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Pirate Piece of the Day

Janissaries' Blood
Barbary Corsairs - Barbary Coast

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

Type - Ship
Collector's Number -  006

Piece Ratings: 2.7

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.


Date Reviewed - 01.11.06

 
ChaosReaper Janissaries' Blood -006

Hello to all! Im your new pirate piece of the day reviewer, ChaosReaper. I apologize but this week, my reviews are going to be somewhat short because there isn't much to say about these.

Anyway, todays ship is a Rare Barbary Corsair ship called the Janissaries' Blood. In itself, its not a bad ship. 4 masts (two being 3L while the others are 3S). 3 cargo space is meh, buts it isn't meant for gold hauling. There are much better ships as commons and uncommons that acomplish that. It does mean not too many crew, but would you really invest that much crew on this thing? A good solid speed, and a 'reverse' captain effect. (meaning it shoots, then moves).

But, the main problem with the Barbary Crosair ships is that the sails are very big, preventing many lines of fire, reducing its playability. But all the Barbary Crosair ships are cool looking as collectables.

Playability: 2.5/5
Collectablility: 3.8/5
 
Richard Janissaries Blood

This is supposed to be the Corsairs’ ‘big hitter’ - a proposition borne out by both the high points cost (16), and the fact that (unlike most other galleys) JB has 3-rank guns on all four masts, rather than guns which get gradually worse as you work your way astern. (Or should that be abaft?)
However, 3-rank guns actually aren’t that great – they are just average. You only have a 50:50 chance of hitting.
Now compare what 16 points generally buys the other factions:
Yep, a big 5 masted gunship – usually with at least a proportion of 2-rank cannon aboard. Or all two rank cannon.
So, what about that ability then? Must be pretty tasty, right?
Well, if the ability is taken at face value, it really is very good indeed, and would be well worth the extra points cost.
To recap, this ‘shoot then move’ ability was one of the few genuine innovations included in POTBC, adding a great new dynamic to the game, allowing a free move after completing a shoot action.
So, theoretically, the few ships with this distinctive ability would have a real edge, since with a captain aboard, they would be capable of moving, then shooting (and remember, the ‘move and shoot’ combo was redefined under the FAQs as a free shoot action which takes place after the move action), and then moving away again, to attempt to avoid suffering retaliation (into a handy fog bank, perhaps?)
So what’s the problem?
The problem is that the Wizkids official rules arbitrator then ruled that the two abilities (move and shoot + free move after shooting) could not be used in combination. Allegedly, the intent was that you exploit one or other ability, but not both together.
However, that AIN’T what it says on the card, and it AIN’T what it says in the rules, so you may take the view (and I couldn’t possibly comment) that this smells a bit.
In summary, if you take that ability at face value, then this is a pretty good ship - certainly as far as the Corsairs go, who are under-endowed on the gunship front.
But if not, then it’s only an average ship, since ‘shoot and move’ on its own, isn’t actually that great an ability compared with ‘move and shoot’.

My rating: 3/5 – just about. Although if the ability is taken at face value - 4/5.
 

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