Frontier Walls

[Barritus]

I was reading v2.0 today to try to work out how Frontier Walls work.

Firstly, I wonder whether the rules contain a typo. On page 12, under Fortification or Obstacle Sections it says

Permanent fortifications (PF) to cover the front of 1 element

at a cost of 1 AP. So far so good. But the next line says

Adjustment if an outside wall of a raised PF tower

at a cost of +1 AP. Should "of" be "or"? As written, that line doesn't make sense to me. But if corrected, it raises the question of what an "outside wall" actually is. Is it defined anywhere? Does a Frontier Wall count as an "outside wall"? Is the cost of a FW section 1AP or 2AP?

So now we go to page 19, and the description of FWs under BUAs. In summary,

A BUA can be...a PF Frontier Wall [FW] (such as the Great Wall of China or Hadrian's Wall) up to 160p wide, between 2 short battlefield edges and 240-400p short of the table centre line. A FW can contain 0-2 free external lining roads and be passed through by a river.

There then follow a number of restrictions on the placement of BUAs which can only apply to BUA BUAs, not FW BUAs. The next question is what external lining roads are, and what restrictions there are on placing them?

Were these rules play tested before publication? If so, can anyone describe their experiences?

[toby]

The outside wall of a raised PF tower is one that faces the outside of the fortification, as opposed to one that abuts a wall section or that faces into the inside of the fortification.

So if you imagine a straight castle wall with a tower in the middle of it that does not project outwards and is 80 paces square, that tower has 1 external wall and three internal walls. It would therefore cost 5 AP (1 for each of the internal sides, 2 for the external side).

FW BUAs are just placed across the table from short edge to short edge, within a certain distance of the table centre line. You can also have some roads that run along the wall and parallel to it, either inside or outside (from the point of view of the defender of the walls). I think Hadrian's wall had both - a Roman road on the inside for the garrison and a track on the outside for the locals.

FW are not really a competition type piece of terrain - they are more for scenario games. The points investment is so huge that the risk of not defending is unacceptable.

[lorenzomele]

I have another doubt about FW. They are a long and thin BUAf, with special deployment rule. About the PF, this must be built in both the long edges, or just on the outer facing wall (the side nearer to opponent)? I have seen the great wall, and the PF are on both side of it. The reconstruction of Hadrian wall seem to show that just the side projected towards barbarian lands is a PF.
So what is your opinion?

[Orcoteuthis]

Give that FW are defined as "facing north" (or west etc as the case may be), I've assumed they've got PF on that side only. Otherwise they'd presumably be defined as "running W-E" or something like that.

[lorenzomele]

It makes sense.

[Barritus]

The outside wall of a raised PF tower is one that faces the outside of the fortification, as opposed to one that abuts a wall section or that faces into the inside of the fortification.

Aaah! The light goes on.

So if you imagine a straight castle wall with a tower in the middle of it that does not project outwards and is 80 paces square, that tower has 1 external wall and three internal walls. It would therefore cost 5 AP (1 for each of the internal sides, 2 for the external side).

Roger. So the base cost is 1AP per element frontage, and extra costs only apply if you wanted gates or towers? That means about 50 points to spend on the wall. Hmmm...

FW BUAs are just placed across the table from short edge to short edge, within a certain distance of the table centre line. You can also have some roads that run along the wall and parallel to it, either inside or outside (from the point of view of the defender of the walls). I think Hadrian's wall had both - a Roman road on the inside for the garrison and a track on the outside for the locals.

Oh, fair enough. I knew that there was a road running parallel to Hadrian's Wall, on the Roman side. But I was thrown by the reference to "lining" roads, with no reference to what they were or where they could be placed.

FW are not really a competition type piece of terrain - they are more for scenario games. The points investment is so huge that the risk of not defending is unacceptable.

Yes, well, I've been looking at it for my SRB army - a lot of cheap infantry to line the wall with a cavalry reserve, and double flank marches to corral the enemy. The alternative is to try it with a MIR or LIR army, and rely on the maneuverability and speed of regulars on a road to get infantry to the part of the wall being attacked. With SRB, Western MIR and Western LIR being Ag 1 armies, you've got a good chance of being the defender. And if you're the attacker, well, you've got a ready-made excuse!