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Pirate
Piece of the Day
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La Gaule
French - South China Seas
This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against any
non-French ship.
Type
- Ship
Collector's Number -
074
Piece Ratings: 3
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.
Date Reviewed - 04.10.06 |
WildWill |
Pirates of the South China Seas - #074 La Gaule
Name: La Gaule
Set: POSCS
Card #s: 073
Rarity: Rare
Type: Ship
Cost: 14 Points
Masts: 5
Cannons: 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L
Cargo: 4
Movement: 1S+1S
Faction: French
Ability – This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls
against any non-French ship.
Flavor Text – “In the race to control the Pacific,
France has pinned its hopes on La Gaule, a ship that
lost crew to England on the Barbary Coast and to
America in the Atlantic—a ship with no intention of
losing anything ever again.”
When making my selections for the COTD I try to keep
the different factions balanced, at least as much as
I can. To that end we’ve done about the same number
of reviews for the main factions (Spanish, English,
American), and proportionate to the number of
Pirates in the game. The Pirates have almost 50%
more individual game pieces as other factions, thus
we’ve done more reviews for Pirates than any other.
Unfortunately, the French lagged behind all the
other factions for whatever reason, and this week
we’ll be catching up.
Each of the main factions in the game now have at
least six 5-masted ships, your tried and true
gun-boats (except Spain, who unbelievably only has
five). In SCS the French, like all other factions,
get their first new 5 master since Revolution. Does
it add to their firepower? Well, yes and no. This
vessel needs help in order to make it fleet-worthy.
Two factors make La Gaule a poor addition to the
French: she has the worst cargo rating of any of the
French 5 masters, and her guns, well, while having
all long range is a boon, RANK FOUR? YUCK! Her
ability would be considered an automatic, making
them rank three, but even then, you need at least
one other +1 to make them viable. Adding your
obligatory Helmsman/Captain you lose two cargo
spots, giving you only two more for additional crew.
Comparing her other abilities to the other French
big ships we see that the La Gaule is right in line
with her sister vessels. 14 points for cost is right
in the middle (only Le Soleil Royale costs less),
and she’s actually faster than most, making her a
worthy addition to your French fleet, if not an
inspired one.
Normally my Ebay Price report would be right here,
BUT, this poor ship has only sold once in the last
90 days, for $2.20. There’s also only one current
auction for her. You can buy her from Ebay stores
though from about $4 to $8. Not that I would, but
you could. The last of sales for this ship is due,
most likely, to the fact that because the French are
still not a popular option with single faction fleet
builders, which is a shame, because she’s a decent
ship.
My Ratings
Playability 3 of 5
Collectability 3 of 5
Next time – French week continues with Crew-Fers.
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Richard |
La
Gaule
Hmmm... a strange one, this.
At first glance, you think - 'a 5 mast gunship with
all 4-rank cannon - I don't think I'll bother' - but
actually, factor in her ability, and it effectively
means all are 3-rank cannon (unless you are playing
mixed fleets and happen to come up against another
French ship.)
Then add, say, Gentil de Barbinais, and all of a
sudden, you have a 5 mast gunship with five 2-rank
cannon, all long range (which is rare on a 5 master)
and a healthy S+S base move. So overall - not too
shabby at all.
However, points-wise, that's gonna cost you 18, plus
a captain, and probably a helmsman too, which takes
you up to a princely 23 points.
Hmm.
When you compare what you get with some older
favourites like Le Soleil Royal or Le Dauphin Royal,
for the same points or less, you can see that unless
you're playing really huge fleets, La Gaule is never
really likely to be in contention.
On balance, she's slightly overpriced, has a
non-ability which really only gives her the sort of
clout she should have carried anyway, and for a ship
of this size, a cargo capacity of just 4, is on the
mean side.
But she's not a complete dead loss. I just used her
in a big 200 points a side French v English sea
battle, and she acquitted herself pretty well, set
up as above, with a firepot aboard too.
My rating - 3/5.
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