1. Jonathan Haraden 

So important because he’s the perfect complement to many of their action generators. A bit less noteworthy for other factions, but amazing for the Americans. I’m not usually this high on basic reroll, but he’s so useful given their other named crew.

2. Diamond Nelson Turner 

3. GWL – RtSS version

Kinda boring/OP but it’s an amazing ability.

4. Commodore Peregrine Stern 

I worry about him being killed in a boarding and crippling the ship, but that’s why you’ll often want at least two other crew aboard.

5. Commander Steven Decatur / Captain Montana Mays / John Paul Jones 

To me any action generation is always better than Crew Protect. (comparing them to F&S Mays; Captain is simply necessary regardless of which you use)

6. Ralph David / Gus Schultz 

Underpriced and amazing value for points. So many great ships to put them on too! Hard not to rank higher, but I think I may overvalue Eternal.

7. Brent Rice / Chief PO Charles Richard 

Firepower is firepower, and here’s a faction with lots of it. Constitution is my #1 option for either of these, but they have a plethora of great 5 masters that can put them to great use.

8. Ralph David 

Feels like he should be higher, but the 1 point version is awesome too and they don’t have a ton of great ships for this (often forgotten) version.

9. Commodore Edward Preble 

Depends on the game size, but can be invaluable.

10. Montana Mays 

Great but sometimes overshadowed… everything depends on the ship and the rest of the crew he’s used with.

Captain Montana Mays would be a close #11.

I still need to use Captain Charles Richard . He doesn’t have a ton of utility for the Americans (I get what you’re saying, but this isn’t “best Cursed crew”) and I can’t get over that negative and the doomsday scenario that could lose you a game with the wrong rolls at the wrong time. Very risky – like putting all your eggs in one basket and then bringing a raging elephant near that same basket. 

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. Capitaine Arathiel , Capitaine Arazure 
2. Lady Roimata from RtSS (Captain+SAT)
3. Lenoir / Monsieur LeNoir 
4. Amiral Stephan Dupuy 
5. Maurice Aristide 
6. Gentil de la Barbinais 
7. Capitaine Baudouin Deleflote 
8. Jordan Dumas 
9. Amiral Louis Cartier 
10. Capitaine Gaston de St. Croix 

Just missed: Amiral Gaston de St. Croix , Lenoir 

Honorable mentions:
Aramis , Duncan Rousseau , Professor Snape

Original thread on Miniature Trading

I think my Ranking would be subject to change, but here’s what I came up with.

1. Franklin 
2. Hades’ Realm 
3. HMS Forge 
4. HMS Phoenix 
-Perfect for a world hater, and an underrated hybrid/budget gunship option.
5. Red Curse 
-Cargo, ability and guns make this one quite interesting, and one of the better hybrids.
6. HMS Richards / USS Seattle 
7. HMS Burma / Last Hope 
8. Jape 
-Solid short-range brawler, not too inferior to the above ships.
9. Isabela 
-Spain has so many better ways to get gold bonuses, and the speed really holds her back.
10. Empty Sky 

Just missed: Independence , Tasmanian Devil (one of the most underrated first-strike options in the game with S+L+S speed and essentially four 3L cannons assuming captain+helmsman)

Honorable mentions: Electric Eel , Fool’s Gold

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. USS Kettering
2. Loki’s Revenge
3. Baba Yaga
4. Sister’s Rage 
-Hate the ability but a very solid ship. Not sure if she should be this high though.
5. Le Coeur de Lion 
-One of my favorite French ships and one of the best support gunships in the game.
6. Bilge 
-Solid empty gold runner (or more with captain or Mycron aboard), and gets the nod over the next two just barely.
7. HMS Patagonia / El Afortunado 
-Dirt cheap gold runners (S+S with 3 spaces at 6 points); the Patagonia would edge the tiebreaker with the infamous but important Administrator Scott Bratley / Robinson / Lord Mycroncheese combo of death. XD
8. USS Emerald 
-This ability doesn’t work great on small ships due to ram damage, but the Emerald has the speed and cannons to take advantage of it, unlike the Santa Lucia in my opinion. If you have the points available, one of the only good American ships for Commodore David Porter .
9. Divine Dragon 
-Can be devastating.
10. La Belle Poule 

Just missed: HMS Rye 
-Naturally a favorite of mine due to the faction and ability, but she can be sunk very quickly even in campaign games. Best to provide the proper support with helmsman/shipwright/oarsman so she can row at S+S when dismasted and possibly repair when she’s not busy cancelling important stuff. Also a reasonable empty gold runner. Just not amazing in smaller games.
Francesca and the Santa Lucia also just miss.

Other honorable mentions not mentioned yet: Salem , Sautez le Requin , Kalaallit , Kalmar 
Honestly the Sautez should possibly be way up in the middle of the list. Tough to compare some of these ships! XD

To me HMS Superior is just boring as heck and a waste of points. I’d rather have HMS Hibernia , even just for artwork. 

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. Noble Swan
2. Bilge
3. Glorious Treasure
4. Divine Dragon
5. Beast’s Belly
6. Proud Tortoise
7. Dragon’s Talon
8. Hansan Island 
Solid stats that edge the more mediocre options in my opinion.
9. Pandora’s Box 
A bit of English bias here, but underrated as a gold runner.
10. Proud Tortoise 
Good little first-strike ship.

I think I would take Gator over the Minnow; turtle ships just don’t have enough firepower to be reliable, so I’d prefer the extra cargo space to a slightly better cannon.

Other HM’s: Admiral Yi , Floating Stone (Alligator and JR Floating Stone are decent but not quite good enough for the Top 10)

Original thread at Miniature Trading

1. La Santa Isabel
Wicked hybrid with a game-winning ability.

2. Le Bonaparte
Ruins games. Stupid.

3. Neptune’s Hoard
Not as good as the Santa Isabel, but a great hybrid and a staple of great Pirate fleets.

4. La Monarca
Sick of her, but one of the better gold runners in the game. Can move 4S for the same price as the Raven, and has a better defined role which can be better for small ships.

5. HMS Oxford

6. La Vengeance 
Hybrid not all that different from the Neptune’s Hoard.

7. Raven
I value durability, so for 2 more points for twice the durability and twice the firepower, I think some of the 4 masters should be higher than this one.

This is where it started to feel like a crapshoot to me. (meaning the rankings don’t mean as much to me since it’s just personal preferences)

8. White Rose 
9. La Belle Etoile 
10. HMS Nautilus

Just missed:
Intrepid 
Le Triton 
-Honestly one of the most underrated ships of all time. Not as flashy as the Belle Etoile, but she gets the job done.
HMS Durham
USS Hudson

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. Dragon / Star of Siam / Queen of Sheba 
2. Griffin 
3. Agha’s Whip / Winds of Vengeance / Morocco 
4. Akua Lapu 
5. Tiger’s Eye (very difficult not to rank #1 haha)
6. Algiers 
7. Marrakesh 
8. Plague of the South
9. HMS Patagonia / El Afortunado 
10. Celestine 

Just missed: Espada de Dios, Nubian Prince, etc etc. XD

Original thread on Miniature Trading

10. Sea Crane (+ Pirate version)
9. Black Lotus/Metal Dragon
8. Tiger’s Breath (+ Sea Rat at 8.5)
7. Bonne Chance
6. Divine Dragon
-I’ve missed way too many times with those guns to put it ahead of the GT.
5. JR Grand Temple
4. Grand Path
3. Virtuous Wind
2. Hai Peng
-More of a niche use, but better than the GT with CJS.
1. HMS Grand Temple

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. Kettering
2. Loki’s Revenge
The built-in sac is incredible and provides the Cursed with a great gunship. The ability also makes the top speed faster than the Baba Yaga.
3. Baba Yaga
4. Muninn
5. Huginn
-Those two are very close but I like the all L-range guns (especially the 2 at the front) and the speed of the Muninn better. The reverse captain ability can pair quite well with a smokepot specialist/shot, which can help make up for how fragile the longships are. (If Huginn’s ability also eliminated a mast they would be swapped)
6. Naegling
6 shots at 2L or 1L in one of the best pure firepower ships you can sail on.
7. Hrunting
8. Hrothgar
-Boring but the speed makes it unique compared to the other Viking 3 masters.

In my opinion the rankings become more of a crapshoot here at the bottom of this particular list.
9. Asgard
10. Kalmar/ Sautez le Requin / Donar 

Honorable mentions: Freya , Fenrir , Sleipnir , Hlidskjalf , Elsinore , Kalaallit , Serpent’s Fang

Original thread on Miniature Trading

1. Behemoth
Not much of a contest here in my opinion, between being able to stay submerged until you need to copy the captain keyword, to the versatility of being able to copy Longship, defense, offense, etc etc.
2. Ophidious
3. Namazu
Not completely sure where to rank, but combined with submerging, extra actions somewhere, speed boosts, and even copying it with Behemoth, this thing can be devastating on a level not seen with any other monsters.
4. Seleucis
Likely underrated, this is one of the only ways to give a sea monster the move-and-shoot in one turn. Also keep in mind it says ANY other monster, which can include those of your opponent(s).
5. Calim
6. Mist Walker
7. Shaihulud
For those 3, as far as I’ve seen L is hardly ever fast enough to catch anything, so speed that cannot be increased with helmsmen is very important for these creatures.
8. Intermediaro
Still need to use it.
9. Calypsos
10. Tsuro

Original thread on Miniature Trading