[OL - FotL Cat1A] The Blue Banner answers the call

[Khorne]

From left to right: dismounted cavalryman; swordsman armed with dragon shield, thought to ward off enemy bullets, zhuge nu repeating crossbow archer; Meteor Hammer cavalryman; Zhao Liang; spearman; musketeer; flamethrower and operator

 

The Lotus Emperor has put his sight on the island of El Oleonda, or Jinzi isle as the Lotii refer to it, and the banners of the Empire answers his call to war. Raised amongst the men of the southern military province the Blue Banner army is led by Zhao Liang, the honorary Water Dragon. Formed around a small core of professional soldiers and feudal lords pledged to the Lotus Court, the bulk of the army actually comes from conscripted peasants. As is the case with most of the Lotii armies, there is little standardization in equipment and uniform save for it being shades of blue. Even though military reforms are underway, only a small amount of units have benefitted thus far. As such, a plethora of different weaponry can be found in the hands of the Lotus Emperor's soldiers, ranging from wholly antiquated to muskets somewhat on par with those of the Madrician nations.

Some soldiers are still armed with the so-called zhuge nu repeating crossbow. Ineffective against armored enemies, its fast-shooting bolts are plenty dangerous to the unarmored opponents commonly faced on El Oleonda. Plus, its high rate of fire has a demoralizing affects on those who are on its receiving end. Another seldom-seen weapon fielded by the Lotii is the flamethrower. Shooting small bursts of fire at the enemy, it can tear quite a hole in the lines of the opponents. That is, if the weapon manages to get that close.

[NOD]

The soldiers look dangerous and determined. I like the flamethrower with the dragon head.

[Brickwolf]

Beautiful minifigs!

[Jeff of Clubs]

Fantastic! The repeating crossbow and flame thrower are great additions! Well done all round!

[Bodi]

@Khorne I was waiting for your post as I wanted to see what you'll be able to work out after having pionneerd in introducing Far East militarymen in this game, and the wait was worth it. Those are serious stuff.

[Khorne]

14 hours ago, NOD said:

The soldiers look dangerous and determined. I like the flamethrower with the dragon head.

Thanks! I don't know how realistic the flamethrower is. It's something I remember from Age of Empires and I thought it'd be cool to include it here, to spice things up. After all, a bit of whimsical works in the world of BoBS.

8 hours ago, Bodi said:

@Khorne I was waiting for your post as I wanted to see what you'll be able to work out after having pionneerd in introducing Far East militarymen in this game, and the wait was worth it. Those are serious stuff.

Thanks, Bodi. I'm glad you like them. It can be tricky sometimes to find the pieces to build at least somewhat "correct" Far Eastern soldiers, but the Chinese New Year sets that have been released over the last years have some great stuff in them. As does Ninjago, in fact.

At first, I kind of struggled to come up with figures I liked equally (or better) than the ones I did for Jameis Farstrider's Guide, but I am happy with the result and both the Blue and Green Banner can be put next to each other.

They should make some more color versions of that sailor hat, though .

[evancelt]

These are so cohesive - they really look like a unit! The multi-shot crossbow is a fun idea. Awesome work