Age of Empires III

   I've been playing a lot of AoE lately mostly because it's one of the only games my computer will run well for me. I've been wanting to do a build from it for a while and I decided on a outpost since it's a simple square tower. Eventually I would like to do a fort but that's a little beyond me at the moment. And to let you know all the minifigs were put together by my brother.

The standard level 2 frontier outpost with a villager chopping away. The level one outpost offer nothing more than a distraction and the level twos are only marginally more effective. Level 3s however with their cannons can soften up enemy forces quite effectively.                                   

As you can see it's a little large.

This side is hardly seen at all except sometimes in the campaign.

I had to use a poleaxe because the axes the villagers use to chop wood are way larger than the standard hatchets Lego makes.                                                                                                     

The Musketeer is one of my favorite units in game. He's a very generic infantry unit who is effective against pretty much anything.                                                                                                                 

In my opinion the Halberdier is the most OP unit in the game. I've used 30 slightly upgraded Halberdiers to level an enemy town in a matter of moments. The lethargic AI doesn't help.

I really don't like cavalry in AoE and the Hussar is one of the worst. He's very fragile, expensive and takes up two population spots. The only good thing about him is that most of the AI enemies use him in droves.                                                                                                                                               

Generic explorer with his dog. I like the dogs so much. They are such a powerful sidekick. 

And finally another explorer.

Western Town

   This is one of those building builds I've been talking about. There was no real planning involved in this other than the general idea. It took me about a day to complete. I based it off some western towns I used to build a long time ago. This one is infinitely superior to them though.

Overview. Left to Right, Watering hole/Hotel, Sheriffs Office and General Store. 

The small hotel. It's accessed by those stairs on the right and there is actually a small hallway in back.

The very crowded saloon. 

Joey the piano player.

The sheriffs office with a minuscule jail cell.  

And the general store which mostly sells tools and guns.

I made this little cart to go in the scene but there wasn't room. 

   Ok, sorry again for the bad pics but the lighting in my room isn't worth a hill of beans. I'll be back later with more stuff. (probably)

I'm back!

   So I haven't been doing much since I moved partly because I've found another great hobby commonly known as airsoft and also because some friends of mine gave me Age of Empires III a few months ago and I've been playing it more than I should. I think though that if I want to get back to building I'd better start posting again so I have a reason to build. So in what has now become the norm, for my back to blogging post I will be posting some small random stuff I've done.

So here is a little robot with creepy bulbous staring eyes.  

This is actually pretty old. I think I may have made it at my old house.

And what's a random stuff  post without guns? From top to bottom we have a rather large AR with underbarrel nade launcher, smaller SMG built with the same sort of design as the AR and a automatic assault shotgun.                                                                                                                                     

As you can see the AR is rather large. And the barrel extension with the clip is delicate.

    So while I have not made many vehicles (except for a hummer) I have made four separate building builds. Unfortunately this is the only one of the first three I have a picture to. It was supposed to be the set for a shootout. The other two were a cool secret base that I have some horrible pictures of but unfortunately I wasn't able to find, and a warehouse interior that I wasn't able to photograph. Now the fourth build I am going to do a post of later.                                                                                      

     Well I apologize for the bad pics but I'm still setting up my "studio".I hope to continue with many more posts and avoid the Dark Ages.

Axiom.

   This planet has been under attack by insurrectionists for quite some time. While not too important in the grand scheme to lose a battle on this planet would be a humiliating blow for the Guardians and the Coalition.

Hey I'm Sergeant Riley and I'm in charge of a squad of Coalition in this sector. 

It's been pretty quiet today but we.....

ERROR PLEASE STAND BY.

Sorry, we were just hit with an EMP grenade and had to get a backup cam. We're expecting an attack any second now.                                                                                                                                         

Here they come!

There's too many! Fall back!

Gunfire

More gunfire

This broadcast has been hijacked by the insurgency! To all you out there! The Confederation will never die!                                                                                                                                           

Planet Acid.

   I may make a series of these where I showcase a planet from one of the powers. This one is completely uninhabited except for some scientists who are researching the toxic acid which this planet is famous for. The acid is not only extremely corrosive it also has a soup of toxins mixed in with it so it will kill you even before it starts eating away your flesh. The Coalition is researching it as an alternate fuel.

Here is one of the large acid lakes the planet is famous for.

And the little landing pad for getting into the base.

And here inside the base you can see the scientists working on the acid.

Oh dear, it looks like Freggly disobeyed one of the canon rules of the facility. He opened a vial of the acid without following the proper safety regulations. The Coalition will now seal off this facility with everyone inside to keep the rest of the galaxy from getting infected.                                                            

Engineers Workshop.

   I really like this. I don't build many dioramas or buildings so this is a bit of a different post than all the spaceships and armored vehicles you're used to seeing.

The rack of equipment and guns.

His desk with blueprints. I debated for a while over the problem of what color they should be. I went between white, light blue and normal blue.                                                                                           

His worktable with a half built robot and scraps of metal.

An experimental jet engine with a cup of coffee sitting on it. Let's hope it's waterproof.

Top view.

Two Tiny Interceptors.

   So I got the Jedi Interceptor set for my birthday. Needless to say it wasn't a day later that it was in pieces for other stuff. Anyhow, I decided to try my hand at building two identical ships out of the wreckage. I couldn't do it with just those parts so I used a few supplemental pieces. I think they turned out real well.

Wow! Look how I used more than one color! Also there is one difference. Lets see if you can spot it.

Very tiny landing gear.

It's pretty much all engine.

These were the only two identical guys I had who sort of fit the color scheme.