Pyrates of the Karribean VI.a--Dead Man's Hand

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This coming game session will take place entirely on the high seas.

Well that does sound awesome- I look forward to reading that.

I look forward to seeing pictures of it -- but realise I may yet be disappointed. After all, it's very difficult to take good photographs from a moving ship.

These have been some grand battles though. Seen in its panoramic glory, the port's a damn fine board!

A GOOD LOOKIN' game & a FINE narrative, that makes waking up worthwhile...pretty much.

Thank you much for the kind comments gentlemen.
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Dead Man's Hand--Duels on the High Seas
As promised a night of cannon duels, boarding actions and sharks.

The Dog Latitudes
The Bay Watch scuppers the New Estalians

So the Bay Watch spent some coin on a hired sword recently.  Mario the Tilean cleaned up.

Jim L wrote:

No one went OOA on my side in game 1

Mario the Tilean had 3 ooa in his 1st 3 turns!

Captured a gunner from the New Estalians

Both the victors and the vanquished found themselves at Torktuga to trade.  The New Estalians gain some sweet equipment from opening cargo...   Oh I remember now, they took their loss and went off to search for lost treasure and gained 3 extra cargo crates from a Treasure Map...
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To the Leeward of Lost Kay
The Old Estalians encounter those pesky White Dwarfs

The White Dwarfs got the wind and the first shot, fortunately they missed with the cannon.  But a gunner with a handgun went down on the Estalian ship.  Pesky crossbows...




The Estalians closed as quickly has they could, bleeding missile troops all the while.




Here Almah attacks an enemy gunner.  Al Bobo fails to save a friendly gunner with a blunderbuss...




The Estalians (rating 224) fled with five out of action, including Juan de Palma.  The henchmen and hired swords all recovered, but Juan was captured.  The Estalians found a friendly merchant to trade with.  They sell some cheap booze and find a Halfling Cookbook.

The White Dwarfs (rating 149) lost no one (at least some of them were out of action).  They retire to Port Sigmar where Juan is handed over to the Law...  The White Dwarfs gain much wealth and experience (+2 Underdogs).

More blood and thunder to come...

COOL STUFF...two OUTSTANDING games! The White Dwarves look to be pretty nice miniatures; with some paint the would be great minis. GREAT REPORTS once more!

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The White Dwarfs (rating 149) lost no one (at least some of them were out of action). They retire to Port Sigmar where Juan is handed over to the Law... The White Dwarfs gain much wealth and experience (+2 Underdogs).

Once painted, they can no longer expect such good fortune.

Codsticker wrote:

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The White Dwarfs (rating 149) lost no one (at least some of them were out of action). They retire to Port Sigmar where Juan is handed over to the Law... The White Dwarfs gain much wealth and experience (+2 Underdogs).

Once painted, they can no longer expect such good fortune.

...Fortune favors the lazy.

Thanks for the comments gents.
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The Weather Gauge
The woes of the New Estalians continue...

The Valeria Rojas caught the wind and leaped at the distant upstarts. The first cannon shot damaged the New Estalians' rigging bringing them to a crawl of D6" per turn and nearly breaking them with the first shot. (Nearly half damage to the ship. Half damage equals a break test.)

The New Estalians wallowed along trying to use their Tilean to good effect, but no joy. The Valeria Rojas suffered a couple of misfires which prolonged the agony, but eventually the Old Guard closed to blunderbuss range...


The New Estalians broke with 5 out of action (including a gunner eaten by a shark). They suffer one death and a gunner is captured) They return to Torktuga to lick their wounds and gain more black powder weapons and new recruits.

The Old Guard gained a Captain's Log in Exploration (five 2's on the Seas Exploration chart), however they totally fail to catch a wind and end up lost at sea... No one died. The captured gunner is demoted to crew, but joins willingly enough when offered the choice.

In other news: Juan will be hung in Port Sigmar in three games.
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Off Baitfish Kay
The Bay Watch bombard the Dwarfs next.

Jim L wrote:

White Dwarfs were low and had 3 cargo.


Wind changed about 6 times in probably 7 turns, always with on "6" (counterclockwise)

Someone (who could that have been ) talked me into shooting my cannon and it blew up, (the gun crew was OK later).

Shot dwarves, Knocked down the 1st one, he fell out of the ship and the fall took him ooa.

Then shot and stunned 3 more, they all fell out of the ship, and they all failed to wake up and drowned (ooa).

Shot and knocked another one out of the ship. A shark ate him.


Jake had 3 deaths.

My cannon crew survived and Ship's Mate, Floppy II, became hardened

At the end of the game we thought Jake got off the board to win, but forgot he had to make a rout test first.

He rolled boxcars, so I won.
Crate had Blunderbuss! Yay!

Again both combatants retire to the appropriate town to refit and spend cash...

Since the Valeria Rojas is lost at sea, next weeks games will be fought at the Sea/Rivers location or Jungles for those who are not lost...

HURRAH FOR THE PAINTED GUYS!

It is never clear whether the Dice Gods favour the hard work of the painted miniature, punish the unpainted, or simply laugh at our mortal attempts to influence their decisions.

Splendid looking games! Some grand looking warbands (even if one's a little unfinished), & the streaks of madness I always expect to see from your reports (wild winds & shark attacks).

I'm curious as to what rules you're using for the ship battles -- is it a home-brew set of your own?

Thanks gents.

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I'm curious as to what rules you're using for the ship battles -- is it a home-brew set of your own?

I used to say we used Warhammer Ahoy! (3rd ed) but we leave some stuff out and add some General's Compendium stuff and even the boat rules from TC #24.

Rules I recommend: Warhammer Ahoy! (3rd ed).

The sharks are an add on.

... There's a Warhammer Ahoy!? Excuse me while I disappear down this rabbit-hole...

Good hunting.  This past week I was reminded how slap dash our approach is.  I was asked how many turns a small rowboat could make, (because I foolishly asked if a rowboat could move in reverse.)

I couldn't remember off the top of my head so we looked in TC#24 (EiF rules).  I love that the rowboat is one target rule, and I like most of the movement rules.  But I didn't remember that those rules limit a rowboat to 1 turn at the end of movement (which means that our ships are more maneuverable than our jolly boats which is just wrong.)  So we don't play with the Eif boat rules as written either...  
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Dead Man's Hand--Lost at Sea
Jim L, Chris, Kevin and I were on hand for another evening of battles on the seas.  Since Kevin missed last weeks introduction to ship fights, he had to play the scenario Duel on the High Seas at least once.

As I was just lost, Mr L got to roll for a scenario if he chose (he could've also chosen a special scenario that he 'found' in exploration).  He rolled on the scenario table:

The Haunted Wreck
The Bay Watch race the Old Guard Estalians to explore an old wreck.

The race. (The old Guard have already lost one gunner to long range missiles from the pesky Watch).


The Old Guard board first.  


The undead crew appear and charge... (Sadly ALL the skeleton pirate miniatures we own are left at various homes this evening. Skeletons with scythes are pirate crew with cutlass and pistols, the zombie or is it a pit fighter? Whatever, it is a Wight Captain with peg leg, cutlass and pistols and the Mage Knight ghoul is armed with 2 swords and a parrot)




Ricardo (Ricky) y Ricardo fires a blunderbuss into the Bay Watch flotilla... (wins the game and gains 4 experience!)


Crossing the T--blunderbuss style. (I guess it would really be dotting the I.)




The Bay Watch flee with 6 models out of action.  A gunner is captured, Mario the Tilean and a crewman die.  Little Billy gains a peg leg (eventually, his was smashed).  The Bay Watch gain 1 Pirate Curse Point.

Captain de Guzman, Ricardo and Francisco gain lots of experience from cutting down undead and Bay Watchers.  The Cursed Treasure is meager--21 gc.  (I rolled mostly 1s in determining loot as opposed to all the 6s rolled to parry, wound and for injuries...)  The victorious Estalians trade with a friendly merchant...  The Old Guard gain +2 Pirate Curse Points...
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Duels on the High Seas
An exchange of pleasantry between the New Estalians and the Mary Anns

The New Estalians send an iron greeting


The Mary Anns brace to receive


The new shooty New Estalians had 51+ on the 149 rated Mary Anns (Kevin has missed a couple of weeks).  The Marienburgers shooty heroes are no match for the Estalian handgunners and Tilean.  

Win to the New Estalians.

More to follow (one of these days)

The games sounded & looked WONDERFUL with nary an all white or gray miniature is view. OUTSTANDING STUFF!

Grand looking reports as ever -- even the stand-in skeletons pirates are a good looking bunch!

& personally, I wouldn't worry about rules being a bit slapdash when you're managing to fight sea battles with them without noticing. That sounds like it works for the group, so... no problem.

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& personally, I wouldn't worry about rules being a bit slapdash when you're managing to fight sea battles with them without noticing. That sounds like it works for the group, so... no problem.

Oh we noticed... We did get through it though.
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Duels on the High Seas
As a time saver, we fought the second game of the evening as just more duels:

Near the Kayman Cut
The defeated but not destroyed Bay Watch gets whittled down a bit more while winning...

The Watch defiant


An exchange of pleasantries


Men overboard! Mary Anns go for a swim


Mary Anns' gunner is lunch


Boarding action!




The Mary Anns fail their first rout test!  

The Marienburgers lose all of their cannon crew (4 models) and an additional 2 crewmen over the two battles.

Kevin wrote:

Flag Guy survived both games and advanced twice!

The victorious Bay Watch had only Captain Flashy and Mate Floppy II out of action.  Floppy II dies of his injuries...
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Somewhere larboard of Tzunki's Foot
The 'New' New Estalians ambush the Old Guard Estalians

Chris has upgraded his gunners with 3 handguns and several blunderbusses, but what really hurt was the quickshot Tilean and an LGT gunner with a Hochland Long Rifle...


The Old Guard's first shot blows a cannon sized hole in the Valeria Roja's side. Misfire!




Two game turns later, the Valeria Rojas has come completely about.
Gunners overboard!  And Shark!


Trying to save the day


The Valeria Rojas strikes its colors with nearly all of the crew shot ooa or bitten by sharks.  Somehow none of the crew or hired swords dies, but of course the trauma of defeat causes the ship to become Lost at Sea...

The New Estalians delivered their cargo to Torktuga, gained much gold and even more guns and powder...

AAAAARRRGGH! There, that about says it all. YET ANOTHER SPLENDID LOOKING GAME!

Thanks Al!
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Dead Man's Hand--Curses

This week there were five of us! Which also means we had three player games (which go slower...)
But first:

X Marks the Spot
An Island variant of Hidden Treasure

The first thing that happened was Floppy III died. Remember that Lads got Talent hero Chris has? With a Hochland Long Rifle? Jim L forgot.


The Bay Watch press on




The Firing squad just keep reloading...


The coup de gras


Mrs Wolfgang used to be tough...

Jim L wrote:

I lost, so my Swabbie tried to run away but instead, he died. Served him right.

Gunner Junior 2 was captured. Along with his blunderbuss.
Junior III will have to make do with just a sword for a while.

L. G. T. Gunner Bruno II was captured and since I only had 2gc in my kitty, Chris traded him back without his blunderbuss.

No casualties are reported by the New Estalians. Just more blunderbusses...

COOL STUFF once more! Mr L's luck is still all bad. The good guys do tend to finish last.

Thanks Al.
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The Island Temple
John rolled in a bit late so a two player game became a three player game. The Mary Anns, Undead and Old Guard

The Mary Ann flotilla




The Undead are very close to the Old Guard. Honest I told him where my blunderbusses were.


The Mary Anns shooting


Ricardo's boat gets in the Undead flank




The Undead are hiding from Mary Anns


The Undead flee with two heroes out of action. Then Estalian boats start sinking... and crocodiles appear...




The horrible firing line




Snipers in the jungle somewhere




Boats keep sinking


The end is near. The daemon fights Almah and Al Bobo. I am removing the poor Bounty Hunter who never hurt anything for the whole fight.


The Old Guard fail a rout test with 5 or 6 out of action and two boats sunk.

The Undead lost the Dreg named Bone Collector and a ghoul killed. The Undead end up Lost at Sea to add insult to injury.

The Old Guard lost Gunner Gomez and the pressed crewman Bratz killed. The Old Guard end up trading at Torktuga! Woot! And they find a crate of handguns! Woot!

The Mary Anns declined to fight the guardian, but win the river fight. They retire to count their gold.
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The Hulks
The Undead, Bay Watch and New Estalians battle over a maze of wrecks

The New Estalians' lead raft challenges a crocodile...


The Bay Watch challenge for the top wreck


A bitter battle for the wreck






The rest of the Bay Watch line


The Undead march unopposed


The New Estalians mass to challenge the Vampire (and escape the crocodiles)


The Undead break the New Estalians (who had a hero on that bridge...)




The New Estalians lost the fight with the Bay Watch, then the crocodile sank a raft, then the Vampire hit them. New Estalians flee. One crew is eaten by a crocodile.

The Bay Watch ended up facing their former blunderbusses and winning, but then got smashed by the Vampire/Dire Wolves combo. However, no one dies.

Jim L wrote:

After “finding” a few crossbows for me, I had to let Marvin the thief go. His upkeep was keeping me broke.
New Tilean Marksman, Mario 2, got his 1st advance and it was a skill. Hooray.
Quick Shot - not a surprise there.

Exploring afterwards earned a sword, dagger, and a rusty pistol.

The Undead suffered no casualties, won and made lots of gold. They replace their earlier losses and head for Torktuga!

VERY CINEMATIC! The scenery & minis work well together. GREAT STUFF!

Cursed undead! Just like them to bring immortality to a gun-fight...

Grand battles, & really interesting variety too; fights in the harbour, ship-to-ship actions, & now small boats, islands, & hulks.

Thanks gents!
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Dead Man's Hand--Back to Torktuga
We had all five arrive for game night two weeks in a row.

Down on the Docks
The New Estalians race the Old Guard to rip off smugglers

The Smugglers  cower on their ship as some Nordland Marines show up to arrest the New Estalian Captain...


Landfall


The New Estalians gather to ambush the patrol




The Old Guard muddle around in the crowded streets




The ambush is sprung!




The (invisible) crowd flees the fight (knocking down some of the reserves).


Meanwhile the Old Guard counter attacks some upstarts




The short fight in the center breaks the New Estalians who fail their first rout test.

The Old Guard press on to rout the Shore Patrol and wipe out the Smugglers (who fight to the last).




The New Estalians lose one crew, killed by the Shore Patrol Captain. They capture one of the smugglers and one of the Shore Patrol Marines. Both are sold as galley slaves.

The Old Guard lose Olbs the Marienburger killed by the New Estalians. The Old Guard capture one of the Smugglers (pressed as a Swab) and all of the Smugglers cargo (mostly food, booze and clothing with some gunpowder thrown in.) Exploration yields another Swab (passed out drunk) and an additional crate with a dueling pistol!

Next up The Great Torktugan Bar Fight

Whether it played out well or not it, that is a WONDERFUL looking game.

Thanks Al.
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The Great Torktugan Bar Fight
The Undead, Mary Anns and Bay Watch duke it out in the infamous Blow Hole

Jim L wrote:

I won !!!
We went with the suggested 30 man maximum in the bar and, taking turns, each chose one hero then one henchman and back again until we each had 10.
Myself and the Undead both got caught trying to sneak daggers into the bar on our 1st try.   Fortunately, this time I started with a henchman.
The Empire smuggled 3 or 4 daggers in before they stopped trying. Empire had Bugman's ale, too.

On the ground floor, the Undead's Dark Elf Assassin (all black) charged in 1st but was taken out after a few turns.




Vampire was in the dinning hall on ground floor with Necromancer and one Ghoul.
I had 2 guys hiding in the kitchen.
The Empire had 4 or 5 by the stairway (including all his daggers).


The vampire went after the Empire and with help eventually took them all ooa. But not before they got the T5 vampire down to one wound.








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The vampire then faced off with my one hero and one henchman. Both pirates attempted to charge but only the hero made it. The vampire made short work of him.




My Captain is Ld8 and everyone else is Ld7.

2nd floor saw Captain Flashy and 3  mates (Gunner Junior 3, crew Bear 2, and that other guy) hiding in the bedroom under the attic hatch.

Empire had 2 in the door of the building entrance to the stairway.

Undead took the stairway overlook and strung along the outside.


A single Ghoul charged the Empire in the (chapel) building doorway and was held up for many a turn.


Empire was outnumbered on the 2nd floor and was eventually overcome.

Pirates were outnumbered on the 2nd floor with no way to go down, they all went up into the attic.

In the Attic was a lone ghoul by the trap door, 4  pirates in the middle and 4 Empire on the outside end.

Mrs. Wolfgang was chicken so gunner Bratz 2 (axe boy) charged the ghoul and fought on until help arrived.  


Bratz 2 had a tough time wounding T4 ghoul without a weapon. (No weapon = s2, needs a 6 to wound.)

Captain Flashy climbed up from the 2nd floor bedroom and eventually charged in to help.






While this ghoul fight was going on, the Empire saw an opportunity and charged Floppy 3.

Floppy 3 held out and Mrs. Wolfgang joined in.

In the darkness of poor overhead lighting and an attic buttress in the way, one of my henchmen charged a feather-hatted Empire only to find out it was Floppy3.  I laughed.

With most of my warband in the attic, the Empire warriors were quickly subdued.   At that time the Empire was doing poorly on the other floors also and they routed.

Everyone piled down the hatch into the bedroom and made a conga line to the stairway entrance.

The vampire took Finn ooa and then went up to 2nd floor where my pirates would meet him after coming down from the attic.


New crewman Bear 2 (with club) volunteered to stand back a little in the doorway and receive the vampire's charge.


Eventually, the T5 vampire was taken ooa.

2 ghouls charged out of the doorway to avenge him but after quite a few rounds of hth, they were also taken ooa.

Undead then routed.

The vampire was legendary last night for rolling ones to wound.

Post battle:
I found a new blunderbuss.

Found 6gc worth of crap (food) in the cargo  I opened up. Profit of 1gc.

Bruno 2, the Gunner LGT from the kitchen, with yellow feather and brown coat. rolled 1 - 4 for dead, then, 1 - 6 multiple injuries. But only 1 injury and that was full recovery.  Yay

Finn and everyone else was fine.

The Mary Anns lost Flagguy (again) and Issac lost an eye.

John D wrote:

From my end, none of my guys could roll more than ones and twos to wound, but on the plus side my vampire was able to stall several of Kevin's guys on the first floor because they weren't able to punch him to death....allowing the rest of my guys to come down from the 2nd floor and save him.  Kevin chose to rout soon after.

Later on, I met the rest of Jim's warband on the middle floor but couldn't cause enough damage to break out and get more than 2 guys into combat.  I routed after losing another couple of guys, so Jim won the day.

No one died, but Vampire is going to miss a game while he grows another leg (smashed leg).