[G]Constructing a bunker

BluzMan

Russian Federation4235 Posts

April 03 2008 14:15 GMT

Every space marine has a power armor and a huge gauss rifle, and in common real-life situation that's enough to solve problems, but sometimes it just doesn't cut.

Even the bravest marine sometimes faces impossible odds and needs extra protection. Thankfully, for a tiny price of 100 minerals, we can construct a bastion of power - the Bunker.

To construct a bunker you need:

1) Outdoor temperature of about -1 C.
2) At least two drunk men.
3) At least two shovels (preferably square-faced).
4) Two or more wooden planks of considerable length.
5) An axe or sledgehammer.
6) Lots of snow.
7) 100 minerals.

Start the bunker construction by removing all snow/debris from the constuction site. Outline your bunker's wall coordinates by making a small trench with a stick.

First, get the walls up. The optimal wall height for a bunker is about 1,5 meters, but you can do with slightly less. One guy should just throw snow with a shovel onto the wall, the other guy in ripstop gloves will consolidate the snow with gentle hits. Periodically, you will need to remove the extra snow from the construction site. Make sure the walls are at least 25 cm thick, the more the better.

Make sure to leave parts of the wall thinner (10 cm or about so) to later make firing holes.

Once the walls are ready (there should be at least three, the fourth side will be used for bunker entry/exit), make another round of snow consolidation. It is important that the walls are at least 25 cm thick in the top part.

Start constructing the roof. First, put your wooden planks on the top of the walls, so that they provide a temporary roof. The key here is to not place the planks closely together, but as far as possible from each other (but close enough so that snow doesn't fall in between). You can do the process reiteratively (which is preferred as it offers more rounds of consolidation), or if you have enough planks, just make the whole roof at once. See the accompanying picture:

Start throwing snow on your temporary roof with a shovel. Make sure that the thickness of the permanent roof is at least 15 cm (but 20+ is preferred). After throwing a smaller layer of snow (5 cm), condense it, then throw more.

When the roof is done and consolidated, gently start hitting the planks out with an axe/sledgehammer. Do it one by one, don't do all the planks at once! When you manage to take the plank out, fill the newly formed holes with snow and consolidate as well as possible. Only then start with the next plank.

Most work has been done, now clench fists and make holes in the walls in the places you designated before (by making the walls thinner there). Polish the edges of the holes for them to look better with bare hands.

The next step would be getting a shovel and slowly taking all the unnecessary snow debris that accumulated inside the bunker during the construction process. It's somewhat mundane, but you want your bunker to be a nice place to hide in. Make some interior (you can make small shelves for ammo and ehh... fuel out of snow right inside the bunker).

The next step would be polishing the outside walls and the roof. Use ripstop gloves or polishing tools like a trowel. After finishing with the polish work, sprinkle warm water all over your bunker to increase it's hitpoints.

Your bunker is almost ready! Now, the final step, make a door. I advise the method of embedding two wooden sticks into the walls near the entrance, then tying a rope between them. Put some old rag on the rope to make a screen. You want to remain hidden when bunkered:

Don't forget to put a bottle of beer into your bunker's foundation! After you finish the construction process, dig into the wall and amaze everyone with a magical bottle that appears from nowhere! Then, enjoy your well-cooled drink: