ZCerberus

Well that would make sense since DC is the style Avalonia is based off of. Nice landscaping, though it looks like the timber work on the half-timbere parts are missing in a few locations. Is that one of the "WIP" aspects still? I think you're right Taz, it is a bit too Avalonian still. Looking forward to seeing it finished!

And if you didn't notice, an eye-patched classic forestman also made it into the MOC... Remind you of someone?

I made it onto BB once before and I was really happy about that, if it happens again, I would be thrilled!

Love it. look for this to be blogged soon. [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp]

Yes, I would also prefer chains, but they don't roll up nicely and they are far too short! I could use chains if I didn't want the drawbridge to actually work, but because I did, I went with the rope. It can be elven rope if it makes you feel better about it Though you can't see the area between the portcullis and the doors, it has a "grate" in the floor above, so anyone stuck between the two will be boiled in hot oil and pierced with arrows! There was not a great way to put doors behind the portcullis with the way the portcullus is set up anyhow. Something for me to consider if I even make another gatehouse.

I have SOOOOO many 1 x 2 dbg tiles it isn't funny... you do live in the US... maybe something COULD be done about that

Yes. MikeyB and de Gothia have done a great job (even if they do keep making the same thing as each other!!). I definately think they will have free builds and challenge entries for us! EDIT: As DC has said... they in fact did have entries for us!

Good work Mitgardians! I have to agree with the king, I thought overall your five towers were the most solid as a group from any guild. I liked busboy's tower a lot, and I thought Dan's was excellent as well.

As I understand it, the gold coins were given out based on the 5 watchtower entries and 5 "free builds" from each guild. There was criteria for judging like "playability" and "fit with guild theme" that went into this and it wasn't based purely on "how cool" or "well built" a MOC was. I KNOW Derfel submitted all 10 of our entries from different builders, but I cannot say whose MOCs those were specifically. Because of his desire to make sure lots of people were represented, we may not have had the best 10 overall MOCs from our guild (for example, if de Gothia's tower made it, his blacksmith would not have, or if MikeyB's armorer was in, his tower was not) but I bet we were very well represented. I think we need to recognize that everyone guild had good MOCs. I also think looking through the entires that Mitgardia had the most solid set of entries overall for the watchtowers so I am not surprised they have the most gold. I just think we can take them!! Btw, I really liked your watchtower rogueang, I have high hopes you will give us a good embassy as well!

Thanks everyone. We didn't take the top spot though (3rd in fact) so we need to rally and kick some megablocks in the embassy challenge!!

Yes, our fantasy interpretations of what a castle should look like, and what it actually does look like very greatly often. Same thing with the quarry, the "fantasy" version we always envision is probably nothing near accurate.

I always imagine a quarry being enormously tall, like the side of a mountain. But this works for me as well. Lots of good details and thought but into this. I have used up a lot of stone on the Albion gatehouse, so may I request you send a few cart fulls of stone to me so I may work on my embassy?!

Thank you everyone. I really enjoyed this build, even if it did take up all my time. I do not have a shot with the portcullis down, but I could do so. It moves pretty easily with the controls on top of the middle section of the gatehouse. I did upload it to Flickr (and MOCpages) yesterday. 5 avatars made it into this MOC. DC, BrickDoctor, Matn, MikeyB and Cpt. Blackmoor. I hope to add a few more avatars to additional MOCs in the future as well. I have several other avatars already built that may be making appearances in the future.

it's so cute! That is a compliment, really!! Only thing I see though is there are no windows on these things... would seem a little dark inside I think.

Thanks SI... I bet you think there is a much cooler gatehouse than this somewhere in Canada though Sorry SI, I couldn't resist!

I plan to but I haven't done anything other than merge a couple of baseplates so far.

Hahaha! I didn't know it was a joke until right now!

And I thought we were friends!! Guess we need to go back to the siege workshop and crank out a few more weapons to keep your guild at bay.

The Great Gatehouse of Albion is now up!

The Great Gatehouse of Albion is now up!

The Great Gatehouse of Albion is the main entrance to the Pearl City. A few features of note: 1) working portcullis 2) working drawbridge 3) working trebuchet 4) working crane 5) removable levels where possible (no interior to speak of though) I consciously tried to make this thing a combination of my previous castle work (the watchtower, the farm, the trebuchet, and old gatehouse I made years ago). The drawbridge seemingly goes to nowhere because there is a bridge that I have not yet built that will continue to the river bank on the other side. The SNOT water looks more like a coast line than a river though. If I were to fix anything, I would make all the water “regular” blue, though I don’t hate it as it stands now. It appears a few of your avatars also made it into this MOC. If yours is not here, fear not, it could be making a future appearance in other MOCs!

I will get the photos organized and in their own topic soon... but a couple more to tempt you...

The Great Gatehouse of Albion is complete! I do not have photos yet as I do not yet know how I am going to get good photos of this thing... For now, a teaser...

Well thank you. For this MOC, imagine taking my watchtower, farm, trebuchet and an old gate house I did years ago, placing them in a blender, then mashing down on the puree button as hard as you can... Also, keep an eye out for a few special vistiors at the gatehouse. I think you might recognize a few of them. I know what you mean, I have the gatehouse 98% done (really, it is that close) and then partial baseplates for the embassy and "prince of the forest" builds (and I mean just barely started) plus ideas for a second Albion build. Things have slowed a little in the forum, so hopefully I won't need to crank out 3 big MOCs a month just to keep up!!