[OL - Challenge III - Cat E] The Thin Black Line

[Khorne]

When the Crown of Carno went to war in Oleonda, its subjected city-states could not linger behind. Answering the call to war, so too did the sons of Essen cross the oceans into the New World.

What they saw was unlike anything many of them had ever seen before. Verdant jungles and exotic animals in a myriad of colors. Strange peoples that spoke unheard tongues. But even in the strangest and most unknown of situations, people tend to find things they deem recognizable. Such was also the case for some Essener soldiers, or Totenköpfe - Death's Heads, a reference to the skull on their bicorne hats.

The city state of Essen has a long history, which its inhabitants are extremely proud of. Originally descended of the same stock of people as the Garveyans, the Esseners share some aspects of culture, albeit merged and warped over time with Carnite influences. Like many people in Garvey and a lot of other northerners - even in Corrington -, the Esseners do not follow the pantheon of the faith, headed by Zeus and the likes. Instead they follow similar gods such as the Garveyans. Chief amongst these is Wotan, the All-Father. The Essener religion is very unstructured and unlike the church in Oléon, there is very little hierarchy or organization. Some even see it more as a Way of Life, instead of an actual religion. Esseners belief the current world to be corrupted and strive for a pure land, through a pure life with respect for nature and all surroundings. They follow the example of the All-Father who was granted all the wisdom in the known world through meditation under the World Tree.

Imagine the surprise of the Essener soldiers when their local guide led them to an ancient temple on the island of Oleonda. While those who had built the temple left ages ago, it was still looked after by other inhabitants of the Oleonda. It was a temple dedicated to Nirvan Emmet, who became enlightened as well, in a similar manner to Wotan. The Esseners didn't fully comprehend the story their guide told them, but it was enough to be awed and enthralled by the complex.

While the black guards of Essen admired the temple and inspected it further, some of their companion Carnites held guard outside. These Royal Troops served the Crown directly, unlike the State Troops from Essen, that served their city first and then the Crown. As such, these men had little affinity for the story of the local, most likely having different religious backgrounds than the soldiers from Essen.

While Maximilian Coehorn, leader of the Coehoorn Battlegroup, further inspects the temple with his men, the other Carnite soldiers keep guard.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, shots were fired. The remaining Carnite soldiers outside were taken by surprise and couldn't see their attackers through the thick jungle surrounding the temple. Before they could take up proper defensive positions, bullets were whizzing past them and ricocheting off the temple's stone walls. Soldiers were falling to the ground and panic grasped some of the men, which left them vulnerable for the next phase of the attack.

After firing their muskets, the Lotii attackers filtered out of the jungle, swords and spears in hands to finish off the remaining soldiers.

Aided by their mercenary allies, the Lotii quickly overwhelmed the guards. Their advance halted when the attackers were confronted with the rest of the Carnites. Alarmed by the gunshots, screams and clanging of swords, the Esseners filtered out of the temple and hastily formed a battle line. The pikemen pushed away any Lotus soldier that came too close, while the line infantry tried to shoot as many as they possibly could.

The Essener Death's Heads hastily tried to muster some sort of defense.

The Carnites were surprised to see other northerners among the enemies. They couldn't quite place the uniform - if one could even call it that - and had no idea where they came from. It was the least of their worries however and the men staunchly fought for the preservation of their lives.

In the end, the Lotii and their allies vanished as fast as they had shown up. Not wanting to lose too much men, the Lotii decided to cut their losses and strategically retreated. The combat doctrine of this Lotti battle group had changed under the guidance of their mercenary allies. While many Lotii were used to fight according to the honorable Way of the Dragon, they had now shifted tactics to the more devious Way of the Serpent. Open warfare would not bring victory and they knew it.

The Black Line of Essen held and the combined Carnite forces won the day, but the cost was heavy, with many dead and wounded. A cynical person would pose the question "why?", since what they found on the island was close to what they already had at home.

 

EXTRA

Some shots of all combatants. For more information, you can click on the photos and read the descriptions o Flickr. I have a whole history for Essen, but it was too expansive to add everything here. Same for the mercenaries, who are linked to the Society of Heracles. It would stray too much from the overall story, if I included every detail here. They are mainly aligned with the Lotii for the money and combat experience, with "fighting northern imperialist swine" as an added bonus.

Free City of Essen - Die Essener Totenköpfe by +Khorne, on Flickr

Light of the Lotus - Fleet of Foot by +Khorne, on Flickr

La Société d'Héracles - La Brigade Rouge by +Khorne, on Flickr

 

I also started working on a map a while back, to show the location of Essen and add some "body" to Carno, but I didn't get around to finishing it. You can see the WIP in the spoiler below. I tried to include lots of raven and (oak) tree iconography, whilst also keeping the entire feeling grim and dark, which is kind of the mindset of these guys. The figure in the top left is Wilhelm von Helborg, the duke that started the rebellion. The figure in the top right is his son, Karl von Helborg - the Eternal Duke.

Spoiler

 

BUILDER'S NOTES

I've had the temple (at least the main building) setting on my desk for a long time. It was supposed to be my entry for the Tyree'dee Challenge, but then COVID-19 happened, Bricklink shipments were delayed etc. I really liked the building and still wanted to use it, so I repurposed it for this MOC and then added the rest of the scene. It could use more trees and greenery, but all the green you see here is pretty much my entire collection .

I think that, in terms of surface, this is one of the largest MOCs I've made and the landscaping was a lot more difficult that I had anticipated. Much respect to all those builders that make crazy landscapes, irregular bases and off-canter building placement. You guys are the GOATs. I was already sweating for this! As always, I had great difficulty taking decent pictures, mainly because I don't have proper lighting to light it. I then have to brighten everything in Photoshop, which adds a ton of grain.

All in all, I'm relatively satisfied with this build. The battle scenes could've been better, like Keymonus' excellent entry, but I didn't have the time to make a lot of different scenens.

This is it, I hope you guys like it!

Edited May 31, 2020 by Khorne

[Ross Fisher]

I really like it. The figs are really well done. Love the reference to Emmett is really funny, too!

[merc]

Awesome build. The poses reflect the story well. The combination of minifigs are great. The story is fascinating and along with the units background.

[Khorne]

6 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

I really like it. The figs are really well done. Love the reference to Emmett is really funny, too!

Thanks! Glad you caught the reference! 

2 hours ago, merc said:

Awesome build. The poses reflect the story well. The combination of minifigs are great. The story is fascinating and along with the units background.

Thanks! The Red Brigade will surely make another appearance in the future and I'd really like to expand upon Essen too via (small) MOCs. We'll see!

[Legonaut]

Great Moc with some really nice figs (the extra Pictures of then are really good!). The Yellow roof with the Fading colour is neat and the Statue is a good Detail too. Your Landscaping is also really nice! 

 

[blackdeathgr]

Really nice build with an excellent moral lesson: those that love History, don't get butchered!  . Don't fret about your volume of LEGO flora. Unless you are a part of a LUG (thus eligible for lugbulk) or living close to a LEGO shop, it is usually quite an expensive aspect of mocing. Plus don't forget that BoBS can have grasslands and savannahs besides dense forests. With all that shipping and need for land to cultivate, I am sure deforestation is at work here in BoBS too...

Your figs are as always excellent! While I am torn when people are using white jackets for Carno - a norm in BoBS (for me they will always be hotdog/bratwurstchen cooks  ), your Totenkopfe soldiers are extraordinary!!!! Especially the use of those legs feel so natural with their continuation of the torso in creating a black vest...    (to think that a simple lbg or dark tan legs would suffice...pf!). Lotii too are a beautiful in their own and a colorful bunch and so are the enigmatic followers of the Societe du Hercule (as the royal spies of Oleon name them in their super secret briefings). Can't help but wonder who is the commissar chief of theirs in your photo. Beware though: Red is the color of our ancestral enemies so better hide from Calida and the aforementioned royal spies... 

Regarding the map, we are all eager to see it finished! If you need help, ask @Bodi to request some from the digital mapmaking guys in the Court. I believe they will be more than glad to help you add another chunk of lore to BoBS universe.

All in all a excellent entry with a 6 out of 5 points in narrative!!!!

 

P.S: Pardon me for the lack of umlaut in certain words as my keyboard has none I guess.

Edited May 31, 2020 by blackdeathgr

[Ross Fisher]

1 hour ago, blackdeathgr said:

Red is the color of our ancestral enemies so better hide from Calida and the aforementioned royal spies

Red is the colour of Hades! 

[Khorne]

13 hours ago, Legonaut said:

Great Moc with some really nice figs (the extra Pictures of then are really good!). The Yellow roof with the Fading colour is neat and the Statue is a good Detail too. Your Landscaping is also really nice! 

Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the landscaping. It's the bit I struggled with the most!

 

12 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

Really nice build with an excellent moral lesson: those that love History, don't get butchered!  . Don't fret about your volume of LEGO flora. Unless you are a part of a LUG (thus eligible for lugbulk) or living close to a LEGO shop, it is usually quite an expensive aspect of mocing. Plus don't forget that BoBS can have grasslands and savannahs besides dense forests. With all that shipping and need for land to cultivate, I am sure deforestation is at work here in BoBS too...

Your figs are as always excellent! While I am torn when people are using white jackets for Carno - a norm in BoBS (for me they will always be hotdog/bratwurstchen cooks  ), your Totenkopfe soldiers are extraordinary!!!! Especially the use of those legs feel so natural with their continuation of the torso in creating a black vest...    (to think that a simple lbg or dark tan legs would suffice...pf!). Lotii too are a beautiful in their own and a colorful bunch and so are the enigmatic followers of the Societe du Hercule (as the royal spies of Oleon name them in their super secret briefings). Can't help but wonder who is the commissar chief of theirs in your photo. Beware though: Red is the color of our ancestral enemies so better hide from Calida and the aforementioned royal spies... 

Regarding the map, we are all eager to see it finished! If you need help, ask @Bodi to request some from the digital mapmaking guys in the Court. I believe they will be more than glad to help you add another chunk of lore to BoBS universe.

All in all a excellent entry with a 6 out of 5 points in narrative!!!!

 

P.S: Pardon me for the lack of umlaut in certain words as my keyboard has none I guess.

You are right about the flora pieces, they are indeed mightily expensive! Especially the three-leaf tropic plant pieces. I only have 3 of those I once bought during a Bricklink clearance sale, but haven't bought any new ones since then. A minimum price of about €0,60 - €0,70/piece is a bit much to amass those pieces.

Thanks for the extensive feedback, I'm glad you like everything! I don't really have a big problem with the chef's torso for the Carnite soldiers, I actually really like @merc's Carnite soldiers on Flickr, but I wanted to try something different. Especially since the background stated that Carno is a relatively loose confederation of merchant cities and states, I just guessed that the states themselves had a relative autonomy over certain matters such as uniform choice. I liked how the black fireman torso matched the chef's vest torso in terms of design (double row of buttons) and thought "hey, this could be a black version of the uniform". It all kind of started rolling from there: Q - "Why would the uniform be black?" -> A - "It looks cool, OR it might be symbol of loss and death" -> Q - "What did they lose or who died?", etc etc. . I chose the long coated legs because I felt it fit the time period more. One of the inspirations was the Swedish Army of the Great Northern War.

The guy leading the Brigade Rouge is actually a character that appeared in a previous MOC of mine already (the first Société d'Héracles MOC): Nicolas Pierrot. There, I already alluded that's he's more in favor of physical action, instead of just handing out bread and philosophical debates to address the struggles of the common folk. I also dropped a mention in the doss house MOC about Emilien Dorée being interested in Magnus' military Foreign Legion background and "having further plans for people like that".

 

11 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

Red is the colour of Hades! 

Obviously it is the symbol for the spilt blood of the working class in their struggles!

I think I also addressed the issue in the first Héraclist MOC: they chose red specifically to annoy the established order in Oléon. Red is the color of Corrington, so it angers the Oléon conservative (political) deep blues: the conservatives and nationalists; but since it is also the color of Hades, the religious order is annoyed as well. Two birds in one stone: DOWN WITH THE ANCIEN REGIME! EQUALITY FOR ALL! 

[Fraunces]

Temple, action, landscape, minifigures, story, extra's like the amazing drawn map.. Just a 10/10. 

More of this please !!

[Ross Fisher]

I'm guessing that there are also some deliberate allusions to Red Army Faction as well.

[Khorne]

7 hours ago, Fraunces said:

Temple, action, landscape, minifigures, story, extra's like the amazing drawn map.. Just a 10/10. 

More of this please !!

Thanks, @Fraunces! I hope I get to finish the map sometime, but there's still loads of work to be done.

 

5 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

I'm guessing that there are also some deliberate allusions to Red Army Faction as well.

Yeah, there's definitely all-around inspiration from various [communist] revolutionary factions. The basis is obviously the French Revolution, but I mixed it with all kinds of other revolutionaries. The Red Brigade as a name wasn't my first choice, though. I actually didn't want to call it like that, to make the inspiration less direct. I still want it to be a BoBS thing and not just real life events, groups or persons copy-pasted 1:1 into the universe.

I was going originally going to call the organization the "People's Association for Traveling", because I find a euphemism like that 1) funny, 2) they actually do travel for their mercenary work, which 3) helps hide the true purpose of the organization. That or Popular Brigade. However, when you translate words with 'people's X' to French, it becomes 'X Populaire'. I feel you lose the strength of the word "people" and it becomes more like its something popular, more in the sense of "everybody's doing it" instead of "of the people". That was my gripe with "Popular Brigade", too. It's sounds and reads like a group of influencers with lots of social media clout . In Dutch and German, we have the word 'volk' which also denotes 'people' and you can build words with it, like "volksfront". Literally, it means "people front", but in English or French it would also become "Popular Front" or "Front Populaire" which loses its meaning to me.

I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not a native speaker that the word "popular" doesn't feel like it means "of the people", as much as it links to clout and popularity for me . In Dutch we have the word as well, but we exclusively use it to say something is drawing lots of people, something is cool, everybody's doing it, etc. It has no connection to 'people' (which is 'volk', like I've said).

So, maybe I'd just throw it out there to native French or English speakers: would the names "Popular Front/Brigade", "Front/Brigade Populaire" sound grassroot/working class/revolutionary enough? Is it just me not "feeling" the meaning of the popular?

Sorry for the long reply (which is semi off-topic; but I find that really interesting) 

[Kai NRG]

Those black soldiers are really cool!  I'm very surprised by how reasonable Garmadon's torso looks!  Nice ruins too.

[Ross Fisher]

1 hour ago, Khorne said:

So, maybe I'd just throw it out there to native French or English speakers: would the names "Popular Front/Brigade", "Front/Brigade Populaire" sound grassroot/working class/revolutionary enough?

At this stage it's just giving me these vibes:

 

[Ayrlego]

As usual I love your figure combos; the Totenköpfe are especially cool and the inclusion of the revolutionaries as mercenaries is a great way to advance their story. The texture and detail on the temple is amazing and the curved roof is unique. I think the vegetation works well with the scene, you've certainly made excellent use of a relatively small amount. Plant pieces are a weakness for me... I've largely overcome the urge to impulse buy minifig parts but I'm still a sucker of plant pieces!

I've added Essen to the Carno entry in Jameis Farstrider's Guide. Let me know if you want me to add anything further - maybe a couple of sentences with a description?

On 5/31/2020 at 6:26 PM, Khorne said:

Maximilian Coehorn, leader of the Coehoorn Battlegroup

Inspired by the historical figure or the Nilfgaardian Field Marshal?

7 hours ago, Khorne said:

English or French it would also become "Popular Front" or "Front Populaire" which loses its meaning to me.

I think for any English speaker with a general awareness of history post the industrial revolution, Popular Front or Front Populaire sounds very revolutionary. My first thoughts are definitely of European revolutionaries and to me it fits the military wing of the Society. Brigade Rouge works as well! :)

[Corweena]

I absolutely love your architecture design on the temple. You nailed the look of the structure starting to deteriorate, but not to the point they are considered ruins.

And the Totenköpfe uniforms are fantastic. 

[Ross Fisher]

Also, the Totenköpfe will always remind me of this sketch:

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Ross Fisher

[Professor Thaum]

Nice storytelling and display of minifig. I especially like your "brigade rouge" (the lotii volunteer and the blacks are smart too, but the reds have this little extra )

The temple as a delightful tibetan look and this statue is gorgeous !

[Bodi]

Nice job with the terrain elevations, combined with different plants and trees, give a convincing look to the whole build.  Nice minifigs posing as well.

[Khorne]

21 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

At this stage it's just giving me these vibes:

Haha yes, you are right. I might've gone overboard with the name and its explanation .

6 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

Also, the Totenköpfe will always remind me of this sketch:

Also true, even though the skull imagery in military use goes back way before that. Linking to that time frame and those guys was definitely not my intention.

 

15 hours ago, Ayrlego said:

As usual I love your figure combos; the Totenköpfe are especially cool and the inclusion of the revolutionaries as mercenaries is a great way to advance their story. The texture and detail on the temple is amazing and the curved roof is unique. I think the vegetation works well with the scene, you've certainly made excellent use of a relatively small amount. Plant pieces are a weakness for me... I've largely overcome the urge to impulse buy minifig parts but I'm still a sucker of plant pieces!

I've added Essen to the Carno entry in Jameis Farstrider's Guide. Let me know if you want me to add anything further - maybe a couple of sentences with a description?

Inspired by the historical figure or the Nilfgaardian Field Marshal?

I think for any English speaker with a general awareness of history post the industrial revolution, Popular Front or Front Populaire sounds very revolutionary. My first thoughts are definitely of European revolutionaries and to me it fits the military wing of the Society. Brigade Rouge works as well! :)

Thanks for the feedback and for adding Essen to Carno's entry in the Guide! I might write up a short summary to go along with it. I will DM it to you.

'Coehoorn' is indeed inspired by the Nilfgaardian Field Marshal. I was thinking of a fitting surname and then Nilfgaard crossed my mind. I like the old school Dutch/Afrikaans spelling of the name and it just looks and sounds cool. It also fits Carno's shared Altonian and Garveyan cultural background. 

Thanks for your input on the name and the word 'popular', I will keep it in mind for future reference .

 

14 hours ago, Corweena said:

I absolutely love your architecture design on the temple. You nailed the look of the structure starting to deteriorate, but not to the point they are considered ruins.

And the Totenköpfe uniforms are fantastic. 

Thanks! That's exactly what I wanted to convey. Old and way past its prime, but not forgotten by those who still live around the building.

 

5 hours ago, Professor Thaum said:

Nice storytelling and display of minifig. I especially like your "brigade rouge" (the lotii volunteer and the blacks are smart too, but the reds have this little extra )

The temple as a delightful tibetan look and this statue is gorgeous !

 

4 hours ago, Bodi said:

Nice job with the terrain elevations, combined with different plants and trees, give a convincing look to the whole build.  Nice minifigs posing as well.

Thanks guys!

[Beleg the Ranger]

As others have remarked, the Totenkopfe are excellent, appearing in this build as elite troops, or so I think. Is that right? The build is also superb, and alludes to being long lost. I also like seeing pikemen in the ranks.

[Khorne]

7 hours ago, Beleg the Ranger said:

As others have remarked, the Totenkopfe are excellent, appearing in this build as elite troops, or so I think. Is that right? The build is also superb, and alludes to being long lost. I also like seeing pikemen in the ranks.

Thanks, Beleg! 

The Death's Heads are just Essen's locally raised state troops, so I guess they're about on par with other Carnite city-state or royal troops. The soldiers from Essen do employ more aggressive pike-and-shot tactics than their countrymen.

[Garmadon]

Those Essen troopers are fantastic!  The Totenköpfe commander is excellent as well - as Kai mentioned, I would never have thought of using that torso, but it works quite well (and I've got a few of them, as my username might suggest...  ), and I honestly enjoy it every time your Société de Héracles shows up, and this is no exception!  The ruins and temple are quite nicely done too, and I especially like the line of bar holders along the top.  A few small-ish green tiles mixed in would help break up the larger bits of green studs (esp. right there in the front of the scene), but I definitely know the feeling of going for something that is on the larger side for your collection and just having to work with the parts you have! 

I must admit though, I was shocked to read that this was one of your largest builds ever - your polished style and excellent vigs and minifigs for BoBS had me convinced you were a very experienced and long-standing builder!  Keep it up, mate!

[Khorne]

18 hours ago, Garmadon said:

Those Essen troopers are fantastic!  The Totenköpfe commander is excellent as well - as Kai mentioned, I would never have thought of using that torso, but it works quite well (and I've got a few of them, as my username might suggest...  ), and I honestly enjoy it every time your Société de Héracles shows up, and this is no exception!  The ruins and temple are quite nicely done too, and I especially like the line of bar holders along the top.  A few small-ish green tiles mixed in would help break up the larger bits of green studs (esp. right there in the front of the scene), but I definitely know the feeling of going for something that is on the larger side for your collection and just having to work with the parts you have! 

I must admit though, I was shocked to read that this was one of your largest builds ever - your polished style and excellent vigs and minifigs for BoBS had me convinced you were a very experienced and long-standing builder!  Keep it up, mate!

Thanks for the compliments and feedback! I own zero green tiles, though. I'll need to order some for the future. The front right of the scene is where I ran out of green pieces and it shows most there. The figures cover it up somewhat, but without those it's an empty spot.

In terms of area size this is definitely one of my larger builds. I also used most of my grey here . Usually, I tends to build smaller stuff, which suits my collection better. I've got a lot of minifig parts, but only a basic collection of building bricks.

[Sir Kingston]

Does the name Essen have any inspiration from Hesse? Great work on the build!

[Khorne]

On 6/6/2020 at 11:25 PM, Sir Kingston said:

Does the name Essen have any inspiration from Hesse? Great work on the build!

No, Essen is a rather common name in the Low Countries and Germany. We have Essens here in Belgium, there's at least one or two in the Netherlands and the largest and most famous one is in Germany. It's the heart of the German industry in the Ruhr area. I just liked the name and decided to run with it.

Glad you like the build!