Wall, Stone

A typical section of stone wall is assumed to be 10’ long, 10’ thick, and 15’ high. Walls can be stacked, like towers, but must follow some restrictions. For every level that is going to be stacked above it, an extra module must be added to a wall for every 50’ (or fraction thereof) in its length. Thus, if we are planning a 3 level high (45’ tall) wall that is 50’ long we need to add 2 additional modules to the lower level and one additional module to the second level for bracing. Thus, our three level high, 50’ long wall requires the 15 modules that make it up, plus an additional 3 modules for bracing.

In addition to the wall itself, a number of options are available at higher tech levels. In some cases, walls are assumed to possess certain features as described in the text that follows.

Hoardings are wooden structures that are added to the top of a wall. Because they extend outward from the castle and have numerous holes in their undersides, defenders can move about in them and fire on attackers at the base of the wall. Because they are made of wood, however, hoardings are vulnerable to fire and artillery.

A glacis is an additional section of stone added to the base of a wall that angles outward and creates a sloped or slanted base. In addition to making the wall more resistant to screws and sappers, a glacis will cause things like boiling oil to splatter when the defenders above pour it on the attackers around the glacis. A wall with a glacis is assumed to include hoardings if desired.

Machicolations replace hoardings as a means of attacking enemies at the castle walls. Advances in technology allow the wall itself to be built with a stone overhang that serves the same purpose, but is far less vulnerable to attack. As with hoardings, machicolations are dotted with murder holes for attacks on those below them. A wall with machicolations is assumed to include a glacis at its base.

Posterns are small gates that allow one or two men to slip out of the castle without drawing attention to themselves. They are not secret doors, but are not nearly as obvious when opened as the main gates. The cost for a section of wall with a postern in it is in addition to any cost for things like machicolations. Thus, a wall section with machicolations and a postern would require 58 weeks to build and cost 964 gold pieces.

Module Type	Tech	Time	Gold
Wall, Stone	3	30	500
Wall, Stone & Hoarding	4	36	600
Wall, Stone & Glacis	5	44	720
Wall, Stone & Machicolation	6	53	864
Wall, Stone & Postern	4	5	100