Medieval & Fantasy Minecraft Roleplaying

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[Guide] "I Took your Castle" or How to Build Proper Castle Defences in Minecraft

HogoShi_Kitsune

Lord of Altera
Legend
HogoShi_Kitsune
HogoShi_Kitsune
Legend
HogoShi_Kitsune said:
This is a Work In Progress guide to proper castle building. It'll cover several chapters working from the outside in. Please note, this is NOT a style guide, nor is it a requirement that your builds follow this pattern. I will simply be providing information purely on DEFENSIVE features that your build should include as well as reasons why they should be included. As this is a work in progress, please do not mind if things are missing or if it is otherwise incomplete. I will be writing one chapter at a time, though in the mean time, this will be a sort of dumping grounds.
Table of Contents said:
Clicking the following links will cause your browser to scroll to the selected post.
0. Preface
1. Walls
2. Gate Houses
3. Bridges
4. City Layout
5. Building your Keep
This guide is being provided as a resource for those who are looking to build (or otherwise modify existing) cities, castles, keeps, and so forth in a manner that is historically accurate. Everything in this guide, much like your teacher was so strict about, will be backed up by a multitude of sources an will have a requirement for providing real-life analogues. Minecraft is a great game, but one thing that it's not very good at is portraying real life objects in a realistic manner, so screenshots from the game will be provided at a "best effort".

If you find anything to be lacking, incorrect, or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know. I am by no means an expert, simply an enthusiast, so I'm bound to get something wrong. If you wish to contribute alternative evidence that goes against what I've said, I definitely encourage it, especially if you're providing historical precedent. Additionally, should anyone feel like making similar guides for medieval armor or weapons, I will allow and even encourage you to use the format which I've used here.

Screenshots are taken from /warp creative at XYZ -1360, 4, 68. Alternatively, leave the bubble by walking straight ahead, turn left, and keep going until you see a large stand-up statue. Much more information and examples can be found there.
 
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HogoShi_Kitsune

Lord of Altera
Legend
HogoShi_Kitsune
HogoShi_Kitsune
Legend
Don't mind the cursory nature of the article. I'm going to come back and flesh it out.
Walls

Walls, as we all know, are the primary defensive element of any fortified structure. This section will be speaking both for surrounding walls as well as the support walls of a defensive structure.

Curtain Walls (Courtines)

Curtain walls, or the walls around the perimeter are your first line of defense against attack by any opposing force as well as your primary defensive element. Many walls have a filling of loose cobble and gravel, though having walkways or rooms inside of your walls is not uncommon. The picture above shows one style of earlier wall.

These walls should be relatively thick, but thickness should be determined by how tall the wall is. For my wall below, which is 27 feet tall (not counting the Crenellations), I opted for a wall six feet thick. Historically, there is precedent for walls to be up to thirty feet thick, but these walls are typically quite high.[4]

2017-10-02_19.00.50.png

This chapter will be broken down by each defensive structure to better give a description of each element.

Battlements (Crenellations)

Arguably one of the most recognizable feature of any castle walls are the battlements. Battlements are comprised of two parts: merlons, the part that sticks up, and crenells or embrasures (depending on your region), the space inbetween the merlons. Some merlons have a slot which allows arrows to be fired through them (1). When building, you should make sure that your Crenellations are high enough that a player may hide behind the structure to have cover from enemy arrow fire.

2017-10-02_18.34.34.png
Shown above, my merlons are 1.5 blocks high. This leaves the player's head exposed, however I believe it to be an appropriate height given the width of the merlon. It's okay to justify some things aesthetically, just make sure it's practical.

Hourds


Hourds are wooden structures built onto the front of earlier walls. The small square holes in the Crenellations picture underneath the merlons are for attaching the hourds. These wooden structures could be quickly attached in time of war and offered defenders additional protection from assailants, especially on walls that do not have proper Crenellations. As seen in the image below, they offered holes for defenders to shoot arrows through and places for them to drop heavy items on those assailing the walls. The hourds, when in battle, would be covered with fresh animal skins or wet cloth to help protect them from being caught on fire by the assailants. Hourds were eventually replaced by stone machicolations.[2]


Machicolations


Machicolations are openings in the floor which allow for defenders to drop heavy objects or pour materials through such as hot sand (which was used far more prevalently than hot oil because oil in this age is EXPENSIVE. Machicolations were more often found in French castles than English where they were usually restricted to the gatehouse[3].

2017-10-02_18.59.49.png


Sources said:

 
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Cap

Lord of Altera
Legend
i can feel myself disagreeing with this post already and you haven't even posted anything yet

good luck on such a long write-up though
 
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Blorbis83

Lord of Altera
Legend
Pronouns
He/Him
Blorbis83
Blorbis83
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Hogo, you were the same person who said Valerius was inadequate as a castle.
Fight me. C:
 

HogoShi_Kitsune

Lord of Altera
Legend
HogoShi_Kitsune
HogoShi_Kitsune
Legend
It's probably time I get back to this, no? My time's opened up again, so I should be able to dedicate more time to this.
 
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