Capt Wolf

Great entry for this category. The AQAR is epic! Fantastic rigging. And the portrayal of the narwal is cool! The story is really clever for this category.

Wonderful job adapting that painting. Well done! And the pale rider is an excellent addition. It really enhances the epic nature of the fallen hero. From a technical standpoint, I like the SNOT technique for the water, and the contours of the beach are particularly well done, I also like the soldier in the murky water, and I must echo KB's comments on the excellent creek. Great job overall!

Wow! You always do such a good job with rockwork (and jungle, too). I love the path Brickwall was heading toward. His demise is ... er ... graphic! A messy death. And a good story that reveals the cleverness of the Eslandolans!

Great build! It's fun to see the kraken going against stuff on shore rather than a ship. So much mayhem detail in the build! Tentacles everywhere! And the water effect is very good!

Great job on the custom torso! It looks sharp!

Cat B for Eslandola: The Death of Maurice of Greene, Prince of Brickwall

Maurice of Greene, Prince of Brickwall, cousin to King Fernando Augusto VII, comes from a long line of military leaders of Eslandola, dating back two and a half centuries to Eslandola’s original break from Mardier. Although the signing of the Magna Charta by the king was looked upon with shock and horror by many in the Eslandolan nobility, it did not diminish Maurice’s love of country, and he answered the call when the most recent disagreement with Mardier boiled over into an actual shooting war. Maurice had followed in his forefathers’ footsteps, studying strategy and tactics at the Terreli Military Academy. While Eslandola had not truly seen war in more than a century, and as such the opportunity for military experience greatly limited, Maurice was viewed as one of Eslandola’s greatest military minds. It was Maurice that King Fernando Augusto turned to when planning his invasion of Oleon. The politics had been disastrous for the king, but those that had seen the military plans believed the invasion would have succeeded; Maurice’s plan was brilliant, but the world would never get to see that brilliance. And so, when Eslandola was forced to respond militarily to Mardier, it turned to the Prince of Brickwall. On March 31, 617, Maurice led more than a thousand men, including the prince’s own cavalry regiment, in a beach assault against La Puebloto, Mardier’s settlement at the mouth of the Lintili River on Isla de Victoria, a.k.a. Skaford Heights. The fighting was intense, and losses mounted on both sides as Eslandola’s forces failed to break the Mardierian line. In an effort to end the standoff, Maurice led his cavalry in a charge along the beach to out-flank the defenders. Mardierian musketeers and pikemen hurriedly extended their line to the sea and opened fire. The Prince’s regiment closed with the defenders quickly, and it was mayhem as shots were fired and horses fell. Maurice continued to lead the charge into the thin Mardierian defense. The Mardierian commander could see that his line would not be enough against the cavalry regiment… …but his men held their ground and took the charge… …and one musketeer found his mark, firing a shot through Maurice’s chest, mortally wounding the prince. But the cavalry charge was successful. They broke through the line and rolled up the Mardierian rear defenses. The Eslandolan infantry then broke through Mardier’s unsupported center, and the battle was won. Maurice’s death is a terrible loss to Eslandola, but his quick thinking and valour on the field of battle were the turning point in Eslandola’s victory over Mardier that day. The Prince of Brickwall is a shining example to all Eslandolan commanders, today and in the future. Close-up of Maurice receiving the fatal shot: Additional shots: Composition was inspired by a painting of a Thirty Years War battle. The fallen horse and launched rider was fun to pose, and I was happy with how the ice cream pieces worked for smoke from the muskets. The blood spray exiting the hero's back worked out ok, but not quite what I hoped. The color gradation of the water looks off, but I was going for a painting effect where the edges are feathered out. I'm happy with the marshy look of the beach. As always, all C&C welcome.

I have to echo Garmadon. The parts usage for the tentacles is fantastic. Great micro build!

Neat entry! I love the cutaway ship, and the brick-built launches. But the question of the day is, how many clear round 1x1 plates did you have to use for the cannonball's path?!

I like it! The "tooth" pieces along the quarterdeck definitely give it an older feel. I like the gentle angle of the quarterdeck rails, and the curved slopes along the side of the hull.

Each challenge build needs to be declared for one side or the other in the war for judging purposes. Sine your hero is Eslandolan, it appears the build is pro-ESL.

Interesting take on this category, and I love the pith helmets! Be sure to report this entry in the Challenge thread.

You sure can, in my opinion. A class 4T1 license is totally appropriate for this build.

Excellent collab! I love the multiple interiors. There's good detail all around, even on the floors (love that red carpet in the Intendent's office, and nice tilework fleur de lis in the vault). KB's exterior is huge! Although it does look more like a palace than what I imagine a mint would look like, it's still too wonderful to complain about in any fashion. And the story to go along with it all is excellent! I do hope to read more of this story. I really enjoy collaborative builds, and this is a great example! What is the piece used for the handle of the vault door?

Nice ship! I particularly like the rise and shape of the stern, and the colors work well (especially for an Oleon ship). The removable parts are great! Also, good work on the sails. Nice conversational presentation as well. Just to clarify: there are two different classes of 4T ships in the game -- 4T1 and 4T2 (the difference is size of cargo hold and cost to license). I trust this is a 4T2? Or, fully armed, she could easily be converted to a 4A.

Excellent build! Lots of detail and color. I like the lamps along the wall, and your windows are very interesting. I would not have thought of yellow and gray for the floor tile colors, but it works. I am certain the doctor will do well in this location, but forgive me if I try to avoid his services.

Thank you! That would be cool, wouldn't it?! Thanks! And I'm not on flickr, so you're confused -- but it's more fun that way! Thanks to both of you! The stern decoration turned out better than I thought it would. It went through several changes. I'm glad it was worth the effort. Thanks! The rigging took some work, and still needs some. But I'm glad the overall design captures what I was going for. And welcome to BoBS, Professor!

Ditto! Ayrlego and Gideon submitted superb builds! Congrats to both! And congrats to Terraversa for throwing off the Mardierian yoke!

Ah, I misunderstood the original statement. I stand corrected: Corrington has also auctioned off war ships.

I was unaware of this. Care to share details? And that makes sense! There's no need to go off chasing every last doubloon. In spite of the loss to my faction, I applaud your decision.

For all the complaints about ESL not auctioning off its captured warships to non-ESL players, I don't see any other factions auctioning off warships at all. And I find it hard to believe none of you have taken the initiative to build a MOC of a ship matching the class of the license of an auctioned trade ship, but more heavily armed than a standard merchant, and then ask the naval licensing court to grant a license change to an armed vessel based on her "refit". Any 4T2 license could be converted to a 4A if you just build the MOC and ask the naval licensing court. Seems like an easy approach to me.

Sorry I haven't commented earlier on this. Beautiful ship I love how sleek she is, including the quarterdeck, but strongly armed at the same time. A splendid example of a class 5LA ship.

All granted! Well, this can't be good!

Thanks. Regarding the ratlines, I considered using droid arms, but I didn't like how they looked. There were also issues with them as the lines narrowed near the top. Anyway, I've always thought the thickness of the handholds creates the illusion of ratlines. But I totally get your point. I guess it's an eye-of-the-beholder thing. Thank you! It IS huge, that's for sure. Certainly about as big as I can reasonably do on prefab hulls, at least without stepping out the sides of the hull. And I love using those microfigs for decorative posts. Thanks for noticing! Thank you! Regarding the lowest yardarm, you are quite correct. This is a concession to classic Lego style and the manner in which the bottom of the sails needs to be fixed to create the billowing effect. (You may note that, on the Far Horizon, which I built with furled sails, the inaccurate yardarm is not present.) And all the sails (save the lateen) are sized actually as official Lego sails (and the lateen has been enlarged only slightly). I am starting to explore cloth sails, and I suspect some future ship of mine will step closer toward accurate model and a little further from classic Lego. For now I stand firmly straddling the fence. Thank you! That's just the feel I'm going for: an evolution of the Classic pirate style that caters to my particular preferences. Thank you. Each one refines my approach a bit at a time. I'm getting closer to my goal. I thought I did some fair posing with several of the figs, but my photography wasn't capturing things the way i wanted. At one point I was just trying to make sure they were all standing up! Thank you. I do want to get away from this color scheme eventually, but I have the bricks, and the Eslandola colors do offer some good possibilities. And the grate is one of my favorite details (but fyi, they're just normal 1x1 bricks, not headlight bricks). ---- And I failed to give credit initially for the name of this ship. Thanks to @gedren_y for suggesting La Contessa de Victoria. It gave me the ideas for the final details that pulled it all together.

Thanks. It's mostly pre-fab hull; there's a bit of custom work at the stern (see below). (And I use brickshelf for photo hosting, but there's not much more there for this ship.) The captain's cabin has the space for detailing, but I haven't done anything there. At least it's a step forward from my last 5T, where it was just a mass of bracing. The main deck is tiled back to the wall of the captain's cabin, but there's no way to really see it. There are actually steps up to the quarterdeck (here's a minifig coming up the steps). Thanks. I was still struggling with the stern decoration Friday night. And an official Eslandola Lego ship? I like it! The grate (or whatever it's called) is made of 1x1 bricks upside down on a 6x6 plate, and that rests on a tiled pedestal in the hold. The whole thing can lift right out. Thanks! I have all these green slopes, so I keep building 'em up and then tearing them down. And I took that photo from high above the stern because I wasn't really catching much of the deck detail in my other shots. Thank you very much! The color scheme is pure Eslandola, but I enjoy getting those subtle curves into a hull without hinges. And I'm a sucker for earlier ships with those high sterns. I'm glad you like it! Thanks. the angled galleries were a goal for this one when I started. And I agree re the headrails; I didn't get the geometry quite right. There really aren't many more pics. I posted one above, and here's a clearer shot of the hull at the stern. The bow is pre-fab, as are the four middle sections. There isn't even any step out on the sides. But the hull steps in with jumper plates and wedge bricks to narrow the hull before I square-off the stern. Thanks! And thanks to everyone for the comments. They are much appreciated!