When Anglo meets Saxon
I wanted this to be a tough fleet to create since I've never used a Doctor crew or a member of the Viking nation. AND, the idea of a Viking "doctor" strikes me as amusing. Plus, in honor of a fellow fleet-builder, I kept out the 0 Limit, Ransom crew so don't even comment "with an extra 5-points you could BLAH BLAH BLAH." I know what I can do with another 5-points. Again, don't comment on that.
Ship Makeup and Breakdown
Sleipnir is the Viking ship. Sure she's got one mast, but it counts as two rolls. Not too bad. Ideally, it'd be nice to get Double Shot or Exploding Shot on board, but there's only two cargo spaces and to use this ship effectively, I put a Captain on board. Also, Lars Valgard is my doctor. Without him, my Captain would be on his way to Valhalla. I know the ideal place for the Doctor would be on my other ship, HMS Dover since Sleipnir's goal is to be up close and personal and get her shots in, but she's probably not going to last too long. Her speed is average with S+S and her cannon is ranked 2 Short. But, add on a Musketeer and now I've got an extra 2 shots. Let's get back to Lars: putting a doctor on this ship is not the best choice. Crew members on a 1-mast ship do not need to be protected, but if by some off chance that the crew gets targeted, Lars can feel useful. Oh, and ramming and boarding are useful. The Longship keyword brings in a +1 to boarding, and if you lose, there's good old Lars (See, I knew he'd be helpful).
HMS Dover is the gunship. I like this ship since she's pretty average, but has enough versatility to really be powerful. On board, there's the standard crew:Captain and Helmsman. But, she's also got equipment, beautiful equipment: Double Shot and Exploding Shot.
Uses and Applications
OK, so here's the justification for the equipment. First, how many standard shots do I have without the equipment? Sleipnir gets me 2, plus 2 more from the Musketeer. There's four. Then, HMS Dover brings in 4 more average-ranked shots. If all rolls go great, I've taken out 8 masts. OK, and if ramming is an option, there's another 2 masts out.
But, really, that's not enough against the mega-action 5-masters this fleet is going up against. There's where the equipment comes in to play. Double Shot gives the Dover another shot and Exploding Shot can take out a mast and burn down some more. Now we're in the game.
Simple Strengths
1. Double the fire power on theSleipnir.
2. Some good equipment on the HMS Dover.
3. Lars Valgard allows the boarding power of Sleipnir some room to work with.
Weaknesses and Counter-Measures
1. There's just not enough defensive power on this fleet to go toe-to-toe with a 5-master.
2. Cannons are sub-par for deathmatch game.
3. Movement is a bit slow and no extra actions.
To Sum Up. . .
1. Longship keyword comes in handy.
2. Lars Valgard is a great thing for boarding.
3. Equipment on HMS Dover to bring the vanilla scoop to a tasty ice cream sundae!
Variations
Here's a new section I'm adding:
1. Instead of Sleipnir, Hildskjalf or Naegling were considered and if there were enough points, either of them would have been a better option.
2. Instead of Lars Valgard, putting a doctor crew on HMS Dover may have better, but not as challenging.
3. Some sort of equipment on a Viking Longship is a great thing to consider.
Miniature Trading
