This huge ship is one of the cheaper ten masters along with the next ship. The Shui Xian gets the nod because of her rank-2 cannons, of which the Celtic Fury has none.
This ship is cheaper than most Merc ships (even those with less masts) and comes with a serviceable set of guns and a very good ability. The “almost” ships are just about as good, however.
When I typed this up somehow my post got eaten before I was able to copy and paste it to a document so I lost everything. I managed to remember the order but I don’t have time to write up descriptions for every ship. You know what they do; just try to actually run gold with them!
The Vikings only have 23 ships, most of which are slow and expensive. They are much better at fighting than getting gold, in part because of the Longship keyword. However, they don’t have anything bigger than 3 masts, and it just so happens that their 3 masted ships are also the ones with the best combat abilities and cannon ranks. Therefore, as long as you pick a 3 masted Viking longship as your Viking gunship, you’ll do alright. In addition, all of their common 3 masted longships are relatively similar and therefore this list doesn’t really mean a whole lot – reverse the order and it could be another player’s opinion.
With somewhat above-average speed for a Viking ship and with a very helpful ability, the Muninn is one of the best ships in their fleet. L-range guns are a help since the longships don’t have the best firing arcs and you have to shoot over the relatively bulky oars and width of the ship in the first place.
This one is nice because she’s cheaper than the others that cost the same even after adding a captain to the Huginn. Her guns are all different and her ability is very nice to have.
I wanted to rank this ship #1 because of her perfect cannons, but the overall package is just slightly less than what you get with the above two ships. That being said the Naegling can be the most destructive longship in the game, especially if you manage to use her ability (possibly by teaming her up with one or more of these 5 ships).
The Hrunting is in between the other 3 masters in numerous ways, which actually conspires to hurt her position on this list. She’s expensive but not as much as the Naegling, but her ability isn’t worth anything for a gunship, especially since you’ll only have one cargo space available after adding a captain and helmsman. Her guns are accurate but only at short range, meaning you’ll have to get extremely close alongside an opposing ship to have all three in range at once.
The Kalmar is an LE with just S speed, but she compensates with fantastic cannons and 5 cargo spaces, enough to add the necessary crew and still have room to use her ability.
This ship is a bit expensive for what you’d like to pay for a gold runner, but this ship is LOADED. Every stat is about as good as you can hope for. Unlike many of your opponent’s gold runners, the Virtuous Wind is durable and very capable of putting up a fight. The HI-raiding ability is just gravy. For 17-19 points you can have a 3 masted ship moving S+L+S with room for three coins.
A Super Rare from the Barbary Coast, this ship screams gold runner. After adding a helmsman you’ll move S+S+S with room for 3 coins for 11 points. With a tad less speed but the same amount of cargo left over for less points, this ship just barely lost out to the Virtuous Wind and her extra durability, fantastic cannons, and HI-raider ability (great to have on a ship that’s already fast).
This ship could use an extra cargo space or two but even with an explorer or helmsman she’ll have room for 2 coins, which is usually enough of an island to make a nice profit. Add the +1 and you’ve got a nice gold runner. As with many of the other JR gold ships (Virtuous Wind, Baochuan, East Wind, etc.), the Sea Crane is able to defend herself if need be.
Although the Treasure Ship keyword and 10 cargo spaces is epic, the Baochuan moves just L and takes up almost your entire build total in a standard game. Theoretically you NEED Li Quinjust to fit Zheng He, a captain, a helmsman, and an explorer on board, leaving just 3 points left over. As with the other 10 masters the Baochuan is better used in large games where she can exploit her size and Zheng He’s ability more often. That being said this is one of the most epic ships in the game and the original 10 master.
This is the cheapest 2 masted JR ship. I’ve used the English version of her many times with considerable success. Leave her uncrewed and she won’t take up much of your build total, but you might be surprised what she can do for you. Speed is huge in Pirates and it can make up for her lack of explorer. The Sea Tiger is just a good option to have and one of the only viable “swarm” ship the Jades ever sailed.
This ship is a monster. One of the best boarding ships in the game, her cannons are almost perfect. With a helmsman she’s essentially a 19 point ship, comparable to the Grand Temple. The Temple combines better speed and maneuverability with the reverse captain ability while the Grand Path is a better boarder and slightly more accurate, though only at short range. Take your pick – you can’t go wrong!
This is the only Jade ship bigger than 2 masts with all 2L guns, technically the best cannons money can buy. She’s simply one of the best ships in the game and without too much argument the best overall ship in the Jade Rebellion. This is sort of the Jade version of the Tiger’s Eye, with a captain and explorer the perfect crew complement.
Some may have expected to see this ship higher on the list (or not at all, who knows?). Her huge cost, rather average cannons and Treasure Ship keyword hold her back. This ship isn’t a great ship to use exclusively as a gunship, but rather as a hybrid. She definitely needs a captain and helmsman, which essentially brings her cost to 41 points with the necessary Admiral Zheng He.
There are a number of smaller JR ships with accurate cannons, but the Grand Mountain has six guns for just 14 points. Her speed is lacking to say the least, but with a helmsman and hopefully some kind of extra action crew she should be able to get some shots in. In addition, your opponent may forget about her lone 2L cannon and/or her bonus against English ships.
The Corsairs are so good at treasure running and so many of their ships are so similar that I just decided to keep it simple and only rank my top 5. Almost any BC ship can be a decent treasure runner, and pretty much any 5 of the honorable mentions can be put in a random order to make this a top 10 and it would still look like a decent list. I know there are some decent candidates that aren’t even on the HM list – I didn’t want to link to their whole fleet!
This was #3 on the gunship list and here it is once again. Once you get over the effectiveness of this ship I’d encourage you to move on and use different ships.
This was one of only two Corsair ships I had (along with the Griffin) for a long time and is therefore a natural favourite of mine. Nice speed, good cargo, solid durability, and a cool (I’m running out of adjectives lol) ability that can help her out. In terms of a Corsair ship she’s sort of on the large side of the scale and her cannons may even hit something if you need them, something that can’t be said for a lot of other Corsair ships!
A very cheap option that doesn’t lose you any speed or cargo spaces. Her ability is the key to her low cost. There are a bunch of other BC ships with the same point cost or speed but none that can match the Griffin’s overall combination of cost, speed, and cargo.
With 5 cargo spaces and terrible cannons, the Morocco jumps out as a gold runner. Even after adding a helmsman she’ll have 4 spaces left. Her ability makes her a near-perfect gold runner.
This last spot was a wild card for me and I wanted to include a 4 master. The Crescent Moon has the best combination of speed and cargo so she gets the nod for the final spot.
(I love the Queen of Sheba and I wanted to include her in one of the lists. I felt that her ability inhibits her use as a gunship because she only has 2 masts in the first place and she can’t afford to lose any without the enemy firing a shot. The Morocco is a similar ship but more of a typical treasure runner. However, the Queen of Sheba’s ability becomes irrelevant when using her as a treasure runner, so it comes down to how the player values the Morocco’s ability for the extra 2 points.)
The Barbary Corsairs are generally regarded as the best of the “minor” factions (outside of the Big 6). Their ships are fast with large cargo holds. However, their fighting prowess is a little bit underrated.
It is exceptionally difficult to rank their gunships because there are a number of oddities pertaining to Corsair ships. Their masts are arranged in such a manner that firing the starboard broadside is quite difficult (especially on the larger galleys), and even to port the foremost gun is often the only one in range. In addition, many of their 2 masted ships have great cannons that don’t suffer from the syndrome of the larger ships, which have cannons whose rank get worse as you move from bow to stern. When you combine these two aspects, it can be argued that their smaller ships make better gunships. However, I still value size and I tried my best to rank these ships fairly. That being said, they are still one of the lightest factions for combat and therefore I’m only ranking 5 ships.
This ship combines good speed with a nice ability. Most importantly, however, all four of her cannons are serviceable, while the other 4 masted galleys have poorer ranks and get worse as you go from bow to stern.
This ship is cheap compared to some of the other and more flashy BC 2 masters. Her speed and cannons don’t necessarily need augmentation. Perhaps best of all, access to Pirate crew lets you pick from an impressive selection of great named crew, something the Corsairs really could use more of. On an 8 point ship with 2 cargo, you won’t be able to do much, but it still helps.
I wanted to rank this ship lower but I couldn’t. Her speed and ability make her the perfect treasure runner, but also a good candidate to be a fighter. Her cannons don’t recede with the ship. This is the most popular BC ship.
Another nice ship with great overall stats. This is a nice midsize option to have, especially if you’re going to play against the French. She’s one of the best BC options for a gunship, but with a captain and explorer she’ll still have two spaces available for gold.
#001 in the Barbary Coast set, this is the first Barbary Corsair ship and therefore sort of their unofficial flagship. Her stats leave something to be desired, but her ability and size make up for it somewhat. She could really use some kind of boost to make her a true gunship. Bonus points for having a cool name and being aesthetically pleasing (not unlike a lot of BC ships of course!).
Put an explorer on her and you’re moving S+L with room for 3 coins. With a price of only 13 points that’s about as good as you’re going to get with the Cursed. In addition her abilities and fantastic cannon ranks can really help her fight back and/or escape an attack.
The Sea Monkey is another Cursed ship with S+L speed and four cargo spaces. The same rules apply here; now you’ve got one less point to spend on other stuff but you get the reverse captain ability.
With or without an explorer this is one of the most effective Cursed gold runners that’s cheap and not abysmally slow. Ideally you’ll be able to shoot at danger before it gets to you with her ability, but we all know that the best laid plans get ruined, especially in Pirates.
The Sea Rat is always underrated. It’s probably because she is a two masted junk, one of the hardest ships to build. She’s from the most common set (OE), so some players no doubt have many Sea Rats. In addition, Sea Rat is not an especially flattering name for a ship. However, this ship is a nice treasure runner once you add a helmsman and explorer. L+S, room for 3 coins, 13 points. The added bonus of being able to steal treasure from an enemy HI makes her an ideal gold runner (for the Cursed).
Ugh. I didn’t really want to rank these but the other options are so bad that I had to throw them in at the end of this list. The Guichuan would get the nod for the Treasure Ship keyword and being slightly cheaper, but since you are required to use the Headhunter she comes in at 36 points. The Delusion gives you better speed and more abilities that may or may not (probably not) be useful, while sacrificing cargo space once you add crew. The Guichuan is better at being a gunship and a pure treasure runner while the Delusion is better at finding gold, stealing it, and generally just taking up a lot of useless space.
If Return to Savage Shores had actually been produced and released, the Cursed would have gotten a ship named “Sskwa’aluk” XD. That ship would have been #1 on this list.
The Cursed have always been one of the hardest factions to play and easily the worst faction in the Big 6. They do have a solid amount of usable ships, especially gunships.
This ship is so much better than almost every other Cursed ship it’s not even funny. Fast, great guns, nice point cost, not to mention some relatively useful abilities. This ship gets the job done and can even be used as a hybrid ship since the Cursed have so few good options for getting gold.
This is another rare Cursed ship with S+L speed. As long as your captain isn’t cancelled her guns improve to rank 2’s. It would’ve been nice if Fear was left out to lower the cost a few points, but this is still one of the best Cursed ships either way.
This ship is very underrated and effective. Essentially a poor man’s version of the Grinder, the Grim Reaper can still do serious damage for a low point cost. In addition her boarding bonus makes her more relevant against larger ships she’ll go up against.
After those three ships, things get more difficult because the ships have either worse cannon ranks and/or much slower speeds. Therefore it became harder to rank the ships for the rest of the top 10.
The Divine Dragon is a classic, the only Cursed 6 masted junk and the only non-Jade 6 master outside of the HMS Grand Temple. She has been very involved in a lot of big and fun games, most notably the first 500 point game I played. Her guns really need the extra boost to become effective, and although they still aren’t spectacular, it helps that there are so many of them, not to mention the Junk keyword. Her speed sets her apart from some of the following ships.
This ship is crazy! I must admit some bias here because as of now the Loki’s Revenge is one of my favourite ships. A captain and helmsman brings the total point cost to 20, and an additional 3 oarsmen for the sac ability brings it to 23. However, you’re guaranteed to move S+S+S+S and rip off a full dozen shots at 2L! Now you can see why I wanted this ship so badly. I also must say that she is one of the coolest-looking ships in the game. Finally, if I had to pick a favourite flavour text for a game piece, I think it would be this ship.
The Loki’s Revenge spews fire like some kind of deranged god, an ability that science has yet to explain.
This is essentially a 22 point ship once you add the necessary captain and helmsman. That’s a high price to pay for a ship that’s still moving pretty slow with a relatively bad ability. The Dutchman is habitually overrated by newer players and I must say somewhat underrated by more veteran players (I have to admit that I almost left her off the list entirely!). At the end of the day you’re still getting a large dangerous ship with very effective guns. If you think about the total point cost, gun ranks and speed she’s actually quite similar to the Loki’s Revenge. However, the sac ability is so much better than BA that it overrides the Loki’s weakness of only having three masts.
Another less flashy Cursed longship, the Baba Yaga is effectively able to shoot 2S guns six times per turn. Once again you’ll be paying a lot for it because this will run you at least 20 points. The Baba Yaga is just one of those gunships that’s simple but effective.
I found it hard to determine where to rank the next three “ships” because they’re unique in all sorts of ways and it’s easier to rank the ships one after another.
The only “ship” in the game with the copy ability. Behemoth is just that, a true behemoth on the high seas. Copying a captain is the obvious choice, but all kinds of fun combos could be available, especially in a large or multiplayer game. Definitely one of the best sea monsters.
Calim is one of the fastest monsters in the game. When combined with her ability and the fact that the enemy ship will be pinned after the ram, Calim can become quite a nuisance to your opponents. Her gun ranks are worse than Behemoth’s and it’s much harder to give her the ability to move and shoot, but Calim is a large threat (literally) in any game.
This should probably be ranked higher, however I wanted the spotlight on the actual ships as much as possible. This flotilla has better gun ranks than the other one (listed below) and is a very effective firepower boost to any Cursed fleet. Fast ships like the Grinder and Executioner are especially useful for towing the Death’s Anchor, but I’ve also employed the Fallen Angel (listed below).
I was originally only going to rank 5 American gold runners, but as with the English they are generally underrated when it comes to treasure. They have some good options, just not as many.
I have used the Frontier on many occasions, and she is just fantastic. Decent speed, HUGE cargo, Hoist ability. She is expensive, but in this case the high point cost is justified.
Native Canoes are generally some of the best treasure runners available to any faction, but for the Americans they are a life saver.
These canoes are unique because they’re faster than the Spanish and Cursed canoes. They also have that treasure ability, which lets you create fun fleets like this one.
This is a fantastic ship that I’ve finally acquired. Very underrated ship, with an explorer you’ll have 3 cargo spaces left over for gold that you can spot with her nice ability. Again, 3 masts is a nice bonus for a very fairly-priced gold runner.
Each of the next three are pretty equal in my opinion, I just ranked them this way based on their durability.
The Rattlesnake is slow but very cheap. With a helmsman and explorer she’ll be going L+S with room for 3 coins for 8 points total, a great deal for a faction like the Americans.
This one just needs a helmsman and she’ll be ready to go. Her built-in explorer saves a valuable cargo space, but one mast is always a gamble in terms of fragility.
This one is similar to the James Madison but she’s pretty expensive to use only as a treasure runner. If not for Savage Shores the Americans would really be lacking for gold runners.
This is one of those ships that you don’t know which crew to put on her. A simple setup with a captain, helmsman, and explorer would work great. Either way you’re going to end up spending a lot of points on the Roanoke. Her access to Pirate crew makes things even more interesting because they have so many great named crew and the Americans have a relative lack of great named crew. Her cargo hold is big enough that you could even use the old Norvegia setup with Gilbert! Depending on how you crew her, the Roanoke could potentially move up a few spots on this list.
Now you can see why I wanted this ship so badly. I also must say that she is one of the coolest-looking ships in the game. Finally, if I had to pick a favourite flavour text for a game piece, I think it would be this ship.