MassEditor

[WZ6:B7] The Fall of Northwall

Recommended Posts

Northwall had been under siege for nearly two weeks before the Desert King's commanders gave the order for an all-out attack against the fortified city. The vanguard included a brigade of Nocturnian orcs trained in the tactics of siege warfare. Among their equipment and machines was a large battering ram, which was pushed right up to Northwall's front gate. Crossbowmen, protected within a testudo formation, kept the walls clear of Ulandian archers while the ram thundered against the door. After more than an hour the heavy wooden gate split and separated from its housing. Prepared for the breakthrough, the orcs rushed inside to meet the Ulandian defenders face-to-face. Mummy soldiers and other regular troops in the Desert King's command were quick to exploit the situation and followed closely behind.

It became apparent the Ulandian 2nd Legion, nicknamed the Salamanders, refused to lose the city. With its walls breached, Northwall was quickly being overrun, yet the Salamanders stood their ground. When the Desert King's troops declared victory the next morning, not a single soldier of the 2nd Legion had been captured - the entire unit had fought to the last man. Despite being vastly outnumbered the Salamanders had inflicted terrible losses against the Desert King's army. Several entire Desert King companies were annihilated in the fighting. When the losses were finally counted, the day was marked as the bloodiest since the war began.

16479214514_c5e6e85f08_c.jpg

A few other angles:

16479214494_9599a6e576.jpg

16479214484_d86747c8e3.jpg

Soldiers of the 2nd Legion brace Northwall's gate in an attempt to stop the Desert King's army:

16479214474_23a27912ac.jpg

Historical annals would later note the heroism displayed by the 2nd Legion that day, and even the Desert King would pay his respects to the legendary unit. So too did those who fought against the Salamanders that day, and they erected a hasty monument to honor the dead from both sides.

16479214284_dcd51ebc1c.jpg

And the battering ram by itself:

16479214034_b240681b93.jpg

--------------------------------------

Hello! This is my entry for Warzone 7. I tried to go with a blend of Avalonian/Kaliphlin architecture here, hope this looks appropriate for the area. I'm sure this minichallenge is going to produce some sweet builds, I know I had fun with it! I should not I had originally built a larger, more proportionate gatehouse but it really threw off the build's composition so I scraped it. I liked that the area above the gate was shorter than the surrounding wall. Just imagine there's a big, ornate gatehouse right were the build stops! :laugh:

Anyways, thanks for looking, feedback always appreciated!

If I win, I'd like B7 to be my next Warzone pick.

Edited by MassEditor

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Another awesome wall design! It's really an interesting challenge, everybody used an very different design but they all had top quality.

Edited by marcu22

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tremendous walls! I like how the display is framed with it. The gate is also fantastically built.

If it had fitted on 16x32, I would have lent you my war rhino for ramming the gate :grin:

Edited by Jacob Nion

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent minifig posing! The wall is also very nice :thumbup:

The only thing that I could suggest as an improvement is that the wall looks a tad too polished, some mottling or texture would have improved it imho.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A very nice build for this WZ, great touch with the graves at the end! :laugh: The Ulandians on the opposite side of the wall are well posed too, especially the guy with his back against it! :thumbup:

Only one nitpick, if I may - the entire scene looks more like it's inside a city rather than outside. I think it's because of the way the wall turns in, rather than out. To a lesser extent the architecture strikes me as more of a governmental building rather than a wall, but that's not so important. Of course with the size limit making the wall turn the other way would have been highly impractical though!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent build MassEditor, fantastic fig posing and great job on the wall and battering ram! :sweet::thumbup: The roof and portcullis are superb as well, and I really like the second to last picture!

I agree with Kai though that its does seem a bit more like it is inside the city than outside, mostly because the wall extends straight out from the gatehouse. This is going to be an interesting battle to watch! :wink:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Lovely moc ME... The structure is well done and the soldiers approaching the gate. The photography is also top notch...!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot everyone!

It's really an interesting challenge, everybody used an very different design but they all had top quality.

Agreed! I think this minichallenge will make for one of the best yet and I assume it's going to be a very tight race.

If it had fitted on 16x32, I would have lent you my war rhino for ramming the gate :grin:

Haha, I had actually thought about how well that rhino would have fit here!

Excellent minifig posing! The wall is also very nice :thumbup:

The only thing that I could suggest as an improvement is that the wall looks a tad too polished, some mottling or texture would have improved it imho.

Thanks Gideon, I agree wholeheartedly but time was against me on this one. Though I hope this was still a nice change from the worn, mottled walls we see en masse now. A city like Northwall would naturally be very proud of its defenses, and keep them in good shape for perhaps ornamental as well as defensive purposes.

Only one nitpick, if I may - the entire scene looks more like it's inside a city rather than outside. I think it's because of the way the wall turns in, rather than out. To a lesser extent the architecture strikes me as more of a governmental building rather than a wall, but that's not so important. Of course with the size limit making the wall turn the other way would have been highly impractical though!

Thanks Kai! I had anticipated this response, and looking back I should have gone with an angled design like Emma's sweet entry. But I imagined this gate, like many other castle gates, would be set back within the fortification and be flanked on either side by walls for maximum enfilade fire for the defenders.

Also, I saw Northwall's fortification as being a little more decorated than the standard stone wall, plus there was some Avalonian influence and I focused mostly on the more elaborate architecture of Avalonia's elves. If it's the roof over the battlements that throws it off, just know they do a great job of keeping the sun out of the archers' eyes! :laugh:

Edited by MassEditor

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That portcullis and battering ram (with housing) is tremendous. Very rich and awesome looking place those orcs are assaulting too. My only question/criticism would be about the heavy (complete?) use of TLG minifigs. I know it's not uncommon to do this, but I think kitbashing a little would have kept this from being a distraction. Then again, I love remixing figs so maybe I'm biased!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is an outright beautiful build, even though it depicts something rather brutal! :wub:

It really makes me want to see what you could do, if you came out of those black holes in Nocturnus. :wink: Would be great to see the rest of the town above!

As to the minifigs, I see mccoyed's point, but also find that some of TLG's figures are:

1) Hard to remix, as torso/head/legs/weapons are specific to eachother

2) Great figs in their own right

Therefore, I also often use TLG's minifigs (or with minor adjustments), especially for soldiers, where some uniform(ity) is expected. :classic:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.