The first two games of the VASSAL Fleet Challenge tournament have been played!
Game 1
El Cazador – VASSAL China (this fleet was played by a7xfanben)
Xerecs – VASSAL Pirates
El Cazador’s fleet went first, and both ships quickly reached wild islands.
The Nubian Prince cornered the Grand Path, and went 3/3 in the first fleet challenge shoot action we’ve seen in quite a while!
The Grand Path rammed the Nubian Prince, unable to shoot with her S range guns. In a huge turn of events and momentum, Dragon Eyes captured Aruj Barbarossa! This gave the Jade Rebels 10 gold (if they could bring him back home), while also denying his further usage by the Pirates. In addition, the Tiger’s Breath brought home gold, while the Darkhawk II found the Rats UT.
The Darkhawk sunk the Tiger’s Breath. After depositing the captured Barbarossa on the Jade HI, the Grand Path sailed out for a stealth raid on the Nubian Prince, but it failed.
After another raid by the Grand Path, the Nubian Prince finally escaped for good.
All remaining gold was unloaded, and the game ended! El Cazador’s fleet won 28-15!
Game 2
Xerecs – VASSAL Pirates
Volt – VASSAL La dominación española (this fleet was played by a7xfanben)
This time Xerecs went first. For simplicity and fairness we used the same setup.
The Darkhawk docked at the middle island, while the Spanish gunships moved into the fog.
The Darkhawk found the Turtles UT! This seemed to give the Pirates a great advantage with their home island so nearby, but when the Nubian Prince moved north towards the Spanish HI, the Santo Columba was able to swoop in and sink the Darkhawk with a double action! The Algeciras killed a turtle while the Joya del Sol docked at the northwestern island.
Poor turtles!
The Nubian Prince shot two masts off the Santo Columba, and won a boarding party against the Algeciras to capture Luis Zuan.
The battle raged, allowing a few turtles to reach the safe shore of the Pirate home island.
The Spanish decided to cut their losses and flee, knowing that 2 more turtles getting home would only mean 2 gold for the Pirates. However, if Aruj managed to capture some of the Columba’s crew, it could tip the gold balance in favor of the Pirates.
The Nubian Prince dismasted the Algeciras, but the Santo Columba had escaped through a whirlpool while the Joya del Sol sailed out for another gold run.
Knowing she can’t be shot at by the Santo Columba, the Nubian Prince rams the Spaniard but can’t capture any crew. The yellow token at the stern of El Algeciras signifies that the Spanish are scuttling her.
The Santo Columba resumed the battle with a double ram, but the Nubian Prince was too tough to take out. However, she lost Aruj Barbarossa and Luis Zuan in boarding parties, dooming the Pirate efforts.
After another skirmish, the Santo Columba had to repair again.
The Joya made a successful trip to the southwestern island, and the Santo Columba protected her return trip.
Volt’s fleet won 32-9!
At this point, Xerecs has lost both of his games and is out of the challenge tournament. This leaves only Volt and El Cazador, meaning that the third game will be a tiebreaker to decide the winner of the fleet challenge!
I didn’t do a battle report for the third game, but these should be the pictures from that game. El Cazador won the game and therefore the VASSAL Fleet Challenge Tournament!
