Yes, he’s THAT guy. The guy that gave all the little guys a chance. The guy that essentially gives every minor faction (and the Cursed, who don’t have crew cancellers outside of RtSS Papa Doc for 8 points) a much-needed canceller, not to mention giving the major factions an extra canceller in important situations. My review; he probably looks tired because of all the work he has to do! XD
The flexibility of Fiore is amazing, and I consider him to be a game changer. His value in deathmatches and campaign games almost cannot be overstated.
One of the best gunships in the game, and one of my favorites due to her being English and having the absolute best guns money can buy. The big cargo hold even gives you the option of sailing her as a hybrid!
Here comes the wackiness! MI’s gave the game a whole different look, and not always in the best way possible. Available to anyone who wanted to dock and start “farming”, these in particular provided OP benefits to the lucky, or those who planned their farming expeditions from the start.
Not one of the best American 5 masters, but a beast within this set. A great combination of abilities that would price her at around 16 if reverse captain was appropriately costed at 2 points instead of 6. Also has point cap space to get some really good crew combos aboard.
OK, so sure she has S speed. What about the guns? Pretty bad, darn. Solid cargo, but expensive for what you get. What’s the deal then? The Mobilis is the only thing other than Fiore that makes the Mercenaries viable as a faction (before the Dories keyword was invented 6 whole sets later), and is arguably the biggest defensive powerhouse in the game without crew. A nigh-invincible ship that almost single-handedly can give an entire faction a chance at winning a game is without doubt one of the most unique and awesome game pieces in existence. She is a must-have for Mercenary players, and a must-hire in campaign games.
Especially after CG1, I absolutely despise this ship. This is one of the best abilities in the game, yes, but the most annoying. Really awful having to face it in a game… I don’t think this ability should exist. The schooner keyword just makes it even easier to abuse.
Obviously the crew is much more versatile, but he makes Behemoth an 8 point sea monster with great guns! I basically need to use both of these more – I think DJC Davy Jones is one of the least understood crew in the game (as Xerecs mentioned), and I myself have extremely high doubts about this ranking (might be too low or too high, likely not too low for Behemoth however).
I really might change my list here. I’m really conflicted. As a result of it being so close for me, I’m doing the end a little different here.
I’m really annoyed about leaving this one off and I want to talk about it. Lol. This ship costs just a point more than the Bretwalda, but gives you much better speed and good firepower. Her ability is also less useless. I love this ship way too much and I’m starting to worry about it. XD
Another tough exclusion for me, I just don’t see him as essential with so many other great Pirate crew. That confirms I’m sinking too far into volt’s line of thought (for me at least) about factions though… ugh. I don’t know what to do here.
Something about this ship doesn’t do it for me, despite my love of the English and accurate cannons. I think it’s the fact that the guns are the only standout thing. Crappy ability (still wouldn’t use it unless in the right situation, such as against the Acorazado), mediocre speed, somewhat below average cargo space.
A lot has already been said; I feel this ship is almost similar to Davy Jones and Bonny Peel in a way… it can be all-or-nothing in gameplay, and many players either swear by it or dismiss it altogether.
Unlike the previous sets, this set has less new crew options, and the Jade Rebellion received most of the standard named crew options that the other factions already had (and the major factions got mostly repeats of previous abilities). As a result, my list here will be focused mainly on ships. There also aren’t as many amazing gold ships as in the first 4 sets, so my list is a little more balanced with gunships throughout.
An absolutely amazing ship, and one of the most perfect and stacked ships ever created. Amazing speed, lots of cargo, best guns in the game, and a very solid ability that is complemented by that speed and cargo space.
Following HMS Titan and the Enterprise, the Santa Ana is one of the best gunships in the game. I think she might be slightly overrated, but I couldn’t afford to underrate her here. Spain has plenty of rerolling options, including one from SCS.
These three are lumped together as one group of epic, mean gunships. They’re all similar in what they can do, especially the Grand Path and USS TJ. The Grand Temple may be the most famous and has the best guns and speed, but suffers from a high point cost and very low cargo. I’ll be interested to see how others rank these 4 (including the Santa Ana).
My usage and fandom of the gold bonus abilities it well documented. The Alquimista is probably the better ship here, but the Greed’s Hammer has better guns and can play a dual role more effectively. These are game-winning ships.
This might be the toughest ranking on the list. The Baochuan is so different than everything else in the set that she and her admiral don’t fit in anywhere. The combo is also nearly impossible to use effectively in standard games. That said, the 10 masters have had a lasting impact on the game and become huge forces to behold in larger games. Especially in huge games where the Treasure Ship keyword and Admiral Actions (AA’s, from Zheng He’s 6 ability) can be fully utilized, the Baochuan is a game changer and worthy of a spot on this list.
Two solid little gold runners that just need helmsmen to reach full effectiveness. SCS was the first set to not have random OP gold runners scattered throughout the set, and as a result these two stand out among a crowd of more average options. (obviously excluding the amazing hybrid options above, which are in a class of their own)
Similar to the Annapolis and Belle Poule, these two are very cheap and capacious gold running options. The Patagonia is very often where Mycron roosts, but both can be solid gold runners as well. (S+S with 3 cargo spaces for just 6 total points)
I just couldn’t leave this ship off the list. I’m a little biased from her aesthetics and overall “niceness” (didn’t know that was a word lol). Such a great package between the speed, guns, and ability. (and for a good price too!)
This was a really tough list. I think it’s because BC has much more parity than the first 3 sets – more balanced and much less obvious OP game pieces. Love the Intrepid and Durham but gold wins the game. If anything, I might be underrating the UT’s and Admiral Action crew. I’m actually kind of in the middle on Barbarossa – he can be a game winner or a total dud (depending on many factors), so it’s easy to overrate or underrate crew like that. Obviously I need more than 10 spots lol.
Honorable Mentions: Golden Peacock, Morocco, Dervish, HMS Antelope, La Espada de Dios, El Paso, Admiral Alarico Castro, Aruj Barbarossa, L’Ange de la Mer, St. Joan, President, Nubian Prince, Janissaries’ Blood, Crescent Moon, Black Lotus, Meshud, HMS Granville, most other Corsair ships, Smokepot Specialist (not really that useful outside of some gimmicky strategies but they can be interesting)
Here are my Top 10 overall game pieces from Pirates of the Revolution. (with the exception of events)
The first chunk of this list was actually very easy, since it follows another list of the Top 10 gold runners, and getting gold is the way you win the game.
This was actually the hardest thing to figure out – I didn’t know whether to put them #1 or exclude them from the list entirely since they showed up in later sets and had a lesser impact once the ruling changed. However, they were introduced in RV and had a huge impact on the game, remaining as arguably the best offensive generic crew outside of captains. Only the best ship in the game can overshadow their “legacy” I suppose, though perhaps some of the below ships have actually seen far more action than firepot specialists in general… (too bad we don’t have stats for everything heh)
… and a shoutout to the other numerous ships like Executioner, Cutlass, Panda (the trio of small Pirate gunships that seem underrated and all quite similar, almost like an archetype)
Just missed: HMS London, HMS Lady Provost, Roanoke, Dauphin Royal, Le Triton, L’Artesien, Jack Hawkins, HMS Cumberland
Honorable mentions: La Victoire, Cassandra, Amity, Adventure, Royal James, HMS Alexander, HMS Gibraltar, Deliverance, El Neptuno, Santa Ana, San Francisco, San Salvador, Possession, L’Amazone, Le Mercure, Abandoned Crew, Neptune’s Figurehead
A new series of Rankings threads begins! Here we will rate the Top 10 overall game pieces from each set. That’s right, it’s not limited to ships or even ships and crew – if it was part of the set and has a collector’s number (no pack wrappers or specific keywords haha), it’s fair game here. Perhaps at the end of the series we can do Top 10 overall game pieces of all time, regardless of set. If you missed the first round, here it is for reference: Past Rankings threads. As the Rankings concept is reborn, I may even yank a few of those old threads up to edit some of my rankings.
The sets will be covered in chronological order from oldest to newest. If you’re excited and want to claim a set, the current discussion would be the best place. Also, I’d recommend sticking to the thread title format, just to make things clear and make it easy to find the threads, etc. Unless the poll changes, we can do these every 2 weeks.
I’m considering a lot of things for criteria. The most obvious one is how effective the items are in gameplay. However, other things will factor into my selections. I also value longevity – something like the Longshanks has been overshadowed by numerous Pirate gold runners, so that could be considered. In addition, I hope to give bonus points for overall impact, importance, and “greatness” of the game piece – for example, the first crew of a certain type could impact the game far more than a specific ship. What I’ll try to avoid is ranking things that aren’t unique to the set, which is why I haven’t included generic crew here (in which case the three helmsmen would probably take the top slot), though in the case of the first set it would be understandable. However, I don’t want my criteria to be the only ones. Feel free to describe the specific criteria you use for your own lists, especially here in this first thread. (I’m not ranking things out of 10 or doing a #/5 for gunships/gold runners because it makes things harder to compare in my opinion)
Without further ado, here are my Top 10 game pieces from the first set, Spanish Main.
The first hybrid and a ship that is still considered OP (overpowered) by many. The Darkhawk II is fantastic at fighting and getting gold, the huge cargo hold allowing her to do both quite well with a decent crew complement. Most ships with similar values for cargo space and points are very small. This is the most extreme exception in the entire game, allowing for very strange builds with specific crew involved. Just to put the ship in perspective, if you apply the same cargo space/point value ratio, the Zeus would have 18 cargo spaces! This ship is also a great early example of negative abilities affecting point costs too much, and a classic one of avoidance. It’s extremely easy to avoid the detrimental effect when it’s so hard to fill up the cargo hold in the first place.
The original sac captain, and the one that started competitive builds. Blackheart’s importance almost cannot be overstated, as he’s affected the game since day 1. At this point it’s clear that the sac ability should have costed at least 4 points instead of 2. This allowed sac captains to dominate the game for many sets afterwards, and they’re still a staple of many fleets that have performed extremely well in games.
Ships are tempting, but this trio is legendary and has affected the game even more than arguably all of the ships from SM. The Pirates have gotten other versions of the basic 3 point SAT crew, but all 3 are still important (partly since Ms. Cat had a lengthy pirate career). Getting more than one action in a turn is simply one of the most effective ways to win the game, and similarly to Captain Blackheart, these crew can serve rather effectively on both gunships and gold runners (and by extension, hybrids even more so). Throw in the very low cost and ease of use (especially when combined with rerollers in later sets), and the SAT crew are near the top of the list for important named crew abilities.
Right behind the SAT crew in terms of effectiveness, the first EA (extra action) crew was a powerhouse that could be used on the impressive English gunships of the set. He set the stage for most other nations to receive the same ability, and remains an important option for English players today.
The first canceller came from Spain, and led to various cancellers in later sets. In my opinion the best ability in the game outside of generic crew (and the OP CJS), Diaz is able to cancel any ability and therefore negate the amazing effects provided by the rest of the game pieces on this list. I have him below the action generators because I believe those crew have had a higher impact on game wins than Diaz (including on a 1 for 1 basis). Cancellers do need to get within S, and a second action can be more of a factor than even a well-timed cancellation.
It was tough to put so many crew ahead of so many great ships, but I had to recognize how versatile the above named crew are. They can be used on any ship of their nationality, and this only made them infinitely more useful as set after set was released. The individual ships stay the same and must rely on the crew to make them fully effective (though the ships can also use more recent crew, SM named crew selections are still among the best).
Without a doubt the most famous English ship in the set, I ranked the Titan as the best English gunship ever. She’s incredibly dangerous and can even play a hybrid role if needed.
The best pure gunship in the history of the game (with the Constitution and Endeavour as relative equals). She is ranked below the Titan because this is a list of overall game pieces, not just gunships.
A Spanish powerhouse of a gold runner. Basically a poor man’s Darkhawk II (along with the Pandora), the Joya is still one of the best treasure ships in the game. I personally enjoy how the Spanish did indeed receive some ships that fit the “Manila galleon” mold.
I originally had this ship higher, and I’m open to changing my list based on others’ lists and feedback. The Longshanks was ridiculous back in the first days of the game, but the longevity argument has hurt this ship more than any game piece on this list. Still a fantastic ship with hybrid potential and another example of why it’s better to be a ship with a negative ability due to the cost implications.
Yes, I just snubbed both Pirate 5 masters. And yes, I’m willing to change my list if I think it should be changed. However, I’m willing to say that Genny Gallows’ ability could single handedly be the biggest game winner in Pirates CSG history if used more often. I have seen it absolutely dominate competitive play (VASSAL Tournaments 1 and 2), as well as huge campaign games (Century of the Empires and VASSAL CG1), the most opposite play styles you can have. It’s quite undercosted for what you get (should be 5+ points), and can directly win you the game with even one use of it on any ship carrying gold. Perhaps she should even be higher on this list.
It became a tradition to formulate all sorts of Rankings ideas over at Miniature Trading. I started the original series, which reviewed my opinion on the top 5 or 10 gunships and gold runners for each of the factions. Godmason continued the series and in theory we as a community might never run out of things to rank. Here you can find my ideas on the various factions and their best ships. This is a good way to learn about the game, learn about the factions, and discover which ships you might be interested in acquiring to build your fleets and expand your collection. Feel free to submit your own Top 10 Game Pieces Overall! 😀
These are mostly from the 2010’s and simply reflect my opinions based on my long history of playing the game – your results may vary!
1. San Cristobal
2. HMS Titan
3. Frontier
4. Black Pearl
5. Harbinger
6. HMS Swallow
7. Grand Path/ USS Thomas Jefferson
-These are so similar and debatable that I like to rank them together.
8. La Corse
9. Executioner
10. La Delacroix
I think there’s a solid case to be made that all of those bottom three 5 masters are better than the Corse and Executioner – the final 5 spots (going to top 12) are very debatable.
I love the Magnifique (my first 5 master) but she’s not in the same tier as the above ships.
