The Let's Play Archive

Sid Meier's Pirates!

by FirstAidKite

Part 11




The gal was trapped in the Florida Keys and only the crew and I were willing to rescue her! We prepared at the tavern of the local pirate haven before setting off to the north.



And just as planned, we ran directly into Baron Raymondo along the way.



He gave up shortly after my arrival. I threatened to slice his throat if he didn't hand over the rest of the map, to which he revealed that he only had three of the four pieces of the map.



I threw him overboard all the same and took his ship.



Again.



Not to mention this handy fellow.

The Spanish disliked this turn of events, what with the plundering and looting and piracy. A pirate hunter was sent after us from the Florida Keys.



It failed miserably.



[Alright! Time to explain this interesting game mechanic. When you choose to raid a port, the game turns into a turn based strategy game upon a grid of sorts. The idea is to have one unit touch the city or to eliminate all of the soldiers defending it. There are various tiers of enemies and pirates, but in the end, this just comes down to "Those who shoot, those who fight, and those who run to the city."]



[A few turns later and my superior forces have already decimated much of their 100 man army, some of which consisted of the pathetic and easy to beat Indians. This is almost like Advance Wars with pirates. That's something I wouldn't mind seeing. Brig Wars.]



[All units get 2 moves, though they sometimes use those two moves in one move due to traversing tough terrain like a forest. Buccaneers are gunners, able to fire in a nonspecific radius.]



[Pirates, meanwhile, focus on swordplay and are always the types who move into an enemy square and fight it out. These pirates are angry, meaning they are more powerful, have more morale, and are that much more likely to win a fight. Note in the upper left that I have another group known as the Officers next to the town in case everything suddenly turns sour. The officers always move first so if things begin going the way of Custer's Last Stand, I can easily win this scenario by moving the officers to the goal.]



[Regardless, this fight was easy. Had there been more Spaniards, I can imagine it being a lot more drawn out. Worse still if they had cavalry which are horse riders who can move 3 times in a turn.]



Yar! It wasn't much in the way of money, but we didn't raid the town for that! One of the original fifteen of the crew, a Frenchman by the name of Ted, brought forth the flag of the French which he had kept to keep a patriotic attitude. He gladly let it wave upon the flag pole in the center of town, signifying to all around that it was French territory once more. Fortunately, the governor and his daughter were found bound up in the old mansion.



He was apparently in so much shock that he hadn't realized that he was that new governor.



I got a neat little feather to accompany my funny little hat, though, so at least I could lighten up the dance floor while looking sophisticated. Unfortunately, the daughter was resting due to the whole event. I let her rest for a few days and proceeded to venture to the tavern.



I gave a man 1000 coins in hopes that I could find the last piece of the map.



I honestly was not as surprised as I could have been. I mainly kept my head low before turning around and walking away briskly.



Located in the port of Coro, he was. Too far for my taste. The next time I'd meet him, I'd slit his neck.



Journeying back to the mansion, I found the governor's nameless daughter awaiting my return. I promptly kissed her hand as any man should before proceeding to the celebratory ball in honor of our success. None of the crew wished to come due to a lack of formal dress and the ball's lack of alcoholic beverage.




We danced well into the night, eventually forgetting the funny hat which I was forced to wear for the governor's sake.



[I neglected to capture actual dancing the last time I danced, so here you go. This time around, you only have the hand signals so you have to match them up with the same one on the number pad.]



After a wonderful dance, I kissed her hand once more as a fairwell before I went off to scramble the crew.

Captain's Log

France will rule the west. Dutch the east. It is decided upon my honor as a Dutchman, a Frenchman, and a pirate. Before I can properly mount the title of Demonic Dutch once more, I'll need a ship.

The Choice

Today's choice brought to you by foolishness: even now, Baron Raymondo is cackling in your general direction.

One thousand thundering typhoons, we've lost Baron Raymondo and blah blah blah, you know the drill.

1. Bomb San Juan and raid
2. Go after Baron Raymondo
3. Search for sister regardless
4. Bomb Santiago and raid