The city of Cyrene falls to the Pierian Empire

Despite the inclusion of Classical or Greco-Roman characters in several waves of Collectible Minifigures, the ancient world just isn’t as popular with LEGO Castle builders as the big gray castles of the medieval era. As a result, it’s always refreshing to see great LEGO models from that earlier era. Talented TBB alum Mark Erickson has created a fictional battle between rivals the Pierian Empire and the great city of Tylis. Mark’s diorama is full of fantastic architectural detail — I particularly love the contrast between the tan city walls and the shining white temple with its gold details and green roof.

The Fall of Cyrene

While your eye is certainly drawn past the walls to the beautiful temple, the walls themselves are worth a closer look, with great brick-work in varied, natural colors between what I’m guessing are sandstone columns. This view also shows off the siege tower Mark designed for his Pierian soldiers to surmount the Cyrenian walls.

The Fall of Cyrene

Far too many builders neglect minifigures once they’ve completed their cityscape or spaceship or castle, but minifigures bring a LEGO model to life, and Mark’s scene has minifigure action galore. His minifigures sport custom armor and weapons from BrickWarriors, helping to distinguish the blue-and-silver and red-and-gold factions.

The Fall of Cyrene

Mark says that he missed entering the annual Colossal Castle Contest this past December because he was busy working on this diorama. With off-angle walls throughout, excellent landscaping, and an engaging story told through minifig action, there’s lots to love in this excellent LEGO creation, and very much worth the wait.

The Fall of Cyrene