Darnok

It is a class 2, with the stats as per this MRCA result: In fact, it is licensed as a class 2, but with the stats of a class 1 (not the other way around). Whether it should be a class 1 with the stats above, is something only @Bregir can answer.

Du mich auch.

Any faction has the right to keep any ship in one of its harbour. If those ships want to "break free", they can try to fight their way out - against the forts of those harbour. Are those not the rules of this game? If Corrington - by using diplomacy to strike a deal first, then combining its players to set up a cooperative build - manages to rescue one of its ship that has fallen into pirates hands... where is the problem? I think Oleon is much better off here: they got a large fort out of this, seriously bolstering up the defense of Lavalette. This has also been a great cooperation between players of different factions. I appreaciated every step of it! I am also slowly running out of popcorn...

Oh, nice. *grabs some popcorn* Keep it coming!

Quite some selective reading on your part then.

Here we go again... So, "pumping out quick shit-MOCs" is gaming the EGS, but transferring funds from settlements to private accounts (so they can not be raided) is not? Interesting opinion... Apart from that: who is "contributing to ruining BoBS with lack of quality"? Which are these "quick shit-MOCs"? Quite an attitude you have there. P.S.: For everybody who does not understand: several not-so-well-defended settlements have had most of their DBs "loaned" to player accounts, so in case of a raid these amounts could not be lost. This is completely legal by the current rules, but makes raids a mockery obviously.

Pff, Mesabi Landing would like a word with you. And we even made it without any help from outsiders. There are quite some more heavily defended settlement elsewhere...

Chapter IV - The Great Unknown Another storm had hit the expedition, another time the WTC prevailed. Though battered by the elements, both ships were still afloat. The Cranky Parrot had taken only little damage, due to her strenghtened hull after the previous repairs. She would need some work to sail properly again, but was still able to take the Nipper in tow for those last miles towards an unknown island nearby. A natural bay, surrounded by high cliffs, provided a safe haven for the necessary repairs. Due to the storm, all the navigational instruments and maps had been lost, so finding clues to their current location was paramount. Maybe the debris spread out over the beach had some answers. Pip and Old One Eye stood with some of Black Squad at the shore. They were surrounded by driftwood, a wrecked ship, and something that looked like bones from a giant sea creature. Pip commanded: "Guys, go find me some nice shinies here. Among all this junk there must be some valuables! I spotted some sea lions from the ship: those will be good food, so shoot some. Or club them to death, whatever. If anything else moves: shoot it! And have a good look at any crate, barrel and chest - we can use pretty much everthing in our situation. As for the wreckage: you should take whatever wood is suitable for repairing our ships. Each strong plank counts! Now off you go, and get everything to the ships before it is washed away by the next tide!" And off they went! The beach had some curious things to offer. A shipwreck had been washed up, together with some damp maps. Once dried, those could give a clue to the position of this island? Further down the beach, parts of a wooden dock were partly burrowed by sand already. Around it some chests, barrels and bottles were spread, some of them broken, some intact. . ===== At the same time, Captain Riley stood near a tub full of water, bushes and palmtrees around him. Close by stood Wesbert Thaum, putting a piece of driftwood with a piece of metal attached - both taken from the beach - into to water. "See Mr. Captain, this is science in action! We had to get a bit into the jungle, so the wind from the sea does not disturb my little device here." "But what does it do?" asked Captain Riley, midly annoyed. Thaum chuckled. "Once the water comes to a rest, the iron needle will align itself according to the position of the northern pole. See, this is an improvised compass! When we know where north is, we can observe the stars and deduce our position combining both." ========================================================================= Choosing "Explore the beach!" and "Find our heading". Some more beach and jungle: As always, C&C are appreciated.

The large fortress West Shield is now operational: . .

West Shield - Mobile Defense Most of West Shield was build on (and in) the rough cliffs at the coast of Argentia. Some of the caves in these cliffs were open to the sea - and one of them was incorporated into the fortress. A WTC Marine watched the sea near the entrance to the cave: Inside the cave, a small dock had been built: "Man, I thought we xould no longer use those rowboats, eh?" ... . ... "Ha! Who said we'll license them as ships? These are part of the forts defenses, mobile and stuff!" "Harr, exactly! We can patrol the region, handle small enemy ships on our own, or just make loud noises with the carronades. If somebody attacks the fort, we act as mobile support wherever it is needed!" The WTC Infantry guarding the stairs leading up to the fortress smiled at the conversation: ====================================================================== Some additional views: This one concludes the series of builds for the first large fortress of Mesabi Landing.

Oi, quite a tiny and simple chapel. But that story... Excellent stuff, well done!

As mentioned above, there is no need to "settle down" in any one settlement. You are free to move your character(s) - remember, you can have more than one! - pretty much anywhere. You can check out all currently available faction settlements here. If you want to establish a personal "base of operations", this is a good place to start with an overview. Already looking forard to it. Any freebuild gives you some ingame money, as long as you register it with this form. Many builds are able to be "licensed". What this means, and what requirements each of these has to fulfil, is described in this thread. The form to be filled out for licensing is this one. Note that you do not have to pay any license fee for your first small property (as long as it is not a fort or mine). You also have a free license for your first ship (as long as it is a class 1 or 2). All details about ships are outlined here, with the licensing form being over here. BUT WAIT A MOMENT! There is soooo much to take in for all things related to licenses: please take your time with this! Do not make the mistake of trying to get it all down in one sitting. The so-called Master Index has most of the important links covered. My personal suggestion is: start a new folder in your browsers bookmarks dedicated to BotBS, putting in itall the links I listed so far (for a start...). Add to it everythign you find interesting and/or important, and read through the pages one at a time. If in doubt: just ask! I got into the game about ten months ago, and would consider myself an active player with a solid grasp of the games rules by now - but I come up with at least one rules question per week on average. We are a friendly bunch, you will get all the help you need. Again: if you have any questions, just ask.

There is a first scene taking place inside the building, as can be seen over here: Since there was only the window design to be copied (with ornamentations on the outside only in this case...), I had great freedom with the design for the interior. I think it worked out well enough, and hope to do some more of these builds for the HQ in the future.

Ooooh, interesting character. Very interesting indeed! And welcome to the game. @Chris from Canada: The settlement of Mesabi Landing would welcome Mr. Goodwin with open arms! The WTC has a rather tense relation with the Crown, so he can expect a safe haven there. And if there is any need for some ingame funding at the beginning of his tale, I am happy to help you out as well.

Prelude The Royal Society for Navigation and Discovery had been founded only weeks ago. Its leaders had been busy with its first project already though: a Grand Expedition of Corrington, exploring the Brick Seas east of the currently known regions. With a small fleet assembled in Jameston, it was up to Chairman Wilbur Epper II. to present the plans. He had invited William Gearhart, captain of the HMS Hermes, and his personal secretary Darius Riley - who attended in absence of Ralph Clutchington and Sterling Blackwood - to the headquarters of the RSND: From left to right: Secretary Darius Riley, Captain William Gearhart, Chairman Wilbur Epper II. "Gentlemen, I have assembled you here to explain the upcoming expedition. Mr. Riley, it will be up to you to inform Mr. Clutchington and Mr. Blackwood. I had wished for them to be here as well, but both are busy with other important matters for the Society. As you can see from the map in front of us, the Grand Expedition will head for the New Haven Sea Region. To be more precise, we will sail about 1000 miles to the southeast, for the currently unnamed "island #7". In this first part of the expedition, the mission is to explore the island and set up a new settlement in an appropriate location. Once this has been achieved, we will evaluate the situation and move on. I will lead the expedition myself in this first phase, taking the HMS Hermes as well as the RSND Dolphin and RSND Eagle with me. Captain Gearhart will take command of the fleet and sail with me on the HMS Hermes. As we speak, the necessary supplies and an assortment of troops are brought onto the ships. We will set sails at first light of the coming Monday." ===== Later on the same day, Epper and Gearhart met at the harbour. Only a few supplies were left to be brought aboard the Hermes: "Is everything in place Captain?" "Sir, aye sir. We are almost ready to start. Mr. Clutchington is sailing on the Dolphin, Mr. Blackwood and his company of Royal Marines have taken command of the Eagle." "Most excellent. Let Mr. Spud and his Highlanders know to report with Blackwood on the Eagle. He is most welcome on this venture, and I have a feeling he will get along well with Mr. Blackwood." ===== When everything was loaded and stored away, all passenger on board, the three ships moved out of the harbour, cheered on by the citizens of Jameston: The Grand Expedition of Corrington had started! ================================================================== Setting up the AMRCA for the RSND. Some more views of the builds shown above: Also a wide shot of an excellent harbour scene done by @Ayrlego: (for larger versions of the builds pictures, check out his Flickr!)

INDEX Prelude Chapter I - Navigation and Discovery =============== SUMMARY Status: Chapter I - Navigation and Discovery Participating members Drunknok Spud the Viking Participating vessels HMS Hermes RSND Dolphin RSND Eagle Point of start: Jameston Characters Wilbur Epper II., Chairman of the RSND Ralph Clutchington, VP of Operations of the RSND Sterling Blackwood, VP of Security of the RSND Captain William Gearhart, on the HMS Hermes Spud, accompanied by Highlanders Troops x1 Company Royal Marines (30 men) Treasury: 250DB Dramatis personae

Ah, thanks a lot. And of course Mesabi Landing will stay the owner.

I have just filled out the new troops form to move 10 of my troops - previously on the Pirate Hunt AMCRA - to Mesabi Landing. I left "Location" blank, since they were not strictly in one place befor, hoping this works.

I have bought the license for the "Misfortune's Wrath" for Mesabi Landing in the last auction. There is no MOC attached to this license yet, which I want to change in the next days. The question is: what are the details of the licensing process in this case, since this is no "free license" and no new license either? I guess either @Legostone or @Captain Genaro know for sure.

I of course meant "how is the process handled the moment I have posted the MOC?".

Two questions. How are "friendly" ships in port handled during raids? As an example, assume faction Xs settlement of Namelessia is raided by a fleet of faction Y, with three ships of faction X in port during the same MRCA turn. How does this add up? How do I license a ship for which a license has been bought in the past, but the MOC is only up soon™? What options would I pick in the ship licensing form? As always: thanks in advance!

Lovely build, lots of good ideas incorporated. If this was an official Lego set I would most likely buy it. Well done!

The foreign consultants brought new ideas to the defence of Lavalette, particularly on how to handle enemies moored in the bay. One of these ideas was rather explosive: Close to the end of Lavalettes natural harbour, in a small bay and hidden from the seaside, two Oleon marines were instructed on a new type of defence. "See, you have these two boats, filled with the best explosives on the market. In a case of attack, or if you want a certain ship to not leave the port, you row these things out into the bay near any such ships, activate the clock mechanism over there, and then swim for your lives! The boats will drift a bit, but they are chained together, so once the clock has counted down they will both blow up - and take everything nearby with them!" One of the marines was less than impressed, thinking: "Sounds good in theory, but I would rather not row a highly volatile cargo near an enemy. Why did I volunteer for the Oleon Navy again?"

West Shield - Storage Level There were many levels below the fortress, one of which was used to store all the goods necessary for the upkeep. "Inspection!" ... ... "They will not find me here, now onto that nap!" A young WTC Marine had a look at one of the weapon stockrooms: "Excellent selection, top-notch stuff! Nice!" Finally, the storage level also had a prison cell. Currently some survivors of the recently concluded pirate hunt were "stored" away, waiting for their trial: . Stairs led to other levels, some up, some even further down... ============================================================================== Some interior at last! Again, this is only one of the (many) levels of West Shield, this build being an example of how the interior looks in one of them. More views under the spoiler:

Thank you. Feel free to "borrow" the idea! That is the general idea! Thanks. Agreed. In hindsight, the build would work better (and be more realistic) with only two cannons per tower. I liked the look of three though, so went with that. Depending on where an attack comes from, the three cannons from each tower would never be fired at the same time anyway. ================== Also, some WIP shots of the catacombs: