Tomsche

It can be lonely out on the seas to be fishing all day long, in an effort to get some minor incomes. Pirates sail the seas, and if a single daring one stumbles upon you, Poseidon is awaiting you with open hands. So for that reason, Quinnsville, the headquarters of MAESTRO Corrington, together with it`s MAESTRO Eslandola companions, is setting out to offer some armed protection to these little class 0 fishermen, with the organising of a small Bounty Run under armed protection. WHO can join? In order to join the collective bounty run effort, anyone can enter these bounty runs with their class 0 or 1 ships IF you are: * a Member of MAESTRO (doesn`t matter which side of the brand, being it either Corrington or Eslandola) * a citizen of Corrington (as the crown grants the use of the armed protection for this endeavor) HOW to join? Just put the name of the class 0 or 1 vessel you want to join in the expedition, in the relevant topic. Entering closes the 27th of this month. (RL things make me fill out the forms 2 - 3 days in advance, and the late MCRA result a bit of a short timespan, sorry) Bounty Run - Junkyard Fleet of Quinnsville Flotilla 1 – HMS Isandlwana (Tomsche), Disguised Skiff (Tomsche), Pierre Volante (Tomsche), Escorts: HMS Terrigan (1A), The Sea Sparrow (1A) Flotilla 2 - TigerLily (Tomsche), Crepe Fruite (Tomsche) Escorts: The Cod Hunter (2A) So don`t fish lonely anymore, hunt for cod amongst fellow fishermen!

Hood was an Excelsior class, it was the Tsjaikovsky early in TNG (with the fever illness that caused to open all the airlocks into space for cooldown) that was also an Oberth

Ever since the ill-fated USS Grissom graced our screens in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, I have been a fan of this little ship. Back then, and in hindsight, still, the design was a radical departure from how Federation ships looked, with the small main section tucked in between it`s small warp nacelles on this dozen crew members vessel. These vessels of the Oberth class are dedicated science ships, and fragile as hell as they often served as wrecks of "rescued ship of the week" in further series, but as it showed up in The Next Generation, they do have a long service term. By the time of Voyager, they where being replaced by the Nova class (Equinox was one of this class for example) who where sturdier and better defended (and another design I adore), but they kept showing up time to time. Needless to say, I wanted one in Lego, and I found an LDD file one. This was modified to my tastes extensively, but the thing about LDD is that you can generate the part list for the elements you used, and that`s handy for looking in your collection for the needed bricks. Now, Star Trek vessels aren`t that simple to recreate, as they have very streamlined and rounded forms compared to other franchise vessels like Star Wars, Stargate or Battlestar Galactica, the main section of a Federation vessel being often saucer shaped, so they tend to turn out more angular as a result then the originals. My end result had about 160 elements, and it`s a decent sized ship, about 20 cm's in length and not to heavy so I could support it on two of the black minifigure bases and keep it stable. This one is definitly coming along to the next sci-fi convention the LUG will be displaying on, StarCom on the 10th of July. For reference, poor Grissom in the movie:

If you mean my Quinnsville, yes, in a way. The town is made using all sorts of small 16x16 plots, licensed seperatly, then build onto 48x48 plates to make it look as one big plate when on display.

Love this build, the shape, windows, interior...

No matter what good intentions the mayors of any budding settlements may have to become beacons of enlightment and order, this is often short lived. In Quinnsville, this has happened recently as well, as an underground game runner, Ulysses P. Fenwick, opened a gambling den in the town. Nobody knows where he came from or how he got to Cocovia, but together with his wife Stefania he runs this dark and damp house of games, where some cardgame called "Dimensions" is attracting sailors and inhabitants from all over the island... and abroad as ships moore the small dock of the town. It is said that once you pass by the blue silks of the den, you will leave changed. Or if you are being to difficult, Pug the Bouncer solves it all.

Yes, but there are some thingies about it in contracts (don`t know the details, I don`t work at Lego legal departments) which is why (so far) they haven`t popped up in Dimensions either, which is Warner "property" run. Though the rumours do exist they will be announcing Star Wars for that platform, with the demise of Infinity, but that is probably a "Spider-man" like situation (aka, the call of big bucks). From a "designer" like point of view, I can understand they wouldn`t be to happy about having to make ST sets, the more rounded forms (the big saucers in other words) aren`t that easily to be made for cheap sets not taking 100s of small bricks (heck, even MB and Kre-O made a lot of special large parts just for that) compared to the more angular vessels of the SW universe. Add to that the non-appeal to a lot of younger kids these days for Star Trek, being at the moment a franchise relying on an older fanbase, with even the most recent show being a decade old, and the slow pace of the series as a whole (they had 24 x 46 minutes to tell a tale each year) compared to the flashy lightshows of a cinema franchise (who must tell it in 2 - 3 hours), I doubt they would have much of a target audience / revenue prospect. Star Trek is a great franchise (spoken by someone with a huge Enterprise on his leg), but I`m also the first to admit that as it currently stands, the series is just not really geared towards the 8 - 12 years audience, an important market for Lego, due to that fact. Like I tend to say in the always lively discussions with my SW maniacal buddy: "Star Trek is like a good bottle of wine, while Star Wars is your Coca Cola behemoth"

The movie license for the "Abramsverse" and the license for the series are a bit the same situation as the Spider-Man issue between Sony and Marvel. And like many companies have to tackle the issue that Disney doesn`t allow Marvel and DC to be mingled (hence no DC figures for Infinity, that was stipulated), I can imagine there is something of a veto on Trek by the Wars owners. Sure it`s the eternal fanboys war, and even though I linger more to Trek, I haven`t smacked around the 10 year old overhere who thinks he is the second coming of Kylo Ren On a totally different yet related topic: that is a gorgeous Enterprise!

I dunno, modern day CEO`s are the Venetian trade Lords of old, having their fatty fingers in a lot of ventures

The Wailing Whaif // Tomsche // Corrington The Brickagramer House of Games // Tomsche // Corrington

When Cocovia was colonised by the Crown of Corrington, no less then two settlements sprang up, a rather unique situation in the newly explored islands. While one of them, the naval base of King`s Harbour, is governed by strict rules of some upstuck admiral who takes months to visit his neighbour (talk about poor seamanship), the other settlement, Quinnsville, adopted a whole other strategy. Her open port allows for the trading by traders of various nations, and in various goods. While rumours excist that not everything that passes by the dockmaster office is considered legal, the home of the Junkyard Fleet seems to have all the trade channels under control. One way Mayor Smaugton tries to keep it that way is by allowing privateers access to his harbour, for well needed RnR or repairs. In exchange, he has contracts with these private owned vessels that in time of need, when Quinnsville is treatened, they will add their guns to his defensive line. One such vessel is the armed brigantine The Wailing Whaif, commanded by Captain Rowspar. This ship, with her gleaming white hull, looks like she is build for speed mainly, as she has been accused (evidence not provided) of various small-time crimes like smuggling and blockade running, but she is well armed and her crew are some of the fiercest brawlers in the surrounding waters. Hey all, This is my latest ship, a class 3A. I just wanted to build something else then the usual black and red trade vessels, so I opted to build one from the hull of the spaniard vessel. Her backstory is one of a sort of mercenary captain that has an understanding with the ruler of Quinnsville, to come to her aid in time of need. As such, I`m not sure if I will already license her, or wait until the political tides would turn dark in the future. Hope you like her!

There is just something about those Cardassians that you have to love. And I`m not talking only about Marc Alaimo`s totally STELLAR performance as Gul Dukat in Deep Space Nine. It`s their way of not realising they aren`t the big bad guys anymore. That they are a glory of a past age, that has been caught up and surpassed, yet they keep grasping at glory. The Cardassians are like a rejected lovechild of the Klingon Empire and the Romulans, a war like race ran by a secret oraganisation in the Obsidian Order. They had a big nasty war with the Federation, but lost, and when the Bajoran Occupation was ended, and the borders redrawn leading to the Maquis resistance, their power dwindled even more. They tried once more to become the leading military force by allying themselves with the Dominion, but this turned out sour for them, resulting in the occupation and ravaging of their homeworld Cardassia Prime, until in the final hours of the Dominion War they switched allegiance to the "quadrant alliance" and turning the tide of battle, gaining their moment of glory. The mainstay vessel of the Cardassian military is the Galor class cruiser. While it was on par with the vessel of the Federation during their war, they didn`t evolve at a rate the Federation starships did, and when the Enterprise D met one it was clear the manta ray shaped vessels where no match for the flagship of the Federation. I found a picture of one of them build on the internet in a relative small scale, and decided to build one myself going from there, and the resource material plenty available due to their appearances in DS9. It turned out more then okay, but it was migthy expensive for a 50 piece ship. One of the small wedges needed only had appeared in an old Snowspeeder set, making them go on BrickLink at about 6 to 8 euro a piece. Luckily the other side had appeared in the New York Skyline set, so those where cheap to get... Now to start planning a couple of Federation vessels...

The prospecting knocks you back a measly 25 dbs, so in between all the ships I have been licensing for the Junkyard Fleet of Quinnsville, I have found the time for this little build and set up. So here is my vignette showing the brave citizens of Quinnsville looking for the minerals that might be found in the ground of Cocovia. Okay men, dig here. This very reliable map that mad sailor sold us tells us there is gold to be found here. I`m certain it is, because he told me that he got it from a blind writer, who got it from his jailed in-law, who got it from a reliable looking shaggy man that found it in a temple located on an island that shows up on no map. So put some sweat into it, this is going to be the real deal!

Let`s start with an understatement: sometimes, TOS (The Original Series) of Star Trek could get a bit cheesy. But what was more cheesy, in the special effects department, then the battle between Kirk and the Gorn in the first season. Cardboard rocks, overacting Kirk, and finally coming up with the solution of making a bazooka out of bamboo to fire away with diamonds, putting McGuyver to shame, yep, The Arena had it all.. So what more then to honour the 50th anniversary, and the kick off of a series of Star Trek builds I`m going to do, then to build a small vignette to this testimony of 60s awesomeness!

To the Duke of Prio The HMS Isandlwana, by principle of Quinnsville, opts to not engage into the battle and the possible war consequences. As such, she raises sail and pulls out of the conflict, to return to her home haven. Sir Thomas Smaugton, Mayor of Quinnsville Founder of Maestro Corrington Lord of Driftwood (OOC/ I just don't have the time to follow up on this let alone build for it, with the convention season and LUG responsibilities in full swing)

Ach so, i`ll drop Phred a line

Yups, payed 112.5 db for the galley I received from Celes (being nr 5), 75 for the 1T I bought and already activated from Francesco and 30 DB for the skiff I bought from Ska and set out to sail (as that was my 7th licensed ship). So yea, the little guys are expensive, as I paid a whopping 218 doubloons to activate 2 class 1s and a class 0, but that is a small effort for giving the little guys a part still in the game

She has been found beached near Quinnsville, it seems the pirates wanted to ditch her after their rouse being discovered. Our shipwrights have restored her to sea worthy status, and it will live out his days as a peacefull fishing skiff.

The lovingly nice little smuggler ship named Fingernail has been found near Quinnsville, and she will live out her days at sea in the Junkyard Fleet. I kindly thank you for having her a quit old day

Their story will be lovingly continue in the Junkyard Fleet of Quinnsville, many thanks of the deal

Maxim is going to have "some work" on the ship index, I managed to acquire 4 more ships for the Junkyard Fleet. Basically, bar one Francesco Clarke wanted to keep for story purposes, I bought out all the for sale ships at his shipbroker (Ska, your money will come from maxim, I transferred the grand total of the purchases and his commission to him, it`s his job as a broker after all to bring the funds to the rightfull owner). In any case, somewhere in Corrington waters, the self proclaimed Lord of Driftwood now has ownership of 9 private vessels (7 licensed) and 1 on loan from the crown to help protect their excursions, so don`t come bothering me again with investment schemes and the likes this month as I`ve been spending a LOT of cash on licensing. Which is actually pretty expensive for those little buggers in hindsight lol

Donating to the Junkyard Fleet event Okay, just those you don`t care anymore about then These are all those small ships that become unloved by their owners as they move to greater vessels, and will sail again one day in the collection of driftwood called the Junkyard Fleet of Quinnsville. They might not make the long glorious voyages of the Terramen, but at least they won`t be forgotten in the game that way and still play along, no matter how small a footnote in the history of Brethren of the Brick Seas they will become. While licensing them is an expensive venture as it takes me far beyond my "base price" 3 slots, I am planning of filling all 11 of my personal available slots with these small class 0 and 1 vessels eventually (as funds become available over time). As such, I can`t really pay a purchase price for the ships, my payment is the fact that you can unlicense them to free up one of your three "base price" slots again to put in a ship far more usefull in the metagame. But instead of the ships becoming forgotten in the Ship Index with zero chance of ever getting relicensed by the player in question, they will have the prospect of sailing in the MCRA again, proudly remaining a part of the tales told. So if you have any of those small trader vessels or armed galleys that are just lying around, devoid of hope to shine in the light one day, send them over to Quinnsville, Cocovia. Here they will be lovingly restored to their glory. Also, for NONE of these donated ships, the sistershipping rule will be used by me. If they ever get sunk, captured, auctioned off as prices by pirates or whotnot`s that remove them from my ownership, their story has truly and gloriously ended. See it as a way of "closure" for that little build you made the day you set out to sea. For those that want to make a final build with their little ships, I also created this little "event". It has no beginning or end date as it ain`t a mini-challenge, but more of a lifetime offer... The Event: For every builder that makes a small MOC taking place in Quinnsville, and which revolves around that player coming to the "center of coffee making" on Cocovia to hand over those little unwanted ships to the Junkyard Fleet, a small financial fee will be payed out by the Quinnsville bank. Rules: There are no size restrictions Builds can be either physical or LDD There is no limit of one entries per person, but obviously every ship can only be brought in once Captains of every nation can send in their small ships. There is no current end date for this event. A link to your entry must be posted in this thread, OR in the Quinnsville settlement thread. Since it takes place in that town, the event entries will be placed there in "other MOC`s" category, aka the one I can`t go and license afterwards, but are just part of the story of the town and her driftwood fleet. The Rewards: Every player that builds a MOC for this event, will receive a reward of 5 doubloons from the Quinnsville town bank.

Okay, just those you don`t care anymore about then These are all those small ships that become unloved by their owners as they move to greater vessels, and will sail again one day in the collection of driftwood called the Junkyard Fleet of Quinnsville. They might not make the long glorious voyages of the Terramen, but at least they won`t be forgotten in the game that way and still play along, no matter how small a footnote in the history of Brethren of the Brick Seas they will become. While licensing them is an expensive venture as it takes me far beyond my "base price" 3 slots, I am planning of filling all 11 of my personal available slots with these small class 0 and 1 vessels eventually (as funds become available over time). As such, I can`t really pay a purchase price for the ships, my payment is the fact that you can unlicense them to free up one of your three "base price" slots again to put in a ship far more usefull in the metagame. But instead of the ships becoming forgotten in the Ship Index with zero chance of ever getting relicensed by the player in question, they will have the prospect of sailing in the MCRA again, proudly remaining a part of the tales told. So if you have any of those small trader vessels or armed galleys that are just lying around, devoid of hope to shine in the light one day, send them over to Quinnsville, Cocovia. Here they will be lovingly restored to their glory. Also, for NONE of these donated ships, the sistershipping rule will be used by me. If they ever get sunk, captured, auctioned off as prices by pirates or whotnot`s that remove them from my ownership, their story has truly and gloriously ended. See it as a way of "closure" for that little build you made the day you set out to sea. For those that want to make a final build with their little ships, I also created this little "event". It has no beginning or end date as it ain`t a mini-challenge, but more of a lifetime offer... The Event: For every builder that makes a small MOC taking place in Quinnsville, and which revolves around that player coming to the "center of coffee making" on Cocovia to hand over those little unwanted ships to the Junkyard Fleet, a small financial fee will be payed out by the Quinnsville bank. Rules: There are no size restrictions Builds can be either physical or LDD There is no limit of one entries per person, but obviously every ship can only be brought in once Captains of every nation can send in their small ships. There is no current end date for this event. A link to your entry must be posted in this thread, OR in the Quinnsville settlement thread. Since it takes place in that town, the event entries will be placed there in "other MOC`s" category, aka the one I can`t go and license afterwards, but are just part of the story of the town and her driftwood fleet. The Rewards: Every player that builds a MOC for this event, will receive a reward of 5 doubloons from the Quinnsville town bank.

On a different note, how do you exactly fill in a Convoy sheet for a bounty run? Just put down "bounty trip" in the required destinations fields?

I will give her a nice future in the Junkyard Fleet of Quinnsville, where she will defend Cocovia with pride