Miniature Trading

General description:
I was surprised at first to find that no one had reviewed this ship but after trying to write some positive things about it, the level of my surprise promptly melted away. To its credit, this ship is a monster. Too bad that monster is a plodding, slow-moving zombie.

Uses:
Her best defense is a good offense and everlasting cannons can offer quite a bit of offense. Its cannons are all rank 3 which, for a 26 point ship, I find to be a bit on the high side but that's just me. They are also all L-range but these days, fashionable ships carry both S and L range cannons in order to get around cannon- and distance-specific defensive abilities.

Strategies and game play:
If you've decided to use HMS Dreadnought, you'd better be prepared to invest in some crew for it because it is going to need a lot of help.

Combos with other miniatures:
- Since masts may still be eliminated, a Shipwright wouldn’t hurt HMS Dreadnought's longevity.
- A Commodore Rhys-Griffin Owen would provide a long distance extra action.
- A Hidden Cove can get this Galapagos tortoise out to where it can severely wound a key ship with a surprise attack.
- Favor of the Gods is practically a must to avoid being Mermaided. Hopefully you can reveal your Hidden Cove off the table before it gets Favored away by either yourself or your opponent.

Ways to counteract it:
- This ship’s ability is her bread and butter so a Nemesio/LeNoir/Lawrence can really cripple her.
- Keep your distance. I mean it. Give it a wide berth; it's not going to win many chases.

Strengths/Pros:
- Highly likely to outlast most ships in a firefight.
- Five fairly accurate L-range cannons that won’t go away with their respective masts.
- The English have Admiral Morgan and Sir Christopher Myngs, the two most cost effective of action-granting crew.

Weaknesses/Cons:
- Can be seen coming from a mile away and is very avoidable.
- Can be spanked royally by a ship with the “L-range cannons cannot shoot at this ship” ability.
- High cost makes for a thinner fleet. It might as well be 28 points for the mandatory Helmsman to make it any kind of threat or 31 points for a Sir Christopher Myngs to make it a real threat.
- Slower than a rubber duckie.
- As someone stated in an earlier review, the English have no world hater crew yet.

Artwork and aesthetics:
Nothing pretty enough to ignore that S base move.

Overall rating:
Plain and simple, this ship's ability (combined with its weak base move) doesn't warrant a 26 point cost, even in games with build totals beyond 40 points. This ability has been given to at least two blockade runners since Revolution and, apart from Sister's Rage, I care very little for blockade runners. If a ship is going to cost you half your build total without crew, it should be much more impressive than this. In the current scene, there are 5-masters that can perform much better than HMS Dreadnought and at a more reasonable price. Sorry, big girl, but I'm going to rate you a 3.5 out of 10.