mover squadron” full of abilities that can wrench enemy ships around against their will.

Cursed PSA that all the other factions know about: The Cursed now have SS Wraith in play (aboard the End of Days), meaning there are two “d6 possess” abilities in play. From the Code: “-If a crew is eliminated and multiple different players have this ability available, each may attempt the die roll using the normal player turn order, starting with the current player, until a roll is successful or all able players have rolled.”
Following through the play order, the Pirates will roll first followed by The Cursed. Just like the Pirates, The Cursed are intentionally going to use this to try and impede Sac and similar abilities from the other factions.

Launch Totals: 29 ships, 1060 points (1240 including island upgrades)

Overall Fleet Size: 81 ships, 3245 points (3721 including upgrades)

Vikings

20 Ships, 488 Points in Play

Since they didn’t have nearly as many beginning of turn rolls as the Pirates or Cursed, I decided not to record the start of the Viking turn. This proved to be a mistake, as the Vikings pulled off a grand coup of luck.

The Vikings got a 6 with All-Powerful Thor! They had tons of options for it, with many hundreds of enemy ships in play, including some nasty pirates nearby. They didn’t want to bring in the legendary Fountain of Dreams UT as they didn’t fully trust all of the other factions – too many variables with what could be brought in.

In the end, the Vikings took control of the Cursed Flying Dutchman! They got a 6 for Kalfu (“Once per turn roll a d6. On a 6 you may change the result of any die roll to a 6.”) (!!!)
The Flying Dutchman roll to bring in a UT and place it on an enemy ship didn’t work, so the roll was forced to a 6 to bring in a Hidden Trove!!

….

It was placed on HMS Alexander!!!!  O_O

The Vikings have immensely helped the English by giving them a massive windfall, with Hidden Trove to be worth over 900 gold on the next English turn!!

This was a grand moment of much anticipation. For a few years now, the Vikings and Corsairs have started to consider “gift Troves” for other factions by using their copiers to copy the Cursed Flying Dutchman instead of the Arcane, allowing them to place a UT from outside the game on an “enemy” ship instead of their own ship.  However, the Vikings did not expect it to come from All-Powerful, which allowed the Vikings to control the FD and effectively use All-Powerful to copy the FD’s special ability.  The English could be rich as soon as next round, and perhaps the greatest thing for the possible “allies” is – there’s no Pirate or Cursed turn in between in which it could be stolen by one of the major powers.  An interesting thing about the Pirate-Cursed cooperation is that they go after each other in the turn order, so all 10 of the other factions have their turns in between, uninterrupted by the “great evils”. It’s a double-edged sword because it also allows the Pirates and Cursed to potentially execute absolutely devastating coordinated attacks in back-to-back fashion.  However, in the case of UT generation it may help.

This is also a massive deal because it could change some of the power dynamic in the northeast.  The Pirates have likely irked the English of late, sending the Blackleaf into the northeast corner with island upgrades to possibly take over the spice island the Corsairs and English have been profiting from. That island was explored with a Dinghy on the Pirate turn, meaning the Corsairs and English are quickly running out of time to prevent yet another Pirate launch point from surrounding their home waters. In addition, the Corsairs have been severely weakened, and could really use some help.  They have made contact with the English about combating the Pirates together, but until now the English had very limited means to do so. If this turn made it look like the Pirates were about to completely take over the northeast corner, this Hidden Trove gift from the Vikings to the English could change or delay that.  The Vikings also like this outcome for the sake of their positioning. They are located just west of the Pirate home island and textiles MP.  The Corsairs are their allies on the eastern side of the Pirate launch points. However, the Corsairs have been so badly beaten that the Pirates might be able to turn all their home waters might against the Vikings, which would mean a quick and certain Viking defeat.  However, if the English (east of the Corsair HI) build a battle fleet that draws Pirate attention, the Vikings have a better chance in any local combat zones.

The Vikings had wanted to give a Trove to… the Spanish!  They have been on a “gift list” of both the Corsairs and the Vikings for a few turns now.  This turn was almost the perfect moment for it, with the Vikings feeling somewhat secure with their new launches and an “extra” crack at the UT generation shenanigans via the lucky 6 on Thor’s All-Powerful.  It was all set for the Spanish to get rich instead of the English… until the Vikings realized that no Spanish ship was within docking distance of the Spanish HI.  If a Hidden Trove was placed on a Spanish ship, it would have to be at sea where it was likely to be stolen by the Pirates or Cursed (or someone else) before the Spanish could get it home.  The Vikings didn’t want to waste their luck on that, and so pivoted to the English instead.

Next it was time for the Viking copier, Jord.  Having already given out a Trove to a possible future ally, the Vikings would definitely be copying the Arcane to try and benefit themselves.

Jord rolls to copy Arcane. First Gilded Figurehead, then Jord, then Reroll via Shayna Deux:
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [2] ***
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [5] ***
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [6] ***

Another successful roll!!  Used to place a Hidden Trove on the Timperswayd!!  O_O  😀

With that, the Vikings raked in another huge windfall, increasing their gold reserves further so they could launch for multiple turns without fear of bankruptcy.

This picture shows most of the Viking ship movements.  Their recently launched warships are headed south towards a fog cluster, where the Muninn attempts to spy on Pirate movements to the east.  Some of their “lumber squadron” has broken off from their usual trade route to join up with the main force, as the Vikings anticipate needing all the ships they can spare in a possible battle with the Pirates – which they anticipate could be coming soon.  Even some resource runners are turning east, simply to beef up numbers and provide support as tugboats or block ships.  There is little need to run the lumber trade, with Hidden Troves providing a steady supply of gold from which to fund the fleet.

The Barbary Corsairs and Vikings have been reaching out over the past few years in regards to forming alliances with some of the other factions in play, possibly to combat the Pirates together. However, the Vikings have a more… brusque approach when it comes to communicating. XD  It remains to be seen if that impacts their alliance hopes, not just with the English, but other factions as well….

Launch Phase: 6 ships, 195 points (347 including upgrades)
For Timperswayd: Dinghy, town+MP upgrades (3+60)
For Noble Glacier: Shayna Deux (already in play), helmsman, equipment x3 (5)
9x Gilded Figureheads (9)
Eagle’s Brood (LI) + HSEO, Dinghy, gold, fort upgrade (22 + 48 for gold+upgrade, 70 total)
Ratatoskr (IofI) + HSO, Dinghy, gold, fort upgrade (21 + 44 for gold+upgrade, 65 total)
Berserker (IofI) + Blakenos Arnfoot (ES), CHO, Dinghy (29)
The Norse Anvil (LI) + Kould the Conquerer (IofI), CHOS (40)
Naegling + Wilhelm Hadraade (OotA), Galnarl the Terrible (ES), helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull (36)
Ruby Ice (ES) + Zaura Vikman (LI), Powder Kegs (ES), oarsman, stinkpot shot (30)

Without revealing their exact plans, it’s clear that the Vikings are investing heavily in the upgrade game.  They hear about what the Pirates and Cursed are doing, and want to get a slice of the pie.  There are only so many islands in play (36 wild at the start of play), and the Pirates and Cursed appear to be snatching up a fair number of them. In addition, the Vikings are severely hampered in their launch phases by the physical size of their ships.  With most of their ships available being oared, their average ship width is quite big, comparable to the Corsairs and all their galleys. This means they can’t launch as many ships per turn because they run out of space at their home island sooner than most factions would. As a result, more launch points are needed to get the Viking fleet built up at an adequate speed.

Overall Fleet Size: 26 ships, 683 points (895 including upgrades)

Barbary Corsairs

22 Ships, 422 Points in Play (down from 30 Ships, 575 Points in Play at the end of their last turn)

The Corsairs are down in the dumps.  They have been absolutely devastated by the Pirates and Cursed, losing 8 ships and 153 points in the time between their last turn and this one. Morale has never been lower.  Even compared to when the Corsairs lost a battle squadron to the Pirates years ago.  Some of their best fighters perished in the Pirate counterattack, and there is absolutely no way the Corsairs can launch enough new warships to keep up this war effort against the Pirates right now, especially if the Pirates keep pushing east to the Corsair HI.

The Barbary Corsairs attempted to bring in a UT…

Making matters even worse, the Corsairs failed to get the roll – the only one of my factions to not bring in any UT’s this turn.  The black days are upon them… depression and hopelessness are starting to set in across some parts of the Corsair fleet.  They do not have the gunships available to defend their resource system, which has come under attack by the Pirates and the WSG.  (I may be upbeat in the above video, but the Corsairs are anything but)

The Corsairs did their best to regroup and reprioritize, negotiating a tense truce with the Pirates on some strict terms. The Pirates agreed not to attack next turn if the Corsairs made concessions – they would not fire a single shot against the Pirates this turn, nor would they launch a 10 master or a full battle squadron (some new ships could have captains, but not all). The Corsairs are angry at the Pirates, but are more sad and shell-shocked than anything else.  They currently also have a female leader (Galina) who is mourning the loss of many Corsair captains, including Gazim, the admiral who perished when Vincenzo Gambi mercilessly slaughtered the crew of the Crown Jewel. The Corsairs are actually rethinking their strategy a bit – their plan just one round ago was to push the Pirates to the brink and wage all-out war with tons of gunships launched from their home island. However, facing extinction, the Corsairs realize they should play the long game and try to get off the Pirates’ radar a bit.

The Nubian Prince was the only burning ship capable of movement, but her fire spread even further above deck, completely engulfing the ship in flame.  The Crown Jewel and both submarines are doomed.  With those 4 ships all very likely to sink due to the automatic scuttle next turn, it would bring total casualties from the Pirate attack to 10 Corsair ships sunk, 12 if we include the pair of ships sunk by The Cursed.  The warships launched last turn sail out to form a wall line of defense against any further Pirate encroachment, with 3 war galleys north of the iceberg and one east of it.  The Crescent Moon pulls into port to stock up on some cargo the Corsairs have been planning to give her.  Corsair resource runners generally headed east to a rendezvous point near the new whirlpool by the spice island.  With nowhere to run or hide, the Corsairs are praying the Pirates don’t go back on the truce and attack them next turn.  It is a rough time when your life depends on trusting fickle pirates.

However, the turn was not without hope.  Receiving an AA from Kheir-ed-din, the Djinn of the East sped through the new whirlpool and emerged in an area completely new to the Corsairs – and for that matter, any faction.  She is the first ship to take The Vortex, a reef formation shaped by a whirlpool in the middle of it.  This is a distinct feature of the map, though unlikely to see much use due to the obvious dangers.  However, the Corsairs were desperate, and the whirlpool was near an untouched wild island they may have designs on.  It’s in between Viking and American outposts, and far from any Pirate or Cursed influence so far.

Launch Phase: 6 ships, 208 points (374 points including upgrades)
Gilded Figureheads x10
Nephila: added Dinghy and shipwright (5)
Crescent Moon: shipwright, oarsmen x2 (4)
Zeitgeist (RotR) + Prince Numidia (RotR), Baahir The Brave (PWNM), Dinghy (30)
Orion’s Belt (SfGS) + Pallamir (ES), Bomb Box (ES), HSO, Dinghy, gold, town and MP upgrade (28+60)
Rabat (ES) + Cleopatra The Wise (PWNM), HSO, Dinghy, town and MP upgrade, gold, fort upgrade token (33+106)
Camel (SfGS) + helmsman, shipwright x2, Dinghy x3, oarsmen x3 (36)
Dieu-Le-Vuit (LI) + Ramoran (ES), CHSO, Dinghy, stinkpot shot (30)
Anubis (OotA) + Rajastos (ES), Vorash (ES), HSO, Dinghy (32)

The Corsairs got busy launching just as many ships as the Vikings did. 4 new 4 masted galleys, as well as a large new submarine and a schooner!  They were digging deep into all the various new custom game pieces that have been added to the Customs Database since the last CG4 turn (much like my other factions).  Indeed, the sheer quantity of sets and customs out there at this point is likely to satisfy even the smallest of minor factions.  This Anubis is a 4 master, not a relaunch of the cancelling 3 master sunk earlier in the round.  Although the relaunching rule would allow for the Corsairs to get some of the best combat assets back quickly, I simply dislike the flavor implications of relaunching stuff that just sank less than a round ago.

Overall Fleet Size: 28 ships, 630 points (961 including upgrades)

Point Count

Starting this round, I am attempting to track ships and points in play for each faction on an action-by-action basis.  This means that whenever a boarding party results in crew elimination, I immediately subtract that crew’s point cost from that faction’s point total in the spreadsheet I use for the game.  It does make combat take a little longer, but I expect it to be fully worth it as it eliminates the need to go around the map at the end of my overall turns and count up everything each faction has in play.  This will likely result in some minor discrepancies in the numbers over time as a few crew or equipment eliminations or additions might be missed once in a while, but it’s worth the time saved. The last full point count took about 4 hours, so I’d prefer to avoid doing that each round.  I know tracking the points in play is not required, but I really love keeping track of how big each fleet is and seeing the crazy records grow with each round.

Here are the latest faction totals!  I know a lot of it is extremely lopsided, but that may change a bit over time if more “gift Troves” can be handed out or procured.  There are three fleets in the 25-30 ship range that have the best hope of contending with the Pirates (and/or Cursed).  However, almost half the factions (5/12) have less than 10 ships in play. Of course, perhaps that makes them less likely to draw interest from the power factions, possibly allowing them to slip under the radar. The Pirates’ percentage of points in play actually decreased slightly this round, but they could still become a ridiculous statistical anomaly in that regard – if they cross 50%, they’ll be just one faction out of twelve and still in control of a points majority!

Last turn saw this game become the largest in Pirates CSG history. This turn, the game broke through the 10,000 point threshold.  O_O  For some years now I have fantasized about playing a game that went into 5 figures worth of points in play. After my Command the Oceans campaign game in 2017 passed 9000, I began to think it was inevitable. Now we have reached it!  However, we didn’t just get to 10K points – we blew past it, reaching an astounding 11,721 total points in play.

We are indeed in the Reign of Terror. It remains to be seen just how allied the Pirates and Cursed are, but they currently control over 9000 points, nearly 80% of all points in play. They also own 69% of all ships afloat, meaning you could double the fleet sizes of all other factions and they’d still have more.  Next round is likely to see The Cursed become the second fleet in play to reach 100 ships, truly a huge milestone for any massive campaign game fleet. In the meantime, the Pirates will continue their assault on the record books. Already the biggest fleet ever, they will easily blow past 6000 total points next round and look to eventually become the first 300-ship fleet.  O_O

Stats by player. Things have ballooned to a size not seen before. Technically I did control more ships during CTO in 2017, but that game never reached a 5 digit point total. Now I’m not the only player playing, and I still control over 10000 points.  O_O

10 masters in play: 24 – 4 new this turn, all Cursed. (16 Cursed, 4 Pirate, 2 Viking, 1 Corsair, 1 Conglomerate)

Summary

Concepts introduced:

WSG: Whirlpool Strike Group

TaaW: Terrain as a Weapon

Burn rate: Total gold spent per turn by a faction. Good for a faction to know for when they’ll need more Hidden Troves or are likely to run out of gold.  Variable by the turn but generally in the 1000-1200 range for the megafleets that have 3+ launch points.

Here is the grand map!  I recommend opening it in a new tab and zooming in to view in full size to give yourself a tour of this crazy game.  You’re looking at the first documented Pirates CSG game to surpass ten thousand points.  This picture shows nearly 12,000 points in play.

With that, another one of my mammoth turns is in the books! This round saw brutal and decisive attacks on the Corsairs and Spanish by the Pirates and Cursed. Both battles appear to be over, with capitulation nearly inevitable in the short term.  However, the Vikings have rivaled the Conglomerate and Corsairs as perhaps the third most powerful faction, even “playing god” to decide who gets rich this turn!  Could the Hidden Trove gift to the English backfire, or will the English be eager to join the cause against the Pirates and ally with the Vikings and/or Corsairs?  What could happen next?  I’d love to hear your predictions in the comments!

As dusk sets across the ocean, a voice of black speech whispers across the waters… “All Shall Perish.”

Comment below your thoughts on the game, predictions for what will happen, and how I can improve my reports! If you’d like to support my efforts with Pirates CSG, feel free to check out my Patreon or buy things through the affiliate links throughout my website. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. Thank you so much for reading about this game and following along with the epic developments!  😀