Battle Diary: Davy Jones lives up to the words all powerful

[volt]

So my gaming group got together this weekend for some games. The following is a narrative of our one “group game” where all 7 of us participated. It was a fun time and I thought I would share. What is mostly absent here is the "talk" we always have between us. The psychological game is almost as intense as the luck of the die, lol.

Our "group" game was a 60 pt pure nation fleet game, where we picked our nations from a hat. The seven of us picked, and I received "miscellaneous," which for us is Barbary/Jade/Norse/Merc. I have little Norse or Jade, so my choices were limited. Seeing the possibilities of facing the likes of the Titan, Enterprise, and Deliverance from the other factions, I knew I needed firepower; something more than Corsair crappy cannons and the 3-masted Norse. Therefore, I had to go with a 10-Master, and thus the Celtic Fury game out from its protective plastic cocoon to lead my fleet.

The massive board was set up, and the 7 of us placed islands and our ships. The board consisted of three rings of islands, with extra wild islands and an unequal distribution of treasure: the closer you got to the center, the more coins on the wild islands. The center island had a whopping 11 coins. Reefs, Sargasso Seas, fog banks, and Icebergs littered the map in between the rings. The seven of us started on the outer ring.

I looked around to size up my opponents, and quickly realized few players had treasure on their mind. Spain had a nasty looking La Resolution, backed by small and fast escort and treasure ships. France had Le Bonaparte and Le Soleil Royale. The Enterprise and Bonhomme Richard were set to go guard their native canoes which docked at the center island and practically said COME SHOOT ME. England only had one thing on its mind with the Titan and Leicester, as did the Pirates with Lady's Scorn (The good one) and Deliverance. My 44 pt. Celtic Fury was an obvious threat, flanked by the Devil Ray and a Barbary gold ship. Finally, All-Powerful Davy Jones was aboard the Executioner, and was flanked by the He**fire. The Cursed player, having few options available to him, went with only a 51 pt fleet, with 9 pts of crew left at his home island.

The canoes were an obvious and first target for many as the La Bonne Chance and all of England and the Cursed traveled toward them at the center. The rest of the French went to fight the obviously treasure seeking Spanish. My Mercs went toward the center, and the Pirates went for the nearest treasure island.
It wasn’t long before chaos ensued. France went toward Spain, and the two would be embroiled in battle for the rest of the match. The Le Bonaparte eventually rammed the Resolution at its home island, which complicated things. The Executioner streaked in with a double action and derelicted the Monte Cristo. The Le Soleil Royale took time to explore an island, which contained jail. This took it out of action for the next several rounds as it headed back home to retrieve its captain and helmsman.

The La Bonne Chance got too close to the Americans, and the Enterprise didn’t take it too well, using a double action to get some guns within range. Hurt, the Bonne Chance retreated back home. Meanwhile, the English acted a little too timid given its guns, and played a game of cat and mouse with the Enterprise and Bonhomme. While the Stars and Stripes was trying to keep the English occupied, Davy Jones reared his influence. The American Canoes had plundered the inner islands, and some started for home. A roll of a six let Davy Jones send a canoe straight into an ice berg, sinking it along with Rum and Wine. A second canoe got Message in a Bottle, and since there was a tie of lowest gold islands, it was gladly transported by another player to between the Le Bonaparte and Le Soleil. Meanwhile, the Executioner and its escort streaked across the ocean toward the center.

The Celtic Fury tried to force the English into fighting, which made the Pirates a little too bold. The Deliverance streaked in and derelicted my one gold ship. Warned to back off, the Deliverance made it clear it was going to steal it. This forced my hand and changed my tactic: mermaids was on the Celtic Fury. Hoping to use it in a Titan/Enterprise battle, instead it was placed on the Deliverance and its four crew. A double action brought the Celtic Fury back within firing range, but so had Calico Cat and the Lady’s Scorn. When the dust settled, the Deliverance was derelict and the Lady’s Scorn had one mast left, my Barbary treasure ship sunk. The Fury was untouched. Seeing that nearly all was lost, the Lady’s Scorn retreated into a fog bank. Hoping to steal the Deliverance, and forgetting that a ship didn’t have to emerge immediately from a fog bank, the Fury proceeded to play a dangerous game of chicken. The Lady’s Scorn revealed a shipwright, and proceeded to repair. The Fury took over the Deliverance which also had a shipwright. Once the mermaid’s effect was over, it started to repair.

Done with annoying the Spanish, Davy Jones gave the Executioner (which also had a helmsman) just enough movement to catch the Enterprise. A bold move to say the least, yet it payed off with 4 hits and a successful ram, which derelicted the massive American ship. (At least one yell of KHAANNN echoed through the room…). At this point, a third canoe had found trees, but had forgotten to send it to the Enterprise in a previous round. Not wanting to give the American any chance however, the Executioner finished her off and two more canoes the next round. Seeing that England was now flanking the poor Americans and the Bonhomme and final canoe, it turned to see the poor predicament that the Pirates were in. Not wanting the Fury to conscript the Deliverance into her fleet, Davy Jones sped off to engage the mighty 10-Master. Meanwhile, the Titan and Leicester both got double actions and finished off the Bonhomme and the last canoe. The Americans were officially out of the game.

The Deliverance was half repaired, however the Lady’s Scorn was at full strength thanks to the Fog Bank and Calico Cat. The Fury and Deliverance, along with the submarine, decided to wait for the Scorn to emerge rather than to enter the fog bank themselves. However, the Fury did not see Davy Jones coming. Again, the Executioner streaked in from far away with a double action and attacked the Deliverance, knocking it down to one mast. Calico Cat emerged from the Fog Bank with a double action and a favorable roll on the fog bank direction. When the dust settled, the Celtic Fury and Lady’s Scorn were derelict, and the Deliverance retreated to the Fog Bank. The Executioner used towing to take control of both the Fury and Lady’s Scorn, which both had extra action crew and shipwrights. The Pirate controller was now out of the game.

While all this was happening, England could not make a decision as to where to go. At one end sat the sad state of Spain and France, both weakened from their own skirmishes and therefore very easy targets. On the other was the craziness of Merc, Pirate, and Cursed. Seeing that the Cursed was going to come out on top, and realizing that if the Fury and Scorn were repaired the Cursed would be unstoppable, England decided to split her two ship juggernaut, sending the Titan toward the Executioner and the Leicester toward the French.

This move proved fatal. The Leicester’s luck on guns and double actions finally failed, but it did manage to derelict both the Le Soleil and La Bonne Chance, barely surviving with 1 mast. The Titan seeing its compatriot near death, and a scary and regrouping Cursed fleet of near 130 points, broke off its pursuit to help guard the Leicester and the Le Soleil now in tow.

Meanwhile, the Cursed juggernaut turned toward the other side and what was left of Spain. Luckily for Spain, the Fury’s double action failed consistently, giving the Deliverance one last chance at vengeance. Emerging from the Fog Bank with a double action, it managed to streak up to the Fury and derelict it. This leaves it at the mercy of the rest of the Cursed fleet however. It manages one more turn, missing with several guns, yet still managing to sink the mighty Fury. The Scorn is barely wounded however, and it and the oh-so-fast Executioner descend on the Deliverance and sink it. The Devil Ray still survives, underwater the whole match, and tries to continue to harass the Scorn. However, all remaining cursed ships are faster than it and it goes to find other prey. Meanwhile, the Resolution finally finishes off the Le Bonaparte, the La Bonne Chance is scuttled, and the French are out of the game.

The Cursed, seeing the game in its clutches, split up. The He**fire goes to corral the Spanish, while the Executioner and Scorn go to attack the Titan. The Devil Ray tries to interfere, but Davy Jones rolls a six and makes the sub emerge. It quickly sinks to the locker, and now I am out of the game. The English make a final stand, yet their aggression comes far too late. The Titan, the severely damaged Leicester, and the derelict Le Soleil all sink.

Only the Spanish stand between the Cursed free reign on most of the treasure. The Spanish, due to its number of ships, put up a good effort and even derelict the Hellfire, but Davy Jones and his new girlfriend Calico Cat are too much to overcome. Five hours after we started, the last Spanish ship sinks, and the remaining treasure gives the Cursed – the original 51 pt fleet – the win.

[mastercommander]

Wow. Intense battle! What England really should have done was go after Davy Jones with both ships, and forget the Spanish for the moment. If his ships were a team, he would have been alot more effective.

[woelf]

Great write-up! It sounds like you had a lot of fun with it.

The most players I've *ever* had in a game was five, but almost every time I play it's only two with the occasional three.


I did catch a couple little rules things that may or may not have affected the outcome:

volt wrote:

While the Stars and Stripes was trying to keep the English occupied, Davy Jones reared his influence. The American Canoes had plundered the inner islands, and some started for home. A roll of a six let Davy Jones send a canoe straight into an ice berg, sinking it along with Rum and Wine.

Icebergs only eliminate masts, but Canoes don't have any so they're completely immune. Reefs can't hurt them either, but Sargasso Seas more than make up for it - once a canoe gets stuck there's no way for it to get out.

Quote:

At this point, a third canoe had found trees, but had forgotten to send it to the Enterprise in a previous round.

Trees can't be transferred off the island. You have to either use them to repair while you're docked, or leave them face down on the island for later.

Quote:

The Devil Ray tries to interfere, but Davy Jones rolls a six and makes the sub emerge. It quickly sinks to the locker, and now I am out of the game.

Davy Jones can only control abilities when they apply directly to the action he gives to the ship (for example, using a captain when he gives a move action). Since submerging happens at the beginning of its owner's turn and doesn't occur as part of any action, he can't force a sub to the surface.

A canceler or some other effect that shuts down the Submarine keyword is needed.

[volt]

Hrm... Did not know about Canoes (i've never played with them, even though I own them). This may have effected things because the English would have been more aggressive I think. Since the card says "1" under masts I didn't even consider it didn't count as a mast... now I see it is in the Code. Poor Americans lol.

Ditto with Trees, lol. This doesn't matter much because that Island was never touched the entire battle... it just made the American defeat hurt more thinking he could have saved Enterprise. Its funny because HE was the one who put that in, so he should know heh.

As far as the submarine thing, I had a feeling it couldn't do it. THe way we thought about it was that Davy rolls at the beginning of his player's turn, and therefore with a 6 the player gets control of the sub at the beginning of his turn, and thus can emerge it. I was going to check, but it didn't matter much at that point (I was going to surface anyway to fire since I just wanted out of the game at that point lol). Although if his purpose was to shoot, can he make it surface to shoot?

Thanks for the comment though!

[volt]

mastercommander wrote:

Wow. Intense battle! What England really should have done was go after Davy Jones with both ships, and forget the Spanish for the moment. If his ships were a team, he would have been alot more effective.

Yes, it was obvious to everyone except the English. Not that it mattered, but the controller of the English and the controller of the Cursed are engaged. Usually she (the English) attacks him, but she was spooked early by the Fury and the Enterprise on her two sides.