The third heavy weight castle faction to grace our shelves came in
the form of the mighty Black Knights; distinguished by their symbol, a blue
Wyvern Dragon and a love of Black in all their structures.
Sadly due to the fact that the symbol on their shield was repeated
by the Dragon Masters (albeit changed in colour) and that their torso printing
had been used before. This faction is often overlooked or misunderstood; many
see them as early Dragon Masters or late Crusaders, they are however a faction
all to themselves, it’s just a shame they never received an original torso
printing to call their own.
These guys hit the ground running fortified, by the excellent
Black Monarch Castle (6085) in 1988, this set gave them the initial strength to
take on the more established (and older) Crusaders and Falcon’s. They were
noted to be on very good terms with the Crusaders; however they had a number of
conflicts with the Falcon’s, indeed the final appearances made by the Falcon’s were
as the aggressors in a number of Black Knights sets.
They were also noted to have the finest fleet ever, in the form of
the Sea Serpent, Black Knights Boat and the Battle Dragon (until the Trolls and
Skeletons came along and outshone them in the castle sets of 2007). This
greatness of sea warfare was sadly the only true strength for the Black Knights
as they had no large siege engines, carriages or infantry battle packs of any
worth.
The Black Knights faction also featured a number of advancements never
seen before. They were the first major faction to place facial hair upon their
warriors, they were the first faction to receive oval shields and they were the
first faction to have the dragon plume. They also saw advancement in horse
armour, theirs were the first sets to feature Barding and they changed the
standard horse saddle from having only one clip to two (1992 was the year LEGO
implemented that particular change).
Small
Set Name = Black Monarch’s Ghost 6034
Piece Count = 46
Year Released = 1990
In 1990 LEGO released the chest plate, ghost, falcon (the grey
bird) and the new styled helm; in this set we see them all. It is a beautiful
microcosm of all that was new and exciting at the time, I never get bored of
these style minifigs and the fact that it comes on a horse is a brilliant heavy
cavalry army builder, five or six of these and you truly have a brilliant
foundation for a mighty army. The structure itself is very simple but it
includes doors (which were also new) and the pin technique so that it can be
connected to a castle, (so it has some useful parts for Moc’ing). I however
would have changed the ghost for a minifigs so that you could image it to be a
small outpost; that way the ghost would also be seen as a rarer fig and
something to be coveted when found it larger sets, as it is the Ghost fig was
almost too common in sets of this era (the glow in the dark plastic used for
the ghost is now no longer used by TLC, so in some sense the figs are rarer
now).
Set Name = Battle Dragon 6018
Piece Count = 56
Year Released = 1990
This set was already reviewed in my Falcon’s article, however I
feel that it still deserves to be seen here as I truly believe that the figs
are Black Knights, still I have no idea why the shield is included in this set.
Overall it’s rather bizarre; however I like the boat design.
Set Name = Duel Defender 1491
Piece Count = 48
Year Released = 1992
This little set is the strongest of the Black Knight’s siege
equipment, a small twin armed catapult that sadly cannot be moved, it does
however rotate and is equipped with a fair supply of stones, so at least it has
some strengths. It also comes with two minifigs and a fair supply of equipment and
a nice green base (rather large for a set so small) so as an army builder it’s
an ok set. The biggest flaws I have with it is the fact that we have seen a
better version of this with the Crusaders (Twin Arm Launcher 6039) and that the fully blue knights further confuse
the general design of the Black Knights army (I think I added these two to my
Falcon army and used them as artillery men for 6030), on the battle field the
Black Knights sadly were the least uniform of all the Factions and I feel like
that is a shame (though possibly most historically accurate). I hate to see a
set de-evolve as the years progress sets should get better; this set is less exciting
than the Crusaders one from 1988, not a good thing.
Set Name = Black Knights Guardshack
1888
Piece Count = 49
Year Released = 1992
Another small set and another ghost, I like the inclusion of the
ladder and small printed flag in this set, but I always felt like the soldier
looked like a Crusader who had darkened his helm (I had this feeling a lot with
Black Knight sets). This set was part of a value pack (1891) which included a
space, pirate and town set, so I guess the idea of this value pack was to show
off the castle series, I like the fact that despite only containing two
minifigs you receive five weapons but as a set it does nothing overly special.
Set Name = Black Knight 6009
Piece Count = 24
Year Released = 1992
I love the fact that LEGO had to show how creative you could be
with sets; looking at the back of the box you can see that their design ideas
for this set were rather limited. That being said, this set is brilliant, we
have here possibly the most over armed knight in LEGO history, crossbow, lance,
shield and two swords (why two?), he has enough weaponry to equip three more men! I love
the armour and the oval shield, and an extra horse is always welcome. This set,
6034 and the fact that both Black Knight castles came with four horsemen are all
reasons as to why so many collectors have cavalry armies for their Black Knights,
LEGO made it so easy; it should also be noted that the printed face added some
much needed variation for any collection at the time. This is one of my favourite
little sets for the Black Knights.
Set Name = Black Knights Boat 1547
Piece Count = 58
Year Released = 1993
Another set and another value pack (including 1624 and 1596),
luckily this was an all castle value pack (1597)so that it actually made it
very worthwhile to pick up, sadly it was only available in the US and Canada so
us European types missed out. I like this more than the Battle Dragon, because it
makes more sense with two warriors clearly on the same side, a decent number of
weaponry (including the oval shield), a dragon plume and printed faces; it’s
simply a superior set. However I prefer the Battle Dragons boat as it has a
nice second level to it (where you can put the leader) and the Dragon face on
the front looks less comical than this one, swap the minifigs and we would have
the perfect small boat set; as it is both are lacking somewhat.
Set Name = King’s Archer 1624
Piece Count = 22
Year Released = 1993
This was the also included in the all castle value pack (1597) and
I really like it, you get a printed archery target, a shrub and a reasonably
well equipped minifigs. A nice compact set, have a couple of these in your
castle courtyard and your really onto something; shame it was only available in
the US.
Set Name = King’s Catapult and Stone
Bomber 1917 and 2890
Piece Count = 22
Year Released = 1993 and 1998
This is a rather odd set, it was released in 1993 and then again
in 1998 as part of a promotion for a Japanese candy company (at which point any
other Black Knight sets had long since disappeared). We see here a sparse
catapult that cannot be moved or turned, so from a effectiveness viewpoint it
is rather useless (unless attached to a tower on a castle). It was only available in the US, but it’s not the best set so I don't feel anyone is missing out, but I do appreciate the
square bricks as ammo (I feel they looked better).
Set Name = Battering Ram 1971
Piece Count = 36
Year Released = 1993
This set was part of a five piece value pack only available in the
US, so sadly I never owned it; however it is very easy to recreate using the
bricks I have in my collection. I like the fact that it can stand on its own
and the little shield at the front to protect the man pushing it is rather
cool. I do feel that it is a little too small to cause any major problems to
some of the larger castle gates, but it’s still a neat little set, the oval
shield is very welcome.
Medium
Set Name = Sea Serpent 6057
Piece Count = 126
Year Released = 1992
I love this set, it’s so fun and still unique for today, the
Trolls have a huge ship and the Skeletons have a medium sized one (both of which
I still like) but the Black Knights have the only small ship and for a good
fifteen years they were the ones in charge. Strong pros for this set are the
sail cloth with a brilliant printed emblem, the solid design to the hull and
the very fair number of figs and equipment (it has seven shields in this set).
This set is the reason why the Black Knights were seen as the master of the
waves (chainmail and plate mail armour on a ship seems a tad foolish to me
though). This set is also very special as we see the last stand of the Black
Falcon’s. My biggest problem I have with this ship is the fact that the soldier
armed with the crossbow has no quiver (one shot is all he gets) and that LEGO
never made any sets similar; this set is so nice but never had anyone to fight
against and as such it became a bit redundant for castle fans.
Set Name = Knight’s Stronghold 6059
Piece Count = 224
Year Released = 1990
This set shows the final resistance of the Black Falcon’s, I
almost want them to conquer the stronghold so that they have somewhere to stay
(as in 1990 they had no more sets of their own for the last few years). This
set is all good, the catapult is interesting, the castle to well built, hinged
and contains a jail, the numbers of figures are good and we even get a horse.
It was designed to be attached to Black Monarchs Castle, which gives this set
even more strength, my only criticisms for the set are the lack of quiver
(again) for the crossbow and the ‘all red’ look on the Black Knights is very
unappealing. It is a great ‘all in one’ play set, with everything you need to
start loving Lego castle.
Large
Set Name = Black Monarch’s Castle 6085
Piece Count = 702
Year Released = 1988
This set is ironically the first for the Black Knights and also
the first to feature barding, so I guess you could say that the Black Knights
entered with their best foot forward. It is a brilliant initial set and the castle
itself is quite an improvement on the earlier ones. The front gate is very
imposing (I love the portcullis) and the design for the winch is a clear
advancement in LEGO technology, the sloping columns in between the wall panels
give the castle a very solid design and the black brick choice gives the set a
clear individualism over what came before.
New to this set we see barding for
the horses (I mentioned that above), black knight shields (10 in total), black
knight flag, inversed printing on the wall and corner panels (it was grey with
black printing, it became black with grey printing for this set) and the jail
cell LEGO piece. At twelve figs and four horses this set is very generous on extras
and the fact that the castle can be opened (similar to the previous castles) gives
a lot of added play value to this set, the castle does not come with any opposition
however so it is following the trend of all the others, somewhat to the
detriment of playability.
As this set was released in 1988 we miss out on some
of the newer LEGO pieces that made Black Knights so interesting (such as
printed faces, oval shields, armour plating, ghosts, visor styled helms)
however I don’t think the set suffers for it, this set is a brilliant
evolutionary piece (the missing link if you will) from what was, to what was
going to be, it has roots in the past but its intentions in the future, a
modern style filled with dated figs.
It is possibly the last of the traditional
castles and possibly one of the best, after this set most castles could not
longer be opened or connected, the beautiful connectivity of LEGO sets (as
mentioned at the end of my Black Falcon article)was disappearing to be replaced
with something else, raised baseplates and closed castle design. It was simply
change, neither a good or bad thing, however this open design was to eventually
return to LEGO castle sets we just had to wait almost twenty years.
Set Name = Black Knight’s Castle 6086
Piece Count = 588
Year Released = 1992
This castle is debatably the finest ever realised by LEGO, even though
the raised plate is disapproved by some, it is still one of the most interesting,
largest and coolest looking castles around. Let’s add up the points on this
set.
Point 1 the style: The nice mix of black and grey bricks keeps the
castle looking good without over doing it; the flashes of red roof and yellowed
wall panel add a nice variation to the colour scheme as does the green from the
baseplate itself.
Point two the extras: The huge number of extra items add some great play
value to the set, we see twelve figs, all of a good variety (a Wolfpack and a
ghost), four horses, multiple weapons, two types of shield, barding, armour,
visor styled helms, cloaks, a chest, a barrel, a ladder, multiple lanterns, a
goblet, multiple flags, the new single mould portcullis, multiple dragon plumes
and the unique white dragon plume, and the unique large dragon flag (that’s a
long list).
Point three the play value: The extra hidden play value to the set adds a
lot, we have a drawbridge and portcullis, a hidden exit, a ghost’s tower, a
well and underground prison as well as the home styled yellowed structure on
the side of the castle, there’s just a lot to do.
I think this is one of the best castles TLG has ever produced,
the design is just incredible and it makes the set look so unique. There are
plenty of minifigs with it but every fig is also different (even if it’s just
in some minor way), you also receive lots of accessories, rare pieces and great
playability, this set is as close to perfect as LEGO could get, it’s a shame
they took this brilliant raised plate idea and used it so poorly in future sets
(which will be explored in future articles), it’s clear LEGO knew what they
were doing, yet chose not to repeat the perfect formula.
On an interesting side note this set was originally called
Dungeon Master's Castle, so it is possible that these more modern knights
could have been a splinter group from the original (the Black Knights splintered
to become Dungeon Masters); however this is just speculation and the name was
changed rather quickly, still it’s interesting to see how LEGO evolves (first a
Dungeon Masters set and then in the following year a Dragon Masters Faction).
The Black Knights
It was hard for this faction to make a real impression on the psyche
of the very young and impressionable youth that was yours truly back in the
early 90’s. I remember I liked both the castles (a lot) but the faction itself never
really felt like they had an identity to me.
I could always see the Crusaders ruling
the land and governing the peasants, I could see the Falcon’s marching to war
determined to capture the larger Crusaders fortresses and I could see the
Forestmen swinging through the tree and carrying gold off into the night, but I
never saw were Black Knights fitted into all this. I remember I made them
mercenaries for a while, then I made them evil, then I made them allies to the
Crusaders, they fitted a role as and when I needed it rather than being suited
to a specific style, I always had a problem with what to do with them.
Finally
when Dragon Masters came out I simply used all my Black Knights as extra warriors
for them and because the castles available for the Dragon Masters were rubbish
(in the humble opinion of the eight year old child I was) I used the above
castles as their main stomping ground. As the years progressed I forgot entirely that
the Black Knights were a faction unto themselves and had nothing to do with
what came after.
This could be completely unique to me but during my dark ages
I could recall every faction from the 80s and 90s except for the Black Knights,
I feel like that is a shame as they are a great faction and deserved better
than to be forgotten by yours truly.
I guess this article is a way of apologising to them for that.
Thanks for reading
(p.s the above picture is an old prototype castle from the late 80's, sadly it and many of the parts shown were never released)
