To Fortify? That is the question...

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by kalos72

But why go through all that extra effort?

Excavate an area and pile the excavated material on the inside of the "moat". Now you have a moat and wall, needing some work obviously but the vast majority of a wall system is taken care of right from the site.

Give a couple of bulldozers and some diggers a few days and I am sure they can get the basics done a couple miles a day. No?

I would prefer just chain link and elevated guard towers but that unrealistic on the scale I am looking at.

Why is the chain-link and guard towers unrealistic?

You can put "nests" on top of now no-longer-used power poles in neighborhoods, there's your towers...as to chain link fencing, remember, most good sized urban areas now have almost completely abandoned hardware stores and depending on the area they're likely to have LOTS Of chain-link fencing. Some can be acquired from other places (around school playgrounds, tennis courts, etc.). I think chainlink fencing is more plausible than ramparts, tbh!

[kalos72]

I am thinking of 5 square miles...per County Seat. Two square miles for everything else...

That seems like alot to "salvage" from old warehouse and such...look at Victoria TX for example. I am not seeing alot of chain link on Google Earth, although it can be hard to see I know.

If the consensus is that it shouldn't be a problem...then that solves most of my problem.

I tend to be too realistic in my games...so if I cant figure it out in real life then I usually dont let it go in game.

[kalos72]

Perhaps a better solution would be this:

Setup a firebase (vietnam style) for the garrison and then just have multiple "guard posts" through out the city proper to check papers and at the roads into town maybe?

Wouldn't help with any sort of assault/attack however...

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by kalos72

Perhaps a better solution would be this:

Setup a firebase (vietnam style) for the garrison and then just have multiple "guard posts" through out the city proper to check papers and at the roads into town maybe?

Wouldn't help with any sort of assault/attack however...

That might be the better bet. Declaring the national emergency and asking (that is, ordering) people to relocate closer to the firebase, then in the event of a serious emergency response time to threatened locals can be quicker or, if need be, they can enter the protective perimeter of the base faster.

[kato13]

A few points.


1) Ground excavation in Texas is more difficult than in the rest of the country. Under the initial soil layer you have generally either limestone or clay. Limestone is hard to dig and the Texas clay reacts between the water table and the dry air, this leads to shifting and cracking. This is why basements are rare in Texas.

So you either have more effort up front (limestone) or a lot more maintenance (clay) when compared to other areas of the country.

Once you remove the topsoil you have to deal with this.




2) Generally large defensive fortifications not successful.

If you look through history unless you have a high troop density covering the fortification, weak spots will be found and at best you can hope that the defensive structures either channel them in some way or slow the enemy in retreat.

I would make small fortifications to allow for the people to hold up until that cavalry arrives (or day breaks) and use the rest of the earth moving resources to improve the farms.






3) There is a reason barbed wire was invented for and used so extensively in the American West. It is cheap, uses minimum resources, and can cover vast distances.

With very basic equipment it can also be used to relay phone signals.
http://www.geek.com/news/good-old-da...ences-1534417/

[CDAT]

I know several combat engineers who ran D-7 dozers and doing five miles of earth berm not a problem talking with them not even that long to do week or two. In my first deployment to Iraq in 03 we showed up and were told that this plot of land was going to be our base camp for the next little bit, our engineers had dozers and SEE trucks, with in two days we had all the trees, weeds and such dozed down had a berm around the “base” and by weeks end had wire up around as well.

[stormlion1]

Shipping Containers might be an option. Take them and fill them with dirt and rubble and you have an instant wall that can stop small arms fire. Relatively lightweight to move when empty and heavy as sin when full. Plus they can be stacked to form higher walls (I'd bolt them together for added strength) or have a container placed on the inside of the wall to use for storage or with some work as barracks.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by kalos72

I am thinking of 5 square miles...per County Seat. Two square miles for everything else...

That seems like alot to "salvage" from old warehouse and such...look at Victoria TX for example. I am not seeing alot of chain link on Google Earth, although it can be hard to see I know.

If the consensus is that it shouldn't be a problem...then that solves most of my problem.

I tend to be too realistic in my games...so if I cant figure it out in real life then I usually dont let it go in game.

Honestly, if a garrison is willing to accept some lower Chain link fencing of the "domestic" type (e.g., back yard fencing) I don't see why not.