Speedboat

Absolutely amazing! If you consider this an intermediate level build, I can't wait to see an expert level one. :)

I visited one of the toy stores in town today and was surprised to find them selling the 30005 Imperial Speeder Bike for 3,99€ each. I picked up 3 of them and might return to buy the rest (~10-15) tommorow.

Grush enters the hall once more. He sets his pack and axe down at the door and walks up to the bar. Ordering a mug of ale from the ever-present and ever-friendly Scheherazade, he turns and adresses the other heroes sitting at the tables: "I am tired of sitting around in this hall and inside these city walls. I guess it will be some time until new quests will be offered to us, so I will go out and explore the surroundings of the city for a few days. Is there anyone here, that wishes to accompany me? I need to breathe fresh air again and make camp in the wilds instead of walking beneath the shadows of stone towers and walls all day and sleeping in feather beds at night. Lets go out and have us some adventures of our own until the people of Heroica have need of our weapons and spells. What do you say?"

Grush walks around the marketplace, perusing the wares of the merchant stalls. When he notices Gnomeo's shed, he walks up to the proprietor. "You sell adventurer's gear, do you not? What do you have to make a barbarian's stay in the wilderness more comfortable?" "I offer these fine bedrolls, although staying within the city walls would be more comfortable by far. And safer too, mind you. Nyehehe..." "I'll take one of these bedrolls glady, but keep the ill advice to yourself. Grush the barbarian fears neither monsters nor the inhospitality of untamed wilds. I have 10 gold coins. Your bedrolls cost 5 gold coin, that should leave me with 5 gold coins. Until next, little man." "Nyeh, I was just sayin'..."

Grush listened to the ogre's tales. This did not seem to be one of the slow-minded brutes he had often crossed paths with when dealing with other wild mountain tribes on behalf of his father. He was impressed. The people that had gathered in this hall in the last few days were diverse indeed and Grush hoped that this would give adventurers like Skrall and himself the opportunity to gain acceptance among the more civilized peoples through their bravery and heroic deeds. Astonished he watched as the user of magics, En Sabah Nur, demonstrated his powers and Grush and the others who had gathered around the table could gaze upon the first steps their fellow adventurers had taken in their first quests. How he longed to be among them, fighting and being in the wilds. But that would have to wait. It had grown late as En Sabah Nur finished his tales and demonstration and Skrall wished them a good night and left the hall in search of a place to rest his travel-weary bones. Grush had sat in silence as the others had told their tales, but the next opportunity would come to tell them about his journey down from the mountains to the bustling city. He left the hall in search of the marketplace and hoped he would not find all the stalls closed for the night. Listening to all these stories had made him hungry for adventures and he needed supplies...

Grush was sitting at the bar, sipping at his ale and looking wistfully at his huge axe, that he had hoped to put finally to good use, when the quests started. But alas, he had not been picked to join one of the parties. He sighed. He was roused from his daydreams of beheading formidable foes and vile villains, when a huge shadow fell over the bar. He turned, seeing an ogre entering the hall. Finally some excitement! "Ogre, you look like you can hold your liquor and then some. Come and join me for a round of drinks or two. I am Grush, Son of Urgrann. I have seldom seen ogres in these parts, tell me about your exploits."

Grush went to the Quest Board, confused because his name had not been among those that had been named as competitors for a spot in Quest #1. Maybe his sign had not been enough to identify him. Oh well - he scribbled his name there, as well.

Having spent some time observing the comings and goings in the hall, Grush notices some kind of board. People seem to put their names down for some tasks. Taking his flagon of ale from the bar with him and smiling at the beautiful Scheherazade for good measure, he strolls over and reads - yes indeed, he seems to be able to make out the words on the sheets of parchment - the announcements. Deciding that fresh air makes a most welcome companion on the battlefield, he scribbles his sign under the list for Quest #1. He then leaves the hall, visiting the marketplace some people were talking about earlier.

The doors of the hall opened with with a resounding crash. An Orc stepped in, carrying a greataxe almost the size of himself and a strangely coloured mohawk. He did not look as if he would like to be mocked about his choice of hairstyle, though... He clenched his fist, thrust it in the air and proclaimed with a booming voice: "I am Grush, Son of Urgrann, sent from the Tribe of the Mammoth to help with your problems and troubles to improve the relation between the Orcs and the people that make their home in the Eubric Freeport!" His voice and gestures were rough, but full of confidence and he continued further into the hall, inspecting the people gathered there with measuring, but not unfriendly glances.

I haven't seen the movie in a long time, but your great MOC inspired me to search for my DVD again. You captured the "clunkiness" of the castle extremely well and I love the scarecrow!

Very cool! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I remember the scene from the trailer. Your MOC is very recognisable. Are the brown cones in the top right people or rubble from the destroyed castle?

Personally, I would love to see TLG taking Heroica beyond those few boadgames and making it their new Fantasy theme. Though a Hobbit license would be nice, too. It is still my favourite book and there are indeed tons of scenes that could be transformed into sets. But seeing that I don't really like what's been shown from the movie so far (most of the Dwarves look nothing like I would've imagined them), I don't know if the Minifigs would be to my taste. Endor battlepacks for Star Wars would make sense and I would love to get my hands on a few of those, if the composition is ok. I had hoped for another clone battle pack, but I guess we have to wait for that until the switch to Phase II armour in the TV-series. I hope TLG makes a few sets based on the Old Republic game at some time in the future, I'm a big fan of the Expanded Universe, and I think the launch of the game would be a great opportunity for this kind of venture.

Very cool! I always love to see clever new uses for Minifig hands.

Very cool layout! I love how you found space for "crazy" minifigures like the dummies (the one stuck in the house wall made me laugh )and the garden gnome.

That's a nice little set! I think this little piece would be a great addition, in case you're still looking to improve it. :)

Wow, this is great. How do you come up with all these fantastic projects? I'm very interested in how you start planning a MOC on this scale. Do you start with small MOCs and ideas and see how they could be connected or do do have a finished concept and colour palette and work from there?

This is very inspiring! Everytime I look at the pictures, I find some new little technique or other detail. You certainly know how to tell a story with your bricks. I especially like all those different wall-textures.

Great review and great set. I received and built mine yesterday and I have to agree that this might be the best set from the new wave. I really like the techniques used in building the engine parts of Sebulba's racer. Another bonus is that both racers are very swooshable indeed, as extensive testing in my rooms revealed.

Hi, my name is Matthias, I'm 26 years old and I've been watching these forums quietly for the last 2 years, I think. When I was a kid, Pirates was my favourite theme and my pride and joy was the Black Seas Baracuda i got one Christmas. Sadly, it's also the only set I ever sold from my childhood collection. I emerged from my Dark Ages in 2009 with the purchase of the 7672 Star Wars Rogue Shadow, which is still one of my favourite sets. Since then I bought a few other sets, mostly from the Star Wars line, with a few random sets from other lines like Indiana Jones or Castle strewn in. That's also my biggest problem at the moment: I often get discouraged because I'd like to dabble in most of the different themes, but feel that my humble collection is to small for most projects I'd like to start. So right now, collecting more useful pieces is my first concern. I hope to do some cool small MOCs in the future until my collection allows me to tackle the more ambitious projects. May the force be with you!

I got one of the new 7962 Podracer Sets without Minifigures on ebay for 23€. I might get another one with Minifigs in the future, but at the moment getting useful pieces for my growing collection is my first concern, so I think I got a pretty good deal on that one. There's an abundance of nice colours and especially greebly bits, that will come in handy in future MOCs. Also: first post on these wonderful forums, yay!