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Fantasy Fortifications — Part 3: Design
This article is part 3 of a series on Fantasy Fortifications by Toni Šušnjar.
The design of a fortification depends on its purpose and on the threats it is expected to face. A fortification facing only infantry-held weapons, one facing mechanical artillery, and one facing gunpowder artillery will all significantly differ in design characteristics. Some characteristics however will be the same – geography will always provide advantage (or disadvantage) in defending a fort or a city, and thus location has to be carefully chosen. In some cases, location may be good enough to allow the defender to skimp on certain design features – as seen with e.g. Klis fortress, where northern wall is waist-tall at best, thanks to its position on an inaccessible cliff (clissa). In other cases, disadvantageous terrain may have to be compensated with by massive man-made features.
General Design
In order to cope with development of artillery, design of fortifications changed with time. First fortifications, which only had to deal with handheld weapons, were simple wooden palisades. These were later supplemented with earthen ramparts
As siege weapons developed, fortifications grew both in height and thickness. Up until the development of gunpowder weapons, walls were taller than their thickness. Even...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.
Fantasy Fortifications — Part 3: Design
This article is part 3 of a series on Fantasy Fortifications by Toni Šušnjar.
The design of a fortification depends on its purpose and on the threats it is expected to face. A fortification facing only infantry-held weapons, one facing mechanical artillery, and one facing gunpowder artillery will all significantly differ in design characteristics. Some characteristics however will be the same – geography will always provide advantage (or disadvantage) in defending a fort or a city, and thus location has to be carefully chosen. In some cases, location may be good enough to allow the defender to skimp on certain design features – as seen with e.g. Klis fortress, where northern wall is waist-tall at best, thanks to its position on an inaccessible cliff (clissa). In other cases, disadvantageous terrain may have to be compensated with by massive man-made features.
General Design
In order to cope with development of artillery, design of fortifications changed with time. First fortifications, which only had to deal with handheld weapons, were simple wooden palisades. These were later supplemented with earthen ramparts
As siege weapons developed, fortifications grew both in height and thickness. Up until the development of gunpowder weapons, walls were taller than their thickness. Even...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.
