The Huge Game Legacy Thread
Originally posted to Miniature Trading on December 27th, 2017
Definitions:
-A huge game is any game of Pirates that totals at least 1,000 points at any given time.
-A campaign game is any game of Pirates CSG that uses gold to purchase additional game pieces during the game, rather than the game ending under the normal rules.
-There isn’t really a difference between a “campaign game” and a “cumulative game”. I would suggest that the main difference is that a campaign game (CG for short) often uses a custom ruleset to make it a campaign, while a cumulative game is generally a “regular” CG without any custom ruleset used aside from a few house rules.
(I was originally going to call this thread the Campaign Game Legacy thread but thought better of it after realizing how confusing the definitions would be if I grouped my “regular” huge games under the CG definition.)
If you’re interested in playing your own campaign games, I’d recommend the Guide to huge games thread. This thread heavily borrows from that, but is more of a reflection and analysis with less how-to and more spoilers.
I have documented the epic history of my huge games, with links to the games played by Xerecs (and his brothers and friend) as well. (he may create entries for his games at some point) Enjoy!
Click on a game’s title to read the battle report.
Summary: My first cumulative game, at least as far as I can tell. This may be my favourite battle report I’ve ever written, even though I wrote most of the report years after the game took place. This is my most nostalgic game of Pirates. It’s the only actual game to feature the harbour system, which was mostly used during Historical Fantasy Scenarios.
Factions participating: English, French, Spanish, Pirates, AMerCursedCorsairs (permanent alliance of Americans/Mercenaries/Cursed/Barbary Corsairs)
Starting conditions: 20 points per fleet, 20 wild islands (14 mysterious), many UT’s.
Unique features:
-Harbor system instead of home islands
-Huge ocean using my entire room
-Unprecedented amount of gold on each wild island
-Due to a smaller collection at the time, the opportunity to use duplicate ships and custom rulings for a few game pieces
-Infantry and artillery rules from RISK (hardly used during game however)
-Chain exploring by the Spanish
Battles: (for this entire thread, the instigator will be listed first if known)
-Pirates vs. Spanish: Short skirmish in the middle of the ocean (Spanish tactical victory, made the Pirates hate the Spanish)
-English vs. Spanish: Heavy losses on both sides, English tactical failure and small Spanish strategic victory
-Americans vs. Spanish: Spanish victory (retained the Cursed Conch and dealt the Americans heavy losses)
(there is a break here to denote how much the game changed as a result of the next battle)
-Pirates vs. Spanish (and later vs. English): Largest battle of the game. Spanish eliminated from the game. Very heavy losses for the Pirates. Pirate victory.
-French vs. Americans: Unknown victor, French likely failed in their efforts to steal the Cursed Conch.
-English vs. French (and later vs. Pirates): English and French nearly eliminated each other, making it relatively easy for the Pirates to deal with the leftovers and win the game. Pirate victory.
Wars: (for this entire thread, the instigator will be listed first if known)
Pirates vs. Spanish (essentially started early in the game, though declarations of war weren’t as common in my games back then)
Possibly English vs. French, though this wasn’t important compared to the above rivalry.
Alliances: (for this entire thread, the instigator will be listed first if known)
None known other than the permanent alliance to beef up the smaller factions.
Most notable game pieces:
Cazador del Pirata
Cursed Blade
Various 5 masters
Cursed Conch UT
Most important things:
Spanish (chain exploring from powerful mysterious island)
Cursed Conch
Pirates
Results:
1. Pirates
-I didn’t record the order of eliminations for all the factions, so I’ve left this blank for my spreadsheet.
Reflection
Pros: Epic battles, massive fun with the Cursed Conch and it’s effect on the game, and using the harbour system in a real game.
Cons: Far too much distance between islands and harbours, not to mention the locations of the harbours themselves on the ocean. I used an entire room for this game, and as a result the English and French harbours were considerably more isolated than the Spanish, Pirate, and American harbours near the middle of the sea.
Overall size: Unknown. I never did a point count, but according to my original reports, there were over 100 ships in play at some point. Estimated size between 1,200 and 2,000 total points, the peak size likely occurring right before the outbreak of the big battle between the Pirates and Spanish. I used almost my entire room for the ocean, so it was a very long rectangle with another rectangle for part of it (shaped somewhat like “00oo”, if you pretend that the shape is floor/ocean space). After measuring the same area, the total length was about 15 feet. The narrow end of the rectangle had the English and Spanish harbors (3.5 feet wide), while the bigger end with the Pirate, American, and French harbors was 6.5 feet wide. When combining these two areas (8.5×3.5 and 6.5×6.5), it gives a total ocean size of 72 square feet!
Biggest fleet: Spanish before their elimination at the guns of the Pirates and English
Total length: About a week
Records:
-72 square feet of ocean, the largest for any of my games
-Likely one of the biggest and most chaotic battles of all time with the Pirates vs. Spanish vs. English changing the game for the remainder, eliminating the then-favorite (Spanish), and just causing a huge mess. If the Pirates had suffered smaller losses, they might not have actually won, as the losses forced them to return to their harbor while the other factions fought and weakened each other, allowing the Pirates to return at decent strength.
Favorite quote:
| Quote: |
| All I remember is that all hell broke loose. The Spanish panicked, the chain broke, and the Pirates attacked! |
Signature picture: (none were taken during the game, but this gives an example of the harbor system)
Summary: Still the largest “regular” game I’ve played, this was the first of three 5 player 500 point games. The first one was definitely the best of the three, and it remains one of the absolute best games I’ve ever played. It featured a lot of memorable moments, and the finish was downright epic, including the top 3 fleets being within 5 gold of each other!
Factions participating: English, French, Spanish, Pirates, AMerCursedCorsaiRebels (permanent alliance of Americans/Mercenaries/Cursed/Barbary Corsairs/Jade Rebellion; referred to as the Amercs in the battle reports)
Starting conditions: 500 points per fleet, 20 wild islands, 21 pieces of terrain, many UT’s.
Unique features:
-Likely the largest game ever by points outside of true campaign games (2,500 total points)
-Possibly the first documented use of chain towing
-Potential for triple actions (based on rereading the battle reports)
Battles:
-English vs. Pirates: Indecisive and short; various capital ships on both sides sunk.
-French vs. Amercs: Indecisive, minor losses on both sides.
-Pirates vs. Spanish: Small stakes; Spanish victory.
-Spanish and French (not allied) vs. Amercs: Amercs would have eventually been eliminated if not for the game ending due to all gold being unloaded.
-English vs. Pirates: Indecisive chase battle. English suffered heavier losses but battle was irrelevant to end results.
Wars:
Anglo-Spanish vs. Amercs: Likely without a declaration of war, but the closest this game came to having a true war. The allies had the upper hand in combat and would have eliminated the Amercs in the long run, but the Amercs got the last laugh by “unintentionally intentionally” giving the Pirates (a rival of both the English and the Spanish) the win via Davy Jones.
Alliances:
English/Spanish
Most notable game pieces:
Davy Jones
Divine Dragon
Missionary
Santa Ana
Enterprise, HMS Titan, USS Stephens, Nautilus, HMS Granville
Most important things:
Davy Jones/Divine Dragon
Anglo-Spanish alliance
Davy Jones vs. allies dilemma
“Last-minute end-of-game chaos”
Results:
1. Pirates: 48 gold
2. Spanish: 45
3. English: 43
4. French: 28
5. Amercursedcorsairebels: 9
Reflection
Pros: Start out with long turns, and then the game gets faster as you go along (the opposite of cumulative games). Very fun and fast-paced gameplay, with a lot of big decisions affecting the outcome.
Cons: None.
Overall size: 2,520 points at the start of the game. This includes the four 0LR +5 crew. Essentially a 2,500 point game. 157 total ships.
Total length: 1 week
Records:
-Tied with the other two 2500 point games for the largest total build points used in a “regular” game.
Favorite quote:
| Quote: |
| …the English/Spanish are planning to go on the attack as soon as they can repair their damaged gunships and formulate a plan of action (or a plan of extra actions, haha). |
(plus the entire final battle report from August 12th, 2011)
Summary: Similar to the first one, just not as exciting and memorable.
Factions participating: English, Spanish, Pirates, France/Americans/Barbary Corsairs (referred to as the French Americans), Cursed/Mercenaries (referred to as the Merccursed in the battle reports)
Starting conditions: 500 points per fleet, 15 wild islands, 14 pieces of terrain, 16 UT’s.
Unique features:
-Likely the largest game ever by points outside of true campaign games (2,500 total points)
Battles:
-Spanish vs. Merccursed: Spanish victory
-French Americans vs. Pirates: Likely Pirate victory; capital ships lost on both sides
-English vs. Pirates: English victory; Pirates lost almost half their fleet
-English vs. French Americans: Small skirmish; English victory
-Merccursed vs. Spanish: Spanish victory
-Merccursed vs. French Americans: Decisive Merccursed victory
-Spanish vs. English: Tactical Spanish victory; irrelevant to final results
-Pirates vs. French Americans: Indecisive skirmishes
-Merccursed vs. French Americans: Unknown victor; irrelevant to final results
-Spanish vs. English: Tactical English victory
Wars:
Not any true wars in this game, it was a somewhat chaotic free-for-all and there wasn’t as much bad blood and defined rivalries as in most huge games.
Alliances:
None known
Most notable game pieces:
Mostly capital ships
Forward
Wolves
HMS Bath, HMS Lady Provost, HMS King Edward
Most important things:
English dominance of Pirates
Capturing ships
Round earth rules
Results:
1. English: 81 gold
2. Pirates: 25
3. French Americans: 21
4. Spanish: 0
5. Merccursed: 0 (I put them behind the Spanish because they never had a single coin at any point during the game).
Reflection
Pros: Same as the other 5 fleet 500 point game.
Cons: Not as exciting as the first 2,500 point game. For me, the least memorable huge game I’ve played.
Overall size: 2,520 total points. 165 total ships.
Total length: 3-4 days
Records:
-Tied with the other two 2500 point games for the largest total build points used in a “regular” game.
-One of the highest totals of ships used in a “regular” game, especially one with an actual battle report (165 ships)
Favorite quote: (not many from this game)
| Quote: |
| The English used the “round earth” rules to go to the other side of the sea and try to get to two far-off islands, but things became much more complicated than that. The English ended up having to send some of their best gunships over to take care of the Pirates, heading for the same islands, and took out 24 masts in one turn of furious broadsides (mostly the work of the HMS Grand Temple, HMS Titan, Bretwalda, Ark Royal, and Apollo). |
Summary: This remains my only personal custom ruleset. Combining the land warfare of RISK with the naval warfare of Pirates, this game was epic indeed. Coming up with the rules and designing a global ocean took a lot of time, but I was eventually satisfied with the setup. This was also my first time playing a huge game that utilized a custom ruleset.
Factions participating: English, French Americans, Spanish, Pirates, MercCursedCorsairRebels (a fleet combining the factions of the Cursed, Mercenaries, Barbary Corsairs, and Jade Rebellion; referred to as the MCCR’s)
Starting conditions:
-20 points per fleet
-Each faction gets a home territory (HT) from the RISK board
-House rules for RISK portion found in the Battle Report
Unique features:
-Combination of two board games
-Land warfare!
-Two maps: the regular RISK board used for land combat, with another area for the world ocean where the ships were.
Battles:
-MCCR’s vs. Pirates: tiny Pirate victory (Fallen Angel captured)
-English vs. French Americans: English victory (establishing dominance at the Battle of the Caribbean)
-English vs. Pirates: Pirate victory in the Indian Ocean
-English vs. Spanish: Decisive English victory in the Pacific
-MCCR’s vs. Pirates: Decisive MCCR victory, Pirates eliminated
-English vs. French Americans: English victory, blockade of French HT set up
-English vs. Spanish: Decisive English victory, Spanish effectively eliminated
-French vs. English: English victory
-Battle for Asia (land warfare): French victorious early on, but eventually pushed back and overwhelmed by MCCR army (French Americans eliminated shortly afterwards)
-Battle of the Atlantic: English victory to win the game
Wars:
None declared that I know of, though the English vs. Spanish and MCCR vs. English (at the end) rivalries could certainly be considered full-scale wars.
Alliances:
French Americans/Spanish (mostly irrelevant)
Most notable game pieces:
HMS Victor
Grim Reaper
Delusion/Baochuan/Shui Xian (in a bad way, as they were horrifically inaccurate)
Ramsgate
English capital ships
Most important things:
Flawed land rules (couldn’t acquire gold via army units, now fixed in updated rules)
Aggressive expansion (English and MCCR’s dominated game after taking the initiative at sea)
Results:
1. English
2. MCCR’s
3. French Americans
4. Spanish
5. Pirates
Reflection
Pros: Truly realistic “global” scale, using real-life territories, continents, and locations. Very interesting take on the world of Pirates CSG to combine it with another game. Grand scale that makes you feel like you’re playing a game of life rather than just a petty war in the Caribbean.
Cons: The RISK portion was underpowered. If I play this game again I’m going to edit the ruleset so troops can acquire gold over land.
Overall size: Unknown. Definitely a huge game, but probably under 2,000 total points. The only clue is that at the beginning of the final battle, the two combatants combined for 62 total ships, with the other fleets having already been eliminated.
Biggest fleet: English
Total length: About a week I think.
Records:
-None that I know of, other than one of the only games (or the only one) to use two maps that represent the same ocean in the same game.
-10 master futility: Shui Xian and Baochuan (the latter with a world hater ability) go 2 for 13 combined during a turn. English won the final battle somewhat easily despite having no 10 masters against 3 for the MCCR’s.
Favorite quotes:
| Quote: |
| The Spanish wanted to control all of North America, as well, and the English HT of Greenland was the only territory left that they hadn’t occupied. They had built the fort Puerto Blanco on Hawaii, and were transporting troops from there to Alaska when the English rounded Alaska and began their assault. The Spanish panicked and asked if the English would stop their attack if the Spanish retreated from Hawaii and stopped the apparent invasion preparations. The English went on with their attack, with nothing to gain from letting the Spanish get away. |
| Quote: |
| …the Spanish decided on a desperate cheap shot, using the Santos Romanos to sink both the Victoria and her prize. Furious, the English turned around the untouched HMS Apollo (F&S version) and blew the Spanish blockade runner out of the water at point-blank range. With that, the Spanish lost their last ship and are officially out of the naval war. |
| Quote: |
| Shap’ng Tsai, captain of the obtrusive Shui Xian, seems a bit confused on how to help out, as he thought he would be fighting, not watching and carrying troops. |
Scenario
Summary: The biggest deathmatch I’ve ever played. A fun scenario, but the fleets were probably too big for it (maybe the only time you’ll hear me say that!). It was more memorable than the second 2,500 point game but slightly disappointing overall. However, the scenario itself is brilliant and rather interesting.
Factions participating:
Attackers: English, Pirates, and MercCursedRebels (Mercenaries/Cursed/Jade Rebellion all in one 500 point fleet)
vs.
Defenders: Spanish, French Americans
Starting conditions: 500 points per fleet, 1,500 total points for the attackers and 1,000 total points for the defenders. The picture shows the rest.
Unique features:
-Likely the largest game ever by points outside of true campaign games (2,500 total points)
-Fun scenario!
Battles/Wars:
The entire game!
Alliances:
Just the 3 on 2 nature of the scenario.
Most notable game pieces:
10 masters (negative)
HMS Bretwalda (successful Broadsides Attack may have made the difference at the end to take out El Acorazado)
Most important things:
Baochuan goes 7/20 in a double action with a world hater aboard, which seemed to anger me so much that it nearly ruined the game and almost definitely made the battle report shorter than it would have been. (the Shui Xian and Delusion doing similarly awful contributed as well)
Tight spaces to sail such huge fleets through
Incredibly massive logistical maneuvering nightmare!
Results:
The attackers won on turn 14, one turn before the time limit would have expired and given the defenders the win.
Reflection
Pros: HUGE deathmatch! Lots of chaotic fighting, especially around the forts and entrance points.
Cons: Fleets were a bit too big – lots and lots of rolling dice.
Overall size: 2,520 points. 137 total ships.
Total length: 1-2 days
Records:
-Tied with the other two 2500 point games for the largest total build points used in a “regular” game.
-Possibly the largest deathmatch ever
Favorite quote: (extremely short battle report)
| Quote: |
I would play more today, but the ten masters have ruined my gaming experience for the day  . I would rather not go on a long rant, but if they keep disappointing me I think I will flip out. Basically, they all stink. |
(I do not think I have ever been more frustrated when playing Pirates)
Signature picture: (not my original photo or scenario!)
Ruleset
Summary: A monumental achievement for me on so many levels. The MT era of battle reports was born, as well as the advent of pictures. This was the first cumulative game ruleset created by someone other than me that I played. This game and its reports redefined my standards for battle reports, and I’d like to think they’ve only gotten better and clearer since then. The game itself was absolutely fantastic; CotE is one of the best rulesets created for this game.
Factions participating: English, French, Spanish, Pirates, Americans/Jade Rebellion (referred to as the Americans), Cursed/Barbary Corsairs (Cursed Corsairs or just the Cursed)
Starting conditions: 20 points per fleet, 6 home islands, 12 wild islands, along with a Frozen North and Sargasso South.
Unique features:
-Sariouriel’s ruleset!
-Every ship requires two hits (overall) to eliminate one mast; derelicts only sink when they’ve been hit twice as many times as they originally had masts
Battles:
-English vs. French: English victory
-Americans vs. Pirates: American victory
-Spanish vs. Americans: Spanish victory
-English vs. French: English victory
-Pirates vs. Americans: Minor Pirate victory
-Cursed vs. English: Cursed victory
(these battles started after the gold was removed and the endgame began)
-Cursed vs. English: Decisive English victory, Cursed eliminated
-Spanish vs. Americans vs. Pirates: Spanish victory, all sides taking severe damage, Americans and Pirates eliminated
-English vs. Spanish: Decisive English victory
Wars:
-English vs. French
-Americans vs. Pirates
-Cursed vs. English
-Spanish vs. Americans vs. Pirates (free for all near the end)
Alliances:
None
Most notable game pieces:
Lost/Runes of Magic/Runes of Odin
HMS Gallows
Divine Dragon, Flying Dutchman
HMS Endeavour
Santo Columba, Santa Ana (SCS)
Alquimista, San Pedro
L’Heros
Revenant, Enterprise, Constitution
Various other ships (more than usual since ships stayed healthy and afloat longer than usual due to the house rules)
Most important things:
-2 hits to eliminate a mast, ships rarely sinking from combat
-Colonies and upgrade strategy
-Cessation of gold production (unfortunately)
Results:
1. English
2. Spanish
3. Pirates
4. Cursed
5. Americans
6. French
Reflection
Pros: Epic ruleset, huge ocean, big fleets. There are certain things in the ruleset that mimic real life, colonization, and empire in ways that RISK cannot. I love upgrades and the slow but natural pace of the game. Definitely a ruleset worth playing over and over again.
Cons: Inevitable rich-get-richer/poor-get-poorer nature of a cumulative game. Also takes forever, which I didn’t realize. 3 weeks was a decent start, but not long enough.
Overall size: 1,212 points in the sea at the end of turn 41, when gold production stopped. This sounds low based on the scope and nature of the game; it felt bigger than 1,200. The game ended up taking 62 total turns. The ocean was somewhat of a giant square, as you can see in the pictures, somewhere around 6 feet by 6 feet.
Biggest fleet: English
Total length: 3 weeks, 62 turns
Records:
-My first huge game with pictures
-Not really any numerical records, other than possibly tying the record for most hits required to dismast a ship (21 for the Acorazado with Joaquin Vega aboard)
Favorite quotes:
| Quote: |
| The upside down SM island is actually a Cursed trade current that was placed by the UT Lost that was dumped on the Viper’s Bite via Pandora’s Box. |
Signature picture:
Ruleset
Summary: After two years of smaller games, it was finally time to take on my most ambitious project yet. The ruleset was key, and it proved to be possibly my favourite ruleset yet, mostly because it limits the rich-get-richer/poor-get-poorer aspect that usually dominates cumulative games.
In the back of my mind, I kept thinking to myself that I wanted to make this game bigger than anything I had ever done. I accomplished that goal, but at what cost?
Factions participating: English, Franco-Spanish (FS), Pirates, Americans, Cursed
Starting conditions: 40 points per fleet, 26 wild islands
Unique features:
-Cannonfury’s ruleset!
-Unique custom terrain (arch, lagoon, shipwreck) that also provided a way to use super-valuable gold and silver
Battles:
-English vs. Americans: Small American victory
-Cursed vs. Pirates: Small and inconclusive
-English vs. Americans: English victory
-Cursed vs. Americans: Cursed victory in the Lagoon
-FS vs. Americans: American victory
-English vs. Americans: American victory, English eventually eliminated
-FS vs. Cursed: FS victory
-Americans vs. FS: American victory
-Pirates vs. FS: Pirate victory, FS eliminated
-Cursed vs. Pirates: Unfinished
Wars:
-English vs. Americans
-Franco-Spanish vs. Americans
-Franco-Spanish vs. Cursed
-Pirates vs. Franco-Spanish
Alliances:
English/Cursed (not fruitful or relevant, weren’t able to collaborate)
Pirates/FS (broken)
Pirates/Cursed (broken)
Most notable game pieces:
Maui’s Fishhook
HMS Pacificum
Devil Ray
Thompson’s Island
San Estaban (one of the luckiest ships of all time, shooting 8/9 with average cannons and surviving two full-scale Cursed attacks before being eliminated by the Pirate assault)
Brachyura
San Cristobal
Paul Revere
Calypso
HMS Swiftsure
Akua Lapu
Most important things:
-Resource system and strategy
-The Arch and Lagoon
Results:
1. Pirates
2. Americans
3. Cursed
4. Franco-Spanish
5. English
Reflection
Pros: Biggest physical game ever. Best-looking game I’ve ever played. Unique, custom made islands, terrain, and locations used for the first time ever. New concepts including the lagoon, arch, and gold-laden shipwreck. A blue ocean was used for the first time. MASSIVE fleets, huge launchings, epic strategy plays, incredibly diverse fleets, extremely unique ruleset that made the game more fair, shiny gold, shiny silver, chain exploring with native canoes, tons of fun, very intense battles, crazy house rules. Also introduced stuff from my custom set, CC Mike’s set, and RtSS. Nuff said?
Cons: The biggest disaster in my history of Pirates CSG. A horrific accident destroyed the entire setup and many ships were destroyed beyond repair. The bigger the stakes, the bigger the potential fall.
Overall size: 2,846 points at the end of turn 33. At the time, this was the biggest game I’ve ever played. Turn 33 alone saw over 1,000 points’ worth of purchases, meaning that one turn saw more stuff introduced than entire games start off with! Those 2,846 points accounted for 163 total ships, showing how heavily crewed a lot of them were. A number of turns later, another ship count revealed 181 ships in play, making this one of the biggest games ever by ship count as well as point count. In addition, with a higher number of ships the second time around, it’s likely that the game exceeded 3,000 total points. The ocean was about 5 feet long by 3 feet wide.
Biggest fleet: Pirates at 104 ships and possibly over 1,800 points
Total length: 1 month
Records:
-Possibly the fastest elimination of a major faction when the FS went from 700+ points to eliminated in just a handful of turns
-Notably held the record for largest physical game until Command the Oceans
Favorite quotes:
| Quote: |
| …the Americans actually lost money on the fiasco |
| Quote: |
| Papa Doc cancelled Champ to the surface, allowing Brachyura to rip the serpent’s head off! |
| Quote: |
| The point count exceeded even my expectations, showing the absolutely epic and grand nature of this ridiculous cumulative game! |
| Quote: |
| After 38 turns, the carnage and chaos continues to mount. |
| Quote: |
| However, the Black Mamba rolled 0/3 and even rolled a 1 to eliminate one of her own masts for one of the least effective shoot actions in recent history, losing masts and not damaging the enemy in the process! |
| Quote: |
| …the Black Mamba went 0/3 once again and rolled two more 1’s. This means she’s 0/6 and has lost all of her masts based on her ability, not from any hostile ships shooting at her! |
| Quote: |
| An incredibly bizarre sight, the lagoon’s island has been temporarily displaced with gold still on it. |
Signature picture:
Summary: After reviving the VASSAL module, Xerecs and I became excited by the possibilities of campaign games on the module. We hastily planned the first one, which would be a “regular” cumulative game with no special campaign ruleset or many house rules. Each of us controlled 3 fleets, which we HAD to play independently.
Factions participating: French, Pirates, Americans (controlled by Xerecs), Spanish, Cursed, English (controlled by a7xfanben)
Starting conditions: 30 points per fleet, 18 wild islands
Unique features:
-VASSAL system (virtual gaming platform)
Battles:
-Battle of Thompson’s Island: Spanish victory
-Battle for Cursed Captain Jack and the Cursed wild islands: Cursed victory
-Battle of the Two Paradises: Spanish victory
-Battle of the Devil’s Maw: Spanish victory, Pirates retreat
-Battle of El Puerto Blanco (eastern): Strategic Spanish victory
-Battle of the Pirates’ home island: Spanish victory
-Battle of Dread Isle: Spanish victory
-Battle of the Cursed home island: Spanish and English (not in an alliance) soundly defeat the Cursed
-War for CG1: Spanish outlast and outplay the English to win the game
(Other minor battles took place as well; many had the Cursed as the aggressor.)
Wars:
-Spanish vs. French
-Spanish vs. Pirates
-Spanish vs. Cursed
-Spanish vs. Americans
-Spanish vs. English
Alliances:
-Americans/French
-First Coalition between the Americans/French/English, with the goal of eliminating the Cursed (didn’t officially declare war, and the Cursed were eliminated by the Spanish)
Most notable game pieces:
Spanish native canoes
Cursed Captain Jack
OE Davy Jones (and LOTS of other Cursed game pieces that can move enemy ships, including some customs)
Acorazado, Garante, Augusta, Muerta
Le Bonaparte
Grand River, Harbinger, Swift
Carolina, Frontier
Divine Dragon, Loki’s Revenge, Hell Hound
Dreadnought, Apollo, Grand Temple, Endeavour
Amiral Stephan Dupuy, Emperor Blackheart, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore David Porter, unnamed Spanish admiral (aboard El Garante), Luis Zuan, Davy Jones, and the English Lords Beckett, Mycron, and Gunn
Celestine’s Charts
Most important things:
-a7xfanben launching more often early in the game than xerecs, who preferred to save up gold (which led to the Spanish, English, and Cursed to have faster starts in the arms race and eventually dominant fleets)
-Overarching fleet strategies: the Spanish were my imperial faction from the start, while the Cursed were a trouble-maker and the English would play “nice” (compared to past CG’s) and save gold. Xerecs had his own strategies for his fleets, but they were mostly wrecked somewhat early in the game by the Cursed and Spanish.
Results:
1. Spanish
2. English
3. Pirates
4. Americans
5. Cursed
6. French
Reflection
Pros: First campaign game played remotely (as far as we know). The first of many campaign games between Xerecs and a7xfanben! Plenty of custom game pieces were used. In addition, the interaction between leaders through the VASSAL chat was very unique (much of it wasn’t recorded, but the game was more complex than the battle reports show). It also became the largest game of all time (since broken by Command the Oceans).
Cons: Typical negatives of a standard CG. The rich got richer, and the poor got poorer, almost without exception throughout the entire game. As the game swelled to enormous size, the map started to look a bit too small, but the chaotic and bloody War for CG1 brought the game to a relatively quick end. This was about as “normal” as campaign games get, but it was a fantastic test of VASSAL’s capability (as well as Xerecs and I’s capability!) to run a long campaign game. One of the biggest problems concerned the lag – when the game size reached ~2,000+ points, zooming out to see more of the ocean produced a lag in the module. This was countered by simply ignoring the lag, and sometimes by not zooming out at all.
Overall size: 3,516 total points
Biggest fleet: Spanish at 1,631 points
Total length: 3 months
Records:
-Biggest virtual game ever
Largest single-turn launching: 628 gold (English battle fleet)
Most native canoes used in a game by a fleet: 35 (7 Spanish sets)
Favorite quotes: (also pretty much all my strategy summaries lol)
| Quote: |
| The French might want to be a little more careful with their choice of words in the future, given the short fuse the Cursed have |
| Quote: |
| THE SPANISH DEMAND PAYMENT! |
| Quote: |
| the Spanish decided to punish the Americans (still not declaring war on them of course, as they are essentially a vassal (pun intended) or tributary state to the Spanish) |
| Quote: |
| VIVA EL IMPERIO ESPANOL! |
Signature picture:
Summary: For the second VASSAL campaign game, which started just a few days after the first one began, Xerecs and I wanted more than just 2 players. The game would be played at a slower pace than CG1, and we managed to bring El_Cazador and ownage98 into the fold. This brought us to a whopping 4 players, a large number of people to play a campaign game with, let alone remotely using VASSAL. Each player would control 1 faction-pure fleet, and just like CG1 there was no special ruleset.
Factions participating: French (controlled by el_cazador), Pirates (controlled by xerecs), English (controlled by a7xfanben), Americans (controlled by ownage98 who dropped out after one turn)
Starting conditions: 30 points per fleet, 13 wild islands
Unique features:
-VASSAL system (virtual gaming platform)
Battles:
-First battle of the whirlpool: minor English victory over the Pirates
-Pirates vs. French: minor French victory
-Second battle of the whirlpool: Tactical Pirate victory/English strategic failure (minor losses on both sides)
-French vs. Pirates: Pirate victory
-Third battle of the whirlpool: Decisive English victory over the Pirates (and the beginning of the end)
-Battle of the deep south: Decisive English victory over the Pirates
-Battle of the southeast whirlpool: French begin to defeat Pirates; English intervene and defeat the French but accidentally trigger the endgame with the French going suicidal and essentially quitting
Wars:
-French vs. Pirates
-French vs. English
Alliances:
None
Most notable game pieces:
-10 masted ships
-Submarines
Most important things:
-Superior English strategy (including getting the first strike in their battles) (possibly my most masterful game along with CG1, this time beating 2 experienced (real, not a solo game) players in mostly dominating fashion)
-el_cazador not understanding how long the game could go/disappearing for weeks or months at a time/not trying to win after a while
-ownage98 dropping out of the game almost immediately after starting, leaving us with 3 players instead of the planned 4
Results:
1. English
2. Pirates
3. French
Reflection
Pros: This gave El_Cazador his first campaign game experience, and allowed Xerecs and I to have a distraction from the intensity of CG1. It was also a great chance to try out some custom game pieces, which we did. As the game took longer than CG1, an edit to the module was completed during the game, which allowed the first usage of 10 masters on VASSAL, during a campaign game no less.
Cons: A huge disappointment. After committing to the game, ownage98 realized he was in way over his head, leaving the game after just a few turns. This took the Americans out of the game and left a void in the western area of the sea. It also left us with 3 players, which was only 1 more than CG1. Other problems began to develop. The ocean was a bit “tall”, and I should have made it as wide as the ocean for CG1. El_Cazador’s frequent absences and hiatuses were a much bigger problem, as he was too busy and/or disinterested to pursue remotely consistent play. As you can see from the battle reports, the game went for long stretches with no turns being played, and even when turns were played, they often ceased soon afterwards for another hiatus. There was no combat until late June, after starting the game in February. You’d think that would spark more playing, but again the game suffered a huge delay, with the next turn happening in late September. El_Cazador tried to sail his fleet off the map before Xerecs and I convinced him to keep playing. The game became lopsided towards the end, and an interference by the dominant faction unintentionally caused the game to stop and end prematurely after a chain reaction which would have led to a predictable finish even had we kept playing.
Overall size: Final point count: 82 ships, 1,417 points
Biggest fleet: English at 1,222 points
Total length: 10 months
(Possible) Records:
-One of longest campaign games I’ve played by how long it took (10 months), but certainly not remotely close by how many turns were played or total time in hours spent playing the game.
-Seven 10 masters in the English fleet (though “only” 6 for most of the late-game action)
Favorite quotes: (+ my strategy summaries)
| Quote: |
| Whirlpool sub squadron ATTACK! |
| Quote: |
| The English were not going to fail in their objective again! The first raid was 2 10 masters and 3 subs, but this raid has 3 10 masters and 5 subs, with the Leicester backing them up to boot! |
| Quote: |
| The English are gunning for Emperor Blackheart, and for good reason. While the English have built up their battle fleet with sheer firepower and a possible numbers advantage, EBH threatens to throw everything off course with a single lucky die roll. Lord Thomas Gunn doesn’t see that as fair, and thus has ordered EBH’s execution. |
| Quote: |
| Now that the PC and Corcoran have been taken out of action, the English get closer and closer to being able to run unrestricted submarine warfare against the Pirates if they need to. |
| Quote: |
| At this point negotiations broke down. |
| Quote: |
| In a single turn the 3 English-controlled 10 masters in the deep south fired off around 50 shots to absolutely devastate the Pirate resistance. |
| Quote: |
| TIME TO CAPITULATE!!!!!!! |
| Quote: |
| The MF will be a busy ship helping out with crew logistics. … This situation is one of my favorite things about campaign games – strategies that aren’t viable in regular games become fun side diversions in CG’s, and the flexibility and grand strategy involved just make it a much more rewarding experience. |
| Quote: |
| At this point the English decided to intervene! |
Signature picture:
Summary: I wanted to play a campaign game to show off some of my custom stuff I created for the third Ocean Terrain Contest. Funny enough, as I played more and more, it became FAR more about the game itself than simply revealing the new islands and terrain in grand style! With more ocean space than I had for Economy Edition, and determined to top myself after that game and CG1, soon after play began I realized that I would be trying to play my most epic and biggest game EVER!
Factions participating: Pirates, Jade Rebellion, Cursed (officially revealed on Turn 40), English, Spanish, French, Americans, Mercenaries (officially an independent faction starting on Turn 52)
Starting conditions: 30 points per fleet, 3 oceans across 2 rooms, not everything revealed at the start due to faction-based perspective of the battle reports
Unique features:
-TONS of unique islands and terrain used, many of them brand-new with grand reveals happening all over the place! (no regular cardboard islands!)
-“Real” foam icebergs, and breaking them up too!
-Introduction of ladders
-Army units/land combat
-EE resource rules
-House rules
-Custom lighthouses in physical form
Battles:
-First Battle of Fog and Ice: Indecisive, Jades and Cursed suffer reasonable losses
-First Battle of Diamond Rock: English gain decisive victory but lose multiple ships to fire
-Ralph David’s attack: Decisive Pirate victory
-Second Battle of Fog and Ice: Inconclusive, heavy losses on both sides. Jades suffer slightly worse losses but Cursed are the first to retreat.
-First Fight at The Flat: French victory
-Third JR-Cursed battle: Indecisive
-Battle of Paradise Island: Both sides suffer heavy losses; Spanish lose Fortaleza Dorada but English lose multiple ships
-First Battle of the American whirlpool: American victory over the Pirates
-Second Fight at The Flat: French victory over the Americans
-Second Battle of Diamond Rock: Indecisive, stopped with abrupt truce
-Second Battle of the American whirlpool: Decisive American victory
-Fourth JR-Cursed battle: Eventual Cursed victory with unintentional Pirate help, both sides suffer heavy losses
-Battle of the Harbor: Decisive French victory, Cursed suffer light losses
-French-American line of Battle: French victory
-Battle of the northern Karkuda whirlpool: French victory over the Pirates
-Battle for the Castle: Eventual Franco-Spanish victory
-Battle for the Tunnel: Eventual Cursed victory over Pirates with Jade and English help
These were huge battles classified as full wars that dominated the endgame:
War for the Sea of Allost: Anglo-Cursed victory over Pirates, Jade Rebellion and Pirates eliminated
War for Karkuda: Franco-Spanish victory over the Americans, Mercenaries and Americans eliminated
-“Second” War for Karkuda: French victory over the Cursed, Spanish, and English
Wars:
-English vs. Spanish (concluded with a peace)
-Jade Rebellion vs. Cursed (approximately 4 major battles)
-Americans vs. French (French victory)
-Americans vs. Pirates (American victory)
-Cursed, Jade Rebellion, and English (separately but nearly simultaneous) vs. Pirates (Anglo-Cursed victory)
-Franco-Spanish vs. Americans (Franco-Spanish victory)
-Anglo-Cursed (and eventually Spanish) vs. Franco-Spanish (French victory)
Alliances:
French/Americans (broken)
Pirates/French (broken/betrayed)
Spanish/French (broken at end)
English/French (broken/irrelevant)
Cursed/English
Most notable game pieces:
Shal-Bala, Angelica
Crusher/Captain Mission
HMS Lord Algernon
Cassandra
HMS Viceroy
All Jade 6 masted junks
Santa Ana
Bonhomme Richard
President
Flotillas
Nautilus
Dauphin Royal, Soleil Royal, L’Hercule
Celtic Fury
Namazu, Behemoth
Endeavour/Titan/Apollo/Leicester
Admirals: Captain Mission, Warlord Cavendish, Devereaux, Thomas Gunn, Duque Marcus Vaccaro, Gaston de St. Croix, Monsieur Lenoir, Commodore Edward Preble, Captain Nemo
Most important things:
Unique HI situations (Pirate Kingdom, Roost, Harbor, etc)
Terrain boundaries (mainly fog and reefs in Allost and Karkuda respectively)
Unique islands and terrain and their associated rules (Diamond Rock, Tunnel, castle, whirlpool travel to different oceans)
Resource changes from Economy Edition rules (along with resources/gold running out periodically)
Results:
1. French
2. English
3. Spanish
4. Cursed
5. Pirates
6. Americans
7. Jade Rebellion
8. Mercenaries
Reflection
Pros:
I got to show off many of my cool island/terrain pieces. However, the game became much more than just that, since now this game is more about its own legacy than OTC3. I experimented with various house rules. I got into some video content for the first time for a physical game. I did a lot of awesome narrative stuff to make the game exciting and fun to read about, including some big surprises and twists. I had a lot of fun with the strategic and tactical side of things, especially with a whopping EIGHT factions participating. For some factions, I got to use almost my entire collection since the game got so big. I have over 3,500 awesome pictures to use for years to come. The battle reports have inspired multiple people with their own CG efforts, and tons of people have enjoyed reading about the game. Almost the same things about EE could be said here, as it became the greatest campaign game ever by most aspects you could consider.
Cons:
The most frustrating, trying, and difficult game I’ve ever played. The physical hardship of EE was multiplied by 3, both for the length of the game (1 month vs. 3) and the points involved. A full round of turns in a 9,000 point game can take 8 hours, so things progress at a glacial pace regardless of how often you play. There was a lot of bumping things, knocking stuff over, moving between rooms to check a crew setup for a gunship, etc etc. Overall it’s an experience I would not want to repeat again. The lessons hold though – have an unlimited amount of time to play the game, and try to play entirely on tables. You need serious real estate and literally unlimited time to get these things right.
Overall size:
Official new records:
Total points: 9,078
Total ships: 509
Largest recorded single-fleet point total: Pirates at 2,347
Largest fleet of any faction: Pirates at 131 ships
Ocean size: 42 square feet between the 3 oceans involved (Sea of Allost about 6×3, Caribbean 3×3, and Sea of Karkuda about 5×3)
Biggest fleet:
Pirates at 131 ships and 2,347 points
Total length:
About 112 turns over the course of 3 months and a week. (9/9/2017-12/15/17)
Records:
-Biggest physical game of all time
-Biggest overall game of all time
–Biggest fleet ever seen in a game (since surpassed briefly by Americans in CG3)
Favorite quotes: Basically all the grand reveals, not just of the HI’s and terrain, but also the ladders, Cursed, events at the Tunnel, and more. These two certainly top things off for me:
| Quote: |
| The Pirates pull off a huge masterstroke of grand strategy, weakening two huge rival fleets with one deal while simultaneously able to focus on their other rival. |
| Quote: |
| Charizard+Lord of the Rings+Tunnel=Epicness. |
Signature picture: (of 3500+, this was quite difficult)
Summary: After having 3 different players combined between CG1 and CG2, CG3 set a big new record at 6 players, with 4 of them being new to campaign games. It was decided that the Economy Edition ruleset would be used, and the ocean would be the same size as CG1.
Factions participating: Spanish (pirateaj14), Cursed (xerecs), Pirates (wifey), French (vixenishcoder66), Americans (a7xfanben), English (repkosai)
Starting conditions: 40 points per fleet, 12 wild islands
Unique features:
-VASSAL system (virtual gaming platform)
-Economy Edition rules
Battles:
Major Battles:
-First Battle of the Gateway Island: French decisively defeat the Spanish
-Second Battle of the Gateway Island: Americans decisively defeat the French (immediately after first battle)
-Battle of the American home island: Americans decisively defeat the French and Pirates
-Battle of the Cursed home island: Americans decisively defeat the Cursed
Minor Battles:
-Skirmishes won by Spanish against English and French
-Battle for Davy Jones: American victory over Cursed
-Battle of the Pirate home island: Americans eliminate the Pirates
(there were some other minor skirmishes)
Wars:
-Americans vs. French
-Americans vs. Cursed
-Americans vs. Pirates
Alliances:
Americans/Pirates (failed at end)
Americans/Spanish (irrelevant)
Anti-American coalition between Cursed, French, English, Pirates (wiped out)
Most notable game pieces:
-10 masted ships
-AA crew
Most important things:
-Superior American strategy (including getting the first strike in their battles) (arguably my most masterful game along with CG1 and CG2, this time beating FIVE other players in mostly dominating fashion despite getting a poor start with resources and having the reputation coming in as the most experienced veteran and still able to pull off a big win)
-String of resource changes that allowed the Americans and Cursed to continue launching a lot while effectively dooming the French
-Early Spanish aggression that caused the French and Americans to play more aggressively, resulting in a domino effect where 3 of the 6 factions (English, Spanish, Pirates) hardly got to play and didn’t stand much of a chance in the long run
Results:
1. Americans
2. Cursed
3. Pirates
4. French
5. English
6. Spanish
Reflection
Pros: Having a lot of players was fun, and gave them some valuable experience with a large game. The EE rules are good, and some players utilized game pieces from RtSS along with some customs.
Cons: The game eventually became lopsided and one faction was able to run away with the game. Unfortunately there was a domino effect that resulted in 3 of the 6 players hardly getting to play, so their first CG experience was quite limited.
Overall size: Final point count: American fleet at 127 ships, 2,414 points
Biggest fleet: Americans at 2,414 points
Total length: 6 months
Records:
Largest recorded single-fleet point total: Americans at 2,414 points
Most cancellers ever seen in a fleet? (likely): 9 (Americans)
Most players ever seen in a campaign game? (impossible to know for sure): 6
Most players ever seen in a virtual/VASSAL campaign game: 6
Favorite quotes:
However, the Americans spent last night plotting and strategizing, planning out their launches for a while in what looks to be a borderline-unprecedented 8 turn spending spree as high volumes of textiles and lumber are cashed in for new ships. The American leaders will have to juggle difficult operations on two fronts, though they will now have the spending power to potentially make aggressive moves at both locales. In the south, they face the fact that it is extremely difficult to eliminate a faction entrenched at their home island. In the north, powerful customs and a “blanket” of cancelling surrounding Cursed operations will require serious efforts to contain or overwhelm.
So all in all, you could say “the Americans hit the nuclear option”. XD Declaring war on the second-largest faction, launching a new 10 master, potentially wrecking their only alliance, and going ballistic on the game in an attempt to dominate this ocean. All of this (except the attack on the Pirates) has been in the works for weeks, but only now was it the perfect time to strike. It has now been about 5 hours since I downloaded the new file and started my turn, which took over 3 hours. Thanks for reading, and thank you to those who are playing this huge game! 😀
Signature picture: The Turning Point
Summary: Having completed a 6 player CG in only 6 months (CG3), we didn’t know that halving the player count would result in an “infinite game”. However, that’s exactly what CG4 has turned into, becoming the biggest and longest Pirates CSG game of all time!
Factions participating: All 10 original factions, plus the Dutch and Conglomerate custom factions. In the order of play, Xerecs: Spanish, Jade Rebellion, The Conglomerate, English. A7XfanBen: Pirates, Cursed, Vikings, Barbary Corsairs. PirateAJ14: Dutch, Americans, Mercenaries, French.
Starting conditions: 30 points per fleet, 48 total islands
Unique features:
-VASSAL program (virtual board game engine)
-Custom ruleset featuring Economy Edition and various house rules, all seen in the first battle report for the game.
-All custom game pieces allowed
Battles:
Major Battles:
-Barbary Corsair attack on the Pirates (2021)
-Coordinated Pirate-Cursed assault on the Spanish home island (8/12 Spanish ships sunk or captured)
Minor Battles:
-Pirates capture of the Noble Swan (netting them important UT’s)
-Cursed defense of their HI against the Americans using UT’s and an assist from the Pirates
-Corsair-Pirate skirmishes in the northeast
-Pirates defeated the Spanish at the Archipelago and Whirlpool Island
-Cursed capture of some American ships in the northwest
(plus other minor skirmishes)
Wars: (instigator listed first)
-Pirates vs. Spanish
-Pirates vs. Barbary Corsairs (Pirates declared war based on repeated Corsair attacks they started)
Alliances:
Pirates/Cursed (not declared/public but obvious from gameplay)
Barbary Corsairs/Vikings (public in BR’s, not the game itself)
-Others that are still secret
Most notable game pieces:
Ships: Arcane, Stormcloud, Tempest, Smoke’s Hand, The Leviathan, Chimeratron Legacy, Flying Dutchman, Nephila, etc.
Crew: Silverback John, Copiers including custom ones like Jord and Mata-Nui (+lore/in-game commanders such as Robert Alcantara, Lord Henry McLean, and others)
UT’s: Hidden Trove, Evenstar, Nemo’s Plans, Runes of Thor, Runes of Odin, Runes of Magic, Eye of Insanity
Most important things:
-Sailing into the map and choosing a home island location during gameplay allowed factions to choose where they’d set up (coupled with the home island change house rule)
-Custom game piece combos breaking the game, especially when combined with original game piece combos. Pirates combining Arcane, Hidden Trove, Nemo’s Plans and Runes of Thor guarantees them near-infinite wealth whenever they want.
-Launch points (military ports and upgraded forts)
-Whirlpool Strike Group (WSG) allows the Pirates to strike fleets anywhere on the map
-Global Surveillance Program (GSP) gives the Pirates severe information advantage – can’t keep facedown game pieces secret from them. This led to their capture of the Noble Swan.
-Pandora’s Box (+Bomb Box equipment) extortion scheme fiasco: Pirates attempted mass extortion of the other factions; they are likely still enraged at factions that didn’t cater to their demands.
-The general concept of a multi-faceted arms race for launch points and UT combos (rather than just fleet size)
Thoughts so far
Pros: Massive and epic beyond reason. No end in sight, so it’s just part of our lives now. The ocean and fleets are so big that it gives us the opportunity to fight massive battles and wars unlike anything ever seen in the Pirates game, especially because there’s no time limit unlike a physical game. There is also the potential for extremely complicated diplomacy, as 12 different fleets allow for a ridiculous number of permutations for alliances/wars/deceit/etc.
Cons: Turns take so long that the game moves at a glacial pace. We’re generally aiming for at least one round per year as of 2025. Some of my turns will soon eclipse 100 hours. There is also a difficulty factor in simply tracking all of the information for the game. Once fleets exceed a few dozen ships, it’s best to have detailed tracking spreadsheets for each faction a player controls. These tracking elements can get monstrous and cumbersome as the game continues growing.
Overall size: As of October 2025, there are 548 ships and 14,158 points in play, both records for any recorded PCSG game!
Biggest fleet: Pirates at 271 ships, 6649 points
Total length: 7.5 years and counting
Records:
Most fleets ever seen in a campaign game: 12
10 masters in play: 24+
Many other records that I hope to detail if the game ever finishes. Points records for overall size, fleet sizes, launches, etc.
Favorite quotes:
Even in a campaign game, this is beyond belief….
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.
The Reign of Terror has begun….
RECORD BREAKING GOLD. EXTORTION. ARMS RACE.
Things have ballooned to a size not seen before.
“All Shall Perish.”
The amount of diplomacy, intrigue and grand strategy will only increase as the game continues.
Plus many more anticipated over the coming years….
Signature picture so far: Insane northeast quadrant situation as of 2025 (home islands of Vikings, Pirates, Corsairs and English all shown)
~~~~~~~~~~
With that, we can analyze the results and come up with some all-time standings and leaderboards. Since it was very short and a team game with permanent alliances (not to mention a deathmatch), I have not included my Defence of St. Helens game in the results.
Here are my huge games and the finishes for each along with additional stats:
It’s interesting that the Pirates and English won the first 6 huge games I played. It wasn’t until I got on VASSAL that a different faction would win, but then the English won yet again in CG2. The English have won about half of the huge games I’ve played. Until CTO, the French were winless, and they had not even finished higher than 3rd in any of the games. The Americans have only played by themselves in 6 of the 9. The Spanish were either 2nd or 4th in all the games before breaking through for a big win in CG1. Before CTO, the French finished last in 3 out of 4 games played since 2013, and second-to-last in the other one.
The results of Xerecs’ games:
The epic all-time standings!
Overall results
(Through the end of 2017) As you can see, the English and the Pirates are generally the best factions for huge games. The English do hold a decided advantage in the combat department (last fleet afloat), which really helps in the huge battles and long endgames not seen in smaller games. The English do a little better than you would expect them to based on popular opinion and smaller games, while the French do a little worse than expected.
With a very impressive 3 wins in 2 years, the French have caught the Pirates for second-most all time victories. They have been very up-and-down, literally with first or last place finishes in 5 of the past 6 CG’s! (and second to last in the other) However, they have certainly redeemed themselves and more after a terrible run from 2011-2015.
The Spanish are consistently quite good, but only have one victory to show for it. Especially since 2015, the Americans seem to do quite well or quite bad. The Cursed have yet to win, but have finished twice when you count the RISK game where they commanded the alliance. The 7.5 for “Other” in CTO refers to the Jade Rebellion finishing in 7th and the Mercenaries in 8th.
The Pirates haven’t won a huge game since 2015’s Economy Edition, which I see as kind of a “turning point” or landmark game since it inspired Xerecs and spurred a “new era” of CG’s that has resulted in a whopping 9 campaign games since June 2015 (not counting the unfinished 2017 Campaign by Xerecs).
After a long drought (for them) of 5 straight campaign games where they didn’t win, the English have surged back to win 2 of the last 3 concluded games and second in the other. Quite impressive for a faction that some would consider (understandably so) to be the 4th-best faction behind the Pirates, Spanish, and French.
For now, the English claim the title of best all-time faction in huge games, with the Spanish and Pirates a ways back but close to each other (which shows the Spanish consistency). The French, Americans, and Cursed are together in the next group, surprisingly close together in fact. The “Other” factions are likely to never win, but they made some big waves in the RISK game and the JR’s in CTO.
~~~~~~~~~~
Superlatives
True winner of each category listed first when possible; others are similar to honorable mentions, or dishonorable mentions in some cases haha. These are also for games I’ve been involved in, though I have a few shoutouts to Xerecs’ games when I remember enough.
Most dominant: Spanish in CG1, English in 2nd 2500 pointer, English in CG2, Americans in CG3, Pirates in EE
Most pathetic: Americans in CG1, French in CotE, Pirates in RISK, Mercenaries in CTO, Spanish in 2nd 2500 pointer, English in CG3 (dishonorable mention to the Pirate ship Black Mamba, who in EE shot 0/6 with three 1’s to dismast herself without doing any damage to enemies)
Best alliance: French Americans in 2nd 2500 pointer and RISK: French did worse on their own beforehand, and both factions did worse after separating for CotE (France really needs them since Americans beat them in EE and technically CG1, where America needed France more)
However, this has been made mostly a thing of the past now that France and America have 4 victories on their own between them.
Most aggressive: Spanish in CG1 (all declarations of war and essentially all eliminations)
Most passive winner: Pirates in EE (though due to disaster)
Fastest/most sudden eliminations: Pirates in RISK, Franco-Spanish in EE
Most underrated/dark horse: Other (last in first 2 games, but weren’t really trying; then finished 2nd in RISK in the only game where they had a chance) (deserve another chance as CursedCorsairRebelVikings or Cursed+minor factions to make a true Big 6)
Honorable mention to the English and French perhaps: the English kinda stank for a while but have recently surged back to nearly win 3 in a row. The French underperformed for a while but have the most victories since 2016 and are habitually underrated by Xerecs and other players.
Most controversial: Pirates in 1st 2500 pointer (Cursed essentially helping them win and denying the Spanish)
-Likely even more controversial is Xerecs’ winter Economy game, which is still a murky and strange subject.
Best revenge: Spanish taking down English in CG1 after England wins final battle of CotE. Pirates vs. Spanish rivalry in general (2011 CG, 1st 2500 pointer, CotE, EE, CG1 (5 out of 8 they both participated in that are counted)
Closest finish: 1st 2500 pointer (gold scores 48-45-43) (also most “robbed”, or controversial)
-Also Xerecs’ winter Economy game
Most lopsided: CG2 (likely more points in the English fleet than twice the other 2 put together), CG3 (Americans had over 1500 of the 2300 points in play even before the final handful of turns)
Longest win streak: English at 3 consecutive wins (4 if you include the 3rd 2500 pointer deathmatch after the RISK game where they won as the attacking alliance in the Defence of St. Helens scenario), honorable mention to the Pirates for winning both of the first 2 and to the English once again recently with two wins in a row (and only a handful of gunships away from winning CTO for a second streak of 3 wins, truly incredible)
Longest drought: French were technically 0 for 9 in my games before finally breaking through for the win in CTO. The longest current drought goes to the Pirates, who have not won a huge game since 2015’s Economy Edition. (though the Cursed and “Other” have never won).
Most disappointing: obviously French, but also the Cursed a bit; arguably Pirates in recent years
Most durable: English (best average finish in last fleet afloat games)
Most fragile: French (worst average finish in last fleet afloat games with the exception of Other)
Most wealthy: Pirates (best average finish in most total points games)
“Poorest”: Spanish (worst average finish in most total points games)
Most greedy/rich: Pirates (best average finish in most gold games)
Least greedy: Other (last place in both gold games, but due to factional weaknesses)
Most wild/chaotic faction: Cursed in CG1
Most imperial faction: English in general, but also Spanish in CG1, Americans in CotE, Americans in CG3
Best year: English in 2012 (essentially winning all 3 huge games counting Defence of St. Helens)
-Honorable mentions:
Pirates in 2011 (won both)
Americans in 2015 (first and second)
English in 2016 (a win and never finishing last)
Kind of the French in 2016 (won 2, but last in the other 2 lol)
Worst year: 2014 (no CG’s)
Dishonorable mention to Spanish in 2012 (4th out of 5 in both major CG’s and on the losing end at the Defence of St. Helens)
Most satisfying story? Spanish coming very close to winning both 1st 2500 pointer (Cursed interference at the very end) and CotE (somewhat close final battle, closer if the Acorazado hadn’t been eliminated by a UT combo). Then brutally destroying everybody in CG1 for the most dominant and deserved victory of all time.
Most flawed rules: RISK (need to acquire gold over land in future)
Most parity/fairness: Most all, probably more so in VASSAL due to more rigid map construction/lack of real life elements
Least fair: 2011 CG (harbor locations too far from some islands, most dominant factions had a central location in the room, though massive conflict nearly led to neither of them winning)
Biggest game: CTO (9,078 points at peak) (see also: All Time Records post)
Most ships: 509 (CTO)
Largest single-turn launching: 1211 gold – Pirates in CG4 (Runner up: 1072 by Pirates in CG4, 628 gold (English battle fleet in CG1))
Largest single-fleet point total: Spanish at 3,209 in CoEC 2020 (honorable mentions to Pirates at 2,533 points in CG4, the Americans at 2,414 points at the end of CG3, and the Pirates at 2,347 points in CTO)
Largest fleet by ship total of any faction: Spanish at 163 ships in CoEC 2020
Largest ocean: 2011 CG (~72 square feet), honorable mention to CG1/CG3 at 40.56 square feet and CTO at 42 square feet
-Also Xerecs’ 2015 CoE game (difficult to determine size)
Smallest game: likely CotE (1,212 at point count but possibly higher earlier in the game), also CG2 which peaked at just over 1,400
Best CG? Very tough to pick between 2011 CG (nostalgia), 1st 2500 pointer (nostalgic but close and exciting/classic), EE (aesthetics, epicness/records), CG1 (big and GRAND scope, then-records, extremely enjoyable), CTO (biggest, most aesthetic, most epic physical, etc)
Middle CG’s: RISK/CotE (both great but with some major flaws, especially lack of grandness in hindsight), CG3 (decent but paling in comparison to the best)
Worst CG? CG2 (not a lot of combat, not optimal ocean shape/configurations too formulaic, English dominance, long hiatuses, lame ending with basically 2/4 players dropping out including 1 who essentially didn’t play at all), Dishonorable mention to 2nd 2500 pointer for being somewhat lame and boring
Ranking the CG’s?
1-CG1/CTO
2-EE
3-2011 CG
4-1st 2500 pointer
5-CotE
6-RISK
7-CG3
8-3rd 2500 pointer (deathmatch)
9-2nd 2500 pointer
10-CG2
Very tough to pick between CG1 and CTO; CG1 had way less headaches for me, but CTO was bigger and infinitely more pleasing to look at (and probably more fun to read about, but I truly think CG1 is underrated). I think I need more time to digest CTO to rank it properly and try to forget about how difficult it was at times, after which I’ll probably rank it #1 without a doubt. (for now…)
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I mostly made this for my own enjoyment and something cool to look back on. I will do my best to update with future huge games.
Behold the incredible power and almost limitless possibilities of DAVY JONES!
by a combination of Pirate ships, including the underrated Xiamen’s Claws. I thought I was going to lose all three of my best gunships before getting any treasure/captured ships, but through a small miracle I was able to extricate the HMS Titan from the action through my version of chain-towing (I checked on the Rules thread of MT, this is legal). I used one ship to tow the Titan, placing her at the stern of the nearest ship, then releasing her, then towing her and placing her behind the next ship, and so on down the line till she was out of harms way. I lost the HMS Concorde in the process, but that was a small price to pay for the salvaged ship, probably paid thirty plus points with the crew I had on the Titan.
. The Pirates are fleeing far to the southeast, but they have reached the French harbour and will soon be at Ocean’s Edge 
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On that note, I say goodbye to the biggest game I have played of Pirates, which included many great moments, excitement, and a 
