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Bregir

[Ch V, Cat B] Van Heyten's Folly

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Young lieutenant Parker had his orders. He was not, under any circumstances, to interfere. Cooke had been very clear on this matter, furrowing his brow and eying the young man with great gravity. And as if that hadn't been enough, Montoya had been going on at length about the impossibility of interfering with Eslandian politics.Nonetheless,

Parker had stressed these orders to their very limit, imploring the general to reconsider his plan, but to no avail. General Van Heyten was of the old guard. The very old guard, Parker thought, looking at the general overlooking the operations from the shore. He seemed to embody every Eslandian stereotype Parker had ever heard. Arrogant and pompous, too much spit and polish, and having surrounded himself with a set of officers more concerned with gaining the favour of their general than getting the job done, it was obvious that Eslandolas officers had long been accustomed to peace.

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Parker had been met with a patronizing arrogance, when he had suggested that perhaps reconnoitering ahead to estimate enemy forces, and perhaps reconsidering the landing spot to find a place more suitable for getting supplies and artillery on shore. "You lads know nothing of warfare - I lead men before you were even breached!" He had exclaimed with laughter. "One might even think you craven, young man." Parker had clenched his fist unconsciously and the general had noticed flash of anger in his eye, quickly adding "... had I not known otherwise, of course."

The plan was folly. Parker had followed the meticulous planning and dash in execution of several landing operations while serving under Cooke and other Corlander commanders. Nothing at this scale, granted, but the challenges would, if anything, only be more insurmountable here. First of all, the surf. Landing troops here would be hard, not to mention getting the artillery train ashore. Taking a boat in here required navigating the surf through jagged stone reefs, and even with this accomplished, the risk of capsizing near shore still remained. Many powder charges would be wet and useless, should they even reach the shore. And it was likely to grow worse, judging by the barometer.

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Second, the enemy. Two minutes of surveying the shore through a spyglass had been all. Van Huyten had declared that the Mardierian forces was no more than a sergeant's guard, and that they would be swiftly overcome. Parker had pointed out that the terrain was perfect for an ambush, and that even a sergeants guard and a single gun would be able to hold out against a much larger force until reinforcements could arrive. Perhaps the ineptitude in choice of landing place would be their saviour? Surely, the Mardierians could not expect them to land here? They had dispatched a rider to the nearest garrison, as soon as the ships had closed with shore, though. Third, the element of surprise. Their ships had made no effort to approach the landing site unseen, parading up and down the coast for two days now. Parker would have sent in a small vessel to chose a beachhead (of which he had already identified several more suitable for the task), and then stood in under courses alone at first dawn. He had seen this done  to great effect before, the attacking force being spotted only minutes before reaching shore. Last, supporting fire. The landscape here prevented any effectual fire from the ships to reach the enemy. Sand banks and reefs made it impossible for the squadron's larger ships to get close enough, and the smaller ones would have to fire over the heads of their own troops.

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But he was not to interfere. His orders were clear. He could only watch and take note of what he saw. Parker was not shy, but he admitted to himself that he was happy the general had ordered him to stay on board the transport. One thing was risking his life for Queen and country under competent commanders, another to do so for foreigners under a... Parker corrected himself and observed the shore.

 

The Garveyan marines, placed under command of van Heyten for this mission, seemed to share this view, as they held back their boats outside the surf. They were meant to be reserves, as the general had thought it only right that the Eslandian vanguard took the honour of the victory. However, they seemed reluctant reserves, unwilling to cross the dangerously violent breakers near shore. Parker had heard them speak ill of the general and his plan, and seen the glances they had given him. Their lieutenant seemed less than pleased with his new commander, and Parker doubted they would ever land, even though they were much more competent in handling their boats than the greenies.

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It was a slaughter. Parker could hardly make out the details, but he saw a boat capsize, another about to, and two boats collide, tipping over the one. Apparently, the sergeants guard had been waiting for them, for presently, two field guns opened fire on close quarters, spewing grapeshot into the unprepared landing force. Was that the general going down?

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Smoke was obstructing his view, but something surely happened. For most of the boats, it was too late to turn back, although they would be unlikely to reach the shore unscathed anyway. The battle was hopeless, its outcome as hopeless as the plan that had led to it, and apart from the Garveyans, who had stayed back, the invasion force was lost. Not much to write about, really, but such was his task. "Lessons in amphibious landings from the Isla de Medio by lt. Parker", would be grim reading for the admiralty back home, but it had to be written. So were his orders, after all...

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Hope this makes the cut. If there is any doubt, this is for Mardier! ;) As always C&C welcome. :)

 

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Great diorama. Love the vegetation, the waves(!), minifig posing, the rolling and the stranded boats. Fluent language and inspired writing. The story...

1 hour ago, Bregir said:

He seemed to embody every Eslandian stereotype Parker had ever heard. Arrogant and pompous, too much spit and polish, and having surrounded himself with a set of officers more concerned with gaining the favour of their general than getting the job done - snip

I can only say: Don't believe the hype.

 

Could not help noticing that the Mardier forces were awfully blue. Who's the warmonger now? :tongue:

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Beautiful! Nicely built, especially the waves, lush terrain, shipwrecked boats and minifig posing! Also very well written. I could feel the despair of the marines and the hopelessness of the whole operation. It nearly made me sad weren't it for the Greens. Instead, it made me feel angry for the loss of those marines. For let it be heard that in Oleon, we DO care for our boys! :wink:

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Really nice job Bregir, the finished product turned out really well. I especially like your signature water, you've managed to capture the look and feel of the surf really well. I think the vegetation adds just the right amount of green to the build as well. Great entry!

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Good entry ! I like the missed landing with rowboats telescoping one each other.

Too bad you're not building for Eslandola anymore... :cry_happy:

A really good entry ! good job !

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Ho-hum!  Somebody's got a very nice opinion of Eslandola's forces! :tongue: :laugh:  Well, very nice build overall, Bregir, your water is excellent as usual, and the colliding and capsizing boats are very neatly portrayed as well! :thumbup:  I know what you were probably thinking about the Mardierian troops, too - unfortunately orange and yellow don't have a good deal of serviceable and common torsos in LEGO!  (Somebody needs more Ninjago sets! :grin:)  You've got some really neat Eslandolan ones, though - pity they didn't make it!

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Nicely built diorama Bregir, the terrain and the waves are very realistic, I like all the details, especially those green dudes floundering about in the water.:laugh:

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On 01/04/2017 at 10:07 PM, Sir Stig said:

Great diorama. Love the vegetation, the waves(!), minifig posing, the rolling and the stranded boats. Fluent language and inspired writing. The story...

I can only say: Don't believe the hype.

 

Could not help noticing that the Mardier forces were awfully blue. Who's the warmonger now? :tongue:

Thank you - I am very happy with the waves myself, and did my best to pose boats and minifigs carefully to illustrate the chaos. As to the story, I do my best writing on my phone when I walk the dog at night, it seems! :tongue:

And to clarify, that stereotype isn't mine, but Parker's own... :pir-grin:

As to the blueness of the Sergeants guard, I think that is simply the uniform of some obscure Mardierian regiment. :tongue:

On 01/04/2017 at 11:42 PM, blackdeathgr said:

Beautiful! Nicely built, especially the waves, lush terrain, shipwrecked boats and minifig posing! Also very well written. I could feel the despair of the marines and the hopelessness of the whole operation. It nearly made me sad weren't it for the Greens. Instead, it made me feel angry for the loss of those marines. For let it be heard that in Oleon, we DO care for our boys! :wink:

Thanks, BD. I am happy I have hit upon the planned atmosphere with my build and story. And as should be clear, young parker shares your anger with the general and his foolhardy plan! :pir-wink:

On 02/04/2017 at 0:38 AM, Professor Thaum said:

The chaotic beaching is well displayed...

The head and the helmet in the water :laugh: excellent...

Thanks, Professor. I like adding those little details, as I enjoy seeing them in the builds of others. :pir-blush:

On 02/04/2017 at 0:48 AM, Ayrlego said:

Really nice job Bregir, the finished product turned out really well. I especially like your signature water, you've managed to capture the look and feel of the surf really well. I think the vegetation adds just the right amount of green to the build as well. Great entry!

Really happy you like the surf and waves - it was really fun to build - didn't know I had a signature water, but if this is it, I am quite happy with it! As you know, the beach was originally very barren, and due to yours (and Elos') feedback, I added something more, which definitely improved the final product! Thanks.

On 02/04/2017 at 2:20 PM, Faladrin said:

Good entry ! I like the missed landing with rowboats telescoping one each other.

Too bad you're not building for Eslandola anymore... :cry_happy:

A really good entry ! good job !

Thanks, Faladrin - the two rowboats colliding was probably the first idea I got for this build - it just seemed like an obvious danger in going through the surf! (And everybody knows Eslandians are more earth-bound and less aquatic than other nationalities :pir-wink: )

On 02/04/2017 at 11:43 PM, Elostirion said:

Fantastic waves, and the beach-setting has become really nice! Great work.

Thanks, Elos - as I said to Ayrlego, the beach part was much improved by your feedback! :pir-blush:

On 03/04/2017 at 11:12 PM, Garmadon said:

Ho-hum!  Somebody's got a very nice opinion of Eslandola's forces! :tongue: :laugh:  Well, very nice build overall, Bregir, your water is excellent as usual, and the colliding and capsizing boats are very neatly portrayed as well! :thumbup:  I know what you were probably thinking about the Mardierian troops, too - unfortunately orange and yellow don't have a good deal of serviceable and common torsos in LEGO!  (Somebody needs more Ninjago sets! :grin:)  You've got some really neat Eslandolan ones, though - pity they didn't make it!

Again, the opinion isn't mine, but Lieutenant Parker's! :tongue:

My water seems to be universally liked, which is good, as I am quite happy with it my self! :pir-grin: As to uniforms, I was originally planning on having custom Mardierian uniforms, but time escaped me. And anyways, in these days, different regiments could have widely different uniforms - at least that's my excuse! :pir-grin:

On 04/04/2017 at 0:58 PM, Bodi said:

Nicely built diorama Bregir, the terrain and the waves are very realistic, I like all the details, especially those green dudes floundering about in the water.:laugh:

Thank you, Bodi - about the green dudes, it would be very impolitic of me to say that I agree... :pir-wink:

On 16/04/2017 at 5:47 PM, Captain Braunsfeld said:

Nice photography and fantastic built action!

 

Thank you, Captain - Happy to hear the photography is good too.

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Great action shots! The whole scene is well composed for photographing. That's an often underestimated aspect. Many good mocs are not built for taking pictures, there's just no good angle for photographing. I love the waves, they look splendid and natural, and really add to the thrill of the scene.

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