Calcio in Illyrian [Challenge 2B]

[mccoyed]

Illaryian, Varlyrio

Even in times of peace, it is sometimes necessary to maintain the practices of war. Supano Amancio and his advisors considered ways to fulfill the Queen's decree and eventually had the idea of reviving the old sport of Calcio as a way to not only promote cohesion between the Guilds, especially newly welcomed Varlyrio, but also as a way to keep the warriors of the Guilds doing something where their skills are useful off the battlefield.

An exhibition game between teams made up of Kaliphlini and Mitgardian warriors was hastily planned. The warriors, of course, very much enjoyed a chance to meet on any field of honor. It's important to remember that Calcio is a rough game, however, The ball is heavy and must be maneuvered with the full strength of the body. Between the ball and the martial prowess of the players, Calcio often leads to injuries.

The Mitgardian and Kaliphlin onlookers react with horror or elation as a Mitgardian player goes down in a spray of blood across the sand. The Varlyrians in the crowd are mostly bemused at the peoples of other Guilds playing their ancient sport.

Queen Ylspeth herself has turned up for the exhibition. Though a part of her would rather be walking among the people, taking in their reactions and the general pulse of her subjects, she can't argue with the superior view of the game from the rooftop. She is flanked by Cedrican guards and N'ri, her friend from Mwamba, as well as a young woman from Mitgardia. Alva Tyrnsdottir has walked a long road from Arnarvhall, but she is proud to be in the Queen's service.

As trade and travel open between the Guilds, plenty of people from Kaliphlin are able to show up for their team's big game.

On the other side of the sand, the Mitgardians have also turned up in numbers. Unused to the heat of Varlyrio, many have shed their furs and leathers in favor of the lighter clothing of their southern territories.

Varlyrians move about the plaza where the game has been set. A Knight of Sana Argenta offers water to a thirsty minotaur sailor. Warriors, sailors, and people from all around Varlyrio move about on their business or stop to watch.

Crown Knights of Cedrica mix with Varlyrian orders, prominently patrolling in parade armor to show that they are there to keep the peace and promote the mix of cultures.

The game also provides a good cover for meetings of import between important Guild Leaders... Supano Amancio and Elon Chorian make no effort to hide who they are, nor what they discuss. For now, this is a chance meeting (or meant to seem like one) which, for anyone who doesn't know Chorian, might explain why he has no guards. Amancio is flanked by two members of other Varlyrian Houses, periodically drafted as ceremonial guards to promote cooperation among the Houses and giving a Rego a chance to get to know rising stars.

It seems obvious that these two may meet again. Perhaps with the High Queen. Perhaps not. What might come out of that meeting, however, is anyone's guess...

--

Thanks for looking!

Builder's Notes:

Spoiler

 

-Not super happy with the "overview" photo but I don't have a set up that works well for a build this size. Oh well. Hopefully the other pics sell the build, one of the largest I've ever made in terms of base size.

-Also not sure the street is great, but I wanted to make sure I could actually cover the whole area as well as give the impression of a clean, "showy" plaza set up specifically for this big event.?

-I couldn't think of a way to do the sandy "court" for the game without just going "studs out" which is a texture I associate with roughness anyway. I added a few "drifts" to show some depth as the sand would be kicked around like on a volleyball court. I lack the sandy tan tiles to have made it all smooth with rough spots, which would have been a good alternative I think.

-The build was inspired by a real sport: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcio_Fiorentino

-People who remember my Book 2 builds might recall Alva Tyrnsdottir. Been a while since we've seen her so if anyone was wondering what happened to her, here she is.

-It's nice to be able to include some of my Brick Arms and Brick Warriors stuff again!

-I snuck a lot of sigfigs and prominent characters into this. See if you can spot them all.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by mccoyed

[Grover]

What a great build!  I love the idea of the sport having a dual purpose for military as well.  I had originally thought of the Mayan ball games (which were kind of violent by some accounts) so I'm glad you included the historic link.  Pretty interesting!  I think the street looks good.  It looks like a well maintained city street, which seems in line with this being the prominent center of attention for foreign visitors, and Varlyrio in general seems pretty modern given the medieval setting of most of the areas.  I really like the color choices of the three main buildings.  You have enough texture that they look realistic, yet not too much to seem run down or falling apart.  The sand green vs. the white vs. the dark tan is great, and it's broken up well with the red/dark red tile roof on the middle building.  The amazing thing to me is how well the light purple works.  I would not have thought to use that lavender color, but it really breaks up the build and looks spectacular.  Really well done!

[Spader]

Very nice! I love the spannish tiling that you've done here, gonna have to use that myself

[adde51]

Nice work, great sense of action in the arena. I agree that it’s hard to balance the studs-up area as it unfortunately often makes it look a bit unfinished, but I get what you were going for. Also liking the houses as a backdrop. Best of luck man! 

[en_zoo]

haha really nice! Italian is my mother tongue, so as soon as I read the title, I went like 'oh man, did he actually mean...?' Yes, that's what you meant! Love the idea and the execution. I think the street might do with some little variation, though it makes sense for it to be kept well - they don't have to be big, maybe just a cracked tile (stone) here and there (a 1x1 round to represent it?). I see what you mean about the sandy court, though if you'd had tiles there too, it would've been too many of them, imo; I reckon it's fine as it is. Really nice small houses in the background and awesome figs (the dwarf goalie cracks me up ).

[Basiliscus]

Really lovely work! Love the scale of this one.

Like the wall of the court, it's a nice repeating pattern. You've made the scene seem very busy with all the figs and I can imagine all the deals going on in the background.

The court base with the tan plates looks good, the addition of the variation in height makes it more natural. My OCD was triggered by the goals not being perfectly centered though!

Good work and glad to see Varlyrio getting so many entries in this challenge!

[Muakhah]

This is a really cool build.  The big draw for me is the posing of the players and the crowd supporting the two teams. There are so many lovely figs on display and even the Queen.  It seems from the builds so far the Queen has a soft spot for Varlyrio.... yes yes I’m bitter and jealous.

the houses along the back look excellent but my question for them is about windows... not a single one? I think that might have made the back wall just a bit more interesting.

i think the rough studs work for the playing area, especially compared to the smooth roads around them.

I read the link about the game and stumbled on this quote from Henry III of France “Too small to be a real war and too cruel to be a game”. Sounds very suitable for Varlyrio.

[mccoyed]

On 1/28/2019 at 2:11 PM, Grover said:

What a great build!  I love the idea of the sport having a dual purpose for military as well.  I had originally thought of the Mayan ball games (which were kind of violent by some accounts) so I'm glad you included the historic link.  Pretty interesting!  I think the street looks good.  It looks like a well maintained city street, which seems in line with this being the prominent center of attention for foreign visitors, and Varlyrio in general seems pretty modern given the medieval setting of most of the areas.  I really like the color choices of the three main buildings.  You have enough texture that they look realistic, yet not too much to seem run down or falling apart.  The sand green vs. the white vs. the dark tan is great, and it's broken up well with the red/dark red tile roof on the middle building.  The amazing thing to me is how well the light purple works.  I would not have thought to use that lavender color, but it really breaks up the build and looks spectacular.  Really well done!

A lot of sports started as ways to keep fit between wars. Mayan ball games, rugby, and actual Calcio were all things I had in mind for this, but I had to go with Calcio for the Mediterranean origin. Just fits Varlyrio best!

Thanks for the compliments about the buildings. Originally wanted them to be much bigger, more like the drawing connected to the Wikipedia page. But I had to keep it small for brick reasons. :P

23 hours ago, Judge of the Wastelands said:

Very nice! I love the spannish tiling that you've done here, gonna have to use that myself

Thanks. Can't take credit, though. I think I picked that up from the Snyder brothers and their tutorials.

23 hours ago, adde51 said:

Nice work, great sense of action in the arena. I agree that it’s hard to balance the studs-up area as it unfortunately often makes it look a bit unfinished, but I get what you were going for. Also liking the houses as a backdrop. Best of luck man! 

Thanks adde. Did you see your sigfig on the Kali side? I confess there aren't really any good pics of him but he's in there.

22 hours ago, en_zoo said:

haha really nice! Italian is my mother tongue, so as soon as I read the title, I went like 'oh man, did he actually mean...?' Yes, that's what you meant! Love the idea and the execution. I think the street might do with some little variation, though it makes sense for it to be kept well - they don't have to be big, maybe just a cracked tile (stone) here and there (a 1x1 round to represent it?). I see what you mean about the sandy court, though if you'd had tiles there too, it would've been too many of them, imo; I reckon it's fine as it is. Really nice small houses in the background and awesome figs (the dwarf goalie cracks me up ).

So glad you appreciated it! I think you're right about maybe breaking up the tiles with some cracks, dips, damage, etc. I probably could have made that work. Placing all the figs had to be done before the tile was completely put in. Next time I might plan in advance.

And of course any Mitgardian sport would have a dwarf for a goalie!

13 hours ago, Basiliscus said:

Really lovely work! Love the scale of this one.

Like the wall of the court, it's a nice repeating pattern. You've made the scene seem very busy with all the figs and I can imagine all the deals going on in the background.

The court base with the tan plates looks good, the addition of the variation in height makes it more natural. My OCD was triggered by the goals not being perfectly centered though!

Good work and glad to see Varlyrio getting so many entries in this challenge!

Thanks Bas. Tried to go for a kind of Greco-Roman pattern. Like this.

Good catch on the goals. I did not notice until now that I didn't center them correctly. The Mitgardian goal is actually wider! Naturally the Mitgardian Mittens will say this was done on purpose to fix the results of the game...

11 hours ago, Muakhah said:

This is a really cool build.  The big draw for me is the posing of the players and the crowd supporting the two teams. There are so many lovely figs on display and even the Queen.  It seems from the builds so far the Queen has a soft spot for Varlyrio.... yes yes I’m bitter and jealous.

the houses along the back look excellent but my question for them is about windows... not a single one? I think that might have made the back wall just a bit more interesting.

i think the rough studs work for the playing area, especially compared to the smooth roads around them.

I read the link about the game and stumbled on this quote from Henry III of France “Too small to be a real war and too cruel to be a game”. Sounds very suitable for Varlyrio.

I think the High Queen simply wants to bring unity. I'm sure she'd show up in Kaliphlin for the right reasons. Also, for all we know she came to surreptitiously keep an eye on Elon and Supano. Two of the most powerful men in Historica. I wouldn't go telling the Queen's business to some old sandy naysayer. :P

You're right about the windows. I thought about including them when the original idea for this was to have much taller buildings. I opted out thinking that the buildings would be too squat for it to matter but in retrospect, they should have them. That said, just imagine this plaza is behind the main facades of these buildings. All according to plan. Yeeeessss.

That quote was definitely something I kept in mind when I decided to do this build. It fits Varlyrio perfectly as you say and I hope takes on a more Greco-Roman flavor for the original "bread and circuses" prompt. I was thinking of doing a gladiatorial arena as well and I'm glad someone else used that idea since I think it fits Varlyrio (and Historica in general) quite well.

Anyone scrambling to get something done in the next two days should consider finding some obscure sport from their Guild's countries/regions of influence.

[adde51]

haha, I had a closer look and spotted him, nice!

[mccoyed]

On 1/30/2019 at 8:26 AM, adde51 said:

haha, I had a closer look and spotted him, nice!

;)

GAH! I just realized I spelled "Illaryian" wrong again in the post title!

[de Gothia]

Lovely idea! It´s great to flickr through all the mocs and see all the fantastic entries, and this one is no exception! 

 

The crowded mocs looks really good and the fence around the field of play is a nice touch!

[mccoyed]

On 1/31/2019 at 3:01 PM, de Gothia said:

Lovely idea! It´s great to flickr through all the mocs and see all the fantastic entries, and this one is no exception! 

 

The crowded mocs looks really good and the fence around the field of play is a nice touch!

Thanks DG.

[Rogue Angel]

Great work!  I love the fact that this originated from an Italian game, and as @Muakhah mentioned, it is very fitting for Varlyrio.  I like the buildings and varieties, I really like how the basic 2 round stud and tile combo worked for the railing on the right building.  I would echo other sentiments on the bley tile, and am also not a fan of how the profile bricks end up with clear seams when you want to have a full-profile surface, as in the dark tan building.  Still not a lot of good options to deal with that.  Great concept and execution, and a ton of activity in this build!

[mccoyed]

Thanks Rogue. I tried to make the brick seams regular at least, because I see that too. What I probably should have done is gone for a broken-up texture with bricks scattered here and there rather than something newer looking. My big dock warehouse building from one of my sig builds would have been good as a reference.

[Garmadon]

Very nice entry, mccoyed - definitely looks like a brutal game, but you've nailed the presentation: I'm totally digging that arena!  Nice work with the crowds around too, and it's always fun to see builds with a bunch of different sig-figs in them! 

[soccerkid6]

Lovely buildings lining the back edge of the street The colors all work smoothly together, and you have a nice mix of textures.

Plenty of fun and interesting fig posing inside the arena and among the spectators.

Is that Eryl getting a boost from Mikkel Winter Stone for a better view among the Mitgardian fans?

[mccoyed]

On 2/13/2019 at 9:39 AM, Garmadon said:

Very nice entry, mccoyed - definitely looks like a brutal game, but you've nailed the presentation: I'm totally digging that arena!  Nice work with the crowds around too, and it's always fun to see builds with a bunch of different sig-figs in them! 

Thanks!

4 hours ago, soccerkid6 said:

Lovely buildings lining the back edge of the street The colors all work smoothly together, and you have a nice mix of textures.

Plenty of fun and interesting fig posing inside the arena and among the spectators.

Is that Eryl getting a boost from Mikkel Winter Stone for a better view among the Mitgardian fans?

Thanks SK. And yeah, that's Eryl and Mikkel all right.

[Henjin_Quilones]

The crowd is nice, and the game looks fun. A few things that could use some work, I think, are the lack of windows already noted, as well as the way the lines on the field are raised above the surface by a stud. I think it would have looked better to have them on a level with the rest of the field. The fact that one goal is smaller than the other looks like a classic Varlyrian ploy to skew the betting, though, and is great even if accidental. 

As a minor note, N'ri is not from Mwamba, but an island just a bit to the north of Mwamba; his politics should not be seen as any commentary on the people of Mwamba, who have remained out of Historican politics altogether (aside from helping Henjin and Galaria build a new home, but that's not really political). 

[mccoyed]

On 3/5/2019 at 1:45 PM, Henjin_Quilones said:

The crowd is nice, and the game looks fun. A few things that could use some work, I think, are the lack of windows already noted, as well as the way the lines on the field are raised above the surface by a stud. I think it would have looked better to have them on a level with the rest of the field. The fact that one goal is smaller than the other looks like a classic Varlyrian ploy to skew the betting, though, and is great even if accidental. 

As a minor note, N'ri is not from Mwamba, but an island just a bit to the north of Mwamba; his politics should not be seen as any commentary on the people of Mwamba, who have remained out of Historican politics altogether (aside from helping Henjin and Galaria build a new home, but that's not really political). 

Yeah, I still can't believe I didn't think to put windows in. I'll also take your comment about the different goals even though that was totally an oversight on my part. I was probably looking at it way too much. Sometimes when you look at something for too long, it becomes distorted. The field was the first thing finished, weeks before I did the rest.

Thanks for the info on N'ri. I probably should have taken a closer look before including the character. I based it mostly on the scene you did with the meeting of all the guild leaders where N'ri was present.