Hullo!
In this guide I'll show you some info on how to make a properly defendable castle in Minecraft.
Disclaimer: I'm not a good builder. I'm simply showing concepts, making it visually appealing is not what my examples are.
What this guide will cover:
everything that is important on defending a castle or fortress.
What this guide won't cover:
walled cities or iconic locations, like helm's deep and minas tirith. Both have tons of flaws in their defences, but changing them would mean changing the iconic look. We should be focused on locations that are only briefly described in lore or haven't been described at all.
Chapter 1: location
Location is of incredible importance to a castle or fortress. lots of the times, there is some freedom to choose the location of the burg, especially when it's use is a residence or place of government, rather than a strategic fortress. When building a burg, one most in almost all cases place it on a HIGH POINT! Most historical castles were built on steep hills. This is done so that the attacker has a great view on the surrounding area, and can see armies approach from afar.
this castle is built on top of a hill.
Additionally, a steep hill can help against siege towers. Those great machines need to have a flat area to approach a wall, and when the wall has a steep hill right below it, siege towers are rendered ineffective.
One other thing that is important is that any forest around the burg is cleared, so that no attacker can easily sneak up on the burg. knowing about an attack early is important to holding the fort longer, to get supplies inside for example.
Many castles/forts in fantasy are built below a cliff. Great examples are the hornburg, minas tirith, minas morgul and also Solitude and Windhelm from Skyrim.
View attachment 17664
Solitude at the foot of a hill
View attachment 17665
Windhelm at the foot of a hill
Technically, this can be done, but ONLY when you are completely certain that the mountain cannot be scaled by any attacker. otherwise, a small company can climb the mountain and fabricate some kind of rockfall or landslide, causing walls to be breached and buildings to be destroyed. Even when it's not climbable, you should still make sure no natural rockfalls or landslides can hurt the city.
Generally, this "cliffhugging" is done to force the enemy to a certain chokepoint. creating chokepoints is great, but it's better to do this by placing the burg on top of the mountain, instead of below it. a good example of great location is Minas Aduial. View attachment 17666
Minas Aduial. the donjon on the left can literally not be accessed except for the main entrance, which is a drawbridge.
Chapter 2: walls and towers
Common mistakes that can be found in the walls and towers that there are tons of blind spots around the walls. some examples are:
In this image, the wall is black and a tower seated in that wall is red. This tower gives totally no added value to the defensive structure of the wall, since it doesn't give a better vantage on hard-to-see places. a better tower would be:
In this case, the tower is protruded outwards, so that the spots that are directly under the wall are covered by fire from the red tower. preferably, towers like these are found around every 150-200 metres on a straight wall. when the wall is curved with the bulge being outward (like the imperial city in the elder scrolls IV: Oblivion) the towers need to be much more plentiful, since the places the that are covered by the tower on a straight wall now curve away, out of sight. an example of bad tower placement on curved walls:
in this image, the yellow area is covered by the protruded towers. the blind spot cannot be seen and is safe for the attackers.
BUT CAN'T THE ATTACKERS COVER THE BLIND SPOT FROM THE WALLS?!
well, yes and no. And this brings me to my next point, with straight walls too. when an area is relatively far from the wall it's easy to cover. you can stay in cover in the safety of the crenelations while shooting enemies. however, in the immediate proximity from the walls, say up until 5 metres, a defender will have to completely lean over the wall and expose their whole upper bodies to shoot at attackers directly underneath them. An in-game example:
This wall covers the yellow area easily, but to cover the red area an attacker has to lean over, which means certain death by arrows. therefore, the crenelations must be protuded outwards, so that the defenders can shoot down to the attackers that are close to the wall. like this:
now on the inside of the crenelations, there's room for certain holes in the floor, through which arrows can be fired and hot water can be thrown down. These holes are machiculations.
it's best to fill the grey square here too, so that defenders can still take cover behind the crenelations. you can make these machiculations in whatever way you want, just make sure no place under the walls isn't covered by arrow fire. Machiculations should be added to both walls and towers. A Donjon doesn't necessarily need them, but they can still be there.
ALSO MAKE SURE THE CRENELATIONS ARE AT LEAST 2 BLOCKS HIGH! Otherwise the defenders have no cover!
one last thing to note! don't make thin walls. one good hit from a battering ram or projectile from a catapult is enough to bring them down. have your walls be at least 5 blocks thick.
Chapter 3: the gate
The gate is often the most important place of attack. it is the easiest way to enter a city, and therefore needs special defensive measures. Many gates in minecraft have "gatehouses" of some sort, usually by having towers on either side. But what we see happening is the following:
This is a very unsafe gatehouse. The gate can be sturdy and all, but if it's breached the defenders have a MAJOR problem. Once it's breached they are IN. Therefore, it's best to make a gatehouse with a DOUBLE GATE. That way the defenders aren't hopelessly lost once the first gate is breached. Create it like this:
This is a very effective design. preferably the first gate is a full gate made of hardwood, and the second gate is a portcullis. That way, the attacker uses a battering ram to breach the first gate, and proceeds into the murderzone (the area between the two gates). Note that the first portcullis is now still up! However, a second portcullis stands there, which is basically unbreachable by a regular battering ram due to it's pattern with holes. Once the enemy has completely streamed into the murder zone they realise that they can't go on. Then, the defender locks up the attackers that are inside by dropping THE FIRST PORTCULLIS! Now, there's a whole bunch of enemy attackers completely surrounded by walls and locked up. What do we do with them? Why, we kill them of course! A great way of killing enemies in the murder zone is by using murder holes. These are holes in the ceiling (the murder zone often has a ceiling, with a room full of defenders above it) through which you can throw stones, boiling water, burning wood or fire-heated sand. Oil wasn't used, it was way to expensive! otherwise, there would be arrowslits in the walls, through which the defender used bows or crossbows to fire arrows at the enemy. Once stuck in the murder zone, there is no way out, and you'll most certainly die.
things to remember: make sure there's enough room for the portcullis to be raised. Portcullises that dissapear into nowhere are too common.
Where does this portcullis go, for example?
Chapter 4: the Donjon, or the central dwelling
Each castle has a central dwelling. This central building changes shape and size based on the castle's function. It can be a comfortable palace, a Strong, fortified tower or a great hall for a king. Think about the function of your castle, and base the donjon on that. Many castles on MCME will be both a fortification against attackers and a seat of government for a local lord, and thereby his dwelling. Remember realism; lords are snobs! If they and their advisors have enough faith in the strenth of the rest of the fort/castle, the lord might decide to make to central dwelling more comfortable, while sacraficing some defensive measures. A great example of this is Hochosterwitz Castle.
This is a castle on a steep hill with 14 gatehouses! Such a castle is a terrible nightmare for any attacker to assail, that it's basically impossible to fire a succesful assault. That's why the central dwelling, at the top of the hill, is not that defensive. It's safe enough to turn it into a cosy palace! Even with castles there's something as overkill.
If you do have a defensive donjon, consider the early medieval way of constructing donjons. A big, chubby, stone building. right on the front door, it would often have a weird drawbridge, that seems very out of place. like this:
This would be the idea. the big blank wall in the back would be the donjon itself. This construction is seen in front of it. Of course the Donjon can also be guarded by special terrain, like the cliffs in Minas Aduial. Simply raising the drawbridge is enough to make an assault impossible.
So what do the attackers do in that case? There are two options:
The basic principles repeated
All castle designs want to do the same things to keep the attacker out. these are the basics.
END OF THE GUIDE!
In this guide I'll show you some info on how to make a properly defendable castle in Minecraft.
Disclaimer: I'm not a good builder. I'm simply showing concepts, making it visually appealing is not what my examples are.
What this guide will cover:
everything that is important on defending a castle or fortress.
What this guide won't cover:
walled cities or iconic locations, like helm's deep and minas tirith. Both have tons of flaws in their defences, but changing them would mean changing the iconic look. We should be focused on locations that are only briefly described in lore or haven't been described at all.
Chapter 1: location
Location is of incredible importance to a castle or fortress. lots of the times, there is some freedom to choose the location of the burg, especially when it's use is a residence or place of government, rather than a strategic fortress. When building a burg, one most in almost all cases place it on a HIGH POINT! Most historical castles were built on steep hills. This is done so that the attacker has a great view on the surrounding area, and can see armies approach from afar.
this castle is built on top of a hill.
Additionally, a steep hill can help against siege towers. Those great machines need to have a flat area to approach a wall, and when the wall has a steep hill right below it, siege towers are rendered ineffective.
One other thing that is important is that any forest around the burg is cleared, so that no attacker can easily sneak up on the burg. knowing about an attack early is important to holding the fort longer, to get supplies inside for example.
Many castles/forts in fantasy are built below a cliff. Great examples are the hornburg, minas tirith, minas morgul and also Solitude and Windhelm from Skyrim.
View attachment 17664
Solitude at the foot of a hill
View attachment 17665
Windhelm at the foot of a hill
Technically, this can be done, but ONLY when you are completely certain that the mountain cannot be scaled by any attacker. otherwise, a small company can climb the mountain and fabricate some kind of rockfall or landslide, causing walls to be breached and buildings to be destroyed. Even when it's not climbable, you should still make sure no natural rockfalls or landslides can hurt the city.
Generally, this "cliffhugging" is done to force the enemy to a certain chokepoint. creating chokepoints is great, but it's better to do this by placing the burg on top of the mountain, instead of below it. a good example of great location is Minas Aduial. View attachment 17666
Minas Aduial. the donjon on the left can literally not be accessed except for the main entrance, which is a drawbridge.
Chapter 2: walls and towers
Common mistakes that can be found in the walls and towers that there are tons of blind spots around the walls. some examples are:
In this image, the wall is black and a tower seated in that wall is red. This tower gives totally no added value to the defensive structure of the wall, since it doesn't give a better vantage on hard-to-see places. a better tower would be:
In this case, the tower is protruded outwards, so that the spots that are directly under the wall are covered by fire from the red tower. preferably, towers like these are found around every 150-200 metres on a straight wall. when the wall is curved with the bulge being outward (like the imperial city in the elder scrolls IV: Oblivion) the towers need to be much more plentiful, since the places the that are covered by the tower on a straight wall now curve away, out of sight. an example of bad tower placement on curved walls:
in this image, the yellow area is covered by the protruded towers. the blind spot cannot be seen and is safe for the attackers.
BUT CAN'T THE ATTACKERS COVER THE BLIND SPOT FROM THE WALLS?!
well, yes and no. And this brings me to my next point, with straight walls too. when an area is relatively far from the wall it's easy to cover. you can stay in cover in the safety of the crenelations while shooting enemies. however, in the immediate proximity from the walls, say up until 5 metres, a defender will have to completely lean over the wall and expose their whole upper bodies to shoot at attackers directly underneath them. An in-game example:
This wall covers the yellow area easily, but to cover the red area an attacker has to lean over, which means certain death by arrows. therefore, the crenelations must be protuded outwards, so that the defenders can shoot down to the attackers that are close to the wall. like this:
now on the inside of the crenelations, there's room for certain holes in the floor, through which arrows can be fired and hot water can be thrown down. These holes are machiculations.
it's best to fill the grey square here too, so that defenders can still take cover behind the crenelations. you can make these machiculations in whatever way you want, just make sure no place under the walls isn't covered by arrow fire. Machiculations should be added to both walls and towers. A Donjon doesn't necessarily need them, but they can still be there.
ALSO MAKE SURE THE CRENELATIONS ARE AT LEAST 2 BLOCKS HIGH! Otherwise the defenders have no cover!
one last thing to note! don't make thin walls. one good hit from a battering ram or projectile from a catapult is enough to bring them down. have your walls be at least 5 blocks thick.
Chapter 3: the gate
The gate is often the most important place of attack. it is the easiest way to enter a city, and therefore needs special defensive measures. Many gates in minecraft have "gatehouses" of some sort, usually by having towers on either side. But what we see happening is the following:
This is a very unsafe gatehouse. The gate can be sturdy and all, but if it's breached the defenders have a MAJOR problem. Once it's breached they are IN. Therefore, it's best to make a gatehouse with a DOUBLE GATE. That way the defenders aren't hopelessly lost once the first gate is breached. Create it like this:
This is a very effective design. preferably the first gate is a full gate made of hardwood, and the second gate is a portcullis. That way, the attacker uses a battering ram to breach the first gate, and proceeds into the murderzone (the area between the two gates). Note that the first portcullis is now still up! However, a second portcullis stands there, which is basically unbreachable by a regular battering ram due to it's pattern with holes. Once the enemy has completely streamed into the murder zone they realise that they can't go on. Then, the defender locks up the attackers that are inside by dropping THE FIRST PORTCULLIS! Now, there's a whole bunch of enemy attackers completely surrounded by walls and locked up. What do we do with them? Why, we kill them of course! A great way of killing enemies in the murder zone is by using murder holes. These are holes in the ceiling (the murder zone often has a ceiling, with a room full of defenders above it) through which you can throw stones, boiling water, burning wood or fire-heated sand. Oil wasn't used, it was way to expensive! otherwise, there would be arrowslits in the walls, through which the defender used bows or crossbows to fire arrows at the enemy. Once stuck in the murder zone, there is no way out, and you'll most certainly die.
things to remember: make sure there's enough room for the portcullis to be raised. Portcullises that dissapear into nowhere are too common.
Where does this portcullis go, for example?
Chapter 4: the Donjon, or the central dwelling
Each castle has a central dwelling. This central building changes shape and size based on the castle's function. It can be a comfortable palace, a Strong, fortified tower or a great hall for a king. Think about the function of your castle, and base the donjon on that. Many castles on MCME will be both a fortification against attackers and a seat of government for a local lord, and thereby his dwelling. Remember realism; lords are snobs! If they and their advisors have enough faith in the strenth of the rest of the fort/castle, the lord might decide to make to central dwelling more comfortable, while sacraficing some defensive measures. A great example of this is Hochosterwitz Castle.
This is a castle on a steep hill with 14 gatehouses! Such a castle is a terrible nightmare for any attacker to assail, that it's basically impossible to fire a succesful assault. That's why the central dwelling, at the top of the hill, is not that defensive. It's safe enough to turn it into a cosy palace! Even with castles there's something as overkill.
If you do have a defensive donjon, consider the early medieval way of constructing donjons. A big, chubby, stone building. right on the front door, it would often have a weird drawbridge, that seems very out of place. like this:
This would be the idea. the big blank wall in the back would be the donjon itself. This construction is seen in front of it. Of course the Donjon can also be guarded by special terrain, like the cliffs in Minas Aduial. Simply raising the drawbridge is enough to make an assault impossible.
So what do the attackers do in that case? There are two options:
- Treason from the inside. The attackers might bribe someone inside the walls to lower the drawbridge and let the attackers in.
- Starving them out. Most historical sieges were not won by a victorious assault, but by cutting off every supply route to the burg and wait until everyone was too hungry to keep the gates closed.
The basic principles repeated
All castle designs want to do the same things to keep the attacker out. these are the basics.
- Give them only one route to attack. By having the castle simply placed on an open plain means the attacker can assail the castle from any side. If they have superior numbers, that would be too much. Thus, make sure the attacker has only one place to try and enter the burg, by using moats, rivers, the sea, cliffs, steep hills etc. that are not passable for the attacker. Once they're forced into a choke point, make sure to
- Attack from every angle. Whereever the attackers are, you should always be able to rain fire down on them, preferably from different angles. They should know no rest, and must always be attacked. However, they might still make a breach. In that case,
- Have a backup plan. using internal divisions to fall back to is great this way. make sure to have quite thick doors between different walls, so when an attacker takes a wall, they can't take the whole castle easily. and when they breach a gate (a double gate!) make sure they take only part of the burg, by having another wall between this section and the rest of the castle.
END OF THE GUIDE!