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Ayrlego

[COR-Ch2A] North Head Battery

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Challenge II, Category A - North Head Battery

Dirk's previous story can be found here

Bregir's characters have been used with his permission.

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After a fortnight’s hard work, the Colonial Half Battery that Dirk Allcock had been directed to site and supervise construction of was complete, and the temporary Governor of King’s Harbour, Captain Jonathan Cooke, was coming for an inspection.

Dirk hoped the Governor would be impressed. With the assistance of Midshipman Knowles, he had carefully selected an appropriate site that had commanding views of the wide entrance to the bay, and provided a suitable field of fire in conjunction with the already established battery on the southern side. The chosen position sat at the edge of a rocky cliff, overlooking wide stretches of beach and enclosed by vegetation all sides. A small path had been cleared leading down into a nearby cove for access and resupply and it was this path that the Governor and his entourage now approached on.

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Dirk was a little nervous, for he had slightly exceeded his orders in that he had made some modifications to the prefabricated half battery design, which called for a straight palisade of wood to protect the two 24 pound guns. Whilst the original palisade design was more than suitable for protection from small arms, Dirk had felt that given the position and purpose of the battery; the palisade would be better suited with sloping walls to attempt to deflect any heavy shot from vessels trying to force entrance to the bay.

Dirk's second improvisation was off a slightly larger scale. He had found a stone mason newly arrived in the colony, and had quickly press ganged him into building a small furnace adjunct to the battery. The purpose for this was not so the garrison could bake fresh bread (although the Colonial gunners were impressed!). Rather it was so the 24pound shot could be heated until red hot. This heated shot could then be employed against any enemy vessels attempting to force entry to the harbour. Fire, always the greatest fear onboard a wooden vessel, was the inevitable result of being struck by heated shot. Heated shot was usually only available to large, established forts, so to employ it in a makeshift half battery was un-heard off. Dirk however, always the innovator, simply could not resist pushing the boundaries of the possible.

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Captain Cooke arrived, and with him was the man Dirk had travelled to Cocovia to meet, Don Isaac Montoya. Montoya nodded at Dirk, the two had matters both were eager to discuss. Both men were passionate natural philosophers, and Montoya was proposing the establishment of a New World Branch of the Royal Society of Natural Philosophy. Duty, however, came first, and Dirk’s duty to the crown had meant reporting to Captain Cooke first, and the naval officer had entrusted him with establishing this battery, crucial to the defences of the new settlement.

After pleasantries were exchanged, Captain Cooke made a detailed inspection of the site, the guns and the powder, ammunition storage and lastly the furnace. Dirk explained his modified design and the Governor carefully studied the fields of fire the guns provided.

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During this time, Montoya spied something on the beach below that captured his full attention. A notebook appeared in his hands as if by magic, and he began furiously taking notes and making sketches. “I say” he announced “I have never seen a sea turtle like it”

Instantly distracted from the inspection, Dirk glanced down at the beach and at the large turtle crawling up it.

“Ah yes, I call them ‘banded turtles’ due to the unusual dark horizontal band across the bottom third of the carapace. I believe that will be a female coming ashore to lay eggs” replied Dirk excitedly. “The natives hereabouts say that this area is a major breeding ground for them, although this is the first I seen come ashore.”

“Yes that band is indeed unlike anything I have seen before” commented Montoya

“The natives also say that the female turtles will return to precisely the spot they were hatched from to lay their eggs, although how they discern this fact I have no idea” added Dirk. Both men were now totally absorbed watching the turtle, making observations and comments as if the bemused governor and crew of the half battery did not even exist. “Is there a way down onto the beach?” Asked Montoya.

Captain Cooke gave a slight shake of his head, and his lips turned slightly up in a grin. He knew his patron and good friend, Montoya, well enough to know that any hope of further discussions of arcs of fire or powder storage were hopeless. He also recognised the same traits in this Army officer. Truth be told he was well pleased with the battery. It had saved him the work of supervising the construction himself, and the location was indeed ideal. The modifications, to the battery design, while slightly un-orthodox, were indeed inspired. Only the Army would thought of something as devilishly effective as heated shot. The Naval officer in him disapproved. Fire was the enemy of all sailors. The governor in him however, was excited at this new capability. He nodded to his entourage; He would leave the two men to their turtle, the never-ending needs of the new settlement were calling him back to the harbour.

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Hope you enjoyed the rather long story! This has been my biggest build to date (a full 48x48), although I think my Cat B entry looks bigger! Actually there are a few firsts here for me, it is also my largest attempt at rock work, first brick built animal (sort off) and first time I've collaborated with another builder for the story (Cheers Bregir!). As always, comments and criticism welcome!

Dirk's story continues here

Edited by Ayrlego

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Excellent entry! :pir-wub:

To start, the rockwork is pretty basic, but I'm far from an expert on that. It works well enough, and makes a very convincing cliff upon which to build. The vegetation is just about perfect, the beach and water look nice and the turtle is brilliant. (What piece is the shell?)

The defenses are also excellent. The sloped walls look great and the gun carriages are really good. The shot-heating furnace is a good feature, but perhaps vulnerable to enemy fire positioned so close to the cliff. Your minifig selection is good, the varying photo angles are nice and the story well-written. Including Bregir's characters adds quite a bit to the story as well.

Excellent work. :classic::thumbup:

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Ah. Thanks. It makes a great turtle. :thumbup:

And as usual, I've found another disadvantage to being such a narrow-minded buyer/builder (it's Pirates or nothing... well, most of the time... :pir-wink: )

Love your building style.

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Very good entry!

Great combination of things we've seen around so far. And I love the idea that you Corries take the well-being of future endangered species so seriously to set up a full artillery batterie for their protection pirate_laugh2.gifthumbup.gif

Big fan of the vegetation, and great first large rockwork.

Keep it up!

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What a magnificent build! This is definitely Premier League Lego compared to my Vauxhall Conference (English football joke).

Great use of three dimensions with that cliff, this build must be nearly as high as it is wide. Great flotsam on the beach, great vegetation, great defences, great story with a turtle-y cool ending. I really can't see anything that could improve this build.

I'm glad this is a Corrington fort as it looks completely unassailable. Mind you, that's what Montcalm thought at Quebec before it all went horribly wrong for him, so the sentries had better keep a sharp eye out for any nasty bluecoats scuttling up that cliff.

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Very nice build, these guys have quite an advantage with the high ground here! :thumbup: The slanted walls of the fort look really nice and your foliage is excellent as always!

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Excellent job on the angled log wall! The rock work looks good to me, as does the beach and foliage. I really like the idea of the furnace for the fire shot. All-around good job!

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Beautiful job all around. The rockwork and vegetation are nicely done, but what really makes this build stand out are the details such as random vines and small pockets of foliage growing throughout the rocks, the seaweed (very convincing), and the turtle. The use of new and old grey for the rockwork is very nice and helps to make the rocks look weathered.

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King's Harbour will be the best protected Harbour in the new world, as things are going now! :pir-tongue:

I really like this tall rock face with the beach below it - if fits quite well with my ideas for the terrain of the Northern peninsula protecting the King's Harbour cove.

Will mainly built with traditional studs up technique, I still think it works really well, with the texture, the cavern (There is sure to be some non-descript bats!) and the vegetation. The beach is looking really nice too, and I particularly like that turtle (as does Montoya, I assure you!)

I also like how you have emulated the gun carriages of my colonial half-battery, and Cooke is very impressed by Captain Allcocks work. While the idea of heated shot is hard on his sailors heart, as a military governor, he is entirely pleased with the defensive capabilities!

Well done, and really nice entry!

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Oooh another excellent build!

Can only agree with the others. The vegetation is just beautiful, especially like the little bit of washed up seaweed on the beach. And the turtle is a superb addition!

The defenses themselves look wonderful, nice to see the cannons can actually move a bit and the heated shot is a great idea as well.

Seeing all the details I'm starting to think I should do more research pirate_laugh2.gif

And then this is combined with a great story and stunning photography, well done sir!

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Thank you everyone for the comments and encouragement! Although at times frustrating I really enjoyed this build!

The turtle is one of my favourite details! Having watched turtles lumbering up beaches to lay eggs both here in Australia and in the Seychelles, it is an amazing experience, and one I wanted Dirk to behold.

And as usual, I've found another disadvantage to being such a narrow-minded buyer/builder (it's Pirates or nothing... well, most of the time... :pir-wink: )

DISCLAIMER: I don't actually have any TMNT sets, I just brick-linked the carapace for this build! pirate_laugh_new.gif

Those cliffs are begging for an assassin to climb them default_purrr.gif

I did have the same thought when I placed the vines......

Very good entry!

Great combination of things we've seen around so far. And I love the idea that you Corries take the well-being of future endangered species so seriously to set up a full artillery batterie for their protection pirate_laugh2.gifthumbup.gif

Poachers beware! Unfortunately they will almost certainly become endangered over time I fear. Especially since sailors have a nasty habit of eating them.

Great use of three dimensions with that cliff, this build must be nearly as high as it is wide.

The hight surprised me, I didn't think I'd have enough bricks to do a decent cliff (hence the use of light grey) but it just kept getting higher! In the end I stopped at around 20 bricks high (in most places) as any higher and I think photography would have got (even more) difficult.

King's Harbour will be the best protected Harbour in the new world, as things are going now! :pir-tongue:

As it should be! Now to make it the scientific hub of the new world as well!!

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Ok, where should I start? Let's just list it:

Nice beach, nice algae, nice turtle, nice water.

Solid rockwork. Amazing vegetation.

Nice photography and presentation.

Fitting minifigs. Great work on the "rails" under the cannons - I love that design.

My favourite part, though, is how you integrated the fortification into the terrain, that is just... perfect.

Absolutely amazing entry!

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Excellent build, Ayrlego, and while the rock-work does look a bit blocky to me (using more slopes and less large-ish bricks would help with that), the vegetation is simply superb! :pir-wub: Beautiful work with that half-battery as well, the tilted walls are excellent, as is the use of Bregir's technique for the gun carriages! pirate_satisfied.gif

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Excellent entry !

I love the rock work of course, but I like more some little details ( the tortoise is great !)

Congrats !

You provided such great entries putting the quality bar high !

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