With the fabulous pirate game on Crete still in mind, we decided to stage our own swashbuckling extravaganza. Of course, our table can’t compare with Jon’s and we use only six figures a side. But it’s always fun breaking out the crews and having a go with Genesha Games’ great Flashing Steel rules!
We set up a town scene and decided to generate the scenario with our secret mission system, where each of us draws a card which states his or her mission. As I had to get at least half of my crew across the table to the opposite edge, I positioned my shooty guys to cover the town square while the rest prepared to dash along the beach. This also meant that my shooters could cover the treasure in case K. wanted to get it.
The first couple of turns saw cautious advancing from both sides, coupled with some shooting. I have to say that my pirates aren’t any better than my Wars of the Roses handgonners when it comes to handling black powder weapons! There was a lot of smoke but no effect whatsoever.
When one of my crewsmembers got cornered by two enemy thugs, I had enough and charged. Brandishing his rapier, my captain headed for Sela, one of K.’s best figures. One round of melee later the brave pirate lay on the ground in his own blood while a grinning K. informed me that killing my captain had been her objective!
As this game was over in a much shorter time then we had expected, we decided to have a rematch. This time, my objective was to take out at least two thirds of the enemy crew. I set up almost exactly like last time, as I was still convinced that the plan to cover the square with the shooters was, in principle, a solid tactic. K. made no fuss and headed for the treasure in complete disregard of my shooty guys, which delivered their usual performance. So I also rushed forward and soon a series of melees erupted on the town square.
I managed to bring in my flanking boys from the beach while K. also directed her stragglers to the scene of action. I played quite aggressively and managed to kill off three of her guys, among them her best figure (the one who killed my captain during the last game!). But then her captain really got angry and cut down two of my crewmen in one go! Carrying the treasure chest, she moved back to get to her side. Things were getting close now.
Soon K. had her captain one move away from her table edge. I had only two options: I could try to stop her by moving into melee with one of my figures – if he managed to get two actions. However, alone he wouldn’t last long in melee and it was quite probable that the captain would get away anyway. The other option was to try to fulfill my objective before K. could fulfill hers by killing off another of her crewmen. The only one in range, however, was Kaballah the Coloss, who, as his name suggests, is very strong in close combat. I rushed him with three figures but, in the end, didn’t manage to bring him down. Another victory for K., whose captain carried the treasure unopposed over her table edge.
Those were two quick, fun and exciting games! Flashing Steel is great as it gives fast games, which allows for the possibility to play more than one in an evening. For the next game though, I might modify my crew a bit: It seems that I should forget firearms and stick to pointy sticks.
The Raft 
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