robuko Posted June 25, 2012 Duke Strange reports that the usurper apprentice Daniel has taken the name of his erstwhile Master, Doctor Dee. Daniel was quick to declare for the rebellion against Lord Ssilyrrlith, yet he is no blind slave of the Drow. He won favour with the rebels by hosting a werewolf battalion, and plotted to use the chaos to install himself as First Lord of Abyssan. And yet,... An uneasy truce has taken hold in the Nocturnus civil war. Each side knows the Elementals are capable of wiping us all out. And yet, each side knows such unearthly power is an unparalleled opportunity to dispose of one's enemies. Troops loyal to Lord Ssilyrrlith have held the capital. They do not want to kill fellow Nocturnians while a greater threat surrounds us all, and they have offered Daniel and his followers a safe passage out of Abyssan. Daniel wanted to hold fast, but his werewolves convinced him to take shelter in the caves. And so, they march out, under the watchful eyes of the loyalist Minotaurs of the Bull, Bat, and Boar regiments who have requisitioned Sharpe's tower. The Ifrit fire lords and their squires lead the march, piped out by the sweet music of the Clawbreakers pipers. The heavy beserkers, including the ferocious albino were-rabbit, show their good faith by marching at the tail. Daniel himself rides the dog Cerberus, accompanied by his faithful Djinn Bartimaeus and his master's phoenix Fawkes. The loyalist troops make their feelings quite clear, in the noncon-frontational way that pumped up minotaurs have. It is obvious that Daniel's battalion was armed by Mpya Stedor, perhaps even by the I.A.M.S. If any of us survive the onslaught of the Elementals, questions will be asked of Lord DaMaximus by the Reconciliation Council. I am obviously about 3 weeks behind the times with this. The main techniques I wanted to try here were about building on the diagonal, use of loose bricks to landscape the lava river, and the suggestion of sulfuric lava through colour. I am not really happy with the colours, the browns get lost together; but I have tried to match the characters in Hersbrucker's band and this is what they wear. Maybe I should have gone for a stone bridge, but I wanted the feeling that the path heads out to the wastelands pretty quickly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerkid6 Posted June 25, 2012 Cool MOC, the angled buildings and bridge add a lot The bottom of Sharpe's tower looks very good, and the shields are a nice detail Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rogue Angel Posted June 26, 2012 I saw this early this morning, but could not see the pictures well on my phone. I'm surprised there's only 1 comment so far! I like the variety of styles, especially the use of the shields and the dark flesh bricks and the tiling on the building on the right, and the dark, green roofing and cornerwork on the building on the left. I also like your use of all the CMFs, but I'm not sure any of my forces will be worried about a were-rabbit. (of course there have been cases where rabbits were underestimated in the past....) Great build, and I love how I never know what I'm going to find in your builds. Keep it up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hyler Talliwell Posted June 26, 2012 Very nice. The dark green roof looks great. Cool figs as well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mephistopheles Posted June 26, 2012 I like the dark green roofing! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabe Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) Very cool - the minatour tower looks great with all the shields set into the overhang like that, and the bulbous tower looks very Nocturnian! The "keep out" sign is a cute touch too. The lava landcape works well, although i find the demarcation between the the fire area and the studded ground to be a bit too abrupt - i think if you'd extended the stone walkway out further it would have tied the two areas together more seamlessly. It's nice to get a continuation of Daniel's storyline - i'd forgotten all about him! It will certainly be interesting to see how the civil war in Nocturnus plays out in the months to come... ps. What is that in the side of the base (at the front)? A light brick? pps. Great presentation too btw - that purple background works really well with the colours you've got! Edited June 26, 2012 by gabe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
de Gothia Posted June 26, 2012 Agree that the purple background looks awesome to this moc! The moc itself is really nice! The tower with shields are so great! Haha, that werewolf with hat and bagpipe is awesome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain BeerBeard Posted June 26, 2012 Can we have a few more pictures? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ecclesiastes Posted June 26, 2012 That's great! Love the two different Nocturnus styles. Also the keep out sign is a fun part to use! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angeli Posted June 26, 2012 great representation ;) as minifig fan, I reckognize and love that part also Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike S Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) Interesting story and I love your character minifig usage! I'm going to have to make me some pumpkin head warriors! And the werewolf bagpiper, brilliant! Edited June 26, 2012 by Mikel Kalores Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robuko Posted June 28, 2012 (edited) Thanks all for your kind comments, I am really happy you liked the minifigs use, it is thrilling to get a compliment on that from a master like Angeli. The were-rabbit is a reference to Wallace and Gromit, I am not sure if it travelled internationally, but do not be fooled by his gentle appearance Rougueang! The piper is essential to any army's march The shields idea came from thinking, how would archers defend themselves in lego? They need 2 hands for the bows (all those minotaurs up top have crossbows aimed at the rebels, by the way) and there's no room to dedicate a squire to hold shields. It actually looks pretty good, and I think works well for archers. I think I got lucky with that lava backdrop, the cooling lava streams really match up well with the colours and patterns in the MOC. gabe, thanks as always for your thoughtful ideas. The demarcation is not represented well in these shots, the studded are is 2 bricks higher than the lava and there are slopes covered with flames to smooth the transition - but they are not visible from this angle as they slope into the river (and that phoenix gets in the way). I designed with this photo angle in mind from the beginning, but forgot about that aspect. Wish I had more orange plates or tiles to smooth it. Actually, I would have given a kingdom for red plates in this build, and I just found out they were all holding the piscithopter together! The visible stud in the front side is one of these which is holding Bartimaeus above the flames. You are right about the stonework on the bridge, but I didn't have the height between bridge and lava available to carry it over to the studded part (because of that invisible drop). Looking at these photos (CBB, there are more, but they probably do not yet pass your dirty carpet standards test ), the amount of angles just doesn't show at all. As well as the offset for Daniel's House, the bridge changes direction at its landing point, and both Sharpe's tower and its surrounding wall are also angled. I'm kind of pleased that this is invisible, because it means the joins are not too obvious - but I will have to learn to choose better photo angles too! Edit: more angles seen here Edited July 3, 2012 by robuko Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
