Rais Ali’s stronghold would
definitely be the focus of my
New Dilbar village – if not of
my whole Dilbar tabletop –
so I decided to concentrate
on the fort as its size and
characteristics would
dictate how the rest of
the village would look.
From what I’d seen of
Persian mud-brick
buildings of the period,
I was happy with the
overall look of my fort.
The scale of the walls
matched the
contemporary description
although the fort’s footprint
was necessarily reduced. In
making the model, there were a
few practicalities to take into
consideration. Each round tower had to
accommodate an irregular infantry base; the
square tower, two bases. I built the parapets so that infantry bases could line
the battlements although originally I had planned that only the towers
should accommodate troops. I wanted one wall to have a way of indicating
that it was demolished in the event that the Imperial demolition parties got
to work on the fort – as they did in reality. The fort’s gateway was a bit of a
problem. I needed a solution for an entrance that could be either closed or
open that, perhaps, could be substituted with blown-to-bits version – again,
in case the Imperial demolition parties were able to destroy the gateway.
Originally, I had
planned to have the
fort’s square tower
on the outside
south-west corner
of the village (see
map Post 8) but
placing it where I
did meant that the
roadway leading
into the fort could
contribute more to
the character of the
village. I thought it
was a pretty sure-
fire thing that the
fort was built
around a water
source of some
kind so I put a well
in the courtyard.
New Dilbar Fort
POST 012
012
