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**mpipes** · 08-21-2020, 12:11 AM

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** · 08-21-2020, 12:45 AM

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.** · 08-21-2020, 01:04 AM

Wawel Castle

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.

Wawel Royal Castle - official website - tickets, informations, reservations

https://wawel.krakow.pl/en

Welcome to the Wawel Royal Castle. The Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally important site in Poland. For centuries the residence of kings and the symbol of Polish statehood, the castle is now one of the country’s premier art museums. Established in 1930, the museum encompasses ten curatorial departments responsible for collections of paintings, including an important collection of Italian Renaissance paintings; works on paper; sculpture; textiles, among them the Sigismund II Augustus tapestry collection; goldsmith’s work; arms and armor; ceramics, with significant holdings of Meissen porcelain; and period furniture. The museum’s holdings in Asian and Middle-Eastern art include the largest collection of Ottoman tents in Europe. For conservation reasons the tents are not on permanent display. The collections of the Wawel Royal Castle are presented in several permanent exhibitions that evoke the historic appearance of the royal residence in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.

**Legbreaker** · 08-21-2020, 01:13 AM

Originally posted by bash View Post

Really just soil/sand filled tires stacked as walls.

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

**Spartan-117** · 08-21-2020, 01:25 AM

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** · 08-21-2020, 02:16 AM

Originally posted by bash View Post

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** · 08-21-2020, 02:27 AM

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** · 08-21-2020, 04:15 AM

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** · 08-21-2020, 09:04 AM

Hesco from Tesco

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** · 08-21-2020, 10:12 AM

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** · 08-21-2020, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by Raellus View Post

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 View Post

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** · 08-21-2020, 01:47 PM

Originally posted by Raellus View Post

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.