Miniature Trading

General description:
Dance is a point cheaper than its Cursed Turtle Ship Limited Edition cousin, Crypt. It has the same ability as the Crypt and is a step slower but in my opinion, neither ship is likely to pull off this ability on well-outfitted medium to large-size ships unless its controller is lucky as hell and the opposing ship's controller is unlucky as hell. Dance is a 1-mast galley but lacks the Galley keyword, making it weaker defensively than Crypt, which carries the Turtle Ship keyword.

Uses:
The best use for this card is as trade stock for a better LE ship. I mean it. Her L speed makes her a poor gold runner and her lone cannon makes her a poor gunship. And as escort ships go, well, even an escort should be a *little* intimidating. She could serve as a transport for Sargasso Nightmare to beef up a Sea Monster's base move but Nightmare could do that at less than half the point cost, an additional cargo space and with twice the masts.

Strategies and game play:
Dance is 10 points so it *could* conceivably tote some of the more expensive (and dangerous) named Cursed Crew so it may stand a slight chance of unnerving an opponent who'd really rather not lose all their crew aboard their flagship.

Combos with other miniatures:
Trogs would be a poor choice since Dance is already unlikely to succeed at a boarding party with a single mast but with only 2 cargo, you can't fit much on it anyway. A Captain and Firepot Specialist make for a decent surprise but a Captain and a Firepot Specialist can benefit any ship. Maybe when it's burned away a number of masts on a larger ship, the boarding odds are slightly better but by then, what's the point?

Ways to counteract it:
Dance is not a ship to be wary of like some of the other 1-mast ships in Davy Jones' Curse such as Fallen Angel or Calchas so if you're already inclined to treat every tiny enemy ship as if it's carrying an Explosives and are ready to act accordingly, you're pretty much covered. As for its ability, unless Dance is coming for one of your small ships where it's anyone's game as to who will win the boarding roll, you shouldn't sweat it.

Strengths/Pros:
Not much going for it other than a 2 rank S-range cannon. Perhaps it hidden strength lies in being underestimated?

Weaknesses/Cons:
Once she uses her 2 rank S-range cannon and hasn't sunk the enemy ship or she's attempted a board and failed, Dance is as good as derelict. Her speed is L so a Helmsman is mandatory if she's to have any hopes of keeping up with the Davy Jones' (pun intended) which means you only have one more cargo space to outfit her... but why bother in the first place? Dance is a poor expenditure of points and a poor choice over the far superior similarly-priced Fallen Angel.

Artwork and aesthetics:
Personally, I feel that, as a Cursed ship, Wizkids should have painted Dance to be a lot rattier-looking, like Executioner or the South China Seas' Monkey's Paw.

Overall rating:
I'd have to give Dance a 2 out of 10, ones being reserved for the worst ships like La Repulsa and Le Solitaire. She has an ability which is better suited for a larger ship and cannot be comboed effectively with two cargo spaces. If this is an ability which you *must* have, White Crew does the same thing (And The Inquisitor for the Spanish) and can be more effective aboard a ship with a greater mast count. I wouldn't use Dance in my fleet if she were half price and neither should any Pirates player worth their salt.