16 replies to this topic

[SlyOwl]

Armada Sentry (1996) is the smallest of the Armada sets and so the cheapest way to get a minifig. It is basically what the title says - a sentry post that could be stationed at the entrance to a harbour, but never very far from land - the poor chap has only got a rowing boat! It consists of a small, open-backed hut, with doors at the front that lead out onto the sea, with a small dock and ladder to access the lookout post with a small crane for moving supplies and treasure about.

The sentry and accessories - some treasure and weapons, although a cup would've been a nice touch. If this were released today, some food would be a must. The Spaniard is the Armada equivalent of an Imperial Grunt, although he is far less elaborate than his counterparts. Although he is actually smiling, his moustache and eyebrows give him rather an angry expression  :-( . I do find that the Morion helmet falls off rather easily, but I may have damaged it.

The front of the outpost - a torch to the left of the doors and a flag to the right - nothing too special here. The crane works by manually raising and lowering the hinged bar, with the string sliding through the teeth. This works well and can easily lower the barrel into the boat. The string is a nice piece, although mine is a replacement - mine broke within a month or two of receiving it - the stud on the end came unglued; quality problems? Maybe I was just too violent.

The back - the open back was disappointing, although as he will be staying the night on land, it doesn't matter too much. I find the doors opening onto the sea strange - maybe to step into the boat or unhook the crane, but it looks a bit off, IMHO. You can see the ladder for him to climb up to the lookout post, which is unarmed on the back - it's understandable on the side with the ladder (ease of access), but the back? A few bricks can easily plug this hole.

The structure from the dock-side, with the crane in the up position. Nothing special here...

From the other side now, with the crane in the down position - it looks like the crane is designed to load barrels off a boat and through the doors and vice versa. There are two clips to hold the weapons, which are sufficient for the Spaniard. The grey bricks work well with the white, giving a look of worn plastered stone. It also hints slightly of the older Imperial sets...

The rowing boat, as standard. The green benches compliment the doors and fancy battlements well, although because of this, a green and red flag would look better than the yellow and red.


Overall, this is a nice cheap set that functions well and is a good parts pack for kids, although AFOLs won't really appreciate it as it doesn't have that many special parts. I wouldn't buy one nowadays as it just isn't really worth it anymore. A great set for beginners, pocket-money and early collection-building.
8.5/10 from me.

Edited by phred, 03 May 2008 - 02:52 PM.

[THE-FORCE]

5 for me!
I don't have any pirate set, but I like this very much!

[Fluyt]

This is a great set. It isn't very open at all, it's one of the more enclosed structures in the pirate theme I think (especially when you consider it was supposed to, or at least could easily be, part of a bigger structure, just like broadside's brig for example) and it is one of the few that actually has a ladder to get to the next floor. It is better than a set like sabre island, even though they might be hard to compare because of the size difference.

[TinyPiesRUs]

Thanks for the review, SlyOwl  

I think that this is a nice little set, although, like the rest of the Armada sets, I don't really like the colour combination. I think the green looks pretty silly on the red boat really. Aside from that, the set is a nice snug little thing, with quite a number of details.

As always though, the Armada minifig is great. I especially love the torso on this one, it works well for Pirates, Imperials and even English Civil War minifigs    As for the morion, of the four I have, only one, my oldest, is loose.

Thanks again for the review  

[Nikola Bathory]

Thanks for the review!
I don't like this set's colour scheme, though...   Green doors? Why not brown...

[Mister Phes]

There's brown doors in every other pirate set, but at least this time we get something a different.  I think the green doors are only found in this set anyway so that makes them quite rare.

Is it a necessity that doors in pirate sets always have to be brown?

[metalandi]

That's exacltly what i think. I'm pretty sure there have been quite many doors that were painted in any colour and not just left wooden brown, back in the days.

[Shadows]

I was deep in my dark ages when this was released, I missed the whole Armada line.

That said, I just bought this set a couple of weeks ago off eBay, cheap.

I think it's a great little set, I'm very happy with it. Yes, it has a special value to me, since I missed the whole faction, but still, it's a great set that would probably sell for $6-8 or so now, maybe with a second minifig, and I'd buy quite a few for that.

Sure, it's the basics. We all have rowboats and barrels, but that's because we're pretty serious about this. For the average kid, or even beginning collector, this is a welcome addition.

The green doors are one of the most attractive features, to me. I wish we had sets with them in a variety of other colours, like red or more sets with black, for example. I think it all goes together well for a very small set and adds a Spanish flair to the set.

When I look at this, I think of it as a starting point. It's the sentry post on the edge of the harbour. Ships arrive and drop some supplies off, which he stores behind the doors to eventually be carried up the hill to the nearby fortress that you can build yourself. Until then, things are fairly well protected. As for just having a rowboat, well... what else was there? It's not like he needs a real ship, that would be another set entirely.

No, when you take it all into account, it's a balanced set. Actually, the only thing it lacks is major playability, which is something we usually complain about when they include it. The very most I would have added is either a second figure to sneak up and attack, or a cannon on the roof.

Bottom line, 5 stars for me. It's a set I'd buy now, and one that I will probably pick up more of when I can.

[Asuka]

Thanks for that fine review, SlyOwl.  
It´s an interesting, and somehow more unusual little set, it almost looks rather civil, which is a nice touch IMO.
And it looks a little claustrophobic as well.... I´ll give it a 4....  

[Mister Phes]

Now for my thoughts on Armada Sentry...

It's a nice simple set, and unfortunately only one of two Imperial Armada sets.  I think it would go well in conjunction with a much larger land-based Imperial set because Armada Sentry is too insignificant by itself.

You have a solitary Imperial Armada mini-figure manning a crane and a boat but I don't think one mini-figure cuts it in a set this size.  There would be greater playability if a second Imperial Armada mini-figure was included, but alas, this is not the case and the solitary mini-figure must do everything himself!

For a small set the design is interesting enough, there's still plenty of accessories and the green doors are exclusive to the set - so it has some things to offer.  Though it's let down once again by its lack of a small Imperial Armada flag, instead we get a pair of failing carnival flags the breeze yet nothing uniquely designed for the Imperial Armada sub-theme.

I'd give Armada Sentry 2.5 out 5.  To get extra marks it needs a second mini-figure and a unique Imperial Armada flag.

[the teutonic knight]

By any chance, could you post the full instructions? They weren't on lego costumer service...

[Erdbeereis]

Here are the instructions.
LINK

Brickset has links for instructions for many sets, so if you're looking for instructions in the future, I would recommend looking there.

[Rick]

the teutonic knight, on 23 August 2010 - 04:30 PM, said:

By any chance, could you post the full instructions? They weren't on lego costumer service...

They are on LEGO's building instructions site. That's where Brickset also links to.

And I agree with Mr. Phes that a proper fortress in this color scheme would be great.

[the teutonic knight]

Thanks Guys.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Great little set.  I have it, and only wish I had an Armada ship or two just to add another faction to my Pirate world...  I have managed to create another Spaniard soldier just by using the armor from the Fenrir Wolf viking and an extra conquistador helm from a skeleton somewhere (Stingray Explorer?)

Would love to see these guys return once all of the Johnny Depp hoopla dies back down...

[Paladin Hicks]

I almost bought this set off Ebay not that long ago. But I decided against it. I should have bought it.
It may be small but if you had a few you could amass a small Spanish army and then Moc a small fortress from the peices.

And if I'm not mistaken doesnt Peeron.com have Lego instructions?

"Stay Frosty"

[Destroydacre]

It always bothered me a little that this was the largest 'fort' the armada faction got. "We've secured the treasure from the pirates, now lets sail the flagship back and dock (not that it even could) at our little one room shack that the Renegade Runner could overtake in 5 minutes."

Good set though and the green doors were much appreciated. Not nearly enough sets were released with the Spanish armada men, IMO.