Do I understand Captain Bones' upgrade that let's his ship float off the edge of the map correctly? He can move off and is effectively gone until the beginning of his next turn, reappear, fire his cannons, then move off again? There doesn't seem to be a limit to how often he can use this ability.

Also, it says he comes back onto the board at the same location but opposite side of the map (something about the end is the same square). What happens if something is occupying those squares (a hero or the Revenge)? Pushed out of the way?

Has anyone done a final battle with Cpt Bones? We're no where near close but we were looking at it to allow the heroes to start preparing for it (we just entered silver), thinking about potential strategies for the heroes to use to try to beat bones and that ability brought up a few questions.

-shnar

P.S. Sorry for not posting the relevant texts, I don't have my cards with me at work

shnar said:

I don't have access to the cards either, but IIRC he can't come on and go off in the same turn - that would require using his captains wheel twice in a turn - once to come on and once to go off.

Pushed out of the way for figures, or blocked by ships, as per the usual collision rules seems to make sense. I guess if the heroes can sail right at the edge of the board they can block the use of this ability.

Good luck even getting there. If you do, your OL is letting you, or is incompetent.

We actually could have got there, but didn't bother fighting it. The heroes had to attack the keep before the Plot win with the lighthouse, but with only a 50W boat vs fully upgraded Captain Bones, and no possibilities of any more upgrading from mid-silver (the lighthouse could destroy any city they attempted to train at before they trained) they just conceded.

Not the same turn, but each turn. IIRC, the way the card read was that the Captain could move off the edge and disappear. Then on his next turn, he reappears on the other side. There's nothing stopping him from just moving off the edge again that turn, so effectively never being on the board during the Heroes' turn.

And I'm the OL, while not completely incompetent I'm not playing an ultra competitive game either. They've already killed the Siren, so they have an okay shot at making it to the end. We'll see, we just entered Silver, and when I have 2 Lts on the board, I was going to bring the keys out.

-shnar

i'm not so expert about sea battle but reading about cap bones final battle i feel unmotivated to choose him as avatar.

it looks to weak to me, i mean it alone on his own ship, and he cannot leave his organ or the ships stop to work! ok he'll gain unstoppable but must spent all his turn and cant move. the attack. why the heroes will get aboard whit him? it's not more easy crush the "dance macabre" and win?

as i've say i'm not so pratice whith it.

Jack and THE Hammer said:

Quite the contrary.

The Captain has only to sink the Revenge to win, not kill all 4 heroes. So he only has to do a maximum of 100(?) wounds. The Revenge can't dodge and can't drink invisibility potions.
The Captain gets to attack 4 times per turn, with any cannon type he chooses. With +2R+1D, 2Au2Ag if Ranged cannon, 4Ag if Magic cannon.

Any Melee heroes are basically out of the fight - at best they can get to CPT Bs ship and attack him (against probably 600+ wounds) for one turn, only to be left floundering in the deep water on the wrong side of the board when his ghostly ship sails into the Mists (off the side edge).

Many, if not most, hero skills will be nearly (or totally) useless. Basically only damage boosters for Ranged or Magic heroes matter much, though attack boosters can be used at great risk - except of course for the few specialist ship skills Like Alex the Wise, Gunner, etc.

CPT Bones is probably the toughest last battle around ofr the heroes - they have to prepare from it right from their very first skill choice, and all through their upgrading in terms on ship upgrades, cannons, and what skills/dice they choose. And many of those things weaken the heroes in general play.

He also has a very nice monster upgrade set. Humanoids are much stronger in SoB due to the dungeon designs. So the cheap upgrade for Eldritch in copper, taking advantage of Eldritch's big copper-silver boost and boosting the Siren significantly, then the cheap double boost to Humnoids in Silver, taking advantage of the heavy hittin and toughness (and Command 2 Master Beastmen!)

Event treachery is reasonable at 15XP (Crushing Blow).

Exploding Skeletons is perhaps the best OL upgrade in history. It makes the Siren into a lethal killing machine, seriously gunning for a TPK every time, and is a massive source of kills in general dungeoneering too!

I think Captain Bones is the strongest OL I've seen, even though he has only one copper Lt. I rate him tougher than the Demon Lord in RtL.

As you say he's look really cool!

but to win the group dont have to do the same stuff to cap bones's ship? i mean, before the final battle probably the heroes will have buy enogh cannon and power ups for the Revenge to be competitive, and Cap bones ship has 113 wounds, so no much more than the Revenge

probably i still missing something, i just asking you who are more expert than me about Sob

He's not quite the total pushover that other OLs are in the final battle, but Bones is still not amazing. His cannons still overheat, so he will not be able to use them every round unless he wants to risk them exploding and crippling himself. Heroes can aim every cannon shot, greatly reducing the danger of an explosion.

Given that his lieutenant is worthless, he is really the SoB equivelent of the Sorcerer King, with amazing prospects in dungeons, but terrible on the overland map. The overland map is where the OL wins the game, so overall I would not rate Bones all that highly. Compare him the the Master of the Hunt, whose special and creature abilities are mediocre, but who has a truely rigged LT. He is the the ace of the SoB lineup, although I have a special place in my heart for the Mistress of Serpants, because 1/3 of hero orders getting cancelled is so fun.