JimBee

So Vindsval has no orc blood in him at all? It's fine if he doesn't, but his appearance would suggest otherwise. Just curious. He's certainly a lot different than our other resident half-giant, Thormanil.

Hybros frowned. "If you are going to be unreasonable, then you give us little choice. We must dig in order to continue this quest, and must defeat these assassins, as much as it goes against what we think. Unless someone takes a stand." He looked at Posco pointedly. Hybros put on a commanding tone, this time towards Posco. "If the Baron refuses to do what needs to be done, then you must, Posco. Your debt to these assassins must be paid for the greater good of Zylstra. You have helped keep this city safe before, you can not go back on your word now. Do what is right. This is your decision." As if a fight was imminent, Hybros whispered back to Nyx. "You remember that time that we took on the Red and Blue Assassins at Guffington's party? I think that training will be useful now, eheh... Just like old times."

"He is not worth protecting if it means to put the town in danger." Hybros looked conflicted. "I would easily hand Posco over if it meant the safety of Zylstra." Hybros handed the engine to Daneeka to equip the Baron's Pauldrons, so as to gain a more commanding position on the issue. "Be reasonable, Baron. If Zylstra really takes care of its own, then Posco will go without a fight. Otherwise, like this assassin said, there will be more trouble. We can not always be here to protect Zylstra, as much as I would like to. We need to eliminate the problem for good, here and now." He signaled for the minoid to do the scan, just in case.

Hybros breathed a sigh of relief at the release of the Baron. He stepped in front of him to protect him. "Now who is the one putting this city in danger, Posco?" He wasn't serious, but eyed the ex-Blue Assassin suspiciously all the same. "Your time has come, it seems. Why should we not let these men take you? If we help you fight them off, then the Blue Assassins will keep threatening this city until you are caught. You claim to keep Zylsta's safety a priority, what length will you go to to hold to that?" He looked to his companions for backup.

"Looks like you owed another marker, Posco. The Blue Assassins came to collect, heheh... Is this what you were expecting down here?" "You can let the Baron go, for starters." Hybros responded coolly. "He is not involved in this. We can talk about Posco then." He glared at the man intimidatingly.

"Oh? And which ancient societies are you familiar with? Eheh..."

"Yes, we are looking for something. Something very important. So believe me when I say we will not fail." "Fine. But no ultimatums or death threats this time. U'Reeka may have been blinded, but Daneeka has his mind in the right place. And I promise, if you cross him, I will kill you."

Hybros shrugs. "Suit yourself." He chases down the Mulled Wine with a Mead. "It was not us who started that, and those creatures came from U'Reeka, not anything that was down there already. And we have clearly proven ourselves capable of handling any threat. Who gives the Blue Assassins the right to endanger the lives of their targets and anyone around them? Who has the right to prevent this expedition and what we could gain from it? The world is filled with people who wish to impose authority; in the end it is only our own choices that prevail."

"Ellaria, all you have to do is change your mind and ask, eheh..." Hybros shrugs. "The only other place we could drink for free is Heroica Hall. The people of Zylstra and I go back, heh. I once helped Wally with a delivery, and came down here after. Since then I might have helped protect them... eheh. They are a good people."

"Eheh, I do not know if it is going to be quiet for much longer, I am afraid..." "Mm, yes, heheh. I have changed since we last met, Posco. I see you are no longer killing things left and right. Do not worry, your secret is safe with me, hehe." Hybros nods at Vinum. "Oh, um, thank you. It will strengthen us for the journey ahead." He sips the drink. He turned to Posco. "Which is that we are digging. Searching for lost secrets."

"Melvin, Vinum... Posco. It is good to see you all." Hybros wore a genuine smile, even if it wasn't really visible beneath his bandages. "How has Zylstra been since the... incident? Melvin, how is the song coming? And, eh, Posco, you have seen better days... eheh." "That I am. What do ye got ta drink 'round here?"

"Hm, that is disturbing news... I hope they are both okay for now... though I would like to see Posco if he is around." "Very well, we will go to the Sluice." Hybros thought about asking where they'd be going, but figured it would be answered in due time. He asked his companions, "How many of you knew this was down here? Hehehe... The gnomes are a good people. It is one thing if they prefer the underground but... they deserve to see the surface world as much as anyone else."

I'm in favor. The lucky-effect has long been debated, and often the argument is between having it and not having it. This seems like a good middle ground. It's worth trying, at the very least.

"A what? Is it like an auto... auto... machine?" Hybros followed Hewyrt through Eubric with the rest of the party. "Moke! It is good to see you again. I never thought I would return to Zylstra so soon, but it is not unwanted, heheh. How are the people? And... Wally... is he still around?" Hybros' voice faltered a little, but he turned to introduce his companions. "Skrall. I ain't one fer tight spaces, so I hope ye got room fer an ogre in here." He nodded in greeting. He looked up at the ceiling, seeming a little uncomfortable. Hybros explained to Hewyert and his other companions. "Zylstra and its pathways run even deeper than this. The Doctor was right to start here, I think."

I wanted to bring up a few minor concerns with some expert classes. I'm not proposing any changes (yet), but I wanted to hear others' thoughts. Cannoneer is very similar to Arch Mage in terms of the rolls, using bombs instead of ether. With all of the different bombs available, including Military Grade and "god" bombs along with effect bombs, I feel like the class should use the effects and varied damage characteristic to the bombs rather than just being able to spend a bomb to cause AoE elemental damage. Also, I've realized that for Winged Warrior the Fly multipliers only have a 1/4 chance of being effective at all (because it would take two turns to fly and attack, and they'd have to be successful twice in a row). There's an exponentially decreasing chance for each additional Fly counter to be effective (1/8 for two counters to be used in an attack, 1/16 for three, etc.). The point of the class is to allow massive attack power if the character is lucky enough, but I don't want to make it that hard to use. So, I'm thinking that if the Shield-skill didn't use Flying counters or possibly even added to them, the class would be be more accessible. Thoughts?

In due time, people.

Skrall brushed himself off, making it clear that his natural respite helped his minor wounds heal quicker, and indicated that he, too, was ready to move on.

Hybros looks to the Warden, a hint of admiration in his eyes. He masks it by looking away again. "I agree... Perhaps the Order Imperial know something we do not, but if they believe in fate, then our victory means we were meant to continue. That other one interests me, however. His willingness to give us choice... still, we can not think about that now." I too am still learning Chi Monk, so don't worry about it! I forgot that I could even attack without elements. We also forgot about the engine's stun effect (and extra damage) which would have changed things, but oh well... Note that I also changed the loot distribution - I switched so that Skrall, as the tankier one, could have the Feather of Lithe and Hybros could have the Soma so that he will get Lucky faster if he's already Blessed and Hastened in the event of a Shield roll.

Welcome back! I either never knew you were from Milwaukee or forgot. (I am familiar with the 414 as well).

In case anyone didn't know what the Feather of Lithe does: (Makes the user nimble for three rounds, giving them a 1/3 chance to completely avoid rolls of COUNTER and DAMAGE and Free Hits.) EDIT: I'm sorry but I didn't catch this til now, but Hybros was in the back row last round and Martial Hits are not ranged (magic or not), so the damage should have been halved. Doing the math in my head, with Skrall's and Hybros' hits from this round, I think SIlent Bull should be left with something like 3 health. I'm not sure if you just want to call it quits or autoroll, Zeph, but either way this battle is pretty much finished. Loot Distribution: Nyx - Feather of Lithe, 30 gold Skrall - Feather of Lithe, 30 gold Ellaria - Soma, 30 gold Hybros - Soma, 30 gold "Not bad, Warden, but I am afraid we will have to keep these items for now, eheh. At least, I do not think we will need the gold anytime soon..." Hybros nods to the rest of the party. "Well done. I did not know about the Order Imperial before now, but they seem to follow their goals with the same determination and lunacy as the Crimson Crown. Good riddance, heh. Let us continue back to Daneeka's."

Under the protection of Deborah's aura, Skrall steps forward with his sword. Hybros puts away his emerald to perform a non-elemental attack from the front row. Same BO.

OOC: Have a great time WBD! I can take Skrall if no one else is dying to. Hybros grins, glad to see his magic can mimic the power of Nyx's. He steps back and selects a new element, summoning vines from the earth to act as whips against the Silent Bull. Same BO.

Hell yeah! I love Chi Monk! Hybros takes a moment to gather his senses, and feels the newly found power within him surge. Refreshed and feeling stronger than ever, he continues his attack on the Guardian Angel. "Ellaria, you may not be strongly affected by the powers of Ennoc, but it seems they feel the same about you, eheh... Um, it is okay, I think I can handle it quickly enough... If I do dispose of the angel, you may want to step back from the other foes." Same BO.

Hello all! In celebration of the Reviewers Academy's 6th Anniversary, I've decided to review this new-ish Hobbit set! It's hard to believe that teaching and learning how to make quality reviews has been going on on Eurobricks for half of a dozen years now. Time really flies, and I'm one who joined at it's very start. Since then there have been many changes to the site and to my life, as well as others' lives, but it's good to see that the Academy is still going strong. Albeit with less enrollment in the past few years, it's really great that anyone seeking to improve their Lego reviews has the chance to get advice and hands-on teaching on this site. Let's hope for six more! Also, I must note that this is the first Lego set of any kind that I have bought in over three years. Unfortunately other aspects of life have kept me busy and I'm not as active on the forums these days as I used to be. And I am a little rusty at reviewing. But that being said, it was a joy to stop in the Lego store, look around and grab a few sets (this and the Saraumon set). Nostalgia hit me when putting the shiny new bricks together and snapping the pictures for this review. So I hope you enjoy! Without further ado, let's begin. Set: 79012 Mirkwood Elf Army Pieces: 276 Minifigures: 6 Price: 29.99 USD/39.99 EUR/29.99 GBP Theme: Hobbit Year Released: 2013 Brickset Bricklink Catalog Flickr Box: Let's start with the box. Nice glossy texture and all the works with the set info and the contents displayed. There is a nice CGI background, including the banner of the Misty (?) Mountains. I don't really remember this scene from Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, or at least, with Thranduil in it. I'm not sure if it's supposed to depict the scene when the dwarves escape from prison in the Mirkwood fortress and the orcs attack. Anyways, the box is pretty long, but not very large overall. The back of the box, appropriately, shows the "back" of the set, or the inside of the fortress if you want to look at it that way. Comic-like panels show the various play features as well as the accessories and weapons. The sides of the box are rather boring with all the usual text, production and copyright information, etc. The minifigs are shown to scale on the top, but I'll get to those shortly. Contents: Inside the box we find two big bags of parts (each containing several smaller bags of parts, and one including the usual cardboard box with a cape in it), one smaller bag with the Warg pieces inside, a folded ( ) instruction booklet, and a hexagonal baseplate. The big bags are numbered in order of the build, but old-fashioned folks like me will just mix all the pieces together anyways. I've picked out a few interesting parts here. I've been out of the loop on Lego news lately so you'll have to forgive me if these are old news. We're given some parts in the new leaf green color: small foliage, cheese wedges, and 1x2 plates. There's also some 1x3 dark tan tiles, a pair of pearl dark grey hooks, and a 2x2 round plate in an orange-ish color that I'm not familiar with. And here are the spare parts that won't be used in the build (sorted out afterwards, obviously). Those Daggers of Time from Prince of Persia seem to appear everywhere these days! Minifigures: The minifigures are definitely the highlight of this set. Six are included, which seems like more than usual for a set this size. Two elf arches, one elf warrior, two Gunbadad Orcs and Thraduil the Elvenking are included. I'll be looking at each one in detail. Thranduil is the main reason I bought this set. He's such a cool character! When seeing the first Hobbit movie I was pretty impressed by his design: crown of sticks and leaves, shiny armor and elk mount in all! I think the minifigure version is pretty accurate and also very neat. His torso is in the new leaf green color and is overlain with metallic paint. The hair piece, to my surprise, is completely rubber and not stiff ABS plastic like most other hair pieces. This makes the color a little off and the material a little less "high quality" looking, but a cool piece nonetheless. I will note that hair fits on the minifig with cape, but with some difficulty and causes the cape to wrinkle a little. Thranduil's accessories include a light grey longsword and an elegant-looking shield. Two of these shields are included with the set, and can either be mounted on the fortress wall or be given to minifigs to hold. I wasn't as impressed with the Thranduil minifig as I thought I'd be, judging from the pictures, but I still think he's very cool and a minifig worth having! I'd really like to add the Elrond figure to my collection as well (partially because I'm a fan of Hugo Weaving ). Next up is the Mirkwood Elf Archer. Both are identical, with reversible heads. The torso print is very detailed on the front and the back, and is probably one of my favorite torsos to date. Recalling from memory of the movie, I'd say these guys are pretty accurate. The dark green hoods are very nice looking as well. Each archer is given a longbow, and one more is included as an accessory of the fort for a total of three. I do like that piece quite a bit. The other Mirkwood Elf wields a dagger and shares the same torso, leg, and face prints as the archers. The hair is the same as Legolas' or Tauriel's but in brown. I included the Tauriel minifig from 79001 Escape from Mirkwood Spiders for comparison because they are quite similar. Tauriel is not included in this set. I'm starting to amass an elf army! There are still a few more that I'd like to add to my collection... Last but not least are the orcs. There are two, but with slight differences. One wields a spear and wears armor, and the other only has a sword. The prints are identical, but are still impressive. It's been a very long time since I read The Hobbit so I don't know the exact difference between these orcs and the Uruk-hai, but this variety seems a little less badass and a little more goblin-like. I included the Warg here because it's sort of a minifigure, right? Although I would have much preferred Thranduil's majestic elk steed, I actually kind of like this little guy. He looks ferocious with his gnashing teeth and spiked fur. The points of articulation are the lower jaw and neck, which have ranges of motion as extreme as shown in each of the first two pictures. The tail is rubber. A saddle is included, but can be replaced with a 1x2 brick and 1x2 plate in case you don't want the gaping hole in the Warg's back. I prefer the solid dark brown color to the spotted grey and white Wargs from previous Hobbit sets. Build: The fortress itself consists of several modular builds. The first is the main tree tower. As shown in the pictures, the top platform can be rotated 360 degrees. I don't think this is very realistic for a tree to do, but I guess it's a cool play feature. I am a little underwhelmed by the design of the tower - to me it doesn't really resemble a tree. In my opinion the trunk needs to look more... realistic? And more foliage would add a lot. I see a lot of beautiful trees built by our MOCing community; it's a shame the trees in official sets never look like those. There's a catapult play feature that can launch a minifig and topple part of the tree branches in the process. It actually works pretty well, though I don't know why you'd have elves flying through the air. *hand not included. The inside of the tower is quite simple, but includes a barrel with some green jewels hidden inside. The second module is a neat little thing, some sort of decorative shrine or just part of the wall. I found the use of corners here interesting. The third and final module consists of a central wall connected to two similar walls on either side via those angle wing plates. Here the shields are mounted along with some sparse foliage. The design is simple but the color scheme is appealing. Again, not much to see here. The raised platforms give a place for minifigs to stand, and yes they can see over the top of the wall. There is a single flickfire missile in the center. The last thing to build before putting all the modules together is the siege ladder. A simple yet effective design. It fits well onto the wall. Complete Set: After connecting all of the modules, this is what you get. Not a bad set up for a medium-sized set. I wish there was more foliage included to really give the fort a Mirkwood/wood elf vibem but I guess there's only so much that can be included for $30. There are six minifigs, after all. I wanted to quickly highlight the modularity of this set - you can rearrange the module wall parts in multiple ways or get extra copies of the set to expand the fort. I think this is really cool and it's something that Lego fans have been asking for for a long time. I believe the Mines of Moria and Helm's Deep sets are also like this. And finally, here's the complete set, minifigs and all. Once the fort's been populated with the 'figs it looks a lot better. With both orcs and elves included, battle scenes can be recreated and the various play features can add to that. All in all a fun set with some good pieces and amazing minifigures! Let's see how it stacks up in the ratings. Final Ratings: Build/Design: 6/10 - The design was understandably limited for the set prices, but overall I wasn't very impressed with the design. The tree tower was especially underwhelming, and could have used a lot more foliage. If there are some positives, they're the color scheme and the modularity. Playability: 10/10 - For a set this size, a lot of playability is packed in. It's fun to have the elves and orcs battle! Some of the play features are a little weird, but they work so there are no complaints from me. Minifigures: 9/10 - You can't ask for much more for $30, with six highly detailed figures and a warg. I was just the slightest disappointed in the design of Thranduil once I actually got to hold him in my hands, and I still think an elk steed would have been cool, but overall the selection is outstanding. Parts: 4/5 - Again, more foliage could have been thrown in, but other than that there are some very useful parts in good colors. Price: 5/5 - I definitely think that I got this set for a fair price. The price per part is a little over 10 cents, but that seems to be the norm these days especially with licensed sets. And don't forget that the awesome minifigs and warg add little to the piece count. FINAL SCORE: 34/40 - An above average-to-outstanding score! I really like this set - obviously the initial appeal was good enough to bring me from a three-year hiatus from buying Lego. I'd recommend it to any Lego fan, especially those looking for parts and minifigs for fantasy/medieval MOCs. That's all folks, thanks for reading! If you'd like to learn how to make reviews like this be sure to enroll in the Reviewers Academy!