Ok, so my last kit purchase was Lost Halls. I'm trying to figure out what to build with it - there's almost too many options. So I'll put it to you guys I'm in the process of prepping for a GURPS fantasy campaign, and a dungeon crawl is almost inevitable at this point. My first idea is a Dwarven stronghold, sitting on top of a mine. The players will have to clear the stronghold before even getting access to the mine levels. I did a bit of work with sketchup to get a feel for the grounds. Here's where I'm at:



It's just a bit bigger than 3ft square. The entrance doors are fairly obvious, and there appears to be room for 2 decent sized buildings (maybe a bridge or two crossing between the upper levels? hmmm). I got the courtyard, and the mine levels/dungeon are easy - building an above ground building with this kit though has me a bit stumped.

Thoughts or ideas for what to add in the middle there? I don't want to start cutting until there's a plan. If you can give me any rough ideas, i'll try to model it first with sketchup, so we can see it and play around with it

perhaps have a room or building they can't enter, just to keep them guessing.

I was thinking along the forge line myself. Maybe keep the central path open as just that - a path. For arguments sake we'll say the two main sections available for buildings are north and south, each 4x2 (6x6 tiles).

Let's say the north section is for the forge and administration, and the south for barracks, stables, and guest housing. The next question is - how should I build those buildings?

Let's examine the forge first - we have a 4x2 area to work with. A guard tower on the northeastern and northwestern corners is a great idea, but how would it all go together - how would the rooms/halls/levels/stairs be laid out? I'll start toying around with sketchup, but I honestly love the back and forth

Love the suggestions thus far - keep 'em coming!

Hrmm.... I don't have a stairwell built yet - anyone know the dimensions of them? I've got a great idea for the forge building, but I need me a grand staircase. I'm planning on putting a few together to make it wide enough, but what I need for sketchup is the step height, number of steps to the next level, and overall depth for the staircase. That will let me model it. If nobody has one handy to measure, I'll build my own and measure that. Thanks!!

to avoid being simmetrical you could place a keep in one of the corners instead of a guard tower, builded with the same flavor as the others just taller and wider.


Where is the entrance to the mine?

inside the stronghold or just outside the walls?


in the first case you could get some of the cliff set to simulate the mountain and the stronghold use that part as a natural defence...
also in this case you could have a couple of rails coming out and few mine carts (i think a path from the entrance to the smelter it would be logical)

OK, here's where I'm up to:



This is what I'm thinking for the forges. You have to access the forge level by climbing a large staircase in the middle (not modeled yet - still no dimensions). From there you enter the observation area, and there are stairs leading down to the main forge floor. There will also be a staircase to the guard tower.

Thoughts or ideas for changes so far?

I haven't quite figured out where the main mine entrance is going to be yet. I'm thinking it might just be between the forges....but having it just outside the keep makes a lot of sense too...

And here's one of the many reasons I'm planning this way:



I mirrored the forge levels over, and centered everything up. Measuring the space between them, I notice I've only got 2 7/8". If I tried to put in a 3" staircase, I'd have to move everything out 1/16" each way to make up the room. I suppose that's not all that bad in the end. Kinda like where it's headed though.

Interior shot:



There's the stairwell on the right leading up to the guard tower, ahead is the stair down to the forge level.

Exterior:



Obvious observation: The roof on the right forge is on (where the interior shot came from).

Okay - break time Next stop, the other building.

Ok, this looks nice what have you done the images on, looks like some kind of CAD package, is it something us mortals can use?

Google Sketchup



Free for the basic package - the pro version costs, but honestly unless you ARE a pro, the basic is great. Takes a little getting used to, but the curve isn't very steep compared to 3d studio max or Maya. Can't do much by way of rendering or animation either.

These are starting to look good and crammed, in a suitably dwarven way.

You might want to be careful with the overhanging towers. Because TLX layers sit freely on top of each other, there is not a lot to stop towers like that toppling if they get bumped during game play (the entire clan would loose face if if that happened to one of their constructions. I can just hear the "builds like an elf!" insults already).

It might be better to step the towers back slightly so they're are fully supported by the walls below on their outer edges. Or alternatively, connect them solidly to the outer walls.

A fair point. I really like the idea of the observation walkway, and considering the relatively small size of that layer it should stay in tact as long as it's all tabbed together nice and tight. If it should become an issue, I think I'd rather put some supporting pillars around the outside rather than shrink in that layer. Here's a view down the main drag that shows the overhang:



Putting wall posts under there wouldn't look bad - but I kinda like the architecture

Construction shall be commencing shortly. It may be short lived however because I'm apparently low on ink. Still trying to convince the wife that shipping a continuous ink system up from the states is cheaper than buying ink local. $75ish to OEM the original ink, versus a CIS with 5x100ml bottles of ink shipped for $100.