Basic Roads (ETW-WC building)
| Basic Roads | |
|---|---|
| Category: | Roads |
| Level: | 0 |
| Turns to build: | 2 |
| Building cost: | 750 |
| |
These are roads where a considered effort has been made to improve the surface, and provide proper drainage for rainwater.
Constructing roads allows local goods to reach nearby markets, and gives some useful work to paupers and work-shy individuals who would otherwise be moved on or require expensive charity. At the very least, the larger rocks have been moved out of the road, pounded to pieces and the resulting rubble used as a roadbed. Drainage ditches mean the road ceases to be a convenient gutter for rainwater, and a muddy hell for anyone trying to use it.
Historically, there was often a military imperative for building roads. Troops and artillery require good roads for strategic redeployments and rapid reaction. In Scotland, General Wade completed a network of roads to “Roman” standards during the 1720s so that armies could quickly move into the rebellious Highlands – the Jacobite supporters of the ousted Stuart dynasty were a constant threat. His achievement was celebrated in a (now defunct) verse of the then-new British anthem:
Lord, grant that Marshal Wade
May, by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush
And, like a torrent, rush
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the King.