Name:   Pride (Pirates)

Card:    RV #004 (Common)

Points:  13

Masts: 3

Cargo: 3

Moves: S+L

Guns : 3L,2L,3L

Hit %: 167 (S), 167 (L)

Link : Jean Laffitte, Phillippe Laffitte

Ability: Schooner. Broadsides Attack.

Pirates Commons Week begins with the Pride, a speedy medium-sized gunship. Three-masters can be hard to fit into a gun line; they're too small to be a flagship, and usually cost too much to be usable as a second ship. This one has enough firepower to make me want to find a way to use her.

I automatically like anything with S+L speed, since you don't have to use up points and a cargo space for a Helmsman. Give this villain a Captain and turn her loose on the enemy's gold ships; she's got the speed to catch them, and the firepower to fight off any secondary fighter that gets in her way. If she meets something bigger than that, she has a 50/50 chance of landing a Broadside for four hits, which can ruin any gunship's day. Her only weakness is against ships like the Jarvis that can't be hit by red cannons.

Her linked crew are a mixed bag. Jean Laffitte (any ship gets a 2nd action on a roll of 6) will do nothing 5/6 of the time, except remind you what a waste of five points he is. Phillippe (choose which enemy mast falls) is more likely to be useful, and he's a lot more affordable; I'd take him along if I had the two points for him.

13 points is reasonable for what you're getting here. The Pride is a solid mid-sized gunslinger which is sure to earn her keep.

Goldship rating: 3.4 / 5

Gun Ship rating: 3.7 / 5

Boarding rating: 3.0 / 5

Value for points: 3.2 / 5

Name: Pride
Masts: 3
Cargo: 3
Speed: S+L
Firepower: one 3L gun, one 2L gun, one 3L gun
Cost: 13 points
Ability: Schooner, Broadsides Attack.

Pirate’s week, and we start with a ship very much like the Julius Caesar, both from the same set too. The Caesar I like, and I like this ship equally as much, if not more. Probably because the USA have quite a few powerful fighting ships. The Pirates on the other hand don’t quite excel at fighting. But this pirate ship does and she is capable of serious damage.

Cargo is good enough; The Pirates have more than their fair share of excellent gold runners. So don’t waste this ability and guns on grabbing a few coins. Speed is excellent and she’s equipped with the perfect cannons. Well, not quite perfect, if she had all rank two guns that would be the icing on the cake. The broadside ability is what really makes this ship. This gives her the capabilities to deal with just about any defensive ability.
L-range cannons can’t hit this ship, no problem. A shoot action using the Broadsides Attack keyword overrides and ignores this ability, even if the attacking ship has only L-range cannons. Oh yes.

This ship can’t be hit within S, no problem. You can’t use the broadside here as it requires a valid target. So just shoot conventionally outside S with the
L-range guns. Oh yes.

Ships which require two shots to eliminate a mast can easily fall pray to a broadside. Seeing your beloved Constitution receive four hits or your La Corse left derelict is going to ruin anyone’s day. Oh yes.

The only weakness is that you only have a 50% chance of hitting on a broadside. This means if you fail, you’re going to receive a not so friendly response from the other ship. Which you just tried to cripple!

Now, this ship will require a captain, maybe a helmsman if you want to keep her super fast. I would add a crew which could help with making sure that Broadside is going to hit. Now, the problem is that you can’t add anything to it, such as a re-roll. You could put aboard The Headhunter with one or two oarsman to feed him. Then not only do you get +1 to your conventional guns but also a guaranteed double action when you feed him a crew member. Just the thing if you miss that first broadside. Don’t forget the schooner keyword. The ability to pivot on the stern could be just the thing to shimmy that ship in position after a move action for a beefy volley of cannon balls.

The breakdown of points.
Masts – 2 points
Cargo¬ – 1.5 points.
Speed – 3.4 points.
Cannons – 3.16 point
Ability – 3 Points

Gunship rating 4.5/5
Gold ship rating 3/5
Fleet support rating 3.5/5
Value rating 3.5/5