SkaForHire

Is it bad that my favorite picture is the sinking ship? I think that is really cool how you did that! Great job, and nice to see what was up with the characters.

@ Jerroenna -- For some reason I did not upload the pictures of your troops (I took some liberties with the limited vikings I had), but they are there too. @CBB -- come on over! Beer, lego and wargames! @Kai -- Azc will be added. @Infernum -- I think I said this on the Kaliphlin post, but this is actually a different thing than the send one warrior thing (that is actually part of a continuing story that may or may not be my Ch 6). But, I did say, since that event has not happened yet, you can say that the warrior you sent "took a detour" to Queenscross first. In that case, I will go back to that thread and build your warrior for this battle too. @DM -- The king and his main body of troops are currently holding off the southern enemy army that is attempting to flank the Bridge. But he has given orders to send a raven if things get too out of hand and he will personally fly to the bridge battle site to help. I already made Alleenridders under your instruction and they have already begun fighting (although they look a bit different.) I will make it so the nobles arrived one day later - although I won't be able to make them look too similar to their picture. I am sure these new troops from Ximus will help hold back the horde.

Indeed it does, early reports from Queenscross state that the Hand army has with it prominent nobles from Avalonia, Kaliphlin, and Mitgardia. No one seems safe from the temptations of Victor. We here he can force even the purest to do his bidding, and rewards those who come willingly well. On the other hand. oddly enough, we have yet see see Nocturnans fight on either side....

UPDATE: Rumors report that the battle has begun at Queenscross, all we know is that our troops held out on the first night. We do have artist renderings of the pre-battle meeting at the Great Forum of Queenscross. DSC_2077 by skaforhire, on Flickr Paulos, standing behind the raised podium, addresses the General's Council before the battle. They discuss strategy, but the biggest joke of the night was "What happened to Falconi's golden armor?" Rumor has it that there is such a high price on his head that he donned more mundane armor for the battle so not to attract too much attention. Also seen in the above picture is Derengar the Bull, Captain Hugh Hos, Sir Gideon, Sir Derrik, Artesdror, and Triumvriate member, Senator Craxus. DSC_2113 by skaforhire, on Flickr Another pic showing Falconi and Sergio Jarrett listening to Paulos speak. The Great Forum of Queenscross, from down a destroyed street: DSC_2088 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2110 by skaforhire, on Flickr Paulos addresses the General's Council - Senator Craxus in the foreground. Now some pictures of the battlefield before the it all begins: DSC_2102 by skaforhire, on Flickr The plan is to barricade the entrance of the bridge, and hold out on the west side of the city as long as possible. DSC_2090 by skaforhire, on Flickr The flattened west side of Queenscross, where the fire elemental went through months ago. The only building left untouched was the Green Berry Inn, now the residents of the city call it "Devil's tavern" because they can only assume that the innkeeper Valinda Malfor had made a dark deal to keep her tavern in one piece when the fire elemental destroyed all 9 buildings that surrounded it. Valinda refuses to leave her tavern, even though the enemy shall be upon it by nightfall tonight. DSC_2111 by skaforhire, on Flickr One of the few buildings on the east side of the river to get damaged during the elemental raid months ago was the Bridge Barracks. Here we can see that the city was in the middle of rebuilding the roof when this latest threat arrived. DSC_2101 by skaforhire, on Flickr The grave marker and park of Old King Vlasik DSC_2092 by skaforhire, on Flickr The east side of the Arkbri River, all of the MOC buildings open up similarly to the MMV buildings. I didn't build furniture though. DSC_2095 by skaforhire, on Flickr I used almost all the white, tan, blue and green I had for this city. Someday I would like to build a more detailed version of this area of the city - the Inn District DSC_2106 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Tower of the Old Kings overlooks the Inn District, or what is left of it on both sides. The Senator has suggested Paulos seek its observation deck to oversee the battle. DSC_2104 by skaforhire, on Flickr Some more of the damage can be seen here. Also, in the set, you can see renditions of the heroes already sent and the forces that will be fighting for our side so far. I did not want to clutter up the thread with matching everyone's picture, but you can go look if you want. Here is a picture of the sorting table to leave off this post with: DSC_2067 by skaforhire, on Flickr

Entrails!!!!! HAHAHA! Awesome. Great MOC!!! I like the wheat too, that was very clever. As someone who has done a lot of "scorchmarks" building lately, I can really appreciate what you did here, nice work. Glad to see some more excellent MOCs from you! On another note, sources confirm that Sir Derrik made it to Queenscross in time to meet in the general's council and participate in the early stages of the battle. The only missing member of Gideon's party so far is Mr. Farstrider.

Sadly, I got carried away with building... So, probably the first bit of fighting will begin tonight, and I will run the battle for a few hours each day for a week instead of a couple big days. But I will have updates tonight. Everyone who has sent troops already will make it in time for the first portion of the battle (the planning, the pre-battle setup pics, and the initial strategy.) From this point on, whoever sends troops will be reinforcements coming in late (I am not sure if story-wise this will be a 7 day battle or one long day played over a few days... I am leaning towards a 7 day epic battle.) Anyway, pictures of Queenscross battlefield coming soon. Here is the preview shot i put in the Kaliphlin thread: queenscrosswip by skaforhire, on Flickr

There is actually a raised podium in the middle of the forum (that building)... I think the defiler may have found her hiding spot... haha.

So... I may have went overboard on building quick terrain and scenery for the battle.... I went upstairs four hours ago to build three quick tudor looking buildings... ended up building the Forum of Queenscross and the Tower of the Old Kings. Before I blow them up in the battle, I will make sure to get better pictures -- maybe I can use one for an emergency CH 6 build! queenscrosswip by skaforhire, on Flickr

I can whip something up that is similar. Might not be able to put him on wolf-back, but we will see. Glad you could send help! @ Niku - The more heroes the better, I can replicate most of these men I think (that is the diver suit right?). Unfortunately, the dog probably won't make it to the battle, unless I see one at the Lego store tomorrow. One last question, are the expendable? It looks like I may have to create a cavalry unit made up of just heroes!

@ Gideon I have already made a version of Gideon, and the squire shouldn't have too much trouble. Although, I don't know if they will be mounted because of the terrain. I know i have the parts for Roger, but might not be able to find them. Sir Derrik himself is not a problem, and I can give him some dragon knight torso guards -- The elf bodies are already in use and none of my knights of Rohan bodies have green arms anymore, because they became Paulos' personal guard. As for Ediz and his men, they are really similar to the GEAR Co. Second Desert Cavalry "The Hotknives" (can't find the link for them, my first build). If they don't show up, then Ediz's men can show up, and if the Hotknives show up, then Ediz's men can decide that the very minimal amount of money that the city can pay them was not enough to risk their lives... Time will tell. On another note, I definitely won't be starting tomorrow night, but hope to have shots of the battlefield up. Shooting for Friday night. Work got in the way!

@Z HAHA, nice! @jeroenaa: Nice to officially meet you, don't worry about being confused many of us were at first, you will get the hang of it soon -- your sig fig sounds really interesting, can't wait to see him when you get your camera working.

Well that made me laugh! I think I can replicate most of this, where is the barding on the horse from? ---- I have not seen the toy soldiers for a while now... I knew I should have bought a few of those.

That is how I tend to balance it out... if you send 10, they most likely will be veteran status, which would make them a bit stronger than the average human minifig, and the leader would get an additional stat bonus. If you send one guy, especially a named character, he would probably have more wounds (the amount of "blows" he can take until dying.) and stronger stats in battle including incredible feats like extra attacks when wounded, unable to feel fear, etc... All of which you could ask for when you tell me about the guy you are sending. For example, the last time we ran one of these (linked in the first post) Jakon sent himself and three other named characters, their stats were much stronger than Khamar Ibn Hakkad's unnamed soldiers. Although his soldiers did have better stats than the average grunt because he said specifically what these soldiers did (they were specialized lancers). Massa's (House Kalores) men had no details given at all, so they were basic veteran soldiers. Ecc's troops were small in number (3) and unnamed, so they became elite soldiers. I hope that helps describe how I assign stats. Also, I was thinking of you, and I have set aside the figures to create immortals already, if you so choose to use them. So you have first dibs on those boar / evil knights. On another note... it is sad that only 2/5ths of those who participated last summer are still active GoH members.

Glad to see so much support - a word to Mitgardians with more "classic" Mitgard look, these will probably be the hardest for me to replicate because of the lack of green arms, so i apologize if the artist totally wrecks your likeness! Also, I am glad that we are pulling in new members from this. Jeroenaa, you are welcome to send troops, we just need to know which guild you belong to first! :) I already have the soldiers set aside for you, whenever you introduce your character figure. Remember, join whatever guild you feel comfortable with... all four are fighting on the same side in this battle. Finally, a clarification - I set up the twitter account (@skalego), this will only be used for live updates for the battle as it is going on. All battle reports and pictures (other than a few crappy phone pics maybe) will be posted here. So you do not have to feel obligated to follow the feed or send in suggestions if you don't want to.

In my mind that anthem fits Avalonia... but we all know Mitgardia and Kaliphlin have much larger navies! So I guess it will have to be a Mitgardian anthem, because we just don't care about controlling water, we just like to stea.... erm... buy your stuff!

If I rebuild it some day that is something I would like to try.... Arches coming out from the bottom pillars. I just did not have enough pillars or large arch pieces to do so this time :(

Yes this is starting to look like a two weekend thing. This is probably not the time to say this, but I really had little interest in Ch 6, and rather play a supporting role in the stories, so that is why this battle has consumed my building time. With that being said, most of my bricks and all of my space will be tied up in Queenscross for at least the first week of April. I know I owe it to the guild to do Ch 6, but I just want to say that my entries may be much smaller and more story.

Time travel. Sorry, fixed. You're lucky I like you. Welcome to GoH! First things first, you need to create a signature figure and introduce him/her and join one of the the four join-able guilds. It does not have to be an elaborate story, but we always appreciate those. That "officially" makes you part of the Guilds of Historica project. This is an unofficial "event" (I don't have a better term for this, sorry!) that I am running. It is an interactive "event" for the whole community, and anyone is welcomed to send forces to join the battle. There is no prizes or titles or anything like that involved, but it will be in good fun, and help advance our storyline in the project. So again, all are welcomed to join. Once you have made your sig fig is made and you have joined a guild. You can send whoever you want to the battle. You can just give me a few names, or light description, or maybe a photo of the 1-10 men you are sending. Please note any weapon styles / special abilities / characteristics that you want me to consider when I assign them stats for the wargame. Then, on the field of battle, the commander of the good guy side will do all the movements and "general" the battle. He will move your men, and I will report back on how they did. Also, I think I am going to be able to create a twitter account where you all can suggest moves and hear updates during the battle... just have to look into that. I am going to try to make this battle as interactive as possible. Gideon's parts are here, and I can replicate him pretty closely. As for PoP helmets, I have a few, but those are already on Eastgate's troops I believe, but I might be able to "substitute" something else on them, also Without opening a few more BoA (which I will do eventually, but jsut have not been able to find time to sort pieces from other sets yet either), I might not have enough for a whole squad. I have an unopened Kingdoms joust, I don't know how many shields it comes with, but I would entertain opening it to get at the parts if there were enough shields in there for all your troops. This may or may not appeal to you, but I have a bag of 15-20 black head-cloths (not turbans) from PoP that are currently unused. As for Avalonians -- I currently have plenty of dragon torsos, so anyone that uses those will be well represented.

I did this too, and switched the arms into the Rohan soldier, essentially in GOH terms, changing him from Mitgard / Avalonian to Kaliphlin. Too bad I only have a handful of these Rohan guys... I thought getting so many policemen was a curse at first, but you are right, the dark blue parts are very useful.

Yes, that would work. I want to start on the 28th, but most likely it will only be set up. So, you would arrive fairly early in the battle probably even coming in on the 30th. I am actually extending the battlefield another table (probably), in order to add some more buildings to the burnt out side of the river, so this will be a longer process than first thought.

Yeah, silly me not giving dates! April 8 is when I plan to have the battle over. So up to that point. I plan on starting it on Thursday night, MARCH 28th (I am CST -9 GMT I believe) So whoever I have before the start will be there at the beginning, and everyone that signs up after that will come in as reinforcements throughout the battle. to CBB - I have a decent amount of Lions, Dragons, and crowns (including all the factions that ran with that year of Castle). I have some bulls, and a little bit of Ninjago. I have some KK2 purple and red knights (sorry no blue Gedren, but I will figure something out for you). In the LOTR sets, I have a few of the Rohan troops (eomir (sp?) and the green one.) along with some elves and most of the dwarves from the Hobbit. for CMF, I have a decent amount of the evil knights and the white knights (probably 10 of each). I think I have a few extra Elves, Romans and Spartans also. I have at least one of almost every CMF since series 5, and I have a lot of series 2 and 3 also. I hope that gives you a palette to work with.

A CALL TO ARMS! The Battle of Queenscross (This is a separate call for soldiers from the one in the Kaliphlin thread a month or two back. Those soldiers were used for something else entirely, but if they want to make a “stop” in Queenscross first, it can be arranged) In all directions the messengers rode, evading Victor’s forces where possible. In every town and village they read their message from Paulos MacLean, General of the allied forces at Queenscross. It states: “Come ye brothers and sisters, for one of Revolword’s greatest armies have come to Queenscross to force their way into the south. We need any available soldiers, adventurers, sorcerers, to make haste to Western Queencross immediately. No money can be awarded, but glory in troves shall surely follow the victor of this battle. The cities beyond the Arkbri River lay in danger if the mighty span as Queenscross falls into the hands of Revolword. Moreover, this is one of the largest assemblies of men under the traitor’s banner in all of historical. Now would be a fortunate time to strike them from this world. So, I Paulus MacLean, call to every able bodied person to make their way to Queenscross. We can not let it fall. ” (IF you don’t need caught up, skip to next section) The Road So Far: A few months back, Victor splithis forces into three known columns and marched them towards Mpya Stedor, Queenscross, and Albion. The first force was repelled by DaMaximus. The second force waited about 50 miles outside of Queenscross, no one knowing their true plan. The third force, we Kaliphinites have lost track of, and hope that Avalonia has repelled these foes. The force moving towards Queenscross is assumed to have their ambitions set on taking the great bridge over the Arkbri River in that city. It is the fastest way to move troops and leads up the capital road to where that road scales the Great Escarpment. This is one of the few easier ways into the heartland of Kaliphlin, and the innocent oasis dwellers beyond. The final defense once at the escarpment is the Jackal’s Teeth. Between Queenscross and the Jackal’s Teeth, Kaliphlin has been well protected over the last few centuries, until now. Queenscross was partially decimated by the Elemental menace 8 months back, when the Victor crisis began. The eastern half of the city was almost completely annihilated, making the bridge a poorly defended target, and weakening the first defenses of Kaliphlin’s interior. DSC_2031 by skaforhire, on Flickr Dugal MacLean gathered an army to counter Victor’s at Queenscross, and with the blessing of the city’s leaders (the Triumvirate), he was made General of all Allied Forces defending the city. Between Dugal and the Triumvirate, it was decided that the Bridge would be the fall back point of the battle and the last defense of the city. However, Victor’s troops stopped 50 miles from Queenscross to gather reinforcements and to try and feign movements to throw the allies off. One of those feigns two months ago led to the ambush and death of Dugal, and his brother Paulos took over as commander. The Plan Meanwhile, DaMaximus had defeated the Drow threat to Mpya Stedor, and this allowed him to dispatch the King Dragonius XXV of Drakrydar and a good army to Queenscross. Paulos and Dragonius decided that the king’s main force would ride south on the East Bank of the Arkbri River and keep the enemy army from fording the river south of the bridge. It yet remains to be seen if the King will stay in Queenscross for the final defense or lead his own men in the defensive fight south of the city. Also, with the Southern Lions freed up, Gex Marmota dispatched them to Queenscross for support. Meeting with Paulos, the Triumvirate, and Dragonius, the Southern Lion’s commander, Count Darzag told them of his orders to protect the Jackal’s Teeth, which were currently undermanned. The leaders decided not to put all of their hopes on the back of the battle of Queenscross, and the Southern Lions moved to reinforce the Jackal’s Teeth. Darzag left a small contingent of trusted Lions to act as a personal bodyguard for Paulos in battle. A few weeks passed with little difference in the enemy’s forces 50 miles away, they gained men, they lost men to attrition, they sent some small armies off to scavenge, but just last night a scout came back reporting that something was happening. Victor’s forces were dividing into two, but the much larger force was heading straight for the city. The second force seemed to fall to the Southwest. A member of the Triumvirate had realized what had happened first. “They waited until the wet season when we would be least defended, and the river its highest.” He told Paulos. Durring the wet season men had to tend to their irrigation systems back on the surrounding farms, and urbanites had to make sure the floodwalls were holding. Many conscripted men had already left the allied forces to tend to the needs of their homesteads. Warriors were needed badly, and the estimate was that they only had just under a week to get them! Paulos sent out a message to all those who would listen, pleading for support. How this works: This will be very similar to the Battle of Khordeem, my brother and I ran last year. Basically, the battle will be fought out as a wargame, using rules that my brother and I have been working on for a LONG time. (This is also a playtest for us.) It will take a few days to get all the way through, but should prove to be epic. The plan is simple. The call has gone out by raven , magic and other means to the far ends of Historica. Help is needed at the battle of Queenscross. If you wish to join the battle, send your small troop by mage, boat, or land to Queenscross. Some may make it for the start of the battle, and others might join in the thick of it as reinforcements. Anyone that signs up while the battle is still going, we will try to get into the battle. All we need is a pledge of men (1-10, although 10 may be hard to represent on the battlefield; the ideal number is squads of 5). I will try to represent your figures as closely as possible, but it might be hard to accurately represent some heroes or your actual men’s uniforms. (we can always chalk it up to artist’s interpretation) We will then give your men (or women!) stats and bring them into battle. They will then fight in the battle to see if they can help repel Victor’s forces. If your hero or your men are known for a certain weapon style or ability, include it in your pledge. We will try to accommodate this in your character’s stats. You may want to also show us a picture of who you are sending, if you want us to try and replicate them. WARNING: The soldiers you send may die – if you send a hero, you might want to tell us you would prefer they fell wounded or are likely to retreat. It is all luck of the dice (much like the tournaments that have been held) The battle won’t start until next weekend, but I will keep checking the forums for new recruits and can add people all the way until the battle is done – probably (next)Monday morning. So if you don’t make it before the battle, sign up at any point in the weekend too. Anyway, I hope some of you will heed Paulos’s call to arms and join us for the Battle of Queenscross One last thing, I am looking into a way of possibly setting up a live feed that would allow builders to check in and see what their heroes are doing. Also… I might even start up a twitter account for the battle where you can get live updates and suggest maneuvers for your soldiers or to the commander. At least that is something I am looking into doing that could make it quite fun and interactive. UPDATE: For better or for worse, I have set up a twitter account for the battle. it is @skalego

And then finally, DaMaximus will rule the whole world!!!! Muhahahahahaha Kaliphlin plans always take the longest to unfold, but they are often the greatest success stories.

Sorry I missed it a couple days ago, but Infernum, that looks great! Can't wait to see your story unfold! As for customizing figs - I too have a weakness when it comes to ripping off arms, but have done a little lately. I just wish it wasn't likely to make them all flimsy... especially on collectable figs (which I rarely obtain just to "collect")

I had a few of them lying around... I don't think they fit Queenscross well... but it was the only flag I had with a crown on it. I love those armada flags though. I thought about using them for GEAR Co., I forgot ATC was using them! That would be embarrassing to fly the flag of a rival (and respected) company!