Masts: 2 (rating: 2 / 5)
Cargo: 2 (rating: 1.5 / 5)
Moves: S+L (rating: 4 / 5)
Guns : 2S,2S (rating: / 5)
Hit %: 134 (S), - (L)
Keyword: Mercenary
Ability: This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls.
She gets +2 instead if her opponent is a sea
monster.
This ship, unlike the Hare's Luck, is unambiguously
a fighter. Two good cannons, enough speed to not
need a Helmsman, and a tiny cargo that couldn't
tempt anyone into mistaking her for a gold ship.
Ironically, the Hare's Luck is cheaper, even with
the Helmsman crew added.
The extra point cost is for the boarding ability.
You won't want to board for gold; where would you
put it? Board to kill crew instead. You've got a
50/50 chance against the larger submarines, and
likewise against sea serpents. Such critters will
probably leave you alone, unless they can ram and
remove a mast. If you can maneuver to avoid this,
your ship's presence can "herd" a sea serpent to
where you want it, or away from where you don't want
it.
Recent Pirates expansions have gotten slower on the
whole; it's unusual for a Common ship to move faster
than S+S. This ship is an exception, and I like
that. The Bashaw Folly would have been a rather
ordinary ship in Crimson Coast or Revolution, but
compared to the ships she'll usually be fighting
now, she gets above-average marks.
Total rating: 3.5 / 5
Sumpbeast
Bashaw Folly
I had a copy of Bashaw
Folly and traded it away for something I considered
more useful. She is an average two-master with good
guns (a pair of 2S cannons), average cargo hold and
average speed. Her ability is an anti-boarding
deterrent (+1 to boarding, +2 against sea monsters).
It looks like the Bashaw Folly was meant as a
fighting ship to support the bigger gunships.
However, for her point cost I would be looking at
other ships. There are a number of three-masters
about with decent guns for a lower points cost. In
case you were wondering, a Bashaw is a Turkish
officer or governor, though the ship doesn’t look
like a Barbary Coast descendant. Bashaw Folly gets a
2/5, I would use other ships instead.
