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

Posted on October 26, 2020June 28, 2023 by Ben

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.

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

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.

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.

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….

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.

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!!

References: First Zeus picture, second Zeus picture

RECORD BREAKING GOLD. EXTORTION. ARMS RACE.

Posted on August 16, 2020May 31, 2021 by Ben

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.

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

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.

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…. 😉

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).

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).

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

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.

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.

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….

BREAKING THE GAME | + A Global Biological Terrorist Attack Threat

Posted on July 27, 2020May 13, 2024 by Ben

BREAKING THE GAME

Plus: A Global Biological Terrorist Attack Threat

If I had to pick my own “MUST READ” battle report for 2020, this is it.

VASSAL Campaign Game 4 has continued (introduction and rules here). The previous battle report is probably worth a refresher before getting into the events of this past… weekend. Indeed, my turn took up a huge portion of my weekend from Friday-Sunday. Things have spiraled out of control to a degree not seen before in any other game of Pirates CSG, at least that I know of in its recorded history. Game balance is a thing of the past. Welcome to a new era – “exploits of the power gamer”. 😉 I listened to this epic mix for most of the Pirate play turn.

A turn this long and epic deserves a long report to do it justice. Especially given the “injustices” that have taken place… and of which there are likely more to come. If you make it through the whole thing, please consider leaving a comment at the bottom, as it should help my fansite and the visibility of this post that apparently has 5625 words. It would be useful to have the newly released Customs Database available while reading, as there were a LOT of customs involved….

As usual for my turns, we start with the Pirates. The Eagle gave Resurrection Codex to the Zeus. (a pretty big deal in a more “normal” game or even a campaign game)

Having crushed Xerecs’ Spaniards in the Archipelago last turn with a grand display of powerful weaponry, their combat of this turn was mostly about cleaning up in the center of the ocean. The Deliverance got the Pirates started by eliminating two Spanish canoes (revealing Isandro Ramirez to be her captain).

From there, things quickly got… unprecedented.

The Smoke’s Hand got two actions and used the second to sink the final canoe and shoot at the Morning Star, who was dismasted by the Stormcloud. This allowed the Sapphire Sea to tow the Spanish galleon, with the Pirates capturing her! Given she was loaded with textiles (a valuable resource right now) and additional cargo, in any normal circumstance this would be a major deal and win for the Pirates. This was, however, arguably even for me the least normal turn EVER taken in a Pirates game…..

As you may have seen in the video, the Arcane herself rolled for her signature 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.” First try of the entire round, and she got a 6. O_O

The Pirates brought in…

…

HIDDEN TROVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

O_O

LOL!!!! Hidden Trove was placed on the Osiris, who naturally was already docked at the Pirate home island.

The report goes a bit out of order here… XD

Naturally it begs the question: how many ships are in play? Well, at the end of the Pirate play turn: 173. O_O

This means that Hidden Trove is worth 346 gold. O_O XD

But Wait, There’s More

😀 Of course there is!

The Pirates were not even CLOSE to being done yet! XD

As mentioned in the May 9th report, the Pirates have a mass surveillance program. They call it the “Global Surveillance Program”, or GSP (not to be confused with GMS). Think of it like the NSA. XD If you’ve got something and want to hide it, odds are the Pirates already know about it. I believe the Pirates know where every single face down UT on the map is. O_O They also know about most of the face down crew in play. This allows them to make focused decisions that do not rely on assumptions or wild predictions. They have also become extremely self-sufficient, not needing to bargain with other factions for intelligence purposes. The Pirates already knew about something they wanted… something that would combo perfectly with their new Hidden Trove….

The Leviathan was put into action!! In her first turn in play, The Leviathan (from vladsimpaler’s Treachery on the High Seas set) was immediately ready to show off how much of an asset she could be to the burgeoning Pirate fleet. With D movement, she was able to “fly” anywhere on the ocean at will. She got her orders to intercept a Dutch ship far from Pirate waters, off in the southwest. The Prins Willem carried Ivory, a custom UT created by the legendary Cadet-Captain Mike:

Ivory: When unloaded, this treasure is worth as much as the most valuable treasure coin currently on the ship.

O_O … You may see where this is going.

The Leviathan warped out to meet the Prins Willem, careful not to ram the ship and become pinned. She simply brushed ever so slightly up against the hull of the Dutch 3 master, and fired off a full broadside of 5 shots just for good measure, courtesy of Captain crew Gregory Rose (a custom by JW Darkhurst). All shots missed! However, blood was not what the Pirates were after. That laid elsewhere. The Prins Willem had 2 other UT’s aboard: Barrel o’ Monkeys (created by Woelf!!) and Letter of Marque.

Barrel o’ Monkeys: When this ship leaves a wild island, randomly choose one of her treasures and put it face down on that island. When this ship touches another ship, randomly choose one of this ship’s treasures and put it face down on the other ship; eliminate the treasure instead if the other ship’s cargo is full.

Emphasis added; the random part was where my Pirates needed some luck. I assigned Letter of Marque a 1-3 and Ivory a 4-6; sure enough, the d6 roll came up 6!! 😀 This put Ivory on The Leviathan!

With great haste she flew home, carefully landing to just barely touch the Osiris, who still hadn’t been given an action on the turn.

Now it was time for a true rarity: using SAT (Same Action Twice/Born Leader) to explore twice in a row. O_O I don’t know if I had ever done that in a game up until this point, but it was certainly the perfect time.

*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [6] ***
<a7xfanben> – O_O Got Danvian Arrestelos’ SAT on the Osiris, which is suddenly key because both AA’s were already used

With SAT available, the Osiris used her first explore action to explore The Leviathan, taking Ivory. With her second explore action she targeted the home island, unloading both Hidden Trove AND Ivory at the same time!!!!!

Hidden Trove was worth 346 gold!! Ivory was worth the same amount as Hidden Trove!!

Suddenly the Pirates had a fortune on their home island!!!

692 GOLD!!!!!!!!!!

O_O XD

The Pirates also brought in a fair quantity of metals and textiles this turn, still the game’s 2 most valuable resources for now. This gave them an additional 58 gold, which would be a pretty good total for them under normal circumstances.

This left them with a grand total of….

750 GOLD.

O_O

Even in a campaign game, this is beyond belief….

Anticipating one of the biggest megalaunches in memory, Pirate ships immediately scattered away from the home island, with the Pirates desperate to make as much room at their launch points as possible. Get out of the way!! Make room, make room!! XD Despite needing more repairs, the Agnis Crystalis and Darkhawk II simply sail straight out away from the home island, with priority going to the new ships that will inevitably be launched in short order….

I almost never do bulk copy+paste of the module chat in actual battle reports, but this is one turn where I think it is fitting. 🙂

<a7xfanben> – HIDDEN TROVE HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE OSIRIS BY THE ARCANE.
<a7xfanben> – Load this treasure face up, Hidden Trove is worth 2x the total number of ships in the game.
<a7xfanben> – O_O
<a7xfanben> – !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<a7xfanben> – Its worth will be calculated….
<a7xfanben> – But first
<a7xfanben> – Time to try out the newest superweapon
<a7xfanben> – THE LEVIATHAN!!
<a7xfanben> – O_O
<a7xfanben> – Here’s hoping this works XD
<a7xfanben> – D movement
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
<a7xfanben> – (not her final location for this move)
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
* UNDO: * [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
<a7xfanben> – Placed alongside, touching but not ramming…
* **** Crew – Pirate (Gregory Rose) revealed by a7xfanben ****
<a7xfanben> – Gregory Rose: Captain. Eternal. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against English ships.

(shots miss lol)
<a7xfanben> – Now for the key, and maybe a little luck.
<a7xfanben> – Prins Willem has Barrel o’ Monkeys aboard.
<a7xfanben> – When this ship leaves a wild island, randomly choose one of her treasures and put it face down on that island. When this ship touches another ship, randomly choose one of this ship’s treasures and put it face down on the other ship; eliminate the treasure instead if the other ship’s cargo is full.
<a7xfanben> – From the Code: Barrel o’ Monkeys is not included in the random selection
<a7xfanben> – It comes down to Ivory and Letter of Marque.
<a7xfanben> – D6 roll: 1-3 Letter of Marque is transferred, 4-6 Ivory is transferred.
<a7xfanben> – Here goes
*** <a7xfanben> rolls White D6 -> [6] ***
<a7xfanben> – O_O
<a7xfanben> – Oh my god….
<a7xfanben> – This is absolutely staggering…
* Coin moves Ocean -> Player 1 Locker *
* Coin moves Player 1 Locker -> Ocean *
<a7xfanben> – Ivory goes to Leviathan
<a7xfanben> – Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight on the Jolly Mon to give The Leviathan another action!!
<a7xfanben> – Not pinned since no ram 🙂
<a7xfanben> – Bye
* Coin moves Ocean -> Player 1 Locker *
* [The Leviathan] moves Ocean -> Player 1 Locker *
<a7xfanben> – She knows just where to go…
* [The Leviathan] moves Player 1 Locker -> Ocean *
* Coin moves Player 1 Locker -> Ocean *
* Coin moved by a7xfanben*
* Coin moved by a7xfanben*
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
* [The Leviathan] moved by a7xfanben*
<a7xfanben> – Touching the Osiris
<a7xfanben> – O_O
<a7xfanben> – Her first action is to explore The Leviathan and take the Ivory
* Coin moved by a7xfanben*
<a7xfanben> – O_O
<a7xfanben> – Now her second action…
<a7xfanben> – Is used to explore the home island!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<a7xfanben> – Hidden Trove: Load this treasure face up, Hidden Trove is worth 2x the total number of ships in the game.
<a7xfanben> – Ivory: When unloaded, this treasure is worth as much as the most valuable treasure coin currently on the ship.
* Coin moved by a7xfanben*
* Coin moved by a7xfanben*
<a7xfanben> – O_OOO_O_O_O_O_O_O_O
<a7xfanben> – LOLOLOLOL
<a7xfanben> – A MULTIPLIER!!!!!
<a7xfanben> – HIDDEN TROVE IS DOUBLED!!
<a7xfanben> – UNLIMITED POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<a7xfanben> – (force lightning spews from eyes in all directions)
<a7xfanben> – The craziest part is… IT IS NOT OVER. Not for another faction………
<a7xfanben> – The Pirates have not even used their Runes of Thor this round.
<a7xfanben> – O_O
<a7xfanben> – Someone else eagerly awaits….
<a7xfanben> – All shall perish.

Things have gotten a bit strange in Pirate waters. Multiple damaged ships are almost stranded in between the two launch points of the Pirate HI and their military port, with orders not to dock at either given the mass influx of valuable new ships about to enter play. At the bottom left the Giza tries to row away from the island at an angle that will allow the maximum number of ships to be docked at the port by the end of the overall Pirate turn. The Triton’s Fury could have docked and loaded textiles but simply doesn’t. At the bottom right, 3 Pirate gunships are headed in the direction of the whirlpool created by the Tempest.

Round earthing to the other side of the Pirate home island, the Amity has unloaded 3 gold at the metals island to build Plumb Point Lighthouse!

At the end of their turn the Pirates followed through with their plan to build a fort on an Archipelago island. They built my custom Skull Valley fort, which has Extended Range. (The fort shuts down resource production on the island; this snapshot was taken before I removed the textiles token or added the 5 gold cost of the fort)

A true pirate stronghold, the Skull Valley is located on an undisclosed and unnamed island either in the Caribbean or the Pacific, depending on who you talk to. More of a town than a fortress, the valley is inside hilly terrain that prevents enemies from getting a clear look at their target. Massive mortars and a huge cache of old Spanish culverins provide ample firepower over the hills. [Ironically fitting flavor text given that the Spanish were just here and had explored that island]

Then it was time for the launch period. The Pirates had 750 gold at their disposal, more than any fleet I’ve controlled with the exception of the English in CG1. With near-unlimited options…

The Pirates spent… ALL OF IT. O_O

I didn’t know if it would be possible with just 2 launch points, but it was. The Pirates spent 750 gold in one turn, eclipsing my personal record of 628 that the English spent in CG1. 50 of it was spent on a military port upgrade, with most of the rest of it going to ships and crew of course.

The Pirates are putting Catapults (custom equipment from Xerecs’ Spherus Magna set) on their textiles island to fortify it even more (12 “island cannons” between those and the 8 3S’s from the MP). The Catapults are manned by new oarsmen. The Catapults are 3L+L cannons that can fire from only one point on the island.

The Pirates completed their fleet of 10 masters, launching the last 2 that I am aware of. Both customs of mine: the Slave Revolt and Hera. Despite the massive costs, both 10 masters actually needed “reducer” crew to make their mammoth setups work. The Slave Revolt has The Stump aboard to allow (I think) 37 points of crew to fit onto the 31 point ship. The Hera is even more extreme – Jonah had to be hired in order to fit (I think) 38 points of crew onto the 23 point ship. O_O Helping out the Slave Revolt’s poor speed was Woelf’s custom Streamlined Hull equipment, which shows up on a handful of the ships I launched this turn:

We have house ruled it to 3 points for CG4 due to the no ram damage house rule and after feedback from Woelf himself. This comes from Woelf’s Treasure Trove of Fenrir equipment set, and not the last of it you’ll see….

As ships potentially get into combat and some face down crew are eventually revealed, I hope to talk more about the crew setups on some of the ships. For now my fellow players (Xerecs and PirateAJ14) can gawk at the epicness of what is not face down (unless they have spyers of course to look at face down crew/cargo!). 🙂 I listened to Dawn of the Villains while the Pirates were launching.

From the following picture you can see that both 10’s were launched from the military port south of the Pirate HI; starting above the Giza (derelict galley) and going anti/counterclockwise from that ship, the Pirates launched (custom creator in parentheses): Deceit (Riz), Shark (mr_awesome/JuliusPepperwood), Howler (the_grandmaster/PointlessArrow), Coleoptera, Fantasia, Chasseur (vladsimpaler), Karda-Nui (JW Darkhurst), Scepter, Challenger (JW Darkhurst), Silent (mr_awesome/JuliusPepperwood). 😀

The Pirates are putting together a certain type of squadron… however, it involves so many game pieces and parts that it is not currently possible to put it in the water all at once. It will be more of an intermediate-term assembly of various things. You can see that the Pirates are massing some 10 masters; the Zeus and Hera are thematically and practically the perfect “pair”, while the Slave Revolt has some truly terrifying combos aboard. There is also a theme of submarines and cheerleaders….

But wait, there’s more! From the northern half of their home island, the Pirates launched two ships, both created by Xerecs: the Inferno and Shadow Thief. In the deckplate area you can see 7 of the new ships’ cards; the Slave Revolt is absolutely loaded.

Another 10 new ships were introduced at the southern half of the Pirate HI. Docked at the island, clockwise from lower left with custom creator name (if applicable) in parentheses: Smiling Jim, Albatross (El_Cazador), Wretched (Avery), Gale Force Nine, Turbulence+Divination+La Mosca (all by mr_awesome/JuliusPepperwood), Coastal Ranger (JW Darkhurst), Stormy Night (A7XfanBen). You can also see more of the Pirate deckplate area, which is quickly expanding and looking rather impressive.

Nearly every ship the Pirates launched is maxed out in some way – either her point cap space has been filled (14 points of crew/equipment on a 14 point ship), or her cargo hold is full. With the overstuffed 10 masters adding an excess +~21 points of crew, it’s possible (but unlikely) that I actually spent more gold on crew and equipment than ships this turn. O_O The Pirates are trying to optimize every build from the point of launch so ships don’t have to go back into port to pick up new crew/equipment they could have had the first time out. Plus, it helped to spend all the gold the Pirates took in, which was a fun goal to achieve. There are a few logistics ships in the mix, such as the Silent – carrying extra crew to replenish those who might be in need of them in the future.

In order to expedite the completion of a short-term plan, the Pirates also launched a new set of native canoes from the middle Archipelago island. These are the ones from RtSS that have the home island raiding ability built in. How crazy that 2 turns ago this area was dominated by peaceful Spaniards, with 10 of their canoes here. Now it is Pirates-only, with 10 of their canoes instead. With a 10 master and a new fort to boot!

The Pirates launched 25 total ships – 12 from their home island, 12 from their military port on the textiles island south of their home island, and RtSS native canoes at the middle Archipelago island. This left the game at 198 total ships in play….

The Pirates didn’t even need to use Runes of Thor! Or maybe… they didn’t want to….

Whew. Of course there’s MORE! That was only one of my four factions!! 😀

Now it was time for The Cursed. The Devil’s Storm came out of the fog bank she was in to shoot at the Boston! She shot 3/4 to nearly dismast the schooner. Although the fleeing Americans had lost their brief skirmish against The Cursed, the Devil’s Storm was all alone with no backup. It would be very easy for the Bonhomme Richard to blast the Devil’s Storm on the American turn.

However, there was a reason for the Cursed aggressiveness and confidence… a good reason indeed….

The Opal Shrine uses the Eye of Insanity to copy Davy Jones on the Cursed home island to her oarsman, which is used to copy the Arcane’s ability!! A 6 is rolled!!!!!!!!!

O_O

TIME TO BRING IN ANOTHER HIDDEN TROVE!!!!!!!!!

Hidden Trove was yanked into the game again, this time placed on the Maman Brigitte, fittingly one of the most hated ships in the game. She was a move action away from the home island, docking home to unload textiles and Hidden Trove.

198 ships in play x2= 396 gold for The Cursed!!

Combined with 1 gold on their HI and 30 from converted textiles…

427 GOLD. O_O

Here we go again!! Time to megalaunch!! 😀

The Cursed have a vastly different situation than the Pirates. The Pirates have been the “favorites” (in quotes because there’s been almost no combat and I believe it to still be early in the game) for a while, but The Cursed had only 8 ships in play going into this turn. Their small fleet was struggling to grow quickly. Hidden Trove would change all that.

However, the Cursed went straight to the top. Straight to the top of the customs hierarchy if you will, to the top of the heap. To something horrific and awesome at the same time. A superweapon of epic proportions…

CHIMERATRON LEGACY!!!!!!!!!

Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: LE
Point Value: 90
Number of Masts: 10
Cargo Space: 12
Base Move: L
Cannons: 2S-2S-3L-3L-3L-3L-3L-3L-2S-2S
Ability: Junk. Eternal. Turbine. Sniping.* Two hits from the same shoot action are required to eliminate one of this ship’s masts. This ship gets +1 to her equipment rolls. This ship must be assigned at least 7 crew at the start of play.
Link: Any 1 10+ point Cursed named crew, (and) Aliktoril Bellen

*Sniping: You may double the range of this ship’s cannons each turn, but you must roll a 6 to hit.

Flavor text: Filled to the brim, with a ludicrously massive cargo hold, technical innovations aplenty, and well over a thousand fiends to defend her, this ship is the best of all worlds. No one knows where the ship came from, or if it was built in a visible shipyard somewhere in the world. The ship is said to be the heaviest afloat, with huge amounts of metal aboard given the technological aspects that seem to indicate that the Cursed are growing at a faster rate than even the English. With enough gunpowder to supply an entire small fleet, and some steel plating on her hull, the vessel could be the first truly “unsinkable” ship. Although her crew is made up of demons and fiends, the despicable and vicious Aliktoril Bellen has come aboard to provide a steadying hand. He plans to drive the ship to unparalleled heights of power as the Cursed machine of death revs up for a grand campaign of terror that will end human existence.

“God mode 10 master with defenses”; End of All Things

O_O XD

We are entering new territory now, sailing into new waters. The CL comes loaded like no other ship in the history of the game… but first, a look at the glorious deckplate:

A familiar theme began playing….

Now for the elaborate setup that took probably at least an hour (maybe two) to come up with and actually put in the game file:

If you don’t want to look up all the customs, here’s a summary: a 10 master that can move S+S+L+S with Captain, all rank-1 cannons (effectively) that have Extended Range and two extra 4L+L’s from the bow, super-Nemo capture, Commander Temple steal-a-ship ability, “global” Possession of cheapish crew, L-board, Sac, the potential to board up to 3 enemy ships in a turn without ramming, stinkpot shot, and more. This is a doomsday superweapon that comes with a full loadout price tag of 180 gold. 180 points!! O_O

The CL is optimized for maximum efficiency. As soon as she starts capturing crew via boarding parties and Captain Shamshere’s super-Nemo capture, she can start sacrificing them to Isaiah Van Tyne for extra actions. If they run out, Makuta can provide fodder from afar. The ship may have unparalleled striking range, likely to eventually be greater than even HMS Swallow with Power Cannons and extra actions, a combo seen in the English fleet of CG1 fame. The CL will not be operating without support….

Her speed may be aided by the Python, who carries First Mate Hamlet, a custom from the_grandmaster/PointlessArrow and his epic Back to War custom set: If a sea monster or ship begins its turn within L of this ship, it gets +L to its base move. Adding to the insanity is the classic Cursed support ship Celestine and her linked crew Master Scribe. Between them The Cursed may be able to place 2 trade currents per turn with some luck. In addition, Barst is now in play, a Lord Mycron clone created by Xerecs and placed onto my custom Tomb of Lucifer turtle ship. Between the bonuses and a guaranteed extra action (whether from Barst or eventually Sac), the Chimeratron Legacy should be able to move up to S+S+L+S+L x2 +S in one turn. O_O Python + CL will be moving at “WARP MACH SPEED”. Another theme plays…

You would think that The Cursed would want to keep such a powerful thing a secret. However, with such a massive price tag and ludicrous crew+equipment loadout, I decided to just put it all out there, at least with this setup. The ship alone is a massively intimidating presence on the water. The Cursed are basically letting everyone know that they mean serious business and are not to be trifled with. Mess with them, and you may just see the Legacy on your doorstep moments later. This is why the Devil’s Storm felt so confident going after the Americans. If she gets attacked, there is at least a chance that the CL will be able to reach the combat area next turn. Besides, if the Cursed lose the longship, it’s not a big deal because they are almost literally swimming in gold. XD

The Cursed saw the potential of the Arcane last turn with the Pirates’ exploits, which is why they rushed to hire Davy Jones. They made sure they could copy the ability as soon as possible and yank in the Trove for a massive windfall that would allow them to simultaneously beat off a possible American attack in the future, and also begin to finally put their MANY plans into place via launching and logistical efforts. For the CL was just the beginning!

I listened to Soundtrack For a Supervillain for most of the rest of the Cursed launch period. The Cursed launched the Solenostomus as well, one of my newest customs and based on nature. Uh… she is carrying a fort upgrade…. ?!

The Cursed have launched one of my favorite and oldest customs: the movie version of the Flying Dutchman!

Flying Dutchman
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: LE
Point Value: 30
Number of Masts: 5
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 2L-2S-2S-2S-2L
Ability: Broadsides Attack. Fear. At the beginning of each of your turns, determine whether or not this ship is submerged. If she is submerged, her base move becomes S+L, and she may be given only move actions. She has to surface to shoot, repair, dock, and explore. While she is submerged, she cannot shot or be shot at, pin or be pinned, ram or be rammed, and tow or be towed. Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 6, you may place a unique treasure (that can be loaded) from outside the game on an enemy ship. Bow Chasers equipment does not take up cargo space on this ship.
Link: Davy Jones

The FD carries some crew, including customs Wendigo (Fear+Canceller; from Cadet-Captain Mike) and Guardian Corps (Crew Protect; from El_Cazador).

However, Davy Jones was not boarding the Dutchman… he was boarding… the Pantheon!!

Pantheon
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: LE
Point Value: 40
Number of Masts: 10
Cargo Space: 8
Base Move: S
Cannons: 4S-4S-4L-4L-4L-3S-3S-2L-3S-3S
Ability: Junk. This ship ignores the first hit she takes each turn as long as she has all of her masts. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against forts within S of her. When this ship reaches her cargo limit, she gets +1 to her cannon rolls. If this ship’s point limit is reached by her assigned cargo, she gets +1 to her boarding rolls. If this ship is assigned at least 3 Cursed crew that cost at least 10 points each, she gets +1 to her d6 rolls.

Flavor text: There have been so many powerful Cursed officers joining the ranks that Xenthalos doesn’t always have a ship to assign them to. The Pantheon was raised from the depths of an ancient underwater Cursed city to house all manner of powerful creatures. The ship excels when crewed with great leaders, with near-certain doom befalling her enemies when fully optimized. The ship’s original constructors took the fore and after “castles” to new heights, with top-heavy stonework at the bow and stern of the ship slowing her down but making her a monster in close-quarters combat.

The Pantheon loaded up on some crew, and it was already over! Having spent an ungodly amount of gold on just a few ships and various extremely expensive crew, The Cursed were out of gold! They had spent all 427 of it on just 7 ships and the fort upgrade! O_O (even minus the fort upgrade cost of 40 gold, this comes out to a sickening 55 points per ship; 387/7)

The haul with new ships clockwise from right: Chimeratron Legacy, Solenostomus, Flying Dutchman, Celestine, Pantheon, Tomb of Lucifer, Python.

Now it was time for the Vikings. They too saw the Arcane stuff get crazy last turn. And guess what: they too have a copier!! O_O Jord from Pirates of the Kraken Sea! (created by mr_awesome/JuliusPepperwood)

Jord and Shayna Deux were hired last turn and are currently aboard the Asgard, Shayna’s ship. Although the Vikings didn’t get as lucky as the Pirates or Cursed, they look forward to using the Copier ability again next turn. The Pirate GSP/NSA did not see Jord, as she was just put in play and the Pirates weren’t looking at Viking crew this round. (The Cursed have Shipping Charts but have been using it to spy on the Americans) As a result, this is an unexpected twist that may anger both the Pirates and The Cursed. The Vikings did bring in 12 gold on their turn, combining it with 6 saved to launch the Noble Glacier, a custom icebreaker of mine from Epic Seas.

The Barbary Corsairs got home some valuable textiles and used it to launch 2 custom ships – one of mine and one from the_grandmaster’s Back to War. I purposely made this a wide shot to show the dire situation the Corsairs find themselves in… two Pirate 5 masters are just off their west coast, with the megalaunch from the military port not far off in the distance. At the lower right you can see the English have made some solid launching progress lately.

As my 4 faction turns came to a close, The Cursed had not quite yet had their fill. They made a grand announcement to ALL players and factions in the game, a “general announcement” of sorts:

(please do not be offended, this is a game and The Cursed being The Cursed)

THE CURSED ARE THREATENING TO BRING THE CORONAVIRUS INTO THE GAME.

O_O

(This is meant to shock but not offend. I am not trying to make light of the actual virus and how devastating it has been. It is an analogy given what’s happening in real life and how the Cursed are the supreme evil in Pirates CSG. Not meant to offend anyone.)

Obviously this doesn’t make much sense as the game is theoretically taking place in the Age of Sail long before the recent discovery of the virus (maybe The Cursed can see into the future?), but there it is.

The Cursed have made a global biological terror threat. O_O This is a bad day. And we thought 2020 couldn’t get worse! :/ It remains to be seen if this general threat is directed at the Americans, who are (as far as “we” know?) the only faction to have specifically annoyed The Cursed thus far in the game. It will certainly be interesting to see if The Cursed are serious about this, or if it is more of a bluff. Serious thought went into the massive, offensive threat. The Cursed considered not making it, but are determined to make other factions “play ball” their way and not do stupid things. If The Cursed are angry enough, they might release biological or chemical agents of terror into the game.

(sorry if I have “gone too far”; my passion for Pirates campaign games is intense and I have been very immersed in my turns for the game this year – it is the perfect escape from everything else)

From my notes:

After Cursed launch 7 ships, it makes for 205 total ships in play.
Increased to 207 total after Vikings and Corsairs launch one ship each.
-From Pirate launch of 25 ships, this netted the Cursed an extra 50 gold!
Total gold spent this turn between my four factions: 1,236!!!! (Pirates: 750, Cursed: 427, Vikings: 18, Corsairs: 41)
-Total income: 1223 gold
34 ships launched (Pirates: 25, Cursed: 7, Vikings: 1, Corsairs: 1). This rounds up to a 20% increase in one round (34/173=19.65%).
-Will have to do a point count this year to top CG1 as the biggest overall virtual CG ever!

The 1,236 total gold spent in one round may be my highest total ever; realistically only Command the Oceans could be higher.

Throughout the turn I was stunned and in disbelief. All previous standards have been completely shattered. If the game was an egg that the Pirates had been poking holes in with a fork, as of this weekend they have obliterated the egg with a massive sledgehammer.

It’s almost like the game has been broken into a thousand pieces, or; a thousand gold pieces that have gloriously fallen into Pirate and Cursed coffers.

The Pirates are trying to create “closed loop systems” of ultimate efficiency. That way, the beast feeds itself. Each combo feeds into the next so that abilities and UT’s aren’t wasted. Every time Hidden Trove is brought into the game and used to launch ships, it makes the next Hidden Trove windfall payout even bigger. You can already see this happening – the Pirates’ Hidden Trove was worth 346 gold, but now with 207 ships in play, the next Trove will be worth at least 414 gold – an increase of 68 gold, enough to launch a fully loaded 10 master. Or better yet, perhaps 7 ships that make the next Trove worth 14 more gold than the last. XD The beast feeds itself!!

I am topping even my prior VASSAL campaign game efforts now. I am arguably putting more effort into the game than I need to, simply because I LOVE it so much. I love optimizing fleets, strategy and epicness in campaign games above almost all else.
Compounding Combos. I love how none of this is my fault. The game pieces involved are basically not mine at all. Arcane, Hidden Trove, The Leviathan, Ivory – none of the absolutely key customs used to pull off this insanity came from me. XD

From the report prior to this one:

In time, it could become surreal and bizarre unlike anything anyone has ever seen in Pirates CSG.

Yes, yes indeed. XD 😀 And this “part” is still in the very early stages…

Finally, a view of the huge ocean. 1,236 additional points worth of stuff is in play, though a huge percentage of that is concentrated in the deckplate areas. Four new 10 masters in play!

Thanks for reading! Please consider leaving a comment below with your thoughts! What did you think of my turns? What was the craziest part? Who are you rooting for? What do you think will happen next?? 😀

The Pirates Attack as the Buildup Continues! (July 3rd in CG4)

Posted on July 4, 2020July 4, 2020 by Ben

I was extremely excited to play my turn, as usual. Xerecs’ report on recent events reinforced my last report that showed a relatively tranquil ocean. Here you can see the Spanish with 10 canoes and a couple treasure galleons in the center of the map at the Archipelago:

THE PEACE WILL NOT CONTINUE!!!!

The Pirates have designs on the Archipelago! They have been planning and plotting to an EXTREME degree in recent months, to the point where I’ve often spent more time strategizing Pirate faction stuff than I do actually playing all 4 of my factions put together. O_O I’m talking many hours of planning and custom game piece and combo research before, during, and after each Pirate play turn. It has gotten completely bonkers! Each turn you see the fruits of my efforts to optimize the Pirates and my other fleets. The Pirates have so much happening behind the scenes that it boggles my mind and just about literally made me dizzy today from the possibilities of what could happen and what is to come. In time, it could become surreal and bizarre unlike anything anyone has ever seen in Pirates CSG. 😀

Alright, enough rambling, what actually happened? The Smoke’s Hand is a 40 point custom 5 master that can copy any keyword each turn (whether it’s in play or not). She has a boatload of stuff aboard as well. She was launched last turn along with the Arcane, a custom from JW Darkhurst’s Seas of Doom set. Check out her 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.” O_O

This is where it starts to get complicated, and where the turn started to get just as time consuming as I thought it would. The Arcane rolled for her ability, getting a 5. However, this was bumped to a 6 with Hakann’s Piraka keyword, which gives the ship +1 to all d6 rolls. Therefore, I didn’t have to use Runes of Thor on the Noble Swan to get the Arcane’s ability to work! After looking over a LOT of custom and Wizkids UT’s, I decided to take what I saw as a big risk and go with Nuva, from Xerecs’ Pirates of Spherus Magna. “Any crew ability on this ship may be used by another crew within S of this ship.” My intention was to get Vesok copied to another crew that could then use the Arcane’s ability again.

Time to back up. Vesok is another custom crew, with 3 keywords: Piraka. Limit. Copycat.
Piraka: This piece has the Black Mark keyword, and gets +1 to all die rolls.
Copycat: At the beginning of each of your turns, choose any ability possessed by any ship or crew in play; this character has that ability. You may make a different choice each turn.

Vesok is on the Smoke’s Hand to allow for maximum flexibility and power in one ship. The SH (Smoke’s Hand) has a true copier aboard, and the ship itself can copy any keyword. Almost as good as having two copiers on one ship. O_O It gets weirder. 🙂

The Agnis Crystalis, with only 1 mast standing from the carnage of the Corsair battle but with plenty of crew left, was the perfect ship to start using Nuva with. The Nuva UT is on the SH. The Agnis Crystalis used her oarsman to essentially copy Vesok using the Nuva UT. This meant that the AC basically had a full copier for this turn as well. Now that the AC’s oarsman could copy any ship/crew ability in play, naturally the Pirates chose to copy the Arcane’s ability and use it again. I didn’t get the roll… but it didn’t matter, since I just forced it to a 6 with the Noble Swan’s Runes of Thor UT, which of course stays in play via Nemo’s Plans. Guess what the Pirates brought in with this second usage of the Arcane’s ability? Another Runes of Thor UT. O_O XD This RoT was placed on the Pandora, a ship in the vicinity chosen at random because I knew I’d be using it right away this turn.

Okay – now that those logistics are out of the way (for now), it was time to actually get to the Archipelago. How would the Pirates do that, with no ships even close to the center of the map at the start of their turn? Well, combos and UT’s of course. 😀 Vesok copied the ability of another Spherus Magna custom that the Pirates launched recently: the Phantom (not the infamous Cursed 4 master from Xerecs’ games, a different ship). The ability: Once per turn before you give this ship an action, roll a d6. On a 6 this ships base move becomes D for this turn.

O_O And there you have it! With this ability now used by Vesok, the Pirates were in business. The new Runes of Thor was used to change the d6 roll to a 6, allowing the Smoke’s Hand to have D movement for this turn, meaning she could teleport anywhere on the sea at will!!!!! O_O The Pirates chose the Archipelago as the location for their attack!! The Smoke’s Hand warped out to the middle of the map, revealing John James, a historical custom with the Captain and Canceller abilities. This meant that not only could the Smoke’s Hand teleport, but she could shoot right afterwards! The SH started blasting away at the Spanish native canoes from Return to Savage Shores, getting +1 to her cannon rolls due to Vesok’s Piraka keyword. She hit 4/5 to knock out most of the set. Then it was time for the impressive Pirate logistics to help out. The Jolly Mon sacrificed her (useless) action via Elizabeth’s Piece of Eight, allowing the SH to move and shoot again. The SH warped slightly southeast to dock at a textiles island the Spanish have explored, eliminating the final RtSS canoe and 2 from the SS set in the process. The Smoke’s Hand has enough gold to build a Pirate fort on the island and to upgrade it afterwards, but due to the ruleset we’re using in CG4, things like that can only happen one turn at a time. The SH copied the Explorer keyword this turn to explore the island, but she has to wait until next turn to actually deposit the gold and build the fort. Then on the turn after that, the fort can be upgraded.

This was just the start of the Pirate attack. Next it was time for the Tempest!!! One of her abilities is one of my favorites: Once per turn you may roll a d6. On a 6, you may place a whirlpool anywhere on the play area.

The roll didn’t work at first, but Amos Carter (a custom crew with Reroll) bailed out the Pirates and rerolled to get a 6! O_O The Pirates put a whirlpool southeast of their textiles island in the northeastern part of the sea, near the fogpool that the Stormcloud popped out of when she attacked the Corsairs. Speaking of the Stormcloud, she was the first ship that would go through the newly created whirlpool….

The Pirates only got one of their 5 AA rolls this turn, but it was one they needed. The Stormcloud used her first action to go through the whirlpool and emerge in the center of the map by the Archipelago! With Robert Alcantara and Lady Baptiste failing to give the ship an Extra Action (EA), the AA was used to guarantee a second action coming through the whirlpool. The Stormcloud surged eastwards, blasting away at the Morning Star! She only hit 4/9 times, destroying 2 masts on the MS.

Of course the Pirates weren’t done. 🙂 The Black Pearl was next, getting an EA from Sao Feng to come through the whirlpool and hit the Morning Star 3/4 times, taking out another 1.5 masts.

In order to block the Spanish ships, provide backup, and get in position for next turn, the Pirates sent additional ships to the area despite knowing they wouldn’t be able to shoot yet. The Deliverance sailed in from the northwest, using the whirlpool she had previously used near the Cursed HI to teleport to the center. The Sapphire Sea (one of my custom ships) arrived via the Tempest’s whirlpool. The Shadow’s Hand (a custom 5 master by Xerecs with the Fog Hopper ability) arrived via a fog bank, using a little bonus from the Shrunken Heads to narrow the distance between her and the textiles island later in the turn. The Archipelago has gone from paradise to bloodshed!

Later in the turn I decided why not just put the Natives of Madagascar canoes in the area too? They were going to head home and flee Spanish waters from the island they had been launched at, but they had nothing to lose by going through the whirlpools surrounding that island they were launched at. Suddenly all 5 showed up in the Archipelago as well! XD Including every canoe (which skews the numbers of course), the “ship swing” at the Archipelago went from Spanish: 12, Pirates: 0 to Spanish: 5, Pirates 11. O_O (4-0 to 3-7 counting the canoes as one ship per set)

Here is the attack footage! As it happened!

A report was quickly made to Lord Henry McLean (aka Captain Mission) on the Zeus: “The Spanish have been savagely slaughtered in the center.” At this point the Stormcloud is still the main Pirate flagship, with Robert Alcantara as the primary “admiral” in tactical command of battle-ready Pirate forces. As of right now, Lord Henry McLean is more of the administrative, home front leader overseeing growth efforts and less combat-focused tasks. Mission has more experience and authority than Alcantara, but Alcantara can basically do whatever the hell he wants.

The Pirates have not declared war on the Spanish… there is a LOT going into each decision the Pirates make. They were getting antsy. Before the game progresses any more, I think this is a good time to reveal some notes from my document I use for games like this:

Bizarre crew setup on Tempest (needed a shipwright and wanted to fill out points – so a Chieftain/Shipwright custom lol) led to “bored” Pirates trying to bait someone into attacking them – conveniently the Spanish, since the Pirates also wanted another Necklace of the Sky. Pirates itching for some action and wanting an excuse to put their crazy weapons to good use. XD

Basically, the Natives of Madagascar canoes were launched at the Spanish spices island to try and bait the Spanish into attacking the Pirates. Between that not working (at least not right away, the Pirates were not patient enough to see if it would work longer term lol) and the canoes having rules troubles getting the Necklace of the Sky at a reasonable rate, the Pirates decided to just initiate things. The Pirates wanted to be able to blame the Spanish for instigating conflict, but the Pirates have been growing more confident as their fleet grows. Plus, the Pirates captured the Santa Isabel way earlier in the game and are now using her as a resource runner at last, so the Spanish may have already had some beef with the Pirates. As their arsenal of weapons grows by the turn, the Pirates were getting excited and anxious to do a “test firing” to see how effective a small version of their plan might be. The Pirates also have some designs on the Archipelago, which has been somewhat dominated by the Spanish so far. The Pirates are enjoying their sudden strike capability and want to make it clear they mean business in the center of the map.

In the southern part of Pirate waters, some ships (including the Tempest) are making their way into the fogpool in order to be prepared to come through a whirlpool (likely at the Archipelago) in case they are needed in the next few turns as reinforcements against the Spanish. As you may have noticed from my previous campaign game performances, I usually like my attacks to have maximum redundancy. At the bottom, you can see that another 5 master has been launched. This is another “WMD”. O_O The Leviathan. This one is from vladsimpaler’s Treachery on the High Seas set from 2008.

The Leviathan, 23 points, Pirate (Link: The Mastermind) [Rare]
Masts: 5
Cargo: 1
Speed: D
Cannons: 4L-4L-3L-4L-4L
Abilities: This ship ignores the first hit it takes each turn as long as it has all of its masts.
The Leviathan is the new flagship of the Mastermind. Reports of the ship landing in one port and docking at one thousands of miles away are fairly common. Nobody knows how it works, except that it sails by unholy means.

Another weapon, this one with unlimited movement!! O_O She comes with 2 face down crew, which does work because Edmund Cooke is aboard to give +1 to her cargo hold.

Another broad shot of the northeastern theater shows 3 of my 4 factions gathering resources. The Cassandra unloaded the military port upgrade at the Pirates’ textiles island, meaning it will be upgraded next turn. Next turn the Eagle will give the Resurrection Codex to the Zeus (uh oh… XD). At the very bottom of the frame you can see the whirlpool that the Tempest created, which is where the Stormcloud, Black Pearl, and Sapphire Sea all went through. The whirlpool was almost created to the northeast where the Flying Dutchman (11 point version) and Harbinger are located, but the Pirates decided they wanted arguably their best asset (the Stormcloud) in the Archipelago to better protect the Smoke’s Hand, especially because of Tia Dalma being on the Stormcloud. The Vikings actually had one of their best turns in ages, cashing in lumber for 32 gold and adding 8 saved up gold to it for 40 total. They spent a bunch of it on the Asgard and some crew. The Vikings are hoping to get in on something wild that might happen soon.

A bit out of order, but here is the northwest. The Americans have put a bunch of good ships in play, with the Blackwatch, Kettering, Mercury and Lamon making up what looks like a new strike force. The Cursed are getting excited and cashed in resources to hire a crew. They are unconcerned and have a flippant attitude at the moment. The Wisp has returned home early with no cargo, a strange occurrence.

A full view of the ocean reminds me of how gigantic it is. The substantial new action in the center is barely visible! XD Who knows what happens next? I may have some ideas….

Thanks for reading! And definitely, stay tuned. 😀

Pirates Launch More Epic Customs and The Cursed Attack!!

Posted on May 9, 2020May 9, 2020 by Ben

CG4 continues to develop! Here is the music mix I listened to for most of the Pirate turn. Crazy enough, their post-turn period of launching and truly grand strategizing took even longer than their actual turn!! O_O

I have to apologize for a rules gaffe on my part, and thank Xerecs for pointing it out to me. During my last turn, the Stormcloud used the fog hopping ability inappropriately. However, since it had effectively no impact on the game (the exact same result would have happened if the rule was followed perfectly), we have continued as usual.

New rule: No more than 2 of the same custom fort can be in play at once.

In a move that could potentially have ramifications for the rest of the game, the Pirates captured the Noble Swan! The Warring Tribes began towing her and got Jack Hawkins’ SAT, moving 4S to start skedaddling back to the Pirates’ home island. The Zephyr was initially the “designated tower”, but the Warring Tribes should be able to get the job done faster due to her SAT capabilities. Just behind the Noble Swan you can see the Branwen covering the stern of the prize, just in case the Bonne Chance or Jades try anything in the near future. In addition, the Devil’s Kiss and Lady’s Scorn are sailing out to help escort the small convoy home.

At the bottom of the frame, the Hai Peng has docked at the island the Sea Crane made land on this round! She explored, finding textiles. Although textiles are valuable right now at 5 gold apiece, the Pirates weren’t satisfied since they already have textiles so readily available just south of their HI. In a rare moment for me, they took advantage of the Explorer ability’s bonus under the Economy Edition rules, rerolling for the island’s resource type and getting lumber instead! This was fine with the Pirates, since it gave them a different resource type relatively close to their home island. At this point, it has become clear that the Pirates aren’t too worried about what the Jades think of what they’re doing. As the captain of the Virtuous Wind surely knows, the Pirates have now given the Jades the Plague (via the Dungeon a while back), captured the Noble Swan, and explored an island with the Hai Peng right out from under the Sea Crane.

The lull in metals production has ended, with 5 ships docking home metals this turn. They were converted to gold at the end of the turn, which gives an idea of the Pirates’ spending power…. Left of the resource system you can see that the Deliverance has taken the whirlpool inside the fogpool to a different location.

Post-battle cleanup efforts in full swing! The Pirates finished their victory over the Barbary Corsairs by dismasting the final two galleys, the Osiris and Sphinx. Due to the Giza’s effort to steal the Resurrection Codex last turn, the Red Star sank after being scuttled by the Pirates last turn. However, the rest of the Pirate plan went perfectly – all three remaining Corsair galleys were captured! The Splinter knocked out the last mast on the Osiris, while the Stormcloud dismasted the Sphinx. The Stormcloud then used an EA to sail over so Tia Dalma could cancel the oarsman aboard the Osiris, allowing the Black Pearl to capture her. Due to Raidamos’ Eternal ability, the Pirates immediately scuttled the Osiris to try and get her home to repair as quickly as possible. The Giza and Sphinx were able to start rowing on their own power immediately after capture due to the handy Galley keyword. A team-oriented logistics effort allowed the burning Darkhawk II to sail straight for home, rolling a 3 on the fire mast to keep it at bay for now. Though, the Pirates could have put it out if they wanted to…. hehe. 🙂

After the light combat and medium-complexity towing logistics and logjam was over, the Pirates decided to risk trying to retake their textiles town right away! The safest thing would be to wait for the Stormcloud or Zeus to arrive, but Bartholomew Roberts and Genny Gallows (both aboard the Akua Lapu!) agreed that an attack on the town was worth the risk. However, they were embarrassed in their effort, losing the boarding attempt and the ship’s mizzenmast as a result. Adding to their frustration was the Star of Siam, who was able to retake the town on her attempt despite no big-name pirates on board. XD The textiles island belongs to the Pirates once again! The Coral and Raven immediately joined the Star of Siam in loading textiles, with some of the Pirate resource runners not even having their routine trips bothered by the brief but intense clash with the Corsairs. The Cassandra can be seen east of the Zeus, trying to get the new military port upgrade to the island as fast as possible. North at the home island, the Pandora was given an AA to reach home with 6 textiles tokens, the 30 gold from which would be used directly on the last Pirate purchase of the turn….

Off on her own, the Dungeon explored a wild island southwest of the Archipelago and found the Wine UT along with spices (resource not UT).

Then it was launch time!! The Pirates had 138 gold to spend, and it worked out perfectly as they spent it all! The first big chunk went to what looks like another WMD: the Tempest!!

Tempest
Point Value: 35
Number of Masts: 5
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3S-3L-3L-3L-3S
Ability: Once per turn you may roll a d6. On a 6, you may place a whirlpool anywhere on the play area. | This ship can move through whirlpools without losing crew, masts, or treasure. | Give this ship a shoot action. A wave S wide and 2L long leaves the ship in one direction. Up to 2 masts of every ship in the path of the wave are eliminated. Eliminate one of this ship’s masts.

Flavor text: A mysterious and rarely sighted ship said to rival the power of the Flying Dutchman, the Tempest creates waterborne chaos wherever she sails. It is rumored she can travel under the waves without any harm to her or her crew. Those who don’t believe the legends are those who have yet to encounter the ship….

With a whopping 35 points to play with and plenty of gold to spend, the Tempest comes outfitted with a FULL crew complement: Hammersmith (Captain+Helmsman), Cannonball Gallows (EA), and 4 customs. Amos Carter for rerolling the EA, Henry Turner (from Dead Men Tell No Tales) to add a cargo space, a face down custom, and Aert van Tuyl. (Chieftain. Shipwright. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against Pirate ships.) The new canoes were curiously launched at a wild island near the Spanish HI that Spanish cargo ships have been making trips to. The Natives of Madagascar canoes have the Possession ability built into each canoe, but only L speed. Aert van Tuyl is one of my weirder custom crew (arguably not actually, lol), and serves a dual purpose on the Tempest that doesn’t need to be revealed here. Let’s just say this was a turn in which the Pirates spent a LOT of time strategizing and thinking about long term plans… and more. 😀

Then the attention shifted to the northern half of the Pirate HI, where two new customs came into play, also with considerable crew complements. The Shadows Hand (custom by Xerecs) is a fog hopping 5 master with good cannons. Across the island from her is the Phantom, another custom from Xerecs’ Pirates of Spherus Magna set. She’s a 2 master with S speed for a whopping 15 points, but her wild ability set makes it understandable: essentially she’s got +2 to boarding rolls, 2 hits/mast defense, and gets D movement for turns when she rolls a 6. O_O Safe to say this isn’t the historically-driven Caribbean game!! XD

That was the end of the Pirate turn, but not the end of their thinking… and amusing ideas. 😉

During this turn, the Pirates accomplished their main short-term goals: capture the Noble Swan and clean up from the Corsair battle (which meant finishing the victory, rounding up the rather epic prizes, and ensuring no Pirate ships were left behind). They then launched the Tempest, arguably another WMD given her EA capabilities and a full complement of crew onboard. The Pirates are hard at work on a project codenamed “GMS”….

In addition, the Pirates have a “mass surveillance” program that is helping them make decisions. They now have a variety of “spies” in play – 5 total. Many of them have been in the game for a number of turns now. (listed with per-turn abilities) Between Carina Smyth (can look at all treasures on a wild island), Shansa (can look at two face down crew or treasure coins on any ships or islands), Raven’s Neck (one cargo on an island), Cassandra and Lucky the Parrot (can look at one cargo on a ship), the Pirates have the ability to see as many as approximately 9 cargo per turn across the map. This network of spies has resulted in the Pirates having their eyes and surveillance activities in nearly every corner of the sea… just one of many things they have going for them right now. It’s why they were able to single out and snag the Noble Swan so efficiently when they had a chance to do so. It could also result in more short-term interests being investigated….

As you probably saw in the recent reports, the Americans had been amassing what looked like an attack force off the northeast side of the Cursed home island. With 3 schooners and the Enterprise stationed there, the Cursed were curious as to American intentions. Over a week ago the Cursed reached out to the Americans:

From: Captain of Grand Misfortune
To: American force off Cursed home island

… what is your purpose here? Do ya intend to attack… ?
IF so… ya may regret its….

The Cursed

However, by the time the Cursed turn was up this morning of May 9th, no response had been received. Soon after the game started, the Cursed had become interested in a potential alliance with the Americans to share resource islands and information on which islands were the best to go to. Between the Americans’ thinly veiled threat of “the newly assembled strike force is looking for a target…” last September and now the proximity of said strike force to the Cursed home island, the Cursed have a feeling they cannot trust the Americans. They have been using what little purchasing power they have to put some defenses in place, mainly based around small raiders and UT combos. With most of the American ships of the strike force in range of the Cursed, the Cursed decided…

IT WAS TIME TO ATTACK!!!!!

Check out the video to see the crazy stuff that went down!!!

The Repulsive Waste got things started, coming out of the fog and ramming the Enterprise head-on! It may look like a severe mismatch, but the RW was just on a suicide mission to give the Enterprise the Plague!! This killed all 3 of the Enterprise’s crew, leaving her much worse off in the short term for potential combat operations against the Cursed.

Then it was time for the next UT-based raider. The Devil’s Sneer had been launched for one purpose only: carry Explosives. She had the UT face down and was waiting inside the fog bank for the perfect time to strike. The Cursed flagship is the Grand Misfortune, but none of her cannons (all L-range) can hit the Jarvis (who has L-immunity). Therefore, the Jarvis was the perfect ship to simply eliminate from the battlefield so the Cursed didn’t have to deal with her! The Devil’s Sneer got a lucky fog exit roll and slammed into the Jarvis! She rolled a 2, but Explosives needs a 4-6 to work! However, there was more to the story!!!! Suddenly out of nowhere the die roll became a 6!!!!! O_O RUNES OF THOR!!!!!! THE NOBLE SWAN HAS RUNES OF THOR! The Pirates flipped the UT to detonate the Devil’s Sneer and the Jarvis!! O_O With a spectacular explosion both ships blew up. Of course, the Pirates knew what they were doing – the Noble swan ALSO has Nemo’s Plans! This means that UT’s like Runes of Thor that are normally eliminated after use remain aboard and can be used again!! 😀 The Pirates had anticipated using RoT on their turn to save the DHII from fire or to scuttle the Osiris, but didn’t really need it for anything. Instead it was saved for a moment like this to cause maximum chaos.

From there it was time for the proper gunships to get in play. The Devil’s Storm hopped out of the fog bank and maneuvered off the Boston’s stern (unable to get any guns in range of the Enterprise). She shot 2/4 to eliminate a mast. Then it was time for the Grand Misfortune!

The GM is absolutely loaded with UT’s, although she would use 2 from her arsenal here. (she started the turn with 7 UT’s aboard!) The GM is only moving S+S, so she needed a little help to get in range of the American schooners. Luckily for the Cursed, they found a LOT of help in the UT department from exploring earlier in the game. Power Cannons AND Fireworks! O_O This gave the GM L+L range on all 6 of her cannons, along with +2 to her cannon rolls! I couldn’t resist this unique and cool shot of the GM lining up her shots to devastate the Julius Caesar.

The captain gave the order, and the Grand Misfortune blasted away! She shot 5/6 to nearly dismast the Julius Caesar! She really needed the Fireworks too, since 3 of the hits would have missed if not for the bonus. Although the (probable) American counterattack on the Cursed could be effective, the Grand Misfortune has Metal Hull aboard, meaning she can’t be hit by cannon rolls less than 6! She also has Eternal and an oarsman, so she has been equipped as a defensive powerhouse with short-term (aka: this turn) offensive theatrics.

Total damage assessment: 2 ships sunk (1 American, 1 Cursed), 3 masts eliminated, 4 crew killed in action (captain of the Jarvis + all 3 crew from the Enterprise).

Here’s a good view of the northwest area where the Cursed and Americans live. Both factions have valuable resources right now, and the Americans look like they have quite a stockpile of metals available. At the bottom you can see where the Deliverance emerged. Her crew are observing the Cursed and hearing the sounds of the clash beyond the fog.

The northeast is still the busiest “quadrant” of the sea, as it is home to many of the game’s most prominent factions thus far. The Vikings and Barbary Corsairs simply spent their turn gathering resources.

Now the possibilities with Runes of Thor become evident for the Pirates: even just using it on one of their AA crew basically gives them a guaranteed extra action anywhere in their fleet, every turn (without having to actually roll the 6).

Stay tuned, for more exciting developments await! 😀 Thanks for reading!

100 Point Game of Water World with Wind and Customs between A7XfanBen and Xerecs – December 2nd, 2019

Posted on December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 by Ben

High Scoring Game – VASSAL action of May 4th, 2018

Posted on August 19, 2019August 19, 2019 by Ben

High Scoring Game – VASSAL action of May 4th, 2018

Another game was played between A7XfanBen and JohnLock.

I went first with The Jades can use Calypso too! JohnLock followed with a Pirate fleet comprising some of the best ships in the game, including the Banshee’s Cry and Hai Peng.

Once again we had 10 wild islands with 3 coins apiece, and flat earth rules.

The Pirates took off for 4 different islands, but the Virtuous Wind had already scoured one of them. I purposely went for islands farther from home, knowing I could probably get close gold later. Calypso got into action early, allowing the Tiger’s Breath to explore an island in the south that would have taken longer to get to.

High Scoring Game - VASSAL action of May 4th, 2018

Here I wanted to try raiding the Pirate home island, but Calypso and Cheng couldn’t come up with a whirlpool in the north. The Virtuous Wind instead headed northeast.

Seeing both Pirate gunships (Hai Peng and Carrion Crow carried captains) away from the Pirate HI, I decided it was time for the VW’s raid. Throughout this game, both of us had dismal luck with whirlpool travel, and Protection from Davy Jones wasn’t found until the end.

Having found the Jade UT earlier, I was taking a big risk going to the Pirate HI instead of just going home with the 7 the VW had. Risking both the UT and the 7, the VW only robbed a 1 coin.

Though the Pirate brigade did turn for their robbed home island afterwards, I decided to “ride out and meet them”. The Hai Peng had 3 coins aboard, and I figured the VW could win the fight. The Hades’ Flame and Carrion Crow have warped to the southeast, losing masts.

The Hai Peng rammed the VW instead of docking at the home island, taking off a mast but being dismasted in return by the Wind. This was my golden opportunity to cash in and tow the HP home for a bunch of gold.

Using a little-known rule, from Page 10 of the Reference Diagrams I confirmed that I could capture and tow the Hai Peng with the Virtuous Wind since the HP was derelict and her bow was already in contact with the VW. The VW moved S to enter a new whirlpool Calypso had created (Clutch Calypso! XD), warping back to the Jade HI in a jiffy!

Both fleets maxed out their gold scores at the end, specifically the Jades with you guessed it, Jade. XD The VW used the UT to double her old 7 coin into 14 gold after the Tiger’s Paw took the stolen 1. The TP then gave the 1 back to let the VW double that coin too. Good thing, since unfortunately I would need it….

In very improbable fashion, the scores end up tied at 58-58!!!!

The Jades won on both tiebreakers: they led the Pirates in points in play (my favorite tiebreaker, and something that should have been a standard rule) 55-21, and led in masts standing 7-5.

I’m very happy with how my new fleet performed in its first game, essentially winning against a fleet using some of the best Pirate ships out there. We both made some mistakes; the Hai Peng ramming the Virtuous Wind instead of docking home her gold led to the Jades capturing the infamous junk, while I should have been more conservative actually, since going for the HI raid only resulted in 1 more gold. If the VW had been successful in doubling both the 7 and the 4 from the island northeast of the Jade HI (Carrion Crow eventually got the 4 for the Pirates), the Jade profit would have been 22 instead of 15. However, then I probably wouldn’t have captured the HP, who netted 12 gold from her 3 coins. So many moments, decisions, and strategic moves that matter in the end – one of the reasons I love Pirates so much!

Overall though, a very fun, close, and strategic game that came down to the… rope? XD See you next time!!

3 Time Zones, 3 Players – VASSAL game of December 29th, 2017

Posted on August 17, 2019August 17, 2019 by Ben

3 Time Zones, 3 Players – VASSAL game of December 29th, 2017

Just played a 3 player VASSAL game with Anthony and Xerecs! With Anthony in Italy, myself in New York, and Xerecs in California, we played over 3 time zones for a total time differential of 9 hours! O_O

Anthony went first with a Jade Rebellion fleet:
Grand Path + captain, helmsman
Sea Duck
Dragon’s Talon + helmsman

I went second with my Halloween 2017 Fleet Challenge entry.

Xerecs used the same amazing type of ships he almost always seems to use:
HMS Grand Temple + Bonny Peel, Sir Christopher Myngs, helmsman, oarsman
Longshanks + helmsman, explorer, oarsman

We introduced Anthony to terrain and UT’s, with 6 total islands and 6 pieces of terrain.

The Grand Temple got an SAT from Myngs to dismast the Amity, who had turned ghostly:

3 Time Zones, 3 Players - VASSAL game of December 29th, 2017

The Grand Temple used the whirlpools to head south, while the Dragon’s Talon and Sea Duck got some gold. The Grand Path and Terror sailed past Xerecs’ home island in opposite directions.

The Longshanks transferred the OE version of the Dead Man’s Chest UT to the Grand Temple (I thought it was the PotC version), allowing the GT to sink the Terror and eliminate my “Merc Pirates” from the game. The Jades were busy getting gold, but were soon set upon by the English as well.

The Grand Path sunk the Grand Temple in a matchup of capital ships, after which the Longshanks went on the run with some gold.

The Longshanks got home with coins, after which the Grand Path did the same after some light skirmishing.

Final scores:
1. Anthony: 31 gold
2. Xerecs: 21
3. a7xfanben: 0

Anthony’s first win on the high seas!

4 Player Game on VASSAL – August 13th, 2017

Posted on August 15, 2019August 15, 2019 by Ben

4 Player Game on VASSAL – August 13th, 2017

This was a 4 player game on VASSAL between myself, xerecs, repkosai, and wifey. We used Cadet-Captain Mike’s random setup tables, rolling 6-5-1 for free ships totalling 10 cargo and four free crew. Since the game was played in 2 chunks and I was only 1 of 4 players, this is the best summary I can muster.

The play order went from left to right as the fleets appear at the top: xerecs with a mostly Pirate fleet, repkosai with a mixed fleet, a7xfanben with a Cursed fleet, and wifey with a mostly English fleet. We did round earth and included plenty of UT’s!

The fleets scatter, and the gold race begins!

4 Player Game on VASSAL - August 13th, 2017

Repkosai’s Black Pearl (xerecs used that ship as well) found Pandora’s Box, bringing some craziness into the game. Wifey’s Monarca found one of the worst islands in recent memory, with negative UT’s, 0 coins, and Bad Maps, which is why the island in the southeast nearly round earthed to a different part of the map!

This was taken after we resumed play this past weekend, and Repkosai has lost the Black Pearl and Gibraltar, while wifey’s Monarca and my Lilu also sunk (the latter with copier DJC Davy Jones aboard, who was copying Emperor Blackheart’s All-Powerful keyword to be just like the OE Davy Jones). Xerecs’ Flying Dutchman has just docked home a captured Benito de Soto (via Bonny Peel) for a big 9 gold chunk. Wifey’s HMS Grand Temple found misfortune in the form of UT’s and was set upon by my Cursed fleet, but escaped and rid herself of the Runes of Death via whirlpooling, repairing soon afterwards. The Cursed gathered gold for a while and here they’ve struck, coming out of the fog to dismast Xerecs’ Black Pearl.

The south became the location of a hot action, with the Hades’ Realm finally revealing her secret weapon: Captain Nemo! I was trying to use Nemo in conjunction with OE El Fantasma (sac captain) in order to sac any crew for extra actions that didn’t benefit the HR (department) while aboard. To make it more complex and fun, Wraith was aboard the Fiddler’s Green to reanimate sacrificed crew for additional usage! The Cursed had the good fortune of discovering the Eye of Insanity early in the game, using it on the Fiddler’s Green to copy El Fantasma with Wraith and give the FG the captain ability. (in)Human Resources won a boarding party against the Black Pearl, allowing Nemo to capture Emperor Blackheart! This was important but also ironic, because I had previously used Davy Jones to copy EBH to essentially use the OE Davy Jones (which is what I originally had before remembering the Lilu was 11 points compared to 12 needed for OE DJ). The Cursed once again had access to an All-Powerful crew! In addition, this gave them an incredible cast of characters all on the same ship: Fantasma, Nemo, and Blackheart, some of the biggest characters from this game.

Here the Fiddler’s Green and Hades’ Realm team up to take down the Flying Dutchman. The Jikininki was also disposed of by the Cursed, a ship notably included by xerecs in a clever (and somewhat gamey) way of exploiting the setup rules, as she’s the only ship (not including sea creatures) in the game to not have any cargo space.

Repkosai’s Resolucion has captured Xerecs’ Black Pearl, giving us a second irony since repkosai had a BP earlier in the game before it was sunk. The Cursed have captured the Flying Dutchman and scuttled her to take advantage of Eternal.

After briefly collaborating with repkosai in a secret alliance, I unfortunately turned on him because it was the best move I could make that gave me the best chance of winning the game. Nemo’s captive EBH rolled a 6 to toss the Resolucion onto a reef, where she lost 3 of her 4 masts. The Hades’ Realm knocked the last one off before moving on to the BP. The Fiddler’s Green returns to the scene to get gold, but wifey has arrived! Alas, the Concorde and Grand Temple weren’t crewed enough to take on the juggernaut that the HR had become.

hot action on the Pirates CSG VASSAL module

Ironically the human resources department grew to a massive size, with the HR using Nemo to snag Carlos Pavon off the Resolucion and a helmsman from the Concorde. The partially-repaired Flying Dutchman won a boarding party against the BP to get Hammersmith in Bonny Peel’s hands. I needed as much gold as I could get, and Hammersmith’s 5 and the gold loaded by the Fiddler’s Green would help. Wifey’s remaining ships gave their best effort but without captains were easy prey for the now-unstoppable Hades’ Realm.

In the end, Xerecs got THREE 7’s, a 1, and Benito de Soto’s 9 gold payout, earning the win despite my fantastic second half that ended in domination of the sea but not of profit.

1. xerecs: 31 gold
2. a7xfanben: 22 gold
3. repkosai: 14 gold
4. wifey: 13 gold

This was a very fun 4 player game that saw a lot of funny moments, ironies, and good gameplay. Xerecs got high gold values, and managed to pull off his plan of nabbing a very high-value crew in Benito. My plans were foiled early, but flourished late in the game. It would have been enough with a different treasure distribution, but I had a lot of fun! Repkosai got two 7’s himself, but was really smashed by xerecs’ Pirates and later betrayed by the Cursed. Wifey played a good game but was plagued by incredible misfortune, with a horrid treasure distribution dooming her chances of victory. With that, we look forward to more adventures on the high seas!

Points In Play AND Gold For the Win – July 29th, 2017

Posted on August 15, 2019August 15, 2019 by Ben

Points In Play AND Gold For the Win (new endgame rule)

This was a 3 player game on VASSAL between myself, repkosai, and wifey.

With some inspiration from this epicness, we decided to play by a new rule. The winner of the game would be whoever had the most points in play PLUS gold. Essentially, you’d start with X points and try not to lose any, and get gold along the way to maximize your score.

We kept it simple for the first time trying out the idea, with standard 40 point fleets. Also, since the new rule could potentially make the gold race irrelevant, we contributed high value coins (only worth 4 gold or more). Here was the turn order:

Repkosai’s Corsairs
El Leon + Castro (SAT version), captain, helmsman
Wicked Kareen + captain, helmsman
Queen of Sheba + helmsman

Wifey’s Spaniards
Asesino de la Nave + captain
El Duque + captain, helmsman
La Monarca + explorer

A7XfanBen’s Unconventional Pirates

The Duque and Raven are the first to reach islands:

Points In Play AND Gold For the Win - July 29th, 2017

After some maneuvering, the Leon knocked the flag off the Doombox flotilla before being attacked by the Cutlass and Raven. Barstow nabbed the Spanish captain, but the Raven couldn’t dismast the Spanish ship. To make things more complicated, the Asesino was approaching.

The Unconventional Pirates dismast the Leon and nearly do the same to the Asesino! The Monarca lurks north of the wild island the Pirates looted with the Paradox and Cutlass.

The Pirates clean up with a big turn! The Paradox captured the Leon, while the Raven dismasted the Asesino and the Cutlass did the same to the Monarca. At this point I had realized that my strategy of capturing crew for gold with Barstow wasn’t a very effective strategy with the new endgame rule, so I adapted and tried to capture as many ships as possible to control a lot of points. However, the Spanish were certainly winning the gold race, as the Duque brought home her second haul.

The Pirates capture the Asesino and Monarca, giving them 6 ships to double the size of their fleet!

The Pirates repair two of their new ships and maneuver so the Paradox can tow the Asesino, allowing the Raven to unload her captured captain. The Duque passes by in a convenient route, allowing the Pirates to attack her as well!

The Duque was captured, giving the Pirates 7 ships and their flotilla! The Leon was sent through a whirlpool to steal gold from the Queen of Sheba, which she did with moderate success. Another captured Spanish ship from a different fleet, the Monarca, grabbed a coin from the northeastern island. The Pirates had already begun celebrating – check out the welcoming parade for the Leon and Monarca! With the Spanish eliminated and the QoS docking home her gold for the Corsairs, the game was over with no gold left to collect.

The points and gold of each fleet were tallied up!

1. Pirates: 139 total points (93 in their fleet, so they more than doubled their starting build total)
2. Corsairs: 49
3. Spanish: 36 (all from gold)

The Pirates ruled the seas in this game, using a dual strategy of gold capture crew and later adapting to capture ships normally to maximize the size of their fleet.

I must say, I like this new endgame variation, and not just because I won. It’s rather practical, and adds more realism to the game. Ships were very important, and losing a ship could be as bad or worse than losing a cargo full of resources. It really emphasizes keeping your fleet healthy, and trying to make a decisive engagement with another player so you can take ships and crew (and therefore points) from their fleet and add them to your own. In addition, it makes sinking ships less practical, and incentivizes the winners of battles to keep derelicts afloat and capture them. This is also more realistic, as ships didn’t sink from cannon fire very often in the Age of Sail. Finally, it makes combat more enticing since the gold scores aren’t the end-all be-all like they usually are. This is great because various people expected the game to be more of a combat game and wish there was more battling, and because gold running is usually more boring than the combat. I’d love to hear feedback on this “Points In Play AND Gold for the win” idea! Please comment below your thoughts on it!