Keymonus Posted October 11, 2020 (edited) Terraversa, East of King's Port, August 620 "Thousands of feet march to the beat, it's an army on the march. Long way from home, paying the price in young men's lives." The first battle had been won, and several bridgeheads had been conquered all over the island. The losses had been relatively mild but, still, they were the highest suffered since the Juniper War. And that damned island was still largely to conquer. The first, rather obvious objective was the capital city, King's Port: the city had the largest harbor and was right in the middle of the excellent road system of western Terraversa. The capital city of the island also had a strong strategic and politic value: its capture marked the turning point between an island successfully resisting to the invasion and some minor strongholds still in enemy hands... and, for foreign nations, it could also make the difference between joining a war or supporting isolated pockets of resistance. Therefore, they had to conquer King's Port, and quickly! During the T-Day, the forts of the city had been shelled and stormed, and the vanguard of the army had entered the city from South and East. However, refraining from a brutal bombing with heavy artillery had had its cost, and the bluecoats were still fighting in the streets, with the local militia clinging to buildings and barricades. The troops landed West of the city, so North of the King's River, on the contrary, had successfully captured fortifications and batteries but were still too weak to attack the city and defend themselves by a counterattack from Pamu, so they had entrenched and were waiting for reinforcements. And the easiest way to bring those reinforcements was crossing the King's River from the South, building a proper bridge, and using it to bring soldiers, supplies and artillery between King's Port and Pamu, cutting the city off from the Kingshead district. The designated crossing point was a few miles East of the city, where the King's River was nothing more than a fast stream... quite easy to cross for a man, but an insuperable obstacle for a cannon. Combat engineers and common soldiers started working hard, reinforcing the riverbank by hammering long wooden poles in the sand. More poles were hammered directly into the bottom of the river, creating a robust anchorage for the pontoons... for sure a difficult and uncomfortable job. On the other side of the river, the bank was cleared from the bushes and the sand was leveled with shovels and spades. Spoiler Spoiler Build 1 - overall view: The next step was far more difficult, especially considering the fast flow of the river. Empty barrels were thrown in the water and secured to the poles, creating a sort of floating platform: the buoyancy of each barrel could barely sustain a single soldier, while the complete structure will hold men, horses and even cannons. While the privates worked, the officers planned the next moves with the chief engineer: according to him, the bridge could be completed in half a day, enough to let the column rest and to complete the siege before the evening, if they marched quickly enough. Soldiers and sailors followed the instructions of the combat engineers, trying to keep the barrels in position before they are dragged away... and trying not to be dragged away themselves while working in the deep water! The bridge quickly started to take shape, at first as a simple row of ropes and barrels... Spoiler Build 2 - overall view ...and then, when planks and earth were cast over the structure, as a robust floating platform. For sure not a bridge intended to last, but a fast solution to bring men and cannons onto the other side of the river. The soldiers marched forward, platoon after platoon, ready to face the enemy on the battlefield. Among them, the veterans of the Mardierian Legion. Several of those soldiers lived on Terraversa -or were even born on the island- before the "Terraversan patriots" forced them to flee with their families. Some were members of the garrison, others were simply political opponents of L'Olius or Oldis, who had ended up in proscription lists for a reason or the other. For them, the war was something far more personal... a chance come back to their land and to get their deliverance! Spoiler Build 3 - overall view -------------------------------------------------------------- A series of three builds I've done for the invasion liberation: the river banks remain the same, with the soldiers progressively clearing the bushes and building the bridge. Probably it would've been better using a larger river, this one doesn't really seem worth of a bridge... but I imagine that it would still be a problem for our cannons! Edited October 11, 2020 by Keymonus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted October 11, 2020 Wow ! Very very nice one, with all the job detailled, well done. The job with the barrels and the ropes is killer. That's a For me. You miss the third Because the soldiers of the first pics are without theirs hats. The uniforms must be complete ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mesabi Posted October 11, 2020 Excellent build @Keymonus, and great job showing the progression of the construction. You really show a lot of attention to detail in the build, and all around it looks excellent. The only thing I'd have changed, is I think light clear tan blue tiles would have made it look amazing, but it's not enough of a note to distract or lesson the build. Hate to say it, TER is kinda in trouble! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOD Posted October 11, 2020 Good guide to building bridges. Based on your photos, even I could build this bridge if I had the bricks. I think it's good that the city was not bombarded with artillery. So, the civilian population could be spared. Your story is as detailed as the script for a film. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Genaro Posted October 11, 2020 I really enjoyed this build and the accompanying story. That you made three builds to illustrate the evolution of the bridge is very impressive, too. The placing of the various transparent elements in the water to show the disturbance caused by the building is a simple technique, but one you put to excellent use. And finally I would add I appreciate how you used established geography to define this build. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khorne Posted October 11, 2020 Beautiful build and excellent write-up as well! I really like how you can see each of the different steps and read the information on how its done. Very cool! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LM71Blackbird Posted October 11, 2020 (edited) This is a fantastic trio of builds! Some great details in the terrain and water make it fun to look at and the accompanying story is perfect. for the build and a for the columns of invaders! Edited October 12, 2020 by LM71Blackbird Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted October 11, 2020 (edited) What an excellent build - three actually but I am commenting as a whole. I was always wondering how a pontoon bridge would look like in LEGO bricks. The story is great (as always) too. With builds like that we will conquer/liberate TV in no time! Believe it or not, what caught my eye and found it disturbing, is that guy holding a hammer in build 1. I don't exactly know if it's the face or the hair that make him creepy but he will haunt my dreams tonight! Edited October 11, 2020 by blackdeathgr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Corweena Posted October 11, 2020 I must say.....I love absolutely everything about this build. Particularly in showing the process of building the pontoon bridge. Well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bodi Posted October 13, 2020 Nice builds, I like how you've shown the different steps of the construction of a pontoon bridge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted October 13, 2020 @Keymonus : Arg, a shame, I missed the wink to Sabaton ! A nice reference in addition of a nice story ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fraunces Posted October 13, 2020 Very convincing storytelling build! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elostirion Posted October 14, 2020 I just wanted to praise this great MOC. Really well executed, great idea and I love how you display the whole production process. And great to see that Oleanders are in fact not looking for violence but are just here to build some infrastructure for Terraversa. ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Professor Thaum Posted October 14, 2020 Just now, Elostirion said: And great to see that Oleanders are in fact not looking for violence but are just here to build some infrastructure for Terraversa. ;-) To be exact, it seems that Oleanders are here to "rebuild" infrastructure for Terraversa after a cockamamie story of a shelling from ships off shore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted October 14, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Professor Thaum said: To be exact, it seems that Oleanders are here to "rebuild" infrastructure for Terraversa after a cockamamie story of a shelling from ships off shore. And that's how international contractors work all these years Edited October 14, 2020 by blackdeathgr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
merc Posted October 14, 2020 Awesome builds. I like how you showed the process in a series of builds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
