Yea it looks like you need to do a lot more planning with Technic than regular lego. Modifying what you've got sounds like a good way to get the hang of it though
Well I don't know what a HUD is, but hopefully it's nothing important.
The story was long enough for me in Fable 2, I find long stories in games get boring and repeat themselve a lot. Short and sweet plus like a hundred side quests is a good combo.
Maybe you can get it on PC since you don't own a 360?