Western Minifig Army

[Hussar]

Hello to you all. I've always loved Western uniforms (except for the cowboy hats) and I've managed to put together a little minifig army. I chose to use bicorne and tricorne hats instead of the cowboy ones, it makes the entire army look from the early 19th century instead of mid/late 19th. Oh, and those are supposed to be rifled muskets (or early rifles).

Colonel has bicorne hat with medium plume (I'm planning to get a bicorne w/ triple plume for a future general :-P )

High-ranking officers have black tricornes

Lower ranking officers and NCOs have brown tricornes and bandanas

Privates wear kepis and backpacks, while PFCs wear kepis + bandanas

Entire "army", consisting of 43 minifigs. I used 4 pirate torsos (and a rag hat) for the artillery soldiers.

Up close.

Empty fort.

Cavalry officers.

Some lieutenants and a particularly young captain.

Drill sergeant and infantrymen.

Other view of the fort.. And the commander's outline.

Any thoughts welcome.

[Wout]

Very nice use of that Baseplate. It looks here better than with the policestation.

[WesternOutlaw]

Welcome to EB Hussar. I first saw your fort and troops on MOC Pages and commented. Nice job. What most stands out for me is the fort sitting on the mountain. I think this is really a neat idea. I would not have thought of this.

The blues look nice. I like the faces that you chose for some of the different figs. I'm not sure if I like the black "pirate-theme" hats though - my only critisizm.

One can't have enough Union Soldiers to battle the Confederacy.

[Hinckley]

Hey Hussar. Welcome to Eurobrkcs. Thanks for sharing your great MOC.

Just the army alone is very impressive. I like the amount of detail you put into the thought behind their ranks, etc.

I like the fort a lot too. My favortie part is the separate outpost. Very cool. If there's anything that could use improvement, I would fortify the fort a little more, higher ramparts (is that the right word?) And maybe some doors. But I love the way you put it on that baseplate. Those baseplates can be problematic and you did an awesome job of utilizing it.

Thanks again for sharing and welcome to Eurobricks!

[Hussar]

Thanks for the welcome and the comments, everyone. I hadn't played with Lego for six or seven years when I started to put this army together, in April this year. I had just recently turned 20 and my parents thought it would be funny to buy me a Lego set, like they would usually do in the old days. It was some Exo Force robot thing and I wasn't impressed.. Melancholy got the best of me and I got my old bricks from the attic. Western, Spyrius, mid-'90s castle, Pirates, Aquanauts, lots of town stuff.. Western soldiers were always my soft spot though. It did get slightly embarrassing when a friend walked in on me when I was putting a little Adventurers cars together, but we ended up playing with Lego until midnight, heh. Putting bricks together is probably the most relaxing thing ever.

Anyway, back to the fort. I mostly bought the baseplate by accident. At first I just wanted a plate to put my soldiers on, then I figured it wouldn't hurt for it to be elevated, so the troops in the back would be more visible. A few logs later, so to speak, I had myself a fort. :-)

As for the pirate hats.. I've always liked the "classic" look of Imperial Guard soldiers. While kepis are more practical (and apparently much cheaper) than shakos, I could easily go with tricornes instead of the cowboy hats. Plus, you can do more things with them. Black hats, brown hats, medium plume and triple plume for the bicorne hats..

I also put black legs on my minifigs because the blue-from-head-to-toe alternative makes them look like they're wearing coveralls.

P.S. I do have some brown doors, but placing the hinges would be a nightmare as I would have to modify the entire geometry of the log panels. I'm also not too satisfied with that lookout post on top of the main fort, should've probably given it narrower openings - the soldiers in there are sitting ducks :-P . I'll give it a try when I have some spare time.

[zouave]

Welcome to EB. Great fort. I *wub* your army. It's awesome. *y*

One can't have enough Union Soldiers to battle the Confederacy.

Maybe. I'm a confederate fan. I recently found a pic of confederate zouave. I may change my avatar.

But I guess your right, no can get enough WW soldiers.

Putting bricks together is probably the most relaxing thing ever.

I guess so. But after a few hours my thumbs are usually on ther verge of blisters. :-D

BTW I'll take the hats you don't like if you don't want them. ;-)

Edited July 1, 2007 by zouave

[SWMAN]

Very impressive. I love all of it. Now you just need an opposing army.

[Asuka]

Hello and welcome! *y*

What a serene fortification and what an impressive army. Very nice! *y*

[Brick Miner]

welcome to EB hussar, like you i share a love for the calvary minifigs...

...Western soldiers were always my soft spot though...

i think the western figs were some of the best figs LEGO has ever produced. especially the bandits and calvary. though, unlike you i prefer the design that LEGO had chosen. i think they made a good call with the blue cowboy hats and solid blue uniforms... actually, the official colonel character was always my least favorite western minifigure because he had black pants :-D in any case, it's interesting to hear others views and opinions ;-)

like others have said, your use of the baseplate is great. only, i wish it were the older yellow-gray color instead of the new blue-gray color. oh well, looks good *y*

hope to see you around !!! BM

[iamded]

Great job! A nice army you have collected, they look very nice. And good job on the fort, I think it's very neat. *y* *y*

[Norro]

Great use of that baseplate, though I would probably have to side with lego about the hats.

Thanks for sharing and God Bless,

Nathan

[Bonaparte]

I just love to see pictures of Lego armies.

Yours looks very good. Great choice for the heads.

How far are you planning to go with the expansion of this army?

Are you planning to make a confederate army?

Some battle scenes are always fun.

Edited July 2, 2007 by bonaparte

[Hussar]

I don't know if I should buy different minifigs and create an opposing army or use the money to increase this one. Tough choice.

I do have a few minifigs with Adventurers torsos and pith helments (similar to the "Tabnerian Rifles" on MOCpages), I might add on to that, since my army is not necessarily a Civil War army to begin with.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome. ;-)

[oo7]

That's an impressive army you have there, Mr. Hussar. I think you could replace the pirate tricornes with any color cowboy hat for an improvement.

Good use of the fairly useless police station baseplate also!

I don't know if I should buy different minifigs and create an opposing army or use the money to increase this one. Tough choice.

I'd say make an opposing army, perhaps confederates. That way, there's many more MOCing opportunities available to you. Lage battle scenes and whatnot. *y* I think that the Max Villano torso is not only slightly cheaper on BL, but also more realistic that the Imperial Guard torso that The Brickster has used.

[Doctor Sinister]

Very nice fort - makes me want to break out my Western collection! I can just imagine a battle scene with the enemy trying to climb up the sides - do you have any Red Indians (can I say that, or should I say Native Americans these days?) who could mount an assault?

Dr. S.

[Brick Miner]

i prefer the term "American Indians." i think that would be more correct than "Red Indians" :-X

and i do agree, id rather see indians than confederates. but since this is not really a WW MOC and not really a civil war MOC, who is the correct enemy, hussar ???

- BM

[Bonaparte]

and i do agree, id rather see indians than confederates. but since this is not really a WW MOC and not really a civil war MOC, who is the correct enemy, hussar ??

Why not make a Mexican army under command of Santa Anna.

Our torso library contains all of the Mexican uniforms, so you could use custom decals.

This will seriously reduce the price since you don't have to buy expensive minifigs.

[zouave]

I think you should expand your army. Although it wouldn't be as fun without an enemy.

Bonaparte has got point. If the army is early 1800's then they be more appropriate fighting Mexicans than rebels. But there is the WAR OF 1812. That should open up some possibilities. ;-)

[Hussar]

I've managed to get a hold of some Adventurers and Tusken Raiders torsos (plus pith helmets), they look pretty interesting. Although that small group wouldn't really stand a chance against my 40+ soldiers, so for the moment I'll think of them as POWs. *sweet*

As for the fort, I've updated it, with photos to come. No gates I'm afraid, but now it has a roof, two extra lookout towers complete with bullhorns, lots of weaponry and a couple more soldiers and horses. Call me stubborn, but I haven't let go of the bicorne and tricorne hats. Although those bicorne hats look a bit silly. And I never know which way to put them! Are the tips of the hat supposed to go over the ears (Napoleon style) or over the forehead and back of the head? If I could add plume to the tricornes, I'd just stick with those. Probably my favourite LEGO headgear, bar none.

P.S. I've read some of the older posts around here and I too wonder why the Wild West line was discontinued. It had so much potential.. Perhaps the level of sales wasn't satisfactory? I just wish TLC would choose more historic themes over the evil-skeleton type of sets. This will sound like a cliche, but kids get enough monsters, gore and violence from video games, throwing in something that is even slightly educational wouldn't hurt. But what do I know.

[zouave]

P.S. I've read some of the older posts around here and I too wonder why the Wild West line was discontinued. It had so much potential.. Perhaps the level of sales wasn't satisfactory? I just wish TLC would choose more historic themes over the evil-skeleton type of sets. This will sound like a cliche, but kids get enough monsters, gore and violence from video games, throwing in something that is even slightly educational wouldn't hurt. But what do I know.

Yeah historical themes would be great. But Lego has that stupid human vs. human deal. :-|

[Lightning Bolt]

Awsome! To bad LEGO didn't make LEGO Confederate sets. That would be cool to make a battle between them. Anyway, nice little army ya' got here! I would love to have collected so many little plastic men, but I've only been around in this world for 12 years. Anyway, nice... Like I said before.

[zouave]

Awsome! To bad LEGO didn't make LEGO Confederate sets. That would be cool to make a battle between them.

So you'd like a civil war theme also?

[Fordo]

Great collection of figs you got their I'd love to see you make a confederate army aswell. *y*

[Berry Syedow]

Excellent army and fort, Hussar! I kind of agree with your opinion of the cowboy hats. TLC needs to design a broader range. Welcome to Eurobricks by the way.

[ZeekyBoogeyDoog]

Good use of the police baseplate! Your army is quite nice *y* My only suggestion would be giving the infantry shakos. (But that's because I'm anal retentive :-)) I look forward to seeing the new additions.

Edited July 13, 2007 by ZeekyBoogeyDoog