Name:    USS Cardinal (USA)

Card:    OE #205 (Limited Edition)

Points:  11

Masts: 2

Cargo: 2

Moves: L

Guns : 3L,3L

Hit %: 100 (S), 100 (L)

Ability: After this ship resolves a shoot action, she may move as a free action.

This is Reverse Captain Week, for ships that can move after shooting.

This ability is overpriced, in my opinion; a crew with this ability costs 6 points, compared to 3 points for a normal Captain. And the normal Captain is more useful, again in my opinion. And WizKids made the ability even less useful by saying you can't use a Captain and Reverse-Captain in the same turn, which was a mistake (still my opinion). But let's take a look at five ships that can shoot and move, and see how they stack up.

Our first victim is the USS Cardinal, a limited-edition ship from the Ocean's Edge release. She's kind of an ordinary small fighter, with two adequate cannons, small cargo, poor speed, and a cost that's a bit high for what you get. Probably the best thing you can do with her is give her a Captain and Helmsman and sic her on enemy gold ships, which means you don't use her ability. That ability works best for gold ships who want to smack a pursuer before leaving the scene, and for boarders who want to soften up their target before ramming; the Cardinal is neither.

The Americans have no shortage of 11-point ships that can fight better than this one (the Pawtucket, Mohican, and Kentucky come to mind).

So if you managed to acquire this LE ship, I hope you didn't assemble her. She's worth a lot more as trade bait than as a fighting ship.

Goldship rating: 2.2 / 5

Gun Ship rating: 2.2 / 5

Boarding rating: 2.4 / 5

Value for points: 2.5 / 5