It's always interesting to see random wikipedia articles pop up on HN, though I never really know what to say. I guess I'll just go with the default, something that sorta sounds right but is probably just reductionist bullshit.
Ahem
This whole concept of zig-zagging fortifications, while effective in actual combat, weakens the fort on the strategic. Since most sieges end with the defenders being starved out or attackers chased off, the supply of food and water is significantly more important than any tactical advantage in an assault. And of course, by building the walls in a more traditional fashion, the fort can shelter more food and peasants than a bastion for the same cost. Obviously, this style of building is simply a reflection of the hedonistic culture of the Italians and supported only by the Military-Cottage-Industrial Complex and should be rejected by any self-respecting civilized nation.
Obviously, this style of building is simply a reflection of the hedonistic culture of the Italians and supported only by the Military-Cottage-Industrial Complex and should be rejected by any self-respecting civilized nation. (LOL)
So, instead of a fort that you can defend until you run out of food and water (say, after a few months), you favor a fort where you won’t run out of food, but that you cannot defend against contemporary guns, because it will fall after, say, a week?
I visited Fort George in Scotland recently as I have family in the area and its interesting how little of the fort you can actually see from immediately in front of it - just the very top of the main walls - even though there are a lot of fortifications between those two areas.
You can see this in Google streetview if you go to the car park for visitor access - you can see almost nothing of the enormous fort even though it is only a couple of hundred metres away.
It's fascinating how advances in siege technology resemble fast Darwinian evolution until of course the bigger fish in planes and tanks come in and eat everything else up.
There is a surprising amount of money to be made in making containers for rocks, making black plastic bags for refuse and other things where you would not imagine a fortune could be made. As per the HESCO example it is a gruff Northerner with a 'where there is muck there is brass' attitude that inevitably exploits the potential. Shame about the Segway incident though.
Star Forts were built in the US as well. During the Revolutionary War, soldiers loyal to the English King built an earthen 8-point fort near the town of Ninety Six South Carolina. It successfully repulsed an attack by 50 Patriots under the command of General Nathanael Greene.
The British commander Sir Francis Rawdon, 1st Marquess of Hastings, relieved the forces there shortly afterwards and abandoned it as part of a general retreat to Charleston.
One of the things I really enjoy about living in Europe is the frequently encountered remains of relatively ancient structures, including forts and bastions.
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 76.3 ms ] threadAhem
This whole concept of zig-zagging fortifications, while effective in actual combat, weakens the fort on the strategic. Since most sieges end with the defenders being starved out or attackers chased off, the supply of food and water is significantly more important than any tactical advantage in an assault. And of course, by building the walls in a more traditional fashion, the fort can shelter more food and peasants than a bastion for the same cost. Obviously, this style of building is simply a reflection of the hedonistic culture of the Italians and supported only by the Military-Cottage-Industrial Complex and should be rejected by any self-respecting civilized nation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Western_Heights
Funny old world.
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I don't even know what to say, I thought I made it pretty clear that the entire post was a joke.
Call me a bastion against the ungaming heathens here
https://www.newsweek.com/2016/06/17/silicon-valley-takeover-...
https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/why-im-leaving-silicon-...
https://getlighthouse.com/blog/silicon-valley-bad-managers/
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/A-Star-Performer-Create...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/internati...
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/emily-chang-brotopia-silicon-v...
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/297481
https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/03/11/bro-culture-poison...
https://www.quora.com/Is-the-culture-in-the-Silicon-Valley-b...
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/ellen-pao-memoir-sil...
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https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Silicon-Valley-Community-F...
https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-hates-silicon-valley-ex...
https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/silicon-valley...
https://yourstory.com/2017/07/silicon-valley-bro-culture/
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https:&...
You can see this in Google streetview if you go to the car park for visitor access - you can see almost nothing of the enormous fort even though it is only a couple of hundred metres away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesco_bastion
Thanks to the wars in Afghanistan the founder got rich enough to buy Segway. Then he drove off a cliff in his Segway ending his life.
Camp Bastion in Afghanistan is a big base that is named after the HESCO Bastions it is made of:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Shorabak
There is a surprising amount of money to be made in making containers for rocks, making black plastic bags for refuse and other things where you would not imagine a fortune could be made. As per the HESCO example it is a gruff Northerner with a 'where there is muck there is brass' attitude that inevitably exploits the potential. Shame about the Segway incident though.
The British commander Sir Francis Rawdon, 1st Marquess of Hastings, relieved the forces there shortly afterwards and abandoned it as part of a general retreat to Charleston.
https://www.nps.gov/nisi/learn/historyculture/the-star-fort....
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zitadelle_Spandau (German Wikipedia has nice images)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandau_Citadel (English, pretty short)
PS: It ~400 Years old, had been redesigned into a bastion fort at same point and doubled as a prison later on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forte_Spagnolo,_L%27Aquila
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forte_spagnolo (the Italian wiki has some additional photos)
I currently live 10 minutes by bike from a village that still has its star defense structures standing, and there's a nice walking path around part of it. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IJzendijke#/media/File:IJzendi...
There are also several towns in this country which still have impressive walls and gates. I still admire them when I see them.