TOTAL WAR WIKI

Improved Settlement Fortifications
Category:	Fortification
Level:	1
Turns to build:	6
Building cost:	8000
European Indian Middle Eastern
Requires
Settlement Fortifications

As settlements grow there is a need for more elaborate defence in depth. The fortifications are designed to intimidate any attacking force, and then kill them.

Extensive fortifications cost huge sums of money and much effort. There is little point in constructing them unless they are maintained and needed for the future survival and prosperity of a town. A defensive wall is good for a sense of security, but it does not feed a hungry family after a poor local harvest! As a practical matter, then, these fortifications are erected along borders and around towns of real strategic significance.

The defences are laid out according to the latest military fashions, and as well built as any purely military fortifications. This can cause local problems, as prime building land is either used for the forts themselves, or must be kept clear to provide excellent fields of fire. During long periods of peace, the city fathers must resist the temptation to cover the killing zones with houses and commercial properties!

Historically, fortresses created by Marshal Vauban of France dominated their towns for centuries. The defences of Strasbourg, in Alsace, are typical of his work, and were a clear geographical boundary until the end of the 19th Century.