21.9 Location terrain, size and ways for legions to impact.

Terrain types and various informative details about a location can be gleaned by typing SURVEY. It is useful for many of the abilities found in Farming and Labours skillsets but most important is the role played by terrain - and each specific location - in virtually all facets of warfare. See HELP LOCALE for further info on the individual location and its division into nine areas, each compass direction plus the centre-point. Locations vary in size and thus the numbers of legions, the size of equipment, the extent of defences - all these can be affected. SURVEY also informs you of special safeguards (in a vague report) that might interfere with regular lesson gain.

A location described as 'underground tunnel' is likely to occupy a smaller space than one known as 'immense field'. Where a location's size affects the sheer volume of legions, equipment and such capable of being held within, the terrain type plays an equally crucial role in defining the extent to which a legion can alter (potentially permanently) the make-up of a locale. The earthy ground of a forest or field lends itself well to the digging of trenches and tunnels, for instance, while a marshland may hinder fast movement but it may prove even easier to dig into, lay mines within, etc.

The simplest terrain addition (as a defensive tactic) comes in the form of FORTIFICATIONS. Fortifications are makeshift defences erected, typically, using iron, rope and wood. These commodities are wrought together in a manner most suitable for defending a locale - the more fortifications constructed, the better defended is a point in the location. Fortifications can be raised and lowered. When lowered they have little impact save occupying some space in the locale but when raised they offer a form of defensive battlement capable of being occupied by troops on one side (augmenting their offensive capabilities) and requiring besieging from the other (by the invading forces) to gradually knock them down (see HELP BATTLEFIELD for details on the legion goals/command-orders relevant to laying siege to defensive positions). Fortifications manned with well-trained legions are a formidable proposition for any invading army. See HELP FORTS for specifics on all aspects on fortifications.

Syntax: ... CONSTRUCT FORTS HERE/<environs> <percentage of legion involved>
This is the main command for constructing fortifications and is documented in detail in the HELP FORTIFICATIONS helpfile, along with other important orders/dispatches required for manning, raising/lowering and otherwise making the most of your frontline defensive fortifications.

Utilising the specialist-skill "buildforts" and a weight of numbers deployed at "fieldequipment", the legion thus commanded will set up fortifications. The fortifications will typically be built in the locale point pointed to by the direction the legion is facing, blocking (if necessary) passage from that adjacent locale point, to its current point via the exit built over. For instance: a legion facing south builds fortifications blocking enemy movement south to north. Full blockage of a northward route requires, therefore, three fortifications erected alongside (east-centre-west) of one another. The larger the numbers employed, and the higher the skill, the greater the fortification numbers created. If there exist fortifications already then the existing fortifications will be bolstered. Fortification building, every ten rounds require three iron ore, one rope and one marble commodity.

In most terrain-types you will be able to dig into the ground. Legions are hardy, often highly skilled operators and, particularly laden with quality equipment, are able of digging far down into the bowels of the land. From an initial digging, then, numerous further options become available - like trenches for diggings of under nine feet, or tunnels for diggings greater than twelve feet below the surface. Networks of tunnels are destined to play an ever-noteworthy role in the resolution of conflicts on the field of battle for their possibilities for concealment, unhindered movement, surprise revelation/attack, shortcut retreat, etc are myriad.

Syntax: ... DIG <number of feet>/GROUND/CEASE.
Use this command to order a legion to dig a specific number of feet in its localepoint, or to dig to ground-level (using DIG GROUND) or to cease any digging activities (using DIG CEASE). This number of feet you specify is the number of feet from whatever the current localepoint height, downwards, to dig - e.g. if you set a legion to dig 10 feet from a 15ft localepoint it will dig until the localepoint has a height of 5ft. Digging to ground level will inform your legion to dig to the ground-level of the location as shown in LOCALE/BANNER; not to be confused with sea-level. If you dig a localepoint beyond 10ft below the location's groundlevel you will need to know about trenches, and if you dig down towards the 20ft depth you will need to learn about trench extensions and tunnels.

It may be that you wish to reverse the effects of your own or another legion's digging, to bring a locale back to a more level playing field. The typical way to do this is to place your legion into the appropriate locale point to raise up, and then deploy "levelground" specialist-skill to as high as percentage as possible. This will devote manpower to digging away ground from adjacent localepoints and thus increasing the height beneath the legion's feet. See HELP DEPLOY for more detailed info on active deployment of specialist skills and specifics about using "levelground". See HELP MARCHING for info on trenches, since deep digging will require a little knowledge of trench movement.

Syntax: ... WIDEN HERE or WIDEN <compass direction>.
Using either of these commands (both use the "tunnelling"/one third "trenches"/"one sixth "lowground" and "levelground" specialist skills, on a three to one ratio respectively) you can alter the size of a trench or tunnel location. To begin with newly created trench/tunnel locations have relatively low troop limits. Widening increases these limits - allowing entry to more of your allies but, of course, conversely affording access to a greater number of potential enemies. WIDEN followed by a direction rather than HERE performs the widening on adjacent locations (providing you are in the closest-possible localepoint).

One further and pivotal use for the WIDEN order is when it is issued at the foot of a completed trench - twenty feet below the surface of a location. In this case it will widen the trench out beyond it being merely an addendum to the surface (a place to hide, to launch ambushes, etc) and transform it into a brand new location with nine localepoints. The new location will be known as 'Foot of a trench below [the surface location]' and it is from here, sufficiently deep and sufficiently secure, that a legion may begin to tunnel.

Syntax: ... TUNNEL <compass direction>.
Employing the "tunnelling" (or one third "trenches", or one sixth "lowground") specialist-skills, this order is one of the most guileful in a commander's repertoire since the creation of networks of tunnels brings possibilities nigh-on infinite to the interplay of legions and, of course, movement of people and items about the land. The terrain must be suitable for a tunnel to be extended in the specified direction and you must be at least twenty feet below the 'surface', typically - at first - at an appropriate localepoint in a newly created 'foot of a trench' location (see WIDEN above). In theory it would be possible to tunnel from the woodland in Astrea's Delta to the forest of G'harran and, if dug deep enough, move whole divisions in complete and devastating secrecy. Each tunnel requires a scaffold to commence and time to completion depends on legion size, skill combination (as mentioned) and depth below ground.

Trenches and tunnels can be destroyed using the besieging technique - check out HELP BESIEGING and HELP BATTLEFIELD for detailed information on the BESIEGE command and how to use it for the removal of tunnels and trenches.

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