THIS IS THE TEST SITE OF EUROBRICKS!
Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'challenge 4'.
Found 4 results
-
The River Begins River Barge 4 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr At the beginning of the Sil River, merchants seeking to make their fortune on the waters begin the slow journey down the river. River Barge 3 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr Most of these barges are pulled by single horse or ox. They gently pull the barge laden with goods down the river to be traded and sold to anyone needing supplies. River Barge 6 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr From the Corrington side of the river, farmers often bring their livestock to waters edge to quench their thirst before bringing them back to their pens. River Barge 5 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr The Oleonese constantly patrol their side of the river as they ride back and forth between their forts. River Barge 2 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr These tradesman provide a lot to the farmers and villages along the rivers shore. --------------------------------------------------- Kind of a day late and a dollar short on the deadline, but I figured since I built it I may as well post it. C&C welcome and appreciated! Thanks for looking! Overview of the whole build
-
Prior builds: In the Captains Cabin (Bregir) Pieces Of A Puzzle (Ayrlego) Arriving at Mooreton Bay (Bregir) Dirk, Davy and Sergeant Gowan weren’t the only new crewman the Black Oak had taken on of late, and soon after boarding they were assigned various tasks and duties. It was not long before they turned up good intelligence on the privateer either. The crew were more than willing to talk of the rumoured Eslandolan treasure fleet they were going after and there was much speculation on how they would take prizes from the fleet. Dirk also discovered that on the way to Leopoldis the Oak had taken a Corlander merchantman and that deep in the hold approximately half a dozen Corlander prisoners were being kept in captivity. In Dirk’s mind, this fact, more than any other made the Oak a legitimate target for Captain Cooke and the Ironsides. Further evidence was uncovered when a ship named Shareka arrived in the bay with supplies for the Oak. The captain of the Shareka, Corvus Rohgert, came aboard briefly with a load of cannonballs for the frigate. He disappeared into the Captain's cabin with the Captain of the Black Oak, Hendrick Janszoon and the quartermaster. The trio emerged after an hour or so and Rohgert returned to his vessel. Of course the plan upon boarding the Oak had always been to conduct a quick reconnaissance, gather any information they could glean, and then sneak off as soon as possible. Unfortunately however that wasn’t quite how it worked out… Janszoon, now fully re-crewed and resupplied, had decided to quietly slip out of Leopoldis that very night. With no chance to sneak ashore, Dirk and his companions had little choice but to put to sea with the privateer with the hope that the Ironsides would catch up with them before too long. The three meet on the upper decks to conduct a whispered conversation. “Well a fine pickle we find ourselves in now isn’t it” declared Davy “Indeed.” answered Dirk, “The plan was always going to be for Cooke and the Ironsides to intercept the Oak after she left Leopoldis… of course we were supposed to be aboard the Ironsides and not the Oak!” “Aye well, when the Ironsides turns up we’ll swap sides I imagine” injected the Sergeant Gowan nonchalantly . “Yes, and if we can free the prisoners in the hold it will bolster our force – hopefully we can give Cooke the advantage he needs.” continued Dirk. "Some gossip you may be interested in Major, it appears that Rohgert bought the Captain some interesting news" said Davy. Apparently a portion of the greenback treasure will be disguised as cannonballs...." “Oi, you three, back to work you lubbers” screamed the quartermaster, spying the trio talking. With that the three men went back to their tasking. After three days sailing the Oak had spotted the sails of the treasure fleet on the horizon, but there was still no sign of the Ironsides. The next days were spent stalking the fleet from a distance. Janszoon was confident that a chance would arrive to pick off vessels one at a time. On the forth day cannon shot could be heard over the horizon, and it was assumed that the fleet had engaged other pirates somewhere to the north. The Oak’s chance came shortly thereafter. During a small squall that night, one of the fleet’s galleons became separated from the rest of the fleet and lagged behind. Janszoon took his chance and pounced, at full sail the Oak surged through the waves and gave chase. Dirk and Davy observed the Galleon from the deck. “Rather old fashioned looking” commented Dirk “An older galleon” stated Davy. “The greenbacks have been using them to transport their wealth back to the mainland since men first sailed out here.” “So the pirate’s confidence in taking her easily is well founded?” asked Dirk. “Nay,” answered Davy, “Don’t be fooled by her gaudy colours and stubby old fashioned appearance, the greenbacks still use them for a reason – they are strong and extremely tough and well armed for a merchantman. Also her decks are higher than ours, which makes her less manoeuvrable, but also means we will be at a disadvantage when boarding.” Davy pondered the situation some more. “This crew we find ourselves part of is new and has been hastily thrown together. Most of the men have never worked together before, although there are a sprinkling of old salts through the crew and most have had individual experience at sea actions.” “The notable expectation being me of course” quipped Dirk. Although an experienced army officer he had never fought on the high seas before. “Aye, except for you and the good Sergeant, landlubbers you are” replied Davy. “If we catch her it will be a close thing I predict. Her crew will be good and they know there will be no mercy from pirates – they’ll fight hard. I suspect that the Captain knows it too, that’s why he beefed up the crew in Leopoldis. The question I have for you Major Allcock, is what do we do in a boarding action” Both men pondered that for a while. While Dirk was still silent Davy added, “If things don’t go well for us we’ll never convince the greenbacks we are Corrie spies, they’ll execute us as pirates – if they even allow us to surrender… and even if the Oak gets away, the pirates here will know we didn’t fight and we will probably meet the same fate… or worse…” Dirk look up. “Then we hope that we don’t catch her… but if we do….” This next part came hard for the usually law abiding Major. “… then I guess we fight as pirates and hope Cooke catches up with us soon.” There really wasn’t any other alternative. Unfortunately for Dirk, a few hours later it seemed inevitable they would catch the smaller vessel. As the first cannon crashed out Dirk found himself crewing one of the cannons on the gun deck of the frigate. Thus Major Dirk Allcock, temporary military commander of the Corlander colony of Alicentia and Secretary of the Royal Society of Natural Philosophy reluctantly became a pirate. The two ships exchanged fire for only a short time. Janszoon closed in on the galleon, who was revealed to have the name Alejandro de Vargas. The approach was made as fast as possible as to not overly damage his potential prize. A lucky cannon ball from the Oak knocked out the Alejandro’s rudder meaning the Oak was able to rapidly approach alongside for boarding. The men abandoned the cannons and Dirk found himself with Davy and Sergeant Gowan forming up with the aft attack party on the main deck. Small arms fire began to ring out as the Eslandolan Marines opened fire with their muskets. Sharp shooters from both ships masts began their own deadly duel. Sergeant Gowan, the best shot of the trio, joined in the shooting, and to the delight of the nearby pirates managed to hit a marine perched in the galleon’s main mast. The first grappling hooks were thrown across from the Oak and men heaved the two ships closer together. It was now, with the two vessels locked in a deadly embrace that disaster struck for the pirates. Just as the men were about to surge forward and leap onto the galleon, a wave lifted her out of the water enough to give one of her forward guns a clear shot of the deck. The Eslandolans manning the gun had been waiting for just such an opportunity, and had charged the gun with a musket balls and metal scraps. The deadly grape shot crashed across the forecastle of the Oak, cutting down most of the waiting forward boarding party, including the ship’s Quartermaster. Before Dirk had time to fully comprehend this event, the ships crashed together with a terrifying crack of timber and Dirk stumbled and was pushed forward with the rest of the aft boarding party. He leaped up onto the deck of the galleon and had barely scrambled to his feet before being knocked back down by the body of the pirate before him. A group of Eslandolan marines, led by a Sergeant in an old fashioned breastplate, polished to a gleaming silver and carrying a wicked looking poleaxe. The marines charged. Dirk just had time to lift his pistol and dispatch one before the lines crashed together. Hastily discarding the pistol, his sword came up desperately to parry an attack from an Eslandolan sailor. In those first minutes of the melee, the greater numbers of pirates began to slowly overcome the defenders. However this ended when a party of Eslandolan marines and sailors who were stationed forward to repel boarders rushed aft to join the battle. They were no longer required forward due to the fact the survivors of the Oak’s forward boarding party remained onboard the Oak. Now evenly matched, things were becoming desperate for the attacking pirates. Dirk found himself alongside his trusted Sergeant and the two fought together as they had many times on land. Dirk found himself facing the Marine Sergeant with the breastplate and poleaxe. He was able to somehow parry the first two crushing blows, but was completely off balance for the third. It was then a pistol ball struck the marine’s breast plate and deflected up, lodging in the man’s jaw. Dirk glanced behind to see Davy holding a smoking pistol. “Was saving that one” he commented laconically. Eventually the Eslandolan defence collapsed due to the greater numbers of pirates and sheer ferocity of their attack. The survivors, including the trio of Corlanders, stood exhausted on the blood soaked deck. The casualties were enormous however, far greater than anticipated – almost half the Oak’s crew were dead or maimed to the point where they were useless. Not a single Eslandolan survived. Night was fast approaching, and to make things worse it seems so was another squall. Desperate repairs began on both ships. Dirk could never recall much of what happened in the next few hours, the men feverishly worked in a state of trance to repair the ships in order to get underway. It was clear that they would need to return to a safe harbour with their prize before attempting another attack on the fleet. Janszoon was furious. Soon both ships were limping forward, a skeleton prize crew including Davy aboard the Alejandro. Dirk and Sergeant Gowan remained aboard the Oak. Then as the last light was quickly fading on the western horizon, a cry from the lookout alerted the crew to sails on the southern horizon… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An extra shot
-
Deep within the jungle lives a shaman that goes by the name of Green Leaf. Travellers from afar come to him, because it is said Green Leaf can make dreams. He can make you see things that are not. He can take you on a trip while you stay still. Many people want to go on this trip. Not many people know Green Leaf is also known, among certain circles, as the Secret Taker. And among those circles it is rumored the Secret Taker is a man of great wealth. -
UPDATE! I've added some more pictures that show the actual battle between the crews. OoC: there are a lot of pictures, if you want the "poster shot" go here. The White Wind was an Eslandolian warship tasked with defending the treasure being transported back to the mainland. It had an able-bodied crew who was dead set on defending their cargo. With 10 canons, they knew they were not an easy prize. The captain had received a special commendation for taking this commission and was determined to see it through. Their sails were full and they were making excellent speed. (more pictures of The White Wind) But even though were going about 12 knots, another ship was coming up behind them and they were flying the black. They were being pursued by The Jade Piranha. Led by the notorious captain Zheng, his crew of miscreants aboard The Jade Piranha were after the treasure they had heard about from Captain Li Fang after he learned about the information from a whaler. They spied The White Wind and began their approach and assault. Having two forward guns, they began their attack long before a normal ship would be able to. While The White Wind had 10 canons, The Jade Piranha had 12 side canons alone and was more than a match for the treasure laden ship. The crew was a fearsome bunch. And their captain was not known for his leniency. (more pictures of The Jade Piranha) Using their forward canons, The Jade Piranha disabled The White Wind's ruder. Without a ruder, it was easy for the pirates to close the rest of the gap between the two ships. The crews prepared to face each other. Cannons fired! And then the crews clashed! When all was said and done, The White Wind was captured, it's crew killed or enslaved, and the treasure now in the hands of pirates! (more pictures!) OoC: Sorry that there isn't more minifigure posing! I was struggling to keep these two ships within my poster board for pictures and editing was already going to be a nightmare without editing 50 of the same shot but with the minifigures in different position. In hindsight I could have done a little bit more with close ups, but too late now! For those who are wondering, the sand green clips were from a PaB in the Chicagoland area. I didn't buy them with this boat in mind, but I'm really happy with how it turned out and I'm glad I did! The Chinese Junk design is based on a number of Google imagines that show up when you search for "Chinese Junk," surprise, surprise. Lastly, these two ships barely fit within the size limits of 80x48. They fit in the 48 width restriction when they are side by side like they are in the pictures and the only overhang past the 80 length restriction is The White Wind's bowsprit which overhangs by about 5 studs. I asked and the rest of the BoBS leaders are okay with that much overhang for anyone else who might be interested. I hope you enjoyed my entry. I had a lot of fun making it!
.thumb.jpg.e660cf72f2e60ec12f7362dac3534e35.jpg)
