Weekly Set Review: Knight's Attack Barge

Post by **architect** » Sun May 28, 2006 3:39 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 8801 Knight's Attack Barge.

Knight's Attack Barge was released in 2005 for Knight's Kingdom II. It was part of a Toys R Us exclusive set, 65767 Attack from the Sea, also containing 8802 Dark Fortress Landing. Santis and Rascus man this beach landing craft. It has a drawbridge, rear tower, catapult, banners, and various accessories.

Post by **JoshWedin** » Sun May 28, 2006 4:27 pm

The only thing I really liked about this set was the fact that is is built of bricks. That makes it a good bley parts pack. But the design is rather odd. First of all, its grey...so does that mean its a stone ship? The second is that landing craft aspect...again rather odd. I have never seen a medieval ship with a landing ramp. Maybe they existed, but I have never seen one. The design and color scheme remind me of World War II, not Knights Kingdom II.

My 2 bricks worth,
Josh

ragnarok · Post by **ragnarok** » Sun May 28, 2006 5:02 pm

I won't quote Josh because I'll have to repeat every last word of his. The thing I like most is the variety of useful parts and the banners which I believe can always be incorporated in castle MOCs.

My 5/10 mainly because of the reasonable price.

TheOrk · Post by **TheOrk** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:56 pm

ragnarok wrote:I won't quote Josh because I'll have to repeat every last word of his. The thing I like most is the variety of useful parts and the banners which I believe can always be incorporated in castle MOCs.

My 5/10 mainly because of the reasonable price.

I won't quote Josh, but your fair game.

5/10

This set has sentimental value because now the jellybeans can experience the most violent part of Saving Private Ryan...

porschecm2 · Post by **porschecm2** » Sun May 28, 2006 7:59 pm

It's good to see Castle ships again. Having said that, I wouldn't buy this set unless I found it on clearance. Just not much that appeals to me. I do like the banners, though. This isn't what I'd call a good set.

Cm2

Remyth · Post by **Remyth** » Sun May 28, 2006 8:34 pm

Hmm. This really isn't that impressive to me. The fact it's brick-built is the only saving detail. It just looks too much like a WWII higgins boat, yeah, and stone boats don't float that well...

I don't even see any pieces I can't do without, so I will most litley never buy it.

Jojo · Post by **Jojo** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:49 pm

Hello!

This set is SO bad, I even consider labelling it worse than 6037, modelwise. On the other hand it comes with a good selection of pieces if you are into the new-grey-crap. So for parts it's not a complete loss. Mine even came with two old-grey 1×8 beams. Good for me.

The boat itself is a pain in the eye. It may be good for entering Omaha Beach, but how is it propelled? How is it steered? Why is it made of steely[1] stone?

Bye
Jojo

[1] as new light grey looks like metal rather than like stone.

Post by **architect** » Mon May 29, 2006 12:06 am

Jojo wrote:Hello!This set is SO bad, I even consider labelling it worse than 6037, modelwise.

Ouch. It is bad but I dont think it is that bad. This ship design just screams "designed quickly" to me.

Now if this set was brown, had a sail, a realistic forecastle, and sailors, it could have been good. The color choice was definitely a poor one in this case. On the positive side it was rather affordable and had a few nice accessories.

Ben

The Hordesman · Post by **The Hordesman** » Mon May 29, 2006 2:48 am

While bad, its like architect said- some useful pieces and, well, lots of grey. Spears, spetums and big flags are useful I guess.

Fry_slayer · Post by **Fry_slayer** » Mon May 29, 2006 8:02 am

You will kinda expect the other side of the landing to be scorpion knights armed with heavy machine gun and bunkered in sand bags. While parts are decent it seriously lacks in logic.

And for the first time in the history of LEGO castle world, you actually get more megaflags than regular soldiers, more toppings than cake.

wunztwice · Post by **wunztwice** » Mon May 29, 2006 6:48 pm

Fry_slayer wrote:You will kinda expect the other side of the landing to be scorpion knights armed with heavy machine gun and bunkered in sand bags. While parts are decent it seriously lacks in logic.

And for the first time in the history of LEGO castle world, you actually get more megaflags than regular soldiers, more toppings than cake.

Ah, sadly that is too true...

When I first saw this set I thought "now what is with a tiny fortress in the water?" I didn't realize it was a boat till much later. I think that partly speaks to how much this set stinks.

Post by **Formendacil** » Mon May 29, 2006 8:50 pm

I've no idea how this is supposed to move... similarly to the "horses" of the Grand Tournament, I suppose, but the fact that it is grey/black in colour and has a boarding ramp does not particularly irk me. Those are, to my way of thinking here, a reflection of KK2's fantasy theme, as opposed to historical accuracy. Grey is the Morcian base colour scheme, and the ramp fits with the KK2v.2 theme of what seems to be all out war between Vladek and Morcia.

A lack of a sail, oars, or any sort of propulsion is the greatest defect, in my opinion, though the whole set bears the look of being slapped together.

Parts: 7/10 (basic bricks)
Playability: 7.5/10
Figs/Accesories: 6/10
Design (then): 6.5/10
Design (now): 5.5/10
Nostalgia: 5/10

Overall Score: 6.25/10

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:40 pm

It's a barge.

Barges in and of themselves aren't all that fun. By definition, a flat or mostly flat hulled boat with very little above the water line is just not fun.

But LEGO tried, at least, adding some play value. To a kid, this set is pretty good. To an experienced builder... well... not so much.

So to that end... it's a set that serves its' purpose.

--Anthony

Post by **Bruce N H** » Tue May 30, 2006 4:14 pm

Meh. A good source of bley, I suppose (most notably the tall slopes - four 2x1x3 normal and six 2x1x3 inverted, which are always hard to accumulate in quantity) . Those flags are kind of nice, though. Silly figs, though I don't dislike the shields. I highly dislike this curved black piece:

.
Basically it's a set I wouldn't pick up unless I found it on deep discount.

Bruce

psu_ericksen · Post by **psu_ericksen** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:49 pm

architect wrote:Now if this set was brown, had a sail, a realistic forecastle, and sailors, it could have been good.

So, in other words, if it was totally different, you might like it?

I would have to agree. Hey, at least 6037 had a means of propulsion...

This is just a bad set. Only thing that would make it better would be a clearance price. Maybe.

Sean