This is my attempt to organize all of my best battle reports in one place. I will add to the list over time. For tips on playing some huge games, check out my Guide to huge games. You can see summaries of my huge games on this page. My best strategic moments and well-played games can be found here. The bolded ones are “extra good”. 🙂
Today (2/18/12) I set everything up for a 500 point game, the second I will have played. I created the fleets on paper earlier in the week.
Once again, there will be five 500 point fleets, with four of the five having +5 0 point Limit Ransom crew (0LR +5), for a grand total of 2520 points on the floor! Things have changed in my Pirates CSG landscape, so the fleets will be composed of slightly different factions than last time. The English, Spanish, and Pirates will all be fighting individually. The French, however, are now allied with the Americans, as well as the Corsairs (this alliance will be referred to as the French Americans). The Cursed have teamed up with the Mercenaries (I will call them the Merccursed). The Merccursed are the only fleet not playing to win, as they will be trying to create chaos for the opposing fleets. I am not using duplicate ships this time (other than two of the Death’s Anchor flotillas), but I am using some duplicate named crew. However, most of the duplicate crew used will be variations of crew with the same name (ex: the Pirates are using the SM Calico Cat, as well as the OE and ROTF versions, and the English will be using the MI Hermione Gold and the ROTF version, among others). The English are using 31 ships total, the Spanish 36, the French Americans 33, the Pirates 36, and the Merccursed 29 (including flotillas and sea monsters), for a grand total of 165 !
20 islands will be used, with four treasure coins per island, for 60 total coins (15 wild islands + 5 home islands), of which 16 are unique treasures. 14 pieces of terrain have been placed, with six more on standby for the Lost UT. The nations have chosen their home islands, from east to west: Pirates, French Americans, Merccursed, Spanish, English. The order of turns will be: English, Spanish, French Americans, Pirates, Merccursed. Hopefully it will be as exciting and close-fought as the last 500 point game!
Additional Comment:
First seven turns: The game commenced, and the fleets were off!
The HMS Lady Provost encountered the UT Natives, freezing her for two turns, while the HMS Alexander uncovered the UT Missionary, marking a bad start for the English.
The Spanish got into a fight with the Cursed which is just now ending. They managed to sink the Executioner by canceling ROTF Fantasma’s Eternal keyword, and now they have acquired the Eye of Insanity, which they transferred to El Acorazado, who is also decked out with crew. The Eye lets her substitute one of her crew for a Cursed crew in play, and they naturally picked OE Davy Jones’ guaranteed extra action. Their Toro and San Jose have been sunk, among others, but they have been doing okay.
The French have gotten some treasure with La Vengeance, the Griffin, and the Viper’s Bite (the latter are still on their way home, and in big trouble from the Pirates and English respectively). The Conquerant, Saber, Possession, and Soleil Royal have all been sunk in two separate actions against the Pirates, while the French were able to eliminate the loaded Harbinger, and the dangerous Raninoidea crab. Those same Pirates have had bad luck and bad timing, and almost half of their fleet was annihilated in one turn by the English.
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). Both islands were explored by the English, and they built Fort Brompton on the closer one, but the fort was quickly destroyed by the Revenant (soon thereafter sunk by the Lord Walpole), but then rebuilt. The Aberdeen Baron was captured after exploring the farther island by the Viper’s Bite, after having been dismasted by Le Gaule, who consequently was almost dismasted by a collection of English ships. As of now, the Baron is sitting derelict with one treasure coin, the dismasted Viper’s Bite is crawling home at S speed, and the Gaule is doomed (La Dijon was sunk in this action as well). The English appear to be in complete control in this northeast area of the sea. They have captured three Pirate ships, the Raven (now at her new HI repairing), Longshanks, and Darkhawk II (both of which are being towed home with treasure on board).
The Merccursed have been creating chaos in the middle of the sea, harassing the two nearest fleets, those of the Spanish and the French Americans. The Spanish have successfully beaten them back, but the French Americans didn’t fare so well. Their problem was the fact that most of the French gunships (the bulk of their fighting ships) were off fighting the Pirates to the east, while the Merccursed used teamwork to attack the three American five masters, the Enterprise, Blackwatch, and Constitution (OE). They weakened the Enterprise with a host of ships, notably the Forward equipped with a Firepot Specialist and Musketeer, then took out her Eternal crew, Ralph David, with the crew-killing boarding effect of the Jikininki. Then the Blackwatch appeared, but she was handled by the same combination of ships (less the Forward who the Blackwatch sunk). Christian Fiore’s cancelling ability was utilized to cancel Gus Schultz (Eternal) at just the right time, and then the sea monster Slarg Gubbit finished her off. Too bad the Merccursed won’t have any treasure, so they won’t win.
Dozens of other ships were damaged and sunk today; too many to remember. These were just the highlights. The last treasure coin is on an island to the west, protected by the Wolves UT. La Ebro heads there, but there is a large battle looming in that area, in the southwest corner, between the English and the Spanish. The English have more captain crew, but the Spanish have El Acorazado and possibly more ships that are fit for battle. These appear to be the strongest factions at this point, but the Pirates and French Americans are still in the running.
February 20th, 2012
Another five or six turns have been completed, and the game will probably be finished up tomorrow. The English and the Spanish fought in the southwest corner, with the Spanish appearing to have somewhat won . Too bad my English have way more treasure than them!
Some of the English ships have gone to the east using the round earth rule and are just now stealing treasure from the HI of the Pirates. HMS Bath and HMS Lady Provost are taking gold, although it may not even be necessary for the English to win, as I appear to have the most gold of any faction, with some on my HI and more in Fort Brompton. The Viper’s Bite, Longshanks, and Darkhawk II have all been captured by the English, who have been the dominant force of late, as they also recaptured the Aberdeen Baron and sunk Le Gaule. The Acorazado was sunk by a team of English ships, and La Ebro (with Olano’s Marine keyword) has eliminated Wolves, allowing the last treasure to be loaded.
The treasure still has to be counted, but the other four fleets have all but conceded that the English have the most treasure. The Merccursed have repaired and regrouped, but appear to be too late to make any real late-game noise, although they have just recently attacked the French Americans, who were also repairing (from skirmishes against the Pirates). Le Bonaparte and Le Lache de Calvados, both immune to enemies within S, have frustrated the English around the Pirates’ HI, forcing the English to try to ram them, which has not worked. Meanwhile, the Pirates have been officially eliminated, with some of their ships captured by the English, sunk by the French Americans and the English, and scuttled to escape capture. The Coral was the last Pirate ship floating, but now they have nothing, which is important because the English have a free shot at their HI, which has the most treasure other than the HI of the English.
The Spanish fought the English in the hopes of defeating them, but they suffered three serious blows in their efforts today: the Divine Dragon sunk El Villalobos, who was carrying 11 gold in the form of two coins, having been transferred to her by the derelict San Pedro. Also, the English captured the Joya del Sol, who had more valuable treasure on her (probably about nine gold), giving them even more treasure. As if this wasn’t enough, both cancelers (Nemesio Diaz) were eliminated, going down on board the Santa Teresa and the Asesino de la Nave.
With the Pirates unable to defend their dwindling supply of gold, the French Americans losing most of their useful ships and now fighting the Merccursed, and the Spanish without a large amount of gold, the English appear to have won, though hopefully I am not speaking too soon .
HMS King Edward is positioned to take the last pieces of treasure, and the game shall end soon!
February 21st, 2012
The game was finished up today; it didn’t take as long as the other 500 point game. I believe it took only 13 or 14 turns. The King Edward was sunk by a combination of three Spanish ships, ending the game, with the Spanish with nine ships remaining, and the English with 14. The French Americans had some ships, and were in the process of a battle against the Merccursed. This was interrupted when ‘all available gold had been unloaded to home islands’. The final treasure count:
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).
A blowout victory for the English! The game wasn’t as thrilling as the last 500 point game, but it was fun to see the English play a near-perfect game.
I am extremely excited to start my next project: a five-way 500-point game! Cumulatively, 2500 total points! O_O (2520 if we add the ransom crew +5’s)
The factions for this massive enterprise remain the same. It will be the English v.s. Pirates v.s. Spanish v.s. French v.s. Amercursedcorsairebels. I have already constructed the fleets with crew (had to write all of it down last night, it was quite fun!, never built fleets that big). In total, I am using 151 ships and six sea monsters. Many very prestigious and well-known ships will be participating, including: HMS Grand Temple, HMS Titan, Nautilus, Enterprise, Divine Dragon, El Acorazado, Revenant, Harbinger, Raven, Lechim Namod, El Toro, Darkhawk II, Magnifique, Soleil Royal, Jarvis, and Asesino de la Nave. I am planning on using 20 islands, with ten of them being mysterious. I am also planning on using 5 reefs, 5 fog banks, 4 sargasso seas, 4 icebergs, and 3 whirlpools. I am using all of my unique treasure (22, I think?). Hopefully it will live up to my expectations.
August 6th, 2011
Today I started the much anticipated five way 500 point game (the 2500 is in total between the fleets).
The 20 islands and 21 pieces of terrain were placed, home islands chosen, treasure buried, and dies rolled. I, as the English went first, followed by the Pirates, French, Amercursedcorsairebels, and Spanish, in that order. The Leicester, HMS Grand Temple, and HMS Titan used extra actions/SAT’s to get a jump start. The Pirates set out, and had a balanced strategy that included collecting, stealing, and sinking the gold (not surprising, eh?). The French had their own corner, and had the most ships since I don’t have very many crew for them. The Amercs set out not sure of their strategy but knowing they could create havoc with their best ships (Divine Dragon, Enterprise, and USS Stephens). The Spanish were going to try to avoid conflict while providing their treasure ships with adequate cover.
Turn one passed almost without incident. During the Amercs’ turn, they revealed the All Powerful Davy Jones! Obviously the Pirates were quite ignorant of the fact that the Cursed would use him, placing two of their best gunships, the decked out Harbinger and the similarly loaded Prussian Crown, both five-masters, right next to each other! Now I know that what happens next is technically illegal, but I like to keep my games full of surprises! The Amercs rolled a six! (FYI: The OE Davy Jones has guaranteed extra action capabilities, 1-4 is for the ship he is on, 5 for any friendly ship, 6 for any enemy ship) Arguably the most feared man (?) on the sea gave his order, and the Prussian Crown began firing on her own ship, the Harbinger!!!!! Behold the incredible power and almost limitless possibilities of DAVY JONES!
At the beginning of the second turn, I rolled for my SAT with the HMS Leicester, and got a 6. I also had Myngs and the Gentleman for reroll on board (I know triple actions are also frowned upon, but you’ll see how badly I got paid back!), so I decided to go take on the Harbinger. Using my helmsman, I put my gunship right in the narrow space between the Harbinger and Prussian Crown, the Harbinger already missing three masts. Then I let the dice do their thing, and when it was all said and done both five masters had been sunk!!!!! The Leicester’s superb ability of eliminating two masts per hit let me hit the Harbinger twice, sinking her, then turn to the Prussian Crown, and with the help of Sir Christopher Myngs, sink her, too!
The revenge the Pirates exacted on me was very painful. The Revenant came up and dismasted my Leicester with one broadside! Then I tried to get the Leicester out of there, but accidentally ended up in a horribly undesirable fight! A complete disaster, the Leicester sunk without any crew being saved. The Titan was forced to stop and fight, and was able to dismast the Revenant before the Titan was dismasted by the Broken Key. Even worse for my morale, my HMS Grand Temple, newly built (out of the 151 ships participating in the game, she was the most highly anticipated) and decked out with Calico Cat, Griffin and helmsman, was sunk 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.
Both the Pirates and I were happy to disengage and lick our wounds as we headed back to our respective home islands, the Pirates managing to capture the Sea Tiger with Commander Temple on board in the process. Meanwhile, I had signed an imaginary non-aggression pact with the nearby Spaniards, as we were both feeling like being nice and sharing the few nearby islands. The Pirates were doing some simple treasure running with their Darkhawk II’s, and they are trying CCMike’s idea of using a crew (Genny Gallows here) to add +2 to every treasure. Another 6+ ships and the two sea monsters, Seleucis and Teach, tried unsuccessfully to get to the battle with the British, the Britons already sailing away. It was not a large scale battle, but the Broken Key was also sunk.
The French slowly made their way away from their corner to the southeast and started to gather gold. The Soleil Royal possessed the only extra action crew in the fleet, and pounced on the Cursed ship Dark Pact, dismasting her before she could use Wraith to eliminate all the French crew, but then fell into a similar situation as the Leicester. She was isolated and didn’t have access to backup in time before she was also sunk, by the USS Stephens. The Amercs weren’t interested in a full-scale fight, so they let the French eventually capture the Dark Pact, Bashaw Folly and USS Quigley while letting the rest of their ships get away. The Divine Dragon continued to create havoc with Davy Jones as the HMS Bretwalda lost three masts after being fired on by fellow English ship HMS Granville.
The Amercs and Spanish didn’t do too much, although the Spanish got some treasure while the Amercs encountered problems. The Nautilus had Captain Nemo, Luc Savard, and a helmsman on board when she docked at a mysterious island. She rolled for effect just fine, but upon turning over the treasure, found the UT Missionary! Goodbye crew!(16 points worth, too) The new terrain I got, icebergs and whirlpools, didn’t play a role so far, but I expect that to change.
Overall, a very satisfying start (albeit a sad one) to my very anticipated game! I will be away tomorrow but will hopefully play some turns Sunday. I think things through, so moving more than two dozen ships per faction takes a while. Great time I had!
August 10th, 2011
I’ve played a few more turns, and I, as the English, was able to capture the Cursed Blade (with Captain Mission, Lucky the Parrot, and a captain aboard), after she came through a whirlpool looking to steal UT’s from my HMS Lord Walpole. The English also formed an alliance with the Spanish, and now the fleets are collaborating on what to do next. The Spanish seem content to help me get back the Sea Tiger (I want her back for Commander Temple, who is still on board). It’s possible I might go after the Divine Dragon with Davy Jones on board, but this would be difficult. The Amercursedcorsairebels have not been hostile towards anybody(besides with Davy Jones), but seem to be biding their time doing almost nothing. The Nautilus went through a whirlpool to escape the French Rocher Noir (can shoot at submerged ships within S of her), but didn’t have to lose any masts due to her finding of the UT Protection from Davy Jones earlier in the game.
Meanwhile, the Pirate ships damaged from their battle with the English are back at their HI and repairing, while some ships recently brought back some treasure.
The French are about to capture the derelict L’Aguila, who, along with the Alquimista, went in the opposite direction of the Spanish fleet, heading east for gold. Now they are both in trouble! Earlier in the game the French captured the Amercs’ Dark Pact, Bashaw Folly, and USS Quigley, and seem to be developing an effective strategy of hunting in wolf packs of ships that close in on enemy targets who have been separated from the main fleet. They are doing this because I don’t have very many French crew, so instead they have mostly empty ships (37 in the fleet to start), and want to make up for lack of crew by having the largest fleet by a decent margin.
The French and Amercs are the only factions lacking gold right now, but there should be some coming in soon for the French. The Enterprise just passed by some of the Pirate fleet without firing on them, so either a non-aggression pact or alliance may come to fruition between the Pirates and Amercs. It remains to be seen what the goals of the Amercs are, but 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).
BTW: the icebergs actually were a factor today, taking down 4-5 masts in three turns.
Additional Comment:
Today I got through four more turns.
The English finished repairing their damaged ships and set out to punish the Pirates. They also managed to capture a Longshanks that was out looking for treasure alone. The English got there first, however, and now have some impressive UT’s: Dry Powder, Mines, and Marksman’s Map, although they also have Albatross, so he’s been limiting the number of extra actions ships get (-1 to die rolls made for the ship).
The Pirates are almost done repairing, and the Pandora was able to bring in some more treasure. The Black Diamond and Muerta de la Corona were out raidng the Spanish, but on their way back were surrounded by these same determined Spaniards. The Spanish sunk both ships, but the Pirates were able to put their valuable crew (OE Jack Hawkins and a helmsman, among others) on a few Darkhawk II’s that were nearby. They then proceeded to run away! I don’t have Captain Jack Sparrow, but it seemed like he was in charge, as the Pirates quickly fled from any contact with the Spanish gunships, including the loaded Acorazado.
The French completed the dismasting and capturing of the Alquimista and L’Aguila and began towing them back. The French lost some masts in the process, but not from the Spanish, but icebergs! The die rolls for the icebergs were very effective today, taking out three masts on La Vengeance and both masts on the L’Amazone. The rest of the French fleet slowly turned to the south, seeing a couple of Pirate ships separated from the main group, but the Pirates quickly thought better of it. The highlight today for the French was the building of my only fort, St. Pierre!
The Amercs continued to baffle their opponents, first reversing direction after heading due west the day before, turning back to the east where they came from. Even more surprisingly, they turned down the Pirates’ offer of having an alliance. Then they turned to the southwest to avoid coming into contact with the French. They didn’t see how close the Spanish were to them, and disaster struck (albeit a small one). I, as the British, wanted to capture the Divine Dragon with Davy Jones as her captain, and my allies the Spanish shared the same goal. The normal action for the Divine Dragon was used to explore the Nautilus (finally at the surface) to take the UT’s Protection from Davy Jones and Screw Engine. Davy Jones used another six to move the powerful Acorazado out of striking distance, but allowing the Santa Ana (SCS) to move in and pummel her! The other Spanish ships were too far away to assist, but nonetheless turned toward the sight of the Divine Dragon finally seeming mortal. The Santa Ana’s die rolls were some of the most dramatic yet, the Spanish pausing after each one to yell and celebrate. Out of four possible hits, the Santa Ana scored three, including a firepot, so now the Dragon is on fire and has three masts remaining.
The problem for the allies is that the Dragon has many possible escape routes, and has the entire Amerc fleet nearby. She can dock at the nearby island and use the UT there, Trees, to repair. Or she can use the Screw Engine/extra action to get back to her home island (probably about 8S away) before taking more damage, then repair and sit there until the enemy moves far enough away. The third alternative is to go use the whirlpool to teleport to the remote northwest part of the sea, while not taking more damage due to Protection from Davy Jones. She will not fight because she only has three cannons left, doesn’t have the reverse captain keyword available, and the Acorazado is near with a crew-killer on board. Whatever Davy Jones chooses, it is sure to cause difficult decisions for the rest of the ships involved in the skirmish: whether or not to follow the Dragon through the whirlpool (on both the Spanish and Amerc sides), and if the Spanish want a large-scale battle with the Amercs, having already gotten involved with the Pirates.
The very near future has the possibility of changing the game immensely for the duration, and we will see what exciting developments unfold!
August 11th, 2011
The Divine Dragon decided to use the Screw Engine and extra action from DJ to escape to her home island. There she was able to fully repair, but not before the captured Cursed Blade rammed her and used her ability to steal the UT Protection from Davy Jones. The Lechim Namod finally entered the fray to try to protect the Dragon from being hit before reaching her home island, and managed to dismast the crew-killing HMS Granville.
Some other Amerc ships returned home for repairs, among them the Congress and Clear Wind. The Santa Molina managed to use Broadsides Attack to sink the powerful Acorazado, and then the Amercs used the Congress’s last mast and the Concord to sink the SCS Santa Ana, which was the only other ship the Spanish had with extra action/SAT capabilities. Now they are in trouble, as the huge French fleet is now sailing for the remaining Amerc ships from the east, while the Spanish are coming at them and engaging them to the west. The Enterprise was cornered by a dozen or so Spanish ships, and decided to go out with a bang, sinking the colorful La Sirviente before being sunk in turn by L’Aguila and the Selkie (captured). The USS Stephens, back at the home island of the Amercs, used Commander Stephen Decatur to get extra actions two turns in a row so she could repair her two remaining masts, then she went and rammed the Cursed Blade, trying to reacquire Protection from Davy Jones. This she did, easily winning the boarding roll and then dismasting the Blade with her built-in captain ability. The only problem is that the Blade can (I think) use her ability next turn to take the UT right back, as she is still touching the Stephens, then have the nearest English ship take it away (maybe I’m overrating UT’s, but they are fun to use).
Meanwhile, those same Englishmen were busy chasing the Pirates, who seem to be getting the better of the battle so far, sinking the HMS Titan before she could wreak havoc. The Titan still managed to dismast two medium-size Pirate ships after being damaged, though . The Pirates are fleeing far to the southeast, but they have reached the French harbour and will soon be at Ocean’s Edge .
The French are going after the Amercs with almost all the ships they have, but the stragglers that were towing damaged ships away from the icebergs of the Frozen North were sunk unexpectedly by the Enterprise.
The Spanish are also going after the Amercs, but from a different direction, creating a trap from which it is unlikely that the Amercs will emerge victorious. Despite the Jarvis and Louisiana sunk, and Santa Molina and Bosun’s Bane being dismasted, the Amercs pressed on, and the Swamp Fox used captain/Broadsides Attack to eliminate one of the giant crabs, El Toro.
These are just the highlights, many other ships have been sunk, and many more will go down in the near future!
August 12th, 2011
The chaos continued, with more and more ships being sunk/dismasted. The Amercs continued to fight off the combined forces (though not actually allies) of the French and Spanish, but they were overwhelmed. The USS Stephens sunk, while the Amercs managed to use the nearby whirlpool to warp to the deserted southwest area, although they were only able to get four ships there, the Divine Dragon, the Nautilus, the Boston, and the cursed junk Clear Wind.
In the southeast corner, the English appeared to be losing the battle, having their HMS Gargantuan sunk and other ships dead in the water, derelict. The French were attacking the Amercs with everything they had, losing one Valois, both Bonapartes, and some masts. The Spanish continued to press from the opposite direction, and the Amercs would have lost the battle…
Now for the moment of truth! The two Spanish Concepcions, loaded with gold after exploring the last island, in the deserted northwest corner of the sea, had the last treasure on board. They didn’t have helmsman (I only have two for the Spanish), and so were sailing at only L speed. The Dragon and her Amerc comrades were possibly within striking range, and knowing that they wouldn’t win anyway, decided to cause some last-minute end-of-game chaos! The Dragon raced towards them as the Spanish approached their home island. The Spanish fleet directly to the east turned around and headed towards the approaching Amercs to try to intercept them before reaching the Spanish treasure galleons. Davy Jones suddenly loomed very large. The Dragon rolled a one and a four on consecutive turns, allowing the Dragon to catch the treasure ships just before they reached their home island (not making this up, they were literally within L of it!). The Dragon had been fully repaired from her battles earlier in the game and made short work of the Spanish ships, sinking both in one turn! The treasure is not divided between the two players in a multiplayer game with 4+ players, so it was removed from the game.
Now it was time to count the treasure. This was very dramatic, and between the first three fleets, very close as well. The final count:
1. Pirates: 48
2. Spanish: 45
3. English: 43
4. French: 28
5. Amercursedcorsairebels: 9
After I finished the final count (disappointed that the Pirates, of all nations, won, and because I came in close, but still only third), I realized just how important it was that the Divine Dragon had sunk both Spanish Concepcions. Guess how much treasure was on them: 11! This would have been enough if they had made it back to their home island, but instead it was removed, allowing the Pirates to win by a tiny margin of three. Now the what-ifs start: If the Dragon had been sunk back when she was in trouble, being hit by the Santa Ana with El Acorazado not far away. If the Spanish had put a helmsman on even just one of the Concepcions, she probably would have made it back. If the HMS Granville had gotten more than one hit on the Dragon not long before she went through the whirlpool (this is significant because the Granville has crew-killing built in, so she could’ve eliminated another crew on the next turn).
Alas, it was not the Spaniards’ day; the Pirates are once again victorious. They were fighting the English on the other side of the ocean when the Dragon interfered, which appears controversial. The Pirates and Amercs apparently never made a deal for an alliance, but they may have made a secret one, as they never fired on each other and the Amercs appeared to have helped the Pirates win. We will never know, this is just speculation. Maybe it was on purpose, but it does seem like Davy Jones to want to go out with a bang rather than just running perpetually from his adversaries. In cahoots, or not? On that note, I say goodbye to the biggest game I have played of Pirates, which included many great moments, excitement, and a mysterious ending that will puzzle us all…
Thanks for reading! Check out my other Battle Reports for more adventures!
Originally posted to Pojo and Miniature Trading on November 10th, 2014.
I haven’t played a game yet, but I wanted to document an old game to the best of my ability. Plus, I don’t want this thread to get locked up. 😀
I started the Pojo version of the Battle Reports thread on July 24th, 2011, about a month after I joined MT and Pojo. I was getting back into the game for the first time in multiple years, and started playing again.
I don’t know exactly how many games I played between mid-June of 2011 and July 24th, but I don’t think it was very many. There were three reasons:
1. I was spending a bunch of time on MT and Pojo getting to know the sites.
2. I believe I did a Historical Fantasy Scenario (HFS), which is basically using the ships to wage huge naval wars without using the actual rules of the game.
3. I played a MASSIVE game that was never fully written about.
#3 has always been a very interesting topic when I occasionally think about it, which isn’t very often. Since I started the Battle Reports thread on Pojo after the game ended, a lot of the finer details have been forgotten. However, here I will write what I remember. This particular game holds a special place in my personal Pirates CSG “lore” if you will – all of my older games are documented, so I can go back and remember what happened. This one is a murky subject that is a legendary game in my book, sort of akin to the SiaB discussions and old eBay posts, among other famous posts here at MT. I have found some limited documentation of the game in the first thread I ever started at Pojo.
Back in those days, when I did HFS’s, I used an entire room of floor space, although the particular room isn’t huge, and of course has many things on the floor to inhibit space (but also provide natural obstructions 🙂 ). Because of the huge sea, ships took longer to reach their destinations.
Each faction had a harbour. The English were in the far east, the Spanish in the south, the Pirates in the north, the French in the northwest, and an alliance of the Americans, Cursed, Barbary Corsairs, and Mercenaries in the southwest. The harbours were made out of dozens of duplicate ship deckplates, with “unlaunched” ships sitting on the deckplates waiting to be bought, whereas launched ships would dock in different places in the harbour. I used to punch out all of my duplicates because I used them for HFS’s and because I hadn’t started trading here yet.
Edit (7/22/2015): I’ve made a harbour example. Here’s what a typical harbour would look like:
The game was a cumulative one, where points are spent as the game goes along to build up your fleet. However, there was a distinguishing factor that set this game apart from all others that I’ve played: the treasure distribution.
Normally for a cumulative game, each island starts out with maybe 3 or 4 treasure coins each, and treasure magically replenishes itself at the end of each turn until the original max is reached. However, when I did HFS’s, I would simply stack as much treasure on the islands as possible. When I say stack, I mean STACK. Each stack of coins would be at least 10 coins high (usually more I think), and there would be a minimum of (probably) around 6 or more stacks per island. This was the case for EVERY island, not just some “Paradise Island” in the middle. (You can see where this is going O_O)
Since I was so used to placing treasure like this, I did the same for the cumulative game. I can’t remember if I ever had the treasure replenish itself as well, but either way there was basically so much gold on every island that you could barely see the island itself, not to mention that the stacks were taller than some of the ships. XD
Edit (11/27/2015): Here’s an example of what an average wild island would look like for this game:
Also, I used custom rules with the introduction of infantry and artillery units from RISK, but they didn’t play a big factor in the game.
EDIT: I wrote all of this before I found the old thread on Pojo, which I’ll quote from occasionally to supplement the report I wrote today.
06-20-2011
a7xfanben wrote:
I am starting a long game where each player starts with 20 points for ships/crew. I placed 20 islands in my room, 14 of them mysterious. I placed all of my unique treasure, and I am going to experiment using the infantry and artillery units from Risk (I don’t have any forts, sadly). Here are my rules for them (still in the early stages):
Infantrymen units (cost two points): They can be stationed at home harbour (or home island, I use harbours so I can fit all the ships) or on island. A player with an infantry or artillery unit on an island is occupying the island. The infantrymen are eligible for invasions/shoot actions. Invasions: An invasion counts as a general action. Therefore, a ship cannot dock at an island and invade that same turn unless her ability lets her dock and explore in the same move action.
The infantry units act as returning fire, not as an actual cannon. When an enemy ship fires on them, and misses twice in a row, one mast from the enemy ship is eliminated. Boarding parties: When an enemy attempts to invade, they roll on a boarding party as normal. For the designated infantry unit, roll a d6 and add one. If the ship has the higher result, the infantry unit is eliminated and the controller of the ship is allowed to place one of their own infantry units from that ship on the island. Each infantry unit represents one short-range three-rank cannon, for land combat (these cannons can only shoot at other infantry/artillery units). An infantry unit is not allowed a land shoot action the turn it is landed successfully. Infantry units take up one cargo space.
Artillery units (six points): Can be used in invasions, and can be stationed on island or at harbour. On land, they are a long-range two-rank cannon and require two hits from the same infantry shoot action to be eliminated. They can shoot at enemy ships as a regular shoot action, and are mobile (you can position them at any place on the island for optimum range), but cannot be given any extra actions. Artillery units take up two cargo spaces.
This game was bizarre in many ways: unspeakable amounts of gold, huge distances between harbours that hindered battling, and weird rulings that came up as part of my house-rulings and somewhat limited collection.
06-21-2011
a7xfanben wrote:
I am making progress on my big game today. The French and alliance of American/Mercenary/Cursed/Corsair have had terrible luck with island placement and mysterious islands. The Spanish were the first to purchase infantry and artillery units for the defense of their harbour. It has been all gold collecting so far, but now the Pirates are gunning to take down what looks to be the fastest-starting faction, the Spanish (mainly because of the Joya del Sol with a helmsman). The Pirates are sending the Revenant and some supporting ships (Muerta de la Corona for +1 to cannon rolls against Spanish ships, and Freedom for gold stealing) to wreak havoc. I am playing as the English, and my harbour is somewhat isolated, at one end of the room, but I have been able to buy some good ships for this gold-running start (HMS Hyena is 9 pts. for S+S and five cargo spaces, HMS King Edward has six cargo spaces).
The Pirates began a small fight against the Spanish in the middle of the ocean between their two harbours, but the first action didn’t last long at all. However, it made the Pirates hate the Spanish, which would become more important later on.
I remember the English having to travel the furthest distance to get to their wild island(s), and so they wanted to expand to some more. The Spanish were the closest harbour, and so the English picked on them. (the Pirates were to the north, but their harbour lay around the corner of a cape, so they were harder to get to.) Some English ships including HMS Leicester began attacking the Spanish, inflicting heavy losses on both sides. The attack was eventually repulsed because it was so close to the Spanish harbour, so the Spanish had a much easier time getting reinforcements to the front lines.
Probably the most memorable part of this game was the system of chain exploring set up by the Spanish. The following is a quote from the Rules Thread.
a7xfanben wrote:
Warning: This is extremely specific and impractical. It only would only be feasible in huge games, and games where the islands have more treasure on them than normal (a non-standard game with stacks of treasure on islands, or treasure that replenishes each turn). Line up a bunch of empty ships touching at the bow and stern, with the lead ship in the line docked at a wild island. The final ship is docked at your home island. Ideally the island is as close to home as possible. Also, it would help if all of the ships had the same cargo hold. The lead ship explores the island, and each ship on down the line explores the ship in front of her, taking the treasure all the way to the last ship, where it is automatically unloaded.
This is too wacky to even try in 99.9% of games, but in this way you could have a supply line of ships that automatically transports treasure from an island to your home island.
Due to the fact that cumulative games don’t have a point limit, this particular game lent itself well to exploiting this idea. The Spanish had a perfect storm going: there were huge stacks of treasure on the wild islands, one of these islands was close to their harbour, and they had bought a lot of ships (the only ones I know for sure were two copies of the Cazador del Pirata) with around 3 masts and at least 3 cargo hold.
With the nearby island to the north of their harbour, the Spanish set up the system. One ship docked at the island, and then another ship lashed herself to the stern of the first ship, with the last ship being docked at the Spanish harbour. The line was at least 5 ships long, maybe 7 or 8. There may have actually been TWO lines, but I don’t know for sure. In addition, they still had a handful of ships sailing to and from the island as normal and bringing back gold. I would estimate that the whole operation consisted of at least 20 ships, all at this one island. (I think they almost were able to set up a second line of ships to another island, but they got attacked before it could be completed.)
Naturally the Spanish were getting rich very fast, milking one island for probably an average of at least 5 coins per turn overall. They launched more ships, both goldships and gunships, making their fleet even more impressive. This is not to say that all of the other factions struggled, for they were generally successful in running gold in a normal fashion. The Spanish were the only ones to set up the chain-exploring system, which hasn’t been seen since.
The other extremely memorable part of this game concerned a single game piece. It wasn’t a ship or even a named crew, but a UT: the Cursed Conch. The Cursed Conch lets you sacrifice one of your ships to move an opponent’s sea monster. However, my collection at the time didn’t contain a single sea monster, and so I house-ruled the ability to say “ship” in place of sea monster. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but soon it became apparent just how dangerous this UT had become.
Which faction discovered the once-legendary Cursed Conch? Naturally, the Spanish. :/ XD
I’m not sure whether it was discovered on the island they had built a chain to, but it was discovered relatively early on in the game, and therefore had a huge impact.
Now, for a word about the harbour system: the harbours function much differently than home islands. They serve the same purpose, but each harbour was much bigger (probably about 2 feet wide by 2 feet long), with docks coming out from the wall of the room. Each harbour had designated places where ships were launched (on the outside where they could immediately start sailing), and ships were repaired (inside the harbour). The large number of docks and passages lent well to “hiding” ships if a faction wanted to do so.
After the Spanish discovered the Cursed Conch, I think they put it on a 4 master, and began “saccing” her each turn to cause havoc and chaos in other fleets. The Conch was later transferred to either a 1 or 2 master, because the Spanish wanted to use the bigger ship since it was more valuable.
Since the Pirates were the closest harbour (to the north), they were messed with the most. This further angered the Pirates, who had already lost a short skirmish against the Spanish earlier in the game. The Americans were also a target of the Conch, and they were the first to attempt to retaliate.
After the Conch was transferred to one of the smallest Spanish ships, the Spanish docked her deep within the bowels of their harbour, so she could “hide” and be “safe” from enemies looking to sink her or steal the Conch. However, the Spanish harbour was consisted mostly of docks facing due north, and they didn’t have a place to hide their ship in the recessed southeast corner of their harbour. Therefore they docked her almost all the way to the back against the wall in one of the inner docks on the west side. This became important later on.
Edit (7/22/2015): Here’s another mockup picture showing a harbour example with the Honu Iki at the top of the picture approximately how far back the Spanish sloop was:
Again, pretend it’s a Spanish ship, but this is basically what the Pirates and the Cursed Blade were after:
The Americans quickly grew weary of their ships being moved about by the Spanish, and sent some ships (the Enterprise was one of them) east to attack. Their goal was to sink or steal the Conch, but their efforts were too scattered. The Spanish either held on to it or stole it back, and the losses the Americans suffered as a result of these disorganized attacks dealt them losses that were hard to overcome. Additionally, I didn’t have as many good gold ships for the Americans, Cursed, and Barbary Corsairs as I do today, so the Americans weren’t likely to win the game anyway.
06-23-2011
a7xfanben wrote:
In my game today, the Revenant was quickly repelled from her attack on the Spanish harbour when two of her masts were knocked out from the harbour’s artillery batteries.
The infantry haven’t played a role yet, but then again there have not been any real battles (the Revenant action was the first and it was brief-she didn’t have enough backup). The Spanish have had luck with the mysterious islands-the one closest to them lets you take two treasure from every other wild island in the game and put it on this one before you explore, if you roll a five or six.
On the other hand, the French have had their Petit Dauphin sunk, Danae dismasted, and Courageaux damaged at a single island (Roll 5d6. For every 4-6 result, eliminate one of this ship’s masts). The Spanish are calmly and steadily accumulating more gold, while the nearby pirates are scrambling to put a good fleet together to wipe them out (or die trying).
I am using all of my unique treasure, including the Cursed Conch, but I don’t have any sea monsters (normally it lets you give a sea monster an action instead of the ships it is on), so I changed the ability to let the controller move any ship in play. This has had an undesirably overpowered effect. The Cursed Blade has been thwarted from stealing it by being sent back to where she came from, and the Enterprise was moved onto a reef, losing two masts.
Tomorrow the Pirates will attack and we will see which fleet is stronger. As the English, I sent a squadron to steal unique treasure from the other factions, the French and American/Mercenary. Then I finally bought the Leicester for 18 and decked her out with Admiral Morgan (5-6:extra action), Ducie Chads (5-6 same action twice, +1 against Pirates) and the Gentleman (captain ability and die re-roll for the above effects).
With one attack repulsed (pun intended; I think I actually used La Repulsa in this game), the Spanish went about their business of chain-exploring. However, they realized what a threat the Conch was to other factions’ security, and so transferred it to a smaller ship that they hid in the back of their harbour. It wasn’t long before it was the center of attention once again.
With the Americans weakened and the French and English having slow gold fleets, the Pirates had in the meantime built a fleet that was surpassed in size only by the Spanish. As a result, the Spanish began using the Conch exclusively against the Pirates, which led them to the conclusion that they must attack the Spanish or face elimination. A battle fleet was gradually launched and assembled, and they began clustering in the ocean to an area to the northwest of the Spanish harbour, but still out of striking distance.
More than anything, the Pirates wanted the Conch. They wanted to steal it and use it against the Spanish. For this they launched the Cursed Blade, one of my favourite ships and the perfect ship for the job. They also considered the Raven because of her speed, but they didn’t want to risk losing a boarding party. With the strategy they were planning, they would have just one shot at the Conch.
The Pirates knew that the small Spanish ship had the Conch and no other treasures. The Cursed Blade didn’t need to win a boarding party to steal the Conch, but only to make contact with the Spanish ship. The Blade was crewed with a helmsman to boost her speed to S+S+S, and Calico Cat to give her an extra action to move twice for a total of 6S. She probably had other crew aboard such as a captain and/or oarsman, but I don’t remember if I had a Pirate reroller back then.
The Cursed Blade positioned herself at the southeast edge of the cluster of Pirate ships accumulating in anticipation of the upcoming battle. The Blade would go in first in an attempt to take the Conch. She had to wait a few turns for the SAT from Calico Cat, turns that were spent in anxious anticipation. There was also a lot of time spent measuring distances and ranges, for the Pirates knew they had one shot at it. They would end their move deep in the Spanish harbour with ships sailing to block the entrance off before she could escape.
The Cursed Blade finally got the SAT, and she zoomed in 6S straight into the Spanish harbour, crashing into the small Spanish ship. I believe the ram took out a mast, and it may have been a 1 master, which would mean she was totally dismasted. Either way, the Blade was successful in grabbing the Conch. The problem was, she couldn’t use it or transfer it to safety until she made it out of the harbour. I don’t think she did.
This is where my memory fails me. All I remember is that all hell broke loose. The Spanish panicked, the chain broke, and the Pirates attacked! I can honestly say that the Cursed Blade’s action that turn altered the game forever, in a single, solitary moment of brilliance that caused a chain reaction that would be felt for the rest of the game.
I want to say that neither the Cursed Blade nor her crew got out of the harbour alive. If they made it out, I think they were sunk soon thereafter. The entire cluster of Pirate ships (probably 2/3 of their overall fleet) sailed down upon the Spanish, and the battle was on! Due to the Spanish being backed up against their own harbour, the battle was extremely close-fought, and I remember a lot of ramming and boarding. The chain broke because the Spanish wanted more of their numbers in the main battle area, which quickly spread a little bit towards the east, where the chain was originally docked. The battle was very chaotic, because the Pirates were in a manic rage to kill as many Spaniards as possible, and the Spanish didn’t expect such a large battle.
The other factions took notice of this epic clash between the two largest navies. The English joined the main battle, but they did so from the east, near where the chain had been. This meant that the Spanish were fighting two foes at once, since most of the Pirate ships were more to the west and south. In the end, the Spanish were generally eliminated through all the carnage, and the Pirates eventually retreated back to their harbour to repair their considerable losses. However, the English had arrived late to the battle, and still had fresh ships sailing up as the battle was ending. Therefore, they kept on sailing west through the area where the battle had been.
In the meantime, the Americans somehow managed to get the Cursed Conch during all of the chaos:
06-25-2011
a7xfanben wrote:
The Pirates are almost finished wiping out the Spanish, and the English eventually got involved also. The Americans/Mercenaries managed to get the Cursed Conch with the Santa Molina (with help from the Enterprise), but now they are under attack from the French.
Many ships were sunk today (the highlights being the Leicester, Revenant, Harbinger, and Acorazado), and now the fleets are trying to salvage what they can after the long melee and distribute shipwrights (because their home harbours are too far away, and they don’t have treasure to repair, I usually require a ship to pay two treasure points to repair at her home island if she doesn’t have a shipwright there, this is what I have done for years with my fantasy scenarios).
The French were exposed to the battle the least and have the most fresh ships. I am looking forward to the final conclusion of what looks like a week-long game, which will probably happen near the American/Mercenary harbour (where they headed after they got the conch).
The French (with their harbour based in the northwest) had started to sail southeast towards the main battle as well, but they didn’t get there in time. However, they arrived in the middle of the ocean just as the English were sailing west, and another battle became imminent!
The English and French didn’t have fleets nearly as large as the Pirates and Spanish, so the battle was shorter and less grand overall. I’m not sure who won, but both fleets were battered and weak by the end of it.
At this point, the Pirates had done a bunch of repairs and were ready to have another battle. They weren’t at the full strength they had been at before the Spanish battle, but they were plenty large enough to defeat any of the remaining fleets. They spotted the winner of the English/French battle and promptly sailed southwest to clean up the scraps. It was relatively easy for them to win, and for reasons I don’t remember the Americans had been eliminated as well (possibly as part of the English/French battle). The Pirates were the last fleet sailing, and therefore were the winners of this long cumulative game! 😀
That’s the best I can remember. It was one of the most memorable games I’ve ever played, and now that I’m done writing this it’s much longer than I expected it to be.
06-26-2011, 06-27-2011
a7xfanben wrote:
I am finishing up an unlimited point game where the fleets accumulate ships/crew as you go along, and it has taken about a week. At one point I had well over 100 ships in play at once…
The Pirates ended up winning, as the English and the French got tied up in a decent fleet action, which allowed the Pirates plenty of time to repair, regroup, and bring back some of their sunken ships.
The time has come for me to play another solo campaign game! It will be the first game of this type since my Experimental cumulative game in January 2016, and the first (hopefully) longer-style physical campaign game I’ve played since Economy Edition in June 2015.
I will generally be using my Basic Rules. Most of the core game rules stay the same for those, and some of the bigger changes like the endgame rules won’t apply here since it’s a campaign game. However, I will point out two things from my Basic Rules to keep in mind:
-Ships cannot do damage by ramming.
-When a ship wins a boarding party, the winner decides whether they will take gold/resources or eliminate crew. The winner chooses which gold/resources to take, but the loser chooses which crew is eliminated.
Those are probably the two biggest things to remember from my rules for the battle reports for this particular game.
Now, onto the house rules! Some of these are subject to change depending on how things go.
-All ships and forts must be hit twice to eliminate one of their masts. These hits can come at any time; they do not have to come in the same turn or during the same shoot action. This rule also applies to ships such as El Acorazado, whose ability now reads “four hits are required to eliminate one of this ship’s masts” (not necessarily the same shoot action). (I did this for my Century of the Empires game in 2013 and generally enjoy the rule quite a bit, and as I did back then I plan to track damage by putting the tiny dice next to a mast that has a hit on it)
-To make things even more realistic, ships with no masts remaining must be hit twice as many times as they have masts in order to sink. I used this rule in CotE as well, because ships almost never sunk from pure combat. However, in order to alleviate how many derelicts could be floating around as a result, scuttling attempts succeed on a die roll of 4 as well as 5 or 6.
-Ships can be shot at even if they are docked at their home islands.
-If a faction does not have any ships docked at their home island, all opposing ships may raid their home island freely, taking as much gold and resources as they want.
-Forts and flotillas do not follow the no-duplicates rule.
-Return to Savage Shores game pieces may be used.
-Custom game pieces may be used, as long as they aren’t too overpowered.
-Return fire: After a ship is shot at, that ship can return fire with any remaining cannons, but must roll a 5 or 6 to hit. This occurs during their opponent’s turn, and therefore does not count as any kind of action and cannot be used in conjunction with ANY abilities other than those on the ship that shot first. (such as a defensive ability that would still work as normal)
Land combat/ground forces
There will be opportunities for fleets to purchase army units from RISK for use in the game. There will not be territories and RISK rules, but there will be land warfare. These rules are extremely subject to change.
Infantry: 1 point, L move; can shoot at 3S to eliminate crew only (considered crew)
Artillery: 3 points, S move; can shoot at 2L as a regular cannon (considered equipment)
-These units can only use their abilities on land.
-These units count against the point and cargo restrictions on ships.
-These units must be unloaded with an explore action or an explored island marker – they are not subject to the “free transfer while docked” rule.
-Ships can fire on army units that they can reach with their cannon ranges, but once they are out of range they cannot be shot at. (in which case the attacker would need to land army units of their own on the island or somehow draw the units back into range)
-Army units are unloaded on islands at the location where the ship docked. They must be given move actions to move to other locations on the island. Army units cannot be given more than one action per turn, and they cannot be given extra actions by any means.
During land warfare, infantry units have a 3S cannon that can shoot at other army units, while artillery units have a 2L cannon. Infantry units are eliminated with one hit from any type of army unit, while artillery units are eliminated with two hits from infantry units and one hit from artillery units.
Money!
As of now, I am tentatively planning to use a combination of gold and resources on wild islands. Resources will follow the system implemented by cannonfury for his Economy Edition rules. For those unfamiliar, each resource is assigned a number 1-6 starting with lumber. An initial roll for resource value is made, which follows the “Die Roll” row below. Then 2 d6 are rolled to determine how many turns the values last before they change. As with Economy Edition, I will be using face up coins for resources and face down coins for gold.
Die Roll……1……2…….3…….4…….5…….6
Lumber……1……6…….5…….4…….3…….2
Textiles……2……1…….6…….5…….4…….3
Metals……..3……2…….1…….6…….5…….4
Fish………..4……3…….2…….1…….6…….5
Spices……..5……4…….3…….2…….1…….6
Luxuries…..6……5…….4…….3…….2…….1
Other rules
As you will eventually see, various custom house rules will need to be instituted during the game for different reasons. These include longer range lines of fire from higher altitude vantage points, in addition to custom rules for “special” game pieces. I anticipate this game getting chaotic to the point of absolute bedlam, but I will do my best to create rules so that certain things make sense and can be explained thematically and hopefully with proper rules as well.
Starting Conditions
As the name of the game implies, there will not be just one ocean area for this game. In fact, the space constraints and logistics of the two different rooms I’m playing in will result in not two but THREE different oceans! The general sizes of these oceans are 6×3, 5×3, and 3×3, for a grand total of 42 square feet of ocean!
I will not say how many or which factions will be participating. All I can say is that the number is more than 4, but less than 10, as not all of the factions will be playing individually. The main factions will become obvious once play begins, but the factional boundaries will not necessarily stay constant until the end of the game. Along with the uncertainty of in-game house rules, this is one area in which even I don’t know what the future holds.
-Fleets will have 30 points for their starting fleet.
-Flat earth rules are being used.
The setup will be revealed in due time, don’t worry. I will be purposely leaving some things “off camera” until the viewer needs to see what they are.
Also, the factions don’t know the various areas well at all, as they’re new to the locations. As a result, things will seem a bit off at times, but this is simply to emphasize that the scale of the oceans is larger than it appears, so fleets cannot simply “see” something even if it looks clear in the actual pictures, since it’s farther away than it looks to us. This is part of the reason that the oceans will not be revealed from the start – the factions have to find their way by sailing around, so the reader of these reports is discovering things as the factions discover them!
An important note about the setup: I consider the aesthetics of my games a pathetic joke compared to the gameplay itself, so if you don’t like how something looks, make a prettier version of it and send it to me lol. I am a firm believer that you can spend far too much time pondering about this game, making fleets for it, making detailed and beautiful custom terrain, but then complain that you don’t get to PLAY as much as you’d like. I am the opposite – I am sacrificing aesthetics and long hours spent toiling on stuff in order to PLAY THE GAME!
Victory Conditions
-Last fleet afloat wins the game.
-As I’ve warned with my other physical campaign games, this game may end very suddenly at any point in time. It may abruptly stop all of a sudden without me expecting it to. Even if it doesn’t, it may require an artificial “ending” depending on the circumstances, as physical campaign games are difficult to play to true completion (aka last fleet afloat wins). Therefore, in the case of an earlier finish, the fleet with the most points in play will win.
Other
-One of the three ocean areas is on the floor, but I will be preventing any disasters with proactive measures.
-To avoid this game taking over my soul like Economy Edition did in June 2015, I am going to attempt play limits. After the first week or so of play, I plan to only play one turn per day. I plan to do battle reports consistently, possibly even on a per-turn basis.
–Please comment what you think about this game! I would LOVE to have feedback on the rules I’m using, the setup, the house rules I’m implementing, and anything else you find interesting. Don’t hesitate to comment which faction you’re rooting for, or what you thought of something that happened. I want as much interaction as possible!
-I have some surprises for you all, and some things that people will be happy to see. I am very excited to play this game and I hope that a lot of people read about it! Even if you don’t plan to post in the thread, go ahead and hit “Watch this topic for replies” at the bottom of the page so you don’t miss the excitement!
Final note of warning: I am about as hyped for this game as I have ever been before starting a game of Pirates CSG. I have purposely made this post somewhat nonchalant, but I believe my enthusiasm will show through indeed. If this thing somehow, someway, works out, we are all in for a wild, WILD ride. O_O
After being inspired by his flavor text, I made a Pirate Empire fleet to showcase what I thought of the idea. Now I’ve taken it a step further! With a large piece of foam cut to form a hideout inside, as well as arch entrance and exit points, I now have a “Pirate Kingdom” in physical form!! The self-proclaimed King of Pirates is either a genius or a buffoon, depending on which side you are on. Though many of his actions are inexplicable, they seem to work out for him in the end. And when it’s all said and done he lords over the only defensive pirate haven in the world.A group of shipwrecked pirates stole a ship to escape their island prison, not realizing it was a secret Cursed vessel. Taking it to Captain Mysion’s pirate “kingdom”, they received a hero’s welcome.
Here you can just make out all three Pirate ships that are in Mission’s starting fleet. At the bottom of the picture, notice the splash of gold…
At ship level now, this is the southern entrance (for this game) of the kingdom. Notice the imposing rocky walls that make up the archway leading inside. Sail too close, and yards may begin flying everywhere!
Up close above the northern arch.
This is just above sea level at the southwestern corner. There is a foreboding deep cave, with some weeds and foliage growing in many spots of the formerly uninhabited rock.
Another great view from above, showing most of the rocky haven. Notice the flat parts surrounding that high outcropping in the middle, as well as the shelf-like outcropping protruding from the western wall.
A golden waterfall?!? Or, as Mysion likes to call it, his “goldfall”.
A view from the gold waterfall, showing the two Pirate sloops. As you can see, one of them is nestled in against the interior wall for superior defensive positioning. The other sloop is docked against one of the arch entrances, ready to sail out at a moment’s notice.
The “goldfall” leads straight to the Cassandra, and you guessed it – Mission is aboard! However, this is his Mysterious Islands iteration, and he’ll try to give extra actions to his new ship to make her extra effective.
With great fanfare, Mission leaves his kingdom and sets out into the sea! What a great scene!!
Mission’s helpers are currently the Smiling Jim and the Fancy. Both are speedy and accurate Pirate sloops, but neither can carry much cargo. However, the Cassandra certainly can! This was all part of Mission’s plan for such a new area – as long as he kept the goodies in his personal stores, the crew on the other ships couldn’t tempt the others into coming aboard and leaving Mission. A clever Pirate indeed. Clever enough to not only find such an amazing natural defensive structure, but exploit it to the point of making it a powerful pirate base.
But this isn’t just a party for pirates, now is it?! Look who’s here: the Jade Rebellion is back!! On their own once again, the Jade Rebels are looking to avenge a frustrating loss in their own home waters of the South China Seas during the Experimental cumulative game about a year and a half ago. Leading their efforts this time around are two brand-new ships to my collection: the huge GRAND WIND and the Sea Snake! Warlord Cavendish commands the Grand Wind, with a helmsman aboard to make the ship sail at an acceptable pace.
The Jade Rebels seemingly appeared out of nowhere at the edge of this ocean, which is not just “Ocean #1” (for gameplay purposes and turn order), but also the Sea of Allost! (pronounced like you’re saying “all lost” as one word, not like ballast hah) The sea was so named because according to ancient legends, “all are lost who travel these waters”. This is not true in the least, as sailors seem to find their way rather easily in the Sea of Allost. (note: I love mispronouncing the real life Sea of Azov as “A-zovv” so this was a way for me to make a similar sounding name along with a vague flavor explanation lol)
Welcome to the Caribbean!
Well, kind of. XD Due to space constraints and another factor, it doesn’t resemble the Caribbean at all, but more a tiny snapshot of one fictionalized area of the Caribbean. By fictionalized, I mean that there are a couple Caribbean-type things involved, but they aren’t in their regular locations and the scale is tiny. (as it had to be, unfortunately) For the purposes of turn order and sequence, this is also known as Ocean #2.
Clearly the English have arrived! They sail in on two more ships that I built just before the game started, as I usually try to do with physical campaign games. HMS Viceroy and HMS Apollo have officially entered Royal Navy service, and they are eager to prove themselves in such fine and beautiful waters. Speaking of beautiful, check out their home island! You may recognize the style and aesthetics of it, and indeed it is yet another creation from Ross in AZ. You are probably impressed, but don’t be jealous of me – you can get some too! He sells (and sometimes trades) them; check out details on his Facebook page.
The English depart from Port Royal, looking for ways to maximize English wealth and territorial claims.
Ohhh boy!! Spain is back in action! After a dominant showing in the first VASSAL campaign game, they’re off to a HOT start in the third one. Now they’ve invaded the Caribbean and look for another victory! Setting sail from their home island of Hispaniola (thematically), the Spanish fleet contains a familiar ship: the San Estaban! This ship was one of the luckiest ships ever during my Economy Edition game two years ago, so naturally the Spanish are looking to capitalize on the ship’s rich history and surprise unknowing opponents.
Joining the San Estaban are the Magdalena and La Ebro, good sloops from subpar sets. Obviously they are using another island from Rossinaz, while in the background you can see a little preview or “taste” of the Caribbean. A dangerous rock lies in wait, while my handmade sandbars are to the right.
The Spanish split their fleet into three, so they can explore more than one area of the Caribbean at a time.
The crew of the Ebro spot the imposing rock, whose height is nearly the same as the Ebro’s single mast! Before we leave the Caribbean for now, a note about the oceans: as you can generally see already, I am using a combination of completely fictional locations (Sea of Allost) along with a small but pseudo-historical real location (Caribbean). I realize this mix of reality and fantasy is not for everyone, but I can promise you that it will be worth it. Just keep reading.
Introducing: The HARBOR!!
It’s here! With an absolute bevy of ideas percolating in my head over the past few weeks, the Harbor makes a grand entrance. The Harbor was cut from a large piece of foam, as the middle chunk was easily removed to leave a massive frame that works great as a defensible harbor.
In this Sea of Karkuda (name subject to change, also Ocean #3 for playing purposes), the French have arrived to build a massive harbor complex that eclipses the engineering feats of just about all other factions in any “game” ever. However, by the time they were done building it, they were nearly broke and could only afford a single dock for their ships!! Hahah!
A slightly more overhead view, showing how large the man-made structure is. The main harbor rule is as follows: Harbor docks of any size cost 10 gold apiece. I’m hoping this will be a reasonable way to let the French expand their operations within their luxurious confines, without being too cheap to allow for easy exploitation since the French are VERY lucky to have even built it in the first place. It’s capable of holding far more ships than Mysion’s kingdom, and may also be a stronger defensive haven. Therefore, it seems only fair that the French must build it up in order to have a drawback for using it from the beginning of the game. Oh, and another thing: ships must unload at docks within the Harbor, as the main walls cannot be docked at by any ships on the inside OR the outside. This forces the French to travel further inside to unload things, but also forces any potential home island raiders to brave arguably the most dangerous gauntlet of defense constructed in a Pirates game.
I hope you enjoyed the introduction of my new Harbor area. I initially had some issues with it which I’ll expand upon later, but now that I’ve done some serious brainstorming and thinking (thus the word bevy, harhar!), it has the potential to be an all-time great.
Well! Let’s not forget about the faction who controls the Harbor, shall we? The French! Sailing out with an Admiral’s Action to start the game provided by Amiral Gaston de St. Croix, the Soleil Royal is back in action! After a lengthy hiatus, one of my favorite French ships ever returns to physical play. A triumphant return indeed, for she is already sailing at a good clip with Gaston’s help. Speaking of help, Gaston has some of his own. Duncan Rousseau is excited about sailing around the Sea of Karkuda, and provides a nice reroll for the AA ability. His Parley can help to keep the Soleil Royal safe if she gets into a quarry with an enemy, while a helmsman has also been hired to make the ship sail with the best of them. Trailing the SR is the Marianne, a slow but underrated sloop.
I will be making attempts to play this game during peak natural lighting, but some turns (especially those in Karkuda) may have some darker shots. The flash will come in handy, though I’d like to avoid using it a lot because it can look rather strange and unnatural. In this case it helps to illuminate the beauty of the Soleil Royal and show off the basic cardboard I used for the dock lol. With a thick enough piece it can be very durable and comes with a nice wooden color, so I can just cut it and use it without further modification!
Making an entrance similar to the Jades, the Americans are here! They sail into the Sea of Karkuda on two ships: the Bonhomme Richard, legend of the North Sea, and the Argo, legend of nothing. XD Brent Rice and a helmsman crew the Bonhomme Richard, a ship that unfortunately had a very loose mizzenmast when I received her constructed in an eBay lot some years ago. I have not used either ship as much as I’d like to have, especially the BR, so they comprise America’s starting fleet.
The Argo has already spotted an island, but it looks very rocky and inhospitable, at least to humans. However, it has been named “Luck Island” due to the “lucky stone” on top of the main outcropping. (note: In my childhood, summer vacations on a local lake with a rock-filled beach led to the finding of some “lucky stones”, which are simply stones that have a clean hole all the way through) The Americans don’t want to settle on Luck Island, but they also don’t want to go through that dangerous-looking swirl of water off the starboard side of the BR….
Luck Island, with the hole in the rock showing the BR’s jib. A keen eye will notice “land ho!” off in the distance, but that doesn’t mean the Americans can see it yet. (a rare instance of you glimpsing something before the sailors do, as I noted in the first post of this thread)
(Karkuda comes from other real-life location names I enjoy, such as the Sea of Marmara, Barbados, Barbuda, etc.)
If you’ve been keeping count, we are now up to 3 oceans (Allost, Caribbean, Karkuda), 2 rooms (Karkuda is in a different room), and 6 factions. Not to mention some fun new creations!! And don’t worry, the fun nearly hasn’t even started yet! XD We’re only one turn in!
Another round of turns begins! Mysion on the Cassandra sees a familiar sight he saw on his trip in, but he’s been busy “renovating” the now-active Pirate Kingdom base. It’s Pistol Island, so named for its distinctive shape. (long handle at the left, with a barrel at the right and even a bit of a flared muzzle like a flintlock to boot!) Note: This is a rock I discovered at the aforementioned lake many years ago, but this is the first time I’ve used it in a Pirates game. It’s further proof that I’ve been at this nautical stuff for a while, since I may have found it before I got into Pirates and possibly even before the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out!
The Jade Rebellion has quickly found a perfect island to call home in the Sea of Allost! Both ships dock at the beach, but they’re still organizing parties for exploratory purposes.
An imposing sight: the Viceroy carries not only Thomas Gunn, but also Major Peter Sharpe, a bargain-priced marine in the employ of England. The name Gunn is probably familiar to most readers, as the most effective Admiral of the Age in many respects. His new post has him in control of just two ships, but if fortune smiles upon his fate he will command many more before too long….
Oh no! The San Estaban’s luck appears to be more pedestrian already than it was in EE, for the Spanish captain and helmsman aboard the vessel only find some rocks and reefs blocking their path.
The Ebro meets a similar dilemma, and her crew sticks with the plan of meeting with her fleetmates instead of forging ahead with her ability to ignore terrain while moving.
The entire Spanish fleet, showing a good chunk of the Caribbean.
Back to Karkuda: what beauty! The French flagship gets a second consecutive AA from Gaston, allowing her to dock at a nearby wild island and explore it!
With the first island resource roll of the game, the French discover yummy food on the nice island! Here you can see the Merchants and Marauders token I’ll use, along with a French pennant marker.
The Americans discover an island much more “human friendly” than Luck Island! They plan to make it their home after exploring it, similar to the Jades in the Sea of Allost.
That is all for the time being, but I’ll be back with more very soon. However, in the meantime I thought I’d leave you with a final picture, a preview of sorts. This is an undiscovered wild island, which will be called “The Flat” for obvious reasons. It’s another old rock from a long time ago, but in this case it was recently glued back together to look the part for this game! Haha. I hope you enjoyed the start of Command the Oceans. CTO for short, the name was partially inspired by a book I read a few years ago.
Mission reaches Pistol Island at the helm of the Cassandra:
Notice the distinctive shape, hence where the island gets its name:
Wow! All three Pirate ships reach wild islands in the same turn! The Smiling Jim reaches one of my older custom islands while the Fancy docks at a classic from Rossinaz.
The Jade Rebels explore their island, making it their new home! They are slightly disappointed to not find any resources or gold on it, but they like the thought of using that cave to hide valuables….
This had been an idea of mine for quite a while. After creating a custom fort for use in my RISK game back in 2012, I had considered trying to make a physical version of the rock. However, between my lack of desire to spend many hours attempting to create a realistic copy, and the similarities between the stuff created by Ross in AZ and the pictures of the rock, I decided to reach out to Ross and ask about potentially making a physical copy of Diamond Rock for use in Pirates games. Shortly afterwards I now own one of the coolest custom game pieces ever made for this game!!
HMS Apollo docks at the massive rock, while the Viceroy stands guard.
(note: the Sea of Allost and the Caribbean are in a room formerly occupied by a female, so just a heads-up if you ever see decidedly feminine things in the background of pictures lol!)
Ross did a fantastic job making a lifelike Diamond Rock, and I’m extremely excited to use it in my games! Note the cave on the side, which is where the Royal Navy was able to install some artillery on their “ship” during the Napoleonic Wars.
The Magdalena was approaching the rock, but with the dangerous Viceroy in position, the Spanish may think twice about attempting to land at the single beachy area (another historical touch, as most of the island was inhospitable to ships).
As Mickey ironically watches over his own Caribbean franchise, wondering where the Pirates are….
Deja vu! The Royal Navy reaches Diamond Rock first, and claim it as their own. The Viceroy’s rows of bristling guns serve to back up that claim.
Notice the cave beyond the beach along with the foliage, which looks remarkably similar to the real thing. (I highly recommend looking at pictures and old paintings of it, since it’s so unique and cool)
The Spanish arrive!, but alas they appear to be too late.
O_O
Imposing indeed! (click the picture to get the full size version!)
I turned the camera to get this cool shot, which I feel is one of the most realistic of the game so far. A sloop comes around the side of Diamond Rock, whose bulk obscured a large English warship lurking beyond. Almost makes you feel like you’re actually sailing around the rock!
Obviously I can’t get enough of this awesomeness! However, that is all of Diamond Rock for now, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we already have.
The San Estaban turns around, hoping to meet with her other ships and discuss their findings of the area.
The crew of the Ebro is thinking the same thing:
The Soleil Royal prepares to give her fish to the Marianne, allowing her to return to the island and get more and maximize French logistics.
The flash makes it less natural, but it does show the pretty colors of the French ships and the “deep blue” sheen of this unique silky ocean fabric I also used in the Experimental cumulative game.
The Americans explore the wild island and make it their home!
Back in the Sea Allost, turn 4 begins with a Pirate exploration! Mission fittingly uncovers metals on Pistol Island, filling the Cassandra to the brim.
With all three Pirate ships docked as of last turn, it would inevitably lead to all three exploring on this turn! The Smiling Jim finds textiles:
And the Fancy finds Spices!
With three different resource types on nearby islands, the Pirates are now set up for long-term wealth. A great start for them indeed!
The Jade Rebels sail away from their home island for the first time, heading west. The eastern path is blocked by a giant wall of dense fog….
Back in the Caribbean, the Apollo explores and finds textiles! The Viceroy docks at Diamond Rock to load some as well.
Now the Spanish are just plain jealous! LOL!
The Spanish have a fleet meeting to discuss their exploratory operations. The San Estaban’s captain remarks that he found reefs and rocks and turn for home. The Ebro found similar things, but also a mysterious weedy mixture in the ocean to the northeast of their HI. The Magdalena reported on finding the gigantic Diamond Rock, as well as the English who had gotten there first. The captains began brainstorming ways to get resources and simultaneously force the English out of the region….
With an eastern viewpoint this time, we are back in the Sea of Karkuda where the French are hungry for more food!
Shimmering blue waters surround beautiful ships and a similarly beautiful, “fruitful” island.
The Americans do some exploring of their own! The Argo heads back to Luck Island so she can investigate it, while the Bonhomme Richard quickly discovers a new island. Although small, Brent Rice names it Ruby Island due to the reddish hue that appears near the island’s edges.
Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think of the game so far, and stay ready for more!
Play has continued! For the most part, it looks like my schedule will allow me to play at least one turn per day for the foreseeable future, which in this case is about two weeks.
Looking west for a change, you can see the Pirate fleet returning home to their kingdom.
The Jade Rebellion has found a wild island near their home island!
The English leave a little surprise for any potential comers – Major Peter Sharpe is stationed on Diamond Rock’s only beach! Thomas Gunn dropped him off with instructions to stay hidden but shoot at any opposing ship that tried to dock.
With the Ebro in the lead, the Spanish form a line and start sailing along the side of Diamond Rock. The San Estaban is prepared to defend her gold runners from the English if necessary. The Spanish are continuing their somewhat cautious strategy, not sending their gold runners out too far by themselves and now not going where the English just sailed. They don’t know about Sharpe’s presence, but they seem to have made a good decision so far….
The crew of the Ebro anticipate potential danger on the far side of the rock:
With extremely valuable food on board, the Soleil Royal and Marianne hurry back into their Harbor to unload and cash in:
The Argo reaches the low point of Luck Island while the Bonhomme Richard explores Ruby Island, finding luxuries! I’m using a tobacco token to represent luxuries for now.
Back to Allost, where the Pirates are about to get home. From the main topmast of the Cassandra, the Fancy unloads her spices at the northern arch of the kingdom.
Spices are still nearly worthless, so Mission’s Pirates have to wait another turn to think about launchings.
The Grand Wind explores the island and finds textiles!
The power of the Royal Navy, seen at deck level. Run out the guns!
The Ebro leads the Spanish around the sargasso sea she found earlier, and you can glimpse the Apollo beyond Diamond Rock to the right.
In search of new islands, the Spanish forge onward in the shadow of Diamond Rock.
From the San Estaban’s mainmast, the other side of Diamond Rock:
The Argo finds spices on Luck Island!
Tough to get these shots since the hole is so small, but you can glimpse the Argo’s mizzenmast sail from the hole in Luck Island, where spices have been found.
The first launching of the game! The Cassandra and Smiling Jim docked home some good resources and cashed them in for 29 gold. Mission gets his own ship at last, the Crusher! He also ordered construction of the Doombox, a nice flotilla from the same super rare pack. However, the Crusher won’t tow the Doombox since she’d lose the speed bonus provided by her new helmsman.
Mission transfers his flag from the Cassandra to the Crusher, as the Crusher is now the Pirate flagship. The Cassandra will continue to gather lots of resources, and Mission made sure to hire crew that would maximize her effectiveness in that role.
Here you can see the shakeup. Mission boards the Crusher with a new captain and helmsman, but makes sure to outfit his old ship with good crew to not leave her forgotten. Indeed, the Cassandra is more effective than before, with potential for 6S speed between the helmsman and Gunner’s SAT ability.
The Grand Wind sails the quick trip home, while the Sea Snake loads some textiles of her own:
Grand indeed! Couldn’t resist this closeup. I’ve always loved how the 6 masted junks look.
Spending 16 gold, the English purchase HMS Half Moon with a helmsman, as well as the first army units of the game! Two infantry units will board the Apollo, while the artillery cannon has been taken aboard the Viceroy.
The English know where they’re going with the new units, and I guess there’s not much to speculate about even for you as the reader! XD
Wow!! Spanish patience pays off! They find a tropical paradise deep in the Caribbean, complete with a waterfall and trees! The Spanish name it Paradise Island. (note: this island is not connected with the Paradise Island scenario some of you may have seen before, and the name will not likely remain after this game)
The current Spanish view of Diamond Rock, showing the imposing back area and the impressive height.
Paradise found? Perhaps, but the Spanish will have to spend some time exploring it to discover what the island has in store for them.
Finally we are back in the Sea of Karkuda! The French dock at nearly the same spots they started the game at, and cash in their fish/food/bananas for 24 gold! They spend it all on two basic things: Le Lyon, a 4 masted schooner with good speed and cargo space, and their first dock purchase!
The French have much more room to expand, but are happy with their progress so far.
Such potential awaits….
For now, we end with the Americans and their resource gathering. However, it won’t be long until more things happen.
I was only able to play one turn today, but there should be an absolute intensive flurry of turns over the next 3-4 days.
Gunner succeeded on his first SAT roll, allowing the Cassandra to leave Mission’s Pirate Kingdom at 6S and reach Pistol Island again! You can also see Mission leaving in the Crusher.
On the northern side of the kingdom, the Fancy loads more spices while the Smiling Jim sails out with Doombox in tow.
The Grand Wind returns home with textiles and the Jade Rebels have their first launch! The Virtuous Wind is built, and crewed with a helmsman for now.
An impressive sight: the English, sailing straight back to Diamond Rock with their new ship and the first army units in play.
Paradise indeed! The Ebro explores Paradise Island, finding not just gold, but metals as well! She and the San Estaban load some coins, while the Magdalena loads a coin of her own and a metal token.
With an Admiral’s Action given to the newly launched Lyon, the French set out in force.
The Bonhomme Richard loads more luxuries from Ruby Island and the Argo docks home her spices. Those resources are the least valuable right now, but this was the last turn of the first 8, and the first resource change will occur on the next turn!
Today I was able to play a whopping 10 turns!! Naturally this will be one of the longer reports.
The day of play started with the first resource change of the game! A 3 was rolled, meaning that textiles were the most valuable resource and completely tanking and metals and fish markets. These values would hold for 7 turns, another average duration roll after 8 turns for the first roll.
Mission sails by Pistol Island in the Crusher:
An overhead view of Mission’s kingdom. Their resources have changed, with textiles now being more valuable than metals.
The Jade Rebels launch another ship, the Sea Serpent. She is tasked with finding new islands in an exploratory mission. Crewed with a cannoneer and smokepot specialist, she can use her reverse captain ability to duck into a smokebank if she gets into trouble.
The English approach Diamond Rock again. They already consider the island theirs, and want to make that clear to any who sail Caribbean waters. To the left, the Ebro uses her ability to take a shortcut home over the sargasso sea.
In the Sea of Karkuda, France’s newest ship, Le Lyon, loads fish from the wild island.
Another turn begins, and it’s a profitable one for the Pirates! Mission gets an extra action, allowing the Crusher to dock at and explore a golden island! First used in my Economy Edition game but no longer within the Lagoon, this island will feature replenishing gold stores once more. You can see part of the haul Mission got, which also included the Jade UT.
With 3 spaces already occupied by crew, this unfortunately meant that the Crusher couldn’t load any actual gold coins, but Mission certainly had plans on what to do with the other UT’s.
Wow! The Jade Rebellion spends some gold to purchase the Grand Dynasty, the first ship in the South China Seas set and unofficial flagship of their faction.
The growing Jade Rebellion fleet. Their textiles spiked to 6 in value with the resource change, so they’ll be drowning in gold in no time with an island so close to their HI. XD
The English dock all three of their ships at Diamond Rock, and true to their objective, unload all three army units there as well! Now Peter Sharpe has some company, and can breathe a sigh of relief. He won’t have to defend the lone beach all by himself anymore.
Remember that while shooting at ships, the infantry act as a 3S cannon that can only eliminate crew, and the artillery acts as a regular 2L cannon fired from the shore. Pretty good firepower to defend a small beachhead with, especially if the Spanish are the first to contest it as the Spaniards are off to a bit of a slow start.
Speaking of the Spanish, there they are! All three ships make their way home from Paradise Island.
Yes the Americans are still sailing about! In fact they are doing quite well for themselves, having launched the Bellevue with a chieftain and helmsman along with a set of their incredible native canoes.
Mission gets another EA and is able to explore the outbound Cassandra, transferring Smuggled Goods, Jade, and Plunder from the Crusher. Mission hopes to return to the gold island and plunder it himself, while the Cassandra can maximize resource profits back home with the other runners up north.
The Grand Wind loads up on textiles, while the Sea Serpent’s crew say goodbye for the time being.
The Virtuous Wind is busy running textiles with the Grand Wind and Sea Snake, but the Grand Dynasty is tasked with defending the home island and investigating the fog to the east of it.
The English depart from Diamond Rock, promising Peter Sharpe and the troops stationed there that they’ll be back with more ships AND supplies before long….
Already a well-defended position, the English have staked a claim on one of my new favorite custom islands.
The Spanish bring back a somewhat meager supply of gold from Paradise, but use it to purchase the Armada flotilla. It’s assigned to the Ebro, as Alejandro Malaspina has a plan. With the metals on Paradise being virtually worthless all of a sudden, the San Estaban can once more sail east in an attempt to find new lands. In the meantime, the new flotilla can provide adequate defense for the two sloops in case the English come too close.
The Soleil Royal sailed past some fog, but now she’s found another island! It looks hospitable, with much greenery.
The Bonhomme Richard and Bellevue go for safety in numbers, wondering what they’ll find north of their home island.
The Cassandra takes off for the textiles island, as it’s now the most valuable resource the Pirates have access to.
After cashing in two more loads of textiles, the Jade Rebels launch the Sea Duck and Sea Tiger:
A new area found by the exploring Sea Serpent… what happened here?? The air became a bit colder, and almost clammy, when the crew aboard the Sea Serpent glimpsed the first icebergs. However, it was clear that something had gone very wrong here… there were ships embedded in the ice, as if the ships had crashed headlong into them without warning. The “icewrecks” (instead of shipwrecks), as the crew called them, appeared to be in a bad state of disrepair, with masts snapped off violently at the base.
You can see how the Sea Serpent has only gone a little bit beyond JR territory, but already is in a seemingly different world. With textiles valuable through both resource rolls, the JR’s have simply had no reason to venture very far past their home island in any direction.
Almost immediately afterwards, and one of the icebergs heads straight for the Sea Serpent!! The crew cannot change course fast enough and the ship is hit! Luckily it wasn’t a fatal blow, as the Sea Serpent only lost her mizzenmast in the collision. However, the crew remain puzzled by the development, as it seemed as though the “icewreck” had a mind of its own and knew they were there….
Heeled over to starboard from the sudden impact, the crew of the Sea Serpent were startled for a brief moment.
The Magdalena finally returns home, just as the San Estaban sets out to finish her original mission. More determined than ever, a few rocks and reefs won’t stop her crew this time!
The Spanish hope that Armada is enough of a deterrent for any potential foes.
The canoes have redocked and loaded up a ton of luxuries, and are now headed home where the Argo is piling up the spices:
In the meantime, the Bellevue and Bonhomme Richard approach a new island!
A rare northern view of the Pirate Kingdom, showing the Smiling Jim at an entrance and the other Pirate resource gatherers collecting as many textiles as possible before the resources change again.
The Grand Dynasty sails east of the JR home island, but simply finds a dense wall of fog as reported by Warlord Cavendish aboard the Grand Wind. The Noble Swan joins her, but she has been tasked solely with HI defense.
The waters directly west of the JR HI are busy, with ships coming and going for textiles:
In an impressive display of courage, the crew of the Sea Serpent soldier on despite missing a mast:
Field day for the English! They manage to put 3 new ships in the water: HMS Burma, HMS Durham, and HMS King John. They also repeat their earlier purchase of army units, hiring two more infantry and one more artillery unit.
The English are becoming an impressive faction:
The English home island, with a nice spiral leading to the top:
Here you can see what’s on board the new ships. Gunn has a wacky plan for the Burma’s grapple shot….
In a brilliant afternoon sun, the Ebro leads the Spanish back to Paradise Island.
Back in the Sea of Karkuda, the Soleil Royal explores the new island. A round lake surrounds a ring island with a pond on it. However, in a disappointment for the French, more food is found! Not only is the fish resource not currently valuable, but France now has two nearby islands with the same resource, which can be bad since they will not always be able to rely on it.
Luxuries are worth a decent 4 gold apiece right now, but with 10 tokens coming in all at once due to the canoes, the Americans consider cashing in a no-brainer. The Roanoke and Louisiana make their entrances, along with their first army unit.
The cautious Brent Rice decides to dock with the Bellevue to confront any hidden dangers at the new island head-on.
A grand view of the Grand Dynasty, whose crew is puzzled by the prevalence of fog east of the JR HI.
In an early-game mass exodus, the English leave their home island in force. The Burma carries the new artillery cannon after her captain takes up temporary residence in Thomas Gunn’s flagship, the Viceroy. He enjoys his stay in Gunn’s company, but is eager to return to command his own vessel.
Similar to the JR Sea Serpent, the King John is tasked with exploring areas unfamiliar to the current fleet.
The Apollo has a dual mission: shadow the King John in the case of needed backup, but grab textiles from Diamond Rock if all seems safe. The Half Moon is headed straight for the rock along with the rest of the English fleet.
The San Estaban sails around the rocks that had previously stopped her! She avoids a sargasso sea, and passes what looks like a somewhat active volcano on her trip through the Caribbean. But will she find anything valuable?
Note: this was a rock I painted a long time ago, possibly before I got into Pirates. It’s a perfect and easy addition to my game here!
The Wasp is the latest American ship:
The Bellevue and Bonhomme Richard explore the beach without difficulties and are happy to find food! This makes fish a popular resource in the Sea of Karkuda, with the French finding it on both of the islands they’ve explored. The Louisiana and Roanoke are headed for a different beach however.
This was a fun shot to get. Looking north, you can see the new Pirate launchings in the dual archways. The Crusher and Cassandra docked home on the same turn, giving the Pirates a minor windfall. The Golden Medusa is launched with the Widowmaker flotilla in the south, while the far ship facing north is the Fool’s Gold, a ship that is very new to my collection. I also like how the picture shows the weathered but weedy look of the rock the kingdom was made out of.
Ah yes – the Pirates also purchased their first army units, but have no current plans to use them yet other than for harbor defense.
Predictably rich with valuable textiles coming in almost every turn, the Jade Rebels continue their launching run, this time buying the Admiral Yi and Hansan Island turtle ships.
South of Diamond Rock, the King John finds a barrier of reefs and a big rock:
From the mizzenmast of HMS Apollo, a beautiful view of the Caribbean.
Diamond Rock is about to get crowded, but not all the ships sailing there intend to dock. At this point you are welcome to view a little “introductory”/tour video of Diamond Rock.
… the Spanish do not find land! Instead they come upon what looks to be a shipwreck…
And it is! Similar to the golden island in the Sea of Allost, the Duke shipwreck was originally created for my 2015 Economy Edition game, but is such a great piece that it can be reused quite a lot. You can hear a little bit more about the backstory in another short video.
Karkudian waters:
The Americans dock at a gold-laden beach, but will they find anything interesting?
After 7 turns, it was time for another resource change!! I rolled all three dice at once, with a 5 coming up for value just like the initial roll! The values of the first 8 turns of the game would now hold for the next 9 turns. The factions who were originally well-off in terms of resources would be happy once more. This hurt the English and Jade Rebels slightly, but textiles were still worth 4 gold apiece. The French were overjoyed, since their food was worth 6 again and they weren’t hurt by having two islands producing the same resource.
The Fool’s Hope sets out for the first time ever, accompanied by the Cassandra as they pass the Smiling Jim and Doombox:
With metals worth 5 again, the Golden Medusa knows where she’s going: Pistol Island. However, Mission is getting a bit of goldlust and sets a course for the golden island.
Not even spending all the gold they take in, the Jades launch two more ships. The Sea Wind will be a crewless resource runner, while the Divine Wind is outfitted to be a patrolling warship.
The Jade Rebels off to a strong start:
Back in the Caribbean, Gunn’s plan becomes clear! While on their way to Diamond Rock, the crew of the Burma managed to rig a cannon to fire at a dramatic upward angle. They loaded a grapple shot inside, and shot the cannon towards the cave halfway up the rock! The first part of the plan worked, as the shot hooked onto part of the rock and no one was injured in the process. The crew had managed to somehow line a pulley system with the grappling hook, and now attached a hook to the cable in order to fasten the cannon below the line and begin hauling it up after the cable was also secured aboard the Burma.
Here the English try to rig a cannon into a cave on Diamond Rock. What a scene.
(as a bemused Mickey watches from afar)
The crew of the Viceroy cheer while the Durham and Half Moon load up on textiles:
Oh no!! Disaster for the English! The cable wasn’t strong enough for the 24 pounder cannon, and the line broke, sending the valuable artillery piece into the sea!! With a resounding splash, the English plan had failed. Gunn frowned, but was still determined to try other methods. He knew the potential long-term strategic value of dominating the rock, and began formulating other plans to make up for this embarrassment.
A view from the mainmast of the King John: HMS Apollo has glimpsed the volcano, while the Burma’s crew are lucky the falling cannon didn’t take anyone overboard in the accident.
The French use stores of food to get three of their best runners: the Bon Marin, Coeur du Lion, and Vengeance.
The Americans do some spending of their own, going the opposite route with some lesser-used ships. The Minuteman is assigned to patrol/guard duty, though similar to the Grand Dynasty she will be doing some local exploring to scout the area. The Colonial Trader will simply make trips to Luck Island at L speed but with 5 spaces available. She joins the Argo, and the Americans are planning to stockpile their spices until they skyrocket in value at some point in the potentially distant future.
The Roanoke’s crew explored the new beach at the big island up north, but were disappointed to find just 9 gold and no resources there. Annoyed, the Louisiana docked at the fishy beach instead, loading up before the trip home.
An impressive sight: almost all the Jade Rebellion ships sailing in the same direction. Why the almost part? The Sea Serpent still isn’t back, and Warlord Cavendish is getting worried. He has assigned a squadron of ships (the Divine Wind, Admiral Yi, and Hansan Island) to go west and find the lost ship. Cavendish fears that the Sea of Allost may be living up to its name after all….
In the Caribbean, the Apollo has nearly taken over exploring duties from the King John, who hurries to rejoin her after being disappointed not to find anything interesting in the area south of the English HI. With a relatively minor failure in the books, the English regroup and head home with most of their other ships. The Burma will need to reacquire a new cannon to implement a different plan Gunn has, while Gunn himself has the Viceroy load some textiles before joining the others.
After avoiding reef damages, the San Estaban explores the Duke shipwreck! What an intriguing haul she got. The top row indicates what the San Estaban loaded, as she only had one open cargo space with a captain and helmsman aboard. It remains to be seen just how useful some of those UT’s will be in the Caribbean, but only time will tell….
After the Soleil Royal and Marianne dock, the French can cash in and spend again. This time the Triton, Amazone, and Jeux are introduced. In a span of two turns France has tripled the size of her fleet from 3 ships to 9!
The helmsman is for the returning Lyon. Note the nice dock height and how it interacts with the main deck of the Soleil Royal. The other types of cardboard I have are higher but look good as well.
Gold rush? The Jade Rebellion manages to dock FIVE runners at one island:
Part of the English plan is revealed!! No those are not train tracks, but LADDERS! These are special units, considered equipment, that cost 1 gold per L of ladder length. Here the English have spent 3 gold to purchase 1L and 2L lengths of ladder, which they can cut as needed to the desired end length. They are generally rope ladders that wouldn’t look like they do here, but rather they’d be crumpled up to fit aboard ships. The English also purchase a new artillery unit, an oarsman, and a flotilla. An odd launching turn overall: four different types of stuff, but no actual ships!
A unique view here, with the Apollo venturing further south as the King John rounds the reef and spots a tall stone pillar. The crew aboard the Apollo see a strange swirling mass of water near them but dare not go closer.
Finally, at long last, the Spanish launch a new ship! L’Aguila is ready to set sail, and provides a needed cargo and firepower boost to the Spanish cause. She is only crewed with a helmsman for now, since they really need more money. The firepot specialist is hired to complete the crew complement aboard the San Estaban. Malaspina is content to sit in port, especially since his lack of presence on the Magdalena allows the latter to bring in more metals.
The Americans get gold and launch the President with Commodore Edward Preble aboard! This gives them a rerolling Admiral’s Action, just like the French elsewhere in Karkuda. The Minuteman is at the right, but has only encountered a wall of terrain so far, mostly reefs but with a bit of fog. The canoes have altered course to maximize profit, heading for the food beach in the north. Infantry units are loaded aboard the Roanoke and Louisiana.
The Americans have done great lately, and it shows with their growing fleet.
With such a big day of turns and so much new stuff introduced, I thought it was a good time to do the first point count. (hopefully I’ll remember to count ships as well next time) In the order of play:
The Spanish are the only faction really struggling, but at least they have a new ship now. The JR and English have done well but each suffered a setback in the day’s action, while the Americans have climbed into the lead and look to be very profitable in the long term.
!
. Too bad my English have way more treasure than them!
.
The game wasn’t as thrilling as the 
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 
On that note, I say goodbye to the biggest game I have played of Pirates, which included many great moments, excitement, and a 
The general sizes of these oceans are 6×3, 5×3, and 3×3, for a grand total of 42 square feet of ocean!
I will be purposely leaving some things “off camera” until the viewer needs to see what they are. 
