Three way mission with pirates

This is for a convention demo game with a twist on my treasure ship mission.
British vs French (duh!)
Number of ships depends on number of players, but it's equal ships per side. Ideally at least one SOL just to show players the significance of the difference. You could go all frigates too.
Three maps, so it's 39" x 81".
Starting positions for British and French are on opposite long edges...anywhere they want to be.
What's the objective, you say?
It's the bishop of Switzerland having been kidnapped for ransom by pirates. The pirates don't know he has the Shroud of Turin. The pirates consist of one of the wave 2 heavy frigates (I suggest the HMS Sybille) and the privateer sloop Thorn. The bishop is in the heavy frigate. Both pirate ships have Elite Marines. The sloop has Well Trained Gunners. The heavy frigate has Intuitive Captain.
The pirates set-up last, at least B range away from one of the four sides of one of the end mats.
The British and French are trying to capture the heavy frigate. They're free to sink the sloop. They can't sink the heavy frigate or they lose the game. How are they supposed to capture it? If it has lost all sails, it surrenders to the nearest ship within C chit range. You can also beat it in boarding action to capture it.
Whichever side captures the pirate ship wins. The other side can't blow the capturing ship out of the water for fear of killing the bishop, so the game ends.
The pirate wins if he makes it to the opposite side of the board with the heavy frigate.
I've not play-tested this in the least. It is all pure speculation as to how well it will work.

Dang! If we had Spanish ships the Bishop could be carrying the Aqua de Vida (or Fountain of Youth). Sounds like this one could be challenging and maybe hilarious at the same time? :wink:

I like the idea of the game. I think it will depend upon how many players you have. If there are 6+ per side, I imagine the pirate ship will have a very difficult time getting through. When is the convention?

Sounds an interesting idea.

Delicate operation, sounds like fun with the right players. :pistole:

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Originally Posted by 7eat51

I like the idea of the game. I think it will depend upon how many players you have. If there are 6+ per side, I imagine the pirate ship will have a very difficult time getting through. When is the convention?

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I'm thinking the pirate might not make it through. That doesn't stop people from playing Cthulhu games. There's always the issue that the Brits and French will be shooting at each other as well. I could up the pirate force to a third ship, if necessary. One aspect you have to keep in mind is that the game ends instantly when the pirate is captured. There's no re-taking by the other side. So, the Brits and French can't knock the pirate down too close to capture or the capture might get easily stolen. They have to beat down the other guy at the same time to make sure the capture is a sure thing.
So far no specific planned convention yet. We just came up with the scenario idea yesterday.
I need to get with some locals and do some play-testing of this and the fog bank mission.

That makes sense about not wanting to damage without defeating.

I wonder if it will be a race to grapple and board.

When we return from the convention, I will give this a try with some friends and let you know about our experience.

Again, neat idea.

Looks like a spectacular scenario to play!
I like the part of not sinking the ship and the fact there are 3 parties on the table!

You could also consider a tow of the captured ship of to the board edge when playing with enough ships on french and british sides,
With even the possibility of recapture by the other party.

You could transfer half of the remaining crew onto the captured ship to defend the ship against recapture?

My thoughts on how to make it even more spectacular :wink:

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Originally Posted by Andy Blozinski

I'm thinking the pirate might not make it through.

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They might have an easier time than you think.

I ran something similar recently: two pirate frigates vs one each of British and French 74s, with the pirates trapped in a downwind cove to start. The 74s knocked each other silly on the way in; if they hadn't turned around to scavenge, the frigates would have got away clean.