Saturday, 18 December 2011
Meeting of the Brethren of the Coast
A meeting is planned at Treefort Games on Saturday, 14 January 2012 at 1300, in order to finalize our plans regarding the hosting of a game (or two) at either the upcoming Siege of Augusta on 20-22 January in Augusta or the miniature gaming convention at the Cho-Cho in Chattanooga, Tennessee. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING. If you plan to attend the convention, we need to take a last minute stock on the number of ships that will be available, the scenario, club members that will be going (for car pool purposes) and other pertinent information. Please bring your ships and crew, that you intend to take the the convention, to this meeting. I have been in contact with Norman, who is heading up the Con, and they are excited about us coming to their convention. To make this work, we need commitments and the support of all interested ASWA members. A game is planned for after the meeting.
Hotel Information
The is a three
day event (20-22 January 2012) that is being held at the Doubletree Hotel, just
off of the Bobby Jones Freeway, in Augusta Georgia. I might suggest going
the the Siege of Augusta's website and getting hotel rooms reserved well in
advance, as they go quick. The location is: The Doubletree Hotel, 2651 Perimeter
Parkway, Augusta, GA 30909. Phone 1-706-855-8500. Click on the
flashing button to go directly to their website. 
Siege of Augusta Information
As yet, they have no website up, however, they are on FACEBOOK and can also be reached at SiegeofAugustaConvention@gmail.com
Pirate Vessels
Most of our games involve small pirate vessels, such as the examples shown below. To keep the game fast paced, and since historically small vessel were the most common "pirate ships", each "Pirate Captain" (player) will command a small sloop or schooner consisting of up to 10 small cannons. Sloops and Schooners were both very popular with Pirates for some very obvious reasons. Mainly, their size made them harder to detect from any great distance and their shallow draft allowed them to scurry into shallow water should a larger government warship, with a deeper draft, attempted to engage them. They were also faster, more maneuverable, and being smaller, were harder to hit with cannon fire. Obviously, from a Pirates point of view, smaller was better, however, space for captured booty and other essentials also became a major issue. This demanded that smaller cannons be carried and fewer of them since space was limited and weight creates drag even on water. Besides, Pirates fervently avoided any clashes with big, heavily armed Government warships, and they also ardently tried to avoid shooting at a merchant vessel for fear of sinking the ship that carried the booty they so desperately sought. For these reasons, the main purpose for cannons onboard Pirate ships was intimidation rather than for damaging prized merchant vessels. Conversely, Sloops and Schooners will be the mainstay of the Brethren of the Coast in our pirate game. However, it should be noted that the Spanish, French and British have larger government warships that are constantly patrolling the seas for nefarious pirate types, so it would behoove all players to be on the look out for these vessels and to be careful about flying the "Jolly Roger" when plying the Caribbean waters.
Pirate Crews
Each pirate player will "staff" his or her vessel with a crew made up of pirates listed for Pirate Crews on pages 54 and 55 of Warhammer's Legends of the High Seas . Each "ship" must have a Pirate Captain and a Quartermaster. These two figures may be armed with any weapons listed on the Heroes List , provided the Captain and his equipment does not exceed 40 points and the Master and his weapons do not exceed 24 points. Unused points cannot be transferred to other other figures and Quartermasters are not included on the listing for Heroes.
The Crew must be sufficient in number to have at least one crewmen for each cannon aboard the vessel, not to exceed 20 figures in total excluding the Captain and Quartermaster. The Crew may contain up to 5 Cutthroats in total with the remaining number being made up of Rogues per the force allocations specified in the rule set. Only Cutthroats can be armed with Flintlock Muskets or Blunderbuss type weapons, as specified in the Henchmen's Equipment List, the total points being spent on any single Cutthroat model not to exceed 25 points. Grenades are not available in this scenario.
The remaining members of the Crew are classified as Rogues and may choose weapons for the points indicated in Henchmen's Equipment List of Warhammer's Legends of the High Seas, excluding Flintlock Muskets, Blunderbuss type weapons or Grenades per the listing.
Pirate's Objective
The objective of each Pirate Captain, is of course, to find as much booty as he can, get it back to his ship and sail off to the "High Seas" before some government ship or other pesky Pirate Captain relieves him of his ill-found loot. Additionally, he or she must insure that his own treasure, secured in a chest aboard his or her vessel, is not taken by another Pirate Captain (player). Obviously, secret "parleys" are encouraged amongst the "Brethren of the Coast", however, one should remember the basic purpose of the game and that folks are placing their trust in their fellow pirates......Never a good idea!
There are also three small islands and the British controlled seaport town of Port James on the play surface. Port James has a large treasure chest secured in its Customs House, which is guarded by British Marines. The fair damsel Katharine, a striking figure of womanhood, is also visiting her father, the Governor, from Great Britain. Both the governors daughter, Katherine, and the treasure chest in the Customs House are fair game to any Pirate Captain plucky enough to take the risk, provided Katherine remains "unsoiled" following her abduction and prior to being ransomed. It should be noted as well that the Governor is an avid hater of all pirates and has threatened the gallows for the crew any ship that is caught flying the Jolly Roger in port . He has, at his disposal, a garrison of Royal Marines as well as a British Man-o-War, the 38-gun British Frigate HMS Avenger, anchored in the harbor, to insure the safety of the gold in the Customs House and his daughter, Katherine.
There are also three small islands (keys) named Calypso Cay, Mosquito Cay and Shipwreck Cay respectively. Two of these small "keys", namely Calypso Cay and Shipwreck Cay, are uninhabited and are rumored to contain "booty" of an unknown amount that was buried on them by pirates many years ago. The third small island, Mosquito Cay has another rather dubious name associated with it..........Cannibal Cay. This island is inhabited by a group of ill-tempered Kalinago (or "Carib") Natives who fanatically guard a large gold idol within their village. None who have ventured on to this cay in an attempt to liberate the Natives of their idol, have lived to confirm its existence.
Although ASWA has hosted a number of pirate games at various conventions in past years, our next endeavor was inspired by a number of game tables that were arguably some of the finest Pirate gaming set-ups that I have ever seen anywhere. Giving credit where it is definitely well deserved, the below is just one of the outstanding tables set up by Scott Christian, Steve Hobbs, Cody Dillon and their crew at a convention held at Lees Summit High School. The table measured 8 x 24 feet and layout is awesome. Based on their fantastic results, ASWA and the "Brethren" hope to offer folks a table that will emulate, in concept and design at least, the outstanding table shown on the links below and on the links provided.
A Fist Full of Seamen
Gaming on a 24 foot Table
Bermuda's British Forts
MORE INFORMATION WILL BE FORTHCOMING
