Woelf, A cap will get you 1/2 +1 gold from the treasure carriers.

quarg I don't understand, If you tow the ship is your's, along with the crew! He can not repair.

I think there is no #1, but rather a #1 combination! There ain't no I in crew<he,he,he> I use cap helmsman combos on gunships and helmsman, explorer combos on treasure runners. In this game speed kills. If you are slow, you're almost guarenteed a slow death. However if you have longer legs than your opponent, you are half way to a victory. :D

All the rest I class as useful, but nearly never used<by me> last place. :)

Yet another BTW!

How 'bout a honest to neptune's hoard poll on this? Ya know, on the poll thread? a poll? with questions and votes? on the poll thread? like a question?<Thank you Stewie> :eek:

A poll would be nice.

In the scenario you responded to I was referring to a situation where I was forced to leave the derelict ship to deal with something else. I couldn't do that if I had a ship in tow as I needed my full base move. Once my attention was elsewhere, he revealed the shipwright, repaired and was underway at full move on the following turn. Shipwrights add a "playing possum" aspect to strategy. It doesn't make them great, but it does add a wrinkle to the game.

I use Shipwrights on my higher pointed 5-masters in conjunction with sac-capts. It's an added utility to the ship. 5-masters can usually take a couple hits on the chin. If she's stuck out in the middle of nowhere without a target in sight, the sack-capt/shipwright can repair 2 masts at once. If all else fails the shipwright can be given the axe.

I also will throw a shipwright on the Titan just in case I get the double action I can repair 2 at once. They're not entirely shabby.

For useless gimmicks...

With the advent of the crew that allow ships to re-roll any roll, cannoneers sunk even lower than they were in utility IMHO.

-Q

I don't want to start an argument, but no one is saying anything about my contention that there is no #1 dude in the nameless crews. I put it to you that there is no single crewman that is superior to all others. Try a fleet with only a single type of base crew. I've seen it done and beat it flat! I put it to you, and invite honest discussion, that the best way to go is combinations. :) :cool:

Most of you out there who gave justifications for your rankings had pairings similar to mine. Is there someone who finds that there is a single crewman who is able to lord it over the others? :)