# Fantasy fortifications part 1: strategy



## Aldarion (Nov 10, 2019)

Fantasy Fortifications — Part 1: Strategy
_This article is part 1 of a series on Fantasy Fortifications by Toni Šušnjar_







Fortifications are one of major parts of fantasy fiction, especially high fantasy. But they are also oh-so-often wrong, even though many basic details are typically right due to prevalence of models to build on. A common mistake is ignoring how weapons and fortifications interact: many fortifications in we-swim-in-gunpowder _Warhammer_ look (and act) like fortifications from pre-gunpowder era. As seen here and here, extremely advanced Empire absolutely forgot to account for presence of siege cannons in designing its fortifications, despite possessing the same. In fact, those fortifications are from _pre-trebuchet_ era. On the other extreme, Storm's End has a wall which reads like something from early gunpowder era (though it does have the excuse of having to resist storms), as well as being sized for giants.

*Strategy*

The main purpose of fortifications is to increase the cost of the attack, by providing the defender with a hard-to-get position. They therefore allow the defending army to maintain armed presence where such would be normally untenable, forcing the attacker to either deploy disproportionate...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.


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