General description:
The Spanish "same action twice" Capitan has been promoted to an "extra action" Admiral. Castro is the first Spanish crew to reappear in a subsequent expansion.
Uses:
This ability is straightforward and needs little explanation.
Strategies and game play:
Take any strategy you were planning on giving a ship and think of getting it done twice as fast/often. Castro should not go on a non-key ship.
Combos with other miniatures:
Castro's Loyalists provide a +1 to boarding rolls at the bargain basement cost of 2 points and Castro provides a retroactive link to them; the game's first, if I'm not mistaken. Almirante Carlos Pavon Y Miranda also makes a decent partner; the Captain ability being crucial to the success of any gunship and the reroll ability making the most of Admiral (shouldn't that be Almirante?) Alarico Castro's ability should your roll fall short. If Carlos isn't an option, BC's Pamplona and the SCS LE Soberano Del Mar are Spanish ships with a reroll as its ability but since Pamplona has more cargo space and a higher point cost with which to fit more crew, she's the better choice.
Ways to counteract it:
Nemesio/Lenoir/Lawrence or a Stinkpot Specialist to temporarily incapacitate him or a crew killer to eliminate him. Passively, if he's on a gold runner, a unique might remove him from the game.
Strengths/Pros:
At a 5 cost, he beats out fellow Spaniard El Duque Rafael de Moreno Y Rivera by a point (which irritates him to no end) so he's a Spanish version of Admiral Morgan but the link to Castro's Loyalists gives him an edge over Morgan.
Weaknesses/Cons:
Castro really needs a reroll on the same ship to increase those odds. Otherwise he spends a turn just stroking his moustache.
Artwork and aesthetics:
Castro is one burro short of winning a Juan Valdez lookalike contest. I liked Castro's personality better when he was a plotting bitter Capitan in Spanish Main.
Overall rating:
Actions are the name of the game and extra actions are hard to find fault in and harder still to find a ship which cannot benefit from them. I rate Admiral Alarico Castro an 8 out of 10. Castro should return in a future expansion where, as a result of being framed by El Duque Rafael De Moreno Y Rivera, he has been reduced to piracy with a vendetta against Rivera. Just a thought.
Miniature Trading
