Aha, I see we're open for business!

Let me start by reposting my suggestions from the main CWU thread then...


- A round tower, with some system to match said tower to the straight end of a wall (you could slice a strip off the side of the tower so it lines up flush with the wall)

- Octagonal tower top (and a round one for the round tower,of course)

- Spiral staircase inside a tower

- A garderobe!! I've been wanted one of these ever since I saw it on one of WotC's models, but they never actually released it... (If you don't know what a garderobe is, you can see one in use in )

OK, what the heck is a garderobe?

Ahem... Garderobe: A castle toilet. The garderobe was often a projection from the wall over the moat. (from )

I managed to dig up a of the garderobe model that was never released for the WotC foldup models...

OK, that picture just became much funnier. Thanks!

And the word wardrobe comes from garderobe, they used to hang clothes in them so that the smell would keep away the moths...

And one of the Danish (?) kings was killed in a garderobe when the assassin climed up one while the king was using it. (I think it was Danish, I have a hard time remembering all the various Scandanavian kings straight until Gustave II Adolph.)As I recall the King that the Assassin was working for had the assassin executed because he thought hat it was a shameful way to kill someone...

In some castles the shaft dropped down into a pit with a door allowing the mess to be cleared away, while on others it just dopped straight down into the moat. In later years some of these shafts (*EDIT* That was an unfortunate misspelling of the word 'shaft'...) were used as chimneys, or even as dumbwaiters.

In yet others there was no shaft, merely a window to throw the contents of the thundermug out of. Sometimes you called out to the folks below, and sometimes you didn't...

The Auld Grump

The first thing I would add would be arched stone walkways to span from wall section to wall section. Using 1 or more of these, I could create a two-courtyard castle with one or more openings between them. Alternately, the arched walkway could be the top for a pair of large wooden doors, to use as a main gate or as a fortified door between different rings in the castle grounds. The archways would have extra floor tiles that allow it to sit on each of the castle walls that it spans too. The arched walkways would come in 2 different span lengths (1 inch and 1.5 compatible), and so would the doors. Rectangular doors with some space left open (under the curve of the arch) would be good for functional open-and-close doors!

A garderobe is definitley the second thing to add, but I'd prefer one where the butt doesn't hang out the side (like in that painting). I think David Macauly's "CASTLE" book has a good image of the one I'm thinking of, sensibly designed with a small hole in the bottom of the whole unit... one not big enough to fall through!

And to get back to the topic at hand... Facades for the front of the gatehouse. A huge gape jawed skull, small 'fairy tale castle' towers that no one could enter. (Thank you Mad King Ludwig...)

More variaties of tower in general. Square, round, half-round etc.)

A windmill. (Yes castles often had a small mill that was used for grinding corn or working a pump for the cistern.)

A ligtning rod and big trapdoors for the use of mad scientists and wizards alike. (Just watched Frankenstein again, sorry.)

A postern gate.

A chapel.

Wizardly trappings.

A salle, though I think you could rig one with what you have in the set, but the equipment for one would be nice. ( pells, saracens, etc.)

A rooftop cistern.

A watergate (sans Nixon...)

Some destroyed or damaged walls and towers for siege games, or for ruin crawling

I am sure some of these are already in the set, but I am still waiting for the download to finish...

The Auld Grump, hmmm 10% complete, just my luck to have a slow connection tonight...

And for those who find CWU too limiting in scope or scale... http://www.castlemagic.com/color.html

Scale 1'=1'.

SPECS:
Total Size ~ 3600 square feet, 3 Bedroom, 4 Bath
Size per level ~ 900 square feet
Wall thickness ~ two feet
Stone Tonnage ~ 166 tons
Height ~ fifty one feet
Number of Stones ~ >18,000
Elevation ~ 5,000 feet
Price ~ $1,532,0000

(Trust me Denny, not a competing product, unless you are thinking of switching to masonry. )

The Auld Grump

An aqueduct?

I really like the idea of the arch -- especially if it could be used to connect tall towers (above ground level).

Ooooooh Aaaaaaaaahhh.

This set was definately worth the wait.

Still haven’t got the set (so forgive me if its in there)

-an option for print wall mounted torches in transparencies to put Leds in the hollow of the walls so you could rig up "flickering"

Fiddley I know but could be sexy!!!


Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

I second (or how every many-th) the chapel idea - possibly using some of the existing walls from the existing buildings but with a high end wall and steeper roof and an optional stained glass window on transparency - that would just look the bollox - even better than GW's attempt in their new 40K terrain piece).

Some damaged wall sections (and/or some under construction wall sections).

Some blank flags (maybe with just a bit of texturing) for those of us who already have heraldry (and photoshop) to personalise out castles. See also blank stained glass windows.

A dirtier moat - the moat looks all together too clean and shiney.

Some mini-props - benches &c like in some of the other kits (I know we've got some of these already - but not everyone has all the kits - perhaps a collected props kit is a possibility).

Haystacks and straw carts for jumping off the battlements onto (or have I watched too much Robin of Sherwood)

Square and round towers (looking at building classic Norman and Medieval keeps).

Some defensive equipment.

Skins for going hanging over the hoardings.

A sally port door.

Here's what I noticed when checking out the moats. You can't build the 1.5" scale without the PaperLinX tabs. I havn't checked the whole set, but removing those tabs from all pieces as an option would be good.

Don't get me wrong I like the PaperLinX system, but what I like about your products is kitbash potential and the PaperLinX has been limiting some of my ideas.

--Chris

Ok the other thing I thought of for expansions.

Focal pieces.

A large specially designed keep
A large church

an expansion could be designed around one of these pieces where you get neat things for use elsewhere the expansion would be designed around that focal piece.

This is a way where people don't feel they have to buy the expansion/s but all us crazy builders have more potential.

Gothic Church humm potential
Butresses
Pews
Stain Glass windows

or just a Gothic Architecture expansion pack.

--Chris

All the promo stuff looks great - I will have to wait until my November hobby money comes along, but will put this on the must-have list. Gads, beautiful job. I am a non-grid person, and will happily wait for the non-grid floor parts that hopefully are on the list of things to come. I am emailing the link to several friends - perhaps they will be able to grab it now. I just have to say, Good Job! Here I am still working on the stuff I bought several months ago, with the Maiden on my to-print-list. Thanks to Denny for all his work in getting this out.

I'm very much in favor of the chapel and ruined wall/tower sections.

I think the graveyard would be better suited to VWU than this expansion, although I would be very interested in seeing it.

Just thought of something else... Some buttresses for the outside of the wall (just kind of stick on things to give those sneaking up some cover to hide behind. Something not quite so chunky as the pillars for the gatehouse - probably an angled piece 1" sq on the bottom and 2-3" tall would work.

Jon

Might as well crosspost this here, just to keep all the expansion kit suggestions in the same thread...

bighara and Kithmaker on the other thread were talking about kitbashing Helm's Deep or the Keep on the Borderlands using CWU. What if there were a "CastleWorks: Helm's Deep" expansion set with a few custom pieces to fit the movie, plus instructions for how to build the castle using those and CWU?

Seems like that would be a great way to leverage off the existing CWU set. Would require relatively little extra work. If anything, it might take more planning than actually designing new pieces. And you can always add in a few pieces from other sets as well. Plus this approach is really the only cost-effective way for someone to put out a set as massive as Helm's Deep or Keep on the Borderlands!

Damaged / ruined walls.

A chapel would be cool. That plus CWU would esentially be CathedralWorks.

How about make VWU the expansion

Just going through IW:C&K and I remember the descusion we had over different colours for the water effects - so.............


Different Colours for the moat that reflect the some ones in IW:C&K !

But I think the main thing we need for CWU:EP is RUINS!!!!
Yes ruins - for they and the siege engines were ment to be included in CWU.

Here's a quote from Denny 06-05-2003, 03:24 AM

Post subject: Re: CastleWorks Expansions

I totally understand your diagram. I will absolutley include damaged wall sections. By the way, CastleWorks Vol#2 will probably be worked on before the "SeaWorks" set. The experience I've gained with the other sets has given me a ton of great ideas for this set. CastleWorks will finally be the set it was always meant to be

I not get snotty or anything - I just thought it be fun quoting his Lordship on this .

We need Ruins - anything else is just crema on the espresso


Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

Just another thought (sorry is 8:30am and I've had sleep and CWU is out!!!!)

Will VWU work on the some system as CWU - as in "Will I be able to create a city within castle walls or a village outside the castle???"

I know the question sounds silly but at each release Denny improves each set (which is all good) but sometime they aren't the most backwards compatable.


Need CathedralWorks as I mentioned in the VW expantion thread - maybe an add-on to VWU. Or since alot of village "grew up" around the church maybe you could run VWU with that in mind???

Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

Winter effects??!!

What do you think? Adding snowfall and ice effects onto the already textured models - would that work? On the floor tiles mushness and floorprints.

Which again leads to bigger and better things - Maybe not an CWU:EP thing but theme pack(s) for CWU - things like winter, ruins (old ruins not battle ruins), horror add-ons (folks inpailed, cages with folk hanging off the gatehouse, blood pools, symbols and glyphs that glow, slime on the stairs etc).

Denny you could release a theme pack every so often which is not a add-on but maybe a slight re-work on that items that are already been done and one or two props.

Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

Strange as it sounds I have done winter effects with World Works. A can of the 'snow' that you can spray on your windows will work fine. Use a light matte or dull coat on the terrain first, then wait for it to dry thouroughly. Then shake the can of 'snow' and spray it on the roof tops etc. When I did it I sprayed from one direction so it built up in some places and missed others, making it look like wind driven snow.

There is at least one brand that will survive a coat of Armory matte coat, though there is at least one as well that will not, so test before spritzing it down. (For giggles I I used the legs from a GW plasit militia figure to make foot prints in the 'snow'. This was part of an attack on Santa's Workshop I did last year.)

Other ideas for expansions - A dwarf expansion with smaller doors.

Ground tiles with grates to allow light and air into underground areas.

Barred window for a prison tower.

A covered walkway and stairway. The stairs you have look like they would work fine, a tiled roof to accompany the stairs would do the trick.

A donjon or keep. Hopefully something that will work with IW: C&K (You can use the manor from CWC, I am intending to do so, but there is no interior...)

A kennel.

A stable.

A coach house.

A mews.

A smithy.

The Auld Grump, already printing the suckker up...l

*EDIT* Where half of a paragraph went, I don't know...

A strange idea - Seasonal Holiday packs for people who want to have a castle, village etc. in their windows, store displays, or around the Christmas Tree.

The Auld Grump.