Keymonus

Thank you all guys! It took definitely longer than what I planned, also due to some little problems with my computer. The project now is complete! I'll license it as a Large Fort for Aurelia!

Thanks! I started building a land-based fort to repel your attack, but the rule changes and a significant increase in my workload delayed the publication of several months! Tomorrow I’ll post the proper fort. The hat is from HP CMF Kingsley, it fits well with the classic blue uniform (and also with some Orient Expedition torsos, I’ll use them too). Thanks! It took far longer than expected, but the fort is finally ready!

Aurelia, Blueton, April 621 The defenders of Aurelia were ready to fight to their last final breath, the muskets clenched in their fists. Apart from some strong artillery positions, only a few improvised barricades divided them from the redcoats and the horde of screaming natives. The first houses of Aurelia were immediately behind them: if they failed, the enemies would have burnt the settlement to the ground and slaughtered whoever attempted to resist, or maybe slaughtered everyone, with no distinction. With the muskets loaded with buckshot, the soldiers were waiting to see the white of enemies' eyes. They probably had no real chance, outnumbered by more than two to one, but they were ready to sell their skin dearly. When the enemy soldiers and the Ténotclaxcans war band disappeared back into the jungle, nobody could really believe their eyes: diplomacy had ended the war just a day before the disaster! The very next day, as civilians were still drinking and celebrating, the heads of Aurelia garrison gathered to understand what had gone wrong. The main problems were quite obvious: the "neighbors" of Aurelia were stronger than expected, especially if they joined their forces; and the fortifications were absolutely inadequate for the size of the settlement, especially if the attackers came from the interior of the island. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- November 621 After months of hard work, the Bouclier ("the Shield", as the Aurelians called their new fortifications) was finally completed. With several forts and smaller batteries ready to support one another, a strong garrison and an impressive number of heavy artillery pieces, the new system of fortifications has turned Aurelia into an incredibly hard nut to crack, may the enemy come from the sea or from the land! Coastal batteries Aurelia had already some old batteries defending the entrance of the port, that to date had been sufficient to repel pirates and small raiding parties. As a part of the Shield, the existing batteries were reinforced, and new ones were built. Positioned on strategic points of Aurelia cliffs, the coastal batteries would now represent a real menace also for large attacking forces. A simple but effective flag system allows fast communication among distant batteries, so that fire can be concentrated against chosen targets. The batteries represent small and difficult targets, scattered along the coastline and low above the water. At the same time, with their heavy 32-pounder cannons, they could start a deadly crossfire against an enemy fleet, hitting the ships hard right at the waterline and sending them to the Halls of Poseidon. Even if the batteries are not strongly fortified, the sturdy brick wall offers good protection to the artillerymen. Each battery is manned by a detachment of the Artillerie de Marine Coloniale (Naval Artillery of the Colonies), formed with recruits coming from the Nouveau Monde colonies and trained in the Royal Artillery Academy of Breshaun. Forward blockhouses During the attack of April 621, enemy forces arrived unspotted almost to the outskirts of Aurelia, likely with the help of native guides and warriors. To prevent something similar from happening again, a series of small brick blockhouses was built on the edge of the jungle, near to the faded border with Ténotclaxcan lands. Each blockhouse is a small bastion fort, protected by a dry ditch and equipped with a few cannons. The low, angled walls offer a bad target to enemy artillery, while the ditch and other obstacles make them still difficult to climb for an attacker. The small garrison of each blockhouse is strong enough to repel without problem enemy patrols and to deter warbands of hot-headed warriors from raiding the lands of Oleon. In case of stronger attacks, this first line of defence would likely be overthrown, but this would inevitably cost heavy casualties and precious time to the enemies, allowing Aurelia garrison to organize a counterstrike. Although small, the blockhouses include some solutions typical of modern-style fortifications: for instance the low, thick walls are made of bricks, that shatter less than stone when hit by cannonballs; moreover, the height and the angle of each element is calculated to create no blind spots for defenders' musket fire. Moreover, a low gallery runs behind the scarp wall (that is, the inner wall of the ditch). Shooting through small loopholes, the defenders can shoot the enemies climbing down the ditch with almost no risk of being hit... another unpleasant surprise for the attackers! Light mortar batteries Small batteries of light mortars are scattered on low heights behind the first line of defenses, their short bores ready to send death upon the enemies of Oleon. With their arched trajectories, mortar projectiles can fly over the forward blockhouses and fall over the attacking forces, sending them into chaos. Differently from cannons, mortars can fire small fragmentation shells, that explode a few meters before impact. For an attacking force, slowed down by ditches and barricades, this would mean a hellish rain of fire and iron splinters falling on amassed soldiers, a horribly effective way to stop them. Here, the head of Aurelia garrison is inspecting one of the forward batteries, proudly manned by a crew of Aurelia Artillery Militiamen. Main fort The chain of defenses built around Aurelia is likely sufficient to repel most of the menaces to the city. An enemy sufficiently strong and motivated to overcome them, however, would still have to face the Jewel of the Shield, the main fort protecting Aurelia. The fort is built according to the "Modern Style of fortification": this means that the position and the size of each element are carefully calculated with precise geometries to block and deflect artillery fire, and at the same to make the advance of enemy infantry as hard as possible. In "Modern Style", the fort begins hundreds of meters far from the wall, with the glacis, an artificial slope shielding the fort from enemy artillery: while the defenders have a clear sight (and fireline), the attackers can only see (and aim at) the very top of the wall, unless they conquer the external earthworks before. The covered way runs right behind the glacis. This long trench represents the first line of defense, and can also be used to move soldiers to any point of the outer perimeter for a counter-attack. The fort is surrounded by a dry ditch, wider and deeper than the one of the blockhouses. Also here, the scarp wall and the caponiers (tiny blockhouses traversing the ditch) are equipped with musket ports, that would turn the ditch into a deadly trap for the attackers. Mortar batteries are scattered behind the outworks. In this position, they can provide close fire support to the defenders, but they can also be abandoned quickly if the enemy tries to storm them. The fort itself is nothing more than a low, sturdy, embankment lined by a brick wall. Completely different from the elegant castles of the past centuries, it is basically a platform for cannons and soldiers. With its new Shield, Aurelia has definitely more chances to grow in peace and prosperity on the Northern tip of Blueton, one of the more disputed islands of the archipelago... people sleep better (and merchants invest more) when the enemy is beyond a thick wall, with a lot of big, big cannons pointing at him! OOC: During the last "diplomatic crisis" I started building a series of fortifications for Aurelia (formerly Dragonstone). I delayed the publication of the original fort due to the new war rules but, in the meantime, I built a series of additional defenses, making the project larger than I originally planned... and a lot slower to complete! I hope you like the result! I will license it as a Large Fort, with a footprint of some hundred studs above the 4096 required.

Congratulations to all the winners! In this period I cannot be very active, but I followed all the great builds you published! Very nice writing up of the conclusions too! About wars, I think the main problem was that nobody really know how to manage it… In Oleon we wanted to defeat TV with a blitz war, closing the match in a couple of turns, basically to avoid a general extension of the conflict. For this reason a challenge didn’t seem a good option, since it would have likely been everyone against Oleon and would have made our long preparations in terms of ships and troops basically pointless. However, we all remained blocked in a long standoff (the “siege”), as the leadership tried to define balanced rules for things that were already happening and basically everyone tried to stretch them in a way or the other… so everyone had the feeling that things were unfair. I think that now things would go more smoothly and with far less inter-player grievance, but I hope not to see two PC factions fighting too soon!

I did something similar a few years ago… the quality of the photos is not great, but I’m still proud of the Rimbaud Canal! https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/156735-rimbaud-canal/

Wow, so many nice building ideas! In particular the “Check point Sillitholina” one sounds great! I hope I could be a little more active in the next months... for sure this challenge will be worth!

Yes, it was @Darnok’s AMRCA!

Hi! I’m looking forward to seeing your orchard and I think it can be built in association with the “real” vineyard. However, I think in the licensing form we have a specific class for builds about fermented and distilled beverages different from wine, rum, beer (not sure about it) and cider, so out of the RNTC monopoly. My rice wine factory, for instance, fell in that category.

Once a sea region has been discovered, a post like this is published: You should be able to find them all in the master index. In the introduction thread of the Nation you can also find a description of the colonised islands. For some of them there is also additional lore, for others not, it depends on how many people built on the island and how much they followed previous examples!

Oh, wow @Ayrlego, I think we are going to see a sudden diversification of the productions! We have had several spice or sugar plantations, but very few pearl gatherers or crocodile hunters! Good to know, the trial and error system was nice, but almost impossible to decode (at least at my building rate)! Just a quick question: are large islands (Terraversa, El Oleonda ecc) included in the bonus system too (apart for the secret mining probability)?

Wonderful addition to our settlement! Actually we had already reached the Large Town level in this turn (I should have made an official announcement), and now our interests are well protected!

Excellent minifigs @Spud The Viking! As my (now interrupted) AMRCA shows, I’m a fan of Northern Corrington minifigs too! BTW, if somebody needs an “historical” hint for having clansmen outside Corrington, some lands were invaded during the 49-years war (Peppin, Myrph, Belondia and Tam) and at least the island of Tam should be “Scottish”.

Wow, nice fort! As others said, the angled walls are excellent, and the sea to land transition is very well executed (although the coast is a little bit too 90-degree angled). Great addition to our defensive system!

I’m not super happy about that, since we actually planned building a fort to defend Aurelia, but (apart for the bad timing... but this happens when you have to define combat rules with a war ongoing ) I think it makes perfectly sense. With this I think we got a reasonable balance between realism and turn-based dynamics. My only suggestion (not super sure this is the right place to write this) is that we maybe should get a clear separation between raid and attack, with the first not occupying the settlement (or occupying it for a turn, that would allow a double range for the attacking force) and the second resulting in invasion, no matter if by sea or land. However, these rules seem well balanced... see your redcoats on the battlefield soon!

First of all, excuse me, my answer is exactly the reason why you should NEVER write anything after a bad day at work (but this is not a justification at all). I was unaware of that story and your Tenotclaxcans are (even more) right their hatred for the blue invaders. The only thing that annoys me a little (not in your story in particular, but more in general) is that all the factions and all the players invade and colonize lands, more or less explicitly subjugating the natives (in an edulcorate way compared to real history, but we are talking of empires invading foreign countries), but when somebody talks of Oleon it always becomes religious persecutions, forced conversions and fanatism, even if we never really did or said anything worse than the others. Never mind, and please accept my excuses! PS See you on the battlefield anyway, it will be an honor sending your natives to their ancestors!

Nice minifigs, a cool mix of classic islanders (with their funny hats) and modern and custom details. Not completely sure about the story, however... Recruiting natives and sending them against Oleon is perfectly fine, considering the political situation (even if in my opinion we still have to define a little how to mange mercenaries and volunteers, and war in general): we’ll meet on the battlefield, if diplomacy goes wrong. However, accusing us of forced conversions and religious fanaticism to justify the attack is unfair. I can remember only one episode of religious violence since the very beginning of BoBS, and none against the natives. It is as if I said that the Atwi of Terraversa are angry with Corrington due to single episodes of violence happened once on the other side of the archipelago (or for enslaving and selling Tyree’De women) or that some natives hate Eslandola because your nation exploits them in the mines (it never happened, as we never forcibly converted native). Sorry for the annoying reply, but I think that a RPG only works if we stick to what nations and players actually do, and Oleon trying to forcibly convert Ténotclaxcans is not one of them.

Thank you all guys! I had seen some gorgeous examples of forced perspective, but this was my first attempt and I’m happy you enjoyed it! Thanks! The trick with “minifigs” was suggested me by a skilled builder on Flickr!

King's Port, Terraversa, 20th February 621 They had done it! After the fierce battle for the shore and the coastal batteries, after the long siege and the battles in the streets, after two full days of brutal room-to-room fighting in the Palace of the Archduke, King's Port had finally fallen! On the other side of the monumental square, now a labyrinth of trenches, moats and barricades, they could see the Council Hall, where the Archduke Guards and a company of Altonian mercenaries had made their last stand. With their surrender, just a couple of hours before, the Battle for King's Port was definitively over. Philip climbed one of the pinnacles of Oldis' Palace and started waving the blue flag of Oleon. Down in the streets, dozens of soldiers were watching, cheering and throwing their hats in the air. Just a few years before, the Raiders were considered the scum of the Empire, a discipline unit to be sacrificed as far as possible from the motherland. Now they were hoisting the colors of the Nation, celebrating the victory of Oleon over its enemies! ------------ My first attempt with forced perspective, I hope you like it... the inspiration is the famous picture of the Red Flag over the Reichstag.

Smoked meat for the Fort - small factory

Thank you all guys! The historical inspirations were actually Caribbean buccaneers and coureurs des bois, the French trappers. This was exactly what I was trying to show! Thank you! I’m honoured of being on the FB page too! Thank you! I frankly hope that this comment didn’t give anyone weird ideas ( @TomSkippy, I’m talking with you )!

Wow, what a landscaping! The ruined build and the colour choices are excellent!

I didn’t comment your build before, but the architecture is great! Windows and roof decorations in particular are wonderful!

Great and definitely unique build! I think we have never seen anything similar before... great roof and clever (although a little creepy) use of the rats!

Fort Arltrees, El Oleonda, March 621 After the end of the war between Carno and the Lotii Empire, the small outpost of Fort Arltrees experienced an unexpected phase of economic growth. The soldiers were followed by hunters and adventurers, and then by merchants and colonists. So far from the rest of the civilized world, the settlement had to rely on its own forces for everything, from building materials to food supplies. Therefore, a little smokehouse was built on the outskirts of the city. Smoked meat becomes hard as wood and loses most of its taste, but lasts for long and doesn't rot: if fresh food is not available, and you want to be relatively sure not to die of food poisoning, smoked meat is one of the few things you can rely on! Alone or in small groups, accompanied by their large dogs, the boucaniers -as Oleander hunters of the New World are often called- leave Fort Arltrees with their long muskets, hunting mainly for feral pigs and cattle. It is often said that these hunters can hit targets up to 300 metres far, about three times the range of a common infantry musket... true or false, thee boucaniers are for sure excellent marksmen, a skill they also demonstrated in the occasional skirmishes with bands of Lotii deserters. The boucaniers take their name from the boucan, a wooden frame over which meat is slowly roasted and smoked: exactly as hammocks and pirogues, boucans were seen during the earliest contacts with the Atwi natives and copied by the first colonists. As an alternative, meat is smoked for a couple of days in a small stone builfing So near to the sea, fish represents an obvious alternative to meat. Caught along the coast, in one of the several rivers or in the ancient artificial canals surrounding Fort Arltrees, fish are usually salted and dried under the tropical sun on wooden racks. This smokehouse would just be a little business in a larger settlement, but represents a fundamental step for the development of Fort Arltrees. It may be seem trivial, but having a reliable source of preserved food will allow longer explorations of the interior and of the nearby sea: if new lands will be discovered, or if rich mining fields will be discovered in the interior, it will be also thanks to boucaniers' smoked meat. To be licensed as a small factory (32x32 footprint, but smaller built area).

Thank you all guys! Both building and writing took me a huge amount of time, but I'm super proud of the final result! I tried to show different points of view of the same things, including Oldis' strategic retreat (or coward escape). Just the 100% unbiased opinion of another Terraversan... Thanks! In the past, my soldiers were more weirdly reloading muskets with 3L black bars, that are actually as large as the musket itself! Thank you! The main inspiration was actually WW2 urban battles (and related videogames), such as Stalingrad and the Battle of Berlin. Now the Red Blue Flag flies over the Reichstag Archduke Palace!