X-Piratez: Capt'n's Log

[Arthanor]

Capt'n's log - Dec 25, 2600

T'day, the crew stopped on an island in da Middle Sea. Good place as any fer an XMas dip! and not too many eyes to ogle the swimmers. Mad Marg'ret went in a cave and came back yelling 'bout something. What a find! Whole cave full of stuff in there! Big elevator at the front, then a hangar with the sleeping beauty in there, armed to the teeth! We're retiring the ol' boats and taking to the air. Brainer's callin' it the Bonaventura, for good luck or somethin'. Like we've gotten any luck on this rotten world... Until t'day! Bunch of bunks on the other side, and rooms full of stuff. At least we'll be comfy and we've got enough guns to throw out whoever comes knocking.. maybe.




Capt'n's log - Jan 1st, 2601

Stuff is going good! We got a bunch of places agreed they'll pay us to keep an eye on 'em, and the girls are getting used to this place. Harpy's Nest, it's been called now. That's us, gals stealing from those who have too much and taking care of our own.

The runts are trying to make stuff, they're telling me it's packing a punch but we'll see if it gets 'em sick.. Extra-Grog or something, they're callin' it, the gals just say X-Grog. One's good with numbers, we're supposed to make 5.3K from a barrel. Not sure who she got the price from, but that's not too bad. Crank 'em out runts! We need the money! Got some brainy ones looking at how we could make more of 'em guns. Never too many guns..!



Some of the gals are really takin' to this flying and gunning. Think it's time to shoot something down and get some real loot. I heard some saying they'll make themselves a new name in the business. New names.. what's that gonna be eh?

[ivandogovich]

Yay!!  Harpies will Triumph in this Wicked, Cruel, Beautiful WorldQQ

[Meridian]

"Cutlass Jo" ready to join the harpy hags clan...

[Arthanor]

Capt'n's Log - Jan 1st, 2601 Cont'd

Arh..! This flyin' pirate life ain't easy. Got a blip on the radar over the Blackmarch, but the Bonny's too slow for those tiny ones. Had the gals all ready to go with their bats and flintlocks. Next one's a dead one!

Capt'n's Log - Jan 4th, 2601

No flippin' shippin' sight now that we scared off that wimp. But things are looking up.

We've got our weaponmaster already, she's good with a cutlass. Lithe and lightning fast. Cutlass Jo they call her, quite the name! Ain't an easy job to train the others though, they're gonna stick to the ball bats for a while.



And that strappin', sturdy gal, err.. damn it! Too much grog, can't remember her name.. Iva? nah.. AH! Haha! Crazy Iva! I wonder what she'd think if I called her that. Could fit for a gal who carry a cannon around like is nothin'. Too bad she ain't that quick moving outta da way, she's pretty good for hittin' a target with a sword too. Won't go up close for now, maybe later.



I bet these gals're gonna be somthin' some day...

Back to now, the runts' booze is tasty, I should get som'more, but it's fetching some good cash too.. and we've got some real gunz ship'd in. Some dakka spewin' SMGs, two roasty flamethrowers and a few hunting rifles for those who see straight!

Of course, that's when the brainerz come up with how we could make our own flintlocks, but them black market gunz are better. And they said they had an idea for some gun made from clocks!? Told 'em to keep focused. We need some simple practical stuff, more basic, more applicable. Might be primitive, but if it's worked for hundreds of years, that's a good sign it's still gonna work! At least they got the recipe for bombs right, this time! We gonna blow some stuff up!

I wonder if any other gal is gonna get a name before we see some other shippin'..?

[ivandogovich]

Arg!! Crazy Iva ready to thump some heads and join the crew!!

[Dioxine]

Count me in as Die-Anna Preferences - things that go boom, with an occassional head-bashing with something really heavy.

[Boltgun]

Aye! Bolt Gun reporting on the deck, requesting the boarding gun, or other kind of dakka if that's too heavy.

[Solarius Scorch]

Then I'd like to enter as Charming Rin...

[Arthanor]

Alright! Welcome to the Harpies' crew all of you!
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Capt'n's Log - Jan 5th, 2601

So I said yesterday, so it has happened today! Stuff got blown up and we got some good booty. With all 12 gals on hand crewin' the 3 weapon pods, we managed to get that small ship down. Accuracy was pretty poor, no big hit. Was just enough to get 'em on the ground. Deployment was a bit of a miss too, but it's the gals' first. Gotta remember to let the scouts out the back of the ship too, not just the center well. That worked out anyways.

Scouts out, no sign of anyone. First markswomam out, BAM, grenade straight in the top hatch. No wounded! No need to shave for the next week either though. Gals return fire and blow up the roof under 'im. He's got a pretty dirty mouth, that ain't the pure part for sure. Already got gals busting in from the ground floor, they'll clean that up. Time to get the smoke screen goin' in front of the craft and get into action.

Here's that security guard, going for the field! He ran out and away! But not fast enough to escape an assault cannonball from that crazy gal, Iva. Crazy Iva! Who can lug a cannon around, stand up to the recoil and aim it well enough to catch a dude running!



No other movement until Bolt Gun glances something in a barn takes a shot, hit and.. nothing?! Lame! First one out their ship gets roasted. Nice little fire keeping 'em in while we setup for the breach. Now let's give 'em an incentive to get out.



Nobody comin'? Time for the breach! CHAArrge! Oh! Retreat! Retreat! BBQ time!!



And while one gal tanks a faceful of birdshot from a combat shotgun, "breacher" Cutlass Jo puts both a security guard and an academician to the cutlass as they try to step out of their craft. If not on the attack, get 'em on the defense! We'll breach another day..

One ball bat hit to that egghead and unfortunately it cracks. Nobody to drag screaming back to the lair, but barely a wounded too. Nothin' a few days in the infirmary won't fix. Picked up a bunch of apples from the orchard when cleanin' up because.. why not? *CRUNCH munch munch*

[Arthanor]

*Looks down at the roster*
Got some names sticking too already. Crazy Iva.. That flamethrower gal, "die! Die! DIE!" as she burns everything inside. "Die-Anna", haha! Good things people melt before computer and engines.. Next time she gotta use that handle and bring one back raw! We'll cook 'em at the base and hear them sing.

That other one with the boarding gun, oh she wasn't happy her shot didn't kill. Firing like a madwoman at the target in the hangar now. First outta da craft, first one gunnin' 'em down next time I bet. Bolt and gun. Bolt Gun!

And that lovely girl. Always pleasant, even with a blunderbuss aimed right at ya! Such a charming grin when greating folks, that gal. And a great trigger finger!

Capt'n's log - Jan 6th, 2016

Well, sold a few guns, kept a few guns. Grenade launcher for the tough guys, harpoon gun for the wimpy ones, and a Blackmarch SMG for those in between. Got a buyer for one of the slave AIs and spent the cash on some more ammo and two suits of body armor to keep our best fighters fightin'. Man those things are expensive.. and when I say "body armor", I mean it. No limb covered for that price.. Still, better than nothin'!

Talking about nothins: A brainer told me the runts can now make all kinds of pointy things for the gals now. I'm thinking a spear should be a good weapon for some. A stick with a pointy bit should be better than just a stick, no? But that freak 'ead knocked my bowl of apples down, yelled, grabbed one and ran away faster than I could shout at her. What a star..

Went down to talk to the gals, turns out we could use some X-bows in the mid-lines for covering fire, and even a bow! Got some runts making that. Work on the new barracks area is back on time after a few shouts. Apparently they didn't hear me last time. Lookin' back at the log, maybe I forgot.

[Solarius Scorch]

Yay, first success!

Good point with the spear (no pun intended), it's a versatile weapon which deals much more damage than you'd expect from something that simple.
Another decision I really like is getting some bows. Effectively light artillery, they usually work best when deployed on the roof and used against lightly armoured guys anyway on the battlefield; they're also light, so you can also give an archer a secondary weapon set so that she can switch to breaching when she runs out of targets on open terrain. As for X-Bows, I think they're rather unremarkable, but at this stage you don't have many serious weapons, so at least they're not sticking out, and they never run out of ammo (just like bows).
As for the harpoons, I'm not impressed with them - they are inaccurate, slow and not really that strong. Of course they can use stun ammo, which may come in handy, but I prefer other means for that. Maybe you'll have more success with them.
A personal joy for me is giving my character a blunderbuss. This weapon looks pretty shaky on paper, but when you give it to a high accuracy gal it turns into a terrifying weapon. (Especially with explosive ammo, but that's for the future.) In my game, I'm in my second year and still using one blunderbuss; my specialist gal makes miracles with it on a regular basis.
Boarding guns are decent, reliable weapons, as long as you don't expect too much. They're not very accurate on long distances.
Flamer is a no-brainer really. Every team should have one.

If I were to offer some advice:
In addition to spears, it's also good to have at least one hammer - it one-hits almost everything, but requires a lot of both TUs and Stamina (and Strength too, but that's less important). Particularly Stamina - it's pointless to give it to an easily tired gal, especially when combined with heavy armour that decreases Stamina.
As for artillery, you have the light version (bows), but against there is also the heavy version: mortar. Yes, it's expensive and unwieldy (can only be fired every other turn), but man, it is devastating. It is even effective against power armours, though I wouldn't count on one-hitting them - even if it works sometimes.
Finally, I recommend putting up smoke cover in the first turn, always. It's cheaper to pay for 3 smoke grenades than losing gals. I normally drop one smoke grenade just in front of the stairs, one below the central shaft and one on the roof. The only situation when I don't is when there are enemies with strong weapons facing the open back of the Bonny - then I simply drop (not throw) one smoke grenade at my feet, smoking the entire craft.

By the way, what difficulty are you playing?

[Boltgun]

Pfft I missed, this means I must shoot more and loot more dakka.

[Arthanor]

Capt'n's log - Jan 7th, 2016

Got a gal who's really anxious to down somethin'! I'm sure she'll be fine though. With the hours she puts at the range, and that attitude.

Capt'n's log - Jan 8th, 2016

T'day I found out there's a brain behind that 'Rin. Happy with her 'buss but she been lookin' at all the weapons we got in the 'pedia and making plans. Got some good thoughts!

Bow for light artillery: check. Will be good on some of the weaker gals too, as a bow doesn't weight much.

X-Bows: The gun that just goes *twang*. Not great, but in the right hands, that bolt's more damaging than rifle hit! (30 + 10% accuracy = 36 in the hands of gals with 60 accuracy) Quick fire that's as accurate as most rifles, can aim twice even though you better not aim too far. Doesn't run out of shots. So far, better for midfield than the rifles we have, even though it lacks autofire.

Harpoons: Ah, yeah.. How can a modern gun that fires bolts be worse than an X-Bow? Why can't we just put those bolts in the X-bow, eh? I guess it needs more kick to make those smaller bolts stick. It's not great, no point in solid bolts, I agree, but it's good for bagging softies from a distance, or even wounded security guards. Then you bring 'em to the hideout and make 'em sing!

Boardin' Gunz: Well, we got a gal who needs the dakka! It packs some punch with decent snap shots for when you catch a glance of somethin' nasty moving around, and it's alright short if you go auto or decent for long range pot shots. She'll get an upgrade eventually, but for now it does the job. You and Bolt Gun are the cover fire, midfield gals.

Flamer: yeah! Who doesn't like a BBQ? Works great around valuable stuff too, since it doesn't fry computers.

Spears: Well.. didn't find a gal that had good melee and throwing.. But I'll keep lookin', especially with the new recruits comin' in.

Hammer: Yeah! Hammer's a must! Just missing the warhammer..!

Mortar: You nuts, gal? How much loot do you think we got?! No way we can afford that kind of stuff.. Yet! For now, Crazy Iva and her assault cannon is all the heavy artillery we need! Fires more often and does plenty of damage when it hits! But she'll eventually upgrade to somethin' else, for sure.

Smoke: You say that now, but when you spend a few minutes chokin' on it, you've got a different idea. No fun dealing with passed out gals. Maybe I'll ask the brainerz to come up with somethin'. They had an idea, I think..

Oh and.. I'm trying to live up to Black Beard's rep, but maybe I should aim for Davy Jones. I've got a pretty nice locker I could fill up with loot like he did.

Capt'n's log - Jan 9th, 2016

That brainer came back without any apple or apology today. Told me an apple was good for throwing at people without hurting them much, and that mashed apples could be fermented, but that they weren't much of a computer. Threw an apple at her for that last one, then she didn't agree with her own "not hurting much" idea.

I wonder why they ask for so much... Then I got a proposal for a fancy sounding castle.. FOCUS!! Those brainers... Sent them to look at bullets, at least with that we might get to hurt some people. They better come back with something useful!

Capt'n's log - Jan 12th, 2016

The runts came back with a bow. Nice looking but it took two of them 6 days to put some string on a branch? Got all the gals on making the X-bows, apparently it would've taken 10 days for the 2 of them to get one done. Probably could have just made some grog, sold it and bought a real gun..

Capt'n's log - Jan 16th, 2016

Runts got the X-bows done, now they're on the Bonny. Got 'em back to making grog. Skies are clear of shippin' over the whole world! Guess it wasn't that good a time of year to get started plunderin'.. Not a single tradin' ship sighted up in the air. Should have kept some boats.

Capt'n's log - Jan 17th, 2016

We inaugurated the new barracks t'day! Great party and convinced some of the locals to join us in exchange for some junk we had lying in here. I hope there wasn't anything important in those piles of junk... But having a full crew on the Bonny helps now, whatever that junk can do later..

Capt'n's log - Jan 20th, 2016

Brainerz got somethin' again! Now we can use the stuff here to make bullets! Not bad.. And they didn't come up with some new crazy thing to look into, so I told 'em to do some cleanup. That apple mash from a week and a half ago smells aweful now, fermentation experiment or not.

The locals we contacted last time finally made it here and they're taking residence. Look like fine additions to the crew! Time for a fight!!

PS. Since I'm at 21 gals currently (playing ahead a bit) and only 4 named ones, you guys can feel free to get another one in there if you want, say, a melee gal and a shooty one.

Also, feel free to "play" your comments I'll will reply directly then, or I will probably keep responses in the log as above for direct comments.

[Solarius Scorch]

I have to say my gal is already getting a reputation:

[Arthanor]

Hehehe That's gettin' right in this next log!

Capt'n's log - Jan 21st, 2016

Dang it! One should be careful what they be wishin' for! Just picked up a distress beacon from Doom Harbor. Somethin's happening out there. No warnin' at all, not even a fly by. Wish we had some more explody stuff. Oh well.. Picking all we got and going in! May the Star Gods look the other way.

On the way, we get a lecture on Night Ops from Charming. Apparently, we gotta keep to the dark and not turn the lights on. Gals didn't quite get it though. When things are going wrong.. First gal outta da Bonny, 2 nutcases in sight. Aiming at and taunting the civvies inside. Bolt Gun bolts out and guns the first one down with a salvo from the boardin' gun! First Blood Harpies! Cutlass Jo rushes out the Bonny on the other side and takes the second one from behind. They never saw that comin'!



On the other side, similar mayhem ensues, as lots ot enemies are spotted. One down, two more to go! Rush to one and.. Outta breath?! Can't swing!! Ohoh!


Lucky window shot to the rescue! But there's more where that guy came from..


Bolt Gun takes point and finds some pirate wannabe with a pistol and dagger. After we dedicate half the crew to killin' him, he's still standing. Cutlass Jo sets up around the corner to finish things if needed. He returns fire but luckily finds it about as hard to hit Bolt as she finds it to hit anything! Bolt returns fire and.. nope, no kill. This dude's got iron skin or somethin'. Die-Anna sets 'im on fire, the whole wall gets blown up next ta 'im but he still standing! 'til a rookie steps up with the harpoon gun and puts 'im ta sleep. Too bad he got cooked before we could get to him..


Trying to move forward, we stumble on another one. The gal's yelp of surprise summons Charming Rin, who blows a great big hole outta the girls, and an even bigger one outta da fence. Bit of a misapplication of power there, gal! But eh, better a dead un and wasted lead than a standin' one.