Full Plate

@derEselausErgste @dalle @TheLordOfBricks @en_zoo

Haha, yeah, not the cheapest technique out there ;) Yup, quite a few :)

Wrote a tutorial showing the technique I used to create the thatched roof here. The tutorial can be found here: https://fullplatebuilds.com/2018/11/25/thatched-roof-tutorial/

Wrote a tutorial showing the technique I used to create the thatched roof in my Guilds of Historica build Casualties of War. The tutorial can be found here: https://fullplatebuilds.com/2018/11/25/thatched-roof-tutorial/

Very nice! :) And interesting modification to the trees :) Am I seeing it correctly that you have no central structure at all, or is it just hard to see? If no central structure then it's basically just the woven rings stacked on top of each other? If so, that's pretty cool :)

Christmas is rapidly approaching with all its joy and merriment! But if you're thinking of sending Santa your Christmas list, you may want to think twice. I mean, who likes having tons of letters dumped in their living room every morning?

Thanks SK! It's good to be back :) Glad you like the build! I felt I was rehashing the nature a bit from previous builds, but still think it looks pretty ok :) And yeah, Sir Darby finally gets to do something again :D Now to find the written down plans for the unfolding of the storyline... :P

Thanks!

Thanks Henjin! Yeah, the roof was the main thing about this build I think, and the most troublesome to make :) Interesting point about the 2x2 corner plate vegetation. I'm actually quite fond of using those L shaped plates, as it adds a more "lego-ish" element to the plants. However, I can see your point about it perhaps being a bit too angular. Perhaps using round 1x1 plates for the flowers would work better, which is what I've usually used for it in the past :) Thank you! Glad you're a fan of the build :) Yeah, I don't build that much architecture, and when I do it's usually microscale :) But for GoH it has got to be mostly minifig scale so we'll see what happens :) Thanks de Gothia! It's good to be back :) And to see so many familiar "faces" :D Glad GoH is thriving! Thank you! :) Yeah, quite a few tan bars needed for this one Had quite a few already, since I've used them for fields of grain before. This technique is quite a headache though, since you get some odd shaped holes on the sides that you have to cover up somehow (I went with tan 2x2 round plates, which I don't think looks too great, but clock was ticking so...). I like making varied foliage as well. There's not really anything new in this build, but that's the beauty of landscaping: using the same techniques you can still make things look very different depending on the composition of the scene and with colour variations. Thanks! Really happy to hear you enjoyed the story as that's probably what I was least sure about :) Been a while since I last wrote something.

Thanks Garmadon! Was quite fun to build for Avalonia again, though I do feel a bit rusty with the storytelling, and I had to read through all my old posts to get a grip on what's going on :D And no, I don't have a lot of tan bars... anymore ;) Thank you! Glad you like the landscape :) I actually reused quite a bit of flora from some of my old builds, but since building landscape is an organic process, they usually get a unique feel :) Thank you :) I really like building nature, so been trying to come up with different types of plants. Thanks! The roof was by far the most frustrating part haha. Thanks! I will probably make a short tutorial on the roof technique some time soon :) I love doing landscaping, and yeah, the corner plates work surprisingly well for plants :) Glad you feel the story works well. Wasn't sure if it would since I have written anything for it for over a year. Thank you! :) Glad you feel the balance of plants work well. That's always a concern for me while landscaping, whether you might be adding too much, and it's easy to stare yourself blind when you spend a lot of time building it. Thanks Kai! Yeah, I'm quite happy with the front of the roof (the sides are another matter...) :) The white flower was just something I put in on a whim actually. It's basically a microscale tree technique, but works ok for flowers as well :) Thanks man! Haha, yeah, it's hard to turn down such a bunch of extraordinary builders :) Glad you like the story as well, it's been quite a while since I last wrote anything, so wasn't sure if I could pull it off.

Casualties of War | Full Plate | Avalonia

Casualties of War Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Chapter X: Casualties of War Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside - 'I don't see why we can't just make camp like usual', Harlon argued. 'Never had anything good coming from meddling with the locals.' - 'That's because you treat common people like dirt', objected Nyle. 'People don't generally want to help anyone that thinks of them as a nuisance. If you could just play nice for once we might even have a shot at some nice homecooked food and some indoor sleeping.' Sir Darby didn't quite share Nyle's optimism. Like Harlon, he preferred to not involve more people than necessary when on the road. But he was also conscious that Nyle might be needing a break from everything, if only for one night. - 'Well, it won't hurt to ask', he stated. 'Why don't I go over and check if anyone's home and if they happen to have some spare food and perhaps someplace to sleep?' - 'I'm coming along', Nyle stated. - 'Fine. I'll just stay here so my unpleasant personality doesn't ruin your prospects', Harlon said wryly. - 'You do as you please', Nyle replied and urged his horse towards the small cottage. Sir Darby sighed. Somehow, getting these two to get along seemed harder than keeping up the morale in a camp full of soldiers. - 'We will be right back', he told Harlon and moved to catch up to Nyle. As Sir Darby and Nyle approached the cottage an old man came out to meet them. Sir Darby could also spot a younger woman in the doorway, peeking out at them with a worried expression. Sir Darby dismounted. - 'Evening sir. We are travellers on our way to Newquay. We were wondering if you might...', Sir Darby started. - 'No, we do not', the old man interrupted. Sir Darby took a moment to recover from being cut off. - 'All we're asking is...', he continued. - 'But you're not asking, are you?', the old man interrupted again. 'You are obviously men of importance, and men of importance never ask men of no consequence like me for anything. You demand and you take.' Sir Darby assessed the situation. There was obviously nothing for them to gain here and they should head back and look for a proper campsite. Still, he felt himself sympathise with this old man. Anger and hurt were no strangers to Sir Darby, though it was long since he had let them touch him - a man in his position could not afford to. Yet these feelings were clearly recognisable on this man's face. This house had experienced loss, most likely on the battlefield in service of Avalonia. Probably the husband of the young woman peering out at them, which would make it the man's son or son-in-law. - 'I'm sorry for your loss', Sir Darby offered. The man's face betrayed a short moment of surprise, before pain and determination again took over. - 'What does that do for us?', he asked sternly. 'Is that going to bring our family back to us? Men like you came and took my son away without warning! One moment we were plowing the fields and the next I watched him march off in a long row of dirty young men.' The man continued. - 'Would that all you did was take something away from us though, but your pack of filthy recruits brought something to us as well. The plague.' The man began to tear up. - 'My wife caught it, but she didn't tell me, and I was too busy making up for my son's absence at the farm to notice. Then one day she showed me her blackened foot and told me she had to leave. I told her she couldn't leave, that we should go see Mr. Oates, that he would help us. She agreed, but the next morning when I woke up, she was gone. Gone, never to come back. In a matter of weeks our family had destroyed, and for what? For you to have one more person to throw away in your little game of war?' The old man sighed, the anger giving way to dejectedness. - 'In the beginning we held out hope that Thom might return, but months turned to years, and we knew he was not coming back. Not that anyone had the decency to tell us, but we knew. When I saw you coming I thought that maybe... maybe we would get word of what had happened. To have confirmed what we already know. But you are just another person here to get something from us. I'm sorry, but all that we could possibly give has already been taken away from us. You took it from us. We have nothing left.' Sir Darby looked at the man for a moment. There was nothing he could do for him. His son might even have been under his own command. Perhaps he had sent him to his death. He had had a number of Thom's serving under him, but there was no way to tell if it had been this man's son. He could not offer him the closure that he needed. One thing he knew though, that he was responsible for this man's suffering. Perhaps not directly in this case, but how many more like him were suffering for the choices he had made as a commander? In this moment, that burden weighed heavier on his shoulders than it had ever done. Sir Darby mounted his horse and started back to Harlon. Nyle followed suit. - 'Life has dealt you a poor hand', he thought to himself. He was not sure whether he was referring to the man or himself. *** Been quite a while since I last built for Avalonia, but the Swedish Lego Maffia gave me an offer I couldn't refuse, so here I am ;) Seriously though, I have had this cottage (minus the roof) standing around for over a year, trying to figure a good way to make thatch for the next episode in this story line. It finally clicked about a month ago, and so here is the finished product. Feeling a bit rusty with the story telling, but whether it's good or not, writing is fun :) Ironically for such an old build, I actually ended up having a deadline for its completion as the LEGO Store in Copenhagen wanted to display it, so a few details that could have used some extra work had to be left as is. Hope you enjoy the build either way :) Happy to be back in any case!

Thanks for the welcome everyone! :D And welcome @The_Nev :)

Sir Rikkard 'Full Plate' Darby hereby pledge loyalty to Avalonia. Sir Rikkard is a war veteran and came into knighthood by way of merit rather than by birth. As a street child of Albion he was forcibly drafted into the army in his mid teens, and not much is known about his life before then. In the army he showed a keen aptitude for battle, and quickly gained a reputation for his skills, also earning himself the nickname 'Full Plate' as he always entered battle with a heavy armour that he allegedly forged himself. Besides skill with the blade, Rikkard also showed a good insight into warfare tactics, as displayed by him making many successful, critical decisions on the battlefield when out of contact with his commanders. After serving in multiple campaigns and racing through the ranks Rikkard was knighted for his bravery and skill, and was subsequently given an estate just west of Albion. He was often consulted on wartime matters, and was also involved in training of new recruits from time to time. Sir Rikkard is a man of few words, and has little interest in socialising and politics. He is loyal to those he trusts, but he does not hide his disdain for those he believe unsuitable for their office, and have more than once slighted those of high birth, leading to him gaining a number of enemies in the high society of Albion. Although he is undeniably capable, he has been attacked on the matter of his low birth by those opposed to him. Being weary of socialising, Sir Rikkard had taken to remaining in his estate more often. However, he has since then been assigned to the remote startup colony of Newquay on the Overgrown Isle, just off the north-western coast of Avalonia, to provide security for the local Lord there. An odd request for a man of his calibre, Sir Darby went to question his superior on this task, and found out that his reassignment is part of a bigger scheme. Not sure what to make of it, Sir Darby decided to play along and travel to Newquay. During the journey Sir Darby lost one of his men to an ambush. The Overgrown Isle is a prime source of rare timber, allowing for these to be harvested without having to travel too deeply into the Mystic Isles. For years day trips have been made to the isle to procure the timber, but recently the decision was made to set up a colony on the isle to increase production and, of course, revenue. From what Sir Rikkard has heard, the colony has not been faring well, having lost many workers to the woods, feeding the notion of a great and dangerous power in the forest. Sir Rikkard is not one for superstition, but he has also seen far too many strange things over the years to rule anything out without a proper investigation. ------------------------------ Ok, so it's been a while since I posted here, but it's nice to see things are going strong with Book III and everything :) Also nice to see a lot of familiar people here :) Glad to be aboard!

Thanks Kai! Yeah, I think I needed a lot more height for it to look like a small hill in the middle of the field, which was what I was going for. I'm somehow quite averse to using green slopes for grass, but with the height needed here, maybe this was the time for it. Thanks Servertijd! Glad you liked the build and story :) Thanks Garmadon! I would certainly like to build more in GoH. I have a lot of ideas for many different types of builds, and only so much time (and budget ;)) to build them. Going on parental leave soon though, so perhaps that will leave me more time to build (wishful thinking ;)) Thanks Maestro! I was thinking people might be tired of my trees by now ;) I certainly feel so at times, but then when I try to think of alternatives I usually end up going back to the axe trees :) Glad you liked the build! Thanks Titus! Sorry I've been MIA for quite a while :P Glad you liked to build in any case, and hopefully the next one will not take that long :)