VK-318

Okay! I think I have it working properly now. Thanks!

I have an image here which I want to use as my player index picture and my signature image. BUT when I use the signature generator with this image, the minifigure ends up hanging off the right side of the image, partway behind the frame. Any idea how to solve this? The picture is on the Brickshelf, and it is 100px by 100px.

Yes, you can certainly post links to your builds here. It is not necessary, but it does make the post a little easier to find.

Korpen4444: Thanks for the tip! I'll get that straightened out when I submit my Episode IV entry ... Nom Carver: Thanks for the compliment! I'll do my best.

Um ... I think I posted this in the wrong forum. It's supposed to be in Watto's Junkyard, right? If somebody could straighten me out on that, I'll fix it on my next build.

Another excellent use of the tactic of overwhelming force! Now, if only fighter command would deploy a few more TIE's ... I agree, the light is a problem, but all in all I think it's pretty darned good! I especially like the way you MOC'd the CR90 Corvette. Maybe if you made the engine structure a little wider so that it could hold the right number of engines? The TIE Fighters are a little bit wide, but other than that? Just great!

Stormtrooper VK-318 reporting for duty! I intend to operate in either the communications area, the detention block, or the hangar bay. A final decision has not yet been reached, and I am quite open to input and recommendations. In the meantime, a freebuild to call up a few laughs and introduce myself: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=93115 (Not so experienced yet at managing the post editor, so that looks a little ugly. Will get that sort of thing figured out soon.)

Yes, the Galactic Empire has committed atrocities, but what government hasn't? The Empire provides a stable political and commercial environment for her citizens, and that is something worth fighting for. That's why I joined the Imperial Armed Forces. I didn't join because I particularly liked the work, or because I had any particular respect for the way the army is administrated. I have even less respect for that aspect of the organization now. I squandered a few years of my youth prospecting in the Outer Rim, and in so doing I learned a great deal about the use, abuse, and value of explosives.It was enough to enlist as a demolitions specialist when I joined a new battalion being formed on my homeworld of Correlia. At the time, I was proud to see the title there, on my ID cards: Vladimir Volker, Operating Number VK-318, Enlisted Specialist. I am rather less proud of it now. I was quickly transferred out of that battalion and into a unit that had no need of an explosives expert, so the "enlisted specialist" became more or less meaningless. What it meant now was that if a job came up that nobody was stupid enough or brave enough to volunteer for, I got picked. Take my first deployment. Following an attempted escape on the original Death Star battle station, we were deployed to help accelerate the completion of that vessel. But do you think I got a security-guard posting? Oh, no. Not even a heavy-equipment operator. Guess what I drew. Tech support. It didn't take me long to get bored out of my mind. It's not to hard to see why. For one thing, I don't know what species they had in mind when they designed those computer terminals, but as far I as can figure they must have been built for Wookiees. The chairs were no good, either; they felt like sitting on a slab of sheet metal. And you would think that the troopers who got assigned to drive, say, a hovercrane, would have some idea how to power it up every morning, but nope. I had to tell one specific soldier how to do that every morning. Every. Single. Morning. But, hey, that's what I enlisted for. I stayed there for a few months, then they started drawing down the extra troopers. I was redeployed for my next assignment about a week and a half before the Battle of Yavin. Pretty good timing, I think. My first free build done! I would like this judged, please (Looks like I forgot to put a commlink back after removing minifigs.) (Again, no commlink. ) I attempted to construct the signature Death Star wall pattern from memory in in a way that I could build with the parts available to me, and I think I actually did pretty well. Anyway, here's my first free build. Enjoy! Edited Wednesday the fifth of March to correct grammar.

Yes, that is a tent. I think it was part of either one of the old Johnny Thunder sets or a Pharaoh's Quest set (don't remember for sure since I've never been really into either line). Looks like we've gotten a lot of good multiple-level builds for this contest. These will be a good source of building ideas later.

I like the idea of the hologram-table (must see if I can use that later ). Great work with a three-level model, looks very convincing and very imperial with the more or less hexagon-shaped door. My favorite part, though is the way the Rebels are placed in the sewer; they are standing one or two plates lower than the surface of the liquid, so they really look like they're wading in the slime. That's one thing you've got to say for stormtrooper armor; it may be constricting, hard to see in, and an instant sniper target with minimal blast protection, but it is waterproof!

Not bad! I would suggest some sort of hull piece that could serve as a sort of visual "bridge" between the front and back levels of the baseplate, or a few dead stormtroopers and rebels to make it look more like the scene of a battle. Interesting story, and it carries on farther in the escape than most of the others seem to have. I think her encounter with this environment may convice Nar Bilu to make some more conservative choices for her outfit in the future.

Way back when SoNE got started, Brickdoctor commented that Rebels vs. Imperials had been chosen because it would make people start their characters at ground level. The idea is that everybody starts as just a basic soldier with basic training and possibly a few mundane talents, and they then go on to become more significant based on the merits of the builder, his or her skill and creativity. When dealing with Jedi and Sith, as Brickdoctor observed, we have people who "barge in" with their super-Jedi or super-Sith. I agree. This would be an incredible disruption. And, as such people as CallMePie, LegoFjotten, Nom Carver, JacobNion and MstrOfPppts, just to name a few, have demonstrated, there is enormous story-telling potential in a the day-to-day life and combat operations of an ordinary soldier. Fundamentally, that is what this contest seems to be about: a war story, not an epic. George Lucas did that, and we are unlikely to do any better in a contest. Within the parameters given, we have opportunity for action-adventure (LegoFjotten), in-the-trenches perspective (Nom Carver), comedy (CallMePie), and much more. Maintaining Star Wars canon should not be a problem, either, since the main characters in the movies spend a lot of real-time "off-stage" during the period of the saga we are currently working on (witness the number of Episode I Imperial builds featuring Lando Calrissian). For those who find this too restrictive, I would remind you that there are two fields for creativity here; what your character is doing, and, how you will depict it with Lego. Remember that digital builds are not automatically banned, and BEAVeR has in fact offered some excellent advice on how to make a digital build look good in the comments section of his Episode III build "A Fluffy Tragedy". It is not a problem if two people are shown accomplishing very similar tasks; most Star Wars facilities have a lot of redundancies, so the second builder might be dealing with a backup structure. The key is to find your own way of showing the activity. I think I've just gotten a little off-topic. Experience points. I think that there are two major issues people have with them. The first is that they are too cheap, and at the same time too expensive: someone who makes high-level builds for an episode quickly reaches the highest ranks, while those who get shut out can spend an eternity trying to climb the ranks. I think that the current system of assigning points is good; we want episode builds to be worth more than free builds, because the episodes are the important battles. But I think we can still control the inflation of points here. The first step would be to increase the number of points attainable, and spread the ranks existing over this distance. This would mean that there is a little bit more ground to cover for the top-level builders, and also would encourage more participation in episodes as the only way to really climb in the ranks. This would mean that some people might shift in rank as their current ranks' point threshold passes them by. In these cases, a person could have two options; they could keep their current rank (as a sort of brevet-rank; their XP total would not change, but they could keep their assignment), or they could choose to drop in rank as far as, or less than as far as, their actual earned rank. The second step would be to allow people to chose not to receive points for their episode builds if they do not want to. They could state, in the episode build post, that they do not wish to be given XP, and that would be the end of it. The team would still receive the points, but you don't have to be promoted farther than you want to. This system already exists in free builds, so why not add that functionality to the episode builds? As far as declining participation is concerned, I don't know how to deal with that. My only observation would be to request that more judges be added or some other such change be made to enable a decrease in wait times for XP and new episodes; the long waits have got to be part of what is killing the contest. However, this may not be readily possible, and if so, I certainly understand. Regardless, those of us who enjoy this contest will need to just stick to it and encourage. One way to help with free-builds or to encourage episode building might be for a group of players to team up, assign parts of a mission to each other, and communicate during the process of construction to make sure they all stay on track. I think this might collide somewhat with the current rules, but maybe we could give that a look? Anyway, my thanks to Brickdoctor, Lobot, Piranha, and the other organizers for their unfailing efforts and continual good cheer, to CallMePie and that Imperial slug, Lego Spy, for their wonderful sense of humor, and all of you builders for making this an enjoyable contest to watch. I hope to find it even more fun to participate in. And to those of you who aren't building, I ask, nay insist, that you get started! Get out your Legos, or, if you don't have enough, break out Lego Digital Designer, and get to it! For the Empire!

Neat! This is definitely a good, compact way to represent the bride of an Imperial Star Destroyer. I like how you used the dark-colored tiles around the facing edges of the deck to give the build a finished look. I look at this and think that this would be a great build for the Empire to use as a set for a propaganda film. BEAVeR is right in one respect, though; it stops short at the top. The big problem I see with this is that it has got to very, very difficult to take a picture of this free build without showing the cut-off point where the walls stop. I personally thank that some plates attached with a hinge, sloping, say, twenty to thirty degrees up, with greebling to form the bridge ceiling, would be a nice touch. There is a spot in a Death Star, just aft of the control bridge, that matches the concept you said you were expressing. There is a fairly short corridor leading from the lifts to the bride, and on either side of this corridor is a little nook much like what you have built here. Those spaces had a very flat, boring roof, not angled at all (you see a shot of one in Episode V, when two Star Destroyers pursuing the Millennium Falcon near Hoth nearly collide. A couple of officers brace themselves against the walls of one of these nooks during evasive action by the Star Destroyers.) What is the TIE Fighter pilot doing here, though?

Great! This is an interesting way to move this mini-story forward, and has the Empire taking the initiative for a change using the classic Imperial tactic of overwhelming force. A very efficient operation. Normally I prefer a design without studs showing, but the setting of this build, a slum-type, run-down building, is perfect for studs, and the posing of minifigures definitely suggests a highly-trained, well-drilled commando operation and complete tactical surprise gained. I can only think of three critiques, and the first at least is pretty nit-picky. I see five rebels in the building, as you state in the story, and there are five blasters and five helmets in the back room; but one of the rebels is a Mon Calamari, and can't wear any of those hats. Makes me think that a rebel got away ... Sounds like a hook for a Rebel builder to respond to! The door leading left, to that little closet-like space, and the door to the right, out into the courtyard, are too small for a minifig to fit through. And the closet-like space is a little empty; just one rebel curled up in a corner, no boxes of explosives, portable communicators, or any of the more mundane things used by a strike base. Again, great job! For the Empire!

I would like to enlist with the Empire, as a Stormtrooper. Please give me the basic character for now; I will have parts to complete my sig-fig in a few days, and a free-build that is also only waiting for those parts. I've been, ah, lurking in the background and watching for a month or so and finally made up my mind to start. Thanks!