Imagine a role-playing LEGO building game set during the Age of Discovery… Imagine a world with four factions, where all factions interact, cooperate, compete and fight for power. The name of the game is Brethren of the Brick Seas, better known by its enthusiastic players, as “BoBS”.
The Empire of Oleon has an aggressive history with Corrington, and during the last war the two empires proved to be an even match. Now, what happens when these mighty rivals encounter a mutual threat under the red banner of the great Lotus Empire?
The Duplo enthusiast expert builder, Evancelt, explored this diplomatic dilemma with great fervour, resulting in the creation of the Allied Intelligence Office.
Evancelt writes:
When I build, I usually build from my head and just “wing it” while building. This means I will build from the base up with a rough idea in mind and alter things as I go. In this case, I knew the build needed to be on a 32×32 MILs baseplate in order to connect with builds from other LUG members. This build is going to be displayed in Denver at FanExpo with CoWLUG.
I think I built it over the course of 3 evenings: first night was the base, second night was the walls, then third night was the roof, vegetation, and figures.
Regarding my finished builds, unless they are going to a convention (like this one), I usually take them apart after a few weeks in order to reuse the parts in new builds! Taking apart builds is not super fun, so sometimes MOCs might sit around longer while I avoid taking them apart.
The Enemy of my Enemy…
Corrington and Oleon had negotiated the use of Spudkirk Harbor by the blue coat Soldier’s navy in support of their joint campaign against the Lotii. This arrangement primarily meant blue coat ships could anchor offshore for provisioning and largely precluded Oleonese troops from landing in the Corlander settlement itself.
In this salty corner of universe, the two traditionally hostile empires are (surprisingly) neighbours
Corlander Naval Intelligence established a small fortified base where they could work alongside their Oleonese counterparts on shore. If they were to ever defeat the Lotii, Corrington and Oleon would have to work together!
With so many great details packed into this MOC, there’s one worthy of your attention… the palm tree in the background. Study it, and then steal it (yo ho ho, a pirate-MOC life for you)
Under the protection of heavy security, two high ranking officials meet on the balcony of the fortified base (one looks a bit like Governor Broadside). Previously belonging to rival factions, they now discuss economics, war, and other boring exciting geopolitical matters, which pose threats to their empires.
Can you guess all the colours used on the roof? Neither can we, but we dig the lovely texture
But look, who in his right mind would leave cannonballs lying around like that? What if one of the old-farts esteemed commanders slipped and broke his neck? Hmm… is it possible that we have a Lotti secret agent in our midst? But who is he? These two at the front look too serious for the job, and the Peeping Tom at the back is too preoccupied inspecting fine blue coat Soldier wives tanning to notice anything suspicious… No, our International Man of Mistery is not here.
Yeah, so… why is the safety rail (string) on the mainland side of the pier? To prevent soldiers from falling on… solid ground?? This is done on purpose, to drive us mad! Well done Evancelt
That seagull looks like he is trying to tell us something by mainly pointing his beak using his advanced body language training in the general direction of… wait a minute! Why is that soldier outside the safe fort?! Gasp! It’s a saboteur… no honest man wears a pompous smirk like that.
Behind the Scenes Footage
Evancelt continues:
Here are some behind the scenes shots of the base, walls, and tree taken from my Instagram story.
The wall technique was inspired by CapOnBOBS’s sloped wall forts.
“LEGO from BrickLink comes in small plastic bags….. So Does Drugs.” – Captain GreenHair
With enough drugs bricks at his disposal, we observe the start of Evancelt’s ordinary rocky base. Exciting, isn’t it? (Yeah, almost like the commercial break during Black Sails’ season finale)
The technique used for slope wall is the same ship-builders use in making sloped hull sides. All you need is a slope-30 and any combination of a plate modified with a clip and a bar
If you are interested in the advance wall textures (like seen here), Evancelt went out of his way and produced a small but powerful tutorial available HERE
About the Builder…
Evancelt is a legendary builder who has earned the special MOC Expert tag for his steady output of clever creations in the LEGO Pirates MOC Forum. Often employing Duplo elements and other ingenious innovations skillfully woven into his builds… observe see his “mini red coats” and you’ll get the idea.
You can follow Evan via Instagram and Flickr where you will discover more masterful builds (which may or may not incorporate Duplo). If that’s not enough, being a tech nerd techie, Evan maintains his own website upon which he showcases his Brethren of the Brick Seas, builds and other creative endeavors. Last but not the least, you can give your support to his contributions on LEGO Ideas.
One thing Evan enjoys more than Duplo building is reading and replying to comments about his creations inside the LEGO Pirates Forum… so let’s make Evan happy, let’s give him a word or two of what we think about this particular MOC!
