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A cartwright has set up shop in Wullham. (small artisan)

The newly established settlement of Wullham on the treeless island of Panarium was still in its infancy. Nonetheless, the first settlers were moving in and establishing their trades. One such settler was a cartwright from Arlinsport. Figuring that an island with excellent conditions for grains and wool would need significant transport capacity, Wullham seemed fertile ground for his trade, and he set up a workshop there to supply the island with carts, wagons, and other horsedrawn implements. Having made his preparation, he has included in his luggage a significant store of lumber for construction. A small microlicense artisan won in challenge III for the new settlement of Wullham on Panarium.

In a time of war, the oaken shield of Corrington is ever looking to bolster its ranks, and every able shipyard is called upon to aid. One such shipyard is located in Arlinsport, and while not large enough to produce ships-of-the-line, it is adept in building the sloops and frigates that are the eyes, the ears, and often the fist of the colonial navy. Recently, the HMS Thunder has been launched from its slipways, and is now ready for her Majesty's service. Named for its armament of heavy, short ranged 32 pounder carronades, it is a light 20 gun frigate. Lightly built, fast and nimble, and very deadly at close range, it is an excellent pirate hunter. (a few more pictures in the spoiler-tag) A class 5 microlicense I won in category D2, challenge III. Hereby claimed.

*TRIGGERED* The science of sailboats is quite complex, and I won't claim complete understanding (it's similar to how a aeroplane wing works), but as anyone who has sailed a modern bermuda-rigged sloop will tell you, these fore-and-aft sails can give you very high forward force, and hence speed, even when (or particularly when) close-hauled (almost parallel to the hull). I've tried to make a concept drawing that might help. When the wind moves over the sail, it will create a difference in pressure between the high-pressure windward side, and the low-pressure lee side. (Note that like an airplane wing, angle of attack also has some impact) There are only two ways that pressure can be released (bar any ripped sails or rigging). Either ship can be pushed sideways (what we know as leeway) or it can move forward. Since the vessel's hull and keel (particularly the latter on a modern pleasure craft) resists leeway, and since drag is significantly lower when moving forward, the vessel will surge forward, while leeway will be limited (although that depends on the hull design. Flat hulled tubs will not perform well...). As you will also notice, moving forward actually increases wind-speed over the sails (when running close-hauled or a few points free), which further adds to this effect. That's is how a sailboat can outrun the wind-speed under the right conditions. These effects also work on square-riggers or any other type of rig. A square-rigged vessel of the period (frigate, ship-of-the-line, brig, etc.) will typically outperform a fore-and-aft rig when running with the wind a few points free or more, while the fore-and-aft will outperform the square-rigger when sailing close to the wind. It will also be able to go significantly closer, making it able to outsail the square-rigger by simply going upwind. No vessels really do super well with the wind right astern, as sails will shield each other from the wind, and you only basically get a push, no (or limited) wing effects. Hope this was enlightening, and perhaps a bit interesting too!

Very nice schooner, Vroski - I am quite impressed - for your first larger ship to go with custom rigging and relatively advanced one at that. A few comments to consider. (Please note that these are nitpicks - it is a very good build!) Irish pennants You have quite a few "Irish pennants", that could be resolved by a trim with a scissor. "Irish pennants" is naval slang for various untrimmed rope ends, frayed ropes, etc. that hangs about unorganised. Trimming those would help the overall look. Sails What material did you use for your sails? You might want to find something that is a bit stiffer to avoid it crumbling. Overall, your sails are quite small, particularly the schooner sails (fore and aft), which would be the main source of propulsive power for a schooner. In reality, these would be as large as they possibly could. Masts/Topmasts It's not entirely clear how you have built this, and I think you might completely or partially have done this already, but any vessel larger than boat (more or less) would have a mast and a topmast. These will have an overlap. You can see it in many mocs, but I just took two pictures of my own, where it is fairly obvious. Armament This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, and something we see quite often: The size of armament. Assuming we talk about long guns (not carronades), only ships of the line, or a few late heavy frigates will carry 24 pounders or larger. Frigates typically carried 6/9 to 18 pounders (larger at the end of the period). Sloops, schooners, etc. would typically carry 4 or 6 pounders. If you were to arm her with short range carronades, you could get as large as 24 pounders. The British did this with some of their smaller ships, to give them an impressive punch at short distance. Nerdy ship classification talk Achtjually!... A schooner's mainmast will be the second mast, which should generally be larger (or at least the same size) as the foremast. So technically, you have actually built a ketch. (The difference between a ketch and a schooner is which mast is the largest) The sail-plan article on Wikipedia is one of my favourite, as you can imagine... Overall a very nice build, Vroski, and I like how you have given it a good story too. Your pictures are a bit blurry, and might benefit from better lighting conditions, but I think this is really nice. A picture of the deck too, might be nice, as well as one of the stern. Those are a bit hard to make out as of now.

Looks great, Wellesley. What is the purpose of the mizzen, when no sails are carried? The only other thing I would say is that I'd suggest raising the grating for the cargo hold just a bit. It looks a bit odd to me that it is flush with the deck. Would also take in all water on deck.

Excellent idea! Good luck.

A good start, Mr. Babbington. I like the colour combination, your work on the rigging, and the details along the side. For suggestions, in general for such a small vessel I would limit fore- and sterncastle - generally, small vessels doesn't have those. In terms of rigging, I really like the work on the foremast, but this ship looks like it should have a mizzen masts too. I would place a small mast aft, and hence rig it as a ketch. Alternatively, move the mainmast aft to get more balance, but then it will probably be a bit underrigged. Keep up the good work!

Nice little vignettes to go with a good story. As others have said, the maps are out of this world. You really should be careful showing such skill! You'll end up being asked to do all our maps!

Also, if I remember correctly, both the 1x4 plate, and the 1x4 with just two studs are available elsewhere in the set. I think in terms of cost, as soon as a specific brick is in a set, adding more of the same has limited impact. It is the number of different bricks that matters.

Thanks, Jim - your assistance is much appreciated!

The search bar is also out of canter and is interfering with sorting buttons, etc. That might be part of investigating the theme-issue too, but just wanted to bring it up.

For the record, I in no way consider this the work of a novice! It is a very nice vessel, even for an experienced builder

King's Harbour, Admiralty office Cocovia January, 621AE To Lord Spud Mylord, it is with the utmost gratitude that I have received your letter, and with even greater joy that I could witness the vessel enter the King's Harbour anchorage. After a thorough inspection and sea trial by my officers and a tour on my own part, I am pleased to inform you that it has passed all trials and inspections and is ready to be put into service with the Royal Navy. In Her Majesty's Service, Rear-Admiral Samuel Fletcher __________________________________________________ For the GoH, that is a from me! I really like her overall looks - highlights are the raked masts, custom rigging, and cabin windows, but I also think you have achieved a nice overall shaping of the hull, and the masts and spars are well designed too. I have a few points of feedback you can consider for future projects: Minifigs, minifigs, minifigs! I'd have loved to see a crew of sorts on board to make it come more alive. It doesn't change the quality of the moc, but just gives it that little extra in presentation. Sails - You could consider adding sails (paper or cloth) - although that does obscure some of the rigging work. Overall hull shape - I think you have gotten some really nice shapes and transitions, particularly at the bow, but the top-down picture shows that the sides are very straight and parallel. Ideally, it should taper in, particularly towards the sterncabin. It can be very hard to achieve, particularly together with tumblehome. So if you want a challenge, try that out! You have achieved a sense of sheer (where the middle part of the hull is lower than stern and bow), but I think the lowered part should optimally have included two more gunports to make the curve more optimal. Alternatively raise the bow and stern even further, although I think that would compromise her sleek appearance. Overall, these are really nitpicks, and the forbearance is a beautiful schooner - the raked masts where a bold choice, but a very successful one! Well done, sir!

I am fairly certain we have a map of the known world somewhere. @Ayrlego is normally our map expert. An interactive map would be cool, but the challenge is always keeping it up to date. BOBS is both complex and in constant development. But if it was easy for anyone to update, that would not be an issue, I suppose :)

I have assumed it was the Atropos fleet, if I remember correctly. As that was your main/only black flag fleet, as far as I could see. I hope this was right, as I really would prefer not having to roll interceptions again

All help much appreciated, and thank you for getting us back online!

Next time, I should like explicit specification of the ship names. Especially considering you forgot to put the commander name in on your submission.

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to following your stories! I too started very rusty after a long dark age - you'll probably find you learn something with every mock you make, and every one you look at here.

A beautiful schooner for the Royal Navy gifted by Lord Spud (@Spud The Viking), the HMS Forbearance:

Indeed - with the caveat that as in all other RP, your IC actions will have an impact on how the rest of the Brick Seas will react to you. A pious sea rat on a campaign against piracy will probably find his peers looking at him in a less than favorable light, for instance

I think the deadline for the next turn will be sometime in January. Assuming I can roll the results this week, and giving people some time to react we are probably talking mid/end of January.

Yes, but you can only be part of one faction. So if you are part of Corrington, you will not also be part of Eslandola. But you are free to play an Eslandian side character. (Or the other way around) Further, several Eslandians are getting involved in the fighting with mercenaries, so being Sea Rat or Eslandian does not mean you cannot be part of the fighting.

If I were you, I'd check out this guide: And this: I would suggest reading the first page of each of the faction threads too. And then I would select the faction you find most inspiring. That will make it much more fun to build, and should you have to invest a few euros in green coats that shouldn't be a problem. I find that I rarely need big armies in my mocs, even though army building is fun. And note that each faction has a large number of different settlements, each with their own style, so there will be something for any collection. You can also build in other factions' settlements and many challenges or builds will have you include troops or people from other factions. In terms of activity, I think Eslandola is probably the most deserving of a new player, so if you like a Spanish/Dutch trading empire with powerful trading companies at the heart of military and political power, they are certainly a good choice. And the people over there are actually generally quite nice (despite being greencoats ) The most important is that you find a faction that suits you. Speaking for Corrington, one has to accept a very streamlined approach to all things policy, where taking too many liberties from the decided line will not go down well. In OL leadership is strong, as is the faith. In ESL, the trading companies are much more independent and getting involved in them can be a way to pursue your own purposes. And for the ultimate freedom, you can always go sea rat, where they really appreciate individual "initiative"...

Should anyone else do a relevant interview, article, or anything else, I think this topic is a good place to share it. It is, after all, for various banter and small talk. While this should not be anyone's personal posterboard, a link to something like this is certainly relevant and welcome!