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MassEditor

[WZ10:DK] Liberating Petraea

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The liberation of Petraea would long be remembered in the historical annals of Kaliphlin. The High Council was the first to violate the capital's neutrality, occupying the city in an attempt to secure its support in the Civil War. As the war raged on, the occupying troops were siphoned off for High Council campaigns in other regions of Kaliphlin. Desert King spies embedded in the city watched closely as the city guard dwindled in number, and informed their masters of the city's growing weakness. They also fomented revolt among the city populace, which wasn't difficult as residents resented their forced involvement in the war. Civil unrest raged in protest of draft orders mandated against the city's male population. Insurrection hit a boiling point after the city's granaries were earmarked by the High Council for its military campaigns.

The Desert King's spies knew there would be no better time to strike the city. One quiet evening, the soldiers guarding the city's main gate were bribed into taking an early break. Several sympathetic residents raised the great gate, allowing a large Desert King contingent waiting secretly nearby to enter the city unopposed. By the time the city guard knew the city had been infiltrated, it was far too late. The High Council troops fought with distinction but stood little chance against the numerically superior and seasoned Desert King soldiers. The High Council received no support from the city's residents, who locked their doors to the fleeing soldiers and pointed out High Council strongpoints to the Desert king liberators.

When the sun rose the next morning every district of Petraea was under the Desert King's control. Recognizing the city's desire for normalcy, Desert King commanders ordered cart loads of food to be distributed to city residents. Residents who had been forced into the High Council army were released and returned to their families. Damage to the city during the battle had fortunately been light, but Desert King soldiers were quick to help clean the streets and repair people's homes.

The battle was declared one of the Desert King's greatest victories, but his commanders knew this action would not be the last conflict Petraea would see in the war. The city had to be held against a High Council counterattack, and there was no doubt that the Ulandians also had their eyes set on the capital. But the Desert King's army had won the hearts and minds of the Petraea's population, and, unlike the High Council, the new occupiers bolstered the city's defenses. With the Desert King in control, Petraea would not fall again. In fact, the city would eventually see a new era of prosperity and serve faithfully as an ally to the Desert King.

Desert King troops capture Petraea's administrative district from the High Council:

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Some close ups of the fighting:

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A member of the High Council occupational government watches from high up as the Desert King forces capture the city:

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A soldier waves the Desert King's flag from one of the city's government buildings, signaling the city had been captured:

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Desert King soldiers hand out food to Petraea residents, while others clean debris and repair damage caused during the fighting:

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Hello again! This is my entry for the WZ10 minichallenge which takes place in Petraea. A very early entry considering the June 1 deadline, but you guys have no idea how glad I am to be finished with this one. I've been working on it very slowly for the past month and a half, mostly because I had to keep stealing parts to use in other civil war builds. Now that you've seen it, I can finally tear it apart for good and use the parts without feeling bad!

Anyways, I've been wanting to build a large Kaliphlin urban scene ever since seeing Gideon's wonderful Streets of Barqa MOC, and obviously he is a lot of inspiration behind mine. I tried to stick closely to Ska's description of the city, with the tall buildings and lushness that characterize the city. I might have gone overboard I suppose with the greenery, but I really liked the idea of a major urban center filled with vegetation.

Also, I haven't yet chosen a next WZ for this build since whatever I pick may be obsolete by the time the June 1 deadline rolls around. I'll update this post once we get closer to then. I also want to note that I'm as stumped as you may be over why the tan bricks do not have the same hue in the photos I took. I used the same lights and general light direction, so I'm not sure why some of the tan came out more vivid in some pictures than others.

Well, thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy! Feedback always appreciated!

Edited by MassEditor

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What a fantastic build. Wonderful presentation too, and it is the true story of what took place.

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I'm sad to realize that this is definitely not the last bloodshed that will happen in the Jewel of the Desert before this conflict is over...

OoC: Wow! This is probably the best build we've seen so far in the challenge, well done! This is also definitely one of the top depictions of Petraea, along with excellent builds such as Etzel's Mitgardian embassy and Erynlasgalen's builds.

The story ties in great with the war as well, and nice to see that the epic battle for Petraea has started already!

Edit: Forgot to add ' :thumbup:', but maybe that is self-explanatory? :wink:

Edited by Gideon

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Damn Mass, I'm glad you're on my side! Beautiful build, I'm starting to get bothered that you'll be defecting to Kaliphlin! Great details, and colours! :thumbup:

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This is one of your most impressive works yet. Really love the coloured houses and the golden domes. I'm really glad to be your team mate.

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Amazing build! :wub: The architecture is fantastic and I love the ornate look of the buildings :thumbup:

Excellent wall too :classic:

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Stunning work :wub: . I really like the story and the build is just amazing. I love the colour scheme and the techniques!

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This is an incredible entry! I'm loving those buildings so much, particularly the one at the back with the three domes! The use of light blue and dark green is expertly done. Your battle scene is fantastically staged too, and I like that you've shown the aftermath. I really can't praise this MOC enough!

One minor thing I notice when seeing it is, it's a bit too 'square'. I realise you've stuck a lot into a small footprint but even if one of the buildings was not at 90 degrees with the others, it may have made it more natural. This is truly nit-picking, but that's the only thing that I can really say against it! Hope you don't mind the feedback.

As for the tan - you say that you used the same lights and same direction, but the last piece of the puzzle would be was the white balance on your camera set manually? If it's set on auto, different levels of light can cause it to change settings, causing slight colour differences. Sorry if you already know this!

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What an amazing build ME! Fantastic architecture and colors around!

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A fantastic entry into this WarZone MassEditor! It looks very bustling and city like and the towers have a very Kaliphlinian feel to them! :thumbup:

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Oh yeah :wub: Gorgeous build, definitely reminiscent of Gideon's city scene :thumbup:

The tallest building is my favorite, though each one has some sweet detailing :classic:

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As for the tan - you say that you used the same lights and same direction, but the last piece of the puzzle would be was the white balance on your camera set manually? If it's set on auto, different levels of light can cause it to change settings, causing slight colour differences. Sorry if you already know this!

Tan is very sensitive to the white balance in my experience. I usually calibrate my white balance against a white piece of paper, but I'm going to get a proper gray card soon.

Best thing anyway is to shoot in RAW and have all the freedom to correct this in the computer :wink:

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Mahvelous...simply mahvelous. The walls, domes, arches, roofs, etc all look very good. The combination of complimentary colors (blue and orange) in the dead center truly shows the touch of an artist. It just draws your attention. The vegetation is nice but I especially like the dark green tree. Sure it's all square - but it's simply beautiful! The changing minifig posing would've taken some time and really adds to the story. And I really like the different women in dresses. The shaping and height of those printed slopes isn't perfect but I like them anyway, and they surely look better in a historic setting than the standard legs. (Coming from someone who owns a couple...hund- oh never mind.) Excellent scene all around, and even if no one else cares, I do like the flowers in the windows!

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What a fantastic build. Wonderful presentation too, and it is the true story of what took place.

Thanks Robuko! Indeed, prophesy has shown itself here!

Pure excellence sir.

Glad you liked it!

I'm sad to realize that this is definitely not the last bloodshed that will happen in the Jewel of the Desert before this conflict is over...

OoC: Wow! This is probably the best build we've seen so far in the challenge, well done! This is also definitely one of the top depictions of Petraea, along with excellent builds such as Etzel's Mitgardian embassy and Erynlasgalen's builds.

The story ties in great with the war as well, and nice to see that the epic battle for Petraea has started already!

Edit: Forgot to add ' :thumbup:', but maybe that is self-explanatory? :wink:

Haha, thanks Gideon! Yes, I wonder if the " :thumbup: " is a bit superfluous after such a kind comment. :classic:

Really glad you liked the story here. I didn't mean to portray the HC in such a negative light, but considering events thus far in the challenge, the story seemed at least timely. The thing I really wanted to avoid was showing a war-torn, half-destroyed Petraea. Such a beautiful city deserved to be taken with a minimum of collateral damage, and having the DK sneak in seemed like one of the few ways to do so.

But I agree, I'm afraid there is much more in store for Petraea before this conflict is settled!

Damn Mass, I'm glad you're on my side! Beautiful build, I'm starting to get bothered that you'll be defecting to Kaliphlin! Great details, and colours! :thumbup:

Thanks LV! Haha, I knew you would worry about that, but don't! All this Kaliphlin building has got me aching for some action in Nocturnus. I promise, my heart is still as black as ever!

This is one of your most impressive works yet. Really love the coloured houses and the golden domes. I'm really glad to be your team mate.

Really glad you liked it Jacob, and I am glad to be on your team!

Amazing build! :wub: The architecture is fantastic and I love the ornate look of the buildings :thumbup:

Excellent wall too :classic:

Thanks LJ!

Great build - excellent MOC paired with excellent photography.

Thanks!

Very, very impressive. I really wish you were on my side..........

Thanks, but I had to pick the DK - his victory is prophesy, and there is no hope in altering divine fate!

Stunning work :wub: . I really like the story and the build is just amazing. I love the colour scheme and the techniques!

Thanks a lot Balbo!

This is an incredible entry! I'm loving those buildings so much, particularly the one at the back with the three domes! The use of light blue and dark green is expertly done. Your battle scene is fantastically staged too, and I like that you've shown the aftermath. I really can't praise this MOC enough!

One minor thing I notice when seeing it is, it's a bit too 'square'. I realise you've stuck a lot into a small footprint but even if one of the buildings was not at 90 degrees with the others, it may have made it more natural. This is truly nit-picking, but that's the only thing that I can really say against it! Hope you don't mind the feedback.

As for the tan - you say that you used the same lights and same direction, but the last piece of the puzzle would be was the white balance on your camera set manually? If it's set on auto, different levels of light can cause it to change settings, causing slight colour differences. Sorry if you already know this!

Wow, thank you very much for the great comment and feedback! I totally agree about the advantage of having one or two buildings off-angle - it would have certainly given this build a bit more dimension. Where were you when I was building this thing? :laugh: Oh, the tall building in the back has five roofs, though you can only see three.

Also, the white balance is the one thing I didn't think of, so I appreciate the pointer! I'm prone to leave the WB on auto, but I will take extra note of this in the future. Thanks again Basiliscus!

What an amazing build ME! Fantastic architecture and colors around!

Thanks G-man!

Early entry for the win! Nice scene!

Glad you liked it!

Wow, just wow.

Thanks!

Beautiful city scene :thumbup:

Thanks Dr. Cogg!

A fantastic entry into this WarZone MassEditor! It looks very bustling and city like and the towers have a very Kaliphlinian feel to them! :thumbup:

Glad you liked it Kai, always means a lot to an outsider like me to get praise from a longtime Kaliphlin builder!

Oh yeah :wub: Gorgeous build, definitely reminiscent of Gideon's city scene :thumbup:

The tallest building is my favorite, though each one has some sweet detailing :classic:

Thanks man! Gideon's build is a wonderful source of inspiration and I'm sure it will provide an excellent standard for other Kaliphlin urban builds.

Tan is very sensitive to the white balance in my experience. I usually calibrate my white balance against a white piece of paper, but I'm going to get a proper gray card soon.

Best thing anyway is to shoot in RAW and have all the freedom to correct this in the computer :wink:

I will certainly give this a try in the future! I figured out how to photograph black MOCs properly before this challenge began, but I had no idea that tan had its own troubles!

Mahvelous...simply mahvelous. The walls, domes, arches, roofs, etc all look very good. The combination of complimentary colors (blue and orange) in the dead center truly shows the touch of an artist. It just draws your attention. The vegetation is nice but I especially like the dark green tree. Sure it's all square - but it's simply beautiful! The changing minifig posing would've taken some time and really adds to the story. And I really like the different women in dresses. The shaping and height of those printed slopes isn't perfect but I like them anyway, and they surely look better in a historic setting than the standard legs. (Coming from someone who owns a couple...hund- oh never mind.) Excellent scene all around, and even if no one else cares, I do like the flowers in the windows!

Wow, thanks Captain Dee for this detailed and kind comment! Glad you noticed the flowers! :laugh:

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Stupendous build MassEditor! Fantastic work with the colors and buildings, and though it is a smaller detail, I really like your use of 2x1 dark brown plates for the branches of the tree! :sweet: (I'll have to do that myself, if I ever get any of those :laugh:) I certainly agree with you as well about portraying Petraea in more of its natural beauty rather than in an extremely damage and war-torn state :thumbup: Superb photography as usual, and congrats on the well-deserved TBB highlight!

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Puh! Now i took a look at your Entry a few times. I'm really getting into building some kind of an oriental city once. So much potenial: beautiful coloured houses, as you show them! And I have the tan-stuff to do it...

If i would live in the USA/Arkansas you would have received an PN, titeld: "Colab?" ;)

So: Nice Work, good presentation and we have to enter something high-high-Quality into WZ10(good that some time is left...)

Regards, marcu (Member of Kaliphlin ;))

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If I may I would like to revisit this subject. Since posting my first reply the photography issue has been turning over in my mind and I just had to come back. The second paragraph clearly says "one quiet evening" and the first image depicts this perfectly. The buildings are almost glowing, as if the sun is just about to dip below the horizon. The second and third pic look flatter but the fourth is again lit very warmly. The questionable image - second to last - looks very natural to me. The building on the left is brilliantly lit but notice that the horizontal surfaces are shaded. This is only possible when the sun is either rising or setting. The muted colors in the rest of the scene just look normally shaded due to the fact that the "sun" is shining in from behind them on the right. Whether intentional or accidental, I think it matches the "quiet evening" description much better than even, consistent lighting could ever do.

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Beautiful work Mass! The first thing that popped into my mind after seeing this was the Streets of Barqua, so it came as no surprise when you said that it was your inspiration! There is so much detail to see here, once again fantastic work!!

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