LUGs (LEGO® User Groups) are a lot of fun. While each is different in terms of activities and meeting schedules, mine (ParLUGment) meets once a month. The club sets a build challenge for each meeting, and those who participate get to show their builds at the meeting. In September, the theme for the challenge was medieval. I decided I wanted to use the orc from Minifigures Series 24 in my build. If you have followed True North Bricks on social media for any length of time, you know I went a little orc crazy earlier this year. I scooped up every orc I could find in order to build a little army. The time finally came to put the army to use by building an orc siege tower.
I was very much into fantasy and castle-themed things as a pre-teen and teen. Obviously, I loved LEGO® castles. But I also read Dragonlance books, adored shows like Gargoyles, and played WarCraft II religiously. It was Warcraft that introduced me to orcs. Of course, orcs presented in other media way before Warcraft. For example, we all know they feature prominently in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. However, I had not read Lord of the Rings at that stage in my life. My LEGO® builds and scenes never featured orcs in those days because the LEGO® Group had not produced any. If they had, you can bet I would have been all over that. The first orcs-like creatures, or “trolls”, only came out in 2009, and I was well into my dark age then.
My Orc Siege Tower was inspired by Warcraft II from my childhood.
In any case, I had a lot of fun battling orcs in Warcraft as a kid. It left fond memories of building towns, defenses, and armies. The Series 24 orc reminded me so much of that time, that I bought a ridiculous number of them. Recently, I even bought a couple more when I found Series 24 on liquidation. But those orcs needed a purpose. So, the weekend before my September LUG meeting, I put the rest of my life on hold, hunkered down in the LEGO® room, and built an orc siege tower to attack the Lion Knights’ Castle.
I wanted this to look a little rough around the edges, like the orc stuff in Warcraft II. I used mostly log profile 1×2 bricks so it looks like it is built from chopped down trees. Each column also features a tan 1×1 cone element at the top so the logs look sharpened to a point. The four corner columns are 2×2 round bricks, as if the orcs used larger tree trunks for structural support there. I even incorporated the log Minifigure costume to give sections more of a tree look. I intentionally made one of the large columns tan as if the bark had been stripped from the log. Some grey elements adorn the base, as rudimentary metal working. The wheels have a bolted look, and a sort-of plow forms the front bumper. It is covered in orc swords to plow through lion knights.
A battering ram was essential for my Orc Siege Tower MOC.
The lowest level of the siege tower has a battering ram. This consists of a series or 2×2 round bricks, just like the four main columns. I interspersed brown bricks with grey here. The idea was to make the tip and chain attachment areas look like they are reinforced with metal. The chains suspend the ram from the ceiling of the first level. I did not include a mechanism to move the ram. However, the back of the level also features a bar so large trolls can push the tower for the orcs. I figured they are large and strong enough to push the ram as well. I surrounded the exterior with netting and bones to help repel attacks from the sides.
Ladders lead to the upper levels. Second houses an archer’s roost… but is essentially and empty room. However, I built a dragon skull for the front of the tower. It connects to the second level. An interesting feature I included there is a light brick. Pressing on a Technic cross-axle inside the second level room causes the eyes and nose of the dragon skull to light up. I thought it was a fun touch. However, I might change the skull design some day in the future. I’m not sure if I like it or not.
The dragon skull lights up for added effect.
The top level of the siege tower has a drawbridge. The mechanism to lower the bridge is not very sophisticated. But I thought that was fine for the build’s story. The whole this is supposed to look functional, but not very refined. The orcs don’t care about the look of their tower, they just want to get into the castle. Consequently, two chains connect to one rod. it simply clips to the third level floor. The orcs only need to kick it out of place when the time comes to invade. I bought some original troll flags from 2009 on a recent trip to Bricks and Minifigs in the States and they came in really handy here.
This was a really fun and not overly complicated build. It allowed me to use my orc army and adds to my Lion Knights’ Castle display. I’m also quite pleased with the outcome. It needs a few tweaks here and there, but nothing major. What do you think? Would you like the LEGO® Group to produce orc sets? Let me know in the comments or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
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