7020 Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon

[mikey]

A.D. 793. This year came dreadful fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery, dragons flying across the firmament. These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island, by rapine and slaughter. Siga died on the eighth day before the calends of March.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle announces the arrival of the Vikings onto the shores of Eastern England...

And in the year 2005 Lego would introduce a Viking Theme, which unfortunatly would not really live up to its potential, and only last to see a handfull of sets...

Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon

Released in 2006, with a recommended retail price of £17.99

The front of the box...

And the back...

Of course the highlight of this set are the 7 MiniFigs!

I think the Viking MiniFig's are exceptional designs, and are all very usuable for any Castle scene, containing both an interesting Torso and Head.

I am not really a fan of the Greatsword Angular style of sword, and the Horned Helmet is more Wagner than Viking, but historical accuracy is not something that this set (or the theme) was aiming for!

As I was unable to get a Decent Parts Picture, the BrickLink Inventory shows the range of Parts, and the large quantity of Technic pieces within the set.

Although I would like to highlight the intresting parts:

Apart from the beautifull printed Tan Dish, the Brown Tile with a golden intertwined snake is a work of art.

And the unusual, these two are used to create the Play Feature of rapid firing missiles.

The instructions, with artwork on the bottom corner and misty sea scape in the background. This page is unusual with having a Piece Call Out Box, generally this is not a feature, and alongside that more pieces are put on in each step than recent instructions, it took me longer than usual to build the set.

The dominance of Technic is apparent from the initial stages as the frame begins to take shape.

A sub model which will be the base of the Rapid Fire Missiles.

Attached to the frame with large Technic beams, the rapid fire mechanism can be seen, and will operate as the handle is turned. This will cause the two Sports Bases to be pulled back, one after each other, which would Fire the missiles. These are held in a studless beam, which drops down as each missile is fired.

The front of the Wagon is made from usefull Reddish Brown.

And attached to the Technic frame.

This is how the Army of Vikings will pull thier heavy Wagon.

Another tiny sub model, which will fit inside the Wagon.

A few spare pieces are left over.

So now our Heavy Artillery Wagon is built, what does it look like?

Well its big, and lets be honest not that nice looking!

The Rapid Fire System in all its Technic Glory!

And with the MiniFigs.

Design: 6

I really think this is an Ugly model, it is far to big and everything about it is unrealistic.

But the Missile System is actually quite clever, it works well (I only tested it for review purposes!) and is of a good design. I just don't think it belongs in a Viking Set!

Parts: 8

This has many Technic Parts, although some of them are quite usefull such as long studded beams. There is a reasonable selection of Reddish Brown. Of course the beautifull printed parts increase the score aswell. Considering the RRP it does deserve an 8.

Build: 9

I knew I would not like this set from the moment I saw it, but I have to say that I enjoyed building it. Many sub-models and Technic pieces, along with the instructions which require more concentration made it an enjoyable build.

Minifigs: 10

Seven Minifigs!

Playability: 8

Although I am not a fan of Flick Fire Missiles, I can see the attraction for a 9 year old. And to be fair these work well.

Price: 8

Based of a RRP of £17.99 to get 7 MiniFigs and 269 pieces (even though many are Technic) is acceptable.

Total: 49/ 60

My reason for buying this was the MiniFig's, I paid £25 with delivery, which I think is good value for these interesting characters togethor with a reasonable selection of parts. I knew I would not like the actual model, but I was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed the building process.

The Viking Theme could have been spectacular but was ruined with Technic Monsters and Fantasy Based Vehicles, but we were given some excellent Torsos with which we can create our own more fitting tribute to the splendour of medieval anglo-scandinavian civilization.

Edited November 24, 2010 by mikey

[Svelte]

Thanks for this sweet review!

I really only bought this one when it came out for the great value figs and to get some of those sweet printed 1x6 tiles! The main model was ridiculously large and already a repeat in some ways from the more compact set we'd seen the year before. That said, the catapult did work well and the idea of a cartridge went on to become popular in other lines such as Castle and even the Republic Shuttle.

PS, I added a poll

[Milan]

It is reallu not the pretiest set.

Minifigs are awesome, so are the shields.

Catapult is a nice idea, but it could had been build better!

[Commander Laquiet]

Great review!

I don't think this is the nicest set, but, having said that, it comes with some very useful parts by the look of it. And, amazingly, it comes with enough minifigures to man it!

The minifigs torsos are spectacular, the Vikings theme must have some of the best torsos ever created.

Thanks for this review!

[Hewman]

Thanks for the review of this excellent set. I managed to get a copy of it when it came out for just $24 AU, making it one of the best value for money sets ever for me. The number and variation in the figs and printed pieces is way above what sets usually have. Although the catapult isn't the most beautiful thing in the world, the firing mechanism is extremely clever allowing rapid re-firing. The only tiny criticism I have of this set is the difficulty in getting all the vikings to hold on and maintain both legs on the ground, it can get quite fidget for big adult hands.

[The Cobra]

This set is great beacuse of quality and quantity of minifigs. Plus, I bought it for 17 Euros and RRP was 30. And the firing system is awesome. That's why I consider this set "oustanding" (and lastyear's Troll assault wagon a ripoff)

[Yreodred]

I actually bought 2 of them for half the normal price a year ago.

The Wagon itself is... well unrealistic, but fun to play with.

My main reason to buy tihs set where the Minifigures, and they are really nice and well detailed.

This set is a great source for Weapons and those Great Viking Shields.

The Viking Theme could have been spectacular but was ruined with Technic Monsters and Fantasy Based Vehicles, but we were given some excellent Torsos with which we can create our own more fitting tribute to the splendour of medieval anglo-scandinavian civilization.

I agree that the Vikings line would have been even better if TLC would have removed the Technic Monsters (and these flick fire Missiles) and replaced them with an enemy Fraction the vikings could battle, like another viking clan, orcs, or some Knights for example.

TLC even could have included Vikings into the regular Fantasy Castle line of 2007-2009.

[gogobig]

I actually bought 2 of them for half the normal price a year ago.

The Wagon itself is... well unrealistic, but fun to play with.

My main reason to buy tihs set where the Minifigures, and they are really nice and well detailed.

This set is a great source for Weapons and those Great Viking Shields.

I agree that the Vikings line would have been even better if TLC would have removed the Technic Monsters (and these flick fire Missiles) and replaced them with an enemy Fraction the vikings could battle, like another viking clan, orcs, or some Knights for example.

TLC even could have included Vikings into the regular Fantasy Castle line of 2007-2009.

Agree. Didnt like the whole monster thingy and would rather prefer a barbarian horde or some other faction to fight against. With that said, I bought a total of 15 (I believe) sets of Vikings and this set is absolutely outstanding.

[Big Cam]

All the figs make this set look like a steal.

Nice review, some blurry pics but still very nice.

[Commodore Hornbricker]

I thought all the Viking sets had some good parts selection and the minifigures and their shields were a very welcome addition to my collection. I didn't keep any of those sets together long but their parts and colors always come in handy!

[rafsemedo]

The Viking Theme could have been spectacular but was ruined with Technic Monsters and Fantasy Based Vehicles, but we were given some excellent Torsos with which we can create our own more fitting tribute to the splendour of medieval anglo-scandinavian civilization.

Agreed in every word. I heard of the Viking theme after a 5 years Dark Age, and just the thought of such a great theme excited me a lot. But then when I got into LEGOs website to check the sets out I got quite disappointed. Yes, those minifigs were awesome, and some sets like the Fortress and the huge Ship had these outstanding designs. But what the hell were those machine guns and robot-like creatures doing among those warriors of antiquity?

I wouldn't care about the addition of mythology based monsters or to the 100% accuracy of indumentary (I know historic viking helmets had no horns, but I do find them aesthetically nice on the minifigs), but those futuristic elementes really ought not to be there.

This was such a waste of a good theme, and I dream with the day LEGO will rework it. It would be so pleasant to see these ancient myths or civilizations like the scandinavian, saxons or celts pictured properly by LEGO. Fortunatelly we can sometimes see these really cool MOCs about vikings.

Thats a good review for a poor set. The only purpose I would buy it for would be to get those reddish brown plates, the small bars and printed tiles, as well as, of course, those minifigs, shields and weapons. They would be of great use to a MOC.

[Sir Dillon]

Thanks for the review Mikey!

As others have said, the main reason to get this set is the figures. The siege engine has a few nice pieces, but is big, ugly, and not very appealing to me personally. I do wish this had come with regular sized shields instead of the large tan type, but overall I think this is a good set for the money.

[Lordofdragonss]

Aaaah.. Vikings... This absolutely amazing "Castle" theme.... As others says: The minifigs are key to win here. Oh and the axe blades!

About set: I don't like it... it's just a... Technic skeleton with few bricks...

[fenrir]

Nice review,

Unlike many people here I realy like this set.

It's one of my favourite Viking sets.

It has a great range of minifigs and the color selection is great.

The fire-system works great. I like the looks of this set as well.

I think it's much better than for example Troll assault wagon or the tower raid.

(9/10) in my opinion.

[Siegfried]

I liked this set, but when this set came out I had only recently exited my Dark Ages and I had comparatively loads of Viking already as I ended up with every set from the first wave. Thus I skipped this one... and I regret it now as it was a good deal. If I'd known there was not going to be any more sets I probably would have felt different.

I especially love the packed refreshments!

Thanks for the review.