GoH 10 B: A History of Akmaddian Centaurs and Chariots

[socalbricks]

Built for the "Old but Gold" category! It is a (very loose) update on this MOC of mine from 2019! I rethought the concept over the years, and I thought a chariot might be even better for a centaur-human duo than simple riding. I understand that it's quite the aesthetic departure. Even if it gets disqualified on those grounds, I still had a lot of fun bringing this concept to life!

700 years ago, The Akmaddian Empire sprawled central Historica. With its formidable cavalry's lightning tactics, it was able to conquer a massive area ranging from the cool steppe of southern Avalonia to the arid scrublands of northern Kaliphlin. Among the many races that fell under its domain was a large population of centaurs. Military cooperation between centaurs on non-centaurs (referred "two-legs" by the former) was historically limited. There rare instances of archers sitting on the backs of centaurs to operate as "tail-gunners", but these were rare. 

The Akmaddians implemented a new role for their centaur soldiers: drawing chariots. A centaur didn't need to be controlled by whoever was in the chariot, allowing those inside to focus on the battle. Passengers could include archers or pike men. Usually fighting in duos, these teams were trained for years to master their craft, something which would pay off as they blazed a path across the continent.

The Akmaddian God-Emperor would eventually fall in battle, and the empire would fracture as his children battled for the throne. Though the empire only lasted 20 years, its effect on "central Historican culture" and ingenious tactics are still studied by military strategists to this day...

The original MOC: 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by socalbricks

[W Navarre]

Very nice, the style is wonderful and it's great to see such a stellar chariot in LEGO, I think it's your best Centaur yet! 

[Kai NRG]

That's a really cool chariot!  All the dark red is great.

[Ecclesiastes]

Nice upgrade, I like that you've expanded it with a chariot while still staying true to the original. Cool minifig combos as well!

[socalbricks]

@W Navarre Thank you - I'm happy with how the chariot turned out. As for the centaur, I'm really happy that people view it as an improvement!

@Kai NRG Thank you - I'm really happy with how it turned out!

@Ecclesiastes Thank you! I was worried that I diverted too much from the original - I'm glad people see it as an "evolution"!

[Grover]

They probably would have sold more coleseums if this was the GWP!  You do a great job with these brick built centaurs.  It's hard to get the detail in that small of a space and still make it look proportional, but yours are great.  It allows a lot more options than the Lego centaur bodies.  The use of the roman shield on the front of the chariot is fantastic, and you do a great job with the dark red/black/gold color scheme.  I think you did a great job choosing the background color too, since it compliments the build.  Well done!

[mrcp6d]

The chariot is awesome!  Integrating the Roman shield the way you did is fantastic.