The Daphne Blue Strat

Been playing for the past few days...it's *alright*, at best. Negatives: There are exactly nine ships, six of which are simply minor variations on the original three. PvP play is hard to initiate and nearly useless once you get there, and there is no possibility for ship-to-ship battles with other players. You are given a pistol and a cutlass, but can only use the pistol on wild animals and skeletons...NOT on Navy troops. Minor, perhaps, but still damned irritating. Visual range at sea is fairly restricted, but this is probably a limitation of playing a SMMORPG (Somewhat-massive-etc.) rather than of the game itself (if that makes sense...). The East India Trading Company is FAR more powerful than the Royal Navy...this irritates me, but I guess it makes it closer to the movie. There are really not very many things to DO...you can sink ships, kill skeletons, or work out the main storyline. No subplots of note, no economics (you can't buy or sell cargo, for example), nothing of that nature. Positives: You don't have to see the movie characters any more often than you want to. Despite it being a game made by Disney (there is no alcohol in the bar (!), no profanity even of a mild sort, nothing else of that sort of piratical nature), you can play Blackjack and "Tortuga" Hold-Em Poker. For in-game money. Sailing around in a Galleon sinking Navy ships with seven other people is really addicting. ...Despite all the negatives, it actually IS pretty fun, at least for a little while. I paid the First-Month Unlimited Access fee of $4.95 (goes up to $9.95 after the first month), and I probably won't renew my subscription. It's sort of fun, but Pirates of the Burning Sea looks like a much better game for the same monthly price.

Redbeard...he has the most ships and the largest at his disposal, and you'd be hard-pressed to find more ferocious combatants than pirates.

I voted Renegade Runner, mostly because it was the first Pirate set I ever had, and I just love it.

Well, he WAS exiled. ...twice, I believe. Vive l'emperor!

My nomination would definitely be for Mr. Phes.

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I saw it at the top of the page so I couldn't help. I voted for the Skull's Eye Schooner. Besides the much-noted advantage in firepower on a broadside, I can't help believing that the lanteen on the quarterdeck would add a great deal to the ship's speed (especially while quartering, as it stays well out of the way of the square sails).

I voted for flamingoes! But being a native of Florida, I suppose I have a soft spot for the noisy pink bastards. I think they would add some much-needed colour to land sets.

I voted for the Blues, although I love both. I use the Blues for regular infantry, and the Reds for the Royal Marines.

I wrote up a piratical LEGO wargame several years ago. It's not terribly great, but if anybody would like to peruse it and fish out anything that might be useful, let me know and I'll get it to you.

Newsletters, definitely. Bulletins get bleeding annoying. And PDF works fine as a format. That's probably, like...the only universal format you can really get.

Your Fleet What is the name of your Fleet? Well, it's really two seperate ships, not a fleet at all. What is the size of your fleet? Two ships. How many standard LEGO ships do you have in your fleet? None (yet) How many MOC ships do you have in your fleet? Two Please list your MOCs and tell us a relative size comparison. HMS Charity - 16-gun Sloop of War (wide hull, 6 midsections) (Royal Navy) Vrijheid - Dutch pirate brig, two guns (narrow hull, 1 midsection) Number of sailors and officers in your fleet? HMS Charity - Captain, 2 Lieutenants, 6 Midshipmen, 6 Warrant Officers, 35 Able Seamen Vrijheid - 4 Captains (three as passengers), 10 pirates Your Army What are the names of your armies? 224th Light Infantry Company AND His Majesty's Royal Marines, aboard HMS Charity How many Officers and Troops do you have? 224th - 1 Captain, 1 Standard-Bearer, 1 Drummer, 3 Lieutenants, 3 Sergeants, 9 Corporals, 45 Privates Marines - 1 Lieutenant, 1 Sergeant, 1 Corporal, 16 Privates How many fortifications do you have? None (yet) Who is your favorite minifig in your army, and who is the commander? My Infantry commander is nothing too special, but the Marine commander is one of my favorite minifigs to date: Gilderoy Lockehart's head and hair on the Imperial Officer torso, with a red cape...I'll put a picture up eventually. Miscellaneous Out of all your collection combined, what is your strength in: a) Ships Two b) Men 149 (156, if you include my ever-growing Les Mis�rables minifig group...they'll be embarking on the Charity for a world tour eventually) What is your collection goal? More ships...I am now addicted to MOCing. Are there any sets that you are hunting for in the near future? Black Seas Barracuda. Again. What have you started or planning to start in the near future? I'm going to turn those RBR hulls into another ship. Eventually.

On this Day, the Eleventh of February in the Year of Our Lord Seventeen-Hundred-and-Eighty-One, in the Shipyards of the Island of Janssen, the Keel was layed of His Majesty King George III's newest Sloop of War, the Charity. "We anticipate that she will be fitted with a broadside of twelve guns, as well as a pair of chasers fore and aft. Details of our first cruise cannot yet be disclosed," commented Lieutenant James McGready; Lieutenant McGready has received Orders to be Senior Lieuteant aboard the Charity, once she is Completed. Further Details will be Forthcoming, pending more official Statements by shipwrights L. Jones and J. Becker. (AKA pictures, when I get time after classes today; just wanted to get the thread started. She will be five center-pieces long; rigging will be worked out later)

So once I have sails (and pics with sails, obviously), should I make a new thread? Blast it all, I need a camera with manual focus...

Well, I got my first Pirate set (which was also, I think, my very first Lego), the Renegade Runner, when I was four, I believe (my mum's got photos, of course...). I LOVED that thing...I got a few of those really tiny sets (the ones with, like, one guy and a 4x6 plate) and built my crew a little bit. I love Lego, so I "collected" (read: opened, built, then dumped into tote boxes) many sets over the mid- and late-90's: Castle, a few Space, one of the Wild West town-ish sets, some random City, and a couple various Star Wars sets. Spring 2002, happened to get a Lego catalog in the mail (I'd been subscribed for a few years); thumbed through it, as I usually did, and found...PIRATES. I saved up every penny I could lay my hands on, borrowed (pleadingly) from my parents (and my little sister...boy, was I desperate!), and finally scraped together enough to score the Red Beard Runner. I was in love all over again. So much, in fact, that it would only be about six months before I traded some old, unused Train track for ANOTHER, MISB Red Beard Runner. I was so tied up in building and re-building my ship(s), and trying to invent my own Pirate wargame, that I failed to notice the appearance of another Pirate set in the catalog (or maybe my parents confiscated that particular catalog issue)... ...Christmas Day, 2002, I crawled under the tree with the rest of my family and pulled out The Black Seas Barracuda. Maybe my parents hoped this gift would dampen the embers somewhat...rather, it fanned them into flames. I have spent the last five (egads!) years finding as many ways as possible to modify and expand upon my fleet...until January of this year. I was reading Les Mis

In the final post's text I actually did describe it as a 6th-rate frigate, although "corvette" may be a more accurate description. I didn't have any real ships in mind when I built it, just tried to keep it clean and simple. Any criticisms?

((It's mostly finished!)) On this Day, the Twenty-Sixth of February in the Year Of Our Lord Seventeen-Hundred-and-Eighty-Two, One Year and Fifteen Days after Construction of His Majesty King George III's newest vessel was Announced, the Completion of Said Vessel was Also Announced. The Vessel, a Ship-Rigged Frigate of the Sixth Rate which shall soon be Christened Charity, was Designed and Constructed by Master Shipbuilders Mssrs. Levi Jones and John Becker. The Vessel shall Carry a Broadside of Fourteen Guns, and she Shall Be Commanded by Captain Alistair MacCorwin, formerly Commander of His Majestys' Cutter Epsilon. Names of Other Officers shall be Released, once All Appointments are made. ((Sails will be made...later. Over Spring Break, probably. It's not the most detailed ship, I'm well aware...but it's my first major project in a long time. Comments?))

I'd go with the Red Beard Runner, personally...in fact, I did myself. The Red Beard Runner was my second pirate ship, and I loved it so much that I bought another one on eBay a couple years ago ($70, MISB!!!!). It's one of the few ships that you can still find for the original retail price (at least in the US, not sure about Australia).

This is a good point...I'll have to mess around with that some. Parts are arriving (had to bricklink a load of the 2x2x2 slopes for tumblehome), so I'll have resources to experiment more. Thanks for the input, guys!

((More pictures...!)) Mr. Jones, Shipwright and Designer of the Mechanical Workings of HMS Charity, reported this day that the Installation of the Anchor Capstan has been Completed. ((It's basically the head-rotator-system from the new ATST set...but it works like a dandy!)) Additionally, Mr. Becker, Shipwright and Master Carpenter of HMS Charity, stated that Progress on the Hull has been Delayed, pending arrival of an order of Timber. Minor Portions of the Hull have been Completed, so as to allow for the Installation of the Anchor Capstan. ((I decided to go with 2 studs between every cannon rather than 4, for various design reasons...there will now be 11 cannons per side, all on the gundeck))

Have any of you guys ever tried to make bearskin caps for your troops? I actually came up with one way (because I only had one shako for four soldiers)... 1. take a 1x1 black cylinder (cannonball, anyone?) 2. take TWO small offset-tread tires 3. put the cylinder through the center of the two tires... A picture of the finished product will be forthcoming... ...if anybody else gives it a try, tell me what you think. *I* think it looks good but I'm obviously biased...

Dangit! Just when you think you've come up with something new, somebody else's already done it. Oh well. Disregard, everybody...

I'm going to experiment with having wheels in front and a 2x1 plate in the back...as I don't have enough wheels to do all the guns. If that doesn't work out I'll put the cannons that are on the gundeck on sliders or mount them some other way.

If I had the manual for my camera I would try manual focus...as it is I can't figure out for the life of me how to do it! Actually no. I have only Bricklinked four cannons. All of the rest of them I assembled through hard work and set purchases...I have two Red Beard Runners (6) a Black Seas Barracuda (4) a Renegade Runner (1) a couple Western sets (I switched the brown cannon bases for the red ones from my sister's BSB)...If I could afford to Bricklink cannons I'd have quite a few more... Oh, and I will never buy shooting cannons...I don't like how they look in the first place, and even if I did they wouldn't match my existing cannons.

Just thought I'd let you guys know that I've got a shop on Bricklink and I'm selling off a bunch of Star Wars minifgs and blasters, all of them well below the average price. Here it is, if you're interested.

I'll try my hardest. :-P Actually it's funny that you say that. While attempting to get pictures of Messrs. Jones and Becker, I discovered that my camera's autofocus is too (lame? old? shitty?) to capture minifigs with any degree of visibility. So...yikes. I do have some pictures of the construction to share, though: Here's the hull. Nothing else yet...the red stripe *might* go in favor of white slopes (for the whole tumblehome thing). The gundeck, with cannons in position to show the spacing I will be using. Obviously not too much to look at yet, but work should proceed soon...