Norfleet said:
Cleveland Mark Blakemore said:
... but a lot of this comes from watching war movies made after the 1960's. The impression that a well fortified fortress just becomes completely insecure instantly is the stuff of Hollywood fantasy.
Well, yes. But you also have to figure a lot of what you're constructing qualifies as makeshift at best and maintenance is going to be a bit difficult. Some, possibly even most, of that equipment is going to malfunction at some point. I run into this issue all the time, and pretty much design for it.
Cleveland Mark Blakemore said:
The insecure position is the guy topside doing the frontal assault. That's the casualties.
You also have to figure that anyone actually planning an assault knows this. Unless they have a really burning need to die in large numbers, they're not going to try that. What are your plans for siege? Assuming your attackers simply lay siege to the place and try to starve you out, how long can you hold out? Do you have a self-perpetuating food source available? Underground water tap? I personally find rats are a good choice. While some people would not care to eat rats, they are actually quite tasty, and are a hardy species that can be raised with little to no maintenance. After all, they *ARE* vermin. Surviving when they AREN'T wanted is second nature to them. It's trivial to keep them alive if you DON'T try to kill them, given how hard it is to eradicate them to begin with. Plus, they eat nearly anything and also function as garbage disposal. But without a source of underground water (and filtration/distillation equipment!), and some indefinitely perpetuating food supply, it is simply a matter of time. Then all this equipment likely requires power to operate: What are you using? Solar? Unreliable. Solar panels have limited maintenance-free lifespans, and tend to break down. Plus, they must be mounted topside, exposing them to hostile fire. Wind? Same problem. Generators? Limited fuel. Your two main options are pretty much either geothermal or RTGs/SRGs. Geothermal is locationally specific, and may require you to drill pretty deep. This is not a bad thing, since embracing the Morlock lifestyle in full will certainly prepare you to survive anything up to and including the theft of the Earth's atmosphere. Working off radioactives, on the other hand, well, really expensive. I hope you have deep pockets if you're going this route. Solar and wind are too exposed and easily damaged in the event of hostile attack, and are not viable for fortified installations.
That all sounds really complicated.
Now, in addition to solar, wind and diesel generator, I have acquired HFC technology. I can store enough fuel cells to keep the shelter humming right through nuclear winter and the ten year cobalt-60 decay cycle.
What I really need but can't get yet is simple nickel-iron ferrite batteries. Incredibly, these are the most expensive components I need and can't get. I have regular gel rechargeables at present and I am not happy about it, because they won't last much beyond 6 years if charged expertly every single cycle. So this remains an area I am working on.
I also want to replace my modern diesel generator with a Lister, again it may take some time before I can get a good one at a decent price.
Either way, I'm pretty certain I could outlast any poor soul aboveground by a couple of decades or so. I don't think it is realistic to believe anyone will camp outside the region and wait most of their adult life for someone to emerge. That's something that won't happen. They'll make a stupid advance, they'll get whacked, then upon the dumb remainder fleeing they will be intercepted and destroyed like rabid dogs.
My silos are abundantly stocked, within and without. I can squeeze a trigger longer than any trespasser can afford to hide behind a stump in the crevass and live off roots and bugs.
I pretty much know what the average citizen is packing in "G" force and needless to say, I'm not worried. If they were smart enough to be dangerous, they'd have built shelters of their own. Pathetic rag-tag scavengers humming and crotch-grabbing while snapping their fingers like Huggy Bear will be even less effective in an emergency than they are now. Everybody is cool according to television and they're all super commandos, but I reckon they'll have a different perspective after a couple days without solid food.
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http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubima ... &selected=
In real life, people aren't so smart. I've never seen these super commandos of which you speak. Although I have seen thousands of desperately confused and deluded metrosexual males who could not successfully conduct observation on the McDonald's takeout window without accidentally crushing their own testicles.
