All maps have fortifications, but almost none last, or aren't very comfortable/useable. I often find find myself being yelled at for "Griefing" someones structure while trying to improve it. So in the past 3 or so days of playing the game I have come up with/improved upon some designs for 3 simple defensive structures.

----------------------------BATTLEMENTS---------------------

Battlements are a basic wall that stops enemy movement while providing the defender with a good vantage point. The best design in my opinion (which is already being used frequently) is the staircase.

http://upaoncp.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/aoswall1.png

Those who prefer crouching or who want reduced recoil from the machine gun can stand on the top, and hide behind the blocks sticking up to reload.

Others can stand on the second step or just run up the stairs and over the top. The solid wall is hard to destroy with grenades and enemies will be stopped by the vertical wall on there side, while you can easily just run over the top!

Optionally, you can maker this taller or smaller, or even add gunports lower down on the structure. (Credit to Chaos BR)

--------------------BUNKERS/GUNPORTS-------------------------

For any bunker that is ment to last, I suggest walls that are 2 or more blocks thick. To make an efficeint gun port through thick walls, dig out two blocks right above the floor then another one through the wall to provide the gun port. It should look like this.

http://upaoncp.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/aoswall2.png

The fact that it is only 2 blocks high allows you to not have to hold the crouch button to steady your machinegun aim, but does make it harder to get out of there fast when neccasary. To solve this issue, you may also dig out 2 blocks next to the port like this to provide some cover without having to crouch again.

http://upaoncp.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/aoswall3.png

-------------------------TRENCHES----------------

Trenches, though not that common are an excellent defense because they require no blocks, and you are less visible to the enemy.

An ideal trench, with all the bells and whistles would be similar to this.

http://upaoncp.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/aoswall4.png

The Machinegun nests can be placed at certain distances to provide a good method for sweeping away all the enemys infront of you.

The Second row is for those using rifles. They can crouch for a while, pop up, shoot, then crouch back down to relocate/reload. The 2 block high wall can be jumped over to charge out towards the enemy also (Bad idea if they have similar trenches)

The third row is for general transportation around the trench, whether to relocate, regroup in preperation for a charge, or run the hell away from the grenade next to you. Because it is 3 blocks deep you will not be visible from above.

-------------GENERAL IDEAS TO USE-----------------

-Make sure the area in front of your building is clear, even if its a teammates build!
If the enemy moves up far enough to use a teammates structure against you, they may be able to throw grenades into your structure. However if the area is wide and open, machinegunners can mow down anyone who approaches on flat maps such as pinpoint.

-Building these structures around your tent in a last ditch effort will be VERY good idea. A single Machine Gunner can reload instanyl and mow down the enemy at the same time.

-Think about what damage a teammate can do. Make it a pain in the ass to knock down your structure!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any suggestions on other good ideas, post them!

Sparknotes: A noob is giving you some advice on building stuff from what he has observed in a few days of playing on pinpoint.

Dude, these are really intelligent ideas!! Keep up the good work!

I've been playing AoS since Beta .2. Your ideas are very clever, but have been used so many times before you.

I always use the battlements,it's the standart building for me.But I usually make it 5 blocks high,with one or more holes in the 3th or 2nd block,so that someone can shoot from there,and other guys shooting from the top.

well he's teaching all the duec- i mean noobs.
I honestly miss trench warfare, since all maps start 1 level above water :(

Thanks for the feedback, I understand these have been used before, but I feel they could use some more light on them since they are very useful. And chaos, I have added your suggestion for battlements.

The only complaint i have is you said machinegunners can mow them down
1. The recoil goes up way too much right now and
2. barely anyone fights as a team :(

i don't really like battlements, i always shoot out the bottoms of each high part, so the wall is shortened for the enemy. i usually just build a wall, combined with a trench, then add another layer to the wall, if it's important enough

Only thing I liked was your trenches.
I prefer having holes that are 2 spaces wide and are one level higher I prefer their visibility, also I find you move too slow while crouched in your walls.

A+ thread! I like the "gun ports" idea, and I'm also a big fan of battlements!

Let's make this a "defensive structure idea" thread!

Nice Ideas i was fending off all the blues lone with the trench in bridge wars then i was yelling for support and a deuce started and the rest of the blues followed because i was DOWNTHRUSTING THOSE MOFOS TO HELL

Someone should sticky this and all other threads if this nature. It should help the new guys and even the vets.

first two are just awful. i often get killed because the cover is just one block so someone on a bigger angle can always see me.

i always build double cover+double wall. harder to destroy and great cover. if a was any good and had a mouse that costs more than 20 dollars, i'd be a great sniper with those fortifications.

If you are being shot on the first one you could optionally just build a roof. I don't know how you could be getting shot on the second one though, most bunkers are supposed to have a roof.

This is beautiful.

Some ideas: I wonder why the bunkers and gunports have that annoying block that prevents you from standing. Some people prefer mobility. About the trenches: that was a great dfescription you gave, but there's no way that a crew will ever be so organized, it just wouldn't work. Perhaps it'd be a good idea to split every row with a wall. Also, in some places its important to build side walls, in case you get flanked
Last, and perhaps the most important, talk about lanes: snipers in your team need a clear way to shoot into the enemy, make sure that you don't ruin a sweet spot by making an advanced staircase or something.

@Articsledder

Because if you get into the crevice, you can't go left-right into cover. and if you are supossed to stay outside of the crevice, than why is there not a block there too?

The first thing is only good for holding a position for a matter of minutes, where others either advance under cover or improve the position.

Agree with the other on the second construction. You cannot strafe there.

I'll even skip the double walls on the 3rd one. Ideally, you should never use a gunport twice in a row to avoid counter-fire. This design makes you lazy as you have no easy way to transverse ports: you tend to stick to one port.

Trenching is always a great option IMHO. very easy to build, and easy to upgrade into a sunken bunker. Low visibility is always a concern, and if vantage points are built I doubt the life expectancy of those sitting on them. They also tend to grow into full-fledged bunkers, depending how many are playing minecraft.

At the end, though, good fortification usually blends elements of different defenses, adapting them in the to the situation. Ideally, the fortification should offer most protection to the most amount of firepower and be able to be built in the shortest time.

sinistral thats what the third picture is for. The second half is specifically for ducking back behind in an emergency. I'll agree that if people are returning fire you should find a new location though.

Dave my friend, you missed one very important bit of advice from the snipers point of view.

When avoidable, never exchange gun fire directly facing the enemy front; always shoot from an angle.

In the below picture, I demonstrate two of my favorite ways to rack up kills. In the bottom right corner, you notice the Green shooting at an angle to avoid head on fire from advancing Blues. Most people don't expect to be shot from a flank... Or from the back. My absolute favorite method of sniping is setting up a small foxhole within a Blue's wall, and aiming downrange towards the Green homebase. Allow Blues to pass, and only fire when Greens on defense fire to help mask your shots. Never shoot at the Blue that is closest to the Green base. Always pick off the last Blue, and make every shot count to avoid having your tracers give away your tactics. Use the two above strategies to create one hell of a cross-fire!

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/250307_10150258622668517_584853516_7723615_552295_n.jpg

Finally, get a gun site skin. Anything is better than the default skin, and makes acquiring targets much easier.

Happy Hunting!

This is my idea of how a battlement should look.

-Gives cover to people running along the wall
-Lets you crouch and shoot with 1 block of cover or none
-lets you stand and shoot with 2 blocks of cover
-you can double the thickness if you want better defense against SMGs

Of course, you'd need pretty massive walls before this would be practical.

Heres my contribution:
https://picasaweb.google.com/107536748300240967058/MyPictures#5640522979472026354