Behold the new and improved Imperial Guard's Star Fortress! This pentagon of imperial might is a safe haven for imperial ships. And a very attractive target for pirates looking to lighten the burden of the power obsessed governor, who has to guard his war treasury so well so his vendetta campaigns against the pirates and other rebel scum can continue! Many have tried, none have succeeded. Little does he know he accidentally captured captain Roger. Can he be saved and escape with the treasure, before he's granted one last view over the ocean?

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About the design:
The design choice was inspired by a visit to Bourtange in the north of the Netherlands and combined with my desire to try a very uncommon shape for LEGO in a big project for either pirates or castle. So why not build a special star fortress for the imperials?

For me the most important thing about a LEGO design is playability and replayability. Hence a lot of features are desirable. In that regard I've been wanting to improve the accessibility of the bastions and doors in particular, add some new features, more animals, an extra sloop and still at exactly 4000 parts. Adding this without exceeding the brick budget was a major challenge as I had a lot of things I wanted to improve on and not an extra brick to place. So I had to get creative with what was available. The first fortress then was also primarily to be played with and less of a display piece, so the new build had to be more of that. Clearly I wasn't going to cut it with the sloped walls from the first design, which took up lots of parts.

Compared to the previous BDP8 version, the pallete changed and a lot of things have therefore had to be changed as well. Gone are the stables and animal pens. In are the bell tower, artillery practice buoy and fresh water cave. The corners have been integrated with the now wider bastions, such that it provides more options in connecting the various sections.

The most important critique I got was that it wasn't detailed enough for display purposes and that a section like the little outhouse didn't fit in too well with one another. So I've done some work to correct that, although I'm not doing things like covering the walkway in little tiles. That would take far too many bricks to detail and though pretty, it's quite wasteful. I'd rather add more fun features like the target practice buoy then and more interior detailing.

The whole fort is slightly more compact as the 'necks' to the bastions were removed and the corners integrated with the bastion, leaving the five middle sections at 16 stud plate wide each. The accessibility of the corners was dramatically improved, rather than just the door and a hatch, the solid brick walls were replaced with "winged" plate walls, which can be rotated away for good access to the interior.

Display and section wise, the amount of combinations has significantly increased. Not only can the five corners now form their own mini star fort, all the middle wall sections can fit next to one another, which was previously not the case. Furthermore, the corners can now be straightened out and have either the Pentagon's 108deg, or a 180deg position. In the straightened mode, replacing the rounded 2x6 by a 4x12 ensures the whole wallsection can be manned. With this, the alternative seawall configuration can become up to 1,6m long!

Inside the five bastions barracks can be found, as well as

The gatehouse was reduced in size, the fountain moved to another section, but there's more going on internally now with a small water cave with animals in it and its secret entrance now much better accessible than before. Regardless of which section is placed next to it, the secret gate can be opened. The walkway had to be interrupted in this lowered version, but that was solved by adding a small bridge for the walkway.

Compared to BDP8, the lighthouse wall section was shortened, but it gained a piece of the central square, with its mast and a rockgarden and a new statue of Poseidon. Internally and superficially some minor changes were made, but largely the tower design remained similar.

No fortress can do without proper sanitation or people would soon die from disease. Hence the fort features an outhouse, now made of bricks. The irony is it's placed right above the fresh water cave, where the fort stores its fresh water and gets water from the local fresh water spring and fountain.

The governor's quarters have been improved upon a lot internally. A little bit narrower, so as to be able to always have something on the sides like plants, but like the bastions, it gained a tiled and carpeted floor. The execution pole on top was changed from concrete to wood Inside , the private quarter's of the governor and his favourite hobby: planning ambushes and dreaming of more map conquests.

Hopefully you enjoy this build.

Please note that the video and renders will have some minor variations due to last minute changes.