Fuzzy MacFuzz

(COR - Ch2B) Dastardly attack on Port Raleigh I Fuzzy MacFuzz I Corrington

I have just used Occidental pirates in my challenge 2 build, and Capt Lei Feng (I think that's his name) is out there somewhere threatening lawful shipping, so why not? And its good to see something a bit different in these parts! I love the roof of your dojo. I also love that it lifts off so the minifigs can get inside! The inside is really nicely done, with plenty of space for swinging swords but also a good range of relevant equipment round the walls. One approval from Corrington

[NB: This attack happened before the arrival of the marine reinforcements in Port Raleigh and the building of Fort Redoubtable. Ska and Captain Wolfs' characters are used with their permission. Once again I am happy with the story and the build/s, but less so with the 'action' photography.] 20160330_085822 (2) by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr Kings Port Advertiser and Ship List Wednesday 30th March, 616 AE Dastardly Attack on Port Raleigh! Great perspicacity of Lady Norrington Ingenuity of young Mr Ravenscroft Miss Ravenscroft demonstates swift feet Heroism of Mr Kenner and Lt. Tanner Rescue of Lady Norrington by Mr Hawksbrugh Tragic death of old Mr Ravenscroft Immediate response by Viscount Oxley We have received reliable intelligence of a piratical attack on Port Raleigh on 3rd March last. A dozen pirates, apparently of Occidental origin, attacked at dawn. Due to the shortage of housing and the clement spring weather, a number of workmen from the new quarry and glassworks were sleeping on the beach, and bore the brunt of the attack. By the greatest providence Lady Norrington was taking an early morning constitutional on the beach and espied the approaching pirate boats, then rushed to rouse the sleepers. 20160328_112219 (2) by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr The inestimable Mr Hawksbrugh rallied his workers, who had but moments to arm themselves with whatever makeshift weapons were to hand. Dear readers, who would have thought that such a gracious specimen of female virtue as Lady Norrington would carry a loaded pistol in her undergarments! Miss Lily Ravenscroft was despatched to fetch help from the marines at the Government House. Meanwhile that most ingenious young man Mr Ravenscroft loaded a ship's cannon with powder from the stone quarry and a bag of carpenter's nails. 20160330_085848 (2) by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr Despite the efficacy of this weapon, the merciless pirates pressed home their vicious attack. Several were slain on both sides. 20160330_091735 (2) by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr Just as it seemed the brave defenders would be overwhelmed, the marines arrived. Led by heroic Lieutenant Tanner and Mr Kenner (still wearing his bed cap), a single volley and a brave charge by the marines cleared the beach of the pirates, who fled back to their boats. 20160330_095926 (4) by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr It seemed the battle was over, but Mr Hawsbrugh spotted two of the villainous pirates carrying off Lady Norrington, no doubt intent on sullying her honour. Without hesitation, he charged down the beach and fearlessly cut down both these villains with his sword. 20160330_100454 (2) by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr The triumphant defenders of Port Raleigh celebrated their victory with three rousing huzzahs, then retired to toast the Queens's honour at The Flask and Flagon. All agreed that they had escaped only by the greatest good fortune, and thanks to the eagle eyes of a lady, the ingenuity of a young man, and the swift feet of a girl. Sadly three of the defenders had been slain, including Mr Ravenscroft the elder; his obituary follows. Corrington's response has been swift, with half a battalion of marines already despatched to reinforce the garrison, and plans for a fort, named Fort Redoubtable in honour of the defenders. In a public letter, Viscount Oxley has restated the Crown's determination to protect its fledgling colonies and vowed to launch an expedition to destroy the base of these wicked Occidental pirates. Obituary of Mr George Ravenscroft the Elder, fl. c.563 - 3rd March 616 With great sadness we report the death of Mr George Ravenscroft, slain while defending his family, his friends and his livelihood. Mr Ravenscroft served as a boatswain in the Corringtonian navy, before losing his left arm in the Forty Nine Year's War. He then took up window glass making, and for many years ran a successful business in Belhaven, where he married Mary Mullins and raised four children. Mr Hawksbrugh invited him to sail with him to Port Raleigh. Mr Ravenscroft, recently widowed, declared himself ready for a new adventure, but sadly it was to prove his last. He leaves two sons and two daughters, who have pledged to continue his glass company at Port Raleigh in his honour. 20160322_132704 (2) by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr

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.

Poor Patches! Left alone in the jungle to do all the work, and in fear of having his brains blown out... Neat little build which tell the story very clearly.

Wow Garmadon that index is awesome! I wish I had spotted it sooner. Thanks for the heads up. But I'm not sure it matters where this discussion takes place, it has just evolved in a certain direction like any conversation. I wouldn't have been ready to form many of the points I made without reading the wisdom of others in this thread first.

Surely that is cruel and unusual punishment...for those who have to listen to this instrument! Great build, made me laugh, and you've executed it brilliantly.

Imperial Old Guard shakos, Royal Horse Artillery helmets, where on earth do you find such parts? They all look great...but even as a loyal Corrie I still prefer the original Elsondolan green! You do deserve some kind of award for being the first person to include all four factions in one MOC, great work! Your next task, if you choose to accept it, is surely to get all four factions in the same MOC at the same time! Get your thinking cap on for a story that could make that work!

This is a really interesting discussion. I had never thought of the game as being any sort of competition, except with myself! To me, the whole point of earning doubloons is to develop my sigfig's portfolio and story, not to catch up with Bregir! If my next MCRA goes wrong, that's a chance for a fun build. Look at Gularag's recent builds for the Amara sigfig; the quality was not perfect and the builds were small but what a great story, all inspired by MRCA disaster. I am far more interested in story quality than build quality, although I admire good builds. A good build with little story is less interesting than a poor build with great story; I am looking for 'fun' in a build, and to see the builder has taken real pleasure in it. And the challenge scoring system allows for both. I spent a lot of time building my Quarry and Glassworks because I wanted to satisfy myself. The lovely comments I got for this build mean far more to me than the doubloons I'll earn from the license, though that is a nice bonus. Having said all that, if there is a general feeling that having to 'keep up' with too many builds is a source of stress and means people are cutting corners on quality, then that is major concern. Perhaps we should say only the first two FBs each month earn doubloons; any FBs after that are for story only? I do think the rules system at the moment is a bit of a mess, it caused me a lot of confusion when I joined. This is not the fault of the rules themselves, but of how they are set out. It is often very hard to find the information you need, some rules like the skills tree are not in play, others are buried in obscure places. I keep offering help with this kind of thing but no-one seems interested, still, I would be happy to try and summarise or index the rules if that would be useful.

Great build, lovely vegetation and rock work. A close shave for Leon! A joint regiment of Corries and Eslanders is a great idea but maybe it needs a little more back story; how did this come about?

I'm guessing this is just the first page of a much bigger story... Nice figure posing, I have never worked out how to make minifigs 'fire' therir muskets so i will be borrowing this pose. And the captain's expression of rage and frustration made me laugh. As a Corrie, I am ashamed of the conduct of these lily livered soldiers, I hope the rest of our forces show more spirit or we're in real trouble...

Welcome to BoBS Windusky, I hope you'll be very happy in your new home. Nice build, I love the candles and will probably be stealing this idea at some point if that's OK. Setting the maps into the table is also a cool trick. i like all the junk stuffed into the back room, it looks a bit like my spare bedroom, although I try and avoid leaving raw fish in there!

Thanks for all the lovely comments guys, they're really appreciated. This is my first ever big MOC for Eurobricks so I'm pleased, and rather relieved, that so many people liked it. The sea effect was really a lucky fluke. I used 1x1 transparent glass slopes, which looked OK, but then in the photo the light caught the top of the flat side of the slopes really well, this was entirely unplanned. I am still not really happy with how the photography has turned out. However without major investment in a good camera and some studio equipment, especially for lighting, I'm not sure i can improve this very much. I just use a smart phone in my front room with natural light, then an edit function on my computer to brighten the colours a bit. If anyone has any hints for improvement, I'd be very grateful. I was pleased with all the hustle and bustle of the scene, the atmosphere is what I hoped for. Unfortunatley, this happiness is not going to last...my challenge 2 entry will upset things! I'd better get back to finishing it...

Now that's real pirate music! Who needs rehearsals, a band, proper words, or a tune? Let's rock out!

Quite the prize indeed! I love those furled sails, this is such a brilliant idea. Corrington captains all across the Brick Seas will be feeling a shudder of anxiety at this news...look out, Li Fang is coming!

Small, but perfectly formed. This really reminds me of the stockade in Treasure Island, the very first popular pirate story. I wonder what Robert Louis Stephenson would think of all this Lego building he has inspired!

Nice build with some lovely features; the tree, the roof teeth, the SNOT door, the drunk pirate! I really like the fact that people are buildng stuff for 'normal life' in BoBS, not just ships and forts and battles. It is starting to feel like a world with a real population doing all kinds of things in all kinds of places.

Although I suggested the 2FB limit as one possible solution, on reflection I think that would reduce creativity without necessarily reducing workload. But clearly tallying all the approvals takes time for someone, I have always thought this was a weird system anyway, don't we trust each other to maintain quality? Overall, perhaps we could move to a self-accounting system for everything, with random 'auditing' by the leadership? I don't really see any need for central accounting anyway, we're all responsible adults here, and even national governments are happy to use self-assessment for tax collection (I have done mine for over a decade)! This would need a simpler written explanation of the many sources of income, perhaps in the form of a flow diagram or something, I would be happy to do that. I know a couple of folks are testing BoBS accounts spreadsheets so that's a possiblity too. I would like to hear Ska's voice in this conversation. An awful lot of this depends on how he and the other leaders feel and how much time they can spare. If they are happy with it, there is actually no need to change the current system, but it seems the workload is growing with the membership. Ska wrote the rules, so his voice is crucial if we are thinking of changng them.

To Viscount Oxley Dated this 23rd day of March in the 616th year After Empire At Port Raleigh Sir, it has come to my notice that a mysterious group calling itself 'The Imperium' may be operating out of Port Raleigh. It is led by a lady calling herself simply 'Manda'.To date I have been able to ascertain little about their actions, and whether they are a threat or a friend to our dear sovereign. If you hear any news of this group or its activities, please inform me. In the meantime I will continue to gather what intelligence I can. Mister Edward Strong, a stone mason who accompanied me here, has offered to attempt to join the group as my agent. I have agreed to pay him a small retainer in exchange for these services, and hope the crown will see fit to reimburse me. I am, sir, as ever, your most humble and obedient servant, John Hawksbrugh

Approval from this Corrie Nice build; great work on the tiles, and all hustle and bustle with the figure placement, My daughter says the pigs are very cute! Unfortunately for her, I suspect they will soon be bacon Maybe cooked with chillis, and served with apples, washed down with a nice glass of rum...all bought at Sunshine Market!

Great micros! Nice idea to do a collaborative series of builds too. Its amazing how so few pieces of Lego (just 7 on Fenix!) can still convey a story. Very clever use of the pieces.

I do love a nice micro build; not just ships but houses to! I may have to build one of my own...but for now I will make do with enjoying yours

Great build, the stern view is superb. I will sleep easier tonight knowing that Amara is safe...but with her on the prowl in this fine vessel, maybe others aren't? Sails look good too, though I'm not sure a crew of just three can manage them in a high sea! As I said on your last post, better background and photgraphy would improve the overall look of such a neat model. Anyway, Amara's survival wins approval from this Corrie

Fun build that nicely continues the story from your previous two. The captain's head being blown off (but his wig staying on) is hilarious, as is Shirtless' expression! Go Amara! In general, I think a better background and better camera focus would help show off your builds to greater effect.

I like the last scene a lot, her pose is great. I think water is the hardest thing to do in Lego, yours looks good, but maybe a little calm considering the situation?