Name: La Charlemagne (France)
Card: DJ #076 (Rare)
Points: 15
Masts: 5
Cargo: 5
Moves: S+S
Guns : 2S,2S,3S,3S,3S
Hit %: 283 (S), 0 (L)
Ability: This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. She gets +2 instead if her opponent is a sea monster.

When the DJC release came out, it was focused on the Cursed, and the Cursed were focused on boarding. Many of the other factions' ships had the same focus, if only to defend themselves, and La Charlemagne shows what happened.

She's meant to be a fighter -- most five-masters are. Her cannons aren't great, though. I've seen worse, but not on a French ship. In fact, she might be the worst fighter of all the French five-masters, except possibly the very similar Neptune. She's a beast at boarding, though, and she has plenty of room for stolen goodies. If I used her, I'd crew her with one of the combination crew that give a move/shoot and an S-range board, and send her into the enemy ranks to cause what havoc she can. If I could afford him, I'd also use Capitaine Arazure (FS), the super-boarder. But I'd also need a good fighter, maybe a four-master, to add the firepower she lacks, and the cost of two big ships and their crew would rule out any of the small, speedy gold ships that have made France famous.

If you're a French admiral with boarding on the brain, Le Charlemagne is a fine choice. But if you're a French admiral who wants to win, boarding is a hard way to do it. Her price is fair, but there are other French gunships that give more bang-bang for the buck.

Goldship rating: 3.7 / 5
Gun Ship rating: 3.9 / 5
Boarding rating: 4.5 / 5
Value for points: 3.1 / 5

Name: La Charlemagne

Masts: 5

Cargo: 5

Speed: S+S

Firepower: two 2S, three 3S cannons

Cost: 15pts

Ability: This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls. She gets +2 instead if her opponent is a Sea Monster.

WK must have thought that boarding was the best thing since sliced bread. There’s no shortage of ships and crew with various boarding abilities and this is one.

She’s above average speed for a ship her size and with a boarding bonus. You can’t but help take advantage of this and crew her up with this in mind. The French have some good crew and various options available, but for me. I would (assuming you have the points) put on crew that can board from S away. Such as Guy Laplante or Robert Surcouf, you also get the captain ability as well, all for seven points.

Capitaine Arazure would be a good option too. Allowing you to have a choice of two out of three things. Take a treasure, eliminate a crew and/or mast. Well worth the five points, plus a helmsman and an oarsman for some crew protection. The French don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to crew protection. And when you’re doing a lot of boarding its worth while having some. A ships doctor is one option but I find that an explorer or oarsman is cheaper, a lot cheaper.

Whatever you choose, with five masts and a boarding bonus. Plus a half decent base move she should fill a boarding roll very well.

The breakdown of points.

Masts – 2.5pts    

Cargo­ – 2.5pts

Speed – 2.8pts

Cannons – 2.83pts

Ability –  4pts+

Gunship rating 3.5/5

Gold ship rating 3/5

Fleet support rating 3.5/5

Value rating 3/5