A Few Bricks Short: SSC: 79001 Escape from Mirkwood Spiders!

So, I read about the Single Set Challenge on the Mobile Frame Hanger forums, and decided that I’d like to try it. So I did a couple of small sets one, a Mixel, one a Chima set. These have been done by others as well, and the results are about what you would expect. I really liked the challenge of building a frame from a very limited to parts selection, and I found that it really challenged me to think outside the box. The Chima one in particular led to some things I may try to replicate on a larger scale. I’ll post those other SSCs separately.

What I want to talk about right now is what I’m calling the Mirkwood Squad. I had a copy of Set# 79001, “Escape from Mirkwood Spiders.” Fresh off of completing the first two, I decided to SSC this bad boy.

I opened it up, and right out of the box I knew what direction it was going. Those two spiders have a combined 16 legs, all with the same click hinge setup. The last batch of frames I built falls over a lot. So I decided to try to build four identical four legged frames. I got the legs done, and then a funny thing happened. I made two into matching soldiers, with a sensor array on the head, legs for the movement, a medium autocannon, and a shield. Then I made a hand to hand specialist and an artillery specialist. Both of them needed something more, but I liked where they were headed. I like the look of my artillery piece, but I wanted to try to build something else out of either it or the HTH specialist. As I was messing around trying to come up with a better build for one of them, I ended up creating a squad leader for the bunch. Thus was born the Murkwood Squad.

In my next skirmish (4 players that turned into 3), I fielded both the soldiers, backed by the artillery frame. I was point, and I managed to seize enough stations to finish first. Part of it was strategy, but part of it was these guys just being all around sweet frames. And I loved the stability of the extra legs.

I also built a station and some cover. I had enough slopes to throw together a ship for IO, should I decide to branch out once we’ve got a lot of MFØ played.

Though I may change a few things, I’m going to keep the color scheme and most of the set up. I like the four leg setup, but the torso connections can be a bit fragile. The HTH specialist is most likely to see change, and the fragility of the squad leader’s shield demands reinforcement. But overall, I’m going to end up with a unique squad with a very interesting back story.

Here are the pictures of the squad.