With me being a British history fan and a Lego fan I was truly impressed with this interesting set.

Main Tower:

The main tower is the largest section of the set and truly is the centerpiece! Being about 8in. tall it is the soldier's and governor's barracks. It is also complete with a crane, balcony, rum barrel, and two miniature flags.

Flag and Palm Tree Area:

This area is the largest and connecting piece in this set. With a nice overhang, fort wall, tree, and flag, the set really comes alive!

Cannon and Prison:

While the awkward placement of the cannon is disappointing, the style of the jail is simple and quite impressive. Keeping a fluent theme of walls and overall structure, it defiantly doesn't look out-of-place.

Minifigures:

The perfect set to make a British army!

This is the set that gives Brickbeard nightmares at night! This is a great fort which serves as a great headquarters for the soldiers. It has one cannon and a crane, though you can replace the crane with a cannon, improving its defenses.

It has so many new and original features for those who love old 80's Pirates sets. The one who amazed me the most is the monkey being bribed with a banana to release the Pirate sailor. Not to mention the Captain's portrait with a reward for its capture and the dynamite on his boat. Also, the tower walls give a credible possibility to turn this set as some sort of Castle wall.

Being a MAD fan of the Pirates theme in all it's incarnations, this set needed to be special! Luckily, it was.

The idea of sliding the base apart and rearranging the fort was clever, but the pictured layout is the only one that works that well. The hidden treasure under the tree is nice but should have a better way to be accessed.

I'm pretty sure they're the only things I can find that isn't brilliant! The included crocodile is awesome and does the pirate boat no favours at all. With two pirates and four soldiers this set has a lot of playability right from the get go. The cage is well built and the cannon useful for fending off any pirate attacks, although, using the dynamite, you can really make a good battle, blowing up the big tower and knocking one or two soldiers flat in seconds!

Little features like the lanterns and flags make this set really come to life and is one of the best sets, in one of the best themes that Lego has ever created.

I ordered this set about a month ago, and just got around to building it (I've been holding it as an incentive to finish my exam studies :P). I've had my eye on the Pirates sets since we first heard about them, and when we saw the first images of the new pirates series, this was the set that stood out. As a result I had high expectations for this set and I think it met them. There are a number of feature to this set that i really enjoyed that I will discuss below.

Minifigs:
-Admiral
-3 Officers/Soldiers
-Pirate Captain
-Pirate Prisoner

Accessories/Tools:
-2 Cutlasses
-2 Muskets
-2 Pistols
-Torch
-Telescope
-Monkey, Fish, Crocodile
-Cannon
-Chest of Gold Coins
-3 Gemstones (Emerald, Ruby, Diamond)
-Barrel
-Banana
-2 Keys
-Barrel of Dynamite
-2 Oars
-3 Small Flags (1 pirate; 2 soldier)
-Large Soldiers' Flag

The build was nothing challenging at all, but fun nevertheless. The pieces were sorted into modular bags, a method that can be sometimes condescending sometimes appreciated. I didn't particularly mind it this time. The minifigs are a good variety, each soldier looks different. I would have liked another pirate to be included (to even out the sides), but it's good enough for the size and price of the set. The crocodile and the monkey are superb additions too. There are a few stickers included, but they all seem to fit in really well with the set and there aren't so many as to be annoying. I love the bricks showing on the Spanish style tower and prison, and the cobwebs and Roman numerals in the prison cell.

The set is divided into five section that are built separately: a) the Captain's boat; b) the palm tree and bridge; c) the prison cell and cannon; d) the dock; and e) the tower and crane. This layout is really sensible in construction, and you can easily rearrange the different components to model the fort to your liking. I was surprised by how much open dock there was in the finished model - it didn't look so spacious in the LegoShop's pictures. I like the little wooden bridge, which is simply designed but works really well, and I also like that the back wall of the prison is removable. I would have liked the Captain's boat to look more like the one in 6267 Lagoon Lock-up, but it's adequate the way it is. In addition the rotating cannon and crane really add to the playability of this set. The cannon has a surprising firing range, though is a little difficult to aim.

Overall, the design of the fort is simple, but effective and looks good with other previous pirate series sets (I have a couple of the old '96 series). I really like this set, and recommend it to fans of the Pirates series of sets. It's inspired me to look into getting a couple more of the sets in the current Pirates release.

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