VK-318

Eh, close enough, am I right?

Location: F10 Arium Major Tags: Piracy, Vehicle, Spaceship, Military Rumors of war were everywhere. The Kawashita Group had its fleet stationed over Arium Major, and nerves everywhere were on edge. The planetary governor of Arium Major, fearing an attack and lacking the fighter cover to protect both ground facilities and the water convoys, had broken up the conveys. Tankers now flew solo, departing from a number of points in a variety of directions. Perfect for foiling a fleet attack. But I wasn't planning anything that massive. With a small crew, of course, boarding ships was something to be avoided. But there are other ways of taking an enemy ship's cargo, especially when that cargo happens to be water. "There's our target." "Accelerate to attack speed, and give me a target vector." "On what? The turret?" "No, the tank! Remember the plan?" "So, you're planning on getting us shot?" "Just do it, before they spot us and send fighters!" "I'm clear! Firing the plasma cannons now!" "Ha! Direct hit!" "That's great, now can we take out the turret? You know, so they don't shoot us back?" "Bit late for that! Evasive action!" "Aye, aye, Captain Obvious! SHOOT THE @#^& THING, will you?" "Firing plasma cannons!" "Is it a hit?" "It's a hit. Man, this thing works like a dream!" "What's that? Near where we hit the tank." "Looks like they've sprung a little leak. Bring her alongside while I ready a mooring cable." "We're coming alongside. Aim a bit farther forward - we don't want to get tangled in the tanker." "Cable's away! Looks like their cargo is coming clear quite nicely. Wouldn't want it all to freeze before it comes out of the hold, now would we?" "Looks like the cable's caught in the ice." "Perfect! Just a few more minutes and we should be ready to go." "All right, that looks like all of it. Shall we be going now?" "I think so. Wouldn't want Octan to come along and ruin our little party, would we? I'll signal the fleet and let them know where to pick up our little package." My first weekly build. I'm experimenting with the storytelling style that seems to be going around, but it's pretty image-intensive. I think I got the tags right ... *Edited 1/31/2016 to correct plot exposition regarding war.

Thanks. That basically answers my question - I do intend to focus on my corporation character, so the alien question is irrelevant. Thanks!

If I am building for a corporation, with a character including custom parts as my sigfig, and I decide I also want to do some alien builds, does my alien character count as a "sigfig," with access to custom parts?

Actually, the ship has been sitting around for about a year now. I needed a ship for my characters, and remembered that I had this stuck back in my closet, gathering dust. I'm glad you like it, though - it cost me several hundred dollars to assemble from Bricklink. Getting all the pieces took almost eight months, and building it took between eight and nine hours and a certain amount of redesign when something that looked great in LDD turned out not to be so hot in real life. It's sort of the crown jewel of my collection, and I'm still looking for a good, solid way to display it - the stands in the pictures are improvised and pretty shaky.

This post is intended to introduce my character in "Andromeda's Gates," and also to briefly introduce his companions. It is not intended to be counted or scored for the contest itself! AG_Intro_crew_01 by David Hansen, on Flickr At age 25, Viktor Kramer has had a rather full life. When he was sixteen, he was pressed into service in a pirate crew. He took to it well, and rose from a lowly technician to being the crew's quartermaster in five short years. At age twenty-one, he lost his leg in a boarding action, and had it replaced with a peg. It is made of a titanium alloy, covered in a hard, matte synth-wood coating to make it quieter and less reflective. A year later, he retired from pirating with a pardon, and used his share of the bountiful plunder to have a ship of his own constructed: the Variga. It was completed just months ago - the same day that an old friend from his pirating days got in touch with him. Now an agent of the Kawashita Group, his friend offered him a bargain. In these days of thinly-veiled war between the great corporations, privateering can be a profitable enterprise indeed, and with his newly-wedded wife Silvia, Kramer prowls the Andromeda Galaxy, wielding his customized F-11D plasma bolter in search of plunder once again. AG_Intro_crew_02 by David Hansen, on Flickr Far from being just another pretty face, Silvia Kramer has been flying since she was tall enough to reach the controls of a hovercar. Thanks to the advanced automation provided by Kawashita Group, the Variga needs only two human crewmen, and while Viktor operates the guns, Silvia pilots the ship with an expert hand and a pirate's flair. She, too, was once a pirate - she was pilot for a year aboard Viktor's ship, while Viktor was an engineer. When they retired from piracy, she invested with him to make the Variga a possibility. Now twenty-four years old, she wields her pistol with lethal accuracy in the service of Kawashita Group. AG_Intro_crew_03 by David Hansen, on Flickr A venerable but efficient product of the Kawashita Group, RT3-KU is a factotum robot, designed with a human-like shape so as to easily perform tasks originally intended for humans. Not everything can be retro-fitted with automation, so factotums like RT3-KU are used to fill in the gaps. With strength greater than that of most humans, he wields a massive laser rifle in combat to aid Kawashita Group in achieving its goals. AG_Intro_crew_04 by David Hansen, on Flickr T1-N1 is a robot technician so old that, although its logic systems remained functional, its body was entirely obsolete when Viktor joined his first pirate crew. The enterprising technician found ways to improve the old chassis, and now it follows him everywhere. Within its oddly-shaped body are a myriad tools, from cutting torches and welding gear to basic medical gear and even an AED. It serves its master dutifully in the struggle against M.A.N.T.I.S. and the Octan Corporation. AG_Intro_variga_01 by David Hansen, on Flickr The Variga. Originally to be painted all black, she now wears the colors of the Kawashita Group. AG_Intro_variga_06 by David Hansen, on Flickr Originally designed to transport a few wealthy passengers in luxury, the Variga is somewhat larger than many vessels of her type, but this is of little concern to her captain. She is approximately to scale with the microfigure in this picture. Within her armored hull, however, she holds luxurious cabins, a well-appointed kitchen, a small library, and even a swimming pool. But she is also equipped with an advanced sickbay and a small garden and poultry farm tended by robots, allowing her to remain comfortably in space for weeks or months at a time if need be. AG_Intro_variga_04 by David Hansen, on Flickr She is well armed, too, carrying two plasma turrets and a forward missile turret, granting her firepower not often found on ships of this size - a reflection of the piratical origins of her owners. AG_Intro_variga_03 by David Hansen, on Flickr Only a fool operates in hostile territory without shields, and the shield generators on the Variga are the finest generally available. She is also equipped with several different types of communications antennas - it's a lot easier to find your next target if you can pick up its transmissions. AG_Intro_variga_05 by David Hansen, on Flickr The Variga's three massive thruster pods were some of the most expensive components included in her design. Although she certainly can't compete with cutters or small fighters and bombers, the Variga can generally show her heels to anything she can't take head-on. P.S. The Variga's design is derived from that of Eurobricks member Anio's UCS Republic Cruiser model. If you're interested, it's well worth checking out the album on Flickr: https://www.flickr.c...157628682301835. He has made instructions available for a very moderate price. P.S.S. I am returning to Eurobricks after a long absence due to college and other real-life responsibilities. I am trying to adhere to the rules of Andromeda's Gates, but it is quite possible that I have overlooked something. If so, please let me know and I will correct it at my first opportunity. Thanks!

After a long absence from the world of Eurobricks (though thankfully not from the world of Lego), I have at last returned! I'd like to join the Kawashita Group as Viktor Kramer, part of Special Forces. AG_Intro_sigfig_01 by David Hansen, on Flickr

Seems to be working for me now.

This is really splendid. My only critique is that, with so much smoke from the burning ground, a little smoke coming from the TIE might make it look a little more consistent. But regardless, well done! Making a wreck look convincing is one of the hardest things to do with LEGO's.

Very good build. A very loyal representation of the torture device seen in Episode V. As far as the story is concerned ... Commander Relve? I'm going to have to remember that name. I highly doubt that he's authorized to torture a prisoner, and he's not even any good at it. I'll have to see about bringing him down in a set of freebuilds.

I agree that this would make things more interesting, for sure. Just don't let's push out people like me, who haven't got very many parts to work with! If I have to perform up to the standard of, say, Goatman461 or NinjaNin, I'm going to be driven out of the game because I just don't have enough pieces. So, go ahead and find more complex objective structures if you want, but be careful not to squeeze out new and/or part-sparse players.

Lego made a piece a little while back that had a shoulder-strap like Indiana Jone's satchel, but it was a scabbard for their pirate swords. Eurobricks user mccoyed used those in some of his Dark Tower builds to holster the new revolvers from the Lone Ranger sets.

No kidding! I'm already breaking out my Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka Imperial recruitment leaflets!

Here's a question that's probably for the folks running SoNE. I posted four freebuilds in one day, between the ending of Episode 7 and the beginning of Episode 8. They weren't scored, possibly because I forgot to request a score in the post until a couple of days later (but still before Episode 8). SO: does this mean that I can, right now, build four more freebuilds for score, or am I out of score-able freebuilds for the moment?

You're quite welcome. Personally, I don't think SNOTing it would help. For one thing, it looks like that would require a complete overhaul of the structure of the model. Also, at least to me, the patches of studs just seem to fit the look of the ship.

I second both of the above. We could have a sub-forum in Watto's Junkyard (called, say, Chalmun's Cantina or Dex's Diner) that holds all freebuilds and a thread (or set of threads) for character bios.

As a beginning character, you are restricted to more ordinary vehicles. Not just ordinary TIE's, of course: you could pilot a landing craft, an AT-AT barge, or any number of other ships, but you wouldn't gain access to experimental equipment like an MK2 until you've ranked up quite a ways, probably past 50 XP.

I would be quite interested in joining the PM and participating in that way, since my episode builds and associated freebuilds are already under construction.

Your Ghost has been, I think, pretty widely seen and complimented, so I won't repeat. But your Gozanti-Class ... I'm in awe. I noticed it before in the thread you dedicated to it, but the presentation here makes it even more incredible. That is far and away my favorite vehicle from the Rebels series, and one of my favorites among all the various ships and vehicles of the Star Wars universe. Since those were mainly cargo vessels, some basic crew space and a bit of cargo hold would make suitable interiors. Otherwise, since it's an Imperial ship, maybe a cell or two?

Correct. In order, presumably, to keep down overhead, Eurobricks.com keeps a tight limit on images that can be uploaded. Flickr is your best bet as an image hosting site - it's what 99% of Eurobricks users use, and the Eurobricks image-linking tutorial includes special, specific instructions on the easiest way to link Flickr pictures here. A few people (like me) use Brickshelf to host images because we already have profiles there and are (at least in my case) too lazy to learn a new system. It's possible that MOCpages would work as a hosting site for you - I'm not qualified to judge that since I now zip about MOCpages.

Off of the top of my head, I don't have any brilliant ideas, but this isn't really the kind of question for this thread. Try taking it to the "Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka - Avenger (Imperial Headquarters)" thread - we've got a lot of excellent builders there who may have ideas to help.

It absolutely is NOT too late to join! Welcome to the Empire, KDY!

Yes, now that you mention it. Honestly, I think this whole effort will best even the funniest of stories told this episode.

Wow. The only change I can recommend is that the chest seems disproportionately wide. Maybe you need to make the torso, legs, and arms all longer? I guess shrinking the chest would work, too, but I think that would make the head look too big.

I think our best solution to the problem of participation is to use the PM to get a commitment from people to participate or not. We can't share that here in the Avenger thread, but if we can get people to make a specific commitment to build or not build, we can make those statistics much more meaningful.