Interesting campaign setups - suggestions?

[Billy Rubin]

I've played a few campaigns with the new Pirates now, but now the games start becoming quite repetitive.
Most of the games I've played were as English or Dutch (English mostly in the periods up to 1620), one as the French in 1660. Generally, I like 1680 best and I'm thinking about starting a campaign as the Spanish in that period (I guess trying to play as a Spaniard doesn't make sense in the earlier eras) - but then I've just finished a Dutch campaign that started in 1680.
I'd especially be interested in your experiences playing the spanish - does the fact that Raymondo and Montalban are Spaniards become a problem, since you're forced to attack them?

So - does anyone have suggestions for a new, maybe a bit unusual campaign setup he particulary enjoyed? Some custom rules maybe (like restricting yourself to some things)?

 

[bigchief]

I have played well over 25 complete games, and I almost always started as the English or French, but I have recently played a couple of games as the Spanish.

Lately I have been holding myself true to my starting nation. You are issued a Letter of Marquis by your starting nation, upon arrival at the first city. In actual pirate days, a letter of marquis only allowed you to attack their enemies or pirates that acted against them. You were supposed to keep a detailed log of who you attacked, how it happened, and what you took. Then you would return the ships and the items to the nation that issued the letter. There would be an official proceeding to determine if the captures were legit. If they were, you then got to keep what you took (usually minus a healthy cut for the crown). If they weren't legit, at best you didn't get to keep the stuff, and at worst you could be charged with piracy yourself and hanged.

So, I will only attack the shipping and cities of other nations if they are at war with my starting nation. If those attacks also favor some other nation, I don't mind reaping the benefits from them, but if they then go to war with my starting nation, I don't care about the promotions, they are now the enemy. I never attack the shipping or cities of my starting nation, with the exception of the Baron, Marquis, or Colonel, if I am playing as the Spanish.

Playing as the Spanish can be a challenge starting out. The other nations don't have as many ships to attack, and it doesn't seem that their ships carry as much gold or goods. So, it is difficult to keep enough gold to keep the crew happy early in the game, but you also have many more friendly ports, and many more daughters to dance with.

There is a way to make big money playing as the Spanish, and it is even easier to do if you play in the early eras. I think this is poor game design, and it's probably an exploit and should be fixed in a patch, as I can't possibly think of a reason why they would make the game like this, but if all the cities and towns (not settlements)of a nation are eliminated, then that nation's ships will start hauling huge amounts of gold. If they are at war with the nation you are representing, then they will send 2 ships to intercept any escort mission. You can kill those two ships and get mega gold.

In my current game, I am playing as the Spanish in the 1600 era. I took out the English in my first year. I was then sailing to Tortuga to take out the one French town, but Spain beat me there and took out the French. That left only the Dutch with the one city of St. Martin. I took that out a couple of years later. So, within 3 years all the other nations were gone. I got Spanish advancements for sacking the other nations towns, killing the named pirates, and for doing some escort missions. After I finished the quests, I just do escort missions. I start over near where Trinidad usually is (it's not there in 1600). I stop at every Spanish settlement and Jusuit Mission, and do whatever escort misssion they will have me do. A pair of French, English, or Dutch ships will usually intercept the mission. About one in 5 or 6 times, it will be pirate ships. The pirate ships don't have much gold on them, but I generally average about 30,000 gold (I have gotten over 30,000 gold from a single ship many times) for the two ships of one of the enemy nations. I sail from that area near where Trinidad is supposed to be to Cartagena. There are about 5 Spanish Settlements and 6 Jusuit Missions in that area. I do those missions, and then sail back east and start over again. I have collected nearly 1,800,000 gold, and my pirate is only 34 years old. I will post some exact numbers tonight or tomorrow on how long each run is and how much gold I make from the run. I think it will be possible to retire at 45, having plundered over 3 million gold.

 

[Billy Rubin]

Wow - thanks for your elaborate description - guess I'll give Spain a go then - I really didn't think that playing them earlier than 1660. Don't these escort missions over and over again not get annoying? I rarely do them in my usual campaigns, because it's allways the same kind of scenario, basically.

But I might try that as well (still better than the games I've played on the C64, where I tried to be a peacefull trader - it never lasted, because it was too boring ).

The sticking to your nation reminds me of a game I've played once, in which I've tried to roleplay an english military vessel - thanks for bringing that idea up .

 

[bigchief]

Don't these escort missions over and over again not get annoying? I rarely do them in my usual campaigns, because it's allways the same kind of scenario, basically.

They get boring like anything else. My normal play would be sailing up and down the Spanish Main and attacking every Military Payroll and Treasure Ship I could find, then turn around and do it again. This is not much different. I actually think it's a bit more of a challenge than the regular ship fighting. When I can pick my target, I set myself up in postion so that I am traveling with the wind, and so that I can get off a volley or two of shot before the enemy ship can turn and fire. With the interceptor ships, it is harder to get set up on them. You can't circle around until you get into a good position, because they will be sinking the ship you are escorting by the time you get set up, so you just have to attack as soon as you get into range, which can leave you in a bad position. It's also more of a challenge because you are almost always fighting 2 ships at once. They are always brigs when escorting governors or settlers, and they are always sloops of war when escorting a sugar mission. Those ships, two at a time, are much harder to deal with than a slow, lumbering treasure ship, a payroll ship, or any type of galleon, and in my regular games, if I was fighting 2 ships at once, I would just try to sink the escort ship, then capture the target ship. I can't take a chance on sinking one of these ships, since they could be hauling over 30k in gold.

 

[rupertlittlebea]

For really hard, try 1600 Dutch. You start with a Fluyt.

For a change, try any era, but decide before hand what kind of ship will be your flag.
Play the whole game with a (canoe, sloop, brig, frigate, galleon){choose only one}.

For painful, dance only with the daughter you intend to wed.

 

[Volstag]

That's one of my criticisms of an otherwise fine game: it's too easy. It just seems weird to me that you could attain the level of Duke for every nation. I hope/wish that a future patch (if ever) allows us the option of making the game more difficult. If you PO a nation, it should take a long time to get back on their good side. Depending on the severity of your depredations, perhaps it should be impossible?

As an aside, what would be the most difficult starting parameters? Dutch? 1600? What pirate traits?

-V

 

[rupertlittlebea]

Dutch during 1600 with skill in Medecin (you live longer, start with a cargo ship and very very few friently ports)

Sounds like you would not care for the idea of "Amnesty for Fun and Profit".

Great fun to watch an angry Spanish Pirate Hunter instantly turn into a Spanish Raider.

 

[bigchief]

Here are some numbers from the last two trips in my escort game:

There are 8 Jesuit Missions and 6 Spanish Settlements on my route. One of the Jesuit Missions is kind of out of the way, and I forget to do it sometimes.

Trip one:

Started in Cartagena on 10/14/15. Arrived at Tabara, which is a Spanish Settlement Southwest of where Trinidad should be, on 3/16/16. That is the starting point of my missions. I did my missions, and arrived back at Cartagena on 7/4/17 (21 months). I plundered 300,624 gold from the interceptor ships, and I was granted 2900 acres by the Governor when I returned for doing the missions and killing the enemy ships.

Trip two:

Started in Cartagena on 7/12/17. Arrived at Tabara on 11/22/17. I did my missions, and arrived back at Cartagena on 4/29/19 (21 months). I plundered 391,153 gold from the interceptor ships, and I was granted 3350 acres by the Governor when I returned.