Modern Castles Challenge

I want Fuedal type castles in the modern era. Forget the social issues of reviving Fuedalism, thats easy. The big thing is how do you get castles to mesh with modern technology and warfare doctrines?

The only problem militaries really have is dealing with cities, but thats mainly because we're squemish about killing civilians. If we weren't, we could just level any city (or any other fortification) through bombing (nuclear or otherwise).

I can only think of 3 possibilities:

1) Underground Castles. Not quite as romantic, but it'd work pretty well.

2) Forcefields. Kinda out there, but its theoretically possible eventually.

3) Insanely good anti-air,infantry,armor,missle,etc. guns. And lots of them. SDI 10.0 stuff.

If you adapt castles enough to be defendable in OTL modern war, you end up with more or less OTL.

Just consider the Maginot Line and the Cheyenne Mountain.

Or those Earth Berm Forts with built Pillboxs.

If You want Castles today maybe you shaould look at a Political POD, After Edwards death his succesor passes a law requiring the Maintaince of the Castles, After the conquest of Scotland and Ireland the law is extented to them. One of the French Kings Adopts the law for France, So do some of the German & Italilian Princes. When the American Colonization starts they import Castles with them. [The Hollywood Northwest frontier forts are Wooden Castles of Medival age]. By the 1900's everyone 'knows' they are impractical but the cultural need for them remains as Seats of Goverence, or some such.

What if, in 1940, the Germans fail utterly against the French, because French intelligence knew everything and had prepered the most comprehensive set of field fortifications ever seen?

Wouldn't the general conclusion be, that going around in flimsy tanks is outright silly, when you can control all important terrain from behind minefields and meters of earth, sand, concrete and steel?

Next a global race will start in building forts/castles, and a lot of money is made. Not at least the designers behind the brandnew Belgian fort Eben Emael have succees in selling their concept world wide. The castlerace to a large degree stops the world wide crisis, as loads of unskilled labour is put to work building the castles.

A climax is reached when the energy shield is invented. This makes the castles practically invulnerable from outside, but requires a lot of energy. That not only prevents the shields from being mobile, but also prevents anything mobile from having enough energy to penetrate the shield. In effect all traditional aggressive warfare has become impossible, but here and there some combatants are mad and desperate enough to introduce terror strikes against targets outside the energy shields, and has here and there even succeeded in getting a suicide bomber inside a shield...

Regards

Steffen Redbeard

Festungplatz anyone? As soon as you develop good tanks you can bypass them and isolate them, making them useless and in fact disadvantegous for defender as they tie up large number of troops and suplies.

Anthony Appleyard said:

If you adapt castles enough to be defendable in OTL modern war, you end up with more or less OTL.

Click to expand...

Yes, you end up with,....FORTRESSES !

France 1870, Belgium 1914, Przemysl etc

Grey Wolf