Abilities: Mercenary, Submarine. This ship ignores
the first hit she takes each turn as long as she has
all of her hull pieces.
Flavor Text: Though slowed considerably by the
weight of her thick, iron hull, the Hephaestus once
survived a direct shot from a 30-pound cannonball.
Continuing on from ships with S speed week, here we
have the Hephaestus. This is an interesting ship
that comes from one of my favorite sets, Mysterious
Islands. One reason being was the introduction of
the Submarines, in which the Hephaestus is one of
them.
For 14 points, you get a ship that can submerge, has
great cannons, and has a very useful defensive
ability that allows the first hit to be ignored if
the ship has all her hull pieces intact. The
Mercenary keyword may be a bit iffy depending on a
player’s perspective. Not being able go near your
home island means that you can not collect gold and
drop it off is problematic in a pure faction play,
but beginning the game S away from your home island
may be considered a head start if you are playing in
a mixed faction. Then there is the theme of the
week, the S speed. I have seen ships with very
useful abilities being avoided from use due to them
having S speed, and sadly the Hephaestus suffers
from this.
This sub is a fighter due to its cannons and
defensive ability. One would have to play it smart
in order to get the full potential from this ship.
The Hephaestus link, Herr Fuchs (6 points), gives
the ship a captains ability to fire after moving and
a re-shoot ability if one of it’s cannons misses. A
helmsman is definitely necessary to give this ship
some speed, and a captain can substitute for her
link if you want to save points. This ship can also
be used to ram other ships while submerged without
fear of being boarded. This would cause the opponent
to spends points on a ship or crew that can fire a
submerged ships. This ship is going to have to be
played as a mixed fleet, or as the faction name, as
a mercenary. Any of the big factions can utilize
this ship, since the Navigator was introduced in the
Savage Shores set to help assist with it’s speed.
Overall, despite it’s speed and keyword, the
Hephaestus is a worthwhile ship to use if you are in
need of a ship that can play bruiser and harasser
when needed. Just trying to find a way to fit this
ship in a normal point game may be challenging, but
in a high point game the Hephaestus is fun to use.
