Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.
3 is average.
5 is the highest rating.
Date Reviewed - 05.15.08
Cadet-Captain Mike
Name: Guy LaPlante (France)
Card: RV #062 (Common)
Points: 5
Link : Le Courageux
Ability: This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls
against forts within S of her. She gets +1 to her
boarding rolls.
The original Guy LaPlante has (in my opinion) one of
the best portraits of any crew in the game. I'd like
to say his abilities match his looks, but that would
be lying.
Five points for what you get is fair, to be sure.
The trouble is that even when forts were new and
exciting, many players didn't use them, and that was
a long time ago. The boarding bonus usually costs 4
points, so you're wasting a point for a skill you'll
never use. Worse, you're putting LaPlante's cost in
the same realm as more useful crew like Capitaine
Arathiel (sac captain), Capitaine Gaston de St.
Croix (SAT and
+1 vs English), Monsieur Lenoir (canceller), or
Gendarmerie Rene Moreau
(the cheapest Marine in the game).
The real problem with his abilities is that they
don't complement each
other. How many ships will try to fight forts and
board ships in the
same battle? Guy LaPlante sets out to be an
all-purpose crew, but he
winds up being a no-purpose crew. His picture will
look good on your
card-storage box, but there are better ways to spend
five points.
Gold crew rating: 2.0 / 5
Gun Crew rating: 2.4 / 5
Boarding rating: 3.1 / 5
Value for points: 3.1 / 5
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Name: Guy LaPlante (France)
Card: FS #090 (Common)
Points: 7
Ability: Loyal:France, Captain. As part of a move
action, this ship can
initiate a boarding party against a ship up to S
away from her, without
having to ram. The boarded ship can’t use any
boarding bonuses.
The ships we looked at this week went from fair in
their original
release, to good in the newer versions. Guy LaPlante,
on the other hand,
went from average to average.
The combination of captain and S-board isn't a bad
one, and can come in
quite handy. Seven points is a fair price, too. But
the French already
had a crew like this (Robert Surcouf), and in a
mind-boggling move, WK
gave France not one, but two more such crew in the
Fire & Steel release
(Philippe Jordan is the other one). If France had
gotten two switchblade
ships, this might have made sense, but they only got
the Saber, and she
doesn't need three identical high-priced crewmen.
As with his earlier incarnation, Guy LaPlante is
neither good nor bad.
But he fails to break out of the pack. For seven
points, Amiral Louis
Cartier is a better value. Sorry, big Guy.
