mccoyed

Here is my entry for Category A of the challenge. I thought I'd turn the tables on the tunnel-loving drow a bit by having them be the ones caught sleeping on the surface for a change. Somewhere South of the Mitgardia border, a long-abandoned dwarven mineshaft is suddenly the setting of a tense meeting. An Avalonian scout, one of Lord Simon's, has been called down to the underground in the company of dwarven soldiers and a pair of lantern-wielding prospectors who claim they have something dire to share. "Shhhhhh..." comes a whisper from above them. One of the soldiers has climbed up a makeshift ramp to where cracks in the stone form a natural passage for sound and smell. And what sounds! What smells! Directly above all their heads, drow spider-riders creep through the underbrush. One directs his spider to deface an Avalonian flag that once stood proudly from the squat spire of rock. In their harsh language, they confer about the whereabouts of Avalonian encampments. An ambush is being planned. The dwarves want to deliver an ambush of their own. The scout argues with them. Let the drow think they have the element of surprise, he says. He'll head back to the nearest encampment and raise the alarm. The dwarves are reluctant, relishing an opportunity to strike back against their most hated enemy. But the scout is persuasive and the dwarves agree to let this one go... for now. The complete build. I built is so that the rock outcropping is removable, as is the top layer of grass and foliage where two of the drow are positioned: In the bottom right corner you can see structural supports built of wood by the dwarves. The bottom left is a cutaway for visibility. Thanks for taking a look, C&C always welcome. Especially on the rockwork as it is only my second attempt at SNOTed rocks/terrain and I still have a long, long way to go. Note: more pictures available on flickr. These may be fun to look at because they show how I constructed the MOC for easy removal of parts.

Whoa, what heads are those!?

That is great. Fully of tiny little authentic "slice of life" details that I really like to see in MOCs. The fishline and supply-laden boat are my favorite parts. I am in awe of how you pulled that swan off too. Can you show us more?

Awesome. I would like to see way more Marvel MOCs than we tend to have around here and this is a very high quality one.

Amazing rockwork in that second build.

Well done with the puddle. Haha.

I don't know how it works in SoNE but in Guilds of Historica, you can create one "primary" character that has to be a member of the guild you joined, but you're also free to create and build for other characters in other guilds every so often when there's an open challenge or if you're creating a story that requires a different main character or a cast of secondary characters. They aren't very strict about the "one member, one character" style that we might expect. Which I like.

What a great, if simplified, setpiece for the nicely executed battle scene. You did all those buildings and trees just for this? I'd love to see more pictures detailing them!

Wow, we must have been on the same wavelength or something. The build I'll be posting later for Cat. A is very similar to this in some ways. I like yours, especially the rockwork and the dwarven architecture. Let me know what you think of mine once it's posted!

I really like these kinds of vigs. Great work.

Amazing work. I don't know how you do it but I want to learn.

Beautiful work. I love the trees and like everyone else says, that's a great head for a drow. Too bad they aren't more common or varied.

It's awesome to see one of your builds in a WIP stage, SK.

Thanks guys! @genecyst: I ran out of pieces to make more with. Later I found more. If I do another MOC of EoT, I'll be sure to make a more tentacled mimic.

Not sure if anyone else has seen this movie, but it is fantastic and I wanted to do a build inspired by it immediately after I watched it. I'm not completely satisfied with the Mimic (pics of them are extraordinarily hard to find online), but I really like how the Newjackets (exoskeletons) turned out. Overview of the MOC. From the rear. Close-up of Rita, the Angel of Verdun (Emily Blunt). Close-up of Cage (Tom Cruise).

@ A Plastic Infinity I'm familiar with the trope differences between Science Fiction and Fantasy. I think your comparison is skewed, though. Fantasy is every bit as broad and open as science fiction. In fact, "science fiction" is often used to describe fantasy with technological elements (Star Wars). If the broad differences between the tropes of the two genres mattered, we could have that discussion, but I don't think they do. The thing is, Guilds of Historica is a specific vision of a broad assortment of Fantasy tropes and ideas. Likewise, a Scifi (as it applies to Lego) MOCiverse fashioned after the same structures and principles, would also be a specific vision of a broad assortment of Science Fiction tropes and ideas (probably with a lot of fantasy as well). It seems, for example, that Bob de Quatre is going for Space Opera, a subgenre that tends to fold fantasy into science fiction anyway. My point is just that the differences you describe don't really stop us from narrowing down our use of "science fiction" to whatever kind of fictional universe we like best. This is one of the reasons I wish the process of creating that universe (and its subgenre(s)) was not being unilaterally performed by one moderator, but as a community effort. Oh well, though.

What a tremendous build. One of the best from this chapter, easily. I have to be a bit jealous, too, because I don't have near enough pieces to construct water as detailed and beautiful as that. Still, the water you've created here is yet another master class from the GoH community on how it's done.

I don't think you need to be concerned. Right now, Scifi is one of the slowest forums on EB and any special roleplaying project ala SoNE or GoH would occupy its own forum space. This means that you don't need to take part if you don't like the idea. It doesn't affect you. I'd also like more explanation for why you say this: What does this mean?

And me, obviously. :D

So good. Flowers and trees look quite natural. I'm jealous of those S3 Elf bodies. I missed that series and now the bodies/figs are so dang expensive!

Fantastic. Especially the use of space. And that tree. The way you acknowledge what it's made of is also genius.

Wonderful architecture and I love the gnarled tree. Not crazy about the tent as it doesn't quite suggest tent to me. Brickbuilt tents seem very challenging however, I was afraid to attempt with my own go at it. Top-notch presentation also.

Guilds of Historica, of which I'm a relatively new member so bear with me, works as follows: Historica is a continent with a central city and seat of power with four subcontinents, one in each cardinal direction. Each one is run by a loosely organized "Guild" and there are Guild Leaders for each. Mitgardia is a Norse-style faction, Avalonia is a Breton/Britain style, Kaliphlin is a cosmopolitan and medieval Middle East/Mediterranean style, with Nocturnus as the final "dark fantasy" faction with wastelands, monsters and so on. There is a ton of variety in terms of membership with each member choosing a guild but often being allowed to build for others or do "freebuilds" to acquire points for their guild. The points are used primarily for friendly competition, secondarily to direct storyline and historical progress in Historica (managed by a number of experienced, veteran members who earn the right through building prowess). Occasionally there are contests or challenges that have prizes but this is not mandatory. Often titles or other privileges can be awarded instead of physical prizes. I imagine it's a lot of work now that GoH is a monolith of Lego castle MOCs. It has also grown to include a nonplayable faction and a sort of outsider "evil" faction. They've progressed a storyline over the course of 3 years now but I imagine the project started out a lot more humble than it has become. They long ago decided that people involved should have a lot of leeway with what they want to build and how, guided more than restricted by the lore and rules that govern the group. The most important rule is that everyone MUST join a Guild/Faction. Usually other limits are situational or challenge specific. There are often time restricted/size restricted challenges but there are also more passive, long-term challenges to flesh out various aspects of Historica. For example, Mitgardia has "Age of Mitgardia" where members build different scenes of progression in "civilizing" the wild north whether it be through agriculture or warfare. For another example, Nocturnus has "Warlords of Nocturnus" which is 3 part challenge letting anyone create and show off a Nocturnian hero via a series of builds that escalate in size and complexity... but only Nocturnus members can get a title/reward from completing it. This seems very similar to SoNE without the emphasis on warfare between only two factions. In Historica, players spend almost as much time doing pastoral, agriculture, mercantile, and governance scenes as they do warfare and the politics are more complex due to the symbolic alliance between the Guilds and the presence of exterior/interior threats that produce true progression. Historica is not now the same place it was a year ago or two years ago. As players change, leave, or join the very landscape, politics, and challenges likewise evolve. It's very cool. I'd say it's the coolest Lego-expanding project out there. I wish every "theme" had its own version.

I'm less excited than you guys. Have the feeling this isn't what I was asking for but oh well. Can't have everything.

But who is the knight on the hill?