[Intro/Character] High Seas Piracy

[TacCovert4]

We now have 4 "charter" members of the crew:

Guilliame
Kuba
Jacques 'The Squirrel' Armstrong
William "Mouse" Aaron

They have brought with them to equip the ship:

4 Weeks of Supplies
4 Points of Repair
2 Swivel Guns for the Quarterdeck
6 3lb Cannon for the gun deck (each with a Powder and Shot Supply (PS) of 1)

And have induced to join:

20 sailors (for a total crew of 24)

Also, if a name for the ship is in the offing, then the game will be renamed "The Voyage of the (Blank)"

Note: If 5th and 6th players join, they may choose to have the 5 recruits that follow each of them either be "Sailors" or "Marines" (not technically marines, but a good analogue). As noted, sailors are primarily seamen, not fighters (though generally speaking Pirates are better fighters than merchant sailors). Sailors are equipped 50/50 with cold steel and muskets, with a relatively low skill level with both. Marines OTOH, are primarily fighting men (soldiers and marines from the war), and are skilled musketeers equipped with muskets and bayonet-dirks (this era was the one of the plug bayonet). Marines are, however, right crap at sailing a ship, so it's a definite trade off.

[Colonel Sennef]

Originally Posted by TacCovert4

Also, if a name for the ship is in the offing, then the game will be renamed "The Voyage of the (Blank)"

I was thinking of calling our ship the "Vespa',, Italian for wasp.

[TacCovert4]

I leave that up to you and your fellow mates. Call it a first decision.

Other important early decisions will be where you'll be based, or if you're based at all. You can of course encamp on a beach somewhere if you choose not to try to operate out of a port or other town. Also, the range of your potential territory is pretty much everything from North Carolina to the South American coast of the Caribbean.

[Pruitt]

The base should be close to a place we can fence the loot at.

Pruitt

[Colonel Sennef]

Originally Posted by Pruitt

The base should be close to a place we can fence the loot at.

Pruitt

Southern range of the Bahamas?

[Pruitt]

North Carolina was popular as the Governor was Pirate friendly. Barataria on the coast South of New Orleans was a likely place. The Turks and Caicos were close to Nassau in the Bahamas and close to the shipping lanes. Late in the era Jean Lafitte relocated to Galveston Island. It was close to the Louisiana Bayous and Sheriffs he did business with. The problem was the Texas Indians liked killing Pirates. There were two Tortugas Islands, one set off Florida and one off South America. I hear the Dutch Islands off South America were also popular for a while. Mobile Bay and Tampa Bay are possibles.

Buccaneers came about on the numerous semi deserted islands of the Caribbean. The Spanish had dropped cattle on these islands so they could provide a food source. A lot of men found themselves on these islands and were able to make a living selling Beef to passing Spanish ships. Then the Spanish decreed there would be no more purchases! Well these men found a new livelihood! they started banding together to take passing ships.

The French and Dutch Privateers also used the Caribbean to raid English and Spanish shipping.

Most merchant ships surrendered readily and the Pirates would take the cargo (which was insured). There was seldom a lot of violence. The Pirates needed good information on shipping as well. I am pretty sure some Merchants were persuaded to pay Blackmail.

Pruitt

[TacCovert4]

Pirates, for one reason or the other, generally kept a home base of sorts.....though don't feel obligated to take up residence in one of the other popular spots, your ship is fully capable of sailing the length of the North American Coast and Caribbean.......and you do have tents if you just want to find a cove and build your own home.

Repair points can always be spent on building buildings on land as well, so long as there's a ready supply of materials......I won't be spending a huge amount of effort on the whole base building portion, but you could in theory leave some crew and cannon defending a village that would also warehouse supplies and loot for you.

Or you can have a town or other home base and keep loot there.....or finally you can just stay at sea as much as possible and put in to sell loot to smugglers or other less than scrupulous vendors at any port you can get into without being caught out as pirates.

[Widow Maker]

What is the nationality(ies) and language(s) of the crew?

I have no problem with Vespa. I would have suggested Latin instead of Italian but in this case I think it would still be Vespa.

Vespa is a feminine noun so it is appropriate for a ship.

Of course I occasionally think of setting out to daring do's in one of these.

[TacCovert4]

Originally Posted by Widow Maker

What is the nationality(ies) and language(s) of the crew?

I have no problem with Vespa. I would have suggested Latin instead of Italian but in this case I think it would still be Vespa.

Vespa is a feminine noun so it is appropriate for a ship.

Of course I occasionally think of setting out to daring do's in one of these.

Nationalities and languages are mixed, though you all can understand each other (a lot of you would be multilingual to one extent or another).

As for replacement crew and finding settlers/troops for your base of operations (if you chose to build rather than operate out of a port or sojourn at sea). Capturing Slave Ships, you can choose to either sell the slaves, leave them aboard, free them, or offer for them to join your crew. You can also look for disgruntled sailors or soldiers. Or you might be able to obtain a coveted letter of marque....in which case you can openly recruit for your crew.

[Pruitt]

The crew should have a handy beach that they can careen the ship on to scrape the critters off the bottom. Since the ship is small, this beach can be only approached by shallow water. This means the crew KNOWS the area they operate out of.

There is a story that Jean Lafitte was being chased by the US Navy up the Calcasieu River. Lafitte was able to use a short cut in between the islands of the river channel to double back towards the Gulf and out run their pursuer.

Back then there was no Ship Channel dug to the Gulf and the river water was Fresh. That means there were Trees along the river banks and a lot of Cypress! You can still see along the river where the brackish water came in and killed the trees along the banks. Of course the Lumbermen coming in and cutting all the Cypress down did not help.

Choosing a target would also help. Jean Lafitte's Captains would sit off Havana and take Slave ships coming in from Africa. He had a system for selling the cargo. They would sail up one of these small rivers and bayous in South Louisiana. At night the crew would land the coffle and they would march into the woods. The escorts would sneak off and the terrified Slaves would sit there. The next day or so a local would "find" the Slaves and go get the local Sheriff. It was illegal to import Slaves but the Sheriff could impound any found like this and he would auction off the Slaves. The Sheriff would split the money with the guy who found the Slaves. Jean Lafitte got a kickback on the sale! He had no money tied up in acquiring the Slaves and the profit was large. He was able to make business arrangements with many Louisiana citizens. Jim Bowie did business with Lafitte after he located in Louisiana.

Pruitt

[Colonel Sennef]

Originally Posted by Pruitt

The Turks and Caicos were close to Nassau in the Bahamas and close to the shipping lanes.

Originally Posted by TacCovert4

Pirates, for one reason or the other, generally kept a home base of sorts.....take up residence in one of the other popular spots, your ship is fully capable of sailing the length of the North American Coast and Caribbean
Or you can have a town or other home base and put in to sell loot to smugglers or other less than scrupulous vendors at any port you can get into without being caught out as pirates.

I feel like posing as respectable citizens in a place like Nassau, full with information and shipping news.
Every now and then we tell our wives and neighbours that we go out on a sailing trip (male bonding).
Once out at sea we turn into pirates and capture ships and take their cargo.
Whatever we capture we sell to smugglers or unscrupulous vendors in any harbour but our own, then return home to resume our respectable lives

[TacCovert4]

Ahh.....play the legitimate businessman?

[Colonel Sennef]

Originally Posted by TacCovert4

Ahh.....play the legitimate businessman?

Exactly.
As an outward facade we are all respectable citizens, staunch pillars of society.

I have a trade as butcher so I could be a legit butcher in e.g. Nassau, providing barrels of pork to ships, learn shipping news, pick up intel and rumours, meet with friends in the evening to drink rum and beer, share and discuss things.
My comrades could be in any other trade or repair our ship and kit it out, preparing it for action.
Once we learned that there is an interesting opportunity and the ship is ready for action we decide to strike.

I would close my butcher shop, my mates suspend their businesses, we tell our wives, neighbours that we’re all out sailing/business trips etc. I bring some barrels of bacon…
Once in high seas we change our appearance; we strike; sell the loot in a place where nobody knows us, and return home with the money which we plough back into our day jobs

[Snowygerry]

Name: The Admiral. An alias obviously on account of his trademark attire, a dress uniform of an ancient Spanish Admiral. He's aging, old some would say, and a veteran of many voyages but now a bit to far on in life to command his own crew.

Having grown accustomed to a rich lifestyle, and with opportunities for privateering dwindling down south, he came here to try his hand at outright piracy.

Stats to wit:

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Intelligence 2
Will 2


Kit:

Pistol, Cutlass.

Trades,

Fencing, Shooting, Sailing (split up in Helm and Navigation if possible).

The remaining would be "social skills" - representing his existing reputation and personal connections all over the Caribbean, gained throughout his career.

Don't know what you have available in that regard.

He'll bring with him a small crew of marines, as suggested above.

[TacCovert4]

We now have 5 "charter" members of the crew:

Guilliame
Kuba
Jacques 'The Squirrel' Armstrong
William "Mouse" Aaron
"The Admiral"

They have brought with them to equip the ship:

5 Weeks of Supplies
5 Points of Repair
2 Swivel Guns for the Quarterdeck
8 3lb Cannon for the gun deck (each with a Powder and Shot Supply (PS) of 1)

And have induced to join:

20 sailors (for a total crew of 25)(10 boarding pikes, 10 muskets)
5 "Marines" (5 Muskets and Dirk (plug bayonet))

Also, if a name for the ship is in the offing, then the game will be renamed "The Voyage of the (Blank)"

Note: If a 6th player joins, they may choose to have the 5 recruits that follow each of them either be "Sailors" or "Marines" (not technically marines, but a good analogue). As noted, sailors are primarily seamen, not fighters (though generally speaking Pirates are better fighters than merchant sailors). Sailors are equipped 50/50 with cold steel and muskets, with a relatively low skill level with both. Marines OTOH, are primarily fighting men (soldiers and marines from the war), and are skilled musketeers equipped with muskets and bayonet-dirks (this era was the one of the plug bayonet). Marines are, however, right crap at sailing a ship, so it's a definite trade off.