The Captain's Logbook

Arr!

The most recent Pirates set, Fire and Steel, has introduced a couple of new, more expensive Flotillas. Where all of the Flotillas in Rise of the Fiends cost 7pts, several of these new Flotillas cost 9pts. This is actually a good thing, because the new Flotillas have abilities beyond just double-range cannons, and because now you have room to put more expensive crew onto them. And, there is one new Flotilla that just costs 6pts, for you point-pinching Pirates. Continue Reading »

Last week, we had a Last Captain Standing 40pt game. There was no gold or no Home Island immunity. This was a pure gunbattle. We had 3 players, including myself, with the other 2 players using 5-masted gunships towing Flotillas. I opted for a different strategy based around the San Cristobal, a very fast ship.

Here is what was in my fleet:

• San Cristobal (17pt, RotF): If this ship has a crew with the Captain keyword, she gets +L to her base move.
  • Contessa Anita Amore (0pts, CC): Limit, Ransom, +5 build points. This crew cannot leave this ship unless captured or eliminated.
  • Luis Zuan (0pt, RotF): Hostile: Pirates, Loyal: Spain, Captain.
  • Almirante Devante del Nero (3pts, SM): This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against Pirate ships.
  • Helmsman (2pt): This ship gets +S to it’s base move.
  • Exploding Shot (1pt, FnS):
    
• Slipstream (12pts, MI): Submarine, Mercenary, Crew of any nationality can use their abilities on this ship.
  • Lord Mycron (6pts, FnS): Instead of giving this ship an action this turn, you may give any ship in your fleet 2 actions.
  • Helmsman (2pt): This ship gets +S to it’s base move.

The basic idea for this fleet is to have the Slipstream submerge, hopefully keeping it out of reach of the enemy. While it’s submerged, Lord Mycron gives the San Cristobal 2 actions, meaning the speedy ship can move S+S+L+S and shoot, and then move S+S+L+S away. FOOM!

Trying it out: I tried this fleet in a 3 player gunbattle. My main gunship, the San Cristobal, was the fastest ship on the table. The other 2 players were playing big gunships towing Flotillas.

For the first couple of turns, we head toward the middle of the table. I kept Lord Mycron hidden (face down) on the submerged submarine, and I also kept Luis Zuan and the Helmsman face down to lure the other ships into striking distance. Eventually, One player’s HMS Endeavour got close enough, and I was able to sail in, fire all three L range cannons (I was concerned about cancelers), and sail away. After 2 turns of that, and not doing much damage, I ended my move too close to the Endeavour. That player managed to roll his “5-6 for extra action” ability, sailed up and did massive damage to the San Cristobal.

On the next player’s turn, she rolled a 6 for Davy Jones (OE version), and so she gave a Shoot action to the Endeavour, and sank the San Cristobal.

After that, I tried to use the sub’s underwater ram to sink the other players Flying Dutchman, but wasn’t able to roll high enough to knock off a mast. Then, the canceler on board canceled my sub’s keyword, which brought me to the surface, where she was able to shoot and sink me.

The game continued with the slow Flying Dutchman chasing the HMS Endeavour, but eventually, the Dutchman was able to sink the Endeavour and win the game.

I think my fleet is a good build, with some possibilities, but you have to be careful about cancelers and Davy Jones/Emperor Blackheart. If you are playing a game that includes Home Island immunity, you can probably save a few points by putting Lord Mycron onto a cheaper ship and just leaving it docked at home.

Someone over on the WizKids boards managed to get their hands on a preview pack of the next Pirates set: Fire and Steel, and they posted pictures! Continue Reading »

One of the new ship types that has me excited in the latest Pirates of the Cursed Seas: Rise of the Fiends sets is Flotillas. These stationary gun platforms are meant to be used to protect your trade routes/gold runners, and are cheap at only 7pts each. But, the pros and cons of these units need to be weighed carefully before adding them to your fleet. Continue Reading »

The new Pirates of the Cursed Seas set Rise of the Fiends came out today, and WizKids has updated their card gallery with all sorts of new goodness. Here’s a first look at some of the ships in the new set. Continue Reading »

This past Wednesday, I came up with a new scenario to run called Nickels and Dimes. The idea was that each player (we had 3, including myself) would start out with 30pts of ships, and 15pts of crew. Crew was initially NOT loaded onto any ships, and 0pt crew were disallowed. As each player was able to get gold back to their Home Island, they would be able to “buy/hire” crew on a 1 gold=1 point basis. Crew could be loaded face down, but the money spent had to be announced. To make sure there was enough gold, I increased the normal starting amounts to 12 pieces totaling 24 gold. Continue Reading »

Last night’s PotSM scenario, Icebound!, went pretty well. Including me, we only had 3 players, but that meant that we were able to accomplish quite a bit, and finish the game (all the gold had been gathered).

The scenario’s description was “The Spanish treasure ship, El Toreador, ran aground during a late winter storm. Since that fateful night, the ship has been icebound, and nearly abandoned by her crew. But, the ice is starting to thaw…

The Toreador (represented by any 4+ masted Spanish ship) starts the game derelict, and surrounded by 5-6 icebergs, all touching the hull of the ship. An additional ring of icebergs (~6-8) starts out 2L away from the first ring. Place 2 Marines onto the ship to represent the guards that the Spanish left on the ship. They will shoot at the nearest (or docked) ship at the end of each round (after all players have acted). The Marines can be targeted as normal. Place 4 coins totalling 8 gold from each player (UTs allowed) onto the ship.

Players bring a 40pt, nationally pure fleet to try to bring home as much gold as they can. Normal victory and game ending conditions are in effect.”

The del Sol was my treasure runner, and on it first turn, I doubled my move and was able to move 6S and touch the wreck. Next turn, I Explored, and found Fruit (takes 2 space, can’t get rid of it), Odin’s Revenge (all ships lose a mast), Monkey’s Paw, Poseidon’s Breath, and a 4 gold piece. Unfortunately, that was the only gold I was able to get, because between the other players fleets (one Cursed, one Pirate), the 2 Marines on the wreck, and the icebergs, the del Sol was derelicted and repaired several times.

My El Monte Cristo didn’t do so hot, but it was able to keep the Cursed players big Longship, the Loki’s Revenge, busy while I took the del Sol home and unloaded the gold. Eventually, the Loki’s Revenge’s double actions and the icebergs took their toll, and the El Monte Cristo sank.

Once the del Sol had completely repairs all it’s masts, I revealed Poseidon’s Breath, which allowed me to move my base move tiems the number of masts I had. The del Sol has 4, so I was able to move 12S! If I had rolled my same-action-twice, I could have moved 15S, but 12S was enough for me to move and dock on the far side of the wreck from the Revenge. Unfortunately, the LR took the remaining gold and UTs on the ship and headed home.

My del Sol didn’t have a captain, and the guns really suck on the ship, so going after the Revenge was pointless. But, the Cursed player had another ship, the Tarantula. So, on my last turn, I rammed the little ship and did absolutely nothing! I didn’t roll well enough to remove a mast, and we tied on boarding rolls, so nothing
happend.

The Pirate player used an interesting tactic. He had 2 ships in his fleet, the Harbinger and the El Dorado. Both ships have the ability “You own any derelict this ship explores; both ships become docked at your home island. ” What he did was load some gold from the wreck, and then wait for the Marines to derelict one of his ships. He then used the other ship to Explore the derelict, and both ships appeared at his home port. It made transporting the gold back very nice, and he got lucky and grabbed the majority of the gold.

Overall, the scenario went well. We had lots of iceberg movement, but surprisingly, no one played any icebreakers. Instead, we were able to remove icebergs by shooting them twice…which meant that on more than one occasion, we missed. How do you miss an iceberg? the game could be livened up with more players…and maybe more icebergs.