Khorne

After the incorporation of the Jiangkai territory into the Oléonese empire, the government was eagerly looking for measures to uphold the security of its newly acquired territory and defend it from the prying hands of the defeated Lotus Empire. The regular army of Oléon already stretched thin throughout multiple campaigns and theaters of war, the administration was quick to grant the permission to levy locally raised forces, consisting of Lotii colonials pledging their loyalty to the Kingdom of Light. Proud to now be part of a modern, mighty Madrician Empire that had defeated their Lotii masters, a plethora of Jiangkai colonials was excited to don the blue uniform of Oléon and defend their homes from their former overlords. Easily recognizable by the black metal jingasa hat and wide, short pantaloons these men wear, they now patrol the streets of Jiangkai to ensure the safety of its citizens and keep roving bands of Lotii soldiers out. However, they are not the only ones found patrolling the streets of Oléon's 'Pearl of the East'. Small groups of youngsters in Madrician dress roam around as well, katana in hand - members of Jiangkai's 'Blue Dragon Society', or the Young Swordsmen. These are young noblemen and sword masters, having studied at famous sword schools paid for by their rich families. Their are the progeny of Jiangkai's pro-Western nobility who have brokered the deal between Jiangkai and Oléon, pledging the city's allegiance to Oléon and renouncing the Lotus Empire. They see the Lotus Empire as outdated, stuck in the old ways of nepotism and backwardness and believe modernization is the key for increased strength. During Lotus rule in Jiangkai, they were minor nobles whose voices were silenced by the traditionalist aristocracy, but the events of the war on El Oleonda turned their fortune around. Now they have ousted most of the old ruling class and steer Jiangkai towards a modern and stronger future, under the watchful eye and guidance of Oléon. The true purpose of the River Dragon Society is still somewhat clouded, save for the truly initiated. Some claim they want to "free" the other Lotii colonies on El Oleonda and mould them according to their own vision, merging Madrician modernity with Lotii culture and traditions and form their own nation. For now, however, their goals seem to align with those of Oléonese interests. The strive for modernization and westernization proposed by the River Dragon Society should not be mistaken for neglect of the own culture. The Society is virulently anti-Faith and sees its encroachment in Jiangkai as a contamination of pure Lotii culture, which they seek to prevent. Lotii culture should be kept and respected, yet strengthened with modern technology and insights. This curious clash of ideas also manifests in the streets of Jiangkai were people wearing traditional clothes are seen alongside others wearing Madrician dress. Where modern troops march past beggar monks, seeking to achieve enlightenment - just like the Nirvan Emmet once did - living solely on what passersby gift them. Extra top shot: Way more text than there is an actual build . In any case, this serves as a Troop Raise for Jiangkai.

Nice! The angles are perhaps a bit sharp or not round enough, but it doesn't really detract from the overall great quality of the build. Plenty of details to look at and very crisp photography! The staging of the minifigures is excellent, as is the forced perspective in the first picture. At first I thought you'd used Duplo there, but it seems to be regular Lego after all. Too bad you can see the "end" of the ship in first picture, but that's nitpicking. It might've been a tad bit more immersive if you found a way to not show that the build ends there. But like I said, I'm just grasping at straws here and nitpicking over a really beautiful MOC!

A bit sooner than I expected, but here's some more pictures of the rickshaw without figs. The black is difficult to photograph, but I think everything's clear enough to make out the different parts. If you add another pair of skeleton arms and perhaps some custom cut fabric, I think it's possible to make a foldable hood that can actually cover the occupant. Thanks! The colors are a favorite part for me too. Glad you like it.

Lovely house and color scheme. It reminds me of the bayou houses in Red Dead Redemption 2. Very befitting of Nouveau Oleandia!

That's a nice tudor farm house. I like the contrast of the red brick chimney and the rest of the house. The style of roof on the stable is also something different from a usual roof, with the slight overhang at the front. Nice addition to the settlement.

Quoting blackdeathgr on this, because he summed up my thoughts exactly. It is truly a work of art you've built. There's stuff everywhere to check out and you've simply nailed the medieval feeling of a city. Amazing!

GORGEOUS! I saw it on Flickr and I just knew I had to check out the full MOC on EB. Everything about this is soooo good! The build itself, with the different modules fitting together so well and just the general shaping of it. Great SNOT and piece usage throughout. But like the others have stated, the presentation is top notch as well. So much to look at here. With tanks like these, one would wonder why the Empire even bothered to build walkers in the first place.

Thanks guys! I'm glad you all enjoy this small addition to BOBS. I don't think I've got some more pictures of it saved right now, but I can definitely make some more in the weekend. I've still got the rickshaw built, so it's only a matter of setting up the light box and snapping some more pics. It's semi based on stuff I found online, but I put my own spin on the design.

Thanks, man! I made the sign with Chinese letters first, but I thought it'd be more fitting to use LEGO's own "Asian" alphabet. My builds usually aren't that big, so I try to compensate with visuals and story telling . I haven't been to southeastern Asia myself yet, but it definitely on the "to-do list" sometime. Glad the style is recognisable! The SNOT roof sides were mostly out of necessity since I don't own other slopes in yellow, but I do like the clean angle they give. Regarding the name: changing the name has been on the table, but in the end I think we just decided to keep it as is so that the settlement retains its unique vibe within the realm of Oléon. Oléonese citizens will probably butcher the pronunciation, though . Thanks! It was fun building in other colors than the usual. Thanks, Ross!

Hoang's Coffee House

Ever since Achille and his units of lancers had been transferred from Terraversa to El Oleonda, to defend Oléon's possessions there, he had become a regular in the coffee house. The Oléonese lancer watched the passersby in Jiangkai's main thoroughfare as he sipped his fresh cup of coffee. It was a colorful parade of people from all walks of life and an interesting melange of cultures, testament of Jiangkai's unique nature as a Lotii enclave within Oléon's colonial empire. One such specific example was a passing rickshaw, carrying what looked like to be an Oléonese business man, being guarded by an ex-Lotii Monomonto samurai mercenary now having found a new master. In the aftermath of the war on El Oleonda and the subsequent transfer of power in Jiangkai from the Lotus Empire to Oléon, the local colonists had started to rebuild the city and more Oléonese were beginning to arrive, looking for opportunities or their curiosity merely having been piqued by this peculiar port city and the stories of its inhabitants. A well-known economic reality states that one needs to cater to the needs of the market in order to make a profit. A lesson Hoang learned well. Having gathered the necessary funds, Hoang and his wife Ai established their own coffee house so they could serve the Western newcomers with drinks from Oléon. However, they mixed the ritual surrounding the beverage with Lotii traditions, making the drinking of coffee a special occasion. A small break from life's race - served with a variety of delicacies, of course. Open the spoiler for more pictures: Notes: I've been wanting to build something in Jiangkai for sooo long and I finally got around to doing it. There is room for an interior, but I didn't find the time I needed this week and decided to post it as it is. Maybe I'll add an interior later and then update this topic. The main inspiration for this MOC are the buildings in Hanoi's old quarter. In fact, yellow buildings can apparently be found all over (ex-French) Indochina. I was intrigued by the mixture of local architecture and European style architecture (and also the unique yellow color), which led to this. The story is influenced by real life too. While looking up pictures of old Hanoi and digging in to the history of Indochina and Vietnam in particular, I learned that they have a very dedicated coffee culture there. It was brought by the French when they colonized the country. It was something I didn't know and I found it a peculiar story, very local to Vietnam apparently. The "sticker" is added in Photoshop. If there are Vietnamese people here, I'd like to apologize for a - most likely - butchered translation. I got it off Google Translate. The Asian looking glyphs are in fact, Ninjago letters I used . I wanted to keep it 'LEGO-y', hence the use of the Ninjargon alphabet. It simply reads 'Hoang Coffee'. Licensing-wise, I think this counts as a Small Commerce?

I didn't want to clutter the Encyclopedia thread with "off-topic" comments discussing presentation, which is why I've decided to comment here. The Osprey inspiration was instantly noticeable in the way you made the scenes and numbered the soldiers. I thought it was a nice way of presenting your troops and found it an interesting, well-written read throughout . Gotta love those Osprey drawings.

That's a great log cabin! I've been wanting to build one of those myself, but never got a satisfying result. Using the thicker 2x2 round pieces works better than 1x1 round brick, so maybe that's why I never found my own versions to my liking. Is the top tree trunk (above the door) held in by friction? The others are probably connected to the door frame? The rest of the scene is lovely too. The base you did is great and I love how you combined the black border "style" with the "studs-out border style". It looks a scene in itself, yet also connected to a larger environment. I love the effect. Also, the curves give it a nice organic look. Color choices are on point, too, as usual. Story-wise, I didn't see the skunk at first and didn't really make the connection with the topic title, so I thought the black silhouette or figure running into the woods was someone the soldier's wife had cheated him with . It only clicked when I actually saw the skunk and was like "oooh okay, this makes more sense".

I missed this one before, but what an awesome colossus of a build this is! I love how you've explained each phase of the fortress in detail. Truly a great MOC to look at, plus really informative

Lovely clean build with plenty of details to take in. I like the color scheme you've used.

Great build! I've always likes builds showing the entire working process of something and this is no exception. I really love that you can remove the ground and have a look at the actual mine below surface. Very cool feature! The whole diorama feels alive and the difference between the "clean" and stately Oleonders from the motherland versus the "dirty" Fort Arltrees colonists is palpable, which adds to the story.

Great! I don't mind the wait. I've rather calm on the boards here, since we're having a bit of an Indian Summer in Belgium, so I've got to catch those rays after a soaked summer vacation .

Nice job on the seed part usage. Love how you constructed the bench. That's really clever.

"Too be honest, ma'm, I wouldn't have the faintest clue. I can't say I've ever met an Undead person before. Or at least not in a context where we'd be having a philosophical conversation about their state of life. If you can call it that."

Cool graveyard, with some designs for the graves. Perhaps some studded 1x1 plates could've given the ground a bit of texture? I really like the overall build though, feels very New Orleans-y (at least from what I've garnered from movies and series, never been there myself ). Perhaps some dude tripping on opium there might've been a nice homage to Easy Rider (my dad loves that movie; a classic for sure, but a bit too dated for my taste) ?

This looks neat! The 16x16 is a reasonable size to build on, opening up the contest for many people. I will try to build something!

Thanks! Sadly, I'm afraid there isn't a lot more to show. The right features the same arches as the left side. The thing not showing on the pictures is a feeding trough for the horses under the balcony. Thanks!

Awesome designs for the figures. Love the guy in the red.

"Not just an army saying, but also an essential principle in life, if you ask me," the Chimeran chimed in. "Besides, speaking from experience: the 'leave no man behind' doctrine doesn't always apply to everybody. Some people ain't too keen on us Chimerans, feel me." Felix grinned widely, baring his teeth. "Heh, none taken" Picking in on the conversation, Felix bitterly replied: "The body cannot live without the mind. A soulless body is nothing but an empty, lifeless husk. So yeah, I'd categorize that as 'death'."

"Backwater swill can have its charm at times. At least when it's the only thing around to drink. Tastes like luxury then." "Heh, don't mention it," Felix chuckled. "S'all part of the job, ain't it? We're supposed to look out for each other here. I wasn't gonna let anyone in my team behind." The Chimeran gestured for a drink. "Yeah, Aetherspace can be weird. You'll get used to it. I didn't really get it the first time I went in either. Hell, I still don't get most of it now, if I'm being honest," he laughed and shook his head.