[Factions Ep. 7 - Cat B][O10 - Gorse - TT] He who builds upon the rock

[marvelBoy123]

*Your entry has earned 19 XP*

Pyerce's secret base : Gorse

Spoiler

Mission briefing: Gorse is in many ways an ideally situated planet, not quite at the galaxy's centre but not suffering the lawlessness of the outer rim either. Almost equidistant between Kashyyyk and Commenor, the planet is easily habitable and rich in natural resources. It was for this reason that Pyerce's troop had fled to an old facility there following their recent defeats. The facility in question was a marvel of imperial engineering, a squat but sturdy main entrance built into a mountain with a series of tunnels and rooms beneath it. It had been constructed early during the empire's reign with the purpose of being a stronghold in the event of a rebellion that forced the empire from other regions. Unlike much that the empire had made, it was a quality design and would be able to withstand almost any attack. The only way for the Triumvirate to take the facility will be a surprise ground assault, capturing the base before security protocols can be activated. The aim is to inflict minimal damage on the facility whilst clearing out Pyerce's forces. The Triumvirate Alien Initiative squad has been chosen based on the reputation of its predecessor - the Carrion Crows - I hope it will live up to such a reputation.

Iher and Ke'hura Tadalg (a Drabatan gunslinger and one of the initiatives newer recruits) were first to attack. The came along a mountain pass to the west of the facility and began to make for the main entrance. Ke'hura let out a loud war cry as he fired on the unsuspecting technicians, making his way toward the control panel. Grokrut (the son of the Snogar chieftain I had met on Ota) scaled the rock face, making for the platform and eliminating the security. Altisalorn Neloi (a Abyssin who had served under the old empire) made for the lower entrance door, wrenching it open and losing his arm in the process (Abyssin have the rare ability to regenerate limbs which proves particularly useful).

With the door opened, I rushed through, clearing the base of hostiles whilst the others captured the Pyerce general who was in charge and freed Triumvirate prisoners being held at the facility.

The operation was a massive success, the base was taken with no casualties and minimal damage. The Triumvirs planned to use the facility for our own operations in the region but first all that hideous yellow marking needs removing - if Pyerce wants to stand out, he'd be better to have combat ready soldiers than cover every surface in his awful colour scheme. 

Spoiler

More views:

One of my proudest features in this build is the sliding door:

A sliding door was a pretty crazy idea and something of a pain (building rock work around it was a very difficult thing to do). It looks cool but can jam occasionally and I can see why others haven't tried it.

I also tried some more advanced platforms

Inspiration:

Mandalorian Chapter 12: Possibly my favourite of the new season with some great design. I figured nobody would make this scene (or the school [check out my there build on Sneeve]) and while I took a little artistic license, I hope that the influence is clear.

This has been a build that has gone through a lot of variations but nothing has been changed more than the facility on top - it wad a pain to get right but the final result was inspired by a mix of the above and the endor bunker.

Figures:

Farantros,Grokrut (little link back to Sneeve), Altisalorn Neloi, Ke'hura Tadalg (Mandrake head seemed perfect and managed to get my hands on 4 of them), Iher

 

Thanks for getting to the end, I know there were a lot of pictures but this has been a pretty mammoth task: 1.5 months of pretty solid building with most of my collection of greys used and a 34x32x39 final result hopefully should be enough to do even better than my previous best score of 13XP. Special thanks to all the guys over at the Triumvirate who have helped me with a couple of design choices along the way and given me feedback and @RocketBoy whose photography guide has proved really helpful - if you haven't checked it out already then make sure to (this didn't fit in my old lightbox so photography has required some experimentation. Not perfect but a work in progress)! As ever feedback is appreciated.

 

 

 

[Darth Bjorn]

Wow! What a way to kick off 2021. This is definitely some of your best work yet. You're setting the bar high for what else to expect from this year!  

A few things I really love: The platform and the grebling attaching it to the cliff is super nice. The bottom doorway is really neat. Your Pyerce troops are really well aligned to the yellow theme. Your rock-work is brilliant (really elevating the build quality). And lastly the overall aesthetic just sends me directly back to Eadu from R1...

Sublime! ?

[Ross Fisher]

Some really nice details, kudos.

[marvelBoy123]

3 hours ago, Darth Bjorn said:

Wow! What a way to kick off 2021. This is definitely some of your best work yet. You're setting the bar high for what else to expect from this year!  

A few things I really love: The platform and the grebling attaching it to the cliff is super nice. The bottom doorway is really neat. Your Pyerce troops are really well aligned to the yellow theme. Your rock-work is brilliant (really elevating the build quality). And lastly the overall aesthetic just sends me directly back to Eadu from R1...

Sublime! ?

Thank you so much, really appreciate such detailed feedback. I wanted to make more of an effort to show the pyerce colour and avoid a repeating unit etc on the rock-work so I'm pleased to see they are details that stood out to you! Eadu wasn't a direct influence (though I can definitely see a similar style in the MOC) - I think quite a lot of general concept art I was looking at came from that scene though so it was probably something that was reflected by my design choices.

2 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

Some really nice details, kudos.

Thanks!

[Simulterious]

Really nice rockwork, the industrial base contrasts really well with it. 

Nice drop team as well! I'm glad there's an interior, always good to see that in big mocs... 

[dvogon]

Great build! Those rocks look very nice. I like a lot the angled walls of the building, the details of the platform and the characters.

[marvelBoy123]

15 hours ago, Simulterious said:

Really nice rockwork, the industrial base contrasts really well with it. 

Nice drop team as well! I'm glad there's an interior, always good to see that in big mocs... 

Thanks, I'm always interested in juxtaposing man-made structures within my landscapes so I'm glad that stood out.

13 hours ago, dvogon said:

Great build! Those rocks look very nice. I like a lot the angled walls of the building, the details of the platform and the characters.

Thanks!

[Ross Fisher]

On 1/2/2021 at 5:39 PM, marvelBoy123 said:

Mandrake head seemed perfect and managed to get my hands on 4 of them

I'm going to need to see a unit of 4 of these guys in action please. Possibly a choir?

[marvelBoy123]

9 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

I'm going to need to see a unit of 4 of these guys in action please. Possibly a choir?

Perhaps next christmas - the Drabatan choir singing a selection of classical life day carols (only those that are empire approved of course)!

[Tariq j]

Awesome work! So many good details going on. The Rock face looks really good and I like the greebling at the top of the base. Hallway shot looks very good. 

[Denal31]

Nice job MB! Great job on integrating the base and the terrain. The door being able to slide and the interior spaces are also nice touches!

[n1majneb]

Really great, the rockwork is great and the building really looks like its been cut into the rock wall.

Excellent details throughout

[goatman461]

Nice SNOT work and splash of colors. I think you could use some more consistency in your rock-work, which can be really difficult with this large of a build, but you've got some rough transitions, mix of curves and regular slopes, and a lot of variation in the style/texture. The walkways are great, but the transition to the wall could be smoother and it'd be great if those gaps were filled in or just leave them straight up. 

I would also study some of Blake Foster's greebling to try to get a more polished look 

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by goatman461

[marvelBoy123]

On 1/5/2021 at 1:10 PM, Tariq j said:

Awesome work! So many good details going on. The Rock face looks really good and I like the greebling at the top of the base. Hallway shot looks very good. 

 

13 hours ago, Denal31 said:

Nice job MB! Great job on integrating the base and the terrain. The door being able to slide and the interior spaces are also nice touches!

 

12 hours ago, n1majneb said:

Really great, the rockwork is great and the building really looks like its been cut into the rock wall.

Excellent details throughout

Thanks, I was pretty happy with the rock work and it was nice to take some of the techniques that I have practiced and put them into a larger MOC. The interiors were nothing special but I wanted to fill out the build a little and give it some more character so I'm glad that stood out.

 

1 hour ago, goatman461 said:

Nice SNOT work and splash of colors. I think you could use some more consistency in your rock-work, which can be really difficult with this large of a build, but you've got some rough transitions, mix of curves and regular slopes, and a lot of variation in the style/texture. The walkways are great, but the transition to the wall could be smoother and it'd be great if those gaps were filled in or just leave them straight up. 

I would also study some of Blake Foster's greebling to try to get a more polished look 

 

Thanks, I can definitely understand where you are coming from with the rock work. I wanted to avoid any repeating unit and show a range of techniques with it but maybe the balance with consistency wasn't quite right. Personally, my reference images from the nevarro base (see below) had a fair amount of texture variation but large scale rock-work is definitely something that is hard to get right, especially when pieces start running out. The gaps were something that I wasn't totally happy with and I wonder if the angle of the photography made them more noticeable - they aren't quite as evident in real life. I tried with straight walls but it didn't really look right. Definitely something to experiment a bit more with in the future. As for that greebling, that looks a really good recommendation that I will be sure to check out! 

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Nevarro_Imperial_base

[MKJoshA]

Great work! You've really up-ed your game for this entry. The SNOT work shows a lot of improvement over past entries from you. Room for improvement, but still looks good. I really like the window in your lower door, the tilted walls at the top, and all your figs.