Have you decided on your Lions and Dragon Knights navy?

[Artifex]

Hail!

I was going through some MOCs and expos pics over th einternet, and it just crossed my mind: Have you decided on your Lions and Dragon Knights navy? Will they have one?

I'm not sure about the previous Castle/Kingdom lines, but the classic one use to have boats (one or two, not really sure on this).

I think it would be so cool if Lego produced a couple of boats for this line... *crossing fingers*

[Sandy]

I'm not sure about the previous Castle/Kingdom lines, but the classic one use to have boats (one or two, not really sure on this).

Well, the skeletons got a ghost ship of sorts in 2007, and there was a small ship with dragon wings as sails in Knights' Kingdom, but aside from those, ships have been very sparse in the Castle theme.

With the Pirates-theme done for, getting ships for Kingdoms is not out of the question. I wouldn't hold my breath, though.

[hawkyboy4]

I think it's a great idea, maybe a large riverside fortress for the Dragons, and a bridge guarded by Lion knights. Another idea may be extensions to the ridiculously overpriced (in Oz at least) Lion's Castle set that allow for waterways and such.

Edited June 13, 2010 by hawkyboy4

[KristofBD]

Well, the skeletons got a ghost ship of sorts in 2007, and there was a small ship with dragon wings as sails in Knights' Kingdom, but aside from those, ships have been very sparse in the Castle theme.

And don't forget the troll ship. Personally, I don't think ships are necessary, but I certainly liked the little harbour that came with the skeletons ship.

[Clone OPatra]

You bring up an interesting point, that old Castle themes did often have boats, while the newer ones have very few. However, the Dragon Masters didn't have boats I don't think, nor did the Black Knights, so it really goes either way.

There actually was at least one more KK2 set with a boat, it involved a hero's barge and a dinky little fortress for Vladek.

Somehow, I doubt we're going to see boats in Kingdoms, but it did happen twice in Fantasy so you never know. If they do make boats, I hope they're both smaller and better detailed than the two in Fantasy. The Skeleton Ship was alright, but the Troll Warship was basically a bunch of bare hull pieces with some stuff on them. I'd much rather get smaller, more built up ones like the boats of a long time ago.

[Artifex]

I think it's a great idea, maybe a large riverside fortress for the Dragons, and a bridge guarded by Lion knights. Another idea may be extensions to the ridiculously overpriced (in Oz at least) Lion's Castle set that allow for waterways and such.

I've been thinking about the very same thing: the Dragons should get a river fortress with a small harbour.

[lightningtiger]

What about MOCing a navy in either or both 'Lion' and 'Dragon' knights, now that gets my brain thinking....hmmm !

I'm a conformist! !

[Sirens-of-Titan]

I was hoping for a galley that's a bit larger than a one-piece boat. If there is a navy, it could be a different farction, after all this is 'kingdoms' so next year we may see a ship-based naval force in a different color with a sea monster on their shields

[Sandy]

And don't forget the troll ship.

You know what? I totally forgot the Troll Warship even though I own it myself.

[KotZ]

I think navies actually aren't necessary for the "Kingdoms" line. If we we're going to get any boat, I would like it really big for a crew transport for the Dragon Knights. Use that to sail soldiers around to fight Lions, that would be nice.... or send it after evil Jelly Belly Knights in their pathetic things they call "ships". But definitely a soldier transport, maybe designed like the ones King Phillip used in the recent Robin Hood movie. Otherwise, boats wouldn't be very fun. I say nice big castles and siege equipment. or a huge battle pack... just an idea. I would actually rather have 20+ soldiers than a citadel in this line.

[SWMAN]

While ships might be fun, I wouldn't expect any from Lego. While they have never tried to make their Castle sets super historically accurate, they do try to keep everything in a general time period. Ships were almost never used as combat vessels during Medieval times for the simple reason that most of the combat took place in either present-day France or Great Britain. The only reason ships were needed was to transport troops. True there were probably small boats on rivers that may have been used for combat, but a "navies" weren't really used. With the Fantasy theme Lego could get away with ships because it was all Fantasy and more along the lines of Lord of the Rings. But now they are going back to more traditional ideas and ships aren't really accurate.

[WesternOutlaw]

Interesting topic. Would an Imperial Flagship look awkward with a few battlepacks of Dragon Knights?

There's the Viking Ship as well.

[CMP]

I'd give the Lion Kingdom some normal look ships made from reddish brown, white and red. For the Dragon Knights, I'd give them viking-esque ships with dark brown, dark green, and gold. I won't build them, of course.

[Tyrant]

I don't think it's far fatched for us to see ships at some point. I think it will come down to what kind we are likely to see. I would like larger ships in line with the Troll Warship, but I will live with smaller ones like the older Sea Serpent. I don't think any reference to the historical role of ships during the middle ages is relevent. The inland countries would have next to no need of ships for combat due to geography. However, Kingdoms is not medeival Europe and it's geography could be anything (I haven't seen any maps so I could be way off). There was naval combat well before the advent of the cannon.

For me, I'm not sure if I would prefer big ships or little ships. Little ships would allow us to buy more of them, due to lower price, and build a large navy. It would also not take up a larger product spot that would likely otherwise go to a fortress of some type. On the other hand, large ships look better and having full sized sails to use to mod other ships is nice. For smaller ones, I think the Sea Serpent is a decent starting point. Maybe make it a little longer so it can hold more troops in the middle and have mounted crossbows (or a small ballista) on the front. I would probably use brown parts for the hull though. For a larger ship, I think the Viking hull plates are the way to go. A larger ship should probably be a troop transport with some type of forward weapons. Something like the Troll Warship but with more structure involved at the front and rear, wide and short sails instead of the type on the Troll Warship. With either type of ship I would hope we would get a sea side dock or two.

[Djole]

However, the Dragon Masters didn't have boats I don't think, nor did the Black Knights

Don't forget the great 6057 Sea Serpent mentioned above, the biggest "classic-castle" ship and one of the best sets ever produced ;-)

[xyxstradus]

I haven't contemplated building a navy, but I do imagine that the lion navy would be more smaller scale ships with more soldiers, whereas the dragon knight navy would have larger ones chocked full of cannons and be siege type ships. I personally am a bigger fan of building sets.

[NorthernKnight]

While ships might be fun, I wouldn't expect any from Lego. While they have never tried to make their Castle sets super historically accurate, they do try to keep everything in a general time period. Ships were almost never used as combat vessels during Medieval times for the simple reason that most of the combat took place in either present-day France or Great Britain. The only reason ships were needed was to transport troops. True there were probably small boats on rivers that may have been used for combat, but a "navies" weren't really used. With the Fantasy theme Lego could get away with ships because it was all Fantasy and more along the lines of Lord of the Rings. But now they are going back to more traditional ideas and ships aren't really accurate.

There were no shortage of warships during the middle ages and people fought in most countries - all the time. The kind of ships used in northern Europe, the "Kogg" were short and "fat" little ships with relatively small sails. Ideal for adaptation ino Lego. They had crossbows, and even small catapults aboard

The image below is a depiction of a vessel from the 1400s, found in Sweden.

Ship that looks like it is made out of LEGO.

Now for myself, I'm building a single diorama out of all my castle parts, and ships as large as the troll warship are way too big to build any descent terrain around. So I'm hoping for a small boat or fisherman's hut.

Edited July 4, 2010 by NorthernKnight