A Lone Knight of the Forestmen

 Today, I’m showcasing a custom LEGO knight inspired by the iconic Forestmen faction from the 1990s. In the photo, you’ll see a gallant knight astride a white horse adorned with a barding I created myself, featuring the Forestmen heraldry. The knight’s green cape also bears the faction’s emblem, tying the design together beautifully.

This knight wears a paladin-style armor and wields a lance alongside a circular shield from BrickWarriors. For the helmet, I repurposed an original LEGO motocross helmet, replacing the flames with two LEGO root pieces to evoke the antlers of a stag—an homage to the Forestmen’s deer emblem.

The pinnacle of the genre, not a video game but a masterpiece of modding: European Warfare

From Age of Empires to European Warfare: A Journey Through Historical RTS Games

My passion for historical real-time strategy (RTS) games began with the original Age of Empires. Like many, I was captivated by its blend of city-building and ancient warfare, and this obsession only grew with Age of Empires II. 

I played it so much that I practically burned out, but my love for the genre didn’t wane.

I vividly remember flipping through a gaming magazine and stumbling upon an announcement for Cossacks: European Wars. The promise of massive armies, well beyond the 200-unit limit of Age of Empires II, left me awestruck. Officers and drummers to organize formations? The ability to rotate formation fronts? It was revolutionary! I dove headfirst into Cossacks, playing every expansion up to Back to War. I still recall the thrill of seeing Prussians introduced in Art of War, the only faction with musket reloading animations. Details like the ponytails on Saxon musketeers and grenadiers made the experience unforgettable. In fact, I specifically chose Saxony because I wanted my soldiers to have those iconic ponytails, which added a unique charm compared to the units of other nations.

Discovering American Conquest

When American Conquest was announced, it promised to take my RTS experience to a whole new level. Spanning from the Discovery of America to the War of 1812, it covered two of my favorite conflicts: the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. To pass the time while waiting, I played Conquest of the New World, losing hours in its chessboard-style battles.

American Conquest introduced innovative mechanics like morale, where units could break formation under heavy losses. But as with Age of Empires, my enthusiasm eventually faded. I began craving something deeper.

Enter European Warfare

My search for more led me to the Hawks Masters of the Field community, a group of history enthusiasts who transformed American Conquest with incredible multiplayer maps and, eventually, the groundbreaking European Warfare mod. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the mod brought a wealth of new features and a far richer gameplay experience.

At the time, I only played the single-player version, but even then, it was a breath of fresh air. The ability to build redoubts and fortify positions became one of my favorite aspects. It felt like a true evolution of the genre, blending strategy, tactics, and historical authenticity.

A Fresh Update for December 2024

Fast forward over a decade, and I’m thrilled to share that a new version of European Warfare has just been released this December. You can download it now at ModDB.com.

The latest version includes revamped single-player missions and an enhanced multiplayer experience. If you want to make the most of it, I highly recommend joining the Hawks' Discord community. The multiplayer matches are where this mod truly shines. A special thanks to Nappy, who welcomed me into the group, patiently explained the mechanics, and always invited me to join their games—it’s been an absolute pleasure.

If you’re a fan of historical RTS games, do yourself a favor and check out the new European Warfare. It’s a labor of love from the Hawks community, and I guarantee it’ll reignite your passion for the genre.

I’m also thrilled to share some exciting news: in the coming months, the updated version of European Warfare 2: The Age of Reason will be released! This mod shifts the focus from the Napoleonic Wars to the Seven Years' War, and perhaps even the French and Indian War. I absolutely can’t wait to experience it!

Find more players and information on the Hawks' Discord and start your journey into one of the most immersive RTS mods ever created.

AoE 2 DE Custom Multiplayer Scenario: Broken Lances (Lanze Spezzate) 1vs1

 Broken Lances (Lanze Spezzate): A Mercenary Clash Inspired by Renaissance Warfare

The Renaissance era, a time of great cultural and military evolution, saw the rise of professional mercenary companies that redefined warfare in Europe. Among the most renowned were John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto), an English captain leading the White Company in Italy, and Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, the last great Italian condottiero who epitomized the courage and strategy of mercenary captains. These figures serve as an inspiration for Broken Lances, a scenario that brings the treacherous and tactical world of mercenary bands to life in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

A Battle Between Rival Mercenary Companies

In Broken Lances, two mercenary bands compete for supremacy: The Scoundrels, led by Captain Ale, a diverse company of adventurers primarily from Italy, and Kratos’ Band, commanded by the formidable Teutonic Knight Kratos. The latter embodies the discipline and might of the Germanic lands, drawing on their history of well-organized mercenary forces. These companies mirror the historical rivalries of the Renaissance, where mercenaries like Hawkwood or Giovanni dalle Bande Nere were not only military commanders but also political tools, hired to tip the balance in Italy's fragmented power struggles.

Immersive and Unique Gameplay

This scenario introduces a fresh approach to gameplay. As a mercenary captain, your objective is to eliminate the rival company, earning rewards and maintaining your dominance.

• Restricted Construction: Players cannot build freely but are limited to essential structures for their encampments.
• Resource Management: Utilize mule carts and mills to gather resources. Mills provide farms and livestock like cows, pigs, and goats, essential for sustaining your army.
• Army Expansion: Build army tents to increase your population cap and recruit additional soldiers.
• Village Alliances: Six neutral villages are scattered across the map. Trade with these villages using trade carts, or bring your captain inside to receive 1,000 gold, food, and wood every two minutes.

Strategic Depth and Challenges

The historical condottieri thrived on cunning strategies, and Broken Lances encourages the same.

• Defense and Ambushes: Build palisades, barricades, or ambush enemy trade routes to hinder your opponent’s progress.
• Critical Stakes: Each player starts with one town center, a church, and a market. If these are destroyed, they cannot be rebuilt, raising the stakes of every battle. The loss of your captain results in instant defeat, symbolizing the disintegration of your company.
• Unique Units: While both bands share most units, Kratos’ Band has exclusive access to Teutonic Knights, reflecting their martial heritage.

A Tribute to Renaissance Warfare

This scenario is more than a battle; it is a homage to the mercenary tradition that shaped Europe’s military and political landscapes. Figures like Giovanni Acuto, who mastered both negotiation and battlefield tactics, and Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, who brought innovation and valor to his campaigns, remind us of the complex interplay of loyalty, ambition, and strategy that defined this era.

Broken Lances challenges players to think like true condottieri, balancing resourcefulness, aggression, and strategic foresight. Are you ready to step into the boots of a mercenary captain and carve your legacy in the annals of warfare?

Creating this scenario was a journey in itself, and I owe a special thanks to Alkhalim. His detailed videos on trigger mechanics in the Age of Empires II editor were instrumental in bringing this vision to life. If you’re ready to step into the boots of a mercenary captain and prove your worth, Broken Lances awaits!

12/26 Update: New Version of the Broken Lances Scenario

I’ve made some updates to the Broken Lances scenario for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition after identifying inaccuracies in the previous version. Thanks to the feedback I received, I was able to fix several key issues affecting the triggers for Player 2.

Key Fixes:

• Self-destruction of palisade walls: A trigger was incorrectly set to add instead of set, causing the walls' health points to increase by 1,000 per second, which led to their self-destruction. This has now been corrected.
• Incorrect unit creation: Villagers for Player 2 were being recruited from the monastery. This has been fixed.
• Building restrictions: Player 2 could still construct the mining camp and lumber camp, which are replaced by the mule cart in this scenario. This issue is now resolved.

After running several tests, I can confirm that the updated version functions as intended.

How to Download and Install the Updated Scenario

You can download the updated scenario here
To install it, simply copy the file into the Scenario folder of your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition directory. Once copied, the scenario will appear in your game under the Custom Scenario menu.

Upload Issue on the Official Website

I attempted to upload the new version to the official Age of Empires II mods website. Unfortunately, the page freezes during the loading process, preventing me from sharing the updated version there. I’ll keep trying and will update you once it’s successfully uploaded.

What’s Next?

In the next update, I plan to include a short guide on how to fully enjoy the scenario in multiplayer matches.

Thank you again for your feedback and support—I hope you enjoy the improved version of Broken Lances!

Custom LEGO Knights – Black Knights Camp & Wolfpack Prisoner | LEGO Castle Diorama

Under the cover of darkness, a group of LEGO Black Knights escorts a captured Wolfpack prisoner into their medieval military camp. Surrounded by tents, armed guards and the warm glow of a campfire, the prisoner faces an uncertain fate.

This custom LEGO knights diorama combines classic LEGO Castle minifigures, handmade medieval paper tents and carefully arranged lighting to recreate a dramatic scene at night.

Black Knights and Wolfpack – Classic LEGO Castle Factions

The Black Knights are one of the most recognisable factions from the classic LEGO Castle theme. Introduced in the early 1990s, they are remembered for their imposing castles, armoured knights and distinctive heraldry featuring a dragon. Their medieval military appearance makes them ideal for creating fortified camps, patrols and dramatic battle scenes.

The Wolfpack, introduced in 1992, represent a very different side of the LEGO Castle world. With their wolf emblem, rugged clothing and outlaw-inspired appearance, they are commonly associated with bandits, raiders and forest hideouts rather than heavily armoured armies.

In this scene, the two factions meet under less than friendly circumstances. A Wolfpack member has been captured and brought into the Black Knights' encampment under armed escort. Whether he is a dangerous outlaw, an enemy scout or simply an unfortunate prisoner is left to the imagination.

Custom LEGO Medieval Tents and Paper Accessories

One of the main experiments behind this diorama was the use of paper tents for LEGO knights. The original tent designs were created by Peter Dennis and include medieval and Renaissance models, along with some designs inspired by the American Civil War.

I modified the original files by scaling them up to make them more suitable for LEGO minifigures. I also customised several tents with the Black Monarchs heraldic emblem, giving them a more appropriate appearance for this LEGO Castle encampment.

The tents are made of printed paper, and so is the flag flying from the tall pole above the camp. Combining paper scenery with LEGO figures is an inexpensive and flexible way to create custom LEGO medieval camps without building every structure entirely from bricks.

In the future, I would also like to experiment with internal tent frames made from LEGO elements, using bricks and other pieces to support the paper coverings.

Creating a Night Scene with Miniature Lighting

Unlike many of my previous miniature scenes, this LEGO Castle diorama was photographed indoors. I specifically wanted to experiment with artificial lighting and discover how different light sources could change the atmosphere of a medieval camp at night.

To create the impression of occupied tents, I placed small warm-white LED tea lights inside them. The light shines through the paper coverings, producing a soft glow that contrasts with the darker surroundings.

I also concealed a small light inside the campfire, making it appear as though the fire is burning in the middle of the encampment.

By combining these warm lights with different external lighting arrangements, I was able to experiment with colour, shadows and contrast. The result is a series of photographs showing the same LEGO medieval camp under different lighting conditions.

Custom LEGO Knights Diorama – Photo Gallery

A Wolfpack prisoner arrives at the Black Knights' medieval camp under armed escort.

A medieval paper tent illuminated from within by a warm light, surrounded by LEGO Castle knights.

The Black Knights' encampment, featuring handmade paper tents, heraldic flags and experimental miniature lighting.

More LEGO Castle Dioramas and Experiments

This project combines several things I enjoy: classic LEGO Castle factions, custom miniature scenery, historical paper models and experimental photography.

The paper tents turned out to be particularly useful for creating a medieval military camp, while the miniature lights helped bring the night-time setting to life.

I plan to continue experimenting with custom LEGO knights, medieval tents and LEGO Castle dioramas, including new ways to combine traditional model-making techniques with LEGO bricks.

Lego BlackFalcons with Brickperium and Brickwarriors custom items

The LEGO Black Falcons have always been one of the most recognizable factions in the classic LEGO Castle universe. Their distinctive heraldry makes them a perfect starting point for customizing medieval minifigures.

For this small diorama, I combined original LEGO elements with accessories from Brickperium and BrickWarriors, adding my own custom heraldic designs to create two Black Falcon warriors.

Custom Black Falcon Infantryman with Brickperium Armor

The soldier on the left wears armor and a helmet made by Brickperium.

His shield is not an original LEGO piece. To give it the appearance of a Black Falcon shield, I adapted the faction's heraldic emblem in Photoshop and applied the resulting sticker to its surface.

This allowed me to combine a different shield design with the familiar Black Falcons colours and heraldry.

A Mounted Black Falcon Knight with BrickWarriors Equipment

The mounted knight wears BrickWarriors armor and carries a BrickWarriors lance.

His shield, on the other hand, is an original LEGO element. I created a custom Black Falcon heraldic sticker in Photoshop, adjusting the design to fit the shape of the shield.

I wanted the knight and infantryman to look like members of the same medieval faction, even though their equipment comes from different manufacturers.

Handmade Fabric Horse Caparison

One of my favourite details is the horse's black and yellow chequered caparison.

I made it using my usual fabric-transfer technique: printing the design onto special transfer paper and applying it to real fabric.

The fabric gives the horse covering a more natural texture and helps create the appearance of a fully equipped medieval warhorse.

LEGO Black Falcons Medieval Diorama

Custom LEGO Black Falcons with Brickperium armor, BrickWarriors accessories, personalized shields and a handmade fabric horse caparison.

I enjoy combining different medieval accessories while keeping the visual identity of classic LEGO Castle factions.

With a few carefully chosen pieces, custom stickers and a handmade horse covering, even a small group of minifigures can become a distinctive medieval scene.

Grudgebringers

The Grudgebringers are one of my favourite mercenary companies from the Warhammer Fantasy universe, made famous by the classic strategy video game Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat.

For this Playmobil diorama, I wanted to recreate something different from the usual battlefield: a rare moment of peace in the daily life of a company of mercenaries.

Instead of charging cavalry or clashing armies, the scene depicts soldiers resting at their camp, preparing food and taking care of their equipment.

An Indoor Warhammer Fantasy Diorama

Unlike most of my Little Carpet Wars projects, which are photographed outdoors using natural landscapes and sunlight, this diorama was created entirely indoors.

I used a large sheet of blue cardboard as the background, creating a simple setting for the figures, trees and camp equipment.

The ground is covered with small stones and gravel, giving the miniature encampment a rough and realistic appearance.

Building the Medieval Tent

The tent is the central feature of the scene. I built it using cardboard and paper, experimenting with the materials to recreate the appearance of folded fabric.

I wanted the tent to look like a practical military shelter rather than a decorative building, something that could be packed up and transported during a campaign.

A small banner flies above the entrance, while soldiers stand nearby with their shields and weapons.

Life in a Mercenary Camp

The scene represents a quiet moment between battles, when even the most experienced mercenaries need time to rest, eat and prepare for the next march.

A knight leads his horse on foot. Sausages and hams hang from the saddle, suggesting supplies gathered during the journey, perhaps through foraging.

Nearby, an infantryman looks inside the tent, possibly bringing news to an officer or reporting on the company's situation.

Other soldiers remain close to their equipment, surrounded by shields, helmets and weapons.

A cooking pot hangs above a small campfire, while a rack of weapons stands nearby. These details help create the atmosphere of a temporary military encampment.

I particularly like the contrast between the cooler light illuminating the camp and the warm glow of the fire.

Playmobil Grudgebringers Diorama

The Grudgebringers mercenary camp: a Playmobil diorama inspired by Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat.

Inspired by Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat

Released in 1995, Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat is a fantasy real-time tactics game set in the Warhammer world.

Players command a mercenary army led by Morgan Bernhardt, whose Grudgebringers become involved in a much larger conflict.

The game's atmosphere, distinctive military units and sense of adventure have remained a source of inspiration for my miniature projects.

With this diorama, I wanted to capture a different side of that world: not the clash of swords or the thunder of cavalry, but the everyday moments that might take place between battles.

Sometimes a handmade tent, a campfire, a few soldiers and a horse carrying provisions are enough to tell a story.

Diorama and photography: Little Carpet Wars
Inspiration: Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat

LEGO Fright Knights – Custom Horse Barding & Medieval

A knight of the LEGO Fright Knights rides through the mist, wearing a BrickWarriors bascinet and armour. His horse features a custom-made barding, decorated with the distinctive bat emblem and colours of the Fright Knights faction.

Fright Knights cavalryman with custom horse barding and BrickWarriors equipment.

Custom Horse Barding for the LEGO Fright Knights

The main feature of this custom LEGO Castle creation is the horse barding. I made it myself, using the characteristic colours and bat heraldry of the original Fright Knights faction.

The decorated horse covering gives the mounted knight a distinctive appearance, inspired by medieval heraldic horse trappings and the dark fantasy atmosphere of classic LEGO Castle.

BrickWarriors Bascinet and Armour

The knight is equipped with a BrickWarriors bascinet and armour, giving the minifigure a more heavily armoured medieval appearance while retaining the character of the Fright Knights.

Creating a Misty Medieval Scene Indoors

Although the photograph looks like an outdoor scene, the entire diorama was photographed indoors.

I used a grass-like carpet to simulate the ground, directional lighting to create dramatic shadows, and a little vapour from an electronic cigarette to produce the misty atmosphere.

The combination of low-angle photography, textured artificial grass, coloured lighting and mist creates a mysterious battlefield setting for this LEGO Fright Knights cavalryman.

It is a simple example of how custom accessories and practical photographic effects can transform a single LEGO Castle minifigure into a dramatic medieval scene.