T2K Fortification

[rcaf_777]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

It's a bit of an exotic location for T2K...but basically all over Oahu in Hawaii, you'll find abandoned blockhouses and pillboxes built before and during World War 2. Many are still in good shape, though overgrown with vegetation. Another interesting location would be Ulupau Crater on Kaneohe MCAS; it's the rifle range for the island, and is to an extent honeycombed with rooms and corridors (and you find even find some ammo!). On the other side of the island at Mokapu Point, there is an abandoned Nike site; I never had the chance to go see for myself, but it's supposed to have a decent array of blockhouses, old buildings, and underground rooms and corridors.

There is also a fair bit found on the East Coast of Canada, and few on west coast might have surrived as well, I know there are simular forts in the US eastern and wester coasts, Fort MacArthur in Calforina comes to mind.

On another note how about a fortification using old cars, apc tanks, ect, like the wagon circles of the old west.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

I forget, did Hawaii get hit in 1.0?

[WallShadow]

http://alshamswiremesh.com/hesco.html

This type of item filled with large gravel, without the fabric liner, was being used to reinforce the faces of cuts (e.g. in streambeds, to resist erosion) back in the 80's or before. I recently saw the modern version up close and personal at the Carlisle, PA US Military History Institute (Army War College), which has numerous outside military displays of several time periods. This one was a modern display.

I think that the defenders of Sielce might be able to scrounge up some chain link fence to build the wire cages out of, lined with scraps of salvaged carpet, perhaps? A tripod swing arm with a block and tackle could be built to maneuver the filled gabions into place. Any guesses as to how many man hours each hexside of these would take to place--build cages, fill with chunks of rubble, wire lid on, hook up to crane, swing into place, secure with tie-wires.
It's like filling and placing giant sandbags, but you have to make the sandbags themselves.

[ArmySGT.]

This gem was on Fox today.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/0...ntcmp=features

[WallShadow]

Reading, PA has Stokesay Castle, a sturdy stone structure restaurant, and just up the hill is the Pagoda Overlook both of which are somewhat secluded and have a limited access. The Pagoda is visible for miles especially when it is lighted up red at night. It would be a good observation post and handy to call in artillery fire from.

Out my way, a little further west of Harrisburg, there's the King's Gap State Park, which boasts an Environmental Education Center made from the stone villa built by a Cameron in the early 1900's. It sits nicely isolated at the top of thev Northern end of the Blue Ridge mountains and oversees a huge section of the Cumberland valley and it's northern opening--not much could move across it unnoticed by observers in the Villa. And just down the road, literally, is a State Fish Hatchery--ready-made protein and a resource to be guarded and husbanded.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by raketenjagdpanzer

I forget, did Hawaii get hit in 1.0?

IIRC, Pearl, Hickam/Honolulu International, Ft Shafter, and Barbers Point took hits, but I don't remember what the yield was. I believe Kaneohe MCAS was missed -- either a mistake on the part of the designers, a deliberate miss on the part of the designers, or a miss by the Russians.

Pearl, Hickam AFB/Honolulu International, Ft Shafter and Barbers Point are pretty much clustered in a semicircle around Pearl Harbor (the bay, not the base), and it's less than 10 miles between Hickam on the east side and Barbers Point on the west. Pretty much mindless overkill...

[WallShadow]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

IIRC, Pearl, Hickam/Honolulu International, Ft Shafter, and Barbers Point took hits, but I don't remember what the yield was. I believe Kaneohe MCAS was missed -- either a mistake on the part of the designers, a deliberate miss on the part of the designers, or a miss by the Russians.

Pearl, Hickam AFB/Honolulu International, Ft Shafter and Barbers Point are pretty much clustered in a semicircle around Pearl Harbor (the bay, not the base), and it's less than 10 miles between Hickam on the east side and Barbers Point on the west. Pretty much mindless overkill...

Yeah, but they didn't make the same mistake the Japanese made!

[bobcat]

while some would deem it a waste of valuable resources you can use an M113 as a gate. heck if ya dig big enough holes in the ground(a working bulldozer or massed labor) you can make a nice bunker complex from conexes, buses, or even a couple broke down APC's. you can even camouflage the entrances with a scrap village. a few huts with little in them wouldn't be looked at twice until your patrol gets wiped out from the hidden bunker system beneath.

[HorseSoldier]

I remember reading that the USMC did this with excessively battle damaged amtraks in Vietnam -- dug a hole, put the hull in, and then covered it back up except for an access tunnel to the back ramp. Ready made bunker requiring no more than some bulldozer time and minimal engineering manpower.

[WallShadow]

Originally Posted by bobcat

while some would deem it a waste of valuable resources you can use an M113 as a gate. heck if ya dig big enough holes in the ground(a working bulldozer or massed labor) you can make a nice bunker complex from conexes, buses, or even a couple broke down APC's. you can even camouflage the entrances with a scrap village. a few huts with little in them wouldn't be looked at twice until your patrol gets wiped out from the hidden bunker system beneath.

I don't have the link at hand but some group was making a bunker system here in the US out of stripped-out school-bus hulks lined up in a bull-dozed-out pit, then, after appropriate entrances and vents had been set up, buried in lots and lots of concrete.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by WallShadow

I don't have the link at hand but some group was making a bunker system here in the US out of stripped-out school-bus hulks lined up in a bull-dozed-out pit, then, after appropriate entrances and vents had been set up, buried in lots and lots of concrete.

That's the Ark Two and it is in Ontario, Canada actually.

The floor plan is wacky. There are some really smart feature here and there though.

http://webpal.org/SAFE/aaaarktwo/index.htm

[WallShadow]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

That's the Ark Two and it is in Ontario, Canada actually.

The floor plan is wacky. There are some really smart feature here and there though.

http://webpal.org/SAFE/aaaarktwo/index.htm

It just shows you what a REALLY GOOD interior decorator can do for a TEOTWAWKI mega-shelter!

[Raellus]

Castles became obsolete with the advent of effective gunpowder weapons during the Renaissance. Fortifications continued to play an important role in European warfare, from Vauban's 17th century star-shaped forts to the 20th century's Maginot Line. But as evidenced by the ignominious fate of the latter, large, fixed fortifications could be neutralized by modern firepower and mobility.

Largely as a result of shortages of combat aircraft, and large caliber shells for artillery and direct fire weapons, castles and other antique fortifications would once again become important strongholds/bases in the later days of the Twilight War. Castles would no longer be musty tourist attractions- they would regain a lot of their original importance, at least on a local level.

There a couple of castles mentioned in the original Poland modules, but Poland is plain lousy with them (there are dozens), many built by the Teutonic order. Europe is littered with medieval fortifications in various states of preservation. There are also numerous extant Vauban-style fortifications throughout Europe. On an interesting side note, that style is coming back into use today IRL.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...sses-in-africa

(During the Vietnam War, both the French and the Americans relied on similar fortifications to help them control the surrounding territory. A few American Special Forces camps were laid out Vauban-style.)

In addition to castles (Bran Castle is believed to inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula novel), Romania has fortified churches.

In T2k, castles make great bases for warlords, OPFOR, and friendly forces. Castles could serve as an effective linchpin/central hub for a cantonment. I was so inspired by images of Malbork castle that I wrote a whole adventure module around it!

I'm hoping that this thread will be the place to discuss various fortifications, from general to specific, from big to small, all over the world, that could be relevant to T2k campaigns. Has your campaign ever featured castles or other old fortifications made new again? Were your PCs lucky enough to take control of their own castle? Feel free to post relevant pics as well.

[Olefin]

You may even see them make a comeback here in the US. There are a few old fortifications here in the US - Fort Monroe for instance comes to mind - that could be put back into use as well. Now depending on where the nukes hit at Norfolk that particular fort may be out of commission but there are others - Castle Williams on Governors Island in NYC for instance which in Armies of the Night is the base for the Harbor Rats.

[Vespers War]

The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine would be useful. It protects the harbor, with the ocean-facing walls being 19 feet thick. As stone, it would be AV 10 or 11, but given coquina's semi-ductile nature and that it can absorb 2-4 times as much energy as sandstone, it should probably be a bit higher. There's a well in the courtyard of the fort, which is 100 feet square. The dry moat could be flooded relatively easily. Its only normal entrance is a drawbridge with a barbacan on the opposite side. The parapet is 6 feet high and three feet thick, with 64 piercings for artillery. With around 40 feet of space on top of the walls, there's plenty of room to mount stuff. There are 32 rooms within the walls of the fort.

It's a bit close to the Sea Lord's territory in Jacksonville, but against your typical marauders it would be an incredibly tough nut to crack.

[mpipes]

There are quite a few half forgotten "fortresses" that would be available for use. A few Nike missile complexes were still relatively intact in 1997 plus quite a few bunkers at various costal sites or shutdown/abandoned military bases. Even some of the WW II Atlantic Wall fortifications might be able to be refurbished for use.

[bash]

I'm having no luck finding good pictures but expedient fortifications from the Euromaiden protests in Ukraine in 2014 were really interesting. That ones I think are most interesting for T2K are the tire walls. Really just soil/sand filled tires stacked as walls.

A person height wall (filled with soil) weighs tons so you're only going to knock it down with heavy weapons or vehicles. Even a single tire thick wall will stop most small arms, fragments, and block line of sight for attackers. Tires also burn with thick black sooty smoke so if you need to cover movement or escape you just burn down your walls.

Tires are also everywhere. They don't need to be in driveable shape to be used in a wall. A junk yard or tire dump is a nice defensive wall waiting to happen. Your cool castle wall took a SMAW and has a hole in it? Fill it in with old tires and dirt, it'll take another SMAW!

Structurally they're similar enough to HESCO barriers that whole defensive perimeters and internal cordons can be built out of them.

[B.T.]

Honestly, I'm not shure, if I stumbled across the following site because of a link in this forum. Nevertheless, Wawel is of some importance. They have a museum there and I think, the site gives quite some info.

https://wawel.krakow.pl/en

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by bash

Really just soil/sand filled tires stacked as walls.

On that note.... https://www.homedit.com/earthship-ho...ecycled-tyres/

In addition to tons of castles in Poland, there are some left over German bunker complexes.



These are pretty big files, but you can zoom in on MG bunker and Arty bunker for a layout and the writeup (in English and Polish) if you want more of an idea of the facilities in each.

http://harbinger.twilightwar.net/mgbunker.jpeg
http://harbinger.twilightwar.net/bunker1.jpeg
http://harbinger.twilightwar.net/bunker2.jpeg
http://harbinger.twilightwar.net/bunker3.jpeg
http://harbinger.twilightwar.net/artybunker.jpeg

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by bash

I'm having no luck finding good pictures but expedient fortifications from the Euromaiden protests in Ukraine in 2014 were really interesting. That ones I think are most interesting for T2K are the tire walls. Really just soil/sand filled tires stacked as walls.

<snip>.

Regarding tyres, depending on the type you use, some of the larger sizes are incredibly resistant to rifle fire even without the soil filling. Even a steel-belted tyre from the family sedan can significantly slow down various projectiles such as fragments and bullets.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

As for castles in Poland, some of the smaller ones can be found with what seem like cellars too small to be much use but they link to caves under the castle. I've explored a few where the caves had access to springs and some where the caves were large enough to easily accommodate dozens of people.
One smaller castle in particular was built onto a steep hill and the bottom of the main tower led into a cavern that was high enough to be separated into two storeys. and the entry into the cavern was wide enough for a medium sized truck or APC to pass (although you would have to enlarge the ground floor entry into the tower, but in the T2k setting, I'm sure nobody is going to mind that extra work for the benefit of hiding their vehicles in a large cavern!)

[ChalkLine]

Remarkably complex and scientific fortifications can be made with nothing more than muscle, spades, bill hooks and dirt. These produce gabions, the standby for fortification since the classical era.

[Raellus]

Good stuff, guys. Keep it coming.

Anyone know when Hesco bastions were introduced? I know the principle's been around for ages (baskets filled with earth). They seem super common nowadays (as evidenced by the pics of the French troops filling/stacking them in the article linked in the OP), but I don't recall seeing the current iteration before around 2005 or thereabouts.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

I'm sure somebody posted a file here some time back that gave game stats for turrets from obsolete tanks being used as trench fire support.
Can't remember the name but I'm sure this particular design was Soviet in origin so the game stats used a Soviet name
I think I saved it so I'll check my T2k folders, if I find it I'll post it in this thread.

[Vespers War]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Good stuff, guys. Keep it coming.

Anyone know when Hesco bastions were introduced? I know the principle's been around for ages (baskets filled with earth). They seem super common nowadays (as evidenced by the pics of the French troops filling/stacking them in the article linked in the OP), but I don't recall seeing the current iteration before around 2005 or thereabouts.

The company was formed in 1989 specifically to manufacture them, so sometime around then.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

I'm sure somebody posted a file here some time back that gave game stats for turrets from obsolete tanks being used as trench fire support.
Can't remember the name but I'm sure this particular design was Soviet in origin so the game stats used a Soviet name
I think I saved it so I'll check my T2k folders, if I find it I'll post it in this thread.

Totschka.

[bash]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Good stuff, guys. Keep it coming.

Anyone know when Hesco bastions were introduced? I know the principle's been around for ages (baskets filled with earth). They seem super common nowadays (as evidenced by the pics of the French troops filling/stacking them in the article linked in the OP), but I don't recall seeing the current iteration before around 2005 or thereabouts.

HESCO barriers were originally designed for flood control and such. They were used IRL in Bosnia (pg. 6) in '96. They were popularized in Afghanistan and Iraq but would have been widely used in the Twilight War.

Quick edit: HESCO's website claims they've been used militarily since the first Gulf War.

[rcaf_777]

Sandbag Designs

[rcaf_777]

Hesco bastions

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Vespers War

Totschka.

Yes! That's the one!
Thanks for finding that thread and linking it here