Weekly Set Review: Battle Dragon

Post by **architect** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:19 pm

Join the weekly Classic Castle set review discussion. Please post your opinions on the set play ability, piece selection, design, etc. Which sets stand up to our catapult of critique and which ones crumble in shame!

This week’s set is 6018 Battle Dragon.

Battle Dragon, released in 1990, is a small boat with a dragon bow for the Black Monarchs. It has a rower, a crossbowman, and accessories.

This ship is the focus of controversy and speculation because the crossbowman has a yellow black falcon shield while the set name, color scheme, and figures are related to the Black Monarchs. The relationship between the Black Monarch and Black Falcon factions still is not clear.

The Hordesman · Post by **The Hordesman** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:58 pm

A wierd set indeed. The shield is out of place if you dont do a BF/BK alliance.

I dont like it. There are not weapons enough for both figs, and its confusing.
The only plus would be if the set was cheap back then.

eNiGMa · Post by **eNiGMa** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 7:03 pm

Maybe the BF fig jumped onto the boat in an ambush? I mean, look at where the crossbow is pointing!

No swords, axes, or spears. Just a crossbow and two oars for weapons, plus a barrel if DK showed up. On the plus side, oars and barrels are good to stock up on, and the figs (if separated) look pretty dang good.

2/5

ezehogan · Post by **ezehogan** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 8:08 pm

This set isn't anything special. Not enough weapons, confusing faction combination...

The dragon head on the front of the boat looks nice, but I wish this boat was bigger and consisted of only BK's, with BF hostiles (like with the Sea Serpent).

The Sea Serpent is indeed THE castle boat to get.

Azaghal · Post by **Azaghal** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:39 pm

Perhaps, but if you have one, then the dragon/falcon split isn't as confusing. At least the figs are generic, and the dragon prow is pretty clever. And it's not as if LEGO made all that many boats to begin with.

Speaking of which, why is it always boats that get re-reviewed here?

Post by **Robin Hood** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:46 pm

Hmmm, a rather point less set.

For pieces this set has nothing. At least nothing worth taking to time and money to buy it. All the usefull pieces can be gotton in better sets.

The design actually isn't too bad. I kinda like the platform at the top and the dragon (?) head. Though both of those shouldn't be on anything this small.

I suppose that a kid might enjoy playing with it. At least it has two figs to present ideas. Still, once the one guy jumps the other guy, the story kinda dies.

An ok set, but I've seen lots better.

Dan

Norro · Post by **Norro** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 12:15 am

This is a great little set. Once the legs are switched you get two very affordable generic knights (not in great supply), a fairly 'playable' model, a decent build, and a certain 'cuteness'. All round I like it. I think this was one of my first BF shields though (rather unhelpfully...)

God Bless,

Nathan

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 4:20 am

I bought one of these back in the day. It was nice having another boat, even a small one, and 2 more figs was great. The plate on the bottom of the boat, like on all of the boat models is bad. I mean it got caught in the shag carpet when played with!

I do think the picture must have been an inside joke, or have an implied meaning concerning the BF/BM relationship. Why else would the one fig be pointing his crossbow at the other's head?

Jim

TwoTonic Knight · Post by **TwoTonic Knight** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 5:51 am

I always presumed this to be a slave driven ship (why a slave would be allowed to traipse about in a helmet, I'm not sure). The double-decker design is to keep the guard above the riff-raff.

Anyway, I tend to view this as a single level boat (I just delete the poop deck) with two un-matched figs, which I don't have a problem with. Not a great design, but I'm happy with my minimal mod and two figs. 7/10.

CAI · Post by **CAI** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 6:12 am

I always liked this set, and made home made versions of it years ago when I never had the real deal.

I don't understand why it's being bashed, it's a good design for it's size.

It would be a fearsome looking moat defense boat.

jamtf · Post by **jamtf** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:41 am

I sort of like this set. It is quite small and for not too much money you can build a small armada of castle ships. I also agree that the legs should be switched, the Black Knight should look like the ones in 6059 Knights Stronghold and the Black Falcon would look like, well, a BF with a chain vest.

The shield is a mystery and will remain that until someone who knows (TLC) about it explains the choice of parts in this set.

Nice little set, affordable too, but a little too less arms compared to the 6049 Viking Voyager and 6057 Sea Serpent who in my opinion are the best castle related battle ships. It somewhat resembles the 1547 Black Knights Boat but I certainly prefer it (designwise + factionwise) over 6017 King's Oarsmen and the Royal Knights 1752 Boat with Armor / 1804 Crossbow boat.

Nicholas · Post by **Nicholas** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 8:15 am

Sea serpents little brother.
I like it, though mostly for nostagia
The whole shield "problem" never bothered me, i got a shield, great! but that was it.
i don't the design is too bad, though it looks a bit heavy for its size.
At the time this was a great source for crossbows, now ofcourse Crossbows might as well grow on trees. i would have liked a sword to have been included.

Assassin · Post by **Assassin** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 9:50 am

Got this mainly for the shield, it provided my one and only yellow edged shield. I wish I would have got more, but thats life.

Overall not a bad model, and anyway, who keeps the figures with their respective models anyway ?

Sir Kohran · Post by **Sir Kohran** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 11:09 am

One of my first Castle sets. Despite the rather small ship, I liked it a lot. And I would always pretend that a Black Falcon in disguise was hijacking the boat.

8/10

Post by **JoshWedin** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 1:49 pm

I have always liked this set. Sure, it isn't the best design. But really, has Lego ever sold a set that we couldn't have made better? It's a cute little boat with two figs. Yes, the shield dilemma is a problem, but this was made during that period (1990) where they were phasing out black falcons anyway.

Josh