Cap'n Crunch

Horry: I like the idea of using existing ships for reference.I just think that perhaps players could use the different types of ship instead of templates from existing ships because of the fact we don't have the weights of every type of ship. In fact, there are few remaining examples of these known ships. Your idea could reduce the gap of using different techniques but it could also widen the gap in performance between different types of ship. In your proposal, different types of ships have different performances. If you compared a light boat of an inferior type and a heavy boat of a high performance, and implemented your system, the resulting gap in performance would be even bigger than original. I have an alternative: (weight of ship x type of ship) + (dimensions of ship x type of ship) The type of ship factor would be a fixed number based on what ship you have. The constant of the factor used for multipying the weight of ship would be different from the one used in multipying the dimensions. The result would then be fitted into an upper and lower limit of health points and speed based on the how big your ship is and what type it is.

Call me a rule-hugger if you want, but I like weight better because its much simpler, no disputes, no fuss. And there still remains the problem of a way to calculate hit points and other attributes. If you are going to use no. of masts and decks et cetera, it wouldn't be much better than using weight. Sure, using the no. of masts might be a factor of speed, but a factor of hit points? LEGO ships as you said earler, are built on illusion, you can't just calculate hitpoints on no. of decks because it would mean that waterline builders would get a huge disadvantage. I stick to weight because it's the simplest way.

If you really don't want weight, you could always use displacement and watch your ship sink to the bottom of your bathtub!In my opinion, weight is used to reduce the emphasis on hydronamics. We already have length and beam which are factors of how streamlined your ship is. That's quite enough hydronamics. The problem is: 'If not weight, what then?' I think that hydronamics would be the only alternative but the measuring system would not be as simple as using weight alone. Tedious and complex measurments would have to be made and a method to translate these numbers to speed. Actually, a set of scales is all you need to measure the weight of your ship. I think we can all safely presume that most, if not all members in Eurobricks have weight scales in their homes, so the weighting thing isn't a problem.

I thought La Concorde was the name of Edward Teach(Blackbeard)'s Queen Anne's Revenge. You might try translating some cheesy english names into Latin, works really well. For example,(IOP) the Latin for Invincible, Invictus, has a nice ring to it.

I want to join the battle. The faction system would make Rocks and Shoals more exciting to play, plus, this would be the first fight with islands or outposts. About the whole ramming concept, I think it was more of a last ditch effort, sort of a suicidal attempt to sink another ship. There were very few examples of it used in the age of sail although it could still be added to the game.

Perhaps you can add a 25% defense extra to ships with tumblehome. In the age of sails, tumblehome was utilized because it could make boarding difficult. Also, the ramming idea seems a little outdated for this game. We aren't using Roman triremes or Viking longboats, we are using galleons, frigates and brigs in the 16th to 19th century. Ramming was already an obsolete concept at that time.

The BP is awful. First, the sail atachment, the sails, the rigging are copied from the QAR. The sterncastle is much set too low. The only thing that is good about it is the large amount of black pieces, black sails and the black hull. Perhaps the absense of a DSS is also a good thing, but we can't tell if there aren't any stickers at this point, though. Second, as many other members have said, there are not enough crew members. C,mon TLG, three minifigures to crew an entire ship? This isn't the Interceptor! Just to defend the QAR: The sterncatle was being true to the movie. If you look at this photo, you can see that the stern of the 4195 QAR is very accurate to its apperance in the movie.

I have two questions: First, since the MOCs are for Rocks and Shoals, wouldn't bird's eye view photos be needed? Second, Is it neccesary for MOCs to have 16X16 or 32X32 baseplates? Finally, I have a suggestion to give: The whole idea of Rocks and Shoals is to showcase one's MOCs, is it not? Why not let players use their own MOC islands? This can add to the idivudualism in Rocks and Shoals.

I think the only method of attack is by broadside. It does seem like an interesting suggestion though.

Do you mind adding my Chinese Junk Princess Taiping into the index? Link: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=57641 Thanks

103D This the first MOC I have ever posted here on Eurobricks. As you can see from the photo, the ship is modelled on a traditional Chinese Junk. Because of the flat hull bottom of Chinese junks, I decided to settle on a brick built hull made with SNOT. Most of the pieces in this MOC are from the Star Wars set MTT (2007 version) The ship features three 24 pounders on the lower gun deck, one 9 pounder and one 24 pounder on the upper deck. With gunports closed The detechable anchor section With anchor detached This photo shows the other side of the ship and the framework of the sails. Close-up of the front of the ship showing the lack of the keel, characteristic of Chinese junks. Close-up shot of poop deck Close-up of the upper deck, showing the drum and the rum. Bird's eye view for Rocks and Shoals The Princess Taiping sailing to the World's End Comments and constructive criticism welcomed! Note. Reduced photo sizes.

I have just gone through the rules and the templates and the sheets. I have a question in mind. Are 2 squares per round the maximum movement you can have? Also, when will the next beta test be up?

Errrr.. isn't the Wicked Wench the same ship as the Black Pearl? I know it is hard to capture the shape of a ship in such a small MOC, but your creation doesn't resemble the Black Pearl too much. You can see from this photo that the sterncastle of the Pearl juts out. You could have included that in your MOC. Also, the stern castle is much too high. The Black Pearl's sterncasle is set low. I mean no offense, but your entry is really too generic for members to recognize as a ship from the POTC film franchise.

One final correction It should be

The 7959 Geonosian Starfighter has two boat hulls in reddish tan and a lot of other pieces in tan than could help with building a pirate boat or even a small ship. There's a lot of pieces in the set that you could use. It certainly isn't bad for what you get. The 8426 Escape at Sea has two plane hull pieces that can be used to build a ship. The main problem is that they are not wide enough and that they are in bley. Finally, there is the 7197 Venice Canal Chase. There are two brown boat hulls included and a lot of light tan pieces. The downside is that the boats are quite small, so the money value might not be as good as in the 7959 Geonosian Fighter. Hope this helps.

This is the main aim of the story. Brickbeard and Jack Sparrow were both raised by Redbeard, so this means that the two have met before. This isn't an encounter, it's more of a reunion between friends. I would suggest changing the story so that Jack and Brickbeard never met before. This would make it a real encounter.A smaller issue is that you could consider changing Anne into one of the characters from either the Pirates of the Caribbean theme or Classic Pirates, so as to increase the link between the two themes. I think introducing a brand-new character seems a little risky as readers may become confused with the character. Who is she? Is she a ship, like the Queen Anne's Revenge? Is she an existing character? Is she the governer's daughter from Brickbeard's Bounty? Some minor errors I think you were trying to say right?Overall, I think this is a refreshing change from the old Brickbeard versus Jack Sparrow story. I like the way your story featured sets from Classic Pirates and POTC alike.

What about swivel guns like the one on the Brickbeard's Bounty? Do you need a turn to change the direction the gun? Swivel guns negate the disadvantage of having to change direction of the ship to fire. Is there a limit for the arc of fire? In my opinion, swivel guns could work like how you make a broadside only the ship doesn't have to change direction at all.About the multiple players joining the same faction, I think this is a great idea but because of the different timezones members are in, the game might take a lot of time to play. The more players there are, the longer it would take to finish a game. Also, too many players on one side might make the game one-sided although this issue is also present in the large fleet versus small fleet situation.

UCS sets are restricted to Star Wars. I think what you mean is a theme-breakingly good kind of set, like an Imperial Flagship (10210) with green hulls, green sails and lots of seaweed. Personally, I don't want such a set to be made because if signifies the end of the POTC line. A Flying Dutchman set would be like the 10210 IFS or the Medieval Market Village - a big set that dwarfs every other ship. I don't want the POTC line to end, all those detailed minifigures, awesome-looking sails, ridiculously large sterncastles...... In my opinion, the Back Pearl is a special case. Lego has never made two large ships (i.e. >$99 pricetag) in one year. Since the QAR has already been made, I feel that we shouldn't expect too high of the set. The TLG has to make it either larger or smaller than the QAR. Because of the QAR's link with the new movie and its more dynamic appearence, the TLG made her slightly bigger than the BP. For members who want to save up for other sets, the BP would be the perfect choice. You can buy an Isla de Muerta with the $19 you save from buying the BP rather than the QAR. Freedom of choice for buyers!

In my opinion, the Clipper, although a great ship, does not have enough firepower to sink the QAR when even the Schooner with four guns per broadside got sunk. However, since the BP has even less cannons than the QAR, it is unlikely to beat the IFS. The BP has two cannons per broadside while the IFS has four. In the movie, the HMS Sunset was used to portray both the BP and QAR, so the two ships should be similar, if not equal in a battle. So, logically, since the IFS beat the QAR, it should have no problem beating the BP. This part does not make much sense. How can the IFS, the biggest ship TLG has ever made, get sunk by the BP which is about half its piece count? The ship that rises up from rhe sea to fire at enemies is the Flying Dutchman. The BP has never rose up from the sea and attack another ship. Maybe you could change the Pearl into the Dutchman. This would make more sense as the Dutchman is quite literally unsinkable.

Excellent MOC. The kraken's teeth look terrifying. I like how you did the prison and the tumblehome. The interior of the ship is very detailed. I agree with MstrOfPppts Where is Elizabeth, and where are the chains? Also, I think the crew escaped on a boat. I think you could have added the big exploding packet for the kraken. Lastly, I think the crew said something like 'We're short stocked on gunpowder, three barrels.' The crew loaded rum and everything inflammable onto the packet. But these are just minor issues and I really like you MOC. Good luck in winning the contest.

Thank you for all the effort you put into your reviews. The ship looks so intimidating head on, pirates will flee before it! I marvel at the speed you added the rubber duck background on the bird's eye view shot. It looks as if the ship is floating in a bathtub.

Thank you for the truly excellent review. I loved the comparison pics and the visual effects like the reflection of the sails. Your review really changed my opinion on this set. I initially thought it was rather short and stubby but after your review I really want to purchase this set. P.S. Could you do some photos of the Caribbean Clipper viewed head on and some birdseye view shots?

I think a more primitive weapon like the ballista can be added to the game. It was the primary ship to ship weapon before the advent of cannons. Sets like 7018 Viking Ship Challenges Midgard Serpent and the 7048 Troll Warship, and the 7029 Skeleton Ship Attack all featured ballistas. Not every member of this fourum have ships so as pointed out earlier, they could use sets TLG made instead. Just to add more variety so that not everyone would be using Skull Eye Schooners or Imperial Flagships (the new one), more primitive ships could be added to the game. The proposals made by Horry should make the game less predictable and more enjoyable. They would give smaller fleets a chance to fight back in a battle against a bigger fleet.

I forgot one thing, cannons. POTC sets usually do not contain any cannons (with the exception of QAR and Black Pearl) whereas most Classic Pirate sets from the 2009 wave have a cannon. If you like firing cannons you might want to consider the Classic Pirates theme. Of course, you could always find some inexpensive firing cannons on Bricklink. Another small issue is that most rowing boats from the 2009 line are dark blue. Boats from the POTC come in different colours. The Isla De Muerta set comes with a brown boat while the Whitecap Bay comes with two black boats. In my opinion, blue is a refreshing change from the old brown boats.

You could try collecting the older 2009 wave if you can't afford the new 10210 IFS. The older waves from 1989 and 1990s can be found on ebay. If you are into ships you can look for classic ships like the 6285 Black Seas Barracuda and the 6286 Skull Eye Schooner. Both are excellent ships. The 6243 Brickbeard's Bounty is not a bad set either. It is still available in many stores at a reasonable price. If you want to collect more sets from the POTC line, you could wait till November when the Black Pearl comes out. It all comes down to whether you prefer Classic Pirates or the POTC line.