PlaymoFriends
General => Collector's Corner => Topic started by: Richard on February 18, 2010, 23:44:36
-
CASTLES ON THE ROCKS
Martin said something in another topic about "defensible" castles being built on a hill or a rocky outcrop.
The first thing a castle builder does is pick a good defensible spot, so you don't get Medieval castles on flat easily accessible valley floors. It's too easy to beseige and drive siege engines right up to the walls. If there's a hill or rocky outcrop big enough, build on top of that (e.g. Edinburgh Castle and Bamburgh Castle).
So, we started thinking. Has Geobra ever produced a Playmobil castle built "on the rocks"?
Do these qualify?
see attachments
-
And, then there are these two recent additions ... :klickygrin:
Do they qualify?
see attachments
-
In my humble opinion...
I think the 1st and last definatly qualify!
The third also looks like it makes the cut.
But the 2nd one I have to say doesn't (to me) look like a castle built on rocks.
It is more a castle with rocks around it.
-
I think they all qualify insomuch as they make use of natural features to improve the defensible qualities of the castles.
I should have said in my previous post that if a hill or rocky outcrop isn't present where a castle was needed, the earliest castle builders created their own, and the "Motte and Bailey" style was created. The Motte was a mound of earth, the earth coming from a ditch dug round the whole fortification, and the Bailey was a walled enclosure where ghorse could be stabled.
A tower or keep would be built on top of the Motte to provide shelter for the castle occupants, and the last line of defense during a siege. The 3665 Barons Tower could easily have a steck Bailey added to make it such a style of castle, and the ruined walls suggest that this is what the original building might have been.
-
The two recent additions qualify. I can't see how any army can lay siege to them.
-
The two recent additions qualify. I can't see how any army can lay siege to them.
With Draconian help! ;D
-
In my opinion I think they all meet the minimum requirements compared to the old 3666 & 3667 Steck castles that had no natural defense options.
-
Not a castle on rocks, but as Martin said in an post on another topic that if there wasn't a natural defense then it could be surrounded by a moat.
This castle - Caerlaverock Castle - not too far from where I live was originally built fairly near the sea, then this one was built a little way away but on firmer ground, it is triangular in shape and its strongest points were its gatehouse and moat.
Many British Castles were built to protect strategic points such as ports, lowest bridging points, trade centres, etc.
I'd like to try building this in steck - would it be possible? -but haven't got much at the moment (I'm working on that). But I think it's a great looking castle.
(http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac300/skypurr/100_0671.jpg)
-
I'd like to try building this in steck - would it be possible? -but haven't got much at the moment (I'm working on that). But I think it's a great looking castle.
Not with existing Steck parts, because Playmobil have not provided the means to create anything other than a right angle corner. You might be able to fudge something such as hot-glueing pieces with added support at the corners.
The recently announced new 4865 and 4866 castles may provide the angled pieces you need, but nobody had got their hands on these sets yet to see how they fit together, so it could be that options are very restricted and it would still be a fudge.
-
Hi
The last picture is what I was thinking about when viewing G's pictures. If a castle is built by an ocean where a port could be maintained there would not always be tall rock outcroppings with flat tops for great defensible spaces. Some castles must have been built on flatter terrain. It is also a problem for raising food when your castle is located on rocky terrain as it would be much harder to farm.
This is a great learning topic for me. Thanks for all the info
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
-
This castle - Caerlaverock Castle - not too far from where I live was originally built fairly near the sea, then this one was built a little way away but on firmer ground, it is triangular in shape and its strongest points were its gatehouse and moat.
(http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac300/skypurr/100_0671.jpg)
This is one of my favorites also! :wow:
-
The last picture is what I was thinking about when viewing G's pictures. If a castle is built by an ocean where a port could be maintained there would not always be tall rock outcroppings with flat tops for great defensible spaces. Some castles must have been built on flatter terrain. It is also a problem for raising food when your castle is located on rocky terrain as it would be much harder to farm.
This is a great learning topic for me. Thanks for all the info
The people who lived in castles didn't need to farm or fish.
The Lord of the castle (generally appointed by the King) is owed a tithe (usually 10% of their produce) by the people living on his lands, and they undoubtedly had the task of delivering food and other goods to the castle throughout the year. In return he and his men provide "protection" to the farmers, artisans, merchants etc. in the event of an attack. People who do not produce useful goods would pay a tax.
The King would have some castles held by a Constable, who is not a true Lord in his own right, and the income from the lands controlled by these castles goes direct to the King. The Lords also pay a tax to the King, so he gets quite a lot of dosh.
That's a simplification of the Feudal system which took centuries to evolve, but you get the idea od a few rich lazy sods at the top of the pyramid, and a lot of downtrodden peasants at the bottom working their socks off to make ends meet and have enough to give to someone who owns the land they live on.
-
The people who lived in castles didn't need to farm or fish.
The Lord of the castle (generally appointed by the King) is owed a tithe (usually 10% of their produce) by the people living on his lands, and they undoubtedly had the task of delivering food and other goods to the castle throughout the year. In return he and his men provide "protection" to the farmers, artisans, merchants etc. in the event of an attack. People who do not produce useful goods would pay a tax.
The King would have some castles held by a Constable, who is not a true Lord in his own right, and the income from the lands controlled by these castles goes direct to the King. The Lords also pay a tax to the King, so he gets quite a lot of dosh.
That's a simplification of the Feudal system which took centuries to evolve, but you get the idea od a few rich lazy sods at the top of the pyramid, and a lot of downtrodden peasants at the bottom working their socks off to make ends meet and have enough to give to someone who owns the land they live on.
Sorry, Martin, but here's how it really works:
ARTHUR: Old woman!
DENNIS: Man!
ARTHUR: Old Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
DENNIS: I'm thirty seven.
ARTHUR: What?
DENNIS: I'm thirty seven -- I'm not old!
ARTHUR: Well, I can't just call you `Man'.
DENNIS: Well, you could say `Dennis'.
ARTHUR: Well, I didn't know you were called `Dennis.'
DENNIS: Well, you didn't bother to find out, did you?
ARTHUR: I did say sorry about the `old woman,' but from the behind
you looked--
DENNIS: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior!
ARTHUR: Well, I AM king...
DENNIS: Oh king, eh, very nice. An' how'd you get that, eh? By
exploitin' the workers -- by 'angin' on to outdated imperialist dogma
which perpetuates the economic an' social differences in our society!
If there's ever going to be any progress--
WOMAN: Dennis, there's some lovely filth down here. Oh -- how d'you do?
ARTHUR: How do you do, good lady. I am Arthur, King of the Britons.
Who's castle is that?
WOMAN: King of the who?
ARTHUR: The Britons.
WOMAN: Who are the Britons?
ARTHUR: Well, we all are. we're all Britons and I am your king.
WOMAN: I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous
collective.
DENNIS: You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship.
A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes--
WOMAN: Oh there you go, bringing class into it again.
DENNIS: That's what it's all about if only people would--
ARTHUR: Please, please good people. I am in haste. Who lives
in that castle?
WOMAN: No one lives there.
ARTHUR: Then who is your lord?
WOMAN: We don't have a lord.
ARTHUR: What?
DENNIS: I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take
it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.
ARTHUR: Yes.
DENNIS: But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified
at a special biweekly meeting.
ARTHUR: Yes, I see.
DENNIS: By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs,--
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: --but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more--
ARTHUR: Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!
WOMAN: Order, eh -- who does he think he is?
ARTHUR: I am your king!
WOMAN: Well, I didn't vote for you.
ARTHUR: You don't vote for kings.
WOMAN: Well, 'ow did you become king then?
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake,
[angels sing]
her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur
from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I,
Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.
[singing stops]
That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords
is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power
derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical
aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: Well you can't expect to wield supreme executive power
just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an empereror just
because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd
put me away!
ARTHUR: Shut up! Will you shut up!
DENNIS: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed!
ARTHUR: Bloody peasant!
DENNIS: Oh, what a give away. Did you hear that, did you hear that,
eh? That's what I'm on about -- did you see him repressing me,
you saw it didn't you?
-
Sorry, Martin, but here's how it really works:
That would make a great photo-story, KM ... ;D
-
... working their socks off to make ends meet and have enough to give to ... (the government).
Martin, we celebrate this event in the United States every year on the 15th of April ... ;D
-
Martin, we celebrate this event in the United States every year on the 15th of April ... ;D
:lol: :lol: So true! Sad, but true!
-
Martin, we celebrate this event in the United States every year on the 15th of April ... ;D
:lol: :lol: :lol:
-
Sorry, Martin, but here's how it really works:
ARTHUR: Old woman!
[...]
does he think he is?
ARTHUR: I am your king!
WOMAN: Well, I didn't vote for you.
ARTHUR: You don't vote for kings.
WOMAN: Well, 'ow did you become king then?
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake,
[angels sing]
her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur
from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I,
Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.
[singing stops]
That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords
is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power
derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical
aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: Well you can't expect to wield supreme executive power
just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an empereror just
because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd
put me away!
ARTHUR: Shut up! Will you shut up!
DENNIS: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed!
ARTHUR: Bloody peasant!
DENNIS: Oh, what a give away. Did you hear that, did you hear that,
eh? That's what I'm on about -- did you see him repressing me,
you saw it didn't you?
lol! :lol:
I had forgotten this part of Monty Python The Holy Grail :lol:
They're really brilliant! :P
-
(I have a friend affictionate to the Knights who say "Ni!".)
-x-
Anyway, back on castles here, what about the castles in the Holy Land (Palestine). In that movie _Kingdom of Heaven_ we can see one (Kerak), but there are SO MANY historical innacuracies in that movie that for sure I cannot trust Kerak was like that by any means (not merely by the movie xP ).
However, the castle portrayed in the movie looks like a castle in a great plain (or plateau, I don't know). (Kerak is near Iran, in the map ...)