Darnok

I think this has instantly become one of my favourite BotBS builds. It just oozes character, embodies the theme of the game perfectly, and brings the game comunity together figuratively and literally - the latter in minifig form of course. Kudos and hats off to @Bregir, an absolute masterpiece. Both builds are excellently crafted. A lot of planning must have gone into both, and it shows in every single picture. The architecture is elaborate, but not overly so - it looks great, but it does not detract from the minifig scenes. The minifig placing is just briliiant, and I especially love how the build and minifigs work on a "larger" scale, i.e. as a crowd scene, but also in all kinds of small scenes at the same time. This is so well done! The following criticism is absolute nitpicking and wishlisting on my part - read at your own risk! None of this takes away from this overall awesome build. People will be talking about this in years to come! It is "only" two builds. At first I thought the same. Out of curiousity I counted, and the two builds are actually not that big. The ballroom/inside build is 48x32 in size, the garden/guesthouse is 56x32 in size - a total of 3328 studs. While this will probably become the benchmark build for "arts and culture", this one is about halfway between medium (48x48=2304) and large (64x64=4096), 81,25% of a large arts&culture property to be precise. Sue me, I like numbers. I think nobody has a problem with this being a large arts&culture property, and as I said I think it is the best and biggest example for that category so far, but it is definitely not a royal property.

I can neither confirm nor deny this. Reading about tequilla production as we speak though, if that is a hint.

Yes, that makes much more sense, thanks for clearing it up.

Thanks, this is helpful. This does not answer my question though.

The plan was to add both troops and another ship, maybe two. The technical details of joining are a bit unclear to me: at what point do I "subscribe" those troops/ship(s) to Mesabis AMCRA. I assume I would build and license the troops and ships the usual way, do a build for the AMCRA in Mesabis thread (based on the latest outcome, for the next MCRA turn), and fill out the AMCRA form like usual? In termy of IC story progression: can Mesabi send his hunting party to one location while I send mine to another island for the upcoming turn? Or do I have to wait another turn so the Higher-Ups can come up with options for both of us? Just to be clear: I am fine with either option. What I do not want is confusion on either side, both Mesabi and me as well as the gamemasters. If it takes a month longer for me to join - so be it.

@Bodi @Keymonus @merc @blackdeathgr @Dukesc @robinnilsson403 I want to thank all builders for their efforts, the result is truly impressive. Very well done, you can be proud! And congratulations to Oleon in general, a great collaboration.

Two weeks have passed, and nobody has claimed that juicy 100DB reward yet. March is not over, you can still claim it! If you have any suggestions for the next issue, letter(s) to the editor or articles you want to see printed: PM me.

@Phred most likely: I have licensed a large and medium plantation so far this month, which should account for an expense of 150DB. For some odd reason my current license expense is listed as 175DB. Why?

The first agave plantation on Argentia was a success, so setting up an even bigger one was only natural. With the experiences made, the agaves grew well. Harvesting them meant the removal of the sharp outer leaves, and storing the "heart" of the plant for further processing: ========================================================================================================= Licensed as a medium plantation. Not a lot to say here. The plantations for stevia and agave (see the link above) actually did not turn out any bonus for either of them, so I doubt that agave is the "sweetest fruit" the Argentia island rumours speak of. But I will bring up this topic again next month, once I have the numbers on the yield of this one. As always, C&C are appreciated.

For those interested in the "flame connection": These little bars at the flames base are only on the neon-orange versions, not the more "natural" orange ones. As Kai NRG pointed out, they fit into one (and only one) section of the flame, the connection is quite stable.

The ship builds are awesome, and the story is well told. Loving it! Same question from me: what will Oleon do with Decker? I hope for a continuation!

The "fire pieces" have two little bars at their base, which fit into some sections of the "flame". I will do some pictures later tonight. Using this you can connect them, but it is not at all a stable connection in my experience.

I can only second @Garmadon, a great build with a huge amount of brilliant details. What makes this even more impressive: the choice of scenes and camera angles, combined with the story, gave me the impression of this being a huge build first. It is in fact "only" 32x48 studs in size! Very clever, well done!

Both the WTC in general and myself in particular are more than happy for any donation from you.

Name: Millet IC background: Not much is known about millet cultivation in the Old World, but the millets resistance to harsh conditions and dry climates should make it a wide-spread crop all over the Southern Kingdoms. Most islands in the New World offer conditions suitable to other more profitable plants, so millets are rarely grown there. One notable exception is Argentia, which is characterised by its arid climate and sandy ground - not a lot of things grow there, but the millet does. As a result, millet plantations are a common sight around Mesabi Landing. OOC background: Millets have been important food staples in human history, particularly in Asia and Africa. They have been in cultivation in East Asia or the last 10,000 years. Millets are a group of small seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops, grains for fodder, human food and to brew a variety of alcoholic beverages. The crop is favored due to its productivity and short growing season under dry, high-temperature conditions. (Mostly quoted from the Wikipedia article. For more details, especially on history and the most important millet variants, see there). Builds in BotBS: A large millet plantation in Mesabi Landing (Drunknok)

Aye. But it would solve the problem. And I am obviously not the only one having an issue with it. There is nothing I can say politely about this opinion, so I will not comment. This is exactly what is happening. That of course includes suggestions on how to solve the perceived issue. Obviously there is a problem, what do you think this is discussion is about? If you are correct, I am sure @Kolonialbeamter can explain how and why his ships are sailing around without him being around.

While that is true, those would be tough to put into one set. I believe they where concepts for future "Bricktober" sets, but with Toys'R'Us going down I would not bet on them seeing them. There could be another CMF series, but I consider that to be highly unlikely.

Thanks! I always have a tap qith an online dictionary up when browsing EB, for similar reasons.

In my opinion there is a huge difference between active and passive priorities - ships being the first, land properties the second. I see absolutely no problem with passive properties generating income regardless of the players activity. Those land properties have been set up at some point, and need no further "player input", so of course they keep running for inactive players - and why not? Think of it as if you had a farm, went on a trip for half a year and returned: the farmer would have continued working, with the profits ending up in your pockets. I see no issues with this, this is just as the game has been set up to work. On the other hand, active pieces should require active control. This is less about profit generation, and more about player interaction - because those ships, in contrast to land properties, directly interact with other players ships. It is one of the more challenging aspects of the EGS to manage trading routes and orders for ships, so you can get the maximum profit as well as the maximum security possible. Then there is "aggressive interaction", meaning you can lose ships due to other players choices and actions. To play this specific part of the game, active control should be mandatory. On the topic of general player inactivity: everybody has the right to play this game on his or her own terms. If you have no time, and want or need to take a break for whatever amount of time, that is perfectly fine and should not be questioned by others at all. But for that time(s) you are not an active player, and that should come with some restrictions, one of which is the handling of ships. I agree with @Bart though, enforcing this is impossible with the current system, and I for one would not like to change the existing mechanisms for MRCAs. One solution I can think of would be a "confirmation thread" for both MRCA types, one for each installment. Meaning: once you have handed in "the paperwork", you simply post in that thread what ships you have assigned actions to (without details of course). If players are unable to post for some time, or let their ships sail in convoys controlled by others, they also post this in there. This enables others to see where the orders come from, making the whole thing more transparent. It would also prevent a situation like this one, where nobody knows if @Kolonialbeamter has agreed to the use of his ships.

That is at least a rough estimate. Thank you!

In short: there is nothing* more to release. Now for the long version... Almost every single finalised design you can find in the "TLBM: The Making of the Movie" has a model released already. There is only one exception (hence the * above), which is the Bat Chopper ("Bat Wolf"), to be found on page 175. One reason why they did not release that one might be its similarity to the helicopter in Scarecrow Scary Harvest, which was still on sale when TLBM was released. Everything else has been given a model that is (or was) on sale already. That one helicopter seems to have been cut, and there is nothing more left for "another exclusive set or wave".

A large millet plantation has been set up.

The city of Mesabi Landing is growing, and so are the needs of its citizens. Argentia is a tough place for most plants - not for the humble millet though! So to feed many a hungry minifig, a large millet plantation has been set up: Rows upon rows of millets now grow, harcested when the time is ready: Once cut from the ground, the grain is seperated from the stems. The grain is stored, the stems are used as lifestock feed. The barn, while far from being a beauty, already stores grain from the last harvest, but has room for more. It is also the place to store the many necessary tools for planting and harvesting: And while the work is in full swing, some prefer to take a nap inside... ================================================================================================= To be licensed as a large plantation. In terms of footprint - 80x80 studs - this is by far my largest build to date. The barn alone is 16x48 studs of area (with removable roof and interior). There are over 250 individual millet plants, each consisting of 5 parts! I have also almost drained my dark grey bricks and dark tan plates, and did not count the round light grey tiles... This is also the maximum size of a build footprint for my large lightbox. You might notice that some plates do not align well, or are "bent" upwards a bit - that is due to the lightboxes base being under upward tension on the sides. Not ideal, but still better than "outside of the box". Still, I am pleased with how it turned out. C&C, as always, is appreciated.

I completely agree with @Maxim I here. It is one thing to miss a MRCA deadline by a day for whatever reasons and ask somebody to do "the paperwork" instead. An obviously (even if only temporarily) inactive player is a different case entirely though. You are not active in game terms, so your ships should not be either.

Oleon warmongering, so typical! Nice build though. As others have mentioned, the transition from sand to jungle scenery is well done, and the irregular base shape supports it. Well done!