General description:
Most people heard that PofFN was going to improve the Cursed faction, but I daresay nobody expected anything like this! At 15 points we have three 2L cannons that shoot twice (for an unmodified gun rate of 400%, at L the best in the game. Consider that the Baochuan herself reach “only” an overall of 450%, that becomes 250% at L), four honest cargo spaces, and the chance to get another action sacrificing a crew! The SAC ability was never seen before on a ship!
The only drawback is her poor speed, but the rest is almost broken!!
Uses:
With six cannons shooting at 2L (and a second action when you need it most) this is one of the best gunships in the Cursed fleet.
Strategies and game play:
This ship is meant to kill, no doubt about that!
With six shots and the chance to get an extra action there’s little room for subtle tactics: you want to seek and destroy.
There are nonetheless two things to be careful at. The first is the hitting direction, longships have very wide sails, so we need an accurate manoeuvre to get in good position. The second is more psychological: in the first games I played, I saw that people who sail three master longships tend to concentrate on the number of hits, and forget about the number of masts: this is a three master, not a six! She is still very vulnerable, going to chase a five master might turn to be a bad idea!
Combos with other miniatures:
How to man this beast? We have 4 cargo spaces and 15 points to spend...
- With a base move of S there’s no doubt about the first slot: an Helmsman is needed badly.
- The main problem with the Cursed faction is their lack of interesting named crew. Of course one can always put a Captain, use the rest of the space to add three Oarsmen (remember that since abilities don’t stack, the second and third Oarsman take their good cargo space), and be content. In a standard game it may be the best option: at 23 points we have a gunship to scare any opponent, and at least three extra actions. But with a higher budget we can do better than this!
- The most interesting named captain is Sammy the Skull, who gives a +1 on boarding rolls. He also has a very good link to White Crew (if this ship succeeds at a boarding party, she may eliminate all of the other ship’s crew). The problem is that these guys are very expensive: at 13 points they leave barely the room for the Helmsman; thus, nobody in his right mind would sacrifice a 7 points crew! I’d rather save them for another ship...
- Needing crew from another faction there are two options: Tabatha McWarren to allow any-nationality crew aboard, or an Ex-patriot. I like the second choice better: you can’t sacrifice Tabatha unless you are willing to lose the services of the crew she allowed aboard. Besides an Ex-patriot allows us to start at S from our HI, for a little, yet very welcome aid in speed.
So, Ex-patriot Captain. Most of them cost 6 points, well inside our budget. Herr Fuchs grants an always welcome reroll. Otherwise, if we already know our opponent’s faction, Luc Savard or Eileen Brigid O’Brian are good picks, for a +1 against Americans or English (at this point we would have an impressive fire rate of 500%).
- For extra-action-fuel, Oarsmen are the obvious pick, but a Shipwright costs just one point more, and he can be really useful on a three master before being sacrificed.
With this second configuration (Helmsman-Fuchs/Savard/O’Brian-Shipwright-Oarsman-Oarsman) we spend 27 points, surely a good bargain.
For the rest of the fleet, I’d try to maximise the chance of extra fuel, adding Oarsmen (to be transferred at the right moment) on the other ships and as Abandoned Crew. A couple of abandoned Oarsmen or Shipwrights can’t do much harm they should fall in the wrong hands, but could give an extra action at the right moment if retrieved (and delivered to Loki’s Revenge...) by a friendly ship. To accomplish this I would choose a Submarine, Devil Ray: it can load up to three Oarsmen and an Helmsman. We could just use it to do it’s Submarine’s job (ram), and at the right moment touch our Loki’s Revenge, and upload fresh meat (as a free action)! That would be a surprise indeed! This way we would have a base of 6 (six!) extra actions before touching any important crew!
One last thing: Favour of the Gods! Absolutely necessary when we load lots of crew!!
Ways to counteract it:
Against an overmanned ship the first defence are Mermaids.
And we mustn’t forget that even if she is a fearsome gunship, she’s only a three master after all: a broadside from most ships can break her to splinters!
Strengths/Pros:
Built-in SAC ability, first time on a ship! You needn’t worry to lose your Sac Captain in a Duel or a Boarding!
Best cannons you could wish for!
Average cargo space.
Longship ability.
Weaknesses/Cons:
Slow speed
No surprise factor: one of the best things about SAC was that we could reveal the crew the very moment we needed that extra action... With Loki’s Revenge this is impossible.
Cursed faction is pretty poor on crew: it’s also very expensive!
This is a wonderful Limited Edition ship: in no time it will become a very expensive addition to any collection! On the other hand it’s a very good collector’s piece.
Artwork and aesthetics:
I love the Longship design! Loki’s Revenge with her eerie lights and the yellow sails looks as a ghost-ship just emerged from the fogs of a fjord! Very beautiful!!
Overall rating:
Great ship, too bad for the slow speed: 9/10.
Miniature Trading
