Battle of Red Ford

[MikeyB]

This is a battle scene I had been working on prior to the problems with the Drow. I was going to covert it over but my guildmates encouraged me to finish it up as a free build!

Hope you enjoy the story and as always Comments and Critics are welcome.

The History of the Battle of Red Ford, as told by Darno, bar keep at the Stag’s Head Inn in the Hamlet of Circardia to a pair of travelers.

Aye, Lord Arlindus is a great Lord. Smart he is, and knows the woods too. He lived with the elves for a couple years, you know. Brought stability to Circarda, too. Before his father came it was just a trees and grasses. His father, Orthus came with a few friends and set up here. They were just looking live life, but the wild ones were causing trouble all around. Orthus and his mates quickly put a stop to that and word got out about life here along the Isca River. Wasn’t long that people recognized Orthus as the Captain of his group and began to see him as the leader of the lands.

More settlers came, some with checkered backgrounds but that didn’t matter to Orthus. He always thought people deserved a second chance and if you worked hard and were honest, you were excepted in Circardia.

The House of Baine was trouble though. This is all before Avalonia was united by Atrorious Rex. Those loyal to Baine were a corrupt bunch. They would lie and cheat their mothers for a bit of gold.

Those Baine types seemed intent on burning the Enchanted Forest down, wrecking havoc where ever they went. Arlindus was in charge of Circardia by then and did a good job of keeping the House of Baine out of Circardia. But Rex put out a call to join him to fight the evil of this land. And before long Rex and the Flight of Dragons was bringing warring and Lord Arlindus answered the call to join under Rex banner.

One of Rex Lords, Lord Trian Burress of Mesodraconem was intent on bring down the House of Baine. He was hunting them down on the Enchanted Island. The House of Baine had promised the Wild Ones and outlaws of the area gold and riches if they would fight for him. Lord Arlindus knew the key to victory on the Enchanted Island was keeping the trade routes open. One route was Red Ford. It cut a days journey off trips to the north of the Enchanted Island.

The Wild Ones and some of the Baine folk were already massing at the Ford when Arlindus took his Phoenix Guard and some a few knights from the Flight of Dragons there. Arlindus quickly created a plan to crush them. He sent his archers up a ridge overlooking the ford and they began harassing the Baine encampment. The Wild Ones being an aggressive type were quick to try and take out the archers but Lord Arlindus had laid a trap. He held his horsemen in reserve and as the Wild Ones began to cross the narrows at Red Ford, he lead a charge of the Phoenix Guard into the enemy as they were crossing. They were no match for the swords and pikes of the Phoenix!

The Wild Ones were crushed that day and it wasn’t long after the House of Baine went into exile and hiding. Artroious Rex heard of Arlindus’ bravery and gave him Lordship over all of Circardia.

Life has been good here since then although I hear those Drow are starting to kick up a fuss over in Nocturnus and Lord Arlindus is going to take a unit of the Phoenix Guard to the border to help Artroious Rex once again.

More image can be found here

Special thanks to ZCerberus for allowing me to cross over into the House of Baine storyline and Rougeang for the name Battel of Red Ford (even if I can't find where you introduced it Im sure it was you!)

Edited May 28, 2012 by MikeyB

[ZCerberus]

Nice and fun. I like the last shot the best. Damn Baine. I have heard rumors that four Baine Lords survived the supposed extinction of their clan. Their ability to corrupt and deceive is troubling. Even a single Baine Lord has the ability to corrupt an entire village. If the rumors of their survival are true, the Phoenix guard may need to rise again to fend them off!

[llb]

Great use of the new horse, nice to see the sense of movement they create on the battlefield.

[jFox]

Very detailed and chaotic! I really like the overhead shots of the dead bodies floating away in the river. Especially the figure with the black torso and helmet (which has fallen off). I like little details like this which break up the typical minifigure pose. It adds an extra sense of realism. Also, the archers in the back, out of reach of the melee is a nice touch as well.

[soccerkid6]

Good landscaping and the fig posing is excellent The stone wall is a nice touch as well.

I'm glad you didn't convert it

[de Gothia]

Well done Mikey! The minifig posing and their expressions fits perfect with the scene! Love the landscape as well!

[kabel]

very nice battle scene indeed a nice story too. What I like the most though, is having both kinds of horses united in one moc. I was actually afraid, that the two types of horses wouldn't go together. However, you have shown that they rather complement each other. Great job!!

[MikeyB]

thanks for feedback!

@Z The Phoenix Guard is always ready to ride against the Baine! They harassed Circardia for too long in the past.

@llb I knew as soon as I saw the horse I want to incorporate it into a battle scene.

@jFox, what is a battle without a little carnage!

@soccerkid glad you like the stone wall

@De gothia your turn for a battle scene now!

@kabel. I was worried as well until I got one of the horses in my hands. I think the two horses are similar enough to one another that they work together

[Ecclesiastes]

Great scene Mikey! I also really like the new horse especially how you've used it. Also a nice detail with the splashes of the horse feet!

And as a fan of minifigs, those archers are very nice as is their position!

[Rogue Angel]

Great build! We haven't seen many historic MOCs yet, and this one is a great story and great build. I like the use of the LOTR horse for Orthus, and the water and landscaping are great. I also like the selection of torsos for the mercs. I especially like the row of archers firing from the far bank - the placement of the figs in this build is excellent - You can definitely see the horsemen charging into the Mercs.

Excellent work!

I had the red ford listed in my more expansive history, but then took it out when I streamlined it into date bullets. I will add the red ford back in to the history one of these days.

[Captain BeerBeard]

Horses and muscular men fighting! It dosen't get much sexier than that. Awesome scene all around.

[Zach Mills]

Awesome battle scene! I too really like the posing of figures. It's good to see some Avalonian's ripping in to their foes.

[Legonardo]

this is almost identicle to a future build of mine, only mine has drow

Awesome MOC, minifig posing and images are excellent

=Legonardo=

[MikeyB]

@Ecclesiastes Thanks for the kind words. I wasn't sure any one would notice the splashes of the horses hooves!

@Rougeang I knew I had read it somewhere when we were creating histories!

@Capt BB Even thought I didn'T add any Blood Flowers? lol

@Zach and legonardo thanks! the posing was a bit of a challenge as I kept knocking figs over as they are so tight!

[Captain BeerBeard]

@Ecclesiastes Thanks for the kind words. I wasn't sure any one would notice the splashes of the horses hooves!

@Rougeang I knew I had read it somewhere when we were creating histories!

@Capt BB Even thought I didn'T add any Blood Flowers? lol

@Zach and legonardo thanks! the posing was a bit of a challenge as I kept knocking figs over as they are so tight!

My moc style has nothing to do with the definition of "sexy"