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Northgrove is a small hamlet, near the north border of the region. The last destination for Conrad, to visits the hamlets storehouse. The Queen's lieutenant came to the mercenary leader, and took half of the winters stock, without permission. Altho, he left some hefty sacks of gold, as payment. "-And with what should i fed my soldiers? With coins" - Conrad's commentary still haunts his mind. The lieutenant didn't looked back with his answer: "- This is not my problem, you got plenty of storehouses across Deepgarden, solve it!" He still grumbled, while got of the cart,with the workers: - Moron, he thinks, i got time for this... Meanwhile, in the storehouse, the keeper just finished the charts. He heard a cart stoping nerby, then knocking on the window. He opened it, a man stood befor him, black hair and beard, wearing armor, with a wolf insignia. He never met with the defender of this region, but he had a guess who stands befor him. - Greetings good man, I would like to see the stocks in this storehouse. - Sure,amoment please. - answered the keeper, and picked up the keys, and went to the door. Conrad came in, signaling to the workers, to wait outside. The keeper ran back to his desk, took the charts and gave it to Conrad. - Is there a problem my Lord? - asked the keeper humbly. - Yes, there is... But a little reorganization could solve it. - and with that, he gave back the paper, and turned to the workers: - Alright boys, load the cart, with the followings...

- Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Knight's Quest! - the men announcing the event, on top of the stage. - I'm your host, Rolet de Rivel, and also welcome Syelrehe! - Hi there! - the elf woman waved, and smiled to the crowd. - We got a specal guest here! - Rolet continued. - The last years champion, of Knight's Quest, Lance A'lot! - Just call me Lance. -Smiled, and waved the young knight. - Alright Lance, lets start it. There are so many, who don't know, what is Knight's Quest. Please, tell us more what is it. The knight coughed, to clear his throat. He was expecting, to introduce the race, but he was a bit nervous, in front of so many people, who came to see the entertainment. - Knight's Quest, is a sports entertainment competition. The competitors attempting to complete a series of obstacle courses, similar what a really knight must face during their heroic quest. - Sounds fun! - said Syelrehe, trying to look like, she isnt here, because she looks pretty. - In deed Syelrehe! - noded Rolet. - but there can't be fun, without a little danger, am I right Lance? - Yes, the obstacles are dangerous, but not deadly. If you are unlucky, you will have some bruises. - Don't worry folks, the previous competitor is good hands, But let see, the next one! He is climbing up the ladder, and ready to go! Lance, can you narrate us through the obstacles, as the competitor progress? - Sure Rolet! - and both the knight and the two hosts turned around, to see the show, and narrate it. - The first obstacle is the moat. You must cross it, on the wooden logs, without falling in the water. - Next, you must climb up, to the tower. The wind working againts you, and you have only a hanging vine, on the walls of the tower. - Now, you are inside, the crumbling castle! Make hast and cross the ruined hall, befor the celling falls down! - Watch out! in the courtyard, there are the lackeys of the Black Knight. You must avoide them! - And the all time favorite, the Pendulum of Death! You must get over it, in the right mome... Ugh.. well, that wasn't the right moment... The herald of the race quickly ordered the troll, to stop the mechanism, so the cleaning brigade can clean up the bloody mess, at the end of the race. - And thats all folks! - ended the grievous moments Rolet. - We thank again for Lance, to come up here on the stage, and tell us more about Knight's Quest! - the knight smiled and went down from the stage. Rolet continued: - and we will stay here, for the rest of the month, so if you think, you are brave enough, comeand try out Knight's Quest! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope most of you will enjoy it, cause I really liked to creat this gauntlet style entertainment. I was inspired, from the "First Knight" movie, where Richard Gere beats it, for a kiss. Oh, didn't I mentioned, the whole race was designed, to move. So, you don't have to imagine the crumbling halls, or crossing the moat part. Checkthis video out: And also, some pictures too: "What dou you mean, You need to be this tall?" "Do you want a lick Mr. Troll?"

I did not lost! Just had a really s#@& years end in my workplace,and also tried to build a couple of entries to the CCC, (if any of you interested) I returned, and I will continue Conrad's strory,but first, the Bread and Circuses Challenge! To understand my C category entry, we must look back to that point, when Conrad ordered three of his most trusty generals, in secret missions. (here is the recap: Scarlet's Scarlet Brothel) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the story of Zan the Black Arrow. Zan was tasked to travell south, to the sandy land of Kaliphlin, with a small company of mercenaries. They traveled in secret across Avalonia. When they crossed the border, they were advised by a merchant, to buy a camel, it will help their journey. - Stuborn animal... Come on! - one of the soldier beging for the camel, while trying to force his will on the animal. - I told you, camelss are different from horses. - the other mercenary tired to caml the other down. - Can you remember the command word? - "Can you remember the command word?" - the mercenary stopped pulling the camels chains and started mimicing the other. - Wanna try it smartass? If Zan didn't arrive, the two soldier surely kill each other. - What are you arguing again morons? We must reach Barqa, as the boss tasked us, and you two thought it woud be a good time, to show which one has a bigger mouth? - he went to the camel, picked up the chains and pulled it. - Hut hut hut! - said the words, and repeated the pulling, and repeated the words again. The camel started to move again, the two soldiers was speechless. Zan gave the end of the chain to one of them, and continued the journey. He looked back: - When this is over, I will advise Conrad, to teach all of you some command words...

A mercenary's story: Part IV If you missed, here is the previous parts: A mercenary's story: Part I A mercenary's story: Part II A mercenary's story: Part III It was a middle aged man, in a black armor, he greeted the jailor, and started talking. The outside noise was louder, Conrad didn't heard, what was the talk between the mysterious visitor and the jailor. But after that, the jailer took the key from the wall, and opened the door, then escorted the prisoners up, to the courtyard. It was great to feel the sun again, the fresh air too. They were lined up, Conrad noticed, there are others in black armor too. His thoughts was confirmed, mercenaries... Their leader, started walking front of them, and had a speech. He came here, to gave them a second chance, to make things right. His habit, to recruit from prisons, so able arms which can wield weapons, don't wasted. And also, the lords of Historica agreed on that, it's always more expensive to keep up prisons, and to send convicts, to battle, then their own mens. The leader offered them the same: remain here, and die on the next day, or he recruit them, but they must follow his rules. Conrad and some of the criminals accepted the offer, they stepped foward. While they were handcuffed, the leader arranged the paperwork, and they were escorted out from the courtyard. The mercenary camp wasn't too far, they arrived in the afternoon. They were escorted in a large tent, full with other, new recruits, and other soldiers. Conrad sat down in to a corner, hi was tired, he didn't eat well in the last few days. He fell asleep quickly. He was wakedby a soldier. He orderd him, to get up, and go outside, cause the leader wanted him too, to see following event. He went out, and saw the others,gathered. The soldier escorted him in to the front of the crowd. Then he understand whats happening here. He saw the leader, a huge sword, and two, who came with him from the prison. The leader started his speech again: "- Some people don't deserve second chance. It's a shame there is always some one, who think he can outsmart me... Most of you know me, I can't be outsmarted, and most of you know, what will happened next. This is a lesson, for the new commers.-" Then he walked to the trunk, raisedthe sword, and striked down. The hairy head fell to the ground. Conrad wasn't prepared for this. As he saw the sword, raised in the air, he quicky turned his head away. A bad memory came in his mind. A few years ago, he walked in to the barn at the worst time. He saw, as his mother choped down the chickens head. The blood dripped from table and from the blade. On that day he understand it, sometimes where are his favorite chickens... - You there, boy. Come here Conrad becomes pale as a dead, the leader pointed at him. He walked out from the crowd, next to him. He was shaking. - What's your name boy? - Co ... Conrad. - answered. - Here, hold this sword. - the leader tossed the sword,in to Conrads hands. - Can you lift it? Conrad grabed the hilt,and raised it above his head. It was more heavier then the wooden sticks, which served as swords, when he played with his friends. - Not bad kid! I see you aren't a village boy. Where were you raised? - On a farm... - answered the boy, as he lowered the sword. - Tell me, was this your first execution? Your fathr never took you with him to market. - Yes, but he never allowed us to watch it. Killing is wrong. - Your father is a smart men. - the leader walked closer to the boy. - Killing, in deed, is wrong. But there are other things that's wrong. Like the thing, what you commited. The leader stopped, Conrad knowed something bad will happen. - First of all. - started. - This isn't a punishment. I try to help you with this, cause sooner or late, this deed must be done, to become a mercenary. - the leader puted his hand on Conrads shoulder, lowered his voice. - You must kill him. The boy become pale as snow. His heart started beating faster, he felt a knot in his stomach. The leader genty pushed him, towards the tied up ruffian. - Don't worry, only the first one is the hardest. - encouraged him the leader. Conrad tried to not cry. He was sure, if he had some meal, he would throw it up. He stood next to the trunk, raised the sword. He hesitated. - What's the matter farm-boy? -asked him the leader with a smile. - If you have trouble removing his head, imagine him, as a chicken! Chop off the head so your mother can make a good chicken soup! The encouraging words didn't helped him, but caused more discomfort. Bad memories came to his mind. A week later, after the incident, his mother forced him, to chop off the head of a chicken. She told him, he can't have dinner, if he don't do it. The boy hesitated, like now, hi holded the blade, while his mother holded the chicken. "- Come on son, let's get over with. Dinner must be ready, when your father comes home" The situation get even worse, when the other soldiers gets bored, and started taunting him: - Come on! Let's finish him, and we can go to eat! - What are you, a chicken? - one of the soldiers asked him, and start mimicing a chicken, and started clucking. Conrad was wasted. The memory, the words: chicken, soup. The taunting, this situation, all blurred together. He didn't know what is real, and what isn't. His arms was getting tired, holding the sword. He closed his eyes, and start repeating to him: - Just a chicken... Just a chiken... - his vocie become quiter every time. He felt the judging look of the leader, like his mothers. He heard clucking the others, like the rest of the chickens in the barn. He felt the hunger, like on that evening... He didn't wanted to starve longer... He striked. He took one last glimps of the ruffian, befor he decapitated him... ...A chicken... - Not bad kid! - the leader patted Conrads back. - A bit messy, but a little practice will help it. - now, he turned to his men: - All of you it's dinner time, eat well and go to rest. Tomorrow, we de-camp and travel to the next settlement. - now back to the boy. - I advise you, to take a bath before you go to eat too. Oh, and welcome... Conrad didn't heard or felt anything. He was still in the shock. He slowly opened his eyes. The body, head and the blade was already removed from the scene. No one was there either, just he. He felt something warm and wet on his hands. Blood, from the elbows to the tip of his fingers. He look at them, as everything went to black. He fainted... Let the boy rest, cause his adventures isn't ending here!

A mercenary's story: Part III If you missed, here is the previous parts: A mercenary's story: Part I A mercenary's story: Part II We left the young boy's story, when he entered the local prison, after he was captured after stealing. The guard escorted him in to the barracks courtyard, where another guard escorted him onward. The door opened, the darkness, the scent frightened the boy, but the guard tossed him inside, and down the stairs. - Move on! - shouted to him the jailer. - If you were brave enough to steal, don't be afraid from the dark... The door was locked, and Conrad was locked up, with other criminals. Thiefs, svindlers, murderers, all of them was locked away in this prison, until the sheriff came to town, to judge the criminals of the town. Conrad was never so afraid like now. He wished he wouldn't left his home. He missed the good old memories, when he played and made pranks, with his friends. Fortunately the others didn't bothered him, they took only the food from him, he was starving for days. The days passed slowly, but the final day draw near. Conrad almost lost hope, he was thinking, when he some way gets out of here, he will find the nearest churche, and sign up to be cleric, or a priest. It was the last day befor judgement. The others tired to catch the rat, to have a little fun, Conrad was sitting next to the iron bars. Suddenly the upper door opened and footsteps can be heard. The jailer was also surprised he didn't expect for anyone. He readied his weapon, and waited for the mysterious visitor. Could be he the sheriff, or some one else, who can redeem the boy and the others? To be continued...

A mercenary's story: Part II If you missed, here is the previous part: A mercenary's story: Part I Conrad realised after a several days in the wilderness, there are more sinister foes, which can't be defeted, by sword... Hunger. His dreams to become the great warrior, quickly changed, to be a common thief, who needs to steal his daily meal. First, he took some vegetables and fruits from the local farms, sometimes some eggs. The days turned to weeks, and the weeks to months. He was braver enough now,to go in to smaller towns and villages, to steal from the marketplaces. Bread and meat was back on his menu. For his deeds,he never slept on the same place again. But he become more and more careless, and bolder. He decided, to stop living only for the next day, and live... atleast for after it. And this plan caused his loss. On the marketpalce, he tired to pickpocket a lady. But his fingers wasn't so nimble, and the women cried out for the guards. Conrad was captured, and escorted to the local prison. Will he survive, behind iron bars? Find it out, follow his story.

The busy Eltina shipyards has yet delivered another vessel to the colonial squadron of la Royale. Such speed is only possible with the affluence of new settlers, indeed, the recent event at a former Mardier island has forced many of the "Royalists" to flee to more hospitable lands. This extra of manpower allowed our shipyards to run 24h on 24 to satisfy the thirst of la Royale for mooaarrr ships. Meanwhile, to exploit further the labourers, the owner of the shipyards, Knight Lagaufre, has decided to launch a new frigate, a heavy one. She's built with 5 midsections, length-wise is comparable to a class 7 two-decker, but since she only has one full deck, I plan to license her as a class 6. C&C are welcome. Vive le Roi!

My 11th entry into the CCC XIV, for the ‘Pit of Dispair’ category. Inspired by Marcel's excellent dungeon scene for last years CCC. The floor design was inspired by LL. The one eyed Wolfpack gang had several members captured recently by the Blue Dragons, so Rolf led a breakout. The dungeon sentries were caught off guard and quickly overpowered. Rolf admired some new loot for a moment, and then set his compatriots free. More picture on Brickbuilt Thanks for looking, C&C welcome

Who let the wolves out? Were they ever in? These questions and more will get no follow-up in this new-fangled review of… Set Name: Worriz' Combat Lair Set #: 70009 Theme: Legends of Chima Pieces: 664 Minifigures: 6 Year of Release: 2013 Price at Release: USD 70, GBP 60, EUR 70 Bricklink it! Flickr album! INTRODUCTION Full frontal disclosure: I was never very excited about Chima and I'm not sad that it will no longer be with us. I like the minifigures for their parts, especially the feline faces which look great in a number of custom minifigure applications, but I never cared for the sets. The whole animal-look thing was an interesting concept, but more often than not it seemed to me that the animal-head ate up a ton of parts, leaving the rest of a model to be a bony, technic jumble. I'm mostly a playset kind of guy anyway; if I'm going to like a vehicle, it better have some meat on its bones. How, then, am I here right now, reviewing one of the largest purely-vehicular sets of this entire theme? Easy: sales. I'm a sucker for sales. I've since learned to curb my wallet a bit, but at 40% off the old me would've bought just about anything. Since I own the set, I thought I might as well go through in a detailed review and see if it meets my 'all Chima sets are a crappy bunch of technic with an animal head' expectations. INSTRUCTIONS Usually set artwork ranges from 'inoffensive' to 'quite good,' but I must say they were stretching here to make this set look exciting. They've placed most of the minifigures in physically impossible positions, including a couple of the wolves 'standing' on the truck. Do you see how, on the front booklet, one of the rotors on the helicopter is awkwardly behind those old gun-like pieces? It's like that on the box too. There's really nothing about this artwork that would make me want this set. Even though there are six complete sub models, the instruction booklets still break smack-dab in the middle. Right, makes sense. Remember the old days when LEGO would make awesome displays of whole themes placed together on built landscapes, and then photograph the setups for promotional materials? Actually they still do for City, so that's something, but not for their 'big bang tons of tie-in merchandise' theme Legends of Chima. Instead, we get this supremely cruddy photoshop job of a few sets together. My favorite thing (besides for the magically reversed image of the Lair) is Grizzam (the white gorilla) now swinging off to nowhere. In my head he's saying "F*** this battle, I'm out of here." LEGO's 2D backdrop artists are doing a great job, though. STICKERS Since I bought this set on-the-cheap and will surely break it down for parts, I did not apply stickers. These stickers do actually look pretty cool, and I'm sure would work well in a variety of sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, or other type of grungy setting. I didn't think they'd make or break the look of the set; pretty sure I can give it a fair review without them. INTERESTING PARTS This set does include a fair number of rare, interesting, or otherwise useful parts (for anyone that doesn't exclusively build bright fairy princess castles with studs purely on top). I went through and picked these out based on a combination of personal preference and what I thought other people like. There are a ton of SNOT pieces and tiles, which are always great, as well as a bunch of varieties of slopes. The dark red is in there just because it's cool and I like it. All-in-all, even at full price this set makes a decent parts pack provided you like this type of part. MINIFIGURES Finally, my favorite section!!!!!!!!!1 Like I said in the intro, I do like the Chimafigs. They are absolutely covered in finely detailed prints which inevitably get covered up by other things, so first I'll look at them all decked-out before closing in on the details. These minifigs get some pretty cool weapons - did you know that the trans-red serrated thingies the wolves have only come in this set (in that color)? That's pretty cool! The gun build for Windra, the wolf matriarch, looks great and its main component is quite rare in flat silver to boot! The good guy weapons look great too. I should also mention that the white, jagged cape on the wovles only comes in two sets (and on the SDCC exclusive Collector minifig). For those that cared about collecting the minifigures or cared about the characters, this set was a great way to get most of the wolf tribe. From left to right, you get Worriz (the young leader or something), Wilhurt (the brute-force muscle-man?), Windra (exclusive to this set and the real brains behind the tribe?), and Wakz (the old wizened military commander?). I've added the fifth member, Winzar, on the far right. I happened to have him from a polybag. I do appreciate how much the members of the wolf tribe vary. They fit together, for sure, but they all have distinct differences in their prints down to things like different sizes of teeth on their 'face-helmets.' They're a fun, rugged bunch. Back to just the minifigs in this set… they all have cool back prints too, though I don't think the fur-and-tail detail on Wakz is very successful. The armor plating on Worriz looks simply wonderful, and so useful for castle/fantasy. The daggers on Windra stand out as a fun detail too, making her seem very dangerous. I like the Chima 'face-helmets' for what they are, but what I really love about the Chimafigures is their head-prints. I was so surprised when the theme launched that LEGO had gone all-out on the head prints when the figs were intended to wear their helmets, but I love it. You might not think it, but the more humanoid faces look fantastic in a variety of headgear like hoods, helmets, and the like. My lion-headed green spacemen always bring a smile to my face. I don't care for the bird ones, so Eris' head does nothing for me. Worriz also looks a bit… strange. The other wolves and Grizzam could be quite useful, though. Truly surprising was the fact that not only did the Chimafigs have head prints, most of them had two! You don't want to mess with these wolves when they're angry - they look liable to literally bite your head off. Grizzam looks more like you made a bad play-on-words pun. Eris I screwed up, and put her 'angry' face in the previous picture and her 'happy' face in this picture. If you can tell the difference between the two, you win eternal happiness. THE SET - By Parts Though the set artwork might lead you to believe that the set contains just two models (big truck and copter), the box assures you that it splits into five. I count six. … Obi-Wan: From a certain point of view. … In any case, I'll go through them now in build order before looking at the result of their combination. Athletic Wheelchairs The build starts weak with these two, er, things, that are supposed to evoke wolf paws but to me evoke athletic wheelchairs. No matter their name, they don't look good. Had these been packaged as a set on their own, I believe they would have joined the 'awful tiny set' ranks occupied by the Spider-Trike and Mandarin's Flame-Thrower Lawn-Mower. You will notice the pieces usually used to attach wheels sticking out conspicuously on the back. These hint at a play feature that actually works quite well and is really fun. Bottom line: even though these models tend toward the 'garbage' side of things, they turn out ok in the context of the larger set. Wolficopter After a poor first showing, the build progresses into one of the best models: the copter. The overall shaping looks nice, with a touch of wolf nose on the front. It's not intended to have its rotor folded down when not on the truck, so I had to prop it up with a wolfy friend. Though the set uses a very limited color palette of just light bley, dark bley, black, and dark red (with smatterings of white and red), it still comes off looking a bit jumbled and colorful. I get that LEGO doesn't go for monochrome much, and it might make a set harder to build for the childrens, but eliminating black or one of the bleys would make this thing look much sleeker. Regular red really comes off as unnecessary here against the dark red, and the model would look much better with only the darker shade. What really makes the copter is the fact that the rotor incorporates well folded up and unfolds wonderfully with quite an impressive wingspan. Plus, wolfy is no longer needed with the rotor unfolded - the redistributed weight keeps it from falling back. I guess it's worth noting that in fantasy Chima land there's no need for such physics-necessitated things as tail rotors. But really I don't mind. I'll admit I've been making you wait for it - what REALLY sells the copter is that the rotor spins really, really well. Maybe it's the excessive wingspan, the way it's attached, or something else, but whatever it is this things spins amazingly and is therefore a ton of fun. Truck Flying swiftly along, we come to the beginnings of a larger part of the model: namely, the Wolfy truck part. This isn't the sort of build I enjoy. There's a lot of Technic, a strange slidey mechanism locked down by Technic and SNOT stuff, and a general sense of 'where the hell is this thing going.' The end of booklet 2 (and bag 3) leaves me with this: I wrongly believed that those black Technic beams will become some sort of play feature. They won't. Next comes the head. As usual with Chima, the head displays the wonders of modern, imaginative LEGO set design. Also as usual, there's a crap-ton of parts crammed into a relatively small space that do nothing for the model but look nice. So far, this truck meets my 'bunch of technic with a part-eating head' expectations. As far as the build goes, the instructions next have you make the little side equipment compartments, and then you move on to the prison attachment. However, I photographed the truck with the Wheelchairs already attached to the front, since it really looks a bit terrible without them (yes, I actually did the set a favor). With the Wheelchairs attached, the Wolf Truck really looks quite nice and menacing. Mean-looking head, big rough wheels, some kind of attack paws in the front - nice. You would not want to have this beast coming at you, staring you down. It looks really menacing and ready to flatten you into a road-kill pancake (presuming you're an animal, since everybody is an animal in Chimaland). It also looks fairly decent when viewed from the side, though it becomes apparent that the truck is pickup-style, given that there's not much of anything besides the head. Still, it works. I like the use of the Chi crystals as a sort of super-charged jet exhaust. Even though the whole truck gives off a 'big n tough' vibe, which would usually make it seem not so fast, these engines get you thinking about this thing tearing up some pristine landscapes and leaving them in dire need of new vegetation. But now we come to some issues. Let me pose the question - what does one want out of a truck? I'd say two things: rolling well and space to put minifigures to engage in roll-play. The wolf tribe gets only this as their base, after all, so they better get some room to have tactical meetings and strategize their hits against the meddling Lions, Eagles, Gorillas, and whoever else. ALAS, this truck is just a bunch of gappy technic and other structural stuff. There's no real place to pose minifigs at all. I understand that the helicopter needs a place to rest here (which I will show later on the completed set), but couldn't LEGO have achieved both? Couldn't the designer have filled in some of these spaces with a few plates and added some consoles at which the wolves could work? As it is, Worriz might fall through the cracks and end up roadkill himself. Onto more lameness, we get these storage units on each side that look nice but have very little function. The one that's left empty can't fit any of the weapons included in this set, and the other one has two saws, which I suppose are meant to be repair tools? "Oh hey, the engine broke." "Eh, just give it the ol' saw." Right. Despite its flaws, the wolf truck still makes it into my good book due to its very awesome playfeature (and its general good looks, which I've already mentioned). Seriously, shooting off those wheelchairs and knocking over minifigures doesn't get old. Plus, unlike with most of LEGO's shooters, these projectiles won't be lost very easily since they're so large. This one's a winner. Prison Pod We get a significant down-grade in build size with the next section: this prison pod. The parts use here veers into 'extravagant' territory - it really has more tiles and detailing than a prison pod needs. All those tiles certainly make it look quite nice, but with respect to the set I think the parts could have been better used making the truck less gappy. From a parts pack perspective… whatever, I'll be grateful for the tiles. Unlike the near-useless storage containers on the truck, this prison has plenty of room to do what it needs to do - namely, house prisoners. I even managed to fit Eris in there. Overall - job well done on the prison, LEGO. Cycle What? - you say! Cycles have their wheels facing the same direction as the driver! - Aha! Fooled you again, did I. This cycle can both incorporate into the larger vehicle, and pop off, having its wheels rotate to turn it into a cycle! Vehicles that can fold and be functional always get me. That's part of why I love the copter in this set, and why I loved that Shield car set. For you see, the wheels fold out to make a functional cycle. Just position the gun out a little bit for balance, and it even rolls fairly well and stays standing due to the width of the heavy-duty wheels. Simply put, I dig the look of this thing all around. The asymmetry really works for it; even the side with the technic parts exposed looks alright and I appreciate the tiling. The gun might be ridiculously huge and impractical, but the whole thing is fantastical, so I don't mind. The gun being attached by ball-joint gives it a superb range of motion and makes for fun scenarios like this - 'Ha, thought I couldn't shoot you over there? Guess again!' WHOLE SET Now that I've gone through everything separately, it's time to click everything together and see how the thing stacks up as a huge 'Combat Lair,' whatever the heck that means. I must start off by saying that in person I really don't care for it. All together, it looks like a big bland jumble that's too large and ugly. Some of my photographs make it look much better than it is - looking over my Flickr set, even I kind of like it. But I'll start with a picture that illustrates what you'd be looking at in real life: See? It's quite large, but has no substance. The colors all blend together and almost negate any detail, making even the good sections fade away into the mass. The engines that look cool on the truck part now presumably spit Chi exhaust right on the prison, and there are no additional engines on the back since that's where the cycle goes. The copter just sits on the thing with no attachment points, and it doesn't really integrate into the model. It looks much better on its own. Take the copter off, and the issues become even more apparent. There's just no substance here at all: no place to pose figures, no place for our wolf friends to relax on their ride, no meeting center. What kind of a mobile base is this? LEGO got 'mobile' down, but it seems they forgot the 'base.' Here's my best attempt at getting some roleplay going. I'm really reaching here. I know what some readers may be thinking. Essentially it's a big truck for kids. Isn't it awesome enough that the set makes one huge truck and splits into a bunch of vehicles? Can't kids roleplay with the minifigures on the floor next to the truck anyway? What's CloneyO griping about? Let me explain. Firstly I'm griping about the plain fact that the huge combined vehicle looks ugly. It's drab, it's full of holes. I appreciate aesthetics and have a feel for how I'd relate to a set were I a child, and this set would turn me off. It doesn't scream 'fun and excitement.' Further, even as a child I liked sets that have some interior. I liked trucks, but I wanted to put minifigures in them. The City line has a new Mobile Police Center all the time, and the fun there is having a full truck that also has a fun interior. What I expected out of a big, mobile base was some interior, and that's not what I got here. I got the Chima design brief of awesome animal head attached to gap-filled nonsense. But hey, these low-angle pictures make the thing look pretty decent: CONCLUSION The above picture shows what I like about the set (minus Grizzam - I like him too). Buuuuut wait, isn't that everything in the set? Yes, yes it is. Everything separately has merit. The Wolf Truck looks beastly and has a super-awesome play feature in the launching of the front claw wheelchairs. The copter has a rotor that spins like ace. The prison does what you want a prison to do and gets covered in lovely tiles. The cycle has a wonderful folding feature and an overall fun design. I indeed went about slamming the set as a whole; as one huge vehicle, it's a mess, no way to sugar coat that in my eyes. The basic Chima design principle of 'all look and no substance' gets put on display here in full effect. What's more, the color scheme involves too many colors and still results in a set that's drab and ugly. Yet I like the different components on their own, and the minifigures are a cool bunch for both collectors and customizers. They have neat weapons to boot. Ultimately, I don't much care for this set, but I enjoyed the experience of thinking about it. Chima's over, dead and gone, but with sets like this I can't help feeling that LEGO brought Chima's less-than-Ninjago performance on itself with sets like this. I simply can't see how this set would really appeal to children, being drab and lacking interior as it does. For adults, it's a reasonable parts pack, but not much else.

My old Wolfpack project finally can be implemented! I`m thinking about creating three of four chapters. Accordingly you will see three or four MOCs. Rebellion of Wolfpack: Chapter I by balthazar_, on Flickr Chapter I. 'Into the woods'. Three strangers in hoods were going along the path, quietly stepping on the leaves. They were extremely cautious: since rebels` last raid on a weapons convoy, feudal lords of nearby lands announced a great reward for their heads. Now the troops of knights were combing the woods in search of the rebels. But Wolves (as they called themselves) had never been caught until last night. About dozen of them were prisoned and then executed. To save the rebellion, rebels leader Thomas Stafford gathered all Wolves in abandoned mill on the edge of the forest, where strangers were keeping the way too... To be continued. Thanks for watching! C&C are welcome.

Hello fellow AFOL Few days ago I decided to build something with the content of 21116 Crafting Box. I wanted to follow my "builder instinct" No instructions. I ended up building a sort of bridge. It looked suited for some Fantasy scene. I added few more bricks and I created this little MOC. I know it's not a great one but I had very limited resources for this project. Also this is my first MOC after a very long (about 10 years) absence from the Lego hobby, so any comment, feedback, criticism is highly appreciated. Anyway, here is a background story" for the diorama: "The Elves rule the Kingdom with wisdom and justice, bringing order and peace among the Land. Or so they claim. There are those who consider them invaders forcing their traditions and believes on the subjugated populations. Sometimes it’s hard to discern the hero from the villain, the savior from the conqueror. When doubt and contempt are paired with weapons and powerful magic, it can mean only one thing: war. The number of the insurgents grows each day. Operating clandestinely to avoid the inquisitive scrutiny of the “Open Eye”, one of the most dreaded Elven organizations, they fight to overthrow the current rulers. In a desperate attempt to capture the Elf Queen and force the Monarchy to sign a treaty, the rebels hired the infamous outlaw known as “Golden Terror” and the legendary “Clumsy Ninja”. By skills, bribes and a lot of luck they managed to sneak inside the “Temple of Five Seasons”. Relying on greater numbers the rebels plan to succeed but it won’t be an easy task. The Queen’s guard is one of the most skillful warriors, wielding a weapon that is stuff of legend and the Queen herself is a powerful mage. Who will prevail in this epic confrontation? " You can see more, high resolution, photos on my blog MOC: Protecting the Queen

Hi! Since LEGO had no chance to throw a set of Castle Wolfpack, excluding 6075 for being little more than a tower I built this, to finally have a big and proper settlement. Not much to say. Despite the similarity of my old castle, this was started from scratch. I have a habit of making one or two pictures to my buildings so only have two. In this I have incorporated the yellow Guarded Inn where I used the parts I painted the yellow wall corner. You can see the results and comment.

Hq images on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/97901768@N07/

Hi! I would like to present my new MOC - Forestmen´s Outpost. It was inspired by the Forestmen theme, especially the sets 6054 Forestmen´s Hideout and 6066 Camouflaged Outpost. I had also an idea of combining the warg from The Hobbit theme and the Wolfpack faction. I hope you´ll like it.

Before I start, here is some background info: I got the LDD files for these ships back in 2011 from my Brother. He didn't built them, and can't remember where he got them. I have since remade the battleship three times and the sub twice. Here is HMS Timberwolf (the battleship )and the HMS Gray Ghost. (the submarine) The battleship features four guns and a two smokestacks, while the submarine has two propellers and is almost 100% built sideways. ...and yes, the guns do rotate! This symbol goes on the battleship on a flagpole. This one goes on the submarine. The wolves from Legends of Chima are going to run these ships. Wakz will be the venerable Captain of the Battleship. (known as the Timberwolf) While Winzar is the slightly unhinged captain of the submarine. (called the Gray Ghost) This fleet will be called the Wolfpack... and no, this isn't the entire fleet! (By the way: These last four pictures are from Bricklink!) LDD file for all that is in the main pic: http://www.mocpages....1395667879m.lxf Comments, Questions, & Critics welcome!

Here's my entry for Category A of Challenge I. I had a lot of fun putting this together and I think it turned out nicely. I'd like to receive UoP credit for: battle scene [Military Science], and fortifications [Military Science] = 2 credits The Wolfpack has many watchtowers throughout Nocturnus, some in better shape than others... After receiving word that a group of Hand of Corruption soldiers were in the area, Gavin planned a clever trap. Some of his men lured the group to one of their watchtowers. The Hand of Corruption soldiers, seeing their foes fleeing before them gave chase, just as Gavin had hoped they would: Gavin's men quickly ducked into the tower. And the horde following them quickly turned their attention to the fresh bacon lying on the doorstep. After all, their quarry was trapped in the tower, right? Gavin quickly seized his opportunity and knocked the prison cage off its supports and let it fall on the group below: I just got a new webhost so now my website address is brickbuilt.org (not .tk). This should fix the problems some of you were having with the site and make it much more reliable. I'm planning on making some major updates on the site in the near future as well. More pictures of the build can be seen at the new website, here. Any C&C is appreciated

Well here's my build for Category B of Challenge I. The fortress has a full interior and all the doors/drawbridge/trapdoor work. The lava is lit in several spots. Legonardo inspired the roof of the fortress, while kris_kelvin and DR Church inspired the fortress itself. Also Captain Beerbeard suggested lighting the lava I'd like to receive UoP credit for: roofing (one of three techniques) [Architecture], extreme environments [Landscape Design], life in Nocturnus [Anthropology], lighted builds [General Building]= 4 credits Denrith Fortress is the base of operations for the pack under Gavin's leadership. Denrith provides a secure place of retreat after robbing passers by, or more recently after attacks on the Black Spire. Gavin views the Black Spire as a threat to 'business' and thus all his efforts are now spent trying to bring about ruin for the Black Spire. The dungeon in Fenrith has held many kinds of prisoners over the years, but now it holds one Hand of Corruption soldier who the pack is interrogating for information about the Black Spire so that they can plan their next attack. There are some more pictures here: link All comments and criticism welcome

This is an entry for CCCX-Classic Set Re-imagined category. I took #1596 Ghostly Hideout and redid it as I would like to see it today! It still has one renegade, a ghost and a bird as advertised before!