Corsairs of Umbar Gunning 101

So I’ve shown you how to load a cannon when the loop path crosses the maw… but how do you load the guns that are left out of a two or three cannon loop? It’s a lot easier when you have a loop that can be sustained by one arrow, so let’s take a look at a one-arrow two cannon loop.

	The upper left corner of the loop needs an arrow, but since the lower right corner is helpful you need just the one arrow. Let’s first try to load the cannon on the upper right.
	To do so you must place two arrows down: one to move pieces into the cannon, and another to pull pieces out of the loop. In this picture, we will be pulling the powder bag out of the loop and towards the arrow that will load it into the gun.
	Once it has entered the gun you must then change the lower arrow to keep the next pieces from following the powder. Remake the loop, so to speak. Then you wait until the next piece you need comes around on the loop.
	Once the wadding has come close to the cannon being loaded, point the lower arrow upwards so that the piece you want will be pulled out of the loop and head towards the waiting cannon.
	Again, after the wadding has passed the arrow in question, redirect the lower arrow to remake the loop so that the pieces you don’t need do not go into the cannon.
	After waiting for our final component to come around the loop, point the lower arrow so that the piece you need will enter the cannon. You needn’t worry about the next piece – once the cannon is loaded there is no way to mess it up.
	With the upper right cannon loaded and ready, let’s now look at the upper left corner. Again, there are two crucial arrows needed: one to point the pieces into the cannon, and the other to pull pieces out of the loop.
	Let the unneeded pieces pass by on the loop until the powder comes up. Once it’s close change the lower arrow so that the piece will move up and into the cannon.
	Remember to change the lower arrow and remake the loop, or pieces you do not want will follow and ruin the cannon you’re trying to load.
	After powder bag comes wadding, and once it’s close to the arrows change the lower one to allow the wadding to enter the cannon.
	Change the lower arrow back and remake the loop, and then wait for the final component to come around on the loop.
	Once it’s close, change the arrow once more to allow it to fill the cannon. After the cannon has been loaded remake the loop so you can work on any remaining cannons.
	The same principles can be applied to other side of the board, if the two cannons the loop path crosses are the upper cannons. Just mirror the same actions you did to load these two, and you should have no problem.

Sometimes you will find yourself working on a two cannon loop that requires two arrows to keep the path going. In that case, the cannon that is closest to the corner arrow on your loop (either the upper left or lower right) will be easy to load, following the instructions before. However, the other cannon, the “odd-man out”, will be more difficult. If the board allows, you might be able to create a two cannon loop that includes the odd cannon, but this is unlikely.

Powder monkey says-- Beware of collisions! As the barrel in the middle spits out new pieces for your board, they might collide with the pieces on your loop and create havoc. While loading a cannon make sure you keep an eye open to possible mistakes, or if two pieces are headed towards your gun from different directions. Have patience and try to wait until the pieces are done bumping against each other – or at least have moved the bumping to a different part of the board – and you should be able to reduce the number of wasted pieces.