I have had a fascination with the fortresses described in "The Lord of the Rings" since I first read the book many, many years ago. But none of them intrigued me so much as the ancient fortress of Helm's Deep, built across the neck of a narrow valley in the middle of a mountain range, the sides of the mountains falling almost sheer to the valley floor. It has haunted me for years, and even more so since my first acquaintance with Ralph Bakshi's animated version of the film.
This level is a take on Helm's Deep, but for those of you who know the story of LotR you'll know that it's not the one described therein: most importantly, Tolkien's Helm's Deep is very much an inland castle, whereas I've set mine by the sea. For those who may be interested, I have another couple of versions of this map, including a 400x400 development of the original siege map. I may post it at a later date.
This map took me the best part of a week's evenings to build, hone and design. I appreciate it's not the ultimate in eye candy, or probably even on the scale, but hey. I'm proud of it. A little ticker-tape would be appreciated. I welcome feedback: after all, constructive criticism is the only way for me to improve. Flames will be given to my pet Gold Dragon to eat.