Captain Randy and I met up at The Park by the New York New York hotel to play a game of Pirates on the Strip! 😀
Here’s the little preview footage:
We used a 60 point build total, round earth rules, and some new rules myself and few others have been working on. The biggest change is that the winner of the game is the one with the most total points in play at the end of the game, which includes points and gold in your fleet. Each player had to contribute 8 coins worth 60 gold (right now we’re trying an equal amount of points and gold at the start of play, so 60 points and 60 gold per player for 240 total at the beginning of the game), which we accomplished by simply multiplying the values of all coins by 4. (since the standard rules call for 8 coins worth 15 gold)
I went first with a Pirate fleet:
Deliverance + OE Calico Cat, OE Griffin, The Hag of Tortuga, helmsman, oarsman
Cursed Blade + captain, helmsman
El Dorado + helmsman
Lightning
He used an English Pirate fleet.
The lighting affected the picture quality a bit, but here the Lightning is being blocked from Randy’s fleet by the Cursed Blade and El Dorado:
Deliverance in a fog bank with the lights of the Strip in the background:
The block ships didn’t stop Captain Randy! With HMS Gallows he came in guns blazing real hot, using a double action to sink the Cursed Blade and El Dorado and dismast the Lightning!! O_O
The Pirates got instant revenge on my turn, with the Deliverance coming out of the fog to dismast the Gallows! Mostly due to the close home islands, this was definitely going to be one of those games where a flurry of actions and casualties happen at the start, and the remainder of the game is basically picking up the pieces and salvaging what you can to try to win.
Not as picturesque or piratey as Senor Frogs where we played in 2019, but a nice night in Vegas! The Deliverance has sunk the Gallows.
The Aberdeen Baron round earthed to get some gold, with the Deliverance the only hope for the Pirates at this point.
Eventually the Deliverance got around to towing my Lightning, but the Aberdeen Baron (after getting some gold home) went on the attack.
After some more shenanigans I think I was able to end the game with the Deliverance! However, we had forgotten that coins were worth 4 times their printed values, so Captain Randy won 40-35!
Afterwards we got up to some shenanigans at the Bellagio, where I disposed of an $1800 ship and we threw some coins into the water for good luck. 😉
Ahoy everyone! This is a game I played with Captain Randy and his friends Curren and Drew in Las Vegas on 7/5/2021. It was a four player game with 100 point fleets. Flat earth rules. The report was written more than 2 weeks after the game, so some details are fuzzy and this report is extremely biased from my perspective playing in the game.
I played The Cursed:
Sea Hag + tribal chieftain, captain, helmsman, oarsman
Native Canoes
Hangman’s Joke + captain, helmsman
Sea Rat + helmsman, explorer
Cutlass + helmsman
Raptor Maw
Namazu (from Return to Savage Shores)
Captain Randy used the Pirates:
Zeus
Neptune’s Hoard
Akua Lapu
Angelica
Curren used a Spanish Jade Rebellion fleet:
Baochuan
El Acorazado
Morning Star
Native Canoes
Drew used a French fleet:
Le Bonaparte
Behemoth
La Dijon
Le Bon Marin
Le Pique
Le Coeur du Lion (with Deleflote aboard)
I was using the Raptor Maw for the first time!
The one whirlpool in the center led to another world containing 5 whirlpools and 8 wild islands!
On the first turn a dragon standoff developed between Raptor Maw and Angelica. Randy was just jealous he doesn’t have the LE yet. I was still hoping we could do some “play for keeps” rules after I captured his Morning Star two days prior…. XD
I pulled out, not wanting to lose the Cutlass to the Akua Lapu:
After eliminating a Spanish canoe, the Zeus quickly whirled out of the main ocean, making a huge discovery in the Other World: Altar of the Loa, one of the most powerful UT’s in the game!! O_O (I had gone kinda crazy picking chaotic UT’s from Randy’s pile during setup lol)
Namazu surfaces to hit the Akua Lapu with a tidal wave attack! Raptor Maw swoops on the Akua Lapu but fails!
Could a clash in the center be brewing?
Moving on from the Altar, the Zeus found a UT that improbably and randomly eliminated Emperor Blackheart!! O_O However, the Castaway turned out to be Calico Cat, allowing the junk to still have a source of double actions.
Maps of Alexandria or Pirate Globe was found, revealing quite a crazy assortment of UT’s across the map! O_O
A second dragon standoff occurs, with the Cutlass eyeing Neptune’s Trident:
Raptor Maw with Namazu in the background:
However, then I made the mistake of sending Raptor Maw into French territory….
The Spanish made up the support for the Baochuan:
My Cursed fog hoppers hopped into the Other World, but they were joined by the Baochuan:
I hadn’t seen the full crew setups in the French fleet. It was optimized for nasty combos, with the Bonaparte’s canceller basically freezing the Raptor Maw in place by cancelling Sea Dragon after Deleflote allowed the Bonaparte to move S+L+S x2 for max range.
Both dragons fell on hard times here, with Angelica losing body parts to the Baochuan:
The Hangman’s Joke explored the Lost UT to place some extra terrain. In hindsight I probably could have made better choices, but either way the Cursed fleet was almost entirely united in an accidental homecoming party of sorts.
I had some cargo logistics to work out….
The Baochuan returned home with a large load of treasure, establishing the Spanish Rebels as the favorite to win!
At this point the Zeus had returned to the main ocean as well, with the “French Behemoth” lurking near the center:
At this point a coalition to take down the Spanish Rebels was discussed. However, it wasn’t formalized and the players were having a hard time getting on the same page, as you’ll see….
I saw my own path to victory being long term and somewhat under-the-radar, so I was willing to bide my time and continue operating as-is until the opportune moment came to strike….
Various ships continue to run gold as the lengthy game draws onwards….
The French and Pirates got into an ugly fight. Ugly because the Zeus cannot hit the Bonaparte with her S-range cannons. The Bonaparte continued circling the Pirates and picking off masts while the opposition was powerless to do anything. Hard to watch. 🙁
Two of my 2 masters returned to the Other World to max out gold income:
The Pirates were able to get some gold home, and the Zeus was busy blocking the Bonaparte as the Neptune’s Hoard approached their HI. At the whirlpool you can see my Sea Rat, the only home island raider in play. A plan was coming together. Namazu and the Sea Hag team up to eliminate 4 masts from the Morning Star.
You know something is broken when the Zeus is a terrible counter against it.
Around this time the Other World became an interesting Wild West kind of theater. I was still sending random Cursed canoes there out of desperation for more gold, hoping the whirlpool wouldn’t swallow it on the way home. The Hangman’s Joke and Morning Star are on a collision course….
A situation was finally starting to develop off the coast of the Spanish Rebel home island. The Sea Hag has dismasted one of the French gold runners.
She was captured and dragged into the fog bank where the Sea Rat was lying in wait to rob the Jades. Namazu has slowly made its way over the sea to help out.
The Hangman’s Joke captured the Morning Star:
However, Behemoth was coming:
Le Bonaparte decimated the Pirate fleet, killing Angelica and sinking the Akua Lapu and Neptune’s Hoard. I was still doing cargo logistics with the Cutlass and a canoe, though it wouldn’t end up mattering at all….
We had finally reached the endgame! Now it would go down. My story was: could I steal enough gold from the Spanish Rebel hoard AND get away with enough of it to win?
By this point the Other World was kind of a depressing mess:
The Bonaparte captured the Hangman’s Joke:
However, I had plenty of firepower to make a stand!! The Sea Hag let loose with Neptune’s Trident and excellent shooting, taking the Baochuan down to 1 mast!
Now it was time to raid! I essentially had a second (though temporary) HI Raider, with the Cutlass acquiring the Wine UT earlier in the game. She snagged a 7 from the Spanish Rebel hoard, with the Sea Rat not far behind. In the meantime there’s chaos! The Zeus sank the Baochuan, but was then dismasted by the Acorazado! The Sea Hag has the Plague and loses masts.
At this point Namazu and the Cursed canoes were gone, leaving few ships left in my fleet:
I couldn’t lobby hard enough for round earth rules before the game, and now it would have come in really handy. The Cutlass didn’t have a good place to run, while the Sea Rat stole a coin but was besieged by ramming attacks.
I made a good run at it, but who was there to ruin it? Le Bonaparte of course!! O_O 🙁 Although the Sea Rat escaped into a fog bank, Behemoth and the Bonaparte had arrived. The Cutlass was cornered and fell to the French on the final turns.
The game ended soon afterwards. Here are the final scores:
Drew’s French: 48 gold
A7XfanBen’s Cursed: 41
Curren’s Spanish Rebels: 38
Captain Randy’s Pirates: 35
Wow, some nice close scores and nobody got blown out! It was interesting to see the Spanish Rebels fall towards the end, with some stolen coins preventing them from holding on. I made a good run at it and thought I might have had it, but of course the French swooped in to claim victory.
This game serves as a great exhibit of why Le Bonaparte should be way up high on any potential ban lists. Ugh!
This was the 60 point game that Captain Randy and I played on the Fourth of July 2021! We drove southeast of his place in Las Vegas to his houseboat on Lake Mead! The game took place on a nice glass table on the upper deck of the boat, with a nice wavy water effect. The plant on the table is immoveable, so we decided to base the 3 wild islands around it. The winner of the game would receive and open a Revolution pack that I had space for in the OE tin I brought on my trip!
Naturally we had to use the English and Americans. I went first:
English
HMS Goliath (ghostly version) + LE Griffin, captain, helmsman, oarsman
HMS Hyena + captain, helmsman, explorer, firepot specialist
HMS Sea Phoenix + captain, helmsman
Americans
USS Thomas Jefferson + Commodore Peregrine Stern, Wayne Nolan, helmsman, explorer, oarsman
Bonhomme Richard + tribal chieftain, captain, helmsman
Native Canoes
USS Thomas Jefferson was the first non-canoe to get some gold. I opened the hostilities, but HMS Goliath rolled horribly, leaving her open to a devastating American attack.
Would this pack contain the RV Super Rares?
Full size masts in the background! 😀
The Bonhomme Richard struck hard, eliminating 4 masts from the Goliath!
In the meantime, the rest of the American fleet was running home with gold:
HMS Hyena and the Goliath teamed up to severely damage the Bonhomme Richard:
The Americans might be looking to swap their 5 masters.
Finally a game on water!
In a surprising development, the English press their attack with everything they’ve got! HMS Goliath takes 2 masts off the TJ, while HMS Hyena sinks the Bonhomme Richard!
Carnage ensues! What else in a Fourth of July game between the English and Americans?
The Americans continue the war effort, with the TJ sinking the Goliath!
HMS Hyena dismasts USS TJ!
Up until now we had both kind of forgotten that HMS Sea Phoenix was a home island raider! At this point it had been looking like the Americans would win handily on gold. However, with both American 5 masters out of the mix, now the English could pick off all but one American canoe and then rob their home island slowly dry over time while extending the game!
But the Americans had a counter – Runes of Odin! O_O
In one of the weirdest and WORST strokes of luck I’ve ever had in Pirates CSG, I proceeded to roll the exact combination of two d6 rolls (3 and then 6) required to push the new and deadly iceberg straight into my own HMS Sea Phoenix, ending the HI Raider threat and likely dooming my chances at a comeback!! O_O
A beautiful setting for a beautiful game….
Even though HMS Hyena sunk the TJ, it was as good as over.
The Americans won by quite a margin, giving Captain Randy the revenge he sought after I won our first game!
I’ll let you watch the video to see him open the pack!
Ahoy again! This was the first of three games I played with Captain Randy in Las Vegas during July 2021. We were joined by his friend Curren for a 3 player 60 point game.
I played the Americans, Captain Randy played the Spanish, and Curren played the Jade Rebellion.
I used the Zhanfu from Return to Savage Shores (get your own here (affiliate link)) and the Frontier.
Although the Frontier was able to explore early, I would soon regret my positioning….
As Randy’s San Cristobal promptly sank her!
I was able to get some revenge, with the Zhanfu whirling and saccing to dismast the Morning Star:
Who was captured soon afterwards:
Curren flipped Poseidon’s Breath on the Baochuan! However, the San Cristobal was camped out with Bianco’s Haulers aboard! The SS version allows the ship to not be shot at while docked.
The San Cristobal returned home, with the Zhanfu about to do the same.
The Americans were struggling to keep up in the gold race, while turtles were found by the Spanish.
