The Eldorado Fortress debate!

[Captain Green Hair]

I don't know yet, i just bought one and waiting for it to arrive *wacko*

[Paradosis]

I'm gonna have to go with a medium sized fort. At 496 pieces it is not only smaller than other sets in the Pirate theme, like the BSB and the Imperial Trading Post, but it is also smaller than a number of the Castles of the time (Black Monarch's Castle, Black Knight's Castle, etc.).

[Captain Green Hair]

Well, i've just received my eldorado fortress today *sweet*

Apart from small damage on the baseplate and the missing white stripe on broadside's hat it was a good deal for 58 euro's *sweet*

I'd have too say it's a medium fort, since there are a lot smaller buildings in the collection.

I like the way it's build, the rear is also build, which u don't see a lot on lego buildings.

Edited October 5, 2007 by phred

[Dovchenko]

I voted for having a different perspective. The Eldorado Fortress is a smaller fort- it's not like some huge castle or anything. But still, it is a beautifully crafted and well made set which belongs in anyone's LEGO collection. Against the BSB and other ships, I'd say it's a formidable challenge if not an impossible endeavour. Because of the smaller size of this fortress, our navy soldiers can arm it to the teeth and have less to watch over. Security is practically unbreachable, and with so many supplies, walls, powerful weaponry and of course the supreme navy which supports it, I think some pirates would resign.

Now try this... The Eldorado Fortress, The Lagoon Lockup and the Caribbean Clipper. That would be a beautiful combination.

I'm getting ideas!

How about that with the RR...

Don't mind me.

[Col. Whipstick]

The thing about Eldorado not being what Port Royal (Imperial Trading Post to the neanderthals) is that by comparison Forbidden Island was small as the arch rival base for Eldorado and Rock Island Refuge (Port Jamiaca) was likewise larger to serve as the arch rival base for Port Royal.

This being the case I can't say that Eldorado is too small, it's probably the one case where Lego were generous enough to supply sufficient figures because they sure do feel stingy when you look at the number of minifigs that accompanies Port Royal or Port Jamaica.

My real beef with Eldorado is the Spanish name which should be written as El Dorado for a kick off, let alone the fact that the boys manning it, be they the 'Soldiers' have always been argued as either French or British.

As a design and a set though I can't fault her, though tragically I still do not own one!!!

[Tordenskjold]

I voted for being the one to end all.

been reading the other posts here and i agree with both those who say it is small compared to the ships and Port Royal. but i also have to agree with those who point on the parents and money , and the size compared to the other sets in pirate world.

for me this set look simple. its just a raised BP and a small wall with 1,5 tower on. and two guns.

but if i forget that im 30 and try to think as a 8-10 year old boy( not so hard for me to do :-D ) i get a different perspective.

1 i have only two hands. so having 20 minifigs and 10guns in one set is two many for me to move around.

2 im only ten year old. and this is quite big for me to buildt alone. i want to play with it fast , not sit and build forever.

3 when it was released it was a expencive set for my parents to buy, my sister also demand such big things for x-mas/birthday

4 its a simple design so my hands could fit into the set without breaking it .

5: no matter the number of guns. in my imagination i can defend my selves even if the real Victory came( this is lego, ment to be played with and when im playing everything can happen)

6: its small enough for me to move it allone. so i can take my set with me and visit my friend and we can play together with our sets.

This was just some thougts i made when i try to se it as if i was a kid .

One other thing with the number of guns on Eldorado and BSB SES . on land you can easily increase the caliber of a gun. like its ok to have 24pounders on land while you would need big framings and timber on a ship to support a 24 pounder on a ship. on land the ground isnt moving so aiming would be easier and a rock is harder to smash than a ships hull. placing a gun in a open battery on land would give the gun crew every advantage over the guncrew of a ship.

So i would guess that a land battery of two 24pounders on revolving bases would have a good chance against a ship with perhaps only 12pounders. the land based guns could fire heated shots. starting fire on the ship. a fortredd like The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine Florida had about 25 guns from the smallest 2pounder to the largest 36 pounder. and it defended the city against invaders several times.

These thing make me vote for the Eldorado being the end of all fortress.

But i also would like a bigger one :) my main fortress is on 6 48x48 plates :-$

[Dovchenko]

No matter how much I wish to admit, the ED isn't really the "fort to end all forts". The fortress is somewhat smaller than first expected, and certainly wouldn't really show up on the map compared to the ITP...

But who says it's bad?

Smaller = Tighter Security. With the ITP, unfortunately, pirates can come and go as they please. Nothing's stopping them from going into a shop and stealing gold/grog. For such a large fort, the ITP doesn't have enough cannons for its size... and the though EF had the same amount, they were set in great places where ships would take the most damage. Due to its smaller size, the EF is easily armed to the bone- with heavy amounts of muskets, cutlasses, gun pivots and hidden stashes, even going by it could possibly be a suicide mission. As for just cannoning the port, I suppose it wouldn't last long- but name one port that would against a heavy pirate ship! (Besides, also due to the fact that soldiers wouldn't have as much to monitor, they could spot the danger within a shorter time and prepare themselves/flee/whatever.

Smaller = Easier to Store. Moving away with plotlines and security, the set itself is much more mobile and much easier to store. It's only on one baseplate, while the ITP is on two which is liable to break off. It's not very fragile from what I guess, and can easily be re-arranged for travel. The ITP on the other hand is massive, with several small buildings and a dock, along with two ships. No matter how much I would like to have this set, I have to admit the EF would be easier along the lines of transportation. This also ties in with "durability"- the EF has one crane, while the ITP has more. They aren't so strong, you know...

Smaller = A Better Build. The ITP is my one and only dream, and in my opinion, it's unbeatable... even by some of the larger ships. However, the Eldorado fortress has much bulkier buildings- more secure, and only 100 bricks less or so in the main scheme of things. The ITP has slightly less "heavy" buildings, and more small shops and homes. Eldorado Fortress is by far the most bulky, and I salute it for that.

If these reasons don't at least alter the opinion, ye haven't had enough grog. |-/

NOTE: I STILL LOVE THE ITP BETTER DUE TO SEVERAL FACTORS IN WHICH IT BEATS THE EF.

(everything seen here is in personal opinion)

[Voodoo Hand]

well, it's pretty small but a good fortress none the less. I wish I actually had it. I prefer another fortress tho.

This torpic reminds me of a moc i was working on and never finished, also it started interest me to create my own fortress... Ill keep you posted on the last one once I know more!

[Captain Zuloo]

I think it's a big fortress. I think if we were going by MOC scale it would be puny, but TLC did the best thing in their and everyones interests when they made it so it wasn't too costly. I think it is a really cool BIG fortress. But the water is a bit strange.

Regards, Captain Zuloo

[Admiral Bejaune]

I think its a beautifully designed set. Im not sure how to explain the scale of the fort. Perhaps it was built to serve as a temporary until the larger fort was built... Also, it depends on the harbor shape, but there where usually two forts defending a harbor. Especially if the harbor was a U shaped one, there would be a fortification on each side. From what I have seen there was usually one fort larger than the other one. So maybe thats the explanation. Don't Quote me though.

[Gen. Knowledge]

I just won an Eldorado Fortress recently on eBay. I can't wait until it gets here. I typically don't like to buy my sets used, but it's the cheapest way these days. Plus, it probably won't stay in it's original state for long anyway.

Tony

[Captain Zuloo]

I just won an Eldorado Fortress recently on eBay. I can't wait until it gets here. I typically don't like to buy my sets used, but it's the cheapest way these days. Plus, it probably won't stay in it's original state for long anyway.

Tony

Hahaha. I bought mine off of ebay, but you have to be very careful. How is the condition of it?

[Lord Of Pies]

Hahaha. I bought mine off of ebay, but you have to be very careful. How is the condition of it?

The one I bought off ebay was very cheap only £25 ($50 at the time), however despite the fact it claimed to be 100 % it was missing 3 or 4 bits. So be ready to expect a few pieces missing here or their when you buy off Flea bay. Still it is a great set!

[Captain Zuloo]

The one I bought off ebay was very cheap only £25 ($50 at the time), however despite the fact it claimed to be 100 % it was missing 3 or 4 bits. So be ready to expect a few pieces missing here or their when you buy off Flea bay. Still it is a great set!

The only thing that was "wrong" with mine was it had a red hook instead of grey, but when I got it, there were 2 1x1x4 arch bricks missing for the crane and they were replaced by 1x1x4 bricks but it doesn't really matter. I guess you just have to accept that unless it's MISB it probably has pieces missing.

[Gen. Knowledge]

Hahaha. I bought mine off of ebay, but you have to be very careful. How is the condition of it?

I haven't received it yet. I bought it for about $62. It also comes with 5 Imperial Guards, 1 Imperial Guard Admiral, a a couple extra pirates. I'm really only buying it for parts (an expensive way to do it) so it's total completeness is not that important to me. The seller has 100% feedback selling Lego Sets.

Tony

[Captain Zuloo]

I haven't received it yet. I bought it for about $62. It also comes with 5 Imperial Guards, 1 Imperial Guard Admiral, a a couple extra pirates. I'm really only buying it for parts (an expensive way to do it) so it's total completeness is not that important to me. The seller has 100% feedback selling Lego Sets.

Tony

That sounds like a good deal to me. I paid $120 plus postage for mine. I think the issue with 100% is the buyers that rate sellers aren't AFOL's that know when there is something wrong as easily.

[Zorro]

I bought mine when it was released, I still remember well since it was my first Lego pirate set and the store I bougt it in gave a free set with it because it was in promotion (the set with 2 imperial soldiers and 3 pirates, you know which one I mean)

At that time, through a kids eyes perspective, it was a large fort.

Now off course it just lookes like a small stronghold guarding an entry to a small harbour, especially when you have seen one of the O-SO-WONDERFULL Mocs of a fortress, but as I said, as a kid I DID see its greatness. Also the large number of soldiers it came with should be accounted for, you dont find so many in any other set, not even into the larger imperial trading post, and also not in the new fortress of the 2009 line!

[donneyboy]

i was looking on peeron, and $66.00 USD for that set!it only has 496 pieces, it should be $50.00 for it instead. it is merely a place to live.

[Captain Blackmoor]

It's a nice fort, but very small. My ship will crumble it when it fires one broadside. :pir-skull:

[legotrainfan]

I've voted for the first one. I think LEGO wanted it to be the main base and main fortress for all imperial guards. For a LEGO set/castle it is quite big. That's why I believe it.

[Kaptin_BarfBeerd]

It looks to me more like an island guardpost. WHat does the fortress actually have? I see a watchtower, a crane, a holding cell and ummmmmm a palm tree.

In the pirate comic, it was a main base though