Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.
3 is average.
5 is the highest rating.
Date Reviewed -
July 22, 2009
Cadet-Captain Mike
Name: Mermaids (Event)
Card: RV #063b (Common)
Points: 3
Ability: Reveal this event at the beginning of one
of your turns and place its token on a non-docked
enemy ship. That ship may not be given an action for
a number of turns equal to the number of crew on her
when Mermaids was revealed. After those turns have
elapsed, remove Mermaids from the game.
Mermaids was one of the most popular Events. It's
the final answer to a big gunship filled with
belligerent crew. In fact, it might be too powerful.
This event paralyzes a ship so it can't move or
shoot (or do anything else), and the more crew on
board, the longer she's frozen in place.
This could allow you to destroy a hugely powerful
warship over the course of several turns, without
giving it a chance to fire a shot in self-defense.
Even a ten-masted junk won't last long if it can't
fight back or run away. For the price of a
Musketeer, this is insanely powerful. I've heard of
gaming groups where Mermaids isn't allowed except
under special circumstances, because a medium-sized
fighter and a 3-point Event can trash anything in
sight.
Mermaids can also be used defensively, to stop a
pursuer in its tracks while your damaged ship makes
its getaway. I suppose you could use it to stop a
gold ship before it can clean out a wealthy wild
island, assuming the gold ship had crew on board.
For those purposes, it's a fine value.
Its ability to take out the biggest and baddest,
though, makes me want to call it "broken." If you
don't care about that, then by all means, spend the
three points and prepare to ruin your enemy's day.
Power: 5.0 / 5
Value for points: 5.0 / 5
Draco
Starcloud
Mermaids
Mermaids is the perfect weapon for defeating a
crew-laden ship. The ship will not be able to make
actions for as many turns as it has crew, giving you
at least one turn to move your own gunships into
range to pound it or board it and eliminate the crew
more quickly. It is useless against ships that don't
have crew though and since you can only use it once,
you may need to decide if the enemy ship's crew is
worth immobilizing.
