Exciting developments unfold!
Another round of turns took place today. The Pirates went after HMS Leicester, seeking revenge for the death of Emperor Blackheart. The Longshanks and Grand Temple (the latter with help from Tsai's SAT) dismasted the English gunship and captured Henry Ducie Chads with Dragon Eyes, at which point Woodes Rogers (aboard the nearby Shui Xian) hailed the Pirates:
Woodes Rogers: I would like to point out that we are not after the elimination of the Pirates. We have objectives that need to be met, but open war is not our primary goal with you scum.
* L Tool moved by Xerecs*
<a7xfanben> - WR: In other words, perhaps we can work out some terms?
<Xerecs> - Genny Gallows: You killed the Emporer.
<a7xfanben> - I think this is the first convo of this type lol, similar to CG1 heh
<Xerecs> - GG: But we can listen,
<a7xfanben> - WR: As needed. He ruins everything for everyone but yourselves.
<Xerecs> - One Extended shot from Ningpo on that ten
*** <Xerecs> rolls Red D6 -> [2] ***
<Xerecs> - miss
<Xerecs> - GG: We have quarrel with the French
<a7xfanben> - WR to himself: Even as they continue to fire...
<a7xfanben> - XD
<Xerecs> - GG: Blasted Frogs
<Xerecs> - GG: T'was one shot
<Xerecs> - GG: and it missed
<a7xfanben> - WR: You are still more powerful than the French. If certain things don't happen soon, that may change.
<Xerecs> - GG: You can take the Leicester back,
<Xerecs> - GG: But the Polaris and Sigurd are important to us.
<a7xfanben> - WR: We are not interested in a talentless Viking....
<Xerecs> - GG: I would not call him talentless.....
<Xerecs> - GG: I quite fancy him
<a7xfanben> - Lawrence: Blackheart is not the only nuisance in your fleet
<Xerecs> - GG: To what other nuisance to you refer?
<Xerecs> - GG: Captain Sparrow?
<a7xfanben> - WR: A certain junk, let's call her "Hai Peng"?
<a7xfanben> - WR: Him as well.
<Xerecs> - GG: Is oyur issue with the ship or with er captain?
<a7xfanben> - WR: Both are unnatural...
<a7xfanben> - WR: I would hardly expect the Pirates to be surprised that His Majesty's Navy wants Sparrow dead.
<Xerecs> - GG: Killing Sparrow would result in a cursed version of imself.
<Xerecs> - GG: Neither are in our best intrests
<a7xfanben> - WR: We're not asking you to kill one of your own.
<a7xfanben> - WR: Simply keep him in a jail cell where he belongs.
<a7xfanben> - WR: If not, Beckett will not simply keep him in a jail cell...
<Xerecs> - GG: But he brings us such nice shiny things......
<Xerecs> - GG: I've heard he is going to the Dead Man's Point.......
<a7xfanben> - WR: With unnatural powers that will lead you to your own doom.
<Xerecs> - GG: I can arrange for im to be......Detained
<a7xfanben> - WR: Good. We hope for hostilties to cease.
<Xerecs> - GG: Mind you, I cannot stophim from using his 'unnatural' powers one last time once he arrives.
<Xerecs> - GG: But after that it sould be simple to keep him there
<Xerecs> - GG: Your giant ships off our coast make us quite Nervous Woodes
<a7xfanben> - WR: Unless he escapes... or should I say when you LET him escape in his usual fashion?
<Xerecs> - GG: Only a Pirate could keep him permanently in place.
<a7xfanben> - WR: How could we make demands without a show of force?
<Xerecs> - GG: For only a Pirate can truly know the mind of another Pirate
<Xerecs> - GG: Impressive display Woodes, you took one of ours to make it so.
<a7xfanben> - WR: Gives us Ducie Chads in the meantime; his hatred of Pirates will make him kill himself before you can get him back to the ransom market.
<Xerecs> - GG: Alas i truly do not know how to give im back, he's fallen to the Dragon Eyes, a truly mysterious fellow.
Here's the situation after the Pirate turn. 6 Pirate gunships have their bows pointed to the west; the Rampage has turned around and away from the battle.
At this point negotiations broke down. Almost all the English ships in the southern hemisphere have Pirate-hating crews aboard. In addition, the large crews of the powerful 10 masters had grown restless. The Leicester had taken care of the main objective - eliminating Emperor Blackheart. The English and Mercenary crews were itching for some action, and the Grand Temple's dismasting of the Leicester (and subsequent capture of Chads by Dragon Eyes) put them over the top. The Fortaleza surged forward and it was on! With an AA the Fortaleza shot about 9/20, taking the Grand Temple and Grand Path down to 3 masts each. The Shui Xian was given a sac action to move and shoot twice as well. Her first broadside sank the Longshanks, while her second broadside dismasted the Grand Temple and Raven's Neck and sank the Greed's Hammer. Then at long last it was time for the English 10 master: HMS Union Jack! The Union Jack had a
triple cannon bonus against Pirate ships: +1 from Governor Lynch, +1 from Griffin, and +1 from Admiral James Norrington! This also meant that she had a +2 cannon bonus against ships of any faction, but against Pirates, 2's hit on all of her cannons! Commander Portland's SAT roll failed, but Mycron gave the ship an extra action to bail him out. The Raven's Neck and Ningpo were sunk in short order. Then the Union Jack had to maneuver so that some guns were in range of the Grand Path, but so that the UJ wasn't in range of the Rampage's built-in cancelling ability. This was accomplished, and the Grand Path was sunk! With 2 L-range guns in range of the Rampage, the UJ rolled a pair of 6's to damage the dangerous vessel. Finally, all 4 aft cannons on the UJ scored hits on the Ladron, making the Ladron the final Pirate ship to sink on the turn, one of six I believe. The English ended their turn by advancing even more Pirate-hating ships: HMS Apollo, HMS Victoria, and HMS Diamond are on their way. In addition, you can see the Mercenary subs advancing, without the Prussian Crown and Corcoran to oppose them.
The ocean. In a single turn the 3 English-controlled 10 masters in the deep south fired off around 50 shots to absolutely devastate the Pirate resistance. The English are still not interested in war, as they have made their demands to the Pirates clear:
<a7xfanben> - 1. Don't use Captain Jack Sparrow for the rest of the game.
<a7xfanben> - 2. Scuttle the Hai Peng.
<a7xfanben> - The English will be taking the Rampage as a prize of war; resistance will mean the end of the Grand Temple, Polaris, Dragon Eyes, Tsai, and Andersen.
<a7xfanben> - If the two demands are not met, the English will have no choice but to use force. In that case anything that gets in the way will be eliminated.
<a7xfanben> - TIME TO CAPITULATE!!!!!!!
