Before this turn, we amended the fort rules slightly.  Unlike before, forts shut down their island’s production of resources AND gold (instead of just resources).  However, gold stored in an upgraded fort can be used to launch ships and crew, not only gold from the home island.

The first play of April saw some interesting developments!  Here you can see some of the newest Pirate ships scattering away from the home island as they take sail for the first time.  The Warring Tribes got her SAT and took off at a whopping 8S, one of the fastest single-turn speeds ever seen on a 5 master.  The Zephyr was close by after receiving an AA, of which the Pirates had 2 at the beginning of their turn (Jean Laffite and Captain Elizabeth Swann launched at the end of their last turn), and 3 by the end of their turn!  O_O  The Hai Peng was off and running at her rather typical L+S+L+S speed.  The new native canoes redocked to load metals as 4 cargo ships docked home a total of 12 metal tokens for 72 gold.  Combining that with 30 gold from textiles in the north and 12 saved up gold, the Pirates spent lavishly once again, blowing through all 114 gold for 4 new ships!  You can see two of them at the bottom – the Zeus is loose!  She comes into play with Lord Henry McLean aboard, usually known as Captain Mysion.  My custom version of him has AA and World Hater, giving the Pirates 3 AA crew, all with Reroll on their ships.  Just north of the Zeus is the newly launched Deliverance from Crimson Coast.

Shifting gears to the northwest, you can see various American ships sailing towards the Cursed!  The Cursed have been preparing the best they can in the case of an American attack – the Grand Misfortune carries numerous UT’s, while the Dark Pact’s load of lumber helped them put two new ships in the water this turn.  The Devil’s Storm and Devil’s Sneer, both custom ships from my Epic Seas set.  The Americans also have metal readily available, so they don’t look like they’ll be suffering anytime soon.

Here is the entire Viking fleet in the north.  Sigurd Andersen has moved his flag from the Donar to the Polaris, where he is more likely to be successful rolling for his AA ability.

Now THIS is where it is interesting right now.  The Selkie took another potshot at the Corsairs from 4L range, this time missing with Chain Shot on a 4.  The Corsairs have 4 of my best 4 masted galleys sailing west with plenty of crew aboard.  The Corsairs are trying to stay out of range of the Pirates, who are beefing up their defenses of their textiles island.  The Selkie, Agnis Crystalis and Splinter have formed a small line of battle, while the Mermaid let go of the Widowmaker flotilla on her way home to avoid taking extra firepower out of the area.  In addition, two new Pirate ships were launched from the northern half of their home island – the #300 (11 point) Flying Dutchman with a full complement of basic weaponry, and the Coral with a helmsman and oarsman.  In addition, the Pirates have been using armed merchants as a deterrence force, with the Akua Lapu, Darkhawk II and Eagle all carrying captains on their textiles trips.  At the upper right, a long journey is nearly complete – the Agha’s Whip has round earthed and is nearly home with her long-awaited haul of foreign resources!

The Pirates’ claim to their textiles island (with a town upgrade) has forced the Corsairs to spread out their fleet.  Three ships arrive home with spices from the northeast, while three more make the same trip they are returning from.  Three more galleys head south towards a textiles island where the English have an encampment.  Two Corsair ships have just docked there, with a letter from the unknown Corsair leader explaining to the English that the Corsairs would like to trade freely with the English and cause them no difficulties.

Note that the English have also spread their resource gatherers lately.  I intend to report more on factions that are not my own in the future, but right now my fleets seem to have the most going on and are feeling some rising tension.  Not to mention, Xerecs has been doing a great job with his video reports that concern the general goings-on across the sea.