Questions? Comments? Rants? Raves? Bring it on, in this thread or another one in this forum!
My rave is that an express envelope just arrived with (among other things) the first collated set of The Maiden's Vengeance. I went out in the warehouse and thus put together and shrinkwrapped the very first complete copy of the game.
Monday or Tuesday we should be getting a box via UPS with a bunch of MV sets, which we will commence assembling for the Gen Con preview release. Later in the week (they're due to ship from our supplier today) we'll get a similar number of Cursed Blade sets.
The odds are good that the bulk of the collated sets won't be completed and sent to us until after Gen Con, but it would be gross understatement to say we're all relieved that we will indeed have the game on sale at the show -- which should be exactly the place to kick-start this wildly new game.
I have to say, I played the demo game at GenCon and very quickly decided that this was a game that I needed to add to my collection. I bought both sets and now the only thing that remains is to teach my husband and friends how to play. The only thing that I would have liked to see was the "suggested lineup" for starting decks that was used in the demo game at GenCon. For the first couple of times through the game, this allows the player to focus on how the coins work without having to decide where to place them in the deck as well. Any chance that these could be listed somewhere as well?
Glad you enjoyed the game! Here are the stacking orders from the GenCon demos:
Sample Cursed Blade Stacking Order
Mate (Fore)
Pistols
Mate
Bomb
Pistols
Mate
Captain's Monkey
Captain
Pillage
Barrel of Grog
Black Spot
Treachery (Aft)
Cutlass (Crow's Nest)
Sample Maiden's Vengeance Stacking Order
Mate (Fore)
Cannon
Cannon
Broadside
Bomb
Mate
Captain
Pillage
Buried Treasure
Treachery
Pillage
Full Sail (Aft)
Cutlass (Crow's Nest)
Stop back after you've played at home and let us know how it went!
Thanks. Appreciate the speedy reply.
Just bought the two sets at DragonCon and played it a few times last night. I might be missing something, but the game seems to very strongly favor the first player in two-player play. Especially if that first player has combined sets so he has a Cannon (each) at fore and crow's nest, and two Treachery coins in his aft. Load up with Cannons or other offensive coins behind the fore, and hold-recovery coins inward from the aft, and I haven't been able to work out any way for the second player to win.
We made an interesting game of it anyway, by making the two players' turns 'simultaneous' so that the second player can at least get in a Bomb or two and that seems to make it more even.
Am I missing something?
Thanks for the question!
The general answer is that we didn't observe an overwhelming first-player advantage in playtesting two-player games (at least, not once all of the coin abilities had been tweaked). If there is a slight first-player advantage, the multi-game match rule all but eliminates it, especially if the winner isn't allowed to reconfigure between games, because knowing what's in your opponent's ship (and therefore, how he's likely to order it) is a big advantage.
To your specific situation, there are a number of ways to counter a three-Cannons-in-front, two-Treacheries-in-back strategy. One of the best is to start with a Captain's Monkey in the fore of your ship (taking advantage of the Cannon's weakness that it can only attack the fore), and either two Treacheries of your own in your aft, or a Black Spot in your aft or crow's nest. Having two Treacheries of your own allows you to burn off your opponent's Treacheries in the first turm (if he or she uses them, that is) and still see your Monkey survive. Or, you can allow your Monkey to die in order to burn off a Treachery.
The Black Spot is very effective in a two player game against this kind of ship, since it essentially gives you two turns in a row every time an opponent destroys one of your coins (which will happen frequently, since your opponent has no other targets).
Bombs are also effective in dealing with this kind of ship, because you can do a one-coin-for-two-coins swap, and you can be assured that you'll be getting two of your opponents most effective coins, since that's how Cannons must be arrayed for maximum effectiveness.
One additional, cheap psychological countermeasure to the three-Cannons-in-front ship design is to begin with a Treachery in your fore. This makes some players think twice.
I'm interesting in hearing how these strategies work against your Cannon-mad opponent!
Hi,
I am not sure what happens to a coin when "playing" it in the "main play phase".
Do I simply show it (declare it) - apply its ability and then put it back where it was?
Best Regards
Heinrich
Hi,
I found the answer under "Interactions"...
"If a coin is not destroyed, it remains in place in your ship so it can be played again."
...and will now read the complete rules before posting further questions 
Best Regards
Heinrich
Some more questions regarding the game:
When constructing a ship one coin is put in the crow’s nest and 12 coins are put in the ship deck.
Is it allowed to put the captain into the crow’s net right at the start?
What happens with the ship’s deck in this case – or when the captain is moved into the crow’s nest during the game?
Is it allowed to play a coin against a player having an empty crow’s nest if the coin is attacking all or some of the “open†coins (fore or crow’s nest)?
Background: This question results from this text passage in the rules: “- you may continue without a crow’s nest coin, which means that your opponents can’t use coin abilities that target your crow’w nest†... since there are no abilities exclusively targeting the crow’s nest.
May I put my last coin into the crow’s nest?
May I play the Buried Treasure or a Call to Quarters if my hold is empty?
If a Cannon is played – may an invited player contribute a cannon from his crow’s nest?
If a Captain’s Monkey is destroyed by a Broadside while the monkey is NOT active – may I play it reactively to avoid the destruction of the monkey.
A plundered coin does not count as “destroyed†for reaction purposes, right?
In Match Play all plundered coins are returned to the shipyards of the original owner before the next game starts.
How about the coins that the winner of the last game lost by “Pillage� Where do these coins go?
Back to his Deck (so he can use them again to rebuild his ship) or into his Shipyard (then he won’t be able to use them again since he is not allowed to select new coins from his shipyard)
Sorry if I missed a FAQ page somewhere - do not hesitate to send me there.
Thank's in advance
Heinrich
Sure, you can start with your Captain in the crow's nest. (Risky move, but it's legal.) Nothing special happens to the deck of your ship, save that you give up the option to call coins to your Captain during your main play phase.
Yes, you may (for example) Bomb a ship that does not have a coin in its crow's nest in order to eliminate its fore coin.
Ah, understood. That sentence was meant to clarify why you would want to leave your crow's nest empty (that is, to present fewer targets to your opponents) rather than to provide a new rule. We'll issue a general clarification on this.
Sure. There might even be times when you're forced to, to avoid forfeiting for lack of ability to do anything else.
I would say yes.
Yes, since the crow's nest is considered an open position.
No, because you can only use coins' abilities when they are in active positions. We usually call Broadside attacks to the interior of a ship's deck "Monkey Hunting" for this reason. 
Correct.
The winner also gets his Pillaged coins back, and he may use them in the next game. What he is not allowed to do is reconfigure his selection of a 13-coin ship between games in match play.
The FAQ is still being assembled (and some of these questions will be used there), so you've absolutely come to the right place! Hope you're having a good time with the game!
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Hello,
I just found out about this game the other day and have read everything I could find about it and like what I have read. I just put in an order for both ship sets from my local brick and mortar. I did not make it to any of the big cons this year and was wondering if there was any other way to get ahold of the Promo Captain coin? I would be happy to purchase one if anyone can assist me. my e-mail is [rolandpatricia11@bellsouth.net](mailto:rolandpatricia11@bellsouth.net) if anyone can help. Thanks for your time.
I was also wondering if more ships are planned and also if the genre of spaceships has been considered for this game. I could really get into playing space ships with credits or cubits or what have you.
Glad you like the concept, Grimmstone! Let us know what you think of the game once it arrives, and thanks for supporting your local game store.
I'm not sure how and whether you can get a promo coin at this point. I'm pretty sure that they're not totally out, but can't speak for how many are left. I'll ask John to chime in here.
I'm also not sure how much I'm allowed to say about future plans for Pieces of Eight, since a lot of the potential for any game's expansion hinges on its success. Since Po8's only been out for a little more than a week, it may be too early to say anything for sure. (John may want to chime in on this subject, too.)
I've sent a private e-mail on the topic of the promo coins.
For the future...we really want to do some expansions for this game, and we're also interested in the idea of producing other coin games, now that we've figured out how to do it (which was no small task). The trick, as Jeff observes, is to figure out the financial side -- and at this point it's too soon to say whether a Po8 expansion would be profitable. We'll be carefully watching the re-orders we get and the response we hear from the market. You can help by introducing the game to your friends (and if they like it, convincing them to get their own ship or two!).
Quick question for you, Jeff. I just picked up The Cursed Blade set yesterday but haven't had a chance to play yet. I am definitely excited to play the game for the 1st time, but I am wondering - how do the 2 sets play with each other? I noticed that each set has some coins that the other doesn't have - The most noticable in my mind is that the CB doesn't come with any cannons, for example, while the MV set has Full Sail.
If I had a friend pick up Maiden's Vengence, how would they play with each other? Are the two sets fairly balanced? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
Yes, they're definitely balanced against each other. Our default assumption, when we were figuring out which coins to put in each of the two sets, was that players would be able to buy one of each, play them against each other, and have a good time.
Neither set has an advantage against the other. (Though you'll probably note that the Full Sail that comes in the Maiden's Vengeance is not of any use in a two-player game, because it makes it your turn next, but in a two-player game, it's always your turn next:). Full Sail is a great coin in a larger multi-player game, though.) The difference between the two sets is in general attack approach: The Maiden's Vengeance focuses on Cannons for attack, while the Cursed Blade focuses on Mate/Weapon combos.
Two other things bear noting:
-
There's no reason you can't play one-on-one games between two players who have the same base ship.
-
You may have noticed this already, but if each player has access to all of the coins from each of the MV and CB sets, then each player will be able to build any legal ship, because the mix of coins from one of each set gives you the limit of each coin.
Another fun thing to try if you and a friend each by a set is to combine all of the coins together and do a draft game, using those optional rules. That addes a new level of ship-building strategy.
Be sure to let us know how your games go!
Just a note to future posters: Feel free to start a new thread with your Pieces of Eight comments or rules questions! There's no reason all of the discussion has to stay in this one. (And, eventually, that will probably become unweildy...)
Thanks, Jeff - a friend and I are looking to play the game this weekend, so I will definitely report back here next week and let you know how it went. Thanks again for answering my questions so completely!
Chris