http://www.coolminiornot.com/artist/TheTekumeProject Built by Chris the Modelmaker
The Sakbe roads are a prominent feature of Tekumel. They are massive structures consisting of a three tiered wall that serves both defensive purposes and as a highway. The highest tier has battlements that face the frontier of the Empire; this level is reserved for official traffic only: Imperial couriers and the like. The middle tier is reserved for the nobility of the realm, their pallaquins and retinues. It is wider than the upper tier and has a low wall along it's open edge rather than battlements. The lowest level is for use of commoners - peasants and slaves on foot, merchants with carts drawn by massive Chlen beasts, and also the army, which uses the network of Sakbe roads to march quickly to trouble spots throughout the Empire.
The Sakbe road network has guard towers at frequent intervals. These range from simple towers to mighty fortresses. The model represents one of the lesser such towers. Also at frequent intervals are access points and caravan waystations along the wall. These allow travellers to descend if their route takes them to the many smaller towns and villages that do not have a Sakbe road passing through them.
The model consists of a 28mm scale Sakbe road tower and it's adjacent caravan station, enough sections of road to span 8 feet of table and two breached sections, representing a piece of road that has been taken by some enemy. Each section is 16" wide, so three will span a typical table width-wise. I think the total length is something over 10' if all the sections are used. The tower comes apart and all the interior levels are accessible though they are not detailed. There are doors and gates, though in the pictures they have not been attached yet as some things were still drying.
Hope you like the pics!
Howard Fielding
The Tekumel Project
02 November 2007, 06:48:35 AM