2maxwell

This is the best idea I think. What if one of the flags was white saltire on orange and the other was orange on white, to differentiate them more?

I agree, the muskets dont look any better than the cannons. What if we keep the crossed anchors but have a shield in the middle instead of the barrel for the guard? The crown could be on top or on the shield itself.

So the merchants could have anchors, the guards have muskets, with both having the barrel and crown? I like that. One other thing we could do is give the merchants and guard the same background, but have one be inverted.

Wow, this is fantastic.

Thanks for mocking these up! Personally I like the second one the most, but it might be a bit too Spanish looking. The first one might be a better idea. I have to admit, the vertical stripes are not as bad as I thought they'd be.

I like this idea, but I think a saltire for the background would look much better than stripes.

I think its supposed to be navy blue, but I doubt it would stay that way if you spent your time working cannons. I think black could work. A motley crew to man the guns might be the best idea. There were some islands that had only 1 officer and 40 soldiers to man 3 posts and over 30 cannons (which should have each had at least 7 men working them), and they recruited others to make up what they were missing.

From the books I've looked at, it seems like the Royal Artillery handled coastal artillery by the 19th century. If there weren't enough of them, however, they'd be assisted by locals and infantry. I didn't find a specific reference to it, but I'd guess the same would apply to sailors and marines. This is a good guide to base your uniforms off of. The man in the tarleton helmet is horse artillery, so avoid that one.

Okay, I should be able to answer at least a few of your questions right now. After doing some research, I'll try to answer the others. Yes, facings are dependent on regiment and not specialty. Different specialties tended to have wholly different uniforms. A guide to which regiments wore what facings and lace can be found here. Generally speaking, blue, buff, and yellow are among the most common. The ethnicity wouldn't matter much. Most regiments were already diverse, and the specific ones, such as Highland regiments, got shipped all over the place so I don't think the location of your island would necessarily determine the ethnic makeup of the troops. A majority of officers I believer would be English and Welsh, unless you had highland troops, who were often, but not always, led by Scottish officers. Location would only matter if you wanted to include native troops, which tended to have distinctive uniforms, or if you wanted to match it up with a regiment that was stationed in the area around the time you're looking at.

I like that the field piece looks like a warg.

Wow, this really is something else. A lot of really clever parts usage.

This is great. Love the layered wall technique. Any chance we could get a better look at the elephant? From different angles?

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Pirates theme, so I was expecting/hoping for a new theme this year. Given how large the set looks (from whats poking out of the box), I doubt it will be a polybag.

I dont know if this is the right place to put this, but I think you mean between the 17th and 18th centuries. The 15th century is 1400-1500. Also, is there any venue to comment about other people's submissions?

Wow, this is really cool. I appreciate how distinct each one is.

I think it would be fun if the map was made to incorporate the existing lego map tiles. Regarding the factions, I think it's really important that not all the factions be colonial powers. There are already three colonial powers built into the theme (Bluecoats, Redcoats, and Imperials). There is no reason not to make a faction made up of indigenous peoples so some MOCers can fight against colonialism. I'm down with the idea of pirates acting as "free agents". There could be competitions or story events encouraging people to periodically build as pirates. Honestly though, it makes more sense to me to just have them as a faction.

I think this makes a lot of sense, especially since we have already a lot of people who prefer to build for certain factions anyway. I would definitely be interested in participating, but I would only be able to do so in the future. I currently dont have access to many of my bricks, or time to build with what I do have. I dont think this will be an issue. Port cities have always been diverse, and so have mocs. I know that people include lots of figs from other guilds over in the GoH forum without issue, so I doubt it would be different here.

Oh man, I really like this. The rockwork, the woodwork, the snow. But those stairs are great. Really simple but they add a lot.

Entry 4: 3 points Entry 6: 2 points Entry 1: 1 point

The underwater scenery really is amazing. Its a shame we cant see them put together, I'm sure that would look awesome.

That line is based on a disney show that is currently on television. The show has been doing quite well. You're very correct. I didnt mention it earlier because I wasn't sure if it was in the right target group, but I mean who am I kidding? Tons of younger kids play those games even though they're designed for an older audience.

Just wanted to jump on this and say that would be historically accurate. Women served on board ships during the age of sail, often in combat positions. Not usually as marines, but they did serve on ships. There are also several reported cases of women of the period pretending to be men and fighting as enlisted soldiers. Also wanted to mention that I have a ton of young cousins. I watch their shows with them, I go shopping with them, etc, and there is a lot of pirate stuff everywhere. Most kids shows have at least one pirate episode on them, there are tons of pirate toys, they dress up as pirates on halloween. Not to mention that the last PotC was only a few years ago and a new one is coming out soon. Pirates are enough a part of at least American culture that kids definitely understand pirates, and they like pirates.

This is important to remember. The ninjago and chima model does not always work, and it is definitely not necessary.

This has a really classic feeling, I like it. A big fan of how vertical it is. Clever.

I prefer the yellow rails.