Thunderwars - No More Boxes!

[MarsGlorious]

A brilliant idea! Let's use boxes. The Plywood Defence Walls won't stand up without support.
Boxes are just like sandbags. They can be stacked on top of each other to create fantastic cover. They are lite and portable.

Sounds great in theory, not so good in practice. We go down to the local warehouse and take the boxes from the free box pile. We pack the car with them.

They prove to be quite ineffective. They fall over and you need heaps of them. Well, it gets worse. Who's going to clean them up. Well you end with this.



So, just like water bombs, I'd like to phase out boxes as cover. What do you all think?

[cantab]

You can make quite large and robust structures from cardboard boxes (like 'tanks' that completely enclose a person leaving only eye and weapon holes), but it gets involved. And for water warfare, you then have to think about waterproofing. Binbags work quite well, but it's just more effort.
So I'd say stick with the plywood. How do you normally support them?

[C-A_99]

Cardboard boxes can also be easily destroyed by water bombs and if a launcher is around, say goodbye to any structures you build. If you have enough sleds to set up simple reinforced areas, that may work out. With one sled, it can work as a portable shield and dropped if necessary.

[MarsGlorious]

Portable Defence Walls [PDWs] are often held by trees or walls. I've worked on other designs and found that hammering stakes into ground works well. However, it doesn't work on bricks or stone.

[Ben]

Yeah, cardboard isn't very good for water wars. When it gets wet it loses all strength.

I'd suggest simple tarps, rope, wood poles, and tent stakes for quick cover. Tarps are water proof, light, and fairly cheap. Tarps can be used as walls and ceilings. The hooks in the corners helps greatly when setting up some sort of temporary structure.

Plywood's good for more solid structures or walls too. It's not as easy to setup, but if you work on a quick way to set it up with wood poles, rope, and tent stakes, it should be great for walls in the open.

[cantab]

Would wooden supports for the plywood work? I'm thinking like an inverted T shape but with two uprights, with a narrow gap between in which you slot the plywood. Dimensions could be similar to the plywood itself (I don't know how big what you use is) and it can sit on any flat ground. If they still want to tip over (eg wind or if people are likely to run into them) then put weight on the horizontal parts of the support.

[Silence]

That would probably work, although I'd use diagonal crossbeams. Triangles are essential for rigidity.

Weights might hamper portability, but you have a point. I have a huge soccer "goal" in my yard that can tip over in the wind, even with only a net made of thin cord and T supports.

[cantab]

You can always weigh it down with stuff you find, eg bricks, or bags filled with earth.

[MarsGlorious]

Bricks, now that's a good idea.

I also wanted to build an inverted T shaped device to hold up the plywood. You can use that on flat hard surfaces.
Making them out of metal would probably bring the best results. However, unless you know how to weld that probably won't happen. Wood would the next option, but that wouldn't be as stable.

The stake holder is better for soil regions.

[Silence]

Metal is hard to work with (at least in cases where wood works just as well) and it's much heavier. Wood isn't unstable, per se, if you weigh it down. And the sandbag idea (bring along a bag and fill it with dirt) is a rather good one. Filling a tank with lake water should work too.

Now that you mention it, I don't remember seeing much soil in Australia. Sand or water would be best.

[MarsGlorious]

You must have gone to Perth.

[Spinner]

Originally Posted by Ben

Yeah, cardboard isn't very good for water wars. When it gets wet it loses all strength.

Just to add a view from a different perspective: I'd actually say it's that quality what makes cardboard attractive for water warfare. Since the weaponry can actually damage the fortifications - as in a real war - it makes it more evenly balanced, and consequently more interesting.

I have to agree that the result of having to deal with a lot of wet cardboard afterwards is less than enthralling, however.

[StormGlorious]

Yeah spinner, That is how the idea originally came to be. Actually being able to damage the fortifications.Aswell as we wanted more cover in the open areas.