Weekly Set Review:Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon

[architect]

Join the weekly Classic Castle set review discussion. Please post your opinions on the set play ability, piece selection, design, etc. Which sets stand up to our catapult of critique and which ones crumble in shame!

This week’s set is 7020 Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon.

Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon was released in 2006. Seven Vikings armed with swords, axes, spears, and shields pull this siege weapon. The wagon can fire any two of its ten bolts at once.

[Athos]

Nice contingent of figures, though it would have been much better, if we got some new figures.

I'm not real fond of the siege engine, though. Its just too big and I don't like the bolts it fires. I do, however, really like the printed tiles.

8/10

Steve

[wunztwice]

Great figs to parts ratio! I love those printed tiles. As a kid I probably have loved the shooting aspect, but I think I will use mine to build up a better catapult with the armored dragon set.

It is a neat set and when I got it on sale it was a good deal!

[JoshWedin]

I like this one a lot! A lot of figs, cool printed tiles, and I fell in love with the firing mechanism. It's pretty much the same as last years, but the new rapid fire effect is cool. Yes, I know it's weird. I can't remember any other recent set that I keep together just to play with, but this one I did. Just for a week or so, but I did play with it quite a bit. There, I got that out.

Josh

9/10

[Troy T. Moore]

The printed tiles are very cool. I also like the "rapid firing mechanism". More Viking figs, what's not to like about that The slide out stash of ale and loot is neat also.

Those new big wheels....if only htey were brown

Originally I thought I would get several as this set was dubbed "army builder" by many, but after seeing the selection of torsos and heads, coupled with the insane prices we pay in Canada, one is enough.

[Lonan]

I just purchased this about a week ago during the TRU sale. With the extra discount I got (thanks to SirNelson) I ended up paying about $19 for this set. At that price, this set is awesome.

The best thing is obviously the fig count. Seven figs is a lot in this day and age, and for $19 it's a bonanza. There is a lot of repitition in the figs from previous sets, but that doesn't bother me so much. I like having lots of similar torsos, because it makes it easier to use them as a "faction" when building MOCs. I would have liked more variety in the faces, although I never get tired of the "berzerker" head. I was also pumped that the set included a barrel! This is the first LEGO barrel I've ever owned, and I was really excited. Obviously, it doesn't take much.

On the downside, while I liked putting the ballista together, enough is enough. I would have preferred a little fort or outpost, something with the "log" bricks. I've got enough siege engines to storm every castle from the beginning of the world to date. Another quibble I have is the axes included in this set. I'm glad that TLG is giving us the beaten metal type battleaxes instead of the old brown and black battleaxes, but they just don't compare to the Viking axes. This is the best new weapon in years, why don't they give us more?

Anyway, this set is great for the figs and has several cool pieces besides. (like the brown tiles printed with the intertwined serpents) If you find it on sale, buy it immediately. It's a little pricy at full retail, but would be worth it if you really needed some figs. Overall, I was very happy with it.

[Maedhros]

I really like this set. First and foremost the actual number of minifis, but I actually like the Wagon as well. With some modifications it can get quite cool (such as removing those missiles... )

And those tiles are really neat...

[Lord Felix]

Piece wise, it doesn't look very good. I can't think of where I would use those large wheels or the long wedges. It has lots of figures, but not very many axes or shields (techic), which is what I like about the Viking line. Great army builder, but not a great pieces set.

1/10 for design then
7/10 for design Now
10/10 for Figures
8/10 for accessories (It has a barrel, goblets, some good weapons)
5/10 for pieces
My overall score: about 7.6/10 (Add some more axes and it would be an

[garraofthesand]

9.5/10 overall

great amount of figs

great amount of accessories.

great catapult

scrap pieces from battering ram (I don't really like this feature, with the spear its more like a hole stabber than a battering ram)

[Spongey]

I don't really get how the siege weapon is supposed to work, but I do like it for the quantity of figures, which would be a great way to build a viking army.

[Remyth]

Great figs to parts ratio! I love those printed tiles. As a kid I probably have loved the shooting aspect, but I think I will use mine to build up a better catapult with the armored dragon set.

Pretty much exactly sums up my thoughts.

[Webrain]

I'm not a big fan myself of all the new ridiculous (technic) war machines LEGO keeps producing in the last years. It is nice however that in the last year a few sets give you a large amount of minifigs. This set actually has an alternate on the back of the instructions of a catapult that might be better then the real model so I might make it. The big dish shields are nice but I'd prefer more small normal shields for the vikings.

[DARKspawn]

I bought this set as an army builder. I let my wife build it as I bought the Viking Fortress at the same time & kept that one for myself to build (both sets only stayed together for about a week)

It seems the firing mechanism is really wonky on this. It would not take too much force for the plate that holds the mechanism on to simply come off. I checked the instructions to make sure she hadn't made a mistake & everything appeared in order. My most memorable thought while mucking around with this with my wife was, "Don't people playtest these things?"

Anyways, great source of figs & I think it's the only set that come with the serpent tiles.

[JoshWedin]

IIt seems the firing mechanism is really wonky on this. It would not take too much force for the plate that holds the mechanism on to simply come off.

Really? Mine was really sturdy. In fact, I fired it many times during NWBrickCon and then later at home. I never had any problems with it. You can't aim worth a darn, but it never fell apart.

Josh

[wunztwice]

Anyways, great source of figs & I think it's the only set that come with the serpent tiles.

Those awsome tiles came in the other new viking set as well (armored dragon and double catapult).