WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

Table of Contents

  1. Rule Changes
  2. The Story So Far
  3. Pirates
  4. The Cursed
  5. Vikings
  6. Barbary Corsairs
  7. Point Count
  8. Summary

All rules can be found in the first Battle Report for the game.

Reference Links: All previous CG4 Battle Reports | Wizkids game piecesMaster Spreadsheet which includes Return to Savage Shores and Unreleased | Customs Database

Rule Changes

-Revision to the Duplicates Rule (changes underlined): -There cannot be duplicate Wizkids ships in play until a faction has purchased every single standard ship (including flavor duplicates (such as all three versions of the 5 master HMS Apollo, for example, but not including customs)) available to them. Once a faction has every official Wizkids ship in its fleet in play, that faction can launch duplicates of those official Wizkids ships. Only one duplicate ship is allowed, but if a faction has two of every ship in play, they can begin a third set of duplicates. However, once a ship is sunk, it MUST be replaced before duplicates can be launched again (This is also known as the “complete the fleet” rule). Unreleased game pieces designed by Wizkids are not included in the Duplicates Rule.  Wizkids faction fleets cannot have duplicate custom ships.  Since the Dutch and Conglomerate factions have no official Wizkids ships, their entire fleets of custom ships are subject to the Duplicates Rule.  For example, if ALL custom Dutch ships are in play at once, they can begin a second set of each custom Dutch ship.

-Minor revisions to the Resources errata and how they work (changes underlined): -Resources are represented through tokens; players may choose whatever kind of tokens they wish as long as all players agree. Ships can carry any number of any resource types up to their cargo limit. After a ship rolls for the resource type and loads resources, the ship will load face-up gold coins that correspond to the numbered resource (for example, a ship with lumber on board would have 1’s). When the ship unloads the resources at the home island, the 1’s (in this case) may be unloaded just like treasure.  At any point during a player’s turn (usually at the beginning of the launch phase, after the play phase ends), any resources on the home island can be swapped out for the value of the resource in gold. If the value of lumber was 4, the 1’s are swapped for face-down gold 4’s on the home island (HI), which can then be used to purchase ships and crew during the launch phase at the end of the turn. Players may use UT tokens to represent total gold or resource quantities on their home islands, but should keep in mind that a UT worth 400 gold could be stolen by a home island raider with a single open cargo space.

-2 hits/mast rule addition: Flotillas must be hit 4 times overall in order to eliminate their flag (none of the hits have to come from a specific shoot action).

-Encampment clarification: Abilities that remove explored island markers eliminate encampments.

-Face-up Unique Treasure can be loaded and unloaded to and from islands as part of the free transfer rules. (slight clarification)

-Ships can load face-down treasure and resources from their home island with an explore action. Face-up Unique Treasure can be unloaded to islands as part of the free transfer rules. Ships can load face-up Unique Treasure from their home island as part of the free transfer rules.

-If both players agree to it, opposing ships can touch without ramming, boarding or pinning. While touching, they can be given an explore action to transfer cargo freely between them.

-Submarines can do ram damage while both surfaced and submerged.

-Only up to 3 copies of each unique set of native canoes can be in play at a time.

-There are currently only two storm terrain in play, but I have added their rules to the main post as well.  From Xerecs’ Century of Economy games: Storms are a Custom terrain piece. At the end of a round of turns, a d6 is rolled. Match the result to the number printed on any Storms in play. Roll the d6 again. Match the result to the number printed around the edge of the Storm and move the Storm L in a straight line in that direction. If two or more Storms collide or move into contact with one another, they merge and move as one Storm. If any part of a game piece touches a Storm, it is immediately placed inside of it. Roll a d6, the result is the number of masts, segments, flags or damage points removed from the game piece. If the result is more than the number of remaining masts, segments, flags or damage points, the game piece is eliminated from the game. If a storm spends more than three rounds over a body of land, it is removed from the game.

Additions to the Ban List: Odin’s Revenge, Kharmic Idol, Pirata Codex, Flood UT, Missionaries UT (those last two are customs)

~~~~~

Clarifying which tokens are for each type of island upgrade:
Encampment: Faction color token used to mark islands explored (under Markers)
Fort upgrade: Shipyard token (under Structures)
Lighthouses=Taverns (under Structures)
Town=Infantry unit (these last three all under Army Units)
Trading Port=Cavalry unit
Military Port=Artillery unit

Starting this turn, factions may start naming islands if they want to. Especially islands they’ve explored or taken control of through island upgrades.  For example, an obvious one is “Whirlpool Island”, the island surrounded by whirlpools south of the Spanish HI.

Custom Sets in play (by the end of this report) with abbreviations and creator name. (from now on, only the set abbreviation will be used for the launch phase specifics – that way you can find the customs used in the Customs Database if desired)
Age of Sail (AoS), Epic Seas (ES) – A7XfanBen
Return of Davy Jones (RoDJ), Fiends of the Blood Islands (FoBI), Spherus Magna (SpMa) – Xerecs
Great Sea (GS), Rise of the Moon Sorcerer (RotMS) – El Cazador
Dark Tides (DT), Seas of Doom (SoD), Eldest Seas (ELS) – JW Darkhurst
Vengeance of the Cadet Captain (VotCC) – Cadet-Captain Mike
Back to War (B2W) – The Grandmaster/PointlessArrow
Dutch East Indies (DEI) – Avery
Treasure Trove of Fenrir (TToF) – Woelf
Lost Isles (LI) – Shockwave
Godmason’s Customs
Marhawkman’s Customs
Obsidian Isles (OI), Siren Islands (SI), Oceans of the Apocalypse (OotA) – projekt355
Islands of Ice (IofI), Age of Extinction (AoE), Search for Golden Shores (SfGS), Rise of the Rebellion (RotR) – Pirate Captain Andrew/DoubleAAsauce
Baltic Sea (BS) – Skelebone
Treacherous Waters (TW) – Ochobrazo2298
Pirates Who Never Met (PWNM), Pirates Who Spent Too Much Time Together (STMTT) – Gazerbeam543
Forgotten Coast (FC) – Riz
Treachery on the High Seas (T), The Golden Age (TGA), – Vladsimpaler
Kraken Sea (KS) – mr_awesome
Lighthouses by The9ofSpades
Pirates of the Sendoran Coast (SC) – Captain Vendari’s customs

That’s a whopping 34 custom sets being used! Nearly all custom creators of Pirates CSG game pieces are represented in CG4 by the end of this turn and report!

The Story So Far

Here is a video describing the general events of the game over the first 5 years of its existence – from April 2018 to spring 2023.

If you’d like more details of some of the early stages of the game, you can also check out Xerecs’ CG4 BRs and the ones I did linked above. If you just need a quick recent events refresher, here’s the last report.

Here are a few things I held back from saying in previous reports that seem fine to reveal now….

Very old (probably from 2019): Jade Rebels probably pissed at the Pirates after Dungeon gave Plague to the Virtuous Wind.
5/8/2020: Dungeon explores island SW of Archipelago, uses Pirates’ extensive spying network to strategically trade Davy Jones’ Key for a Necklace of the Sky (latter grabbed from the middle Archipelago island).
7/13/2020: The Cursed lie to the Spanish that an anonymous source told them that the Americans were coming to attack them. The Cursed are looking for a reason to look pissed at the Spanish so it looks more natural when they go on the offensive.
7/24/2020: “The Cursed Pirates are teaming up to harness the power of the Norse gods to unleash true Hell upon the seas.”

Here is a color-coded “faction locations” map picture from the last round, before PirateAJ14 and Xerecs took their latest turns. The main colored areas are labeled with each faction, with the Pirates having some additional clusters of ship activity in the dark gray areas and The Cursed having a presence next to the Spanish HI.

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

Here is a giant map picture also showing the entire ocean, this one taken after PirateAJ14 and Xerecs’ latest turns before I started my turn. The Americans have continued to retreat eastward away from the Cursed, while the Spanish have mostly made all speed away from the Cursed 10 masters launched next to their HI.

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

After a 2 year wait from my previous turn, it was finally time for another epic session of CG4 chaos and carnage!  I do recommend watching the play videos for this turn, as I explained things in much more detail and avoided any music-only combat footage and whatnot.  I’m trying to make better battle reports (especially for CG4), so feel free to give feedback in the comments at the bottom!

The playing aspects of my turn took a whopping 51 hours, which doesn’t include the time spent planning and strategizing before playing, which was about 12 hours. Then add 9 hours for this battle report, and we get a grand total of 72 hours on this CG4 turn overall.  O_O (up from about 42+ last turn)

Pirates

196 Ships, 4697 Points in Play

The Pirates eagerly started another gigantic turn. Becoming more infamous with each passing round, they have used their “Infinite Money Glitch” to become the richest faction in the history of any Pirates CSG game. “Arcane abuse” has completely destabilized all notions of parity, leading to a bizarre situation where many factions may have to team up quickly in order to stop piracy from taking over the entire sea.

Tensions between the Pirates and their neighbors (the Corsairs and Vikings) began four years ago when the factions were fledgling fleets, content to slowly build up a foundation of strength. Now that tension is boiling over into all-out war. It is too soon to say what will ultimately transpire, but the possibility of a prolonged and bloody war is certainly there.

Beginning of turn Abilities and Effects

It was time to start!  Each of my CG4 turns begins with much anticipation and excitement.  However, there is always a lot of “housekeeping” to do – remembering and reviewing where things left off, consulting my notes for strategic ideas and order of operations optimizations, etc.  There are also a number of “beginning of turn” abilities or effects that are resolved early to start getting a picture of what the turn will look like.  This involves rolling for all of a faction’s AA (Admiral’s Action) abilities, as well as any Arcane rolls they can do.

The Pirates were disappointed to only get 1/9 AA’s, but their EPoE (Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight) was acting as a guaranteed “Mycron” via the Jolly Mon (a ship who of course was hidden in a fog bank next to their home island).  They then used their Global Surveillance Program (GSP) to spy on some Barbary Corsair assets, to make sure they knew full well what they’d be getting into if they committed to a full counterattack on the Corsairs.

The GSP is now better than ever since spying can happen on every faction’s turn! (multiplies spying efforts by 12!) I think it will be best to just do it at the beginning of each faction’s turns for all the factions that took their turn before the current faction playing.

Next it was time for the Arcane rolls!  If you’re unaware of this particular “theme” of CG4, I explain it in full in this video:

UT #1: Hidden Trove. UT #2: Evenstar. (both placed on Shadow Thief) UT #3: Eye of Insanity (placed on Sphinx).

393 ships in play x2=786 gold from Hidden Trove. x3 w/Evenstar=2358 gold. x2 w/Silverback John=4716 gold. +876 they already had=….

5592 gold.

O_O  Another new record!  The most gold ever raked in by a single faction in a single turn.  The Pirates estimate their “gold burn rate” at a minimum of 1200 gold per turn, which allows them (hopefully) at least 4 turns of megalaunching without having to use Arcane rolls for gold production.  Now they can bring in other UT’s next round….

Trove optimization: 1 Trove + Evenstar = 3 Troves. x2 from John=4716. Vs. bringing in a Trove every turn. No Evenstar-1572 gold (Trove doubled with John)
Evenstar gives 3x gold in the short term to allow for more choice flexibility in the long term. Better than having to constantly bring in Troves to support the crazy spending sprees.

A new “Eye of Insanity meta” is starting to emerge. Each EoI can be used to copy the Arcane, through the Cursed version of Davy Jones. This can be used to bring in additional copies of Nemo’s Plans and Runes of Thor, which can be used to guarantee that those EoI Arcane rolls are 6’s on future turns, which can be used to bring in additional Eyes on other ships.  Of course, at any point the Pirates could decide to stop simply “optimizing the system” and go into full brutality mode, bringing in many copies of devastating UT’s such as Neptune’s Trident in one turn and placing them on various attack ships.  The combos and possibilities are nearly endless, and the Pirates and Cursed both have a long list of UT’s that they’d like to bring in….

I got in touch with Woelf to answer a question about the Eye of Insanity UT: “A crew targeted by the Eye retains its original ability, so it would still count normally toward other abilities regardless of what got copied.”  I asked this because the Sphinx gets +1 to her d6 rolls with a Captain aboard (per her ship ability), but she might have to use that Captain with the Eye.  With that ruling answered, she can still succeed at copying the Arcane on a 5 or 6 due to the +1, even if the Captain is used with the Eye.

These “eyes” also pair well with the idea of the Global Surveillance Program….

At long last it was finally time to start giving out normal actions to the other 193 ships in the Pirate fleet!

The Smiling Jim took the Plague from the Noble Swan (lower left of the next picture), finally freeing the prize from her last negative UT. The Noble Swan explored the Smiling Jim to give her Runes of Wealth, a UT that was needlessly taking up a cargo space on a ship that will probably need it for something else in the future.

The Pirates are optimizing their “chain exploring” system at their metals island. They’re going to have ships at both ends of each line have either the Dinghy equipment (which allows you to explore an island or ship within S as a free action) or an “unload within S” ability. That way, no ships in the chain have to remain docked for the chain exploring system to work. This frees up space at both islands, which is great for maximizing how many ships can be launched from those islands.  It also opens up a sea lane where ships can easily traverse from the east or west side of those islands to the other without having to sail all the way around the chain.  The Pirates expect to have the optimized system finished next turn, at which point their metals income will be automated, likely at 6-7 metals per turn.  This is so they don’t have to spend as much time giving actions to their resource runners, and also to minimize traffic jams near those launch points.  However, with their near-unlimited gold income via Hidden Trove funding, there is a chance the Pirates will abandon resources altogether and simply outfit those resource runners with crew and equipment so they can fight if needed.

Pirate home island in VASSAL Campaign Game 4

The tavern token that the Raven unloaded at the Pirates’ textiles island last turn is now a full-fledged Plumb Point Lighthouse!  This means that all Pirate ships within L+L of the lighthouse get +S to their base move during that action, kind of like a giant trade current.

The Stormy Night rolled a 5 for her ability with the help of a reroll from Norman Spells. It allowed the Pirates to move any enemy ship S into terrain (therefore the enemy ship must already be within S of a terrain piece). The Sultan’s Riches was the easiest target – a Barbary Corsair resource runner approaching a storm.  She got sucked in, and had the misfortune of rolling a 4, sinking the ship instantly!  She went down with a helmsman and 3 textiles tokens, eliminating 6 points from the Corsair fleet.

The Blackleaf’s Studding Sails equipment malfunctioned, taking down her mizzenmast with it.

Iolkos, captain of the Bombay (custom 6 masted junk), has sent a strange “dowry demand” to Ekimu, the Grand Admiral and Supreme Commander of the Ionic Navy (part of The Conglomerate faction). He did not specify to whom he wishes to be married, having spied no female crew in the Conglomerate fleet at the time of the letter.

The Pirates realized they had made a gaffe with The Leviathan, though not a consequential one. Since the ship “sank” via Eternal scuttling, her Nemo’s Plans and Neptune’s Trident UT’s were removed from the game.  It definitely makes The Leviathan less of an automatic (and broken) superweapon, and the Pirates will be more careful about how they use her in the future.

Here’s a broad overview of the Pirate-Corsair situation, showing the Corsair attack from last turn at the center left.  The northern half of the Pirate HI is just out of sight to the upper left, while you can see the English HI southeast of the Corsair HI.  Things were about to explode.

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

The Pirates declared war on the Barbary Corsairs on July 3rd!  The massive counterattack would now commence!!  Here is the video if you’d like to see the raw footage of the entire assault, with both my narrative explaining everything and background music. A picture+caption summary is below if you prefer that.

After the damaged ships moved out of the way as best they could, The Slash (custom 4 master) got things started!  She carries my good friend Captain Randy, who was ready to take the fight to the Barbary Corsairs!  Both bow cannons hit the Great Desert, a sign of good luck for the Pirates to start the battle so well!  Not including the Great Desert, you can count 8 Corsair ships (including the flotilla and two submarines) in the main Corsair attack force. The Pirates wanted to neutralize as many of them as possible. Various options were considered for this counterattack – including committing as few forces as possible.  However, the Pirates realized that although going all-in on the counterattack might delay their short-term plans for the WSG (to be revealed soon!), it would be better to completely smash the Corsairs, neutralize the threat, and teach them a harsh lesson.

The Slash starts the battle with Captain Randy

As the shots began to ring out across these battle-torn red waters, both sides gritted their teeth for the carnage to come.

Next up was the Shadow’s Hand, who carried the Shadowed One – a devastating custom crew from Xerecs!  His primary ability: “Give this ship a shoot action. A beam S wide and 2L long leaves this ship in one direction. Replace up to two masts with fire masts for every ship in the path of the beam. This ship cannot be given an action on its next turn.”

A “fire beam” attack of godlike power!! It was time to unleash one of the many Pirate Weapons of Mass Destruction!

The Shadowed One fire beam attack

6 ships are set alight for a total of 11 fire masts!  O_O

🔥

Now it was time for another flame weapon!  Though far less powerful, it’s one that probably all of us know….

The Queen Anne’s Revenge greek fire attack!  From my “movie version” custom from Pirates of the Epic Seas: “Once per turn, you may eliminate one of this ship’s crew to shoot a flame S wide and 2S long directly forward of the ship’s bow. For every ship in the path of the blast, replace one of that ship’s masts with a fire mast.”  HMB Sayyida is set alight as the Nubian Prince and Anubis become raging infernos!

Queen Anne's Revenge greek fire attack in VASSAL Campaign Game 4

With the flashy WMD’s providing some serious firepower, now it was time for the conventional weaponry of the massive Pirate fleet to get to work.  Vortex and Slave Revolt set upon the Crown Jewel (Corsair 10 master), eliminating 4 of her masts.  With the latter’s Crew Protect cancelled by the Vortex, Vincenzo Gambi led a boarding party from the Slave Revolt to massacre all of the Crown Jewel’s crew.  A large number of effective Corsair crew were killed in action: Gazim, Ardagundas, Murat Rais, Sheik Al-Wahed, helmsman, oarsman.

Flotillas took some shots at the Sayyida, while the Crescent Rose used Extended Range (via my Powder Kegs equipment), shooting over the top of a burning submerged submarine to damage the Elephant flotilla.  The Misfortune’s Keep sailed into the fray, though her captain ability was cancelled by the Anubis (which is what the Pirates wanted, having intentionally waited until now to approach the Anubis).  At the bottom of the frame you can see some support ships doing towing logistics in order to get the derelict Splinter out of the way, making room for gunships to surge forth.

One last look at the severe carnage before the sinkings began:

Severe carnage in VASSAL Campaign Game 4 - CG4 counterattack of July 2023

The Pirate attack was in full swing. More gunships poured into the area, sinking the Anubis, Elephant, and Majestic.  This opened a gap that allowed more shots to fall in range of the Crown Jewel, which quickly became a wildly burning mastless hulk.  Despite the Crown Jewel’s Iron-Plated Hull equipment preventing some damage, the sheer volume of cannonade put forth by the Pirates crushed her in one turn. At the right, that’s a brand new iceberg brought in by Odin himself!  It was an Odin Missile!  The Pirates used their Rune combo to eliminate the Grand Desert from the game. Sickening devastation.

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

With the Slave Revolt and Shadow’s Hand both getting second actions coming out of the whirlpool, I felt that this round was a proper time to finally reveal the meaning of WSG… a foreboding acronym that the Pirates began using amongst themselves years ago….

 

 

 

 

WHIRLPOOL STRIKE GROUP

A terrifying concept whose true power has still yet to be seen… the WSG is at the core of Pirate combat philosophy. It’s what they’ve been building towards for years now.  A massive, multi-faceted strike group that can utilize whirlpools to hit enemy targets anywhere, anytime. There are a number of key pieces to the WSG, among them the Tempest – the custom 5 master that can create a new whirlpool anywhere on the map if she rolls a 6 with her ability.  Many of the recent Pirate launches were specifically to build up the WSG, as it fast becomes the largest battle fleet in Pirates CSG history. At the end of last turn I estimated the total size of the force at 50+ ships, with more being launched every single turn.

The criteria for a “WSG ship” is simple – either a ship that can generate its own second action (via Sac/EA/SAT/etc), or supply/support ships that have abilities like the Cheerleader ability (+1 to cannon rolls for friendly ships nearby), or high-cargo supply ships that carry extra oarsmen and shipwrights to replenish the attack ships when they run low on crew or equipment. It is a vast enterprise that the Pirates have been working very hard to optimize. They realize how costly whirlpool travel can be – going into enemy territory and coming back via whirlpool can easily cost a ship an oarsman and a mast, not to mention any damage or casualties sustained while fighting abroad. For that reason, the Pirates have invested heavily in a large supply chain network.  They have many ships whose sole purpose is to resupply ships with oarsmen (primarily Sac-powered ships that have a high burn rate of oarsmen, losing them both in whirlpools and while generating extra actions), as well as shipwrights so that combat ships can repair themselves if whirlpools take out some of their masts.  The idea is to have a self-sustaining combat force that can fight anywhere at any time for prolonged periods.

There is a massive number of attack ships dedicated to the WSG. Nearly every single “action generator” ship and crew in the Pirate arsenal of game pieces has been launched as a “WSG attack ship”. This is due to the sheer quantity requirements of the WSG – many EA and SAT rolls fail every turn, and sometimes Sac-powered ships have to hang back to replenish their sac fodder stores with new oarsmen.  As a result, large numbers of gunships with similar action generation tactics are on hand to keep the strike group strong and flexible.  Ex: If 8/10 SAT ships fail to get their SAT rolls, perhaps the EA ships will get luckier to bail them out. Or, Sac ships will make up the difference with their guaranteed double actions.  This is also because whirlpool attacks are inherently limited by the 2-action limit: one action is always required to go through a whirlpool, meaning that a ship can only ever be given one additional action on the other side where the combat will occur. As a result, large numbers of attack ships help the odds of a whirlpool attack success by making sure there is enough firepower to achieve decisive victory over the enemy, preferably on the first turn of the attack.

Recently the Pirates have begun to realize just how expensive and demanding it will be to keep the WSG operating in full for many rounds on end. Sometimes supply ships may have to follow the attack ships through whirlpools to attack zones, depleting their stock and strength more quickly.  Therefore, the Pirates have begun to launch “resupply” ships – ships that will supply the suppliers. This is to optimize the flow of oarsmen and shipwrights that help keep the gunships healthy and ready for action at all times.  As more combat occurs, the demands on the WSG supply system will grow and cargo logistics become quite complicated.  My CG4 tracking spreadsheet has a row for nearly all the ships in each of my fleets, with many ships in the Pirate fleet having notes about “needs S+O” (for example) to remind myself that next turn that ship should be supplied with a shipwright and oarsman if possible.

Lastly, the WSG has some extremely powerful weapons in it. If the main bulk of action generator ships cannot do the job… there are WMD’s to back them up. The Pirates have four 10 masters in play right now, as well as various superweapons like the Shadowed One that can provide ample firepower as a last resort if they are not part of the main initial assault.  The Pirates are flexing their might, and we could see the WSG become quite the deterrent force over time.  With the ability to create whirlpools at will and surge through them with game-changing firepower, no faction on the sea is safe from potential Pirate wrath.

ALL OUT WAR.  The Pirates have slaughtered the Corsairs in a grand display of strength. At the upper right, 9 ships (most or all from the WSG) came out of the brand new whirlpool created by the Tempest near the Corsair/English spice island!  They wreaked absolute havoc, smashing up the Corsair resource runners and effectively cutting off Corsair access to that valuable island.  At the bottom of the frame, Plague of the West got a second action to eliminate masts from the Corsair runners gathering textiles.  At the left, one of the most ominous signs of all – the Zeus and Hera have returned home from their excursion to Spanish waters.  They’re getting a few brief replenishments but staying near whirlpools in case the Pirate fleet needs their flagships.  Off their port sides, you can see newly minted ships of the WSG making their way to the whirlpool area.  Another handful of ships wait in the fogpool nearby, primed and ready to enter that whirlpool next round.  At the far left, a squadron of 10 warships (mostly stock gunships launched last turn) makes their way around the west side of “Textiles Island” to take up position against the growing Viking fleet in the north.

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

That marks 6 Corsair ships sunk by the Pirates this turn, with 3 additional ships dismasted and 7 ships partially damaged.  By my count the Pirates had 20 ships fire shots at the Corsairs, with 16 Corsair vessels either sunk or damaged.  At long last, the full scale combat of CG4 can begin….

The Pirates would also like to make a few PSAs known. They have generally been iterated to the other players, but just for full disclosure:

-Attempts to eliminate the Arcane will be met with extinction.

-Jailhouse Dog (reusable once per round with Nemo’s Plans) will be used to cancel out Fountain of Dreams if it is brought in. Not playing JD to cancel Hidden Trove or Evenstar.

-When using the Sac (Sacrifice) ability where crew are eliminated to gain extra actions, keep this in mind (from the Pirate Code) regarding Captain Davy Jones’ ability to possess crew on 6’s: “If a ship (or crew) has the ability to eliminate a crew to gain an extra action, this ability may be applied. If the roll is successful, the crew is placed on this ship normally and the ship does not gain the extra action because the crew did not remain eliminated.”
Captain Davy Jones is on the Slave Revolt in the Pirate fleet, and he will choose to roll whenever any non-Pirate or non-Cursed game pieces try to use Sac. The Pirates also have some auto-6 capability, so if some high-stakes combat occurs, there is a chance they might use that to force rolls to 6’s in order to shut down Sac for a ship or two (very unlikely however).

Launch Phase

As usual, the Pirates went on a massive spending spree across their 4 launch points.  Many new customs will see play for possibly the first time ever!  Any custom game pieces launched will have their set abbreviation in parentheses so you can use the reference near the beginning of this post to see who they’re from and in the Customs Database if you want to check them out in full (ctrl+h works really well to find things quickly).  There are a few exceptions for very commonly used generic customs, such as Dinghy from PointlessArrow’s Back to War (B2W) set and Gilded Figurehead and Streamlined Hull from Woelf’s Treasure Trove of Fenrir (TToF) set.

C=Captain | H=Helmsman | O=Oarsman | S=Shipwright | E=Explorer | WH=World Hater | FPS=Firepot Specialist | CSS=Chainshot Specialist

Skull Valley: 10 ships, 329 points
Bane (SoD) + Mr. Constantine (BS), Gilded Figurehead, oarsman (she also will have Vesok aboard)
Golden Medusa + Henry Every (OotA), CHO, shipwright (30)
Dark Trance (STMTT) + Three Eyed Roger (STMTT), CHO, shipwright (26)
Cunning Calypso (OotA) + Raveneau de Lussan (AoS), helmsman, shipwright, oarsman (21)
Devil’s Float (STMTT) + Captain Leviathan (BS), Dinghy, shipwright, oarsmen x2 (34)
Grim Spectacle (STMTT) + Captain Sally Silver (OI), Master Gunner Jarvis Johns (OI), The Mad Finn (BS), helmsman, shipwright, oarsmen x2 (46)
Royal Rover (SI) + Hugh S. Shine (RotR), Rosie Richards (SI), captain, shipwright, oarsmen x2 (38)
Pyorremyrsky + Edward Lewis (B2W), CHO, shipwright (28)
Zloty Kot (BS) + CHO, shipwright, exploding shot (22)
Spirit of Freedom (BS) + CHO, shipwright (17)
Gilded Figureheads (32)
Thok (12)

Skull Valley: 10 ships, 329 points

Home Island: 15 ships, 284 points (504 points with island upgrades included)
Southern half: (7 ships, 129 points (349 including the island upgrades))
Banshee’s Cry + HE, 3 coin, and fort upgrade (49)
Blinding Sun (STMTT) + Karmiine Klovisk (SC), helmsman, Dinghy (23), carrying town and military port (MP) upgrades (60)
Fickle Fiend (STMTT) + helmsman, explorer, oarsman (14), carrying town and military port (MP) upgrades (60)
Pirates Booty (STMTT) + helmsman, explorer, oarsman (13) carrying town and military port (MP) upgrades (60)
Rum Stealer (STMTT) + Evil Scott (STMTT), CHO (25)
WSG supply
Blubber (RotR) + H, oarsmen x4 (12)
HMNV Naval (AoE) + helmsman, Dinghy, shipwright x4, oarsmen x3 (32)
+1 oarsman

This picture also shows the ships launched from the Metals military port (MP), detailed below.

Home Island: 15 ships, 284 points (504 points with island upgrades included)

Northern half: (8 ships, 155 points)
Mercy + CHO (14)
Fancy + CH (10)
Crow’s Foot (ES) + CHO (14)
Ripped Canvas (ES) + CHO, chain shot (15)
Cuerno de la Cabra + CHO, shipwright (19)
Anti-Viking Defense Squadron
Stradlin (SoD) + CHO, FPS, exploding shot (23)
Witchfire (SoD) + CHO, FPS, exploding shot, Dinghy (28)
Red Dragon (ELS) + Spike Vicious (ELS), helmsman, FPS, oarsman, exploding shot, double shot (32)

The Mercy and Fancy are dedicated “tugboats”, while those next three are mainly for defending the Arcane. The Arcane is so valuable that she is beginning to have her own defense squadron, which may reach over a half-dozen ships.  The Vikings’ recent Hidden Trove acquisition has made them a serious threat to the Pirates’ western border, so the Pirates are beefing up the stock gunship squadron launched last turn with more weapons.

Northern half: (8 ships, 155 points)

Metals MP: 13 ships, 275 points
Spirit Folly (TW) + “Foggy” Lem (TW), CHO (24)
Vari (BS) + CH, smokepot specialist (16)
Jaguar (AoE) + shipwright, oarsman (14)
Klabautermann (BS) + helmsman, shipwright, oarsman, Gilded Figurehead (14)
Sudden Death (BS) + CHO, Gilded Figurehead (21)
Madagascar + CHO, shipwright, smokepot specialist (24)
Black Cat + CHO, shipwright, smokepot specialist (24)
WSG supply
Smiling Djinn (OI) + HS, oarsmen x3 (14)
Manacle (OI) + HS, oarsmen x4 (16)
Urgent Undertaker (SI) + HS, oarsmen x4 (16)
Thievery + CH, shipwright x3, oarsmen x2 (26)
Grey Hind (OotA) + helmsman, shipwright x4, oarsmen x2 (24)
King’s Ransom (TW) + helmsman, shipwright x2, oarsmen x5 (22)
For ships already docked there: 2x Dinghy, 5x shipwrights, 4x oarsmen (20)

Here we start to see the true scale of the WSG – simply launching half a dozen supply ships for the grand scale of the venture. Just those new ships alone carry 20 oarsmen and 12 shipwrights.  However, the Pirates want all their supply ships to have a “permanent shipwright” aboard in addition to any extras meant to be given away – that way the supply ships can repair themselves after whirlpool travel, not just the gunships. The WSG attack ships are likely to operate wholly at sea for very long periods of time, while the supply ships might come back to a launch point eventually to replenish their cargo, or simply be resupplied en route by yet another ship in the supply chain.

Textiles MP: 6 ships, 223 points
34 points of crew and equipment for various ships that docked on the play turn: Darkhawk II, Dragon, Star of Siam, Triton’s Fury, Raven, Pandora, Agnis Crystalis.
Anti-Viking Defense Squadron
Cat’s Curse (SI) + Calvin the Wicked (SfGS), Los Diablo Rojo (OI), CHO, FPS, shipwright (46)
Fallen Eagle (BS) + Scout the 3rd (STMTT), CHO, shipwright (31)
Polska (BS) + Kazimierz Lux (BS), HSO, FPS (30)
Death’s Hand (BS) + Anne Bonnie (SI), captain, oarsman, Bow Chasers (AoS) (33)
Revenant + CHO, 2 equipment (30)
Gruesome + CHO, FPS (19)

The Pirates finally let a bunch of their older ships dock at this MP in order to come in for repairs and/or get some needed cargo. On recent turns the Pirates just wanted to max out their launches no matter what, but now they finally feel somewhat satisfied with the size and power of their fleet.  This will allow many Pirate ships in need of things to come in and get them rather than waiting off the coast as endless new ships are built in rapid succession.  It could be said that the Pirate policy of “maximum launching” is over, but of course it might resume in a crisis situation.  Every launch point will still likely resemble spokes of a wheel for many more rounds, as eventually I may want the Pirates to control every single ship ever made for them, both Wizkids and custom.  O_O  You can see where the WSG attack ships have gone east, diverging from the weaker anti-Viking squadron that heads northwest.  Both have formed impromptu lines of battle.

Textiles MP: 6 ships, 223 points

Launch Totals for the turn: 44 ships, 1111 points (1331 points including island upgrades)

Overall Fleet Size: 240 ships, 5797 points (at least 6017 total including upgrades)

The Cursed

51 Ships, 2171 Points in Play

The Cursed also start their turn with various d6 rolls – over a dozen with more every round!

Hidden Trove was now worth 864 gold (388 ships in play after the Pirate combat, but then they launched 44 ships for 432 total). Tripled with Evenstar=2592 gold. Plus what they already had=3943 gold.  Just like the Pirates, The Cursed wanted to guarantee megalaunches for a few turns, estimating their burn rate at no less than 1000 gold per turn (so this should cover them for at least 3 turns, potentially less if they put up enough launch points).  The Cursed got 5 AA rolls to work (+Barst, a Mycron crew), giving their burgeoning fleet a lot of flexibility.

Magnesis yanked the Ivory Star into the Gauntlet of Pestilence fog bank next to the Corsair home island, killing her oarsman in the gloom.

The Cursed are on a frenetic pace with both launches and island upgrades, upgrading their custom “whirlpool forts” (Figlar Castle and Gunos Fortress, two of each in play) at breakneck speed.  To that end, they realized they’d have to do some logistical “magic” this turn.  Using one of their trade currents, the Dinghy equipment, and an intermediary ship to support bridging the gap, they managed to get both island upgrades from the Devil’s Child to the Sea Duck, and the DC’s fort upgrade to the Gerudo Gale, the latter of which was already docked at the Gunos Fortress needing the upgrade.  Originally the DC was going to upgrade both the island and the fort afterwards, but the Cursed really want to expedite how fast they can get launch points up, specifically the whirlpool forts.  Soon they will have no less than FOUR upgraded forts that can essentially megalaunch from any whirlpool in play.  O_O  Talk about weaponizing terrain!  Arguably just as intimidating as the Pirate WSG….

Cursed upgrade logistics

The shipyard token is placed and The Cursed will be able to launch from this fort next turn!

The Spanish get slammed!

The Spanish have been crushed. 7 ships sunk, 1 ship captured, 4 ships left in play.  2/3 of their fleet was wiped out in one turn by the 10 master strike squadron.  O_O  The Pirates also have their “Anti-Spanish Squadron” sailing north towards the Spanish HI…. War is upon us indeed.

The Cursed assault the Spanish! 10 Master Strike Squadron slams Spain in their home waters!

War is upon us indeed.

A familiar voice whispered from shadow, aboard the Devil’s Kiss of the Pirate fleet…

“The Dead have taken command of the sea….”

The killing was not over yet.  It was time for a new menace to reveal itself….

TaaW=Terrain as a Weapon

Also known as: Weaponizing Terrain

In yet another instance of the Pirates getting help from The Cursed (or vice versa), the Sargasso Nightmare teleported into the area to provide some extra firepower support, making The Cursed an enemy of the Barbary Corsairs if they weren’t already.

In yet another instance of the Pirates getting help from The Cursed (or vice versa), the Sargasso Nightmare teleported into the area to provide some extra firepower support, making The Cursed an enemy of the Barbary Corsairs if they weren't already.

Nearly all terrain types have now been weaponized.  The Pirates can create whirlpools at will and surge forth deadly legions.  The Cursed continue to build up their fog hopping squadron, which will be larger and more deadly than ever before.  Odin Missiles rain down from the sky every turn as icebergs from the heavens sink ships.  Now even seaweed is something to avoid, because you never know when a swampy Cursed fiend will pop out and shoot you.

The Cursed and Pirates will be using increasingly aggressive rhetoric in their dealings with other factions as their patience continues to wear thin.

All Shall Perish.

Launch Phase

Home Island: 6 ships, 210 points (390 including island upgrades)
For Wisp: helmsman, oarsman, Dinghy (6), +42 for gold+fort upgrade token.
For Maman Brigitte: Streamlined Hull, oarsman (4)
For USS Mercury: equipment (14)
For the Grand Misfortune: Melegaunt (ES), Streamlined Hull, exploding shot, stinkpot shot, chain shot (11)
Obsidian Sun (OI) + Maleficent (OotA), helmsman, oarsman (18)
Pale Moon + Lilith (OI), Tzilacatzin (RotMS), Gilded Figurehead (26)
Insidious (STMTT) + Rapunzel (SI), helmsman, shipwright, Dinghy, oarsmen x3, gold, fort upgrades x2 (26 for ship, 92 additional)
Cursed Chalice (SI) + Merrow, Tidal Fiends, helmsman, Dinghy, oarsman, gold, fort upgrade (21 for ship, 46 additional)
Voodoo Child (STMTT) + Marie Laveau (STMTT), Vodyanoy (BS), Chirox (SpMa), HS, oarsmen x10 (66)
Bloody Cutlass + helmsman, shipwright, Dinghy, oarsman (18)

Home Island: 6 ships, 210 points (390 including island upgrades)

From Figlar Castle #1: 11 ships, 532 points
End of Days (ES) + Lord Hellsing (ES), Carnal Sinner (ES), Wraith (SS version), Madame Maria (RoDJ), Dhornikov – Prime Executioner (ES), SO, Streamlined Hull (TToF), smokepot specialist, stinkpot specialist, grappleshot specialist, exploding shot, grapple shot, chain shot (114)
Calamity (ES) + Acronius The Calamitous (ES), Jolly the Skull (OI), Phantom (OI), Skell (RoDJ), Streamlined Hull, shipwright, oarsmen x4 (88)
Cataclysm (ES) + Volgaad The Volcano God (ES), Sorcerer Jafar (OotA), Deranged Spider (ES), Vamprah (SpMa), Streamlined Hull, helmsman, shipwright, oarsmen x5 (95)
Blood Sacrifice (MS) + CHS, oarsmen x3 (27)
Moctezuma’s Revenge (MS) + helmsman, Streamlined Hull, shipwright x3, oarsmen x5 (36)
Rat’s Circle (IofI) + CH, oarsmen x2 (17)
Eternal Curse (ELS) + CHS, Dinghy, oarsmen x3 (31)
Arabian Nights (OotA) + The Nightsister (OI), helmsman, shipwright, Dinghy, oarsmen x4 (38)
Spinax (SoD) + CHO, shipwright, Dinghy (26)
Specter (OotA) + Lord Icarus of Destral (DT), Heir to the Satanic Temple (ES), CHOS (36)
Krikun (BS) + helmsman, Dinghy, shipwright x2, oarsmen x3 (24)

One of the most sickening and incredible launches of the game sees The Cursed spend over 500 gold at a single fort.  The 10 master expenditures average 99 points each. Even more sinister… it appears that The Cursed may be building their own WSG….

From Figlar Castle #1: 11 ships, 532 points

From Figlar Castle #2: 12 ships, 318 points
Farore’s Cataclysm (GS) + Vaati (GS), CHO, Gilded Figurehead (38)
Fiend’s Plot (ES) + CHO, shipwright, Streamlined Hull, Gilded Figurehead (27)
Banshee’s Wail + “Screaming” Mimi, CHO (29)
Dance + Tabitha McWarren (F&S version), helmsman, oarsman (19)
Crypt + Heiress of the Apocalypse (ES), helmsman, oarsman (22)
Siren’s Stone (B2W) + CHO (21)
Black Jar (OotA) + CHO, shipwright x3 (25)
Mauled Mermaid (SI) + Captain Nachtmare (OI), oarsmen x4 (29)
Hellish Stench (ES) + Maxis Penumbra (SoD), oarsman (20)
Man O War (AoE) + helmsman, smokepot specialist (10)
Hanging Tree (RotR) + CHOS (19)
Flesh of Oman (RotR) + Icarax (SpMa), Kaulu Kaikamahine (SI), HSO (48)
The Necromancer placed in fort (ES) (11)

This Figlar Castle whirled into the middle of a fog cluster, which was perfect for what The Cursed had in mind.  They’ve put in play a “mover squadron” full of abilities that can wrench enemy ships around against their will.

From Figlar Castle #2: 12 ships, 318 points

Cursed PSA that all the other factions know about: The Cursed now have SS Wraith in play (aboard the End of Days), meaning there are two “d6 possess” abilities in play. From the Code: “-If a crew is eliminated and multiple different players have this ability available, each may attempt the die roll using the normal player turn order, starting with the current player, until a roll is successful or all able players have rolled.”
Following through the play order, the Pirates will roll first followed by The Cursed. Just like the Pirates, The Cursed are intentionally going to use this to try and impede Sac and similar abilities from the other factions.

Launch Totals: 29 ships, 1060 points (1240 including island upgrades)

Overall Fleet Size: 81 ships, 3245 points (3721 including upgrades)

Vikings

20 Ships, 488 Points in Play

Since they didn’t have nearly as many beginning of turn rolls as the Pirates or Cursed, I decided not to record the start of the Viking turn. This proved to be a mistake, as the Vikings pulled off a grand coup of luck.

The Vikings got a 6 with All-Powerful Thor! They had tons of options for it, with many hundreds of enemy ships in play, including some nasty pirates nearby. They didn’t want to bring in the legendary Fountain of Dreams UT as they didn’t fully trust all of the other factions – too many variables with what could be brought in.

In the end, the Vikings took control of the Cursed Flying Dutchman! They got a 6 for Kalfu (“Once per turn roll a d6. On a 6 you may change the result of any die roll to a 6.”) (!!!)
The Flying Dutchman roll to bring in a UT and place it on an enemy ship didn’t work, so the roll was forced to a 6 to bring in a Hidden Trove!!

….

 

It was placed on HMS Alexander!!!!  O_O

The Vikings have immensely helped the English by giving them a massive windfall, with Hidden Trove to be worth over 900 gold on the next English turn!!

This was a grand moment of much anticipation. For a few years now, the Vikings and Corsairs have started to consider “gift Troves” for other factions by using their copiers to copy the Cursed Flying Dutchman instead of the Arcane, allowing them to place a UT from outside the game on an “enemy” ship instead of their own ship.  However, the Vikings did not expect it to come from All-Powerful, which allowed the Vikings to control the FD and effectively use All-Powerful to copy the FD’s special ability.  The English could be rich as soon as next round, and perhaps the greatest thing for the possible “allies” is – there’s no Pirate or Cursed turn in between in which it could be stolen by one of the major powers.  An interesting thing about the Pirate-Cursed cooperation is that they go after each other in the turn order, so all 10 of the other factions have their turns in between, uninterrupted by the “great evils”. It’s a double-edged sword because it also allows the Pirates and Cursed to potentially execute absolutely devastating coordinated attacks in back-to-back fashion.  However, in the case of UT generation it may help.

This is also a massive deal because it could change some of the power dynamic in the northeast.  The Pirates have likely irked the English of late, sending the Blackleaf into the northeast corner with island upgrades to possibly take over the spice island the Corsairs and English have been profiting from. That island was explored with a Dinghy on the Pirate turn, meaning the Corsairs and English are quickly running out of time to prevent yet another Pirate launch point from surrounding their home waters. In addition, the Corsairs have been severely weakened, and could really use some help.  They have made contact with the English about combating the Pirates together, but until now the English had very limited means to do so. If this turn made it look like the Pirates were about to completely take over the northeast corner, this Hidden Trove gift from the Vikings to the English could change or delay that.  The Vikings also like this outcome for the sake of their positioning. They are located just west of the Pirate home island and textiles MP.  The Corsairs are their allies on the eastern side of the Pirate launch points. However, the Corsairs have been so badly beaten that the Pirates might be able to turn all their home waters might against the Vikings, which would mean a quick and certain Viking defeat.  However, if the English (east of the Corsair HI) build a battle fleet that draws Pirate attention, the Vikings have a better chance in any local combat zones.

The Vikings had wanted to give a Trove to… the Spanish!  They have been on a “gift list” of both the Corsairs and the Vikings for a few turns now.  This turn was almost the perfect moment for it, with the Vikings feeling somewhat secure with their new launches and an “extra” crack at the UT generation shenanigans via the lucky 6 on Thor’s All-Powerful.  It was all set for the Spanish to get rich instead of the English… until the Vikings realized that no Spanish ship was within docking distance of the Spanish HI.  If a Hidden Trove was placed on a Spanish ship, it would have to be at sea where it was likely to be stolen by the Pirates or Cursed (or someone else) before the Spanish could get it home.  The Vikings didn’t want to waste their luck on that, and so pivoted to the English instead.

Next it was time for the Viking copier, Jord.  Having already given out a Trove to a possible future ally, the Vikings would definitely be copying the Arcane to try and benefit themselves.

Jord rolls to copy Arcane. First Gilded Figurehead, then Jord, then Reroll via Shayna Deux:
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [2] ***
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [5] ***
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [6] ***

Another successful roll!!  Used to place a Hidden Trove on the Timperswayd!!  O_O  😀

With that, the Vikings raked in another huge windfall, increasing their gold reserves further so they could launch for multiple turns without fear of bankruptcy.

This picture shows most of the Viking ship movements.  Their recently launched warships are headed south towards a fog cluster, where the Muninn attempts to spy on Pirate movements to the east.  Some of their “lumber squadron” has broken off from their usual trade route to join up with the main force, as the Vikings anticipate needing all the ships they can spare in a possible battle with the Pirates – which they anticipate could be coming soon.  Even some resource runners are turning east, simply to beef up numbers and provide support as tugboats or block ships.  There is little need to run the lumber trade, with Hidden Troves providing a steady supply of gold from which to fund the fleet.

This picture shows most of the Viking ship movements.  Their recently launched warships are headed south towards a fog cluster, where the Muninn attempts to spy on Pirate movements to the east.  Some of their "lumber squadron" has broken off from their usual trade route to join up with the main force, as the Vikings anticipate needing all the ships they can spare in a possible battle with the Pirates - which they anticipate could be coming soon.  Even some resource runners are turning east, simply to beef up numbers and provide support as tugboats or block ships.  There is little need to run the lumber trade, with Hidden Troves providing a steady supply of gold from which to fund the fleet.

The Barbary Corsairs and Vikings have been reaching out over the past few years in regards to forming alliances with some of the other factions in play, possibly to combat the Pirates together. However, the Vikings have a more… brusque approach when it comes to communicating. XD  It remains to be seen if that impacts their alliance hopes, not just with the English, but other factions as well….

Launch Phase: 6 ships, 195 points (347 including upgrades)
For Timperswayd: Dinghy, town+MP upgrades (3+60)
For Noble Glacier: Shayna Deux (already in play), helmsman, equipment x3 (5)
9x Gilded Figureheads (9)
Eagle’s Brood (LI) + HSEO, Dinghy, gold, fort upgrade (22 + 48 for gold+upgrade, 70 total)
Ratatoskr (IofI) + HSO, Dinghy, gold, fort upgrade (21 + 44 for gold+upgrade, 65 total)
Berserker (IofI) + Blakenos Arnfoot (ES), CHO, Dinghy (29)
The Norse Anvil (LI) + Kould the Conquerer (IofI), CHOS (40)
Naegling + Wilhelm Hadraade (OotA), Galnarl the Terrible (ES), helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull (36)
Ruby Ice (ES) + Zaura Vikman (LI), Powder Kegs (ES), oarsman, stinkpot shot (30)

Without revealing their exact plans, it’s clear that the Vikings are investing heavily in the upgrade game.  They hear about what the Pirates and Cursed are doing, and want to get a slice of the pie.  There are only so many islands in play (36 wild at the start of play), and the Pirates and Cursed appear to be snatching up a fair number of them. In addition, the Vikings are severely hampered in their launch phases by the physical size of their ships.  With most of their ships available being oared, their average ship width is quite big, comparable to the Corsairs and all their galleys. This means they can’t launch as many ships per turn because they run out of space at their home island sooner than most factions would. As a result, more launch points are needed to get the Viking fleet built up at an adequate speed.

Overall Fleet Size: 26 ships, 683 points (895 including upgrades)

Barbary Corsairs

22 Ships, 422 Points in Play (down from 30 Ships, 575 Points in Play at the end of their last turn)

The Corsairs are down in the dumps.  They have been absolutely devastated by the Pirates and Cursed, losing 8 ships and 153 points in the time between their last turn and this one. Morale has never been lower.  Even compared to when the Corsairs lost a battle squadron to the Pirates years ago.  Some of their best fighters perished in the Pirate counterattack, and there is absolutely no way the Corsairs can launch enough new warships to keep up this war effort against the Pirates right now, especially if the Pirates keep pushing east to the Corsair HI.

The Barbary Corsairs attempted to bring in a UT…

Making matters even worse, the Corsairs failed to get the roll – the only one of my factions to not bring in any UT’s this turn.  The black days are upon them… depression and hopelessness are starting to set in across some parts of the Corsair fleet.  They do not have the gunships available to defend their resource system, which has come under attack by the Pirates and the WSG.  (I may be upbeat in the above video, but the Corsairs are anything but)

The Corsairs did their best to regroup and reprioritize, negotiating a tense truce with the Pirates on some strict terms. The Pirates agreed not to attack next turn if the Corsairs made concessions – they would not fire a single shot against the Pirates this turn, nor would they launch a 10 master or a full battle squadron (some new ships could have captains, but not all). The Corsairs are angry at the Pirates, but are more sad and shell-shocked than anything else.  They currently also have a female leader (Galina) who is mourning the loss of many Corsair captains, including Gazim, the admiral who perished when Vincenzo Gambi mercilessly slaughtered the crew of the Crown Jewel. The Corsairs are actually rethinking their strategy a bit – their plan just one round ago was to push the Pirates to the brink and wage all-out war with tons of gunships launched from their home island. However, facing extinction, the Corsairs realize they should play the long game and try to get off the Pirates’ radar a bit.

The Nubian Prince was the only burning ship capable of movement, but her fire spread even further above deck, completely engulfing the ship in flame.  The Crown Jewel and both submarines are doomed.  With those 4 ships all very likely to sink due to the automatic scuttle next turn, it would bring total casualties from the Pirate attack to 10 Corsair ships sunk, 12 if we include the pair of ships sunk by The Cursed.  The warships launched last turn sail out to form a wall line of defense against any further Pirate encroachment, with 3 war galleys north of the iceberg and one east of it.  The Crescent Moon pulls into port to stock up on some cargo the Corsairs have been planning to give her.  Corsair resource runners generally headed east to a rendezvous point near the new whirlpool by the spice island.  With nowhere to run or hide, the Corsairs are praying the Pirates don’t go back on the truce and attack them next turn.  It is a rough time when your life depends on trusting fickle pirates.

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

However, the turn was not without hope.  Receiving an AA from Kheir-ed-din, the Djinn of the East sped through the new whirlpool and emerged in an area completely new to the Corsairs – and for that matter, any faction.  She is the first ship to take The Vortex, a reef formation shaped by a whirlpool in the middle of it.  This is a distinct feature of the map, though unlikely to see much use due to the obvious dangers.  However, the Corsairs were desperate, and the whirlpool was near an untouched wild island they may have designs on.  It’s in between Viking and American outposts, and far from any Pirate or Cursed influence so far.

However, the turn was not without hope.  Receiving an AA from Kheir-ed-din, the Djinn of the East sped through the new whirlpool and emerged in an area completely new to the Corsairs - and for that matter, any faction.  She is the first ship to take The Vortex, a reef formation shaped by a whirlpool in the middle of it.  This is a distinct feature of the map, though unlikely to see much use due to the obvious dangers.  However, the Corsairs were desperate, and the whirlpool was near an untouched wild island they may have designs on.

Launch Phase: 6 ships, 208 points (374 points including upgrades)
Gilded Figureheads x10
Nephila: added Dinghy and shipwright (5)
Crescent Moon: shipwright, oarsmen x2 (4)
Zeitgeist (RotR) + Prince Numidia (RotR), Baahir The Brave (PWNM), Dinghy (30)
Orion’s Belt (SfGS) + Pallamir (ES), Bomb Box (ES), HSO, Dinghy, gold, town and MP upgrade (28+60)
Rabat (ES) + Cleopatra The Wise (PWNM), HSO, Dinghy, town and MP upgrade, gold, fort upgrade token (33+106)
Camel (SfGS) + helmsman, shipwright x2, Dinghy x3, oarsmen x3 (36)
Dieu-Le-Vuit (LI) + Ramoran (ES), CHSO, Dinghy, stinkpot shot (30)
Anubis (OotA) + Rajastos (ES), Vorash (ES), HSO, Dinghy (32)

The Corsairs got busy launching just as many ships as the Vikings did. 4 new 4 masted galleys, as well as a large new submarine and a schooner!  They were digging deep into all the various new custom game pieces that have been added to the Customs Database since the last CG4 turn (much like my other factions).  Indeed, the sheer quantity of sets and customs out there at this point is likely to satisfy even the smallest of minor factions.  This Anubis is a 4 master, not a relaunch of the cancelling 3 master sunk earlier in the round.  Although the relaunching rule would allow for the Corsairs to get some of the best combat assets back quickly, I simply dislike the flavor implications of relaunching stuff that just sank less than a round ago.

Launch Phase: 6 ships, 208 points (374 points including upgrades) Gilded Figureheads x10 Nephila: added Dinghy and shipwright (5) Crescent Moon: shipwright, oarsmen x2 (4) Zeitgeist (RotR) + Prince Numidia (RotR), Baahir The Brave (PWNM), Dinghy (30) Orion's Belt (SfGS) + Pallamir (ES), Bomb Box (ES), HSO, Dinghy, gold, town and MP upgrade (28+60) Rabat (ES) + Cleopatra The Wise (PWNM), HSO, Dinghy, town and MP upgrade, gold, fort upgrade token (33+106) Camel (SfGS) + helmsman, shipwright x2, Dinghy x3, oarsmen x3 (36) Dieu-Le-Vuit (LI) + Ramoran (ES), CHSO, Dinghy, stinkpot shot (30) Anubis (OotA) + Rajastos (ES), Vorash (ES), HSO, Dinghy (32) The Corsairs got busy launching just as many ships as the Vikings did. 4 new 4 masted galleys, as well as a large new submarine and a schooner!  They were digging deep into all the various new custom game pieces that have been added to the Customs Database since the last CG4 turn (much like my other factions).  Indeed, the sheer quantity of sets and customs out there at this point is likely to satisfy even the smallest of minor factions.  This Anubis is a 4 master, not a relaunch of the cancelling 3 master sunk earlier in the round.  Although the relaunching rule would allow for the Corsairs to get some of the best combat assets back quickly, I simply dislike the flavor implications of relaunching stuff that just sank.

Overall Fleet Size: 28 ships, 630 points (961 including upgrades)

Point Count

Starting this round, I am attempting to track ships and points in play for each faction on an action-by-action basis.  This means that whenever a boarding party results in crew elimination, I immediately subtract that crew’s point cost from that faction’s point total in the spreadsheet I use for the game.  It does make combat take a little longer, but I expect it to be fully worth it as it eliminates the need to go around the map at the end of my overall turns and count up everything each faction has in play.  This will likely result in some minor discrepancies in the numbers over time as a few crew or equipment eliminations or additions might be missed once in a while, but it’s worth the time saved. The last full point count took about 4 hours, so I’d prefer to avoid doing that each round.  I know tracking the points in play is not required, but I really love keeping track of how big each fleet is and seeing the crazy records grow with each round.

Here are the latest faction totals!  I know a lot of it is extremely lopsided, but that may change a bit over time if more “gift Troves” can be handed out or procured.  There are three fleets in the 25-30 ship range that have the best hope of contending with the Pirates (and/or Cursed).  However, almost half the factions (5/12) have less than 10 ships in play. Of course, perhaps that makes them less likely to draw interest from the power factions, possibly allowing them to slip under the radar. The Pirates’ percentage of points in play actually decreased slightly this round, but they could still become a ridiculous statistical anomaly in that regard – if they cross 50%, they’ll be just one faction out of twelve and still in control of a points majority!

Faction Ships Points Ship % Points % Points/ship
Spanish 4 57 0.9% 0.5% 14.25
Jade Rebellion 4 43 0.9% 0.4% 10.75
The Conglomerate 30 531 6.5% 4.5% 17.70
English 17 230 3.7% 2.0% 13.53
Pirates 240 5797 51.6% 49.5% 24.15
Cursed 81 3245 17.4% 27.7% 40.06
Vikings 26 683 5.6% 5.8% 26.27
Corsairs 28 630 6.0% 5.4% 22.50
Dutch 6 76 1.3% 0.6% 12.67
Americans 15 215 3.2% 1.8% 14.33
Mercenaries 6 91 1.3% 0.8% 15.17
French 8 123 1.7% 1.0% 15.38
Total 465 11721 25.21

Last turn saw this game become the largest in Pirates CSG history. This turn, the game broke through the 10,000 point threshold.  O_O  For some years now I have fantasized about playing a game that went into 5 figures worth of points in play. After my Command the Oceans campaign game in 2017 passed 9000, I began to think it was inevitable. Now we have reached it!  However, we didn’t just get to 10K points – we blew past it, reaching an astounding 11,721 total points in play.

We are indeed in the Reign of Terror. It remains to be seen just how allied the Pirates and Cursed are, but they currently control over 9000 points, nearly 80% of all points in play. They also own 69% of all ships afloat, meaning you could double the fleet sizes of all other factions and they’d still have more.  Next round is likely to see The Cursed become the second fleet in play to reach 100 ships, truly a huge milestone for any massive campaign game fleet. In the meantime, the Pirates will continue their assault on the record books. Already the biggest fleet ever, they will easily blow past 6000 total points next round and look to eventually become the first 300-ship fleet.  O_O

Stats by player. Things have ballooned to a size not seen before. Technically I did control more ships during CTO in 2017, but that game never reached a 5 digit point total. Now I’m not the only player playing, and I still control over 10000 points.  O_O

Ships Points Ship % Points % Points/ship
Xerecs 55 861 11.83% 7.35% 15.65
A7XfanBen 375 10355 80.65% 88.35% 27.61
PirateAJ14 35 505 7.53% 4.31% 14.43

10 masters in play: 24 – 4 new this turn, all Cursed. (16 Cursed, 4 Pirate, 2 Viking, 1 Corsair, 1 Conglomerate)

Summary

Concepts introduced:

WSG: Whirlpool Strike Group

TaaW: Terrain as a Weapon

Burn rate: Total gold spent per turn by a faction. Good for a faction to know for when they’ll need more Hidden Troves or are likely to run out of gold.  Variable by the turn but generally in the 1000-1200 range for the megafleets that have 3+ launch points.

Here is the grand map!  I recommend opening it in a new tab and zooming in to view in full size to give yourself a tour of this crazy game.  You’re looking at the first documented Pirates CSG game to surpass ten thousand points.  This picture shows nearly 12,000 points in play.

WAR IS UPON US! New records | Unreal Combos | CG4 turn of July 2023

With that, another one of my mammoth turns is in the books! This round saw brutal and decisive attacks on the Corsairs and Spanish by the Pirates and Cursed. Both battles appear to be over, with capitulation nearly inevitable in the short term.  However, the Vikings have rivaled the Conglomerate and Corsairs as perhaps the third most powerful faction, even “playing god” to decide who gets rich this turn!  Could the Hidden Trove gift to the English backfire, or will the English be eager to join the cause against the Pirates and ally with the Vikings and/or Corsairs?  What could happen next?  I’d love to hear your predictions in the comments!

As dusk sets across the ocean, a voice of black speech whispers across the waters… “All Shall Perish.”

 

Comment below your thoughts on the game, predictions for what will happen, and how I can improve my reports! If you’d like to support my efforts with Pirates CSG, feel free to check out my Patreon or buy things through the affiliate links throughout my website. Thank you so much for reading about this game and following along with the epic developments!  😀

Curse of the Black Pearl 20th Anniversary Game! July 9th, 2023

Curse of the Black Pearl 20th Anniversary Game!

7/9/2023

20 years ago to the day this game was played, it all began. The movie that changed lives and made fortunes. The movie that led Jordan Weisman of Wizkids to make a Pirate game – the birth of Pirates of the Spanish Main and the CSG subgenre of board games. To celebrate The Curse of the Black Pearl 20th anniversary, Xerecs and I played a 50 point game on VASSAL using only game pieces from the Pirates of the Caribbean set! A brief summary follows, with a full video recording of the short game at the bottom of this post.

He went first as the Pirates, while I followed with the English. I wanted to restrict my fleet to only game pieces actually seen in the first film of the series, which got me to 45 total points using various crew on HMS Dauntless and HMS Interceptor, adding Mercer to get to 48.  They would be facing off against the Black Pearl and Hai Peng.

Curse of the Black Pearl 20th Anniversary Game!

Ragetti helped the Hai Peng snag some Plunder early, while Interceptor used her speed to reach an island quickly as well.  However, my own Marines must have been brainwashed by some natives, as they shot and killed the guvna!  Governor Weatherby Swann was eliminated. Only upon making this report and seeing the video do I realize that I accidentally cheated on the following turn, with Interceptor sailing home when she should have been stuck at the island due to the hangover from Rum.

Curse of the Black Pearl 20th Anniversary Game!

On the Interceptor’s sail home, she was intercepted by the Black Pearl!  The epic battle happens again!!  Black Pearl took off two masts, but the English returned fire for the same on their turn!

Black Pearl vs. HMS Interceptor from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

However, this time “Commodore” James Norrington was there to intervene!  HMS Dauntless came whirling onto the scene, with Mercer tossing Murtog overboard to fuel the ship’s extra action, which sank the Pearl!

From there it was a race to get gold home, with Hai Peng’s blazing speed impeded by the Jail UT which had removed her crew and therefore the captain and helmsman speed bonuses.  HMS Dauntless returned to the southwest via whirlpool to explore, but found TWO Aztec Medallions!  One of them eliminated the other coins from the island, though I should have flipped the Jailhouse Dog to reverse that.

HMS Dauntless came through a whirlpool again, with Mercer sacrificing Mullroy to sink the Hai Peng!  However, the Pirates had won 11-10!
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 20th anniversary

 

I also played some PotC music on violin that day to celebrate the anniversary, and saw the movie in theater at night to cap the grand day of piracy!  😀

40 Point VASSAL Game with Gazerbeam543 – March 12th, 2023

40 Point VASSAL Game with Gazerbeam543

3/12/2023

I played a 40 point VASSAL game with Gazerbeam543!  It was our first virtual matchup and the first since the PNW Weekend Marathon.  We used the Seattle house rules and all game pieces can be found in the Master Spreadsheet.  I went first with a modified version of a new fleet I’m calling “The Grim Express”. (original version is slightly more optimal)

Cassandra + FN Grim the Savage, RotF Crimson Angel, helmsman
Banshee’s Cry + explorer
Rover + Jonah, Calypso
Le Coeur du Lion + Cissey, Auraa, Deleflote
Terrain: Fog
Coins: Marksman’s Map, Shipping Charts, Homemade Flag, Neptune’s Figurehead, Manawa No Kowhatu, 3 7’s

Peter went next with the Spanish:
La Santa Isabel + Capitan Alarico Castro (SM version), Duque Marcus Vaccaro, Master Bianco (SM), Bianco’s Haulers, helmsman, explorer, oarsman
La Monarca + Dominic Freda (+2 gold version), helmsman

40 point VASSAL game with Gazerbeam543

I went south, picking up some UT’s and unveiling Maps of Alexandria to turn the NW island coins face up.  Pirata Codex wiped out Kharmic Idol and another UT, but both of those were found before Cassandra snagged Manawa no Kowhatu and Neptune’s Figurehead.

40 point VASSAL game with Gazerbeam543

With Peter clearly in the gold lead with both of his ships zooming home with their +2 bonuses, I knew I had to act quickly to prevent the game from ending too soon.  The BC rushed home with Deleflote’s help, flipping her 7 out to the Cassandra’s island to build The Devil’s Maw fort.  This was to give Grim more time to raid the Spanish HI.  During a less active turn, Coeur was able to duck into a fog bank to protect her valuable crew.

40 point VASSAL game with Gazerbeam543

Monarca arrives home to increase Peter’s score to 22, compared to 8 between my fort and the 1 that Cassandra has taken home.  Calypso creates a few whirlpools but I didn’t want to put one right by Peter’s HI just yet, lest the Santa Isabel (SI) come through and take out Calypso in a boarding party.

40 point VASSAL game with Gazerbeam543

Calypso makes more whirlpools, opening an avenue for the Cassandra to raid the Spanish HI from the north (Deleflote giving her a second move action out of the northeastern whirlpool).  Grims steals 3 coins worth 12 gold, more than half the Spanish total.  Banshee’s Cry touches the Cassandra’s stern in case she can assist with any cargo logistics or ramming on the next turn.

40 point VASSAL game with Gazerbeam543

Both Spanish schooners rammed the Cassandra, doing no damage.  However, SI managed to steal a 7 back.  However, this just made me want to HI Hoard again.  BC explored Cassandra to take her 2 (the lowest value coin from the initial heist).  Then Cassandra stole the remaining two coins on the Spanish HI, leaving them with no coins.  Deleflote allowed her to zip back through the whirlpool, arriving back in Pirate home waters.  Rover drops Calypso on my HI, anticipating a blocking/ramming role to support Cassandra.

40 point VASSAL game with Gazerbeam543

SI comes through with an SAT from Castro and steals back the other 7 from Cassandra!  Monarca rams the BC derelict, who I scuttle afterwards.  I debated whether to shoot at SI with Rover and Cassandra, but eventually decided to ram and board with both because I knew I pretty much needed to steal one of the 7’s again in order to win.  Alas, both boards failed!  Jonah and the Cassandra’s helmsman were doomed to the depths.

Making matters worse, I was now pinned, with Peter having designs on capturing Grim.  SI shot 3/4 and Monarca rammed the Cassandra’s last mast off, making her derelict.  I wanted Rover to tow her home with a double action from Deleflote, but the Rover was still pinned to SI.  Thus, now my best chance of winning was by suicide/sabotage (with still no gold on the Spanish HI and my mast count down to 2 with plenty of whirlpools around to eliminate them if SI didn’t).  Coeur popped out of the fog and lost her mast to a whirlpool, leaving me with just the Rover.

It seemed like there would be enough time to dismast the Rover and end the game, but I rolled too well on the whirlpools!  It took a full 3 rounds for the Rover to roll poorly enough to take out her lone mast, by which time SI had returned home with Cassandra, dropping off both 7’s+2 for a narrow gold lead.  I put Rover out of her misery to keep the score closer, with Peter winning 16-14!  Very tight endgame, where I would have won 14-0 if either of the Rover’s previous whirlpool rolls had been negative in nature.

Wow!  What a nice and close-fought 40 point VASSAL game and a great introduction to VASSAL for Gazerbeam543!  This was a big momentum shift game, with Peter loading a ton of gold early only to have it all swiped by Grim, then stolen back in true conquistador fashion!  Notably, no captains were present in either fleet, but there was still plenty of swashbuckling action.  A more excellent contest than we could have expected!

2×60 on VASSAL – December 7th, 2022

2×60 on VASSAL

12/7/2022

This game was Kyle’s first on the VASSAL module!  We set up for a 2×60 game using our regular Seattle Pirates house rules.  All game pieces can be found in the Master Spreadsheet.  He went first with the French:

Le Superbe + Capitaine Arathiel, Jules de Cissey, helmsman, explorer, oarsmen x2
Tepant + captain, helmsman
Le Bon Marin + helmsman
Le Pique + captain
Marianne + Maurice Aristide

I followed with an English fleet from RtSS:
Elthelfleda + Captain Nemo, helmsman, oarsman (got this idea from Ochobrazo2298’s game)
HMS Halcyon + RotF HGold, RotF Trevor van Tyne, 0LR+5 Bratley, cannoneer, oarsman, grape shot
HMS Goodfellow + helmsman, explorer, oarsman
Coins: Weapons, Seastar, Dead Man’s Chest (PotC version), English Royal Decree, four 5’s

The setup:

2x60 Pirates CSG on the VASSAL module

Both fleets headed out for gold, with the Superbe exploring first and the Pique preparing to grab a coin from her.

2x60 Pirates CSG on the VASSAL module

Elthelfleda and Goodfellow loaded some solid coins including the Seastar UT, but a French blockade looked to be brewing.

2x60 Pirates CSG on the VASSAL module

Knowing I had a good amount of “extra firepower” available on the Halcyon in the form of musketeer+cannoneer+grape shot, I charged for home after seeing she would be in range of the Tepant.  She went 4/4 to dismast the Eternal Frenchman!  I went straight for home with my other ships as well to put as much pressure on the Superbe as I could, forcing her to make potentially tough decisions on what to shoot at.

2x60 Pirates CSG on the VASSAL module

However, I had been too aggressive with the Goodfellow and wrongly guessed that an action generator on the Superbe would have already been revealed.  Capitaine Arathiel took the helm and piloted the Superbe to a game-changing attack, sinking HMS Goodfellow and her 10 gold (+Dead Man’s Chest UT) and then taking the Halcyon down to 1 mast!  Great maneuvering by Kyle ensured she stayed out of the range of any potential canceller on the Halcyon.  On my turn I weighed various options, with perhaps docking the Halcyon at home being the smartest.  However, this would allow Kyle to scuttle the Tepant while I tried to get gold from the Mercenary Elthelfleda to my HI via the Halcyon, and letting the Superbe run wild.  He was also amassing good gold through Maurice Aristide, so my chances were dwindling.  Halcyon continued the fight, taking a mast off the Superbe and using grape shot to whittle down her sac options a bit.  Elthelfleda headed straight for Tepant, knowing it was the key to getting some gold home and/or staying alive in the game.

Superbe sank the Halcyon, then sacced her helmsman to ram the Elthelfleda and take her down to 1 mast remaining! (and stealing her 5)  With Mercenary again preventing the E from docking at home, I used Seastar unsuccessfully and then captured the Tepant, who explored the E to grab her oarsman in anticipation of getting home on my next turn.

The Tepant was able to get home rowing S+S (avoiding a sinking at the hands of the Pique sniping at her), but at the cost of losing the Elthelfleda to the Superbe.  In the meantime the Bon Marin was transferring another coin to Marianne, who upped its value by 2 with Aristide.  The game was all but over.

At this point it was worth counting up the gold on Kyle’s HI and the gold remaining in play.  It revealed that I could only hope to ever get 4 gold by some miracle, while Kyle already had way more than that on his HI!

  1. Kyle: 17 gold
  2. Ben: 0

A lopsided 2×60 game but a good introduction to VASSAL!  Kudos to Kyle and his effective French fleet, using pieces synergistically and saccing to devastate the English position at the opportune moment!

“Pure Standard” – A Return to Normalcy with 1v1 at 40 points (October 30th, 2022)

“Pure Standard” – A Return to Normalcy

1v1 40

10/30/2022

For the first time in YEARS I played a game with NO house rules of any kind.  Captain Vendari and I met on the VASSAL module for a “pure standard” game.  No ban list, no house rules, nothing beyond what Wizkids intended this great game to be.  Due to the prevalence of house rules and ban lists in modern game groups that play Pirates CSG, I have even been calling this “hyperstandard” in my head, though in reality it’s basically just “regular Pirates”.

Vendari rolled to go first. These were the fleets: (all game pieces found in the Master Spreadsheet)

Captain Vendari
San Cristobal + Victor de Alva (F&S version), Luis Zuan (F&S version; Helmsman ability), silver explorer
Bloody Jewel + helmsman, silver explorer
Le Coeur du Lion + Vicomte Jules de Cissey, navigator
UT’s: Kharmic Idol

A7XfanBen
Black Swan + Captain Jack Sparrow (common 058 version), Bianco’s Haulers, helmsman, explorer, oarsman
Patagonia + Robinson, Lord Mycron, Administrator Scott Bratley
Le Coeur du Lion + oarsmen x2 (1 Pirate, 1 French)
Oarsmen x2 on home island (1 Pirate, 1 French)
Events: Hidden Cove, Raft
UT’s: Jailhouse Dog, Relics

With his 0LR+5 Vendari brought in both crew on the Bloody Jewel. I anticipated seeing at least one face down event in his fleet, but once I saw none in his complete fleet as Player 2 I realized I could save the 2 points I was anticipating for Favor of the Gods. My 5 extra points went towards my events and the HI oarsmen, as I figured the Coeur would need more crew to fling out to CJS.

As Player 2 I placed the final island, putting it on the western side.  This was to preserve the southeastern island as likely the worst HI location.  We didn’t dive too deep into the strategic meta around island placement, but we certainly talked about it as we set the map up.  Vendari also won the roll to determine how many terrain pieces each player would place – he voted 6, I voted 2.  He placed 3 whirlpools and 3 reefs, while I added 5 fog banks and 1 sargasso sea.  I chose for Vendari to start in the SE corner while he chose for me to start in the NW corner.  We were ready to play some old-fashioned normal Pirates!

Victor de Alva was revealed, and Vendari got his EA roll to zip the San Cristobal out towards the center island at S+S+L+S+S+S+L+S speed.  The Bloody Jewel headed west as the Coeur generated a trade current.

Pure Standard game of Pirates CSG on the VASSAL module

The UPS machine began revving up.  I flipped Hidden Cove to start my turn, and the middle island was the closest.  I was wary of Nemesio Diaz on the SC being able to cancel one of my important abilities, but decided to chance it and dock near the SC anyway, knowing that I could force a decisive action very early if there was no canceller.  (in hindsight, in a hyper competitive environment I would have studied Vendari’s face down crew setups and total points before taking my turn, which would have shown that the final crew on the SC could not have been more than a 3 point crew)  The Black Swan used her first action to redock with cannons in range of the SC.  I flipped CJS and shot before exploring, since exploring first could reveal bad UT’s that might mess up the shooting.  The Black Swan hit 2/3 (definitely above my average with 3S cannons) and then explored, finding some low value coins on the island.  I think it was a regular 2 and the rest silver – 2,1,1.  CJS flipped the silver 2 to the Coeur, who was given an explore action targeting my HI to unload it.

With Mycron giving the Patagonia’s action away, the Black Swan then redocked again to fire her port broadside, hitting the San Cristobal 1/3 to take her down to 2 masts standing.  CJS flung another coin to the Coeur, but she would have to wait until the next turn to unload it.  The Black Swan also loaded one of the 1’s, as I would rather get boarded for it (and possibly only lose my explorer since the loser chooses everything for boarding parties) than have the SC just explore the island and take it.

Pirates CSG 1v1 40 point standard game

Vendari got another EA from de Alva, and docked at the island next to the Black Swan.  However, I was ready to reveal my “trap card”, with Bianco’s Haulers preventing the Black Swan from being shot at while docked!  It was still a decent turn for the SC however, as she was able to use the silver explorer to grab the island’s final coin, then use the EA to sail away to the west.  The Bloody Jewel scurried home with treasure after finding both Relics and Kharmic Idol on the southwestern island.

With no canceller or oarsman on the San Cristobal, I had to take her.  The Black Swan got another Mycron assist to blast the San Cristobal, ramming at the bow as well.  The SC was dismasted, and both players declined to board.

Pure Standard rules for Pirates CSG game on Vassal

The Bloody Jewel returned home with a 3 and a silver 1 that generated an extra 1 gold from the silver explorer’s bonus.

On my turn the Black Swan started towing the SC, then used both actions to dock at the western island where I explored and flipped home a silver 4 to the Coeur who unloaded it.  I then built Paradis de la Mer because it would allow the SC to repair, and because Vendari’s fleet was now likely too weak to be able to contest the gold in Paradis at any point in the future.  (a safer play than some fort builds, so a no-brainer in this case)  The following turn I got de Alva’s EA (quite the generous guy today!) to repair 2 masts on the SC.  However, at this point Vendari decided to forfeit, seeing no path forward for him to win given the momentum swing and how hard it would be to get any more coins home.

  1. A7XfanBen: 13 gold
  2. Captain Vendari: 5

Although the game was shorter than I anticipated, it was nice to get back to a regular game of Pirates.  It’s been so long since I played with all events being legal and things like the normal boarding rules where the winner has no agency to choose.  I think it’s a good idea to do this once in a while, both to satisfy my desire to play competitively and as a way of going old school or back to the roots of the game that Wizkids put out.  After all the house rule craziness in recent years, it’s almost a way to “detox” from a bit of “house rule fatigue”.  Nothing against house rules to say the least, just kind of a fun experiment to do once in a while, both to actually play (not just theorize) in a competitive meta and almost as a tribute to Wizkids’ original creation.

THE BIGGEST GAME OF ALL TIME | The Reign of Terror has begun….

What the hell is going on!?

Fleet Status Update

Xerecs

Spanish (home island is in the southeast): 15 ships, 243 points. Recently attacked by the Pirates through whirlpools at the spice island southwest of their home island (HI).

Jade Rebellion (south central): Approximately 5 ships for 50 points. They have struggled to grow.  Although they were the first faction to reach The Archipelago, their Noble Swan was captured by the Pirates, netting the Pirates a key UT combo that has pretty much permanently destabilized the game.

The Conglomerate/The Alliance: ~27 ships total.  Recently hired Mata-Nui gives them the Copier ability, and since bringing him into the fold they’ve gotten Hidden Trove twice, netting them over 1000 gold in a short period of time.

English: 16 ships in play. The English have been pretty average so far, gathering reasonably valuable resources and staying out of conflict.

A7XfanBen

Pirates (home island is northeast and southeast due to round earth rules): Already the dominant faction of the early game, the Pirates are quickly reaching all-time great status.  Combining the captured Runes of Thor+Nemo’s Plans combo with the custom Arcane ship has vaulted them into a new stratosphere of fleet size, recently topping out at 148 ships and ~3740 total points in play!  They have become the de facto favorite, with a staggering amount of firepower that grows by the turn (41 ships launched last turn!) along with a growing collection of WMD’s – Weapons of Mass Destruction.  The sheer amount of ability and UT combos available to the Pirates gives them striking range and power unlike anything ever seen in a Pirates CSG game.

Cursed (northwest): With some intriguing help from the Pirates along with Davy Jones’ Copier ability, The Cursed have gone from an average faction to the second largest fleet in play.  Among their 37 ships are a whopping five 10 masters, with more possibly on the way given that they’re still sitting on around 2000 gold.

Vikings (north central): The Vikings have basically just collected lumber, and lost the Sleipnir to the nearby Pirates. However, 14 ships is not terrible considering their severe factional limitations.  They have a Copier (Jord), but have had no luck copying the Arcane thus far.

Barbary Corsairs (northeast): The Corsairs have been an instigator, teaming up with the Vikings in a somewhat anti-Pirate/local alliance.  They attacked the Pirates with some of their best custom 4 masters; although their initial attack was devastating, they lost all 4 of the ships.  However, a Copier of their own has allowed them to resurge, with 26 ships and nearly 500 points in play.

PirateAJ14

Dutch (southwest): ~7 ships. The Dutch have some interesting ships and UT’s.  It looks as though they may be trying to establish an alliance with the French.

Americans (northwest): 16+ ships. The Americans have done quite well for themselves, raking in metals to launch a bunch of their best ships.  Recent attacks by The Cursed have left them in a state of some disarray.

Mercenaries (east): 6 ships.  It took them a while to get going, but now the Mercenaries have some ships beyond just their starting fleet.  They have been rather “anonymous” and are located far from any conflicts.

French (southwest): 8+ ships.  The French have been stuck with poor resources for a while, and have not yet had the chance to make a mark for themselves in the game.

Alliances: Corsairs and Vikings (not publicly announced in game, so for thematic purposes only these factions know along with whoever they may have told about it)

Wars (declarer first): Pirates vs. Spanish

 

A 33 Hour Turn

As a general reminder, if you haven’t read the previous battle reports for CG4, this will be harder to understand.  I recommend starting with the rules and first reports, followed by the rest in the tag.  The tagged posts start with the most recent, so going bottom up from the last page is in chronological order.

This turn with my four factions took approximately 33 hours, up from last turn’s previous record of 30.5 hours.  It was played from late May 2021 until July 31st 2021, with approximately 15 different sessions of playtime.  The longest sessions were 5 hours on May 30th and about 4 hours on July 24th.  I think the point count took about 4 hours, with the battle report taking about another 5+, so what you’re looking at represents over 40 hours of dedication just for this turn.

Pirates

I started my party of a turn listening to this excellent mix.  I am absolutely drunk on power…. XD

Arcane Rolls: Vesok allowed Gilded Figurehead to work, which was used to replace the bad Arcane roll with a 6.  This allowed the Pirates to place a Hidden Trove on the Shadow Thief!  This would not be the last of their successes….

It is almost crazy just keeping track of the Pirates’ AA (Admiral’s Action) rolls – they now have nine of those abilities in play.  8 of them have Reroll with them on the ship in question, while the 9th is Ching Shih whose AA hits on a 4-6 due to Vesok being aboard the Smoke’s Hand with her.  O_O  So at the beginning of each Pirate turn, I am just doing around 20 d6 rolls to see how many AA’s I get and which Arcane rolls/rerolls/etc work out.  XD  In addition, the Shadow’s Hand now carries the Antikythera Mechanism, which just hit on this turn with a 6, allowing the Pirates to give an action to an enemy ship!

The Smiling Jim brushed up against the Noble Swan, giving the former the Plague but allowing the Noble Swan to explore the Smiling Jim, also giving her Enemy of the State.  The Smiling Jim was launched specifically for this purpose, so the Noble Swan will be able to dock at the Pirate HI (finally!) when the Warring Tribes gets her there.

The Tempest got Cannonball Gallows’ EA to move out of the whirlpool area near where the attack on the Spanish took place.  She emerged from the fogpool near the Pirate home island, using her second action to touch the Inferno.  The Inferno was given an explore action, swapping a face down crew for the Tempest’s Aert van Tuyl, the historical custom chieftain for the Natives of Madagascar native canoes.  The Tempest is even more loaded now….

Chain exploring is back in vogue!  With the ability to yank in Hidden Trove at will every single turn, the Pirates have less need for gold runners.  At some islands, the Pirates are now planning to go with a more passive gold running approach, chaining together their resource gatherers so they barely have to sail them around at all.  Ideally the last ship in the chain that would normally be docked at the home island will have some kind of ability that allows her to unload at the home island if she’s within S of it.  This allows ships to transit the busy waters right around the home island rather than create a blockage where ships would normally have to sail all the way around the chain of exploring ships in order to get to the other side of the home island area. (or break up the chain to allow a ship through the line, which slows down the flow of resources)  Due to their guaranteed (and massive) income with essentially infinite Hidden Troves, the Pirates aren’t worried about whether or not the chain exploring is truly optimal for resource collection (they might get X less of metal per turn compared to regular operations where each ship is given a move action, though I haven’t done the math on all that).

Chain exploring Pirates in CG4

In what would normally be a large coup, the Harbinger sacced to capture the Joya del Sol and warp her home, netting the Pirates a grand Spanish prize along with her cargo of 7 spices, suddenly worth the max of 42 gold under the new resource change! O_O Of course, that is now chump change compared to the Pirates’ near-unlimited wealth….

The Tempest used Avak’s help to get a 6 on the ship’s special ability, which allows her to place a whirlpool from outside the game anywhere on the ocean!  This would become important later on….

For reference, here is the Pirate-Spanish situation towards the end of this Pirate turn.  Some of the gunships that attacked last turn left the area already, with the Pirates cleaning up a bit.  The 10 masters continued circling the spice island.  Despite the fact that a state of WAR exists between the two factions, the Pirate ships made no moves towards the Spanish home island (HI).

BUT THAT WAS NOT THE END OF IT!!  THE LEVIATHAN IS HERE!  The custom Pirate 5 master with D movement came swooping in, but she was not without some extra help!  The Pirates got ALL THREE Arcane rolls this round (with some help from Runes of Thor of course! lol), allowing them to put UT’s on The Leviathan.  Here is the footage of what happened next!!

14 masts eliminated from 7 Spanish ships, from a UT that is now reusable!!!  O_O

The Leviathan uses Neptune's Trident against the Spanish!

The Leviathan is dismasted… but the Pirates have a plan for that… at least, … someone does….

 

Now it was time for another Odin Missile!  The WMD that the Pirates introduced last turn is still fully operational!  The Pirates don’t care much for the Jade Rebellion, so why not hit them?  Runes of Odin introduced a new deadly iceberg to the game, and then Runes of Magic was used to slam it into the Virtuous Wind, removing her from the game!!  O_O

The VW was carrying a bevy of UT’s when the icy missile broke her to pieces:

The Stormy Night moved the Tycoon into the iceberg that destroyed the Virtuous Wind.

What happened next was nothing short of shocking and evil.

 

Summary: With the Pirates controlling her, the Chimeratron Legacy captures 8 American crew and scores 8 hits combined on the Mercury and Blackwatch.  Making matters much worse for the Americans, The Cursed are next in the play order, which means the CL can probably get 2 more actions before the Americans can even respond….

The Tempest used her ability to place a whirlpool… right next to The Leviathan….  O_O  Anyone paying close attention to the customs in play may have an idea of what this means… very soon….  oh no…..

In the northeast, the Pirates continued moving their mass of gunships to the southeast towards the whirlpool and fogpool.  Perhaps they’re forming some sort of defensive line against the Corsairs?  Even in zoomed-in pictures like this you can see the massive scale of campaign games.  So many ships in one area, and true fleet movements occurring as they did in the Age of Sail, rather than a handful of ships scurrying about in a 40 point game.  XD

The Blackleaf was given the final AA of the turn to teleport from the fogpool to a whirlpool in the far northeast that is surrounded by sargasso sea (at the far right in the above picture). The whirlpool is close to the spice island the Corsairs and English have been making trips to, which is now rather valuable given the resource change making spices worth 5 gold each. The Blackleaf also carries town and military port upgrades….

At the upgraded Skull Valley fortress, the Pirates gave actions to their newly launched ships there.  Along with some random-looking maneuvers, it once again appears that the Pirates are generally just trying to clear as much room as possible at their launch points….

And that is exactly the case!!  The Shadow Thief docked home a Hidden Trove. 334 ships in play meant it was worth 668 gold. Silverback John doubled that to 1336, which got added to the Pirates’ existing 565 gold for a grand total of 1901 gold!

Pirate Launch Period

C=Captain; H=Helmsman; O=Oarsman; FPS=Firepot Specialist; B2W=Back to War (Pointless Arrow’s custom set)

Launched from Skull Valley: 9 ships, 207 points
El Dorado + CH, Dinghy, Streamlined Hull
Ranger (B2W) + CHO, Ballista; towing Guinea (B2W)
Broken Wind + Iolkos (Captain, S-Board, crew kill on every hit), helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull
Prussian Crown + CHO, Ballista, 68lb Carronade, Swivel Gun
Sea Keg + CHO, Ballista
Foresight + helmsman, Dinghy, 2 shipwrights, 5 oarsmen
Dharma + helmsman, shipwright, Dinghy, 4 oarsmen
Sunrise Fire + helmsman, Dinghy, 2 shipwrights, 3 oarsmen

Launched from the textiles military port: 11 ships, 247 points
Berserker+ CHO, Dinghy, 2 equipment
Burnt Bones + CHO, Dinghy, Carronade, 2 equipment
Recreant + CHO, firepot specialist, fire shot
El Ladron + CHO, firepot specialist, fire shot
Revenge (PotC version) + CHO, firepot specialist, fire shot
Accused + CHO, firepot specialist, musketeer
Silverback + CHO, firepot specialist, fire shot, Dinghy
HMS Rickets + CHO, firepot specialist, fire shot
Fortune + CHO, firepot specialist, fire shot
Plague of the North + CHO, firepot specialist
Dart + CH, Dinghy, facedown crew

Launched from metals military port: 15 ships, 335 points
Bruja + François l’Olonnais, helmsman, oarsman
Bloody Spear + Fidel Zuan, CHO, FPS, Streamlined Hull
Flying Death + Richard Sawkins (Captain, +1 to boards, +1 to d6 rolls against the Spanish), helmsman, Dinghy, oarsman
Charles + Jean L’Escuyer (+1 to cannons against the Spanish), CH, FPS
Black Gentleman + Daniel Johnson (+1 tod6 rolls against the Spanish and +1 to boards), CHO, Ballista (one of the very few ships in the Pirate fleet utilizing Silverback John’s cargo master +1 bonus)
-This completes the Anti-Spanish Squadron (for now?) at 12 ships.

Greyhound + CH, FPS, shipwright
Mocha + CHO, FPS
Panama Sun + CHO, FPS, shipwright
Poison Dagger + CHO, FPS
Pillage + CHO
Foultrader + CHO, Ballista
El Diablo Negro + Jacques Tavernier, Judy Rodriguez (Helmsman+Cannoneer), oarsman, Ballista, Dinghy
Viper + CH, Dinghy, Ballista
Santiago + CHO, Ballista, fire shot
Zanzibar + CHO, FPS

Launched from their home island: 10 ships, 238 points (seen in the previous 2 pictures)
(Northern half)
The Deserter + CHO
Black Arrow + CHO, chainshot specialist, Dinghy, stinkpot shot
Ningpo + Captain, Ballista
Delight + CHO, Ballista
Dolphin + CH, shipwright
Plague of the East + CHO, shipwright, fire shot
(Southern half)
Charming Mary + Calico Cat (already in play), CHO, shipwright, Streamlined Hull
Silver Dagger + CHO, Streamlined Hull, gold coin, fort upgrade
Bonny Kate + CHO
Royal Fortune + CHO
El Chico + CH

+the Harbinger received a Dinghy and restocked oarsmen; she is one of the VERY few ships in the Pirate fleet actually taking advantage of Silverback John’s cargo master bonus and therefore she will sail out next turn with 5 oarsmen.  (I despise the usage of cargo masters in campaign games because it breaks their ability, so I use it as little as possible and generally just ignore the fact that all my Pirate ships in this game have an extra cargo space.)

The Arcane is essentially up to 4 “bodyguard” ships now. This is like the military policy of Defense in Depth.

You may notice that a lot of the launches are rather lackluster.  This is partly because they’ve already launched a ton of the really good ships I wanted them to launch, and because it’s easier to launch cheaper or “basic” ships to save time so my turn can take about 3 months instead of maybe 4.  XD  It’s finally gotten to the point where the Pirates are so big and powerful that it doesn’t feel remotely necessary to fully optimize their launches every single turn like I usually do in campaign games.  The term I’ve been using for a ship like Poison Dagger (average across the board but more likely to be a gunship than a gold runner) is “stock gunship”.  The Pirates, having the most ships ever released in this game, inevitably have a lot of 2-3 masters that are sometimes quite good (like the Recreant) along with a lower tier of similar ships that blend together and just aren’t usually that notable on their own.  These are generally what I call stock gunships (at least, in campaign games).  Almost like pure “numbers” gunships that wouldn’t normally carry named crew, but can stock up on “extra weaponry” (as I call it) such as cannoneers, musketeers, specialists, and offensive equipment.

The Pirates launched 18 ships from stock this turn.

The Pirate launch phases have now transitioned from fully optimal, to more of a numbers game where they continue rapidly expanding the size of their fleet, but nowadays filling it out with “stock” as they run through ship after ship from the Master Spreadsheet and Customs Database in a frenetic pace to “launch ’em all”.  Time will tell if they slow down on purpose despite their massive wealth, or if they splurge onwards and continue adding 40+ ships to their fleet every turn….

This Pirate Turn By the Numbers
Ships Launched: 45 (new high for them this game, and likely for any fleet in any game; 86 ships added to their fleet in the last 2 turns)
Gold Spent: 1,027
Gold Remaining: 874
New Fleet Totals: 196 Ships, ~4,700 Points  (continue reading for the point count…)

The Cursed

-Got the FD’s UT ability to work with Kalfu’s regular Reroll. This was used to put a copy of Runes of Thor on the Shadow’s Hand, completing the Pirate trifecta of THREE auto-6’s!! (three ships in their fleet now have both Nemo’s Plans and Runes of Thor aboard)  This is also certainly not the first time The Cursed have used the FD to give the Pirates a positive UT….
-The Pantheon got her Arcane roll to work! Nemo’s Plans placed on the Chimeratron Legacy!  O_O   Uh oh….
-The Pirates use one of their Runes of Thor copies on the Royal Feces’ Arcane roll that goes through Eye of Insanity and Davy Jones! This is used to bring in Nuva, which was placed on the Pantheon! (Any crew ability on this ship may be used by another crew within S of this ship.) Just like the Pirates have done with the Smoke’s Hand, this will allow the copying of a Copier, giving The Cursed yet another chance at Arcane rolls every turn! (just like the Pirates, they will now have 3 cracks at it every turn, and you can trust they will do everything they can to optimize the system with Reroll/Gilded Figurehead/etc.)
-The Spiral Chaos used Nuva to copy Davy Jones (and the Arcane through DJ) through her oarsman. The 6 was used to bring in Runes of Thor which was placed on the Chimeratron Legacy!  O_O

The Chimeratron Legacy was up next… dare to watch the carnage unfold??  See it here….

She sank the Blackwatch, damaged the Kettering, and captured the Mercury!  O_O  The deed is done.  But the turn is not.  Devil’s Storm, continue the slaughter.  And that she did, capturing the Kettering and hitting the Bonhomme Richard.

The Cursed press their attack against the Americans in CG4

Funny enough the attack was not complete!  I forgot one of the recently acquired Cursed weapons!  Tridax (a custom ship from Xerecs) got a 5 to warp to an island and shoot the Americans, sinking the Lynx and further damaging the Bonhomme Richard!

With just a few ships The Cursed have thrown the American fleet into disarray.  Some American ships have been captured or sunk, while others flee with significant battle damage.  What was already a gloomy situation for the Americans is made even more horrendous with the arrival of Chimera, Divine Beast of the Apocalypse – the newest Cursed 10 master on the scene!  With the CL about to warp out of the picture by capturing the Mercury via Lord Jonathan Morgenstern and Dinghy, the Chimera serves as the CL’s replacement on the battlefront.  (not that she needed a relief)

The Spiral Chaos used Kalfu’s global reroll to get her ship’s ability to work on a 6!  “Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 5-6, move any ship within L of a whirlpool into that whirlpool. You may choose the exit location of the ship.”  The Cursed chose the Spanish!  The Colector del Dia spun through a whirlpool…

Colector del Dia on her way out

…and got sent to Davy Jones’ Locker by Figlar Castle #2!!  O_O   Imagine the shock the Spanish felt as one of their ships was mysteriously yanked into a new whirlpool (created by the Pirates…), only to never see her again as she was sunk far away across the ocean by a new whirlborne Cursed fortress of doom!!  O_O

The Cursed ships scattered from their home island, likely making room for new launches in addition to the Chimeratron Legacy, who warped home with the Mercury after exploring her via Dinghy.  You can also see a good number of Cursed ships entering fog banks.

 

A familiar WMD, in Evil hands

O_O   The Cursed combine their old copy of Runes of Odin (that they found normally quite a while back) with a new copy of Nemo’s Plans to introduce their own version of the Odin Missile!  Oya-lansan is used to shove the iceberg into the Fuerza de Dios, instantly removing the Spanish 5 master from the game!

 

Now for a case of severe shock….

BOOM!!

Figlar Castle whirls into Spanish territory

and BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!   O_O_O_O_O

The Cursed launch 4 10 masters right next to the Spanish home island!!!!!

The Cursed launch 4 10 masters right next to the Spanish home island!!!!!  O_O

Figlar Castle: This fort can only be built on a whirlpool when a Cursed ship is touching the whirlpool. Starting the turn after construction, this fort can travel through whirlpools like a ship, but without having to roll for damage. Ships docked at the fort do not travel with the fort. Cursed crew can use their abilities in this fort.

The Cursed warped the recently upgraded 1st Figlar Castle through her original whirlpool to arrive in what still looks like Spanish territorial waters!  And during their launch period they launched 5 ships from the fort including 4 10 masters!!  Holy cow and What The Hell!?   LOL!  Not only does this look really bad for the Spanish, but the fort and 10 masters just so happen to completely cover the dismasted Leviathan and likely block the Spanish off from doing her any harm.

Now you can see why I said in the last report regarding the second copy (only 2 of each custom fort allowed in this game) of Figlar Castle being built by the Solenostomus: “This should seem… far more than ominous….

The Cursed Launch

From the Figlar Castle by the Spanish Home Island: 5 ships, 329 points
Berzerker + Berserk Overlord, helmsman, oarsman, Ballista, Streamlined Hull, 2 crew and 1 equipment
Devil’s Wrath + helmsman, oarsman, 4 crew, 2 equipment
Diabolic Monstrosity + helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull, 3 crew, 2 equipment
Slaughter of Innocents + helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull, 3 crew, 1 equipment
Slaying of the Savior + helmsman, oarsman, 4 crew
+High Command, Throne of the Antichrist with Underworld Maniacs as the 10+ point crew

From the Cursed Home Island: 9 ships, 416 points
Colossal Rupture + Taiken, Magnesis, helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull, 2 crew
World of Apathy + Demonwraith, The Shadow King, Bitil, helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull, stinkpot shot
Black Star + Moon Sorcerer, helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull, 3 crew
Great Apostasy + Archbishop Fiend, helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull, 2 crew
Porphyrion + Marcus Augustine, helmsman, oarsman, 1 crew, 2 equipment
Courtship of Evils + Archfiend of the Apocalypse, Ring Besis, Archdiocese of the Apocalypse, Witch Queen Salem, Senosis, helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull (48 points of crew and equipment on a 29 point ship!)
Fallen Angel + captain, shipwright, oarsman, stinkpot shot, Dinghy
-towing the Devil’s Fireball flotilla
Severance + captain, helmsman, shipwright, oarsman

Total: 14 ships, 745 points (a sickening 53 points per ship…)

Reading that again… 5 ships for 329 points… doesn’t even make sense!  XD  Almost only possible with customs, or maybe like a Wizkids launch of 5 fully loaded (or overloaded) 10 masters.

The Reign of Terror has begun….

 

Vikings

With the help of Shayna Deux’s reroll… Jord got a 6 while copying the Arcane!!  O_O It brought in a new Hidden Trove that the Hrothgar redocked to unload for a massive payout of 778 gold!! O_O (I had the game at 389 ships in play at the end of the Cursed turn based on previous counts and adding to them)  This is a game changer!!

The effect was immediate. Viking ships abruptly stopped. Most of their lumber gatherers simply turned around and started heading at full speed towards the home island. The Muninn (patrolling southeast of their home island) ducked into a fog bank, anticipating becoming a target of the all-powerful Pirates. Everything changed. Jord and the other Viking leaders immediately started serious strategic discussions about which ships to launch and how soon they could be ready. The secret alliance with the Barbary Corsairs from years past suddenly looked viable again. Perhaps this means that old plans… could be revived….

Launched from the Viking Home Island: 6 ships, 314 points
Monjuer + Streamlined Hull, 4 crew (+2 facedown UT’s from the Viking HI….)
Hringhorni + helmsman, Streamlined Hull, 5 crew
Storm’s Eye + Streamlined Hull, 5 crew
Njord + Dinghy, 6 crew
Säl + 4 crew, 1 equipment
Tyr + Dinghy, 2 crew, town and military port upgrade
2 crew and 1 equipment for the Hrothgar
+5 other points on HI

The Vikings are wary of the Pirate “spy network” as they call it (officially known by the Pirates as the GSP or Global Surveillance Program), and have placed almost as many new crew and equipment face down as possible. This will force a longer spying process out of the Pirates if the Pirates want to try and see all the Vikings’ face down stuff.

But wait, there’s more!

Barbary Corsairs

The Corsairs pulled out all the tricks they use to get an Arcane roll to work, and eventually they did! (Nephila is their ship copying Arcane)  With 395 ships in play, Hidden Trove was now worth a whopping 790 gold to the Barbary Corsairs!!

But first, it was time to get down to business.

Corsairs launch another attack on the Pirates!

With that, the Corsairs have launched ANOTHER major attack against the game’s most powerful faction in the Pirates!!  O_O   Is it madness?  Or brilliance?!

At the end of the attack, HMB Sayyida got her SAT and was able to get in range of the Osiris! Getting stuck on a sargasso sea on an unlucky roll of 6 at the end of her movements would not stop her cannon barrage! With that she revealed the Ballista equipment (ship gets 3 extra 3L cannons) along with Captain and Cargo Wrecking abilities! Although the Osiris has Crew Protect, it wouldn’t stop the Sayyida from taking out the ship’s final mast. In addition, the Corsairs noticed that the Anubis (built in Canceller) was just within S of the Osiris, meaning that the latter’s Eternal could be cancelled to send her to the depths! If the Sayyida hit 3 times out of 5 that is…

With some important rolls, it was a bit of a roller coaster attack. The Sayyida’s regular 2 cannons in range were 1’s! Then the crew got to firing the Ballista, of which the first 2 hit! However, the final roll was a 1, backfiring to eliminate the Sayyida’s oarsman and failing to deliver a fatal blow to the Osiris, which would have been the ultimate revenge for the Corsairs! Alas, one of the many Pirate sources of AA (with Reroll) is still alive, and is quite likely to be saved through some combination of moving and blocking on the next Pirate turn.

All told, the Corsairs eliminated 10 masts and have made any Pirate counterattack somewhat harder by leaving crippled ships in the way of their fresh gunships.

Crazy enough, the attack didn’t even end there!  The Agha’s Whip has been the lame duck of the Corsairs for a while, carrying The Cursed and Monkey’s Paw UT’s.  However, she was in the perfect position to intercept the Blackleaf, the fast Pirate 4 master who may be headed to the spice island pictured with multiple island upgrades!  The galley rammed but could not win the boarding party.  However, she partly slammed into the Blackleaf just in an attempt to slow the Blackleaf down, in case the Corsairs, English, or another faction can potentially get help to the area soon in an attempt to stop the Pirates from colonizing the far northeast and thereby cutting off an important (and currently valuable) island from both the Corsairs and the English.

Agha's Whip rams the Blackleaf

Barbary Corsair launch: 5 ships, 107 points
Ivory Star + 3 crew, 1 equipment
Jackal’s Teeth + 4 crew
Meshud + 5 crew
Gallows + 3 crew
Divan’s Punishment + 4 crew, 1 equipment
-They also spent 120 gold on two town upgrades and two military port upgrades which are sitting on their home island. This is partly because the Corsairs are wary of the Pirates potentially trying to rob them of their Hidden Trove spoils.

Sadly the Corsairs have very little room to launch a lot of ships at their home island, between the Nephila (copier ship) sitting there, the Gauntlet of Pestilence fogbank off their north shore from the beginning of the game, and the considerable width of each galley from the space their oars take up.  However, if they can get a military port or two up eventually, it will help alleviate their limited launching capabilities.

This shows the general Pirate-Corsair front and battle area, which has opened up once more with a vengeance.  The Agha’s Whip has expanded the conflict to a spot east of the Corsair home island, with more Pirate and Corsair gunships coming into play every turn.  Neither the Pirates nor the Corsairs have declared war on the other, though I have a feeling that could change soon.

Barbary Corsair attack and launch in VASSAL Campaign Game 4

 

What a turn!!  This turn with my factions saw hostility from the Pirates and Cursed against the Spanish and Americans, while the Vikings finally got lucky with Jord to jump into the rapid fleet building sweepstakes.  The Corsairs got another Hidden Trove as well, but launched only after a brash attack on the Pirates!

 

THE POINT COUNT

Faction Ships Points Ship % Points % Points/ship
Spanish 11 194 2.8% 2.1% 17.64
Jade Rebellion 4 43 1.0% 0.5% 10.75
The Conglomerate 27 531 6.9% 5.6% 19.67
English 16 230 4.1% 2.4% 14.38
Pirates 196 4697 50.3% 49.8% 23.96
Cursed 51 2171 13.1% 23.0% 42.57
Vikings 20 488 5.1% 5.2% 24.40
Corsairs 30 575 7.7% 6.1% 19.17
Dutch 6 76 1.5% 0.8% 12.67
Americans 15 215 3.8% 2.3% 14.33
Mercenaries 6 91 1.5% 1.0% 15.17
French 8 123 2.1% 1.3% 15.38
Total 390 9434 24.19

9,434 total points in play.

THE BIGGEST GAME OF ALL TIME.

With that, VASSAL Campaign Game 4 eclipses Command the Oceans as the biggest recorded Pirates CSG game EVER!!

CTO held the previous record for most points in play, at 9,078 in November 2017.  Now CG4 is even bigger, although a lot less balanced across the factions.  CG4 has kind of lumbered along slowly for a while, and still hasn’t seen much combat compared to other campaign games like CTO.  However, that seems to be starting to change… it’s time for CG4 to live up to the hype!!!  XD   😀

The Pirates have almost exactly half the total number of both ships and points in play.  They have expanded on their existing records from last turn, and next turn they should eclipse some truly staggering numbers: a fleet of over 200 ships, with over 5000 points in play.  O_O  The Jade Rebellion accounts for nearly a standard fleet at 43 points, which represents only half a percentage point of the total number of points in play.  The Pirate number of nearly 24 points per ship is impressive (representing a lot of named crew and expensive gunship builds), but The Cursed have accomplished something downright sickening – a very large fleet that averages over 42 points per ship.  O_O  This is unheard of to my knowledge, and speaks to the vast numbers of 10 masters and hyper-expensive weapons of war that they have put in play so far.  51 ships is not a ridiculous number for a fleet in CG’s, but with nearly 2200 points in play, they’re quickly climbing the list of biggest fleets of all time by point count.  The Conglomerate, Vikings and Corsairs have all made big strides lately, but still pale in comparison to the Pirates.  If the Vikings can climb ahead of the Conglomerate, I will control all 4 of the biggest fleets….

As a little caveat, the points in play totals generally reflect the points in play from ships, crew and equipment assigned to ships, and gold used to build forts and lighthouses.  For this point count, it generally does not count points from island upgrades, crew and equipment “attached” to islands (such as the 300 points the Pirates have invested in HI defense with Catapults and the oarsmen used to crew them), and sometimes other little things.  With these included, the Pirate total comes to 5371, The Cursed to 2481, the Vikings to 548, and the Corsairs to 735.  This brings the GRAND total to, technically, 10,638 points in play.  O_O  However, I’d like to reach the ridiculous (and likely unseen to this day) 5 figure point total the “regular way” without including all the easy upgrade/etc purchases before making it official.  Of course, the game is on a crash course to far exceed the sickening number of 10,000 total points in play, so we’ll surely pass it next round!! (or even this one if PirateAJ14 is able to launch at least 566 points of stuff).

There are currently 137 points of crew assigned to the Chimeratron Legacy.  O_O  (another record I guess!)  The ship costs 90 points by itself, which makes for 227 total points for one ship, which accounts for 2.4% of the points in play and more points than 5 of the 12 fleets participating in the game!

Breaking it down a bit more:

Ships Points Ship % Points % Points/ship
Xerecs 58 998 14.87% 10.58% 17.21
A7XfanBen 297 7931 76.15% 84.07% 26.70
PirateAJ14 35 505 8.97% 5.35% 14.43

The insane concentration of points in the Cursed fleet boosts my overall points per ship number higher than any individual non-Cursed faction!

Another new record: 20 10 masters!! (12 Cursed, 4 Pirate, 2 Viking, 1 Corsair, 1 Conglomerate)  The Cursed alone put 7 10 masters in play this round, which is also very likely a record.

 

Here is the unprecedented game in full glory, with the map slowly filling in….  (open in a new tab to view full size)

Thanks for reading!  Feel free to comment what you think of the game!

FB Group 10 Year Anniversary Game

FB Group 10 Year Anniversary Game

November 23rd 2020 was the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Facebook group created by Captain Vendari!  To celebrate the occasion some of the moderators there played a game on VASSAL.

It was a 70 point game between myself, Xerecs, and Captain Vendari.  We each contributed 10 coins of any value or type, except that each player had to contribute at least one coin worth a gold value.  We ended up with 6 wild islands, so 5 coins per island.  Towards the end of the game, Xerecs and I kind of retroactively decided that it was being played under round earth rules – one of a number of asterisks this game can be viewed under.  However, it was quite a fun and bizarre game.  😀   It took longer and was more strategic than I expected, although that is often par for the course with Pirates CSG.  The game can be a lot more in-depth and strategic than a lot of people think… this was one of those instances where it almost turned into a chess match of varying possibilities, not all of which are even discussed here.

Here are the fleets in the order of play. We rolled for turn order then chose home islands in reverse turn order.  Game pieces found in the Master Spreadsheet.

Xerecs
USS Morning Star + Shap’ng Tsai (SS version), helmsman, cannoneer, explorer, oarsman
Destiny + Ralph David (RV version), silver explorer, 2 crew for Tsai’s Sac ability
Providence + Captain Charles Richard, Montana Mays (OE version), Diamond Nelson Turner (BC version), Commodore Matthew Perry, helmsman, oarsman

A7XfanBen
Mind Control is back!  My favorite and ultimate gimmick fleet has returned with a vengeance after a long hiatus!  As soon as Xerecs mentioned the 70 point build total I knew what fleet I would use.  George Washington LeBeaux’s (GWL) flavor text: “The deep swamps of Louisiana breed a different sort of man. LeBeaux has learned from the mambos, magic men, and shamans that those who harness the power of the loa for evil means are an affront to life itself.”  GWL was about to change his mind… or have his mind, changed for him….

Captain Vendari
Baochuan + Admiral Zheng He, Ms. Cheng, Zheng Li Kwan, Kian Ng, Chang Pao, captain, helmsman, shipwright, firepot specialist (nearly all crew started facedown)
HMS Patagonia + Lord Mycron, Robinson
Le Coeur du Lion + navigator

Being the second to choose a home island, I purposely went in the middle.  I thought of it as a central base or “home brain” for the nefarious operations of my mind controllers.  With a UPS-based fleet (the Americans) on one side and a loaded Baochuan on the other, I went into the game feeling like I had a slim chance of winning.  However, that wouldn’t stop me from wreaking maximum havoc!!

FB Group 10 Year Anniversary Game

Incredibly, on my first turn both GWL and Davy Jones were successful in their mind control tactics!  The Baochuan and Providence were thrown onto reefs, losing 4 and 1 masts respectively.

Mind Control is back in action!

Maps of Alexandria was found, revealing a lot of UT’s in the setup.  This affected the rest of the game, as ships knew exactly which islands to target to get specific treasures.  This is an aid to my Mind Control design by revealing exactly what the fleet needs to do in order to set up “doom combos” that, once acquired, make it very hard for any opposing fleet to dictate the remainder of the game.

But in bigger news… the Baochuan was dismasted by another reef toss combined with the Divine Dragon’s shooting!  I can’t remember the details on which mover was successful each turn, but Davy Jones was giving enemy ships move actions on 6’s, while GWL on the Kentucky was moving enemy ships L (not a move action) on 5’s and 6’s, aided by the ship’s Reroll ability.  Mind Control was getting lucky early on, showing their true potential.  Xerecs made the map, and neither I nor Vendari based our fleets on it.  However, I came out luckier in that regard, with many reefs in play perfect for moving big enemy ships onto.  The Baochuan had already been thrown onto reefs twice, losing all her masts and potentially costing the Jades the game only a few turns in!  However, the game was FAR from over….  I didn’t attempt to sink the Baochuan with the Divine Dragon’s remaining cannons after asking Vendari if an oarsman was aboard.  He said there wasn’t, which I chose to believe partly because I wanted it to be true.  XD  The Divine Dragon (DD) docked at the southern island of the ring, as it looked like a great option to explore.

However, I made the mistake of underestimating what Vendari would be able to do with the Baochuan on the next turn.  The ship repaired with a newly revealed shipwright, then moved off the reef at L+S with Mycron’s help for a second action.  The island was S-explored on the previous turn, allowing the Baochuan to dock and take coins!  She loaded up everything except for Turtles, which started swimming in the water next to the 10 master.  The coins included a 7, Spices, and Smuggled Goods.  I started to feel pretty dumb for not sinking the Baochuan when I had the chance, especially now that it looked like the Jades were going to get a massive windfall.  However, I knew the Baochuan’s path home was nearly paved with reefs, and perhaps good things would come to one who waited…. (though I think realistically I still just botched this lol)  I had wanted to capture the Baochuan, thinking it would be a way to rival the UPS fleet’s gold total.

In the meantime, Xerecs’ American UPS fleet was getting busy, with the Morning Star flipping two silver coins to the Destiny, who added +3 value to each coin via her crew.  The Cyclone docked at the eastern ring island, but it looked like the Providence had interest in it too.  Each fleet had at least one ship basically parked at their home island for a (different) specific duty – navigating, action generation, L-moving, and gold factory production.  Say what you may about ships sitting at home, because that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to sit there forever….

The Morning Star builds Thompson’s Island for the Americans.  The Baochuan repairs twice.  The Divine Dragon is about to explore the western ring island, the Rover is slightly confused about which island to go to, and the Cyclone is dismasted by the Providence, who lost no masts in her second reef encounter.  However, I was willing to accept that outcome.  That was because the Cyclone was able to explore that island before getting whacked.  She grabbed Pandora’s Box, with Vendari and Xerecs giving the ship Fruit and Rum (the latter to freeze her for the next turn).  I loaded up Runes of Odin, playing it to place a deadly iceberg right next to the USS Morning Star!  Alas, the plan failed when DJ and GWL didn’t come through with their rolls, meaning I couldn’t chuck the MS into the iceberg to remove her and all her crew and treasure from the game.

The MS promptly escaped, heading west to a new island.  That made the Rover turn away from that island towards the DD.  The Providence captured the Cyclone, giving the Americans a 4th ship while taking my fleet down to 3.  However, Mind Control still had a successful turn – the Divine Dragon explored the western ring island to grab Nemo’s Plans….

And they moved the Baochuan onto another reef to wreck her!!  O_O

USS MS explored the northwestern island, sacrificing the abandoned musketeer for an extra action.  The Destiny was moved away from the American HI by Mind Control, though that wouldn’t affect much.  The Providence is about to dock home gold.

For Mind Control, the Rover dumped her shipwright on the western ring island to load a coin – it would have fit regardless, but I wanted the full S+L speed on the way home so I had to drop the crew to avoid the negative ability.  The shipwright actually remained hidden the whole game but wasn’t of any real consequence.  The DD headed east towards the captured Cyclone and the island she had explored.

With the help of Mycron and a trade current, the Coeur du Lion sails off in search of wrecked Baochuan gold, reaching the ship easily.

The MS moved and then got moved.  The Odin iceberg moved a little away from Thompson’s Island.  With the then-friendly Cyclone having already explored the eastern ring island, the Divine Dragon picked up Runes of Thor from that island (!!) before continuing south with DJ’s extra action.  The Coeur explored the Baochuan and took all her coins, which combined with the incoming bale of sea turtles to give the “Jades” some serious hope.  (we didn’t use any campaign/army unit rules in this game, Vendari just wanted to decorate the home islands XD)

But it wasn’t Christmas.  More bloodshed and frustration was necessary to determine a winner today.  With their newfound megapower of a “permanent” Runes of Thor (on the same ship as Nemo’s Plans), Mind Control was about to truly live up to their name.  This could be used on the abilities of Davy Jones OR GWL every turn, and here the Morning Star was tossed onto a reef on her way to a whirlpool, knocking free three masts.   Evil maniacal admiral… using UT combos… to become a god-like puppetmaster of doom… where have I heard that before?   …. oops, nothing to see here tee hee!

However, Mind Control would not go unchallenged, with the Providence racing south to intercept the Divine Dragon in Davy Jones’ quest for the legendary Runes of Odin UT, the normal copy (first iteration via Pandora’s Box heh) of which was on the southeastern island.  The Providence hit 2/4 with her cannons, then rammed another mast off the DD.  The picture below does not show the whole sequence, but both players declined to board.  An important factor was DNT, the American canceller from BC that Xerecs revealed to cancel Davy Jones on the next Mind Control turn.  Soon afterwards, the DD hit the Providence twice, and Xerecs rolled consecutive 5’s to let me throw DNT and Mays off the ship via Captain Charles Richard’s ability!!  O_O  This meant uncancelled Davy Jones could resume normal business hours on my next turn!  XD

For quite a while, the Cyclone was kind of “stuck” between Xerecs moving her and her getting moved in other directions via the Maps of Hades and GWL.  At the lower left, the Coeur unloads the Baochuan’s gold, completing a harrowing journey for the Spices and Smuggled Goods.

The MS emerged from the whirlpool near home, where the Destiny sailed out to greet her.  For the other “home ships”, Kentucky and Patagonia stayed home while the Coeur sailed north.

This was a big turn in the game.  Seeing Bad Maps on the southeastern island, I knew I had to position the severely weakened Divine Dragon (1 mast remaining) properly so that when the ship moved with the island, the DD wouldn’t end up on a reef and possibly wrecked.  With the dangerous Providence off the stern, Davy Jones piloted the ship into the island’s shore, triggering UT’s.  Bad Maps was resolved, with Vendari moving the island and DD west, right into the Providence’s lines of fire.  However, I knew it didn’t matter, since the “ultimate” combo was now in play…. Nemo’s Plans… Runes of Odin… Runes of Thor with an L-mover….  O_O   A modified ODIN MISSILE.  By placing an “Odin iceberg” next to an enemy ship, then using Thor’s auto-6 to guarantee GWL’s success with L-moving the same ship, I could now eliminate any ship in play, once per turn, every turn.  O_O   Precision cruise missile strike capability unlocked!  HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

The Norse god Odin appeared in the sky, called by the great Davy Jones.  He reared back and threw an iceberg next to the Providence.  Finally embracing the dark side and using the power of the loa for evil, GWL (possibly with an assist from another god, Thor) slammed the Providence into the iceberg, blowing it up!  GWL was converted to The Cursed cause, helping Davy Jones to sink a fellow American ship.  Suddenly the threat was gone and the DD was free and clear!  😀 XD

As an Avenger would say, “we’re in the endgame now.”  True indeed.  Davy Jones was getting excited.  OE flavor text: “As his power grows and his minions cause more destruction, Jones has begun his second wave of terror, one that will take his power beyond the edge of the oceans themselves—setting him up to rule the seas once and for all!”

With that, the second wave of terror had begun.  If the first wave had seen the Baochuan and Providence thrown onto reefs, this one was going to prove more deadly.  Davy Jones ordered a missile strike from the gods, who complied by crushing the Coeur du Lion with an Odin iceberg.  A turn later the USS Morning Star was removed as well, eliminating any chance of more UPS shenanigans.  Suddenly the other two players were running out of ships, and quickly.

Vendari sailed the Patagonia away from his home island, with that being his last ship.  The Americans only had the Destiny and the wretched Cyclone, who was still struggling to make progress towards her new home island due to some combination of “movers” (Maps of Hades/DJ/GWL).  In the meantime, Mind Control was regrouping, with the Cursed and Pirate ships returning home as the Kentucky wreaked havoc with GWL’s loa powers.  Indeed, the DD would soon start repairing, slowly making her a dangerous weapon again.

Around this time Vendari had to leave, with Xerecs and I continuing the game.  Xerecs gave actions to the Patagonia as optimally as he could, as we talked out trying to play it like Vendari would.

This is also where things got weird, lopsided, and extremely strategic.  After the Baochuan fiasco and likely being in last place at this point, I considered myself mostly an also-ran for much of the mid-game.  However, now I was in the driver’s seat, with most of the power remaining in play giving me the ability to potentially dictate the outcome of the game.  I had to slow down and really consider a lot of options.  I wasn’t playing this game like T2, where I would pay close attention on every turn and essentially keep track of how much gold both fleets had at any given time (as much as humanly possible given the standard total of 30 gold along with bonuses and help like Maps of Alexandria/etc). Therefore I had no idea how much gold Xerecs had.  Before Vendari left he said he had 36 gold on his home island, quite a bit more than I had.  I was worried Xerecs had even more.  As a result, I had the mindset that I had to play things near-perfectly for the remainder of the game in order to maximize my gold score no matter what.

There was still a bunch of gold in play, with at least one coin on 5 out of the 6 wild islands.  If I simply eliminated the other players, it would trigger an endgame condition and I would lose since I didn’t have enough gold.  Therefore I had to keep at least one player alive (even artificially!)

Three ships remained in play, and each represented an opportunity for Mind Control to win, or possibly lose.

Destiny: This American ship had Jade aboard, which doubles the lowest-value coin on the ship and doesn’t have to be unloaded. I started moving the Destiny away from the American home island, realizing that capturing the Jade UT could lead to a win if I got multiple coins doubled up.  I rammed her into an iceberg twice (the same one that eliminated the Morning Star), but then realized that Xerecs could easily scuttle her to counter my plan. I continued moving her north, which Xerecs eventually did as well, likely because there were still two coins (one silver) on the southeastern island.  In the next picture you can see her moving north after round earthing to the south with only one mast remaining.  Xerecs and I decided round earth made sense for the game (I had mistakenly assumed we were using that house rule from the start since I like it and almost always prefer to use it), but in hindsight it’s at least possible that Xerecs may have made a different decision(s) if that had been established from the start.  However, most of the stuff in play (especially islands) was pretty far from the map edges, so it’s extremely possible everything would have turned out exactly the same.  After round earthing, the Destiny was bound for the southeastern island, which is exactly where I wanted her to go… the Cursed had been busy repairing the Divine Dragon, who was powering up for a critical capture opportunity.  Davy Jones planned to take nearly the same route southeast as he had earlier, cutting through the sargasso gap in the reef ring.  The DD had a max speed of 6S with DJ rolling a 1-5, so the DD wouldn’t have much trouble catching the Destiny whether she continued to the island or made a break for the whirlpool east of her.

Cyclone: The Cyclone still had Rum aboard, which was worth 5 gold.  I wanted to be cautious and fully assume I needed that coin to win the game, so I wanted to capture BOTH the Destiny and the Cyclone at one point.  However, even with Runes of Thor hitting GWL every turn and Maps of Hades occasionally working against Xerecs’ efforts to get the Cyclone home, it would be difficult.  The Cyclone was making slow but steady progress towards Xerecs’ HI, and I soon started to need GWL for a different purpose.

Patagonia: The lone ship left in Vendari’s fleet was tempting to just hit with an Odin Missile and be done with her.  However, I realized that she would potentially be the key to my victory.  At one point I think I was still using GWL on different ships, moving any of the 3 to prolong the situation.  However, especially since I didn’t even want DJ to get 6’s at this point (it would slightly delay his progress towards the Destiny, which held Jade, one of the big keys to my strategy), Runes of Thor was used every turn on GWL but it wouldn’t be enough.  With essentially just one mover now, I was trying to control or delay three enemy ships at once. Even with none of them having a base move faster than S+S and the guaranteed “backwards L” provided by Thor/GWL, it wasn’t going to be sustainable.  The Cyclone or Destiny would get home, and the Patagonia… could suicide?  More on that soon….

My plan was put in play – with 4 masts up on the Divine Dragon, Davy Jones felt comfortable sailing out.  He raced the ship southeast to intercept the Destiny, which was quickly captured.  This netted me the Jade UT.  The Rover arrived home with a 2 coin while GWL moved the Patagonia back.

Back to the Patagonia. This is where an interesting rules hangup occurred.  The Patagonia could ram the western iceberg that removed the Coeur, eliminating the Patagonia’s only mast.  Then she could row over to a sargasso sea just southeast of that area, trapping herself on purpose!  “If a game piece is tangled, you can use its action for the turn to try to free it. Roll a d6 and add the current number of masts or segments on the tangled game piece to the result. If the result is more than 6, the game piece is untangled.”  O_O  With 0 masts, she can’t roll more than a 6!  In that case, she would be “stuck forever”, potentially triggering the “no future move actions” end condition if Xerecs’ fleet was also out of action by that time… BUT, with GWL guaranteed to be able to move the Patagonia L on each of my turns, I could potentially finagle my way out of it and prevent the seaweed from stopping play.

I developed a new plan.  The Patagonia would be stopped from exploring, stopped from scuttling herself after losing a mast, stopped from getting stuck forever in a sargasso sea, stopped from doing… anything.  Every time she moved S for any reason (Xerecs continually directed her northwards), GWL (w/Thor as needed of course) would move her back L.  She had to be kept away from icebergs so she couldn’t lose her lone mast.  I was helping out Vendari!  😉  XD  LOL!  First sparing the Baochuan and now this!  XD  Or just using his last little ship as a puppet to make myself rich heh.

I also realized (way later than I should have) that any/all three of the enemy ships could make plans to scuttle themselves.  It wasn’t limited to one – the Patagonia and Destiny could ram icebergs to eliminate their final masts and then scuttle themselves, and the Cyclone was still pretty close to the last surviving Odin iceberg she could use to remove herself from play.  With the Destiny now in my possession and the Cyclone already derelict and able to be scuttled, the choice became obvious.

In the end, the clear best decision was to put the Patagonia on artificial “life support” to prevent the game from ending. XD   What a thought – Davy Jones’ second wave of terror was so scary, it nearly led to the game ending via mass suicide!  :/

True to form, things went as I planned or expected.  The Divine Dragon was towing the Destiny home when the Cyclone rammed herself into the final Odin iceberg, removing her and Xerecs from the game.  Now it was only Vendari’s Patagonia keeping the game afloat, and she was certainly doing fine lol – in no trouble whatsoever!  Moving only S every turn meant she would never get anywhere, with GWL forcing her back on each of my turns.

This created something I haven’t seen all that often – one player has complete control of the game (usually there’s more of a ticking time bomb in the form of a suicidal enemy ship), but decides not to end it so they can get the most gold and ensure victory.  I’ve barely ever played Yugioh and not in many years, but this reminds me of the infamous Yata-Lock.  O_O  XD  Similar to that situation, here we have a player that continues taking turns as they see fit while completely denying the enemy player any action at all – completely robbing them of even playing the game.  Here the GWL/Thor/Patagonia combo is the lock, using an enemy ship rather than a friendly “monster” to keep the game going – of course, until all the gold in play is mine.  😀  LOL!

Say what you will about this being a “lame” ending or whatever, but remember what it took to set up – a Mind Control gimmick fleet that is theoretically far outclassed by UPS/Baochuan enemies, who didn’t stop my fleet from accumulating the incredible Nemo’s Plans+Runes of Thor combo that allowed it to transpire in the first place. (with some additional help from Odin of course heh)

With that, there was no reason to continue playing “normally”.  Now began “the simulation”, where I was able to do whatever I wanted with no interference from the remaining player.  Xerecs and I talked this out and basically I would spend probably an hour (or more) gathering gold from the various sources, taking care to unload each and every coin individually with Jade applied to double it.  This would likely be accomplished with the Destiny, since she had cargo spaces open along with a silver explorer that would give +1 to the DD’s silver 5.  Since I didn’t keep track of Xerecs’ gold (and Vendari could be bluffing about his 36, though he wasn’t and his gold was easier to track since it all came in in a 2 turn windfall), no chances could be taken – I would max out my gold score to give me the absolute best chance of winning.  No reason not to, especially in a simulation that doesn’t need to be played out since I was sailing unopposed.

The one slight wrinkle was Thompson’s Island, which held the 3 to build it along with another coin.  However, a fully repaired DD and Kentucky were available for this, and I rolled some dice to make sure I would eliminate the fort to get all the island’s gold.  I even got lucky and didn’t face return fire, with a double action Divine Dragon proving enough to overpower the fort.  The other coin was a 7, so the 10 gold would provide a nice boost – especially when doubled individually via Jade.

The Final Scores
1. A7XfanBen (Mind Control): 72 Gold
2. Captain Vendari: 36 Gold
3. Xerecs: 29 Gold

If Thompson’s Island was left intact: 1. A7XfanBen: 52,  2. Xerecs: 39,  3. Captain Vendari: 36

Crazy enough I actually didn’t even need Jade either.
Without Jade: 47-36-29 (with me destroying Thompson’s Island, and Vendari in 2nd again)

A number of Rules questions came up during the game, though I don’t think any of them would quite affect the outcome directly, or at least not overturn the result.

Asterisks: Vendari had to leave early (Patagonia actions afterwards not consequential though), round earth affecting strategy/Xerecs’ play, some potential Rules hangups.

Perhaps it’s fitting that going after the Destiny was a path to my victory. (“fulfill your destiny”)  This game got pretty dark, there are definitely some weird parallels to mass genocide/suicide that were carried out by Davy Jones.  Perhaps GWL used the loa to control the gods…

“Commandeering the Gods to commit mass genocide” – Indeed, here Davy Jones led a campaign that resulted in a brainwashed, mind-controlled GWL to use the power of the loa to commandeer the gods for the purposes of a partial genocide, which directly resulted in mass attempted suicide. But then GWL intervened and didn’t even let the victims get what they wanted, refusing them (the Patagonia with Mycron and Robinson aboard) “assisted suicide” until finally Davy Jones had his fortune and reigned supreme.  Yikes….

I didn’t play perfectly, but I still feel this game deserves to be in my Master Strategist post. Despite my gaffes, some solid accomplishments for just one game. 🙂
Wreck the Baochuan: Check
Beat a UPS fleet with a gimmick fleet/Mind Control: Check
Win the game with more gold than the other two fleets combined: Check (with a proper ending, or “full simulation”)
Permanently lock a ship in place: Check
Use Odin Missiles in a normal game: Check

I was able to insert or “inject” CG4 into this game.  Which is a little absurd given how tiny this game is to CG4, which realistically has over 7000 total points in play, over 100 times this game’s build total.  (and given how long it took to accumulate combos in that game)

Thanks to Xerecs and Captain Vendari for helping to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the FB group with a wild game!

Thanks for reading!  😀  Comment below what you thought of the game!

A LONG Turn – Including 2 Attacks and 57 New Ships Launched!

Two Attacks and Tons of New Ships Launched

October 2020 in VASSAL Campaign Game 4

This was quite a long turn for me in CG4 – I tracked the time spent and including this battle report and everything else, the turn took over 30 hours to complete.  O_O

New Rules:

-Forts can be given repair actions if they have a shipwright in them. They cannot repair and shoot on the same turn unless they have an extra action available.

-Relaunching Rule: Non Big-6 factions (Big 6 being England, France, Spain, Pirate, America, Cursed) can relaunch Wizkids AND custom game pieces without restrictions other than the No-Duplicates rule being applied to their own fleet. (this is to give the minor factions more of a chance if their best ships are captured and not traded in)

The Master Spreadsheet has information on all the Wizkids game pieces mentioned in this report, while the Customs Database has the custom ones.

PirateAJ14 and Xerecs Factions

PirateAJ14’s Americans cashed in metals to launch the Franklin and Ghost Walker.

Xerecs’ turn marked the start of a new round, and it would be the final round for this LONG duration of resource values!

The Spanish launched the Viento Enfermo, while the Jade Rebellion launched the Sea Fang and Tycoon, both from the_grandmaster’s Back to War set.

It was a huge turn for the Conglomerate!  Mata-Nui copied the Arcane, and with the help of Helyrex’s reroll ability, got the 6!!  Hidden Trove was brought in to give the Conglomerate over 500 gold!!!   O_O

The Conglomerate got busy spending and launching, putting 10 new ships into the water.  Among these were a pair of 10 masters, the Outbound Flight and Okoto!  Among other ability hightlights, the Outbound Flight is a 40 point 10 master with L-immunity moving S+S+S (!), while the Okoto has Treasure Ship and a base cargo hold of 9!  Suddenly the Conglomerate look like a real threat, especially in the western half of the sea, which has been a bit less populous and active thus far in the game.

The English launched HMS Howell, a high-quality unreleased ship.

One of the Longest Turns of All Time

First, I was able to resolve the Pandora’s Box chaos from the previous round.

A review of what they demanded to receive:
The Cursed: Nemo’s Plans (done)
Vikings: Antikythera Mechanism (done)
Barbary Corsairs: Mask of Concealment (not complied with-Skull Spiders instead)
Dutch: Runes of Thor (FN)
Americans: Aegis Shield (The Vengeance of the Cadet Captain)
Mercenaries: Nightmare’s Knot (Fiends of the Blood Islands)
French: Garai (Pirates of Spherus Magna)
Spanish: Mask of Valor (Pirates of Spherus Magna)
Jade Rebellion: The Ring (Seas of Doom)
The Conglomerate: Mask of Wisdom (Spherus Magna)
English: Neptune’s Figurehead (CC)

Here are the UT’s the Pirates actually received from the other players:
Dutch: Runes of Magic
Americans: Plague
Mercenaries: Dead Man’s Chest (OE version)
French: Runes of the Serpent
Spanish: Forged Papers
Jade Rebellion: Abandoned Oarsman
The Conglomerate: Nemo’s Charts
English: Bad Plans

THIS MADE THE PIRATES EXTREMELY ANGRY!!!!

Using the Bomb Box, the Pirates threw out Plague and Bad Plans. The Pirates were irked that the Americans and English gave them negative UT’s. However, almost NONE of the factions in the game gave the Pirates what they wanted! We’ll see how that turns out!

 

With Studding Sails the Gale Force Nine and Blackleaf took off from the home island at L+L+S+S, as fast as the Hai Peng!  Some resource gatherers got home with valuable metals, while a lot of ships seem to be making a beeline for that fogpool….

Some ships at the metals island deferred docking for now to allow room for inevitable Pirate launches coming at the end of the turn.  Between Hidden Trove, Evenstar, Silverback John, and a likely change in resource values, the Pirates aren’t too concerned anymore with maximizing their metals production.

First the Hera arrived!  She sacced an oarsman to broadside the Diablo flotilla and the ship towing it, El Algeciras!  She hit 8/10 to sink the flotilla and nearly dismast the 2 master!  The Deceit came through next, providing a canceller in the area for the Pirates.  She was also using Phineas Bunce’s ability on the Zeus, giving the latter an extra cannon bonus on top of Lord Henry McLean’s regular bonus.  This basically made the Zeus have all 1S cannons for this turn!  She blasted away at the Joya del Sol and Castigue, shooting 6/9, causing considerable damage.

The Slave Revolt was next, saccing an oarsman to get a move and shoot after arriving through the whirlpool.  Her cannon barrage was disappointing, not coming close to dismasting the Castigue as she was supposed to.  However, with Capitaine Chevalle’s Cargo Wrecking ability, her 2 hits on the Castigue still took out 2 of her 3 crew.

The Howler was the next ship through the whirlpools, revealing both Grim the Savage (F&S version) and Richard Berry!  With a pair of Marines, this submarine was able to shoot a pair of 2S shots while still submerged!  One of them connected, causing further damage to the Castigue.

The Pirates were growing frustrated that their incredible firepower couldn’t even take out this relatively simple Spanish squadron, and so they surprised even themselves by sending the Tempest into the fray with an extra action via Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight (EPoE) on the Jolly Mon.  She hit 3/5 to beat up on the Castigue, who was now nearly dismasted.  The Leviathan warped into the area, using Edmund Cooke’s +1 cannon bonus against the Spanish to help eliminate 2 canoes and dismast the Algeciras.  The Harbinger arrived and took a second action via Sac, but my poor dice luck would not stop, with the Harbinger rolling four 1’s and only hitting once to eliminate a single canoe.

All in all the Pirates were very disappointed with the final result of their sudden, brutal surprise attack.  Still, they had managed to dismast 2 ships, nearly dismasted another, and eliminated 3 native canoes.  This shows a couple interesting things – for one, whirlpool attacks can be limited in scope because ships can only be given one extra action after arriving via the whirlpool on the same turn, so the immediate damage output of a surprise attack is somewhat limited (for example, imagine if the Zeus had 18 shots instead of 9).  In addition, the game is still in the very early stages of combat, and this attack showed how huge the 2 hits per mast rule is.  If not for that, the Pirates would have had an easier time taking care of business.

At the end of their turn, the Pirates declared war on the Spanish!

This shot shows the battle area in what is being called The Battle of Whirlpool Island.  You can see the Spanish home island where most of their masts and firepower is concentrated.  It will be interesting to see if the Spanish try to retaliate in the short term.

The Archipelago was rather quiet overall this turn, with the Deliverance docking at Skull Valley to replenish an oarsman.  The Stormcloud uses her shipwright to repair a mast.  The Black Pearl was the ship to get the Arcane roll this turn… placing Runes of Odin on the Zeus!!  O_O

What a sight!  Over a dozen Pirate ships strive to reach the whirlpool created earlier in the game by the Tempest.  The Pirates show their strength, as many of these ships will be able to support and back up the Pirate 10 master squadron against the Spanish if things go wrong.  Ships launched last turn from the textiles military port (MP) simply scatter, with orders to get as far from the island as their turn’s action(s) will allow.  This is because the Pirates still have a MASSIVE amount of gold, and they certainly plan to use it….

The Pirates are not quite as concerned with the Barbary Corsairs as you might think.  Although the Corsairs have their own super squadron ready to set sail this round, the Pirates have a lot of firepower still in the area, not to mention another megalaunch from the MP after their play turn ends.  However, the Splinter and Flying Dutchman (both just east of the whirlpool) are moving into a defensive position to potentially be the first Pirate ships on the front lines if the Corsairs charge and try to block the whirlpool/attack the military port/etc.

At the home island, various small ships (two with flotillas) swarm off the Arcane’s stern.  The Osiris got SAT this turn, so she is off and running at 6S speed towards the possible confrontation with the Corsairs.  The Corsairs are certainly close enough to see her heading towards them – what a horrible sight it must be, to see your former flagship heading out to fight you while in Pirate hands.  🙁

You might have noticed something abnormal compared to the last few turns – Pirate resource runners docking at the home island!  It is the last round for this resource value, so the Pirates wanted to get some extra textiles home.  They had been delayed for a while due to all the megalaunches from Hidden Trove windfalls.  However, now the Pirates have 4 launch points instead of 2 (starting this turn), and it actually felt really good as a player to just dock them home normally.  This is a more normal way of playing campaign games, instead of holding off because of all these crazy massive windfalls brought in by custom game piece combos.  It was also nice to dock some of them home because the Akua Lapu and Hades’ Flame have needed repairs ever since the short but intense battle with the Corsair squadron of 4 masters. (which was back in April)

 

The Pirates wanted to end their turn with a statement.  Something so epic and powerful that it would scare the hell out of every other fleet.  Something truly god-like.  They knew they had the pieces put together to pull it off….

 

 

ZEUS IS HERE!!

(these are not my pictures)

THE GODS ARE IN THE SKIES NOW.  THEY HAVE BEEN CALLED BY THE PIRATES!

The Zeus has a certain UT aboard from earlier in the turn…

 

Runes of Odin!!

Load this treasure face down. When revealed, place an iceberg from outside the game anywhere in the play area not within S of an island. If the iceberg touches any ship, remove the ship (and any crew and treasure aboard her) from the game. Then remove Runes of Odin from the game.

 

ZEUS THROWS ODIN’S ICEBERG DOWN INTO THE SEA!!

 

The Pirates placed the iceberg just off the Conglomerate home island!!

Then it was time for… Runes of Magic!!  Given to the Shadow’s Hand by the Dutch via Pandora’s Box, this UT would prove decisive!

Load this treasure face down. When revealed, move any iceberg L in any direction. Then remove Runes of Magic from the game.

 

The iceberg was moved directly into the Outbound Flight, the Conglomerate’s brand-new custom 40 point 10 masted junk!!!!!

O_O

With that, the Outbound Flight and all her crew were removed from the game!!

 

Introducing: The Odin Missile

It’s almost as if the Pirates have direct control over the gods now.  It started with Thor last turn, with Runes of Thor being used on the Cursed turn with the custom Flying Dutchman’s ability so the Cursed could place Nemo’s Plans on the Zeus… Zeus!  The Pirates got Runes of Odin to Zeus this turn, playing it in conjunction with Runes of Magic to complete one of the most powerful combos in the entire game.  The best part is, the “Odin Missile” is reusable.  Both Runes are on ships with Nemo’s Plans, so the Pirates retain both elements of this absurdly nasty combo.  This means that once per turn, the Pirates can essentially just pick any ship in play (that isn’t in a fog bank), and just remove it from the game.  O_O

The order was given.  Zeus and Odin eyed the tiny ships below from up in the clouds.  Odin creates a massive iceberg and hands it to Zeus, who will throw it in lieu of his trademark lightning bolts.  Zeus winds up and hurls the iceberg at high speed down towards the water… thousands of sailors from across the fleets look up towards the sky, noticing what looks like a meteor, something from the heavens coming down upon them.  The large new fleet of The Conglomerate navy is peacefully docked at their home island.  Many new sailors are excited to set sail for the first time, having only recently joined the service.  With horror they look to the sky at a massive iceberg plummeting towards their new fleet.

In a flash it is upon them.  With a massive sudden impact, the iceberg comes crashing down amidships on the Outbound Flight, the newly launched 10 masted junk.  The ship is split in half, with the bow and stern rising out of the water as the iceberg plummets through the ship and blows up the powder magazine, sending a vast explosion full of wood, ice, fire and body parts flying in all directions.  A new Weapon of Mass Destruction is now in the hands of the Pirates.

With that, the Pirates have an auto-hitting precision strike missile WMD capable of knocking out a ship every turn.  This brings them one step closer to having a full scale GMS….

The Pirates have been planning to introduce the Odin Missile for some time now.  However, recent events accelerated the development of their WMD program.  Even if it was a total accident, by giving the Pirates Runes of Magic, the Dutch helped the Pirates eliminate a Conglomerate ship! We’ll see if that leads to any tension between the Conglomerate and Dutch….

Pirate Launch Period

The Pirates raked in 139 gold from resources, adding it to their existing 1596 for a total of 1735 gold!  O_O  With 4 locations available for new ships to be launched at, it was inevitable that the Pirates would get busy spending big!  😀 The Pirates don’t have a lot to hide with their quadruple megalaunch (!), and so I will provide more detail than usual regarding what each ship has on board. Naturally, some things should start face down. 🙂 (these are from my notes so some things may be overly abbreviated)
CHO=Captain, Helmsman, and Oarsman (C+H=Captain and Helmsman) | WH=World Hater | FPS=Firepot Specialist | CSS=Chainshot Specialist

From Skull Valley: 9 Ships, 308 Points
The Pirates launched my version of the “movie” Queen Anne’s Revenge (from On Stranger Tides) with a big crew setup: Evan Stern (Captain+SAT), Jean Hamlin (Helmsman+World Hater except against the French), Nidiki (transferred from the Branwen), Coconut (Reroll+Explorer), Dinghy (+1 cargo), oarsman. She will be resupplied by Cadet-Captain Mike’s Quedagh Merchant, who is the QAR’s personal support and supply ship.
The Arbiter was launched to provide a new place for Nuva to copy Vesok/Arcane to so the Black Pearl can get back to her regular gunship duties.
Cor’dahk + The Mastermind (EA), Hernán Sanchez (C+WH), helmsman, oarsman.
Freedom Fighter + Captain Archer Rook (Sac+Gold Capture), One-Eyed Bennett (C+H), 4 oarsmen.
Fiasco + Roger Hawkins (C+H), The Headhunter (Sac+World Hater), Volting Junipau (FPS, CSS, crew kill on 6’s), Streamlined Hull, 4 oarsmen.
Victoire + Howard Hook (Sac Captain + spying), helmsman, 4 oarsmen
Albino and Destiny’s Bounty, each with CH, Dinghy and 5 oarsmen.

Pirate megalaunch from Skull Valley fort at Archipelago

From the textiles military port: 13 Ships, 397 Points
Toruk + Chen Tianbao (C+H), Trainer (SAT+Dark Hunter), Bessho Kai (used as World Hater), oarsman.
Kingpin + Christopher Condent (Captain+WH+Filching Gold), Cai Qian (EA), Iron-Plated Hull, helmsman, and Streamlined Hull.
Crescent Rose + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Lilac + CHO, Ballista.
Fool’s Hope (LE) + CHO, equipment
Misfortune’s Keep + Le Requin (SAT), El Mulato Grillo (WH+Spanish Massacre), CHO, shipwright.
Red Sky at Morning + Emanuel Wynn (Captain, +S w/in S of enemy ship, +1 to boards against English), helmsman, shipwright, oarsman.
Dead Man’s Revenge + CHO.
Screecher + CHO, shipwright.
Shadow Stalker + stuff
Eclector + helmsman, shipwright, 5 oarsmen, Dinghy, Streamlined Hull.
Pandora (Seas of Doom) + helmsman, shipwright, 4 oarsmen, Dinghy, Streamlined Hull.
Oyster + helmsman, 2 shipwrights, 3 oarsmen, Dinghy

Pirate megalaunch from military port in CG4

From the metals military port: 12 Ships, 260 Points

Introducing: The Anti-Spanish Squadron!
With their declaration of war against Spain, the Pirates have invested a considerable chunk of points into a new anti-Spanish squadron. Every ship in the squadron gets at least +1 to their cannon rolls against Spanish ships, and some get +1 to all their d6 rolls against Spain. The Fame’s Revenge is the flagship of the squadron, which the Pirates hope to expand to at least 10 ships (7 for now) in the near future.
Fame’s Revenge + Daniel Montbars (arguably the most anti-Spanish pirate to ever live), CHO, FPS.
Muerta de la Corona + CHO, FPS.
Claudia + Guilder (Captain+S-Board), Vincenzo Alessandri (Musketeer, +1 boards), helmsman.
Ranger + Michiel Andrieszoon (Captain, +1 to d6 rolls against Spanish), Jan Willems (+1 to boards against Spanish), helmsman, +more.
Broken Key + John Cooke (Captain, +1 to cannon rolls against Spanish), David Marteen (+1 to d6 rolls against Spanish), helmsman, oarsman, equipment.
La Morte de Yarborough: Jean Thomas Dulaien (Captain, +1 to d6 rolls against Spanish), helmsman, +more.
Batavian Bat + Michel de Grammont (Captain, +1 to cannon rolls against Spanish, +1 to boards against Dutch), helmsman, oarsman.

These will likely be patrol gunships – the first 4 all rather similar and all some of my favorite classics from the original sets.
Executioner + C+H, others
Panda + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Royal James + CHO, FPS
Cutlass + CHO, crew
Zui Quan + Mo Guanfu (Captain+Cannoneer), helmsman, oarsman, Ballista
-Once in a while the Pirates like to just throw something out there in full view to show some might. The Zui Quan can shoot 5 cannons as a 2 master, hitting at L+L range on 6’s to eliminate 2 masts per hit. 🙂

Home Island: 7 Ships, 246 Points
Dark Aster + Lars Gathenhielm (Captain, global +1 to cannons like Roberto Santana), Richard Noland (Crew Protect+reducer), helmsman, musketeer, oarsman, Streamlined Hull
Wicked Wench + Crew, helmsman, oarsman, Dinghy
Belladonna + Crew, helmsman, oarsman, Streamlined Hull
Bombay + Iolkos (Captain, S-Board, Crew Killing), helmsman, oarsman, Ballista, equipment
Draconum (my custom version) + Hendrick Lucifer (Captain, Smokepot Specialist, +1 to boards), helmsman, oarsman, FPS, shipwright, Dinghy
Sea Devil + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Apocryphia + CH, Dinghy, Ballista, equipment

Some of these are… very scary.

Pirate megalaunch from military port and home island in VASSAL Campaign Game 4

You may notice a trend developing between this and the previous recent Pirate launches… perhaps an “assembly” of sorts….

This Pirate Turn By the Numbers
Ships Launched: 41
Gold Spent: 1,211
Gold Remaining: 524
New Fleet Totals: 148 Ships, ~3,740 Points

O_O

The Pirate fleet was already #1 all-time with their point total from last round, and now they have become the largest fleet of all time by ship count!!  😀

O_O

Just bonkers crazy numbers!!!

A 41 ship fleet for 1211 total points is a nice total for any fleet to reach in a campaign game.  The Pirates just added it in one turn!  In addition, their fleet size by point total is now larger than almost all other recorded huge games ever played.  Their long term vision and plans are rapidly coming to fruition!!

The Cursed Play Turn

The Cursed rolled successfully on both the custom Flying Dutchman’s ability and Davy Jones copying the Arcane!  With the FD they brought in Runes of Thor, giving it to the Pirates!!  It was placed on the Zeus, who already carries Nemo’s Plans.  This meant the Pirates now have two ships that carry reusable versions of Runes of Thor, due to Nemo’s Plans.  O_O

The successful Arcane roll was used to bring in Hidden Trove, placed on the Maman Brigitte!  The custom ship The Rock copied Davy Jones (and through him, the Arcane) via the Eye of Insanity UT.  After failing the roll and reroll, the Pirates intervened!  They used their original Runes of Thor (on the Noble Swan) to force a 6!  This allowed the Cursed to bring in Evenstar, placing it on the Maman Brigitte!!  The Maman Brigitte was given an explore action targeting the home island, unloading both UT’s for a supermassive windfall!!!!!  The God of Thunder has spoken. By Thor’s decree, The Cursed will be FILTHY RICH, OVERNIGHT!!!

307 ships in play at the beginning of the Cursed turn means Hidden Trove is worth 614 for The Cursed. Evenstar triples it to 1842 gold!! Add in their existing 617 and they have 2459 total gold!!  O_O

The Pirates use their second RoT on a failed Cursed AA! It is used to propel the Chimeratron Legacy towards the Americans!  She speeds out from the home island at an absolutely sickening speed of S+S+L+S+L(Python bonus)+S(trade current)(first action)+S+S+L+S+L(Python bonus)!!!!  O_O

Video footage of the Legacy’s first turn of actions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6jouv6GPow

Here comes the superweapon!!  Isaiah van Tyne L-boards the Kettering!  Between her crew and bonuses, the CL has a base boarding score of 21!  O_O   This made rolling a non-issue; there was no way this supermassively overloaded maxed out 10 master was going to lose this boarding party!  The CL wins and Captain Shamshere captures ALL four of the Kettering’s crew!!  O_O   How’s that for an entrance!

Then it was time to start shooting.  The CL used Bow Chasers to slightly damage the Bonhomme Richard, then shot a grapple shot at S+S range to board the Richard.  The CL won and stole all the crew from the BR!!  O_O  Both American gunships were suddenly devoid of crew, with all 7 now residing on the CL.  The CL then managed to finish shooting a mast off the Kettering.

Chimeratron Legacy first action for a superweapon

Then the Devil’s Storm turned around and shot up the stern of the Bonhomme Richard, eliminating 2 masts!  In more bad news for the Americans: Chimera, Divine Beast of the Apocalypse is on her way.  And the same for the Python and Devil’s Frenzy!  This shows the Cursed-American situation in the northwest.  At the far right, you can see that on their turn, the Pirates got the Stormy Night’s ability and used it to move the Rattlesnake onto the sargasso sea where the Harlequin is still stuck.

Indeed, ships were departing the Cursed HI en masse. Ships generally scattered, all going off on different missions.  At the bottom of the frame, the Solenostomus has upgraded Figlar Castle!!  O_O  The Cursed used Barst (just like Lord Mycron; on the Tomb of Lucifer) to give the Opal Shrine an extra action, which she used to enter the whirlpool and arrive in the northwest corner (you can see her at the top left).  There she used her gold to build another copy of Figlar Castle!!  O_O    This should seem… far more than ominous….

Figlar Castle doubled up!

Cursed Launch Period

With a decent amount of room at their home island and over 2400 gold, The Cursed did a megalaunch!  For the second turn in a row, they placed as many ships as they possible could at their home island.

Tridax + 3 Crew, Ballista
Call of the Sea + 3 Crew, helmsman, shipwright, oarsman, Dinghy
Royal Feces takes over for The Rock on Eye of Insanity (Davy Jones proxy) duties.
Spiral Chaos + The Sister of Tortuga (Shipwright+can’t be pinned), helmsman, oarsman, Gilded Figurehead
Sargasso Nightmare + Duogoth Vonnagos (Captain+Grapeshot Specialist), Ole Gregory, equipment specialist, helmsman, oarsman, Dinghy, Ballista
Ganon’s Phantom + CHO, Dinghy, equipment
Sea Hag + Crew, CHO.
Cerberus + CHO, equipment
Apparition + CHO, equipment
Hangman’s Joke + CHO, Ballista, equipment
Ghost Wind + CHO, Ballista
Needle + CHO, Streamlined Hull
Alligator + Captain, Streamlined Hull, smokepot shot

The Cursed spent 363 gold on 13 new ships! They completed their fog hopping squadron, in addition to adding some more ships for specific purposes.

Cursed megalaunch in CG4 October 2020

The new Cursed totals: (last time at 24 ships, 961 points)

37 ships, 1324 points

The Cursed are expanding rapidly, increasing the size of their fleet (by ship total) by just over 50% in one turn.

 

Vikings and Corsairs

The Vikings once again couldn’t get Jord’s copied Arcane roll to work even with Shayna Deux’s reroll to help out.  However, the Hrothgar returned home with three lumber tokens, allowing them to cash in for 12 gold to get the Timperswayd (from Pirates of the Kraken Sea) with a helmsman.  This brings their fleet to 14 ships and 239 points.

The Corsairs sent some of their newest ships (the super squadron launched last turn) west, appearing to aim them straight at the Pirates. It seems unlikely they would actually try to attack the Pirates at such a numbers disadvantage, as a more foolish idea can hardly be imagined.  The Corsairs brought home enough resources to launch a bit, but they didn’t get any Arcane rolls to work (all on the Nephila, but 4 total tries between Gilded Figurehead, a 2d6 ability, and Reroll).

The Corsairs launched:
HMB Sayyida + helmsman, 3 other crew and 1 equipment
Great Desert + C+H, Ballista

2 ships launched for 53 points.  This brings their totals to 26 ships and 477 points.

Here is a wide view of the northeast, showing (from left to right) the home islands of the Vikings, Pirates, Corsairs, and English.  With massive megalaunches happening every turn, the Pirate deckplate areas have been overflowing in all directions lately.  At the upper right, notice that a huge percentage of recently hired Corsair crew are face down.

With that, my turn was over!  There are now 323 ships in play, with my factions adding 57 this round!  Throwing some numbers together, I can also come up with a new point estimate.  My factions spent a total of 1644 gold this round (1211+363+12+58).  The Conglomerate spent most of their Hidden Trove, which we can estimate at 500 gold now at around 2144 new points in play this round).  Some other factions launched but some crew were lost in combat, so we’ll be conservative and not assume a point gain from that.

Using last turn’s point count of 5297 and adding 2144…

~7,441 Total Points In Play

O_O   This means that CG4 could be the second biggest game of all time behind only Command the Oceans!!  O_O

Here is the massive ocean!!

A LONG Turn in VASSAL Campaign Game 4 - over 30 hours in October 2020

References: First Zeus picturesecond Zeus picture

RECORD BREAKING GOLD. EXTORTION. ARMS RACE.

RECORD BREAKING GOLD. EXTORTION. ARMS RACE.

As always, VASSAL Campaign Game 4 continues to explode.  The weekend of August 14th-16th of 2020 saw the biggest single-round total gold income I have ever seen or comprehended!!  O_O

As always, it could be useful to have the Customs Database up for reference while digesting the events of the report.

We start with the Spanish, currently Xerecs’ most numerous faction.  They launched a new set of native canoes (Savage Shores version).

Next comes the Conglomerate, another fleet that Xerecs launched things for on his turn.  In a hugely newsworthy event, the Conglomerate have introduced another Copier into the game!!  Mata-Nui!  Helyrex is on the same ship with Reroll, meaning that if the Conglomerate wants to copy the Arcane’s ability, they’ll have two cracks at it, much like the other factions and pretty much identical to the Vikings’ Arcane rolling situation.  This whole Arcane business is becoming a meta game within the game!  XD

The English launched as well.  They added an AA with Reroll combo.  Here is a shot showing much of the northeastern chunk where 3 factions are in somewhat close proximity to each other.  From west to east, the Pirates, Corsairs, and English.  The Pirates have their own textiles island, while the Corsairs and English are sharing the one at the bottom of the picture.

Showing Off a Bit

Before Xerecs’ turn, the Pirates decided to randomly interject and reveal one of their new 10 master setups. Partly to remove any suspicions of the setup being illegal (not that anyone thinks I’m cheating), but also to serve as knowledge for the other factions to know how powerful these ships are looking. 🙂 Tee-hee! 🙂

Slave Revolt (from my Pirates of the Epic Seas custom set)

Crew: Havana Black (Sac Captain), Vincenzo Gambi (Massacre + World Hater), Captain Davy Jones (repossess the dead on 6’s; Fear), Capitaine Chevalle (Cargo Wrecking), Blackfoot Bill (WK unreleased-“When this ship is damaged, remove any crew member, except this one, instead of a mast.”), The Stump (2 point reducer) Grappleshot Specialist, helmsman, oarsman.

Equipment: Streamlined Hull (makes base move L instead of S)

In sum, the Pirates have a 10 master moving L+S with sac capability that utilizes a “sadistic recycling strategy”.  The ship has multiple ways to kill a ton of enemy crew (Massacre with grappling for extra boards + Cargo Wrecking with 10 cannons that are essentially boosted to almost all rank-3’s or better via Gambi), and then comes the nasty part.  CDJ can potentially repossess the victims, who are then sacced by Havana Black to further fuel the ship’s malicious intents.  When the ship comes under fire, repossessed victims will be placed in the line of fire by Blackfoot Bill so enemy shots kill their own instead of taking any masts off.  I may make a new name for this: the “zombie loop”.

(A few clarifications to avoid any future confusion- “This ability may be used when any crew is eliminated, regardless of previous ownership.”  From the Code, meaning CDJ’s ability is voluntary as with most other abilities.  Crew need to remain eliminated for effects to apply properly, so it’s good that I can’t loop it indefinitely with HBlack and Blackfoot Bill – their abilities require crew to stay eliminated)

The ship also gets +1 to her boarding rolls for every crew assigned to her, so with 9 crew aboard her base boarding roll starts at 19.  O_O  XD

This wild setup comes to 68 points total.  The cargo comes to 37 points compared to the ship cost of 31, but The Stump subtracts 1 point each from the other 8 crew aboard for 26 points of crew (34 originally), bumped to 29 TOTAL points that count with Streamlined Hull at the modified cost of 3.  The ship has 9 cargo spaces because Havana Black links to the ship, and 8 cargo that take up space (8 crew) along with the equipment and oarsman that don’t.  Whew!  XD  (so somehow there is still technically room for 2 points and 1 cargo lol)

 

And now that I’m writing the full battle report… why not do a reveal of the Hera as well?!  XD Some random abilities excluded.

Hera (from Epic Seas)
Crew: Red Legs Greaves (Captain+Helmsman), Cheng I (AA+cheerleading effect), El Castellano (Reroll+Parley), Kerkah (+2 to cannons and boards), Derrik the Red (Sac+World Hater), Jonah, oarsmen x2.
Equipment: Dinghy (This ship gets +1 cargo spaces. This equipment does not take up cargo space. This ship may explore an island or ship within S of this ship as a free action.)

Here we have a 10 master with (essentially) nearly all rank-1 cannons along with Sac capabilities and a Zeus-based movement bonus.  She will have plenty of support.

 

Pirate Play Turn

The Pirates have so much going on every turn that I’ve made a spreadsheet documenting many of the ships in their fleet.  It provides a quick and easy reference on each ship’s total speed, abilities aboard, and mission.  For some of the ships it also includes current open cargo spaces, and cannons (if the ship has the Captain ability and especially if the cannons are modified with bonuses/etc).

At the southern part of the Pirate HI, a large number of resource gatherers go to and from the metals island.  Plumb Point Lighthouse has its first turn in action!  The light emitted L+L from its base immediately helps many of the cargo ships sailing about.  6 ships docked home resources for the Pirates this turn, netting them 112 gold.  That included the Hai Peng, who returned with a lumber token from an island to the west of this area that the Jade Rebels have also explored.  The Turbulence sped out towards the metals island and used Dinghy (which allows the ship a free action to explore a ship or island within S of it) to transfer the newest Military Port upgrade to the Cursed Blade.  The Cursed Blade docked at the metals island and unloaded the token, giving the Pirates another Military Port!  At the left, the Sapphire Sea is towing the captured Morning Star through the fogpool.

Just like last turn, Pirate ships near the northern part of their home island are told to stay away.  The Pirates have something big coming.  The still-damaged Darkhawk II simply heads south, with her captain figuring that even if he can’t repair at the first military port to the south, the ship can at least grab some textiles and take them home as normal.  There is room at the home island for the Agnis Crystalis to dock and start repairing… but she hides in a fog bank instead.  Ships heading home take in sail and avoid coming close enough to dock.  These are strange times indeed… but for VERY good reason….

The Pirates are becoming more brash, with the newly launched Stormy Night using her ability to move the American ship Harlequin (far to the northwest) onto a sargasso sea.  The Gale Force Nine revealed my Copper Sheathing equipment to boost her base move to L+L.

Off to the races!  The new Pirate ships launched last turn from the textiles MP (Military Port) generally head east.  The Splinter is the first to reach and cross the whirlpool… perhaps the Pirates are heading to attack the hated Corsairs?  This extremely impressive squadron is just beginning.  Above the Splinter, note the Harbinger continuing to head south while the Flying Dutchman turns around, pointing her bow north.  At the lower right, hostilities between the Pirates and Corsairs recommence!  This time it was the Pirates striking first, with The Leviathan teleporting broadside to the Golden Peacock and shooting 2/5 to knock a mast off.

RECORD BREAKING GOLD

Of course, the Pirates had already rolled for the Arcane.  And Vesok, and Nuva.  All three of them rolled for the Arcane’s ability to bring a UT into the game on a 6.  For reference, the Arcane’s ability: “Once per turn, you may give this ship a move action, but do not move her. Instead, roll a d6. On a result of 6, you may place a Unique Treasure on any ship in your fleet.”  Vesok is a copier on the Smoke’s Hand (a 5 master in the middle of the map at the Archipelago), and copied the same ability.  Nuva allows a ship within S of Vesok’s ship to have one of their crew copy a crew from Nuva’s ship.  This was once again a generic crew on the Black Pearl, copying Vesok to copy the Arcane in turn.  And this is how the rolls went….

TWO SUCCESSFUL ROLLS!!!

FIRST THE PIRATES BRING IN HIDDEN TROVE…

AND THEN THEY BRING IN EVENSTAR!!!

From Xerecs’ Return of Davy Jones custom set:

Hidden Trove: Load this treasure face up, Hidden Trove is worth 2x the total number of ships in the game.

From Xerecs’ Fiends of the Blood Islands custom set:

Evenstar: Load this treasure face-down, it takes up 3 cargo spaces. When this ship docks at your home island, triple the value of the lowest gold coin, then remove Evenstar from the game.

O_O

They were both placed on the Shadow Thief.  And she revealed….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SILVERBACK JOHN!!!

From JW Darkhurst’s Seas of Doom custom set:

Silverback John: Ransom. Cargo Master. Once per turn, when this ship unloads treasure at your home island, double the value of the lowest-value coin.

O_O

With both UT’s aboard, the Shadow Thief moved away from the home island… and simply redocked!!  XD

As of the Pirate turn, there were 213 total ships in play.  This means Hidden Trove was worth 426 gold.

Upon docking, Evenstar tripled that to 1,278 gold.  O_O

Then both coins were automatically unloaded at the home island, triggering Silverback John’s ability to double the value… to….

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,556 GOLD.

O_O

The Pirates also had 112 gold from resources this turn, bringing their record-breaking single-turn grand total… to an unprecedented, dizzying, somewhat incomprehensible….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,668 GOLD.

Two thousand six hundred sixty eight gold.  O_O

 

Vince McMahon reaction to sextupling Hidden Trove

 

 

We are in the end days….  O_O

 

Last turn was absurd.  This turn is unbelievable.  The Pirates are rich to a degree not even close to anything I’ve seen before in any of my games.  2,668 is a very large point total to reach in a campaign game of Pirates CSG, between all points in play from all the fleets.  The Pirates just raked in that much gold in a single turn.  XD  O_O

This is becoming a sickening affair….

 

But Wait, There’s More

^That is now my catchphrase for this game.  It applies to almost every turn I’ve taken this year and it only keeps accelerating – a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.  The ludicrous gold income number may have been the craziest thing to happen this round, but it was far from the last exciting thing to happen in the game this turn.

With their GSP (Global Surveillance Program) allowing them to see just about all the face down treasures in play, the Pirates knew exactly what they wanted to try next.  Davy Jones’ Key was on the middle Archipelago island.  Pandora’s Box was on the island within the Turbulence area (southeast corner of the map).  The Shadows Hand had fog hopped to the Archipelago originally to explore a different island of the Archipelago, with the eyes of her crew set on a pretty decent UT.  However, a far more interesting and important mission now presented itself – especially now that the Shadows Hand was within docking distance of the middle island of the group.  She had come out of a fog bank ready to assist in the fight against the Spanish, but wasn’t needed there.  Now one of her cargo, originally meant for that other island, would prove incredibly useful.

From my Pirates of the Epic Seas custom set:

Bomb Box: This equipment takes up no cargo space. When this ship explores a wild island, you may eliminate this equipment to eliminate or remove from the game any Unique Treasures on the island before their effects are applied.

This is a neat little 1 point equipment designed as an option for gold runners that are often ruined by extremely negative UT’s like Plague, Runes of Death, and Natives.  Here it would prove even better.

For reference, here is the Archipelago after last turn. The Shadows Hand is the northernmost ship, just south of the eastern canoes.

Archipelago dominated by the Pirates

 

The Shadows Hand docked at the island and was given an AA (Admiral’s Action) to explore it.  She swapped Davy Jones’ Key for Pandora’s Box, triggering a climactic event:

Pandora’s Box: When revealed, each player must choose and put a unique treasure from outside the game aboard this ship.

O_O  More UT shenanigans!!!

Here is the full Pirate Code entry on Pandora’s Box, which proved to be extremely important: (emphasis added)

Pandora’s Box
-When this unique treasure is revealed, starting with the player to your left and ending with yourself, each player chooses and reveals one UT and places it on your ship. After all UTs have been chosen they are resolved per the standard rules.
-If a chosen UT can be loaded facedown it is not revealed until used.
-All UTs received from Pandora’s Box are treated as if they were on the island when it was explored.
-A UT chosen for this ability may duplicate one that is already in play and/or one that has been chosen by a preceding player. The “no-duplicates” rule applies to UTs only when placed in the treasure pool during setup.

By “player to your left” I’m going with the next “player” in the turn order, which is The Cursed.  Keep in mind it says “REVEALS”.  Meaning that everyone knows what each fleet gives to the Pirates, and the Pirates know which UT came from each faction.  The Bomb Box is being used here as a way to throw out the negative UT’s before they can do anything.  That is where the third point from the Code comes into play – since they’re treated as if they were on the island when it was explored, the Bomb Box can be used to eliminate any UT’s before their effects are applied.  O_O  😀

Mass Extortion on a Grand Scale

The Pirates would like to make it clear that they will simply throw out ANY AND ALL negative UT’s.  In addition, if they are given a negative UT from a faction, that faction may be subject to extremely harsh punishment in the extremely near future.  Aka, possible annihilation. If a faction gives the Pirates a bad UT, they might get slaughtered!  You might as well be nice!!  XD  There is no anonymity to hide behind here.  So make your choices wisely and consider the pros and cons of paying tribute to the all-powerful Pirates.  “Now line up!  And offer me a tribute.”  LOL!

This is what the Pirates are demanding from each faction: (this is also technically the order the UT’s should be chosen, which could be important for alliance/diplomatic purposes/etc)
The Cursed: Nemo’s Plans (done)
Vikings: Antikythera Mechanism (done)
Barbary Corsairs: Mask of Concealment (not complied with)
Dutch: Runes of Thor (FN)
Americans: Aegis Shield (The Vengeance of the Cadet Captain)
Mercenaries:  Nightmare’s Knot (Fiends of the Blood Islands)
French: Garai (Pirates of Spherus Magna)
Spanish: Mask of Valor (Pirates of Spherus Magna)
Jade Rebellion: The Ring (Seas of Doom)
The Conglomerate: Mask of Wisdom (Spherus Magna)
English: Neptune’s Figurehead (CC)

The Cursed and Vikings gave the Pirates what they requested.  The Corsairs didn’t, instead placing Skull Spiders (from Spherus Magna) on the Shadows Hand, but it was immediately tossed out via the Bomb Box.  ALSO: This should technically happen in real time on the Pirates’ turn.  This means the Pirates would give themselves a UT before it even became The Cursed turn.  The Pirates have given themselves Jailhouse Dog.  Fair warning that negative UT’s brought in via Copiers/etc that would hurt the Pirates will be cancelled by the Jailhouse Dog.  That is also likely to apply if someone tries to yank in Fountain of Dreams.

Also from the Code, regarding Jailhouse Dog:

-This ability may be used at any time during the game.
-This ability may be applied as an “interrupt” to avoid any immediate effects that would apply when another unique treasure is first revealed.

This was something the Pirates had been planning for a while.  They were originally going to send a ship with a Bomb Box to the Turbulence island to trigger Pandora’s Box.  However, once the Shadows Hand was already in the Archipelago, they figured… why wait?  This way they could get a good look at where the other factions were at (regarding compliance… lol) and possibly speed up their UT plans….

I was listening to this mix during the Pirate turn and one of the songs is called Pandora’s Box and another is called Dark Tides (the name of one of JW Darkhurst’s custom sets) lol.  Talk about ironic….

 

To finish off the Pirate turn, the Smoke’s Hand unloaded her fort upgrade to Skull Valley in the Archipelago.  When combined with the new military port on their metals island, this means the Pirates will have four launch points next turn instead of two.  O_O   The horror…. 😉

Pirates trigger Pandora's Box in the Archipelago

 

Pirate Launch Period

With 2,668 gold at their disposal, there was almost no way to run out.  The Pirates got busy, launching a ton of ships just as they did last turn.

Here are the ships they launched from their military port southwest of their home island, with custom creator name in parentheses. (in the picture, these go clockwise from the top starting with the ship pointed due south)

Scarlet Star, Lhikan II (both by JW Darkhurst), Plague of the West (the_grandmaster/Pointless Arrow), The Slash (JW Darkhurst), Acre (the_grandmaster/Pointless Arrow), Vortex, Kanohi Dragon (both by JW Darkhurst), Typhoon, Diamond Strike, Silver Casket (the_grandmaster/Pointless Arrow), Blue Heron (stats by Woelf for one of the 1 of 1 Ships in a Bottle).

Another Pirate megalaunch from their military port

The Slash carries my friend Captain Randy!!  He is now in the game!!  😀

None of these ships are picked at random – in fact, the complete opposite.  Each one is selected for a specific reason, and each one carries a complement of crew/equipment that will help to optimize the mission for each and every vessel in the Pirate fleet.  Optimizing fleets is one of my biggest passions within Pirates CSG, and in a grand campaign with near-unlimited spending ability, I can really execute plans perfectly.  There are so many moving parts to the Pirate machine that it will start to become unprecedented.  Gunships, equipment placement, managing how many total rerollers there are (between Wizkids and customs), making sure I don’t miss any ships that should get launched, making sure each ship has a specific purpose, supply ships… the Pirates are always hard at work on their turns!  In time the grand scope of their plans and launches will become more evident.

The Pirates didn’t have a lot of room at their home island, but managed to put two more AA w/Reroll combos in play; “Admiral” Scathe (JW Darkhurst) on the Stoneheart, and the Mammoth (vladsimpaler) with James Browne.  Gotta throw some history curveballs in this crazy game!  ;P  XD

At the southern tip of their HI the Pirates launched the Smokescreen (Xerecs), Beast’s Belly, and Rhino (mr_awesome/JuliusPepperwood).

A home island too crowded and busy to dock at… even for ships coming home with valuable textiles, and there will be a resource change soon that could crash their value!  A really weird sight.

The Black Jack (mr_awesome/JuliusPepperwood) is launched from the southern part of their HI with a town AND military port upgrade aboard… and the Blackleaf (Riz) has the same!  The Wrath is now in play as well – one of my favorite customs I’ve made for Epic Seas.  Her linked crew Bloodbeard is aboard, one of the fiercest to sail the seas.  She is configured as a shooting and boarding monster.  Here’s a little preview of my note taking from the spreadsheet document… after 9+ years playing big games of Pirates CSG, I like to abbreviate and put almost an inside joke type thing on most of the things I write for myself.

CHO. Massacre w/S Boarding and Grapple Shot. WH, so Cargo killing on 5-6. Currently at +7 to boards bonus with 5 crew.

The Pirates also went a little crazy with the Catapults (2 points each) from Xerecs’ Pirates of Spherus Magna set:

“This equipment may be used on an island or on a ship. If used on a ship; she gains one 4L cannon that can shoot from any mast (even an eliminated mast). If the cannon roll is a 1, turn this equipment face-down. You may give this ship a repair action to turn it face-up again instead of repairing a mast. If used on an island, this equipment becomes a 3L+L cannon that can only fire from one point on the island. To fire a catapult on an island, a friendly crew must be present on the same island; if the roll is a 1, turn the catapult equipment face-down and remove the associated crew from the game. Catapult must be loaded back onto a ship to be turned face-up again.”

The Pirates spent 300 gold to get 100 Catapults (!) and 100 oarsmen to crew them with. I consolidated all the Catapults into one equipment token and all the oarsmen into one crew token. This is to save space on the HI, but mostly to limit lag in the module. If combat/drama does ensue at the Pirate HI (good luck ;), I can adjust the numbers as necessary or even make a note in the module/etc to keep track of numbers. As it stands now they have near-unlimited firepower at their HI and have turned it into an insane stronghold. Any ships that come within L+L of the Pirate home island are likely to be dismasted (100 3L+L shots could result in 50 total hits).

A recap:

Hidden Trove: 213 ships in play x2=426 gold. w/Evenstar: 1278; w/Silverback John: 2556. +112= 2,668 Gold to spend!
Pirates spend 1072 gold!
592 gold on assorted ships and crew.
300 gold on 100 Catapults and 100 oarsmen to man the Catapults. (all placed on HI)
180 gold on 3 town and 3 Military Port upgrades. (one of each on home island)

20 ships launched:
Ships launched from home island: 8 (5 at northern half, 3 at southern half)
Ships launched from textiles MP: 12
Pirates have spent 1822 gold in the past 2 turns.  O_O  (750, and now 1072)
Last turn: 25 ships launched, 20 this turn. The Pirates have expanded their fleet by 45 ships in two turns!!

New record single-turn spending: 1,072 gold  (a record as far as I know – I will certainly have to update that page this year)

This all in just two turns with two launch points.  Imagine four launch points at the end of their next turn when they still have ~1600 left to spend!!  I’m just not sure what will run out first – my time or their gold!  XD

Now there are 233 ships in play.

 

Cursed Play Turn

The custom Flying Dutchman submerged and ducked into a fog bank.  The Python and Tomb of Lucifer scattered from the home island, anticipating the end of turn events.

The Wisp fog hopped locally and ended her move action touching the whirlpool just south of the Cursed HI…

 

 

TO BUILD A FORT!!

Figlar Castle
10 gold
Cannons: 3S-3S-3S-3S-3S-3S
Ability: This fort can only be built on a whirlpool when a Cursed ship is touching the whirlpool. Starting the turn after construction, this fort can travel through whirlpools like a ship, but without having to roll for damage. Ships docked at the fort do not travel with the fort. Cursed crew can use their abilities in this fort.

Flavor text: The Cursed have built this monstrosity, which could spell doom for all humanity. They have now created a water-borne fortress that can harness the power of the sea to warp into various locales. Hearing of the shocking development, some sailors have already given up hope, preferring to simply stay on land.

O_O

Doom indeed!!

 

But before that even happened… I rolled some dice.

Remember how there’s always more in CG4?   Here we go again.  XD

The Cursed use a trio of +1 to d6 roll abilities to trigger another Arcane event!!!

The Cursed bring in Hidden Trove again!!  Then they bring in Evenstar!!!

Both are placed on the Maman Brigitte!  She redocks and The Cursed are RICH!!!  Again!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,398 Gold.

233 ships in play.  This led to Hidden Trove being worth 466 gold – tripled with Evenstar for 1398 gold!

The Cursed spent 780 of it!    (1852 gold spent this turn between the Pirates and Cursed!!)

The Cursed managed to get both Arcane rolls to work, triggering another Hidden Trove + Evenstar event. O_O This netted them a massive windfall. The Pirates used Runes of Thor on the custom Flying Dutchman’s ability, forcing it to work. The Cursed placed a Nemo’s Plans on the Zeus.

This was not the first time the Pirates had played Runes of Thor for the Cursed… they also did it when the Devil’s Sneer blew up the Jarvis with Explosives.  This also marks the second Nemo’s Plans given to the Pirates by The Cursed… this very turn.

 

Cursed Launch Period

The Cursed bought 9 ships.  Here they are, listed counterclockwise from the top with the Chimera pointed almost due south. (not in order due to ships already at the HI)

Chimera, Divine Beast of the Apocalypse (A7XfanBen), Interloper (El Cazador), Devil’s Frenzy, Nemesis (both by A7XfanBen), The Rock (the_grandmaster/Pointless Arrow), Guichuan (southernmost 10 master), Howl, Devil’s Child (A7XfanBen), Gerudo Gale (El Cazador).

Cursed megalaunch from home island in CG4!!

Another epic deckplate as The Cursed delve into my ship-ton of custom 10 masters they have….

Chimera, Divine Beast of the Apocalypse deckplate in VASSAL

The Cursed bought 10 Catapults along with 10 oarsmen to crew them for 30 total gold, placed on their home island.

They also spent a ton of money on island upgrades.  3 fort upgrades, 2 towns, and 2 military ports.  O_O  This could be bad….

I would love to give more details on The Cursed launchings… but by nature of the game, the future, and plans, it is best to keep things as secret as possible for now.  In due time some of The Cursed stuff will be used and then some of the wild setups will come to light.  Let’s just say that most of the ships are absolutely stacked.  I have been consistently running out of point cap space before running out of cargo space or crew to use, so most of the gunships coming into play lately have as many points aboard as their point cost allows.  This is the case for Chimera and the Devil’s Frenzy… which means 192 points between them.  O_O

Cursed had 15 ships coming into the turn. 9 new ships brings them to 24 total.

242 ships in play brings the value of Hidden Trove to 484 gold.

 

The Vikings…

… didn’t get lucky!  XD

<a7xfanben> – Jord copies Arcane
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [1] ***
<a7xfanben> – reroll
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [2] ***

They do have a pretty respectable resource gathering fleet for how underpowered they are compared to most of the other factions.  Their deckplates are being pushed west by the rapidly expanding Pirate fleet.

 

The Barbary Corsairs Get In On The Festivities!

THE CORSAIRS HAVE A COPIER!  They get some help from Woelf’s Gilded Figurehead equipment to pull in a UT!!  O_O

 

The Corsairs get Hidden Trove!!!

It is worth 484 gold!!  Combined with textiles from Marrakesh for 499 gold total!

This shows the entire Corsair fleet at the end of their turn and their general situation.  Especially after giving the Pirates a bad UT via Pandora’s Box instead of what the Pirates were demanding, they are extremely worried that a Pirate attack from the west is imminent.  Hidden Trove couldn’t have come at a better time!

 

The Corsairs with their version of a megalaunch!!  They spend 331 gold to launch 8 new ships!

Counterclockwise from upper left: Nubian Prince, Sea Tiger (the_grandmaster/Pointless Arrow), Anubis towing Elephant flotilla (both by A7XfanBen), Crown Jewel (mr_awesome/JuliusPepperwood), Desert Wind, Sultan’s Bride (Riz; her flavor text by AlanQSmithee), Majestic.

Barbary Corsairs megalaunch from home island in CG4!

On their home island… the Corsairs placed Mons Meg!!  O_O

(5 points) Only one of this equipment can be used per fleet. This equipment can only be used on islands following the Marine rules. This equipment has a cannon (5L+L) that eliminates 3 masts with one hit and can sink ships.

For additional home island defense, the Corsairs also matched The Cursed, buying 10 Catapults with 10 oarsmen to crew them with.  This along with the new ships massively beefs up the Corsair HI defenses.

As with The Cursed, it would be unwise to reveal the crew setups of the Corsair ships.  What I can say is that this is about the closest thing to a super squadron the Corsairs can assemble.  Drawing on both Wizkids and extensive customs, the Corsairs have placed in the water a 10 master, two submarines, two “S-Immunity” ships, a canceller (the Anubis), and a cheerleader.  The ships are stacked and loaded.  The Corsairs are going all out in case the Pirates attack soon.  Suddenly the Corsairs have become substantially more powerful, which is just what they needed.

 

A few other notes:

Corsairs started their turn with 15 ships. Launch 8 so now they have 23 total.

8 additional ships brings the grand total to… 250!!  This means the next Trove will be worth 500 gold!!  XD

Total gold spent on the weekend of 8/14-8/16: 2,183   O_O   This is less than half of what was brought in. 2183/4565=47.8%  (2668+1398+499=4565)  Just absolutely staggering numbers.  And more to come soon too… a point count is coming….

2183 new points in play. Point count in April showed 2067 points in play.  So the game is definitely bigger than CG1 ever was!!  (3516 official, likely topped 3700)  Which means it’s already the biggest virtual/VASSAL Pirates campaign game of all time!

~~~~~

I could hardly believe it when Doragon the Magnificent appeared in the music mix!  Maybe it’s a sign he should enter the game soon….

 

Here it is!!  The whole ocean!  With over 2000 new points of stuff in play, you can finally see some huge activity even when zoomed all the way out!  The 5 Cursed 10 masters in the northwest stand out, while the northeast becomes even more of a hub than it already was.  Click to see the full size version where you can zoom in easily.

VASSAL Campaign Game 4 - Mid August, 2020

 

Big News:

-At the end of today’s play on August 16th, the Vikings recommitted to their alliance with the Barbary Corsairs.  Both factions see the need to stay together at a time when unprecedented and rapid growth of their unpredictable Pirate neighbors threatens their very existence.

-The Pirates and The Cursed have independently threatened violence against all three of the other factions with copiers (Vikings, Corsairs, Conglomerate).  The messages basically said if you copy Arcane/etc to bring harm to the Pirates or Cursed, they will respond with immediate aggression.  Even going so far as to say a faction that does the wrong thing may face extinction in short order.  O_O

-The game is becoming more complicated from a diplomatic or political perspective.  This crazy turn is resulting in more messages being sent among the factions than usual.  This could mean a lot for the game going forward.  Just what though, we don’t know….